12dz Chapter 730 The Real Body! The Clone! This is the Truth!
Chapter 730 The Real Body! The Clone! This is the Truth!
"Fire Source, you old dog! You'll die a horrible death!" Blood Butcher struggled frantically at the front, veins bulging on his forehead, eyes bloodshot, cursing, "Even as a ghost, I'll devour you alive!"
"Save your energy, Fellow Daoist Tu." Daoist Huoyuan walked leisurely at the front without turning his head. His tone was as warm as ever, but it was also chilling. "The soul of a Nascent Soul cultivator is a great tonic. If you shout until your soul energy is scattered, I will feel sorry for you."
Bingpo's face was ashen, her lips were tightly clenched, and her icy blue eyes were filled with deep despair.
After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the surrounding ruins gradually thinned out, and a very open black stone plaza appeared in front of us.
In the very center of the square stands an ancient altar that is tens of feet high!
The altar was made entirely of a dark red crystal, and its surface was covered with dense and intricate array patterns. These patterns, like blood vessels in the human body, emitted a faint but eerie red glow.
"We've arrived." Daoist Huoyuan stopped, looked up, and a near-fanatical awe appeared on his lean face.
Aoki and Ishii let go with a sigh of relief, tossing the three of them down at the foot of the altar like broken sacks.
Chen Fan rolled down, enduring the excruciating pain tearing through his meridians, and looked up. Upon seeing this, even his usually calm and collected eyes were stirred with a profound emotion!
Around this enormous altar lay dozens of withered, dried corpses!
Some of these mummified corpses wore ancient robes that had been there for countless years, while others even retained the postures of their meditative struggles from life. Their flesh had completely atrophied, clinging tightly to their bones, their eye sockets were sunken, and their deaths were extremely gruesome.
What's even more chilling is that, judging from the remaining clothing and the aura lingering on their bones, these dried corpses were all, without exception, cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage in life!
"These... are all people you brought in?" Bingpo's voice trembled uncontrollably as he saw the faces of the dried corpses.
She recognized that one of the mummified corpses was wearing the attire of a renowned sect within the Cultivation Alliance.
"Not bad. Fifty-three, plus the three of you, that makes fifty-six." Huoyuan Daoist smiled slightly, but his gaze passed over the dried corpses and stared straight at the very top of the altar.
Chen Fan followed his gaze and his pupils suddenly contracted.
At the highest point of the altar, in the core array eye where the array patterns are most dense, a figure was sitting cross-legged!
It was a person who looked like a dried-up corpse.
He wore a tattered crimson robe, identical in style to that worn by the Fire Source Daoist. He was so thin he was just skin and bones, his long, gray hair disheveled like withered grass, and five arm-thick, dark gold nails were firmly pinned to the altar on each of his limbs and collarbone!
Those long nails were covered with sealing runes, constantly draining the life force from his body.
However, even though it had been tortured into this inhuman and ghostly state, the aura emanating from that dried corpse was like a live volcano about to erupt, profound, terrifying, and carrying the pure and unparalleled power of the Void Refining Law!
He is several times stronger than the Fire Source Daoist in front of him!
"That is..." Blood Butcher also saw the figure clearly, and even his cursing stopped abruptly, his face full of horror.
"Surprised?" Daoist Huoyuan straightened his robes, then suddenly knelt down before the dried corpse, bowing deeply. "My clone pays respects to the original!"
Before he finished speaking, the pressure of his Void Refining Spirit suddenly subsided, and he transformed into a dazzling crimson stream of light, instantly soaring into the sky and directly entering the brow of the dried corpse at the top of the altar!
At the same time, Qingmu and Shiyan, who were standing next to Chen Fan, suddenly stiffened, their eyes lost focus, and they fell straight down, turning into two lifeless wooden puppets!
"An avatar!" Bingpo gasped, finally understanding. "So, the one who allied with us was just an avatar at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage!"
"Click...click..."
With a sickening cracking sound, the mummified corpse at the top of the altar slowly raised its head.
Two eerie green flames suddenly ignited in his deep-set eye sockets, and his withered lips moved slightly, emitting a sound like two pieces of torn sandpaper rubbing together.
"Three thousand years have passed... My avatar has finally brought back a living being that understands the laws of space."
His gaze, sharp as a blade, bypassed Blood Slaughter and Ice Soul, locking onto Chen Fan.
Chen Fan's expression remained unchanged, but a cold light flashed in his dark eyes: "Fellow Daoist Huoyuan laid out such a colossal lie, so you've been nailed here as a watchdog and can't get out."
"presumptuous!"
The source of fire, enraged, laughed and flicked his withered fingers.
"Bang!"
Chen Fan was struck as if by lightning. He was thrown away by an invisible force and crashed heavily into a stone pillar, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
"Fellow Daoist Guimu, I'm only letting you live a little longer because you understand the concept of space. If you dare to utter any more arrogant words, I will immediately extract your soul and refine your spirit!" The Fire Source's true form revealed murderous intent in its eerie green eyes, but then it transformed into a kind of manic excitement. "However, you are half right. I have indeed been trapped here for far too long."
He looked up at the five dark gold nails that were firmly pinning him down, his voice filled with resentment and bitterness:
"Years ago, I stumbled upon this place, believing I had found the legacy of an ancient immortal. Little did I know that this damned altar was a trap designed to drain the life force of cultivators to maintain the seal! For the past three thousand years, I have been trapped here, and seventy percent of my late-stage Void Refinement cultivation has been drained! If it weren't for my ancient Split-Soul Technique, which allows me to entrust a wisp of my divine soul to a clone and lure you Nascent Soul stage ants to sacrifice your blood for the array, I would have been reduced to a pile of withered bones long ago!"
Hearing this, Blood Butcher's eyes turned bloodshot, and he roared through gritted teeth, "You old bastard! You tricked us into coming here just to suck our blood and take our lives for you?"
"To risk your lives? No, no, no, you are not worthy." The Fire Source True Body lowered its head, looking down at the three as if they were three pitiful insects. "The seal on this altar is extremely special. Every time it drains the life essence of a Nascent Soul cultivator, the seal loosens slightly. The essence blood of fifty-three Nascent Soul cultivators has already loosened these five 'Suppressing Yuan Nails' by more than half. Just a little more, and I can completely pull out these broken nails!"
He raised his withered, claw-like fingers and pointed at Blood Butcher and Ice Soul: "You two have decent cultivation levels and abundant blood energy, perfect for the final blood sacrifice. As for you..."