Chapter 972: Blood God Diagram
The higher one climbed toward the summit of Qianyuan Mountain, the denser the world's sacred qi became, condensing into purple haze like a sea of clouds swirling through the void. The sacred qi seemed to gush forth from the mountaintop before gradually descending to the base.
Qianyuan Mountain's massive body towered impossibly high, comparable to Liangyi Sect's Ancient God Mountain. Placed in the sea, it would be a great island capable of supporting a hundred thousand people without feeling crowded.
The mountain path was rugged, lined with thousand-year-old ancient pines and ten-thousand-year spirit vines. Precious spiritual medicines could be seen everywhere—human-shaped fruits, golden mushrooms the size of palm-leaf fans. These all belonged to someone, planted by Blood God Sect's predecessors. Anyone daring to steal them would risk their life.
At about six thousand meters up Qianyuan Mountain, near the purple haze clouds, a cave dwelling appeared where sacred qi surged. Outside the cave, many cultivators had gathered.
Most looked very young, exuding heroic vigor and extraordinary temperament, each a dragon among men with extremely noble status in the Blood God Sect.
That was the Blood God Sect Holy Maiden's Linlang Cave Dwelling, a high-grade cave dwelling on par with those of the saints.
A young noble in blood robes stood outside the cave, staring toward Zhang Ruochen's direction, saying, "Another person has come to the banquet."
"Who is that? I've never seen him before."
"Lingyun, you've been training in the barbarian secret realm all year, so naturally you wouldn't know. Recently, a formidable figure has emerged in the sect—killed Ning Guihai, defeated Bai Yu and Yan Kongming. His name is Gu Linfeng."
All the divine son candidates' gazes turned toward Bai Yu.
Bai Yu's face couldn't hold its composure. He snorted, "He only won by relying on the Blood God Gu's power. Moreover, the technique he cultivates is only the ghost-grade upper-rank 'Blood Dragon Scripture.'"
"So he was implanted with a Blood God Gu."
"A person who cultivates ghost-grade techniques also qualifies to be a divine son candidate?"
The crowd immediately lost interest.
As divine son candidates, each was extremely proud—either possessing powerful physiques or cultivating peerless secret arts. None were simple characters.
The divine son candidates had already secretly resolved to find a way to expel Gu Linfeng. The Holy Maiden's banquet wasn't something just anyone was qualified to attend.
However, contrary to everyone's expectations, Gu Linfeng didn't stop at all. He headed straight up the mountain.
"What does he mean? Didn't he receive the Holy Maiden's invitation?"
Someone couldn't help laughing: "The Holy Maiden doesn't send invitations to just anyone. Gu Linfeng's strength clearly falls short."
Bai Yu, however, frowned because he knew very well that the Holy Maiden had sent someone to deliver an invitation to Gu Linfeng.
"What an arrogant fellow—daring not to attend the banquet. He'll definitely be resented by the Holy Maiden. From now on, his days in the Blood God Sect will be very difficult." Bai Yu sneered inwardly.
The Blood God Sect Holy Maiden naturally also saw Gu Linfeng's departing figure. Her eyes showed confusion, finding it hard to understand why Gu Linfeng, who had always tried to please her, would not attend the banquet.
Of course, the Blood God Sect Holy Maiden didn't take it too seriously. In her eyes, Gu Linfeng's strength was indeed slightly greater than Bai Yu and Yan Kongming's ilk.
However, he couldn't compare at all with Hai Lingyin and Wei Longxing. He couldn't become a divine son.
With Gu Linfeng's temperament, he was quite easy to use—a chess piece to handle matters for her. That was still acceptable.
Zhang Ruochen followed behind Ji Shui, walking between the purple sacred haze. After climbing about twenty thousand meters, they finally reached the summit.
Qianyuan Mountain's peak stood above the purple cloud sea.
At the center of the summit, a purple light pillar gushed forth, connecting to the sky dome, seemingly breaking through the realm's boundary.
The Blood God Diagram was carved into a stone wall, nineteen zhang high.
A gray-robed elder sat cross-legged at the edge below the Blood God Diagram, like a clay statue. His aura was completely withdrawn, with no energy fluctuation detectable.
Zhang Ruochen saw that the elder's body was covered in mud, with moss even growing on his shoulders and head. He hadn't moved in who knows how many years.
"Since this senior has already died, why hasn't he been buried?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
The elder had no life fluctuation at all—clearly dead.
"Don't speak recklessly. This Supreme Elder sits here guarding the Blood God Diagram. His seniority in the sect is extremely high—even higher than the Sect Leader's by one generation."
Although Ji Shui said this, she wasn't confident either.
This wasn't her first time coming to comprehend the Blood God Diagram, yet she had never seen this Supreme Elder move even once. He was indistinguishable from a corpse.
Since he was a Supreme Elder-level figure, whether alive or dead, Zhang Ruochen dared not offend him easily. Suppressing the urge to probe with spiritual power, he fixed his gaze on the Blood God Diagram.
Called the Blood God Diagram, it was actually just an uneven cliff face. No pattern could be discerned—it looked no different from naturally formed stone walls.
Zhang Ruochen frowned, somewhat doubting whether the Blood God Diagram was as miraculous as Ji Shui claimed.
"Fake, definitely fake. It's just an ordinary stone wall. No world-shaking divine technique can be comprehended from it." A voice came from below the stone wall.
Zhang Ruochen followed the sound and saw a red-furred monkey sitting cross-legged beneath the Blood God Diagram, shaking its head continuously.
The red-furred monkey stood up, apparently unwilling to waste more time comprehending the Blood God Diagram, and headed down the mountain.
Only then did Zhang Ruochen see clearly—it wasn't a monkey, but a person.
However, this person had crimson monkey fur all over his body, with even a tail hanging out.
"Spirit Monkey Half-Human Clan." Zhang Ruochen murmured in surprise.
The Spirit Monkey Half-Human Clan had the longest lifespan among all half-human clans, comparable to barbarian beasts. They lived on a distant ocean island in the Eastern Sea and rarely appeared in the Kunlun Realm. Seeing a member of the Spirit Monkey Half-Human Clan in the Blood God Sect naturally surprised Zhang Ruochen somewhat.
That Spirit Monkey Half-Human Clan member looked only about ten years old, much like Hai Lingyin—very much a youth.
But Zhang Ruochen knew the Spirit Monkey Half-Human Clan had long lifespans, so he couldn't judge his age by ordinary human standards.
That Spirit Monkey Half-Human youth walked past Zhang Ruochen, glanced at him, and said, "Don't waste time comprehending this damn Blood God Diagram. It's completely deceptive."
Zhang Ruochen smiled, "Since I've come here, I should at least give it a try."
The Spirit Monkey Half-Human youth studied Zhang Ruochen carefully, then said, "Something's off. You should be a divine son candidate too, right?"
"That's right."
Zhang Ruochen asked again, "What's off?"
"Today, the Holy Maiden is hosting a banquet for all divine son candidates. You didn't attend the banquet—why come here to waste time instead?" the Spirit Monkey Half-Human youth said.
"You didn't go either," Zhang Ruochen said.
The Spirit Monkey Half-Human youth snorted dismissively, "Even if I went, I'd just be a backdrop. Only Hai Lingyin and Wei Longxing are the Holy Maiden's honored guests. The new divine son will definitely be born between those two. As for the rest, it would be strange if the Holy Maiden even noticed them."
"I think so too."
Having said this, Zhang Ruochen walked over to below the Blood God Diagram, sat cross-legged, adjusted his state of mind, and gazed up at the stone wall.
"Someone actually dares not to buy into the Holy Maiden's account. That's somewhat interesting."
The Spirit Monkey Half-Human youth showed a curious expression. Instead of leaving, he used his tail to tap Ji Shui's back and asked, "Big sister, who exactly is this person?"
"Stay away from me," Ji Shui said coldly.
The Spirit Monkey Half-Human youth glanced at her, puzzled, then used his tail to tap her again, asking, "Why?"
Ji Shui looked at the Spirit Monkey Half-Human youth's tail. Blood mist roiled around her, and two black light pillars shot out from beneath her hood.
The youth's figure flickered, dodging the two light pillars.
With a boom, the two light pillars struck the ground, melting the rock.
"I just asked casually—why resort to violence?"
The Spirit Monkey Half-Human youth transformed into a streak of fire, shifting half a circle to appear on Ji Shui's other side.
"When did the Blood God Sect produce such a strong cultivator?" Ji Shui thought, quite surprised, not daring to underestimate this person.
The speed this person had just displayed was not inferior to hers—definitely no ordinary character.
"This big sister is really hard to get along with."
The Spirit Monkey Half-Human youth shook his head. Instead of continuing to question Ji Shui, he walked toward the Blood God Sect Supreme Elder sitting cross-legged not far away.
His tail extended again, tapping the Supreme Elder's right shoulder, and he asked, "Old man, this so-called Blood God Diagram is fake, right?"
That Supreme Elder, like a stone carving, sat cross-legged on the ground, completely motionless.
"So he's dead."
The Spirit Monkey Half-Human youth frowned and sighed, "The Blood God Sect's disciples really don't respect their seniors. Since he's dead, he should be buried properly."
The youth found a corner below the stone wall, dug a pit about two meters deep.
Then, he carried the Supreme Elder's "corpse" on his shoulder and walked toward the pit.
Even so, the Supreme Elder's body remained in a cross-legged posture, his muscles and bones extremely stiff, eyes tightly shut, not awakening.
He placed the Supreme Elder into the pit, then began filling it with mud and stone.
Ji Shui held her breath the whole time, watching this scene with a pounding heart, afraid the Supreme Elder might suddenly come alive and, in fury, kill everyone present.
Seeing that the Supreme Elder still hadn't awakened, Ji Shui gradually relaxed, thinking to herself that perhaps the elder had truly died long ago. (To be continued.)