Chapter 21: Blood Sacrifice

The Eight Trigrams diagram runs through ancient Chinese history, with its origins dating back to very early times. How it was created and what its true purpose is remain fascinating mysteries to this day.

It was once used to calculate and prove the orbital velocities of celestial bodies, and even the creation of binary code in computers is related to it. It can be said to be extremely mysterious.

To this day, the profound and abstruse meanings contained in the ancient Tai Chi Eight Trigrams diagram have still not been deciphered, though people have made many bold conjectures and speculations.

Some have said it represents an unknown "potential," allowing deductions and calculations of various possibilities in the future. Of course, it requires perfect deduction to roughly calculate the future "potential"; otherwise, one misstep in calculation leads to total defeat, rendering it useless.

Others have said it depicts the essence of the universe in the simplest way, with each symbol being the most fundamental thing.

Still others have boldly hypothesized that the Tai Chi Eight Trigrams diagram is related to space-time, with the eight trigram symbols being coordinates of the starry sky, and different permutations representing different star domains.

According to this hypothesis, the coordinates of any star region within the universe can be determined, and the Tai Chi Eight Trigrams diagram is equivalent to a Star Gate, capable of connecting wormholes.

Based on this speculation, the Tai Chi Eight Trigrams diagram is a stable structure. If sufficient energy can be provided and the coordinates of a certain star region established, after complex and precise calculations, a Star Gate can be opened.

However, this "complexity" is unimaginable, involving a strange "array," and this so-called "array" has not yet been recognized, remaining in the stage of speculation and hypothesis.

The "array" itself is related to space, and to this day it is far from being conquered, being extremely profound and complex.

It can be imagined how ethereal the construction of a Star Gate—the Tai Chi Eight Trigrams diagram—is. It can be said that it will be impossible to achieve for a very long period of time.

At this moment, Ye Fan and the others were fortunate enough to witness the construction process of the Tai Chi Eight Trigrams diagram again. If those who had speculated and researched Star Gates for many years saw this, they would be driven to madness with excitement, because it is a great testimony.

Unfortunately, Ye Fan and the others did not have such thoughts. They were now facing a strong sense of survival crisis, and their only wish was to escape this place as quickly as possible, because the shadow of death constantly hung over them.

A kilometer away, at the ruins of the Great Thunderclap Monastery, although it was temporarily quiet, a fierce and tragic aura was already surging over. Moreover, that pair of lantern-like, blood-red giant eyes was staring unblinkingly at them, extremely eerie in the darkness, making people tremble with fear.

The Tai Chi Eight Trigrams diagram in the sky had already taken shape, possessing the solidity and texture of metal, as if forged from refined gold essence.

Around it, space twisted, light was hazy, and the eight trigram symbols corresponding to Qian, Kun, Xun, Dui, Gen, Zhen, Li, and Kan successively emitted light, like a set of mysterious and ancient codes flashing.

The eight trigram symbols had flashed hundreds or thousands of times, undergoing complex permutations, but they had never been able to light up simultaneously. Eventually, they slowly dimmed again, and the huge Tai Chi Eight Trigrams diagram trembled, showing signs of disintegrating.

"How can this be..."

Many people were terrified. If the Ancient Stellar Path could not be opened, it meant death for them.

The light curtain covering the Five-Colored Altar dimmed to almost no light, with only faint traces of colorful light flowing toward the Tai Chi Eight Trigrams diagram in the sky. Seeing this scene, everyone understood why.

"Constructing the Tai Chi Eight Trigrams diagram, or opening the Star Gate, requires sufficient and stable mysterious energy supply, but now the energy is insufficient!"

"What do we do? Are we really going to die here..."

With the Crocodile Ancestor far away and the small crocodiles near, a net of death had already been cast over everyone.

"Bang"

More than a dozen small crocodiles had already drilled into the light curtain and began to attack everyone. Divine artifacts such as the incense burner, Vajra pestle, bronze bell, and fish drum all flashed with dazzling light, resisting the impact of the divine crocodiles. However, their strength was astonishingly great, and the impact forced everyone to retreat involuntarily.

"Crack, crack"

Outside the Five-Colored Altar, densely packed scales covered the ground. Thousands of divine crocodiles continuously impacted the light curtain, and more cracking sounds came. In just a short moment, over a hundred small crocodiles had successfully broken through.

This seemingly small but extremely ferocious species was terrifying. They could fly and burrow, and each divine crocodile was like a sharp sword with extremely strong penetrating power.

"It's no good. If we keep defending passively like this, we'll die here sooner or later," Pang Bo shouted. The bronze plaque of the Great Thunderclap Monastery continuously vibrated, emitting tens of thousands of rays of light, forming a light curtain that protected three or four people inside. Although it could temporarily ensure safety, no one could predict what would happen over a long period.

"Don't move for now. Let me go out and try first," Ye Fan instructed Pang Bo. He himself stopped defending passively and strode forward holding the ancient lamp.

Immediately, dozens of divine crocodiles shot toward him. Dozens of black lights were like lightning, fast and ruthless to the extreme, like nails piercing the light curtain emitted by the ancient lamp, forcefully drilling inward.

"Whoosh"

Ye Fan waited until dozens of divine crocodiles were close before blowing hard toward the lamp wick. Instantly, a blaze of brilliant light shot up into the sky. Within a radius of five or six meters around him, flames raged, completely engulfing the area in divine fire.

A scorched, foul smell immediately spread, and shrill screams rose and fell. When the flames slowly receded, Ye Fan was spotless, surrounded by streaks of pure radiance, like a banished immortal stepping on moonlight. But around him lay a ground full of scales, with dozens of divine crocodiles almost all burned to death.

A few ferocious creatures that narrowly escaped were nearly charred, their bodies covered in burns and no longer intact. They stared venomously at Ye Fan from a distance, emitting low growls that sent chills down everyone's spine.

"Good, burn them well!" Pang Bo shouted from behind, ready to rush over and attack as well. But he was tightly held back by the three people beside him—three pale-faced individuals who had no divine artifacts. Without the protection of the Great Thunderclap Monastery bronze plaque, they would surely die.

"Crack, crack"

The sound of shattering came again. This time, five or six hundred divine crocodiles broke through the light curtain and rushed in. Each was sinister, their small bodies seemingly condensed with demonic power. Their sharp teeth gleamed coldly, and their eyes were eerily frightening. All of them charged fearlessly, circling around Ye Fan.

"It's no good. Ye Fan alone can't handle so many 'black nails.' I need to help him," Pang Bo said, trying to go again.

"But... what about us?" The three people beside him, their faces deathly pale, looked at Pang Bo almost pleadingly.

"Of course, I won't let you die," Pang Bo turned to look at Wang Ziwen, Liu Yunzhi, and the others behind him. "You protect the three of them. I'm going to help Ye Fan, and it's best if a few more come. Passive defense like this is ultimately not the solution."

"Alright, I'll go with you," Zhou Yi stepped forward.

Pang Bo had never been fond of Zhou Yi, thinking him deep and scheming, but he had to admit that this refined man had a certain boldness at critical moments.

At this time, the seemingly gentle Wang Ziwen also stepped forward and said to those behind him, "One or two more come forward. The remaining divine artifacts are enough to protect everyone, but the girls shouldn't come."

Faced with such ferocious and hideous creatures, given the soft nature of women, they would likely become weak in the legs and hands. Even if they held Buddhist artifacts, they might not be able to help.

"Clang"

Pang Bo swung the Great Thunderclap Monastery bronze plaque heavily, slamming it onto the Five-Colored Altar. Instantly, a violent surge rushed forward—a terrifying wave of light that shot out seven or eight meters, engulfing a patch of divine crocodiles.

The sounds of death throes made one's scalp tingle, like a group of evil ghosts being refined. White smoke rose, and the ground was covered with corpses, a scorched smell filling the air.

This was a large-scale attack, unlike the first time when he faced a single divine crocodile and couldn't catch up to its speed. Now, with so many creatures swarming in, simply swinging the bronze plaque could crush dozens or hundreds at once.

"Dong..."

A melodious bell sound rang out, like the tolling of a bell in a deep mountain ancient temple, giving a sense of quiet and profundity. The broken bronze bell in Wang Ziwen's hand emitted a thousand layers of golden light, and visible ripples vibrated outward. They seemed soft, like water waves, but when they touched the charging divine crocodiles, they turned into butcher knives. Each golden ripple could sever a divine crocodile in half.

"Puff, puff, puff" sounds rang out continuously. In an instant, dozens of divine crocodiles were cut in half, spilling blood all over the ground. This bloody scene was very frightening.

But countless divine crocodiles were fearless. Now nearly a thousand small crocodiles had rushed in, densely packed. Black lights crisscrossed and charged, weaving into a net of death's scythe.

"Bang"

Zhou Yi continuously struck with the purple-gold alms bowl, sweeping out a large area of Buddhist light, crushing countless scales. The ground was covered with corpses, a miserable sight. Many small crocodiles had been turned into meat paste, blood and flesh indistinguishable.

This was a very tragic scene. To survive, everyone went all out. Blood quickly stained the altar, the pungent smell of blood spread everywhere, and faint blood mist rose, like a Shura field.

"Ah!"

At that moment, two screams came from behind. Two classmates fell in pools of blood, their heads covered in bloody holes, their bodies crawling with ugly small crocodiles, their black scales gleaming.

Everyone felt a wave of sorrow. Life and death were beyond their control. Despite their desperate struggle, two more classmates had died tragically.

These two had jointly held a divine artifact, but just now, three or four hundred divine crocodiles had surged in, charging with immense force, directly knocking them flying. The Buddhist artifact in their hands slipped and fell aside, and they were immediately engulfed by the small crocodiles, dying on the spot.

"Don't let go even if you die!" Lin Jia shouted, warning everyone.

Many people were already being knocked around, and because they shared Buddhist artifacts with others, their movements were restricted, making the situation extremely dangerous.

"Ah!"

Two more screams came. A male and a female classmate fell in pools of blood, drenched in blood, a miserable sight. Their eyes were wide open, dying with regret.

The people behind quickly gathered together, defending and attacking simultaneously, wielding divine artifacts to slash at the divine crocodiles. The situation was temporarily stabilized.

"Kill!" Liu Yunzhi's face was somewhat pale. He had a gloomy personality and wasn't very brave, but at this moment, he also rushed out holding the Vajra Divine Pestle.

In Buddhist legends, this was a powerful holy artifact for protecting the faith, destroying enemies like crushing chickens and dogs, invincible, symbolizing omnipotence. It was a staff wielded by various saints with true Buddha nature.

Lightning danced, light flickered. Divine light shone around Liu Yunzhi. The Vajra Divine Pestle swept across like mowing down an army, leaving a trail of blood and countless broken scales, crushing a large area of divine crocodiles.

The power of the Vajra Divine Pestle was evident!

At that moment, the foreigner Kaide also rushed over, shouting "gibberish" loudly, holding a broken wooden fish and beating it randomly.

"God is merciful..." Although he shouted this, his hands were not soft. The broken wooden fish looked like it would fall apart at any moment, but it possessed mysterious power.

On it were engraved three Bodhisattvas, which now manifested as light projections, floating around the foreigner Kaide, sweeping away the surrounding divine crocodiles.

"Lord, are these the angels you sent? Quickly kill these demons from hell!" At this extremely tense moment, the foreigner's Chinese suddenly became fluent, and he shouted loudly.

"Blond-haired foreign devil, you're holding Buddha's things. Don't talk nonsense, alright..." At this life-and-death moment, Pang Bo was actually amused by him.

After Kaide shouted "gibberish" for a while, he said, "God said all living beings are equal. My Lord is merciful. Bodhisattvas are angels..."

"Bullshit your God's fart. All living beings are equal. Buddha is merciful. That's what Buddha said, alright..."

Their exchange brought a different atmosphere to this altar filled with death.

The blood on the altar turned into specks of blood light, breaking through the light curtain, floating up into the sky, converging toward the already unstable Tai Chi Eight Trigrams diagram, making the soon-to-collapse Star Gate flicker with light again.

Obviously, everyone noticed this and showed signs of excitement.

"Kill! The more we kill, the better. These divine crocodiles are descendants of a great demon ancestor. In essence, they have divine blood flowing in their veins, condensed with divine power. Through the altar, they can be transformed into the mysterious energy needed by the Tai Chi Eight Trigrams diagram."

"That's right. This Five-Colored Stone Altar is originally a sacrificial platform. In that distant past, blood sacrifice must have been considered."

The Tai Chi Eight Trigrams diagram in the sky became clearer and more brilliant, as if cast from metal. Light flashed continuously. The eight trigram symbols flickered unpredictably. After changing countless times in a complex sequence, they were about to all light up, opening the Ancient Stellar Path.

"Boom"

But at that moment, at the Great Thunderclap Monastery, a fierce aura surged into the sky. The ground completely cracked, and a massive creature shot up, shaking the heavens!

Almost instantly, everyone felt their souls about to leave their bodies. Almost everyone collapsed weakly on the altar.

Two lantern-like, huge blood-red eyes approached from far away in the darkness, rapidly closing in!

"That's the Crocodile Ancestor from myth, suppressed under the Great Thunderclap Monastery by the Buddha! Now that it has escaped, who in this world can subdue it?!"

Everyone felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar, utterly despairing. Even if a Bodhisattva truly manifested, it might not be able to subdue such a world-shaking great demon. Only the Buddha himself could do it.

Could it be that at this final moment, they would really lose their lives to this legendary demon?

"Clang"

At that moment, the giant bronze coffin on the Five-Colored Altar suddenly emitted a trembling sound. The two red lantern-like blood eyes in the distance immediately froze, as if hesitating, and stopped moving forward.

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