The altar was located in a vast space surrounded by mountains, appearing to be in so valley. However, when Zhu Baiyi and Qingyu had previously surveyed half the island from a high mountain, they hadn't seen this altar area, suggesting either it was on the opposite side of the island or concealed by so barrier or formation.
Zhu Baiyi grabbed Qingyu's wrist and, before the latter could pull away, whispered: "Follow ."
Qingyu hesitated montarily, but due to the unusual environnt, didn't resist and followed Zhu Baiyi away from the altar. Without any apparent search thod, Zhu Baiyi headed directly in one direction, and soon they found several stone houses hidden away.
The two cautiously approached and checked each house, discovering that many contained imprisoned spirit beasts. The lower-ranked ones were at Nascent Soul level, the higher-ranked at Spirit Division level. There were no beasts above Fusion realm, though it was unclear whether the natives couldn't capture such beasts or if there was so other reason. Nevertheless, even those currently imprisoned were nurous.
Having witnessed the scene at the altar, the purpose of these spirit beasts was obvious. Using blood for sacrifices always gave people an ominous feeling, especially since the natives weren't just capturing spirit beasts but had also taken many cultivators, which was even more concerning.
Qingyu's expression grew increasingly grim while Zhu Baiyi remained silent. The two circled around the stone houses containing spirit beasts until they reached the only distinctive one.
This stone house was taller and more spacious, appearing more refined than those nearby. Even the doors and windows were carved with nurous patterns—or at least, that's how they appeared to Qingyu. To Zhu Baiyi, they were demonic race formations: so for soundproofing, so to prevent prying eyes, others to block attacks, and more, with large and small formations layered together.
Clearly, this stone house differed from those surrounding it—it was designed for human habitation or temporary lodging. Though these formations could block others, they couldn't stop Zhu Baiyi with her demonic race bloodline.
She gestured to Qingyu, who imdiately understood, suppressing her emotions to keep watch for her.
Shortly afterward, Zhu Baiyi modified those formations. She left the complex formations untouched, only temporarily disabling the soundproofing and anti-surveillance functions, making it easy for them to spy on what was happening inside.
However, Zhu Baiyi hadn't expected that besides seeing the legendary rperson, she would also see a familiar face—a gaunt figure with a pale complexion and sunken eye sockets like a skull. Who else could it be but the Grand Elder of Nine Abyss Sect? He had led the Nine Abyss Sect disciples aboard the ghost ship, and though he too had been surrounded by deep sea spirit beasts when the ship was destroyed, he now appeared here perfectly fine.
In an instant, both Zhu Baiyi and Qingyu's minds filled with conspiracy theories: Nine Abyss Sect had been restless for decades, a fact known to all, and both won knew that eighty years ago, the Nine Abyss Sect Leader had sched against them once, though unsuccessfully. Could this ghost ship incident and the rpeople be part of their plot as well?
Both had this thought simultaneously, but before they could exchange glances, the situation suddenly changed.
They had arrived sowhat late and didn't know what the rperson and the Nine Abyss Sect Grand Elder had discussed earlier, but now the negotiations had clearly broken down. They heard the Nine Abyss Sect Grand Elder shout: "Our plan would benefit you without harming you. Why must you be so stubborn?"
The rperson didn't respond verbally but waved his hand, sending a blue spiritual energy attack toward the elder.
Indeed, on this island, the rperson hadn't lost his spiritual energy. Even away from seawater, his power remained formidable—compared to cultivators who had lost their spiritual energy, he had many more thods at his disposal.
The two observers' eyes brightened slightly at this sight—they were wary of the rperson and didn't believe he harbored good intentions toward cultivators, but they disliked the Nine Abyss Sect people even more. Now that these two parties were fighting, with the Nine Abyss Sect Grand Elder clearly at a disadvantage, they were naturally pleased.
But contrary to their expectations, the Nine Abyss Sect Grand Elder didn't resign himself to defeat. He raised his hand, and black demonic energy imdiately gathered in his palm. With a wave, it collided with the rperson's spiritual energy, creating a trendous boom.
Qingyu was surprised and instinctively turned to look at Zhu Baiyi.
eting her gaze, Zhu Baiyi imdiately understood her question and mouthed: "Demonic energy doesn't exist here either. I asked those disciples—all their demonic energy dissipated after landing on the island."
As for herself, her demonic power was originally closer to spiritual energy, and in her early years without inheritance, she had cultivated spiritual energy instead.
This made the Nine Abyss Sect Grand Elder's persistent demonic energy extrely unusual. Zhu Baiyi looked more carefully for a mont and finally determined: "That's not demonic energy—it's netherworld ghost energy disguised as demonic energy!"
As everyone knew, Nine Abyss Sect was an extrely unusual sect. They cultivated with the aid of netherworld power, which accelerated their cultivation progress trendously but also greatly affected their bodies when cultivated to profound levels. The most obvious signs were their pale complexions and emaciated figures. What outsiders didn't know was that this influence wasn't rely external—in fact, at the level of the Nine Abyss Sect Grand Elder, the body had already transford into half-human, half-ghost.
This brings us to the Nine Abyss Sect Leader, who maintained a normal appearance to the outside world, seemingly at the cost of spiritual energy, but was actually the result of deliberately limiting the amount of netherworld power in his body.
This wasn't because he wasn't fanatical enough or was too restrained, but because the ghost cultivation path was more difficult than human cultivation, not to ntion being half-human, half-ghost.
The Grand Elder before them was different. Whether he was unaware of the dangers or had decided to go all the way down this path, the netherworld power in his body had thoroughly gained the upper hand. And this island was very strange—it absorbed spiritual energy and eliminated demonic energy, but seed to have no particular restriction against netherworld ghost power, allowing the Grand Elder to preserve his power.
This uniqueness gave the Grand Elder the strength and confidence to face the rperson's attack calmly. The rperson, not expecting this developnt, exclaid in surprise before engaging the Grand Elder in full combat.
On rperson Island, the rperson should have had the advantage, but with the Grand Elder retaining his power while the rperson was away from seawater, the situation was reversed. After several exchanges, the battle turned in the Grand Elder's favor, and he grew smug: "Those who know their circumstances are true heroes. Your rperson race only has you left, right? Don't refuse the wine cup only to be forced to drink a penalty!"
The two outside the stone house frowned watching this, while the rperson facing the Grand Elder grew furious and laughed coldly: "You don't think you can stir up any trouble in my territory, do you?"
As his words fell, the rperson raised his hand, and imdiately all the formation patterns carved into the stone house lit up.
Seeing this, Zhu Baiyi imdiately knew things were bad. She knew so demonic race formations, but had only self-taught from a manual. Recognizing the various formations on the stone house had already been difficult—how could she have known these formations could combine into a grand formation? Now that this grand formation was activated, her earlier tampering would certainly be discovered. Regardless of whether it affected the rperson's abilities, her discovery was inevitable.
If she were alone, Zhu Baiyi wouldn't fear anything, but with Qingyu beside her, she couldn't take risks. Therefore, as soon as the formations lit up, Zhu Baiyi grabbed Qingyu and fled.
The two escaped back to the altar, activated the teleportation formation to return to the tribe, then left the tribe to rejoin their disciples...
From beginning to end, the rperson never pursued them, though it was unclear whether he was detained by the Grand Elder.
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Qingyu pondered the entire way but couldn't understand what Nine Abyss Sect wanted from the rperson. She instinctively felt that a major conspiracy lurked behind this, but unfortunately, she and Zhu Baiyi had arrived too late and heard nothing. Then they left too early—had they stayed a mont longer, they might have learned sothing from the two's exchange.
Despite her thoughts, Zhu Baiyi had imdiately pulled her away for her safety, which Qingyu certainly appreciated. She only felt so regret and couldn't help being curious and speculative.
After so hesitation, the two didn't conceal anything and briefly related what they had discovered to their disciples.
Not to ntion the Xuanqing Sect disciples, even the Crimson Blood Sect side was in an uproar after hearing this. They had never imagined that Nine Abyss Sect would extend their sches to the deep sea and attempt so transaction with the rpeople. Though no one could fathom the purpose behind this, Nine Abyss Sect's plans were clearly nefarious, and the rpeople themselves seed to harbor ill intentions toward them.
Setting aside Nine Abyss Sect for a mont, the mysterious altar discovered by Qingyu and Zhu Baiyi prompted many theories among the group...
Soone imdiately pointed out: "With a teleportation formation in the tribe, it's clear the rperson and the altar have deep connections with the island's natives. And with so many cultivators captured, could they be planning to use the cultivators as sacrifices?!"
This statent voiced what most were thinking and caused everyone's hearts to sink further.
However, soone raised a question: "If they're intended as sacrifices, why keep them in the tribe instead of transporting them to the altar?"
Without needing to think, soone imdiately replied: "Perhaps the ti isn't right."
As those words fell, another added: "Maybe the preparations aren't complete."
Then soone else said: "Or they haven't captured enough cultivators yet and need more." Glancing toward Jiang Mo's group, they added: "Last night's rescue attempt—maybe those captives are being used as bait, waiting for us to attempt a rescue so they can catch us all at once?"
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After much discussion, they couldn't deduce Nine Abyss Sect's conspiracy without evidence. However, they had largely figured out the rperson and natives' malicious intentions toward cultivators—setting aside their island experiences, even the ghost ship now seed highly suspicious, as if it were a trap set long ago, just waiting for them to fall in one by one.
Unfortunately, they had indeed fallen for it. People who had co seeking treasures were now all trapped on this strange island depleted of spiritual energy. Forget about any miraculous encounters; at this point, not losing their lives here would be fortunate enough.
However, amid their complex emotions, one question remained unanswered: what was the purpose of this sacrifice?
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