Chapter 111: A Ritual?

The walls were lined with certain prohibitive formations—although they were only high-level Huang Ling barriers, which were ineffective against Nascent Soul cultivators, directly flying in would certainly trigger the defenses. If anyone were inside, they would undoubtedly be alerted.

So, to be cautious, they entered through the main gate.

Although the gate was over ten meters tall and appeared heavy, to a Nascent Soul cultivator, it was as fragile as paper.

Elder Li stepped forward and carefully opened a small crack in the gate. Suddenly, a sinister wind blew out from the gap. Startled like a bird struck by an arrow, Elder Li immediately waved his sleeve, summoning a defensive barrier. The demonic wind clashed with the formation and dissipated without causing even a ripple.

Only then did Elder Li breathe a sigh of relief.

He then opened the gate wide enough for a single person to pass through, slipped inside, and vanished from sight.

Elder Li Chu turned to Chen Xiang and said, “Young friend Chu, you go in first.”

“Ah, oh!” Chen Xiang was momentarily taken aback but nodded and followed through the gate.

Yet, a flicker of suspicion crossed his mind. Why did Elder Li Chu insist he go first? Could he be a spy, sent to lure them in before calling others to ambush? Or was there a trap inside? Damn it, maybe it really was like that!

His vigilance heightened, Chen Xiang also used his divine sense to watch Elder Li Chu as he entered.

To his surprise, Elder Li Chu followed closely behind and carefully closed the gate.

This was awkward.

Chen Xiang maintained a composed expression, revealing nothing of his thoughts, silently hoping to let the matter pass.

Inside the gate, the scene was impressive—palatial structures everywhere. Except that red walls and yellow roofs were forbidden, the architectural complex was grand and vast.

Elder Li stood not far away, his face grave as he gazed upward.

Chen Xiang followed his gaze and immediately widened his eyes, cursing under his breath, “Damn!”

Elder Li Chu also stared in disbelief at the sight above.

Over the entire Li family estate hovered a massive cloud of black and red mist. From below, tendrils of black and red fog continuously rose, merging into the swirling mass above.

Chen Xiang’s divine sense could not penetrate the black and red mist to discern its nature. Yet, the black and red energies rising beneath could be clearly identified.

The black energy was death aura, and the red energy was blood essence.

Judging by this, someone was performing a blood sacrifice here!

“Elder Li, shall we investigate? Young friend Chu, you…” Elder Li looked at Elder Li Chu, then glanced at Chen Xiang, hesitating over what to say.

“Elder Li, I…” Chen Xiang began but was interrupted by Elder Li Chu.

“Old Li, Young friend Chu was introduced by the Fourth Elder and is now officially a guest of the Li family. At a time like this, there’s no need to exclude him. Let’s go together, just be careful,” Elder Li Chu said as if advocating on Chen Xiang’s behalf.

Chen Xiang wanted to refuse, planning to wait outside and follow quietly to assess the situation, retreating if overwhelmed. But with Elder Li Chu speaking so earnestly, he found it hard to decline.

“All arrangements will follow the elders’ decisions,” Chen Xiang forced a smile, more pitiful than tearful.

Elder Li smiled and patted his shoulder. “Good, I was being overcautious. More hands make lighter work, but you must be careful. If anything happens to you, I won’t be able to explain it to the Fourth Elder.” Then his tone grew serious.

Chen Xiang nodded in acknowledgment.

“Let’s go,” Elder Li took a deep breath and flew toward the black-and-red mist.

Elder Li Chu followed closely behind.

Chen Xiang snorted quietly and followed. He wasn’t worried—if overwhelmed, he still had ten mid-tier teleportation talismans.

Soon, the three approached the ominous mist.

They cautiously landed on a palace roof, suppressing their aura, then pressed themselves against a raised edge to conceal their bodies as they peered downward.

What they saw was shocking.

Below lay a massive sacrificial altar stretching over a thousand meters in both width and length, densely packed with over ten thousand people.

But these were no living people—their eyes were vacant, faces pale, bodies shriveled and lifeless. They were all corpses!

From some of the corpses’ mouths emerged black vapor, while some of the plumper ones also exhaled red vapor. Those emitting the red vapor appeared noticeably thinner.

Besides these corpses, no living beings were present on the altar. The ceremony seemed to be automated, unattended by any priest.

“Who dares to conduct a blood sacrifice on the Li family altar? And most of these victims are our guests—this is outrageous!” Elder Li’s face darkened with fury.

Most of the corpses were from the Li family; some were strangers he did not recognize. Yet they dared to violate his family—naturally, Elder Li was enraged.

“Old Li, now is not the time for outrage. Let’s disrupt this sacrifice first. I don’t know what they extract from this blood and death aura, but it can’t be allowed to continue. We should also hurry back to our main estate to check on things,” Elder Li Chu said.

Elder Li nodded sharply. “Right, we must return quickly. What if something’s happened at home? We must find the family head and the ancestor immediately!”

With that resolved, Elder Li cautiously probed the altar’s surface with his divine sense and confirmed no one was present before descending.

But the moment he landed, he discovered the altar was protected by a formation—a profound low-level mystic array.

Though Elder Li could dispel such an array, it would not be easy and would certainly cause a commotion.

Those collecting the death and blood aura would not ignore the altar; breaking the formation would surely draw their attention.

“The altar is guarded by a low-level mystic array—too precious to tamper with. Let’s return to the main estate and assess the situation first,” Elder Li said grimly as he rejoined the others.

Elder Li Chu was equally stunned. A low-level mystic array? Such a valuable defensive formation used here? They must be very concerned about that mist.

Chen Xiang, however, was unfazed. Having been a terrestrial mystic array engineer for several days, he had even set up high-level terrestrial arrays. This low-level mystic array was nothing to him.

The three rose again, ensuring the entire base was devoid of living beings as they hurried on.

After a while, they arrived before a cave.

Chen Xiang’s divine sense detected seven or eight people inside. He did not alert the elders and quietly followed behind.

“To be continued…”