Chapter 233: Sacrifice?
The old ancestor riding the black-furred boar saw Jiang Li on the giant’s shoulder with his sharp eyes. While he was surprised, he heaved a sigh of relief.
Although he did not know what had happened, it should not be the Hundred Tempering Mountain’s helper.
“Looks like he’s one of us. That kid Jiang Li has quite the fortune!”
At this moment, they also saw the great battle outside. With the help of the demon beast tide, the cultivators of the three sects were rus.h.i.+ng towards the interior of the Hundred Tempering Mountain.
“Old friends, the juniors outside are so hardworking. We can’t fall behind!”
“Hmph! I must kill those few fellows from the Hundred Tempering Mountain today!”
The eight of them targeted another Demon General transformed from a peak-level cultivator of the Hundred Tempering Mountain.
The Demon General’s entire body jolted from being stared at, but he wanted to escape but was firmly entangled by the opponent in front of him. Soon, he was surrounded by nine people with no way out.
On the Wind Protection Giant’s side, its mind was a little slow, but its strength was really powerful.
After seeing the spatial crack, its one eye became ferocious.
The Wind Protection Giant instinctively felt disgusted by the aura of the Asura World.
The tornado mace in his hand was thrown out. It quickly swelled and surrounded the entire crack.
The sharp tornado was like a super large meat grinder, crus.h.i.+ng all the monsters that emerged.
The Wind Protection Giant’s control of the wind was not only based on spiritual qi, but also used the power of nature.
In the Hundred Tempering Mountain, it was enveloped by the black lotus shadow and did not have any spiritual qi, so the power of the tornado had decreased.
However, the scope and power of the violent wind was still very large. It was not something that ordinary Asura World monsters could resist.
As soon as this tornado appeared, there were few monsters that could pa.s.s through the wind wall. It quickly reduced the number of enemies.
This temporarily blocked the endless monsters.
The cultivators of the three sects no longer had any reservations and chased after the remaining Demon Generals.
Including Old Demon Black Lotus and Situ Fengzhu, the remaining four Demon Generals thought that they were confident of victory and could use the power opposite the spatial crack to conquer the Great Mountain Region.
Although they were no longer humans, their ambitions did not decrease at all.
However, at this moment, seeing a Demon General being beaten to death, they who had fallen into madness could not help but feel fear.
Now, the cultivators of the three sects had freed themselves with the help of the Wind Protection Giant and many demon beasts.
Another Demon General was captured and attacked by nine top-notch experts. The huge Asura on the other side of the gap could not come over, and the remaining three no longer had the courage to continue.
Risking their injuries, they forced back the three top cultivators for a moment. Then, they turned around and broke through the tornado wall before charging into the spatial rift.
The last three troublesome Demon Generals fled, so how could the remaining monsters still have the strength to fight?
In just half an hour, the chaotic battlefield had already come to an end.
All the higher-ups were gasping for breath as they gathered in front of the spatial crack blocked by the tornado.
Jiang Li stood there holding a five-armed Core Formation monster. Although he was only at the Foundation Establishment realm, his credit for this battle was extremely great. No one questioned his qualifications to stand here.
“Martial Ancestor, how should we close this gap?”
The three Hundred Tempering Mountain cultivators who had transformed into Asura monsters fled into the Asura World, but the spatial crack did not close.
It was naturally impossible to leave such a dangerous thing here. Otherwise, there would be no peace in the cultivation world of the Great Mountain Region.
Fortunately, they were not completely clueless.
More than 200 years ago, the Shu Mountain Five Elements Peak and Scripture Storage Valley had joined forces to destroy the Black Lotus Divine Sect.
Since they had already closed the spatial crack once, the experienced Guardians and Shu Mountain Hidden Sword Elders definitely knew a little.
“Once such a spatial rift is opened and closed, it won’t be so simple anymore!”
“Hou Hei! Bring your men to cut off the earth vein.”
One of the Hidden Sword Elders of Shu Mountain stood up and began to organize people to give orders. At this moment, the only one who could speak was the leader of the Great Mountain Region, Shu Mountain.
“Yes!”
“Young friend Jiang Li, we have to trouble you again.”
The Shu Mountain Earth Peak’s Peak Master, Hou Hei, stepped forward and acknowledged. Then, he turned around and cupped his hands towards Jiang Li.
The earth vein had previously been forcefully moved by the array formation. Now that it had been broken and recovered, it was very likely that it had returned to its original location.
If they had to find it again, it would take a long time. Naturally, they needed Jiang Li’s help.
Jiang Li naturally had no choice but to put away the spoils of war in his hand and leave with Peak Master Hou Hei.
However, this made the other higher-ups very surprised.
The dignified Peak Master of the Shu Mountain Earth Peak actually had to consult a junior when finding the earth vein?
“Guangling, what’s going on?”
After Dongfang Guangling explained the previous matter, the others finally understood why they could break the Hundred Tempering Mountain’s defensive array so quickly when the battle started.
It turned out that there was actually the credit of such a junior here.
In a short four hours, Jiang Li brought his people to find the earth vein that had been moved back to its original location. Many array masters followed behind him and set up array formations as they walked. Soon, they completely severed the earth vein.
Without the support of the earth vein power, the huge lotus phantom in the sky finally began to slowly collapse.
Without the obstruction of the black lotus shadow, the surrounding spiritual qi of heaven and earth immediately swept over, colliding intensely with the power of chaos here.
Without the power of the earth vein, the huge spatial crack began to slowly shrink and heal.
Without the cultivators’ control, the black lotus platform could no longer be handled.
Many high-level cultivators joined forces and sealed the black lotus platform with the power of the three sects.
Soon, the crack shrunk to a length of 30 feet, only enough for one or two people to pa.s.s through.
The monsters of the Asura World squeezed through the crack and wanted to rush over.
However, without intelligence, they were cut into pieces before they could squeeze over! Even if a few came here, they would not be able to cause any trouble.
However, after the spatial crack shrank to this size, it no longer healed.
The reason was that the spatial crack was two-way. On the other side of the Asura World, there was also something maintaining this pa.s.sageway.
According to the top cultivators of Shu Mountain and Scripture Storage Valley, such a spatial rift could not be opened casually.
They had to offer a blood sacrifice to the Asura Lord of the other world. After the two-way connection was established, it could be opened.
Moreover, if they wanted to open a spatial crack as large as before, they would need powerful support on both sides.
On the side of the Great Mountain Region, the demonic artifact, Black Lotus, was maintaining the crack. On the other side, there was a special building called the Blood Pool of the Asura World.
Once this pa.s.sageway was formed, the opposite blood pool could also maintain the crack unilaterally.
In other words, if they wanted to completely close the crack, they had to cut off all the power on both sides.
Someone had to pa.s.s through the gap to the other side and destroy the blood pool building.
However, there was a high chance that cultivators would not return after going there.
This did not mean that the spatial crack would disappear instantly. Everyone had seen the speed of spatial recovery just now. It was actually not very fast.
If it was just to cause destruction there and return through the crack,
to these top cultivators, it was completely possible.
However, there were three Demon Generals transformed from top-notch cultivators on the opposite side and an Asura Lord with unfathomable strength who could shatter s.p.a.ce with a punch.
If one went over to cause problems before coming back, it was obvious that they would stop him.
“Can we try sending puppets?”
An elder made a suggestion, but it was not very constructive and was quickly rejected.
“The difference in s.p.a.ce will block the connection between the caster and the puppet. As long as you pa.s.s through s.p.a.ce, you will immediately lose control.”
“Moreover, the blood pool is very st.u.r.dy. With the Asura Lord and the three Demon Generals around, ordinary puppets and cultivators have no ability to destroy the blood pool.”
In other words…
If they wanted to completely close the crack, they had to sacrifice one or several of the twelve top-notch cultivators to succeed.
Back then, they had done the same.
Two of the founders of the Scripture Storage Valley did not return.
However, this method was still unacceptable.
These twelve elders were all the last remaining ancestors of the three major sects and were one of the few top cultivators.
They had just blocked a calamity for the Great Mountain Region.
Logically speaking, no one could ask them to sacrifice themselves.
Sacrificing any of them was a huge loss to the cultivation world of the Great Mountain Region.
However, was there any other way?
“Seniors, Martial Ancestors, can you listen to me?”
As everyone fell silent and the twelve top-notch cultivators were discussing seriously,
Jiang Li, who had just returned with the Peak Master Hou Hei, suddenly stepped forward and spoke.
Amongst the higher-ups of the Golden Core Realm, Jiang Li’s sudden interruption was actually not very in line with the rules. However, geniuses would always have some privileges.
“What do you have in mind? Tell us. Young people might have good ideas.”
Elder Zhu of the Scripture Storage Valley smiled and let Jiang Li speak.
“If puppets can’t do it, why not try zombies?”
“Junior, stand down. What’s the difference between a puppet and a zombie? Don’t speak again if you don’t know the situation…”
Jiang Li spoke his thoughts, but as soon as he started, he was interrupted. That elder probably thought that Jiang Li was arrogant because of his achievements, and he was impatient to find a chance to make his presence known.
However, before that person could finish, he was stopped by a top-notch cultivator.
“Continue.”
Ancestor Zhu gestured for Jiang Li to continue.
This was because he had taken out his loot, a Demon Soldier corpse transformed from a Core Formation cultivator.
“If we use the Zombie Puppet Technique to control the bodies of these monsters to go to the other side, perhaps we can hide from the enemy and complete the mission without fighting them.”
“This is indeed possible, but this can only solve one problem.”
“After pa.s.sing through the spatial crack, how should we control the zombie? The power of the zombie is too weak and doesn’t have the ability to destroy the blood pool. Have you thought about these two points?”
The other cultivators were not stupid. How could they not have thought of such a simple method? However, if they did not resolve two of the problems, there was not much difference between a puppet and a zombie.
The sect’s grandmaster patiently explained to Jiang Li, trying to make him understand his mistake and back off.
However, Jiang Li gave him an unexpected answer.
“I’ve actually thought about these two points before.”
“If ordinary puppet techniques aren’t enough, what about body borrowing or possession techniques? I believe this shouldn’t be a problem for you, Martial Ancestors and Seniors.”
Ordinary Zombie Puppet techniques used rune imprints to link the mind to remotely control the Zombie Puppet.
This method was relatively safe, but it was also more likely to fail. Even the Yin Burial Coffin back then could cut off the connection, let alone two complete worlds.
However, the body borrowing method allowed the cultivator’s soul to leave his body and enter the corpse to temporarily ‘reincarnate’.
With such a method, the original body would fall into a dangerous state of false death. The soul that entered the zombie would also be easily attacked, but this method did not mean that the connection would be broken.
The cultivation realm above the Nascent Soul realm was called the Soul Formation realm, which was the transformation of the Nascent Soul into the Essence Soul. When the Essence Soul left the body, it could swim to the North Sea and return in the evening. There were many incredible abilities and uses.
The bodies of the Asura World monsters were filled with terrible negative emotions. It was very dangerous for ordinary cultivators to borrow souls, but for these twelve Soul Formation cultivators, it should not be difficult.
If they did this, although their Essence Soul still had to enter the other world, the possibility of hiding and escaping would undoubtedly increase greatly.
The mission of certain death had an additional chance of survival.
“There’s still one last question. Even if we possess the corpse, we will definitely be unable to unleash our original strength. How can we destroy the blood pool?”
This time, Jiang Li did not explain directly.
Instead, he took out a porcelain bowl and placed it in front of the fatal wound.
With a squeeze, dirty blood was squeezed out and filled the bowl.
He first took out a high-grade spirit stone and threw it into the bowl. The blood in the bowl began to boil slightly.
However, this reaction clearly did not satisfy him.
He took out the spirit stones and used the Spirit Melting Fluid to extract the spiritual qi in the high-grade spirit stones.
Then, Jiang Li directly dripped the drop of spiritual liquid into the bowl.
Boom!
The moment the liquid touched the blood, it exploded.
The porcelain bowl fragments scattered in all directions. A few of them even flew hundreds of meters away and embedded themselves in the hard rocks.
Jiang Li had done such a dangerous explosion experiment, but none of the cultivators present expressed their displeasure. Instead, their eyes lit up uniformly.
They all knew that the power of chaos and spiritual qi were incompatible, but they had never experienced the reaction of the two combined.
Jiang Li had only discovered this through repeated experiments by the sword cultivator clone.
The concentration of the blood of madness in the blood pool was definitely not inferior to that of the Demon Soldiers.
As long as they invested enough high-grade spiritual liquid into the blood pool, the reaction would be completely enough to destroy it.
Although this method was still dangerous, it was much better than the original method of direct confrontation.
“Good kid, we’ll do as you say. Immediately gather the Spirit Melting Fluid from the surrounding sects and markets!”