As the Leader of the Nine Pinnacles Mountain and one of the most powerful people in the Holy Region, Tian Xing never expected his visit to the Heaven Dao Pavilion would end up like this.
300 disciples of the Nine Pinnacles Mountain went with him.
Furthermore, ten of them were in the Sage State.
This composition was enough to fight the Heaven Dao Pavilion. However, right now, he had no choice but to make verbal threats. This meant that Tian Xing was in a really desperate state.
He was not the only one.
Dozens of Nine Pinnacles Mountain disciples were in similar states. With their strength, there was no way they could resist the attractive force of the Blood Offering Ill.u.s.tration.
"Ah! No!"
"Master!"
"Save me…"
Their voices rang out in Tian Xing"s ears. Figures whizzed past him as they flew into the Blood Offering Ill.u.s.tration in the sky.
It was a shocking scene.
Nangong Hao said nothing. He did not reply to Tian Xing"s words. It was as if he had not even heard his threat.
He grabbed Tian Xing tightly as he flew into the Blood Offering Ill.u.s.tration with him.
This scene shocked the Heaven Dao Pavilion disciples. Not only were they shocked, they also felt a strange sense of suspicion.
They did not know why he was doing this.
The moment Nangong Hao spat blood out from his mouth, they thought that this could stop because Nangong Hao, like everyone else, was controlled by the Blood Offering Ill.u.s.tration.
However, the truth was that…
Nangong Hao had no intention of stopping. Not only did he not stop, he continued to fight with his life. It was as if he wanted to personally drag Tian Xing into the Blood Offering Ill.u.s.tration.
A suicide mission?
What was the point of this suicide mission?
No one knew.
Fang Zhengzhi did not know too. After all, after Nangong Hao stabbed Tian Xing for no apparent reason, everything turned strange.
He subtly felt that this situation was not as simple as it seemed, because with Nangong Hao"s cunning, he could not possibly make such a mistake.
So was this a suicide mission?
Impossible!
With Fang Zhengzhi"s understanding of Nangong Hao, he knew that he did everything carefully. Hence, he should have a plan for when he became injured.
So if this was not a suicide mission…
Why was he so intent on dragging Tian Xing into the Blood Offering Ill.u.s.tration? If he really entered it, what method would he use to escape from it?
If Nangong Hao could escape from it, Tian Xing could too!
There were too many questions.
The most important point was why Nangong Hao wanted to drag Tian Xing into the Blood Offering Ill.u.s.tration even if it meant that he would get devoured by the Blood Offering Ill.u.s.tration too. What secret was inside it?
Fang Zhengzhi did not know.
However, he could see the panic in Nangong Mu"s eyes, as well as his look of agony.
"Brother, no!" Nangong Mu"s voice was not only panicky, but he was also pained. It was a pain that came from the heart.
At this moment…
Fang Zhengzhi felt a figure las.h.i.+ng out from behind him. It was a snake tail that shone faintly with light. It lashed out extremely quickly toward Nangong Hao and Tian Xing.
The snake tail coiled around them.
"Kacha!" The snake tail coiled itself around Nangong Hao and Tian Xing who were hurtling toward the Blood Offering Ill.u.s.tration. Instantly, Tian Xing and Nangong Hao both stopped.
"Chi Guyan…" Nangong Hao"s body trembled. His snow-white scholar robes danced in the air as he finally spoke that name faintly.
"Nangong Hao, stop! It"s not too late!" Beads of sweat dripped from Chi Guyan"s face. It was clear that she was having a hard time.
"I know, but I can"t because this… this is my destiny…" As Nangong Hao spoke, he grabbed the snake tail that was coiled around him as he tried to push it off him.
"Brother, father did not say that you should sacrifice your life. The destiny of the Nangong Family can be completed by me too. Brother… go!" Nangong Mu shouted the moment he heard Nangong Hao"s voice.
"Go? It"s too late… brother, I"m sorry! I know that you"re very strong and I know that you want to beat me, even if it"s just once. However, I can"t be defeated by you, not even once. Brother, you are a true genius. No one was able to cultivate our family"s "Green and Blue Secret Art" for a few hundred years, but you did!"
Nangong Hao shook his head slightly. Then, he looked skyward and continued, "Actually, on that day, I was really happy for you… father was too. He even said that he wanted to raise you specially, in case something happened. However, I stopped father. I told him that nothing would happen. I made him give all his resources to me because only I can realize the Nangong Family"s destiny!"
"When you wrote your reflections for the "Green and Blue Secret Art" and handed it joyfully to father, I was there too!" When Nangong Hao said this, a crystal-clear light shone in his eyes. "I told father that the future of the Nangong Family can only depend on me, and me only!"
"Brother, do you know? It"s not that father did not want to see your reflections for the "Green and Blue Secret Art", and it"s not that he did not want to use it to teach other members of our family. However, he knew that I would not like it!" At this moment, Nangong Hao"s voice turned sad. Quickly, he recovered and said, "Actually, winning all the time isn"t a happy thing!"
When Nangong Hao said that, he broke free from the snake tail. He looked at Nangong Mu and two tears of blood trickled down his face.
However, his expression remained resolute.
"Brother, brother, I don"t… I don"t want to hear all these! I can defeat you! I"ll defeat you now! Don"t go! Stay!" Nangong Mu"s body started to tremble violently. A blood-red light started to appear in his eyes too.
"Brother, I believe you. I believe that you can beat me!" After Nangong Hao said that, he flew with Tian Xing straight into the Blood Offering Ill.u.s.tration.
"Nangong Hao!" Chi Guyan cried out.
"Master!"
"Leader!"
"…"
The voices of the Nine Pinnacles Mountain disciples rang out.
"No!" At this moment, Tian Xing was shrieking.
Nangong Hao, however, was looking down quietly. He looked at Mu Qingfeng, who had rushed up and was no more than five steps away from him, and at Fang Zhengzhi and Chi Guyan, who were in the distance.
"With my blood, I"ll open the gates of heaven!" Nangong Hao"s voice rang out once more. This time, it boomed and resonated throughout the entire Heaven Dao Pavilion.
The moment his voice rang out, all the light on the Blood Offering Ill.u.s.tration shrank, regardless whether it was the red light from the Green Rock Door or the surrounding eight-colored light.
At this moment, it withdrew to the front of the Green Rock Door.
The moment that happened, the Green Rock Door turned from red to black. It was as black as ink.
"Boom!" Thunder boomed in the distance.
Rays of blood-red light fell from the sky like lightning. Dusk was approaching, turning the light even redder than expected. It was as red as blood.
"Disappeared?!"
"Master has disappeared, Nangong Hao has disappeared too!"
"What door… was that?"
The Nine Pinnacles Mountain disciples looked at the Green Rock Door. Their eyeb.a.l.l.s bulged and they all looked shocked and dumbfounded.
"Blood Offering? Is that a blood Offering?"
"Junior Nangong Hao said that he"ll "open the gates of heaven". What does this mean?"
"Does it mean that it"s all for this one door?"
The Heaven Dao Pavilion disciples were shocked too. However, they were also curious. They did not expect this ending.
Shock and suspicion.
In the sky, the Green Rock Door stood there as blood-red bolts of lightning zapped around it.
Down below…
Countless pairs of eye stared intently at the Green Rock Door. They were all curious, suspicious, and antic.i.p.ating something. However, they did not wait long. This was because the Green Rock Door started to s.h.i.+ne with light.
Dots of starlight appeared.
"Open the gates of heaven, opens the gates of heaven…" Mu Qingfeng stared intently at the light from the Green Rock Door. He mumbled those words non-stop. Suddenly, his eyes bulged as he said, "Oh no, can the Green Rock Door be the Heaven-Receiving Door?"
"The Heaven-Receiving Door?" Fang Zhengzhi"s mouth twitched. He naturally did not know what was this "Heaven-Receiving Door" that Mu Qingfeng spoke of. What exactly was it?
Quickly, his eyes opened wide and light shone from his pupils.
This was because…
Inside the Heaven-Receiving Door above his head, under the glow of starlight, humongous black chains started to appear.
They were dense and thick, akin to a spider web.
However, more importantly, on these black chains, one could see a huge piece of black rock. Cracks were creeping all over the black rock.
Fang Zhengzhi was truly shocked.
This was because this scene before him was exactly the same as the one he saw in his mind when he received the Heavenly Prophecy. Not only was this the same, he felt the same intense emotion.
The starry sky behind the Green Rock Door….
It was the same one which he had seen.
In fact, when he saw the starry sky upon receiving the Heavenly Prophecy, Fang Zhengzhi had already harbored some suspicions. He sensed that his questions about the starry sky would soon be answered. However, he did not expect it to come so quickly.
Importantly, this starry sky actually appeared inside the Green Rock Door.
Blood Offering…
Starry sky!
What was going on? Nangong Hao used all his energy to drag Tian Xing into the Blood Offering Ill.u.s.tration. Was it so that he could use the Green Rock Door to connect to this starry sky?