Chapter 334: Stone DoorTranslator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Li Xianyu fell in front of a huge stone gate that was 60 meters high, and was comparable to a skysc.r.a.per. There was no such grand door in the world, reminiscent of the mythical South Celestial Gate.
Looking back, the bright night sky and lush hills which composed the scenery of Niushan was reflected in his eyes. More than 1,000 demon descendants have been flying in the sky, crossing a layer of s.p.a.ce film and arriving before the stone door.
Soon, everyone entered. They were shocked by the sight, staring at the huge stone door with a blank look.
“This… This is the door to the Great Deities Palace?”
“It"s absolutely not a man who cast it, just a door is already so high. How tall is the ent.i.ty entering the Great Deities Palace…? Is it a giant?”
“It could be a monster.”
Countless people were dumbfounded as they stared and whispered to each other.
“Open the door and let us enter the Great Deities Palace!” someone shouted.
“Yeah, we already entered this place. Come on, open the stone door with the key.”
“We"re going to enter the Great Deities Palace.”
People who were exclaiming were scattered cultivators and some members from small forces. If there were only a few small forces, they would never dare to say so.
However, at the moment, the number of scattered cultivators and small forces combined exceeds that of Baoze, the major families and the Buddhist society. Everyone shouted a few words to give each other courage.
The members of Baoze didn"t speak, and among the seven families, the Chen clan master coughed and declared loudly, “Listen to me, everyone!”
The Chen clan master had enough influence, and the commotion immediately reduced, as everyone looked at him.
The Chen clan master stated, “The Great Deities Palace belongs to the demon descendants community, and belongs to everyone here. It should not be occupied by anyone or any force. That"s why we told the world where the Great Deities Palace is. Anyone who wants to use the Great Deities Palace for their own benefit is our enemy.”
“Well said, we"re on your side.”
“He"s from a major family indeed. He speaks wisely.”
His words were widely acknowledged, and some scattered cultivators without any background felt relieved, the rock in their hearts fell and joined the support camp.
“How shameless,” Li Xianyu muttered.
Beneath the seemingly dignified claim, lay the most selfish and greedy ugliness of human nature. They killed his biological father with such claims in the past.
He remembered a story in which a primary school student found a hundred dollars in a park, and kept it in his pocket happily. At this point, a group of people jumped out and said that the park was for everyone, and if he found the money, he should share it with everyone. Otherwise, it was wrong and heinous.
The student refused to hand over the hundred dollars, and then he was beaten by the group and the money was s.n.a.t.c.hed away. The group did not feel that they had done the wrong thing. They believed that they had s.n.a.t.c.hed from a selfish person who only cared about his own benefits. They were right in s.n.a.t.c.hing it! They then split the money, feeling that their actions were justified.
“However, to get something, it"s inevitable that you will pay the price. The Great Deities Palace belongs to all of us, so all of us have to put in effort. If anyone wants to fish in troubled waters, us seven families will never agree.”
Looking at everyone"s doubtful expression, the Chen clan master pointed to the dry pond on the left side of the stone door. “Do you see that pond? There is only one way to open the stone door: blood sacrifice!”
It was a pool of about two cubic meters, with a dark black layer of material at the bottom. The same material with a lighter color was on the wall too.
The demon descendants gathered around the edge of the pool, with different expressions.
When there were benefits, everyone fought for it, but when one had to pay for something, everyone would remain silent.
The Chen clan master was very clear about the general public"s psychology, and tried to exert the placebo effect. “Don"t panic, it"s just giving blood. There"s so many of us here, each of us just has to give a little blood, and we"ll work together to open the stone door. I"ll be the first to go.”
He pulled out a dagger and slit his wrist open, and warm blood spilled into the pool.
Sakurai Tokimasa went forward, and stood side by side with the Chen clan master, pulling out a wakizas.h.i.+ blade without saying a word. He too slashed his wrist and let the blood drip.
With two people taking the lead, more and more people went up, stood by the pool, cut their wrists and gave blood. The thick blood slowly covered the bottom of the pool, as more acc.u.mulated. Everyone was careful and did not give too much blood, keeping their strength and energy.
Looking at the scene, Li Xianyu recalled a lot of information. Yes, Demonic Priest was captured by the j.a.panese army, and held in the slave camp with a group of demon descendants, becoming the blood bank of the Aoki family. How could I forget such important information?
It was no wonder the major forces had spread the news of the opening of the Great Deities Palace. These old foxes were very farsighted. The blood of the members of the major forces alone may not be enough to fill such a large pool. Too much blood loss affects physical strength and thus subsequent actions.
How did my dad get into the Great Deities Palace?! This question flashed in Li Xianyu"s mind.
It was clear that Li Wuxiang could not even cross the threshold of blood wors.h.i.+p to open the gates of the Great Deities Palace. He wouldn"t be able to open the stone door even if he sacrificed himself in the pool.
How did my dad get the keys to the Great Deities Palace?
The Great Deities Palace"s keys were a treasure, and of the three known keys, two were from Demonic Priest and the other was left behind by Li Wuxiang. When the Qing Empire signed the Boxer Protocol, the secret and objects of the Great Deities Palace were secretly given to the j.a.panese.
j.a.pan"s prime minister then was Itō Hirob.u.mi, the patron of the Aoki family"s political establishment. He was the source who gave the Aoki family everything regarding the Great Deities Palace. Aoki Yui had revealed this to him at the Lianghua Temple party that night.
The source of Demonic Priest"s two keys can be explained reasonably and there"s a basis for it, but where did my dad get the keys from? Also, how did the news that he received the treasures from the Great Deities Palace leak? He definitely did not enter the Great Deities Palace alone.
Li Xianyu was shocked to realize that there were many suspicious points about the past and many things were not explained.
Great-Grandma didn"t know about these things. She said she didn"t know when it began but gradually she couldn"t see through my dad"s intentions.
The environment his biological father was in was much better than the one he is in now. Ever since his grandfather had killed all his half-brothers, the demon descendants community had never dared to lay a finger on the Li family.
His biological father"s childhood, adolescence, and youth were uninhibited and relaxed. Unlike himself, he was surrounded by wolves and in great crisis. Thus, Great-Grandma was not always around his biological father.
Great-Grandma didn"t know all about who my biological father was meeting and what he did.
But my dad never seemed to reveal who went into the Great Deities Palace with him, and thinking about it now, it doesn"t make sense. The size of the blood sacrifice pool is so big that several partners can"t fill it.
Li Wuxiang, Li Wuxiang, you"re dead, but you caused me to be in so much trouble. If you hadn"t done so much, I would now be a carefree Li family descendant. If you don"t have a good reason, I would have f***ed your great-grandma. Li Xianyu snarked in his heart angrily.
From the moment he inherited his Great-Grandma, he had been through successive crises. Life was so hard, and his sanity was distorting.
Everything was the result of my biological father"s actions. He had a deep resentment against the father he had never met.
The volume of blood was getting higher and higher, and gradually, the pool was almost full. In this process, new demon descendants continued to arrive and joined the blood donation army, as more and more people gathered at the stone door.
This group may not yet know that there was a key to the Great Deities Palace. The stone door did not need a key, which meant that even if it was open, the Great Deities Palace would not be behind it.
With the keys in the hands of Baoze and the Buddhist Society, did the scattered cultivators really think they could take a free ride without paying any price?
Li Xianyu looked at the earnest-looking clan leaders, and his Baoze colleagues, who were watching the scene coldly. Everyone was clear about the situation but didn"t say anything.
As the volume of blood rose, the thick blood bubbled and the blood pool boiled. A mist of blood wafted into the air, with the stench of blood permeating the air.
“It works… It works!” The crowd rejoiced.
“Look, the stone door is responding,” someone pointed at the stone door and shouted.
As everyone looked at the stone door, in the gaps between the two stone doors, a line of blood began to climb, like the stained kerosene in the thermometer, as it continued to rise and rise.
Rising from the ground, soon, it rose above the top of the crowd"s heads, and then continued surging upwards. The people outside the door could only raise their heads to look up.
They were so focused, and they were probably not as excited during an a.s.sembly when seeing the national flag fly.
The blood line slowly rose, quickly exceeding the limits of ordinary people"s eyesight, but the tiny blood line, which was clearly visible to the audience, stopped when it was about to reach its peak.
“Hmm, why did it stop? Isn"t there enough blood?”
“B-But there"s still blood in the pool.”
“Can anyone explain it?”
The crowd was at a loss and impatient. This feeling was so bad. It was like watching p.o.r.n and the video stops loading near one"s climax.
“It must be that the blood wasn"t enough. Yes, it needs more blood!” someone amongst the scattered cultivators exclaimed.
“You only gave such a small amount of blood, a.s.shole. You"re a cheater, go give more blood.”
“Shut up, do you want to die?”
“You have been an eyesore from the start, don"t f.u.c.k with me. Scram and go give blood.”
There was a dispute between two people near the pool.
Actually, there was enough blood in the pool, and at least a third of it was left, but somehow, the blood line just stopped moving. For those who have no knowledge of the Great Deities Palace, continuing to give blood was the only viable option.
The two men quarreled, and they got mad. One of them slammed into the other person without a warning. “You refuse to give blood, right? Then get the f.u.c.k in.”
The victim was caught off guard and was close to the pool. He plunged into the pool and a horrifying scene happened. The man who fell in failed to get up again, his flesh and bones melted quickly in the pool, as if a s...o...b..ll had fallen into boiling water. The people near the blood pool were shocked and took a few steps back in fear.
“I-I… It wasn"t intentional. I didn"t expect that to happen,” the guy who pushed him muttered.
“It has gone up, it rose…” Someone pointed above his head in surprise.
The static blood line went up slightly.
Shen Kuo walked quickly towards the blood pool, and he pondered for a moment. His eyes lit up as he said, “I see, so it"s like this… Blood sacrifice, it"s not just blood, but soul, and life. This is the true blood sacrifice.”
Everyone who was around the pool froze and their expressions changed. They retreated a distance away and stood close to their friends, looking around warily.
Shen Kuo looked up at the blood line in contemplation. A life only caused it to rise by such a slight amount. Opening the entire Great Deities Palace will probably take hundreds of lives. The good thing is we are not far from the apex, but still requires at least twenty lives.
“This group of scattered cultivators are the best candidates, but we can"t suggest it.” Shen Kuo, looking at the six other clan masters, had the same idea. “Let Baoze take the fall.”
With a cough, Shen Kuo glanced at the Baoze members and said loudly, “Thunderlord, Ape G.o.d… What do you think we should do now?”
Earth G.o.d rolled his eyes. “What do you think?”
Shen Kuo snorted. “Everyone has given blood just now, and they all have done something. Now, it"s your turn to do something.”
White G.o.d raised his eyebrows and chuckled. “We haven"t given blood?”
Shen Kuo replied, “I"m not saying you, of all the people present, only the Unparalleled War Spirit and the Li family descendant have not given blood. Now it"s time for them to help solve this problem.”
Everyone around him glanced at Li Xianyu. Li Xianyu frowned. He did not give blood because his blood had special value. And the number of people was adequate and there were sufficient sources of blood so he did not join in the fun. He didn"t expect to get called out.
Shen Kuo was picking on him and targeting him with any chances he got.
The truth of the blood sacrifice verified Li Xianyu"s conjecture, that the people in the slave camp he saw in the memory of Demonic Priest turned out to be doomed and died in a miserable state.
If Baoze has to take the fall, the best option is to go out and hunt in Niushan to see if we can catch a few wanted criminals. But it will take a lot of time, and the members of the seven major families would not want to waste this effort. You want to use Baoze as free labor… I"m not letting things go your way. Li Xianyu thought for a moment, and said with a cold smile, “The Shen clan master is right. I have been cheating. I"ll give my blood now.”
Shen Kuo and the leaders of all the major forces" expressions turned dark. Clearly, Baoze, as an official organization, was reluctant to contribute.
He approached the pool, but did not go to the edge, fearing that some lunatic would take the chance to push him in. Using his nails to scratch his fingertips, he flicked a bead of blood into the blood pool.
Li Xianyu"s plan was to handle the matter dismissively and make the other forces take the fall instead. The force with the most pressing desire to enter the Great Deities Palace was not Baoze, but the forces that had been suppressed and held back by Baoze in recent years.
They wanted to have wings to fly into the Great Deities Palace, as the situation could be turned around if they had another Gokudo master in the family and organization.
“Masters, doesn"t Buddhist teachings always say, "If I don"t enter h.e.l.l, then who would?" It"s time to test your faith. Don"t hide and stay silent. Hurry up and offer some sacrifice.” Li Xianyu did not forget to snark at the Buddhist monks.
The bead of blood fell into the pool, and something unexpected happened.