Chapter 1717: The Altar Again

Among the more than twenty cultivators controlled by the alien spirit race, there was a girl with an impressive figure, somewhat disheveled, yet hard to look away from. She was an acquaintance from Hongyuan Master Academy, the president of the Monster Genius Society, Hu Yaoyao!

Hu Yaoyao had been taken to the headquarters of the Jinghong Master Guild, where she received the inheritance of her predecessors. In just a few months, she had reached the peak of the Saint Domain Ninth Layer, only a hair's breadth away from the Invulnerability Realm.

Such strength could dominate a region on the Master Continent, but here it was not so conspicuous. The surrounding chill surged in, making her shiver slightly, her face tinged with blue. Though uninjured, her spirit seemed somewhat wilted.

The people around her were also not very high in cultivation; over a dozen were at the Saint Domain Ninth Layer, and the rest were at the Invulnerability Realm. Thus, under the control of the three Undying Realm alien spirits, they had no power to resist.

Although he saw an acquaintance, Zhang Xuan was not in a hurry. He sealed off the surrounding space and quietly followed behind.

Three early-stage Undying Realm cultivators were nothing; he could kill them with a wave of his hand, but he wanted to see what they were planning so openly.

Following behind for over ten minutes, a smooth ice field appeared before him.

"Hurry up!"

Then he saw several more groups being escorted over, totaling over a hundred humans, covering many professions.

In the middle of the ice field was a circular altar, surrounded by various array flags.

An alien spirit in black armor stood to one side, directing three of his kind to carve array patterns.

"Bring these people over!"

After the carving was done, the black-armored alien spirit waved his hand.

Everyone was brought over and arranged in a circle around the altar. Zhang Xuan then noticed that a thin line connected their pulse points, sealing all their cultivation.

"Could this be a sacrifice?"

Zhang Xuan's face darkened.

He had seen this altar a few times before. The kings of the Qingtian royal family had used it to sacrifice to spirit gods, gaining special powers. Previously, they used treasures, but now they captured these masters and professionals—could they be planning a living human sacrifice?

But... what was the purpose of the sacrifice?

Could it be to find the exit of this ice and snow world?

"If it's just an exit, there's no need for this!" He frowned.

Having gone through the jungle world and the desert world, he had some experience in finding exits. As long as he found the core location, it wasn't too difficult.

Sacrificing so many lives was completely unnecessary!

The main purpose of the alien spirits entering the Confucian Temple was the Spring and Autumn Ceremony. Now, without even finding the location, mass slaughter would easily provoke backlash, which was by no means wise.

"Let's rescue them first..."

Since he saw it, he naturally wouldn't allow such a thing to happen, especially since Hu Yaoyao was among them.

Looking around, there were about thirteen Undying Realm alien spirits, over twenty at the Heart's Inspiration Realm, and fewer than fifty in total. These were no threat; he could kill them easily. The only strong one was the black-armored man, who was only at the late Undying Realm, far from the Great Perfection.

"That thin line sealing everyone's cultivation should be a Grand Saint treasure. If I attack rashly and it gets activated, Hu Yaoyao and the others might be killed on the spot!"

He frowned.

Even without the Five Great Sacred Beasts, he could easily kill these alien spirits with his combat power. But if any mistake occurred, not only would he fail to rescue them, he might even harm them. He couldn't afford any slip-ups.

"Breaking through the space barrier costs a great deal; there can be no carelessness. Everything must be arranged properly!"

The black-armored man continued to give orders.

Many of the alien tribesmen carried treasures one by one and placed them on the altar.

Zhang Xuan looked over and saw rare spirit stones, the blood of sacred beasts, special runes, and all kinds of miraculous elixirs... In short, there were so many treasures that they nearly amounted to a tenth of his own wealth.

"Breaking through the barriers of space? Could it be that they can directly enter the Confucian Temple?"

The other party's words were in the alien language, which Zhang Xuan could understand, and he furrowed his brow.

These resources, even for the entire alien race, were not to be wasted casually. If they could find an exit but didn't seek it, instead resorting to an altar... their goal must be far more than simply entering the next world!

"Rescue the people first!"

Knowing that to investigate, he would have to engage the alien tribesmen in battle, and before that, he needed to rescue the captives first.

After a moment's hesitation, he changed his appearance, slipped behind a block of ice, quietly removed the spatial seal, and with a flick of his wrist, an ordinary top-grade sacred artifact long sword appeared in his palm.

Charging straight in would certainly not save anyone, and it would be difficult to uncover the secrets of the altar. So the best approach was to do as Hu Yaoyao and the others had done—first get captured, then take the opportunity to break everyone's seals. After that, whether to kill or fight would be much easier.

"Begin!"

Seeing that the black-clad man, leading the group in arranging the altar, happened to have his back turned, Zhang Xuan knew the opportunity had come. He raised his brows and suddenly dashed forward.

Turning into a bolt of lightning, the long sword in his palm merged perfectly with his body in a straight line, thrusting toward the black-armored man's back.

At the same time, his body gleamed with golden light, and the full power of the Golden Body realm surged, making him appear like a Buddha.

This ambush looked stunning, but in reality, Zhang Xuan had only suppressed his power to the level of an ordinary Golden Body cultivator, and he did not use the true interpretations of space or time. Though extremely fast, in the eyes of an Immortal Realm expert, it was still far from impressive!

"There's still one that slipped through the net! Peak of the Golden Body realm, no wonder..."

Realizing this, the black-armored man snorted, and without turning around, he bent his fingers and flicked them backward.

Ding!

A stream of energy shot straight toward the sword tip. The sword energy Zhang Xuan had unleashed collided with it as if hitting a steel plate, encountering immense resistance and unable to advance any further.

"Break!"

With a ferocious expression and a loud shout, Zhang Xuan shook his longsword and slashed down through the air.

Zizi!

The sword energy formed dozens of rainbows, converging in the blink of an eye into a straight line that struck the opponent's power.

Hualala!

The power was broken, and Zhang Xuan continued to charge forward.

"Oh? You do have some skill!"

Seeing that his casual finger strike had been broken by this fellow, the black-armored man paused, turned around, and pinched the sword tip between his fingers.

"To escape under so many people's watch and come to ambush me, your strength is indeed not weak. But... since you've appeared, just stay here!"

With a light laugh, the black-armored man brought his palm down.

Whir!

As if the sky were falling, the space around the altar immediately churned.