Chapter 1444: Soul-offering Ceremony
The Wasteland Continent was, originally, an uninhabitable sea of sand. The climate of the continent was extremely arid, and the environment was horrible. There were very few signs of life.
However, after the Hundred Races suffered defeat and were chased from the Beast God Continent by the magical beasts, they moved to this desert, finally leading to a prosperous age of life in a land where resources were heavily depleted.
Over the million years that the Hundred Races had spent on the Wasteland Continent, it had been modified countless times. However, due to its natural climate, they were unable to change the Wasteland Continent into a green oasis that was brimming with life even after several experts had poured their hearts out.
As a result, greenery was extremely scarce on the continent. From afar, there seemed to be no other colors aside from the deep-blue sky and endless stretches of yellow sand.
At this moment, a smear of violet suddenly appeared on the distant horizon. It silently shot through the air at an unbelievable speed, disappearing into the distance in a single moment.
Jian Chen rode a sword within the violet light as he made his way to the center of the continent. Jian Chen had learned where the War God Mountain was located long ago, so he did not stop at all on his journey, heading directly to the hall on the Zi Ying Sword.
He understood that if he wanted to find Tie Ta here, he just needed to proceed to the sacred mountain of the Hundred Races, War God Mountain.
Jian Chen had already closed his eyes on the Zi Ying Sword. The sword moved just far too quickly, so the surrounding landscape was reduced to a blur. It was impossible to distinguish the surroundings with his eyes, so he used his soul to travel.
However, Jian Chen’s face changed at this very moment. He immediately came to a halt as his eyes snapped open. They glowed, as if they could pierce through space and allow him to see what was going on in an extremely distant place.
A speck of green light suddenly appeared in the distance. It bloomed like a flower, a tiny speck that became bright and resplendent. Very soon, the green light illuminated half the sky, dying it a deep green. Within it hid an extremely terrifying life force.
“It’s the Elven Godtree,” Jian Chen became fixated on the green as he stood on the Zi Ying Sword. The light in his eyes flickered as surprise and doubt appeared on his face.
“This tree appeared in the battle against the World of Forsaken Saints before. However, it was only a small clipping back then. Looks like this is the true form of the tree. However, its terrifying life force even shocks me. Looks like this tree isn’t as simple as it’s rumored to be,” Jian Chen thought. He had heard some rumors regarding the Elven Godtree. He did not know much about it, but he had learned from the rumors that the tree was recorded to only be on the level of a Saint Emperor. Now that he saw it today, his initial understanding was completely thrown out.
Jian Chen stared at the green light, which lit up half the sky, for a while before continuing on as a streak of light.
“Where the green light has appeared just happens to be the War God Mountain. I wonder what’s happened there,” Jian Chen thought as he sped up slightly.
As he approached the mountain, he entered the boundary of the green light. The green light invaded the violet light around him and came in contact with his body, immediately filling him with a comfortable feeling. At that moment, Jian Chen even felt like his lifespan was increasing.
What shocked Jian Chen even more was that he still felt like his lifespan was increasing even though he had become a Saint Emperor and possessed the battle prowess of someone in the Origin realm. This filled him with disbelief.
Jian Chen swept over the land below with his soul and actually discovered specks of light in the dry, yellow sand. They were strands of grass sprouts, having appeared out of nowhere. They grew in the sand and gradually enveloped the land before rapidly growing at a visible rate. In just a minute, they had become several inches tall.
In the blink of an eye, the expanse of sand had vanished from the area enveloped by the green light. The sand was replaced by green grass teeming with life.
Jian Chen’s soul enveloped an area of two hundred thousand kilometers. There were several cities and tribes of various sizes within his senses. However, regardless of their strength, they currently all knelt on their knees and bowed to the mountain. Their faces were filled with devotion.
Jian Chen remained silent. He gazed into the distance and rapidly flew closer to the War God Mountain. He could vaguely see an ancient tree that was several thousand meters tall standing there. It was shining with a resplendent light as it reached out in all directions. It enveloped quite a portion of the continent. Its tremendous life force even made it difficult for Jian Chen to keep his composure.
Jian Chen finally arrived outside War God Mountain. However, the mountain was currently enveloped by a barrier, and the barrier made it impossible to see what was going on inside. The Elven Godtree had taken root at the bottom of the barrier. One of its branches reached into the barrier and into the War God Hall on the peak of the mountain.
However, the tree was not actually present. It was only an illusion, created by several branches. Each branch was several hundred meters long.
“Who has come?” A great cry rang out the moment Jian Chen approached the War God Mountain. With the voice, the space a hundred meters around Jian Chen instantly froze. Several auras that came from Saint Emperors descended upon him at the same time.
Jian Chen was not affected at all. His gaze remained fixated on the mountain as the light in his eyes flickered.
The space a hundred meters above Jian Chen gently pulsed and a few figures silently appeared. Every single one of them gave off a tremendous presence. They were all Saint Emperors, and they were glaring at Jian Chen.
They were all experts of the Hundred Races. Jian Chen was familiar with them. He had seen many of them in the previous battle against the World of Forsaken Saints. They were the few Saint Kings that had managed to survive the battle, but they had all become Saint Emperors now.
“J- Jian Chen!” The Saint Emperors recognized Jian Chen as well and were immediately surprised. Without any hesitation, they immediately recalled their presences and the space around Jian Chen returned to normal.
“It’s sovereign Jian Chen. We didn’t know sovereign Jian Chen had come, so if we have offended you, please forgive us,” the Saint Emperors immediately became respectful and spoke with some gratitude.
They all understood that they had become Saint Emperors because of their war god’s assistance and the human sovereign’s gifts.
Tie Ta and Jian Chen’s friendship was no secret among the four races. All of them had witnessed Tie Ta go to the Tian Yuan Continent to ask Jian Chen for the heavenly resources. This matter had obviously reached the ears of the experts as well.
“What’s happening on War God Mountain? And what’s happening with my brother, Tie Ta?” Jian Chen asked as he stared at the barrier in front of him.
The barrier had been cast by around a dozen Saint Emperors. It concealed everything that was inside. Jian Chen’s soul was unable to penetrate it, unless he removed the barrier.
“Esteemed sovereign of the humans, the war god is currently undergoing a Soul-offering Ceremony. This ceremony is extremely important to the war god. We cannot afford to have anything go wrong. In order for it to be successful, we cast this barrier to lock down the mountain after gaining the war god’s approval,” replied a Saint Emperor of the Hundred Races. It was an old woman with green fire flickering in her eyes. She was the Saint Emperor of the flame daemons.
“I want you to open the barrier. I’m here, so there’s no need to worry about safety. Unless an Origin realm expert comes personally, no one will be able to approach this place,” Jian Chen said without leaving any room for disagreement. The barrier hid everything inside. It was impossible to find out what was going on from the outside. He found this worrying.
“This…” The Saint Emperors hesitated. They seemed troubled.
A cold light flashed through Jian Chen’s eyes. He coldly said, “If you don’t open the barrier, I can only do so myself.”
Helpless, the Saint Emperors could only remove the barrier around the mountain.
As soon as the barrier vanished, a tremendous pulse of energy along with a resplendent golden light appeared. The War God Hall at the very peak of the mountain let out a bright light, mixing with the green light from the Elven Godtree. The light illuminated the entire region and dyed the whole mountain golden.
Countless people sat close to one another on the mountain, covering every inch of the land. All of them had their eyes closed while their faces were filled with devotion. They used a secret technique to condense a sliver of their soul, allowing it to drift out of the top of their heads.
An illusionary branch of the Elven Godtree revolved around the top of the mountain. It used the branch to draw a profound formation, connecting everyone’s soul together. After being refined by the formation, the souls turned into a wondrous energy that was channeled into the War God Hall.
Jian Chen looked around before resting his gaze on the divine hall at the very top. He became rather stern. He felt that the divine hall was even more powerful than the Beast God Hall that belonged to the magical beasts. This unsettled him.
“Why is your Soul-offering Ceremony so strange, where it needs the souls of so many people?” Jian Chen asked in a deep voice. He could now see what was going on, but he was unable to tell whether it was beneficial or detrimental to Tie Ta.
“The Soul-offering Ceremony has been passed down through the ancient records in the War God Hall. The records say that our war god must undergo this procedure, but we don’t know the exact reason,” said an elven Saint Emperor. She was a beautiful woman who seemed only to be in her twenties. A pair of wings sat on her back, and she seemed to be divine.