pertwk Chapter 248 The Eye of the Altar!
Chapter 248 The Eye of the Altar!
Chapter 248 The Eye of the Altar! (4000)
That grab didn't touch the iron, but it made the entire magic sword feel like it was stuck in mud.
Lu Yuan felt a sharp pain in his right wrist, as if it had been twisted by a tremendous force, and the magic sword almost slipped from his hand.
The altar spirit's fingers slowly closed, and the sword emitted a terrifying "crackling" sound, as if it were about to be broken by its yin power.
Seeing this, Lin Zhaoxuan disregarded the backlash from the lightning, bit his fingertip, smeared it on the Thunder Token, and slammed it against his chest, forcibly gathering his energy: "Lightning is the sinew, the token is the bone!"
"As long as the bones remain unbroken, the thunder will never cease!"
"Guardian of Ancestral Light, reveal your true form!"
"Imperial Edict!"
The lightning pattern suddenly exploded from the command, transforming into a horizontal bolt of blue-white lightning that struck the wrist of the altar spirit fiercely.
This time, however, Lei Yi did not force him back. Instead, the altar spirit used the hand that was holding the sword to turn the lightning towards the magic sword.
"Zi"
The magic sword trembled, and the golden pattern on its spine was twisted into a dark blue line by the lightning, causing the blade to deflect by half an inch.
Lu Yuan felt a shiver run through his chest, and was forced back two steps by the backlash of his own sword intent, causing a corner of the salt formation beneath his feet to collapse.
"It can use lightning to transform a sword!"
Lin Zhaoxuan was shocked.
The spirit of the altar slowly raised its head, the slight smile on its lips almost ruthless.
"A magic sword?"
"A real weapon?"
"It's just a borrowed shell."
"I have sat here for a hundred years, swallowing lamps, swallowing names, swallowing thunder, swallowing positions."
"What do you have to fight me with?"
After it finished speaking, it flicked its five fingers, and the magic sword suddenly broke free from Lu Yuan's control with a "hum," being forcibly dragged towards the altar's eye.
At that moment, Lu Yuan felt as if his palms were empty and a piece of his heart was also missing.
If it were to truly seize the magic sword, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Lu Yuan's gaze instantly turned cold, and he became completely still.
He suddenly realized that the strength of this thing lay not in its brute force, but in its "method and intention of eating".
In that case, simply fighting it head-on will only make it grow stronger and stronger.
We must first cut off its last breath of "eating".
He quickly scanned his surroundings: the shadows of the mat pressed down on the ground, the lamps floated in the air, the seated spirit guarded the coffin, and the spirits of the altar sat in the eye; all directions were dark paths.
The only things he could move right now were his own True Fire Seal and the micro-array set up by the Big Dipper Seven Talismans.
"Zhou Heng!"
Lu Yuan shouted sharply, "Slay the banner, not the shadow!"
"Lin Zhaoxuan, withdraw the lightning, don't strike its body, strike the ground!"
"Miss Song, turn the plate northwards and press it down three inches to the left of the 'eye'!"
"Cheng'an and Erxiao, move the salt three steps away, and the black soil will be exposed!"
Although everyone was on the verge of collapse, they all knew that this was a matter of life and death, and immediately forced them to do as instructed.
Zhou Hengjian turned back and fiercely slashed at the base of the paper banners on both sides of the stone path. The banner poles broke, and the paper shadows in mid-air lost their support and trembled.
Lin Zhaoxuan slammed the Thunder Token onto the ground. The blue-white lightning patterns no longer struck the altar spirit directly, but instead drilled down along the cracks in the stone, forcing the yin energy at the bottom of the altar to rise slightly.
Song Qinghe held the tray with both hands, forcibly flipping the center of the tray to the north position, and then slammed the cold light down on the left side of the tray's eye.
Wang Chengan and Xu Erxiao gritted their teeth and moved the salt formation back three steps, revealing a patch of damp, blackened soil.
Seeing that the time was right, Lu Yuan, though the magic sword was being dragged, still left a very thin trace of sword intent in his palm.
He suddenly slashed his left palm, pressed the blood to the ground, and chanted rapidly: "Blood falls to form a seal, seal falls to form a door."
"Open the door three inches, and I'll sever your soul."
"You devour the law, I cut off the path; you seize the sword, I sever the position; you sit on the altar, I overturn the earth!"
"You lend me ten thousand names, I'll lend you a drop of true blood!"
"Please raise the earthen seal!"
He formed an extremely dangerous "altar-lifting incantation" with his left hand.
With five fingers gripping the ground, the index and middle fingers like shovels, the thumb pressing down on the base of the ring finger, and the little finger sticking outwards, it's as if something is being dug up from the ground.
As the hand seal was lowered, the patch of black soil at the bloodstain suddenly flipped upwards, as if someone had lifted an old slab from underneath.
An even older, heavier, and more decaying aura, than before, suddenly burst forth from the earth.
For the first time, the altar's ritual movements paused for a moment.
Lu Yuan's eyes lit up.
"Now!"
"The ventilation opening for offerings is three inches to the left of the altar's eye!"
"Give it your all!"
He suddenly gathered his true breath, and with a sudden twist of his wrist, he managed to turn the entire sword around by taking advantage of the sword intent that had not yet completely disengaged from the magic sword.
The sword was reversed, thrusting towards the palm of the altar spirit.
This sword strike is not intended to kill, but only to sever its path of "grabbing and devouring the sword."
The spirit of the altar finally revealed a trace of true anger, its forehead altar eye suddenly opening wide, black energy surging forth.
The great battle has reached its most dangerous point.
The altar eye on the spirit's forehead finally opened violently under Lu Yuan's reverse sword strike.
The black gas wasn't spewed out; it was "turned over."
Like the silt that had been pressed down at the bottom of an old well for a hundred years, the whole well surged back out the moment the well cover was pried open.
The black mist was completely devoid of any other color, as thick as an old evil spirit buried beneath frozen soil, its essence thoroughly permeated by layers of incense and paper ash.
Once you step out of the altar, even the lights on both sides of the stone path seem to sag.
The magic sword in Lu Yuan's hand had just thrust out, and before the blade could actually touch the palm of the altar spirit, it was first stopped by the black aura.
It's not blocking, it's "swallowing".
The sword tip was clearly still an inch away from the opponent, yet that inch seemed to have turned into a ten-foot abyss.
The golden patterns on the sword suddenly turned cold, and the dark blue mark that had been twisted by Lin Zhaoxuan's lightning intent actually crawled back a little in that instant.
It felt like countless unseen, sinister hands were reaching up along the spine of the sword.
"retreat!"
Zhou Heng roared, and his sword moved first.
Instead of severing the altar to worship the spirit, he swept his sword diagonally towards Lu Yuan's wrist, intending to use a clever force to intercept the sword.
But just as the sword was about to strike, the altar spirit raised his hand and slapped it, the paper mat rolling out from his sleeve.
Like a torn shroud, it lashed out at Zhou Heng's chest.
Zhou Heng was sent flying backward by the blow, his back slamming heavily against the stone wall. He felt a sweet taste in his throat and forced himself to swallow the blood back.
"Zhou Heng!"
Song Qinghe lost her voice, and the sealing disc almost slipped from her grasp.
The altar spirit didn't even glance at Zhou Heng; its eyes were fixed on Lu Yuan's magic sword, as if it were eyeing a freshly opened piece of meat.
"A fine sword."
It opened its mouth slowly, and its voice held a hint of almost greedy slowness.
"Within your sword, there is heavenly light, ancestral fire, and a breath of life that has not yet completely dissipated."
,"pity."
"It's too shallow for you to handle."
As soon as it finished speaking, it suddenly opened its mouth and gently inhaled at the magic sword.
That was neither wind nor air, but a kind of extremely yin and deep "force of supply".
It was as if all the shadows, paper lanterns, old registers, bone slips, and red ropes on the entire stone path were being poured into its throat at this moment.
Lu Yuan felt his palm suddenly empty, and the mental energy connected to the magic sword within his body seemed to be forcibly pulled away.
My right arm went numb all the way to my shoulder blade, and I even saw a blur of white stars before my eyes.
"It wants to steal the sword intent!"
Lin Zhaoxuan's expression changed drastically, and he slammed the Thunder Token onto the ground to forcefully stabilize himself.
It's too late.
A thin, almost invisible black line suddenly shot out from the altar spirit's forehead and heart eye, wrapping around the spine of the magic sword.
With that twist, the entire sword immediately emitted a sharp, piercing clang, like the sound of iron being snapped in half on a snowy night.
Lu Yuan felt a sudden tightness in his chest and a burning sensation in his throat; he was nearly vomiting blood from the backlash of his own sword intent.
The magic sword was actually parachuted in from the system by Lu Yuan, and there was still a subtle connection between his mind and body.
Now that the spirit of the altar has taken it from us, it's as if someone has forcibly torn off a newly reattached tendon.
That pain wasn't just in my wrist, it was in my soul.
"Fellow Daoist Lu!"
Song Qinghe's voice trembled with anxiety: "Put away your sword! Don't fight it!"
"I can't take it!" Lu Yuan gritted his teeth. The bloody wound on his left palm had been ripped open again by the sword intent, and blood was flowing down the lines of his palm.
"It's biting the base of the sword!"
The spirit of the altar heard this and smiled slightly.
That smile was so faint, yet it sent chills down your spine more than anger.
"It wasn't a bite."
"It's a sitting position."
"If there is a place for your sword, I will sit on it."
"If your teachings have a root, I will borrow them."
"The most ridiculous thing about you living people is that you always think that once you get your hands on a real artifact, you can really compete with the items on the altar."
As it spoke, it slowly raised its other hand.
That hand was so thin it was almost just bones, yet a few thin pieces of paper were held between its fingers.
The pages were covered in black text, as if they had been forcibly torn from an old register.
With a flick of his fingers, the paper fell silently to the ground.
The next moment, the paper-faced evil figures that had been half-peeking out from around the stone path suddenly leaped forward as if given a command.
It's not about pouncing on people, it's about pouncing on "shadows".
In an instant, the shadows of Lu Yuan and his companions were all stretched out.
The shadow seemed to be pulled from the ground by an invisible thread, dragged forcefully towards the feet of the altar spirit.
Lu Yuan felt his heels sink, and he felt his shadow being peeled away little by little, as if it were being torn off from the soles of his feet.
If the shadow is truly dragged away, the person will lose their "position," and at that time, even the strongest magic will be nothing more than an empty shell.
"Treading on Shadows!"
Lin Zhaoxuan suddenly realized what was happening, and with a quick step, he pointed the Thunder Command forward.
"It's changing our position!"
Song Qinghe gripped the sealing disc tightly with both hands, cold sweat rolling down her forehead.
"The center of the plate is also tilted—it's drawing the aura of the jar into my plate!"
Lu Yuan's heart sank upon hearing this.
The altar worship is not simply about unleashing evil; it's about turning the entire stone path into one's own "seat."
Once the seat, the mat, and the position are established, all the Dharma teachings of the living people around will be forcibly incorporated into the Yin altar, becoming "offerings" that it can consume and suppress.
Right now, even with the magic sword in hand, it can only suppress and devour him.
But at that very moment, Lu Yuan suddenly heard a very faint "click".
It wasn't a sword cracked, nor a bone broken, but rather a crack that had been forcibly rubbed open in some extremely hidden place deep within the altar's eye, by the sword strike.
The spirit of the altar paused.
It slowly lowered its head and looked at the eye on its forehead, where a very faint red color emerged from the black mist.
"So it can actually hurt it?"
Zhou Heng clutched his chest, his eyes suddenly darkening.
Lu Yuan saw it too.
That wasn't a major injury, or even a breach in defense, but that little bit of red indicated that the altar spirit's "receiving energy" had been slightly reduced.
If it gets halfway through eating, it will experience a momentary delay in breathing.
But the next moment, the altar spirit suddenly laughed even more deeply.
"You saw it?"
"Seeing it won't help."
"I make my living by accepting offerings; if I'm even a little slow to catch my breath, I'll only be met with even more ferocity."
It looked up, and the cold smile in its eyes turned into utter ferocity.
"Since you dare to offend my altar, don't blame me for settling all the old debts at once."
After saying that, it suddenly patted its chest.
That tap sounded like tapping a drum buried underground.
"Thump"
The muffled sound didn't come from the body itself, but rather exploded simultaneously from the entire stone path, the entire mountainside, and even deeper into the permafrost.
Everyone felt a sharp pain in their eardrums as the salt array beneath their feet cracked open in three places, sending white salt flying like frost.
Immediately afterwards, the white faces on the paper banners on both sides of the stone path all opened their eyes.
This time, what opened was not the eye circled in black, but the real "white of the eye".
Each paper face seemed to have its eyes filled with a murky human breath, and its mouths were splitting longer and longer, as they all turned slowly toward Lu Yuan and his group in unison.
The scene was so eerie it sent chills down your spine.
Song Qinghe couldn't help but take a half step back, but the more she retreated, the more the center of the sealing disc tilted.
The yin-yang fish on the plate, already trembling from the aura of the altar, now looked as if they had been pressed into the mud by an invisible hand.
"Miss Song, don't back down!"
Lu Yuan spoke sternly.
"I didn't back down—it was pushing me!"
Song Qinghe's face turned deathly pale, and she could barely hold the plate in her hands: "It looks like there's something weighing down on the plate—"
Before he could finish speaking, the sealing disc suddenly hummed and its surface flipped half a circle on its own.
The yin-yang symbol is reversed.
This mistake immediately shattered the already fragile balance within the formation. The coldness in the altar spirit's eyes intensified, and he raised his hand to point a finger.
The finger was pointed not at Song Qinghe, nor at Lu Yuan, but at the patch of black soil in the center of the stone path.
"Thump."
The black soil sank slightly, as if an invisible nail had been driven into it.
Lu Yuan's heart pounded wildly.
not good.
It's not suppressing people, it's altering the earth's veins.
Once the earth veins are nailed down, the salt array, thunder intent, and sealing plate will all be overturned by it, and our side will completely become its hostage.
"Lin Zhaoxuan! Stop it from falling!"
Lu Yuan shouted sharply, his sword swung back, forcibly pulling back half an inch of sword intent, and then slashed towards the location of the invisible Yin Nail.
Lin Zhaoxuan knew he could no longer hide, so he gritted his teeth, gave the order, stomped his right foot on the ground, and shouted urgently, "Thunder doesn't rise from the sky, it rises from the very roots of the earth!"
"Borrowing the true yang of the nine earths, I'll suppress your yin nails!"
"By the Thunder God above, open my gates!"
"fall!"
The thunderbolt struck the ground, and blue-white lightning patterns exploded, snaked along the cracks in the stone, heading straight for the spot where the spirit of the altar had pointed.
But the altar spirit merely tilted its head slightly, and with its other hand, its five fingers formed a claw, it suddenly grabbed.
That grab actually deflected the lightning patterns that Lin Zhaoxuan had just released.
The lightning bolt veered off the earth's veins and struck back at Song Qinghe's feet.
"boom!"
The sealing disc trembled violently, and Song Qinghe was so struck by the lightning that she slipped and almost dropped the disc.
She felt a heat in her chest and a sweet taste in her throat; her breath was already in turmoil.
"Miss Song!"
Lu Yuan flew to help, but the altar spirit flicked his sleeve, and a whip-like axe from his sleeve struck his shoulder with a crack.
He was jolted to the side by the blow, and the magic sword almost fell to the ground as it slipped from his hand.
The next second, Tan Siling lightly touched the ground with his toes, his figure flashed, and his whole body, like a black coffin, pressed straight down within three feet in front of Lu Yuan.
Nearly.
This thing is more terrifying up close than it is from a distance.
The cloth covering it was not cloth, but a living thing made up of countless layers of old hemp paper used to wrap corpses and the ashes from the coffin!