Chapter 66: Sacrifice Part 2

So fragrant.

Ge Qiqin’s blood was exceptionally sweet.

It was the ultimate scent of honey infused into fresh fruit.

Juicy and delicious.

Bo Xuenong’s throat moved. Subconsciously, she took half a step forward. Before she regained her senses, her head bumped into an embrace.

Warm and soft, carrying a fragrance.

Shen Yanting’s embrace.

Shen Yanting, who had lagged far behind, finally caught up. She hugged the off-kilter Bo Xuenong. “Xuenong.”

The familiar scent filled her breath, the familiar voice her hearing.

Bo Xuenong regained her senses. She did not pull away but instinctively pressed closer, using Shen Yanting’s fragrance to mask the other tempting scent urging her to devour.

She buried her head in Shen Yanting’s neck, murmuring softly, “Master, I didn’t think Ge Qiqin’s blood smelled good. Really didn’t.”

Bo Xuenong was clearly quibbling, but Shen Yanting did not call her out. “I know.”

Shen Yanting did not push Bo Xuenong away, allowing her dependent behavior for stability.

Bo Xuenong nuzzled her neck, her muffled voice emerging. “I won’t eat people.”

Bo Xuenong felt apologetic.

She knew she had probably disappointed Shen Yanting.

Shen Yanting held her with one arm and patted her gently. “I believe you.”

Bo Xuenong lifted her gaze slightly. “Master, can we kill them now?”

She urgently wanted to resolve the trouble and flee.

She still could not resist the temptation of flesh and blood after all.

Bo Xuenong licked her dry lips. Shen Yanting pulled her into her embrace. “Not yet.”

After soothing Bo Xuenong, Shen Yanting’s cold gaze lingered on Chen Zhou. “I think I’ve met you before.”

She had no prior impression, plus limited contact with sect disciples, so she never found Chen Zhou familiar before.

Now, scrutinizing her up close and sensing her cultivation realm and body cultivator aura, a memory stirred. This was also why she was certain Chen Zhou’s true age exceeded hers.

Shen Yanting had been recalling and finally remembered a distant tale. “During the Scale Eel County Trial a thousand years ago, you were one of Nirvana Water Sect’s leading elders.”

The Scale Eel County Trial occurred once every millennium. Though Cloud Smoke Sect and Nirvana Water Sect were both among the Three Great Sects, they were rival camps at the trial grounds.

Shen Yanting had little contact with Nirvana Water Sect people but could recall details upon reflection.

That year’s Scale Eel County Trial had made Nirvana Water Sect particularly notable.

Chen Zhou whipped her head around, first shocked, then resistant. “You’ve got the wrong person. I’m not from Nirvana Water Sect.”

Shen Yanting shook her head, utterly certain of her memory. “No mistake. But one thing puzzles me: a thousand years ago, you were already a Divine Transformation Realm late stage cultivator. Why are you only at Soul Exiting Realm now? You couldn’t still be hiding your strength, could you?”

“I…” Chen Zhou bit her lip, her gaze firming instantly. “I said you’ve got the wrong person.”

The more she denied, the more it rang true.

Bo Xuenong leaned against Shen Yanting and asked along with Chen Zhou, “Since you’re unwilling to admit that you’re from the Nirvana Water Sect, then what are you? What’s your purpose in coming to the Imperial Serenity Sect?”

Chen Zhou was stunned for a moment, then quickly pulled Ge Qiqin close to her side. “Since I can lead people into demonic possession, I’m naturally from the Demonic Sect.”

Demonic cultivators were always eager to disguise their true identities and impersonate members of the Righteous Path.

For Chen Zhou to discard a prestigious sect identity and insist on claiming to be a Demonic Sect disciple herself was truly strange.

Even if she really was from the Demonic Sect, she should have denied it to the death at this point.

Was she trying to clear the Nirvana Water Sect’s name? Or was it for some other reason?

More confusion arose in Bo Xuenong’s heart, but her awareness had fully returned. As long as she stayed by Shen Yanting’s side, she remained calm. “You know my identity. Are you here for me? Did the Nirvana Water Sect send you to monitor me?”

Chen Zhou’s expression completely chilled. “The Nirvana Water Sect has nothing to do with me.”

Shen Yanting also found it odd. She hadn’t immediately attacked Chen Zhou precisely because she wanted to figure out this strangeness. “Though you have demonic qi on you, it’s too weak.”

Shen Yanting was declaring that Chen Zhou couldn’t possibly be from the Demonic Sect. Suddenly, Chen Zhou pushed Ge Qiqin toward Xu Hongyong. Her palm gently brushed the back of Ge Qiqin’s neck, and the girl, who had just been emotionally agitated, suddenly calmed down. She abruptly gripped her longsword and thrust it fiercely into Xu Hongyong’s chest, twisting the blade hard to crush his heart.

Profound Black Pillar couldn’t heal his wound in time, and he completely lost his life.

After killing Xu Hongyong, the aura on Ge Qiqin suddenly changed. Her skin rapidly turned blood-red, and wisps of black mist coiled around her body.

Chen Zhou solemnly glanced at Ge Qiqin, then raised her hand. The Red Sickle hovering above her head suddenly smashed down onto Ge Qiqin. Ge Qiqin’s body was instantly split in two, her waist severed, with black blood oozing from the break. The black blood crawled ceaselessly on the ground, surging toward Chen Zhou.

Chen Zhou stood amid the pool of black blood, looking down at Ge Qiqin from above, a flicker of reluctance in her eyes.

The blood web filling the sky suddenly changed. Each blood thread turned black and rapidly proliferated.

The black threads fell down. Some wrapped around the statues, while others connected Ge Qiqin and Chen Zhou’s bodies. Blood flowed from the statues and Ge Qiqin’s body along the black threads into the air, then transformed into thick black liquid that followed the threads connected to Chen Zhou’s body and drilled into her.

As more black liquid was absorbed, the demonic qi on Chen Zhou suddenly intensified. Her body gradually became transparent, revealing a child-like nascent soul in her abdomen. Only then did Bo Xuenong and the others realize that Chen Zhou’s nascent soul had arms and a head cultivated to pure gold—not something an Outflow Realm cultivation should have, but a sign of the Divine Transformation Realm.

However, the center of her nascent soul’s chest was empty, and the gold on its arms had dulled.

Those were marks of a damaged spirit root and fallen cultivation.

Shen Yanting hadn’t misidentified her. Chen Zhou was indeed one of the leading elders of the Nirvana Water Sect from a millennium ago. She had once possessed Divine Transformation Realm cultivation. Now, she was using Ge Qiqin and the lives of hundreds in the City Lord Mansion to repair her spirit root. It was only at this moment that Bo Xuenong recognized it as one of the System Grand Gift Package Top Ten Forbidden Techniques: the Soul Separation Life Sacrifice Technique.

The Soul Separation Life Sacrifice Technique was a rather special method.

The caster needed to select someone willing to become their puppet, dividing their power and life force to the puppet, then leading the puppet into the demonic path and inciting them to kill and harm others. Intense hatred would cause the puppet to completely lose themselves, slaughtering many people. The more people the puppet killed, the more power the caster gained upon sacrifice.

This method ensured the caster obtained power without their hands being stained with blood. When the puppet fully died, even the demonic qi on their body would dissipate.

It was as if all the evil consequences were borne by the puppet alone, leaving the caster spotless.

Moreover, once the contract was formed, it couldn’t be stopped. Outsiders could only kill both the puppet and the caster, but the moment the puppet died was when the caster gained power—the more miserable the puppet’s death, the more power the caster received.

Those statues outside were evidently Ge Qiqin’s doing. They first became her power, and finally Chen Zhou’s.

Bo Xuenong grabbed Feng Jin, who was still hiding behind Feng Yingbo. “Doesn’t the sacrifice require willingness?”

Feng Jin also recognized the technique. She shrank her head and didn’t dare speak, but Chen Zhou kindly replied, “She was willing.”

Bo Xuenong’s gaze fell on Ge Qiqin. The bisected figure hadn’t lost consciousness; instead, she had regained her self-awareness.

At this moment, she stared at Xu Hongyong’s corpse with a satisfied smile, not even crying out in pain.

Shen Yanting naturally wouldn’t allow Chen Zhou to absorb power bought with others’ lives. She took out two Fourth-Grade Blue Talismans from her storage ring. The talisman paper swiftly shot out two fire serpents that instantly bit down on Chen Zhou. The fire serpents engulfed her body, burning only her clothes.

Her eyes darkened slightly, her fists clenched tightly, and a burst of white light erupted from her body, shattering the fire serpents in an instant.

Chen Zhou’s cold, suppressed voice emerged from her throat. “Shen Yanting, you still won’t use your sword.”

Chen Zhou was undoubtedly a proud person.

A millennium ago, she had been a Divine Transformation Realm body cultivator. Only a sharp sword was worthy of attacking her sturdy shield.

The problem was that Shen Yanting had no sword.

She knew Chen Zhou was not easy to deal with, yet she could only use talisman cultivator methods.

As Bo Xuenong tried to approach, a powerful pressure emanating from Chen Zhou shook her back. Body cultivators possessed brutish strength; this force felt like an iron hammer smashing into her chest. Bo Xuenong now understood Chen Zhou’s composure. She had clearly been a top-tier genius, outstanding even among peers in body cultivation. She didn’t yield an inch against Shen Yanting, resenting only that she refused to use a sword.