Upon the touch of that icy will, Qian Ye instantly felt as if he were in a vast and boundless icy ocean, with snowstorms and raging waves all around. Compared to it, his own will was like a lonely boat, on the verge of capsizing at any moment.
Only after the Dìlóng’s will had departed did Qian Ye shudder. Before coming here, he had anticipated the Dìlóng’s strength, but he never imagined it would be so formidable, almost rivaling the former Celestial Demon, far beyond what ordinary divine generals could contend with. This was why Su Dingqian, who had occupied Lin Gang City for decades, could only guard the treasure, yet could never approach the Dìlóng itself.
Although the icy will had receded, its residual fluctuations still lingered within the cavern. This was akin to the Dìlóng’s peripheral vision; a careless move could still draw its attention.
“Let’s go, from here on, danger could strike at any moment,” Qing Yue gestured, leading the way forward.
As they approached the Dìlóng’s lair, Qing Yue took the lead, while the two elders tightly reined in their original force, showing signs of tension. Here, they had officially entered the Dìlóng’s lair, constantly facing its will. If they drew its attention, it would be a calamity. At such times, the higher one’s cultivation, the greater the burden. The Dìlóng might ignore a crawling insect, but not a scurrying rat in its nest.
As they walked, Qing Yue stopped and took out a peculiar instrument. On its surface was a dial, with a pointer that kept oscillating. At the end of the dial was a prominent red zone. Qing Yue observed the pointer’s movements for a while. Seeing it never enter the red zone, she finally sighed in relief, saying, “The Dìlóng’s mood has calmed. It seems that the Spider Emperor and the others have successfully pacified it.”
The two elders visibly relaxed, though they remained treading on thin ice.
“From now on, we might encounter those people,” one of the elders reminded.
Avoiding powerful beings and avoiding ferocious beasts are two different approaches. For instance, the two elders began placing small objects in inconspicuous corners. These were alarm devices, harmless but capable of emitting special fluctuations to alert the users when someone passed by. Of course, if they could do this, so could their opponents.
Their pace slowed significantly, and they paid close attention to every corner, watching for traps set by powerful beings or traces left behind.
As they advanced, the Dìlóng’s will fluctuated more intensely. Each time it swept past, Qian Ye’s original force and blood qi would become restless. If not for the purity of his original force and the high quality of his blood qi, he would have already found it difficult to sustain himself, either resorting to hiding his lineage or being detected by the Dìlóng.
Including Qing Yue, the three Gaohu people tightly sealed off their original force, relying solely on mechanical power to move. In the Dìlóng’s perception, their life fluctuations were extremely weak, even less than ordinary beasts, thus unworthy of notice. By comparison, Qian Ye’s bloodline power was the most noticeable.
After walking a few more kilometers, Qian Ye felt the situation spiraling out of control. If he didn’t use his bloodline to hide, he might be detected by the Dìlóng. However, using his bloodline to hide was one of Qian Ye’s trump cards, which he was reluctant to use in front of others. Otherwise, future adversaries would know how to target him, at least preparing for it.
Just as Qian Ye hesitated about using his bloodline to hide, he caught sight of something unnatural out of the corner of his eye. He immediately pulled Qing Yue to his side.
The two elders were alarmed, but they controlled themselves from acting. Under their robes, several protrusions were aimed at Qian Ye.
Qian Ye raised his hand in a calming gesture, then pointed forward.
In the direction he pointed, there was a pile of broken rocks, with an unremarkable stone extending a finger-length twig. This twig was painted to match the stone’s color, even adorned with rock patterns. At first glance, almost anyone would overlook it. If not for Qian Ye’s extraordinary vision, he would not have noticed such a small detail.
Of course, a twig would not naturally grow on a stone. A Gaohu elder approached cautiously, avoiding the twig’s direction, and picked up the stone. He followed the twig’s direction, moved to the other side of the passage, and gently placed the stone down. When he returned, his breath was slightly labored, indicating that the action was not easy.
The elder then explained to Qian Ye. This stone was actually a clever alarm trap, with the twig pointing to another receiving device. The twig continuously emitted a stream of original force, which the receiving device would detect. If the signal was interrupted, the receiving device would explode, triggering an alarm.
Unlike the transmitting device, the receiving device was completely disguised. Without breaking each stone, it was impossible to know which was the trap. Therefore, the elder chose to move the transmitting end, clearing a path and thereby disabling the trap.
Impressed, Qian Ye realized the ingenious design of the alarm device. A single misstep could trigger it. If not for his remarkable eye, even the Gaohu people would have fallen for it.
The appearance of the alarm device also reminded them that they had entered the Spider Emperor and Moonlight White Devil’s domain.
Qing Yue took out a silver needle, flicked her finger, and sent an inaudible wave in all directions. The wave was very weak but highly penetrating, able to pass through the not-too-thick rock walls.
Reverberations came from several directions, and Qing Yue listened intently. She had a strange device on her right ear, seemingly designed to receive these reverberations. She pointed to one of the reverberation sources, signaling that someone was there.
The four immediately suppressed their auras and slowly moved in that direction. Not far away, faint voices could be heard.
It was a naturally formed cavern, with two guards standing at the entrance, chatting idly.
One of the guards yawned and said, “This is so boring. Old Li, we won’t be guarding here for a month, right? We haven’t seen a ghost.”
“Do you want to go deeper?”
“At least it won’t be this boring, right?”
The other guard snorted and sneered, “Do you think that’s a good job? The overseer said that exploring the Dìlóng’s lair, having half the people come out alive is already quite good. I paid a lot of money for the overseer to give me this position. If not for you sharing the majority of the cost, I wouldn’t be standing here with you.”
The taller guard forced a smile, “Isn’t the overseer your uncle? Who else would he take care of? I’m just along for the ride. But, to be honest, guarding these disgusting things every day is unbearable after a while.”
“Being alive is better than anything!”
As the tall guard nodded, he suddenly saw his companion’s eyes glaze over, silently collapsing. At the same time, a sharp object pressed against his waist, and a low voice said, “Don’t move if you don’t want to die!”
The guard, not a brave man, immediately raised his hands, pleading, “I’ll cooperate, I’ll definitely cooperate!”
He did indeed cooperate, keeping his voice low to avoid alerting others.
Qing Yue approached the guard, questioning him thoroughly. However, the guard knew little, having been assigned to guard the cavern shortly after entering with the main group. He was unaware of other details, only knowing that they were one of many groups.
Seeing nothing more to be gained, Qing Yue’s hand flashed, revealing a dagger, and slit the guard’s throat.
The group entered the cavern, curious about its layout. Upon entering, a strong stench of blood filled the air. Qian Ye frowned, sensing that the blood was fresh and very concentrated, likely not from just a few people.
He hurried inside, his face darkening.
At the center of the cavern was a stone platform, about ten meters square, surrounded by metal array disks forming an original force array covering the entire platform. On the platform lay hundreds of human corpses, cut into pieces, with cuts made to maximize the release of blood.
The blood from hundreds of people had pooled into a blood lake. However, under the control of the original force array, none of the blood flowed beyond the platform, as if contained by an invisible wall. The blood was not hot but continuously boiling, with limbs and flesh churning. At the center of the blood lake, a thin stream of blood rose straight up, disappearing into the rock layer above.
Qing Yue and the two elders exchanged a look, saying, “So that’s it.”
“What’s going on?” Qian Ye asked, feeling extremely uncomfortable at the sight of the blood and flesh altar, recalling the dark races’ blood feasts. He drew his sword, ready to destroy the platform.
“No!” Qing Yue stopped him.
Qian Ye looked at her, waiting for an explanation.
“This blood and flesh altar is key to pacifying the Dìlóng. Destroying it will not only restore the Dìlóng’s will but make it even more sensitive. Then, none of us will escape alive!”
“Why?”
Qing Yue pointed to the central blood stream, saying, “They built the blood and flesh altar, using the original force array to condense the essence of blood, to soothe the Dìlóng’s will. With enough altars, the Dìlóng feels sated. Such a void beast, once sated, will have a reduced active will, entering a semi-sleep state. Only then can they approach the Dìlóng’s body.”
Qian Ye looked at Qing Yue, saying meaningfully, “You know a lot.”
Qing Yue averted her gaze, saying, “Don’t forget, our ancestors explored the Dìlóng’s lair and knew many secrets, including methods to pacify it. There are actually three ways to pacify the Dìlóng, and the blood and flesh altar is just one of them.”
“How do the Spider Emperor and the others know these secrets? Do they have Gaohu assistance too?”
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