Chapter 276 : Those Who Know Their Circumstances
The altar was located in a vast space surrounded by mountains, appearing to be in some valley. However, when Zhu Baiyi and Qingyu had previously surveyed half the island from a high mountain, they hadn't seen this altar area, suggesting either it was on the opposite side of the island or concealed by some barrier or formation.
Zhu Baiyi grabbed Qingyu's wrist and, before the latter could pull away, whispered: "Follow me."
Qingyu hesitated momentarily, but due to the unusual environment, didn't resist and followed Zhu Baiyi away from the altar. Without any apparent search method, Zhu Baiyi headed directly in one direction, and soon they found several stone houses hidden away.
The two cautiously approached and checked each house, discovering that many contained imprisoned spirit beasts. The lower-ranked ones were at Nascent Soul level, the higher-ranked at Spirit Division level. There were no beasts above Fusion realm, though it was unclear whether the natives couldn't capture such beasts or if there was some other reason. Nevertheless, even those currently imprisoned were numerous.
Having witnessed the scene at the altar, the purpose of these spirit beasts was obvious. Using blood for sacrifices always gave people an ominous feeling, especially since the natives weren't just capturing spirit beasts but had also taken many cultivators, which was even more concerning.
Qingyu's expression grew increasingly grim while Zhu Baiyi remained silent. The two circled around the stone houses containing spirit beasts until they reached the only distinctive one.
This stone house was taller and more spacious, appearing more refined than those nearby. Even the doors and windows were carved with numerous patterns—or at least, that's how they appeared to Qingyu. To Zhu Baiyi, they were demonic race formations: some for soundproofing, some to prevent prying eyes, others to block attacks, and more, with large and small formations layered together.
Clearly, this stone house differed from those surrounding it—it was designed for human habitation or temporary lodging. Though these formations could block others, they couldn't stop Zhu Baiyi with her demonic race bloodline.
She gestured to Qingyu, who immediately understood, suppressing her emotions to keep watch for her.
Shortly afterward, Zhu Baiyi modified those formations. She left the complex formations untouched, only temporarily disabling the soundproofing and anti-surveillance functions, making it easy for them to spy on what was happening inside.
However, Zhu Baiyi hadn't expected that besides seeing the legendary merperson, she would also see a familiar face—a gaunt figure with a pale complexion and sunken eye sockets like a skull. Who else could it be but the Grand Elder of Nine Abyss Sect? He had led the Nine Abyss Sect disciples aboard the ghost ship, and though he too had been surrounded by deep sea spirit beasts when the ship was destroyed, he now appeared here perfectly fine.
In an instant, both Zhu Baiyi and Qingyu's minds filled with conspiracy theories: Nine Abyss Sect had been restless for decades, a fact known to all, and both women knew that eighty years ago, the Nine Abyss Sect Leader had schemed against them once, though unsuccessfully. Could this ghost ship incident and the merpeople be part of their plot as well?
Both had this thought simultaneously, but before they could exchange glances, the situation suddenly changed.
They had arrived somewhat late and didn't know what the merperson and the Nine Abyss Sect Grand Elder had discussed earlier, but now the negotiations had clearly broken down. They heard the Nine Abyss Sect Grand Elder shout: "Our plan would benefit you without harming you. Why must you be so stubborn?"
The merperson didn't respond verbally but waved his hand, sending a blue spiritual energy attack toward the elder.
Indeed, on this island, the merperson hadn't lost his spiritual energy. Even away from seawater, his power remained formidable—compared to cultivators who had lost their spiritual energy, he had many more methods at his disposal.
The two observers' eyes brightened slightly at this sight—they were wary of the merperson and didn't believe he harbored good intentions toward cultivators, but they disliked the Nine Abyss Sect people even more. Now that these two parties were fighting, with the Nine Abyss Sect Grand Elder clearly at a disadvantage, they were naturally pleased.
But contrary to their expectations, the Nine Abyss Sect Grand Elder didn't resign himself to defeat. He raised his hand, and black demonic energy immediately gathered in his palm. With a wave, it collided with the merperson's spiritual energy, creating a tremendous boom.
Qingyu was surprised and instinctively turned to look at Zhu Baiyi.
Meeting her gaze, Zhu Baiyi immediately understood her question and mouthed: "Demonic energy doesn't exist here either. I asked those disciples—all their demonic energy dissipated after landing on the island."
As for herself, her demonic power was originally closer to spiritual energy, and in her early years without inheritance, she had cultivated spiritual energy instead.
This made the Nine Abyss Sect Grand Elder's persistent demonic energy extremely unusual. Zhu Baiyi looked more carefully for a moment and finally determined: "That's not demonic energy—it's netherworld ghost energy disguised as demonic energy!"
As everyone knew, Nine Abyss Sect was an extremely unusual sect. They cultivated with the aid of netherworld power, which accelerated their cultivation progress tremendously but also greatly affected their bodies when cultivated to profound levels. The most obvious signs were their pale complexions and emaciated figures. What outsiders didn't know was that this influence wasn't merely external—in fact, at the level of the Nine Abyss Sect Grand Elder, the body had already transformed into half-human, half-ghost.
This brings us to the Nine Abyss Sect Leader, who maintained a normal appearance to the outside world, seemingly at the cost of spiritual energy, but was actually the result of deliberately limiting the amount of netherworld power in his body.
This wasn't because he wasn't fanatical enough or was too restrained, but because the ghost cultivation path was more difficult than human cultivation, not to mention being half-human, half-ghost.
The Grand Elder before them was different. Whether he was unaware of the dangers or had decided to go all the way down this path, the netherworld power in his body had thoroughly gained the upper hand. And this island was very strange—it absorbed spiritual energy and eliminated demonic energy, but seemed to have no particular restriction against netherworld ghost power, allowing the Grand Elder to preserve his power.
This uniqueness gave the Grand Elder the strength and confidence to face the merperson's attack calmly. The merperson, not expecting this development, exclaimed in surprise before engaging the Grand Elder in full combat.
On Merperson Island, the merperson should have had the advantage, but with the Grand Elder retaining his power while the merperson was away from seawater, the situation was reversed. After several exchanges, the battle turned in the Grand Elder's favor, and he grew smug: "Those who know their circumstances are true heroes. Your merperson race only has you left, right? Don't refuse the wine cup only to be forced to drink a penalty!"
The two outside the stone house frowned watching this, while the merperson facing the Grand Elder grew furious and laughed coldly: "You don't think you can stir up any trouble in my territory, do you?"
As his words fell, the merperson raised his hand, and immediately all the formation patterns carved into the stone house lit up.
Seeing this, Zhu Baiyi immediately knew things were bad. She knew some demonic race formations, but had only self-taught from a manual. Recognizing the various formations on the stone house had already been difficult—how could she have known these formations could combine into a grand formation? Now that this grand formation was activated, her earlier tampering would certainly be discovered. Regardless of whether it affected the merperson's abilities, her discovery was inevitable.
If she were alone, Zhu Baiyi wouldn't fear anything, but with Qingyu beside her, she couldn't take risks. Therefore, as soon as the formations lit up, Zhu Baiyi grabbed Qingyu and fled.
The two escaped back to the altar, activated the teleportation formation to return to the tribe, then left the tribe to rejoin their disciples...
From beginning to end, the merperson never pursued them, though it was unclear whether he was detained by the Grand Elder.
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Qingyu pondered the entire way but couldn't understand what Nine Abyss Sect wanted from the merperson. She instinctively felt that a major conspiracy lurked behind this, but unfortunately, she and Zhu Baiyi had arrived too late and heard nothing. Then they left too early—had they stayed a moment longer, they might have learned something from the two's exchange.
Despite her thoughts, Zhu Baiyi had immediately pulled her away for her safety, which Qingyu certainly appreciated. She only felt some regret and couldn't help being curious and speculative.
After some hesitation, the two didn't conceal anything and briefly related what they had discovered to their disciples.
Not to mention the Xuanqing Sect disciples, even the Crimson Blood Sect side was in an uproar after hearing this. They had never imagined that Nine Abyss Sect would extend their schemes to the deep sea and attempt some transaction with the merpeople. Though no one could fathom the purpose behind this, Nine Abyss Sect's plans were clearly nefarious, and the merpeople themselves seemed to harbor ill intentions toward them.
Setting aside Nine Abyss Sect for a moment, the mysterious altar discovered by Qingyu and Zhu Baiyi prompted many theories among the group...
Someone immediately pointed out: "With a teleportation formation in the tribe, it's clear the merperson and the altar have deep connections with the island's natives. And with so many cultivators captured, could they be planning to use the cultivators as sacrifices?!"
This statement voiced what most were thinking and caused everyone's hearts to sink further.
However, someone raised a question: "If they're intended as sacrifices, why keep them in the tribe instead of transporting them to the altar?"
Without needing to think, someone immediately replied: "Perhaps the time isn't right."
As those words fell, another added: "Maybe the preparations aren't complete."
Then someone else said: "Or they haven't captured enough cultivators yet and need more." Glancing toward Jiang Mo's group, they added: "Last night's rescue attempt—maybe those captives are being used as bait, waiting for us to attempt a rescue so they can catch us all at once?"
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After much discussion, they couldn't deduce Nine Abyss Sect's conspiracy without evidence. However, they had largely figured out the merperson and natives' malicious intentions toward cultivators—setting aside their island experiences, even the ghost ship now seemed highly suspicious, as if it were a trap set long ago, just waiting for them to fall in one by one.
Unfortunately, they had indeed fallen for it. People who had come seeking treasures were now all trapped on this strange island depleted of spiritual energy. Forget about any miraculous encounters; at this point, not losing their lives here would be fortunate enough.
However, amid their complex emotions, one question remained unanswered: what was the purpose of this sacrifice?