When Golden Finger Meets Salted Fish

The deep sea was the territory of spirit beasts, with countless powerful monsters lurking beyond Merperson Island. Without the ghost ship, they couldn't have come here, and now that the ship was destroyed, they couldn't easily leave either.

Otherwise, surely not everyone present would be so concerned with the greater good that they'd be willing to sacrifice their lives.

Hearing the words "teleportation scroll," not just Jiang Mo but everyone else's eyes brightened. Previously, they had all been avoiding Zhu Baiyi, but now their burning gazes were once again directed toward her... or rather, toward the teleportation scroll in her hand.

If not for the vast power difference between them, someone would likely have tried to snatch it on the spot!

Although Jiang Mo was also pleased, she wasn't as frantic as the others, since she had the system as a backup. Teleportation scrolls were also available in the system mall, just extremely expensive. Now with a clear escape route, saving a sum was certainly good. Her gaze slid over the teleportation scroll, but she didn't dwell on it, instead asking: "That's great, so what do we do next?"

She was referring to the sacrifice. The altar had consumed all the Nine Abyss Sect people, but clearly wasn't satisfied yet. Hearing this, the others again retreated several steps, as if afraid that if they stayed too close, Zhu Baiyi might casually grab them and throw them onto the altar.

Zhu Baiyi ignored these people and had no intention of fleeing immediately. She casually put away the teleportation scroll: "I'll go catch a couple of spirit beasts to try."

In the past, spirit beasts had been used for sacrifices on this altar, and it had worked then, so there was no reason it wouldn't work now. However, compared to spirit beasts, humans were favored by heaven, with greater potential and fortune. Even a Spirit Division human cultivator was useful in sacrifices, unlike deep sea spirit beasts—any beast below Fusion stage was essentially useless for sacrifice except for activating the altar.

After speaking, Zhu Baiyi prepared to leave, but Qingyu, who had remained silent until now, suddenly blocked her path, frowning: "There are too many deep sea spirit beasts outside the island. If you go alone, you'll likely be surrounded and attacked."

When the ghost ship had been in trouble, even the dozen or so Fusion stage and higher cultivators on board couldn't defeat the deep sea spirit beasts, let alone just Zhu Baiyi now... Though Qingyu appeared cold and had never shown Zhu Baiyi a pleasant expression, she was ultimately still concerned.

Zhu Baiyi detected that hint of hidden care, and her beautiful eyes beyond the veil instantly curved, allowing anyone to see her good mood: "It's fine, I'll go take a look first. If I can't handle it, we'll discuss further."

Meeting her joyful gaze, Qingyu looked away, then turned toward Jiang Mo.

Jiang Mo understood and volunteered: "I'll go with her."

Regardless of what spirit beasts they faced, the White Tiger divine beast's bloodline pressure was very effective. Even if those deep sea spirit beasts were higher in cultivation level than her, and she might not be able to control them, as long as she could slightly affect them, with Sect Leader Zhu's strength, she could instantly complete the harvest. At worst, the two of them had the highest cultivation among those present, so they could at least flee back if they couldn't win.

Jiang Mo had asked the merperson—the reason those deep sea spirit beasts didn't approach Merperson Island was because the natural spirit-binding formation on the island affected them as well. High-level spirit beasts couldn't come onto the island, or their cultivation would be suppressed to Void Crossing stage, making them easy prey.

Hearing that Jiang Mo would accompany her, Qingyu's expression relaxed slightly. Before she could speak, Yun Qingyue said: "I'll go too."

Jiang Mo immediately replied: "No, people's hearts are unstable right now. You'd better stay and keep watch."

Senior Sister's cultivation had certainly improved well over the years, but she still only had Spirit Division cultivation. If she really went out to face those Fusion and Grand Achievement deep sea spirit beasts, she would be little better than cannon fodder. In fact, if not for her innate ability of bloodline suppression, even Jiang Mo at Fusion stage wouldn't dare to venture outside the island so lightly—she was just going to provide support.

In the end, Jiang Mo and Zhu Baiyi left together, while Yun Qingyue stayed behind to help her Master maintain order. However, looking at the altar blazing with red light, she couldn't help feeling uneasy, fearing that Jiang Mo and the others wouldn't return in time, or that capturing spirit beasts would be like trying to put out a fire with a cup of water.

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Jiang Mo's bloodline suppression proved very useful, and Zhu Baiyi's combat power was equally formidable.

With the two working together in fairly good coordination, even facing numerous deep sea spirit beasts, they still managed quite well... After being gone for just two quarters of an hour, they returned covered in wounds, bringing seven or eight severely injured deep sea spirit beasts.

The merperson hadn't expected the two to be so efficient. He again forced out blood to feed to the beasts, his eyes showing both surprise and joy: "With the people sacrificed earlier, plus these deep sea spirit beasts, this sacrifice should be enough."

Hearing this, Jiang Mo and Zhu Baiyi sighed in relief and without further ado, threw all the spirit beasts onto the altar.

In an instant, the red light on the altar intensified, and the spirit beasts on it gradually had their blood, flesh, and essence drained. Through the altar's red light, people outside could clearly see them roaring and howling, though the red light acted as a barrier, separating inside from outside, so no sound could be heard... It was as if everyone was watching a silent film, a devastatingly brutal silent film.

Finally, the spirit beasts gradually dissolved on the altar, but the sacrifice hadn't ended as the merperson had claimed it would.

Seeing that the red light on the altar remained, Jiang Mo frowned. After waiting a while with no change, she finally grabbed the merperson: "What's going on? Didn't you say it would be enough? Now that it's not enough, shouldn't we use you to fill it?"

Hearing this, the merperson was nearly in tears, both sincere and aggrieved: "No, I didn't lie. In the past, sacrifices really only needed this much."

Zhu Baiyi glanced over, confirmed the merperson wasn't lying, which meant something must have changed with the altar or the seal beneath it—this wasn't good news. It wasn't just the problem of needing more sacrifices; more importantly, what had happened to the seal? Had it sustained more damage, requiring more energy to repair? And if it couldn't be repaired, what then?

They exchanged glances, all feeling the weight in their hearts, but they still needed to solve the problem first. Finally, Zhu Baiyi said reluctantly: "We'll go catch more spirit beasts." As she spoke, she looked at Jiang Mo, indicating with her gaze for her to come along.

Jiang Mo had no choice but to release the merperson and follow.

This time, the two spent more time and returned with even more injuries, still bringing back seven or eight high-level spirit beasts.

However, after feeding blood to the beasts and throwing them onto the altar, the red light still didn't disappear. That bright red glow illuminated the faces of those below the altar, making their complexions appear flushed, though their expressions were increasingly bleak.

Finally, someone couldn't help but mutter: "Could it be that sacrificing spirit beasts doesn't work, and we must use human sacrifices?!"

Once this was said, everyone's heart tightened, but there seemed no way to evade it—everyone could see that Zhu Baiyi and Jiang Mo had done their best. The fact that the two had managed to bring back so many high-level spirit beasts far exceeded everyone's expectations. But what could they do if the altar didn't accept them? They couldn't just run away, and even if they wanted to, the teleportation scroll wasn't in their hands, so they couldn't escape!

The atmosphere below the altar became extremely tense. Everyone's inner tension was stretched tight, seeing those around them as competitors. Even close friends dared not rely on each other, fearing that their friend might send them to the altar.

Just when the atmosphere reached its peak tension, someone suddenly mumbled in a small voice: "Does it have to be human cultivators? If spirit beast flesh and blood won't work, perhaps a divine beast might..."

The only divine beast present was the White Tiger, Jiang Mo.

The speaker perhaps knew these words were inappropriate, since Jiang Mo had helped them more than once and had just diligently gone out to catch spirit beasts to feed the altar. But human hearts are always selfish—as long as the sacrifice isn't me, it could be anyone. And although the White Tiger was strong, she had returned with many injuries both times. If everyone worked together, perhaps they could control her?

Monster races said humans were favored by the heavenly way, but everyone knew that those truly favored by heaven and earth were the naturally born divine beasts. Sacrificing her to save everyone didn't seem so bad...

As various thoughts arose, people's hearts began to fluctuate. Jiang Mo could feel more than one malicious gaze falling on her.

Having transmigrated from the big data era, even without firsthand experience, no one had seen more of human goodness and evil than Jiang Mo. She suddenly sneered, her golden eyes filled with extreme sharpness, sweeping over everyone present. Those who met her gaze, eight or nine out of ten, looked away or lowered their heads.

Yun Qingyue's entire demeanor grew colder. She stepped forward toward Jiang Mo, her hand on her sword hilt, taking a protective stance in front of her. Her glass-like eyes, seemingly containing ice and snow, swept quickly over everyone, finally landing on Zhu Baiyi and Qingyu.

Despite the cultivators' many thoughts, their cultivation was inferior to Jiang Mo's, and now with their spiritual power depleted, they had no fighting chance. If they hadn't voiced the idea of sacrificing the White Tiger, they might have been able to launch a sneak attack, but now that it had been spoken, what was the point? It was clear these people weren't planning to act themselves, but hoped someone else would.

As for that someone else... did it need saying? Naturally, it was the Grand Achievement cultivator, the only one who could suppress the Fusion stage White Tiger!

Most present were clever people, and Yun Qingyue instantly understood this. Zhu Baiyi, on whom everyone had "placed their hopes," naturally understood as well. But she only found it laughable. Turning around with a sweep of her sleeve, she threw a figure onto the altar.