Free Web NovelChapter 1137: Chapter 610: Mysterious Altar, Terrifying Speculation (Part 2)
As Jiang Shu directed his profound gaze toward the depths of the region.
He finally saw it, in the blurred space, a vaguely outlined structure towering majestically atop a stone platform slightly higher than the ground!
Even from a great distance, the cold, ancient, sacrilegious Dao Rhyme emanating from the altar was distinctly recognizable.
An altar!
An altar exuding an ancient aura.
The overall structure of the altar was not perfectly regular, as if it were constructed from some indistinguishable large black beast bones and strangely colored stones with a metallic luster, its surface also covered with eerie natural runes.
These runes were dim and twisted, more obscure and difficult to comprehend than any Bronze Ancient Road runes he had seen, exuding a primal madness and evil, eerily similar yet utterly different from that so-called Mechanical Mother he had encountered in the War God Atlas.
The sensation of spatial distortion in the surrounding area had not entirely dissipated; on the contrary, it was surging like a slow tide with a strange rhythm.
Jiang Shu, enduring intense pain, concentrated his severely weakened Spiritual Sense, attempting to perceive the essence of this region.
There was no clear Law framework, no stable Dao Trace patterns.
This place seemed more like a piece of the Void torn off abruptly and then forcibly injected with mass amounts of Ancient Battlefield’s Evil Qi, Law Fragments, endless chaotic will, and that sinister aura.
They intermingled and fused in chaos, attracted and transformed by this bizarre altar.
Like a deformed embryo struggling to give birth to life amidst chaos and pollution!
Leaning against the cold stone pillar, Jiang Shu’s gradually recovering mind began to stir with waves of billowing shock.
Giving birth to life!
This wasn’t simply the birth of Spiritual Wisdom from an Ancient Path image, nor the machinations of some powerful individual’s lingering imprint.
This tremor, this struggle like a fetus kicking in murky amniotic fluid.
This prototype of a world consciousness that absorbs, transforms, and attempts to self-construct, all point to a terrifying possibility.
The Ancient Battle Soul Path wasn’t "developing" consciousness; it was striving to "come alive"!
From a piece of ancient fragmented, deathly still battlefield remnants, catalyzed over a long period by boundless Evil Qi, chaotic Laws, and this sinister external core force, it was mutating into a living Little World embryo with basic, naive instincts!
A world of death gestation suffused with death, slaughter, madness, and evil!
One must know, what the Ancient Path Secret Realm records are the forebears of the Human Clan.
Even if intelligence was truly born, it should not be so eerie!
This altar...
The scenes of that day at the War Alliance reappeared in his mind.
The terrifying evil might descend into the core area of the War Alliance, the mysterious disappearance of top figures like Zhan Jiuxiao, the eerie curfew and seal of the core area, the Star Token’s failure, Liu Yue’s stammering fear, Zi Ling’s lies about her whereabouts...
All the clues instantly connected in Jiang Shu’s mind.
The interior of the War Alliance was far from being as simple as an "unstable ancestral energy field."
This force that invaded the War Alliance’s upper echelon, triggering Venerable Peak-level battles and causing Zhan Jiuxiao’s disappearance—its source or important component, might be precisely this sinister altar entrenched at the heart of the Ancient Battle Soul Path!
They originated from the same source, like the same kind of tumor spreading over different bodies.
The upheaval within the War Alliance and the mutation of the Ancient Path should be two different nodes of the same disaster!
If this conjecture is verified, his current situation not only involves being trapped in a dangerous Ancient Battlefield Secret Realm but also being situated within a malicious, world-mother core in frantic "awakening."
These bizarre images, self-healing soldiers, ever-growing pursuing enemies, sealed spatial coordinates, and withdrawal mechanisms... all are the world’s instinctual resistance and attack to maintain its survival and growth.
They see all intruders as filthy impurities obstructing their birth, seeking to expel, devour, and assimilate them!
This Star Ruins Realm...
Its level of danger far exceeds the Cang Mang Domain!
The deeper he ventured into the Inner Circle, the more secrets he uncovered, the more Jiang Shu saw the immense crisis.
It seems the rise of the Doomsday Sect in the Star Ruins Realm is definitely not as simple as it appeared on the surface before.
For instance, the layout before him was entirely unlike something the Doomsday Sect could accomplish.
The Doomsday Sect might just be a façade pushed forward by some powers to draw hatred.
Once he breaks through.
He must temporarily leave the Star Ruins Realm, first quickly elevate his power within the Cang Mang Domain!
The impending crisis of the Star Ruins Realm is definitely not something ordinary Venerables can withstand.
His gaze swept across the sinister black swamp and twisted stone forest, sensing the spatial depths and that slow yet resolute "gestational" pulse, Jiang Shu’s gaze grew increasingly calm.
His condensed avatar, though momentarily distracting the ancient image.
Yet he couldn’t guarantee that the ancient image wouldn’t return afterward.
Not to mention, there might be other dangers present here.
In this place, every corner could potentially bring fatal threats to him.
Even if he barely manages to hide for now, as the power of this death gestation world continues to grow, its search capability, offensiveness, and Space Seal will only escalate.
Unless it’s Two Realms Shuttle!
Yet Two Realms Shuttle can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause; if the crisis here truly escalates, perhaps even at the Peak of Mixed Cave Realm, he may not be able to seize even a sliver of life here.
To truly break the deadlock, there is but one way.
Destroy the altar!
This evil altar at the core of the deep valley, not only stands at the heart of the Ancient Path mutation but is likely the nexus of this world’s power convergence, possibly even a critical node linking external factors such as the War Alliance’s internal upheaval.
Only by destroying it, interrupting the gestation process of this death world, can there be a possibility to pry open the congealed space barriers.
Thus leaving!
Sitting cross-legged, Jiang Shu’s mind resembled a sea of calm without ripples.
Even though the energy within this Ancient Path was overly mixed and chaotic, filled with sinister Law Fragments and Evil Qi.
But with the Taichu Dao at hand, all this energy could gradually be assimilated within himself.
The Heart of Space should protect him for some time; as long as the ancient image doesn’t find him temporarily, he will have sufficient time to recover.
...
At a distance from Jiang Shu’s dark location, amid countless spatial distortions, in the depth of a relatively stable blood-colored cavern.
The air was thick with tension and an indelible scent of blood.
A dozen or so survivors sat around a few Red Flame Crystal Stones, which barely emitted heat and light, under the weak glow, each face bore exhaustion, pain, and an inescapable terror.
Yu Sha sat cross-legged, her complexion pale as paper, the cold air surrounding her far less pure than before, her Origin damaged, making even maintaining her body temperature difficult, with the sweat on her forehead instantly crystallizing into tiny ice beads.
Lan Xi leaned against another War Alliance disciple, the once lively girl in blue now with hollow eyes, her hands clasping her knees trembling slightly; judging by her condition, physical injuries were secondary, the psychological impact far more severe, even if she survived, her life would likely be overshadowed by the events of this single day.
Zhan Feng’s severed arm was bleeding profusely, with ancient Elixirs hovering around him, the arm beginning to regrow.
But the previous battle had already caused severe depletion to his Origin, rendering the usually arrogant Zhan Feng uncharacteristically silent.
On the other side, Zhan Yun’s condition was equally dire.
A huge depression was clearly visible on the left side of her chest armor, blood flowed incessantly, with torn edges, and the soft armor within had been soaked in dark red plasma.
But those injuries she could endure.
With just consuming some Elixirs, Zhan Yun forced herself to keep her spirit up, looking around, her brows occasionally furrowing.
Compared to Zhan Feng, her thoughts were more meticulous.
She had a vague sense that in this space, there was a growing distinct anomaly, as if...
