Chapter 65: The Rite of the Heavenly Burial of All Souls

"Roar!"

The Nine-Headed Imperial Lion sensed an aura of extreme danger emanating from Ye Fan.

It suddenly let out a deafening roar, causing the entire expanse of grassland to tremble.

Any cultivator with substandard strength would undoubtedly have their internal organs shattered by this roar alone.

However, Ye Fan merely circulated his spiritual power casually to resist, effortlessly dissolving the pressure of the roar.

As for Chen Qingshuang beside him, she was shielded by a barrier formed from Ye Fan's spiritual power.

Seeing that the two of them were completely unharmed, the Nine-Headed Imperial Lion immediately charged violently toward them.

Its speed was like lightning, and in the blink of an eye, it was right in front of the pair.

All nine of its massive heads opened simultaneously, and nine streams of bestial breath instantly spewed forth!

Seeing this, Ye Fan pushed Chen Qingshuang aside.

Immediately afterward, with a flip of his wrist, a pitch-black longsword was already grasped in his hand.

Circulating his entire body's spiritual power at high speed, Ye Fan did not dodge. Instead, he forced his way forward against the impact of the nine streams of bestial breath, charging upward with his sword!

Amidst a flash of cold light, one massive head was cleanly lopped off!

Blood splattered out, and the aura of the Nine-Headed Imperial Lion instantly weakened significantly.

"Roar!"

A painful cry echoed as the beast looked at Ye Fan with eyes tinged with fear.

The Nine-Headed Imperial Lion was beginning to regret provoking this human cultivator.

Spirit beasts of its level had already attained sentience.

Blood trickled down the pitch-black blade as Ye Fan's figure stood proudly in mid-air, resembling a god of war descended to the mortal realm, coldly gazing down at the ancient spirit beast before him.

The next second, the sword in his hand struck out once more. Amidst the surge of fierce sword qi, yet another head was effortlessly severed.

In a mere half-minute, the Nine-Headed Imperial Lion had lost two of its heads, stripping it of any remaining courage to continue the fight.

It immediately turned around, desperately wanting to flee this place, but now it had become Ye Fan's prey.

Once an exceptional hunter locks onto its prey, it will never give it the slightest chance to escape.

The moment the Nine-Headed Imperial Lion turned its head, Ye Fan descended from the sky. The black longsword pierced into its back, and endless sword qi rampaged wildly within its body!

The internal organs of the Nine-Headed Imperial Lion were completely pulverized by the sword qi.

"Roar... roar..."

Using its final strength, it let out a few desolate wails before plunging into an eternal slumber upon this once-familiar territory.

After dispatching this ancient spirit beast, Ye Fan did not forget to extract its beast core.

The beast cores of ancient spirit beasts held considerable value and could be exchanged for some rather fine heavenly treasures.

Looking at the corpse on the ground, Chen Qingshuang could not help but recall the scene back at the Qishan Secret Realm.

At that time, Ye Fan had rescued her from the claws of a wolf-shaped spirit beast.

Only now, Ye Fan was far stronger than he had been back then.

This made Chen Qingshuang feel that as long as Ye Fan was around, no problem was insurmountable, and her inner sense of security reached its absolute peak.

Two hours later, following the intelligence they had gathered, the two finally hurried to the location of the altar.

This altar consisted of upper and lower tiers, with sixty-four sacrificial flags inscribed with various patterns planted on each tier.

At this moment, many disciples from the major sects had already gathered here. They surrounded the altar in a circle, yet not a single person spoke.

Ye Fan noticed that the expressions of these people appeared somewhat strange, as if they had suddenly witnessed some unknown entity.

Chen Qingshuang had not yet noticed anything amiss. When she saw the disciples of the Cold Moon Sect, she wanted to walk over and join them.

Ye Fan grabbed her by the arm. "Wait, the situation here doesn't seem quite right."

Hearing Ye Fan's warning, Chen Qingshuang finally noticed their unusual behavior.

"What is wrong with them?"

"Senior Brother? Senior Brother?"

Chen Qingshuang tentatively called out twice to the Cold Moon Sect disciples.

Yet they gave no response whatsoever, as if they had heard nothing at all.

Ye Fan sensed an extremely ancient aura emanating from those sacrificial flags, one permeated with a thick, heavy stench of blood.

The next moment, the altar suddenly activated, and all the sacrificial flags fluttered without any wind.

A blood-red mist diffused from the altar, rapidly engulfing the people surrounding it.

The instant they were enveloped by the blood mist, the consciousness of these individuals abruptly snapped awake.

This bizarre scene before their eyes instantly threw them into a panic.

They wanted to break free from the blood mist, only to discover with horror that their bodies were completely paralyzed and unable to move.

What filled them with even greater despair was that the spiritual power within their bodies was being continuously drained, converging toward the center of the altar.

As their spiritual power was extracted, the cultivation realms of some began to regress.

As for those cultivators of weaker strength, their bodies were completely hollowed out, leaving them looking like desiccated corpses that had been dead for who knows how long.

Everything happening right now felt as though an invisible hand was pushing things from behind, leaving them utterly powerless to resist.

Chen Qingshuang witnessed this horrifying spectacle and instinctively covered her face with her hands.

Meanwhile, outside the Tianyuan Secret Realm.

"This... what on earth is going on?"

"Why is this altar able to extract their spiritual power?"

"Quickly, report this matter to the Sect Master and let him make the decision!"

The Great Elder of the Heavenly Sword Sect, who was presiding over the situation, also panicked; he had never encountered such a situation before.

Therefore, for a moment, he had no idea how to respond.

Not only him, but the elders of the other sects were all deeply anxious as well.

One had to know that the disciples sent into the secret realm were almost all exceptional talents of their respective sects.

To cultivate them, a vast amount of resources and effort had been expended without hesitation.

Frankly speaking, these disciples were the future of the sects.

Once something happened to them, it would undoubtedly be an unbearable and catastrophic blow to the major sects.

At that moment, a figure suddenly appeared directly above the altar.

Looking at the spiritual power being absorbed within the altar, a look of madness flashed in that person's eyes.

First, he burst into wild, mindless laughter, and then he shouted hysterically, "Mine! All of this power belongs to me!"

As his words fell, the spiritual power gathered in the altar instantly surged into that person's body!

"He... he is absorbing the spiritual power being drained from us!"

"Could it be that this altar is a trap set by him?"

"That looks like a disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect."

"That's right, I recognize him, it's a disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect!"

Within the blood mist, someone immediately recognized the person's identity.

Although their bodies were immobilized, their consciousness was now extremely clear, and they were still able to speak.

One by one, they flew into a rage and began fiercely cursing that Heavenly Sword Sect disciple!

"You bastard! I won't let you off!"

"To think that the dignified number one power in Zhongzhou would resort to such despicable and underhanded tactics behind the scenes!"

"This Tianyuan Secret Realm was a conspiracy of theirs all along!"

"What a pity that we realized it too late; I'm afraid we're all going to perish here today!"

"You Heavenly Sword Sect scum, even as ghosts, this lord will not let you off!"

Watching the bitterly cursing sect disciples within the blood mist, a terrifying thought suddenly flashed through Ye Fan's mind—The Myriad Spirits Heavenly Burial Sacrifice!