Chapter 2054: Palace Master Du's Sacrifice

As he spoke, black qi emerged from the wound on the clone, just like before, forced out by the power within his body.

"This kind of injury won't stay on me for long; the decaying aura won't find it... Ah!"

With a cry of pain, he quickly lowered his head, only to see Zhang Xuan's sword stab into another spot. "No worries, I'll just stab again once the wound heals. I don't mind the effort."

Veins bulging on his forehead, the clone wished he could slap this fool to death.

But in the end, he stopped, dragging his injured body to fly around the area.

As expected, the concentration of decaying aura varied, and before long, he found the spot with the highest density.

This place was not covered in ruins like before; instead, it had the fewest ruins and the most vegetation.

Thick vines coiled around the corners of walls, completely covering a low wall.

Having confirmed the location, Zhang Xuan sighed in relief. After a pause, he pointed a finger, and hundreds of array flags flew out, landing around the area to form an air wall resembling a rock face.

Only after doing this did he hover above the vines and send his voice down: "Palace Master Du, I am the sect master of the Seven Stars Tower, with no connection to the Divine Temple. I know you are below. Please come out and let me heal your injuries. Otherwise, under the assault of the decaying aura, you won't last a stick of incense's time before you die! Right now, your internal organs and meridians are already beginning to decay; you can barely even breathe, can you?"

This Palace Master Du had been ambushed by Fu Chenzi and was severely injured. Even outside, it would be hard for her to survive, let alone here, where the decaying aura seeped through the skin, entered the body through wounds, and completely corroded and destroyed her inner energy.

If not expelled quickly, even as a Pseudo-God realm expert, she would struggle to hold on for a stick of incense.

Boom!

The vines exploded with a whoosh, and Palace Master Du, wearing a bronze mask, flew out, her body trembling slightly, looking pained. Yet she stood straight, her eyes cold.

The altar was fake; she feared this person had already seen through it, just like before—another trick of bitter sacrifice!

The people of the Divine Temple had no feelings. As long as they achieved their goal, a few deaths meant nothing. Moreover, this opponent had endless tricks; even if he appeared to be killed, who knew if it was just an illusion?

Thus, despite his offer to save her, she still did not believe him.

"I have already hidden the altar deep within this Sunken Sky City, where no one can find it. Don't dream of getting anything out of me! Kill me if you want; I won't fall for any more tricks like bitter sacrifice!"

Palace Master Du clenched her teeth.

"You really misunderstand..."

Shaking his head with a wry smile, Zhang Xuan flicked his finger, and a gourd flew over, hovering quietly before her under his control. "Drink the healing medicine inside. Otherwise, even without my intervention, you won't survive!"

After confirming that she couldn't escape in the short term, Palace Master Du took the gourd and drank it down.

He was right. Her internal organs had already been corroded by the decaying aura, and her inner energy was nearly depleted. Her injuries were several times more severe than Elder Bai Ye's back then. If she hadn't reached the Pseudo-God realm and undergone a bodily transformation, she would have died long ago.

Now, with her escape routes blocked by the formation, she couldn't leave. Whether this was poison or a healing elixir, she would drink it. At worst, she would self-destruct and take him down with her!

After drinking, her face alternated between gloom and brightness. A moment later, she spat out a mouthful of blood—not red, but pitch black. It fell to the ground, and black qi burst out, darting across the surface before vanishing.

"This..."

Palace Master Du was utterly incredulous.

She knew the conditions of Sunken Sky City very well, which was why she had been able to set up formations in advance and make the Divine Temple suffer.

This decaying aura, once inside the body, was impervious to medicine. Yet a bottle of his water had resolved it...

"Who exactly are you?"

Palace Master Du looked at him.

The people of the Divine Temple would not so easily resolve her troubles, and she had never heard of him being able to dispel the decaying aura here. This suggested that, as he said, he was likely not in league with Fu Chenzi and the others.

"As I explained, I am Liu Yang, sect master of the Seven Stars Tower. I came specifically to find you, not for the so-called altar, but to... ask about something!"

Zhang Xuan clasped his fists.

"Ask about something?"

"Yes. In the Unmanned Sea, when you made a sacrifice to the heavens, the deity you encountered—was it Luo Ruoxin?"

Zhang Xuan asked, full of tension.

Palace Master Du frowned.

Seeing that she was unwilling to speak and still seemed suspicious, Zhang Xuan gently pulled out the pendant from his neck. "You should recognize this..."

Even the great shark and other beasts had recognized it at a glance. If this Palace Master Du had truly summoned Luo Ruoxin to the lower realm, she should be familiar with it.

"This is... a token of the Spirit God?"

Her body shook, and Palace Master Du stumbled back two steps, utterly astonished. "Are you... Sect Master Zhang Xuan?"

"Yes!" Zhang Xuan nodded, his disguise dissipating, revealing his true appearance.

"Jiang Yao, elder of the Zhuxing Palace, pays respects to Sect Master Zhang..."

Having confirmed his identity, "Palace Master Du" knelt down.

"Jiang Yao?" Zhang Xuan frowned. Just now, before they had even fought much, this Palace Master Du had been ambushed and severely injured, so he hadn't used the Library of Heaven's Path. He had thought she was the real Palace Master Du. How had she turned into an elder?

Removing the bronze mask, "Palace Master Du" revealed the face of a middle-aged woman. She said, "The Divine Temple came to force the altar. The sect master had me disguise myself as her and come to Sunken Sky City to try to kill them, while she hid the altar in a special place, not here!"

"This..." Zhang Xuan blinked.

As expected of a palace master and a Pseudo-God realm expert—none of them were simple characters.

He had thought she had fallen for the trap, but it turned out the Divine Temple had been the one tricked, played for fools by this palace master.

It seemed they had long known that the great elder and the others couldn't hold out for long. They had deliberately leaked false information to the enemy, sending this elder with a fake altar to Sunken Sky City to defend it with her life, attracting the Divine Temple's attention, while the real palace master took another path.

"Your cultivation..."

Understanding this, Zhang Xuan frowned.

The six great sects only had one slot every hundred years, didn't they? Why did the Star-Seeking Palace suddenly produce an unknown pseudo-god realm expert?

"It's the divine blood..."

Jiang Yao said.

Zhang Xuan suddenly understood.

The deity summoned by Du Qingyuan had casually used a few drops of blood to create the Dark-Shelled Turtle and the Three-Headed Shark Dragon. Even marine creatures could smoothly break through to pseudo-god. As the summoner, the palace master of the Star-Seeking Palace must have obtained quite a bit of blood as well.

Creating a pseudo-god realm expert was thus not difficult!

However, this matter was extremely secret. This Jiang Yao, like Elder Feng Qian, was likely part of the sect master's most private secret force, which was why the news had not leaked out and almost no one knew.

After all, breaking through to pseudo-god did not require a heavenly tribulation. As long as it was done covertly, hiding it from others was easy.

"Where is your sect master now?"

After asking a few questions and finding that she knew nothing about Luo Ruoxi, Zhang Xuan frowned and said.

"The sect master once said that if the sect master of the Lingyun Sword Pavilion asked, I must answer truthfully. However... I don't know much!"

Jiang Yao smiled bitterly.

"Sect master of the Lingyun Sword Pavilion?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

He had just thought she was addressing him as sect master because of the Seven Stars Tower. When had he become the sect master of the Lingyun Sword Pavilion?

If so, wouldn't that mean he now held three of the six great sects?

"Yes..." Jiang Yao glanced at him in confusion.

This matter was known throughout the continent; surely he wasn't still unaware?

"Let's leave here first. Then you find a way to inform Palace Master Du that Zhang Xuan is looking for her. As for dealing with the temple, we'll take our time to discuss it!" After a pause, Zhang Xuan said.

"Alright!"

Jiang Yao said no more.

The two returned the way they came.

Although the Sunken Sky City was eerie, one of them was familiar with it, the other had the Eye of Insight, and both were extremely strong. They encountered no great danger and, half an hour later, were back above the desert.

"I'll contact Palace Master Du!"

Leaving that eerie place, Jiang Yao breathed a sigh of relief.

She had thought this mission would mean certain death with no chance of survival, but unexpectedly, she had been saved by this Sect Master Zhang Xuan.

Taking out a communication jade talisman, she set up a special formation to send a message. After a moment, she turned to look over: "I've sent the message. Now I'll return to the Star-Seeking Palace. Barring any accidents, the palace master, upon receiving the news of my safety, should also return."

"Mm!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

The two rode the great shark, swiftly flying toward the Star-Seeking Sea.

...

In an unknown distant time and space, Star-Seeking Palace Master Du Qingyuan stood before an altar, murmuring incantations.

The altar emitted a special power, with clusters of flames burning continuously upon it.

Whoosh!

After an unknown period, a phantom appeared above the altar.

"What is the purpose of the sacrifice..."

The voice carried a rumbling sound, as if crossing time and space.

"I wish to see the Spirit God..."

Du Qingyuan knelt down.

"The Spirit God has left and will not see you..." the phantom said faintly.

After a pause, Du Qingyuan said, "Then I have something to report!"

"The temple has made a move against the six great sects, and the opening time of the Heavenly Bridge has also been changed. I suspect something has gone wrong at the temple, so I wanted to inform the deity..."

Du Qingyuan said.

"Something wrong?"

The phantom frowned: "Do you have any news? Why is this happening? Any guesses..."

"I have some guesses, but I'm not sure!"

Du Qingyuan nodded and said, "What could make the temple suddenly interfere in the mortal world and come to seize the altar? I suspect it has to do with..."

Boom!

Before she could finish, the space nearby twisted, and a figure suddenly appeared before her.

Slap!

With a gentle squeeze, the phantom on the altar shattered like foam. Then the burning altar struggled a few times before falling into the other's palm.

Seeing that even the deity's phantom summoned by the sacrifice could not withstand the opponent's attack, and the real altar could not resist either, Du Qingyuan's pupils contracted. Just as she was about to act, the appearing figure looked at her with a smile.

"Palace Master Du... we meet again!"

"So it's you?"

Du Qingyuan's heart instantly sank to the bottom of ice.