Chapter 56: A Calamity Descends from the Sky

After more than ten days of continuously pouring in a large number of living creatures and extraordinary items,

a blood-colored radiance enveloped the entire altar, forming a massive light sphere fifteen or sixteen meters in diameter, with a barrier thickness of two meters.

Even from a great distance, Gune could faintly sense the cruel smell of blood and the terrifying power contained within the altar.

About two thousand meters away from the altar and the hall of Night Reef Island,

Gune was currently hiding at the top of a steep cliff.

At this moment, Gune, attuned to the Dark Essence, was perfectly concealed within the darkness.

Gazing at the altar radiating a blood-colored glow, Gune pondered silently.

“If that elder of the Yasha Fishmen enters the altar to perform the final sacrifice, then I’m afraid a Transcendent Master will indeed be born.”

“Although advancing through such means leaves no room for further growth, it is still a Transcendent Master.”

“Moreover, the Merfolk will surely forge even closer cooperation with these followers of the Giant Spirit Church in the future.”

“I absolutely cannot allow that elder to enter the altar.”

As Gune pondered, he had already fixed his gaze on the entrance of the magnificent hall.

“He should be coming out soon.”

After casting an Eagle Eye spell that had been upgraded to level two,

the situation at the hall entrance was quickly brought close to Gune, as clear as if it were right before his eyes.

Eagle Eye is different from a mere telescopic zoom.

A telescopic zoom causes the viewed objects to become blurry.

Eagle Eye, on the other hand, tends to directly approach the target location for observation, making everything clearly visible.

Then, Gune began to condense the Dark Inscription Arcane Channel.

Because of the long distance, this time Gune heavily reinforced the repeated syllables in the Dark Inscription Arcane Channel, taking over thirty seconds and consuming more than fifty units of source power.

Only then did Gune manage to condense the Dark Inscription Arcane Channel.

This Dark Inscription Arcane Channel was thicker and longer than the one used to shoot down Yusha·Edward back then.

It was nearly five meters long and much thicker than Gune’s thigh.

This was truly a “cannon barrel” in every sense.

And the effect of this enhanced Dark Inscription Arcane Channel was also extremely astonishing.

First, its power increased dramatically, combined with the extraordinary properties of the 'demon-breaking bullet' and the annihilation properties of the Death Beast's annihilation energy.

Even against shields of the secret-pattern spell level, it still possessed considerable penetrative and destructive power.

In other words, even shields at the level of secret-pattern spell scrolls could not withstand it.

Second, with such powerful enhancement, the bullet's velocity also increased significantly.

Originally, with a three-meter-long barrel, the bullet velocity was nearly two thousand meters per second.

Now, with a five-meter-long barrel, calculations suggest a bullet velocity of roughly five thousand meters per second.

This bullet speed would give the Great Elder no time to react.

By the time he heard the sound, his head would already be shattered.

After preparing everything and checking all subsequent contingency measures,

Gunie completely calmed down.

Even if he couldn't kill the Great Elder today, he would still make the merfolk and the members of the Giant God Church suffer.

...

Inside the majestic and vast hall,

the Yasha Merfolk Great Elder sat upon the throne symbolizing power and authority.

The high back of the seat behind him was carved with various deep-sea giant beasts and sea tribes.

More than thirty members of the Giant Spirit Church, including Augushan, were present.

This time, to ally with the Yasha Merfolk,

a great number of experts had come.

Besides Augushan, there were seven or eight fifth-rank experts, and the rest were numerous third- and fourth-rank mid-level supernaturals.

On the Yasha Merfolk side, there were even more people.

There were over a dozen sixth-rank supernaturals alone, and more than thirty fifth-rank supernaturals.

Third- and fourth-rank Yasha Merfolk supernaturals were not qualified to enter the hall.

On the square outside, third- and fourth-rank Yasha Merfolk supernaturals stood in neat rows, numbering three to four hundred.

Although the Yasha Merfolk were a small tribe, that was relative to the large tribes that controlled vast seas and had populations of over a billion.

The Yasha Merfolk themselves numbered nearly a million.

However, most of the Yasha Merfolk lived on the reef islands near Night Reef Island and the surrounding seas.

"Your Excellency Augushan, is the great giant satisfied with the sacrificial offerings?"

The Grand Elder on the throne asked softly.

"There is no problem at all!"

Augushan nodded solemnly in response.

"I have already felt the call of the giant."

"If you now participate in the final rite of the sacrifice, you can be promoted to Transcendent Master."

"And today we will witness the birth of a Transcendent Master."

Satisfied with the answer, a smile appeared on the Grand Elder's wrinkled face.

Then he looked again at the female Yecha tribeswoman in white robes and asked softly.

"Ailor, what is the result of the divination?"

The female Yecha named Ailor bowed slightly to him and said in an ethereal voice: "I saw you bathed in bloodlight, being promoted to Transcendent Master."

"Because I spied on a future Transcendent Master, I must rest for a long time before I can make a second true glimpse."

"If I hadn't seen a Transcendent Master, I wouldn't have such a great expenditure."

"Very good!" The smile on the Grand Elder's wrinkled face grew richer.

"For a long time..." The Grand Elder looked at the black altar radiating bloodlight outside the hall, his tone like a low chant.

"Our clan has been cursed by an unknown force. It is very, very difficult for anyone to be promoted to Transcendent Master."

"This time, by borrowing the power of the majestic god, I can finally break the curse on our clan."

"After my promotion, you high-level transcendents will all become supporters of our clan. By borrowing the power of the giant, you too will have hope of being promoted to Transcendent Master one by one."

Hearing this, the many high-ranking Yecha mermaid experts below were all greatly excited.

Transcendent Master—that level of power and realm is the lifelong pursuit of many transcendents.

"In that case, let us begin!" The Grand Elder's voice resounded powerfully throughout the hall.

Led by the Grand Elder, the crowd slowly walked out of the hall.

As soon as they exited the gate,

the bloody aura from the black altar rushed toward them.

Smelling the thick scent of blood, the Grand Elder seemed to feel that the path to Transcendent Master was already unfolding before his eyes.

The dual transformation of soul and body would elevate his strength to a new level and extend his lifespan.

As for those humans and other mermaid members who were sacrificed alive,

being stepping stones for his promotion to Transcendent Master was their honor.

Just as the Grand Elder of the Yecha mermaid clan was contemplating his bright future,

"Pfft!"

A sound like a tearing puncture suddenly rang out.

The Grand Elder of the Yecha mermaid clan was startled but not panicked.

Earlier, he had known that the man called Captain Jack had disappeared, and Augushan had not found them.

Not finding them meant they might still be on the island.

So, the wily old Grand Elder had secretly applied a rune-level shield scroll to himself.

Even if there was an ambush, so what?

He knew the power of arcane bullets.

Even if the bullet's power could break a high-level shield, could it break a rune-level shield?

But reality taught the Grand Elder of the Yecha mermaid clan a profound lesson: yes, it could!

Steadying himself, the Grand Elder looked around and was about to give orders,

when he suddenly found his body uncontrollably falling to the ground.

"What... is this?"

"Don't I have a rune-level spell shield?"

"Damn... my soul is dissipating... how is this possible..."

With a "thud,"

the Grand Elder, his head pierced through with a fist-sized bloody hole, slammed heavily onto the ground, blood quickly spreading.

The sudden turn of events stunned everyone around.

The Grand Elder, who was about to be promoted to Transcendent Master, had now fallen.

Before the crowd could recover from their shock,

a hysterical roar instantly enraged all the Yecha mermaids.

"Lord Augushan, strike now, kill all these mermaid scum!"

From the darkness came a voice vibrating with source power, clear and brimming with murderous intent.