txolops Chapter 50 Severing Camps and Burning Veins
Chapter 50 Severing Camps and Burning Veins
The night wind carried ashes through the two of them.
The next instant, the Xuanjia Witch Doctor made the first move.
He dragged the tortoise-shell hammer, stomped his foot, and the ground cracked open with a "crack," his whole body like a piece of black iron that had been smashed out, crashing straight towards him.
Before the hammer even arrived, a pungent, salty, and cold aura hit Huang Chen's face, making his eyelids feel heavy.
Huang Chen did not answer.
He twisted his waist, his Mountain and River Boots slammed to the ground, and he slid three zhang to the side. The heavy hammer slammed down beside him, smashing the cracked earth and half of the broken pillar into dust with a loud bang.
Gravel mixed with black water sprayed up, stinging my face.
"hide?
"How many blows can you dodge?" the Xuanjia Shaman's voice was hoarse, and streaks of dark light flickered within his armor.
Huang Chen didn't reply.
His gaze swept quickly. The chaotic camp was collapsing.
The left-hand prison bars were half-open, and behind them, a dozen or so emaciated figures were blocked by wooden fences and iron chains, desperately trying to squeeze out. Further away, several soldiers guarding the canal had recovered and were using short forks and bone whips to drive the runaway slaves back.
We must not allow them to reunite.
Huang Chen pushed off with his feet, advancing instead of retreating, and rushed out along a cracked stone slope.
The Xuanjia sorcerer, thinking he was about to launch a preemptive attack, raised his hammer and gave chase, the armor plates scraping together with a piercing, crisp sound. Unexpectedly, Huang Chen twisted his body and lunged directly at the prison bars on the left.
"You're asking for death!" A soldier from the rear canal had barely uttered half a sentence.
Huang Chen raised his leg and kicked.
The Mountain and River Treading Boots slammed into the corner of the stone gate, and with a muffled "crack," the entire stone gate split open and tilted inward.
The people inside were stunned at first, then rushed out like madmen.
Don't block the door!
"Go down the slope!" Huang Chen shouted in a low voice, "Run to the west side of the crevice, there's no one guarding it!"
'
While the convicts were still in a daze, a thin, dark-skinned boy was the first to react. His messy hair was covered in scabs, his cheeks were sunken so much that only bones remained, and half a chain was still hanging from his wrist. When he heard the words "west side crack," his eyes suddenly lit up.
"Follow me!" The boy's voice was hoarse. "Don't run towards the main road, there are demon soldiers on the main road!"
'
Huang Chen glanced at him.
The boy was only fifteen or sixteen years old, but his back was taut like a fully drawn bow. Even though he was so scared that his legs were shaking, he still rushed to the front to pull people away.
He forcibly pulled up a woman who had fallen, and dragged an old laborer with a broken leg out of the house.
The Xuanjia Witchcraft Supervisor has caught up.
Huang Chen raised his hand and gestured, causing the Wind-Fixing Pearl in his sleeve to vibrate. An invisible stream of water slashed out diagonally, deflecting the three black water spears thrown by the Xuanjia Witch Supervisor. The water spears "plop plop plop" embedded themselves into the overturned prison cart beside them, corroding three holes in the thick wood.
"Name," Huang Chen asked without turning his head.
The skinny, dark-skinned boy pushed someone while shouting, "Lan Gu!"
"Remember the way, lead them to safety."
"Don't turn around!" Huang Chen shouted.
"Know!
'
As soon as he finished speaking, Huang Chen turned around and rushed towards another stone gate.
The second fence was thicker, and the gate was also fitted with iron lock buckles.
Huang Chen didn't have time to disassemble it carefully. He picked up the black iron sword and slashed at the buckle. Sparks flew everywhere, but he couldn't break it. His brows furrowed, and he slammed his left fist down. He pushed his Wu Clan battle body to its limit, and the veins on his fist bones bulged.
boom!
The iron buckle broke off along with half of the doorpost.
Inside were seven or eight forced laborers, all covered in blood and with vacant stares. Some had barely crawled out two steps when they were lashed down by bone whips flying from afar.
Huang Chen picked up a piece of broken wood from the ground and threw it backhand.
The broken piece of wood, carried by a strong wind, drove directly into the throat of the soldier wielding the whip.
The man clutched his neck, staggered a couple of steps, and fell into the collapsed black pit, not even managing to utter a complete cry.
Killing sinful targets grants karma points.
】
The system notification flashed by quickly.
Huang Chen didn't have time to look closely.
He yelled at the top of his lungs, "Ashi!"
"grown ups!
"I'm going this way too!" came the immediate response from the chaos.
Ashi had somehow already circled around to the bottom of the slope and was leading the few humans who had fled earlier to the side. His left arm still had a broken chain, causing him to limp as he ran, but he kept talking: "Go west!"
Listen to the adults! Don't go towards the campfire!
"That place is going to collapse!"
Huang Chen felt a little more at ease when he saw him.
At least these people aren't acting like headless flies.
The Xuanjia Witchcraft Supervisor completely lost control.
"Huang Chen!" he roared, and dark blue patterns lit up from the gaps in his armor. The patterns were very similar to the mother pattern that Huang Chen had seen in the fragment of the Gonggong Zhenmai Lock Diagram, only more sinister and darker, like chains soaked in corpse water, densely covering half of his breastplate.
An even heavier pressure descended.
Huang Chen felt a weight on his shoulders, and his breath hitched for a moment.
Shen He and this old man are not even in the same league.
If Shenhe was merely a malevolent entity propped up by the power of the sacrificial canal, then Xuanjia Wujian had been guarding this mountain-splitting sacrificial canal for many years, sacrificing half his life in the process.
With the camp in chaos and the lock patterns out of control, his aura was forced to rise higher and higher, almost reaching the threshold of a Celestial Immortal.
If you drag this out, you'll only hurt yourself.
Taking advantage of the moment Huang Chen took a half-step back, he had a thought, and the system panel appeared before his eyes.
[Host: Huang Chen]
[Status: Moderate internal injury, blood and qi deficiency, and shock injuries to both arms]
[Current combat strength assessment: Capable of short-term bursts of power, but not suitable for prolonged head-on battles]
[Side Quest Progress: Destroy the Sacred Vein Core of the Severed Vein Camp (In Progress)]
[One of the conditions for the second stage: Seize the mother rune of the lock vein (incomplete)]
After scanning the entire screen at a glance, Huang Chen immediately closed the panel.
enough.
We can't waste time with this old dog in the open.
Main altar.
That place has the most chaotic lock patterns, and the sacrificial canal has the most ferocious backlash. The Xuanjia Witch Supervisor wants to protect it, but has no choice but to get close.
As long as we lure the people there, we can still fight this battle.
Huang Chen turned and left.
It wasn't an escape; it was a fight-and-retreat, deliberately choosing the most severely collapsed areas and the deepest black water to tread upon. Each time the Mountain and River Treading Boots landed, they precisely avoided the churning ground fire and the breaches.
The Xuanjia Witch Doctor chased after him relentlessly, smashing the ground repeatedly with his hammer.
boom!
A hammer swept in from behind.
Huang Chen didn't have time to completely dodge and could only parry with his sword.
The moment the hammer and knife collided, his entire right arm went numb, a metallic taste rose in his chest, and he was thrown off the ground, crashing through half a flagpole before landing.
"cough--"
He spat out a mouthful of blood onto the gravel, which was scalding hot.
"Run!" The Xuanjia Witch Supervisor approached step by step, his hammer dragging across the ground, leaving a long, charred trail behind him. "Aren't you good at crawling through ditches?"
'
Huang Chen wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, looked at him coldly, but didn't stop walking.
They retreated another two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters).
We're closer to the main altar now.
Originally three stories above the ground, the base of the structure had been half-emptied by the backlash from the sacrificial canal. The surrounding stone pillars were leaning to one side and to the other, and the black chains were taut and snapping back in the air, occasionally lashing out with sparks.
The black water below the stage poured out like a pot of boiling ink soup, bubbling and overflowing.
The Xuanjia Witch Supervisor clearly saw what he was up to. A fierce glint flashed in his eyes, and his speed increased dramatically. He abandoned the probing and smashed his hammer down on the head.
Huang Chen's pupils contracted, and he instantly pushed the Wind-Stabilizing Pearl to its limit.
An invisible breeze collided with the hammer's momentum from the side, deflecting the heavy hammer by half an inch.
That half inch saved a life.
The hammerhead grazed Huang Chen's shoulder as it slammed down, the terrifying force still making half of his body go numb. His Xuanhuang armor thudded repeatedly, and his shoulder bone felt as if it had been completely crushed.
He took advantage of the momentum and lunged forward, rolling behind a pile of broken tombstones at the edge of the main altar.
"Useless methods."
"The Xuanjia Shaman strode over, raised his hand and waved, and six or seven black water spears were pulled out from the crack in the sacrificial canal and bombarded the broken stele like a rainstorm.
Huang Chen did not stay where he was.
Just before the black water spear struck, he slid across the ground, his Asura Blood Blade slashing upwards from below, fiercely cutting through the side of the Xuanjia Witch Supervisor's armor. A piercing screeching sound exploded, sparks flew, but it only sliced through one layer of the auxiliary armor, without even drawing blood.
It's too hard.
Huang Chen's heart sank.
The Xuanjia sorcerer grinned maliciously and raised his knee to strike. Huang Chen crossed his arms to block, but was sent flying again, his back slamming heavily onto the altar base, the shock making his vision go black.
"You little beast." The Xuanjia witch supervisor pressed down, "The mother mark is just a waste in your hands."
'
Huang Chen was panting heavily when he suddenly grinned.
Xuanjia Wujian frowned, and in the next instant, Huang Chen had something in his hand.
Soul-Destroying Chisel - Remnant.
The moment this broken artifact appeared, the surrounding gusts of wind seemed to be disturbed by something.
The chisel was grayish-black with chipped edges, yet its aura was chillingly fierce. Huang Chen gave the opponent no chance to react, charging along the ground and slamming the Soul-Destroying Chisel into the chest of the Xuanjia Witch Supervisor.
"court death!"
The Xuanjia sorcerer raised his hammer to block.
clang!
A loud bang.
The heavy hammer was shaken and deflected half a foot.
Even stranger, the soul-binding runes that wandered in the gaps of the Xuanjia Witchcraft Armor extinguished in three successive lines the moment the Soul-Extinguishing Chisel approached, as if they had been branded with a hot iron.
A muffled groan, barely suppressed, suddenly came from inside the car.
A cold glint flashed in Huang Chen's eyes.
Really useful.
This old dog's tortoise-shell heavy armor is not just protective armor; it also has auxiliary patterns embedded inside, such as soul-binding and meridian-locking patterns, making it perfect for being countered by the Soul-Extinguishing Chisel.
Huang Chen didn't retreat, unleashing a barrage of punches, elbows, and knees, his attacks so ferocious they bordered on reckless. The Xuanjia Witch Supervisor was forced to retreat two steps, then, enraged, swung his heavy hammer, sending Huang Chen flying.
The moment Huang Chen landed, his arms were shaking so badly they were almost uncontrollable.
The bones are cracking.
My palms are completely cracked.
But the Xuanjia Witchcraft Supervisor was also suffering.
A thin crack appeared on the tortoise shell on his chest, and the dark blue patterns inside were clearly disordered, as if someone had pried a corner off from the inside.
"good.
"The Xuanjia Witch Supervisor's breathing became heavy, but his voice became even more sinister, "So you were hiding something like this."
Huang Chen spat out a mouthful of blood and didn't say anything.
The two clashed again around the main altar.
With each chase and collision, almost every step teetered on the edge of collapse.
Black water would sometimes rise up to your ankles, chilling you to the bone, and then the next moment, subterranean fire would spew out from the cracks, scorching your skin and flesh. All around were screams, collapses, beast roars, and the tolling of bells. The entire Broken Vein Camp was like a beast's corpse that was about to be torn apart, collapsing from the inside out.
In the distance, Ashi's voice could still be heard intermittently in the wind.
"Sir, hold the line here!"
Everyone get out of here! Anyone who dares to run back, I'll kick them off the cliff too!
'
Lan Gu also shouted, "Elders first! Make way!"
Get out of the way!
Upon hearing this, Huang Chen's anger flared even more intensely.
The longer it drags on, the more people will escape.
Then it's worth it.
The Xuanjia Wizard had gone berserk. He suddenly stood still, gripped his hammer with both hands, and raised it high, causing the black chains around the main altar to hum.
Dozens of tiny lock-like lines spread along the ground towards Huang Chen's feet, coiling upwards like living snakes.
Huang Chen immediately leaped up.
The Xuanjia Witch Supervisor had been waiting for this moment.
boom!
The heavy hammer struck the side of the main altar base.
It's not Huang Chen, it's the altar.
The entire main altar suddenly tilted, and a muffled rumble came from the cavity beneath it. Large slabs of stone and black water collapsed together. The previously taut black chains instantly lost their balance, whipping wildly like whips, leaving Huang Chen with nowhere to hold on in mid-air.
But Huang Chen's eyes didn't panic; instead, they suddenly lit up.
They fell for the trap.
He was just waiting for the Xuanjia Witch Doctor to smash the stage himself.
Once the base cracks again, the old man's body will inevitably reveal a flaw in order to stabilize the altar.
really.
After Xuanjia Wujian slammed down with his hammer, the armor on his left chest was slightly lifted by the recoil, the dark blue patterns became chaotic, and the thin crack on his chest opened wider, vaguely revealing a blackened lock pattern core inside.
Huang Chen touched the black chain that was being swung at him with his toes, using the momentum to lunge forward.
Seven Styles of Witchcraft: Close-Range Burst!
The first move: Elbow strike to open the door.
The second move, Sky-Splitting Fist.
The third movement: Sink your shoulders and press your body down.
The three blows landed squarely on the crack in the chest of the Xuanjia Witch Supervisor.
The Xuanjia Wizard roared and raised his hammer, but Huang Chen didn't flinch at all, letting the hammer handle slam into his ribs with a dull crack, breaking several of his ribs. Using the force of the impact, he forcefully wedged his right fist into the gap in his breastplate, and then slammed his left hand's Soul-Destroying Chisel into it.
"Get out here!"
Huang Chen's mouth was full of blood, his five fingers were clenched tightly, and the veins on the back of his hands were bulging.
The Xuanjia Wizard was violently shaken, letting out a roar that sounded inhuman. Large swaths of the soul-binding runes within his breastplate went out, as if their roots had been severed.
Huang Chen finally grasped the thing with his fingertips—
Cold and sticky, like a piece of bone that has been soaking in corpse fluid for a long time.
He pulled hard!
puff!
He painstakingly pried half of the blackened lock vein pattern, along with blood vessels and fragments of armor, out of the protective pattern on the chest of the Xuanjia Witch Supervisor.
"ah--!"
The Xuanjia Witch Supervisor's eyes were bloodshot, and he struck Huang Chen in the chest with a backhand palm strike.
Huang Chen was sent flying backward, rolling several times around the collapsed altar before crashing into a broken pillar and coming to a stop. His mouth and nose were full of blood, his vision was blurry, and his arms were so numb that he could barely lift them.
But he was still clutching that half of the mother emblem tightly in his hand.
The blackened patterns pulsated in my palm, struggling like living things, with a cold, black aura constantly seeping from their edges.
The system notification exploded in my mind almost simultaneously.
[Key item detected: Half of the Lock Vein Pattern]
One of the conditions for the second stage of the side quest has been met.
[Current Progress Update]
Huang Chen grinned and was about to sit up when an even more violent clanging of chains came from in front of him.
The Xuanjia Witchcraft Supervisor did not fall.
He knelt on one knee beside the main altar, a large section of his armor shattered on his chest, revealing a clear, bloody hole.
After losing half of his mother mark, the aura that had been approaching the threshold of the Celestial Immortal realm plummeted, causing his breathing to become erratic and blood to continuously spurt from his mouth.
But the more he acted this way, the more ferocious his face became.
"Give it back..." He raised his head, his mouth full of blood and foam, his eyes almost bursting out of their sockets, "Give me back the Mother Mark!"
Huang Chen leaned against the broken pillar to stand up, feeling as if a piece of red-hot iron was pressing on his chest.
He glanced down at the black-patterned fragment in his hand, then looked at the crumbling main altar in front of him. His Adam's apple bobbed, and he slowly raised the Soul-Destroying Chisel again.
The wind picked up at night.
The last blue lamp on the altar suddenly exploded in two with a "crack".
After the last blue flame on the altar exploded, everything went dark. Immediately afterward, an even more ear-piercing sound of chains grinding against each other erupted from the bottom of the main altar. It wasn't just one or two chains; all the black chains buried underground, wrapped around the stone walls, and running through the sacrificial canal trembled wildly at that moment.
wow-
slam-la-
The black chains lashed against the edge of the altar, sending pebbles flying, and foul-smelling black liquid gushed up from the cracks. The air was thick with the smells of rust, burnt metal, and the putrid stench of blood left over from years of rituals, making one's chest feel tight.
Huang Chen, leaning against the broken pillar, forced back the mouthful of blood that had risen to his throat.
With each breath, the broken bone under my ribs felt like it was scraping my flesh.
The blow to the chest was even more devastating; the force of the Xuanjia Witch Supervisor's final, desperate counterattack nearly shook his internal organs out of his body. But he had no time to recover.
In the side crack, a dozen or so human laborers who had just been freed from their chains were crawling out along the stone wall. Some had weak legs, some had blood on their hands, and two half-grown children were being pushed forward by the adults behind them.
If this drags on any longer, the entire sacrificial canal will collapse, and all these people will be buried underneath.
"run!"
Huang Chen let out a low shout, his throat filled with the metallic taste of blood.
"Follow the side crack! Don't look back!"
'
Someone responded through sobs, but most people didn't dare to speak, only desperately pushing forward. Someone glanced back at him, their eyes filled with fear and disbelief.
Huang Chen ignored it, flipped his left hand, and karmic fire rose in his palm. He forcibly pushed the Twelve-Grade Karmic Fire Red Lotus (a replica) to its limit.
Huang Chen ignored it, flipped his left hand, and karmic fire rose in his palm. He forcibly pushed the Twelve-Grade Karmic Fire Red Lotus (a replica) to its limit.
hum!
A dark red curtain of fire suddenly spread out.
The fire curtain didn't cover the Xuanjia Witch's Chamber; instead, it leaned towards the side crack, creating a twisted protective barrier against the crumbling stone wall.
The falling pebbles crashed against it, making crackling sounds, but before they could penetrate, they were burned to black ash by the karmic fire.
The veins on Huang Chen's forehead bulged out one by one.
This is something he can't sustain for long in his current state.
The flames of karma burn the enemy, but also burn himself.
The skin on his palms cracked first, followed by a burning pain in his wrists and arms. Huang Chen gasped for breath, glancing out of the corner of his eye to see that the person in the side crack had finally managed to escape a little further away during this brief opening, before turning his gaze back to the center of the main altar.
The Xuanjia Witch Supervisor has already stood up.
No, to be precise, it was half-bent over, slowly pushing itself up from the blood and shattered armor.
Black blood was still oozing from the gaping hole in his chest, and the markings within his tattered armor flickered like a lamp about to go out in the wind. Yet, the energy emanating from his body was rising violently and fiercely.
Dark blue lines of blood bulged out from under his skin, creeping up his neck and onto his face, even stretching the edge of his helmet so much that it cracked.
He was burning his essence and blood.
He's going to fight this hard.
"Mongrel..."
The Xuanjia Witch Supervisor's throat was full of blood and foam, yet his voice grew increasingly hoarse and terrifying.
"You ruined my sacrificial altar, stole my mother's mark... Do you think you can walk out of here alive?"
He suddenly raised his hand, and the black chains underground taut at the same time.
Beneath the main altar, a large expanse of dark blue lock patterns lit up. These patterns, which should have been governed by the mother pattern, had become even more chaotic now that half of it was missing, biting and tearing at each other like a group of out-of-control venomous snakes frantically crawling beneath the stone layers.
Huang Chen glanced at the half of the Locking Meridian Pattern in his palm.
That thing is still jumping.
Cold, slippery, like it's alive.
The deep well-like core slot in the center of the main altar had been mostly cracked open due to the chaotic impact of the formation, and the sacrificial patterns inside were rolling up layer by layer.
If the Xuanjia Witch Supervisor were to pour his essence blood and the remaining patterns into it, the entire Rift Mountain Sacrifice Canal could very well be detonated on the spot. He could then use the collapse to relock the earth's veins, burying all the evidence and the people who escaped.
We can't let him succeed.
Xuanjia Shaman clearly saw through Huang Chen's thoughts and suddenly grinned.
That smile was laced with blood.
"Come on." He stomped on the platform, smashing it, and spread his arms as if to hug the entire altar. "Didn't you want to sever the sacrificial canal?"
Come on! Let's see if you'll smash me to death first, or if I'll send this whole place down with me!
'
boom!
The core of the remaining lock pattern in his chest throbbed violently.
Four jets of black water exploded simultaneously at the four corners of the main altar.
Huang Chen's feet sank, and the entire stone platform began to collapse.
Without pausing for a moment, he charged forward. With each step he took over a crack, shards of rock crumbled down.
The sounds of wind, chains, and black water all collided together, almost numbing my ears.
The Xuanjia sorcerer swung his heavy hammer and smashed it down.
Huang Chen didn't retreat. Instead, he shifted his body to the side, and the hammer's blast grazed his shoulder, shattering half of the stone pillar behind him. Stone fragments flew into his face, scraping out several bloody gashes.
He had already gripped the Soul-Destroying Chisel in his right hand, and with the weapon close to his body, he thrust it fiercely into the gap in the chest of the Xuanjia Witch Supervisor.
The Xuanjia witch doctor slapped back.
Huang Chen's shoulder bone went numb from the slap, and he slid sideways. He then twisted sharply at the edge of the collapsed altar, managing to change direction using the broken stone steps and preventing himself from falling.
"die!
'
The Xuanjia Shaman roared and slammed both palms down on the core of the altar.
It's now!
Huang Chen's eyes flashed, and he suddenly threw out the half of the Locking Meridian Mother Pattern in his palm!
The black fragment flew through the air, not heading towards the Xuanjia Witch Supervisor, but instead piercing the cracked core groove in the center of the main altar.
puff!
The moment the mother rune returned to its place, the entire altar seemed to be struck by a heavy hammer. It paused for a moment, and then all the runes lit up at the same time.
It was blindingly bright.
The light was chaotic.
Like dozens or even hundreds of incompatible streams suddenly being forced into the same narrow channel, a muffled thunderous roar immediately echoed from beneath the stone platform. The Xuanjia Witch Supervisor's expression changed drastically, clearly not expecting Huang Chen to insert the half of the mother rune he had so painstakingly seized back into place.
"you--"
"Didn't you want to explode?" Huang Chen grinned, blood seeping from his teeth. "Then I'll let you explode as much as you want."
'
Before he finished speaking, his left hand trembled, and the reverse pulse needle slid into his fingers.
This thing is specifically designed to break through the meridians that are locked in a clockwise direction.
Without holding back, he lunged forward to the core of the altar and thrust the Reverse Strike Needle deep into the thickest main vein node below the Mother Pattern!
click!
A crisp sound rang out, as if something had broken deep within the altar.
Immediately afterwards, the sacrificial patterns that had been converging inward suddenly surged back.
Dark blue, jet black, and gray-white patterns rolled out from the core slot, scattering wildly along the platform and colliding with the blood essence lock patterns poured into the palm of the Xuanjia Wujian.
The two forces, one going forward and the other backward, tore each other apart on the spot.
"No--!"
The blood vessels in Xuanjia Wujian's arms bulged, and the skin and flesh of his palms were instantly charred black.
He tried to forcefully suppress Huang Chen, but Huang Chen was already in front of him.
Soul-Destroying Chisel - Slashing the Broken Sword.
First time.
boom!
It hit the forehead of the helmet, denting it.
The second time.
boom!
The Xuanjia Wizard staggered half a step, the edge of his helmet cracking to reveal the eerie, twisted divine mark between his eyebrows.
The third time.
Huang Chen let out a low roar, pressing all the strength from his waist, back, arms, and shoulders into the divine rune as if he were swinging a massive iron ingot!
"Smash it!"
boom!
This blow struck like shattering a bronze bell filled with vengeful spirits.
The helmet shattered completely.
The divine mark between the Xuanjia Witch Supervisor's brows first cracked open, then spread into a spider web, and finally shattered into countless ghostly blue fragments with a "crack". Before the fragments could dissipate, they were suppressed by the remaining soul-suppressing power on the Soul-Extinguishing Chisel, and were crushed along with the churning remnant soul within his body.
The Xuanjia witch supervisor's eyes widened suddenly.
The murderous intent, resentment, and madness within froze in an instant.
He opened his mouth as if he wanted to curse, but only large mouthfuls of black blood gushed from his throat.
"Bei...Ming..."
Two indistinct sounds were squeezed out, his head tilted to the side, and he collapsed to his knees with a thud.
The next instant, the core of the altar went completely out of control.
Rumble—!
The main altar exploded in the middle.
Huang Chen was thrown backward by the impact, his back slamming heavily against the outer edge of the stone wall, causing his vision to go black.
Before he could fully recover, a series of cold notification sounds rang in his mind.
【Ding!
Kill the serious crime target: Xuanjia Witch Supervisor
Karma Points Gained: ?
？】
【Ding!
Complete the second part of the main quest: Seize the Broken Vein Mother Pattern and Cut Off the Broken Mountain Sacrifice Canal.
[Quest Condition 1: Obtain the Mother Rune controlled by the Xuanjia Witchcraft Supervisor - Completed]
[Mission Condition 2: Destroy the main altar of the Severed Vein Camp - Completed]
[Task Rewards: 45000 Karma, 15000 Merit]
[Ding! Key intelligence obtained: The mastermind points to the transaction between the "Envoy from the Northern Sea" and the remnants of the Xuantian Sect]
【Ding!
The third part of the main quest has been released: Track down the mastermind and stop the fuse of the falling sky.
[Mission Objective 1: Track down clues about the envoy from the Northern Sea]
[Mission Objective Two: Locate the true igniter on the outskirts of Buzhou Mountain]
The system notifications exploded one after another, but Huang Chen didn't have time to look at them closely.
Because the altar really collapsed.
Not just the countertop.
The entire Broken Vein Camp is collapsing.
The surrounding tents had already been mostly toppled in the previous assaults, and now, with the underground sacrificial canals overflowing and black water pouring in, the chains buried in the ground seemed to have had their spines pulled out, snapping in large sections. In the distance came the screams of demon soldiers and the remaining guards, which were quickly swallowed up by an even greater roar.
"Go—all of you, go!"
Huang Chen pushed himself up and roared toward the crack in the side.
Some of the laborers had already fled to the outer stone slope. Some looked back and saw the black fire that had burst forth from the center of the main altar and the deep crater that had collapsed; their legs went weak with fear.
Huang Chen couldn't bother to help him up. He could only carry the Soul-Destroying Chisel and stagger towards the outside, kicking over two pieces of wildly twisting black chains along the way, and then smashing a large rock blocking the crack with his other hand.
"If you don't get out of here, you'll all die!"
'
This sentence is more effective than anything else.
The remaining people scrambled and crawled out.
Huang Chen glanced back one last time. The body of the Xuanjia Witch Supervisor had been buried under the rubble of the altar in the collapse, with only half of his charred hand hanging by the crack, his fingers still in a clenched grip.
The next instant, that hand was swallowed up by the surging black water.
He pulled on the black windproof cloak, barely covering his chest and abdominal wounds, and gritted his teeth as he retreated out of the rift valley.
-
The wind is colder on the wasteland.
When we rushed out of the sacrificial canal, it was still dark and gloomy.
Muffled thuds echoed from the depths of the rift valley behind them, and the ground would occasionally tremble, as if a giant beast were turning over underground. Only about twenty people escaped, all of them in a sorry state, some with shackles on their feet, some with whip marks on their backs, and some soaking wet. They were all huddled together in a sheltered spot among the rocks, gasping for their lives.
Some people collapsed to the ground, crying until their voices became hoarse.
Some people were kneeling and kowtowing towards the rift valley, it was unclear whether they were worshipping their ancestors or praying for their good fortune.
Huang Chen hadn't stood there for long when his chest began to ache. He reached out and grabbed a convict who wanted to go back to find his family, and said in a deep voice, "Going back is just suicide."
The rift valley is still collapsing; no one can get in.
The middle-aged man's face was covered in mud and blood, and his lips were trembling.
"My...my brother is still down there..."
Huang Chen remained silent for a moment, then released his grip and said only one sentence: "Survive first."
The man seemed drained of all his energy; he squatted on the ground, holding his head and remaining silent.
Huang Chen glanced around, suppressing his dizziness, and pointed to two people who could still walk: "Help each other and retreat to the western rocky ridge. Don't go down to the lowlands, in case the black water overflows."
Walk another ten miles or so, and look for a crevice in the rocks where someone can hide.
"You guys, carry the seriously injured ones on your backs."
'
"Who can still tell which way is which?"
An older woman, panting, raised her hand: "There are wind-eroded rock belts in the west...northwest. I saw them when I was brought here before."
'
"lead the way."
She nodded, gritted her teeth, and stood up.
Huang Chen didn't say anything more, carrying the Asura Blood Blade to cover their retreat. Along the way, the rift valley behind them roared incessantly, and occasionally black water gushed out from the cracks in the ground, mixed with the stench of dead fish and rotten bones.
The group stumbled along, and the sky gradually turned white. The cold light shone on the barren stones, making them look like they were covered with a layer of pale bone powder.
After a full half-day of searching, they finally found a hidden crevice in the rocks beneath a rugged mountain range.
The crevice in the rock was small, but deep inside, and sheltered by wind and sand from the outside. It was barely enough to hide about twenty people.
The first thing Huang Chen did after entering was to set up a simplified version of the Minor Five Elements Bewildering Array.
The base of the array was made from readily available broken stones and a few spirit stones.
They did not seek to fend off powerful enemies, but only to conceal their presence and disrupt the flow of information.
After doing all that, he sat down against the stone wall, finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. But as soon as he did, the wounds on his chest, abdomen, ribs, and shoulders flared up all at once, causing him to feel dizzy and his vision to blur.
Ah Shi is not here.
Those who carried on the torch are all gone.
Right now, I can only rely on myself.
Huang Chen flipped his hand and took out the Rejuvenation Pill and the Vitality Replenishing Pill, swallowed one of each, then tore open the Black Wind Pouch and looked down at his injuries.
The palm print on his chest was bruised and black, his ribs were swollen high, and subcutaneous bruising had spread. If it weren't for the support of his intermediate-level witch clan battle physique, he would have been lying down long ago with this kind of injury.
Several laborers nearby looked uneasy as they saw him tending to his wounds.
The woman who had led the way asked in a low voice, "My benefactor... would you like me to wrap it up for you?"
'
Huang Chen waved his hand.
"You all need to take care of yourselves first."
'
He leaned against the stone wall, closed his eyes, and regulated his breathing, slowly circulating his qi and blood through the "Primordial God and Demon Technique" and the "Ancient Body Forging Scripture." The light in the crevice was dim, and the wind howled outside, carrying sand particles that pelted the edges of the crevice, sounding like someone sharpening a knife outside.
After a long while, the churning, dull pain in my chest finally subsided somewhat.
Huang Chen then opened his eyes and brought up the system panel.
A pale golden light curtain spread out before my eyes.
The "karma" column saw a sharp increase.
The merit points are also much higher than before.
After cracking the tough nut of the Xuanjia Witchcraft Supervisor, along with the rewards from the second part of the main quest, the gains were astonishing.
Huang Chen stared at the cultivation level column for a moment, his Adam's apple bobbing. He was indeed just one step away from the mid-stage of Earth Immortal.
It's not the kind of insurmountable gap, but the kind of gap that can be overcome by acquiring another decent resource or refining existing resources.
His finger hovered over the taskbar.
The third ring is now lit.
Beiming came to envoy.
Trading line of the Xuantian Sect's remnants.
The true igniter.
The words hung silently, like three thin needles, piercing my mind one by one.
Huang Chen's expression darkened as he recalled the two words the Xuanjia Witch Supervisor had uttered before his death.
This is not over yet.
The Broken Vein Camp is just the entrance.
The one who truly stirred up the bloodshed around Buzhou Mountain was yet to come.
Suddenly, a few barely audible sobs came from outside the crevice in the rock.
Huang Chen put away the panel and turned his head to look. A boy who was so thin that he was just a skeleton was squatting near the entrance, holding half of the Bigu Pill that had been given to him. He was not in a hurry to eat it, but just stared blankly at his hand.
The wrist still bore the marks of the lock, the skin and flesh were torn apart, and blood and mud were mixed together.
Huang Chen glanced at him and tossed the water pouch over.
"Swallow it first, then drink the water."
The boy caught it in a flustered manner, and when he looked up, his eyes were red-rimmed. His lips moved for a long time before he could squeeze out two words.
"Thanks."
Huang Chen didn't respond, but simply placed the Soul-Destroying Chisel Remnant on his lap and looked down at the newly broken opening on the edge of the chisel.
The crevice in the rock fell silent.
The only sounds were the soft rustling of people swallowing food and the intermittent whistling of the wind from the distant wasteland.
The wind was blowing all the way from the direction of the rift valley.
It had a faint smell of blood.