Cultivation: I Can Steal Lifespan from Spirit Beasts

Chapter 124: Blood Sacrifice!

Bang!

Mist and water vapor roiled through the air, obscuring all sight.

The final corpse of a frenzied Incense Path believer plummeted from the sky, encased in ice before it could even strike the earth. Frost spread rapidly across the body, sealing it in a crystalline coffin.

Even in death, a trace of terror and disbelief remained frozen in the believer’s eyes. It seemed that until his final breath, he couldn’t comprehend how someone who supposedly lacked the spiritual energy to sustain a flying artifact could suddenly become so terrifying.

A brown figure descended from above, shaking its feathers to dislodge the gore.

It was Alpha-Thirteen.

Its tyrannical eyes swept the surroundings; it seemed the slaughter had only just begun to pique its interest.

Meanwhile, under the control of Rice Bucket and the two male Azure Water Spirit Turtles, the pervading mist and ground frost gradually melted, transforming the battlefield into a mire.

Around them, the ordinary believers lost the cold, eerie indifference that had previously glazed their eyes. Panic took hold, and they scattered, fleeing for their lives.

Wang Ba scanned his surroundings, a profound sense of dislocation settling in.

That was it?

Weren’t the fanatical believers of the Incense Path supposed to be incredibly troublesome?

Bu Chan, having witnessed the entire spectacle, stood rooted to the spot. Her eyes were wide, and she had even forgotten to deactivate her defensive artifact.

“Senior Brother!”

Wang Ba snapped back to reality, his expression shifting. “Let’s go. We need to regroup with the others immediately!”

Whoosh!

At the northeast corner of Meng Xing Village.

Old Man Huo wore a grave expression, though his eyes betrayed a hint of excitement.

He held a large, earthen-yellow bowl in his palm. Centered on this artifact, a massive yellow light curtain rose like a small hill, enveloping the area. This was the Sky Covering Bowl.

Inside the barrier, a stranger—a middle-aged cultivator dressed in mortal garb—struggled left and right to fend off the relentless harassment of Lady Xue and the young cultivator, Pan Long.

Simultaneously, stone spikes shot from the light curtain at tricky, vicious angles, forcing the stranger into desperate evasions. Before long, the shimmering protective barrier around the man dimmed significantly.

“Who would have thought that the Village Chief of Meng Xing Village would actually be a cultivator of the Incense Path!”

Old Man Huo licked his lips greedily.

Capturing or killing an Incense Path cultivator commanded a reward of at least 200 Spirit Stones. Such a windfall rarely fell to a mediocre cultivator like him. Unexpectedly, his luck had turned today.

Seeing that the cultist, whose aura suggested only the fourth or fifth layer of Qi Refining, was on the brink of defeat, Huo remained vigilant despite his excitement. Supported by his spiritual energy, the earthen-yellow light curtain slowly contracted, suffocating the opponent’s space to maneuver.

It wouldn’t be long before they claimed the head of an Incense Path cultivator.

However, Old Man Huo’s expression soon shifted.

Outside the light curtain, numerous stiff, eerie figures had quietly emerged from the shadows.

“Fanatical believers of the Incense Path?!”

Huo identified them instantly. His gaze swept the perimeter—the figures were densely packed, a silent horde pressing in against the light.

Old Man Huo’s face drained of color.

He feared not one or two, nor even ten or eight. But outside… there were likely no fewer than 60 or 70 of them! Faced with such a mob, his scalp went numb.

He realized the implication immediately. “Damn it! There must be more than one Incense Path cultivator here!”

“Pan Long, Lady Xue, don’t hold back! Finish this quickly!”

As he shouted, he pulled a handful of stone pellets from his storage bag and hurled them through the barrier. The moment these pellets touched the fanatics outside, they detonated with thunderous booms.

Yet, to Huo’s horror, the believers merely staggered. Though blasted by the refined explosives, they swayed and climbed back to their feet, zombie-like and seemingly impervious to pain.

He instantly understood why even the Heavenly Gate Sect, with a Nascent Soul True Lord presiding over it, was so wary of the Incense Path.

Gritting his teeth, he reached into his storage bag for his trump card…

Inside the light curtain, Lady Xue heard Huo’s desperate urging and glanced outside while attacking. The sight of the bloodthirsty, fanatical mob shocked her. Without hesitation, she unleashed her full power. Pink silk ribbons shot out from all directions like venomous snakes, striking at the Village Chief.

Pan Long also intensified his offensive. However, whether intentionally or not, he began inching closer and closer to Old Man Huo…

Huo was entirely focused on the external threat, oblivious to the movements within the barrier. Even if he had noticed, he wouldn’t have found it strange; as the Sky Covering Bowl contracted, the space naturally tightened.

Perhaps sensing his impending doom, the trapped Village Chief began a frantic counterattack. His face turned a deep crimson, eyes gleaming with a manic light as he scattered talismans that emitted a bizarre aura.

His hands, red as blood, formed rapid seals. His body visibly withered, his life force draining away to fuel the spell.

Lady Xue, focused entirely on offense, neglected her defense. She suddenly felt a sharp, piercing pain in her head and cried out, “Ah!”

A mist of blood erupted from her head and body!

Seeing Lady Xue injured, Pan Long, who had been holding back his strength, flashed a ruthless glint in his eyes. He quietly palmed a talisman, aiming it at the oblivious Old Man Huo’s back.

But before he could strike, a flicker of shock crossed his face. He glanced toward the distance, freezing in place.

“Over there… how did it end so fast?”

In that split second of hesitation, Lady Xue regained her composure. With hatred in her eyes, she opened her mouth and spat out a Mystic Gold Nail!

Whoosh!

A flash of golden light.

The Mystic Gold Nail embedded itself deep into the Village Chief’s forehead. The cultist didn’t look at his killer; instead, he stared at Pan Long with an expression of utter astonishment. His eyes seemed filled with incomprehension before the light within them rapidly faded to grey.

Although Lady Xue had landed the killing blow, her face was pale, her vitality severely damaged.

She glared at Pan Long. “Pan Long! Why were you so slow just now?! If you hadn’t delayed, I wouldn’t have been forced to use that move!”

Pan Long glanced at the corpse on the ground with a grim expression, then forced a stiff smile. “My spiritual energy couldn’t keep up…”

“Hmph. I told you to refine more spiritual energy daily, but you never listen!”

Lady Xue didn’t dwell on it. She beckoned, recalling the nail from the corpse’s skull. With a look of disgust, she wiped the red and white brain matter onto her robes before swallowing the artifact back into her mouth.

Ideally, she would have cleaned it better, but time was pressing. She happily stuffed the corpse into her storage bag, discreetly slipping the Village Chief’s storage bag into her sleeve in the process.

“Hurry up!” Old Man Huo urged repeatedly.

However, to his puzzlement, the fanatical believers surrounding them suddenly seemed to receive a signal. They withdrew into the shadows, and in the blink of an eye, the area outside the Sky Covering Bowl was empty.

It was as if the siege had been nothing but a hallucination.

“Strange… why did they all leave suddenly?” Huo muttered.

Lady Xue breathed a sigh of relief and laughed. “They must have realized they couldn’t break through Senior Brother Huo’s defense. Once I killed their leader, they lost their backbone and fled in panic.”

Huo shook his head. “There should be other Incense Path cultivators here. I just don’t know why they haven’t shown up…”

“There are more?!” Lady Xue started, raising her guard again.

Just then, two figures rushed out from the dim light.

The trio immediately tensed, artifacts ready to strike. But Old Man Huo quickly recognized them.

“Fellow Daoist Bu? Fellow Daoist Wang?”

Huo and Xue relaxed. Pan Long, standing behind them, narrowed his eyes, his gaze darting covertly between Bu Chan and Wang Ba. Finally, his eyes settled on Bu Chan, hiding a trace of wariness.

“Fellow Daoist Huo.” Bu Chan cupped her hands first, asking with concern, “Did the three of you encounter an Incense Path cultivator?”

Lady Xue immediately opened her mouth to speak: “We just—”

“We did,” Old Man Huo interrupted loudly, coughing twice to cut her off. He wore a mask of deep regret. “Unfortunately, we let him get away. We didn’t even get a clear look at his face. Just as we were about to strike, he used a formidable feint and tricked all three of us. Pan Long, isn’t that right?”

Pan Long paused, giving the two a strange look before quickly nodding. “Yes, exactly.”

Bu Chan frowned slightly. “Strange… did I guess wrong?”

“Fellow Daoist Bu, what did you say?” Huo asked.

“Oh, nothing.” Bu Chan shook her head, returning to the matter at hand. “On our way here, we discovered that all the commoners in this village have been corrupted by the Incense Path. Fellow Daoist Huo, my Senior Brother and I aren’t sure how to handle this. Do you have any ideas?”

“What’s there to hesitate about? Just perform a blood sacrifice on the lot of them…” Pan Long, usually silent, suddenly spoke up.

Bu Chan’s expression shifted.

Old Man Huo pondered for a moment, but he did not object. Instead, he nodded slowly. “Since the people here have all become believers of the Incense Path, a blood sacrifice is indeed the most proper solution.”

His eyes gleamed. “Not only that, but with over 10,000 people here, a blood sacrifice could refine several top-grade Blood Dharma Pills…”

“Hehe, and everyone present will get a share!”

“Of course, we must establish proof that these people were indeed cultists, lest someone uses this against us later.”

Wang Ba and Bu Chan were unfamiliar with the Blood Dharma Pill. Sensing Wang Ba’s confusion, Bu Chan asked, “Fellow Daoist Huo, forgive my ignorance, but what kind of treasure is this Blood Dharma Pill?”

“Hehe, the Blood Dharma Pill is a technique from the Mystic Pill Path. It utilizes a Blood Sacrifice Grand Array to harvest a trace of spiritual nature from living beings. It specializes in replenishing and restoring spiritual energy instantly—a supreme treasure for battle!” Huo explained openly.

Pan Long frowned impatiently. “Senior Brother Huo, we should hurry and set up the array. If that escaped Incense Path cultivator is still around, we can refine him to death within the array as well.”

“Right! Let’s set it up quickly!” Lady Xue urged.

Huo remained calm. “The cultivator is important, but first, we sign the affidavit.”

He pulled an eyeball from his storage bag and tossed it into the air. The eye floated upward, taking in the entirety of Meng Xing Village, its pupil reflecting the fleeing believers below.

Soon, the eye descended and projected a sheet of glowing paper.

“Signing this document acknowledges that all five of us agree: this place has fallen to the Incense Path. To kill them is no crime!”

“Whoever violates this truth shall suffer death by demonic heart devourment!”

Huo was the first to pour his spiritual and soul power into the pact. A complex pattern appeared on the paper.

Lady Xue signed second without hesitation.

Pan Long hesitated for a beat, then touched the paper briefly before withdrawing his hand.

Wang Ba and Bu Chan exchanged a glance, then also left their marks. Although it felt cruel, death might be a liberation for these corrupted souls.

The glowing paper rolled up and retracted into the eyeball. Old Man Huo smiled with satisfaction and stored it away.

“This is both evidence and a voucher for merit. Eliminating so many believers, even if it doesn’t compare to killing a cultivator, is still a significant achievement!”

He then retrieved several array flags and distributed them.

“Let’s move. Fellow Daoist Bu, you and Fellow Daoist Wang take the south side. Pan Long, Lady Xue, and I will handle the north.”

He quickly taught them the hand seals and placement methods for the array.

Bu Chan and Wang Ba hesitated briefly but soon headed south.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Lady Xue turned to Huo, giving him a thumbs-up.

“Senior Brother Huo, you are truly brilliant! Once those two set up the flags using the method you gave them, the moment the array activates, they’ll be sucked in and become nourishment for the Blood Dharma Pills!”

“Hehe.”

Hearing the unabashed flattery, Old Man Huo allowed himself a smirk of pride. “The reward for killing an Incense Path cultivator is substantial, but why split it five ways when we can split it three ways?”

“Besides… with the spiritual energy of two cultivators added to the mix, the Blood Dharma Pills might even reach the Supreme-Grade!”

“That is worth far more than any sect reward!”

“Lady Xue, Pan Long… I told you before. Follow me, and you won’t go wrong.”

“Once the array is up and we refine those two… and if that other Incense Path cultivator is trapped inside too… Hehe. A Supreme-Grade Blood Dharma Pill. Whether we sell it or keep it, we’ll make a fortune!”

Lady Xue nodded excitedly, her eyes shining with greed.

Beside them, Pan Long watched the two of them. An imperceptible, peculiar look flashed through his eyes, hidden in the shadows.