Chapter 296: Corrupted Blood
Dead silence.
Without even a trace of light or heat, it was an annihilation zone for all matter.
How strange was it for an aura of Life to appear in such a place—especially one carrying a decaying aura of Life?
"Captain... his signal is within that rotten aura."
That fact made Lilia even more conflicted.
After finally rescuing Rake, she didn’t feel that she had repaid her debt. Instead, she felt as though she had already dragged Rake down once before.
Now, seeing the bizarre situation ahead and having to involve Rake once again in order to save the Captain, she truly didn’t dare to—
"Blood!"
Qin Mu didn’t even bother looking at the analysis data. Instead, he spread out his Divine Sense to investigate and immediately arrived at a conclusion.
"Corrupted Blood!"
Lilia had never heard that term before. She turned her head and looked at him in confusion.
Qin Mu explained,
"The Cyber Clan..."
"Cough cough~"
"Our Blood has been modified. It is Human Race blood that has undergone certain special procedures or environmental mutations, eventually forming a unique type of Blood Qi."
Lilia seemed to understand a little, though not completely.
"But why would Human Race Blood appear here?"
"This is the Light Prison."
"And why is the Captain’s signal inside it? Could it be the enemy’s pursuit...?"
"Hmm... That must be it!"
Lilia suddenly came to a realization.
"It’s because the Captain couldn’t fight the enemy within the Light Prison that this situation happened..."
"The Captain isn’t dead! He’s still alive!!"
Yes.
If the Captain had died, how could he still kill the enemy?
Given the current situation, there was a very high chance that the Captain was still alive.
As for Qin Mu, however, he didn’t think so.
Corrupted Blood.
According to the experience recorded within the Qing Feng Sword Art, only the Blood Red Sect of ancient times specialized in such methods.
The Legacy obtained by the Qidala Empire had originated from the Blood Red Sect, and this place happened to lie at the border of the Qidala Empire.
The situation here was probably far more complicated than merely involving Lilia’s Captain.
However...
Qin Mu no longer felt any fear now.
"Let’s go. Whether it’s human or ghost, we’ll find out once we enter and investigate!"
At the Metaverse Company headquarters in the Qingxuan Realm, He Nian hurriedly pushed open the door, his expression unusually cold.
Seeing this, Qian Yun slightly raised his brows.
"Did you capture Senior Thunder Dragon?!"
He Nian shook his head.
"We didn’t capture Senior Thunder Dragon, but Qidala has exposed himself."
"There is no concrete evidence yet, but he clearly fought against Senior Thunder Dragon and deliberately chose to conceal the matter."
Humph!
Qian Yun abruptly stood up, his expression instantly turning dark.
"He really dares!"
"Does he think my Metaverse Company is easy to deceive just because we do not directly rule Qingxuan? Or does he think that I, Qian Yun, lack decisive methods?!"
He Nian’s face also darkened.
If Qian Yun had not ordered an investigation, he would never have discovered this matter.
"It’s been too long. Some people have forgotten who truly stands at the top of this universe."
"I’ve already arranged for Speaker Laya, Sect Master Ming Luo of the Star Luo Sect, and Pope Lor to wait outside. They are ready to depart at any moment."
Qian Yun wasted no time. With a flick of his sleeves, he said coldly:
"Depart!"
The two boarded the battleship first.
Speaker Laya and the others immediately led their respective fleets to follow behind.
"It seems the Metaverse Company is serious this time."
Pope Lor secretly nodded upon hearing this.
However, Sect Master Ming Luo of the Star Luo Sect felt somewhat uneasy.
Such a grand display was definitely not for a trivial matter.
Could they really be targeting Senior Thunder Dragon?
"Speaker Laya, are we not waiting for the Qidala Empire this time?"
Heh.
Speaker Laya let out a cold sneer.
"Sect Master Ming Luo, you’ve been following the Pinnacle Battle recently, haven’t you?"
Ming Luo did not deny it.
She had indeed been paying close attention while secretly searching for news about Qin Mu.
Speaker Laya continued:
"Don’t worry. Since you were informed this time, it means the target is not you."
"As for next time..." He paused slightly before sneering again. "That’s hard to say."
Ming Luo was slightly startled and asked vigilantly,
"What do you mean by that?"
"Heh."
Speaker Laya let out a faint sneer.
"For operations like this, isn’t the one who fails to show up the most suspicious?" He did not elaborate further. "The destination isn’t far away. We’ll know soon enough."
The Star Luo Sect was, after all, a sect.
Its management style over its sphere of influence was somewhat similar to that of the Heavenly Sword Sect. Rather than directly ruling territories, it focused on selecting and nurturing talented individuals.
Empires, Alliances, and Temples, on the other hand, placed far greater emphasis on governance and control.
At the same time, those factions were naturally more sensitive to the surrounding political landscape and maintained closer ties with the various Transcendent Factions.
In other words, if not for the Heavenly Sword Secret Realm and the Pinnacle Battle occurring one after another this time, Ming Luo might not have become involved in such affairs even after tens of millions of years.
Light Prison.
Within the Void Realm, which was completely shrouded in blood-red light, there was no longer any need for precise instruments to detect the corruption. The dense corruption could already be seen with the naked eye.
Beneath layers of decaying crimson mist stood a faintly visible palace.
The palace itself possessed an even darker crimson hue, occasionally emitting streaks of bloody light.
Its sharp edges extended outward like blades, making the entire structure resemble a ferocious Vicious Beast baring its fangs at something deep within the Void Realm.
Outside the palace square, an altar arranged in a hexagram formation had already been lit.
The flames burning upon it were neither yellow nor white, but instead blood-red.
Around the altar, three perfectly arranged circles of offerings had been placed.
If one counted carefully, they would discover that each circle contained exactly three thousand offerings.
A total of nine thousand.
Every single offering was sealed inside a transparent container.
Within those containers were all kinds of creatures.
"Eight-Horned Rhinoceros... Three-Eyed Lion-Tiger..."
Lilia stared at the images transmitted by the monitor, identifying the figures one by one.
"They’re all from the Yao Race?!"
"No!"
"There are Humans too?"
"And that is..."
Lilia’s eyes suddenly widened before her expression turned furious.
"Damn it! The Cyber Clan is here too?! What... exactly are they trying to do?!"
Qin Mu naturally saw the images as well.
"Did you find your captain?"
Only then did Lilia remember her original purpose. She quickly adjusted the monitoring screen and began searching frantically.
Soon enough, she found several familiar figures among the offerings.
"Captain! It’s the Captain!"
"Bernie, Muscle Freak, and Sister Nicose are here too..."
"Great... they’re all still alive!!!"
Inside the transparent containers, there were not only chains but also life-support devices.
The creatures imprisoned within were obviously still alive; otherwise, there would have been no need for machines to sustain them.
However, whether this kind of "living" could truly be considered alive in the fullest sense was difficult to say.
Qin Mu, however, was not focused on that at the moment.
What interested him more was who had constructed such a palace within the Light Prison, built such an altar, and gathered so many living beings.
Among the captives he could recognize alone were members from most of the major races across the Universe.
With so many races in existence, it was impossible for merely nine thousand offerings to represent all of them.
Moreover, there were duplicates.
Several races had multiple individuals imprisoned here.
"Is there some kind of common trait among them?"
Qin Mu scanned the offerings twice before his eyes narrowed slightly.
"There is."
"Every offering is a living being with flesh and blood. Even the mutated ones still possess flesh and blood."
Hmm...
In that case, the purpose became much clearer.
The beings before him were most likely genuine sacrificial offerings.
As for who—or what—they were being offered to, that remained unknown.
Gods?
Possibly.
Although Human gods, and even most gods cultivated within the Universe, had no need for believers or sacrifices, the Universe was boundless. There would always be certain races that enjoyed engaging in such superficial rituals.
"Be careful, Master~"
Ao Mengmeng suddenly spoke in a vigilant tone.
"Within the Universe, races and civilizations that require sacrifices—especially living sacrifices—are usually extremely strange."
"Even Mengmeng doesn’t fully understand all of them."
"It could be said that strangeness itself is their method of survival."
"Never judge those beings according to the normal Laws of the Universe, because they always manage to create things that are unbelievably bizarre."
Qin Mu was slightly surprised.
"Are they very strong?"
"Stronger than Phoenix God Blazing Flame, on the same level as Cosmic Strange Fire?"