The elder Wu looked at Wu Tao and earnestly instructed, "Come with me. Today, the Shaman Prophets are going to offer sacrifices to the esteemed Demon God Ruler, and they require everyone in our tribe to participate."
Having said this, he paid no mind to Wu Tao's opinion and directly pulled him along, striding out.
Unnoticed by his father, Wu Tao watched his retreating back, his brows furrowed deeply.
"This ominous aura, what has it become tainted with?"
Wu Tao frowned, his heart instinctively sensing something was amiss.
Despite this body being unprecedentedly weak, he was, after all, a cultivator in the late Foundation Establishment stage. Even with only a powerful soul remaining, it was enough for him to perceive things unseen by ordinary mortals.
Although his exposure was brief, just in that fleeting moment of proximity, Wu Tao had sensed that unsettling, ominous aura.
…
Upon a magnificent mountain a thousand zhang tall, lay a vast and boundless plaza. Directly in front of the plaza stood a colossal domed structure.
This building was for sacrificial rituals, its age unknown. Several stone pillars carved with peculiar patterns supported the entire dome.
Flanking the structure were one hundred and twenty-four divine statues. These statues, sculpted from an unknown stone, were entirely black, standing eight or nine zhang tall. Their expressions were ferocious, with serpent-like protrusions on their heads, resembling malevolent spirits from the Nine Nether Purgatory.
In their hands, they clutched various weapons: short staffs, greatswords, whips, long staves, great axes, and even one held a feather from some unknown bird, so lifelike it seemed real.
Beneath these divine statues lay offerings piled like mountains – entire carcasses of large animals such as tigers, wolves, deer, wild horses, black bears, leopards, wild oxen, and rhinoceroses…
Blood dripped ceaselessly from the heads of these beasts, their faces contorted in fear, eyes either open or closed, creating a deeply eerie spectacle.
The ground of the sacrificial building was covered with a layer of dark red fine sand, which appeared bright red in places, emitting a bloody stench. The bloodstains were thick, clearly accumulated over many years.
Tens of thousands of people tread upon the dark red sand. The immense weight caused dark red blood to seep from the ground intermittently.
Even Wu Tao, with his firm will and extensive experience, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
Suppressing his revulsion, Wu Tao slowly followed his father into the center. Ahead, the area was densely packed with people.
Wu Tao keenly observed that the Shaman Prophets, members of the tribe's high echelon, were meticulously drawing something, sketching strange patterns as if performing a mysterious ritual.
After a while, the Shaman Prophets settled down before the altar and began chanting scriptures.
Listening intently, Wu Tao vaguely discerned fragments like, "Reporting to King Ah, Ji Du, the God of Curses, hence named Interminable. In the deep, unfathomable darkness, there is a hell, spirits of the sea of blood, the name of the Great Demon of Darkness…"
"We inform the Lord of the Netherworld, the Demon God Ruler. The blood sacrifice is for the devout, the multitude of human worshipers. Today's blood sacrifice is held for the descent of the Demon God Ruler…"
"The fervent ones, the multitude of human worshippers, their desire is eternal life. We hope the great Demon God Ruler will grant their wish."
Whether it was an illusion or not, Wu Tao felt as if a trace of inexplicable smiles simultaneously appeared on the faces of the one hundred and twenty-four divine statues.
Following this, Wu Tao felt his body go cold, as if an incredibly frigid yet pure power was seeping into his form, flowing throughout him, yet utterly undetectable.
Even his consciousness struggled to remain stable, a drowsy sensation overtaking him.
Wu Tao inwardly became vigilant and bit his tongue sharply. The resulting pain was just enough to keep him precariously lucid.
…
From the one hundred and twenty-four divine statues, a black, cursed energy overflowed, foul-smelling and utterly putrid, countless times more filthy than the mud at the bottom of a river.
Immediately after, an immense force surged forth, drawing in the mountain-like offerings of large animal carcasses and holding them tightly…
The torrent of blood suddenly erupted like a geyser, surging upwards wildly, instantly forming a colossal wave. A stench of blood assaulted the senses, and within the thick blood, thousands upon thousands of corpses were shot out with a buzzing sound, dense and numerous.
Finally, a colossal skull, appearing out of nowhere in mid-air, over a hundred zhang in size, devoured them all…
"Delicious! Delicious! Delicious!" the massive skull declared with maniacal laughter after consuming the offerings of large animal carcasses.
Following this, the immense skull transformed into a giant over five hundred zhang tall, its body crimson red, with sharp claws and feet.
The crimson giant, over five hundred zhang tall, looked down at the tens of thousands of mortals kneeling on the ground, trembling. A greedy glint flashed across its ferocious face.
The next moment, with a sickening thud, the giant extended its sharp, elongated claws downwards, instantly piercing through dozens of Shaman Prophets standing before it.
When it retracted its claws, the giant, over five hundred zhang tall, held dozens of cold corpses in its grip.
"Hungry, I am so hungry, food, I need more food."
The crimson giant, over five hundred zhang tall, roared with laughter, directly devouring the dozens of corpses.
"Great Demon God Ruler, why do you show such cruelty to your followers?"
Seeing this, tens of thousands of people in the plaza erupted in a frenzy, some screaming, others weeping. The remaining Shaman Prophets immediately began to question it.
"Noisy! I am your master. Everything you have is mine, including your lives…"
The crimson giant, over five hundred zhang tall, consumed dozens more lives as it spoke.
…
"Demon God, you are ungrateful! Without our years of devotion, how could you have descended to this world?"
"This demon god is no good either. Let's attack together and kill him!"
"That's right, there are more of us than him…"
The Shaman Prophets spoke with feigned bravery.
The blood-colored demon god let out a hearty laugh and summoned countless vengeful spirits and malevolent ghosts to hover around it as its accomplices.
"Urk! Urk! Urk!"
A bloody slaughter commenced. The tens of thousands of tribal members, facing the blood-colored demon god they themselves had summoned, could neither escape nor fight back, quickly succumbing to a rout.
Each man for himself, they were systematically slain by the multitude of vengeful spirits and malevolent ghosts.
As time passed, the crimson giant, over five hundred zhang tall, became blood-red all over from consuming so many lives.
The power within the blood-colored giant grew with each passing moment.
"Retreat, we can barely hold on!"
"Retreat, we can barely hold on!"
"Retreat, we can barely hold on!"
…
The few surviving Shaman Prophets shouted repeatedly. A faint crimson energy emanated from them, yet it was weak.
At this moment, they combined their efforts to form a shield, temporarily holding back the onslaught of vengeful spirits and malevolent ghosts.
"This day, this moment, I have waited for countless years to arrive!"
"After centuries of arduous planning, I have finally broken through the seal and arrived in the human world!" the blood-colored demon god declared ecstatically.
"We are finished…"
Sinking onto the ground beside Wu Tao, his father looked blankly ahead, murmuring with despair, "What in the world did we summon?"
At this point, all was irrecoverable. His consciousness gradually faded, like a profound dream from which he could no longer awaken.
"Father, what are you doing? Hurry and leave!"
A voice suddenly rang out, like moonlight illuminating the night, carrying a soul-stirring power.
In the darkness of his vision and the gloom of his senses, a voice sliced through his ear, like a clear spring suddenly appearing in an endless desert, offering the last glimmer of hope to a lost traveler.
…
Then, in the next moment, his father felt an arm placed on his shoulder, jolting him awake.
"I… I'm still alive?"
His father, startled awake, instinctively looked in the direction of the voice.
Before him, his son Wu Tao stood tall, one arm on his father's shoulder, his sharp gaze fixed on him.
His father was no stranger to his own son. Normally, Wu Tao was unremarkable, with nothing to set him apart.
However, at this moment, a terrifying power was continuously surging from his son.
This was followed by a colossal aura that seemed capable of overturning heaven and earth, and altering mountains and rivers through the ages.
In an instant, the once ordinary boy seemed to transform into someone else entirely, becoming sharp and radiant.
So much so that others, upon seeing him, could not tear their eyes away.
His features remained the same, and he still wore that tattered, patched beast hide.
Yet, in the next moment, Wu Tao was utterly different, exuding an aura that was both captivating and terrifying.
"You…"
Staring blankly at his son before him, his father felt his throat dry, momentarily speechless, unsure of what to say.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Wu Tao strode directly towards the blood-colored demon god, over five hundred zhang tall.
"Wu Tao!"
Seeing Wu Tao's movement, his father awoke as if from a dream. Looking at his son, who seemed to have transformed, he instinctively called out a warning, "Child, you cannot go there…"
*Bang!!*
As the words left his lips, an astonishing force erupted from the spot.
Before the shocked eyes of everyone, they witnessed a scene they would remember for the rest of their lives.
Golden light scattered in all directions, radiating outwards. Countless vengeful spirits and malevolent ghosts let out wails, utterly unable to resist that seemingly frail figure.