Chapter 20: The seven killing stele

“Where is the place where Jiang Kaitai performs the Blood Sacrifice of the Divine Artifact? Do you know?”

Murong Qing asked somewhat impatiently.

He finally believed Chen Yuan now.

Of course, he didn’t fully believe him; at most, he believed about eighty percent.

However, he was also vaguely excited in his heart.

If he truly obtained the seven killing stele, not only would his Murong Clan have a chance to restore their country, but he, Murong Qing, would also soar to the heavens!

Within the Long City Murong Clan, although Murong Qing was of the direct line, he wasn’t exactly a Core Disciple; he could only be considered mid-tier.

Simply put, the position of Clan Head was definitely out of his reach. In the future, being able to secure a position as a manager with real power, and becoming an Elder in his old age, would already be the best possible outcome.

But if he could obtain the seven killing stele, he, Murong Qing, would be qualified to have a page dedicated solely to him in the clan genealogy!

“Of course I know. Young Master Murong, please follow me.”

Jiang Kaitai naturally wouldn’t tell Chen Yuan where the true secret location was, but it was shown very clearly in the plot.

Chen Yuan led Murong Qing all the way to the center of Lianshan City, which was where the Lianshan City government office was located.

The entrance to the secret location where the Divine Artifact was buried was beneath this government office.

By the time Chen Yuan and Murong Qing arrived at the government office, the place was already littered with corpses.

The Magistrate of Lianshan City, along with the Head Catcher and Constables he brought, had already been killed by Jiang Kaitai.

These Head Catchers and Constables were fine for intimidating ordinary people, but they were completely vulnerable against Jiang Kaitai.

In the center of the government office’s backyard, a hole appeared in the ground, inside of which was a downward-spiraling stone staircase that emitted a cold aura.

These stone steps were rough and ancient, appearing as though they had a history of thousands of years.

Going down the stone steps, there were some relief murals on the surrounding walls.

These details might have existed in the original plot, but Chen Yuan hadn’t experienced this plot personally; he had only skimmed over it when looking back, so he was making many new discoveries now.

These relief murals were likely left behind shortly after the disappearance of the God-Demon Experts at the end of the Primordial Era.

Current history books unified the time from ten thousand years ago as the Primordial Era.

There was no clear history for that period; the Human Race basically operated in units of clans and Sects, or small countries controlling a few cities, without a unified Dynasty.

There might have been writing, but every small country was different, making it impossible to use as a reference.

Afterward, the endless infighting among thousands of Sects and clans evolved into wars between hundreds of small countries, eventually leaving only seven warring states.

It wasn’t until two thousand years later that a grand unified Dynasty finally arrived, where writing was standardized, carriage axles were of the same width, and weights and measures were unified, allowing history to become precise.

Judging from the background depicted in the murals, it should be the stage after the disappearance of the God-Demon Experts at the end of the Primordial Era; the writing was obscure and difficult to understand.

However, just by looking at the pictures, Chen Yuan could tell what they were depicting.

Roughly, a small clan discovered the seven killing stele and wanted to control it, so the clan’s Priest began setting up a Formation. Meanwhile, the clan’s Martial Artists fought external wars, capturing people from other clans for Blood Sacrifice.

But halfway through the Blood Sacrifice, because this small clan had incited too many conflicts and slaughters, it was wiped out by other clans and Sects working together.

The High Priest took a portion of the clansmen and completely sealed the secret location containing the seven killing stele, sleeping here forever.

The Clan Chief, on the other hand, led another group of clansmen to break through the siege and escape, taking the map with them, intending to return and continue the Blood Sacrifice of the seven killing stele once the clan grew strong again.

However, something clearly went wrong with the portion of clansmen who escaped; not only were they unable to return, but even the map fell into the hands of others.

Chen Yuan shook his head secretly in his heart.

Wrong, it was wrong from the very beginning.

To achieve Fusion with the seven killing stele, what was needed was not a Blood Sacrifice.

The small clan that originally obtained the fragment of the seven killing stele got it wrong, and Jiang Kaitai, following the map, had also gotten it wrong.

Murong Qing, however, was trembling all over with excitement at this moment.

Previously, he only believed eighty percent, but after seeing these murals, he believed completely.

The two of them continued downward, and a pungent scent of blood followed.

Murong Qing suddenly thought of something, turned his head, and said to Chen Yuan, “You go up and guard first to prevent those people from the Blackwater Gang from coming to cause trouble.”

Murong Qing acted arrogantly, but his way of doing things could be described as cautious.

At a time like this, he hadn’t forgotten that Lianshan City still had a power like the Blackwater Gang.

Under normal circumstances, Murong Qing wouldn’t take the Blackwater Gang seriously at all.

Even if he directly wiped out the Blackwater Gang, the Yiqi Guanhri Alliance wouldn’t do anything to him; at most, he would just have to explain and offer an apology.

But with a Divine Artifact right in front of them, there was no guarantee those people from the Blackwater Gang wouldn’t harbor some crooked thoughts.

“Rest assured, Young Master Murong, I will definitely guard the entrance well.”

Chen Yuan patted his chest and guaranteed.

Murong Qing, meanwhile, headed straight for the bottom.

Only after hearing the sound of True Qi roaring did Chen Yuan slow his pace and head all the way down.

At the very bottom of the passage was a blood-colored altar.

The entire altar was inscribed with dense blood-colored runes; looking closely, those blood-colored runes were actually composed of countless surging blood, moving like living things.

In the center of the altar stood a massive blood-colored stele.

Boundless killing intent and blood qi surged upon that blood-colored stele; looking closely, it wasn’t a stone stele at all, but an existence built from countless white bones and cast in blood!

On that White-Bone Blood Stele were two lines of characters.

The line on the right was: “Heaven births all things to nourish man, yet man still complains that Heaven is unkind.”

On the left were seven black-red, constantly writhing characters for ‘Kill’.

Every ‘Kill’ character was different, all written in different scripts; even amidst the constant writhing, the ‘Kill’ characters were continuously changing their font.

But no matter how they changed, as soon as you looked at them, you would immediately know in your mind that they were seven ‘Kill’ characters.

This was the Supreme Divine Artifact from the first edition of Jianghu II, the seven killing stele; it was said to be not an Acquired refinement, but formed from the Origin of killing intent between heaven and earth, an Innate killing-path Divine Artifact!

At this moment, Chen Yuan also noticed that among those seven ‘Kill’ characters, only one was exceptionally solid, while the other six were somewhat ethereal.

This seven killing stele before him appeared complete, but in reality, it was only a fragment; the other parts were evolved from killing intent.

Jiang Kaitai didn’t know the cause and effect; he truly believed that what was buried beneath this secret location was a complete Divine Artifact.

At this moment, in front of the seven killing stele, Jiang Kaitai was already enveloped by endless blood qi, desperately trying to squeeze into the seven killing stele, wanting to achieve Fusion with it.

Murong Qing was currently holding a dragon-patterned azure gold sword, Sword Qi crisscrossing from his hand as he frantically attacked Jiang Kaitai, but they were all blocked by the extremely dense blood qi surrounding Jiang Kaitai.

“Jiang Kaitai! To dare snatch my Murong Clan’s Opportunity, you are looking for death!”

Murong Qing’s eyes were cold; seeing Jiang Kaitai getting closer and closer to the seven killing stele, he grew increasingly anxious.

“Looking for death? Once I achieve Fusion with the seven killing stele, I’ll see exactly who’s looking for death!”

Jiang Kaitai turned his head and gave Murong Qing a sinister smile: “Your Murong Clan is nothing more than a fallen household, clamoring every day about being descendants of royalty; who doesn’t look at you as a joke?

Your Murong Clan’s Opportunity? You’re not worthy!

The seven killing stele was discovered by me. I’ve been planning for twenty years for the Blood Sacrifice of the Divine Artifact; this is an Opportunity that belongs solely to me, Jiang Kaitai!

Once I achieve Fusion with the seven killing stele, not only will you die, but your Murong Clan will also die!”

Over these years, he had bowed and scraped before the Murong Clan, fawning and flattering them without a shred of dignity.

If he stood at the peak of the Jianghu in the future, how could such dark history be known by outsiders?

Therefore, the Murong Clan had to be destroyed; he couldn’t let the Jianghu People know that he, Jiang Kaitai, had once been a dog for the Murong Clan!

“Wishful thinking!”

Murong Qing sneered: “Do you truly think that just by achieving Fusion with a Divine Artifact, you can become the Supreme of the Martial Forest?

Although a Divine Artifact is strong, it also depends on whose hands it’s in.

The Kunwu Sword is the world’s most sharp and powerful weapon only in the hands of the Sword God Xie Kunwu; in anyone else’s hands, it’s just a fire poker that can’t be used.”

Jiang Kaitai scoffed, unconcerned, still putting all his effort into Fusion with the seven killing stele.

At the same time, he was also calculating the time—why hadn’t the last surge of blood qi arrived yet?

Could it be that Murong Qing had dealt with Chen Yuan and the other one first before finding this place?

The moving blood-colored runes on the altar slowly flowed into Jiang Kaitai’s body, becoming fewer and fewer; without subsequent replenishment, the light of the Formation gradually dimmed.

“Damn it!”

Jiang Kaitai’s expression changed.

Without the final Blood Sacrifice he had arranged, the accumulation of blood and qi was too little, not even half of what he had previously planned.

If Murong Qing weren’t here, he could still terminate the Blood Sacrifice and at most start over.

But now that Murong Qing was right beside him, if he terminated the Blood Sacrifice, he would surely be left without a place to be buried!

Jiang Kaitai gritted his teeth, and the boundless blood qi around him instantly surged into the seven killing stele.

In the next moment, the blood qi carried boundless killing intent and flowed back into Jiang Kaitai’s body; a majestic and powerful force instantly emerged.

At this moment, Jiang Kaitai’s aura soared frantically, becoming even stronger than Murong Qing, who had reached the Lunhai Realm.

Veins bulged across his body, his muscles swelled, and he grew two or three feet taller out of thin air, his entire body enveloped in an extremely powerful Blood Fiend Force.

Opening his eyes, Jiang Kaitai’s eyes were blood-red, filled with grotesque killing intent.

A long saber appeared in his hand, and with one slash, Blood Fiend True Qi surged forth, bringing with it a blood-colored blade light several zhang long.

Murong Qing’s expression changed, and he stepped with the Swimming Dragon Step, his figure retreating repeatedly to dodge Jiang Kaitai’s strike.

By now, Jiang Kaitai had entered a berserk mode; under the enhancement of the boundless Blood Fiend Force, his strength was nearly several times that of Murong Qing.

Although his strength had exploded, this extremely violent killing intent seemed to have affected Jiang Kaitai’s original sanity.

Chen Yuan could clearly sense that at this moment, Jiang Kaitai’s mind held only primitive killing intent; he couldn’t even perform basic martial arts Moves.

Jiang Kaitai’s trump card martial art, the North Star Heavenly Wolf Slash, was at least a Mysterious-level saber technique; if paired with this extreme Blood Fiend Force, its power would surely be even greater.

As it turned out, let alone the North Star Heavenly Wolf Slash, Jiang Kaitai couldn’t even use the Heavenly Wolf Swordplay; he was simply swinging his blade mechanically.