Chapter 651 - 632: The Ritual

The crowd roared spontaneously! The entire arena was electrified! The Ice Cones from the Ice Flame Arrogant Bone Bird in the sky were just too awesome!

"Shoot that horse down!"

"Kill it."

"That horse has to die! It’s way too arrogant!"

"Take it out!"

However... in the VIP seats.

Yang Qi and Luo Shan both stared at Old Horse with astonishment... To them, the Ice Cones in the sky were merely interesting, but!

The aura emanating from this seemingly inferior old horse...

Ordinary people couldn’t sense it! But the two of them were somewhat stirred!

"It’s not Dragon Power!"

"But it’s very similar..."

The aura that erupted from Old Horse was initially contained within a three-meter radius around it...

After a brief moment of brewing... a violent, scorching aura suddenly spread out!

In the air, the Ice Flame Arrogant Bone Bird was preening. ’Being the crowd favorite feels pretty good!’ It wouldn’t disappoint the people, either. It was going to slaughter that old horse properly!

It dove! The Ice Cones followed the Ice Flame Arrogant Bone Bird’s form, plummeting straight down!

The Double-headed Mountain Demon and the Molten Rock Dragon Turtle both moved aside! The Ice Flame Arrogant Bone Bird’s charge was sharp and direct; whoever got in its way would be out of luck.

The spectators below went wild. That inferior horse, an eyesore no matter how you looked at it, was finally about to be dealt with!

But...

At that very moment, Old Horse’s aura surged upwards! The Ice Flame Arrogant Bone Bird let out a strange cry...

Ordinary people couldn’t perceive this. They only saw the Ice Flame Arrogant Bone Bird diving down with an invincible aura!

"The Ice Flame Bird will win!"

A synchronized roar thundered through the air!

Everyone’s hearts were in their throats, waiting for the scene of Old Horse being pierced by the Ice Cones and turned into a mangled, frozen pulp of flesh and blood.

The Ice Flame Bird was still hurtling downward!

Diving! Down, down, down...

SPLAT!

A crisp sound echoed.

The Ice Flame Bird had crashed headfirst into the ground, motionless.

The entire arena fell silent...

Did the Third-Transformation Ice Flame Arrogant Bone Bird make a mistake? Did it knock itself out by crashing into the ground?

No!

It wasn’t just the Ice Flame Arrogant Bone Bird!

The Double-headed Mountain Demon and the Molten Rock Dragon Turtle, which had moved far to the side... were also prostrated on the ground, their entire bodies trembling as if they had encountered a natural predator!

The Molten Rock Dragon Turtle was slightly better off, merely trembling... After all, it had a trace of Dragon Blood flowing through its veins...

The Double-headed Mountain Demon, however, was in an utterly wretched state!

It let out a pathetic whimper, its tree trunk and Fine Iron Giant Hammer tossed aside... A murky fluid flowed from its lower body, accompanied by a foul stench... It had actually lost control of its bowels and bladder!

CRACK...

Outside, the Spirit-Binding Array made a sound as if it were on the verge of collapse.

The hundred-plus Cultivators originally in charge of the Defense Array quickly abandoned their posts and rushed to the Spirit-Binding Array. They desperately poured in their True Essence Power, barely managing to stabilize it!

The plaza was deathly quiet. Whether they were prepared for it or not, everyone was frozen by the scene.

Fatty Bai had anticipated the result, but he never could have imagined it would happen like this.

Old Horse was indeed the only True Essence Beast left standing.

Everyone stared blankly as the scrawny, hideously ugly Old Horse raised its head and began to climb the high tower... Its movements were as awkward as they could possibly be. Have you ever seen a dog trying to scramble up a wall? Old Horse’s current state was about seventy percent similar...

But Old Horse felt it was cool as hell!

’I’ve been laying low for so long, I was starting to think I really was just a horse. It’s rare to get my blood pumping like this. In my own words, this feels absolutely fantastic.’

It bit down on the Bright Pearl, feeling a powerful surge of Five Elements True Essence. It almost couldn’t resist swallowing it in one gulp, but... an image of Wang Meng’s gaze flashed through its mind, and Old Horse decided to hold back!

’A moment of impatience can ruin a great plan... Besides, I’m quite wary of Wang Meng.’

After descending the tower, even though it had seized the Bright Pearl, the Sacrificial Battle wasn’t over. There was no rule stating that the battle ended once someone obtained the Pearl... Generally, after snatching it, one still had to defend it.

But now, everyone could see that Old Horse didn’t need to defend at all... Its opponents were already down for the count!

Old Horse leaped in front of the Double-headed Mountain Demon... It set the Bright Pearl aside... CRUNCH! With a crisp snap, Old Horse, moving at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, crushed the Double-headed Mountain Demon’s two heads with a single bite. As for the rest of it... ’I’m actually a picky eater,’ Old Horse mused. ’I’d only eat something covered in filth... after it’s been washed!’

Kun Yaoyang nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood. Although this Double-headed Mountain Demon wasn’t the Kun Family’s guardian True Essence Beast like the Wood Shadow Jungle King Leopard, it was still a Third-Transformation True Essence Beast that the family had invested heavily in cultivating. Human-shaped True Essence Beasts were already incredibly rare, and one that could be tamed to use human Spiritual Artifacts was even more so. One could say that in another ten years, this Three-Transformation Two-headed Mountain Demon could have been trained into a family assassin far surpassing the Third-Transformation Wood Shadow King Leopard. If supplied with enough Pills, it even had a chance of advancing to the Fifth Transformation.

However, no one had expected that Old Horse, despite having already secured a complete victory, would still attack another True Essence Beast. Under its complete aura suppression, the Three-Transformation Two-headed Mountain Demon had no will to resist; it was equivalent to having its head blown off in its sleep!

Once dead, all troubles end...

Kun Yaoyang stared blankly at the frail-looking old horse on the sacrificial platform... ’If I had known, I would have conceded earlier...’ he thought. ’But at the time, I just felt that conceding right away would be too damaging to the family’s prestige. The Jiang Family hadn’t conceded, so there was no reason for the Kun Family to be the first. Wouldn’t that be admitting we are a step below the Jiang Family?’

At this moment, Jiang Jiedao, his face ashen, roared, "The Jiang Family concedes!" He was terrified that Old Horse on the platform would chew up his Molten Rock Dragon Turtle as well. Even if the Dragon Turtle’s shell was ten times harder than the mountain demon’s skull, he didn’t dare leave it out there to find out!

On the sacrificial platform, the Molten Rock Dragon Turtle let out a roar as it was enveloped in a white light. In the blink of an eye, it was transported back to the Jiang Family’s camp. However, a certain Pill Master from the Pill Immortal Alliance who was fluent in beast tongue understood the meaning of the Dragon Turtle’s roar and immediately burst into tears... ’Master, why did you only think to bring me back now? I was so scared I nearly vomited up my bile!’

Was... was this still a Dragon Turtle? Was this still a Dragon Turtle that had inherited a trace of Dragon Blood? What a disgrace to Dragon Blood!

Muhe Xiaoyu also hurriedly conceded. A white light transported the Ice Flame Arrogant Bone Bird, whose beak was still stuck in the ground, back to their camp... Although the Ice Flame Bird was just a minor creature in their family, they couldn’t just give it away to become food in that freakish horse’s mouth. Not even if it was Wang Meng’s horse!

Wang Meng gave a wry smile. ’When I saw Old Horse didn’t kill it immediately, I thought the guy was put off by the Double-headed Mountain Demon being covered in filth. I didn’t expect it to lose control after coming down from the tower...’ he thought. ’Still, this guy’s tastes are getting heavier and heavier, eating something that’s in a pile of stinking mess. I’ll have to give it a good lesson later. Before digging in, it could have threatened the Ice Flame Bird to help wash it off, couldn’t it...?’

"Boss... that horse is too damn cool!" Fatty Bai, on the other hand, felt fucking ecstatic. His little heart was soaring with joy. Not even the twelve Demonesses of the Celestial Fragrance Tower stripping and dancing for him all at once would feel this good!

Fatty Bai knew the origin of the Kun Family’s Double-headed Mountain Demon. It was originally a target for a hunt by the Bai Family. Back then, the Bai Family had not yet fallen into decline, and Fatty Bai was still a silk-pants scion. He remembered that in order to capture it, the Bai Family had lost many of its old elites. But just as they were about to succeed, the Kun Family had appeared out of nowhere and snatched it away. From that moment on, the Bai Family, having suffered heavy casualties without gaining any benefit, had been in a slump...

Now, seeing the head of that same Double-headed Mountain Demon—the very beast that had directly led to the Bai Family’s decline—get crushed in a single bite by Old Horse, Fatty Bai couldn’t help but cast aside the composure a Patriarch should have and leap to his feet. ’The Kun Family can go to hell!’ For the first time, such a thought clearly surfaced in Fatty Bai’s mind! Before this, Fatty Bai had never thought about annihilating the Kun Family. He had only one dream: for the Bai Family to rise again... But now, looking at Old Horse, looking at Wang Meng... Fatty Bai’s ambition was expanding, bit by bit!

But one thing was crystal clear to him: as long as he stuck close to his boss, anything was possible!

Suddenly, Fatty Bai felt he had a glimmer of understanding of the true meaning behind what Wang Meng had mentioned to him about "a single plane of existence"... ’I have to be able to keep up!’

Only then did the crowd snap out of their shock, erupting in a heaven-shaking roar.

What was this? This was defying the heavens!

What a domineering Old Horse! So the peak of the Third Transformation was Old Horse all along!

Old Horse and the Bai Family would undoubtedly be recorded in the annals of the Five Elements Divine Beast Festival!

These days, even True Essence Beasts were taking the subtle approach.

Old Horse returned to the Bai Family’s camp, strutting proudly. It handed the Bright Pearl to Fatty Bai, signifying that Fatty Bai would now assume the role of Grand High Priest for this Five Elements Divine Beast Festival—an incredibly revered position!

Fatty Bai, however, had calmed down. He had just figured some things out and understood... ’This is just a small scene. If I get so excited that I lose myself over something like this, then I’m not qualified to follow in Wang Meng’s footsteps! In terms of strength, I may never have a hope of keeping up, but I have my own ways and my own path. Starting now, I will prove my own ability!’

Wang Meng glanced at Fatty Bai. ’Maturity is the first step, but true action is what matters most. Fatty Bai has now taken the second step...’

After a series of rituals, the next part of the Divine Beast Festival had nothing to do with ordinary people...

The five great families, the Three Major Conferences, and the honored guests from outside Wang City began to move to another ritual location—the Five Elements Divine Platform.

The Five Elements Divine Platform was for the third and most crucial part of the festival. The previous Sacrificial Dance and Sacrificial Battle were merely for the entertainment of the masses, a process of bringing Divine Technique into the mortal world that was about tradition and faith... But the third part, the Five Elements Divine Platform sacrifice, was the core!

Fatty Bai was now the Grand High Priest, so the Bai Family was naturally the first to enter, their prestige momentarily unmatched.

The Kun and Zhe Families were placed last among the five great families... The Zhe Family had it the worst; their guardian True Essence Beast had been eaten. Zhe Wulei, who was fully in charge of this Five Elements Festival for the Zhe Family, now truly wanted to cry but had no tears!

What was supposed to be a golden opportunity for the younger generation to rise had now become a backdrop to showcase Fatty Bai.

Fortunes turn like a wheel; this year, it landed on the Bai Family.

After everyone had entered the Five Elements Divine Platform, the final ceremony began.

At this moment, Wang City’s Auspicious Five-Transformed Qilin Beast once again made its appearance, treading on auspicious clouds.

The Qilin Beast represented Wang City. It stood in the center of the sacrificial platform, spouting puffs of auspicious clouds from its body, creating an atmosphere of peace and harmony.

Then, the five great families, each holding a portion of the Five Elements Essence—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—stood in a five-pointed formation, performing one ritual after another before the Qilin Beast.

It was a tedious process, but one filled with a solemn and dignified power. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)