Chapter 619: Entering the Altar, Turning the Tables, Capturing Artus

"This is... someone is performing a sacrificial ritual to the Snake of Rebirth..."

The moment Yu Yuan heard the sound clearly, he understood.

No doubt about it.

His earlier speculation had come true.

He really had managed to infiltrate the faith network of the Snake of Rebirth.

And within this faith network, he possessed a certain level of authority.

Just like when he had intercepted the Blood Clan's Bloodline River before.

What a surprise!

This was what you called a surprise!

Yu Yuan withdrew his consciousness. Research on the faith network could wait until later. Right now, his target was Artus.

As the barrier's energy operation circuits were cracked.

The barrier had become a clearly visible energy network in Yu Yuan's eyes.

His long-prepared [Empowering Hands] began to gently nudge up, down, left, and right according to the energy circuit directives.

[Empowering Hands] reached into the operation of the energy circuits, and his hands made a pushing-apart motion toward both sides.

A narrow passage just wide enough for one person appeared in the barrier.

Yu Yuan narrowed his eyes and walked through.

A single step apart, yet two different worlds.

When Yu Yuan stepped inside the barrier, he discovered that it actually contained its own pocket space.

A sacrificial altar the size of a small plaza appeared here.

At the center of the altar sat the very serpent statue Yu Yuan had seen before.

Except here, the altar was much larger, standing a full seven or eight meters tall.

Below the altar, a figure knelt there, black mist rolling off them in waves, death aura thick and heavy, yet still unable to suppress the white flame burning at their waist and abdomen.

In their hands, they piously held a black bone rod.

They were chanting incantations under their breath, and with each recitation, a strange power manifested on the black bone rod.

At the same time, the death aura on Artus's body churned even more violently, and a portion of it was connected to the black bone rod.

Resonance began to emerge.

Clearly, that black bone rod must have come from some powerful creature that also wielded death aura.

Even though the creature was long dead, Yu Yuan could still feel the faint pressure radiating from the bone rod.

"Gold-tier or above Gold?" Yu Yuan speculated inwardly.

The moment he saw Artus, Yu Yuan let out a sigh of relief.

His earlier guess had been correct. Artus was indeed in very bad shape after Shadow Wolf's attack.

One could tell from how much difficulty he was having suppressing the white flame.

And that black bone rod was probably Artus's method for cleansing the white flame.

Artus had no idea that someone had already entered this altar plaza.

Perhaps it was because of his confidence in the altar's barrier. After all, the barrier here was condensed from the power of the Snake of Rebirth.

Artus didn't believe anyone could enter this place silently and unnoticed.

And because of the Dawnlight's flame, his perception had also dropped across the board. On top of that, all his attention was focused on the black bone rod in front of him.

So when the light representing the first ray of dawn lit up this altar plaza.

His brain was still in a state of shock and bewilderment, completely unable to react.

Mie Mie's full-power [Dawnbreak] blazed to life across the altar plaza.

Just as Mie Mie unleashed [Dawnbreak], the Snake of Rebirth statue at the center of the altar had already begun to move.

The single eye at the center of the statue was about to light up, and the aura of the Snake of Rebirth was beginning to awaken.

But Yu Yuan, who was fully prepared, simultaneously entered the [Faith Disguise] state as a divine oracle.

He channeled that thread of faith power he had just intercepted and injected it into the Snake of Rebirth statue.

"Artus has betrayed you! I will deliver your divine punishment upon him."

This message entered the statue along with the faith power.

The pupil of the Snake of Rebirth, which had just begun to glow, faded once more. After all, it was merely a manifestation of a sliver of the entity's power, utterly incapable of seeing through Yu Yuan's faith disguise.

Not to mention the added effect of [Trust Level +1] at play. The Snake of Rebirth switching sides was only natural.

Mie Mie's [Dawnbreak] arrived in an instant. How could Artus possibly dodge the speed of light?

"Ahhh—"

All the [Dawnbreak] spiritual light Mie Mie had accumulated over this period was poured into this single attack.

Its purification effect far exceeded that of the Dawnlight's flame.

Combined with the fact that Artus was already weakened by the Dawnlight's flame.

At this moment, he was like butter thrown onto a scorching hot iron plate, rapidly melting and dissolving away.

The death aura radiating from his body, along with the countless resentful spirits hidden within it, all vanished into smoke amidst their unwilling howls.

"No—"

Artus stared in disbelief at the dissipating resentful spirits and that Snake of Rebirth statue.

His hands and feet melted away.

Turning to ash.

He looked at the sheep radiating golden light at the edge of the altar.

"Who are you? Who are you?"

His abdomen began to dissolve as well, followed by his chest.

Artus's consciousness began to fade.

His head began to melt too.

Just then, a cold, clear voice rang out across the altar.

"Those who betray the great Snake of Rebirth shall inevitably receive the Snake of Rebirth's punishment."

"Artus, you conspired with Night Ancient of the Blood Clan and sold out the organization's Bronze-tier prodigy, Fire-Spouting Lei. Your crimes are unforgivable!"

"As the oracle of the Snake of Rebirth, I sentence you to death by dissolution and purification! Execution now!"

The voice was like a steel spike, driving straight into the last remnants of Artus's soul consciousness.

"I..."

He wanted to defend himself, but unfortunately...

He was out of time.

As the final wisp of death aura was purified by the dawnlight, all the death aura and resentful spirits throughout the entire altar were completely cleansed and purified.

The lingering chill that had permeated this place also dissipated rapidly.

All that remained on the ground were three invitation letters and several pieces of equipment and items.

Yu Yuan collected them all.

And just when Yu Yuan thought everything was over.

The dawnlight that had just faded suddenly shone again, except this time the light was softer, warmer, and filled with even more hope.

Looking up, Yu Yuan's breath caught in his throat.

There, above the altar, appeared a beam of golden light.

And within that golden light, one illusory figure after another appeared.

Countless of them, cramming the entire altar space full.

These figures wore serene and smiling expressions, their eyes filled with gratitude, approval, and blessings as they gazed at Yu Yuan.

Then their gazes turned in unison toward Mie Mie.

And Mie Mie, at this moment, looked completely different from usual.

A holy radiance emerged from its body, dazzling and impossible to look at directly.

This light was like the sun rising in the early morning, warm without being scorching, warming both body and soul.

The golden ram horns on its head shone brilliantly once more, except this time it wasn't the dawnlight of [Dawnbreak].

Instead, it was an illusory gate of light.

Yu Yuan's heart screamed, "Holy crap!"

He immediately rushed to the Snake of Rebirth statue, reached out, and grabbed it, stuffing the statue into the Rabbit Ring.

With the disguise of being the Snake of Rebirth's oracle, the entire process went impossibly smoothly.

After entering the Rabbit Ring, the statue transformed into a serpent-shaped model about fifteen centimeters in size.

Clearly, this was its true form.

The altar also vanished simultaneously, and they returned to the civilization relic.

That gate of light and the illusory figures in the sky were now completely exposed in this space.

But Yu Yuan couldn't be bothered with any of that. His heart was filled with nothing but relief.

Because the moment that gate of light appeared, perhaps due to contributing a thread of faith power, Yu Yuan had keenly sensed that within the statue, a will was showing signs of awakening.

That was the will the Snake of Rebirth had left within the statue, a will truly separated from the Snake of Rebirth itself. If it had witnessed what was happening before it, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Hence what had just occurred.

And with the statue put away, that will sank back into slumber.

Flowers and fresh grass rapidly sprouted throughout the civilization relic, covering the ground beneath Yu Yuan's feet.