When Lu Yu entered the depths of the Temple for the second time and saw the Great Elder, who was already gasping for breath, weakly leaning on a chair, his eyes still blazed with ambition and wisdom despite his frailty.
He was like a wolf king on the brink of weakness, yet as long as he drew breath, he would not allow anyone to usurp his place. However, the elder had now become too feeble, and the younger wolves had already unsheathed their claws and bared their fangs, ready to challenge him.
"Third Brother, some don’t wish for our lord to reappear among the living," the weakened Great Elder suddenly said after dismissing everyone around him, and then he looked deeply at Lu Yu.
"What, how preposterous! Who would dare to impede our lord’s awakening?" Lu Yu said, filled with righteous indignation, his eyes ablaze with zeal.
Seeing Lu Yu’s demeanor, the Great Elder was very satisfied.
"Third Brother is still Third Brother, as soon as the Divine Spirit is mentioned, everything else falls into place," he thought to himself.
"You know as well as I that the blood sacrifice is a necessary condition for our lord’s awakening. Yet now, some with treacherous hearts want to disrupt the blood sacrifice and ruin the arrangements we’ve made over many years. If we miss this opportunity, who knows how long it will be before our lord can awaken again," the Great Elder said leisurely.
Lu Yu, however, glanced at him and said, "When it concerns the awakening of our lord, I naturally will not be negligent. Tell me, Big Brother, what do you want me to do? For the sake of our lord’s grand undertaking, I will not refuse."
The Great Elder cracked a slight smile. Third Brother’s reaction was within his expectations. Perhaps Lu Yu preferred not to help himself, but when it came to matters involving the Divine Spirit, even if his own family stood in his way, Third Brother would not hesitate to strike them down.
People like Third Brother were not ones the Great Elder liked to rely on regularly—they were like a double-edged sword. Utilized properly, they could be devastatingly effective; misused, they could cause harm to oneself.
Yet, at this moment, the Great Elder could not afford to be picky. With death’s presence permeating him and his end nearing, with unrest brewing below him, there were not many people he could trust. A fanatic like the Third Elder was naturally the perfect choice.
"Since they want to sabotage the blood sacrifice, no matter what we do, it is likely to be difficult to succeed. Therefore, I want you to collect Essence Blood overnight. You don’t have to meticulously choose who to take it from, as long as we gather enough Essence Blood.
After all, if we miss this opportunity, our lord’s reawakening may be indefinitely delayed," the Great Elder said gravely, then stared intently at Lu Yu.
"Detestable, how could such filthy Essence Blood be worthy of our illustrious lord? But given the urgency of the situation, we must do this for now. Once our lord awakens, a grand blood sacrifice must be held to atone for my guilt," Lu Yu said with eyes brimming with hot tears, as if he had committed a regrettable act.
"Of course, how could we let the Divine Spirit make such a compromise? We must atone for our guilt with a grander blood sacrifice," the Great Elder readily agreed, knowing that there was no better way to motivate such a zealot than by extolling their great lord.
As he watched Lu Yu’s retreating figure, the Great Elder suddenly coughed violently and involuntarily hunched over in his seat. Covering his chest, he gently rubbed it while muttering to himself, "Soon, soon. You wish to mock me, hmph, too naive."
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His eyes were like the Abyss, shimmering with a dangerous glow as he gently caressed the chair in his hands and said, "This position, I will sit for a long, long time."
Meanwhile, upon leaving the Temple, Lu Yu spat disdainfully and said, "That old thing is truly ruthless, actually thinking of this method. Isn’t this blatantly making me commit a massacre to gather enough Essence Blood?"
"However, to keep this play going, Essence Blood is definitely indispensable. Where am I to collect so much Essence Blood for him?" Lu Yu mumbled to himself.
Suddenly, a spark of inspiration struck him as he remembered the River of Blood belonging to Xue Wuyi that he had collected into the Treasure Vase using the Great Dao during his time in Great Chen. It was still lying quietly in the space within the Vase, clashing with the ocean he had cultivated.
"Decided, I will use it." Lu Yu made up his mind. As for the possibility that the River of Blood was related to the Patriarch of the Nether River, Lu Yu was not concerned at all. With that revived Divine Spirit ahead of him, what was it to him? Unless that Patriarch himself appeared, he feared nothing. If he couldn’t beat him, couldn’t he still run away?
When Lu Yu handed over the River of Blood from the Vase to the Great Elder, the old man, already on his last legs, suddenly burst out with tremendous strength, grabbed Lu Yu’s hand, and said excitedly, "Third Brother, you are indeed the most devoted follower of our master. With this Essence Blood, our master can awaken from his slumber tomorrow. He will surely bestow his grace upon you."
"For our master, everything is worth it," Lu Yu pretended to be exhausted and said softly.
"You’ve worked hard, you should hurry and rest. After all, you’ll be meeting our master very soon, and you can’t be looking weary then," the Great Elder said tenderly, comforting Lu Yu.
As soon as Lu Yu slowly exited the room, the Great Elder could no longer hold back and burst into laughter, "It’s done. You all wish for my death, don’t you? Tomorrow, I’ll show you what true despair is." Perhaps it was too much excitement, but he started coughing non-stop, even fresh blood seeping from his mouth.
"It seems this body is no longer usable," the Great Elder sighed deeply.
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The next day, Curse Mountain was already bustling with activity. The Great Elder had long since issued the order to commence a grand blood sacrifice. On this day, the Divine Spirit worshiped by the black-cloaked Curse Masters would completely awaken, showering their divine might upon all beings. Therefore, nothing could be taken lightly, and many people had started preparations before dawn.
As the sun began to rise, the Great Elder, dragging his frail body, walked up to the Divine Statue. He held a wooden Scepter in his hand, inlaid with a strange gemstone that was now emitting a bright light.
This was the Holy Artifact of the Curse Masters, always in the hands of the Great Elder. It signified the gaze of the Divine Spirit. The sight of this Scepter involuntarily generated a sense of worship in the hearts of all the Curse Masters, as if it was the source of their power.
The Great Elder shakily raised the Scepter in his hand, and the strange gemstone radiated brightly, the intense light forcing everyone to avert their eyes. A vast aura suddenly appeared in the Temple, majestic and boundless.
"It’s here, the aura of our master," someone murmured, tears streaming down his face as he devoutly knelt on the ground, ceaselessly bowing to the Divine Statue.
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