Chapter 2406: Chapter 2406
After surveying the area, the avatar continued scouting and spotted one of Xiao Muyu’s medium-sized battleships heading toward the tribe.
Meanwhile, You Ming’s flying vessel, even at full speed, would take over ten days to catch up.
Pondering for a moment, the avatar steered the Swift Swallow to land near the eastern side of the altar. After stowing the flying vessel away, it donned an invisibility cloak and made its way toward the sacred site.
Not wanting to alert the local tribesmen, the avatar disembarked far from the settlement. Along the way, it captured a wild wolf to ride, allowing it to reach the vicinity of the altar three days ahead of Xia Muyu.
During the journey, it also spotted a few hunter-like martial cultivators hurrying toward the tribe.
These people had no idea what was happening, but the sound of the tribal war horn summoning all clansmen signaled something major was afoot. Everyone moved with urgency—no one lingered to hunt, nor did they pay any attention to the lone wolf.
Cloaked in invisibility, the avatar remained unseen. Still, it released the wolf and blended in with the crowd to infiltrate the tribe.
Passing by the altar, the avatar carefully studied the structure and its surroundings, then consulted Liu Jing—an expert in mechanisms within Ye Liuyun’s spatial world—to analyze how to retrieve the stone pedestal.
Inside the tribe, the chieftain announced to all the people that invaders were approaching and ordered them to prepare for battle.
After assessing the tribe’s strength, the avatar concluded they stood no chance.
The tribe was too small, with fewer than three hundred martial cultivators at the Heavenly Unity First Layer. Moreover, they lacked any battle formations. Aside from their robust physiques, they had no significant advantages—making victory in this fight highly unlikely.
Thus, the avatar returned to the altar, searching for an opportunity to approach the stone pedestal.
Two tribesmen guarding the altar were whispering among themselves, and the avatar managed to eavesdrop on some useful information.
"Did you hear the High Priest plans to seal the entire altar with his own blood? Can that be true?"
"Absolutely true! They’re already preparing the sacrificial offerings—how could it be fake?"
"Are we really in that much danger?"
"Rumor has it those outsiders are formidable. They want to enslave us."
As the two murmured among themselves, a burly man strode over and barked at them, "What’s all this chatter? Stay sharp on guard duty! Keep your wits about you—don’t leave any openings!"
"Yes, sir!" The two snapped to attention, falling silent.
Meanwhile, the doppelgänger shadowed the man, launching a soul attack to plant a Slaving Seal on him, extracting fragments of the tribe’s secrets.
The man, named Dachuan, was the captain of the altar guards.
And indeed, their High Priest intended to use his own blood to weave a protective barrier around the site.
But the ritual wouldn’t begin until tomorrow—there was still time to intervene.
From Dachuan’s memories, the doppelgänger also uncovered the method to unlock the altar’s summit. After verifying with Liu Jing, they agreed it was time to act.
However, he needed to subdue everyone here first, lest word leak and draw the entire tribe down upon them.
So, Ye Liuyun began his silent assault, using soul attacks to seize control of every guard one by one, until finally, he stood before the High Priest’s temporary quarters.
"Enter."
The High Priest’s voice suddenly echoed from behind the door, startling even Ye Liuyun.
The high priest was only at the late-stage Ninth Level, yet he had somehow detected his presence.
Ye Liuyun hesitated for a moment before pushing the door open and stepping inside.
The high priest was equally surprised—though he couldn’t see anyone, he could sense someone entering.
"Outsider," the high priest addressed Ye Liuyun, "what is your purpose in coming here?"
"I’m not here for you," Ye Liuyun replied. "I came to kill the leader of that army. I followed them here—this isn’t about your people."
"Then why have you come to our altar?" The high priest clearly didn’t believe him.
"Because I know he’ll come here eventually," Ye Liuyun said, indifferent to whether the priest trusted him or not. "And when he does, his guard will be at its weakest."
The high priest fell silent for a while before asking, "Our tribe is no match for you. If I were to hand over our sacred relic, would you guarantee our safety?"
"What relic? What does it do?" The doppelganger feigned ignorance, deliberately playing dumb about the stone pedestal.
"You don’t know?" The high priest sounded genuinely puzzled.
"I just arrived. How would I know what relics you have?" the doppelganger shot back.
The high priest chuckled and shook his head. "If you refuse to admit it, then there’s nothing I can do—"
Mid-sentence, he suddenly launched a soul attack against the doppelganger.
"..." The doppelganger was speechless.
Compared to the others in this place, the high priest’s soul power was indeed strong—but against the doppelganger? He was still far outmatched.
The doppelgänger’s divine soul communicated with him, "I thought you were going to use some special trick!"
Without hesitation, the doppelgänger planted a slave seal on him and began extracting his memories.
It turned out that the people here were not adept at cultivating divine souls. Reaching the level of the High Priest was already a rare achievement, and most had no knowledge of soul-based attacks.
This High Priest had secured his position precisely because he knew such techniques.
Little did he expect that his soul attack would appear so trivial in front of Ye Liuyun.
However, the High Priest had another formidable ability—using his own blood to activate an altar formation. The doppelgänger immediately relayed this information to Ye Liuyun, who consulted Qiong Qi and other formation masters. They confirmed that the formation could indeed kill many Transcendent Deity-level experts.
The so-called sacred artifact the High Priest mentioned was none other than the stone pedestal.
The reason it was revered as sacred was that it could be activated through power of bloodline, unleashing a radiant light upon activation.
This light had the power to enhance physical strength and purify bloodlines.
The entire tribe relied on this stone pedestal to strengthen themselves.
The doppelgänger released the High Priest’s soul and ordered him to lead the way to retrieve the stone pedestal.
With everyone in the area already under the doppelgänger’s control and the High Priest acting as a guide, no one would suspect a thing.
But when the High Priest opened the altar, Ye Liuyun encountered an unexpected problem.
The stone pedestal appeared small, yet it was impossibly heavy. Ye Liuyun attempted to teleport it using spatial manipulation, but it wouldn’t budge.
This was the first time he had ever faced such resistance.
"Even our entire tribe had to combine our strength to move it here. No single person can shift it alone," the High Priest explained to the doppelgänger.
Meanwhile, Ye Liuyun sought Ye Ling’s advice, explaining the situation to her.
After a moment of thought, Ye Ling suggested the doppelgänger try harnessing the power of a spatial realm to claim the stone pedestal.
"Usually, when such objects resist individual possession, it’s because they sense the wielder isn’t strong enough to command their submission. But if you channel the authority of a spatial realm, the moment it senses that power, it will yield without requiring you to expend any real energy. So don’t worry," Ye Ling reassured Ye Liuyun.
