The figures in white robes appeared suddenly and took their seats cross-legged upon reaching the altar.
"Look quickly… the pilgrimage is about to begin!" someone in the crowd exclaimed in surprise.
No sooner had he spoken than the sound of dragon roars echoed again.
Today, a powerful dragon qi was felt.
It was likely that the people pouring below the platform were absorbing it into their bodies.
"Hmm?" The sudden intensification of dragon qi drew Chu Tian's attention.
Simultaneously, he discovered a violent change occurring within himself.
That change originated from the Ancestral Dragon Emperor Qi that he had obtained from Qin Shi Huang!
The Ancestral Dragon Emperor Qi, which had been in a weak state, was strongly suppressed and consumed by the Five-Colored Supreme Bone and the Tree of Life after entering Chu Tian's body.
After entering Chu Tian, it had hidden in a corner of his body, barely clinging to life.
Chu Tian had almost lost the ability to sense its presence.
At this moment, Chu Tian found it coiled within his dantian.
It was even larger than when it had first entered his body.
Chu Tian had not detected such a change before.
Thus, he voiced his confusion.
Wondering how it had grown stronger.
However, the Ancestral Dragon Emperor Qi now resembled a trapped divine dragon.
It darted around Chu Tian's dantian, exuding its rage as if it had discovered an enemy.
"What's going on?"
It had not behaved like this before.
Just moments ago, as the dragon qi emanating from the altar intensified, it had reacted in this manner.
Chu Tian attempted to communicate with it, but the ancient dragon qi remained unresponsive, as if devoid of intelligence.
"Wow… do you all feel more energetic?"
Suddenly, the sickly-looking man Chu Tian had seen earlier appeared revitalized, his hunched posture straightened considerably.
"Yes, I feel it too!"
"Haha… I feel like my illness will be cured even without the sacred blood baptism, and with it…"
A middle-aged woman looked at the bottle in her hand.
She tilted her head and swallowed the drop of sacred blood she had collected earlier.
"Ugh…" Wang Pangzi clearly witnessed this scene.
He involuntarily began to gag.
Meanwhile, Chu Tian looked curiously at the altar, his eyes filled with questions.
This dragon qi was truly pure.
It was even more potent than the dragon qi emitted by Xiao Long Nu.
The residual energy alone could invigorate ordinary people.
Could there truly be a divine dragon residing on this island?
Chu Tian began to doubt his previous judgment.
Chu Tian raised his head and stared at the altar, lost in thought.
There was clearly a formation on the altar.
The formation's purpose was to gather the dragon qi here.
It possessed a function similar to a spirit gathering formation.
But where did this dragon qi come from?
Chu Tian was reasonably certain that these demonic beasts, the Jiao, were the source.
The faint dragon qi on their bodies was likely the result of their cultivation and absorption, which had altered their auras.
He dared not use his divine sense to scan a large area.
Doing so would undoubtedly attract the attention of the Jiao.
This group of beings had no weaklings.
Their lowest cultivation level was that of a Tong Ming realm expert.
On this Blue Star, they were incredibly powerful.
Even the people Chu Tian had brought back from the Sea of Death had very few who could suppress them.
Of course, this was mainly because their cultivation was heavily suppressed by the Blue Star's laws.
After observing, Chu Tian concluded that the dragon qi likely originated from beneath the altar.
Or perhaps from deep within the island.
Looking around, the entire island was sealed by the Dragon Absorption Water.
The location where they were teleported was at the edge of this small island.
Seeing this, Chu Tian slowly retreated.
He moved to the rear of the crowd.
"Shattering Star…" Chu Tian called out softly.
Space rippled slightly.
The humanoid combat mecha appeared, already cloaked.
Chu Tian took a step back swiftly while no one was paying attention.
A faint sound of grinding steel quickly enveloped Chu Tian.
The crowd's attention was entirely focused on the events unfolding at the altar.
No one noticed Chu Tian's disappearance.
Once inside the mecha, Chu Tian no longer feared being discovered.
He leaped backward forcefully, reaching the edge of the island.
He observed that the Dragon Absorption Water was not entirely sealed against the island, but the waves were still colossal. However, Chu Tian paid no heed to this.
He steered the mecha directly into the water, sinking into the sea.
However, just as Chu Tian entered the sea, another figure in a white robe appeared.
He held something in his hand, but due to the distance, no one could see it.
Nevertheless, he ascended the altar and presented the item to a leading figure among the group of white-robed individuals.
Had Chu Tian been present, he would have recognized it as a small snake, about three inches long.
Upon reaching the leader, the small snake raised its head, its tongue flicking.
*Hiss hiss hiss…*
"Hmph… find that person who has too much!" the leader grunted.
With a wave of his hand to those behind him, people who were undergoing the dragon qi baptism stood up.
They rapidly advanced towards the direction of the tourists.
As they moved away from the altar, all the dragon qi converged onto the single remaining individual.
This person was the leader, as if the pilgrimage, once begun, could not be halted.
Therefore, he did not wish to waste it.
The tourists, witnessing this scene, were bewildered as to what was happening.
Only Wang Pangzi understood, realizing it might be due to Chu Tian's presence.
When he tried to find Chu Tian, he discovered that Chu Tian had already vanished.
...
On Pilgrimage Island, the Dissidents were drinking until they were tipsy.
Qiu Shaotian managed to extract a lot of information.
Firstly, he learned that he had narrowly escaped death, which sobered him up instantly.
Next, he engaged in banter with these individuals.
He finally discovered that the members of the Defiance Alliance captured by the Dissidents were not on the current island.
Instead, they had all been sent to the unknown location Chu Tian had gone to.
This greatly alarmed him once again.
Because he had heard that apart from those participating in the pilgrimage大会,
none of those sent there had ever left alive.
They had all become food for the monsters.
This meant that the people they had captured this time
had no intention of releasing them after the event.
Instead, they intended to eliminate them all.
As far as he knew, they had captured at least 3,000 people this time.
This wave had almost captured the core personnel of the Defiance Alliance from the northern war zone.
Even some who boasted in reality.
Claiming to be core members of the Defiance Alliance had been mistakenly captured.
All of them had been apprehended.
Of course, the disappearance of so many people had also attracted the attention of the authorities.
The entire Northeast provinces were mobilized.
After so many days, there were still no clues.
Some had already sent requests for assistance to the Ninth Bureau.
Because they discovered that these incidents were happening almost simultaneously.
The missing people seemed to have vanished into thin air.
This had already crossed into the realm of the abnormal.
However, the Ninth Bureau was currently like an empty shell.
Even the venerable Elder Xu had disappeared.
However…
The order to capture the people had been Elder Xu's final command before his death.