"What is this..."
Jiu Ling felt the entire space begin to tremble, a flicker of wariness in her eyes. She immediately circulated the spiritual energy within her body, scanning her surroundings, ready to fight at any moment.
For some reason, the more the space shook, the more uneasy Jiu Ling felt.
She had a premonition that something terrifying was about to emerge from this place!
Ye Ling, however, remained composed. He allowed the space to shake and quickly walked to the center of the altar, sensing the power surging within it.
The residual bloodstains on the altar contained no small amount of power. Judging solely by the power contained within the blood, its owner was a Saint!
"A ritual that uses a Saint as a sacrifice? Who on Earth would be so bold?"
After examining the energy contained within the residual bloodstains, Ye Ling became curious about what kind of altar this was, to require the sacrifice of a Saint!
Sacrificing a Saint was an extremely rare occurrence, not just on Earth, but even on the Eastern Xuan Continent. Throughout history, there had been only a handful of such instances.
However, in the history of the Eastern Xuan Continent, rituals requiring the sacrifice of a Saint were either for someone aiming to forcefully break through to the Emperor Realm using a Saint's blood, or to summon a creature surpassing the Saint Realm!
Once such a sacrifice occurred, it was considered a significant event on the Eastern Xuan Continent, capable of causing devastation for thousands of miles and leading to widespread loss of life.
The sacrifice of a Saint was a forbidden ritual.
If someone were to sacrifice a Saint on Earth to achieve some goal, and even the slightest mistake occurred, this altar could drain the entire Earth, turning it into a dead planet!
Earth was Ye Ling's home planet, and he naturally would not stand by and watch such a tragedy unfold.
Boom!
As Ye Ling was contemplating, an exceptionally powerful aura erupted from the altar, and black energy surged from the ground, shooting towards the sky!
Screech!
Several chains flew out from the ground, entwining Ye Ling's limbs and locking him in the center of the altar, siphoning his power.
"Emperor!"
Seeing Ye Ling trapped, Jiu Ling's expression changed drastically. Disregarding everything else, she rushed towards Ye Ling, attempting to rescue him from the altar.
However, before she could reach the altar, she was repelled by a transparent barrier that rose around its perimeter!
"Emperor!"
Jiu Ling cried out in alarm, but she could only watch helplessly as Ye Ling was enveloped by the black energy, completely cut off from the outside world.
"Am I also considered a sacrifice?"
Ye Ling glanced at the chains binding him. Instead of immediately breaking them, he observed them carefully, waiting to see what would happen next.
For some reason, this altar considered him a sacrifice as well, intending to offer him to some higher being.
Rumble...
The space shook more violently. The vast stone forest began to collapse, and the malevolent spirits residing within the stone forest seemed to be startled, flying out and fleeing in all directions in panic.
However, these malevolent spirits relied on the stone forest for their existence. Not long after escaping, they disintegrated in mid-air, leaving no trace of their presence.
Jiu Ling watched the malevolent spirits perish after leaving the stone forest, a flicker of horror in her eyes. She couldn't understand why they had done so.
Could there be a monster within this stone forest that caused these malevolent spirits to prefer disintegration over remaining?
Amidst Jiu Ling's horror, Ye Ling could feel the entire altar drawing upon his power.
However, the power siphoned by the altar was not significant for Ye Ling. It was merely enough to drain a Saint.
For Ye Ling, it felt like being bitten by a mosquito. The altar's actions posed no threat to him, so he didn't stop it from drawing his power, allowing it to continue.
In fact, Ye Ling himself wanted to see what secrets were hidden within this hidden space.
Boom!
As the altar continued to absorb Ye Ling's power, the surrounding black energy grew stronger, the sky became overcast, and thunder and lightning flashed.
The stone forest in this space collapsed, and the earth split open.
Rumble...
A divine statue, thousands of meters tall, slowly rose from the fractured earth.
"That... that is..."
Seeing the divine statue rising from the cracked earth, Jiu Ling's head throbbed, and an inexplicable fear surged within her heart!
Suddenly, a flood of memories, like a tide, surfaced in Jiu Ling's mind.
The memories hidden within Jiu Ling's bloodline, stimulated by the towering divine statue that had erupted from the ground, merged completely with Jiu Ling's soul.
"Formless Divine Venerable, Lord of Heaven and Earth... Three Essences Manifestation... It's over..."
Jiu Ling's eyes seemed to lose their luster, and she muttered strange words repeatedly, her body trembling uncontrollably.
Even the spiritual laws residing within Jiu Ling's body seemed to cower in fear, beginning to dissipate.
Seeing Jiu Ling's current state, Ye Ling's brow furrowed slightly. He immediately sent out a stream of demonic energy, enveloping Jiu Ling and stabilizing her mind.
Given Jiu Ling's current condition, if Ye Ling hadn't intervened, she would likely have disintegrated due to her internal power going berserk.
After stabilizing Jiu Ling, Ye Ling turned his attention back to the rising divine statue, his eyes narrowing slightly. "This divine statue seems to have been dormant underground, only awakening after absorbing my power."
"However, I sacrificed the spiritual power of a Saint, and this altar only summoned an immobile divine statue. This seems rather exaggerated..."
Ye Ling meticulously examined the divine statue, trying to find what was so special about it that it required the sacrifice of a Saint to be summoned.
At this moment, Jiu Ling regained her senses. She quickly suppressed the fear in her heart and shouted to Ye Ling, "Emperor, I remember! This divine statue is carved in the likeness of the Three Essences Star Lord, the ancestor of the Tongtian clan!"
"Three Essences Star Lord?"
Hearing Jiu Ling's call, Ye Ling was slightly taken aback, examining the divine statue with surprise.
Ye Ling had encountered the name Three Essences Star Lord in the library of the Tongtian clan.
In the mythology of the Tongtian clan, the Three Essences Star Lord was a figure equivalent to a creator god, a mythical being created by the Tongtian clan.
If this divine statue of the Three Essences Star Lord were in the Tongtian clan, it would be understandable. After all, the Three Essences Star Lord was their legendary creator god, and having a statue to worship was normal.
However, this hidden space was a space attached to Earth. Seeing the statue of the Three Essences Star Lord here, and one that required the sacrifice of a Saint to summon...
Ye Ling felt that something was amiss.
As Ye Ling pondered, the thousand-meter-tall divine statue once again emitted a dazzling light, its surging aura becoming even more ferocious!
Looking at the glowing divine statue, Ye Ling could vaguely discern a figure appearing within its center.