Chapter 1 The Altar

The phenomenon on the altar gradually disappeared.

Wu Yu stood alone in this ancient place of sacrifice. The long wind, unchanged for thousands of years, blew across the cracked steps, emitting a low howl. Everything was like a dream. If he didn't have the decree filled with divinity in his hand, if the last name hadn't lingered in his ears, he would never have believed his recent experience.

Wu Yu subconsciously clenched the decree in his hand, the words on it shimmering with light.

An extremely lofty aura lingered on it.

Like a ghost or god.

No, it *was* a ghost or god.

After a long while, Wu Yu barely recovered. He carefully put away the decree from the god, composed himself, and with a calm expression, walked step by step down the altar and returned to Chaoge City. After nearly three thousand years of breeding and development, the original Chaoge had already developed into a small country-like scale.

However, generation after generation experienced battles with the strange beasts of the *Shan Hai Jing* (Classic of Mountains and Seas), and the people here could not expand outward, eventually maintaining a balance similar to a city-state fortress, centered on the ancient Chaoge City, with a pattern of fortresses and satellite cities built around it.

In the city, there were bronze mechanical beasts created from the bones of *Shan Hai Jing* giant beasts and bronze stained with the blood of these creatures with legends and myths, patrolling to prevent fierce beast attacks.

Wu Yu's mood gradually calmed down.

The Shang Dynasty people along the way were in a hurry, with expressions of joy and sorrow on their faces. Wu Yu remembered that today was the day the hunting teams returned from hunting strange beasts. Every time it was the same; some were able to return alive, and being slightly injured was the greatest luck, while others could only bring back weapons.

He saw a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl crying while holding her father's weapon.

He also saw an old man with white hair walking back proudly from the outgoing team, carrying prey in his hand. His son had already died in the battle with the fierce beasts, and he took his son's weapon and stepped into the outer domain to seek revenge.

Blood, crying, struggle, this was Chaoge.

The language these people used to communicate was a simpler tone, different from the witch's language used during sacrifices. The former had gradually changed over generations, while the latter had been passed down from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and according to legend, it was a language that allowed people to communicate with the gods.

Compared to the solemn and obscure latter, the former gave him a more familiar and warm feeling.

Wu Yu's gaze swept over these scenes, strengthening his resolve. He put on his hood and hurried to the ancestral mountain of sacrifice. Their ancestor, Shang Tang, wrote the Tang Oath here, denouncing the legendary Jie, and subsequent generations of kings sacrificed to heaven and earth on this mountain top.

When Di Xin gave away Chaoge City, he also gave away the ancestral line of the Shang kings.

He obviously didn't want this mountain to be humiliated.

Wu Yu was a witch and had the right to enter here. He calmly nodded to the warriors stationed here and walked step by step to the highest point. After devoutly praying to the ancestors of past generations, he took out the decree from his bosom and placed it in the place where the Shang Emperor originally worshipped.

He was worried about how to hide it, but when the decree touched this mountain range with a long history, the words on it radiated light, and then turned into fine light dust, disappearing into the mountain range. Wu Yu felt a sense of loss and some instinctive remorse, but he quickly composed himself.

In any case, there was no turning back.

Wu Yu steadied his mind. Next, only the last step remained: to have everyone at the next sacrifice chant his name. The difficulty of this matter far exceeded putting the decree into the ancestral land. The latter only required him to be careful and find opportunities, and he would always be able to do it. The former involved too many people and required persuading the clan elders.

Or rather, the Grand Tutor of ancient times.

Wu Yu hesitated and struggled, but still chose to go. When he arrived, the old man, already white-haired but still strong, was pulling over a bound fierce beast. Today was the harvest of the hunt, and he was going to kill this fierce beast to prepare for the next sacrifice.

Wu Yu entered the courtyard and said, "Grand Tutor."

The old man glanced at him, seeming to see something from this no longer young witch, but said nothing, simply saying calmly, "You're here. Sit down."

"Mm."

"I heard you had a fight with Fei Yu and the others?"

"...Yes."

The old Grand Tutor didn't continue to ask. After a moment of silence, he simply shook his head and said, "Let's not talk about that. You came to me this time, what's the matter? Just say it. Heh... you've always been unable to hide things in your heart."

As he spoke, he tried to bleed the fierce beast, but he was unsuccessful.

This was a *qiongqi*, or more precisely, a fierce beast mixed with a trace of *qiongqi* blood. Those that could be accurately recorded by King Yu and his ministers in ancient times were the strongest individuals of each race. Now, thousands of years had passed, and the world had changed, and they had left many descendants.

These descendants didn't necessarily have the power of their ancestors, but at least they were very similar in appearance. This *qiongqi* descendant was a huge, hideous beast with wings.

The old Grand Tutor was old and couldn't suppress the fierce beast for a while.

Wu Yu helped, and the two of them worked together to suppress the descendant of the *qiongqi*. Wu Yu wiped the sweat from his forehead and said in a low voice, "I remember that there will be a sacrifice in ten days. Grand Tutor, when I was reading ancient books, I found a new sacrificial prayer that involves an ancient existence. Should we try adding this sentence? It might be effective."

"A new prayer? An ancient existence?"

The Grand Tutor glanced at him and, as expected, shook his head and said, "Our current prayers have been tested by generations and are all the most effective. If you found a prayer that you haven't seen before in ancient books, it may have been abandoned and is no longer used."

"This is not a child's play."

"Each sacrifice requires a large number of prey and means that many clansmen are injured and killed. The specifications and procedures cannot be easily changed."

Wu Yu had anticipated the Grand Tutor's answer and was mentally prepared, but he still felt disappointed and regretful.

He gritted his teeth, stepped forward, and said in a low voice, "Try it once, can't we even try it once?"

The old man's answer left no room for discussion, refusing again, "No."

"We no longer have the leeway to make such attempts."

He took out a bronze dagger with a black bird spreading its wings on the hilt. He paused, and casually asked:

"By the way, you said that the text and ritual you want to add point to an ancient existence, who is it?"

"What's the name?"

Wu Yu thought that perhaps the Grand Tutor would know the true identity of that being, or perhaps it was really the Shang's generation of Emperor God, so he recalled slightly and answered in the language passed down from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, "Yuan."

The Grand Tutor frowned and murmured, "Yuan?"

He shook his head, "Never heard of it."

Then he prepared to kill the *qiongqi*, but found that the *qiongqi* descendant suddenly rioted. Its pupils widened, constantly anxiously and restlessly roaring and struggling, showing a complex emotion of extreme hatred and fear. The flapping of its wings burst out with such great force that it almost knocked the old man directly away.

Wu Yu quickly helped the old man up.

The two looked warily at the incomparably angry but obviously more frightened *qiongqi* descendant, and for a moment they didn't know what was going on. After a while, the old man's expression changed slightly. He shook off Wu Yu's support, stood up straight, and tentatively said:

"Yuan..."

?!!

The *qiongqi* was obviously extremely frightened, its fur standing on end, constantly roaring and howling, looking back as if it had encountered a natural enemy or an enemy.

But how could such a ferocious beast have a natural enemy?

The old man stepped forward, repeatedly calling out this name, while the captured *qiongqi* descendant was frightened, angry, and fearful, constantly looking around, agitated and uneasy. Finally, the old man stepped forward, and the sword in his hand pierced the *qiongqi*'s throat. He stepped back two steps, watching the *qiongqi* that was killed because of fear and unable to put up an effective resistance. Suddenly, his heart opened up.

He exhaled a long breath, looked at Wu Yu, and said, "I agree."

"His name will be added to the sacrifice in ten days."

"You agreed?"

"Yes, I did."

The old man looked at the dead *qiongqi* descendant and couldn't help but sigh in a low voice:

"To be able to make this kind of *Shan Hai Jing* beast feel fear, this name must be a powerful Emperor God."

Wu Yu nodded, finally relieved, and couldn't help but look forward to ten days later.

Ten days later.

Would the sacrifice receive a response? And what kind of response would it receive?

ps: Second update today...buffer chapter. Thanks to Gui Chen San Qian for the 10,000 reward, thank you~