Atlas of Heaven and Man.

Chapter 1412 Blood Ritual of Immortality
Chu Xianyun looked at the box on the pedestal and reached out to remove the cloth covering it.

The lifeless insects placed inside were immediately revealed.

This is an insect shaped like a flower bud. Under his gaze, its body slowly unfolds, forming the shape of petals. After it is fully opened, the tips of the petals can be seen curling up from time to time.

At the heart of the flower, however, there was only darkness and emptiness, like a deep well with no boundaries or end, as if it could swallow up even the light.

His gaze was fixed on the black hole; the absence of life-giving insects was the key to this ritual.

Only by utilizing the predatory abilities of the lifeless insects can the person targeted by the ritual spell be firmly locked in place; otherwise, the entire ritual will only be effective within a certain area.

If that were all, given Chen Chuan's perceptive abilities, he would have felt a warning sign just before the ritual was activated, and the person would have already escaped before the ritual's power could be unleashed.

Now, through a series of conscious guidance, the lifeless insect has firmly locked onto Chen Chuan's aura. Even if Chen Chuan leaves now, he cannot escape. Once the ritual is activated, the final power will fall upon him.

However, if one takes precautions beforehand, it is possible to resist and protect oneself through certain lost items and rituals. Therefore, it is necessary to force Chen Chuan to use all the protective items on his body beforehand.

Fortunately, after the battle with Yuan Congye and others, and the ambush by Shen Xian, Chen Chuan should have already used all the protective measures he had.

It's a pity that Yuan Zhao and Tie Rugan couldn't even get close enough to confirm it.

But it's too late to do it now.

Once Zhuan Linghong is killed, the field shield will no longer exist, and their location will inevitably be exposed. At that time, given Chen Chuan's speed, he might not even have a chance to activate the attack, so he has no choice but to act now.

With a resolute air, he took another step forward and reached out to press his hand against the lifeless worm's black, hole-like mouthparts. The lifeless worm's petals snapped shut and wrapped around his arm, then rapidly expanded, spreading across his body like a snake.

At the same time, a shimmering cryptic pattern appeared beneath his feet, rising from the bottom and rapidly spreading across his body, eroding into his interior.

The ritual and the petals inevitably converged at one place.

Chu Xianyun stood there, completely abandoning his defenses, and even cooperated by allowing this force to destroy every part of his mutated tissues. Although the mutated tissues resisted strongly, they could only be gradually devoured under the control of his main body's will.

When he, the final sacrifice, dies and his own will is confirmed, the entire ritual will be fully activated, and then Chen Chuan's life will be taken.

Soon, wisps of mist appeared on his face, and his body began to crumble and disintegrate. After only a few breaths, he turned into a cloud of scattered mist and was swallowed by the lifeless insects.

Mi Zhu Zi stood on the upper level, constantly observing the situation.
Although he was the one who ensured the completion of the ritual, he was actually not primarily responsible for the ritual itself, but rather for dealing with any instances of retreat or escape that occurred during the ritual. This was because the Imperial Court had decided from the very beginning that not a single offering could be missing.

Now that everyone is involved, there's no need for him to interfere anymore.

He looked at the large, flashing light in the distance; that was where Chen Chuan was.

He was looking forward to the consequences of the ceremony.

If the ceremony succeeds, he thinks that if the old imperial family tries to resist and stabilize the situation, and manages to delay until next year, when the great bombardment arrives, they might actually be able to avoid the calamity of national subjugation.

At that moment, behind the checkpoint, Wen Mingzhong suddenly noticed something amiss, because the large-headed, small-bodied figure in the mural suddenly began to move in some strange way.

It was originally facing the right, but now it has turned around and is facing the left.

This situation is highly unusual, indicating that a field is affecting the entire area.

He initially thought the other side had found a way to break the anomaly, but upon closer inspection, it turned out that it wasn't that; rather, some significant ritual was being performed.

He frowned and immediately used his spiritual power to communicate with Mu Xiaoren.

The latter had always kept a wisp of divine energy nearby in order to communicate with the rear, so when he tried to make contact, he immediately received a response.

"Mr. Wen, what's the situation back home?"

“There’s a problem in the area ahead; there must be a ritual in progress.”

Wen Mingzhong spoke seriously.

Although the purpose of the ritual is still unclear, it is certain that it exists. The enemy does not act without reason, and the fact that this ritual is so powerful that it affects anomalies is enough to prove what they want to do.

Mu Xiaoren was still trying to break through the field in front of him. He felt that he had found a breakthrough, but his attempts to resonate with it several times had no effect.

He knew he must have found the key, but he was blocked by the power within.

He had originally planned to continue using his methods to break through, but now it seemed that the situation Wen Mingzhong had described was even more serious, so he had no choice but to stop and try to communicate with Chen Chuan.

On Chen Chuan's side, he had successfully eliminated the core of "Zhuan Ling Hong" using Xuan Kong Fire.

During this process, it was observed that crystalline objects were continuously scattered out.

At the same time, the heat generated by the lost items also increased to an extremely high level. Clearly, this part that could not be completely burned by the Xuan Kong Fire was the "precious material" left behind by Zhuan Linghong.

He glanced at the things floating around him; all the scattered crystals were flying toward him and were absorbed into his implant.

At this moment, the surrounding field began to dissolve, as if a thin curtain had been peeled away from the night sky.

The two airships that had been hidden by the field finally came into view.

At that moment, a warning from Mu Xiaoren also came through his mind.

Upon hearing this, Chen Chuan's eyes flickered slightly. In fact, he had already vaguely sensed a warning sign before this.

It is now certain that it was some kind of ritual.

This is very likely the last resort of the old imperial family.

However, he had a feeling that even if he withdrew from this battlefield, he might still not be able to escape it.

He quickly confirmed his judgment.

A dazzling light appeared on an airship opposite him, and the moment it appeared, it resonated strongly with him.

This behavior is so obvious, with absolutely no attempt to conceal it, that it shows the ceremony has already been completed and there's no longer any fear of being discovered.

The moment the light shone, his initial sense of alarm surged to its peak, and his gaze deepened.

He didn't make any unnecessary evasive movements like retreating. He wasn't completely ignorant of the ritual either. This resonance with himself indicated that the ritual was directed at him, and it would continue as long as he lived.

So he simply stood still in the sky, and the huge outer form behind him instantly condensed from the phantom and enveloped his entire body.

A platinum-gold spiritual light emanated from its body, making it appear as a twinkling star in the sky.

The next moment, the beam of light traversed an extremely long distance and landed on him.

In an instant, the dark night seemed to be torn open, and from a distance, it looked as if a long, narrow eye had been born in the sky, with a pale light emanating from it.

Even the troops stationed at a great distance could see this scene and couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, wondering what had happened. Several fighters who were gradually arriving from the rear also saw this sight and floated into the sky, gazing at the light.

For some reason, just looking at that light made them feel extremely uncomfortable. Knowing that the direction was Yaolan Pass, the current battleground between the two sides, most of them couldn't help but feel a sense of unease.

Jiang Linghuai and Mu Xiaoren, who were closer, had no choice but to raise their hands to shield themselves and retreat far away.

When faced with this light at close range, their minds and the mutated tissues within their bodies instinctively tried to avoid it, forcing them to try to stay away.

Chen Chuan was standing at the very center of this radiance.

He looked up and saw that the light resembled an open trumpet flower, completely enveloping him.

This pale white light possessed an extremely strong power to extinguish and deplete. The dense and solid spiritual light surrounding the body disappeared almost instantly, and the external appearance also quickly changed from solid to faint under the erosion of this light.

This process is quite rapid; it seems that it won't be long before the outer form dissipates and falls back onto his true body.

Despite the perilous situation, he remained calm, for he had not detected any higher power within this force.

In other words, this ritual is on the same level as him, and currently, it seems that this force does not immediately kill a person, but rather takes place over a period of time.

Of course, what might be a fleeting moment for others could take a brief, gradual process for him.

But as long as there is a process, there is a way to deal with it.

The ritual must be powered by energy, which can come from the life force, spirit, or something else of the same level of living beings or fighters. There must be a limit to the quantity of such energy.

The solution is simple: as long as he can maintain his composure and exhaust this power, he can withstand it.

However, the interference from the light on the other side prevented him from communicating with the heavens above. In other words, he could not use his spirit to absorb any replenishment from the other world and could only rely on his own power to resist.

In the blink of an eye, the outer form had been completely destroyed by the light. However, at the very moment of destruction, his eyes flashed with purple light, and the purple qi mutation tissue within his body seemed to boil over, causing another outer form to condense once more.

……

……

(End of this chapter)