Ye Ling's consciousness arrived in the Immortal Realm, his divine soul spreading outwards, attempting to encompass the entire realm within its coverage.
However, the Immortal Realm was vastly more expansive than the human world on Earth. Coupled with the Heavenly Dao's covert obstruction, it took Ye Ling a little longer to cover the entire Immortal Realm.
"I recall seeing altars in the Immortal Realm before. That should be the sacrificial ritual for the Tongtian Tower. This time, I'll try to find that altar..."
After his divine soul covered the Immortal Realm, Ye Ling began to focus on searching for the scenes he had seen in his memory.
"Ye Ling, you've gone too far! I didn't say anything when you took my power, nor did I object when you controlled the sentient beings of the human world. Now you're even trying to meddle with the Immortal Realm. Do you still have any regard for me, the Heavenly Dao!"
As Ye Ling began his search of the Immortal Realm, the Heavenly Dao's voice boomed in his ears, filled with boundless rage.
The Heavenly Dao was supposed to be devoid of desires, emotions, and to view all things as mere straw.
But Ye Ling's appearance had repeatedly challenged the Heavenly Dao's limits, causing the ancient, unmoving Heavenly Dao to be uncharacteristically angered.
Ye Ling, however, paid no mind to the Heavenly Dao's questioning. Instead, he retorted, "I'm not truly coveting your Immortal Realm. I'm just looking for something. Why are you so stingy?"
"Earth is barely the size of a palm, not even a grain of sand in the vast universe. No one will take your place."
"You!!!"
The Heavenly Dao roared, and thunder rumbled in the sky, with purple lightning striking near Ye Ling.
Many immortals and gods in the Immortal Realm were startled by the Heavenly Dao's thunderous roar and emerged from their respective abodes, gazing fearfully towards the heavens.
"The Heavenly Dao is enraged... Has a world-destroying demon been born?"
The Immortal Realm trembled, but Ye Ling remained oblivious and unconcerned, saying, "Who are you trying to scare? Go ahead and strike me if you dare!"
"Ye Ling... Don't force my hand!!!"
The Heavenly Dao's voice grew increasingly agitated, dark clouds gathered in the sky, lightning flashed, and it seemed as though heavenly punishment was about to descend upon Ye Ling.
However, in the end, the Heavenly Dao did not dare to strike.
It understood its duty. If it were to act based on emotions, its collapse would not be far off.
Moreover, even if it were to unleash heavenly punishment, it would have no effect on Ye Ling. Instead, it would provide Ye Ling with a reason to ascend to the heavens.
If Earth were to collapse then, no one would be able to bear the responsibility.
The Heavenly Dao suppressed its anger and said to Ye Ling in a deep voice, "Withdraw your divine soul first. Whatever you're looking for, I'll help you find it!"
"I am Earth's Heavenly Dao, omniscient and omnipotent on Earth. Asking me will be much more efficient than your slow search!"
Unable to stop Ye Ling, the Heavenly Dao could only settle for the next best thing: by helping Ye Ling, it could regain control of the Immortal Realm.
Ye Ling pondered for a moment, then withdrew his divine soul and said, "Your suggestion is not bad. I'm looking for the altar where Ye Feng was sacrificed. Where is that altar?"
"Northern Territory, Tongyou Pond." The Heavenly Dao replied curtly, "Thirty thousand li north of your current location, you'll see it."
"Thank you!"
Having obtained the answer he sought, Ye Ling wasted no time. His consciousness, materialized into a black streak of light, flew northward!
Northern Territory of the Immortal Realm, Tongyou Pond!
The crimson water stretched as far as the eye could see.
This was once a battlefield during the ancient primordial era. A great war began here, resulting in the demise of nearly ten Sages and the burial of millions of souls.
Ye Ling stood above Tongyou Pond, gazing at the crimson water below, his eyes growing deeper.
"I never expected there to be such a bizarre dead land in the Immortal Realm. For countless years, the lingering souls have not dispersed, and resentment fills the air, unyielding through the ages..."
"A place like this, perhaps for millions of years, very few people have set foot here."
Ye Ling landed on the shore of Tongyou Pond and, following his previous memories, quickly found the altar with the cross.
Ye Feng, with his heart gouged out, was hung on the cross. The blood in his body had already dried up, and the heart placed on the altar no longer beat.
"Dying like this... is too good for you."
Ye Ling looked calmly at the sacrificed Ye Feng, with no trace of sympathy in his eyes.
At that moment, a blood-red crow descended from the sky onto Ye Feng's corpse, pecking at his flesh and blood.
A man who had dominated Earth for a century, manipulating countless heroes with ease, now met such an end, his body not even whole, a truly lamentable sight.
With Ye Feng's sacrifice, whatever he had experienced in the past century was also buried, and no one would ever know.
Ye Ling glanced briefly at Ye Feng before shifting his attention to the heart on the altar.
"Nailing a person to a cross, then digging out their heart, and the power of the Five Sacred Beasts still lingers around this altar... What kind of ritual is this?"
Ye Ling looked at the altar before him, a hint of confusion flashing in his eyes.
Both the structure of the altar and the method of sacrifice were too bizarre; Ye Ling had never seen anything like it.
This altar was similar to the altars used in Sage sacrificial rituals, but it was not a Sage sacrificial ritual. Ye Ling felt that this sacrificial ritual was of a higher order than the Sage sacrificial rituals.
Ye Ling inspected every inch of the altar but found nothing special. There was no trace of anyone other than Ye Feng in this altar, as if Ye Feng had walked onto the altar himself, nailed himself, and performed the sacrifice.
"I remember that in the ancient ruins of the Tongtian tribe, those guys from Hongchen Pavilion suddenly disappeared. Could it be related to this ritual?"
Just as Ye Ling was contemplating the purpose of this altar and for whom Ye Feng was sacrificed, Tongyou Pond suddenly emitted a sky-piercing bloody light, and a large number of lingering souls flew out from the pond, rushing towards the sky!
The mournful screams of the lingering souls echoed in the sky.
"What is this?"
Ye Ling's eyes flickered as he watched the sky filled with lingering souls. Before he could figure out what was happening, he saw a spatial portal suddenly open above Tongyou Pond, and a large number of lingering souls poured into it. Even more shocking to Ye Ling was that on the other side of the spatial portal... was Shanghai!
"The ritual has begun!"
Seeing this anomaly in the Immortal Realm, Ye Ling realized that the inner demon had begun to act. He did not linger in the Immortal Realm any longer and returned his consciousness to his main body.
Above Shanghai, the gate to the Immortal Realm opened, and a large number of lingering souls swept out, possessing the citizens in the city.
Not only Shanghai, but spatial portals from Tongyou Pond also opened above major cities worldwide, and lingering souls from the Immortal Realm invaded all parts of the world.
The armed forces and cultivators of various countries were no match for the lingering souls from the Immortal Realm.
Almost instantly, the world fell into chaos!
At this moment, the gods of the Immortal Realm showed no reaction, as if they were unaware of the chaos in the human world, allowing humanity to be invaded and devoured by the lingering souls.
Rumble!
The Earth trembled, and Shanghai was torn apart. A colossal Tongtian Tower rose from the ground of Shanghai, standing between heaven and earth.
Its majestic presence swept in all directions!
Ye Ling looked at the towering Tongtian Tower that reached into the clouds, a hint of solemnity flashing in his eyes.
"Is this... Hongchen Pavilion's sacrificial ritual?"