Chapter 1 The Ritual

Actually, Hao Ren wasn't sure if these heretics performing the evil ritual were the ones behind the recent anomalies in the Beinz region, but their appearance at this sensitive time and location already indicated that they were inseparable from the mutations in the Dragon Spine Mountains. Moreover, even without that reason, he couldn't just stand by and watch them perform a human sacrifice, right?

Hao Ren had been concealing his presence with Nangong Wuyue's water mist assistance, and the cultists in the stone chamber were completely immersed in the ritual, oblivious to their surroundings. So, when he suddenly jumped out, he caught almost everyone by surprise. It wasn't until the data terminal slammed the masked man that these black-robed weirdos realized what was happening. Someone immediately shouted, "Heretic! A heretic has broken into the sanctuary!"

Then, the cultists swarmed forward, drawing all sorts of long knives, short swords, clubs, and hooks from who-knows-where. They instantly transformed from mere followers into weapon-wielding warriors. Hao Ren was stunned. He hadn't realized these people could hide so much under their robes—knives, swords, and clubs were understandable, but how could someone pull out two meteor hammers?

Hao Ren didn't dare to be careless. He worried that even with his rigid shield, he wouldn't be able to withstand these cultists with their four-dimensional chrysanthemum pockets suddenly pulling out something strange...

The scene immediately descended into a chaotic battle. The black-robed cultists' initial panic made them seem like a ragtag group, but after engaging them, Hao Ren realized that most of them were actually trained professional warriors, and all of them had bizarre magical powers assisting them. They were enveloped in an ominous black-red aura, which spread from their arms to their various weapons, making them look as if they had just been soaked in a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. Hao Ren swung his alloy giant stick, using his superhuman reaction speed and strength to block these weapons. However, there were still times when he couldn't block in time and was hit, causing bursts of sparks to flash on his rigid shield.

With a loud bang, the tall cultist who had pulled out two meteor hammers from under his black robe earlier launched a sneak attack from behind. Hao Ren dodged, and the cultist's meteor hammer slammed heavily into the ground. Hao Ren's eyes twitched as he saw the black-red aura-infused meteor hammer directly corrode a deep pit in the surrounding ground!

No wonder he felt the shield's power decreasing faster than expected. These weapons were so dangerous after being imbued with magical power.

Hao Ren casually knocked the attacking guy away with a stick. He was sure that even a thick-skinned werewolf couldn't withstand such a blow. The feeling in his hand just now also told him that many bones in the cultist's body had been broken when he flew out, almost shattering him in two. But the latter only lay on the ground for a moment, then got up as if nothing had happened.

This cultist was covered in a black-red aura, and the flesh on his face was decaying and peeling off as if corroded by sulfuric acid. However, he seemed to feel no pain. The fractured parts of his body strangely twisted and then returned to normal. He charged towards Hao Ren again with big strides.

He even looked more courageous than before.

The other cultists were the same, all without pain and healing their injuries at an astonishing rate. Hao Ren was a little surprised to see this, but he wasn't nervous, because he firmly believed that these guys were still mortals after all, and they couldn't possibly be resurrected infinitely, right?

At the other end of the hall, the masked man who had been slammed away by the data terminal earlier also stood up as if nothing had happened. His mask had been smashed in half, revealing an unremarkable middle-aged face underneath. After seeing Hao Ren fighting a hundred people alone, the cult leader showed a hint of surprise on his face, then seemed to make a decision. He muttered a few incantations in a low voice and suddenly thrust the long staff in his hand into the nearby ground.

The staff came into contact with the blood-soaked patterns on the ground and began to emit a slight hum. At the same time, the altar in the center of the hall resonated with this hum. The blood accumulated in the recessed area in the center of the altar rippled, and a black-red mist steamed out, as if something was about to be born.

In this chaos, no one cared about the child placed on the altar. Seeing that the blood mist on the altar was about to engulf the child, a nimble figure suddenly rushed in from outside the hall, wrapped in a light blue mist: Nangong Wuyue seized the opportunity to rush into the hall and rescued the child from under the blood mist. This was the cooperation she and Hao Ren had discussed earlier.

After rescuing the child, Nangong Wuyue did not leave the hall, but ran to another corner of the hall to build a "fortress" on the spot, ready to support Hao Ren at any time. She opened the water mist barrier, placed the rescued child on the ground, and protected the child with her tail in circles. Then, she raised her upper body high and swayed back and forth, making threatening hissing sounds to the surroundings. Originally, some cultists were preparing to run over and reclaim the "sacrifice," but after seeing Nangong Wuyue, this unheard-of strange creature, they stopped one after another. One of them subconsciously exclaimed, "Don't pay attention to that snake demon! The mist around her must be poisonous!"

So a group of cultists turned their heads and continued to besiege Hao Ren, leaving Nangong Wuyue stunned and speechless: "...blob?"

The expression on the siren girl's face changed several times, obviously with some intention to take action, but in the end, she seemed to remember something and lowered her body with some fear and trepidation. It seemed that her resistance to fighting was far more serious than others imagined.

Hao Ren also noticed Nangong Wuyue's situation. He had always been a little curious about this girl's mentality of resisting fighting, but he didn't delve into it. He only thought that as a gentle aquatic creature, she was naturally reluctant to fight. Moreover, he couldn't spare any attention to take care of Nangong Wuyue now.

He had to quickly get rid of these heretics in front of him and find a way to capture one or two alive—the secret ritual these guys were holding here was most likely related to the Dragon Spine Mountains itself. Even if it wasn't, according to these guys' mumbo-jumbo religious rituals and their talk about the "Radiant Evil Cult," this group of people was hiding great secrets. How could Hao Ren let go of this good opportunity to investigate intelligence?

Just as he had expected, the regenerative ability of these cultists was limited. No matter what power they had obtained from the bizarre flesh and blood ritual just now, this power could not be infinitely injected into the mortal body—after constantly suffering fatal attacks, these cultists' bodies had begun to collapse.

Every time they were injured, part of the flesh on their bodies would fester like it had been corroded, and as the injuries continued to accumulate, this festering would spread throughout their bodies, eventually endangering their lives. Under this continuous consumption, some of the cultists now looked as eerie and terrifying as corpses. Although they were still rushing forward with fanatical disregard for their lives, their speed was obviously getting slower and slower.

A short, fat man wearing a black robe and gorgeous clothes inside stabbed fiercely from the side with a scimitar. Hao Ren waved his hand and knocked him away. The latter's body suddenly exploded with a burst of blood light in the air, and when he landed, he had turned into a pool of black and red sludge.

This was the first heretical cultist to be completely killed.

Seeing that these guys could be truly killed, Hao Ren felt relieved and at the same time called out to the data terminal that was flying around in the air, taking the opportunity to smash people: "Find a way to capture one alive!"

"This machine is doing it!" the data terminal shouted loudly, immediately grabbing a cultist's head and smashing it repeatedly, trying to subdue this already inhuman guy without killing him.

Hao Ren had almost infinite stamina and an indestructible shield, and soon he solved seventy or eighty percent of the cultists. The stone chamber was full of the disgusting remains left by those "monsters" after their deaths. However, just when he thought everything was about to be done, a strange spell suddenly came from not far away.

The cult leader, who had been ignored all along, raised the long staff in his hand high, with a twisted fanaticism on his face, and pointed the staff at Hao Ren: "Heretic! The goddess has responded to my call, prepare to face the power of God!"

Hao Ren was stunned for a moment, then suddenly felt a terrifying pressure coming from the direction of the altar that made his heart and soul crack!