Chapter 1249: Let the Ritual begin!

Yan Nanlai wanted to capitalize on the special properties of the Blood Soul Pacification Spell to free Yan Xinghe from the control of the Emperor of the Dead.

As the battle between the two worlds continued to heat up, Yan Nanlai's method could be considered as the most efficacious way to thwart the Emperor's plan.

The Emperor of the Dead was very much aware of this seemingly insidious threat and had been guarding against it.

Prior to this, the Nether Priest, wielding the Life and Death Book, along with the evil spirit of the Blood River Daoist was on the hunt for Yan Nanlai. They were looking to disrupt the ritual which Yan Nanlai was performing.

However, their plans were foiled when Liang Pan and Gu Jun both rushed over to protect Yan Nanlai and to fight for additional time for the ritual to be completed.

Ironically, it was the Emperor of the Dead's spiritual altar that was being breached by Yang Qing, Li Yuanfang, Gu Yuankai and the rest.

Even though none of them would have posed any form of danger to him, the Emperor of the Dead knew very well that if his ritual were to be disrupted by any of them, there would not be any better opportunity to perform the ritual again.

Hence, the Emperor of the Dead chose to recall the Blood River Daoist.

The return of the Blood River Daoist substantially improved the defences of the Netherworld Spiritual Altar. No one could trespass its reinforced lines of defence. In fact, if not for Gu Jun and the Longevity Lotus Seat, Yang Qing, Li Yuanfang, Gu Yuankai and the rest would have perished within the blood sea.

However, there were definitely opportunity costs when it came to the recall of the Blood River Daoist. Yan Nanlai was hence freed from the pressure from the Blood River Daoist. And whether this decision was a justifiable one was very hard to ascertain.

"Does the Emperor of the Dead have a plan on handling the Yan Nanlai? Our siege on the Netherworld Spiritual Altar definitely doesn't pose as much of a threat as Yan Nanlai's spell," Gu Yuankai spoke to Gu Jun. He continued, "Even if he were to be forced into recalling the Blood River Daoist, he wouldn't have played such a foolish move. He must be very confident in his plans."

"But if he were to be truly confident, he wouldn't have feared Yan Nanlai's spell. He wouldn't have sent the Nether Priest and the Blood River Daoist to go after Yan Nanlai..."

Gu Yuankai's eyes showed much confusion as he spoke, "If he actually had a way to render the spell useless, then he would only simply have to let things run on their own. With Yan Nanlai's cultivation level, administering the Blood Soul Pacification Spell on the more powerful Yan Xinghe would demand a sacrifice of his life."

Gu Jun maintained his gaze at the blood sea which enveloped the dark spiritual altar and kept silent. Gu Peng, on the other hand, asked, "Unless it's bluff? He is simply trying to make us suspicious?"

But then immediately after he had said those words, Gu Peng shook his head.

In fact, Yan Nanlai, like the rest of them, was equally confounded by the tactics of the Emperor of the Dead.

If the Emperor of the Dead did actually have another trip up his sleeves, Yan Nanlai would have died in vain. It would be nothing different from suicide. In fact, this would definitely go down in history as one of the most futile deaths in the history of cultivators.

Yan Nanlai was not afraid of dying. But he was not willing to accept a futile death.

But he also knew very well that if he were to sit and wait to find out what the Emperor of the Dead was actually up to, and that the Emperor of the Dead ended up up obtaining the Supreme Heavenly Mirror, he would become a bigger joke.

Yan Nanlai knew very well that even if he were to give up on the spell and to head over to the Netherworld Spiritual Altar to team up with Gu Jun, they would not be able to breach the defence set up by the Blood River Daoist in his current state. If their adversaries were to focus their energies on defence, even if Yan Nanlai was at his peak, they would not have been able to penetrate the defences in a short period of time.

Gu Yuankai spoke in a low voice, "With the Life and Death Book in the hands of the Nether Priest, who is still in the middle of a heated battle with Liang Pan and his men, we should swerve back to launch a surprise attack on the Nether Priest!"

"Even if we are unable to kill him, as long as we can get a few pages of the Book and use them on the Longevity Lotus Seat, the Lotus Seat will be able to complete its evolution. Then together with the help of Yan Nanlai and the Royal Palace, we might be able to unlock the current standstill against the Blood River Daoist!"

"Even though it might be slightly time-consuming, it is still a viable method."

Gu Peng mumbled, "Uncle, you're definitely right about this. But no one truly knows how long it would take for the Emperor of the Dead to acquire the Supreme Heavenly Mirror. EVen if he were to fail, as long as he had shaken the mirror in the Black Sea, the Great Void Sect will be breached by the dragons. And they will be in a grave situation..."

He was then interrupted by Gu Jun. "We would not make it on time."

Gu Yuankai and Gu Peng both looked towards the void far ahead. The void above the spiritual altar and the blood sea was torn open and a middle-aged Daoist robed in black stepped out of the space. He was holding onto an ancient scroll which radiated a flickering glow. It was none other than the Nether Priest who was holding the Life and Death Book.

They jumped into the Blood Sea, which welcomed them as it carried them towards the top of the Netherworld SPiritual Altar.

Gu Jun spoke calmly, "He had recalled Blood River Daoist as well as the Nether Priest and the Life and Death Book. It seems like he doesn't intend to give any chance to breach the defences at all. It is indeed logical to concentrate his assets and to tighten up his defence after giving up on killing Yan Nanlai."

Gu Yuankai and Gu Peng nodded their heads in agreement. Before long, the void around them began to tremble as a humongous palace emerged with its purple-golden radiance flickered, sending a powerful and authoritative aura to its surroundings.

This caught the attention of both Gu Jun and the Blood River Daoist as they both looked towards the Imperial Palace of Emperor Tai.

The Nether Priest also shifted his gaze onto the Imperial Palace as he flipped the Life and Death Book which was in his hand. The radiance flashed as the grey World of the Dead emerged and partnered the blood sea in their defence of the Netherworld Spiritual Altar.

Seeing how formidable the reinforced defence was, both Gu Jun and Liang Pan understood the difficulty of the task that laid ahead.

Even though they had now linked up together, the compounding power of the Blood River Daoist and the Nether Priest made it difficult for them to penetrate the Emperor of the Dead's defence in a short period of time.

Gu Yuankai spoke, "It seems like we'd still have to depend on Yan Nanlai at the end of the day...?"

At this very instant, the Gus and Liang Pan received a voice projection from Yan Nanlai. "Thank you for your assistance thus far, my friends. I will now continue to do my best to perform the ritual. If everything goes well and we have successfully thwart the Emperor of the Dead's plans, he would no doubt very much infuriated. I would then hence urge all of you to be on your guard."

"...If I were to somehow fail, the ball will be in your court. This matter concerns the battle between the two worlds. Hence, I strongly urge all of you to put in your best and work together closely."

Liang Pan replied, "The sudden change in the Emperor of the Dead's tactics si definitely worrying. I'm afraid that you really might not make it."

Yan Nanlai spoke calmly, "If he were truly able to counter my spell, he would not have sent people after me previously. He could have just wait for me to die."

"There must be reasons on why he had suddenly changed his strategy. He is very adept at strategizing when it comes to such matters. Even if I am unable to destroy his plans, my spell would definitely make him sustain substantial losses. Henceforth, even I were to die, I'm sure all of you would still benefit from it and acquire better odds of truimphing over him."

"Because I was previously injured by Hades, even if I were to join you all at the frontline, I would not be of much use."

"We must understand that time of the essence. Even if we can hold out and wait, our friends at the Black Sea might not be able to do so. Even though I am not one who favors risky plans, I am compelled to do so in this case. Beside, I am not one who lack the courage to take risks."

In the distant void, Yan Nanlai transformed his hand signs rapidly as the runic symbol within the void above his head had turned into a dark red color completely. Streaks of golden radiances revolved around the symbol like electricity.

Yan Xinghe took in a deep breath as he bellowed!

Following his bellow, the dark red symbol suddenly ejected a thread of blood which went straight into the void. The blood thread was unbelievable fine as it penetrated through the layers of void before arriving at where the spiritual altar was.

The grey world from the Life and Death Book and the boundless blood sea from the Blood River Daoist formed an expansive defence line which kept Liang Pan and his Imperial Palace as well as Gu Jun and the Longevity Lotus Seat at bay.

However, these formidable forces were unable to stop the penetration of this fine blood thread. It was as though they were interacting at a different plane as the Daoist and the Priest watched the blood thread enter the spiritual altar.

Yan Xinghe, who stood beside the Emperor of the Dead at the top of the spiritual altar, made a series of hand signs rapidly as a series of instructions streamed into the Black Sea from the banner in the Emperor's hands.

His face bore no expression, but then everything changed the moment the blood thread connected to his head. The numb look on his face started to reveal varying expressions.

The other end of the blood thread fell from the runic symbol and onto Yan Nanlai, connecting him with his ancestor.

Yan Xinghe was his idol and his religion. He exerted influence over him beyond the traditional blood ties. Yan Xinghe had passed down his ideologies onto Yan Nanlai.

But now, Yan Nanlai was about to destroy his idol. He was about to send this influential titan of the Great Void Sect into samsara.

At this very instant, even the usually determined Yan Nanlai felt unbelievably lost and melancholic.

Yan Xinghe gazed at the void above him as his gaze regained the serenity before. One would not be able to tell if there were any changes to his emotions. It was as though he had travelled through time and was now looking at the lives of his successor and future generations.

Yan Nanlai nodded his head lightly before closing his eyes. He brought his hands together as his cracks started to form on his immortal soul!

Within these cracks, voluminous amounts of golden Taoist essence sprayed out like fresh blood from an open wound.

After staining the void, these golden essence turned into fresh red blood which diffused into the area around him!

In the very next instant, the fresh red blood began to burn. The blood thread that connected Yan Nanlai and Yan Xinghe began to tremble as dark red streaks of light was released from Yan Nanlai's body continuously. The light travelled along the blood thread in a vigorous fashion towards Yan Xinghe!

Yan Xinghe's body began to tremble and vibrate upon coming into contact with the dark red streak of light.