Chapter 174 – The Beginning of Chaos, the Disrupted Ritual

Longyao City, a hidden place of darkness unknown to most.

Within the already excavated ruins, a cruel ritual was indeed taking place.

The Ruthless Man stood outside the Ritual Market, coldly watching his subordinates escort one unconscious person after another into the Ritual Market, his expression completely unflinching.

“Ah…”

“Aah…”

Faint screams emanated from inside the Ritual Market, revealing the dark deeds being performed within.

Yet the Ruthless Man remained unmoved, observing everything with cold detachment.

Beside him, a subordinate was dutifully reporting the progress.

“Over four hundred members of the Wang Family Bloodline have been offered in the ritual, yet the effect of the blood sacrifice remains minimal. The Seal within the ruins remains undisturbed.”

The subordinate’s report caused the Ruthless Man’s brow to furrow deeply.

“Four hundred people already offered, and still no effect?” The Ruthless Man said expressionlessly, “What exactly is happening?”

Though the Ruthless Man’s face showed no emotion, the subordinate still felt a chilling aura that made him break out in cold sweat.

He knew the Ruthless Man was growing impatient and angry.

If he failed to provide an accurate response, his fate might not be much better than those of the Wang Family members.

This placed immense pressure on the subordinate.

Fortunately, having worked for the Ruthless Man for quite some time, he could at least provide a reasonable explanation at this moment.

“The ritual’s minimal effect fundamentally boils down to two reasons,” the subordinate reported in a low voice.

“First, the ‘Blood’ being used as sacrifice isn’t qualified enough. Second, the ‘Sword’ doesn’t seem to be in optimal condition.”

Hearing this, the Ruthless Man’s frown deepened.

“What do you mean?” The Ruthless Man looked at his subordinate.

The subordinate reported truthfully.

“Perhaps because the ‘Blood’ offered in the ritual all comes from collateral branches, their Rank isn’t sufficient, causing the ritual to proceed very slowly.”

“Furthermore, the ‘Sword’ transported from headquarters had been under Seal until recently. Now suddenly being used as a medium for unsealing, the flow of its power isn’t smooth enough.”

“Of course, it’s also possible that the Tomb Guardian Clan intentionally left some protective mechanism when they originally set the Seal, preventing the ritual from taking direct effect.”

In other words, to make the ritual operate smoothly and break the Seal within the ruins, resolving the several issues mentioned above had become necessary.

The Ruthless Man fell into contemplation.

“If that’s the case, then we must first adjust the condition of both the ‘Sword’ and the ‘Blood.'”

The issue with the ‘Sword’ wasn’t too serious – it was merely somewhat “half-asleep” due to having been sealed before. With some methods, awakening the dormant power within the ‘Sword’ shouldn’t be difficult.

As for the ‘Blood,’ the solution needed to be addressed at the source.

The Ruthless Man had some understanding of the Wang Family’s situation.

He knew that the Wang Family had always demoted clan members with insufficient Bloodline Rank to collateral branches. Only those with sufficiently pure and powerful Bloodlines could become direct lineage members who led the entire Family.

In other words…

“The blood of collateral branches isn’t enough. We must use the blood of direct lineage members to make the ritual truly operational and break the ‘King’s’ Seal?”The Ruthless Man’s furrowed brows gradually relaxed.

“Since that’s the case, then send Wang Xiao and his precious daughter to the altar at the Ritual Market.”

The Ruthless Man gave this command to his subordinate.

“But…” the subordinate hesitated, saying: “The two direct descendants of the Wang Family still seem to have connections with those families that originally sealed the ‘King’. Those families have been monitoring the Wang Family’s situation for generations. We don’t know if the Wang Family’s direct descendants have left life lamps with those families. If they suddenly die, those families might detect our movements here.”

The so-called life lamps refer to alchemical tools that can connect with life itself – as long as the connected life continues, the flame on the lamp won’t extinguish.

These alchemical tools are particularly widely used among major families and powerful factions. Whenever descendants with important Bloodlines or significant potential are born, these families and factions would connect life lamps for them to monitor whether they encounter danger at any time.

Such alchemical tools are almost impossible to encounter in the Four Base Cities here, but they are commonplace in those powerful Base Cities deep within the continent.

And the families mentioned by the subordinate hold important positions in those powerful Base Cities deep within the continent, with prominent status.

They might not fear any faction from the Four Coastal Bases here, nor even fear the Base Cities themselves, but they cannot help but fear the threat of those super Hunter families with long-standing Legacies, terrifyingly profound foundations, and completely unknown depths.

If those families truly take action, things would become quite troublesome.

Therefore, the Ruthless Man had always kept those two direct Bloodline descendants of the Wang Family alive, refraining from harming them.

Now, it seemed unavoidable not to take action.

“As long as the ‘King’ can successfully escape and break the Seal, what does it matter even if those families come in person?”

The Ruthless Man coldly stated this.

Although the ‘King’ was sealed by those families, to seal the ‘King’, the ancestors of those families also suffered heavy casualties, causing their family power to greatly diminish.

Now, although those families have recovered to their former peak period after years of recuperation, the Ruthless Man believed it would be difficult for them to seal the ‘King’ again.

Ultimately, whether those families would be willing to follow their ancestors’ example and make such great sacrifices to deal with the ‘King’ remains unknown.

Moreover, even if it comes to that, they probably wouldn’t deploy their entire force to deal with the ‘King’ from the start, right?

And as long as they don’t take advantage of the ‘King’s weakness at the beginning to reseal him, once the ‘King’ leaves, it won’t be so easy to apply the Seal again.

In short, although there are some risks, they are worth taking.

Besides, did they really think everyone on their side was made of clay, completely without any threat?

“Follow my orders,” the Ruthless Man said: “Prepare the ‘Blood’ for me, I’ll handle the matter of the ‘Sword’.”

“Yes.” The subordinate no longer objected, respectfully accepting the command.

Just as the Ruthless Man was preparing to take action, an unexpected occurrence happened.

“Bzzz—!”Suddenly, a heart-palpitating tremor came from within the Ritual Market.

“Rumble…”

The Ruins began to shake.

Waves of crimson light erupted, causing the atmosphere throughout the entire space to violently tremble and repeatedly distort.

The Ruthless Man had just taken a step when the sudden abnormality nearly caused him to lose his balance.

“What’s going on!?”

The Ruthless Man quickly steadied himself, rising in astonishment.

At this moment, he didn’t know that just moments ago, a firework had ascended into the high sky of Longyao City.

……

Longyao City, Mirror Lake District, Xu Qianqian’s Villa.

In the open space of the villa, Su Ming held the Mist Waves and once again confirmed with Xu Qianqian.

“Let me repeat, once the Mist Waves are released, not only various rituals but also the crafting of Extraordinary Items like alchemical potions, alchemical tools, and alchemical weapons will be hindered, leading to loss of control or even failure in crafting. Are you sure you want to use it directly?”

Su Ming spoke to Xu Qianqian in this manner.

“Release it,” Xu Qianqian said indifferently. “I think, in these critical times, Father and the others won’t object to this.”

“Those are your words,” Su Ming said with a nonchalant expression. “If there are any major losses in Longyao City’s alchemical industry later, I won’t take responsibility.”

Weren’t you never planning to take responsibility in the first place?

Xu Qianqian didn’t voice this thought.

She knew that Su Ming wouldn’t care about such things.

Minor losses were nothing compared to the potential chaos that might erupt in Longyao City and matters closely related to themselves.

Su Ming’s mindset was undoubtedly somewhat harmful to others without benefiting himself, but there was no helping it—compared to the property of irrelevant people, Su Ming certainly cared more about himself and those close to him.

Xu Qianqian only cared about one thing.

“How long will the effects of this Mist Waves last?”

Xu Qianqian was also making confirmations of this sort.

“About three days?” Su Ming wasn’t entirely certain and could only say, “The grade of this Mist Waves is quite good, so the duration shouldn’t be too short.”

Xu Qianqian nodded and asked again, “Are you sure the Mist Waves can cover the entire Longyao City?”

“Almost certainly,” Su Ming’s tone was more definite this time. “The magnetic ash of the Mist Waves will spread. Unless there’s a sudden typhoon or heavy rain that blows the ash away, it should only take about half an hour for the ash to diffuse throughout Longyao City.”

Xu Qianqian nodded again and fell silent.

“Meeling!”

Little Hai’er, held by Xu Qianqian, looked curiously at Su Ming, seemingly unaware of what he was about to do.

Su Ming paid no attention to Little Hai’er.

“Then I’ll release it.”

Su Ming turned around, facing the night sky.

Immediately after, Su Ming ignited the Mist Waves, sending the firework soaring into the sky.

“Boom—!”

Under the night sky, a brilliant firework suddenly bloomed.

The magnetic ash with hindering properties spread out, gradually enveloping the entire Base City.

……

Ruins, Ritual Market.

At this moment, the Ruthless Man stood before the Altar in the Ritual Market with an unpleasant expression.

Beside him, his subordinates dressed in black gathered one by one, bringing bad news after bad news.

“The ritual suddenly stopped functioning, as if hindered by something, and can no longer be activated.””The consciousness of the sacrifices suddenly recovered, and they began to assault the altar. We’ve suffered significant losses, and the altar has been damaged. It must be repaired before the ritual can continue.”The ritual’s loss of control caused partial collapse of the ruins’ terrain. Many paths are now blocked.”

“We might lose contact with the outside world.”

One after another, such bad news was delivered to the Ruthless Man, making his expression extremely grim.

Yet these weren’t the worst news.

In the very next second, a subordinate came running in panic.

“Vice Captain! The Sword at the center of the altar appears to have been taken by Miss Wang, who seized the chance to escape! Both she and the Sword have disappeared!”

The moment these words left the subordinate’s mouth, his body exploded.

Blood splattered everywhere, staining the ground crimson and filling the air with the scent of blood.

Maintaining his outstretched hand posture, the Ruthless Man could no longer conceal his rage.

“Find them!” the Ruthless Man said coldly. “Even if we have to dig three feet underground, bring back both the person and the Sword!”

“Yes!”

The subordinates acknowledged in unison, scattering in all directions.

Yet the Ruthless Man remained with a dark expression.

“Why did the ritual suddenly go out of control and turn out like this?””

The Ruthless Man pondered this.

Someone answered him.

“It was likely done deliberately.”

Accompanied by these words, a figure slowly emerged from the darkness.

It was the Black-Clothed Expert who had severely injured Little Hai’er and prevented her from returning to the Spirit Demon Abyss.

“Deliberate?” The Ruthless Man was momentarily stunned, then his expression turned even darker. “What have you discovered?”

“Some indications,” the Black-Clothed Expert replied. “Just now, there seemed to be a peculiar magnetic fluctuation.”

“Magnetic fluctuation?” The Ruthless Man pressed for details. What kind of magnetic fluctuation could cause our ritual to go out of control?”

“Unclear,” the Black-Clothed Expert said calmly. “But it’s certain that our operations have been partially detected by Longyao City. This might be their countermeasure against us.”

“Longyao City…” The Ruthless Man said with a darkened face, “It seems those people don’t want this Base City to exist any longer.”

Evidently, the Ruthless Man had developed killing intent toward this Base City.

With his capabilities, gathering the forces to conquer Longyao City wasn’t beyond his reach.

Unlike the Ruthless Man, the Black-Clothed Expert wasn’t as furious but remained very composed.

“This magnetic fluctuation probably isn’t permanent; it likely has a time limit,” the Black-Clothed Expert stated. “The exact duration is unknown, but the fluctuation isn’t very strong. It should last at most two or three days before fading.”

It must be said, this Black-Clothed Expert indeed had some skill, to have detected even this.

Unfortunately, the Ruthless Man didn’t pay much attention to this matter.

He was more concerned about the whereabouts of the “Blood” and the “Sword.”

As long as the “Blood” and “Sword” weren’t recovered, even without interference, the ritual couldn’t proceed.

The Black-Clothed Expert discerned the Ruthless Man’s thoughts and asked,

“Shall I take action?”

Hearing this, the Ruthless Man nodded without hesitation.

“Your detection abilities are world-class. With you involved, that Miss Wang won’t be able to escape the ruins with the Sword.”Clearly, the Ruthless Man had great confidence in the Black-Clothed Expert’s abilities.

It was precisely because the Black-Clothed Expert possessed strong detection skills that he had been able to locate Little Hai’er earlier.

“Very well,” the Black-Clothed Expert nodded and said, “I too am eager to witness the King’s reemergence as soon as possible.”

After speaking, the Black-Clothed Expert turned and left.

The Ruthless Man watched him depart before lowering his gaze.

“Whoever dares to obstruct me will surely pay the price.”

The Ruthless Man then took out his phone and contacted his collaborator.

If it were him, he should have some information.

(End of Chapter)