Chapter 10

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At this moment, Witch Gong Zongtu changed into a set of coarse gray clothes and walked out of the stone hall with several elders from the village, ascending the altar...

Subsequently, a dozen or so tribesmen carried large earthenware jars filled with bloody meat chunks and placed them on the fire altar, pouring them into the bronze tripod.

Chen Xun was not sure if this was the meat and bones of the cunning beast that had been dismembered.

Witch Gong Zongtu, now dressed in coarse gray clothes, held the pitch-black bone staff, stood in front of the altar, and tidied his clothes. His eyes shone as he scanned the Wupang clan members gradually gathering in the square, and he hoarsely shouted, "Soul Sacrifice to the Ancestral Savages!"

Witch Gong Zongtu stepped onto the altar, and Nanliao led a group of warriors, either leading, carrying, or capturing various wild beasts and fierce birds, walking over from the crowd.

Chen Xun had never seen the soul sacrifice ceremony before, and no one had ever told him about it. However, he saw that these wild beasts and fierce birds included mountain pigs, blue wolves, mountain foxes, leopard badgers, tiger sparrows, mountain eagles, and red-capped storks. Nanliao personally carried a huge ox, whose limbs were tightly bound with ropes...

Chen Xun wondered if they would all be slaughtered and boiled together in the bronze tripod.

Although the bronze tripod was huge, it was already filled with the giant python's bones, the cunning beast's meat, and countless medicinal herbs and strange plants. There was no extra space to boil all these additional wild beasts and fierce birds.

These wild beasts and fierce birds varied in size, but a single ox alone weighed three to four thousand pounds.

The ox, a relatively gentle wild beast, was not powerless despite its immense strength. With its four hooves bound by ropes and its massive head held down by Nanliao, it could only let out a pitiful and helpless roar. As Chen Xun was guessing how Nanliao and the others would handle these wild beasts and fierce birds, he saw Nanliao lead the warriors around the altar, placing the beasts and birds on their shoulders to form a large sacrificial animal circle.

At this moment, it was completely dark. Witch Gong Zongtu, who had climbed onto the altar, swallowed a handful of Wupang pills, waved his pitch-black bone staff, and began to chant loudly.

Below the fire altar, Wupang clan members raised torches, igniting the animal fat-soaked fire altar. "Crackling and popping," the flames gradually grew fierce in the rising black smoke.

Zongya, Zongling, and other young people, as well as even younger children, stepped out of the crowd, bare-chested, and walked to the open space between the altar and the sacrificial animal circle.

Zongya waved to Chen Xun to come over. Chen Xun hesitated for a moment, then saw Grandfather Zongtu nod at him, so he walked out of the crowd and stood inside the animal circle.

Witch Gong Zongtu, standing on the fire altar, his withered face illuminated by the firelight, now glowed with a lustrous sheen.

As he chanted, a mysterious power gathered around him. Then, Zongsang and three other warriors carried a huge wooden pole onto the altar, and a wild beast image made of animal skin was hung up, resembling a Wupang war banner under the firelight.

One corner of the animal skin image was burned and charred, missing a part.

Under the firelight, the image showed a naked, animal-skin-wrapped ancestral savage warrior, stepping forward and thrusting a huge spear, the concentrated power in that moment seemed to pierce the sky...

If the Great Peng Fist Manual that Qingmu Daoist had copied was a masterpiece of painting, this war banner image could be considered a work of art.

The image of the savage warrior before him seemed almost alive. The moment Chen Xun looked up, he felt the immense power of the giant spear held by the ancestral savage warrior, as if it could pierce the sky!

This must be the nine-layered savage soul image that Grandfather Zongtu mentioned, passed down by the Wupang clan for a thousand years?!

Chen Xun's spiritual sea suddenly opened, and he saw a radiant shadow hovering above the surging waves of his spiritual sea.

Visualization is the act of mentally carving the laws of the universe into the spiritual sea.

Chen Xun sensed that the almost sky-piercing power he felt from the ancestral savage image might be the strongest path of the Wupang clan's savage warriors.

He could only visualize a faint shadow in his spiritual sea, indicating that his current blood essence was far from sufficient to fully manifest the profound technique of the sky-piercing thrust, let alone the complete nine-layered savage soul.

Chen Xun subconsciously raised his hand and took a step, about to enter the subtle realm of body and mind harmony, when a thunderous sound echoed in his ears.

"Shh!"

Chen Xun's eardrums ached, and he suddenly woke up to see Grandfather Zongtu standing in front of him, holding a clay bowl and looking at him with concern.

Grandfather Zongtu had specifically instructed him not to show any unusual behavior in front of Zongsang, Nanliao, and others. Chen Xun didn't expect that after seeing the savage image, he would involuntarily enter the visualization realm.

He wondered why he could easily visualize the first stance of the Great Peng Secret Fist, but visualizing the nine-layered savage soul was so difficult.

Indeed, the laws of the universe have different scales, and techniques have different strengths. Visualization naturally has its difficulties and ease.

However, he didn't expect the nine-layered savage soul, passed down by the Wupang clan for a thousand years, to be so powerful.

Chen Xun realized he was drenched in a foul-smelling sweat, his bones almost disintegrating. If Grandfather Zongtu hadn't woken him up in time, he might have died from blood and qi depletion.

Reflecting on that moment, Chen Xun felt a chill. He realized that if he were to fully manifest the nine-layered savage soul in his spiritual sea, the gathered power would be enough to collapse the huge altar, but his internal blood and qi were far from sufficient to provide that much energy. Forcing it would only dry him up.

Chen Xun thought he had only been in a trance for a moment, but the fire at the bottom of the fire altar had already risen, the flames engulfing the bronze tripod, and the stone wall near the fire altar was scorched black.

Chen Xun realized that what he thought was a moment had actually been a long time, but he didn't know why Grandfather Zongtu had walked down the altar with a clay bowl.

Seeing Chen Xun was fine, Witch Gong Zongtu dipped a drop of green, viscous liquid from the clay bowl and dripped it onto Chen Xun's forehead.

The green liquid immediately turned into a hot stream, and the burning sensation from his soul reminded Chen Xun of the golden blood drop from the giant demon.

Grandfather Zongtu said that the Black-scaled Cunning Beast was a rare species, with true blood in its heart from birth. The true blood of a strange beast was a thousand times more precious than ordinary medicinal herbs, and a single drop could transform a person.

Chen Xun thought the green liquid in the clay bowl must be the true blood from the Black-scaled Cunning Beast, but it might have been diluted with a large amount of other medicinal liquids to supply the Wupang children.

Chen Xun wondered if the golden blood drop from the giant demon's heart was the true blood of a six-armed giant demon.

Witch Gong Zongtu had given the true blood to all the young people, then walked back to the altar. Hearing his command, "Sacrifice," Nanliao and others, who had been holding sharp blades, cut off the heads of the wild beasts and fierce birds in the animal circle.

The blood from the animals' necks sprayed toward the altar.

Although the animals' cries stopped, Chen Xun suddenly felt a stronger impact. His spiritual sea opened, and he saw countless animal souls and bird spirits gather above the altar, forming a dark cloud, roaring silently.

At this moment, two silent roars came from the bronze tripod, and the无形的狂风怒啸几乎要将火坛上的熊熊大火压灭，蟒形和狡形的虚影猛烈地挣扎着，试图从青铜鼎中挣脱出来。

兽圈外的乌蟒族人和南獠等蛮武没有异样，只是凝重地看着先蛮残像。

而身处兽圈内的宗崖、宗凌等人，心魂正承受猛烈的冲击，稍弱的少年，身体都开始不受控制地颤抖，手脚抽搐。

陈寻暗自心惊，担心一些孩童在如此强大的灵魂冲击下，会直接魂消身灭。

“以此地兽魂，请祀乌蟒先蛮！”站在祭台上的巫公宗图，一声巨喝仿佛雷鸣一般在广场上空传荡，只见兽皮残像顿时释出无形巨力，将激荡的灵魂冲击之力吸走。

不是将灵魂所承受的冲击之力吸走！

而是兽皮残像正在吞噬那些禁锢在兽圈内的兽禽魂魄，以及从青铜鼎中释出的狡兽与乌蟒残魂……

啊！

陈寻惊讶地抬头看向那幅兽皮蛮像。

虽然他看不见，但自神魂识海打开后，蛮魂所滋生的灵觉，能敏锐感应到二十米方圆内的微弱气息。

这些禽兽魂魄的气息如此强烈，就像一道道虚影在他眼前苦苦挣扎，试图抵抗蛮像的吞噬，其中以狡兽与乌蟒的残魂尤为强悍。

蛮像无风而抖，剧烈得就像要被无形的手撕成碎片，而像中先蛮身上的巨蟒图腾都透出乌莹莹的光泽。

太诡异了！

陈寻怎么都没有想到，这幅兽皮绘制的蛮像竟然能吞噬兽魂！

“祭拜先蛮！”巫公宗图又是雷鸣般的巨吼。

宗崖、宗凌等少年缓缓起身，围着祭台，在兽皮蛮像之下，以更虔诚、狂热的神情，模仿蛮像武神的身姿，踏步作刺矛状而走，嘴里吟唱蛮歌。

陈寻没有学过矛舞，就站在外围看着宗崖他们绕坛而舞，听着像乌云一样聚集在祭台上方的蛮歌，直觉有一种说不出的神韵，暗感他要是也这般一步步地走下去，或许就能在神魂识海之上具相九幽蛮魂。

有这种明悟，陈寻心想这种矛舞蛮歌，大概就是乌蟒族人参悟蛮像、开悟蛮魂的秘法吧？

吞噬无数兽魂禽魄的蛮像，此时没有停止动静，反而光芒大作，释出无形巨力，将巨大祭台下的宗崖、宗凌等上百个乌蟒孩子一起罩住。

陈寻站得稍远，也能感受到从蛮像释出的无形力场，时间一久，就觉身乏疲累，心想绕祭台而舞的那一百多乌蟒少年孩童所承受的压力该有多大？

很快就有孩童承受不住，勉强从矛舞人群中走出来就翻身倒地，手脚抽搐，嘴吐白沫。

这时南獠领着人，将承受不住的孩童抱出来。

祭台之上，有人用一支长柄木勺，将青铜鼎里熬煮多时的肉羹舀出来，一碗碗地传下来，由南獠等人负责灌进这些承受不住的孩童嘴里，然后将这些孩童送到祭台上，直接在蛮像之下，打坐吸收肉羹中的药力。

陈寻这时算是看明白了，原来祭礼兽筵是这么回事。

寻常人服食灵药，都是有限度的，服食药力极强的灵药，通常的结果就是爆体而亡。

开悟蛮魂的蛮武，服食灵药的同时，在魂海用心念刻画蛮魂，就能直接炼化进入气血的药力，淬练周身筋骨皮肉……

有狡兽、乌蟒骸骨，以及无数的灵药异草，陈寻都能感受到青铜鼎之内有无数的生命精元在狂啸，只是包括宗凌在内，诸多乌蟒少年还都没有开悟蛮魂，根本无法食用。

蛮像释出无形力场，实际作用与蛮魂具相类似，就是帮助乌蟒孩童炼化兽筵中的药力，精纯气血的同时，也淬练他们的筋骨皮肉，强化体魄……

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