Chapter 1808: Saint Soul Festival

Xu Yang scanned his surroundings, seeing the first rays of the morning sun penetrate the jungle. The vibrant life within began to awaken, a sight he had longed for. Then, with a thoughtful expression, he cast his gaze towards the location where the ancient evil beast's stomach was sealed.

Speaking of which, Xu Yang was still somewhat concerned about the female assassin from the Tianzong.

Xu Yang had paved a path of rebirth for her, but the woman ultimately held her own beliefs. Her deep-seated sense of mission towards the Tianzong would likely not be easy to eradicate. Whether she could grasp this lifeline and embark on a new life path was not for Xu Yang to decide; it depended entirely on the female assassin's own fate. Xu Yang knew that their journey in this forbidden zone had come to an end.

"It's time for us to leave," Xu Yang mused, "as for our next direction..." As he spoke, Xu Yang instinctively took out the purple glowing crystal he had just put away. As expected, Xu Yang's sixth sense was quite accurate. When he placed the crystal in his palm again, a vibrant, emerald green light suddenly emanated from within, like a guiding thread, drawing the gaze of Xu Yang and his two companions towards a certain area in the northwest.

"Oh, Boss, look at this light! Could this crystal be guiding our direction?"

Xu Yang seemed to recall something. Hearing Xu Longkun's observation, he promptly pulled out the remaining two maps of the forbidden zones. One of them, marking the direction of the Endless Desert, was precisely where the crystal's light was pointing. Upon discovering this, Xu Yang immediately felt a sense of anticipation for their next destination.

"It seems our guess was correct," Xu Yang affirmed. "The crystal is guiding us to the forbidden zone of the Endless Desert. If that's the case, there should be more of these purple light crystals. Only by piecing all the crystals together will we form a complete puzzle. And the answer this mystery will ultimately reveal... it's either directly related to the legacy of the Eighth Human Emperor, or it's the truth behind the Ancient Martial God Path that we've always sought to uncover."

Hearing Xu Yang's words, Long Kun and Qing Ya were filled with a desire to continue exploring. Both had deeply felt the unique allure of the Ancient Martial God Path region. The world of martial artists was vastly different from the Kunlun Divine Path, where various powerful individuals had displayed their abilities. In this region where martial arts reigned supreme, every martial artist possessed their own belief system. This might be faith in a more powerful martial arts legend, or adherence to an internal conviction. For example, the female assassin Xu Yang had just sealed, her belief likely stemmed from the mission passed down to her by the assassin organization.

In Xu Yang's view, the Ancient Martial God Path region was fundamentally different from the previous Kunlun Divine Path. It didn't require a unified civil belief to unite everyone within the region; it was an area capable of embracing diverse faiths and cultures. What Xu Yang intended to do was to unlock the shackles that secretly controlled the development of the Ancient Martial God Path region, allowing every individual the freedom to pursue their own beliefs.

Having decided on their direction, Xu Yang no longer hesitated. Carrying the purple-glowing artifact, he, Long Kun, and Qing Ya continued their journey, swiftly heading in the direction indicated by the light.

A few days later, Xu Yang and his two companions arrived at the edge of the Endless Desert, reaching a well-known city-state in the entire dynasty: Sacred Soul City. Its name derived from the city-state's unique history spanning tens of thousands of years, and it held an irreplaceable special role within the entire dynasty. Initially, Xu Yang and his companions didn't have a deep understanding of the city. However, after infiltrating the heavily guarded city-state, they discovered that almost every citizen and every martial artist guarding it shared an extremely unified belief.

After some investigation, Xu Yang and his companions finally learned that the city-state was unique because the first weekend of October each year, which was two days away, was called the Sacred Soul Festival. A special team representing the imperial family would hold a grand Soul Offering Ceremony there.

At that moment, Xu Yang and his companions were resting at a tavern within the city-state. With their incredibly keen perceptive abilities, they effortlessly overheard details about the special procedures and content of the Sacred Soul Festival, just two days away, from a nearby table. However, Xu Yang and his companions had not expected this so-called Sacred Soul Festival to be so perverse and twisted. They were to collect thousands of infants less than a year old from within the city-state and subject them to a unified talent test for cultivation. From these, one-in-ten-thousand prodigies would be selected. Undoubtedly, the chosen infants would become the most powerful martial artists in the future. As for the infants not chosen due to insufficient cultivation talent, they would be sacrificed, their flesh and lives offered to those with extraordinary talent. Their blood and flesh would serve as a prayer to accumulate blessings for the prodigy infants. Without a doubt, this so-called Soul Offering Ceremony was an abomination, utterly unacceptable by heavenly principles.

Upon hearing the details of this conversation, Xu Yang and his companions exchanged glances, their faces etched with profound shock and anger.

"Boss, I can't believe their so-called Soul Offering Ceremony in Sacred Soul City is so perverse," Long Kun exclaimed. "Shouldn't we do something to stop them?"

Hearing Long Kun and Qing Ya's words, Xu Yang maintained a calm expression. He slowly raised the wine glass in his hand and drained its contents in one gulp. "Is that even a question?" Xu Yang retorted. "Since we're here, we'll make our presence known. Sacred Soul City is our last supply point before the Endless Desert. Since we've encountered this, we must respond. Regardless, those children are innocent. I will never allow those self-righteous individuals to use the lives of children to satisfy their own desires. Since the three of us have stumbled upon this, we might as well join the commotion of this 'Soul Offering Ceremony.' I'm curious to see what tricks they have up their sleeves."

Once Xu Yang made his decision, it was clear that this year's Soul Offering Ceremony would be anything but ordinary.

After a simple night's rest, Xu Yang and his companions adopted completely different appearances the next day. They had infiltrated the martial artist guard team early. Only by assuming the identity of martial artist guards could Xu Yang seamlessly integrate into every stage of the Soul Offering Ceremony without detection, allowing them to intervene at any moment to prevent such a so-called soul sacrifice tragedy from occurring.