Chapter 1809: Sacrificial Soul Ceremony

The three individuals, dressed as martial artists, stood at the edge of the bustling, crowded street, surprisingly not looking out of place at all.

"Haha, Boss, I don't know why, but your current getup really makes me want to laugh," Long Kun chuckled. Dressed in a black warrior's attire, he still had the nerve to mock Xu Yang's unusual makeup. In contrast, Qingya, also dressed as a male martial artist, promptly spoke up to defend Boss Xu Yang.

"With that getup of yours, you look like a shifty character. How dare you slander our boss? I don't know what you're thinking," Qingya retorted. "Even if our boss wore nothing at all, he'd still have more charisma than you!" Qingya spoke from the heart, unintentionally revealing her deepest thoughts, which left Xu Yang somewhat speechless but amused, while Long Kun nearby gained an unexpected advantage.

"Hahaha, Qingya, you little rascal, why don't you confess?" Long Kun pressed on. "Are you secretly doing naughty things with our boss every night when you sleep?" Qingya's face immediately flushed. Such a topic was completely inappropriate for public discussion, and she instinctively raised her hand and struck Long Kun.

Little did he know, Qingya's cultivation had already reached the mid to late stage of the Spirit Void Realm, and she struck without restraint, almost tearing Long Kun's disguise apart.

Just at that moment, a patrol team of over a dozen martial artists approached Xu Yang and his companions. The centurion leading them dismounted his horse, his expression stern.

"Are you three tired of living? Have you forgotten what night it is? This is the most important annual festival in our Holy Soul City!" the centurion barked. "All of you, pay full attention! If any part of the ceremony is not perfect, it could lead to serious consequences. Can you three bear that responsibility?"

Xu Yang and his companions cooperated fully with the centurion. They immediately lowered their heads and quickly tidied their martial artist attire. Standing upright before the centurion to receive his lecture, they finally earned a satisfied departure from the patrol team.

"Alright, alright, quiet down, no more fooling around. Don't forget we have a more important mission to complete tonight," Xu Yang said, feigning solemnity and clearing his throat to remind Long Kun and Qingya.

Although their combined strength would allow them to easily resolve any issues if they were to force their way into Holy Soul City, doing so would inevitably expose their identities prematurely, leading to many undesirable outcomes.

After all, Xu Yang and his companions had a special agreement with the Emperor. They had entered Holy Soul City under the pretense of journeying to the three forbidden zones for trials to enhance their cultivation. Causing too much commotion would make the situation awkward and difficult to report back to the Emperor. Considering this, Xu Yang decided to resolve the issues within Holy Soul City as simply as possible, ideally without alerting anyone or exposing their identities.

Perhaps because such a ceremony was held annually in the city-state, the entire Holy Soul City, from morning till night, was filled with exceptionally excited citizens. On this day each year, after the Soul Sacrifice Ritual concluded, if they witnessed the emergence of a gifted prodigy, all citizens would receive special rewards from the Imperial Family's exclusive team, and the martial artists guarding the city would also receive various levels of awards.

All in all, this Soul Sacrifice Ritual seemed like a full-blown festive carnival, except for the unfortunate children who became sacrificial victims.

As evening approached, the sky gradually darkened. The guard team Xu Yang and his companions were part of was relocated to the very center of the plaza where the Soul Sacrifice Ritual was to take place, an arrangement Xu Yang had planned for early on.

Only from this position could they conveniently intervene at any time to interfere with the entire Soul Sacrifice Ritual, and also gain the clearest perspective to understand the full story of the event.

Sure enough, once all the martial artist sentries had assembled, thousands of children, awaiting the Soul Sacrifice Ritual test, were escorted by a group of specially identified martial artist guards from the end of a longer street, one by one, to the center of the plaza.

To Xu Yang and his companions' surprise, along with the children appeared thousands of suffering individuals, covered in wounds and dressed in prisoner's attire. The vast majority of these individuals were women, and they cried incessantly as they looked at the infants in the cradles nearest to them, their faces filled with sorrow. However, judging from the current scene, they had no power to resist the surrounding martial artists.

"Boss, did you notice that those women all share a common characteristic?" Long Kun asked. "They don't seem to be women from our empire." He had quickly noticed some details through his observation and immediately shared his findings with Xu Yang and Qingya, who were standing at the sentry post beside him.

"Indeed," Xu Yang said, nodding solemnly.

"If my judgment is not mistaken," Xu Yang continued, "these women should be captives from the neighboring empire. When we participated in the Hundred Martial Alliance, we dealt with martial artists from the neighboring empire, and I cannot be mistaken about the unique aura they emit. These women must be prisoners of war captured after the two empires' conflict. If that's the case, then I can probably guess the truth behind the so-called Soul Sacrifice Ritual. It's about using the bodies of these captive women to conceive new life, selecting those with exceptional martial arts cultivation talent to serve the empire in the future. And these unfortunate women, without a doubt, have been reduced to machines for the empire to create new strength. Under the towering walls of this so-called magnificent Holy Soul City, they have forever lost their most basic human rights. It's truly too cruel. I never imagined that beneath the glorious facade of this powerful empire, such inhumane practices exist."

Xu Yang voiced his true feelings, and for the first time, his decision to support the Emperor wavered. Previously, the three of them had agreed to lead the empire's martial forces to attack the neighboring empire. Yet, the revered Emperor had presented himself as a weaker party in front of Xu Yang and his companions. It was unexpected that he would condone such disgraceful actions by the empire's high-ranking officials.

Hearing Xu Yang's indignant outburst, Long Kun couldn't help but ask, "Boss, then according to your thoughts, should we refuse the old Emperor's demands and no longer serve him on the main battlefield?"