Chapter 526: Arrival

Dragon Qilin paused in surprise, then immediately understood. Qin Mu was using a sacrificial ritual: transforming himself into an offering to transport himself to another world, while simultaneously replacing a demon general from that world and bringing him here. This maintained the energy balance between the two worlds.

"Has the Cult Master's computational skill reached such a profound level? How did he even calculate that?"

Dragon Qilin's eyes widened. He had followed the young Patriarch for many years and possessed considerable skill in computation himself. If he hadn't been so lazy, he would have been among the most skilled of his generation.

However, the specific computational method Qin Mu employed this time was beyond his comprehension.

He grasped the underlying principle, but he had no idea how it was actually executed.

The standard sacrificial method transformed flesh and blood into energy, transmitting it to another world to replace a living being from there. Yet, Qin Mu hadn't converted himself into energy; instead, he transferred directly to the other world in his complete form. The sheer depth of knowledge required for this feat was immense, far surpassing Dragon Qilin's understanding and experience.

Qin Mu had not only used advanced computation but also incorporated the sacrificial ritual of the Heavenly Demon King, spatial measurement techniques, and teleportation methods. The sheer number of disciplines he applied was astonishing; any single one of them would be enough for many divine arts practitioners to study for an entire lifetime.

"The Cult Master transferred himself to another world as an offering, but how will he get back?"

Dragon Qilin immediately grasped the critical issue. He looked at the still-bewildered demon general on the altar and quickly commanded, "You, stand there and don't move!"

The demon general remained utterly bewildered. He had been charging into battle, so how had he suddenly appeared here? He looked down to see a nervous, scaly, and hairy creature below the altar—something that resembled neither a pig nor a dragon—and an even stranger large box. The impossibly fat creature was the one who had just spoken.

The demon general glanced around at the intense darkness, murmuring, "Yegah Ha'e (Where is this)?"

Dragon Qilin lifted a box and hurled it at the demon general. The general snorted, reaching out to catch it. Suddenly, the box opened and swallowed him with a gulp!

The box landed on the altar, and the demon general thrashed violently inside, causing it to rock wildly and bounce erratically.

As Dragon Qilin threw the box, he simultaneously leaped into the air. The moment it landed, he dropped onto it, pressing it down. The demon general inside was incredibly strong, nearly flinging him off. "Don't let him out!" he urgently cried. "Absolutely do not let him out! We need to keep him so that when the Cult Master wants to return, we can sacrifice him back! The elixirs the Cult Master left me won't last much longer… Wait, my spiritual elixirs are all in the box!"

Perched on the box, Dragon Qilin let out a shriek.

The blare of the war horns grew deafening, exploding almost in Qin Mu's ears and nearly rupturing his eardrums. He turned to look, feeling violent gusts of air surge past him, sound waves pressing against the current, creating ripples on his face.

Behind him were long elephant tusks, over thirty meters in length, wrapped tightly with steel blades.

Three enormous elephants, covered in strange demonic runes, were pulling a cloud carriage, thundering behind him. Their swaying tusks impaled a dozen demons onto the steel blades, flinging them about wildly.

Mounted on the cloud carriage was a horn crafted from an unknown beast's horn, even longer than the elephant tusks. This colossal horn had been hollowed out to serve as a war horn, with an opening large enough for two or three people to stand in. The sound it produced was deafening.

At the front of the carriage, a gigantic demon warrior channeled his vital energy, blowing the horn. Its reverberating sound was so immense it spread across the entire battlefield.

This massive cloud carriage disregarded both allies and enemies. The colossal elephants and their wheels relentlessly crushed and trampled countless charging demon soldiers, creating a gruesome scene of gore and flying flesh.

All around Qin Mu, demons in black armor shouted and roared, brandishing their weapons as they ran wildly, all sprinting in the same direction, howling as they charged towards the battlefield.

"Apu Gao Ren Han (Who are you)?" A demon instantly spotted Qin Mu, its expression confused.

The next moment, its head flew high into the air.

A sword pellet flew from Qin Mu's Gluttony Bag. The young man seized it, clenched his fist, and with a hum, countless flying swords shot from both ends of his grip, forming a double-edged longsword, sharp at both ends, its blade extending thirteen zhang.

Qin Mu swung his sword in a wide circle, sweeping in all directions. The demon soldiers rushing towards him were instantly reduced to countless flying limbs. Even the charging giant elephants had their forelegs severed, their heads pitching forward as their tusks snapped off.

The massive cloud carriage behind him was suddenly flung into the air with a whoosh, flipping end over end as it flew over Qin Mu.

The giant demon warrior on the carriage, now upside down, looked at Qin Mu with a shocked expression before a sword pierced through his skull, pinning him dead in the carriage.

Qin Mu, relieved from the immediate threat of being trampled by the colossal elephant carriage, let out a breath. He looked back and felt his scalp prickle.

Behind him stretched an enormous convoy: countless colossal elephants pulling cloud carriages, arrayed in a line, herding an endless horde of demons towards the opposing battlefield.

Hoofbeats thundered like an unending roar, surging towards the battlefield like a tidal wave.

Behind the colossal elephant carriages, numerous exotic beasts of immense size, even larger than the elephants, galloped furiously. On their backs stood grim and ferocious demon gods, wielding their formidable demon god weapons.

The demon god weapons unleashed terrifying power, humming as they swept across the battlefield, targeting the gods on the opposing side.

Dazzling, terrifying, and aberrant energy fluctuations raged across the battlefield. As the weapons of gods and demons collided, their power erupted, twisting space itself.

The sky was ablaze with multi-colored lights and earth-shattering light blades that swept back and forth, their explosive fluctuations impacting in all directions. Flying in the air would be almost certain death!

Qin Mu quickly assessed his situation, his expression turning grim. His current position was precisely at the vanguard of the demon army!

The demon soldiers in this position were clearly the lowest-ranking, mere cannon fodder meant to break the enemy's battle lines!

Since he was among these expendables, on the verge of clashing with the enemy's formation, he too had become expendable!

"Apu Gao Ren Han (Who are you)?"

Calls of inquiry came from the cloud carriages behind him, and many demon warriors looked at him with suspicion. Qin Mu shouted loudly, "Kude Ge Lou (I'm one of you)!"

Countless demon soldiers, the elite of their kind, leaped from behind the cloud carriages. They surged towards him like a tide, charging wildly and roaring, "Hatila (Kill)!"

Qin Mu no longer hesitated. He turned and ran wildly, feeling indignant. "I just told them I'm one of them, so why are they still trying to kill me?"

These demon elites were different from the low-ranking vanguard already charging. They were powerful members of the Heavenly Demon Host. Qin Mu had encountered them before in the Dead Realm, and their formidable strength was truly astonishing.

These members of the Heavenly Demon Host had been concealed behind the cloud carriages, waiting for the low-ranking demon vanguard to break and loosen the enemy's formation before launching their attack.

Now, countless members of the Heavenly Demon Host were pursuing him, intent on eliminating this human divine arts practitioner who had appeared from nowhere.

Shouts echoed from behind, and the other low-ranking demons immediately received orders to attack the fleeing Qin Mu.

The low-ranking demons were incredibly numerous, an uncountable, dark, surging tide that instantly engulfed Qin Mu.

"Eight Thousand Swords!"

Qin Mu roared, and the great sword in his hand suddenly erupted. Countless sword lights spun wildly, instantly sending the flesh and blood of the demon vanguard flying. The eight thousand swords formed a massive orb of light, rolling through the vanguard, crushing everything in its path.

The rolling orb of light churned through the masses. Suddenly, a powerful demon general at the Celestial Being realm roared in fury, his body rapidly expanding. In an instant, his swelling muscles burst through his armor and clothing, growing to a height of over thirty meters. He wielded a massive spiked club, sweeping it in all directions, clearing away all low-ranking demons in his path.

The spiked club, forged with a secret technique, was divided into thirty-six interlocking sections that spun rapidly in different directions, even shredding his own allies.

The Celestial Being realm demon general swept everyone aside, then swung his massive club down at Qin Mu with a resounding crash. A series of clanging sounds erupted as the eight thousand swords rapidly converged, forming a large shield that blocked the blow.

The demon general's body swayed. With two thunderous thumps, two additional arms erupted from his armpits. His hands pounded wildly against the large shield, while his other two hands raised the spiked club high and brought it down again.

Qin Mu's body shimmered, transforming into the human-headed, snake-bodied form of the Zhenxing Lord. Behind him, a massive Celestial Gate, several meters tall, opened wide, protecting his rear. Demons charging from behind him were swept by the gate's power, their souls instantly returning to Youdu.

He raised his hand, colliding with the demon general's palm. Both their vital energy and divine arts erupted. The demon general's spiked club failed to strike down; instead, his body was flung high by Qin Mu's terrifying strength, crashing into the surging demon horde and crushing countless low-ranking demons.

However, this obstruction caused Qin Mu to be instantly caught by the fastest group of Heavenly Demon Host members, who were now upon him. Immediately, a barrage of blade pellets flew through the air towards him.

The blade pellets spun wildly in mid-air, unleashing countless demonic blades that shot out from within, slashing frantically at him!

"Absolute Wall of Heavenly Stars!"

Qin Mu roared, pushing his hands forward. He effortlessly unleashed the divine art "Absolute Wall of Heavenly Stars," a technique of the Mountain Offering Wine. Stars appeared, scattered across the sky, their starlight intertwined, with the Sun, Moon, and Five Planets as the primary focus. These seven largest stars formed a shimmering curtain of light, pinning the incoming scimitars in mid-air.

Then, the Absolute Wall of Heavenly Stars shattered with a resounding crash.

Qin Mu grunted, stumbling backward. The first Heavenly Demon Host member, a handsome youth from the Asura tribe of the Eight Heavenly Demons, charged forward. He reached into the air, and countless scimitars flew into his hand, coalescing into a blade pellet.

The Asura swung his hands, and the blade pellet clanged, transforming into a double-edged longsword with blades at both ends. Simultaneously, the other scimitars within the pellet became impossibly small, streaming from his fingertips like quicksand, circling around his body.

The Asura swung the scimitars with both hands, charging Qin Mu like a whirlwind.

The two collided. Qin Mu shuffled his feet, deflecting the force. "Such powerful strength!"

The Asura was also forced backward by the impact, then abruptly stopped, charging at him again with even greater speed.

Qin Mu stepped forward, pushing his open palm. Light shimmered before him as his vital energy formed a "fixed" character. The Asura's body stiffened for an instant; just as he was able to move again, Qin Mu's sword swept past, and a head flew into the sky.

"Although very strong, he was slightly weaker than me."

Qin Mu narrowed his eyes. More Heavenly Demon Host members had surrounded him, each as powerful as the Asura he had just defeated, causing his scalp to prickle.

At that moment, an earth-shattering crash suddenly echoed from the battlefield. It was the sound of the two armies' formations colliding, and instantly, countless bits of flesh and blood flew through the air.

The sky abruptly darkened. In the center of the battlefield, an altar, covered in countless flying fragments of flesh and blood, slowly ascended. The rising ground flung Qin Mu and the attacking Heavenly Demon Host members backward.

Qin Mu hastily looked back, his heart skipping a beat. That altar was a sacrificial one, used for blood and flesh offerings. It bore some resemblance to the altar he had created to transfer to this world, but its primary purpose was to summon powerful entities from another world through blood sacrifice!

"This altar is hundreds of times larger than the one I built. Who buried it here?"

He had just landed, and before he could ponder further, he was engulfed by the Heavenly Demon Host.

At that moment, the altar glowed. Countless runes spun, radiating light, and streaks of bloody light shot across the sky, piercing the heavens and tearing through the firmament.

Boom!

A massive axe plummeted from the sky, followed by a gigantic, vibrantly striped tiger that emerged from the bloody light, its body entwined with various magnificent divine patterns.

"My Lord!"

The tiger roared, and a familiar figure appeared on its back within the bloody light. Qin Mu glanced over, his expression vacant, and he was nearly disemboweled by a Heavenly Demon Host member.

On the altar, the person who appeared riding the divine tiger, wielding a massive axe, was someone whose face he recognized.

It was the Woodcutter Sage, who had once transmitted scriptures from a stone.