Chapter 993: Chapter 613: Sacrifice and Counter-Sacrifice (Part 2)

The reason for doing this, he also had his own reasoning.

His target was this Soul-dripping Tree.

The avatar he had sent out before suddenly perished, and Hao Datong received no information at all. But connecting this to Elder Cheng Yu who came to capture him, there was no need to guess. It was definitely Lu Lin who destroyed his plan.

Destroying the plan was no big deal, as long as he was still alive, the loss would not be too significant.

But the key was losing an avatar, which caused Hao Datong considerable heartache.

Moreover, he also lost Fifth Uncle-Master Guan Xuejun, who had been imprisoned for thousands of years, making him feel as if he could hardly breathe.

The Imprisoned Immortal Secret Skill is one of the top secret skills at Imprisoned Immortal Mountain; in one’s life, they can only imprison one person for a chance of survival at a critical moment.

This was the bottom card hidden under the bottom cards, the means, and losing it this time, Hao Datong would never have the chance to use this secret skill again.

Coming to this Four-eyed Spirit Monkey Tribe, Hao Datong’s idea was to replenish himself.

Having lost so much, he had to make up for it somehow; otherwise, wouldn’t it be a significant loss?

This also exactly matched Lu Lin’s assessment of him — striving for great things while cherishing life, forgetting righteousness for small gains.

In plotting great causes like the Holy Land Key, he had devised countless plans and endured for so many years without exposing himself, fearing discovery.

Forgetting righteousness for small gains meant that during his escape, he was confident that no one would find him. At the sight of the Four-eyed Spirit Monkey Clan, he wanted to plot against their Soul-dripping Tree.

From a distance, Lu Lin naturally saw the slight cold smile at the corner of Hao Datong’s mouth and immediately felt something was wrong.

Retreat.

Hao Datong definitely wouldn’t let this go.

But remaining here was indeed fraught with unpredictable dangers.

Cautiously withdrawing outside the tribe, Lu Lin still felt somewhat unsure, continuing to retreat for dozens of kilometers before feeling slightly relieved.

By the moonlight, he looked toward the Four-eyed Spirit Monkey Tribe.

Hao Datong was wrapped tightly by new vines from the Four-eyed Spirit Monkeys; these vines hung down from the Soul-dripping Tree and were usually a part of its growth, tough and rough, so one might say these vines were like the arms of the Soul-dripping Tree.

After making sure Hao Datong was securely tied, the Monkey King led all the clan members to slowly retreat. Fifty steps away from the Soul-dripping Tree, every member of the Four-eyed Spirit Monkey Clan prostrated towards the Soul-dripping Tree, bowing to the ground with their entire bodies.

"Divine Tree, please accept the sacrifice."

"Buzz——"

With the cries of the multitude of Four-eyed Spirit Monkeys, the branches of the Soul-dripping Tree trembled, and the leaves rustled as if in response to them.

Only Hao Datong chuckled softly.

"You Demon Race bastards, you all deserve to die! You still want to sacrifice me? Now let me show you who really sacrifices whom."

"Prajnaparamita."

As Hao Datong chanted, when a bronze light had just flashed on the Soul-dripping Tree, a light shield suddenly rose around the perimeter of the Four-eyed Spirit Monkey Tribe, enveloping the entire tribe along with tens of thousands of Four-eyed Spirit Monkeys.

"Heavenly Earth Grinding Wheel."

"Flesh and blood turn to ash."

"How many world affairs."

"All within the grinding wheel."

The sound of Buddhist chants echoed, and even the most slow-witted Four-eyed Spirit Monkeys realized something was wrong. They remained in their prone position but turned their heads to look around.

According to reason, such behavior in a sacrificial ritual to the tree was disrespectful. But at this moment, not even the ordinary Four-eyed Spirit Monkeys, nor the Monkey King, could help but look towards the terrifying light shield on the perimeter.

Under their gaze, the light shield actually transformed.

It spun.

Mystical, profound runes flowed.

Pressure.

Heaviness.

All the Four-eyed Spirit Monkeys enveloped within felt as though a thousand weights were upon them, wanting to rise but finding it extremely difficult.

At this point, none of the Four-eyed Spirit Monkeys cared about the sacrificial etiquette to the Divine Tree; they struggled to rise one by one.

Except for a few who lacked sufficient cultivation, tens of thousands of Four-eyed Spirit Monkeys managed to stand up.

Some rushed outside the tribe, wanting to destroy the foundation of that light shield.

Others, like the Monkey King, charged towards Hao Datong, who was bound to the Divine Tree.

But at this moment, Hao Datong smiled faintly once more.

The coldness in his smile caused every Four-eyed Spirit Monkey who saw it to involuntarily shiver.

Did this man have more tricks up his sleeve?

Without seeing Hao Datong take any action, all the Four-eyed Spirit Monkeys felt the pressure on them suddenly increase.

Looking up,

The light shield that had earlier consisted of only a single layer suddenly added another layer inside.

Double-layered light shield.

As they watched, the light shield increased yet another layer.

Now it was three layers.

Those Four-eyed Spirit Monkeys with lesser cultivation directly fell to their knees; they struggled to stand, but with the emergence of the fourth layer, they completely lay prostrate on the ground, unable to rise again.

"What the hell did you say?"

The Monkey King spoke a sentence in broken Human language, and Lu Lin couldn’t translate what he was saying.

But in response to him was Hao Datong’s cold smile, and... yet another layer added to the light shield.

The layers of the light shield kept increasing.

Every Four-eyed Spirit Monkey seemed to carry the weight of a Thousand-Weight; the entire Star Universe Phase was wiped out, followed by Star Battle Phase, then Star Lord Phase, then Star King Phase. With the appearance of the ninth layer of the light shield, the Star King Phase of the Four-eyed Spirit Monkeys couldn’t hold out anymore, and one by one, they fell to the ground, bleeding.

Those clan members whose cultivation was lower had long since been crushed into a pulp of flesh and blood under this enormous pressure.

In what was once the quiet and peaceful Four-eyed Spirit Monkey Tribe, this moment had turned into an exceptionally bloody scene.

Only the Monkey King and a group of Star Emperor Stage and Star Emperor Level powerhouses remained.

Though they could still stand, the force on them was such that they couldn’t make any superfluous movements.

Especially the Star Emperor Level Four-eyed Spirit Monkeys, whose eyes became bloodshot, filled with veins of blood.

"Tree God!"

"Tree God!"

In desperation, these strong members of the Four-eyed Spirit Monkey Clan could only place their hopes on the Tree God.

However, the Soul-dripping Tree was merely a plant with slight intelligence; it could not even be considered a conscious being.

With the continuous calls of the Four-eyed Spirit Monkey Clan members, the Tree God’s consciousness seemed to really awaken.

It extended its roots, emerging from underground.

Just when all the Four-eyed Spirit Monkeys showed expressions of delight, those roots didn’t attack Hao Datong as they had hoped; instead, they began to absorb the flesh and blood on the ground.

Horror.

Astonishment.

Incredibility.

The Four-eyed Spirit Monkey Clan had been faithfully worshipping this so-called Divine Tree all along, and unexpectedly, in the face of a life-and-death crisis, the so-called Divine Tree not only didn’t help but even devoured the flesh and blood of their clan members.

Hatred.

Hatred emanating from the very depths of their Souls.

Every living, conscious Four-eyed Spirit Monkey was filled with hatred.

A heart full of hatred.

The pressure of the light shield made it impossible for their flesh to resist.

And the Tree God’s actions caused their years of faith to collapse.

With the death of their faith, whether they lived or not no longer mattered.

In this instant, almost all the Star Emperor Level Four-eyed Spirit Monkeys, upon relaxing their spirit, were crushed to the ground by the terrifying pressure, no longer having any thought of resistance.

Gradually, these Four-eyed Spirit Monkeys, who were alive just moments ago, all turned to flesh and blood. The roots of the Soul-dripping Tree appeared to show a jubilant appearance in the face of this Star Emperor Level flesh and blood, abandoning the absorption of ordinary Four-eyed Spirit Monkeys to focus on absorbing the Star Emperor Level flesh and blood exclusively.

As time went on, even fewer Star Emperor Level Four-eyed Spirit Monkeys were able to keep holding out.

No hope.

Collapse of faith.

No reason to persist, nor any possibility of surviving.

Everyone gave up.

Except the Monkey King.

He was still holding on.

He believed and had faith in his tribe’s Divine Tree.

He believed that the Divine Tree was doing this not to forsake them, the children who worshiped it, but because it needed stronger power to counter the detestable light shield.

As soon as the Divine Tree had absorbed enough flesh and blood, it would naturally eliminate this despicable Human with ease.

"Good, good."

"Continue, continue."

Hao Datong watched all of this, filled with pride.

Kill every member of the Four-eyed Spirit Monkey Clan, sacrifice them to the Soul-dripping Tree, and allow it to break through rapidly within a short time.

Then, it would be the time for him to make his move.

"Grow quickly, my Divine Tree."