Chapter 1146, The Second Sacred Island

Translator: Silavin

 

In an instant, a vine sprouted from within the Slaughter Heart. It unfurled, expanded and surged skyward with relentless momentum.

 

Within moments, the vine had grown into something resembling a celestial pillar, extending at an upward diagonal to connect with the Sacred Island suspended above. Simultaneously, cascades of radiance swept across its length, suffused with the most concentrated power of the Slaughter Ancient God. It was enough to cleave through the barriers above and carve open a gap visible to the naked eye.

 

The path was made obvious, that those present could traverse this vine-formed road directly onto the island in the sky, bypassing the obstruction of Arrays.

 

Under normal circumstances, those from the Sacred Jiang Family wishing to move freely between the ground and the island would rely on precisely this method, allowing the Jiang Family Mountain God to ferry them upward.

 

For outsiders, the only viable route onto the Sacred Island was to slay the Jiang Family Mountain God and claim one of its Slaughter Heart.

 

But slaying the Jiang Family Mountain God, could that ever be considered a simple undertaking?

 

Had Lu Fan not possessed the power of the Abyssal Ancient God, enabling him to sustain the continuous release of Projections and engage the Jiang Family Mountain God in a war of attrition, trading wound for wound, grinding away at the Ancient God Power stored within that colossal body, the outcome of that battle would have been entirely different.

 

For anyone without such capability, the notion of slaying the Jiang Family Mountain God was little more than a wishful fantasy.

 

And that was to say nothing of the fact that it was one of the Seven Stars of Slaughter, a being with two Slaughter Hearts to its name. Even setting that aside, simply exhausting its Ancient God power and cutting it down would require an entire Sacred Land to mobilise every last one of its forces, and even then, success would not be guaranteed.

 

The Jiang Family Mountain God lived up to its name. Stationed at the outermost perimeter of the Sacred Jiang Family, it stood as an immovable mountain, one that outsiders would find exceedingly difficult to scale.

 

The group wasted no time. The moment the vine stilled and showed no signs of further movement, Lu Fan led everyone onto it and began the long climb upward.

 

The island above was genuinely distant from the Map below. The ascent itself would consume no small amount of time and effort from all those present.

 

The vine spiralled upward in a gradual helix, not so steep as to be treacherous in terms of incline, yet stripped of every safety measure known to man. Looking down was another matter. It was profoundly unsettling, in the most visceral sense.

 

Lu Fan, who had spent years astride Dragons soaring through open skies, possessed a certain immunity to such altitudes. He glanced downward without any perceptible shift in emotion.

 

Tao Xiaoman and the others, however, had never ventured to heights such as this. Every one of them found their complexions shifting through a spectrum of hues with each upward step.

 

They knew, rationally, that with their Attributes and Skills, such an altitude posed no real threat to them. If any of them were to fall, they possessed countless methods to preserve themselves.

 

And yet, fear was unavoidable when traversing such heights for the very first time.

 

So, for the girls, it felt like an entire era had passed once they climbed up and set foot upon the island.

 

The island’s scale, just as Lu Fan had anticipated, was no smaller than the Map below it. It had simply appeared small from that distance due to the sheer height it lived on.

 

This place differed little from the Map below it, which was a training ground designed for the youths of the Sacred Jiang Family.

 

If the Map below could be called a ‘Beginner Area’, then this one would be the ‘Advance Area’.

 

The Monsters here began at Level 100 as a baseline, and every single one of them possessed a Level 100 Divine Skill. Their Combat Power exceeded those below by no small margin.

 

The terrain, moreover, was far harsher than anything below.

 

Gazing outward from his position on the vine, Lu Fan could already make out the distant contours of the Map: unbroken mountain ranges capped in glacial ice, howling deserts where sandstorms never ceased, and regions where columns of fire erupted from vast molten fields of lava.

 

Every variety of terrain the outside world had to offer appeared to have its counterpart here. In fact, those here were far more punishing from what existed outside.

 

This was understandable. Those permitted to move through this island would almost certainly be Fourth Profession Players and above Sacred Jiang Family members.

 

Such individuals might rank at the lower end of the Sacred Land’s hierarchy, yet they were its foundation stones. These were individuals brimming with potential, worthy of careful cultivation.

 

Furthermore, they had already undergone rigorous tempering on the Map below, and could be expected to have developed adaptive strategies for any environment they might face.

 

By consequence, this Map was riddled with danger at every turn. An ordinary person from the outside world, or even the younger generation of a conventional Ancient Noble Family would find themselves facing near-certain death before long.

 

And this was merely the terrain.

 

The Secret Realms and Dungeon Instances dotting the landscape were more numerous. They were scattered throughout in quantities that surpassed even the Map below by an almost absurd margin.

 

The resources contained within this single Map alone would likely rival the combined wealth of three Supreme Tier Ancient Noble Families.

 

When Lu Fan tilted his head back, he could see yet another island suspended in the sky above, proof that the Sacred Jiang Family possessed at least one further Map overhead.

 

[So, this is the foundation of a Sacred Land…]

 

“Let’s go.” Lu Fan allowed himself a moment of quiet contemplation before brushing it aside. He called out to the others, leapt down from the vine, and touched down upon solid ground.

 

“I suspect this place operates on the same principle as the Map below. There will be something similar to the Jiang Family Mountain God here. Another Seven Stars of Slaughter stationed as its guardian. So, our objective is the same. Eliminate the guardian, activate the Slaughter Heart, and advance to the next Map.”

 

“Our priority is to locate the Seven Stars of Slaughter. Given that it has been assigned to guard this Map, its strength should surpass the Jiang Family Mountain God. Everyone, we must be cautious.” He turned toward Ouyang Bai Ge. “Teacher Ouyang, should they get into danger, please immediately send everyone into the Void World.”

 

“Leave it to me.” Ouyang Bai Ge gave a measured nod, eyelids lowering slightly in quiet focus. “My attention will not waver for even a moment. No one will be placed in harm’s way.”

 

“Many thanks.” Lu Fan received the confirmation with a nod, the tension in his bearing easing somewhat.

 

He then moved to summon his Divine Bone Clone as a mount for the others. He intended for Xiao Ye to carry him as he conducted a sweeping survey of the Map. The Monsters here posed no genuine threat to those present, but the Map was simply too big. Combining through it section by section would consume an unknowable amount of time.

 

He had barely begun the summoning when the island overhead erupted into motion. A pillar of light descended from above, bridging the two floating islands in a column of blazing radiance.

 

Lu Fan immediately furrowed his brow. He studied this change with wary eyes, wondering what the Sacred Jiang Family was planning now.

 

From within the light pillar, figures began to emerge, one after another.

 

Lu Fan recognised them without difficulty. Their attire was unmistakable: these were the very people he had seen below the altar at that time, performing their prayers before the Slaughter Ancient God.

 

They were members of the Sacred Jiang Family.

 

This was not all of them though, around only six hundred, which was already a considerable number, though far short of a Sacred Land’s full force.

 

At their head stood a man in a robe, the hem of his garment embroidered with golden serpent-scale patterns. His bearing was imposing, his face broad and angular, framed by a full beard.

 

Lu Fan held a faint recollection of this man.