Sacred Sacrifice and the Path of the War Ancestor

Sacred Sacrifice was a forbidden path. Though it appeared to follow the will of heaven, in truth it was far more defiant—a complete deception of the cosmos, a struggle against the current. The martial artist's road was always harder, and breaking through to the final realm was nearly impossible. Throughout the ages, there had been very few pure, unmatched martial warriors.

The Martial Ancestor, a genius of peerless brilliance, had blazed this trail—against heaven, defying fate. He had pushed forward, deceiving the very laws above. This arduous path was not easy to walk, but when a martial artist finally achieved greatness, his power would shake the world. With pure physical strength alone, he could shatter the universe and stand against any divine art or curse incantation. Combined with battle techniques, a completed martial artist would make even the Ancestral Gods of other disciplines tremble.

Now, Xiao Chen defied heaven itself. Using a forbidden martial technique, he activated every shred of divine power within the Ancestral God's flesh—the power hidden in every inch of flesh and blood blazed like a furnace.

It was a wild act of sacrifice: offering this temporary 'self' to the 'external other' that sat cross-legged above him.

The process lasted three full days and nights. Divine radiance illuminated all ten directions, but in the end, it was all offered up to Xiao Chen's true body, which sat cross-legged in the void.

The surging divine power was incalculable. The might of an Ancestral God far exceeded Xiao Chen's expectations. The divine force had no end; nearly every scrap of flesh contained the power to destroy a world.

"Ancestral God! I will attain the rank of Ancestral God!"

Xiao Chen roared. The borrowed Ancestral God flesh trembled violently, burning with ever more intense divine radiance as it continuously offered itself up to the body above.

Ancient and mysterious sounds tore through time and space: Buddhist chants, sacrificial hymns, weeping, the Heavenly Origin Sound, soul-calming songs, dirges of the dead—all mingled together.

The ageless scriptures emerged from the divine furnace, linking the ages. The most mysterious power in the universe flowed forth, transforming the divine power within the Ancestral God's flesh into radiant light that condensed into the 'divine body' above.

Xiao Chen's peerless precious body was bathed in divine light. Tempered a thousand times, it grew ever stronger, accumulating an immeasurable and terrifying force.

But he was far from satisfied. Even now, he found no sign of ascending to Ancestral God.

Divine power gathered. His war body transformed, growing mightier. Yet that threshold seemed impossibly high, as if it pierced the clouds beyond the reach of his gaze.

How powerful was an Ancestral God?

Why could he not reach that realm even now? Doubt filled Xiao Chen's heart. He could only continue the Sacred Sacrifice.

On the fourth day, suspicion crept in. Could it be that even a living Ancestral God's flesh, with all its divine power drained, could not push him into the Ancestral God realm?

Why?

Was Ancestral God truly an unclimbable peak?

He calmed his mind, gradually settling his heart. Inner peace returned, and a glimmer of understanding arose.

He had been too eager, too impatient.

The Ancestral God realm was one that billions of beings looked up to in worship. In an entire civilization's history, only a handful had ever reached it.

His deception of heaven and his desperate rush would likely yield no result. Even if the divine power flooded the sky, he could not achieve Ancestral God.

True Ancestral Gods needed to comprehend the laws of the universe and all things, to understand the mysteries of the myriad worlds, to penetrate the essence of all heavenly principles.

What he had elevated was merely his physical body. His divine consciousness remained as before, with little change. Between his spiritual realm and Ancestral God stood a great mountain.

Without understanding the origin of the world, without knowing the nature of all things, one could never become a true Ancestral God.

Xiao Chen gradually understood. The forbidden scripture created by the Martial Ancestor could indeed elevate the 'true self' without limit, but to leap over the dragon gate, one still needed true personal enlightenment.

Deceiving heaven and defying fate could infinitely strengthen the physical body. But comprehending the origin of the world and the nature of all things required one's own heart to experience and understand.

All of this... no one else could help!

Once he understood this, Xiao Chen finally knew that Ancestral God could not be attained through trickery. Even if one stole a great heavenly fruit, if the heart was not up to standard, one could never reach the Ancestral God realm.

Ancestral God!

These two words were as heavy as Mount Tai, bearing infinite meaning. He was not worthy of being an Ancestral God.

In that instant, Xiao Chen gradually realized that even if he had the strength to fight an Ancestral God, it would be very difficult for him to achieve that throne.

Ancestral God—a burden too heavy to bear! He was the faith and reliance of an entire race. Xiao Chen was still far from that.

Perhaps he would never become an Ancestral God, for he was simply not that kind of great being.

Yes. By now, Xiao Chen understood clearly. He had a feeling that he would likely remain unable to attain the Ancestral God throne for all eternity.

Looking back through the ages, he recalled the Twelve Zodiac War Ancestors. Perhaps he would become someone like them.

Sweeping the world with combat power, obtaining no Ancestral God fruit, yet able to fight Ancestral Gods, to slay otherworld Ancestral Gods.

In that flash of insight, that brief moment of clarity, Xiao Chen saw through the meaning of Ancestral God. He understood why he could not achieve that station.

Even if he seized another Ancestral God's flesh and stole its fruit to refine his body, he could never truly transform or elevate.

"If I cannot become an Ancestral God, then I will walk the path of a War Ancestor!" Having understood this, Xiao Chen was not disheartened. He continued to refine his true self.

Brilliant and glorious, Xiao Chen used the Ancestral God's flesh to forge his own blood-and-flesh divine body. That radiant body had long been tempered into a peerless war body—a physical form so powerful it nearly rivaled the body of a War Ancestor. Yes, purely in terms of his physical shell, Xiao Chen's divine body had already surpassed the Half-Ancestor realm. Tempered by the essence of the Ancestral God flesh below, it had become terrifyingly strong.

If he could go one step further, it would match the body of an Ancestral God—the true body of a War Ancestor.

Unable to ascend to Ancestral God, he would strive in this direction.

At this moment, the 'external other'—Xiao Chen's true body—saw three hundred and sixty-five major acupoints erupt with divine light, like three hundred and sixty-five stars embedded in his flesh. Within each acupoint, a figure sat silently in meditation. Moreover, countless unusual acupoints flickered, growing brighter by the moment.

His body was not a starry sky, yet it surpassed one. His physical form became deep and boundless, like a miniature firmament, radiant with starlight.

It was as if the entire celestial sphere trembled, as if infinite divine splendor bloomed.

The thousands upon thousands of acupoints he had divinized over centuries with spiritual essences could not compare to the number awakened in these few days.

The human body was the most mysterious thing, holding countless unknown secrets. The cultivator's flesh was a true world, fully capable of echoing the greater universe.

By refining his body with an Ancestral God's flesh, Xiao Chen was now like a person opening a world. Within his own flesh, indistinct scenes began to appear.

At one moment, chaos was dim and the universe first formed. At the next, billions of flowers bloomed in splendor. Then, all things withered in bleak desolation.

The great world teemed with infinite life and boundless splendor, but in the next instant it might become a fleeting dream, scattering with the wind.

Rising and falling, surging and receding, billions of beings ended as dust and ashes.

Everything could turn to nothing in the blink of an eye—fleeting clouds, gray seas turned to mulberry fields, billions of years but a snap of the fingers.

Xiao Chen's whole body blazed with radiance. The countless divinized acupoints poured forth divine effulgence. His body became like the deep starry sky, covered in shimmering starlight.

A flower, a world. A blade of grass, a heaven.

The human body is not a world, yet it rivals one.

The cultivator's flesh is a vast treasure trove, awaiting its owner to excavate.

And the martial artist, who primarily trains the physical body, would naturally open infinite divine power once cultivation was complete. That was the root of the martial artist's terrifying combat strength.

BOOM!

The entire dimensional world suddenly shuddered violently, as if about to shatter. At this critical moment, Xiao Chen suffered a major disturbance. The Sacred Sacrifice nearly broke, and his divine consciousness almost collapsed.

This abrupt disruption interfered heavily—he came close to having his primordial spirit shattered.

The dimensional world shook violently as powerful divine force hammered from outside, about to break in.

There was no doubt: it was the Otherworld Ancestral God, Ai Er. He was forcibly ripping open the demon diagram that sealed the dimensional world.

After stabilizing his divine consciousness, Xiao Chen sensed the approaching danger. But now the Sacred Sacrifice was nearing its end. He would race against time with his opponent.

Auspicious light surged to the heavens; multicolored radiance dazzled.

The Ancestral God flesh that Xiao Chen had inhabited below erupted with blazing light. Divine effulgence, tens of thousands of beams, flooded the divine body above. And this would be the final radiance. Nearly seventy percent of the Ancestral God flesh's divine power had been exhausted. The light shot to the sky, but the remaining divine force could no longer be drawn out.

The essence of an Ancestral God's flesh could never truly dry up!

With a violent tremor, the Ancestral God flesh split apart, its light dimming as if it had forever lost its vitality.

At the same time, Xiao Chen's divine consciousness, carrying his life essence, transformed into a blazing rainbow that shot upward, swiftly merging into his true body above.

The rainbow's glow illuminated all ten directions, but in the next instant it faded completely, vanishing into the powerful divine body above.

Before the enemy could break in, he had completed the Sacred Sacrifice.

In that moment, Xiao Chen's true body, seated cross-legged in the void, suddenly opened his eyes. Two beams of terrifying light instantly tore through the void, and a sky-filling divine force trembled forth.

His peerless precious body gleamed with radiance. His bronze-colored flesh held unimaginable combat power. He felt that although his divine consciousness was still at the Half-Ancestor realm, his physical body had already ascended to the War Ancestor level, comparable to an Ancestral God.

Standing in the dimensional world, Xiao Chen had never felt so powerful. He had confirmed his decision to walk the War Ancestor path.

Precious light flowed. A light tremor of his divine body could shatter the world. The power contained within was formidable beyond measure. Xiao Chen felt he could tear through any obstruction with his bare hands!

In that instant, the shattered Ancestral God flesh reassembled once more, still holding thirty percent of its divine power—enough to let it endure for countless ages.

Moreover, the life force of the original 'divine seed' had not been completely absorbed by Xiao Chen. A full forty percent had condensed back into this now-dim furnace.

Looking at the furnace floating in the void, Xiao Chen decided that even though most of its essence had been extracted, he would still mine it thoroughly.

Following a secret method from the Martial Ancestor True Scripture, he planted a seed within the furnace. This was not to create a second personality for himself, but to create a second personality for Chou Tian.

Xiao Chen dared not risk leaving his own spiritual imprint. Instead, he selectively gathered the broken remnants of Chou Tian's original divine consciousness, creating a chance for rebirth for him.

But there was no question: this second personality was under Xiao Chen's control. He could wipe it out at any moment, and he had also purged it of all memories that should not remain.

BANG!

At that moment, the dimensional world grew unstable. The demon diagram sealing the exit was forcibly torn open by most of its width. The whole world shuddered violently.

"Chou Tian, your merit is boundless. I hope you can shake the world in days to come." Light flowed. Xiao Chen's body, now comparable to a War Ancestor's, held limitless combat power. Even a light strike could shatter time and space, triggering a massive spatial collapse.

He possessed the incomplete formation diagram and was protected by the Ancestral Lord Warship. He already had the power to fight an Ancestral God—but he did not want to reveal his hand here. Unless he could kill the enemy with a single blow, it was not yet time to expose himself.

Xiao Chen used the half stone skull to absorb all the divine power fluctuations in this dimensional space, erasing every trace of his presence. Then he boarded the Ancestral Lord Warship, shattered the world barrier, and sped toward the Death World.

Half an hour later, the Otherworld Ancestral God Ai Er finally tore down the demon diagram. Such a forcible opening caused the already-refined dimensional space to undergo a massive collapse.

BOOM—

Divine power surged three thousand miles, alarming all the powerful beings.

In the sky, all the experts of Chou Tian's clan watched the scene with bated breath. As the dimensional world shattered and the altar within collapsed, Chou Tian coughed up blood and was sent flying.

An Ancestral God was vomiting blood...

At that moment, the entire clan's experts cried out in shock.

Ai Er, the Otherworld Ancestral God, changed color on the spot. He sensed Chou Tian's weakness, as if he had suffered a great injury.

"Chou Tian, what happened to you?"

"Ai Er! I will never rest with you! You push people too far!" Chou Tian's face twisted with savage fury as he charged at Ai Er. "You shattered my dimensional world while I was in the midst of my Shattering Demon, Planting God technique! You made all my efforts come to nothing! My divine power has plummeted! I am not done with you!"

The Otherworld Ancestral God Ai Er changed color. He could clearly sense that something was very wrong. Chou Tian was obviously trying to frame him.

But he did not think too deeply into it. He assumed that Chou Tian had failed in his secluded cultivation and was using him as a scapegoat.

Now it was truly like yellow mud in the crotch—not shit, but shit anyway. He could not explain himself even if he wanted to.

Ai Er was furious and frustrated. He secretly regretted coming here to investigate.

"I thought you had an accident. I sensed something unusual earlier."

"You lie! You clearly destroyed my cultivation fruit and blocked my advancement!" In a rage, Chou Tian attacked, closing in on Ai Er. A hazy giant hand tried to crush the Ancestral God before him.

"Ha!"

Ai Er was also furious. He struck back. A giant sword formed from his primordial spirit sent Chou Tian flying, cracking even his Ancestral God body.

"Fine, fine, fine! Ai Er, you are determined to stop my success and even take the chance to destroy me!" Chou Tian seemed utterly enraged. His flesh slowly healed.

In the distance, all the experts of his clan looked furious. Even if they were no match for the Ancestral God Ai Er, they all burned with the desire to fight.

Ai Er had truly stirred up a public outcry.

"It's all a misunderstanding!" Ai Er tried to explain, but this situation truly left him unable to defend himself. In the end, he said gloomily, "I will help you recover your vitality."

"Get lost! I don't need your hypocritical pity!" Chou Tian bellowed. "I will make you pay for this sooner or later!"

Ai Er's face changed. He flicked his sleeves and left.

That day, the Nine Provinces shook. News spread like wildfire that the Otherworld Ancestral God Chou Tian's Shattering Demon, Planting God technique had failed, with accusations pointing directly at the otherworld Ancestral God Ai Er.

When Ai Er learned of this, his face turned green. He had inexplicably taken the blame, and it would likely be hard to shake off anytime soon.

"Could my earlier intuition have been wrong? I clearly sensed danger for Chou Tian—could that have been when his technique failed?" Ai Er fell into deep thought. But he could not immediately imagine that the current Chou Tian was no longer the same person.

The same day, Chou Tian went into seclusion again and would not reappear anytime soon.

This was exactly what Xiao Chen wanted: to let Chou Tian bluff his way through for now, to lie low. He planned to let Chou Tian shine at the Otherworld's grand gathering, held once every ten thousand years.

In the Death World, Xiao Chen stood tall in the void, his body now comparable to an Ancestral God's, radiating faint precious light. With his bare hands, he directly shattered a Sovereign City below.

He had not used any of the divine power stored within his body—it was purely physical strength!

To shatter a world with bare hands was no longer a myth. His physique was truly that fearsome and terrifying.

Then Xiao Chen gave a light leap. His body tore through time and space, covering more than ten thousand li into the depths of the Death World in an instant—a speed to the extreme.

The terror of his physical form was clear for all to see.

At this moment, he felt an impulse to find an Otherworld Ancestral God and duel. But he had to suppress it. Unless he had complete confidence to destroy his opponent, he would not act rashly.

He had to continue growing stronger.

When he returned to the God Village, Fatty Zhuge and Jin Sanyi immediately sensed that something was different about Xiao Chen.

"I feel like there's a primordial savage beast hidden inside your body," Jin Sanyi muttered, staring. He had keenly detected the ferocity of Xiao Chen's physical form.

Xiao Chen simply tossed several powerful fire seeds over. Sha Polang and the white-boned Fatty Zhuge immediately scrambled for them.

"Brother Skeleton, Fatty here is starving! Don't fight me this time!"

"You damned fatty! You steal even the food of us fire seed beings! You're just too greedy..."

"Ya ya! Ya ya!"

Just then, the little white beast stumbled drowsily out of the God Village, rubbing its eyes. Keke had slept for over thirty years and was finally awake—but the little beast's first words were:

"I'm hungry..."

So she had been woken by hunger.

Many children from the God Village ran over and gathered around. They were the only ones without worries now. The adult cultivators who had entered the Death World were all training, and only these children kept thinking about returning to the Nine Provinces.

"I need to go to the Nine Provinces to refine a treasure." The little creature stuffed spiritual essences into its mouth as it mumbled.

Everyone knew that Keke cultivated in her sleep.

"What did you dream about?"

"I dreamed about lots of treasures..."

The others were a bit stunned. They learned by accident that the blade of grass their father had carried was a supreme treasure.

As the inheritor of this lineage, now that Keke had reached the Half-Ancestor realm, it was time for her to forge her own supreme treasure.

"Good!" Xiao Chen agreed readily.

Soon, the Otherworld's grand gathering, held once every ten thousand years, was about to begin. He felt he could take the little one along. Now he had the strength to freely enter and leave the Nine Provinces without worrying too much about his safety. At the same time, he was preparing to rescue those trapped cultivators—and he really could use Keke's help.

"Oh, I remember. I dreamed that our family has a treasure—right there in the Nine Provinces." Just then, the little creature mumbled another drowsy remark.

A family?

There is a family?!

Everyone felt a little dizzy. Did such an heaven-defying, monstrous race actually have a large family?