The Sacred Sacrifice: Martial Ancestor vs. Supreme Ancestral God

With a resounding crash, the rhythm of the hundred and eight blood beads, dancing like notes, was thrown into chaos. The droplets, like blood-red agates, lost their orderly cadence before the power of the Sacred Sacrifice.

"The madman of martial arts has also delved into the divine arts? Is this not proof of your lack of confidence in your own martial path?" The cold voice of the Supreme Ancestral God echoed through the void, pressing down upon the Martial Ancestor like a tide—an assault of divine thought and a clash of convictions.

"Martial arts, as the name implies, encompasses both the martial and the Way—it is the Way of the martial artist. The Sacred Sacrifice is merely one aspect of the martial Way!" The Martial Ancestor's reply was steadfast and powerful, his aura shaking heaven and earth as he repelled the Supreme Ancestral God's mental assault. The Eternal Unknown resounded with the reverberation of "Martial Way," an unshakable conviction never to be broken.

Boom!

The hundred and eight blood beads, like rubies, lost all rhythm in an instant. Nine drops of divine blood burst apart, turning into mist.

The tone of the Sacred Sacrifice—the fourth movement of the Annihilating Divine Hymn—disrupted the melody of the Doomsday Lament.

"Sacrifice!"

The Martial Ancestor cried out. The nine shattered blood beads coalesced into a beam of blood light, connecting with the sacred radiance of the Sacrifice.

A mysterious, unfathomable power surged forth. Using nine drops of divine blood as a guide, the Martial Ancestor established an unbreakable link with the Supreme Ancestral God.

The radiance of the Sacred Sacrifice seemed to pierce through past and present, shaking the ages. Ancient scriptures trembled, and countless stars shuddered.

The Martial Ancestor, the supreme pinnacle of martial arts, was attempting to perform a living sacrifice on a Supreme Ancestral God!

As the originator of the Sacred Sacrifice, he could execute it even with but a thread of opportunity—or even create that opportunity from nothing, defying heaven itself.

The Martial Ancestor sat cross-legged in the void, motionless as a clay or stone statue, yet his entire body blazed with billions of divine rays.

The bloody light formed from the nine shattered beads struck toward the remaining droplets, and in an instant, all one hundred and eight drops of divine blood were linked together.

Like a blood-colored thread of life, it bound itself to the Supreme Ancestral God's body, impossible to sever. That was his lifeblood—as long as the Supreme Ancestral God's body endured, the immortal divine blood would never disperse.

"Hmph!"

The Supreme Ancestral God snorted coldly. His jade-like finger traced the sky, severing the firmament and cutting the blood-colored life thread away from his body.

But a startling thing occurred: though the light seemed severed, an indestructible link had been forged through that life-blood connection at a fundamental level. A great fire began to blaze within his body.

The Supreme Ancestral God's blood boiled. An immense flame engulfed him, and the divine radiance of his flesh blazed as his latent potential surged uncontrollably toward the heavens.

The ancient tones of the Sacred Sacrifice resounded through the Eternal Unknown. The Martial Ancestor was truly performing a living sacrifice on a Supreme Ancestral God!

It was a shocking sight: the Martial Ancestor sat motionless in the void, silent and still, while the Supreme Ancestral God writhed in flames across from him, at a disadvantage.

In that brief instant, the peerless Martial Ancestor used the Sacred Sacrifice to extract half a percent of the Supreme Ancestral God's divine essence. The ancestral god's flesh dimmed noticeably.

For a Supreme Ancestral God, this was an extremely dangerous signal—his eternal, indestructible body had actually been partially worn away.

Boom!

From the burning body of the Supreme Ancestral God rushed a divine pagoda, thirty-three stories tall, pressing down toward the Martial Ancestor. At the same time, the Supreme Ancestral God under sacrifice intoned: "First Divine Hymn – Eternal Lament!"

First the Seventh Hymn, then the Fourth, and now, in dire straits, he finally unleashed the First Hymn.

The First Hymn erupted, splitting heaven and earth, plunging eternity into stillness. It suppressed the tone of the Sacred Sacrifice and halted its divine radiance.

The Supreme Ancestral God's peerless divine arts were truly extraordinary, beyond the reach of ordinary beings.

His realm was the peak of the Ninth Heaven, and he had even tentatively taken half a step into the unknown. Perhaps one more half-step would open a new world, as the stone men had done—or perhaps it would plunge him into an abyss of eternal annihilation.

Though the path of the Stone Man was one in a hundred survivors, legends said it held feasible hope. But the path ahead of a Supreme Ancestral God had never been walked before, as far as any knew. Thus, standing still at this realm was the unanimous choice of all gods.

The First Divine Hymn crushed all before it, pushing the radiance of the Sacred Sacrifice back toward the Martial Ancestor, attempting to turn the sacrifice upon him. Meanwhile, the divine pagoda had already pressed down to within a few feet of the Martial Ancestor, about to crush him.

This was the true power of a Supreme Ancestral God!

Boom!

In that moment, the Martial Ancestor's body blazed with ten thousand divine rays, his battle power surging to the heavens. Around him, dragon roared, tiger howled, serpent coiled, horse galloped, ox bellowed…

The ultimate manifested forms of the twelve Zodiac War Ancestors appeared around him, as if twelve true combat bodies had taken shape—the supreme martial mystery of the ancient War Ancestors, forged into one and actualized by the Martial Ancestor's own martial way.

In that instant, it was as if twelve war ancestors—twelve ancestral god-level powerhouses—stood together with the Martial Ancestor. Their combined aura was enough to match any force!

Such was the terror of the supreme martial pinnacle: one man manifesting twelve war ancestor bodies was an act that defied heaven itself.

Rumble!

The cataclysmic battle power exploded forth, sending the descending divine pagoda flying into the high heavens. It pushed the blood-colored radiance toward the Supreme Ancestral God, advancing the sacrifice further.

At the same time, the twelve ancestral god-level war ancestors moved in unison with the Martial Ancestor, their iron fists driving forward to shatter the Supreme Ancestral God ahead.

This was utterly terrifying. The Martial Ancestor's fighting will soared, as if possessing the combined ultimate power of twelve war ancestors, crushing all before him.

The raging tide of blood light surged once more to the Supreme Ancestral God's body, and the Sacred Sacrifice recommenced.

"Seven Hymns in One – Apotheosis!"

The Supreme Ancestral God roared. He had not anticipated the Martial Ancestor's revived strength. He unleashed his ultimate technique: the seven hymns combined into one, their tone piercing eternity as if briefly bridging past and present.

The seven hymns in one, the apotheosis—their divine sound grinded the world, with the power to destroy the myriad heavens. But in this moment, it was all concentrated upon the Martial Ancestor alone.

The Martial Ancestor, with the combined might of twelve war ancestors, stood at the pinnacle of martial arts, shattering eternity as he clashed with the ultimate divine hymn.

On one side, the supreme divine art; on the other, the unmatched martial force. Needle against wheat grain—the peak of dueling pinnacles!

The thirty-three-story divine pagoda blazed with boundless light, pouring down terrifying Stone Man blood onto the Martial Ancestor. But the radiance of the Sacred Sacrifice redirected the stone blood, flowing back toward the Supreme Ancestral God.

Divine art versus martial peak—once a victor was decided, one of these supreme beings would inevitably fall.

Crack!

The twelve war ancestors formed from the ultimate martial mystery around the Martial Ancestor began to fracture. The faint sound was terrifying.

Crackle!

The Supreme Ancestral God's flesh also dimmed, the horrifying Sacred Sacrifice continuing swiftly, burning his divine essence outward.

Yet the Martial Ancestor could not absorb it all—it dissipated into the void.

Behind them, the ancient Tianren elder and the other two Supreme Ancestral Gods watched, ready to strike at any moment. When supreme beings reached this level of life-and-death struggle, a single decisive blow at the right moment could be fatal.

The two Supreme Ancestral Gods had been waiting for this chance. In terms of numbers, they held the absolute advantage.

The ancient Tianren was solemn but not overly worried. Even if he and the Martial Ancestor could not overcome the three, they could still retreat. At their level, it was very difficult to be killed.

Boom!

Just then, an uninvited guest arrived at the Eternal Unknown. The Yellow Clay Altar, having shattered a great world and crossed through spacetime, was being pursued by the Stone Man yet arrived here.

"Ke! Ah! Hou! Xiao! Duo! Zao! Dao!"

The moment it appeared, carrying Xiao Chen, the Yellow Clay Altar vibrated with the Eight Origin Sounds, sweeping toward the three Supreme Ancestral Gods.

The two observing Supreme Ancestral Gods changed expression and raised their hands to block, but the Supreme Ancestral God locked in combat was still affected. The Eight Origin Sounds, born to oppose the Divine Hymns, shattered the rhythm of his songs.

In that critical moment, not only was a full percent of the Supreme Ancestral God's divine essence forcibly extracted through the Sacred Sacrifice, but the overwhelming Martial Ancestor charged forward and shattered the upper half of his body.

ROAR!

A terrifying cry shook the myriad worlds and all realms. The Stone Man charged into the Eternal Unknown, chasing the Yellow Clay Altar and Xiao Chen.

His speed did not match his combat power—his strength far exceeded that of ordinary ancestral gods, but his speed was merely comparable to theirs.

The Stone Man's arrival shook heaven and earth; he regarded all foes as beneath him.

It was his arrival that ended the crisis for the Supreme Ancestral God dueling the Martial Ancestor, for the Stone Man rushed right between them, cutting off the Sacred Sacrifice.

ROAR!

The Stone Man's roar resembled the Divine Hymns and the Eight Origin Sounds; even a typical ancestral god could barely withstand it. He struck a palm toward the Martial Ancestor, seeking to annihilate him.

Clang!

But the Martial Ancestor, his aura like a rainbow, condensed the twelve War Ancestors. With battle power surging to the heavens, he neither dodged nor retreated. His bronze-colored palm met the Stone Man's head-on.

The metallic clash shook countless worlds, causing the Eternal Unknown to collapse into chaos and then reform.

ROAR! The Stone Man howled, and all worlds trembled. He was furious.