Blood Sacrifice Barrier

"Bang."

A colorful tiger over two zhang long collapsed onto the ground, a broadsword over seven chi long embedded in its massive skull.

"Pfft."

The longsword was pulled from the tiger's head, bringing with it a spray of blood.

Long Chen wiped away some sweat, looked at the few Demonic Beasts behind him, and let out a sigh of relief.

Over the past two days, Long Chen had been dragging the Demonic Beast carcasses forward, and just as he had expected, the blood of the Demonic Beasts had attracted other fierce beasts.

Those fierce beasts were extremely sensitive to the scent of blood. The scent of blood meant that a Demonic Beast had been injured. Demonic Beasts were very vicious and often fought fiercely over territory during normal times.

In the forest, injury basically meant death. Fierce beasts that usually wouldn't dare to provoke them would now come knocking.

This tiger was already the eighth Demonic Beast to fall for the trap, and now there was a long string of Demonic Beast carcasses behind Long Chen.

There were tigers, leopards, and giant lizards, all lined up neatly, firmly tied together by Long Chen using animal tendons.

Little Snow lay leisurely on the beast carcasses, eating ravenously. When full, it would just sleep right there, and when it woke up, it would eat again.

The long string of Demonic Beast carcasses had become its luxury carriage, the kind that came with a free buffet.

Long Chen took a look. He now had three Second-Order Demonic Beasts and six First-Order Peak Demonic Beasts; that should be enough to repay the Forest God's favor.

One had to know that a Second-Order Demonic Beast possessed far more abundant flesh and blood energy than ten First-Order Demonic Beasts. Long Chen's results had long since exceeded the Forest God's requirements.

Long Chen felt grateful for their kindness and did not want to owe too many favors. Besides, the Forest God had once helped him when he was resisting the Heavenly Tribulation.

Long Chen had wanted to hunt a few more, but after walking for another day, no more Demonic Beasts were willing to come, and there were basically no more Second-Order Demonic Beasts left.

As for the weak First-Order Demonic Beasts, even if they smelled the blood, they didn't dare to approach, as even a heavily injured Second-Order Demonic Beast could easily kill them.

After working for a day and seeing that there were no more gains, Long Chen dragged the long string of Demonic Beasts and headed straight for the mountain where the Forest God resided.

When Long Chen arrived before the giant tree, the woman in white slowly appeared. However, she showed little reaction to the mountain-like pile of Demonic Beast carcasses behind Long Chen.

"You have come."

"Yes, I've come to repay my debt," Long Chen said with a smile.

"The reward you brought exceeds what I originally promised; this is unfair to you," the woman in white said.

"In this world, fairness does not exist to begin with. I did this just for my own peace of mind; I don't like owing favors," Long Chen said.

The woman nodded and said: "In that case, thank you. The flesh and blood you brought should be enough for me to perform the Blood Sacrifice Barrier and tear open space to return to the Spirit Realm."

After she finished speaking, the giant tree trembled slightly, and the mountain-like pile of Demonic Beast carcasses behind Long Chen vanished within a few breaths.

"Awoo."

Little Snow, which had been sleeping on the beast carcasses, suddenly woke up. Seeing the carcasses disappear, it became anxious and tried to bite off a piece, but it bit into empty air. It couldn't help but roar angrily at the woman.

"Little Snow, don't make a fuss."

Seeing Little Snow acting up, Long Chen found it somewhat amusing and hurriedly stopped the little fellow.

"Hehe, are you saying I stole your meat?"

The woman smiled and said: "Your growth indeed requires flesh and blood, but I can give you something better than that."

After speaking, the woman reached out with her jade-like hand, and a beam of light poured into the center of Little Snow's forehead. To Long Chen's shock, after being illuminated by the light, Little Snow's body actually began to grow slowly.

From its original length of just over three chi, it ballooned to nearly one zhang, almost as high as Long Chen's shoulder. Long Chen was stunned. Was it inflating like a balloon?

Moreover, Long Chen could feel an increasingly powerful aura coming from Little Snow; he simply couldn't believe his eyes.

"Second-Order?"

The aura currently radiating from Little Snow was actually that of a Second-Order Demonic Beast.

"I took your meat, so I'll give you growth energy. We're even now," the woman smiled slightly and stroked Little Snow's head.

This gave Long Chen a start. One had to know that aside from him, Little Snow didn't let anyone touch it. If Little Snow attacked her, it would be bad.

However, Little Snow acted contrary to its usual behavior, allowing the woman to stroke its head, appearing to enjoy it immensely, before lying down on the ground and slowly falling asleep.

"I have completed the Spirit Awakening for it; this can be considered compensation," the woman said to Long Chen.

"It seems I owe you another favor," Long Chen couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly.

He had intended to completely repay the favor this time, but as it turned out, he owed another one. However, this favor was definitely worth owing.

Little Snow's true form was a Third-Order Demonic Beast, the Scarlet Flame Snow Wolf, which possessed powerful combat strength. Now that it had advanced to the Second-Order, while it might not necessarily be able to defeat an Yijin Realm expert, it definitely had the power to fight one.

Having such a powerful companion gave him greater security while he was in such a perilous situation.

"You are too polite. We of the Spirit Race also dislike owing favors. I might have originally needed to stay here for several hundred years before I could return to the Spirit Realm.

Your arrival has greatly accelerated my path home; I should be the one thanking you," the woman said politely.

"Next, I am going to open the Blood Sacrifice Barrier. You had best stay further away."

Upon hearing this, Long Chen hurriedly woke Little Snow and ran into the distance. Seeing how serious the woman was, he didn't dare to be careless, and at the same time, he was full of curiosity about what exactly this Blood Sacrifice Barrier was.

"Rumble."

After Long Chen ran over ten li away, a sudden roaring sound erupted. Long Chen hurriedly looked back and was startled.

The giant tree, which had originally been several li tall, suddenly ballooned, its sky-covering canopy shooting straight into the clouds, obscuring most of the horizon.

The leaves covering its body could obscure mountains, and countless runes flickered upon them. Rays of light shot out in all directions, and divine radiance surged, filling the firmament.

Long Chen was dumbstruck. What kind of existence was this? Could it really be a god? Did gods truly exist in this world?

If it wasn't a god, who could cover the firmament, and possess an aura that could shake eternity? In the face of that aura, Long Chen felt that he wasn't even an ant; he felt like a mere speck of dust.

"It is the Forest God."

In the village, the village chief watched that direction with a shocked expression. They recognized it; it was the Forest God.

Upon seeing this scene, the hunters in the village all knelt piously on the ground, kowtowing toward that direction.

After the Forest God manifested its true form, the woman in white suddenly flew into mid-air, her pair of jade-like hands forming a strange seal in the air.

"Respected Ancestor, please feel the call of your people. Using blood as a guide, open the path home for your people—Blood Sacrifice Barrier!"

Following the woman's pious voice, a pattern composed of fresh blood suddenly appeared in mid-air. If one looked closely, one could see that it appeared to be a leaf pattern.

Long Chen guessed that the blood must be the Demonic Beast essence blood that the woman had collected over the years, but he couldn't understand why someone as powerful as a god would need to borrow human hands to collect Demonic Beast essence blood.

With her terrifying cultivation, even the most powerful Demonic Beast would turn to dust with a mere breath from her. Was the resentment she spoke of really that terrifying?

"Boom."

Suddenly, the world shook violently. Long Chen stumbled and almost fell. He looked up abruptly and saw that the place in the sky where the blood-colored pattern had been floating began to twist.

As space slowly twisted, it eventually formed a giant gate one hundred li high. As soon as the giant gate appeared, it began to open slowly.

The moment the giant gate opened, Long Chen saw the world on the other side; it was also a vast, rolling forest.

However, every giant tree could hold up the sky, and countless Spirit Beasts soared within, their bodies so large that they spanned countless li, comparable to high mountains.

At the same time, a wave of Spiritual Qi, so dense it had almost condensed into a solid, rushed toward him, clearly flowing over from the world on the other side through that gate.

After taking only a few breaths, Long Chen felt his cultivation growing rapidly; it was truly terrifying.

"I must leave. Thank you for your help, respected powerhouse. We of the Spirit Race look forward to your arrival. I know that day will not be too far off."

The woman waved to Long Chen, and the originally sky-supporting giant tree slowly shrank and entered the other side of the gate.

"This is a gift for you. The previous agreement is concluded; consider this another agreement."

After speaking, the woman reached out with her jade-like hand, and a jade-green water droplet the size of a dragon's eye floated toward Long Chen. Long Chen hurriedly reached out to catch it.

The water droplet radiated an extremely dense aura of life, and Long Chen could sense the terrifying life fluctuations contained within.

After the woman threw the bead over, her figure dimmed significantly; clearly, that bead was a very important item for her.

"I can sense that you will become a peerless powerhouse in the future. We of the Spirit Race will need your help.

Your body actually has… Ah!"

The woman had only just spoken halfway when she suddenly let out a startled cry, a look of fear appearing on her face. She didn't have time to bid Long Chen farewell before flashing into the giant gate.

"Boom."

Suddenly, a seven-colored thunderbolt appeared in the sky, directly shattering the gate.

The event was sudden. By the time Long Chen reacted, the gate had already vanished, and the world on the other side was gone; everything seemed like a dream.

However, a pit had appeared on the hilltop where the Forest God had originally stayed; that was the place where she had once taken root.

Now that the Tree God was gone, a considerable amount of dense Spiritual Qi still remained here. Long Chen simply sat down cross-legged, and with Little Snow helping to keep watch, he began to cultivate.

It had to be said that Long Chen's choice was very wise. In just three short hours, a roar erupted from within his body.

The roar came from Long Chen's blood; he had finally entered the First Heaven of the Blood Condensation Realm, becoming a true Blood Condensation Realm powerhouse.

At this time, the Spiritual Qi that had originally remained due to the giant gate had also vanished without a trace. Long Chen did not waste any more time and returned directly to the village; it was time to bid them farewell.

However, Long Chen had a huge question in his heart at this moment: what exactly was the Forest God's last sentence? Why did she leave in such a panic without finishing it?

She said his body had… what exactly did it have? What could possibly make someone as powerful as her feel wary?

Countless question marks churned in his mind. Unknowingly, he was getting closer and closer to the village when suddenly, a faint, lingering scent of blood drifted into Long Chen's nostrils.

Long Chen's expression changed. He exerted force with his feet and rushed toward the village like an arrow released from a bowstring.