I Cultivate in a Government Office

Chapter 193: Chapter 117: Blood-colored Altar and Terrible News

The watchtower command room.

Yang Wenqing remained in command, coordinating the operation. He only allowed himself a small sigh of relief once the frontline teams had established initial control over the target area and confirmed there was no further organized resistance.

The two patrol commanders from the Government Soldiers had already returned via Flying Shuttle after completing their mission.

Just as Yang Wenqing was preparing to compile the preliminary after-action report, an urgent communication came in from Lei Dan. His voice carried an overwhelming weight and a rare trace of dread. "Wenqing, you need to come to the scene in person."

Yang Wenqing had been planning to go anyway, so he replied at once, "All right. What did you find?"

Lei Dan answered, "We’re on the lowest level... We found a large-scale blood sacrifice site."

’Not entirely unexpected.’

Yang Wenqing replied, "Secure the scene. I’m on my way."

He gave a quick briefing to Vice Director Gao, left his deputy in charge of coordinating the remaining reports, then took two communications specialists aboard a small Flying Shuttle and sped toward the depths of the mountain forest.

A few moments later, the Flying Shuttle reached its destination and landed in a hastily cleared patch of open ground.

The site was on the edge of a deep eastern valley. The ground was still scorched and pockmarked with craters from the bombardment. Security personnel and Government Soldiers, all wearing simple filter masks, moved in and out of the area, their faces grim.

"Yang Group Leader, the air is bad down there. The stench of blood and the Spiritual Qi are both chaotic. Here are some masks, you’d best put one on." Two security officers came forward, handing specially made filter masks to Yang Wenqing and his two specialists.

Yang Wenqing took a mask and put it on. It blocked most of the foul odor, but a faint, sickly-sweet and coppery stench still managed to worm its way into his nostrils.

Led by the two heavily armed security officers, Yang Wenqing descended a crudely carved staircase. The air grew heavier and more oppressive with every step.

Once he was deep underground, Yang Wenqing’s Divine Sense recoiled. Even without actively extending it, he could hear faint screams and mournful cries echoing within the Spiritual Qi.

This was the result of chaotic Spiritual Attribute—a horrifying environment created when countless living beings had been stripped of their lives in extreme pain and terror, their Spiritual Attributes forcibly ripped away and corrupted.

Prolonged exposure to a place like this could even affect the minds of Cultivators with lower Cultivation.

Strangely, however, as they ventured deeper, the pressure from the chaotic Spiritual Attribute didn’t intensify. Instead, it seemed to be forcibly suppressed by some unknown power.

Yang Wenqing grew even more vigilant.

Finally, they reached the bottom level. The stairs ended at a thick stone door that had been smashed open. Beyond it lay a relatively well-formed corridor, where the stench of blood reached its apex. Even through his mask, the overpowering, cloying reek of sweet rot assaulted his senses.

At the end of the corridor was a wider opening, from which an unstable, dark-red light emanated.

The lead security officer stopped at the entrance and stepped aside to let them pass, his voice muffled by his mask. "Yang Group Leader, it’s in there. Section Chief Lei is waiting for you."

Yang Wenqing paused for a beat before stepping inside. He stopped dead just past the threshold.

The entire floor of the cavern was coated in a thick, dark-red, semi-congealed substance. A closer look revealed it to be a gruesome slurry of minced flesh, bone fragments, shredded viscera, dried plasma, and clumps of hair and fur—all mixed into an unrecognizable paste.

Here and there, relatively intact limbs could be seen, twisted and stacked in grotesque positions. Some were human, others belonged to various Demon Beasts. All of them had a shriveled, ashen look, as if they had been drained of every drop of moisture and vitality.

The walls and ceiling of the cavern were covered in a dense network of dark-red runes. They had been painted with blood mixed with some kind of material possessing a Spiritual Attribute, and now pulsed with a faint, yet malevolent, red glow.

Countless tiny, vein-like tendrils snaked out from the carpet of flesh on the floor. They connected to the runes on the walls, constantly feeding them some form of nourishment.

In the very center of the cavern stood a circular altar, roughly thirty feet in diameter, constructed from white bone and some kind of black rock. Its surface was also covered in intricate runes. At its core hovered a viscous, dark-red mass of energy that twisted ceaselessly, emitting a low, constant drone.

The chaotic, violent Spiritual Attribute within the cavern was being forcibly drawn in and constrained by the Array on the altar, holding it all at a point of terrifyingly perfect equilibrium.

Meanwhile, the runic Arrays on the walls were performing a Gathering Spirit function, collecting Spiritual Qi of exceptional purity.

"GACK—RETCH!"

The two communications specialists behind Yang Wenqing, despite their masks and training, could no longer hold back at the sight of the carnage and the soul-piercingly evil atmosphere. They tore off their masks and bent over, vomiting violently.

Lei Dan walked over from the other side of the altar, his expression steady. "When we first got here, this Array was still active," he said. "And that mass in the center hadn’t fully dissipated. I’ve already managed to disrupt it a little. Otherwise, the sight would be even more unholy. It could even affect the minds of normal people."

Yang Wenqing forced himself to remain calm. He walked to the edge of the altar, fighting back intense physical and psychological revulsion, and carefully examined the runes and the flow of energy.

’This is far beyond what a few rogue Qi Refining Realm cultivators could have created. The complexity, the way it processes Spiritual Attribute... it’s all beyond the scope of common Evil Magic. This is a mature, efficient, and deliberate work of demonic engineering.’

"No one touches anything in here without my express permission, especially the altar and the runes on the walls!" Yang Wenqing commanded, his deep voice echoing through the vast, blood-soaked cavern. He then turned to Lei Dan. "I’ll have to ask you to secure this area for the time being, Section Chief Lei."