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Chapter 419: The Ginseng Fruit

The group nodded with curious expressions and, under the eunuch's guidance, stood in a corner of the underground chamber, waiting quietly.

Zhong Shan stood at the edge, watching the central circular jade platform that emitted a faint yellow glow. The yellow light felt familiar to him. What was it? Qi luck? Yes, it seemed very much like qi luck.

Bei Qingsi stood beside Zhong Shan. Whether it was because of the starry sky in a basin from the other night or something else, Bei Qingsi unconsciously stood in front of Zhong Shan, as if shielding him.

Everyone waited silently. The entire underground plaza exuded an eerie atmosphere, filled with a deathly stillness.

They waited until midnight, when the full moon should be high in the sky outside.

From the entrance, another group of people finally arrived. Leading them was a man wearing a flat crown and a dragon robe, exuding an aura of boundless dominance—the Jin Emperor!

"Greet the master!" a group of people in the distance bowed respectfully.

Master?

The others quickly bowed as well, "Greet the master."

The Jin Emperor ignored everyone and continued walking towards the central jade platform. The people who followed him stopped at the entrance and, with a wave, a Dragon-Suppressing Stone fell, sealing the entrance. They then cast several spells, causing the surrounding stone walls to shimmer with multi-colored light, forming an isolated array.

The Jin Emperor ascended the jade platform and coldly surveyed the crowd.

"You've all worked hard during this time," the Jin Emperor said.

"Serving the master is our honor," the crowd responded immediately.

The Jin Emperor nodded and did not waste words on these insignificant subordinates. He waved his sleeve.

"Rooooaaarrrrr~~~~~~~"

A dragon's roar echoed from beneath the jade platform, carrying a note of pain.

With the dragon's roar, the yellow light from the jade platform suddenly intensified.

"@#￥%...&（）（#￥%..."

The Jin Emperor began chanting an incomprehensible incantation, filled with an evil tone. As he chanted, his sleeve moved rhythmically, as if performing some kind of ritual.

"Waah~ Waah~ Waah~ Waah~ Waah~"

From the pool filled with dead infants, the sound of countless babies crying suddenly echoed. Though the infants were clearly dead, their cries resonated from the maggot-infested pile of corpses, causing everyone's hair to stand on end.

Initially, the cries came only from the pool, but soon, they echoed throughout the entire underground space. It felt as if the cries were right by everyone's ears, or as if a baby was crying on their shoulders, creating an incredibly horrifying atmosphere.

"@#￥%...&（）（#￥%..."

The incantation continued, and after the baby cries, countless green ghosts emerged from the pool of soul stones. In this peculiar environment, everyone could see the green ghosts, which seemed to be squeezed out of the soul stones. Suddenly, the entire space was filled with ghosts. They burst forth, filling the area, and the spectators saw the tormented faces of the ghosts pressing against them.

The sight and sounds were terrifying. As the incantation continued, the evil altar's true purpose became increasingly clear. This was no ordinary ritual—it was a dark ceremony of immense malice, designed to harness the power of life and death for a sinister goal.

The scene became extremely terrifying.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Wuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

Countless ghosts screamed in agony, their faces contorted as if they sensed their imminent destruction, filled with indescribable fear, crying out in sheer torment. Combined with the sound of the dead infants' wails, anyone unprepared would have been scared witless on the spot. This underground space resembled a hellish landscape, akin to the Avici Hell.

The group also saw that in the distance, the pool filled with human hearts began to emit a bright red light.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

It seemed as if all the hearts were beating, providing powerful energy to the Jin Emperor. The red light, green light, and cries created an overwhelmingly evil atmosphere around the altar.

"@#￥%...&（）（#￥%..."

The Jin Emperor's incantation continued. The trenches filled with blood began to glow with a dark red light, while the yellow light from the jade platform intensified, producing a powerful suction force. The surrounding ghosts were drawn in one by one, trying to escape but failing to elude the jade platform's grasp. Each ghost was pulled in, showing endless fear.

The evil ritual caused the sky above the Jin Dynasty to turn crimson. The red evil aura, resentment, and killing intent intertwined, making the city's citizens look up in confusion. What was happening?

At the edge of the altar, Mr. Corpse squinted his eyes as if he had realized something, waiting for something.

Zhong Shan looked around. Everyone was swallowing nervously, their faces showing fear. Although they had embarked on the path of cultivation, they had never seen such a malevolent scene. Even the experienced experts from the Longevity Realm were shocked.

No one dared to move recklessly; all eyes were fixed on the central jade platform. Through the transparent green bodies of the countless souls, they watched the Jin Emperor.

The yellow jade platform beneath the Jin Emperor's feet, initially covered with numerous runes, began to pulsate mysteriously, increasing in speed. Gradually, the pulsating runes converged towards the center.

"Crack!"

A crisp sound echoed as the jade platform seemed to split open slightly. From the small fissure, a green plant slowly emerged. It looked ethereal, not quite a real plant, seemingly conjured entirely by the evil energy within.

It was a sapling, which grew rapidly as more ghost and death energy converged, along with the yellow light from the jade platform. In an instant, the sapling turned into a two-meter-tall tree—a type of tree Zhong Shan had never seen before.

Mr. Corpse's eyes widened in shock, as if he recognized the tree, his face filled with horror.

The tree continued to absorb the surrounding evil energy, reducing the number of ghosts by nearly a third in no time. The green tree kept growing, and the cries of the ghosts grew louder and more desperate.

Suddenly, a faint yellow flower bloomed on the green tree.

Seeing the yellow flower, Zhong Shan was slightly taken aback. Could it be that the tree was going to bear fruit?

As Zhong Shan had suspected, a fruit began to form at the base of the beautiful yellow flower. The fruit grew quickly as the tree continued to absorb the evil energy.

Zhong Shan and the others watched in horrified fascination as the fruit developed, wondering what the Jin Emperor's sinister ritual aimed to achieve.

Meanwhile, the yellow energy from the jade platform below seemed to be continually drained.

Outside, people noticed a strange phenomenon in the sky above the Jin Dynasty. The once-rolling golden qi luck had vanished, replaced by an increasingly red aura of malevolence, death, and evil.

"Boom!"

It was as if the heavens themselves rejected this evil energy, causing a massive gathering of thunderclouds. What was happening? Where was His Majesty? What happened to the Jin Dynasty's qi luck?

At the edge of the underground altar, Zhong Shan's eyes widened in astonishment. What was he seeing? A ginseng fruit?

Rubbing his eyes, Zhong Shan saw that the tree at the center of the altar, nourished by qi luck, ghosts, and evil energy, had its flowers wilt and reveal an increasingly large purple fruit. The fruit was shaped like an infant, sitting cross-legged, eerily lifelike, identical to the ginseng fruit Zhong Shan remembered from the novels of his youth. Specifically, it resembled the ginseng fruit from "Journey to the West," the legendary fruit cultivated by Zhenyuan Daxian at Wuzhuang Temple, a celestial treasure.

Could this really be a ginseng fruit?

No, Zhong Shan realized, the fruit was in the shape of an infant, but the infant's mouth had a sinister curve, and the entire fruit exuded an aura of boundless evil.

As the humanoid fruit grew to the size of a fist, all the ghosts in the altar had been drawn into it. The crying of the infants ceased, with only the pool of hearts emitting a faint red glow. The yellow light beneath the jade platform also dimmed considerably.

The Jin Emperor looked around coldly and commanded, "Kill!"

"Roar!"

A group of people immediately grabbed their weapons and charged at the others.

"Not good! The master wants to kill us!" Old Zhao exclaimed in panic.

"Those are the master's death warriors!" another person cried out.

"Boom!"

One person was instantly killed by a massive blade, their body falling onto the trench, which was part of the grand altar. A red energy emanated from the corpse, like termites consuming it, returning to the trench, leaving behind a pile of bones. All the energy had been drained by the altar.

Zhong Shan estimated that the Jin Emperor's death warriors numbered seven thousand, while there were only three thousand guests.

The three thousand guests fought fearfully against the death warriors. Regardless of who died, their flesh, blood, and souls would become the energy needed for the altar. Some, in terror, attacked the walls, trying to escape, but the formations were incredibly strong, impossible to break through.

The number of dead increased steadily. The humanoid fruit began to emit a faint multi-colored glow.

The Jin Emperor watched the fruit with immense satisfaction. It was nearly ripe, just a bit more to go.

Zhong Shan observed the chaos, understanding the grim reality. The Jin Emperor's ritual required immense sacrifices, and both sides, whether death warriors or guests, were fueling this dark ceremony. The altar's power grew with every death, and the fruit, a symbol of absolute evil, neared its completion. The air was thick with despair and malevolence, a testament to the Jin Emperor's horrific ambition.