Longevity Martial Arts: Grinding Experience in the Chaotic World Chapter 1605 - 825: The Ultimate Nourishment (Part 2)

He suppressed the tumult in his heart and searched quickly among the motionless shadows with sharp eyes.

Were Zhao Boyang, Jin’er, Old Xiong, and Old Zhen also captured here? Where is Bai Zhi?

The square was too vast, and the shadows were dense like a forest, making the search difficult.

Gu Sheng remained highly vigilant, wary of potential patrols or Wuya Sect experts, while swiftly weaving through the motionless crowd, his gaze scanning over the numb faces.

Suddenly, his steps halted abruptly!

In a relatively sparse area near the center of the square, he saw several familiar faces!

It was Zhao Boyang, Old Xiong, Old Zhen! And also the one who had previously questioned him, Chen Zhen (Old Zhen)!

Like the other sacrifices, the four stood rigidly, eyes vacant, faces devoid of expression.

Zhao Boyang still bore scars and bloodstains from the battle, while Old Xiong and Old Zhen were even more ashen, their breath weak, clearly exhausted before being captured.

Chen Zhen stood slightly behind them, with equally vacant eyes.

Gu Sheng’s heart tightened suddenly.

They were indeed captured! Moreover, judging by their condition, it was clear they had suffered divine soul imprisonment and became part of the sacrifices!

But what about Jin’er? Where did she go? With the terrifying power she displayed last, she absolutely couldn’t be easily captured!

He immediately broadened the search area, carefully probing around Zhao Boyang and the others, but found no trace of Jin’er.

The woman vanished without a trace.

"Who on earth is she? What is her purpose?"

Doubt filled Gu Sheng’s mind.

The power Jin’er unleashed was not something ordinary martial artists could possess, even far exceeding his understanding of Human King Realm powerhouses.

She lurked beside Zhao Boyang, intervening at crucial moments to sever his connection with the puppet, yet she didn’t kill Zhao Boyang and others, allowing them to be captured and become sacrifices... Her actions were filled with contradictions and mysteries.

Suppressing doubts about Jin’er, Gu Sheng’s gaze returned to Zhao Boyang and the others.

Although imprisoned, their life force remained, albeit extremely weak. A method to save them must be devised!

But right now, the thousand martial artists imprisoned on the square and the sacrificial array already operating were like giant nooses, making him struggle to breathe.

Rash actions would not save them and might cost him his own life.

He forced himself to calm down. The priority was to find Bai Zhi!

She was the key to Xiao Beixuan’s plan and the only known person who might have deep knowledge of the array.

Finding her might uncover the key to breaking the situation!

Gu Sheng’s gaze moved past Zhao Boyang and others, toward the deeper part of the square, an area occupied by more numb shadows.

He restrained his aura, blending into the shadows of the crowd like the most cautious hunter, silently creeping towards the center of the square.

He took each step carefully, avoiding the faintly visible dark red patterns on the ground, while his divine sense acted like the most precise radar, continually scanning the surroundings and the motionless shadows, searching for any clues related to Bai Zhi.

As he was about to reach the central area of the square, his divine sense suddenly detected a particularly weak yet extremely familiar energy fluctuation!

The fluctuation... carried a pure and sacred aura, starkly contrasting with the chilling desolation pervading the square!

Gu Sheng’s spirit lifted, and he immediately focused his divine sense along that weak fluctuation.

Through layers of numb shadows, his "gaze" finally locked onto an inconspicuous corner at the edge of the central area.

There, a woman clad in plain white stood quietly.

She similarly appeared vacant, with closed eyes and no expression like the other sacrifices.

Yet Gu Sheng’s divine sense keenly detected that around her, a faint, nearly imperceptible transparent aura seemed to be subtly circulating.

This aura emitted the sacred fluctuation, resolutely resisting the erosion from the ground array and the divine soul imprisonment!

On her slender neck hung a small crescent-shaped white jade pendant.

At the moment, the pendant radiated a particularly weak yet consistently gentle white glow, akin to a firefly in the darkness, protecting its owner.

"Bai Zhi!"

Gu Sheng whispered in his heart, his eyes gleaming sharply. Finally found her!

Gu Sheng stood at the edge of the dead silent square, his gaze sweeping across the thousand martial artist shadows, his eyes cold as iron.

These martial artists, imprisoned with their divine souls, were the crucial "fuel" for Xiao Beixuan and Venerable Ming River’s activation of the Thousand Souls Sacrifice Array.

To obstruct their plan, the most direct method was to make this "fuel" completely disappear!

With this thought, Gu Sheng hesitated no longer.

With a flick of his mind, the main vine of Heavenly Demon Vine on his left arm suddenly erupted with dazzling golden-red light!

A ferocious, bloodthirsty aura, as if emerging from the depths of the primordial chaos, burst out violently!

It was as if countless fierce beasts were silently roaring; the dark stone ground beneath Gu Sheng’s feet exploded fiercely!

Countless thick vines, as strong as pythons, covered in dark golden scales with metallic glints at the tips, burst forth like claws reaching from hell!

They screamed through the air, madly charging toward the motionless shadows on the square!

The terrifying sound of flesh tearing resounded densely!

Those martial artists, imprisoned with their divine souls and unable to resist, were as fragile as paper mache before the vines, sharp as divine blades!

Heads were pierced, chests torn, limbs twisted apart... Blood gushed out, instantly dyeing the dark ground red!

A stench so strong it was nauseating surged like a tangible wave, instantly flooding the entire empty square!

Within mere breaths, the originally thousands of standing silhouettes had transformed into a ground of torn limbs and flesh!

The whole square instantly became an Asura Slaughterhouse!

Amidst the bloody massacre, Gu Sheng keenly sensed something unusual.

The bodies of the martial artists pierced and torn by the vines, at the moment life ceased, unexpectedly experienced a vigorous extraction of pure and vast life force, absorbed wildly into the rampaging vines!

The main vine of Heavenly Demon Vine radiated even more intensely, golden-red intermingling, even vaguely manifesting a dark purple hue.

The vines’ shape seemed to undergo subtle changes too, their scales becoming heavier, their tips sharper, and the ferocious aura they emitted steadily rising!

An intense throbbing, as if seeking to break through some kind of shackle, transmitted from the core of Heavenly Demon Vine to Gu Sheng’s mind!

"Life force extracted? Bodies not completely dead?"

Gu Sheng’s eyes narrowed, instantly understanding the key.

"Ming River old ghost! Such a cunning method! Using some evil technique to forcibly strip these martial artists’ divine souls, imprisoning them as slaves, while their bodies haven’t truly died, just had their consciousness drawn out, turned into pure ’living corpses’!

As sacrificial vessels, this provides vast life force while avoiding the interference of true death resentment affecting the array’s operation!"

These "corpse puppets," in essence, are living dead maintained by special means!

Heavenly Demon Vine tearing their bodies equates to forcibly interrupting this sustenance, and the vast life force naturally disperses, becoming the perfect nourishment for its advancement!

"Not good!"

Gu Sheng’s heart skipped suddenly! These corpse puppets must carry restrictions allowing Xiao Beixuan and others to sense their life and death!

With thousands of corpse puppets annihilated at once, the other side must have already realized!

Deep within Thousand Souls Hall Main Hall.

Xiao Beixuan was meditating, attempting to suppress the agitation in his heart.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes abruptly, bloodshot!

The intense stench of blood, seemingly penetrating the barriers of space, rushed directly into his nostrils!

At the same time, the black compass floating before him, where myriad light points represented the square sacrifices, extinguished instantly like candle flames blown out by a fierce wind!