Chapter 1286: The Stolen Sacrifice

Back inside the Bone Citadel, Jacob’s expression slowly changed. At first, he had been focused entirely on the strange gate before him, but then he noticed it. The particles!

Countless streams of profound-colored particles suddenly surged through the opened passage from the darkness beyond. They weren’t merely Death Authority or ordinary energy. They contained an almost overwhelming concentration of vitality.

Furthermore, this was pure vitality and life force filled with profound power refined to a degree that even Jacob found astonishing. Yet that wasn’t all; mixed within those streams was another kind of power. It was ancient, profound, and strangely familiar.

Jacob’s Eyes of Judge flickered violently as he stared at the flowing currents. ’What is this?’

The streams passed through the doorway like enormous rivers that had been diverted through a narrow channel. Every particle seemed to contain fragments of life, death, fear, shattered Laws, and something even deeper that Jacob couldn’t immediately identify.

All of it was flowing toward the darkness behind the gate, or more accurately, something beyond the gate was drawing it inward.

Jacob’s eyes narrowed, ’This is the source.’

He immediately understood as the battlefield outside wasn’t merely generating these particles, but the entire Undead Skyfall Canyons had become a gigantic harvesting formation.

Every death, every wound, every fragment of Law, every trace of fear and death was being gathered and sent here. Now that the gate had opened, Jacob could finally see the rivers being channeled toward their destination.

His expression gradually became solemn as he looked toward the opened passage, but there was no movement, attack, warning, or killing intent. That was precisely what made Jacob wary.

’It opened on its own...’

This thought made him remain motionless because if the gate had remained shut, he would have been much less cautious.

Even if he had failed to open it, or if he had been forced to break through the door, that would have told him something important: the existence behind it was unwilling to let him enter, or perhaps it was afraid and wasn’t confident enough to face him directly.

If that had been the case, Jacob would have entered without hesitation because an enemy unwilling to open its door was an enemy who had something to fear.

But this was a completely different situation as Jacob’s hollow sockets burned faintly.

’Whoever is behind it had opened it itself.’

That could mean only two things: either the gate had somehow opened automatically, or someone on the other side knew he was here and that someone had willingly invited him inside.

Jacob’s instincts strongly favored the latter, and his fingers slowly tightened as a faint coldness emerged within his eyes. ’If you knew I was here and still opened the door...then you aren’t afraid of me. Was the retreat and his reaction just a farce?’

That realization changed everything as Jacob wasn’t arrogant enough to believe that everyone beneath the Legendary Plains could threaten him equally. His recent strength had increased dramatically, and against anyone from the Legendary Plains’ limits, he possessed absolute confidence.

But the existence behind this door was a sealed God who had secretly manipulated an undead empire for countless ages, and now it was collecting the vitality of an entire battlefield. Not to mention, the terrifying entity who had sealed the God and made this prison.

Either one of these existences opening its door willingly was not something Jacob could ignore. His gaze shifted toward the countless streams flowing through the passage.

’Unless...’ His eyes flickered as a daring thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.

Jacob stared at the flowing vitality as he got that ridiculous idea; bordering on insanity. Yet the longer he observed those streams, the brighter his eyes blazed.

’This stream of vitality might be the reason behind the confidence of the Undead Skyfall behind the door!’

The moment this thought surfaced, Jacob became more confident, as the endless vitality being gathered here was the only anomaly. Perhaps the other party wasn’t confident because of its own current condition, and perhaps it was confident because of what it was receiving.

Jacob felt this made more sense as a hint of coldness flickered in his eyes. He had no idea how strong the Undead Skyfall currently was. But if all this vitality was being gathered for him, then one thing was certain. He needed it, and if he could intercept it...

Jacob’s eyes gleamed, ’How much would remain?’

He didn’t hesitate any longer, and suddenly, the entire body of the Myth of Black Archer began to distort.

The flesh-like appearance vanished; the muscular frame collapsed inward; hair disappeared; and the facial features dissolved before the skin receded. Within a few moments, the figure standing before the ancient gate had completely transformed.

A skeletal frame emerged beneath a long black windbreaker with a long hood descending over his skull, concealing most of his face, and two pale flames burned quietly within his hollow sockets.

Jacob had returned to his true form as his skeletal finger slowly lifted, and a faint hum suddenly echoed through the silent treasury.

Jacob’s voice was calm as he muttered, "Life Bane Wheel!"

The next moment...

’BOOM!’

A vast ethereal scarlet wheel manifested behind him, and it was no longer the crude and vague ring he had first created.

There were three distinct sections divided by its circumference, colored pitch-black, pure white, and ghostly dark purple, representing Life Devour, Life Injection, and Spectral Despair, respectively.

The three aspects rotated slowly around one another, creating a strange pressure that made the surrounding space tremble.

Jacob stared at the countless streams of vitality, and he commanded coldly, "Life Devour!"

The black section of the Life Bane Wheel suddenly illuminated as if coming alive, and the next instant...

’WHOOM!’

An invisible suction force erupted. The streams rushing through the passage violently twisted. The enormous rivers of vitality that had been flowing toward the darkness suddenly bent toward Jacob.

For an instant, nothing happened, and then the entire citadel seemed to tremble.

Jacob’s eyes flickered slightly. ’It’s really working!’

A river of pure vitality suddenly diverted from its original trajectory and crashed into the Life Bane Wheel as the black section began revolving at terrifying speed, and countless particles vanished into it, filled with life force, death, fear, fragments of Laws, Undead Authority, and the unknown power.

Everything was being separated and absorbed, and Jacob immediately felt the terrifying purity of the vitality entering the wheel.

His expression grew increasingly solemn, with a hint of surprise, ’So much...’

Even after being filtered through the sacrificial ritual, this vitality was still unbelievably powerful. If Jacob attempted to absorb it directly, his current body would probably explode.

But the Life Bane Wheel was different, for it was designed to devour, separate, purify, and then transform.

The wheel revolved faster as the black section swallowed another enormous stream, and then another. The flow of vitality through the gate visibly weakened!