True Martial World

Chapter 540: Ritual

As Jiang Xiaorou moved up the divine bone altar, a red line appeared in the horizon far away. Following that, red clouds that stretched out tens of thousands of miles came sweeping over. It dyed the sky above the vast lands blood red in color.

As the red clouds hung low, it was as if sticky blood would start to pour down to the ground at any moment.

In the vast lands of the Divine Wilderness, there was a woman with an unsurpassed beauty of a generation. She was watching this scene from afar.

This woman’s looks were somewhat similar to Jiang Xiaorou’s. It lacked the childlike air Jiang Xiaorou had, but that had been replaced by matureness and charm.

She was watching Jiang Xiaorou’s every move and expression. She found it impossible to relax in her heart.

Throughout the endless years, the Desolate race had always been burdened by a mission that belonged to the Desolate race. However, their bloodline had slowly weakened ever since ancient times.

Now, the power they possessed was not much compared to the past.

Every generation’s Desolate King needed to obtain the recognition of the divine bone altar, which would allow their ancient bloodline to be awakened on the altar.

However, not every generation’s Desolate King would meet with success. There were occurrences of Desolate Kings failing to meet the mark in the history of the Desolate race.

Furthermore, even if the bloodline was awakened, there was the early stages of awakening, the deep stages of awakening, as well as a perfect awakening. There were various degrees to the awakening, and there were drastic differences between them.

With the passage of time, few of the Desolate Kings for the past tens of millions of years had been able to awaken their ancient bloodline to the deep stages. It might have been a result of the divine bone altar losing its energy.

The woman with an unsurpassed beauty of a generation had previously awakened the deep stages of her ancient bloodline several thousand years ago. When she commanded the Desolate race, not only was she powerful, she was also open-minded and receptive. She was a good leader.

However, two decades ago, an incident caused her to become severely injured. Her bloodline was weakened as a result.

Although she remained powerful, the weakened bloodline made it difficult for her to spur the Desolate race’s Sacred Spirit. And this was extremely crucial to the Desolate race.

In this turbulent world, their Desolate race’s inheritance could be destroyed overnight if they lacked the Desolate race’s Sacred Spirit.

For Jiang Xiaorou to climb onto the divine bone altar in order to attempt to awaken her bloodline before she was twenty years of age, was something never before seen in the past millions of years.

As Jiang Xiaorou was too young, it would be almost impossible for her to complete this ritual. However, she had to do so, because… they no longer had time left.

“Queen, what are you worrying about?”

Beside the woman, an azure-clothed youth said respectfully. This youth was the one who led his army to the Tai Ah Divine City, as well the one who saved Yi Yun, the Shepherd Boy.

The woman nodded slightly and sighed, “Worried… as well as feeling my heart ache. Rou’er was separated from me at a young age. She grew up alone in the Cloud Wilderness, enduring the hardships of mortals. It was not easy for us to reunite, but I was not able to show her much love. Instead, I have to make her walk up the divine bone altar, so as to carry the mission of our Desolate race on her shoulders…”

“Rou’er’s body is special. Although she is young, it is possible for her to gain the recognition of the Sacred Spirit and become a real Desolate Queen… However… the pain in her heart makes me unable to feel at ease.”

Upon hearing the woman’s words, the Shepherd Boy hesitated slightly. After weighing his words, he said, “Queen, may Qing Kui venture a bold statement. That youth named Yi Yun has continuously remained on the Successor’s mind… Because of their separation, it has made the Successor seldom smile…”

“Yi Yun…” The woman gasped but slowly shook her head. “Over the past few years, I have also gotten to know some of his actions. If he was an ordinary person, it would not be a problem to bring him here to reunite with Rou’er. However, this child is no ordinary person. We cannot expect for him to remain in the Desolate race quietly and properly. Besides, in the future, he is bound to stir up a storm. I have a hunch that if Rou’er has too much to do with him, it will attract a scourge.”

“Back then, I was bent on traveling alone which resulted in me suffering. This is also something I am worried about. Some things are difficult to avoid even if you make an active decision to avoid them…”

As the woman spoke, she gave a faint sigh. And at this moment, Jiang Xiaorou had already walked to the top of the divine bone altar.

She raised the Totem bone cane high up with her hands. Her wide sleeves drooped down, revealing Jiang Xiaorou’s white porcelain arm. It was extremely eye-catching against the contrasting red clouds that covered the sky.

Wu Wu…

A violent wind began to blow.

Jiang Xiaorou’s long hair and red long robe were thrashing in the wind. A vast, bleak and chilly aura spread throughout the lands almost instantly.

All the desolate beasts began to tremble when the aura surged over. They seemed to sense something as they began to raise their heads and looked towards the divine bone altar.

The sound of the wind grew louder and more intense, to the point that it sounded like thunder!

The red clouds were rolling in the wind, like a tidal surge.

In the midst of the violent blowing winds, the cape behind the girl, who stood alone high up on the altar, fluttered. Her cane was pointing to the skies, as if she was commanding the wind to fly her up to the clouds.

Hum Hum Hum!

The endless red clouds that extended tens of thousands of miles began gathering towards the divine bone altar under Jiang Xiaorou’s actions. A giant red swirl formed in the clouds as endless Power of Desolates gathered within. It formed a violent energy sea!

At this moment, Jiang Xiaorou’s expression was solemn. Her blood seemed to turn hot from an ancient beckoning.

The three cinnabar dots on her forehead began to glow. High in the air, the red clouds converged and began to swirl down towards her. From afar, it looked like there was a huge funnel in the sky.

Jiang Xiaorou began to sing the ancient scriptures of the Desolate race. The syllables of the scripture condensed into bright red textual charms. They circled the surroundings. The Totem on the bone cane in her hands seemed to have come alive as well.

Finally, the red clouds in the sky fell onto Jiang Xiaorou’s slim body. Her pretty but small figure was engulfed by the endless color of blood. The bleak and chilly aura that flooded Heaven and Earth also changed as an awful atmosphere replaced it

The desolate beasts surrounding the divine bone altar could not help but lower their already prostrated bodies. They seemed terrified by this immense power.

The red clouds became more and more turbulent. In contrast, Jiang Xiaorou’s figure was weak and slender like a feather.

Despite being shrouded by endless amounts of Power of Desolates, Jiang Xiaorou’s eyes still remained very calm.

At this moment, she was neither thinking about the Desolate race, nor was she thinking about the ancient bloodline within her that was about to be awakened. She was recalling bits of her past.

Previously, in the Cloud Wilderness, she had lived the life of a poor lass. She worked hard daily and even worked late into the night. Despite doing so, she still had to worry about food.

Such hard times were completely unbearable. However, when she recalled it, there was that tiny bit of happiness…

Back then, Yi Yun was her everything. He was the spiritual sustenance she used to carry on living.

She was happy for Yi Yun when he grew. She had been overjoyed when Yi Yun became a member of the Jin Long Wei.

She had originally believed that she would live a blissful but ordinary life as she watched her younger brother become successful. Although she wanted to silently support him, fate was ever so bizarre. There came a day where she stood on a divine altar, surrounded by endless hordes of desolate beasts, burdened with a mission that felt so distant and unfamiliar…

She had obtained a supreme status, but this was not what she wanted.

Now, while standing on top of the altar, the only thing she could feel was an indescribable feeling of loneliness…