Chapter 106. Great Boon, Shennong's Altar, Blood of the Human Sovereign! (1)

There's something special there.

However, Lu Yuan noticed it only after activating his Martial Dao Heavenly Eyes. He hadn't discovered it before, so he decided to err on the side of caution and activate his Martial Dao Heavenly Eyes.

His cautious nature meant he wouldn't approach anything suspicious without knowing it first.

"I-if I tell you... Will you spare me?" The Dragon-Blooded Jiao's voice was very weak. Its crimson eyes had lost all their earlier pride. Fear had taken its place. The human was far stronger than it could ever imagine.

Dragon blood coursed through its veins, and it teetered on the edge of reaching the Golden Body Realm. When it came to combat prowess and vitality, it was much stronger than other mutated beasts at the same level.

Despite that, the human before it crushed it as easily as if it were a mere ant. It couldn't even fight back; there was simply no room for resistance.

"You have no choice. Either speak or stay silent forever," Lu Yuan said. Behind him, the Bloodforce Pagoda trembled.

The Eleven-Tier Blood Pagoda was a divine artifact that affected one's organs, transforming them into something resembling divine metals. Upon activating it, Lu Yuan's entire body took on the weight of a mountain.

He became so heavy that even the resistance of a beast king was futile.

"An altar left by Shennong, one of the three ancient Human Sovereigns, is there... There's also a special formation inside. If someone approaches it haphazardly, they will be suppressed. You can consider it a forbidden ground," the Dragon-Blooded Jiao finally said, knowing it had no choice at this point.

In fact, this was the reason it decided to run here. It hoped the special formation in the altar would help it survive this crisis. However, who could have known that Lu Yuan would be so overwhelmingly powerful?

"There's an altar left behind by Shennong there?" Lu Yuan was stunned, but he quickly understood.

Shennongjia...

[1] How could Shennong not leave something behind in Shennongjia?

Shennong was one of the Three Sovereigns and had made great contributions to the people of Huaxia as the Earth Sovereign among the Human Sovereigns.

Lu Yuan believed Shennong was the real "King of Humanity" compared to himself, and since he had come here as his descendant, he ought to go and take a look at Shennong's altar.

In his previous life, Lu Yuan never heard of such a place in Shennongjia. This meant that no one had ever discovered its great boon.

"Master," the Golden-Winged Great Peng said. It looked at the Dragon-Blooded Jiao with a hint of pleading in its eyes. It was truly afraid that Lu Yuan would spare the mutated beast, which would make it miss its chance to purify its bloodline.

Lu Yuan smiled and nodded. Having finally discovered the Dragon-Blooded Jiao, there was no way he would just let it go.

The Golden-Winged Great Peng immediately understood. It opened its beak and exhaled streams of golden light that enveloped the Dragon-Blooded Jiao. This was a secret technique that could refine the dragon blood from within mutated beasts.

The Dragon-Blooded Jiao was massive, but the dragon blood within it wasn't much. Fortunately, the Golden-Winged Great Peng only needed the Dragon-Blooded Jiao's blood essence to purify its bloodline.

The Dragon-Blooded Jiao was on the verge of death and couldn't resist at all. Soon, its aura faded away. Under the streams of golden light, its massive body shrank and withered.

Refining the dragon blood would still require some time.

"Let's go and visit that altar," Lu Yuan remarked.

Lu Yuan was curious about exactly what kind of place it was. What did the so-called altar look like?

The Golden-Winged Great Peng obliged. After taking in the Dragon-Blooded Jiao into its stomach, it carried Lu Yuan forward.

Before long, Lu Yuan arrived at the area where the crimson light pillar had shot skyward.

There were no towering giant trees here, only a circular platform with stone pillars beside it. The stone pillars were about ten meters tall, pure white in color. There were twelve in total, and a relief of a mutated beast was on each one.

The relief depicted not auspicious beasts like qilins or pixius. Instead, it depicted the twelve zodiac animals. The zodiac animals all had fierce and mighty appearances, with both human and animal forms.

Unfortunately, the ruthless passage of time meant the platform and the pillars were covered in cracks all over, looking like they would collapse anytime soon.

Aside from the stone pillars, there wasn't anything special.

"Master," the Golden-Winged Great Peng said, sounding wary as it circled above. "I feel like walking up that platform is dangerous."

It could feel the formation that the Dragon-Blooded Jiao had mentioned.

Lu Yuan wouldn't be rash. He had the Golden-Winged Great Peng land at a safe distance, and then he stood just outside the platform to observe. There stood many dilapidated buildings constructed from stones nearby, but most were so broken that it was impossible to discern their original appearance.

Lu Yuan frowned slightly at the sight. Visually, at least, the place was far too ordinary.

With that in mind, Lu Yuan directly activated his Martial Dao Heavenly Eyes. In an instant, the world before him shifted. He saw a towering, crimson light pillar rushing up from within the platform, and its majestic aura created the same spectacle as he had seen from a distance.

When he closed his Martial Dao Heavenly Eyes, the world changed once more, and the same scene of devastation appeared before him again. Now, Lu Yuan knew with certainty that there was something extraordinary hidden here.

Lu Yuan pondered for a moment. Then, he took a deep breath before stepping onto the platform.

Rumble!

The twelve stone pillars trembled violently, and streams of brilliant light shot out of them, emanating a wave of terrifying might.

Even with Lu Yuan's current level of strength, he felt a considerable amount of pressure washing over him. The twelve zodiac animals carved upon the pillars looked as if they were coming alive, and their forms struggled to break free from the stone pillars.

Clearly, they were the guardians here, and it seemed they would manifest to fight back against any outsiders.

"Master!" the Golden-Winged Great Peng exclaimed, and its golden eyes glimmered with vigilance. Even a beast king like it could hardly bear the pressure coming from the stone pillars.

To make matters worse, the formation had yet to fully activate, which meant it was only going to become even more terrifying. "Master, this place is too dangerous! We should leave!"

The Golden-Winged Great Peng believed they ought to stop here lest they put themselves in danger. At the same time, it was puzzled. In its eyes, the place remained a scene of devastation. Nothing had changed, so where was this dreadful pressure coming from?

Lu Yuan withdrew from the platform. He knew that it would be extremely difficult for him to leave if he were to truly step onto the platform. However, it was precisely because of the intense sense of danger that he became more certain of one thing—a great boon lay hidden beneath that platform.

Lu Yuan's eyes flashed with resolve. "I have to go in and take a look."

The more mysterious a place was, the more dangerous it would be, but it also meant obtaining a greater boon. Lu Yuan was keenly aware of this fact, and it was evidenced by the Mausoleum at Mount Li, which contained the Primordial Dragon Breathing Technique.

The problem was how he was supposed to go in.

Could it be that I'm missing some kind of key?

He stood before the platform, pondering. He circled it once and discovered nothing special.

Even activating his Martial Dao Heavenly Eyes revealed no new clues. Frustrated, he sat down to think. The Golden-Winged Great Peng saw that nothing was happening, so it moved away and closed its eyes to concentrate on refining the dragon blood and purifying its bloodline.

Time trickled by, bit by bit. Soon, an entire night passed. Fortunately, the platform was clearly special, which meant no mutated beast dared to approach it.

As for the Golden-Winged Great Peng, it was finally starting to assimilate the refined dragon blood. A faint light emanated from its wings as its bloodline was slowly being purified.

Meanwhile, Lu Yuan still sat cross-legged before the platform. His expression was unchanged, but the cogs in his head turned rapidly to think of a solution.

He still had not found a solution, and he couldn't keep wasting time here. Perhaps he would have to leave and come again next time. Forcing his way in was definitely not an option. He couldn't do that until he had become even stronger.

It's an altar left behind by the Human Sovereign, Shennong... am I really going to be forced to leave just like this?

Lu Yuan felt a wave of helplessness, unwilling to give up. However, he knew sitting here was not a solution. A place of great boon was right before him, but he couldn't enter it...

Wait. An altar?

He realized something just then. Since this was an altar, it had to have been used for a sacrificial ritual. And the so-called sacrifices would require the use of a cauldron...

Coincidentally, he had a cauldron, and it was one of the keys to the Mausoleum at Mount Li.

Could it work?

Lu Yuan had no idea, but he decided to try his luck and took out the small cauldron, placing it before him. His eyes filled with anticipation. There was no other way, anyway.

1. the Shennong in both Shennongjia and Shennong are written using the same characters 神农 ☜