Shepherd Tantra

Chapter 1289 Sacrifice and Inheritance

At this moment, Yuan Tiansi and the Crimson Calamity were engaged in what seemed like a "duel of heroes".

The two men sped off on their motorcycles towards each other, crossing the narrow log bridge at high speed. Below the bridge was a torrent of water and loose rocks.

If neither of them is willing to back down, then the only outcome for the two of them will be mutual destruction and being shattered to pieces.
However, if someone chooses to turn their car around and plunge off the log bridge into the river, they will certainly face considerable danger, but it is not an absolute certainty of death. Conversely, the other person can safely cross and reach the other side.

This is not a contest where "the brave prevail when paths cross."

The coward will certainly be covered in wounds, but if both are brave, then the only outcome is that they will die together.

The Crimson Calamity can certainly choose to retreat from here.

That means he chose to admit defeat.

His path is not about "duel" or "challenge." War is inherently cruel and ruthless. Therefore, no matter what tricks his opponent uses, if he escapes, he has already lost.

But the pillar god of the seventh source river will not allow failure.

This is why, even after becoming a pillar god, the Silver Crown Dragon did not immediately eradicate Xiong Tiansi, a remnant, but instead allowed him to develop followers and amass apostles right under his nose.

Because the pillar god of the river, the source of "violence," does not allow defeat—if He initiates the fight, then even if it ends in a draw, it is considered a defeat.

Xiong Tiansi didn't even need to defeat the Silver Crown Dragon; simply escaping from its grasp would be considered a victory.

It's like a hunter going out hunting. Even if he isn't killed by his prey, he can't claim, "I fought to a draw with my prey."

When the warring party fails to achieve its war objectives, it is already considered a failure.

Even a single failure would cause the position of the pillar god to tremble and waver.

Just like the ritual Arthur performed to challenge the Supreme Being—the Supreme Being lost only once and lost his position as a pillar god. And his so-called "defeat" was merely killing Arthur once more during their mutual battle.

— Thousands of tentacles continuously coalesced, clashing fiercely with the conjured weapons.

As Yuan Tiansi poured more and more power into it, the surging waves began to seep out from the mirror... like blood seeping into the mirror, or like a lid blocking a waterway starting to leak.

The next moment, it was like a dam breaking – the surging waves roared out!

The Crimson of Calamity also became serious.

The newly formed forces of war have been fully mobilized.

What He summons is not merely a fleeting afterimage, but a fully manifested heroic spirit.

All individuals who died in the "war" were summoned by the Red Dragon of War and became part of His immortal legion.

Like the receding tide of the River Styx, countless undead spirits rise up.

They were so small compared to the vast ocean. Yet they were fearless, charging forward at the command of the Lord of Armies—and rising again after being shattered.

They were imbued with a scarlet aura.

That was the aura of war, the same kind of buff as the halo carried by Helchin.

Helchen's version of the War Aura allows him to deliver a guaranteed critical strike against any enemy whose movements are impaired or who is caught in a pincer movement.

As the god of war and the lord of all armies, the Crimson Calamity provides the Legion with buffs several times, even ten times greater!

Bloodsucking, strength, protection, life link, power equalization, and a constant stream of additional resistances and buffs—even a mortal with enough fighting spirit, even if he's not a superhuman, can fight an adult giant hand-to-hand as long as he stands here.

As more and more heroic spirits are resurrected, the level, scale, and intensity of the "war" continue to expand... and the "war spirit energy" power accumulated by the red dragon also continues to rise.

The ever-regenerating, densely packed tentacles, however, are slowly retreating.

—It wasn't that Yuan Tiansi chose to retreat, but rather that the speed at which his tentacles regenerated was gradually failing to keep up with the war power unleashed by the Crimson Calamity. Within just a few minutes, the Crimson Calamity's legion began attempting to push Yuan Tiansi out of the dream realm.

However, Yuan Tiansi grew increasingly enraged—Aiwas could clearly sense that the power Yuan Tiansi was mobilizing was growing stronger. As he angrily slammed his tentacles against the earth, a rumbling earthquake gradually spread outwards.

Even in the remote corners of the city of Springer Spas, and as far as Horus, these continuous and increasingly intense earthquakes can be clearly felt.

This unprecedented phenomenon, which had never appeared in a thousand years and had never been mentioned in prophecies, filled the Parthians with immense fear.

Some believe this is the sand god's anger, and he is about to unleash his fury upon them, condemning them to certain death; others believe this is the good gods finally provoking the desert, and it is time for an uprising; still others believe this is because the sacrifices were not enough, leaving the desert thirsty, and they are now attempting to appease the desert's anger by offering live sacrifices to randomly selected lucky passersby.

While the Abyss Celestials and the Crimson Calamity were locked in a stalemate, within the Gray Celestials' gray cave, the Geometry Celestials had already begun preparing the highest-level elemental magic—

The four elements converge here, swirling and swirling, shaking heaven and earth.

One after another, four-colored runes appeared and disappeared from the void. The spell, compressed hundreds of times faster by the Geometry Archon, sounded like a sharp and strange shriek. The incantation, stacked up to four times, was as noisy and unbearable as metallic clamor.

The surrounding magical energy surged, being continuously drained away by the Geometry Celestial. Even the world itself crumbled under that spell—earth, fire, water, and wind gradually collapsed and dissipated. The portion near the Geometry Celestial gradually transformed into four-colored particles, converging towards him.

The power of "magic" itself originates from nothingness.

This is also why Weizhe chose to remain silent after witnessing the truth.

The power that created the Tower of Babel originated from nothingness.

—That is the great power that can create something from nothing and achieve all kinds of miracles.

Until the Great Sage struck the Tower of Babel with lightning, causing it to collapse and the people of the earth to scatter to the four corners of the earth. A group of sorcerers then rebuilt the Second Tower of Babel. And the ultimate goal of the Supreme Master Plato was to reach the end of truth.

The mages had vaguely realized that there was probably a reason why the former Winged Celestials had suddenly turned against them and abandoned them. In particular, no matter how they called upon Wei Zhe, he deliberately did not respond to their summons, did not answer their questions, and at the same time did not punish their overstepping their bounds—this made these intelligent people gradually understand something.

Perhaps at the end of that gate of truth lie some unspeakable secrets.

The so-called Gate of Truth is a "mirror" immersed at the end of the Fourth Source River.

If one could reach the end, one could use that mirror to know all the mysteries of the world and answer all questions. Thus, one could progress from omniscience to omnipotence, gain supreme authority, and become the god above gods. Because it is at the end of the Fourth Source River, even the other pillar gods cannot reach it.

This is something that has existed since the age of the Winged Ones. It is also the reason why the Winged Heavenly Division, even after splitting into two, still had to step into the River of Truth.

However, when Wei Zhe entered the River of Truth, he unusually chose to remain silent.

The mages soon realized...

The Gate of Truth seems to be a trap!
Rather than saying that Wei Zhe monopolized this sweet truth, it would be more accurate to say that he was forced to become a prisoner who would never be able to escape.

So what should they do?

—Is it to pay homage to Wei Zhe, so that future generations will remember his greatness?

—Is the information blockade made Wei Zhe's sacrifice more valuable?
They chose neither the open nor the closed path. The mages seeking truth would not stop for such reasons, and thus they chose another path.

That is to obtain all truth from outside the gate of truth.

By relying on the collective calculations of wise men, we can exhaust all the truths of the world!
This is precisely the original mission of the Geocentric Celestials—the Supreme Host Plato.

This is not a farce in which a group of people, unaware of the secrets keepers' plight, attempt to court death.

Instead, she had already guessed what Wei Zhe was carrying from the beginning and planned to rely on her own strength to reach there and thus replace Wei Zhe.

They were a group of loyal, curious, and resilient younger generations who never gave up or accepted their fate.

Therefore, from its inception, the mission of Geometry Astronomy was to completely replace Weizhe.

To other paths, this was nothing short of a rebellious figure, utterly undisguised in his ambition and hostility. Even later generations of mages viewed Geometry Celestial and Weizhe as adversaries—Geometry Celestial had even created elemental spells that were easier to learn and more practical than ancient magic; wasn't this tantamount to considering himself a god of magic?

However, only a very few people know that this is not rebellion.

Rather, it is sacrifice...and inheritance.

The "Serpent's Vortex" is a gathering place for ancient winged sages, and a collection of the souls of all the wise men from all civilizations throughout history.

Instead of looking up the answer, I will provide the solution with my own strength!

The chanting of the Geophysician grew increasingly intense.

The surrounding world trembled more and more frequently—all matter began to disintegrate, turning into patches of black shadow. Even Flame Fist Hassan's own body could no longer be preserved.

Even with Gray Sky Division's "lies" as protection, Oobuchi should have noticed this place long ago.

However, the Great Abyss is currently engaged in a passionate battle against the Crimson Calamity and has no time to spare for anything else.

This was precisely the opportunity for the "master" to chant—

(End of this chapter)