The copy has 0 error tolerance, and the last words on the ground are all wrong for me.

Chapter 462 Three Banners and Four Calamities

As Wu Chang gazed at the altar, guided by inspiration, he vaguely saw a copy of a plane from thousands of years ago.

The altar that was built on Mount Hulu at that time was not shaped like a lying gourd, and the altar was not inside the mountain.

At that time, Hulu Mountain was a towering peak that reached into the clouds, and the altar in front of us was built on the mountaintop.

He was observing the replica plane from thousands of years ago from the perspective of a priest. He stood on the altar, blessed by the array, and could overlook the entire land.

He saw a black storm sweep across the land; where the gale passed, golden crops withered, green vegetation decayed, and blue lake water was swept into the sky, revealing a riverbed as if slashed by a knife.

People could escape the calamity by hiding in their houses, but after the black wind passed, faced with a devastated land, they could only slowly walk towards death.

The black wind not only ravaged ordinary people, but also caused the spiritual energy to surge and become violent wherever the storm passed.

The spiritual energy contained a faint black aura, which was three or four parts similar to the demonic energy of today.

When cultivators inhale the faint black spiritual energy during their practice, those with weaker cultivation levels may suffer from qi deviation, losing all their cultivation or dying a violent death.

Cultivators with profound cultivation can maintain their cultivation cycle under the light black spiritual energy, but their bodies and minds are also subtly affected, becoming irritable, bloodthirsty, and full of destructive desires, and they begin to fight each other.

Under the influence of the black wind, the entire land was plunged into chaos, with blood and death energy visible everywhere.

The priest sighed, reluctantly withdrawing his gaze. He turned to look behind him, where the worshippers were lined up in two rows, stretching from the mountaintop to the foot of the mountain.

People prostrated themselves on the ground, their heads facing the direction of the altar.

The priest looked around and saw three huge command flags planted at the edge of the altar.

Wu Chang's attention was instantly drawn to the command flags. From their appearance, the command flags around the altar were somewhat similar to the Soul Cleansing Command Flag in his hand.

However, judging from the aura, the command flag on the altar is merely an extension of the altar, and its main body is just an ordinary magical artifact, which is fundamentally different from the Soul Cleansing Command Flag.

As the priest chanted in a manner that resembled both song and incantation, a vast amount of faith power surged into the altar, causing the three command flags to move without wind.

As the command flag waved, the black wind raging across the land seemed to be drawn towards the altar.

A black wind swirled above the altar, like a veil of night, instantly turning day and night upside down in the area around the altar.

The priest lit three incense sticks and placed them in the large cauldron in front of him.

Three command flags floated into the air, seemingly held by an invisible hand, and began to wave.

As the first command flag was waved, the blackness in the black wind sank down, merging with the power of faith, and the blackness faded into gray.

The second command flag was waved, turning into gray wind that dispersed and formed a special, cyclical pattern, echoing the arrangement around the altar.

As the third command flag was waved, the gray airflow slowly turned white, and was edged with gold as the priest chanted. The originally ominous wind even carried a hint of auspiciousness.

The three command flags waved simultaneously, and the winds spread out in all directions. Thirty percent surged into several high mountains, thirty percent fell into magnificent cities on the ground, thirty percent merged into the altar, and one percent dispersed to various places, healing the land ravaged by the black wind.

As the priests chanted, the scene before Wu Chang's eyes slowly faded away.

He looked at the others and found that they, like him, had a look of surprise and uncertainty in their eyes, probably because they had all seen something through the altar in front of them.

Jianxing was the first to lose his composure. He blinked hard and said:

"Did you just see that?"

Wu Changzhen asked, "What did you see?"

Sword Star said:

"I think I saw a copy of the game, I saw the past. I saw a black wind, and the cultivators blown by the black wind were like demons, their eyes emitting black energy, fighting each other."

"The black energy within them bears some resemblance to the demonic energy we see now."

"Then I saw several cultivators appear. They said that these people had been driven mad by the wind and were beyond redemption. So they killed the mad cultivators and transported them here to suppress their corpses at the altar."

Wu Chang narrowed his eyes slightly; the scene Jian Xing saw was completely different from what he had seen.

Could it be that each of them sees a different scene?

Leng Shan was the second to speak, saying:

“What I saw was different from what Jianxing saw. I saw a black wind sweeping across the sky and earth, and wherever the black wind passed, people suffered.”

"People gathered together to worship the heavens and pray that the heavens would quell the wind disaster."

"At the people's prayers, auspicious clouds appeared above the altar, and the black wind that represented disaster dissipated and turned into a warm breeze. Wherever the breeze passed, the weather was favorable and the crops were plentiful. The cultivators seemed to have been enlightened and broke through their cultivation bottlenecks one after another."

After Cold Mountain came Eileen, who said:
"What I saw was different from what they both saw, and it wasn't even what actually happened."

"I saw that as the windstorm raged, the heavens and earth were torn apart, and the rules of the world were broken. Mortal dynasties were constantly in turmoil, and the social order collapsed. Cultivators were stuck in a bottleneck in their cultivation and could not make any further progress."

"In order to repair the rules, the cultivators comprehended the secrets of heaven and discovered the method of offering sacrifices to heaven. After the sacrificial ceremony, the cracks in heaven and earth and the rules of the world were repaired."

Wu Chang raised an eyebrow after hearing this, and indeed everyone saw something different from the altar.

This difference seems to stem from their respective circumstances.

Sword Star's strategy revolves around the Yao Guang Immortal Abode. Yao Guang is the seventh star of the Big Dipper, also known as Po Jun.

As the saying goes, you can't build something new without destroying it. To create something new, you often have to break down the old first.

Po Jun possesses the power to break down the old and establish the new, which is why he sees it as related to clearing away the effects of the wind disaster.

The immortal abode in the Cold Mountain Strategy is Tianji, the third star of the Big Dipper, also known as Lucun.

Lu Cun controls the power of wealth, official rank, lifespan, and the balance of Yin and Yang, so what he sees is the scene after the wind disaster has turned into auspiciousness.

As for Eileen, she did not conquer the Immortal Abode, but her strength was no less than that of the Immortal Abode's master, so she did not need to rely on the master's inheritance.

She possesses the power of an archangel, and in recent times she has been constantly comprehending the Eternal Lake, gaining a profound understanding of order.

Therefore, what she saw was related to the world's order.

Thinking of this, Wu Chang fell into deep thought. According to his deduction, since he had conquered Tianquan and Kaiyang Immortal Mansion and possessed both literary and martial fortune, what he saw should also be related to them.

But compared to those who are destined for literary and military success, why did he feel that those three command flags were the main characters in the scene he was seeing?

He didn't have time to think things through; he manipulated his true self and his physical body, and also spoke out what he saw.

However, he concealed the existence of the three command flags and divided the scene he saw into two parts.

The peace that brings literary fortune allows one to witness the grandeur of the sacrificial ceremony and the distribution of auspicious energy.

The Tang Sect Leader, who possessed martial fortune, witnessed the devastation caused by the black wind. As the sacrificial ceremony began, the black wind was absorbed into the altar by the sacrificial power and transformed into auspiciousness.

When it was An Rong's turn, the scene he saw was similar to that of Wu Chang; they both witnessed the process of the sacrificial ceremony to heaven.

An Rong's description did not mention the three command flags, but he saw that the power that could turn the black wind into auspicious omens was actually the power of human destiny gathered by the priest.

In addition, he also saw the whole picture of the Heaven Worship Ceremony, and the arrangement of the Heaven Worship Ceremony was 80% similar to the Earth Worship Ceremony of the Lidi Temple.

After An Rong finished recounting what he had seen at the altar, he looked up and his eyes met Wu Chang's true form.

Wu Changcong sensed a hint of evasion and unease in An Rong's gaze.

He looked at Jianxing with his true self and found that Jianxing did not react to Anrong's words, which meant that Anrong was not lying.

But his inspiration also told him that An Rong, as the chosen one of the planes, might have seen more than what he described at the altar.

An Rong must have also been holding back, and even more than him, things that kept An Rong distracted and worried throughout their description.

Putting aside the secrets An Rong saw during the sacrificial ceremony, the sights Jian Xing and Leng Shan witnessed were enough for Wu Chang to gain a basic understanding of the ceremony.

Within the Demon Realm, there are four sites of demon king inheritance. He had good reason to suspect that these sites concealed four altars for sacrificial rites. What they witnessed at the Wind Demon King's site was wind disaster; the other three sites likely corresponded to earth disasters, floods, and fires, respectively.

The ritual of offering sacrifices to Heaven is not a true expression of reverence for Heaven, but rather a remedial measure.

In the original instance plane, everything was peaceful at first, and there was nothing unusual. But for some unknown reason, four calamities began to appear on the land.

The four calamities bring not only four kinds of natural disasters, but they also destroy the four most basic elements that make up the world.

The foundation of the world was shaken, causing the rules of the plane to break. Both mortals and cultivators were affected by the four calamities.

Cultivators in the instanced plane cannot repair the plane's rules; they can only pray to the heavens for intervention through sacrificial rituals.

If nothing unexpected happens, the heaven that the instance plane prays to should be an existence in a higher plane.

At that time, the instance plane was in the Realm of Reason, so the heavens they prayed to were at least at the level of the third layer of the Abyss, and the beings that responded to their prayers were perhaps at the same level as Lyman and Christine.

Regardless of who intervened, with the help of outsiders, the Four Calamities were not only severely suppressed, but also transformed into auspicious omens through a special formation, making up for the losses suffered by the instance plane.

From what he saw, the key to transforming the four calamities into auspicious omens was the three command flags erected on the altar.

These three command flags are similar in design to the Soul Cleansing Command Flag, and the pale black, violent spiritual energy within the cultivators affected by the wind disaster is somewhat similar to demonic energy.

Combining the array he saw in Kaiyang Immortal Mansion, he couldn't help but recall the method by which the master of Seven Star Immortal Mansion transformed demonic energy into spiritual energy.

Perhaps the master of the Seven Star Immortal Mansion found the method to transform demonic energy into spiritual energy from the three command flags of the sacrificial ceremony, and then used this method to create the Soul Cleansing Command Flag.

If it's really as he thinks, then besides the Soul Cleansing Flag, there should be two other matching flags.

If he could collect all three command flags, he could not only put together a set of cultivation techniques, but he might also be able to discover the secrets hidden in the sacrificial ceremony.

Besides the three command flags, what also concerned him was the sacrificial ceremony itself.

In the eyes of everyone, including him, the sacrificial ceremony to heaven was a very positive one.

It was a necessary measure to eliminate the four calamities and restore the dimensional rules.

However, judging from the records in the Seven Star Immortal Mansion, the sacrificial ceremony to heaven was obviously not so harmless. It was because the seven masters of the Immortal Mansion noticed the abnormality of the sacrificial ceremony to heaven that they came up with the idea of ​​replacing heaven with earth, using earth sacrifice to replace heaven sacrifice.

Is the danger of the sacrificial ceremony to heaven due to the existence of the response ritual, or is there a problem with the ceremony itself?

Wu Chang shook his head slightly, turning his thoughts back to the present. The existing information was too little for him to make a complete deduction.

Instead of blindly guessing, we should look for more clues.

This is the place where the Wind Demon King inherited his legacy, but they only saw an abandoned altar for worshipping the heavens and did not find anything like a celestial destiny.

Did they go to the wrong place?

As he looked around, he suddenly heard thunder not far away. He turned his head and saw the silent An Rong approaching the altar, his halberd flashing with lightning, and slamming it heavily onto the altar.

The altar looked ordinary and unremarkable, but when An Rong swung his halberd with all his might, not even a speck of stone dust was dropped. Instead, An Rong was thrown back by the recoil and crashed into the inside of the cave.

Wu Chang's true form appeared before An Rong and asked:
"Young Master An, what are you doing?"

An Rong got up, looked at his slightly trembling hands, and said helplessly:
"If we want to use the Ziwei Exorcising Array to break through the demon realm, we must first break through and clear the four demon king territories. I thought that since the Wind Demon King is dead, could we eliminate one of the demon king territories before the Ziwei Exorcising Array is completed?"

"Now it seems that it is indeed impossible to do this by one person alone."

Wu Changzhen approached the altar, found a spot on its edge, gripped a corner of a brick and tried to pry it off. Even with his maximum strength of 500 points in the Desolate Realm, he couldn't break off a corner despite his best efforts.

An Rong noticed Wu Chang's actions and said:
“I’ve already tried, it’s useless. Before the Ziwei Exorcising Array broke through a crack in the Demon Realm, the four elements of earth, water, fire and wind formed their own cycle. The territories of the four Demon Kings are equivalent to the array’s core in the Demon Realm.”

"Unless our attack can shake the demon realm, we cannot forcibly damage the altar here."

Wu Chang clicked his tongue after hearing this. Judging from An Rong's words, the Demon King's inheritance altar was connected to the Demon Realm, and its effect was similar to his "Titan" title.

Unless the attack is strong enough to destroy the demon domain covering most of Tianlan Province, the altar cannot be destroyed.

The fact that the altar cannot be destroyed for the time being does not mean that they cannot do anything to it.

Zhenwo gave Lengshan a look and asked, "Which is more suitable, placing the Faith Virus here or at the Lidi Temple?"

This place was once a gathering place of faith, one of the altars for sacrificial rites, and a portal connecting to the deep abyss. At the same time, it was difficult for people to detect, making it an excellent location.

The only problem is that they are unsure whether the Light Society will start with the Heaven Worship Ceremony or the Earth Worship Ceremony.

Leng Shan took out a small black box that resembled a divine script decipherer. When Wu Chang and the hunter infiltrated the Light Society's private space, they placed a sub-body of the divine script decipherer on the stone altar. The tool Leng Shan was using now could measure the current distance between him and the Light Society through the sub-body.

The Faith Virus is designed to target the Society of Light; the closer it is to the Society of Light, the better it is to place.

Leng Shan circled the altar once, then shook his head and said:

"This place is farther from the Guangming Society than the Lidi Temple, and their goal seems to be the earth-worshiping ceremony."

After searching the Calabash Mountain for a while longer and confirming that they could not find any more information, the group left the Calabash Mountain and rejoined the others outside.

After leaving Hulu Mountain, they did not return directly, but instead retrieved their all-terrain transport vehicle and headed towards the central area of ​​the Demon Realm.

Although we have obtained enough information from Hulu Mountain, we have already come all this way, so how can we leave without taking a look at Tianmen?
Desperate, everyone boarded the all-terrain transport vehicle and, after more than four hours, finally arrived at the central area of ​​the demon realm.

Compared to the outer perimeter, the central area of ​​the demon realm was enveloped by a layer of red barrier with a frosted texture, making it impossible for them to see what lay on the other side.

As the group approached, Wu Chang discovered that the barrier in front of him was not formed by an excessive concentration of demonic energy, but rather resembled the kind of barrier that protects the Wind Altar. Even with 100% resistance to demonic energy, he was unable to force his way into the barrier.

No wonder the Blue Feather Bird said there were only two ways to enter the central area:
To become a demon, or to completely conquer the demon realm and destroy the four demon kings' inheritance sites of earth, water, fire, and wind.

However, this trip was not in vain. Leng Shan took out his instrument and confirmed once again that this place was farther away from the Guangming Society than the Lidi Temple.

They discovered the true form of the Four Demon Kings' inheritance, gathered information about the sacrificial ceremony, and even successfully tested the Wind Demon King. Even though they didn't get to see the Heavenly Gate in person, they still exceeded expectations.

More than ten hours had passed since they left Zhenyue City, and seeing that it was getting late, the group began their return journey.

They returned to the boat along the same route, boarded the wooden boat to cross Dongshan Lake, and entered Shuanghu City again. Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief and completely relax.

Like Wu Chang, who had just completed the Demon-Slaying Army trial, they returned from the demonic energy area to the spiritual energy area, feeling as if their bones had become two pounds lighter.

The speed at which the group returned from the Demon Realm exceeded the expectations of the cultivators guarding Shuanghu City. In their understanding, no matter how fast they explored the Demon Realm, it would still take two or three days for a round trip.

Wu Chang and his group left the demon realm in less than a day. They probably didn't even get to see the demon king before being driven out in disgrace. Fortunately, there were no casualties.

The city-guarding cultivator was very curious about what had happened in the demon realm that could make two Earth Immortals flee in terror. However, he was not even an elder, so he dared not speak or ask. He could only wait for things to escalate before inquiring about it in Zhenyue City.

He suppressed his curiosity and said to Wu Chang:

"Sect Leader Tang, you all returned too quickly. The teleportation array has not yet been prepared. Please rest in the city for half an hour. Once the array is ready, I will send someone to find you."

During the half-hour stay in the city, Wu Chang allowed everyone to move around freely and look around.

Once everyone relaxed, they naturally began to discuss the gains from the operation.

They defended against the demon horde's attack at Calabash Mountain and were counted as having participated in killing the Wind Demon King, each receiving 300 contribution points.

This propelled Leng Shan and Jian Xing to a tie for third place on the contribution list, while the others surpassed Meng Yawen and Chao He, who conquered the Immortal Mansion, and collectively moved into a tie for fourth place.

The second-ranked contributor should be the painter who captured the Jade Balance Immortal Mansion. He entered the dungeon at the same time as Leng Shan and Jian Xing, yet he was so powerful that even the two of them couldn't catch up to him by hugging his legs.

Wu Chang sighed in admiration that the painter was indeed quite skilled at navigating dungeons, but he had more to offer, and the painter still had a lot of practice to learn if he wanted to catch up.

While everyone was resting, Wu Chang used his true self to approach Shadow and pointed to the intercity teleportation array that was being prepared not far away.

He said, "While they're preparing, sneak in and listen to their conversation. Also, check the array activation records to see if it was activated this morning. If it was, try to find out who the teleporter is."

(End of this chapter)