Even without cheats, we must survive the apocalypse

There seemed to be some strange low humming sound between the heartbeats. The humming sound seemed to come from the abyss, or like the desperate screams of countless children and the elderly, with a creepy sadness and resentment.

“Is this what that guy came up with?”

Gu Yunxi frowned. It was not like she had never seen such bloody evil things before, but that didn’t mean she liked seeing them.

"…I'm afraid this thing was fed with the flesh and blood of living people."

Lu Mu looked around the altar, which was filled with human corpses, big and small, with some bloody flesh still remaining on them. It was obvious that they had not been dead for long. It was possible that they had been eaten clean by the evil flesh and blood creatures on the altar.

Gu Yunxi roughly counted and found that there were at least hundreds of fresh corpses.

There are no towns around the Bone Burial Mountain. It would take a long time to capture so many old, weak, women and children. Xie Li was indeed a hardworking guy, but Gu Yunxi now felt that his death was too easy.

The altar was covered with strange array diagrams. With fifteen trees of flesh and blood as the dots, a huge bloody pattern was printed on the ground, with the center aimed at the huge heart.

This formation seems to be mature. Even if we leave it alone, I'm afraid it will be activated by itself when the time comes.

"What kind of formation is this?"

Gu Yunxi stared at the array pattern on the ground. The pattern was really unfamiliar. She learned to draw arrays by relying on the many array diagrams provided by the system, but Gu Yunxi herself was not good at learning, especially since she always felt that arrays were useless. If she had enough strength, what was the point of caring about arrays? She could destroy them with one punch.

"You don't understand?"

Gu Yunxi rolled her eyes at him and said, "What do you think of me? I just learned a few basics."

In fact, it's really not just a superficial skill. At least she can break the anti-control formation, and she doesn't even know it herself. This kind of talent is already quite terrifying.

"What should we do? If you can't understand it, this thing can only be destroyed."

"If we don't destroy it, what are we going to keep it for?"

she wondered.

"The formation diagram on the altar is only a corner of the larger formation. This type of formation requires no mistakes. Otherwise, once the formation is in place, not only will it not threaten the guy King Nanling wants to deal with, but it will also backfire."

"If you can do something with this formation..."

Gu Yunxi was a little dazed by what he said. Only then did she realize that Lu Mu's plan had always been very sinister.

Chapter 18: Concealment

King Nanling and the Xiexin Sect put a lot of effort into this complicated formation.

If there is a problem with the formation and they are unaware of it, and then they think their plan is about to succeed and soar into the sky, they will suffer a severe disaster.

Lu Mu really wanted to use this formation to disrupt the situation and make them fail.

Gu Yunxi looked towards the altar. The heart hanging on the blood-red vine was beating vigorously. The yin energy around it seemed to disappear little by little, sucked away by the mouthparts on the valves. It seemed as if an evil monster was bred in the heart, which was starving and waiting for a meal.

She wanted to destroy this thing even more.

Then it might alert the enemy. This Bone Burial Mountain is only a corner of the formation, so there must be a core location that connects every such altar in southern Xinjiang.

If one of them suddenly disappears, King Nanling will know that something has happened.

There are two things that could happen. One is that Xiexin Sect and King Nanling know that the truth has been revealed and they will directly destroy all the evidence. They can set up these altars, so naturally they can also destroy them quietly. If they don't alert the enemy, King Nanling will be more cautious and keep a low profile.

In this way, the threat will naturally disappear temporarily, but the evil cultivators have too many tricks, and it would be passive to wait for them to take action first and then stop them.

Solving the problem is troublesome, so we can only solve the person who caused the trouble.

"Oh, what you said makes sense."

Gu Yunxi raised her eyebrows.

"If you don't have confidence, then we will destroy this place and let King Nanling and the others guess who discovered their little secret."

"That way they will behave themselves for a few months, which will be enough time for Huang Yanyao to catch her breath."

Lu Mu approached the tree of flesh and blood, carefully observing the flesh and tendons squirming on the trunk. The turbid blood flowed along the branches into the formation on the ground. It was not difficult to imagine how the mortals who were captured here had their flesh and blood stripped off. Perhaps before they died, they could see their own flesh and blood gathered into such a strange and bizarre thing.

Death is even more desperate.

In fact, he also wanted to burn this place down.

Lu Mu took out an irregular crystal stone, injected spiritual energy into it, and the fluorescent light illuminated the entire altar, taking in this disgusting and bizarre scene.

The photo stone will remember these scenes.

In the future, this will be a time bomb that can intensify the hatred between the Xianhuang Empire and the Xiexin Sect.

"I don't have confidence... Ha, do you think I can't do it?"

Gu Yunxi's eyes turned cold, and her tone was filled with arrogance that could not be refused.

She didn't like being questioned. She was already very uncomfortable when being questioned by Huang Yanyao. Now when Lu Mu said this, although he didn't mean to look down on her, Gu Yunxi didn't like to hear it.

So the method of provoking others is very effective for her.

"I believe you can do it."

"Where do you get the confidence?"

She crossed her arms, raised her chin slightly, and glanced at him.

Lu Mu didn't answer.

Is he going to say, "I know you have an omnipotent system, so this formation is a piece of cake for you, just do it and I won't tell anyone else"?

Having said that, Gu Yunxi might think of killing herself.

Their relationship is better now, but not so good that Gu Yunxi will let him live with her most taboo secret in peace.

The existence of the "system" is a secret that the "protagonist" must never reveal.

Gu Yunxi saw that he didn't say anything for a long time, so she pursed her thin lips, snorted somewhat sullenly, and walked towards the altar.

She still has to do it.

Regardless of Lu Mu's provocation, this is also for Huang Yanyao's own good.

A light blue light appeared in her palms, and ripples spread out from her fingertips, covering the entire altar. The blue energy seeped into the formation diagram, taking everything she saw on the altar into her mind.

Lu Mu just stood aside and watched. He couldn't do anything. The formation was like a holy book to him.

Gu Yunxi was completely immersed in this battle of exploration and memory.

A quarter of an hour later, Lu Mu turned around and looked at the stone path in the mountain cave where he came from. The person he expected had arrived.

"Little Lord."

The visitor bowed to him.

It’s Lu Renyou.

This elder had been protecting him for a long time. This was the treatment that the young master of a large clan received. But sometimes the protector might not be able to save the person he was protecting. Murong Zun ended up in a bloody tragedy.

So Lu Mu seldom relied on him, because there would always be a day when he would not be able to protect himself.

"come in."

Lu Mu waved his hand.

"Yes."

Lu Renyou was neither humble nor arrogant, and he knew the difference between the superior and the inferior, but he never behaved like a slave, and Lu Mu never put on airs as a young master... Of course, whether Lu Mu acted like that in the past was none of his business.

"The strongest of the Immortal Phoenix Dynasty haven't discovered you yet, right?"

Standing at the edge of the altar, Lu Mu started chatting with him.

“Not yet. I have always hidden my aura of good fortune. Unless someone from the Imperial Dynasty is within a thousand miles of me, I will not be discovered by anyone.”

"That's good."

Lu Mu felt much more relieved.

He actually didn't want to expose his whereabouts in the Central Region.

There is no other reason, but he is too famous and has a prominent status, so he is easily targeted. He is not afraid of someone harming him in the Central Region, but he is a hot commodity, and everyone wants to get close to him. If he is entangled in trivial matters, he will not be able to help Huang Yanyao.

"Young Master, do you want to support the Ninth Princess to ascend the throne?"

"Is it that obvious?"

Lu Mu smiled and looked up at him.

Lu Renyou could always tell what his young master was thinking, and this time was no exception.

"You showed up in Southern Xinjiang. Even if you didn't intend to do so, others would think so."

"That's it."

Lu Mu had no intention of hiding his thoughts. Huang Yanyao could indeed become the great emperor's wife for all eternity, but he was indeed greedy for her body. It was not only because he was attracted by her future achievements, after all, the desire to conquer was always at work.

Who doesn’t like a female emperor who is majestic and powerful and rules the world?

These two desires do not conflict with each other, and it would be a wonderful thing if they were both fulfilled.

"If the news of your presence in Southern Xinjiang spreads, some people in the Xianhuang royal family will be very worried... Even if you support her yourself, others will think that this is the clan leader's instruction. With your backing, other royal families with ambitions to inherit the throne will become frightened birds."

"That's why I don't want anyone to know I'm here."

The people who would be worried are naturally Huang Yanyao's royal brothers and sisters. They are extremely ambitious and have been operating in their respective territories for a long time, just to inherit the throne of the emperor one day. Sitting on that position is not just symbolic. The king must be firmly tied to the fate of the dynasty. The hundreds of millions of people in the dynasty constitute a huge force of fate, which is very strong.

Whoever can get it will have the key to determine victory or defeat.

Because of this, the battle for the emperor's throne is always impartial and merciless, unless someone can truly win over others with his unrivaled talent and magnanimity, but that is rare.

In order to win such a brutal fratricide, they will seek help from any force.

With Lu Mu's appearance here, the other princes and princesses became worried and frightened.

He is the young master of a large family. Even if the Lu clan itself has no intention of intervening, they have to indirectly help Huang Yanyao in order to help him.

Lu Mu would become the nail that changed the situation, and if the Immortal Phoenix Emperor found out that he was here, the ambitious emperor might "respectfully" invite him to Tianhuang City as a guest, keeping him away from Huang Yanyao... or in other words, away from any of his children.

It’s not that I think Lu Mu is not qualified to intervene, but because the help he can bring is too great.

Neither Huang Yanyao nor any other prince or princess could repay such a favor. Even if she could ascend to the throne of the emperor, the price she would have to pay to repay the favor would be unimaginable.

The most valuable thing among these Central Region dynasties is the power of national destiny, and this is something that cannot be separated.

Everyone would think that what Lu Mu wanted was definitely not small, but he was simply coveting Huang Yanyao's body, but if he told others about it, no one would believe it.

The Immortal Phoenix Emperor is so well versed in political intrigues and human nature, how could he easily believe what Lu Mu said?

So, Lu Mu has to hide himself now.

"Since the young master has made the decision, then let's do it."

"Wouldn't Elder Renyou object? After all, compared to the other princes and princesses, Huang Yanyao is a later returnee. She has weaker power and shallower background. In terms of favor, she is far behind the others."

Lu Mu curled his lips and looked at him with a smile.

"It is enough that the young master does not do foolish things."

"You really believe in me, so if I kill Murong Zun, it won't be foolish in your eyes, right?"

"You did a very clean job, killing Young Master Murong without leaving any evidence to accuse the Lu clan. When the clan leader learned the news, he didn't seem very satisfied, but he took me out for a night of drinking that night. Speaking of which, I have to thank you. You can't always get to taste the clan leader's private collection."

Lu Renyou smiled instead, with a carefree look on his face, perhaps because the wine collected by the patriarch was indeed delicious.

He is a very quiet and loyal character, with a neither high nor low status in the clan. If you say it is high, he is alone, childless, and has no say in the clan. If you say it is low, he is appointed to be Lu Mu's protector, and not every elder can do such a thing... Although it is unclear whether his loyalty is to the clan or the clan leader himself.

But he always did things cautiously.

"Young Master, you didn't ask me to come here just to say this, right?"

Lu Renyou looked at the altar of flesh and blood and frowned.

"What do you know about this formation?"

Lu Renyou's eyes tightened, and a strong aura instantly covered the entire underground palace. After a long while, he said, "Young Master, please forgive my shallow cultivation. I am not very experienced in drawing formations, but if I were to make a bold guess... this is the Ten Thousand Spirits Qi-stealing Formation."

"I've never heard of it. What's the origin of this?"

Lu Mu heard some unfamiliar words. This formation might not appear in the original plot.

"It's normal that you haven't heard of it, because this formation should have been lost... I wonder if you have heard of the Great Xia Dynasty?"

"Yes, there were five dynasties in the Central Region, but Daxia was swallowed up by the Immortal Phoenix Dynasty four thousand years ago and was destroyed. Do you mean that this formation is related to the Daxia Dynasty?"

A flash of lightning suddenly lit up in Lu Mu's mind.