Chapter 6082

Night hadn’t even fallen, yet the mountainside was darker than dusk.

Flames, blood, and drifting ash transformed the slope into something that felt ripped straight from the depths of hell.

Everywhere Jared looked, pilgrims lay scattered across shattered stone. Limbs twitched. Voices broke into sobs and desperate prayers that dissolved into raw, guttural screams.

Thin ribbons of crimson light tugged at their chests.

Their blood essence tore free, gathering into narrow streams that shot uphill toward the summit.

Those with little cultivation shriveled within seconds, skin collapsing against bone. Those with deeper reserves dropped to their knees, trembling, clawing at the earth as they tried—and failed—to keep their life force from being ripped away.

Above them, eight towering pillars of blood-red light locked together, forming a massive cage around the entire Sacred Mountain. Between those pillars, energy wove itself into chains. Each link pulsed, tightening the prison as more streams of blood fed into the pattern.