So-called Friends of the Ruler

In the inner layer of the "Thousand Lakes Wasteland", a very bloody and primitive altar was built on a flat area in the southeast corner.

The altar was made of flesh and blood, with pale bones stacked upwards in a crisscross pattern. The top layer consisted of the skulls of various creatures, all laid together to form a pedestal of flesh and bones.

On the pedestal sits a very exquisite shrine.

The shrine was covered with a layer of black and red silk cloth.

The black and red silk cloth was very transparent, but there was also a layer of blood-red spiritual light on the surface of the cloth, which made it impossible to see what was sitting inside the shrine.

At this moment, the entire altar of flesh and bones was constantly emitting blood-red light and pale, illusory light.

Two distinct yet intertwined illusory lights rose like smoke along the flesh and bone pedestal, converging beneath the shrine and soaking into the black and red silk cloth.

Aoi Niu Er stood directly in front of the shrine, directing his "foot soldiers" to skin and bone the creatures they had hunted, continuously adding food to the blood and bone pedestal.

Once the foot soldiers have finished dealing with all the creatures they hunted today.

Cangjing Niu Er then led his men to respectfully kowtow before the shrine.

Only then is the ritual of worshipping the gods considered complete.

At this point, the flesh and bones on the pedestal had turned to mud and the bones had decayed, becoming nothing more than worthless mud and firewood.

Aoi Niu Er removed the shrine covered with black and red silk cloth from the pedestal, which immediately turned to ashes and was blown away by the wind.

Cangjing Niu Er briefly sensed the blood essence he had absorbed from the shrine and nodded in satisfaction.

He was secretly planning that after returning from this hunt, he would ask someone to pull some strings and see if he could upgrade his shrine to the next level.

The barbarian rituals for worshipping and summoning gods are divided into two major schools.

One type is called "health shrine," which means using oneself as a shrine to nurture the "god" within one's own body.

Normally, it nourishes itself with its own flesh and blood, and when it invokes the gods, it uses its own essence and blood as a means of communication.

The "gods" raised by this school of worshipping and summoning gods level up quickly and are very powerful, making them the preferred choice for most "god summoners" among the barbarians.

Ozawa Masashi is following this path.

The second is "inviting the shrine," which is the kind that Aoi Niu Er is holding in his hand now.

This type involves enshrining the deity in a specially made "shrine," without consuming one's own essence and blood. However, the "deity" raised in this way is less powerful and less agile to command than the "shrine deity."

Furthermore, in order to upgrade a god, you must first upgrade the "shrine". Only after the shrine is upgraded can the god be enshrined and placed in a higher position.

Because this method of cultivating the spirit is troublesome and its power is weak, it is despised by many barbarians who believe that only cowardly barbarians who are afraid of pain would choose this way of worshipping and summoning the spirit.

However, as time went on, more and more people chose the "inviting the shrine" school of thought.

After all, "inviting the shrine" does not harm oneself, and although it looks bad, it can last longer.

For this reason, the "Invoking the Shrine" school has produced many powerful "Summoning Masters" in recent years, and it is beginning to rival the "Nourishing the Body Shrine" school.

As Aoi Niu Er was contemplating something good, his heart suddenly pounded wildly, and the shrine in his hand flew up and trembled violently towards the north.

In the blink of an eye, a cloud of dark red blood energy flew towards Cangjing Niu Er with a clear objective.

That dark red aura of blood was familiar; it was clearly the household deity of Ozawa Masashi, a familiar face!

Aoi Niu Er's eyes darted around, and he exclaimed urgently, "Ma Li-kun! What's wrong with you?"

The black and red blood energy surged to within a few feet of Cangjing Niu Er before stopping.

Amidst the swirling smoke, another illusory figure of a "household deity" materialized.

However, at this moment, the four-faced, eight-eyed face on the phantom of the "household god" had disappeared, and it had turned into the appearance of Ozawa Masashi.

"Niu Erjun! I've been tricked! Quickly help me set up an altar to reshape my body!"

Ozawa Masashi's illusory face twisted in panic as he cried out.

"Ah! Who could possibly have tricked you? Is there a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator here?!"

Niu Er's expression hardened, and he hurriedly pressed for an answer.

"It's not Foundation Establishment, it's some Qi Refining puppy who used underhanded tactics to ambush me! Niu Erjun, we can talk about that later, hurry up and help me set up the altar to shape my body!"

Niu Er nodded in agreement, instructing his foot soldiers to prepare to lift the altar, while also asking with concern, "Ma Li-kun, did you escape alone? What about your family's samurai?"

Seeing that Aoi Niu Er had begun to remove the jar, Ozawa Masashi's anxious expression subsided slightly, and he replied, "They're all dead..."

Before Ozawa Masashi could finish speaking, Aoi Niu Er's face suddenly turned cold, and the shrine he was holding suddenly emitted a burst of bloody light, shooting a beam of bloody light towards him!

"Niu Erjun! What are you doing?!"

Ozawa Masashi screamed in horror!

His illusory "household spirit" was enveloped by the bloody light from Cangjing Niu Er, and he was immediately unable to move.

As Aoi Niu-erh exerted his power on the shrine, Ozawa Mali was gradually pulled into the shrine!

"What are you doing? Mr. Ma Li, since you've come to me like this, please help me out!"

Unable to move or speak, Ozawa Masashi was helplessly dragged into the shrine covered by a black and red silk cloth by the bloody light.

After putting Ozawa Masashi into the shrine, Aoi Niu-er felt extremely pleased.

This is truly a windfall.

With the "Ozawa family gods" as provisions, the gods he raised were well-established.

After this return, the shrine was replaced.

He broke through to the second tier, and his strength ranked among the top in this family academy. He no longer needed to be on brotherhood with these students in the late first tier, and he could enjoy more resources and rights!

As for whether someone will report it?

These "foot soldiers" under his command were all his servants, of very low status. Even if they were to report him, who would believe them?

Besides, with so many members in the Ozawa family, who is Ozawa Mali? Why would the Ozawa family mobilize their elders to investigate?

Once someone dies, they're gone. The "Thousand Lakes Wasteland" is so vast that Xiaoze, along with his "household deity," was swallowed up by his shrine, meaning he's completely gone.

Unless the Ozawa family summons a third-tier shikigami, they definitely won't be able to find out the problem.

After the shrine in Aoi Niu Er's hands swallowed Ozawa Mali, a layer of red rouge-like ointment seeped out from the black and red silk cloth on the shrine.

The ointment churned repeatedly on the shrine, then flowed into Aoi Niu Er's body through his hand, pushing his breath away considerably.

Aoi Niu Er calmed the surging bloodlust within him and kicked the "foot soldier" who was actually preparing materials to build the altar.

Aoi Niu Er then ordered everyone to quickly pack up and set off immediately in the direction Ozawa Masashi had fled from.

Before coming to "Thousand Lakes Wasteland", Aoi Niu Er did his homework and knew that there were no powerful forces here.

If someone at the Qi Refining stage crippled Ozawa Mali, how could he possibly be in good shape? He would definitely have used up all his trump cards, and even if he didn't die, he would be crippled.

Isn't this a gift delivered right to our doorstep?

As the saying goes, if you don't take what Heaven gives you, you'll suffer the consequences. It's just as well that Cangjing Niu Er is destined to make a fortune!