The principal city sacrificial ceremony is an event held once every ten years throughout the Yuntian Dynasty.
Within the twelve principal Cities of the Yuntian Dynasty, every family ranked third-rate or higher must choose one direct-line descendant as a sacrificial offering to worship Heaven, begging for the heavens' protection and blessings upon the family and the dynasty.
The method of offering all the sacrificial offerings to Heaven is through a fire sacrifice: all the sacrificial offerings are bound to pillars in the central plaza of the principal city, after which fire spirit cards are used to hurl fireballs at the pillars, burning the people bound to them alive and thereby offering their souls to the heavens.
Ever since this ceremony was established a hundred years ago, the descendants of all the great families have worked even harder on their cultivation to avoid becoming sacrificial offerings. As the strength of the Yuntian Dynasty grew increasingly stable, this cruel ceremony was preserved.
The night was as deep as water, and the silver moon curved like a hook.
Before he realized it, darkness had already fallen. At this moment, Lin Ye still did not know that he had gloriously become the Lin Family's sacrificial offering.
He had already put on the Nightwalker Garb he bought that afternoon and was sitting quietly on the roof of the house. The wood beneath him trembled precariously, giving off faint creaking sounds, as if the roof would develop a hole the instant he moved even slightly.
Lin Ye had been sitting here for an hour, apparently waiting for something.
“Here they come!”
His gaze, sharp as an eagle's, locked onto the black figure slowly approaching from the distance. A bright, icy glint flashed in their eyes.
This was the only route that person could take to reach Liu Yun's residence, so their arrival meant Lin Ye's wait had not been in vain.
When the black figure drew within a hundred meters of Lin Ye, he extended his hand. A silver needle suddenly appeared in his palm. With a flick of his finger, the silver needle shot toward the figure's waist.
“Damn it!” The black figure felt a strange breeze brush past his waist. Lowering his head for a look, however, he found nothing unusual.
Still puzzled, the black figure continued rushing toward his destination and soon disappeared from Lin Ye's sight.
Staring intently at the place where the man's figure had vanished, Lin Ye's lips curled into a meaningful, cold smile.
Lin Ye then nimbly leaped down from the roof and quickly reached the spot where the black figure had passed.
After feeling around on the ground for a while, he finally found the silver needle he had just flicked away. Its tip was stained with a faint pink powder that emitted a subtly intoxicating, dangerously seductive fragrance.
If someone knowledgeable about medicinal herbs had been here, they would certainly have recognized the substance as an aphrodisiac even more terrifying than Mandarin Duck Powder: Heavenly Fragrance Powder.
Mandarin Duck Powder had to be ingested before it could take effect, but merely inhaling the fragrance emitted by Heavenly Fragrance Powder could arouse desire.
The silver needles had been easy enough to buy, but this medicinal powder was a rare item he had only managed to obtain after visiting several Apothecaries that afternoon.
Lin Ye had controlled his strength perfectly. The silver needle had pierced the black figure's clothes without touching his body, leaving just enough Heavenly Fragrance Powder on the man's clothing.
Even such a small amount, without an antidote, could make two people consumed by lust and unable to extricate themselves.
“Looks like there will be a good show tonight.” A smile Lin Ye considered charming appeared on his face.
After speaking, Lin Ye turned and glanced at the shabby room. A trace of resolve flickered in their eyes. Then, as if he had made an important decision, he raised his feet and hurried toward the center of the Lin Family.
After roughly ten minutes, relying on years of experience as an assassin, Lin Ye finally evaded the Lin Family's many patrolling guards and arrived before the Lin Family Treasure Pavilion.
Lin Ye carefully observed the area from the shadows for a long while, finally discovering the pattern of the patrolling guards' movements.
At a certain moment, Lin Ye suddenly sprang from the shadows and, in the blink of an eye, stood before the Treasure Pavilion's main entrance.
As he stood before the door, Lin Ye held a silver needle and gently probed the keyhole embedded in it several times.
“Click!”
As the faint sound of the lock mechanism opening rang out, the main door slowly swung open.
Lin Ye immediately moved, hastily slipping through the gap between the two doors and into the Treasure Pavilion.
“Creak!”
Once inside, he gently pushed the door shut behind him. When the main door closed again, Lin Ye finally let out a slow breath.
Just as Lin Ye entered the Treasure Pavilion, a small squad of guards suddenly came running from outside.
“Second Brother, there’s nothing here! What are you doing, acting so suspicious?”
“Strange. Didn’t you just hear something happening here?” The guard called Second Brother scratched his head, his face filled with confusion.
“What could possibly have happened? You’ve been at the Lin Family for nearly twenty years, haven’t you? Has anything happened here during those twenty years?” the guard captain asked helplessly.
“Then I really must have been overthinking it.” Second Brother awkwardly rubbed his nose.
Inside the Treasure Pavilion, Lin Ye held his breath and listened to the sounds outside. Only after all the footsteps had gradually faded did he slowly let out a breath.
His strength was still far too low. He had been easily detected by the guards outside.
Fortunately, the Lin Family Treasure Pavilion had not experienced any problems in who knew how many years. Otherwise, he might have been in danger today.
After calming himself, Lin Ye finally had the chance to observe everything inside the Treasure Pavilion.
By the light emitted by the surrounding illumination spirit cards, Lin Ye clearly saw rows upon rows of wooden shelves before him. On the shelves sat exquisite white jade Boxes, numbering more than a hundred at a rough glance.
Lin Ye's eyes lit up. His consciousness enveloped all the jade shelves, and every white jade box on them was immediately collected into the spatial ring in his hand.
“Fortunately, the spatial ring was upgraded!” Looking at the white jade Boxes occupying nearly half the spatial ring's space, Lin Ye could not help sighing.
The spatial ring had previously contained only one cubic meter of space, merely one-tenth of its current capacity. If the spatial ring had not been upgraded, Lin Ye could only have drooled over these medicinal herbs without any way to take them away.
“Ding!”
“The System has discovered a Marrow-Washing Flower in the host's spatial ring. Please find a safe place as soon as possible and increase your cultivation!”
Hearing the System's notification, Lin Ye froze slightly. Intense delight appeared in their eyes. “A Marrow-Washing Flower?”
When he went to buy the aphrodisiac that afternoon, he had specifically asked about marrow-washing flowers! However, every apothecary had stated that although marrow-washing flowers were not high-grade, they were extremely rare and in great demand—something one could encounter only by chance.
He had not expected the problem that had troubled him earlier to be resolved so quickly.
Moreover, the System was quite considerate. Knowing that this was not a suitable place to increase his cultivation, it had not made him perform Meridian Cleansing and Marrow Tempering here immediately.
However, remembering the purpose of his visit, Lin Ye carefully searched through the spatial ring. At last, his eyes lit up.
With a thought, a small white jade box appeared in Lin Ye's palm. When he opened the box, a cool, fragrant aura rushed toward his face.
Inside the box lay a medicinal herb, wholly emerald green and crystalline, resembling the finest jade.
Even though he had been mentally prepared, Lin Ye's heart still trembled when he saw the medicinal herb. His eyes grew slightly moist, and a tremendous weight lifted from his heart.
With this medicinal herb, Mu Rou could be saved.