Apocalypse: I Can See the HP Bar, Killing Monsters Drops Loot
Chapter 1327 - 548: The Second Summoning Altar_2

Chapter 1327: Chapter 548: The Second Summoning Altar_2

After a while, the Golden Eagle began to slow down; they were nearing the location Shen Cuishan had suspected to be the Summoning Altar.

Shen Cuishan had only given a rough idea of the place. To find the exact location, Wang Tao would still have to search carefully, as there were no street numbers to guide him now.

However, once Wang Tao arrived in the area, it didn’t take long for him to find a clue—he spotted a group of survivors.

There were over fifty people in this group, most of whom were ordinary folks wearing thick clothes and exhibiting robust physiques, and leading them were six fourth-order Awakeners.

This combination was strange, as ordinary people in such an environment were signing their own death warrant, unless they were under the protection of powerful Awakeners. But for Awakeners to go to great lengths to protect a bunch of useless ordinary people in this godforsaken place... it was obviously unreasonable.

Wang Tao had reason to believe that these people were here to "enhance their strength," and those ordinary people were likely the sacrifices for the six Awakeners.

So, Wang Tao stealthily followed them from above.

The wind and snow were heavy in the sky, and the Golden Eagle was quite far away; it was clear that the group could not detect them.

The group dawdled for a while, and upon reaching the foot of a mountain, they began to disappear one by one. On closer inspection, Wang Tao noticed that they all entered a very concealed cave.

"That’s the place!"

Shen Cuishan had told him before that the place to enhance one’s strength was inside a cave. It must be here.

"Go have fun by yourself, I’ll call you if I need anything."

Wang Tao left some nutrient solution for the Golden Eagle, then pocketed the two little ferrets, and holding Jiang Shixue in one arm and Lightning in the other, he leaped down from the Golden Eagle’s back.

Wang Tao was very cautious about the Summoning Altar; if there were creatures above level six, the large size of the Golden Eagle might startle them. Therefore, it was better to keep a low profile and just jump down from the air.

As he was about to land, two huge wings suddenly spread out from Wang Tao’s back, slowing his descent sharply, and then he gently touched down on the ground.

Since acquiring the Dark Blood Great Wing, Wang Tao hadn’t really used it in combat yet, but there was no denying that the feeling of flying was indeed exhilarating.

Whoosh—

Wang Tao released Jiang Shixue and Lightning and retracted his wings, as the two little ferrets poked their heads out of Wang Tao’s pockets.

"Let’s go, let’s head over."

Wang Tao quickly walked a few steps and then saw a very secluded cave.

The entrance of the cave was blocked by many stones, which were covered with snow, making it invisible from above or from the front. It could only be discovered from a specific angle.

"Pretty well hidden..."

At the cave entrance, Wang Tao carefully probed with his spiritual power but did not discover anything amiss, no Summoning Altar, and no humans.

"The inside of the cave seems quite spacious..."

Wang Tao did not hesitate and went straight in.

After entering the cave, one could feel a significant rise in temperature, but there was no light nor torches inside—it was pitch black. However, for Wang Tao and his companions who all possessed Night Vision Ability, this posed no issue.

After examining the messy footprints on the ground, Wang Tao immediately followed them.

Before long, Wang Tao saw some light ahead, torches on the walls.

At the same time, Wang Tao vaguely sensed a very special, mysterious aura.

"Be careful, we’re almost there..."

Moments later, their field of view suddenly widened.

A spacious hall appeared before them, with thin torches hung high on the walls, the shadows of a group of people flickering in the firelight.

"There’s quite a crowd!"

Wang Tao estimated there were over a hundred people, most of whom were ordinary people with no combat ability. Half of these ordinary people were the ones who had just been brought here, still dressed in thick clothes and tightly bundled up. The other half were exposed, their faces showing an excited expression.

Other than these ordinary people in the middle, there were 12 fourth-order Awakeners around the perimeter.

All of these Awakeners were fully armed and masked, not showing their true faces.

However, their disguises could not fool Wang Tao’s spiritual power detection; Wang Tao randomly picked a well-endowed Awakener, checked with spiritual power, and unexpectedly discovered it was an acquaintance.

"Shen Cuishan? She’s here again... She really isn’t afraid of death."

Wang Tao shook his head but did not go to greet her. He and Jiang Shixue hid together in the shadows.

The hall was large, there were few torches, and thus ample shadowy areas. This also added to the mysteriousness of the place...

"Brother, is there a Summoning Altar here?"

Jiang Shixue communicated with Wang Tao using her spiritual power.

"There should be, I’ve sensed a mysterious aura, which is very similar to the Summoning Altar I have in my hand..."

Wang Tao explained.

The thing about the Summoning Altar was that when it was placed, Wang Tao couldn’t see the specific information. So Wang Tao couldn’t directly see it; he could only judge through experience.

However, what made Wang Tao curious was, hadn’t it been said that the sacrifice to increase strength could only elevate one person at a time, and the others had to queue? Why were there now 12 Awakeners inside, could they all be enhanced at the same time?

...

"You all are too slow!"

In the crowd, a skinny Awakener spoke, his voice was extremely hoarse, sounding like scraping glass, unbearably irritating. However, Wang Tao could tell that he was deliberately disguising his voice, aiming to hide his real identity.

"It’s easy for you to say, not worrying about your back! With such heavy snow outside and bringing so many people, it’s good enough that we made it here today! Next time you bring people over, let’s see if you still say we’re slow!"

Another person retorted. This person was one of the six Awakeners who had brought the survivors over.

"Heh, it’s not like I haven’t brought them before, and I always arrive ahead of time."

"You only bring a few offerings! You just hoist the offerings and walk off, while we, we brought half of the total offerings! How can you compare?!"

...

The two were quite dissatisfied with each other and started arguing.

The ordinary people were originally keeping their heads down, not daring to join the bickering of the big shots. But hearing the word "offerings," they grew curious.

Offerings? What offerings?

During their journey here, they hadn’t seen anything that looked like offerings. They had barely brought any food, having been told that there was enough food at Silver Serpent Base for them. However, they were also curious. Weren’t they heading to Silver Serpent Base? Why come to this cave then, when inside is a dead end...

"Enough, stop the argument! Do you still want to increase your strength or not? The important thing is to proceed, offer the offerings quickly. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can go home!"

Someone impatiently shouted.

"Hmph!"

The two glared at each other but stopped bickering.

Then the 12 Awakeners turned their excited, agitated gazes towards the group of ordinary people, hardly concealing their excitement. The hearts of the ordinary people skipped a beat; they suddenly had a bad premonition.

"Fire God, please enjoy your offerings... Please grant us strength..."

The 12 Awakeners surrounded the group of ordinary people, pointing at them and mumbling some incomprehensible words.

Even the most naive among the ordinary people could sense that something was amiss. They were frightened and instinctively wanted to leave the place, but suddenly, they felt weak and collapsed on the ground, drained of energy.

"Ha ha ha! Offerings, don’t run, obediently give yourselves to the great Fire God!"

One of the Awakeners laughed maniacally.

Witnessing this scene, Wang Tao was already prepared to take action; having seen it, he was definitely going to stop the sacrifice.

However, Wang Tao halted in his steps because he felt that the Summoning Altar did not seem to have initiated the sacrifice...

"Huh? What’s going on?"

Moments later, seeing that the offerings were still alive and well, the Awakeners grew confused.

"Why is the Fire God not consuming the offerings?"

"Is there something wrong with the steps? They should be correct..."

"What’s happening?"

...

"Wait! It seems like... the count is wrong!"

"That’s impossible, 108 offerings, plus us 12 Believers, wasn’t that what was agreed upon? Could it be that there are fewer offerings? Let me count again..."

"No! It’s not that there are fewer offerings, but there are too many Believers! Besides us 12... there’s someone else here!"

In hiding, Wang Tao raised an eyebrow.

"Eh? The rules of this Summoning Altar seem different from mine..."