Chapter 517 — A Detailed Explanation of the Mechanism of Sacrifice
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
In a world, the energy that composes it is fixed. A person's birth, cultivation, and death do not change the composition of the world's energy. This is the most basic of laws! " Shen Mu fell into thought, then said suddenly, "A person's birth, cultivation, and death do not change the composition of energy. Then what if that person becomes a god or a demon, and grows neither old nor dies?
" "Even becoming a god or a demon does not change the fixed energy of this world; it neither increases the energy of that world nor diminishes it. " The Dutian Demon King said, "A world's energy is constant; only a limited part of it can be altered. When a person crosses from this world into another, the energy of this world is less by the energy of one person, and the energy of that other world is more by the energy of one person.
That breaks the original balance, and he is subjected to a force twice his own. That is why crossing worlds is so hard, and why flesh-and-blood sacrifice is needed.
" Shen Mu suddenly felt the scales fall from his eyes. "So the principle of flesh-and-blood sacrifice is this: the flesh and blood of living beings in this world are offered up and sacrificed into another world, where they become the energy of that world! " The Dutian Demon King nodded. "And the god or demon who is sacrificed, as the exchanged energy, descends from that other world into this one, making up the energy that the flesh-and-blood sacrifice lost, and thereby holding the energy of the two worlds in balance. Take this altar of yours: the energy in the bones upon it was just now sacrificed by you, sacrificed away into my Dutian world. And as an exchange of energy, I have descended into this sinister world of yours.
" Shen Mu's eyes lit up. "So that is how it is. Just now you said that only a limited amount of energy can be altered — what did you mean by that?
" "Flesh-and-blood sacrifice builds a bridge that pierces through both worlds. If my power were great enough, I could smuggle a portion of that power in along the bridge, and not abide by the balance of energy at all. " The Dutian Demon King laughed. "Last time you summoned me, the power sacrificed was very small, while I mustered a very great deal of energy to descend into this world. That amounts to forcing my way in. But to force energy in, I must bear the pressure of two worlds at once, so the power I can squeeze through is still limited — it will soon exceed my limit.
How much power can be smuggled across depends on the strength of the one being sacrificed. " Shen Mu understood, but frowned.
"Yet in the darkness of the Waste, the two worlds overlap and no world barrier exists. How is that to be explained? " The Dutian Demon King laughed with a heh-heh.
"What if the energy forced in should exceed the limit this world can bear? " Shen Mu was deeply shaken. "You mean. . . " "A flesh-and-blood sacrifice on a grand scale, building tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of bridges, with tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of gods and demons smuggling themselves across together, pouring their own energy into that world!
" The Dutian Demon King smiled grimly. "Burst that world's barrier wide open!
Once the world barrier is burst apart and no barrier remains, then they can storm in en masse without the slightest hindrance! " Shen Mu shuddered, broke out in one cold sweat after another, and his face showed disbelief.
"You mean the world in the darkness of the Waste is a world whose world barrier has been burst apart?
" "The one that was burst apart need not be that world in the darkness. " The Dutian Demon King said with a smile, "Do you not think your world, too, might be a world that was burst apart? " Shen Mu shook his head.