Chapter 1012: Purifying a Forbidden Ground
Thoughts of former days filled Xu Qing’s mind, until the images blurred together like spilled ink.
The ink covered everything, eventually turning into the tree with Li Zimei’s distorted face on it. It was very clear. Thus, the fiendish will was incredibly prominent.
The scene in front of him, plus that letter from Li Zimei, caused a cold light to appear in Xu Qing’s eyes as he turned to look in the direction of the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society. He could see what was going on. Because Li Zimei had begun cultivating a special technique, her soul had developed problems.
Some sort of baleful energy had invaded it, inflicting severe damage. That invasion hadn’t happened overnight. In all likelihood, it began with that ceremony of enlightenment she had mentioned.
Because of the pain inflicted during that invasion, Li Zimei’s personality had become distorted, and her mind had changed. She had once been weak, but the pain she had gone through turned her into an increasingly insane killer. Eventually, Li Zimei’s soul was completely fractured to the point where it didn’t even exist. Perhaps that meant that the ceremony had succeeded. When she returned, she wasn’t Li Zimei anymore. Instead, she was a freakish and monstrous killer.
Yet, clearly, something unexpected happened that caused Li Zimei to flee, leading her into a state of conflict with the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society.
Presumably that’s why the classified report mentioned the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society saying she was bedeviled.
The coldness in Xu Qing’s eyes deepened. He could see now that the supposed fiendish will was actually a soul! And it was a very ancient and cruel soul.
The supposed ‘invasion’ was actually a remolding. A possession. Li Zimei had been changed into an embryonic form to be taken over by that ancient soul. And that was why Li Zimei was stuck in a huge tree in the very middle of the Spiritsound forbidden ground.... It was because her transformed, embryonic state was perfectly suitable to be used by the lord of this forbidden ground.
Parasitizing this body would be the perfect way to get out of the forbidden ground... Xu Qing thought.
As for whether or not this was a coincidence... Xu Qing didn’t bother trying to figure it out. The Swordsage Court in Emperor-Receiving Prefecture would have plenty of time to run an investigation later.
Qing Qiu was also stuck in the same tree. She was completely surrounded by the tree, and the blood-red light she emitted had become nutrients that Lord Spiritsound was using as part of the parasitization process.
All of this was actually a natural rule that governed the cultivation of all living things. The weak were the prey of the strong.
Floating Fiend had followed that rule, as did the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society. And it was the same with Lord Spiritsound.
Regardless of what fate had in store for the weak, they would experience similar things.
Given Xu Qing’s current level of strength, he couldn’t do anything to change the natural rules that governed the cultivation of all living things. But what he could do was prevent things like that from happening to the people close to him.
Therefore, he started walking into the depths of the Spiritsound forbidden ground. Every step he took caused the forbidden ground to tremble. The mutagen here could invade countless creatures, but it couldn’t affect Xu Qing at all. That was because Xu Qing also emanated the aura of a god, which meant he had his own personal mutagen. And it spread around him in all directions.
The two types of mutagen clashed invisibly, causing the forbidden ground to lurch about. Trees swayed and mountains rumbled. The sound quickly grew louder.
As the sound spread out, Xu Qing took control of it. It became part of his god perception. It became a tool that he sent speeding from all parts of the forbidden ground toward the tree in the middle. It was a deadly sound, like a shocking tempest. Previously intangible sound waves suddenly took shape, bearing down on the huge tree with mountain-toppling, sea-draining force.
Li Zimei’s head suddenly tilted up, and with a twisted facial expression, she opened her mouth and unleashed the most piercing scream imaginable. It was a sharp sound that could flay metal and shatter rock. Heaven and earth trembled, and everything in the area shook.
The sound in the forbidden ground that Xu Qing had taken control of immediately showed signs of breaking away from him.
This was the Spiritsound forbidden ground, and to some extent, that very name, Spiritsound, represented the power of the lord of this place. Although it wasn’t on the level of a god, as the lord of a forbidden ground, he had an amazing status, and obviously had the strength to fight back violently. As the piercing cry spread out, it shook Xu Qing’s control, and also bore down on him with deadly force.
Xu Qing’s expression remained the same as before as he lifted his right hand and slowly closed his fingers into a fist. It was as if he were crushing the void, and taking away everything there. In an instant, his shaken sound authority became as majestic as a mountain. Not even winds from heaven could shake it.
There was more than that. The scream from Li Zimei’s mouth, which had become raw killing intent, was also crushed by Xu Qing.
It was sound seizing! Heaven and earth went quiet!
Next, Xu Qing extended his hand and waved it at the forbidden ground. In an instant, the power of sound authority was fully unleashed.
Countless sounds shattered the silence. It was like the sunrise breaking the dark of night. The entire Spiritsound forbidden ground exploded with sound.
The sound of rushing water from shattered rivers. The sound of leaves falling from exploded evil trees. The sound of howling animals throughout the forbidden ground. Everything became a deadly attack. Rumbling rose high into the heavens. Innumerable trees shattered. Countless mutant beasts screamed as they died.
From high above, it was possible to see the power of the destruction, starting from the borders of the forbidden ground. It spread ferociously, like a huge hand covering everything. As it shot toward the huge tree in the center, nothing could block it. Everything in its path was crushed.
Then it slammed into the tree itself! The tree vibrated. And then, unable to stand up to the force, it collapsed into pieces!
Wood shavings and dust billowed out as Li Zimei and Qing Qiu were revealed. However, they did not fall down as the tree collapsed. Instead, they floated there in midair in a very gruish manner. It was almost as if some mysterious power were controlling them.
Behind the two women, amidst the haze of dust, emerged a three-inch-tall wooden marionette. The marionette was in bad shape, and hanging from his neck was a broken flute. One of his eyes was missing, while the other eye was wide with confusion. From the look of it, his mind was in a state of complete chaos. And yet, he pulsed with clear fluctuations of godliness.
The moment the marionette appeared, the devastated forbidden ground once again surged with life force. The mangled mutant beasts and grues all involuntarily prostrated to the marionette.
And yet, the marionette wasn’t paying attention to the forbidden ground. He was completely focused on Xu Qing. Then, the chaos in his eye rippled, as if he was struggling to force himself into a state of lucidity.
“Leave!” he shouted.
Xu Qing ignored him and kept walking forward.
Upon seeing that, the marionette’s eye became more chaotic and insane. Taking control of Li Zimei, he sent her flying toward Xu Qing.
Powerful killing intent surged out of Li Zimei as she closed in. A freezing wind sprang up in the area, altering perceptions and distorting any line of sight. It was a will domain of killing.
Qing Qiu’s eyes opened, and they were blank with confusion, as if she had just woken from a deep sleep. A blood-colored light suddenly erupted from her, turning everything around her into a hell of blood. Gruish laughter erupted from her mouth.
“Heh heh heh.” That laughter contained a horrifying will. As it echoed out, Qing Qiu’s blank eyes turned to look at Xu Qing. “You... seem really familiar....”
Even as she spoke, the blood from the mutant beasts that had died in the area swirled toward her.
Xu Qing looked closely at Qing Qiu. He was well aware that the strange phenomenon manifesting with Li Zimei and Qing Qiu was called a will domain.
Li Zimei’s will domain focused on slaughter.
And Qing Qiu used the Supreme Arbiter Blood Will Domain! Years ago, his Eldest Brother had explained that the latter was a taboo secret magic from the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society. Even achieving minor success with it was very difficult. Supposedly, someone who succeeded in gaining enlightenment of the Blood Will Domain would develop two or more personalities! Each personality would result in one’s view of the world losing some of its color. After reaching ten personalities, the only thing left would be the color of blood, which was considered the level of ultimate success! However, throughout the history of the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society, no one had ever reached the level of ten personalities. All of them died violently before reaching that point. [1]
Back in the era of Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity, the Sword Division studied will domains, all in the hopes of identifying ways of subjugating gods.... But in the end, such efforts failed.
Xu Qing also thought back to the cultivation advice the Heir Apparent had given him years ago in the Moonrite Region.[2]
As Li Zimei and Qing Qiu attacked him, Xu Qing didn’t pause for a moment. He kept walking forward, all while gathering essence power in his right eye, causing a dao lineament to appear! The arrival of that lineament caused the cosmos to shiver. It was the authority of erasure!
Using the authority in that eye, Xu Qing looked again at Li Zimei and Qing Qiu. Immediately, the countless threads connecting them to the marionette were visible to him. And if he could see them, he could erase them.
Xu Qing closed his right eye, and that motion was like an act of cutting. Instantly, Li Zimei and Qing Qiu lurched to a halt and stood in place, trembling.
There were no more invisible threads connected to them. Xu Qing’s act of closing his eye had severed all of them. The two women opened their eyes, only to close them again and fall to the ground, where they lay unmoving. The will domains they had summoned quickly dissipated.
At the same time, a miserable shriek rang out from the mouth of the marionette whose strings had been severed. The marionette shivered, and then shot toward Xu Qing, bursting with madness and hatred. He shrieked, and it turned into a semi-transparent spear of sound waves that sped viciously toward Xu Qing’s heart!
Xu Qing didn’t do anything to evade the spear. When it touched him, it was as if it had slammed into an immovable mountain. The spear shattered. It was destroyed in an instant.
The backlash affected the marionette. And thus, Lord Spiritsound was sent tumbling backward, cracks spreading out over him. Then the instinctive fear of death that all living things took over. Despite the chaos in his mind, the marionette turned and fled at top speed.
He was too slow.
Xu Qing took a step forward, and a great sun took shape in his sea of consciousness. Outside of him, brilliant light and endless heat erupted as he became a magnificent sun. And he rose over the Spiritsound forbidden ground!
At the moment, evening was giving way to the darkness of night. But all of a sudden... night reversed, and the dome of heaven grew bright! The pitch black forbidden ground was inundated with beams of light, causing the mutagen-filled river to suddenly seem clear and distinct.
All living things were being purified!
1. The Supreme Arbiter Blood Will Domain was explained inchapter 336 . Incidentally, when I originally translated that chapter, I misinterpreted how the technique works. I originally mistakenly said that the color of the user’s eyes changed, when in reality the true meaning was that their view of the world changed color. I’ve since gone back to change that so it conforms with the correct interpretation, which is the same explanation reiterated here in 1012. ☜
2. The Heir Apparent talked to Xu Qing about will domains inchapter 660 . Li Zimei and Qing Qiu were mentioned in that chapter as well. ☜