Chapter 1071: Pulling Chestnuts Out of the Fire
The crypt was descending into chaos. Countless skeletons on the ground were awake. After scrambling to their feet, they began to hurl themselves at the nearest legacies, authorities, and Grand Emperor treasures. Getting one such reward would be amazing enough. Getting two would be incredible.
Up in midair, the old woman had temporarily been interrupted by the fifth Imperial Sovereign, who was disguised as Lin Kun. As the two of them fought back and forth, magical techniques glittered brightly, and Imperial Sovereign auras flared, sending out terrifying and deadly shockwaves in every direction. Every clash of their different authorities caused ripples in the surrounding natural and magical laws.
Booms rang out constantly. The shockwaves ripped skeletons to shreds. However, there were so many skeletons present that there were always more ready to jump toward the legacies, authorities, and treasures. Those who got close tried to knock them close to the stone door where Xu Qing and Erniu waited.
The old woman proved to be spectacular. As she fought with the fifth Imperial Sovereign, she completely held her own, and even managed to launch quite a few of her own blows. What was more, her absorption efforts hadn’t been completely interrupted. She was still making some headway. The immortal’s corpse was gradually disappearing.
That said, the speed of absorption had been greatly reduced. What was more, with the skeletons hitting all the various legacies, authorities, and treasures, sending them flying toward Xu Qing and Erniu, the entire momentum of the situation had changed. All of this takes a bit of time to describe, but actually happened in the time it takes a spark to fly off a piece of flint.
The previous balance of power had been completely disrupted by the arrival of the old woman and the interference of the fifth Imperial Sovereign. Things were instantly changing in a very dramatic way.
The other parties present reacted grimly. However, some looked thoughtful, while others had cold looks in their eyes. That said... as Imperial Sovereigns all of them were shrewd individuals, so none of them would reveal their true feelings and intentions in their reactions. What was more, it went without saying that all of them had prepared well before coming here. In fact, it would be completely accurate to say that all of them were revealing precisely the reaction they wanted to reveal. Only they knew what was going on inside.
Regardless, the situation had changed in a big way, and the resulting chain reaction was only going to lead to more changes.
A few breaths of time passed, after which the third Imperial Sovereign stepped forth. She was the young woman in palace attire with the octagonal mirror. As she stepped through the stone door and into the crypt, she blurred and disappeared. When she came back into the view, she was behind the old woman. She sent one hand shooting toward a nearby dao lineament of authority, while she used her other hand to shove the old woman. Her action instantly caused the action to ratchet up.
The old woman howled as she was forced to stop absorbing the immortal’s corpse. The moment she did, she suddenly flared with black light that turned into a huge black hole. Wherever it went, it created an impassable obstacle.Both the fifth Imperial Sovereign and the young woman in palace attire were visibly taken aback. Both of them simultaneously shot backward, yet didn’t forget to reach out and grab some good fortune.
Meanwhile, the fourth Imperial Sovereign flew into the crypt. That was the same teenager who had smiled at Xu Qing and Erniu, the one with the silkworm. He moved with astonishing speed as he headed, not toward the old woman, but toward one of the legacy seals.
Next, a cold harrumph echoed out as the scholarly-looking young man seemed to superimpose over himself, then disappear like a bubble popping. When he reappeared... he was right next to a Grand Emperor treasure that looked like a geomantic compass. He reached out to grab it. The moment his hand closed around it, a shadowy form screamed past him.
It was the old Imperial Sovereign, who had clashed earlier with Xu Qing and Erniu. He had also chosen to enter the crypt. However, he had chosen a different strategy than the others. Instead of attacking the old woman or going after a treasure, he flicked his sleeve. Instantly, a tempest of death energy swept out.
The tempest didn’t affect the other Imperial Sovereigns. However, it was fatal to the animated skeletons under the control of Xu Qing and Erniu. In the blink of an eye, rumbling booms rang out. It was like a purification that ripped all of the skeletons it contacted into shreds. He was clearly targeting them. Having accomplished that, the old man laughed coldly and started scrambling to acquire loot.
Xu Qing's eyes glittered coldly, and waves of hatred caused Erniu’s face to distort with rage.
“He knew we wouldn’t dare to go in there, didn’t he?” Erniu said. “Bitch! He’s specifically stopping us from getting any loot. This calls for vengeance! The most ultimate vengeance possible!!”
Erniu’s eyes were flashing with a crazy light. To see so many treasures right in front of him, but be unable to get any of them, was really driving him mad. And then he did something really, really crazy. A blade suddenly appeared in his hand. He lifted it up... and then chopped it toward his own neck. Grabbing his severed head with his free hand, he tossed it to Xu Qing.
As his head flew through the air, it yelled, “Keep this safe for me, little Ah Qing!”
Then, his headless body exploded with a thump. Innumerable blue worms then scattered, pulsing with greed and craziness, as well as a good touch of ferocity, as they shot through the stone door and into the crypt. They moved in the direction of the Grand Emperor treasure that he and Xu Qing had targeted first, the shield.
Xu Qing was not at all surprised by his Eldest Brother’s actions, and cooperated perfectly. In fact, at almost exactly the same time as the host of worms shot forth, the authority of Six Thieves Deceive Life rose within Xu Qing. It turned into a host of threads of the seven emotions and six sensory pleasures, and all of them connected to his Eldest Brother’s head, which he held in his arms. Doing so would help his Eldest Brother to avoid soul damage.
At the same time, Xu Qing lifted his left hand and produced a mask. It was a merciful-looking mask, and in fact, it was the same mask he had acquired in that Immortal Skills Hall years ago. It was named Mercy. The skin mask, when worn, would transfer to the wearer half of the pain of anything they looked at. [1]
Without any hesitation, Xu Qing put the mask on and looked at Erniu.
The crypt was really devolving into intense chaos. The old woman was now a black hole that was getting bigger and bigger. The fifth Imperial Sovereign and the young woman in palace attire were falling back and grabbing legacies on the way. The teenager and the scholar, as well as the old man. All were keeping their guard up against each other, but at the same time, grabbing whatever loot they could. No one showed any sign that they trusted anyone else, and everyone was out for their own self-interest.
And thus, as the blue worms made their way toward the Grand Emperor treasure, they first had to deal with the energy and pressure of numerous Imperial Sovereigns, and then the shock waves of their own fighting. And then they had to face the direct threat of the old man.
As Xu Qing shared the pain of all that, he trembled. Then blood sprayed out of his mouth and dribbled down the mask. Ripping sensations filled his fleshly body, and his soul was overwhelmed with pain. He staggered backward, ultimately reaching out to steady himself by leaning against the wall. He seemed very weak. At the same time, blood oozed out of the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth of Erniu’s head, and his head itself looked like it was starting to decay.
More than half of the worms had already been ripped to shreds. The rest were crumbling in the face of the old man’s tempest.
The cultivation base disparity left Xu Qing and Erniu completely unable to make any significant gains.
However... in just the same way that it’s impossible to tell what someone is thinking by just looking at them, it’s also difficult to tell what’s happening in a chaotic situation just by looking at it. In fact, the reality is that the more chaos there is, the more order there often is. And thus... as the chaos spread, and it seemed various parties were acting in their own interests as they fought for a lot, all of them suddenly turned in place as if they had all been moving into specific positions. Their auras then erupted. It was as if they had been using the chaos as a mere pretext to secretly lock down one specific area. And then, as if acting on part of the plan, they all took action.
The teenager attacked, producing a huge red hammer. The scholar’s killing intent became an ancient book that pulsed with authority as its pages flapped wildly. The old man caused a convergence of death energy that formed a gate of death. When that gate opened, a black hand emerged.
Then there was the fifth Imperial Sovereign and the young woman dressed in palace attire. Both unleashed trump cards.
The moment the attacks were unleashed, the weakened Xu Qing’s eyes glittered. The sense of weakness vanished, and the sageheaven god vine shot out from him and into the crypt, where it circled around the shield-like Grand Emperor treasure. It yanked forcefully.
Inside the crypt, there was one blue worm that was still alive. It suddenly jumped up, splitting apart into hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of smaller versions. And all of them slammed into the shield. It looked as though Erniu had been trying to seize a treasure, but the reality was that all it took was a glance between him and Xu Qing for them to come up with this plan.
If he succeeded by himself, it would have been great. But if not, he could be the helping hand. And thus, Xu Qing made his move. Rumbling booms echoed out.
Meanwhile, the area that all the other Imperial Sovereigns had attacked rippled and distorted. A figure shot out from that spot. It had attempted to avoid the attack, but hadn’t been fast enough. As blood sprayed everywhere, the figure crumbled into pieces as it used a special magic, and paid a high price, to escape death. By the time it reappeared, it was safe on the altar, having teleported there.
It was none other than Patriarch Yun. His face was grim as he realized that his plan had been seen through by the others. What was more, it was obvious that everyone else had already agreed to work together against him. At the same time, he looked over at the stone door where Xu Qing and Erniu were. He saw that the shield-shaped treasure was being battered by the blue worms and also tugged upon by the vine.
But right now, it wasn’t important to pay attention to the Grand Emperor treasures, but rather, the other Imperial Sovereigns. Patriarch Yun looked away from Xu Qing and Erniu.
The others had obviously noticed what Xu Qing and Erniu had been up to. And the other Imperial Sovereigns had noticed both the old man’s frown and Patriarch Yun. Obviously there was something going on between them.
The moment the old woman had appeared, it had been obvious to them all that there was something suspicious about her. In fact, some people had realized from the beginning that she was a reanimated corpse. It was obviously some scheme, and since everyone knew that it was going to be impossible to avoid getting dragged into it, they decided to simply bide their time and launch attacks at a key moment.
“So it’s you,” the fifth Imperial Sovereign said, glaring coldly at Patriarch Yun.
“There’s no point in wasting words,” said the woman in palace attire, killing intent blazing in her eyes. “Kill him!” She took the lead in shooting straight toward Patriarch Yun.
And yet even as everyone shot forth....
A strange expression appeared on Patriarch Yun’s face. As everyone closed in, he lifted his right hand and slapped himself on the forehead. A boom rang out as he killed himself. The moment he died, his fleshly body exploded, sending massive amounts of blood raining down onto the immortal’s corpse. The old woman closed her eyes, whereupon her fleshly body collapsed into ashes.
A wind picked up in the crypt. The wind caused all of the legacies to tremble. All of the dao lineaments of authority vibrated. All of the Grand Emperor treasures seemed like they were about to wake up!
And then the immortal’s corpse, which had just been showered in blood... slowly opened its eyes. A terrifying aura raged out!
1. Xu Qing got the mask of Mercy in chapter 520.1 ☜