Chapter 187: Second Life Flame, Activate!
Xu Qing inhaled sharply, and his eyes went wide with shock.
That psycho!!
Back again was the same Captain with bloodshot eyes that had rushed to get Joine’s flesh. A loud crunching sound echoed out as the wild-eyed Captain took a big bite of the statue’s toe.
Now, an obvious bite mark was visible on the statue. The material of the statue was inherently something difficult to damage, but by tapping into the godliness of Joine’s flesh, the Captain managed to bite a chunk out of it. Before the statue could repair itself, the Captain had already swallowed the chunk he bit off.
The surrounding injured Seazombie cultivators were dumbfounded by this shocking twist, and began getting to their feet. The cultivators on the columns also opened their eyes in astonishment and looked at the Captain. At the same time, a terrifying Gold Core aura erupted from the hand by the statue’s chest, as the boy there opened his eyes and looked down suspiciously. His eyes came to rest on Xu Qing.
Xu Qing felt himself trembling, and his heart pounding.
Then the Gold Core boy looked at the Captain, who shivered and started backing away. Then the boy ignored the Captain and shifted his gaze to the statue’s toe. He instantly noticed the bite mark, and the missing chunk of the statue. Though the statue was already repairing itself, the bite mark was clearly visible.
“It’s been a long time since outsiders infiltrated this place,” the Gold Core boy said coolly. “Interesting. How would the two of you like to die?”
It seemed that, to him, two Foundation Establishment thieves weren’t anything to worry about. He hardly seemed to even care that they were here, and would probably forget about them immediately upon killing them. Gold Core pressure spread out, causing a rumble like thunder to fill the grotto with apocalyptic pressure. As he got to his feet, his calm face suddenly flickered dramatically as he turned his head to the side to look at the statue.
Inside the statue, an unstable current was flowing rapidly past him toward the head of the statue. Even as he had spoken a moment ago, it began to gather by the statue’s nose, where it started trying to batter its way out of the statue.
Then a massive boom filled the entire grotto as the statue’s nose exploded!
The explosion was so loud that the entire grotto shook violently, and the sound was even audible outside. And the force of the explosion was so intense that... the nose cracked in two and fell off the statue.
The Gold Core boy was so close to the explosion that he was sent spinning off to the side, coughing up blood like mad until he slammed into the wall.
Many of the Seazombie cultivators below were hit by the shockwave. Blood sprayed out of their mouths, and expressions of utter shock and disbelief covered their faces as they looked at the spot on the statue where the nose used to be.
Then, rage filled every single Seazombie’s eyes, a killing intent so intense it caused winds to whip around the grotto.
Finally, an enraged roar filled the grotto, coming from the Gold Core boy who was currently embedded in the wall, blood oozing out of his mouth.
“WHAT DID YOU DO???”
His roar was like heavenly thunder, shaking everything. All eyes in the grotto were now fixed on the Captain. Killing intent roiled!
Truth be told, the bite the Captain had taken out of the statue wasn’t a very big deal. But for the statue’s nose to explode was a different story. The two things were poles apart. Furthermore, everyone present realized that this event couldn’t have just happened randomly. There had to be a cause behind this effect. Obviously, this person disguised as Third Princess had taken a bite out of the statue’s toe, and then the statue’s nose exploded. The two had to be connected!
The Captain was stupefied. Considering the Seazombies believed he was behind the explosion, it was no surprise that he also suspected that it had something to do with his actions.
But I was too far away from the nose, wasn’t I...?
As the Captain stood there panting, and the Gold Core cultivator roared in rage, Xu Qing quickly ran over, threw one of the chunks of the destroyed nose into his bag of holding, and then dashed for the exit.
Up to this point, no one was paying attention to him. All of the Seazombies’ rage was directed at the Captain.
Continuing to roar angrily, the Gold Core boy shot toward the Captain. And though he couldn’t personally do anything about Xu Qing, he wasn’t just going to let him escape.
“Kill the other one!” he shouted.
Meanwhile, the Captain quickly grabbed the other chunk of the nose, then released numerous seals within himself, causing him to rise from two life flames to three. Fire erupted around him, along with a raging godliness, as he fled.
He was fast, but the Gold Core boy was faster. A boom erupted out, and blood sprayed out of the Captain’s mouth. However, that was when he tapped into a secret magic to flee again.
The Gold Core boy’s eyes were bloodshot with madness. The fact that something like this happened when he was on watch was a complete humiliation, and his killing intent toward the Captain raged without limit. It had been years since something as vile as this happened to the Seazombies. If the culprit was some incredibly powerful expert, it might not have been a big deal, but instead, it was a Foundation Establishment cultivator. And what caused the Gold Core boy to tremble with absolute fury was that... though the zombie ancestor’s toe had recovered, the nose was not doing the same thing.
Impossible! Even after an explosion like that, it should still repair itself!
The Gold Core boy’s heart shook uncontrollably. After all, when it came to the zombie ancestor statues, repairable damage and non-repairable damage were two vastly different things. If the damage could be repaired, the event would be considered vile, but as long as the culprit could be killed as an example, then overall, it wouldn’t matter a lot. At the most, it would result in tightened security on the grottoes. But if the damage couldn’t be repaired....
The Gold Core boy didn’t dare to think about that. It didn’t even seem possible. From ancient times until now, the Seazombies’ divine likenesses had been damaged, even by explosion, but they always repaired themselves within a few breaths’ worth of time.
Sometimes when the damage was extensive, it took the time it takes an incense stick to burn.
It’s not possible!
Taking a breath, the Gold Core boy again looked at the statue, only to realize that the nose still wasn’t growing back. The rage in his heart built as he continued to pursue the Captain. He absolutely had to capture the culprit, otherwise, the consequences for permanent damage to the statue would be absolutely terrifying.
Because of the unique material the statues were made from, if this statue didn’t repair itself, it meant it would forever be lacking a nose. If that happened, then for years to come, any Seazombies who came to the seventh zombie ancestor statue would be forced to relive an outright humiliation!
What was more, if someone possessed the power to actually destroy the divine likenesses, then it meant... they possessed the ability to wipe the Seazombies out of existence! It was something that was even more important than the war with Seven Blood Eyes. And thus, the Gold Core boy was devolving into mad fury.
At the same time, Xu Qing was anxiously trying to make his escape. Thankfully, the Gold Core boy wasn’t after him; all of the Seazombies chasing him were in the Foundation Establishment level. Even still, he was feeling the pressure, as his pursuers, more than twenty of them, were in the profound radiance state. Most had two life flames, but there was one with three!
It was an old man, and the power of his three life flames weighed heavily on Xu Qing. Terrifying fluctuations rolled out from him in all directions. Normally speaking, if someone with three life flames pursued someone with two life flames, the chase would end in a matter of moments. But Xu Qing’s fleshly body power combined with the power of his life lamp ensured that not even a three-flame cultivator could catch him easily. That said, the distance was closing.
If he caught up, and was joined by all the other Foundation Establishment cultivators, Xu Qing knew he would be in trouble. Besides, given the fluctuations of the conflict, it was likely Seazombies from the outside would get involved.
And it wasn’t impossible for another Gold Core cultivator to show up.
The mere thought of that happening caused Xu Qing’s hair to stand on end. All of a sudden, he realized that he and the Captain had done something very big here.
Because of the nature of this dimensional grotto, he couldn’t use an entropic teleportation talisman. In order to teleport away, he had to go outside.
I have to open some dharma apertures! Eyes bloodshot as he fled madly, he decided that his only option was to try to get a second life flame as quickly as possible.
With a second life flame in combination with his life lamp, he would have power equivalent to three life flames. Add in the fleshly body strength from Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits, then he was confident he could defeat a three-flame cultivator. In fact, if he reached that point, he was sure that he could break through the known limitations of Foundation Establishment and wield the power of four flames, enabling him to fight people in a higher realm.
With such thoughts on his mind, he reached out to the blood elixir in his dantian region and sent it toward his 50th dharma aperture.
A tremor passed through him as his 50th aperture opened!
His dharma force increased, and of course, he sped up. But he wasn’t done yet. Thunderous rumblings filled him, sending out shockwaves that caused those pursuing him to reel in astonishment.
Dharma force erupted as his 51st, 52nd, and 53rd dharma apertures burst open. Yet he still wasn’t finished. Thanks to all the blood elixir he had absorbed, in the blink of an eye, he opened his 54th and 55th dharma apertures!
The process was happening without pause; with every breath of time that passed, he opened another dharma aperture! After seven breaths of time had passed, he had opened his 56th aperture!
The eighth breath of time arrived, and he opened his 57th dharma aperture. Dharma force rumbled within him, and his life flame burned more vigorously. His energy was like a tempest that caused some of the pursuing Seazombies’ faces to fall.
That was especially true of the three-flame Seazombie, whose heart was beating with anxiety as he tried to catch up. He could tell that the cultivator he was pursuing was opening dharma apertures at a terrifying rate, and so, he gritted his teeth and accelerated.
“Time to die!” he shouted.
In that moment of deadly crisis, Xu Qing’s eyes were bloodshot as he relied on the toughness of his fleshly body power to sustain him as he pushed the blood elixir to its limits.
“Open, open, OPEN!!”
Shocking rumbling echoed out as his 58th, 59th, and 60th dharma apertures all opened!
In fact, he battered at them with such force that he opened all the way to his 65th dharma aperture!
“Life flame!”
His eyes were bloodshot and he was trembling from head to toe as his 31st through 60th dharma apertures connected with countless threads, converging together and causing flames to erupt around him.
His second life flame was illuminating heavenly palaces!