Chapter 472: Don’t Be Scared, Ling’er. I’m Taking You Home
Beneath that evening sky, atop the mountain of flesh, beneath the weight of godly might, Xu Qing stood looking into the sky. When he spotted Ling’er’s soul body, the little white snake in his sea of consciousness sensed it and opened her eyes.
“Coo. Coooo....”
Sensing the call from a soul fragment of the same source, the Ling’er in the sky shivered and looked up.
However, the eighteen dragons made of green mist that glided in the sky emitted powerful flows of destiny aura, creating a power of confinement that cut Ling’er off from the sensation.
When that destiny aura flowed out, the little white snake in Xu Qing’s sea of consciousness suddenly pulsed with longing. Those dragons were formed from the destiny aura of the Ancient Spirits. They were very realistic, down to their lifelike scales. Though the Ancient Spirit species had been cursed by a heavenly dao, they were still the legendary species also known as the Heavenfates, who were a convergence of the destiny aura of all of Revered Ancient. Even to this day, that was still their heavenly fate.
Xu Qing’s eyes glittered fiercely. Considering that it wasn’t possible to summon Ling’er’s soul to him, he leaped off the mountain of flesh to go get her. The dragons formed from green destiny aura howled threateningly. Apparently, all it would take was an order from the Ancient Emperor, and they would lunge forward and devour Xu Qing. Unmoved by the display, Xu Qing flew toward Ling’er’s soul, radiating the power of the violet moon.
The destiny aura dragons stirred, yet had no choice but to back away from him. As they yielded, the force of confinement faded away. Ling’er’s soul body shivered again, and as she again sensed that strong call, Xu Qing appeared in front of her. Without the slightest hesitation, he reached out with his left hand and took her soul.
The moment his hand made contact with her, the black light around her faded away. At the same time, the little white snake in his sea of consciousness flew out of him and shot into the soul body’s forehead.
A tremor passed through Ling’er. Her eyelashes fluttered, and she looked up. The first thing she saw was Xu Qing.
“Big Bro Xu Qing... is this a dream...?” she murmured, looking confused. Her soul body seemed profoundly weak. Clearly, she had been away from her fleshly body for too long.
“Don’t be scared, Ling’er,” Xu Qing said softly. “I’m taking you home.”
Taking her into his arms, he backed away at top speed. At the same time, he crushed the jade slip the old innkeeper had given him.
***
Outside Emperor Ancient Spirit’s major world, in the Wood Spirit territory in Sea-Sealing County, the innkeeper had been anxiously waiting for days at the altar above the Spirit Abyss. When Xu Qing crushed that jade slip, the innkeeper shivered.
His haggard, wrinkled face trembled as the power of hope surged within him. His bloodshot eyes snapped open, and they shone with unprecedented brightness. Without any hesitation, he performed an incantation gesture. A tremor passed through him, and his heart rate increased. As his blood pumped through him, a bloodline sealing power erupted from within him.
The spirit energy of the Wood Spirits streamed out from the altar, and roots from the huge tree in the basin above extended down toward the innkeeper. The innkeeper shivered from head to toe as his blood vessels swelled. Then his forehead split open, and a mass of writhing tentacles snaked out! Blood sprayed off the tentacles, gathering in front of the innkeeper to create a writhing nine-meter-wide sphere of blood in front of him.
“Open!”
The blood sphere started rotating faster and faster, locking onto the location of the jade slip. Then a tiny crevice opened up! It was a link to the spot where the jade slip had been crushed!
As a boundless death energy erupted from the crevice, the innkeeper excitedly looked inside. The first thing he saw was Xu Qing carrying Ling’er in his arms!
The crevice was unstable, and would only stay open a short time before it closed.
On the other side of the crevice, where Xu Qing was, the dome of heaven trembled as Emperor Ancient Spirit prepared to open his eye.
Atop the mountain of flesh, Xu Qing’s expression flickered. He could sense that a terrifying godly might was about to emerge, something that surpassed everything from before. Everything around him blurred and distorted as destructive power from Emperor Ancient Spirit built up. Fluctuations of awakening rolled out over everything. The evil souls and zombies all kowtowed. Xu Qing felt unimaginable pain, but still kept fighting back with the power of the violet moon.
All of that happened in the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint. As Xu Qing trembled, he backed up, getting closer to the crevice the innkeeper had opened. The crevice’s instability seemed to be building, making it clear the entire thing could disappear at any moment.
“Ling’er!!” the innkeeper cried.
There was no time to ponder the situation. Xu Qing immediately put Ling’er’s unconscious soul into the crevice. Then he turned and stood there protectively, making sure that the astonishing might from Emperor Ancient Spirit didn’t affect her. Rumbling sounds echoed out as the ripping, tearing sensations within him grew more intense. Wounds opened up all over him, staining his uniform. Yet he just stood there.
Behind him, the innkeeper’s hands latched onto Ling’er’s soul. He also seemed to be trying to grab Xu Qing, but wasn’t fast enough. He had no choice but to yank his hand back as the crevice snapped shut and collapsed.
***
Xu Qing smiled. It was the first smile to appear on his ashen face since coming into this major world of death. He had known from the beginning that the crevice was too small for him to fit through. He didn’t care. He had succeeded. He had seen Ling’er’s soul away, safe and sound.
And now, the rift in the dome of heaven was fully open!
He saw an inimitably massive yellow eye with a vertical pupil, staring at him.
The endless hordes of zombies and deceased souls all madly howled the same thing.
“Emperor!”
Their voices were deafeningly loud.
They weren’t the only ones. The dragons in the clouds, the snakes in the soil, the terrifying entities in the Underworld River, and the hosts of chariots and troops, were all screaming the same thing.
“Emperor!!”
The eye above seemed completely indifferent to everything. Surrounding the vertical pupil were black flames, and a godly might that filled the major world.
Xu Qing immediately lost control of his injuries, and they exploded with blood. The power of Emperor Ancient Spirit made all injuries vastly worse. It was one of the effects of facing hīm. In the blink of an eye, that strange power would make minor injuries into severe ones. And the ripping sensation compounded upon itself.
It was only possible to imagine how terrifying Emperor Ancient Spirit must have been in his prime. Any enemy who faced him would have had a very difficult time, because even the slightest injury would have quickly become extremely deadly.
As Xu Qing endured that ripping and destruction, chunks of flesh fell off him, yet he still kept the power of the violet moon held aloft. Waves of pain assailed him, and the sensation of his wounds worsening caused him to shiver. But he held firm. He looked up and met the gaze of Emperor Ancient Spirit!
For a moment, boundless information poured into Xu Qing’s mind. A flood. An explosion. They were fragmented pieces of information. They contained cruelty and madness that made Xu Qing feel like his head might explode. And there was a terrifying will that swept through him, shaking his sea of consciousness, crushing down on his soul. The taboo poison power fought back.
His bluegreen dragon howled as it rose from his sixth heavenly palace to resist. When that happened, the incredibly powerful will trembled, as if it recognized the heavenly dao on the bluegreen dragon.
A thunderous divine will then spoke coldly into Xu Qing’s mind.
“You hold the godsource of Crimson Mother. You must have stolen it.”
Xu Qing’s eyes were so bloodshot they started bleeding. As the blood dripped down his chin, he looked up at the massive eye and growled, “So what if I did?”
Violet light exploded from Xu Qing’s hand, and his fourth heavenly palace vibrated violently. The violet moon in the dome of heaven glittered with moonlight, and along its edges... it was turning red.
That redness continued to expand. It seemed like there was something the color of blood behind the violet moon, outside of the world, but slowly enveloping it.
“Either you let me go, or we die together!” Xu Qing said, enunciating each word slowly and clearly.
Xu Qing had absorbed a lot of information by facing off with this huge eye. Though it almost made his head explode, he had learned some things. Gods could devour one another. If that red moon came, then given Emperor Ancient Spirit’s current state, he would definitely be nothing but food. That made Xu Qing confident that his threat would be effective.
He had reached the point where he couldn’t endure any longer. The splitting pain that filled him, and the countless bits of random information filling his mind, caused the world to spin. If it weren’t for the tension created by the violet moon’s summons, he would already have been destroyed in body and soul.
And yet, as the huge eye looked at him with full intensity, Xu Qing steeled himself. “Red moon, red moon....”
As his voice rang out, red spots filled the dome of heaven. They were starting to create a shape. More and more appeared, spreading out, connecting together.
Xu Qing was taking the initiative to summon the red moon! In the past, it happened passively. But this time it was completely different.
The sky was turning red.
The pupil of the huge eye constricted, and something like labored breathing could be heard. Even more terrifying, though, was the emotional shout that followed.
“Screw off!”