Chapter 689: Just Stronger Than You!
Xu Qing had unlocked the abilities of daybreak light even when he was in Nascent Soul. It could be used to scan countless magics. Thanks to the tips from the Heir Apparent and Princess Brightblossom, Xu Qing had gained enlightenment of how to use it to duplicate myriad magics. Later, when he broke through from Nascent Soul to Spirit Trove, he used it to form countless living beings and terrain features in his secret trove.
As of now, its imitation abilities were even more extraordinary than before. And thus, it glittered around Xu Qing as seven lamps with underworld fire formed, one after another.
The same ghost face ignited! Though it was blurry, and obviously not quite on the same level as the version used by the fourth son, it was still able to give Xu Qing a boost. Rumbling sounds echoed out as his aura climbed. After that happened seven times, he pulsed with mountain-toppling, sea-draining force as he hovered in midair with his eyes closed, looking like a god. Daybreak light glittered around him, all while the seven lamps rotated around him, burning with gruish underworld fire.
That, combined with Xu Qing’s handsome features and long hair, made it so that if you compared him to the Imperial Sovereign’s fourth son... Xu Qing actually seemed more like the son of an Imperial Sovereign. He seemed imbued with a spirit that could conquer mountains and rivers, and it caused the sky to flicker with bright colors, and gale-force winds to whip around him.
When the seven lamps were fully manifested, Xu Qing opened his eyes and looked closely at the Imperial Sovereign’s fourth son.
The first thing he did was completely unleash his taboo poison magic. Mutagen flourished, taboo poison spread, and the curse of a god descended. Those were just primers to make the Seven Lamps Underworld Fire Curse more perfect.
Next, the seven lamps swayed, and projections of the fourth son appeared in their fire!
When the fourth son saw that, his heart pounded, and his eyes filled with incredulity. He felt like his mind was being struck by lightning bolts. There was simply no way he couldn’t be astonished. This was his magical technique, yet it had been copied and was being used by someone else. He had never before encountered someone with powers of understanding like this.
There was no time to contemplate the situation. With a double-handed incantation gesture, he summoned the latticework again, going all out to defend himself while simultaneously falling back. He acted too late.
Xu Qing’s eyes gleamed with killing intent as he extinguished three of the seven lamps.
The fourth son spasmed. Latticework shattered around him, revealing his true body. His hair was withering, he was shaking, and blood sprayed out of his mouth.
Xu Qing unhesitatingly extinguished the four remaining lamps.
The fourth son shrieked miserably, and then coughed up blood seven or eight times in a row as he staggered backward. His aura was gone, and he no longer looked magnificent. His clothing was rotten like a maggot as he slammed into the ground.
Yet he wasn’t dead! After all, this was an Imperial Sovereign’s taboo magic, and not even Xu Qing’s daybreak light could make a perfect copy. The best he could do was make a copy that was about thirty percent faithful. But even thirty percent was enough to make a deadly curse. And the addition of Xu Qing’s own poison made it even more terrifying.
The fourth son was seriously injured in body and soul. As the power of taboo poison spread through him, his flesh decayed, his mind was crushed, and black energy filled him along with an aura of death.
But Xu Qing’s killing move wasn’t finished yet. Now that his opponent had been weakened, Xu Qing’s eyes became colder as he waved his right hand. Instantly, the bluegreen dragon roared and flew up into the air, becoming a white beam of light that took the shape of a heavenly saber. Xu Qing dropped his finger to command the blade, which chopped down toward the fourth son. The dao contained in the saber split the dome of heaven and severed the earth.
The fourth son’s expression flickered dramatically. Xu Qing had attacked with lightning speed, and hadn’t given him any breathing room at all. He was now feeling overwhelmed by a feeling of potential death. At that moment of crisis, the fourth son’s expression turned vicious. Reaching up, he smashed his hand onto his face, and dragged his fingers down viciously, creating five ghastly and bloody wounds.
Blood flowed, but not much. What was more, it was now possible to see through those wounds; his flesh beneath wriggled and twitched, while simultaneously letting off a crimson glow.
This was a time period before the broken face of the god arrived. It was also before Crimson Mother reached gods and spirits. And yet, when the Imperial Sovereign’s fourth son scratched his face, the light that shone out clearly contained the aura of a god. It was the power of red moon authority, manifested as blood-colored light that spread out and created a blood sea around him.
“Die!” the fourth son howled, waving his arm out.
The blood sea churned as innumerable heads rose from the blood, revealing only their eyes. Everything from their noses down was submerged and impossible to see. The eyes were closed, yet they imparted a terrifying sensation, especially considering how many of them there were.
Next, the eyes all opened and looked at Xu Qing. The red moon curse instantly surged.
The heavenly saber shivered and became blood-red thanks to the gazes of those eyes. In fact, even Xu Qing’s daybreak light was infected and became red. Any other Spirit Trove cultivator would be powerless to fight something like that. After all, this was the power of authority. But Xu Qing looked at the fourth son and actually felt very curious.
Whatever he can do, I can also do....
As the thought passed through his mind, he took a step forward. When his foot landed, endless blood spread out beneath his feet. In the blink of an eye, it created a blood sea very similar to the fourth son’s. Then, it surged viciously in the direction of the other blood sea. A deafening crash rang out.
From a distance, it was possible to see two very similar blood seas smashing into each other. Waves exploded everywhere as authority battled authority and curse battled curse.
Xu Qing hovered above his own blood sea, his green robes flapping in the wind.
Not too far away from him, the fourth son hovered above the other blood sea, his expression grim. He was no longer capable of releasing any more red moon authority. That said, his killing intent hadn’t been reduced at all. Lifting his right hand, he pointed up into the sky.
“Heaven as the blade!” he said, and the dome of heaven trembled. Countless rifts appeared as one entire section formed into a long saber. It was shocking to the extreme!
“Earth as the altar!” The earth shook. Soil rose up into the air, clumping together to form an enormous altar of execution.
“Connect to the sun and moon!” Suns, moons, stars, and heavenly bodies appeared, connecting the heavenly saber and the execution altar. And thus it came to be that... the God Decapitation Altar appeared!
This was the divine ability of Imperial Sovereign Li Zihua. Clearly, Ninth Sib wasn’t the only one to master it. Li Zihua’s fourth son also could command that very same divine ability. A shocking baleful aura surrounded him as he howled and sent the god-decapitating blade chopping down.
Xu Qing looked up with great curiosity at the god-decapitating saber. Then a timescape bottle appeared in front of him.
The bottle opened, releasing the power of the timescape. The Ghost Emperor mountain appeared, turning into the altar. Then the destiny aura from D-132 became the blade trough! The heavenly dao bluegreen dragon roared in the form of the heavenly saber. Taboo power and the curse of a god filled the edge of the blade, while daybreak light formed the blade light! The golden crow formed the connection, and the violet moon sealed it tight. The sundial life lamps added strength. And then, Xu Qing’s God Decapitation Altar appeared in heaven and earth.
Two huge God Decapitation Altars faced off.
RUMBLE!
The power of decapitation swept out with heaven-rending, earth-crushing force!
A deafening cracking sound rang out as the fourth son’s God Decapitation Altar split in two and was sent spinning off to the side. Then it shattered.
Xu Qing’s God Decapitation Altar vibrated violently, then faded away. However, it remained whole the entire time. Xu Qing backed up a few paces, his face flush, blood oozing out of the corners of his mouth. He was already recovering.
In this clash of divine abilities, Xu Qing came out on top!
The fourth son’s face was extremely pale as he coughed up a huge mouthful of blood. Then he glared at Xu Qing, his heart pounding.
Whatever I can do, he can also do....
He was thinking almost exactly the same thing Xu Qing had just been thinking.
“Fine. Secret trove!” As the fourth son’s eyes shone with the desire to do battle, he performed an incantation gesture. A huge secret trove then rose up behind him from within the sea of blood.
The interior of the secret trove seemed like a world, except it had no heaven. Instead, it was a sprawling land like the Nine Serenities. The ground seemed like it had been soaked in blood, creating a crimson mud. The very middle of it was bright red, with everything around it somewhat faded. And along the edges, white flames burned constantly.
Countless figures were visible, buried in the blood-colored lands as well as in the white fire, and they constantly moaned and screamed in agony. The screams seemed to be attempts to please someone. It was a very sinister secret trove, almost like a hell. And as soon as it appeared, it shot toward Xu Qing as if to crush him.
As the hellish secret trove closed in, Xu Qing’s face remained expressionless. Then he shoved his right hand out, and deafening rumbling sounds echoed out as his own secret trove appeared. Within it, the golden crow was the sun, and the violet moon was the moon. Taboo poison formed the clouds, and the Ghost Emperor mountain made the lands. The waters were the timescape, and the heavenly dao made the natural laws. Daybreak light made the plants and animals, while D-132 propagated living beings. Sundials governed the passage of time.
When it appeared, it overlapped with the fourth son’s secret trove, whereupon both of the secret troves began to fight with natural and magical laws as they attempted to overtake each other.
The overlapping secret troves trembled violently as they affected each other. Within them, suns, moons, stars, and heavenly bodies manifested. Wind, rain, lightning and thunder appeared. The howls of two heavenly daos echoed everywhere.
The battle seemed incredibly dangerous; defeat meant death, and the critical life-or-death moment was here. However, the reserve powers Xu Qing had been building up in recent years were inherently superior. Gradually, his secret trove began to overtake the fourth son’s secret trove.
The fourth son’s bloody soil sought to overtake the land in Xu Qing’s secret trove. But it was too slow.
As the natural laws clashed, the fourth son’s secret trove began to show signs of collapse. Its heavenly dao howled defiantly as the light of Xu Qing’s sun and moon appeared within its hell. That light melted and devoured everything it passed....
The land in the fourth son’s secret trove was collapsing.
And yet, just as that happened, Xu Qing suddenly saw what the fourth son’s secret trove lands were really like!
Those lands were anything but ordinary. The very middle, the crimson part, was like the pupil of an eye. And the white flames were the whites of that eye. The lands in the secret trove... were actually a gargantuan eyeball. The moment Xu Qing saw that eyeball, he realized it was very familiar.
Is that... Crimson Mother’s eye??