Back in Forbidden by the Immortal, Master Seventh took his two apprentices to a location to look for immortal skills. From the many skin masks there, he had picked two, one each for Xu Qing and the Captain. [1]
Those two skin masks were, in fact, immortal skills. One of the immortal skills was the Heavenly Dog, which suited the Captain’s personality. The other didn’t really suit Xu Qing, but in consideration of his good friend the head, he had taken it. That skill was called Mercy.
It had a simple function. Whoever put it on would replace the subject of their gaze in whatever they were experiencing.
Xu Qing had previously come up with the idea of having the head wear the mask. Then, when Xu Qing himself was facing some deadly crisis, the head could share the burden with him. However, from that time until now, Xu Qing had never encountered the proper circumstances to use the mask’s function.
Until now.
Immortal skills and god magics were different in many ways. But in the final analysis, they were both gruish types of magic. In fact, Master Seventh had mentioned that, according to the ancient records, such techniques had once been called forbidden magics. Later on, the name was changed to ‘immortal skill’ to sound better.
That said, Xu Qing was aware of the side-effects of the Mercy immortal skill. And that was that it didn’t require a sustained gaze.... A single look was enough.
Therefore, as soon as the skin mask settled onto Zhang Siyun’s face, Xu Qing unhesitatingly looked away from his Eldest Brother and instead focused on the second image in the violet crystal.
He hadn’t been able to get the broken face’s eyes to open all the way. And he had also lost a lot of life force. But that was because the broken face of the god had a personhood that was far superior to his own. But the second image featured the Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan, whose personhood was obviously a long way from being the equal of the broken face. Thus, Xu Qing was going to attempt to release that second image. And the reason he was doing it was because of the Captain’s gaze.
The two of them had known each other for so long that they often didn’t need to speak to each other. A look was often enough for them to reach an understanding. And thus, the Captain leaned forward and bit into Xu Qing’s arm.This bite was not for the purpose of devouring. It was a bolstering.
The Captain sent life force streaming into Xu Qing. He definitely didn’t have enough life force to sustain the broken face. But when it came to the second image, he could try.
A tremor passed through Xu Qing as the violet crystal flickered brightly. He then became like a light source casting violet light in all directions. He could have considered concealing the light in some way, but he didn’t. In fact, not only did he not cover it up, but actually, he unleashed as much light as possible. The glow was very similar to that coming from Zhang Siyun’s crown of thorns.
It all happened in the briefest of moments. As violet light shone off Xu Qing, Emperor Ancient Spirit put the skin mask onto Zhang Siyun.
Zhang Siyun shivered inwardly. Hē was a doppelgänger of Crimson Mother, and had some degree of omniscience and omnipotence. However... Emperor Ancient Spirit had the same personhood as hē did. And because of that, Zhang Siyun’s omniscience and omnipotence slowed down.
In a moment like this, such slowing could be fatal. After all, hē had no idea what that skin mask would do. Most importantly, the violet light coming off Xu Qing attracted hīs notice, as it stimulated the crown of thorns hē was wearing. As a result, hīs gaze automatically focused on the violet light coming from Xu Qing.
The moment hē looked at Xu Qing, hē shivered as an image filled hīs mind.
Hē wasn’t the only one who saw it. The Captain and Emperor Ancient Spirit also saw that image floating in the Moon Palace.
The dome of heaven was overtaken, turning dark, and filling with a blood rain. The lands became ruins, and Xu Qing was standing in the middle of them. He was superimposed over a young boy in the image. That boy was crying and confused. Helpless. Terrified. And all of those feelings passed from him, into Xu Qing, and beyond.
Lightning snaked through the sky, but there was no broken face in the image. Instead, there was a young man in a black robe. He was extremely good-looking, very similar to the older version of Xu Qing. Looking at Xu Qing, he sighed and walked forward.
The blood rain parted for him as he approached Xu Qing from behind. Looking tenderly at Xu Qing, he said, “Don’t cry, lil’ bro.”
His warm, kind voice caused both Xu Qing and the boy to turn around. But then... a destructive force exploded in the boy’s head. A boom rang out as the boy’s head exploded, and his body flopped onto the ground, dead. Xu Qing shivered, and cracks spread out over him. That was especially true of his head, which looked like it was about to collapse into pieces.
But then, Zhang Siyun, who was watching all of this happen, moaned in agony. And the crown of thrones atop hīs head erupted with violet light. Hē was fighting back!
What hē was observing then entered hīs body, as the immortal skill of Mercy made hīm substitute for the injuries and death. This was mercy via substitution.
What happened to the boy in the image was transferred to Zhang Siyun. Hē screamed in agony as the world rumbled, and the Moon Palace shook violently. Zhang Siyun’s newly reformed body had just been injured by the broken face, leaving hīm extremely weak. To be suddenly hit with such destructive force caused hīs body to start collapsing again, from limbs to torso to head. Hīs eyes filled with pain, confusion, and disappointment. Those were the emotions from the boy.
Then Zhang Siyun’s head exploded. The crown of thrones vibrated and then collapsed, until only the tiny violet section was left, which fell to the ground.
Crimson Mother’s doppelgänger didn’t exist anymore. Zhang Siyun was really and truly dead.
The mask faded away.
In the blink of an eye, the Captain’s body of worms lunged forward with incredible speed toward the violet section of the crown of thorns.
Off to the side, Emperor Ancient Spirit suddenly appeared, and also lunged forward. Hē seemed like hē was about to grab the section of the crown, but then the Captain howled and summoned a projection of a heavenly dog. The dog lunged forward with mouth gaping wide.
Next, blood sprayed out of Xu Qing’s mouth. Blood also poured out of countless wounds on his body. As he staggered backward, he saw what was happening, and the violet light around him surged.
“That’s mine!” he said.
Emperor Ancient Spirit stopped in place. If any other person had said those words, hē would have ignored them. Having seen Xu Qing unleash terrifying power twice in a row, hē was very leery of him. Thinking about the feast to come, hē held back.
The Captain in heavenly dog form pounced on the section of the crown, gobbled it up, then raced back toward Xu Qing, all while glowering at Emperor Ancient Spirit.
Emperor Ancient Spirit’s eyes glittered as he looked at the Captain and then Xu Qing. Hē seemed about to speak, when all of a sudden, a shriek of rage erupted from the depths of the Moon Palace. It was not a sound that a cultivator could make. Its reverberations caused red light to erupt all over the red moon. The ground melted, turning into a sea of blood.
The reek of gore filled heaven and earth. The aura of a god was erupting.
At that moment, all of the Moonrite Region shook.
It was... the voice of Crimson Mother. Shē was actually waking up!
***
Several regions away from the Moonrite Region, in the very middle of the Revered Ancient mainland, was a region that humans considered something like a holy land.
Its name was: the Imperial Region.
It was so far from the Moonrite Region that a cultivator who tried to fly between the two locations could spend an entire life doing so and not complete the journey. In the middle of the Imperial Region was a magnificent city that was as large as an entire county. It was full of countless amazing buildings, as well as innumerable humans. And the most prominent building in the city was the luxurious imperial palace.
In a grand hall in that palace, two people sat playing Go.
One of them was a middle-aged man in a yellow robe. His hair was bound with a pin engraved with a dragon, and he sat in a way that suggested he commanded ultimate power. He pulsed with incredible pressure, and the imperial aura that surrounded him caused projections of dragons to swirl around, exhaling the light of daybreak.
He was the reigning emperor!
He was naturally impressive, with austere facial features and eyes that seemed to contain heavenly bodies. Fiddling with one of the white game pieces, he calmly said, “Imperial Preceptor, what do you think about how the war with the Nightshades ended?”
He was about to place the game piece on the table when his eyes flickered and he looked at the person seated across from him.
“Preceptor?”
Seated on the other side of the board was a young man wearing a long violet gown. He was bewitchingly handsome, with long hair that reached the ground, each strand of which seemed to contain suns, moons, stars, and heavenly bodies.
If Xu Qing were here, he would recognize this person immediately. He was... the Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan! He looked at the black game piece he held, and it was as if a cloud had passed through his glittering eyes. Hearing the emperor’s voice, he dispelled the cloud.
“Sorry, Your Majesty. Someone just used a fragment of time that belongs to me.”
A profound look flickered in the emperor’s eyes. He put the white game piece onto the board, and then was about to speak when, all of a sudden, his expression flickered. He looked outside and into the sky.
The Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan also looked up with narrowed eyes. There was a huge dragon in the sky, which unleashed a roar that echoed far and wide as it looked up into the sky.
They weren’t the only ones to react like that. A terrifying aura exploded from somewhere within the imperial capital, quickly locking down the dome of heaven.
All gazes were fixed on one thing.
The broken face of the god. The broken face’s eyes were closed, but just now, the head in general had shifted directions. The broken face was now facing south! That was the direction of the Holytide Region, as well as the Moonrite Region. In other words, it was the direction of the red moon.
Numerous species noticed what happened. In the shortest of moments, all of Revered Ancient was thrown into astonishment. Not many people understood why the broken face would do such a thing. Because of Crimson Mother’s authority, no one had any way of checking to see what was happening in the Moonrite Region.
Regardless, hīs movement caused top experts throughout Revered Ancient to reel in shock.
1. The arc in which Master Seventh got immortal skills for them started in chapter 520.1. ☜