The secret trove was the defining characteristic of the Spirit Trove level. Building the secret trove was as significant as lighting life flames in Foundation Establishment. A Foundation Establishment cultivator without a life flame was really just a pumped up Qi Condensation cultivator. Only by igniting life flames could a cultivator truly achieve a significant transformation.
It was similar in Spirit Trove. The secret trove provided a comprehensive improvement. With a heavenly dao inside burning as a furnace, the cultivator could unleash astonishing power. It allowed the Spirit Trove cultivator to use natural laws, and also provided terrifying battle prowess.
At least, that was Xu Qing’s previous understanding about the secret trove. Today, now that he had a true god trove, his perception changed. He could tell that the difference between the life flame and the trove was more like the gap between mortals and cultivators. As for the precise usage of the trove, he would need to do more practice and study before he gained full mastery. At the moment, he had a very basic understanding, which informed him that all he could do was use his trove like a basic secret trove to crush all living things.
I doubt that’s the right way to use it.
Xu Qing looked around. The sealing marks in the area had already crumbled, and his surroundings had been scorched bare.
Understanding of the true function of my god trove will come over time.
He stood. Now wasn’t the time for study and research, as he had something far more important to do. There was still more of Crimson Mother’s flesh in the leather bag, but he put it away for the time being as he knew he was in a bottleneck, so it wouldn’t do any good. He needed a fourth god trove to continue.
This flesh is so valuable it’s hard to even measure. But once I can begin that fourth god trove, it will form almost instantly.
Xu Qing took a deep breath, made sure the leather bag was secure, adjusted his clothing, and then started walking. Every step he took seemed to cause the land around him to shrink down. It was an effect of natural law, which caused everything around him to transform according to his thoughts.
In that manner, Xu Qing could do things that ordinary cultivators couldn’t even imagine. And thus, he took a hundred steps. That was all it took for him to reach the border of the Penitence Steppes.Previously, this place had featured a sea of blood with an island in the middle. But after the battle of gods, and Li Zihua’s sacrifice, it had turned into a forbidden region. Where once had been a sea of blood now existed an overflowing mass of vegetation, as dark as night, and coldly sinister. The mutagen was very strong here, and as a result, the forbidden region was already giving birth to endless mutated life forms. The ruins of the Red Moon Cathedral were in the depths of the forbidden region.
As Xu Qing stood on the border, he looked inside for a time, then started walking toward the middle of the forbidden region. The plants looked like demonic monsters, and they were so dangerous they could instantly kill any mortal who got close to them. And if cultivators threatened them, they could use mutagen as a weapon to kill them.
But to Xu Qing, traveling around here was as easy as traveling around in the outside world. The gruish plants would tremble when he got near, and some of them would even move away from him. They didn’t want to even be close to him. It was the same with the other gruish life forms. There was one pitch-black creature that resembled a flying snake, which failed to move away from him quickly enough. As a result, it turned into a skeleton..... Its life force, mutagen, and aura were extracted, swept toward a spot behind Xu Qing, and then vanished.
If you looked at that spot behind Xu Qing, you wouldn’t see anything unless you had a cultivation base. But if you did have a cultivation base, you would sense something like three massive black holes behind him, devouring everything. Perhaps it was the case that, from the perspective of this forbidden region, Xu Qing was himself a forbidden region.
Xu Qing continued forward through what had once been the blood sea to what had once been the island. Eventually, he stood in front of the mountain of flesh. There, he stopped, clasped hands, and bowed.
“Well met, Grandpa Ninth.”
This mountain of flesh was like a combination of black and red. It was part of the forbidden region, and also formed its nucleus. It was the foundation of the forbidden region.
It was made from Li Zihua’s flesh, which had been given new life thanks to the gaze of the broken face. At the moment, it twitched and wriggled, though that didn’t indicate it was awakening, but rather, that it was deeply asleep. Even still, its terrifying pressure spread out, causing the surroundings to ripple and distort.
A person sat cross-legged atop the mountain. He wore a black robe, and had stern facial features as cold as ice. Resting on his knees was a long sword.
He was Ninth Sib.
He opened his eyes and looked calmly at Xu Qing. Noticing what was behind Xu Qing, his eyes gleamed with surprise.
“What do you want?” he said coolly.
Xu Qing knew that Ninth Sib had a cold personality, and wasn’t given to words. Most of the time he didn’t say anything. But Xu Qing also knew that his heart was quite the opposite of his cold exterior.
“Grandpa Ninth, when I first arrived in the Moonrite Region, I accepted an apprentice. She died unexpectedly. Back then, someone told me that the souls of the dead in the Moonrite Region don’t enter the cycle of reincarnation, but instead, they gather at the Red Moon Cathedral. Senior, I came here hoping to find the soul of my apprentice.”[1]
“What’s her name?” Ninth Sib asked tranquilly.
“Shi Panyan,” Xu Qing replied softly. “Her name is Shi Panyan.”
Ninth Sib closed his eyes and cast his senses out. A moment later, he opened his eyes, reached out, and closed his fingers in a grasping motion. The forbidden region trembled as a huge vortex materialized.
Intense rumbling sounds echoed out as a stream of white light slowly emerged and floated over to Xu Qing. In the white light was a little girl, her arms wrapped around her knees, her eyes closed as if she was asleep. Her brow was furrowed, and her expression was one of terror. She was Shi Panyan.
Xu Qing’s gaze softened and he reached out to her. “Panyan.”
His voice entered the white light and touched the girl’s soul. She shivered, and her eyelashes stirred. She slowly opened her eyes, confused. After looking at Xu Qing for a moment, her little face lit up with joy.
“Master....”
She stood, clasped hands, and bowed. Her soul was clearly very weak, making it difficult for her to even move.
“Master is here to take you home,” Xu Qing said. He reached gently into the white light. Shi Panyan’s eyes closed again, and she went back to sleep. Unlike before, she wasn’t frowning, and she didn’t look terrified. In fact, she seemed peaceful and happy. After taking the sleeping Panyan, Xu Qing turned to Ninth Sib and bowed again. Then he turned to leave.
“You have three god troves behind you,” Ninth Sib suddenly said.
Xu Qing stopped walking and looked back.
Ninth Sib’s face was as cold as ever. However, his gaze contained even more surprise than before as he looked deeply at Xu Qing.
“One is yours. Another is made from red moon authority. And the last was formed from a god curse. Unfortunately, you have no way of fully fusing with thēm. As a result, you can’t unleash thēir true potential. So I’m going to help you out.”
Ninth Sib’s sword floated off his knees and shifted to point at Xu Qing. A sword energy pulsed off it that could shake heaven and earth. It caused everything to tremble as, pulsing with extermination and destruction, the sword energy shot toward Xu Qing.
Xu Qing’s eyes glittered as a sensation of deadly crisis filled him. The blood in his body seemed to coagulate, his cultivation base sank under the pressure, and his flesh went rigid. It was like he was sealed in place. However, the god troves behind him became clearer in his mind. And then... the first god trove appeared in the open.
It caused wild colors to flash everywhere, and shook the surrounding forbidden region. Inside of it was a holy figure, facing the outside world and howling to fight back against the sword energy. The sword energy faltered.
“Not enough!” said Ninth Sib in a cold voice. More sword energy raged toward Xu Qing.
Facing such deadly crisis caused Xu Qing to tremble. But his cultivation base was suppressed, meaning that this god trove was all he had to deal with the threat. Veins bulged on his forehead as he focused all of his attention on his god trove. As the sword energy neared, the god trove erupted like volcanoes, sending terrifying godsource directly into Xu Qing. All of a sudden, a roar escaped Xu Qing’s lips that could shake the dome of heaven. As the godsource flowed through him, his body seemed to rip apart. New flesh spread out as he grew taller, bigger, and more astonishing.
A moment later, a majestic figure stood in front of the mountain of flesh. Upright and tall, this figure looked similar to the Ghost Emperor, except with Xu Qing’s face. On his head was an imperial crown, which was made from D-132. Blinding, golden light shone off it, except, that golden light was actually made of seven colors. Where the heart would be was a heavenly dao furnace, thumping with thunderous volume. And it sent out burning flames that covered the entire figure. Even more noteworthy was the long, black spear in the figure’s right hand, which was covered with lightning.
As the figure’s fingers tightened around the spear, his eyes opened. He was Xu Qing!
Xu Qing’s heart pounded. Never could he have imagined that his god trove would actually work like this. He could sense that this state was like a different form of body, a state like that of a god. His battle prowess rose dramatically, such that if he faced Spirit Trove enemies right now...
I could crush all of them!
Xu Qing looked up at Ninth Sib. Heart racing, he clasped hands and bowed deeply.
Eyes still glittering, Ninth Sib nodded. “That’s more like it. However, this is only the first level of your god state. Since you have three god troves, then theoretically speaking, you should have three god states. Unfortunately, your foundation isn’t sufficient to support that now.” Ninth Sib looked thoughtfully at Xu Qing for a moment. “I can help you experience it early, though. It’ll be a bit of a waste, but at least it will give you an idea of the direction to pursue.”
With that, Ninth Sib waved his hand, sending a fleshy feather toward Xu Qing. It was Crimson Mother’s flesh. Before it could get near, and before Xu Qing could say anything, Ninth Sib’s sword energy swept forth, causing the flesh to detonate into a mist of blood, which surrounded Xu Qing.
“Take that flesh and put it into your god trove. Bring out your second god state. Remember, don’t bring it out alone. Instead... you need to add it to your first-level god state! Combine them!!”
Reeling mentally, Xu Qing watched as the blood mist swept into his taboo poison god trove. An instant later, the god trove erupted with clouds of black smoke that roiled toward Xu Qing. In the blink of an eye, it fused with Xu Qing’s first-level god state body.
Next... a terrifying aura shot out of Xu Qing’s mouth, along with a bitter howl.
1. Xu Qing accepted Shi Paynan as an apprentice in chapter 558.2. In chapter 566.2, Duanmu Zang explained that her soul was probably still at the Red Moon Cathedral. ☜
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