Chapter 790: An Unexpected Clue
The moment the voice echoed out, heaven and earth in this mountain range filled with darkness and gloom. The mountains instantly became like a forbidden ground where the living weren’t welcome. And any living beings that were present were forced to prostrate. Plants and vegetation withered, while all sorts of animals mutated. And the darkness spread. Wherever it went, the world transformed, as if a veil were being lifted away to reveal the truth of what lay underneath.
From Xu Qing’s perspective, everything seemed to be made of towering grave mounds, surrounded by rotting skeletons. He currently stood atop a massive skull that emanated a terrifying aura. His violet hair swayed, while strands of blood danced around him. The person he held in his hand in front of him was starting to slowly writhe.
Murmuring sounds drifted out. The sky vibrated and the lands shook.
The stimulation forced the injured and unconscious person to suddenly open his eyes. He initially looked at Xu Qing with an expression of confusion, though that soon turned to surprise mixed with terror. He seemed like he wanted to speak, but when he opened his mouth, the only thing that came out was an agonized scream.
His cries had already surpassed those of his companion who had died a few days before. It wasn’t just one scream. It was many....
And that was because his body had superimposed itself, almost as if he was a book to be flipped through. Each page showed him and his past, as well as potential futures. And though all of them were in different times and places, they were all screaming together. The screams of past, present, and future accompanied each other in a way that was vastly more horrifying than any of them separately.
Xu Qing in his god state looked on calmly. His godly nature was increasing, but thanks to the soul threads, his human nature hadn’t disappeared. He was in a much more stable position than on previous occasions. In this state, it was much easier to guide godly nature with the same will as human nature.
The countless strands of blood stretching out of Xu Qing floated to the screaming figure in front of him and began to gently rifle through his past memories. Images flitted through Xu Qing’s gaze, including those of the figure’s dead companion. This wasn’t a soulsearch. And in fact, it was a lot more direct than a soulsearch, as it was a godly ability.
By looking through his past, Xu Qing was able to get a fairly complete idea of the life he’d lived. Much like his companion, this person was born without a complete soul. Apparently, whatever mysterious organization was behind them was good at recruiting people like that. That said, this person’s innate abilities were superior to his dead companion. Whether it was his cultivation base or his magical technique, they were all on a higher level.
Xu Qing looked through the images until he found the specific one he wanted. He saw a building, within which was a black-cloaked man with a lamp in his hand.
Xu Qing’s face was completely expressionless as he looked at the image. The blood strands in front of him jerked backward, dragging the image away from him until it was floating in front of Xu Qing. Looking at the cloaked figure, Xu Qing chose not to do anything rash, and just put the image down at his side.
Then he turned to look at the screaming clone. He exhaled, and a violet mist emerged, which spread out to cover the clone. Strands of mist emerged from his head and spread out in various directions. There was one for each person who existed in his memories. And one of them was a life essence thread that was attached to his true life force. That one... led to a location not very far away in the north.
So, he is a clone.
He waved his hand gently, and the life essence thread swayed back and forth until the motion eventually reached the true form.
After finding various clues, Little Shadow locked onto a position, then turned into a long, streaming shadow that shot in the same direction as the life essence thread.
Meanwhile, about 500 kilometers away from Xu Qing, a cultivator raced along in a gray robe. He was middle-aged, with ordinary facial features. There didn’t seem to be much about him that was special, such that he could easily blend into a crowd and not be noticed. He had small eyes, and though they occasionally glittered mysteriously, he kept that hidden. As he moved along, he analyzed his current situation and plans. Although everything was working perfectly so far, he knew that he couldn’t afford to underestimate anyone. It was always possible someone could come along and figure out what was really going on.
I can worry about all of that later.
The gray-robed man accelerated in the direction of the neighboring county. He planned to use nonhuman teleportation portals to go into hiding and wait for further instructions from his superiors. But right then, his heart thumped, and his vision blurred. Terror filled his soul. Next, he heard words echoing in his soul.
“So, he is a clone.”
The gray-robed man’s expression flickered dramatically. Then, before he could even think of what to do, a powerful force flowed out of his soul, filling him and rendering him completely immobile. He fell out of the sky down to the ground.
He couldn’t have been more shocked. At the same time, he wanted to fight back, except he didn’t see any enemies nearby. And yet, that voice had been clear for him to hear, and the restraints immobilizing him were really there.
“What’s going on?” the gray-robed man gasped. After slamming into the ground and coughing up some blood, he found that he could move again. He jumped up with the intention of fleeing, except then he suddenly went immobile again.
A fiendish, blood-colored eye appeared in his shadow beneath his feet.
“Found... you....”
Back in the cave, Xu Qing looked away from the life essence thread. He didn’t need it anymore. Now that he’d found the true form, there was something he wanted to try out. Even if it didn’t work, it wouldn’t affect his goal of apprehending the true form. And it might get him some clues that would bring some clarity to the situation.
He looked back to the image he had placed to the side earlier. Specifically, he was looking at the cloaked figure with the lamp. As he stared, the violet moon behind him started shining more brightly.
Next, all the blood threads around him shot toward the figure in the black cloak. They pierced into the figure. This was using the past to verify the future. Nothing was impossible when using the power of gods. As long as something existed in memories, then it was possible to affect it directly.
The cloaked figure started trembling, and then began to shift from illusory to material. As the process played out, Xu Qing was able to use Little Shadow to see some of the cloaked person’s life details.
He saw the cloaked figure on an altar, prostrating to the dome of heaven.... However, because of the angle, Xu Qing couldn’t see exactly what he was worshiping.
He added more godsource in the hopes of getting a more complete vision. But then, without any warning at all, a power of will rose up within the cloaked person. It was like a parasite that was suddenly waking up. A cold snort echoed out from the cloaked person in the image. It directly entered Xu Qing’s mind, where it turned into a surge of mutagen that swept through him. That mutagen seemed to have no foundation, as it came directly out of the illusory image.
Within the image, a blood rain fell. Howls of anguish echoed out endlessly, and mutagen flourished in darkness and gloom. The image itself emanated intense pressure.
Any other cultivator in this situation would have been in a tricky spot. But Xu Qing was in his god state, so he just sent more godsource out from his violet moon. Rumbling sounds echoed out as he took three steps backward while still in his god state.
The mutagen that had come from the cold snort faded away. That said, this individual was extraordinarily mighty; though he couldn’t affect Xu Qing directly, he could affect the surroundings. All of a sudden, the source of the past image shattered. The screaming clone shivered, then collapsed into a pile of gore. The grave mounds that made up the mountains collapsed.
Within the rubble and the skeletons, Xu Qing stood, looking up into the sky, his eyes shining coldly.
The mutagen that came with that cold snort seems somehow familiar.... The image the mutagen formed was also very familiar.... The cloaked figure on the altar, worshiping the dome of heaven... now I realize why I recognize it. The mutagen is from the broken face. The image is from a moment in which the broken face’s eyes opened. And the cloaked figure is bowing to that son of a bitch broken face!
Xu Qing’s heart was as cold as ice.
Back in the continent of South Phoenix, he had learned of an organization that worshiped the broken face. They even called themselves believers. After arriving in the Imperial Region, he had again heard about that organization. He knew that their religious creed involved exercising faith in the broken face, all while searching for supposed godchildren. After finding those godchildren, they would slowly devour them, and use the process to get closer to their god.
Thanks to the introduction provided by Princess Anhai, Xu Qing knew that this organization wasn’t just one of the ten superpower sects in humankind. They were powerful among all species. They could be found throughout Revered Ancient, and had congregations everywhere.
“Words of Truth!” Xu Qing murmured as he slowly transformed, leaving his third-level god state. The darkness and gloom around him changed. Everything blurred, and then he reappeared, looking just as he had before.
The rubble underfoot proved that everything that had played out was real. That said, his hair was still violet; apparently the third-level god state extended a bigger influence on him than he realized.
Around that time, a whistling sound could be heard as a gray-robed figure raced up behind Xu Qing. His expression was a mixture of fanaticism and piety, but at the same time, intense fear. After arriving, he dropped to his knees.
“Greetings to you, milord!” he said loudly. “There’s something your humble servant has long been wanting to say to you. I wish to express my sincerity, milord! Sir, you are a most esteemed and revered lord, a very wise and clever master, and your intelligence allows your humble servant to feel trusted and relied upon. With your direction, milord, I have made continuous progress, but at the same time, feel at ease, comfortable, and reassured!”
Little Shadow spoke in very sincere terms, although the eyes of the body it had possessed didn’t match, as they were filled with astonishment.
Xu Qing stood there in the night, his violet hair swaying in the wind.
The gray-robed man was now kowtowing repeatedly.
“Come on, let’s head back to the capital,” Xu Qing said, and he started walking.