Chapter 826: Crown Prince Brightsouth
Xu Qing didn’t want to reveal himself. Although the identity medallion given to him by the clay fox was vibrating so violently it was heating up, he chose to ignore it. In fact, he even intensified the concealing effects. There was no purpose or need to interfere in the affairs of the irrelevant. In terms of one of these people being a so-called godherald, Xu Qing was used to such rankings.
Ever since he had impersonated a godchild in the Holytide Region, and both a godherald and a godchild in Moonrite, he had seemed to develop a special affinity for things like that. Now that he was in the territory of the Firemoon Darkheaven people, if similar circumstances arose, he wouldn’t hesitate to do the same thing again. After all, he even had an identity medallion from the clay fox.
That said, Xu Qing was still somewhat interested in this Firemoon Darkheaven cultivator with the two forbidden mountains orbiting overhead. Therefore, he had immediately come up with the plan to just wait until the two of them dealt with each other, then step in to take the mountains.
But when the Firemoon noble in the palace pointed at him, he had to do something different. That gesture caused the concealment effects hiding Xu Qing and the Captain to slowly fade away.
The Captain reverted from worm form to human form, and as he squatted at the base of the tree, he muttered to himself inaudibly.
Xu Qing went from being invisible to visible. He stood beneath the tree, his expression calm, but his heart racing. The sensation of being forcibly revealed by someone else put him fully on guard.
The two Firemoon Darkheaven cultivators who had been just on the brink of fighting were understandably taken aback.
Being the one with a disadvantage, Master Gravesparrow naturally sped up until he was behind Xu Qing and the Captain. Chest heaving, he clasped hands and bowed deeply at the waist.
“Well met, Godherald!”
In a moment like this, it wasn’t important that he was dealing with a human and not a member of his own species. The most important thing was this person’s identity, which he had confirmed with his own senses. As far as he was concerned, someone with an identity like this might be able to save his life.
As he bowed, his pursuer’s face darkened. However, he was a member of a different temple, and thus, his senses weren’t as acute as Master Gravesparrow’s, especially considering that Xu Qing had been attempting to stay hidden. Furthermore, he couldn’t help but be a little suspicious of the identities of Xu Qing and the Captain. He had never seen or heard of any humans that were godheralds in Starfire Temple. And the Firemoon Darkheavens viewed almost all other species in Revered Ancient as inferior.
That included these humans here. If a member of an inferior species became a godherald, it would cause a big stir.
What was more, Xu Qing had three forbidden mountains orbiting overhead, which obliquely proved some things. But if this person was really a godherald, why was he participating in the Great Hunt?
That said, this Firemoon Darkheaven didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks. Regardless of anything, the term ‘godherald’ was something that caused fear to well up in his heart. Therefore, he just backed up and looked at Xu Qing with glittering eyes.
He still wanted to kill Master Gravesparrow. But he also wasn’t sure if he should press the attack.
The Captain looked at what was happening with no small amount of amusement. Here they had two Firemoon Darkheavens, one that was bowing to them, and one that was backing away hesitantly.
Plus there’s someone up there watching the excitement....
The Captain looked up at the floating palace.
Xu Qing was annoyed. Ignoring the bowing Master Gravesparrow, he looked at the other cultivator and coldly said, “Put your forbidden mountains down and leave.”
The cultivator’s glittering eyes turned even colder. From what he could sense, this person was a Spirit Trove cultivator, as was the person standing next to him. Although he himself had the same cultivation base, the fact was that he was a Firemoon cultivator, and there were few cultivators from other species who could match up to him while in the same cultivation level. That was especially true of humans. He had done training in human lands, and had killed quite a few of their so-called ‘chosen’ cultivators. Because of that experience, he knew exactly how frail human cultivators were. That led to deep disdain on his part.
The only reason he was hesitating was because of this person’s identity. For that reason alone, he suppressed his killing intent, looked up at the golden palace in the dome of heaven, and bowed.
“Exalted One, for a godherald to show up in this round of the Great Hunt and demand a forbidden mountain is a violation of the rules. Please, Exalted One, you need to step in.”
Those words caused Master Gravesparrow’s heart to thump. He had also picked up on the same cues as the other cultivator. And his opponent’s action of calling out to the Firemoon noble was a case of raking the firewood from beneath the kettle . It was the perfect move. According to the rules of the Great Hunt, non-participants were forbidden from meddling. There were some ways around that rule, but they were very limiting.
In the golden palace above, the Firemoon noble smiled faintly. Then he spoke in a dignified voice.
“This person is not a godherald—”
Before the noble could finish his sentence, the Firemoon cultivator who was surrounded by intense heat suddenly glared at Xu Qing with open killing intent. Erupting like an actual volcano, he shot toward Xu Qing. Since the identity he had feared was now a moot point, all he cared about were the forbidden mountains.
Oftentimes, the way things play out deviates significantly from assumptions.
As the Firemoon cultivator closed in with aggressive decisiveness, Xu Qing disappeared from in front of him. All he saw was a cold flash of light pass by his eyes. Then his head flew off his shoulders. Because it happened so quickly, his body just kept moving in the same direction as before. Before he could feel anything other than shock, a host of red threads appeared out of nowhere, sweeping over both his body and his severed head. To him, the entire world became the color of blood. Then, he experienced the indescribable pain of having his soul devoured. Then his world became black. All of it happened in an instant.
“—except that you can’t defeat him,” the noble finished. By the time the words left his mouth, everything was over.
Xu Qing was visible again, his face expressionless. The cultivator whose soul he had just devoured no longer controlled his forbidden mountain, and thus, they floated over to orbit over Xu Qing’s head. Before, he had three. Now he had five. It was like a crown of mountains.
As for Master Gravesparrow, his heart was now racing. What he had just witnessed flipped his world upside down. The person that had been pursuing him was an old archenemy, and also an outstanding figure in their shared cultivation level. He was vicious and merciless, with plenty of tactics ready to unleash. But he had just died in an instant at the hands of this human.
It was a blow that left him feeling stunned. And when Xu Qing turned to look at him, Master Gravesparrow shivered and bowed his head respectfully. Inside he was trembling with increasing intensity with every moment that passed. And that was because he could tell that Xu Qing’s gaze brought with it an invasion.
Xu Qing studied Master Gravesparrow to confirm that he really didn’t have a forbidden mountain. Then he turned and walked off.
The Captain jumped to his feet and hurried after him. Upon passing Master Gravesparrow, he smiled and said, “You got pretty lucky.”
As Master Gravesparrow watched the two of them leaving, he struggled with sensations of utter disbelief. Just when they were about to disappear in the distance, Master Gravesparrow gasped as he seemingly remembered something. Raising his voice, he called, “Many thanks for your assistance, Fellow Daoists! I have two pieces of news about humankind that I can give you!”
Xu Qing stopped in place and looked over his shoulder at Master Gravesparrow.
Seeing that, Master Gravesparrow hurried after him. Stopping about 30 meters away, he respectfully continued, “Fellow Daoists, there are a total of 27 forbidden mountains in this forbidden region. That said, not all of them can be won by fighting. There are only ten that are in that category. As for the other seventeen... they’ve already been set aside.”
Master Gravesparrow looked up at the golden palace floating in the air.
“Those seventeen forbidden mountains are to be distributed among chosen disciples, both from my species and from other species. All they have to do is go to those mountains and take them. And no one would dare to fight with them.”
Xu Qing didn’t say anything. He was waiting for the Firemoon cultivator to get to the point. After all, nothing he had said so far had anything to do with humankind. And he hadn’t mentioned anything about pontificating on the rules of forbidden mountains.
“Why does that matter?” the Captain asked.
Lowering his voice, Master Gravesparrow said, “It matters because I happen to know that one of those seventeen mountains was set aside for you humans’ Grand Prince!”
Xu Qing’s pupils constricted. The Captain’s eyes lit up with interest.
“When your Grand Prince arrived here in Firemoon Darkheaven territory, he went around... begging for help to resolve the situation with humankind. He didn’t make any progress at all, so ultimately, he decided to join the Great Hunt. People from many species expressed admiration for your Grand Prince, and that includes me. In my opinion, he must want to become a darkheaven general, after which he can request that the stewards resolve the crisis with humankind.
“His Firemoon mother probably gave him some help, which is how he already has a forbidden mountain reserved for him.”
Considering that Master Gravesparrow was a Firemoon Darkheaven, it was no wonder that he had access to far better information than Xu Qing. And he wasn’t holding back any details.
“Is there something else?” the Captain asked.
Master Gravesparrow hesitated briefly, then quietly said, “The thing is, your Grand Prince hasn’t come here yet. A few days ago, I was informed that while Grand Prince was on the way here to get his forbidden mountain, he ran into Crown Prince Brightsouth.
“King Brightsouth is king legate to Steward Heavencloud of High God Sunfire. His crown prince has shocking talent, battle prowess that can crush all members of his generation, and is considered one of the top chosen among us Firemoons. He’s very famous. There were witnesses who saw him take Grand Prince captive along with a bunch of other humans. All of them... were forced into servitude as cart-pullers.”
Master Gravesparrow gauged Xu Qing’s facial expression before continuing, “As a result, the forbidden mountain set aside for Grand Prince here is now unassigned.”
Xu Qing quietly looked off into the distance. The Captain’s expression turned grim.
A moment passed.
“What’s the situation with the forbidden mountains now?” Xu Qing asked.
Master Gravesparrow took a deep breath and respectfully answered, “According to the rules here, ten days have to pass before anyone can take forbidden mountains from here. The forbidden region has been open for seven days so far, so all the mountains are still there. That said, the news has spread, so there’s surely some participants already camping there.”
“Lead the way,” Xu Qing said, his eyes turning cold.