Chapter 827: Now THAT’S Xu Qing
When Master Gravesparrow saw the coldness in Xu Qing’s eyes, he thought back to his enemy who had just died. Taking a deep breath, he nodded and immediately led the way.
Xu Qing followed, his face grim. The Captain was right next to him, and he seemed to have shed the frivolity from earlier. Although the Captain wasn’t a bleeding heart when it came to humans, the news from just now was moving even to him.
“Humans....” He sighed inwardly.
And thus, the three of them delved deeper and deeper into the forbidden region.
Within the golden palace above, the Firemoon noble smiled again. He seemed pleased.
Things are finally getting interesting. How could the Great Hunt be the Great Hunt unless there was some blood spilled and lives lost?
Time passed.
Two days later in the depths of the forbidden region, Xu Qing, the Captain, and Master Gravesparrow all stood atop a massive tree, looking off into the distance. The spot where they looked was covered by a faint, black mist that made the place seem locked in eternal gloom. The trees in that area were as withered and misshapen as demonic monsters.
Beyond that withered jungle were numerous towering mountains. They looked like 27 crouching dragons, linked together to form a mountain range that covered nearly half of the forbidden region. Some of the mountains had black fire that occasionally flared, sending out black smoke everywhere. There was even black lava flowing down them.
“Those are the forbidden mountains in this forbidden region,” Master Gravesparrow said quietly.
Xu Qing sensed the heat on the wind, and his eyes narrowed. He had seen a lot of forbidden regions, and generally speaking, they were cold. This was actually his first time seeing volcanoes in a forbidden region.
“The last 10 are the ones the general participants of the Great Hunt can fight over. The 17 up in front are the ones that have been set aside. As for the mountain set aside for Grand Prince... it’s the ninth.”
Master Gravesparrow pointed at one mountain in particular.
Xu Qing looked in that direction. He could sense a lot of auras in the mountains, coming from the various Great Hunt participants that had gathered in the area. He sensed them on all the mountains, with the majority on the final 10 mountains, where the auras were very mixed. It was the same with the mountain Master Gravesparrow was pointing at. From what Xu Qing could sense, the cultivators who had gathered here had swords drawn and arrows nocked . Most of them seemed to be waiting instead of fighting.
“In one more day, the forbidden mountains will be free for the taking. When that happens, chaotic fighting will definitely break out.” Master Gravesparrow’s eyes gleamed with the desire to do battle. His mountains had been taken much earlier, and were now with Xu Qing. He didn’t dare to try to rob Xu Qing, so he was hoping to pick up a new forbidden mountain here.
On the way here, he had courteously requested of Xu Qing to be able to take a mountain. Xu Qing had agreed. Although he also needed forbidden mountains, it was true that Master Gravesparrow had given them some very valuable information.
“Fellow Daoist Xu, all we need to do is be patient for one more day.” Master Gravesparrow rotated his cultivation base, and his eyes gleamed. He didn’t plan to make a move immediately. As far as he was concerned, that was pointless. Seizing a mountain now would require waiting around for a day, giving other cultivators plenty of time to notice and lay in wait. That would obviously make things a lot more difficult and dangerous.
“Just wait until the final day goes by. Once the forbidden mountains have been seized, we can swoop in, steal the ones we want, and get out of here. That’s the most likely path to success. After all, with all the mountains up for grabs, people will be distracted.”
Xu Qing looked at the ninth mountain, then the other mountains. Eyes cold, he said, “There’s no need to make things so complicated.”
With that, he flew into the air and headed toward the mountains.
Behind him, Master Gravesparrow’s expression flickered. He knew Xu Qing was strong, as he had witnessed it personally. But it didn’t seem that he had battle prowess sufficient to fight everyone here at once. Given Xu Qing’s battle prowess, his plan would guarantee with nearly one hundred percent accuracy that they could get one forbidden mountain. Two wasn’t out of the question. But rushing in blindly would attract too much attention and throw too many other variables into the mix.
“This....” Feeling very nervous, he was about to say something when the Captain laughed and flew past him.
“You want one or two mountains,” the Captain said. “But my little Junior Brother wants all of them.”
“All of them?” Master Gravesparrow’s heart raced as he watched Xu Qing flying up into the air.
Xu Qing reached up toward his left shoulder, then jerked his hand out. His totem tattoos flared with black fire that rapidly spread out into a sea of flames around him. At the same time, the golden crow flew out gracefully into the fire, then threw its head back and let loose a piercing cry. It was pitch black, with the general appearance of a phoenix. Its numerous tails spread out, attracting the attention of all the cultivators waiting in the 27 mountains.
As that happened, Xu Qing reached out and made a grasping motion toward the golden crow. The crow cried out proudly as it turned and shot toward him. As it neared, it crumbled down until it was a black spear in his hands. The presence of that spear caused wild colors to flash, and lightning to strike repeatedly in the area. It was as if the canopy of heaven would be ripped apart. A howl rippled out of nowhere, like a warning to ward off the presence of the spear.
It didn’t do any good. Xu Qing’s eyes just got colder as he hefted the taboo spear. Then, as the noble in the golden palace looked on, as did the astonished Master Gravesparrow and all the cultivators on the 27 mountains, Xu Qing hurled the spear toward the ninth mountain.
The black spear was like an unstoppable dragon piercing through the sky, leaving behind a black streak. Lightning gathered around it, encircling it and bolstering it. And piercing winds swept out in all directions. It headed straight toward the ninth mountain. It was consummately domineering as it slammed into the peak of the mountain, causing intense rumbling sounds to fill heaven and earth. The mountain shook violently as a shockwave rolled out from the spot where the spear hit, and sparks flew everywhere, filling the mountain.
The cultivators who had been camping on the mountain were visibly shocked as they tumbled backward. Though they were furious, none of them dared to do anything. The cultivators on the other mountains looked over with serious expressions. Quite a few of them already harbored malicious intentions.
Meanwhile, Xu Qing’s voice drifted down from above.
“Yield. In three breaths of time, everyone remaining on this mountain will be exterminated.”
The domineering spear and the cold words were enough to shake the heart of any weaker person. However, these were Firemoon Darkheavens participating in the Great Hunt, and thus, it just stoked their killing intent. That was especially true considering they were looking at a human.
A moment passed, and then roughly half of the hundred cultivators on the ninth mountain flew up into the air. Some of them spoke.
“It’s been a long time since I saw a human as arrogant as this.”
“You overestimate yourself.”
“I really want to see how you plan to kill us all if we refuse to leave.”
Some of the cultivators charged directly toward Xu Qing as he hovered in midair. Eyes filling with more killing intent, Xu Qing lifted his right hand and pushed it toward the incoming cultivators.
An explosive boom ripped through the air as three inverted mountains appeared above and then dropped down. One was blood-red. One was frosty with ice. One was entirely aflame. Even just one of those mountains vastly surpassed any of the forbidden mountains in the area. And their inverted shapes made them seem like aggressive swords, pulsing with incredible pressure. This was none other than the Withering Flame Demon Magic True Self Dao that Xu Qing had mastered.
The three inverted mountains descended toward the cultivators flying up from the ninth mountain. The pressure building up created a sealing function that caused blood to spray from the mouths of the weaker cultivators.
However, there were quite a few stronger ones among them. In fact, there were over twenty who fought through the pressure to unleash divine abilities and magical techniques.
Unfortunately... the Withering Flame Demon Magic True Self Dao was not Xu Qing’s only trump card. It had some limited sealing functions, that was all. Next, Xu Qing’s eyes turned pitch black. Mutagen levels in the forbidden region skyrocketed. Taboo poison rapidly built up on the ninth mountain. Some of the unlucky cultivators were hit right away, and started screaming. Given the level of Xu Qing’s taboo poison, it only took the blink of an eye for them to melt into bloody sludge.
On the outside, Xu Qing’s taboo poison might be considered ordinary in nature. But in a forbidden region, the local mutagen only bolstered it! The poison mist grew incredibly dense, spreading out rapidly. Combined with the sealing effect of the three mountains, it gushed everywhere.
All cultivators who hadn’t left the mountain earlier were now trapped.
From a distance, it was possible to see three mountains above and the lands below. The mist was like a huge column, a giant tempest filled with howls of anguish.
Xu Qing’s seal wasn’t limited to that, though. He waved his right hand, and a host of crimson soul threads shot out, filling the tempest of mist and blocking the path of any who were trying to flee. He was intent on killing all living cultivators on the mountain.
The poison grew stronger. More mutagen rushed in from the surrounding forbidden region, bolstering it to a shocking level. The screams grew more piercing. One could imagine the despair of the cultivators trapped inside the mist as their bodies rapidly decomposed.
Xu Qing’s poison was the power of a god. In fact, in the right circumstances, it could even invade an actual god. Even though Xu Qing couldn’t unleash all of its power, with the blessing of this forbidden region’s mutagen, only someone with a Smoldering God cultivation base could possibly survive its onslaught.
The process didn’t last for very long. Eventually, the Withering Flame Demon Magic True Self Dao mountains collapsed and disappeared, revealing that there were still four or five cultivators still alive. As the poison mist dissipated, it was revealed that all the other cultivators were pools of gore. From a distance, the ninth mountain seemed filled with a rain of blood. Combined with the black color of the mountain, it looked violet. It looked extremely ghastly.
Those handful of cultivators who had escaped were now screaming in agony as their flesh rotted away. Eventually, they also melted into bloody sludges.
Xu Qing ignored them. As the cultivators on the other mountains looked on in shock, he strode over to the ninth mountain with its rain of blood. Placing the spear down in front of him, he sat cross-legged.
The wind blew, filled with the stench of gore. Xu Qing inhaled deeply. It was a familiar aroma that made him think of past slaughters.
He looked around. Everything was very quiet.