Chapter 864: The Ninth Skull!
In the Mountain and Sea Region, the sky had turned blurry, and powerful winds battered the lands. Innumerable beasts in different habitats all threw their heads back and howled. The sounds joined together into something that shook the clouds and caused intense colors to flash. The howling was accompanied by cries of rage, anguish, and complaint.
It was as if they were complaining that heaven was unfair and earth was unjust! They were complaining about the betrayal of an entire species and their own misplaced loyalties. It made it seem like deep within these beasts’ souls, the legacy of their bloodline still existed. Perhaps it was hidden extremely deeply. Maybe they weren’t even aware of it. But the dramatic aura spreading through the Mountain and Sea Region woke up what was deeply hidden, and caused them to react on an instinctual level.
One after another, the Great Hunt participants looked over with varying expressions. Some were shocked, some were aghast, some were taken aback. A variety of emotions assailed them with storm-like force.
“What’s going on here?”
“Why’s the Mountain and Sea Region acting like this?”
“It’s like the beasts are being stimulated in some way!”
It wasn’t just the ordinary participants who were shaken. The Firemoon chosen in the region were reacting similarly.
Fear still lingered in Master Stillwinter because of the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands. In another part of the region was Fan Shishuang, seated in meditation. His eyes opened, and his expression flickered as he turned to look in the same direction as everyone else. His expression turned serious, and his eyes narrowed.
It’s coming from the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands! But... what’s happening there?
Fan Shishuang suddenly felt very uneasy. He had never experienced nor even heard of anything like this happening. Sir Heavenink and Tuo Shishan were in different locations as well, and they were similarly shaken by what was happening. Everyone was feeling increasingly uneasy.
***
In the lowlands of the Mountain and Sea Region, in hillworm territory, a figure was racing along frantically. He was moving so fast he was almost a blur. But if you looked closely, you would notice that he seemed very shifty. He was none other than the Captain.
He could also sense the majestic fluctuations. He glanced up at the sky.
Why do I get the feeling this has something to do with little Junior Brother?
He blinked a few times and mused that perhaps the reason his little Junior Brother hadn’t met up yet was that he’d come across some amazing treasure....
Even as those thoughts ran through his head, a shout rang out from behind him, specifically, from his pursuer, who was a young man with beautiful facial features.
The youth didn’t seem to care at all about the dramatic upheavals, and was completely focused on chasing the Captain. Were there any other Firemoon cultivators present, they would instantly recognize this young man. He was actually the number one Firemoon chosen. He was the mighty and famous Sir Firedark!
Being the number one chosen, with a position and status far above everyone else, there wasn’t anyone among his contemporaries who would dare to provoke him. By extension, there were few situations in which he had chased someone like this. But here it was happening right out in the open.
What was even more noteworthy was that Sir Firedark was clearly in bad shape. His expression was grim, and his eyes burned with killing intent, as if the Captain was so vile to him he couldn’t stand to live under the same sky as him. For something like this to happen was extremely rare.
Voice both vulgar and emotional, the Captain shouted, “Little Swallow, what are you chasing a manly man like me for? My heart belongs to another! Just give up!”
With that, he accelerated through the rainforest, a crazy look just barely visible within his eyes. His words caused the pursuing Sir Firedark’s eyes to turn even more bloodshot. Killing intent spiking, he gritted his teeth and continued the chase.
***
A storm had hit the Mountain and Sea Region. And the middle of it was the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands. Xu Qing was also feeling shaken by the terrifying aura coming from 3,000 meters beneath the surface of the muck. He felt like a rowboat in the middle of a raging sea, on the verge of being ripped to shreds.
Clearly, taking the final skull had triggered this change in the shrine.
Resolving the situation would be simple. Xu Qing could just put the skull back. But he wasn’t willing to do that. He had already fished out eight, and this was the final one to make the set complete. Giving up just wasn’t an option.
What was more, Xu Qing had the strong premonition that fishing out the ninth skull would provoke some dramatic transformation to the other skulls. He had no way to know exactly what it would be, but it would surely be dramatic.
The downside was that he was going to have to pay a heavy price to get the ninth skull. Forcibly fishing it out was provoking an absolutely terrifying aura from the shrine. This was a god that was superior to Crimson Mother, and Xu Qing knew full well that he wasn’t in the position to fight against power like that.
In the past, before he learned about the history of the Firemoon Darkheaven people, he wouldn’t have hesitated to give up in a moment like this. After all, staying alive was the most important thing.
But now... he understood the truth about Firemoon Darkheaven history. Because of that, Xu Qing felt that he was in position... to succeed at snatching food from the tiger’s mouth !
Mentally, he reviewed the situation in the cave below.
The shrine was suppressed by three gods.... The fact that the spider god is stirring means that hē’s definitely affecting the sealing marks of those gods. Considering what I know about history, it seems there must be some animosity between the three gods and the spider god....
With such thoughts on his mind, Xu Qing’s eyes shone with determination, as well as a bit of the craziness that had just appeared in the Captain’s eyes. Sometimes in life, you can’t just follow the compass and obey the measuring stick . Sometimes, you have to put things on the line!
The energy of Fishing the Moon in the Well had been affected by the upheaval, and was on the verge of collapsing. Even the Captain’s formation was in bad shape, and clearly wouldn’t last much longer.
Without any hesitation, Xu Qing unleashed all of his cultivation base and godly power. It became a surge of force that entered Fishing the Moon in the Well, grabbed the final skull, and viciously fished it up.
As the sound of splashing water echoed out, Xu Qing shivered from head to toe. The force of fishing up the skull had nearly destroyed his body; he was now covered with so many wounds he looked like he was made of blood.
By paying that price, he was now able to lift his soaked hand to look at the ninth skull resting on the palm. Without taking any time to think, he put it in his mouth, then shot straight up into the air as even more wild fluctuations rolled up from the muck.
There was also an awakening will that began to spread out. The sky cracked. The lands crumbled. The end of days had arrived!
A chanting from ancient times spread out in all directions, causing everything to tremble as a huge vortex formed.
The spinning of the vortex kicked up masses of muck. And though it started slowly, and only about 3,000 meters across, in the blink of an eye, it was spinning rapidly, and had expanded to tens if not hundreds of thousands of meters. In fact, it quickly covered all of the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands, spinning faster and faster, and sending muck spraying everywhere.
At the same time, the area 3,000 meters below the surface was made visible by the vortex. The cave was now open to the world!
As for the shrine there, it began to float upward! It cast light that illuminated the dome of heaven, and from a distance, it was possible to see that the gray fog was being dispelled.
The powerful fluctuations from the shrine carried the chanting to every corner of the Mountain and Sea Region. Instantly, the howling of the beasts intensified, causing the souls of the cultivators to tremble. The Mountain and Sea Region... was fully erupting! The source of it all, the spider god, was now showing even more signs of awakening.
Sunfire’s power was affixed to the spider’s forehead. The spider’s body had traces of Moonfire, and was surrounded by evidence of Starfire. But all of those things were weakening and clearly on the verge of being discarded.
Hīs eyes fluttered as if they were about to open. [1]
Seeing that, Xu Qing started breathing heavily. He was currently right over the vortex, trying to get away. The gray fog swept up toward him, surrounding him and bolstering him. Unfortunately, that level of blessing didn’t help very much when dealing with this spider god.
As the sensation of awakening grew stronger, a gravitational force erupted, sweeping over Xu Qing and preventing him from fleeing. Instead, he tumbled in the opposite direction. Apparently, he wouldn’t be allowed to leave unless he abandoned that skull.
Don’t tell me I was wrong! Are the three gods not connected to this spider god?
In that critical moment in which Xu Qing started pondering whether or not to give up, something dramatic happened!
The branch from Sunfire that was stabbed into the spider god’s forehead emerged by about an inch. But then, dazzling light shone out from it. It was like the light of the sun, filling heaven and earth. To Xu Qing, it felt as if an actual sun was emerging from the spider god’s forehead.
A howl of anguish erupted from the spider god. The sound entered Xu Qing’s mind and caused blood to spray out of his mouth. It was too much for him to sustain. Thankfully, because Xu Qing’s violet crystal now had all nine skulls, the gray fog was now like a part of him as well, and it helped dispel the force.
Simultaneously, the four spears from Moonfire became sharper. Exuding a sense of frigid cold, they blurred into numerous afterimages, then once again stabbed into the spider god. A moan of agony echoed out.
Finally, the eight clay jars from Starfire seemed to get much heavier.
The vortex spinning in the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands suddenly stopped moving. The shrine that had been rising up shivered. Then the combined power of the sun, moon, and star gods forced it back down into the cave.
The gravitational force faded.
Xu Qing trembled. The moan from the spider god had filled him with intense pain, causing his fleshly body to crumble further, and his soul to go dim. Without the protection of the gray fog, he would have been destroyed in body and soul. Forcing himself to stay focused, he took advantage of the waning of the gravitational force to start moving at top speed.
Rumbling sounds echoed out as he broke free. Soon he was some 3,000 meters away. Without the slightest hesitation, he bit the tip of his tongue to prevent himself from going unconscious.
When he was around 50 kilometers away, a huge shockwave rolled out thanks to the pressure from the three gods.
Gasping for breath, Xu Qing turned around to take a look. The spider god’s shrine was still above the vortex. Higher in the sky, something majestic and awe-inspiring appeared.
There were three enormous shrines! One shrine was shaped like a chariot, and within it was enshrined a sun. One shrine had the form of a phoenix palace, and enshrined within it was a moon. One shrine looked like a red sedan, and enshrined within it was a star.
When they appeared, golden light filled the sky. Then they viciously dropped down!
1. In real life, spiders don’t have eyelids and cannot open and close their eyes. But at the same time, in real life, spiders don’t have sixteen legs. What’s more, there are no spiders that are gods (at least not that I have personally met). Thankfully, this is a mythological fantasy world, not real life. ☜