Chapter 1066: Making a God a Slave

Seven days later.

Beside Nine-Curve Mountain, the sound of a woman's soft singing, like an oriole, flowed forth like a clear spring, echoing in all directions.

"Green peaks like screens hide the immortal's trail, nine curves wind into the clouds. Clear waters whisper softly among the stones, evening glow unstained by the pine forest wind."

As the sound spread, the entire Nine-Curve Mountain could be seen from afar, wreathed in clouds and mist. Within it, a stream fell from the summit, winding through nine curves until it reached the foot of the mountain, merging into a long, clear river.

On the river were boats, drifting like fallen leaves.

"Senior, this is Nine-Curve Mountain. This mountain's stream has nine curves, and as it flows, immortal music echoes, hence the name."

Inside the boat, incense was burning, and bright lamps were lit.

Yunmen Qianfan played the guzheng while gazing at Xu Qing, who was looking out at Nine-Curve Mountain. The ripples in her heart had grown into waves as they traveled together.

Even after seven days, the image of that Earth Spirit Clan guest elder's bizarre death still occasionally surfaced in her mind.

One glance, and a cultivator at the seventh realm of Spirit Containment died in tears. In her view, this was something only a Great Perfection of the ninth realm of Spirit Containment could accomplish.

This made her realize even more clearly that what this Yan Xuanzi had shown at Spirit Dust Mountain Range was merely the tip of the iceberg. As long as they didn't encounter a Sovereign on this journey, she would be safe.

Precisely because of this, the feeling of life-and-death danger in her heart had diminished significantly, replaced by a sense of wonder, turning this journey into a true excursion.

The relaxation of her mood made her smile much more often than usual.

She became even more immersed in the music, the sound of the guzheng drifting and intertwining with the sound of the river.

Combined with the incense and the lamps, being in the midst of it all, there was truly a sense of "clear springs murmuring along the path, forgetting the world's clamor and all things empty."

Listening to the immortal music and gazing at the nine curves, Xu Qing picked up his wine flask and took a sip.

Compared to Yunmen Qianfan's relaxation, Xu Qing's mood, amidst the swaying immortal music, found it hard to forget the world's clamor.

The wine he drank, though melting in his mouth, evaporated into his memories.

Vaguely, he remembered that years ago, there was also a boat, two people on it, and music flowing in his heart.

Seeming to sense Xu Qing's current state of mind, Qianfan lowered her head, the guzheng music following her soft singing, drifting out over the clear river water.

"Birds flutter, seeking old dreams, the heart follows the mountains and waters in peace. Willing to stay here to accompany you for a lifetime, not asking for the return date as the years chime."

The river water shimmered, and the wooden boat sailed past Nine-Curve Mountain.

"I have a piece of music I haven't heard in a long time. Would you be willing to play it?"

Xu Qing asked suddenly.

"Qianfan is willing."

Yunmen Qianfan hurriedly raised her head, looking at Xu Qing's back, and spoke obediently.

Xu Qing raised his hand, and a jade slip imprinted with the musical score landed before Yunmen Qianfan.

Qianfan raised her slender hands, placed it in her palm, and closed her eyes to focus.

A moment later, the guzheng music changed.

A familiar melody echoed between heaven and earth.

The long river, the lonely boat, slowly drifting away.

The woman on the boat played, the man gazed into the distance.

Amidst the mountains and waters, he was seeking old dreams.

In the heavenly wind, the feeling of the pugilistic world blew in.

Within the guzheng music, it seemed to be recounting a lifetime of joys and sorrows.

In the end, everything turned into a flask of turbid wine.

In loneliness, Xu Qing drank it all in one gulp.

"Senior... this piece has a profound artistic conception, containing a lifetime of obsession. Although there is sorrow, there is also a sense of detachment. The composer is certainly no ordinary person. May I ask the name of this piece?"

Yunmen Qianfan looked at Xu Qing and asked softly.

Xu Qing did not answer, but looked at the river water, then toward the horizon.

A strong wind blew, making his long hair dance and his clothes flutter. As they did, a touch of indifference also rose in the wind.

And so, the wind stopped.

The shimmering of the river water also fell silent.

The next instant, the river surface in front of the wooden boat suddenly churned!

The river water sank, and a huge head rose abruptly from within.

This head resembles a snake's, covered in scales, pitch-black all over, and dripping with slime, its eyes like red flames, filled with malice.

It was hundreds of feet in size. The moment it appeared on the river surface, compared to it... the wooden boat was like a child's toy.

Accompanying it were bursts of whispering sounds echoing in the mind.

This sound fell into the ears, making people go mad, the soul unstable, the physical body roaring.

At the same time, with the appearance of that bizarre head, the surroundings began to distort, a sense of blurriness intensifying.

And after meeting its gaze, Yunmen Qianfan's heart accelerated uncontrollably, as if it were about to burst through her chest.

Her mind felt as if it were being torn apart, a sense of madness aggressively invading from the outside.

Her whole body shook, and she clearly felt that in this instant, all the flesh and blood in her body possessed a will, forming a strong repulsion against her, as if wanting to separate.

As for the spiritual energy in all directions, it rolled backward at this moment, invaded and occupied by an aura completely different from spiritual energy. While repelling each other, the spiritual energy was also being polluted.

That was divine breath, that was foreign matter!

That was... a god!

Almost at the instant Yunmen Qianfan's mind shook, her cultivation was suppressed, and her body and soul were unable to bear it, a gentle force radiated from Xu Qing, enveloping her.

Shielding her from the outside.

Then Xu Qing raised his right hand and grabbed toward the front.

Immediately, the distorted and blurry void in front of him roared, shattered, and collapsed in an instant.

Under this grab, the river water also rolled up, forming a force like a mountain collapsing and a sea overturning, turning into a palm that grabbed onto the god's head.

He pulled upward fiercely.

Heaven and earth shook.

A heart-tearing roar came from the god's mouth, its body shaken by this great force, dragged out alive from the river.

As the river water splashed, its complete and bizarre body was revealed.

In this body, the head occupied ninety-nine percent.

Beneath the huge head of hundreds of feet was a relatively slender body, the skin appearing gray, mucus flowing everywhere.

Surrounded by light orbs, constantly rotating and flickering, emitting mysterious and bizarre light.

A sense of chaos and madness rose intensely.

Inside its body, there was still a flame burning, but on the flame existed a lampshade composed of runes.

Under this lampshade, the flame was sealed and controlled.

Moreover, on this lampshade, there was also a special jade slip.

This jade slip was like a living thing, growing a large number of tentacles, spreading over the god's brain, like a parasite, locking it firmly.

"God slave!"

"Senior, this is a god slave that the Earth Spirit Clan spent resources to purchase from the Dao Immortal Sect back then. God slaves... all possess Sovereign combat power, Senior, you..."

Yunmen Qianfan, after Xu Qing shielded her from the outside, recovered quickly. At this moment, her mind trembled, clearly not expecting that the pursuers would send out a god slave to kill her.

Thinking of the terror of a god slave, Yunmen Qianfan trembled and spoke instinctively to warn him.

But halfway through her words, her eyes widened, and she couldn't speak anymore.

Because where she was looking, that terrifying and ferocious god from just a moment ago was now being held in mid-air by a phantom giant hand, and no matter how it struggled, it couldn't break free.

And Xu Qing in front of it had a normal expression, his gaze examining the god, as if studying it.

This scene made Yunmen Qianfan's breathing rapid, the image of the guest elder who had died in tears appearing in her mind.

"A god of the Divine Fire Realm."

Xu Qing's gaze swept over the flame surrounded by the lampshade inside the god's body.

He saw that the lampshade was composed of countless dense runes, each different, the number no less than hundreds of millions, extremely complex, and between each rune, there were changes in order, and not just one arrangement.

In addition, the jade slip on the lampshade that looked like a living thing was even more strange. Xu Qing had never seen it before and couldn't distinguish it for a moment.

After arriving at the Fifth Star Ring, this was not the first time he had seen a god. He had seen gods turned into slaves before, used by cultivators as magic treasures or spirit beasts.

But from Yunmen Qianfan's words, he heard the source of this kind of god slave.

"Controlled within the orthodox sects of various domains, and can be sold externally?"

Xu Qing was thoughtful. He had quite an interest in this method of controlling gods into slaves, and through observation, he found this method extremely clever.

If one didn't understand its essence, the difficulty of breaking it would be extremely great.

Forcing it open would cause the enslaved god's divine fire to extinguish, its consciousness to collapse, and even cause the disintegration of the divine soul and physical body.

"But since it is a slave and was sold, then naturally there is a method of control."

Xu Qing withdrew his gaze and looked toward the horizon.

Under the crimson aurora, where Xu Qing was looking, the void rippled, and four figures were forced to appear.

The moment she saw these four, Yunmen Qianfan recognized them immediately.

Three of them were guest elders of the Earth Spirit Clan, and one was a core elder of the Earth Spirit.

The former three had cultivation at the seventh realm of Spirit Containment, while the latter... had reached the ninth realm of Spirit Containment.

So she informed him immediately.

And at this moment, these four stood in the firmament, each with a look of horror, extremely terrified, their minds stirred by monstrous waves.

One of them was still holding a small drum, but no matter how he beat it, the god connected to this drum could not break free in the slightest under Xu Qing's phantom palm.

And being looked at by Xu Qing's gaze, these four immediately felt their minds tremble, their scalps go numb, and without the slightest hesitation, they retreated violently.

But it was clearly too late.

Almost at the same time they fled, Xu Qing took a step toward the firmament.

The next instant, heaven and earth changed color.

In Qianfan's eyes, it was as if a vast scroll had unfolded in the firmament, covering everything, blurring everything.

Until a few breaths later, the scroll dissipated, the four cultivators were gone, and only Xu Qing returned.

One hand holding the wine flask, the other grabbing a head.

This head was precisely that core elder of the Earth Spirit.

He was not dead, his eyes revealing intense terror and despair, currently being soul-searched.

The moment he returned to the wooden boat, the soul-searching was also completed.

Regarding the truth of this mission, Xu Qing also knew it now.

"The Yunmen family holds a secret key to enter a certain land of fortune. This is the root of the war between the two clans, but this secret key is special, and it seems difficult to be snatched in the end."

"Thus, after suppressing the Yunmen family to the extreme, the Earth Spirit proposed a gamble that the Yunmen family could not refuse."

"The Yunmen sent out fourteen core members, the Earth Spirit pursued and killed them. If all fourteen died in the end, the Yunmen would lose. But if even one survived to reach the destination, the Earth Spirit would lose."

"The stake is that secret key and the survival of the Yunmen family."

Xu Qing had no interest in this secret key.

So with a squeeze, the head in his hand turned into fly ash. At the same time, the small drum that controlled the god also appeared in Xu Qing's hand. He flicked it lightly.

Amidst the thumping sounds, the god in front of him turned into a stream of light, merging into the drum, a totem emerging on the drum surface.

After putting it away, Xu Qing turned his head to look at Yunmen Qianfan, who was breathing rapidly, her heart filled with disbelief again.

"The wine is gone."

Xu Qing spoke and threw the wine flask in his hand over.

"Ah..." Qianfan caught it instinctively and held it in her arms. Her whole body shook, and she hurriedly took out another flask, quickly sending it to Xu Qing. ===== CHAPTER 1069 =====