Chapter 481: One Step Solitary Goose, One Step Demon

On the pitch-black abyss sea, the leaf boat's speed was extremely fast, exceeding the previous one by nearly ten times, stepping crazily within the abyss sea, looking like it was afraid of delaying Xu Qing's time.

Especially after sensing Xu Qing's gloomy expression, the speed increased again.

After knowing the information about the Yanmiao Clan, Xu Qing gave up the idea of going to Qingwu Mountain to transfer. He planned to rush to Zhaoxia Mountain immediately, and at the same time, huge haze rose in his heart.

On one hand, he was worried about the war in the two major battle zones in the northwest. On the other hand, the information about the Yanmiao Clan made it difficult for him not to associate it with the guess about the mastermind behind the scenes in the jade slip given by the Palace Master.

"The matter of the battlefield is not something I can control... The only thing I can do is to complete the task entrusted by the Palace Master."

For a long time, Xu Qing murmured.

Just like that, time passed. Several days went by. During these few days, the web on the celestial dome had more flowing light than ever before. Through this point, Xu Qing could judge that the war in the two places in the northwest should have reached an incomparably intense degree.

He sighed lightly in his heart, raising his head to gaze at the distant heaven and earth.

Finally, on the fourth night, Zhaoxia Mountain entered Xu Qing's eyes.

This mountain was very special. Its color was not black, but seven-colored.

At first glance, it looked like it was pieced together, but in reality, it was a whole.

And in size, it clearly exceeded any mountain body Xu Qing had seen along the way. It stood on the abyss sea, straight into the celestial dome, and the part on the surface was nearly ten thousand feet high.

Under the moonlight, the seven-colored color of Zhaoxia Mountain was reflected in all four directions, forming a halo, giving people a sense of gorgeousness.

Faintly, one could see that beneath the abyss sea, it was even more majestic.

An astonishing mountain body, spreading over a large range.

Especially when the two approached, Xu Qing also felt bursts of pressure spreading from this mountain. While shrouding the surroundings, the solar wind here was also incomparably intense. Wherever it passed, not only were there whimpering wind sounds echoing, but there were also countless space cracks appearing, healing rapidly, and forming rapidly, repeating over and over.

Looking at this mountain, Xu Qing felt somewhat complicated in his heart, and even more rarely, bursts of anxiety rose. These kinds of emotions blended together, eventually becoming a state of worrying about personal gains and losses. On one hand, it was the task entrusted by the Palace Master, but more importantly, his parents' graves were here.

Xu Qing stood on the leaf boat, gazing at the distant Zhaoxia Mountain. After a long time, he suppressed all his thoughts, took a deep breath, walked out of the leaf boat, and approached Zhaoxia Mountain rapidly in the abyss sea.

As for the leaf boat, almost the moment Xu Qing left, it sank violently, afraid that leaving late would disturb Xu Qing. In the blink of an eye, it dived into the depths of the abyss sea, sticking to the bottom, and fled rapidly.

The head on the stone lion's tail gazed at this scene, its expression revealing intense envy.

A stick of incense's time later, Xu Qing approached Zhaoxia Mountain. Here, he felt an invisible barrier circling around Zhaoxia Mountain, as if a giant cover, shrouding this mountain from top to bottom.

This was the great formation of the Zhaoxia Mountain Sword Court.

This formation prevented all unauthorized persons from stepping in. Even Sword Holders from other prefectures who wanted to come here needed permission to do so. Only Sword Holders of this prefecture could enter smoothly.

But because this place was a secret land designated by the Jiangong, the Sword Holders of this prefecture also had too many places in Zhaoxia Mountain that they couldn't break into.

Only by consuming war merits to exchange for the qualification to enter the secret land could one truly be unimpeded.

However, all of this didn't exist for Xu Qing today. The permission level of the jade slip given by the Palace Master was as high as the Palace Master's personal arrival.

So his arrival wouldn't cause any fluctuations in the formation, and there wouldn't be any secret land that would prohibit him.

"First complete the investigation, and then go find my parents' graves."

Xu Qing's eyes revealed decisiveness. He took out the jade pendant given by the Palace Master, and without causing any fluctuations, walked into the formation of Zhaoxia Mountain and stepped into the mountain body.

The moment his footsteps landed on Zhaoxia Mountain, ripples rose in Xu Qing's heart. A sense of bloodline connection in the dark made his breathing rapid, and his heart even felt a stinging pain.

That was the connection to his parents.

After his cultivation base reached this degree, he could perceive bloodlines, and it was precisely this perception that made Xu Qing instinctively raise his hand and press it on his heart.

(Missing text in source)

"Dad, Mom," Xu Qing murmured, his eyes somewhat red.

Even in the eyes of outsiders, Xu Qing was someone who was decisive in killing, ruthless in his moves, and whose emotional fluctuations were not very obvious, but this was forced by life, not his true nature.

And now, on this Zhaoxia Mountain, his mind couldn't help but recall scene after scene in Wushuang City.

For a long time, Xu Qing lowered his head, hiding his aura completely, and also pressing down the ripples in his heart. He knew that he must first go and complete the Palace Master's task.

So he walked silently upward along the mountain peak.

From afar, he saw that near the top of the mountain, more than a hundred large and small palaces had been built.

The material of these palaces was the stone of Zhaoxia Mountain, so the color was also seven-colored, and they were built very atmospherically. Under the moonlight, they looked full of a sense of holiness.

Very beautiful.

And compared to Yinghuang Prefecture, the Sword Court here was much larger in scale! The number of Sword Holders guarding here on weekdays must also have exceeded Yinghuang Prefecture.

However, during the war period, ninety-nine percent of the Sword Holders in the Zhaoxia Mountain Sword Court had already gone to the battlefield. Xu Qing felt that it was incomparably quiet in this huge Sword Court as he walked along.

The number of Sword Holders was less than thirty. Xu Qing noticed while hiding that these Sword Holders were mostly patrolling, their expressions extremely vigilant. Clearly, they had also heard the rumors that someone wanted to attack the Sword Court.

These remaining cultivators were mostly low-palace Golden Core cultivation bases. The highest was a Nascent Soul Sword Holder, whose aura was about the same as Chu Tianqun's, also in the early to mid-Nascent Soul stage.

Xu Qing gazed from afar at the place where the other party was, and also checked the formation of the Sword Court.

Breaking this formation was by no means easy. Cooperating with the taboo web on the celestial dome, it could ensure that any Sword Court in Fenghai County was in a safe state.

After making a judgment, Xu Qing withdrew his gaze. In this silent Sword Court, avoiding the patrolling Sword Holders, he sneaked toward the top of the mountain.

His goal was very clear: to go to the archive pavilion of the Sword Court.

The Palace Master's jade pendant and Xu Qing's own concealment made this journey very smooth. After a stick of incense's time, he found the pavilion where the archives were stored.

There were also restrictions here, not allowing Sword Holders to step in at will, but as the soft light from the jade pendant in Xu Qing's hand dispersed, the restrictions blurred in front of him.

Before stepping in, Xu Qing transmitted a divine sense to the shadow. Soon, the shadow expanded violently, like a pocket, shrouding the stone lion and the head.

Xu Qing took a look, confirmed it was fine, and only then walked in with one step. After carefully sensing it, he confirmed that there were no Sword Holders guarding the archive pavilion, so he walked inside and began to flip through the archives here.

This pavilion had four floors in total, and the number of archives was extremely large. Xu Qing couldn't flip through them all in a short time, so he mainly looked for records about Zhaoxia Light.

Just like that, on the third floor, he found an archive that required very high permission to view.

After opening the restrictions on it, Xu Qing began to read.

After half a while, he frowned.

The record in this archive was indeed Zhaoxia Light. According to what was recorded inside, Zhaoxia Light, the light released before the sun fell, was not a dead object, but possessed intelligence.

These years, it had appeared a total of 752 times one after another.

But this was actually somewhat contradictory, because if it were really formed by the sun falling, it should have been a one-time explosion in those years, impossible!

Separated by countless years, appearing from time to time.

So, under the research of the Jiangong, it was discovered that Zhaoxia Light, to a certain extent, although related to the sun falling, was not entirely formed this way.

It was more like a kind of life form naturally formed in this area after the sun fell and changed a part of the heaven and earth laws in this area.

Therefore, it would appear occasionally one after another over countless years, and only appear in Zhaoxia Mountain.

On this point, the archive also had records. It was rumored that Zhaoxia Mountain was the place where a mouthful of blood was sprinkled before the sun fell. The sun's blood was seven-colored, so this mountain also became seven-colored.

The solar aura existing here was also a condition required for the formation of Zhaoxia Light. At the same time, Zhaoxia Light actually didn't have much help for the cultivation base of cultivators.

It was more of a way for cultivators to comprehend solar power and reverse their own bloodlines.

At the same time, it also had astonishing aspects in artifact refining.

In addition, the Jiangong had research showing that Zhaoxia Light also had a powerful effect in countering divine power. Therefore, under these various reasons, and because its quantity was scarce, until now, every Zhaoxia Light that appeared had detailed records in the Sword Court.

These records included the time Zhaoxia Light appeared, as well as its final destination.

Xu Qing checked for a while and didn't find too many problems. Every Zhaoxia Light inside had traces to follow. Among them, most were sent to the Jiangong, and a small part were traded away by other forces through barter.

For those traded away, the Sword Court also had records of their destinations.

Xu Qing searched for a long time and only found these.

"Unless I trace the whereabouts of each one one by one, otherwise it's very difficult to find clues."

Xu Qing frowned, looking at the massive archives, his eyes somewhat deep.

At the same time, in this Zhaoxia Prefecture, deep in the abyss sea, it was permeated with infinite exotic substances, and even more terrifying pressure carried the will of death, shrouding all eight directions.

"Everything is blurry, everything is twisted, as if it were a world formed by a god opening its eyes. It seems that any cultivator who arrives here will be affected, either dying suddenly or becoming alienated."

This was a forbidden zone for life. And the source of all this was a piece of sun remains that looked extinct from the outside.

On this thousand-foot-sized remains of flesh and blood, the old man Danqing was standing there shivering, looking at a hundred-foot-sized finger floating in front of him, radiating terrifying divine power.

"Boss is majestic. I heard that for countless years, various tribes have been searching for remains here until they went crazy, but they never found any more. But as soon as Boss came, you found it. Boss is truly the god chosen by heaven!"

"It's just that these remains of the sun, because they have fallen for too, too long, now lack activity and are difficult to use as paint..."

The old man Danqing spoke with a trembling voice.

"Only by finding more living lives and sending them in to fill them with activity is there a possibility of becoming paint..."

The divine finger heard this, turned slightly in a direction, and as the surroundings blurred and twisted, its figure disappeared in an instant.

Watching the finger go away, the old man Danqing was immediately worried and miserable.

"What should I do? After painting, I will definitely be killed. Even if I paint, I will be killed..."

And at this moment, it was dawn breaking. The celestial dome was pitch black. Although the bright moon was hanging high, the moonlight in Zhaoxia Prefecture couldn't penetrate the mist, so the entire abyss sea was still pitch black.

Only the tops of those mountain peaks standing on the abyss sea could penetrate the mist and see the bright moon in the sky.

It was just that most of the mountains in the abyss sea were not towering, so the brightest place in the entire Zhaoxia Prefecture was only Zhaoxia Mountain.

On Zhaoxia Mountain, Xu Qing stood on the third floor of the archive pavilion, looking at the sky through the wooden window. The mountain wind blew, blowing his long hair up, and also revealing his eyes reflecting the moonlight.

"Wanting to trace clues, relying solely on my own strength, the time required is very long." Xu Qing murmured in his heart, his eyebrows slowly frowning.

He couldn't inform others about this matter, even the Sword Holders guarding here couldn't be easily told, because once the Palace Master's judgment was correct, the mastermind behind the scenes who killed the County Governor must have monstrous power.

So even if it were the Sword Holders here... Xu Qing couldn't be sure.

Because the price of trusting the wrong person was a life-and-death crisis for him. After pondering for half a while, Xu Qing checked some archives again, finally left the archive pavilion, and walked in the quiet and empty Sword Court while hiding. The closer it was to dawn, following the dimming of the bright moon, the heaven and earth became more pitch black. This was the inevitable experience before dawn arrived.

And often at this time, the wind was also colder than usual, blowing on Xu Qing's body, lifting the sleeves of his Daoist robe.

Xu Qing walked silently in Zhaoxia Mountain. He was preparing to go and find his parents' graves, wanting to pay respects.

He had waited for this day for a very, very long time.

The ups and downs of his mood, the fluctuations of his thoughts, all became ripples, constantly surging in the depths of Xu Qing's heart.

Couldn't be pressed down, couldn't be buried.

When it became larger and larger, Xu Qing's body trembled somewhat uncontrollably, which was very rare for him.

Xu Qing didn't control it. He closed his eyes, his perception spreading, following the bloodline guidance in the dark, walking forward silently, passing by a house. Here, there was bloodline guidance.

Passing by a mountain stone, here, there was also bloodline guidance.

Passing by a high tower, here, there was also bloodline guidance.

Xu Qing walked for a long time, passing through area after area, walking through the small half of Zhaoxia Mountain exposed on the abyss sea.

Until finally, at the tip of the mountain, he stopped, standing there blankly.

The wind became stronger at this moment, and the pitch-black sky also gradually turned red, as if burned by fire. Gradually, light penetrated the clouds, falling on the abyss sea, falling on mountain peaks one after another, and also reflecting on Zhaoxia Mountain.

Seven-colored light dispersed from every mountain stone of Zhaoxia Mountain. After reflecting with the sunlight, it formed a gorgeous halo, becoming the only focus in this heaven and earth at this moment.

Looking from afar, the black abyss sea, a seven-colored mountain, gorgeous and brilliant, seemed to become the source of all light, wanting to compete with the sun.

Its light shrouded all eight directions. As the sky became brighter and brighter, as the first sun rose, the seven-colored light of Zhaoxia Mountain became even brighter at this instant, dispersing gorgeous rosy clouds toward the surroundings.

Beautiful beyond compare.

In this absolutely beautiful scene, Xu Qing opened his eyes. He looked down at the mountain stone beneath his feet, and he understood.

Why, he had walked through all the areas, and every position had bloodline guidance.

Why, he had found it until now, clearly the perception was beside him, but he had never found the location of the grave.

"I buried my parents in Zhaoxia Mountain." This was what Prince Ziqing told Xu Qing back then.

At this moment, Xu Qing knew the reason.

"Dad and Mom's grave is this Zhaoxia Mountain. They were buried deep in the very center of this mountain, so the moment I stepped onto this mountain, I perceived the bloodline guidance." Xu Qing murmured, looking at Zhaoxia Mountain beneath his feet. He wanted to enter the interior of this mountain, but the specialty of Zhaoxia Mountain made it impossible for him to do so with his cultivation base.

For a long time, for a long time.

Xu Qing knelt down silently, his hands touching the mountain stone, lowering his head. No one could perceive his existence here, and naturally no one saw that on the mountain stone where Xu Qing lowered his head, water droplets followed his face and nose tip, falling drop by drop, soaking into the mountain stone, like ink.

Only the seven-colored color of Zhaoxia Mountain itself constantly expanded, as if transforming into a gentle hand, gently stroking Xu Qing's trembling body and his silently crying face.

I don't know how long passed, Xu Qing's forehead touched the mountain stone.

"Dad, Mom, rest in peace."

Xu Qing murmured, his voice somewhat blurry, only he himself could hear it.

Finally, he raised his head, unable to see tears.

He stood up, sorrow permeated, and walked away silently toward the foot of the mountain.

The sky was bright at this moment.

Endless sunlight fell, shining on Xu Qing's back, and also completely shining on Zhaoxia Mountain.

The rosy clouds were brilliant, gorgeous and vivid, very beautiful, very beautiful.

Xu Qing left.

His longing all along was actually not that complicated. He just: wanted to come to Zhaoxia Mountain and pay respects at his parents' grave.

Until a long time later, Xu Qing, who had walked to the foot of the mountain, looked back at this seven-colored rosy mountain in heaven and earth, gazing for a long time.

"Later, when there are no regrets, I want to live here."

Xu Qing murmured softly, closing his eyes.

When he opened them again after a few breaths, he put away all the thoughts in his heart, his eyes revealing coldness again, turning and walking far away, his steps becoming more and more firm.

He was going to a canyon under the abyss sea outside Zhaoxia Mountain. That place was not far from Zhaoxia Mountain and was the place where the last Zhaoxia Light in the records was formed.

He prepared to go over and check if there were any clues.

Under the abyss sea, it seemed like two worlds with the above. The mist isolated the sunlight, and the cold isolated the warmth.

Xu Qing walked into the darkness along Zhaoxia Mountain, his speed getting faster and faster, transforming into a remnant shadow, going deeper and deeper in this darkness, until he reached the very bottom of Zhaoxia Mountain.

It was also the bottom of this abyss sea.

This place was permeated with exotic substances, full of evil, and in the pitch black of the surroundings, occasionally there would be...

Some green ghost fires appeared, drifting back and forth, while it was silent.

"After the sun fell, what was released was also exotic substances..." Xu Qing, after perceiving, was lost in thought, carrying vigilance and precaution, galloping forward.

He knew very well that the abyss sea rich in exotic substances must have crises. Many fierce evils would definitely be born here. In fact, this was also why Zhaoxia Prefecture cultivators didn't travel from underground.

Like the Forbidden Sea, no one knew how many terrifying existences were under this abyss sea.

Long-term stay would make this danger soar. Xu Qing, while vigilant, also increased his concealment, his figure like a ghost, approaching the canyon he wanted to go to rapidly.

Two hours later, Xu Qing, who had left the range of the Zhaoxia Mountain formation, arrived at his destination.

The so-called canyon was actually a giant crack at the bottom of the abyss sea, a full hundred feet wide, with a length reaching several thousand feet.

Bursts of black mist drifted out from this crack, merging into the surroundings.

Xu Qing saw it from afar and was just about to charge over, but his expression moved slightly, and he squatted down violently, hiding behind a rock. He narrowed his eyes to look at the mist released from the canyon in the distance.

In those mists, Xu Qing perceived some familiar fluctuations.

Almost at the same time Xu Qing was probing, the shadow also transmitted divine sense rapidly, and at the same time expanded, making the stone lion and the head that had been wrapped by it all the way reveal themselves while trembling.

After the two of them appeared, they didn't dare to move. It was truly the feeling of being about to be eaten after being shrouded by the shadow that made them terrified.

Xu Qing didn't pay attention to the lion and the head. He gazed for a while, noticing that there were indeed Yanmiao Clan figures in the mist. He didn't act rashly, but gave an order to the shadow, letting it spread over to probe.

Soon the shadow moved rapidly on the ground, entered the canyon, and returned not long after, expressing emotions to Xu Qing, but this expression was very blurry, as if what it saw was too complicated.

Even the Jin Gang Sect Old Ancestor was somewhat confused.

Xu Qing frowned, waved his hand to take off the head on the stone lion's tail, and threw it to the shadow.

"Take it."

Under the head's terror, the shadow swallowed it in one bite and headed straight for the canyon. When it returned again a while later, the head hurriedly spoke.

"Boss, I saw it. Inside are all Yanmiao Clan members, about several hundred of them, and there are even several Nascent Souls!"

"They are assembling a magic treasure. After my careful observation and research, cooperating with rich knowledge, I recognized at a glance that it is something that erupts and interferes with taboo magic treasures."

The Jin Gang Sect Old Ancestor on the side frowned, his gaze sweeping over the head, and a greater sense of crisis arose in the dark.

Xu Qing heard this, looked at the canyon, and cold light flashed in his eyes.

Being so close to Zhaoxia Mountain and assembling such a magic treasure, it was not difficult to guess the target of the Yanmiao Clan's interference. It was highly likely related to Zhaoxia Mountain. Although this guess was somewhat hasty, after all, there was still a probability of it being used elsewhere.

But if it was wrong, it was wrong. It didn't matter to Xu Qing. He already had a deep disgust for this Yanmiao Clan. In addition, Zhaoxia Mountain was now very different in Xu Qing's heart.

So, just destroy the canyon where this Yanmiao Clan was located.

"If there are Nascent Souls, it's not easy to kill directly." Xu Qing raised his right hand and waved. Instantly, the third Heavenly Palace vibrated, and poison prohibition power dispersed, spreading rapidly toward all four directions along his body.

Subsequently, he perceived the direction from which the cold wind here blew, arrived silently at the downwind place, and released poison again. Just like that, he used half an hour to spread the poison prohibition power in all four directions, finally calculated and confirmed it was enough. He squatted in the distance, killing intent revealing in his eyes, and raised his right hand to point.

Instantly, the poison permeating the surroundings clouded up, containing countless small black insects within, whistling toward the canyon crack.

In the blink of an eye, all the poison rushed into the canyon.

Soon, bursts of shrill sounds and roars were transmitted from the canyon. At the same time, in the depths of the abyss sea at some distance from here, a hundred-foot-sized finger was galloping recklessly. Wherever it passed, living creatures were all bound behind it.

Looking from afar, there were actually hundreds of cultivators of various tribes behind it, each one pulled and unable to break free, their expressions desperate. ===== CHAPTER 482 =====

Clouds surged, containing countless small black insects, whistling toward the canyon fissure.

In the blink of an eye, all the poison rushed into the canyon.

Soon, shrill sounds and roars erupted from within the canyon. At the same time, in the depths of the Abyss Sea, some distance away, a hundred-zhang-sized finger was galloping recklessly. Everything living in its path was bound behind it.

Looking over, there were hundreds of cultivators of various clans behind it, each one dragged along, unable to break free, their expressions filled with despair.