Chapter 549: The Agreement Beneath the Skyfire Sea

The great wind whistled, echoing in the desolate land, turning into a tragic melody, as if telling of the distant past.

The wind and sand were lifted, permeating between heaven and earth, blending with the dim sky, unable to distinguish one from the other.

One could only vaguely see a long convoy, moving forward in this haze.

The convoy was composed of huge iron cages, inside which countless Mirror Shadow and Sky Face people were shrouded in despair.

In front, two people sat, their ages separated by an era. The old man's face wore a mask, and the young man's face was the same.

The expression on the mask was very exaggerated, carrying persistence and piety, as if always in a state of worship.

"The ethnic groups that sacrifice to the Red Moon Temple need to wear this kind of mask. This is the ritual stipulated by the temple, and also the qualification for sacrifice. Fortunately, I have done this kind of thing in my early years."

"As for things like the destruction of the two-race alliance, it doesn't count for much in the Sacrifice Moon Domain. Just two small ethnic groups. The Red Moon Temple is high above, and under normal circumstances, it won't pay attention."

Especially since the sacrifices for the Red Mother have already been collected almost enough over these countless years.

This period of time is actually the craziest time for all ethnic groups.

"But still need to have some preparations, I will handle this matter." Duanmu Cang's calm voice in the wind and sand entered Xu Qing's ears.

Xu Qing raised his hand to touch the mask on his face and nodded. Regarding the attitude of the Red Moon Temple toward all living beings, this was mentioned in the intelligence of the team leader.

Today is the ninth day since they left the Holy City.

It is a fifteen-day journey to the sacrifice designated by the Red Moon Temple. Xu Qing has thought about the things Duanmu Cang said a few days ago many times.

Still thinking about the matter of the souls of dead living beings entering the temple, Duanmu Cang turned to look at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing was silent. After a while, he looked toward the distance, watching the dim firmament, and spoke softly, "Has anyone truly figured out the curse and reincarnation of the Sacrifice Moon Domain throughout history?"

Duanmu Cang shook his head and said, "Never."

Xu Qing thought of the team leader's past life, and when he was deep in thought, Duanmu Cang suddenly spoke.

"But there are some people who have been trying, and have been working hard." But when he said this, Duanmu Cang looked at Xu Qing with deep meaning, hiding some probing, and transmitted words.

"The Red Moon is not eternal!" Xu Qing and Duanmu Cang looked at each other and nodded slightly. He saw that this sentence was like a secret code, but he didn't know what the next sentence was.

Duanmu Cang waited for a moment, and couldn't help but ask.

"Are you sure?"

"The Red Moon is not eternal." Xu Qing said in a deep voice.

Duanmu Cang was silent for a long time. Afterward, he sighed, raised his hand to take off the mask, and rubbed his eyebrows.

"Xu Qing, do you know about the Reverse Moon Palace?"

Xu Qing's expression narrowed. He had never heard of this organization, and there was no such organization in his memory's intelligence, so he shook his head.

Duanmu Cang's eyes, from the moment he said the word Reverse Moon Palace, had always been observing Xu Qing's eyes, as if confirming something.

Seeing Xu Qing's reaction at this moment, he didn't say anything more.

Xu Qing didn't ask either. He could see that this organization was very mysterious and hidden. Asking rashly would cause misunderstandings.

The convoy continued forward.

Until seven more days passed, they walked through the plains, crossed the mountains, and when they were getting closer and closer to the center of the east, at the top of a mountain peak, Duanmu Cang drank a sip of wine, and when he had a decision in his heart, he suddenly spoke, "Xu Qing, I believe you are not a person of the Red Moon Temple."

Xu Qing heard this and looked toward Duanmu.

"The Reverse Moon Palace is a mysterious organization that has existed in my Sacrifice Moon Domain for a long time. The history of this organization is as long as the Red Moon Temple! Its origin is unknown, and it has been destroyed many times, but every time the Red Mother arrives to harvest and all living beings wither, when they recover again, this organization will form."

Existing at the same time as the Red Moon Temple, this is enough to show that this Reverse Moon Palace is extraordinary.

And being able to recover after being destroyed time and time again makes it even more astonishing.

You must know that the Red Mother is now asleep, but in the past, it was not like this.

Duanmu Cang's voice came again.

"The Reverse Moon Palace gathers all those in the Sacrifice Moon Domain who have a desire to struggle and resist. Their dream is that one day they can lift this ancient curse and overthrow everything."

"Although this dream is slim to the extreme, it is a hope."

He is also working hard for this. Its members cannot help each other in reality, but each is studying the way to resolve the curse.

Xu Qing heard this, and some turmoil rose in his soul. He also studied the curse when he was in the mine, but he didn't go deep, which required a large amount of experiments.

Duanmu Cang's voice at this moment contained some emotional fluctuations, echoing in Xu Qing's consciousness.

"The identity of every member of the Reverse Moon Palace is a secret. Except for their own people, no one knows who others are. Protecting oneself from being exposed is the first task of the Reverse Moon Palace."

"Because the Red Moon Temple has been clearing out the members of the Reverse Moon Palace, and among these members, there are also people who have infiltrated from the Red Moon Temple." Duanmu Cang took a deep breath and turned to look at Xu Qing.

"The Red Moon is not eternal, hope lasts forever."

"Xu Qing, you... you might really not be a person of the Reverse Moon Palace, but I feel that you will definitely come into contact with it in the future. If you want to join the Reverse Moon Palace, you can go to the Bitter Life Mountains."

Duanmu Cang didn't speak anymore, closed his eyes, and continued on his way.

Xu Qing saw this and knew that the other party didn't want to continue this topic, so he didn't ask.

He understood that Duanmu Cang should be a member of this Reverse Moon Palace, and being able to say these things in front of him was enough to show Duanmu Cang's trust in him.

Xu Qing pondered the things Duanmu Cang said repeatedly in his heart. Just like this, time passed day by day.

Eight days later, their convoy finally arrived at the center of the east. In the distance, a huge valley entered Xu Qing's eyes. The mountains on both sides were heaven-shaking, surpassing everything Xu Qing had seen before, with strange rocks on them as if ghosts and monsters existed. The depression in the middle formed a valley, like an open mouth of the Yellow Springs, shocking to the eye.

At the same time, the breeze blew, also like ghosts crying and wolves howling, whistling in all directions.

In the mid-air of the valley, a huge blood-colored heart was floating. It was beating, and the thumping sound spread, adding a more bizarre atmosphere to this gloomy valley, putting on a blood-colored veil. And the temple and statue on the heart emitted astonishing deterrence, high above.

There were also quite a few meteorites floating around, with figures sitting cross-legged on them, the same as what Xu Qing had seen before, still not moving.

As for the ground, there were doors of different shapes and materials standing, some large and some small, circling in all directions, and bursts of teleportation fluctuations constantly spread from within these doors.

People were constantly walking out and leaving from those doors, so that the people in the valley were endless.

There were too many strange ethnic groups within, some with real bodies, some illusory.

But most of them wore masks like Duanmu Cang's on their faces. These were the ethnic groups of the eastern part of the Sacrifice Moon Domain, bringing their sacrifices to sacrifice to the Red Moon Temple here.

"Those doors are disciples. Xu Qing, you can go and find them to communicate. Most of them can teleport to the south you want to go to. As for the cost, spirit stones and Skyfire Crystals can both be used."

"As for the temple in the sky, don't look directly up," Duanmu Cang said in a low voice as they walked closer.

As a local, he was very familiar with the process here, and after reminding Xu Qing.

He looked emotional and said solemnly, "Finally, I wish you a safe journey!"

After saying this, Duanmu Cang left with the convoy.

Watching Duanmu Cang's figure disappear into the crowd, Xu Qing took a deep breath and walked into the crowd as well.

There were many cultivators of various races here, coming and going.

The temple did not pay attention to the crowd below. As long as the sacrifices were paid, everything was self-governed. And after there were more people, it still gave people a sense of liveliness, and occasionally one could see some ethnic groups trading, with quite a bit of noise.

Walking within it, Xu Qing didn't choose those large doors. He set his goal on some small doors. Soon, he locked onto a door more than a zhang high, noticing that there were no people entering or leaving there, so he was about to go over.

But the discussion coming from the noise in the surroundings made Xu Qing's footsteps pause first.

"You heard, right? Something big happened in the west!"

"Are you talking about the Lone Sun ethnic group in the west five months ago? It seems they issued a full-domain wanted notice."

"I also heard about this matter. It seems they lost a supreme treasure."

"What supreme treasure? It's the sun they created themselves!"

"The Lone Sun ethnic group, as the largest ethnic group in the west, didn't they create a sun many years ago that rose into the sky within the ethnic group, making an area no longer dim? But five months ago, this sun was stolen."

"Stealing their sun within the Lone Sun ethnic group, this matter is too crazy."

"It's unclear. It seems even the Lone Sun ethnic group itself is confused. But the wanted notice mentioned a name, called Weiqing Jianyan. And that sun-stealer was extremely arrogant. This was the name carved on the ground before leaving, but no matter how you look at it, this name is very strange."

"This Weiqing Jianyan is now famous."

These sounds came from afar, accompanied by exclamations and gasps, falling into Xu Qing's ears. When they did, the expression under Xu Qing's mask became strange.

And the names Weiyangzi, Wu Jianwu, and Ning Yan, plus his own Qing, that was just right. The team leader had painstaking efforts, and it seemed to be expressed in these four characters. Even if Xu Qing didn't participate, he still added Xu Qing's name.

Xu Qing sighed and walked toward the wooden door. At the same time, in the sky of the valley, on the beating heart, a woman in red walked out of the temple. This woman's expression was unsatisfied. She lowered her head and gazed at the ground, a mocking smile appearing at the corner of her mouth.

"This little doll, the killing intent on his body is even thicker." Behind her, everyone in the temple, including that divine envoy, was sitting cross-legged at this moment, not moving, like statues.

Everything in the sky, no one in this valley could notice. Even if the woman's figure was very clear, even if they looked up, everyone couldn't notice the slightest bit.

Everyone's cognition had already been changed silently and soundlessly.

Xu Qing felt the God's finger within Ding Yi 132, which was permeated with curse aura, retching constantly, and then pretended not to see it, continuing to retch.

Xu Qing also didn't notice. At this moment, he walked toward the wooden door ahead, communicated, and left. The other party didn't go to the south.

So Xu Qing searched patiently for other disciples, until after asking dozens of them, he came to a shorter wooden door. This door was half a zhang, looking a bit dilapidated. As Xu Qing approached, the door frame suddenly twisted, wriggling like a snake, and then a face emerged from the door, looking at Xu Qing.

"This fellow Daoist, can you teleport to the south here?" Xu Qing asked calmly.

The face in the door sized Xu Qing up a few times and smiled. "One hundred thousand spirit stones."

Xu Qing looked into the door. This price was too outrageous, and most of his spirit stones were left to Duanmu Cang, so he didn't have much left on him.

"Don't think it's expensive. It's the peak season now. Every ethnic group is sending sacrifices. If I weren't planning to go to the south to do business, I wouldn't be willing to go even if you gave me one hundred thousand. It's so far." The face in the door said lightly.

Xu Qing pondered and nodded, saying, "Calculate with Skyfire Crystals!"

"No problem, one thousand white fire crystals or one red fire crystal." The face in the door's eyes lit up upon hearing this. It liked Skyfire Crystals more.

Xu Qing nodded and communicated with it. It was just that the other party couldn't leave immediately. It still had a few batches of guests to teleport, so they agreed to teleport here tonight at dusk.

Xu Qing frowned. He planned to set off immediately, so he left and went to other disciples, until he searched a large circle, and the fastest was still three days, not as good as the wooden door there.

So in the end, he chose this half-zhang wooden door.

At this moment, there were still three hours until dusk, so Xu Qing didn't wander around, found a corner, sat cross-legged, and waited silently.

Soon time passed. After more than half had passed, Xu Qing saw Duanmu Cang's figure in the coming and going crowd.

Noticing Xu Qing, Duanmu Cang walked over.

"Didn't find a suitable disciple?" Duanmu Cang asked.

"Found one, setting off later." Xu Qing looked at the convoy behind Duanmu Cang, which was already gone.

Noticing Xu Qing's gaze, Duanmu Cang sat there and smiled. "Already sent to the temple, the matter is also resolved. You don't need to worry, just leave with peace of mind." Duanmu Cang's expression was as usual, unable to see any abnormality.

But in reality, his heart was full of worry, not because of the extermination of the two races. The Red Moon Temple didn't even ask about this matter.

What made him worried was the requirement given by the temple, asking him to go back and prepare another five hundred thousand sacrifices to send here within a fixed period.

This matter was very difficult, but Duanmu Cang didn't intend to tell Xu Qing. Xu Qing had already done enough for them. He planned to handle future matters himself.

Xu Qing looked at Duanmu Cang's eyes.

Duanmu Cang smiled. With the city government formed by the things he had experienced and the accumulation of years, it was not something Xu Qing could see through instantly, especially in the situation where he intentionally concealed it, so he wouldn't reveal the slightest flaw.

"Why, don't believe it?" Duanmu Cang laughed. "You are too suspicious. I plan to go back after you teleport away!"

Xu Qing was silent. He didn't see any clues, so he nodded. At this moment, the firmament was becoming increasingly dim, dusk arrived, Xu Qing stood up, and said goodbye to Duanmu Cang.

"If you have time in the future, remember to come back and see us." Duanmu Cang's expression carried emotion!

"Definitely!" Xu Qing said softly.

"Definitely!" Later, Ling'er also drilled out from his collar and responded crisply.

Duanmu Cang's eyes contained blessings and nodded slightly. Afterward, Xu Qing turned around and walked toward the wooden door not far away. Soon approaching, he took out the Skyfire Crystal.

The face in the wooden door emerged, swallowed it in one bite, and then the large door shone with teleportation light, forming a vortex. Xu Qing took a deep breath and was about to step into it.

But just at this moment, a low voice came from behind him leisurely.

"Close the door!" As soon as this voice came out, Xu Qing's expression changed drastically. He was about to step in, but that wooden door closed instantly, and the teleportation fluctuation within it also disappeared in an instant, turning into ordinary.

Xu Qing's expression was ugly. He turned to look behind him, his gaze falling on a figure walking from afar, his pupils contracting.

This was a woman in red, emitting the fluctuation of a Spirit Repository. Wherever she passed, the surrounding crowd seemed unable to see her existence, and even Duanmu Cang didn't notice anything, as if their cognition had been changed, and the world they saw was different from Xu Qing's here.

Xu Qing was silent, lowered his head, and bowed toward the person.

"Seen Senior." He recognized that the other party was the Red Moon Temple divine servant he had sent into the coffin crack, and it was easy to judge the answer that a person who was clearly dead appeared before his eyes.

Especially the scene where the cognition of the crowd was changed made it even easier to determine.

Since the terrifying existence within the coffin could change cognition, then it could at least change the divine envoy's cognition, and then use some method to get a clone out. Everything was reasonable.

Thinking of this, Xu Qing's expression was respectful.

Under the huge pressure rising in Xu Qing's heart, the red-clothed girl smiled mockingly, walking step by step, and finally stood in front of Xu Qing.

Seeing Xu Qing's attitude, this red-clothed woman smiled. She was not surprised that Xu Qing recognized her.

"You little doll, you are always so polite every time, making me unable to raise any evil intent!"

"Senior's status is noble, the junior should be like this, this is also the education my Master gave me." Xu Qing's expression was stern.

"Mentioning your Master again!" The red-clothed woman's smile was meaningful.

Xu Qing's expression didn't change, and he bowed again. "Since Senior doesn't like it, the junior won't mention it."

The red-clothed woman heard this, looked at Xu Qing for a long while, then shook her head and smiled. "I know your background is extraordinary, and your Master should also be a great power, but this is the Sacrifice Moon Domain."

The red-clothed woman said, looking up at the sky.

Xu Qing was silent.

After a long while, the red-clothed woman's voice echoed. "Little doll, do you still remember the agreement beneath the Skyfire Sea?"

"The junior remembers!" Xu Qing's expression was solemn, and he nodded.

"Then, go with me to the Unmelting Ice Plains in the north of the Sacrifice Moon Domain. We sisters were suppressed there, and there is also a younger brother who is buried under the glacier."

The red-clothed woman's voice carried reminiscence, containing a trace of sorrow.

Xu Qing hesitated. He didn't know if what the other party said was true or false, but no matter what? If he went to the north, the danger level there would surely be extremely high.

With his own ability, participating in such things at this moment, the risk was too great.

As for the gain, only Heavenly Mandate, it seemed disproportionate.

Xu Qing didn't hide these thoughts in his heart, but revealed the hesitation on his face.

For this great power, he knew very well what his expression contained, and the other party could know at a glance.

This was a way for the weak to set

Although it might not necessarily work, one still had to try.

"Is this trick also something your Master taught you?" The woman in red glanced at Xu Qing, speaking indifferently. Her voice was calm, containing coercion.

In her memory, once she spoke like this and had such an expression in the past, many people would tremble and agree to all her demands.

Xu Qing's expression revealed awkwardness; with this posture, he invisibly eased the atmosphere.

Seeing this, the woman in red's eyes revealed a strange light. After thinking, she spoke, "This is a transaction. I need you to sincerely follow my requirements."

"You can obtain three benefits."

"One, you can obtain Heavenly Mandate."

"Two, the human race in your Skyfire Sea region will receive a Temple decree, exempting them from extra offerings, and before the next sacrificial day arrives, they will be protected by this decree."

"Three, after you complete my requirements, I will give you a mysterious gift."

"Now, tell me your choice." The woman in red gazed at Xu Qing and spoke slowly.

Xu Qing was silent and looked up at Duanmu Cang's direction.

At this moment, Duanmu Cang was going far away. In his cognition, Xu Qing had already left, and his back looked somewhat desolate. Clearly, the moment Xu Qing left here, the first thing he looked at was the statue of the Red Mother; this statue made him extremely wary.

"Your Master indeed has some means, actually sending a few High Gods to the Red Mother to devour, causing her to fall into a deep slumber."

The woman in red's gaze was clear, smiling yet not smiling; she clearly already knew everything.

Xu Qing blinked and did not take up the conversation, instead looking toward the Temple. Following the open gate, he saw the people inside who were like statues.

"Their taste is not bad!" said the woman in red.

"You can rest for a while." She licked her lips. "The trick must be done completely. After two days, when the sacrificial day ends, we will leave."

Xu Qing heard this and sat down cross-legged without a word, looking at Duanmu Cang, who was walking far away, full of desolation.

The woman in red waved her hand, and a red light shot out from within the Temple, turning into a token that headed straight for Duanmu Cang.

On the ground, Duanmu Cang, who was worrying, was stunned. After raising his hand to catch it, he checked it and felt the protection of the divine token and the decree canceling more offerings.

Thus, with a look of surprise and suspicion, he turned to look in the direction of the Temple; there, there was nothing.

For a long time, Duanmu Cang withdrew his gaze, walked away silently, and murmured in his heart.

"Is it him?"

"What exactly is his identity?"