Chapter 984: The Face Beside the Red Candle

In the Boundary Source Secret Realm, in the middle area of the red candle's flame halo, with the arrival of Xu Qing's figure, that collapsing star suddenly feels like the arrival of midwinter.

Clearly, a moment ago, in Xu Qing's perception, looking up, one could see the firelight in the sky like a stream, and the surroundings were incomparably hot.

But in the next instant, frost covered the earth, and the surrounding ice and cold suddenly intensified.

Along with the cold came endless killing intent.

From all directions, it came invisibly toward Xu Qing.

A cold glint rises in Xu Qing's eyes. He lifts his foot and takes a step forward. The moment he lands on the ground, the icy earth around him suddenly roars, and with Xu Qing as the center, cracks appear.

These cracks expand in the blink of an eye, like a shattered mirror, and like a spider web, covering a range of ten thousand miles while simultaneously rising, collapsing, and exploding.

Intertwining in mid-air, pulling the convection, forming a storm.

Thus, amidst countless mud splashes, the storm grows larger, and countless frost and cold are dispersed.

Sweeping in all directions.

At the same time, relying on the power of this storm, Xu Qing leaps up and speeds away into the distance.

But the invisible killing intent from the strange existences he cannot see does not decrease with the shattering of this place; instead, it suddenly becomes dense, merging into the storm.

The storm emits a cracking sound and is directly frozen, becoming a huge, astonishing ice pillar connecting heaven and earth.

Its edge is still spreading in the direction Xu Qing is going.

As if in pursuit.

Xu Qing frowns. In Xue Chenzi's memory, although he came to this star unintentionally to avoid a crisis, he did not encounter too many dangers here.

Instead, he relatively smoothly walked into that large canyon.

But now, after he arrived, it is different.

"Is it that something changed here during this period, or... is it different because of my arrival?"

Xu Qing ponders, speeding away. Amidst the whistling, the cold ice behind him becomes even more intense, and wherever it passes, the earth is frozen, and the wind between heaven and earth is frozen, becoming ice pillars.

Some fall to the ground, while others gather together, forming clawing and dancing shapes, extending to the sky.

To the extent that the sky also shows signs of being frozen.

It seems this killing intent launched by those strange existences is hunting Xu Qing from the sky, from the earth, from the storm, from the void, and from every level.

"If this continues, it's a bit passive."

When passing a lake, as the lake freezes, Xu Qing pauses in mid-air, sensing the surroundings, and after confirming that there are no other cultivators here, the divine source in his body suddenly erupts, and endless golden light shoots out from Xu Qing's body.

The Sound Divine Power and the Purple Moon Divine Power form lethality at this moment, sweeping across everything.

Wherever they pass, where the sound of freezing appears, they directly explode.

The freezing of the sky even shows purple, and a purple moon rises in this portrait.

Rendering this collapsing star.

There are also a large number of Alien Immortal School soul threads flying out from Xu Qing's body, turning into a flood, replacing the storm, gathering into a vast vortex, wanting to tear everything apart.

This momentum, even if encountered by a God-Concealing level five or six cultivator, would cause ripples in their mind, but here... even under Xu Qing's divine power, heaven and earth crack, but...

The cold and icy aura does not disappear in the slightest; at most, it is scattered, but soon it gathers again from all directions with Xu Qing as the center, and the killing intent does not decrease in the slightest.

It even seems to attract more strange existences near the star due to the fluctuations here, rushing toward here from outside the star.

Although these strange existences cannot be seen, the freezing that appears outside the starry sky makes Xu Qing realize this point.

"Cannot be extinguished?"

A sharp glint flashes in Xu Qing's eyes. He no longer uses divine power but takes a deep breath, and suddenly, a sun rises in his sea of consciousness.

It is exactly the Profound Yang Immortal Light.

This light explodes from Xu Qing's body, forming light and heat, shining in all directions.

But the effect... is still ordinary.

Even if Xu Qing escapes temporarily, these invisible strange existences soon pursue again.

"If this continues, even if I reach the place where that canyon is, it will be very difficult to search for the source of the white dust in Xue Chenzi's fate wholeheartedly."

Xu Qing ponders. Through the several exchanges with these strange existences here, he also has a judgment in his heart.

This kind of strange existence, which has lost its physical body due to assimilation and been transformed by the red candle, indeed possesses the attribute of being immortal and indestructible.

But this attribute must be relative.

Because according to all things and even gods Xu Qing has seen along the way, none can be called truly immortal and indestructible.

Even a True God is the same.

Otherwise, how would Yu Liuchen plot against a True God.

"So, whether immortal or indestructible, it is only achievable under corresponding conditions."

"Then, what are the conditions for these strange things here, which can clearly be crushed by me directly, to be immortal and indestructible?"

Xu Qing moves forward while being pursued by those invisible strange things, pondering in his heart.

A few breaths later, Xu Qing turns his head suddenly, his expression revealing sharpness, murmuring.

"Obviously, the condition for these strange things here to be immortal and indestructible is that they are invisible!"

"Because they are invisible, they cannot be killed!"

"In other words, to kill them, one needs to see them first!"

Almost the moment Xu Qing realizes this, Little Shadow's emotional fluctuations come from his mind.

"Master... correct... I merge... can see..."

Xu Qing frowns. Little Shadow's emotional fluctuations came at the right time, as if it had been waiting for him to realize this point.

"Why didn't you tell me in advance!"

Xu Qing's voice turns cold.

"Master... I... cannot... this place... Shadow Candle... restriction... cannot speak..."

Little Shadow is nervous, transmitting emotions swiftly.

Xu Qing understands its meaning; it cannot tell him due to the restriction of the so-called Shadow Candle here, and it needed Xu Qing to react himself before it could speak.

If it were any other time, Xu Qing would definitely research this Little Shadow matter, but now is clearly not the time.

Thus, he suppresses this matter, and with a thought, gives an order to Little Shadow.

In the next instant, the aura on Little Shadow erupts, covering Xu Qing's whole body.

Xu Qing and Little Shadow would choose to merge when encountering danger in their early years, and after merging, Xu Qing's cultivation power would be suppressed, with only some special supernatural powers usable as usual.

What is exchanged for this is a significant increase in physical power.

Afterward, with the growth of Xu Qing's cultivation base, he gradually stopped merging with Little Shadow, until this moment, when this merger appears again.

In the blink of an eye, the shadow turns into a black robe, enveloping Xu Qing, and forms a black cloak behind him, while his purple hair flies, and terrifying physical power rises on Xu Qing's body.

Heaven and earth change color, wind and clouds rise.

Even more astonishing is Xu Qing's eyes, which are pitch black.

Immediately after, looking at the world with his shadow eyes...

The world, as if having its veil lifted, reveals its true appearance!

The sky is empty.

The starry sky is void.

The end is jade-like.

The surrounding dust and stars become paintings, and the mountains and earth within the stars are all part of the painting.

Only that red candle remains as usual, burning bizarrely.

And then... those strange existences that were invisible before, this time... are seen by Xu Qing.

They are actually black shadows floating out of the candlelight halo!

Their shapes are varied, sometimes human, sometimes beast, sometimes irregular, sometimes like threads, strange and varied, but the essence is pitch black, and the nature is shadow!

For countless years, the cultivators assimilated in this secret realm have had their physical bodies disappear, leaving behind... only shadows.

And this secret realm is actually a painting world belonging to shadows!

This discovery causes huge ripples in Xu Qing's heart.

Little Shadow's origin is a mystery in his heart, and he cannot find the answer.

But today... it seems he has found a clue.

Xu Qing looks up suddenly, gazing at the red candle in the distance. As his eyes narrow, the countless shadows around him rush toward Xu Qing.

In the next instant, with the explosion of the Profound Yang Immortal Light on Xu Qing's body, light and heat expand in all directions, and shrill wails echo suddenly.

Just like some special supernatural powers, the Immortal Light is one of the few techniques that can be displayed under the merger with Little Shadow.

Those shadows that could not be killed before now blur rapidly under the illumination of this Immortal Light, and amidst the shrill wails, they vanish into smoke.

The temperature in the surroundings also rises suddenly.

Xu Qing's body flickers, moving forward swiftly, illuminating with Immortal Light all the way, flying past the painted lakes, flying past the painted mountains, and wherever he passes, the shadows in all directions are shattered, until an hour later, a huge canyon appears in Xu Qing's eyes.

It's just that in Xu Qing's view, this canyon... like the lakes and mountains, is painted.

It looks realistic, but in reality, it cannot be stepped into.

He stands at the edge of the painted canyon, ponders for a while, and then the Immortal Light on his body flashes again, guided by Xu Qing to sweep over the canyon continuously.

After several times, the blackness in Xu Qing's eyes fades, and he ends the merger with Little Shadow.

The world in Xu Qing's eyes returns to its original appearance, and the canyon before him is no longer painted but truly formed.

It is pitch black inside, and the specifics cannot be seen.

Xu Qing stands at the edge of the canyon, sweeps his gaze over it, lifts his foot, and walks directly into the canyon.

His divine sense spreads, enveloping all areas of the canyon, and he begins to search.

He wants to find the source of the white dust that appeared in Xue Chenzi's fate.

It's just that... as time passes, an hour later, Xu Qing's figure flies out of the canyon, standing in mid-air above the canyon, his frown deepening.

Although this canyon is deep, it is not very large overall.

So in an hour, not only was his divine sense fully explored, but Xu Qing himself walked through all the places in the canyon, exploring with his naked eye, but in the end, he gained nothing.

He did not find any place where white dust might exist, nor did he sense the slightest trace.

It is as if he came to the wrong place.

"Not here?"

"But in Xue Chenzi's memory, the dust in his threads of fate clearly only appeared after entering this place."

Xu Qing ponders. After a long while, he suddenly rushes upward, reaching a high altitude in an instant, and after looking down at the earth, everything is normal.

Thus, he flies up again, circling this star to observe continuously, still without any clues.

"Then..."

Xu Qing transmits a thought, and in the next instant, Little Shadow merges with him again. As his eyes turn pitch black again, Xu Qing stands at this height and looks at the star below again.

Looking at this, Xu Qing's eyes widen suddenly.

In the shadow eyes, the star that was painted... its canyon cracks are like an opening and closing mouth.

The mountain range in the distance is like a nose.

The two lakes further away are like eyes.

What is painted here is not a star at all; this is actually a face!