Chapter 984: The Face Beside the Red Candle

Within the Boundary Source Secret Realm, located in the central region of the red candle's halo, as Xu Qing arrived, the star that was currently collapsing suddenly felt as if midwinter had descended.

Clearly, just a moment before, in Xu Qing's perception, one could look up and see the sky filled with flowing fire, the surroundings incomparably scorching.

Yet the next instant, frost rose upon the earth, and the surrounding icy coldness suddenly intensified.

Along with the cold came an endless killing intent.

From all eight directions, it came invisibly toward Xu Qing.

A cold glint rose in Xu Qing's eyes; he lifted his foot and stepped down. The moment he touched the ground, the surrounding frozen earth suddenly rumbled, and cracks appeared, centered on Xu Qing.

These cracks spread in the blink of an eye like a shattered mirror or a spiderweb, and while enveloping a range of ten thousand miles, they simultaneously rose up, collapsed, and exploded.

They intertwined in mid-air, pulling at the convection currents to form a storm.

Thus, amidst the countless splashing mud, the storm grew larger, and the boundless frost was dispersed.

It swept across all eight directions.

At the same time, utilizing the power of this storm, Xu Qing leaped into the air and sped toward the distance.

But the killing intent from the invisible existences he could not see did not diminish with the fragmentation of this place; instead, it suddenly became dense and merged into the storm.

That storm emitted a cracking sound and was instantly frozen, becoming a huge, astonishing pillar of ice that connected heaven and earth.

Its edges were still spreading in the direction Xu Qing was heading.

It seemed to be in pursuit.

Xu Qing frowned. In the memories of Xue Chenzi, although he had come to this star unintentionally to avoid a crisis, he had not encountered much danger here.

Rather, he had walked into that great canyon relatively smoothly.

But now, after his own arrival, things were different.

"Has something changed in this place during this time, or is it... because of my arrival, that it is different?"

As Xu Qing pondered, his speed increased. Amidst the whistling, the coldness behind him became even more intense; wherever it passed, the earth was frozen, and the wind between heaven and earth was also frozen into pillars of ice.

Some fell toward the ground, while others gathered together, forming bared-fang and clawed shapes that extended to the firmament.

So much so that the firmament also showed signs of being frozen.

It seemed that this killing intent initiated by those strange existences was hunting Xu Qing from the sky, from the earth, from the storm, from the void, and from every level.

"If this continues, I will be somewhat passive."

While passing a lake, as the lake froze, Xu Qing's body paused in mid-air. After sensing the surroundings and confirming there were no other cultivators here, the Divine Source within his body suddenly erupted, and endless golden light shot out from Xu Qing.

The Divine Authority of Sound and the Divine Authority of the Purple Moon formed a lethal force at this moment, sweeping away everything.

Wherever it passed, any place where the sound of freezing appeared directly exploded.

The freezing of the firmament even showed a purple hue, and a purple moon rose within this reflection.

It rendered this collapsing star.

Furthermore, a large amount of Alien Immortal Flowing Soul Silk flew out from Xu Qing's body, turning into a torrent that replaced the storm and gathered into a vast vortex, intending to tear everything apart.

This momentum would cause even a cultivator at the fifth or sixth level of Divine Concealment to feel ripples in their mind, but here... even under the power of Xu Qing's Divine Authority, the sky collapsed and the earth cracked, yet...

The icy, cold aura did not disappear in the slightest; at most, it was swirled away, but it quickly gathered again from all directions, centered on Xu Qing, and the killing intent did not diminish by even a fraction.

It even seemed that because of the fluctuations here, it attracted more strange existences near the star, which pounced here from outside the star.

Although these strange existences could not be seen, the freezing that appeared outside the starry sky made Xu Qing realize this point.

"Cannot be destroyed?"

A sharp glint flashed in Xu Qing's eyes. He no longer used his Divine Authority, but instead took a deep breath, and suddenly, a great sun rose within his sea of consciousness.

It was precisely the Profound Yang Immortal Light.

This light erupted from Xu Qing's body, forming light and heat, and shone toward all directions.

But the effect... was still ordinary.

Even though Xu Qing temporarily shook them off, these invisible strange existences soon caught up again.

"If it goes on like this, even if I reach the location of that canyon, it will be very difficult to wholeheartedly search for the source of the white dust in Xue Chenzi's destiny."

Xu Qing pondered. Through his several previous encounters with these strange existences here, he had a rough judgment in his heart.

These strange beings, who lost their physical bodies due to assimilation and were transformed by the red candle, indeed possessed the attribute of being immortal and indestructible.

But this attribute must be relative.

Because according to all the myriad living things and even gods that Xu Qing had seen along the way, none could be called truly immortal and indestructible.

Even a True God was the same.

Otherwise, how would Yu Liuchen have plotted against a True God?

"Therefore, whether it is immortality or indestructibility, it can only be achieved under corresponding conditions."

"Then, what is the condition required for the immortality and indestructibility of these strange beings here, which I can clearly crush directly?"

As Xu Qing moved forward, being pursued by those invisible strange beings, he pondered in his mind.

After a few breaths, Xu Qing turned his head abruptly, his expression revealing a sharp intent, and he murmured.

"It is obvious; the condition for the immortality and indestructibility of these strange beings here 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 realized this, emotional fluctuations from Little Shadow came from within his mind.

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

Xu Qing frowned. The emotional fluctuations from Little Shadow had come just in time, as if the other party had been waiting for him to realize this point.

"Why didn't you inform me earlier!"

Xu Qing's voice turned cold.

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

Little Shadow was nervous and transmitted its emotions rapidly.

Xu Qing understood its meaning; it could not inform him due to the restrictions of the so-called Shadow Candle here, and it could only speak after Xu Qing himself had realized it.

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

So he suppressed this matter and, with a thought, gave an order to Little Shadow.

The next instant, the aura on Little Shadow's body erupted and covered Xu Qing's entire body.

In their early years, when Xu Qing and Little Shadow encountered danger, they would choose to merge, and after merging, Xu Qing's cultivation power would be suppressed, with only some special divine abilities usable as usual.

In exchange for all this, the power of his physical body was greatly enhanced.

Later, as Xu Qing's cultivation grew, he gradually stopped merging with Little Shadow, until this moment, when this fusion appeared again.

In the blink of an eye, the shadow turned into a black robe, enveloping Xu Qing, and even formed a black cloak behind him. As his purple hair flew, a terrifying physical power rose on Xu Qing's body.

The heaven and earth changed color, and the wind and clouds surged.

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

Immediately after, using his shadow eyes to look at the world...

The world, as if its veil had been lifted, revealed its true appearance!

The firmament was empty.

The starry sky was void.

The end was jade-like.

The surrounding dust and stars became scenes in a painting, and the mountains and earth within the stars were all part of the painting.

Only that red candle remained as usual, still burning eerily.

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

They were actually black shadows floating outside the light of the candle flame!

Their shapes were varied—sometimes human, sometimes beastly, sometimes irregular, sometimes like silk threads—all sorts of strange shapes, but their color was pitch black, and their essence was shadow!

For countless years, the physical bodies of those cultivators who were assimilated within this secret realm had disappeared, and what remained... were only shadows.

And this secret realm was actually a world within a painting that belonged to shadows!

This discovery caused huge ripples in Xu Qing's mind.

Little Shadow's origin was a mystery in his heart, and he could not find the answer.

But today... he seemed to have found a clue.

Xu Qing suddenly looked up, staring at the red candle in the distance. As his eyes constricted, the countless shadows around him pounced toward Xu Qing.

The next instant, as the Profound Yang Immortal Light erupted from Xu Qing again, light and heat spread from his body to all eight directions, and shrill wails suddenly echoed.

Just like some special divine abilities, the Immortal Light was one of the few techniques that could be displayed while merged with Little Shadow.

Those shadows that could not be killed before now rapidly blurred under the illumination of this Immortal Light and vanished into smoke amidst their shrill cries.

The surrounding temperature also rose slightly.

Xu Qing's body flickered, and he sped forward. Along the way, the Immortal Light shone, flying past the painted lake and the painted mountains. Wherever he passed, the shadows in all directions were all shattered and destroyed. Until, after the time of an incense stick, a huge canyon appeared in Xu Qing's eyes.

However, as Xu Qing looked, this canyon... like the lake and the mountains, was also painted.

It looked realistic, but in reality, it could not be entered.

He stood at the edge of the painted canyon, and after pondering for a while, the Immortal Light on his body shone again, guided by Xu Qing to pour into the canyon, sweeping across it continuously.

After several times, the blackness in Xu Qing's eyes faded, and he ended the fusion with Little Shadow.

The world in Xu Qing's eyes returned to its original state, and the canyon in front of him was no longer painted, but truly formed.

It was pitch black inside, and nothing could be seen clearly.

Xu Qing stood at the edge of the canyon, and after his gaze swept over it, he lifted his foot and walked directly into the canyon.

His spiritual sense spread out, enveloping the entire area of the canyon, and he began his search.

He needed to find the source that caused the white dust to appear in the fate of Xue Chenzi.

However... as time passed, an hour later, Xu Qing’s figure flew out from the canyon and stood in mid-air above it, his brows furrowed.

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

Therefore, in one hour, not only had his spiritual sense explored everything, but Xu Qing had even walked through every part of the canyon himself, investigating with his naked eye, yet in the end, he had found nothing.

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

It was as if he had come to the wrong place.

"Not here?"

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

Xu Qing pondered, and after a long while, he suddenly shot upward, reaching the high altitude in an instant; after looking down at the earth, everything he saw was normal.

So he flew up again until he left this star, circling it to observe continuously, yet there was still not a single clue.

"Then..."

Xu Qing sent out a thought, and the next instant, the little shadow merged with him again; as his eyes turned pitch-black once more, Xu Qing stood at this height and looked down at the star below again.

With this one glance, Xu Qing’s eyes widened abruptly.

In the view of the shadow eyes, the star that had been outlined... the canyon rift within it was like an opening and closing mouth.

The mountain range in the distance was like a nose.

The two lakes further away looked like a pair of eyes.

What was outlined here was not a star at all; it was clearly a face!