Chapter 987: Going Forward Without Turning Back

"You won't let me leave?"

Xu Qing gazed at the red candle in the distance, his body retreating slightly to avoid the reach of its light, before flickering and flying toward the location of the rift he had emerged from earlier to enter the second layer.

A moment later, he arrived, but... that rift had vanished.

"Not only will you not let me leave this place, but even the rift to the second layer has disappeared."

"The reason for this..."

Xu Qing’s expression was grim.

He made a rapid judgment in his heart, ultimately locking onto three points.

"First, it is the karma produced by that mask! Either it cannot leave this place, or its own power is pulling me, causing me to be unable to leave before I have made a wish."

"Second, it is the reason of the red candle itself! Because of some special qualities I possess, it is full of malice toward me and wishes to forcibly keep me here to assimilate me."

"Third, it is the previous Authority of Luck! Although I have grasped a sliver of this Authority, it is after all incomplete, so it is possible that some extreme changes have occurred, such as misfortune descending after luck?"

Xu Qing sensed the Authority of Misfortune within his body and saw that its level of activity was higher than before.

But based on this alone, he could not fully judge.

"It is also possible that all three of these reasons are taking effect!"

"Then, the method to resolve this..."

Xu Qing frowned, his mind thinking rapidly, and just at this moment, the surrounding cold intent suddenly converged, and in the blink of an eye, Xu Qing’s body retreated abruptly.

A cracking sound echoed; the place where he had just been standing was instantly frozen in the void.

As Xu Qing’s eyes turned pitch black in an instant and he merged with the Little Shadow, he immediately saw countless shadows whistling over from all directions, seemingly controlled, radiating thick malice as they rushed straight toward him.

The next instant, as the Great Sun rose within Xu Qing’s body, the Profound Yang Immortal Light erupted with a boom, forming countless rays of immortal light that shot out in all directions; wherever they passed, the ice shattered, and a large number of shadows wailed.

In the blink of an eye, more than half of the shadows around Xu Qing were gone.

He flickered and suddenly charged out.

But there were still many shadows remaining, continuing to fly out from all sides, heading straight for Xu Qing.

"It is impossible for there to be so many!"

As Xu Qing sped along, his immortal light spreading, he engaged in a passive chase within this World Origin Secret Realm, and during this time, the light of the red candle continued to flash again and again.

Each time, it caused the paintings of stars here to accelerate their changes, and at the same time, the light of the candle flame fell upon Xu Qing, actually causing his soul to feel a burning sensation.

"These shadows do not just come from the cultivators who have died here over the years in the Demon Feather Holy Land!"

"The antiquity of this World Origin Secret Realm exceeds that of the Holy Land, so before it descended upon the Wanggu Continent, it must have existed in other worlds; hence... it could accumulate such a quantity of shadows!"

A flash of killing intent appeared in Xu Qing’s eyes. The characteristic of these shadows was that they could only be killed if they were seen, so for Xu Qing, since he could see them now, not only could the immortal light kill them, but his other methods could as well.

Thus, very quickly, as a roar echoed, a large amount of Alien Immortal Flowing Soul Threads surged out from Xu Qing’s body like a torrent, accompanying the Authority to launch an assault.

Wherever they passed, the shadows collapsed and shattered in batches.

Yet Xu Qing’s sense of crisis not only did not diminish, but instead grew increasingly intense.

Because, under that red candle flame, the burning sensation from his soul became even more severe.

At the same time, the star totems in this World Origin Secret Realm that had become paintings accelerated their changes, and they actually looked like eyes that had been drawn, revealing endless greed as they stared at Xu Qing.

And their gaze caused the sense of crisis for Xu Qing to rise instantly.

Besides the burning sensation, his soul even showed signs of tearing; it seemed that those star-painting eyes were emitting a terrifying pull, wanting to suck Xu Qing’s soul out.

Not only that, but what made Xu Qing’s heart sink further was that he could sense his soul, originally intangible, rapidly becoming tangible.

This form was a painting!

He was gradually turning into a painting!

To be precise, a soul totem drawn with his physical body as the canvas.

"The state of merging with the Little Shadow allows me to see those shadows, so I can kill them, but..."

"All things are relative. At the same time I see them, this existence of mine also makes me visible to that red candle... so the assimilation is accelerated."

"But if I break this current state, I cannot see the shadows in this place, so I cannot wipe them out!"

This was contradictory, like a dead loop.

Xu Qing’s expression was ugly, but he still immediately broke the fusion with the Little Shadow. As the Little Shadow dissipated and Xu Qing’s eyes were no longer pitch black, that feeling of his own soul being pulled out finally vanished.

However, because of this, Xu Qing could no longer see the shadows from all directions and found it difficult to slay them, so he could only dodge at full speed while searching for a way to leave.

Yet, with that red candle there, all of Xu Qing’s attempts to leave failed.

Every time he activated his token, it was directly interrupted.

In the end, even though he was no longer merged with the Little Shadow, the light from the red candle still caused signs of assimilation to appear in Xu Qing.

His physical body remained normal, but his soul gradually became stiff, and even his train of thought seemed to be affected, as if his mind had rusted.

Not only that, but even the Trace of Fate that Xu Qing had used to disguise himself as Xue Chenzi was actually melting away in the candlelight of this eerie red candle.

He could not maintain the state of the Xue Chenzi avatar; all his concealments and all his grafts were melting.

And to make matters worse, perhaps the third point Xu Qing had analyzed was taking effect at this moment: after luck, the misfortune he was familiar with arrived...

Before him, a cultivator actually appeared!

This was the first time Xu Qing had seen a living person since arriving in this secret realm.

That was a cultivator at the third stage of Spirit Accumulation who seemed not to have been here long; he had originally been meditating, but was affected by the drastic changes in this place. As he flew out from his place of seclusion and looked around in shock and suspicion, he noticed Xu Qing.

The moment he saw Xu Qing, this Demon Feather cultivator was clearly stunned, and then an expression of disbelief appeared on his face as he blurted out.

"Xu Qing?"

His disguise had melted, and since Xu Qing’s fame in the human race was great, it was within reason that he was recognized instantly. After recognizing Xu Qing, this cultivator did not hesitate in the slightest; he actually took out a token directly and, with a squeeze, prepared to leave.

Beside him, as the token was squeezed, a vortex appeared.

Seeing that he was about to leave, a cold glint flashed in Xu Qing’s eyes. Noting the vortex around the other party, he exploded his speed to the absolute limit.

With a boom, he arrived directly.

But the moment he approached, the red candle flashed violently, instantly wiping away the vortex beside that cultivator, causing the Demon Feather cultivator’s teleportation to be interrupted.

It also made it impossible for Xu Qing to use it to leave.

It was unclear whether this misfortune was acting upon Xu Qing, or upon that cultivator, or perhaps, it existed simultaneously.

After all, Xu Qing himself also possessed the Authority of Misfortune...

Xu Qing had no time to analyze the specific reason at this moment. Seeing the other party’s teleportation terminated, Xu Qing’s expression was grim, while the Demon Feather cultivator, in terror, sped backward.

But he had not retreated even ten zhang when his body suddenly shook, a look of confusion appearing in his eyes. Seeming to be controlled, he stared fiercely at Xu Qing, revealing thick greed, and instead of fleeing, he charged toward Xu Qing to self-destruct.

A booming sound echoed instantly.

A moment later, Xu Qing departed.

The self-destruction of a third-stage Spirit Accumulation cultivator could not shake his physical body, but for him, who was being gradually assimilated, there was still a tremor in his soul.

Fortunately, in the time that followed, Xu Qing did not encounter any other cultivators who had entered this place to meditate.

After all, the war merits required to enter this World Origin Secret Realm were massive, so it was impossible for there to be many cultivators here at the same time.

Yet Xu Qing still had not thought of a way to leave.

The shadows chasing behind him were even more numerous.

The assimilation was also becoming increasingly severe.

In the end, Xu Qing could clearly feel that this entire secret realm was radiating thick malice. Even on the path he was traveling, there would be stars or worlds that, in a state where they should not have collapsed, were instantly brought to the end of their lives by the candlelight and suddenly collapsed.

There would also be stars suddenly appearing in previously empty places, followed by an instantaneous self-destruction.

The destructive power formed by all this made it impossible for Xu Qing to guard against.

Even more exaggerated was the patience of that red candle, which seemed to be wearing thin, so after one intense flash, the candlelight actually erupted continuously.

Like the eruption of a volcano, light far more intense than before illuminated this World Origin Secret Realm, making it completely transparent; the heat waves were the same, melting everything.

Looking around, everything in this secret realm was melting.

Stars, worlds, dust...

Except for that red candle, everything was burning, and the candle itself was also visibly dissipating a little.

"This is to completely exterminate me, leaving no possibility of survival."

"Unless I can wait until the Empress notices the abnormality here, or hold out until this candle burns out."

"The former leaves me in a passive position, and for the latter, I am not sure if everything will start over from the beginning once it burns out; after all, it could also be the karma produced by the mask!"

"Most importantly, I cannot hold out for that long."

Having fled until now, after trying a multitude of methods to no avail, killing intent erupted in Xu Qing’s eyes; he had only one method left!

Thus, his body paused, and he gazed at the candlelight, his expression revealing determination.

He knew that if things continued this way, his chances of survival were slim.

"Since you will not let me leave and wish to assimilate me..."

A look of madness and ruthlessness appeared in Xu Qing’s eyes, and he simply charged at full speed toward the core of this World Origin Secret Realm, where the red candle was.

His final method carried huge risks, but once this method succeeded, no matter which of the three reasons in his considerations it was, it could be instantly resolved.

The mask’s karma, affecting the candle, making it so he could not leave.

The candle itself, harboring greed, wishing to assimilate him.

Misfortune descending after the Authority of Luck.

"Then, I will assimilate you!"

With bloodshot eyes, amidst the violent flickering of the red candle’s flame ahead and the gathering of countless shadows, Xu Qing was like a meteor, or a moth, heading toward the candle... moving forward without turning back!