Chapter 1018

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Protagonist:

Xu Changqing

Xu Changqing took a deep breath, his gaze shifting away from that crimson giant cocoon, turning to look back at Qingyao, Long Xiyao, and the others behind him; his expression remained calm and steady, but his tone carried an added note of undeniable resolve: "You all leave immediately."

Qingyao's face changed, and she said urgently: "Master, then what about you?"

"I stay behind."

Xu Changqing did not look at her, but raised his hand in a beckoning gesture; five streaks of spiritual light shot from his sleeve, landing around the group, revealing five array flags each about three zhang tall.

The flag faces were divided into five colors — azure, crimson, white, black, and yellow; spirit patterns flowed along the flag bodies, the Five Elements' Qi interlocking and resonating — precisely the Five-Colored Banner he had spent many years refining.

The moment the five array flags appeared they automatically formed an array; Five Elements power transformed into a ring-shaped barrier, enveloping Qingyao, Long Xiyao, and the remaining surviving cultivators entirely within it.

The flag faces fluttered with a hunting sound, emitting a tough spiritual light that isolated the terrifying pressure released by that crimson giant cocoon.

Everyone felt their bodies lighten; that heavy sensation that had nearly crushed their bones finally dissipated, and they all gasped for breath in great gulps.

"The Five-Colored Banner will protect you as you withdraw from Yaoguang Cave."

Xu Changqing condensed a thread of mana at his fingertip, struck it into the center of the array flags; the five-colored spiritual light instantly blazed, bearing the group slowly toward the cave mouth: "Once outside, immediately leave this sea region, and do not look back, do not linger."

"Master!"

Qingyao struggled to rush out of the barrier, but was held fast by the Five Elements power, unable to move at all; her eye rims reddened, her voice trembling: "You staying alone, what if… what if that thing…"

"There is no 'what if'."

Xu Changqing cut off her words, then said in a flat tone: "If you stay here, you will become my burden."

Long Xiyao clenched her fists tightly, her lips pressed white.

She understood the situation before her better than Qingyao; that out-of-control corpse shell was not attacking anyone, but unconsciously releasing residual might.

This kind of power had no target, which made it even more dangerous than a targeted attack, because no one knew which direction it would erupt toward the next moment.

Them staying here would not only be of no help, but would become a burden to Xu Changqing.

Yet knowing was one thing; watching a person — someone she worshipped and respected — stay behind to face it alone still made her chest feel especially stifled.

"Sect Master Xu."

After much thought, Long Xiyao finally spoke, her voice even lower than usual: "All of us owe you a life."

Xu Changqing heard this and waved his hand: "Not the time for that yet; go."

The Five-Colored Banner's light surged, wrapping the group and flying toward the cave exterior.

Qingyao lay against the barrier's edge, staring dead at Xu Changqing's back, until that yellow-brown spiritual light grew smaller and smaller in her sight.

Soon, the cave interior returned to dead silence.

Xu Changqing turned, continuing to face that sky-covering, sun-blocking crimson giant cocoon.

The vibrations coming from within the cocoon grew heavier and heavier; each one was like a heart pounding, each one making the remaining structures of the entire Yaoguang Cave tremble rustling.

The Red Wedding Dress at this moment had already swollen to nearly a thousand zhang in radius; countless silk threads hung from the cocoon surface, wriggling slowly in the void.

That out-of-control power still poured wantonly in all directions, without pattern, without regularity.

Xu Changqing did not rush to act; he withdrew his gaze, sat cross-legged suspended in mid-air, the Xuanhuang Mother Qi Cauldron floating above his head, dropping down strands of yellow-brown light curtains to protect himself.

Then he closed his eyes, his Divine Sense sinking into that vast Xuan River below.

The Xuan River's water is also called Primordial Heavy Water.

Every drop weighs more than a thousand jun, containing the power to corrode all things.

The Wu Sheng Chong Mu resided here, using billions of parasitic insects to gnaw day and night, yet only managed to push the refining progress to the final step, but ultimately could not cross it.

But Xu Changqing was different from It.

Not to mention, his body already possessed a Water Spiritual Root.

Moreover, in the Youlong Nine Transformations he had comprehended the changes of water, and had long since gained an extremely profound comprehension of the Water Law.

At this moment, sinking his Divine Sense into the Xuan River, mana circulated along his Water Spiritual Root, and the Youlong Nine Transformations activated naturally.

Instantly, Xu Changqing's figure swayed slightly in the void, as if transforming into a swimming fish, or like a lurking dragon, producing a wondrous resonance with the Xuan River water beneath him.

The Wu Sheng Chong Mu used external force to forcibly suppress the Xuan River water, like using iron chains to lock a raging dragon; though the dragon was trapped, it still struggled and resisted ceaselessly.

But Xu Changqing's Youlong Nine Transformations made his aura become extremely close to the Xuan River water; therefore it was not locking the dragon, but becoming the dragon himself.

The Water Spiritual Root was driven to its utmost at this moment.

The Xuan River water no longer rejected him; instead, as if finding its own kind, it began to actively gather toward him.

The Primordial Heavy Water's property of corroding all things became docile before Xu Changqing; the black water surface rippled layer upon layer, and wisps of spiritual energy pure to the utmost surged into his body along his meridians, fusing as one with the mana in his Qi Sea.

The speed far, far surpassed the Wu Sheng Chong Mu.

In no more than an incense stick's time, a layer of black water mist coiled around Xu Changqing's body — this was the phenomenon produced after he refined the Primordial Heavy Water.

The mist flowed around him, neither corroding his flesh body nor eroding his magic treasures, but rather like a natural barrier, isolating everything from the outside world.

As time passed, the amount of Xuan River water Xu Changqing refined grew more and more.

Nourished by a large quantity of Primordial Heavy Water, the Water Spiritual Root expanded at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The Earth Spiritual Root bears the authority and source of the Tu Soil God, wielding the Earth Law.

The Water Spiritual Root bears the Primordial Heavy Water that corrodes all things, wielding the Water Law.

The Wood Spiritual Root bears the Green Emperor's inheritance from the five great sources, wielding the Creation Law.

The three Spiritual Roots produced a certain resonance with each other.

Earth restricts Water — this is the constant principle of Five Elements generation and restriction.

But the Tu Soil God's origin and the Primordial Heavy Water — one heavy and bearing all things, one yin-soft and corroding all things — instead formed a subtle balance between them.

Yellow-brown and pitch-black, two colors of spiritual light intertwined and flowed, neither yielding to the other, yet neither infringing upon the other.

Xu Zhangqing opened his eyes, and two sharp glints, one yellow and one black, flashed in his pupils.

He raised his right hand, and two forces appeared in his palm.

One was a heavy, mountain-like yellow-brown earth qi; the other was a pitch-black mass of Primordial Heavy Water.

After sensing the two forces, Xu Zhangqing looked up again at the crimson giant cocoon.

At this moment, it was still swelling.

The vibration frequency grew faster and faster, and the pressure became increasingly heavy.

Fortunately, yellow and black light alternately flowed around Xu Zhangqing's body; no matter how that uncontrollable power surged, it could steadily protect him.

At the same time, above the sky outside Yaoguang Cave, two escape lights descended.

As the escape lights faded, a man and a woman were revealed.

The woman wore a moon-white long robe embroidered with silver cloud patterns; her face was cold as frost, and between her brows was a majesty that brooked no profanation.

She stood with her hands behind her back in the clouds, a layer of moonlight swirling around her, as if she might at any moment merge with the bright moon in the sky.

This person was precisely the Sect Master of the Inviting Moon Immortal Sect, Mu Yunni.

The man wore a Xuan Gold Daoist Robe; he was burly, his face stern as if carved by knife and axe, and golden light flowed in his pair of tiger eyes.

He took a stand in the clouds, and an aura of unangered dignity surrounded him, as if what lay beneath his feet was not the void, but a court where dragons and tigers bowed their heads.

This person was precisely the Sect Master of the Longhu Immortal Sect, Long Yuan.

The two received the news and hurried back to the Tianyuan Realm.

They had originally intended to join forces to deal with the Wu Sheng Chong Mu, a malignant tumor that had occupied the area for many years, but when they arrived above Yaoguang Cave, what they saw was a scene of utter devastation.

More than half of Yaoguang Cave had collapsed, and shattered rocks floated on the sea surface.

The aura of the Xuan River's water, mixed with some even more ancient pressure, constantly seeped out from the depths of the ruins, and even space was twisting.

"Someone acted before us."

Long Yuan swept the area with his divine sense and said in a deep voice: "The aura of the Wu Sheng Chong Mu... has disappeared."

A rare trace of solemnity appeared in Mu Yunni's cold pupils: "The Spirit Insect Mother is indeed dead, but the thing below... is even more troublesome than the Spirit Insect Mother."

Long Yuan also sensed that pressure constantly surging from the depths of the ruins; although it had no will, it was more dreadful than any enemy with a will.

Mu Yunni said coldly: "Once the Wu Sheng Chong Mu dies, this thing has gone out of control."

Long Yuan was silent for a moment, then slowly said: "With the two of us, we may not be able to suppress it."

"Even if we cannot suppress it, we must suppress it."

Mu Yunni said seriously: "If this power is allowed to spread, it will not only be the Tianyuan Realm that suffers."

If something suspected to be True Immortal Remains goes out of control, the harm will by no means be limited to the Tianyuan Realm.

Beneath this star domain, who knows how many planets will be affected.

Long Yuan suddenly raised an eyebrow: "There is another person below."

Upon hearing this, Mu Yunni extended her divine sense again; this time she probed deeper.

Soon she sensed that in the Core Area there was actually an aura as steady as a mountain.

Though clearly within the range of the heaviest pressure, that aura did not waver in the slightest.

"Barring any surprise, it should be the Qingmu Sect Sect Master, Xu Zhangqing."

A hint of surprise entered Mu Yunni's tone: "It was actually he who killed the Wu Sheng Chong Mu!"

A flash of surprise crossed Long Yuan's eyes; Xu Zhangqing's strength was probably greater than imagined.

"This matter is not for us to decide."

Mu Yunni withdrew her divine sense, her tone returning to its usual coldness: "We must report to the Nine Extremes Heavenly King or the Grand Dao Venerable."

Long Yuan nodded.

The Grand Dao Venerable is the administrator of this star domain.

The Nine Extremes Heavenly King is a Patrol Envoy.

If that thing suspected to be True Immortal Remains below goes out of control, only these two taking action can thoroughly resolve it!