Chapter 484: Golden Crow Devours Sun (part 1)
Outside of Mount Daybreak, next to the underwater valley, Xu Qing studied the situation, then turned and left. Behind him, agonized shrieks continue to ring out, as well as howls of rage.
Smokewights then began to emerge from the valley, their divine sense out in full force as they scanned the area in both frustration and anger. The interior of the valley was in complete disorder. Before, there had been hundreds of Smokewights inside, but now there were only a few left. Xu Qing’s taboo poison had killed most of them in body and soul. Xu Qing’s poison really was just that ridiculously brutal. Those who were not dead yet were moaning in agony. They were doing everything they could to stop themselves from decomposing, but their bodies of smoke continued to fall apart. One after another, they died.
The work on the magical treasure was now stalled. And as the mutagen in the poison filled it, it became clear it wouldn’t survive for long.
“Who’s there?” This chapter was originally shared via N0v3l-Bijn.
There were seven or eight Smokewight puppets who emitted terrifying Nascent Soul fluctuations. They were now frantically searching for the perpetrator. The puppets were corroding rapidly, exposing their true bodies within and making it clear they couldn’t escape the effects of the attack. Obviously, they were urgently looking for the enemy in the hopes of finding an antidote. Though their plan had involved concealing any evidence of their presence, including energy fluctuations, things had so quickly gone out of control that they were ignoring that directive.
Sadly for them, Xu Qing’s jade slip of concealment had been given to him by Arch-Immortal Plumdark, so there was no way some mere Nascent Soul cultivators would be able to perceive it. What was more, as soon as he unleashed his poison, he took a very quick look at the results and then left. After confirming that his poison was working, he had decided to simply wait until the Smokewights were all dead before going back to investigate the valley.
Normally speaking, they should all be dead in an hour. But I’ll wait six hours just to be safe.
However, even as he sped along, a sudden sense of terror rose in his chest. Expression flickering, he turned to look in the general direction of the valley. He had just sensed a familiar aura.
As soon as it appeared, something changed about the lake bed; mutagen levels began to increase.
What was even more shocking to Xu Qing was that everything in the area began to ripple and distort, to where it became hard to see clearly.
A god!
Xu Qing thought back to what the head said about Sir Inkwell. Given this new aura, his face turned grim and he started fleeing even faster than before. This aura wasn’t coming from inside the valley. It was coming from a slightly different direction.
Probably attracted by the energy fluctuations. The finger of that god must have brought Sir Inkwell to look for the remains of the sun. But would the energy fluctuations really be that much of a draw...? Don’t tell me that valley really does have some of a sun’s remains in it?
Back when the head mentioned these things, Xu Qing hadn’t placed much importance in the information. He and the god’s finger were on completely different levels, so he didn’t intend to go looking for it. His intention was to make use of his concealment abilities to complete the mission and then go check in at the Swordsage Palace. After all, Daybreak Prefecture was such a big place that the chances of randomly running into the god’s finger were extremely small.
For one thing, when that sun perished, it collapsed, meaning that its remains scattered far and wide. Add in the fact that it happened so long ago, it meant that most pieces had already been located.
The proximity to Mount Daybreak made it even less likely that some of the sun’s remains were nearby.
Could it be the head and stone lion drawing the attention of the finger? Xu Qing looked down fiercely at the head and the lion.
Trembling, the stone lion rocked back and forth as if to tell Xu Qing that it had nothing to do with the situation.
Before Xu Qing could study the situation any further, the pile of cultivator body parts flew through the air toward the chunk of flesh. As soon as they hit it, the flesh wriggled, and crevices opened up on its surface. It sucked in all of the body parts. Some were sucked all the way into the crevices, others stuck out partly. Then it began absorbing them. The stone lion and the head were among those who got partly stuck inside the flesh.
Screams of agony echoed out. In some cases, the cultivators could cry out loud, in other cases, they sent out streams of divine will.
Xu Qing himself was about half-sucked into the flesh, and as screams echoed out around him, his heart swelled with astonishment.
The reason was that he didn’t feel the pain of being dissolved. Instead, the moment he was sucked into that chunk of flesh, he felt an intense sensation of longing coming from the golden crow on his back.
Is this... part of that sun’s remains??
His eyes widened, and his mind reeled. He turned to look at Sir Inkwell not too far away. Sir Inkwell had already spotted the head and the stone lion, and he had just noticed Xu Qing as well. Their gazes met.
The head, of which only half a face was visible, looked at Sir Inkwell. “Hahaha! A reunion....”
Sir Inkwell ignored the head and focused on Xu Qing. A curious look gleamed in his eyes as he slowly approached.
“Exalted jailer?”
“You’ve really done something amazing,” Xu Qing said.
Sir Inkwell stopped in place, his eyes suddenly glittering mysteriously.
He looked Xu Qing up and down briefly, and quickly noted that the ‘exalted jailer’ didn’t seem the least bit frightened. The calm expression on his face made Sir Inkwell suddenly feel like he was back in D-132. That, in turn, caused the cautious Sir Inkwell to stifle his previous clever thoughts. Something didn’t seem right here. He looked at the head. Before he could say anything else, though, wails of anguish echoed out, and the air vibrated as the god’s finger appeared in front of Sir Inkwell.
Sir Inkwell tried to prevent himself from trembling, and even plastered a fawning smile onto his face.
“Oh great and mighty lord who is favored by heaven, mighty god from the sky who is recovering by means of the sun’s remains, sir, you are surely foreordained to conquer Revered Ancient and reach the most paramount of positions.”
The pressure from the god’s finger lessened by a bit, and it released a roar that echoed into the minds of everyone present.
Sir Inkwell couldn’t stop himself from shivering head to toe. However, his facial expression didn’t change. Looking completely pious, he continued to speak in what was almost a chant.
“Oh lord, favored by heaven, only a few days are left until you can recover. The paint needed to restore your fleshly body is half complete. Were this any other vulgar and filthy god, the paint material would be sufficient. But for a god favored by heaven, your humble servant needs to have the perfect ingredients to create the perfect body for you. Sir, you really cannot allow yourself to be profaned.
“Therefore... I need more life force. Once I bring some life back to this flesh, then it will benefit you, oh exalted god favored by heaven.”
The god’s finger thrummed a bit impatiently, causing some of the wounds on its surface to open up again. However, īt didn’t seem to care, and instead rose up and circled around the area a few times. Then, everything in the area blurred and distorted again before īt disappeared.
Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed in response to this development, and his mind was working on overdrive. He knew full well that he was in an extremely dangerous situation, but at the same time, he could tell this was a destined opportunity.
The golden crow tattoo on his back was heating up with longing, but he kept it under tight control. It wasn’t time yet.