Chapter 537: Trampling Thistles On The Way To The Throne (part 1)
Emperor Ancient Spirit’s divine will echoed out like booming thunder through the Ancient Spirit world. The words could be heard with ears and felt in the mind and heart. Even the soul would tremble in response to it. It was an intimidation from a higher level of life, and also pressure because of the differences in personhood involved.
The god’s finger went rigid. Terror flooded through īt, which quickly transformed into grief and indignation.
The divine will locked onto Xu Qing’s ravaged body, causing his flesh to vibrate. Despite his extraordinary body, it was still rapidly crumbling away. His wounds were worsening, and the god power he had left couldn’t keep him going much longer. Right now, though, Xu Qing didn’t have time to worry about his injuries. He had to work hard to just stay cool-headed. He knew full well that he couldn’t afford to do anything to anger Emperor Ancient Spirit.
Before he could speak, Emperor Ancient Spirit lost patience. Divine will rumbled into the dark sky, and the Underworld River below roiled, revealing countless dead bodies within it. A boundless gravitational force erupted, like a vortex, which swept toward Xu Qing with greed and longing.
Xu Qing shivered as chunks of his flesh were ripped away, and his life force began to scatter. From head to toe, he started decaying.
Inside of him, the god’s finger wailed in grief as īts soul collapsed under the power of the gravitational force. The soul turned into streams of black energy that seeped out of Xu Qing, then started taking the shape of an illusory finger. To the god’s finger, it was a process of agonizing pain. Emotions of grief and bitterness filled the finger as īt bemoaned its extremely miserable existence. After all, the finger was also a god....
However, the finger’s true form had been devoured by Crimson Mother, and now it seemed escape was impossible from this situation. īt really wasn’t sure what was going on. īt clearly had the godly authority to control misfortune, and yet, īt was the one who was struck by misfortune. īt struggled in anguish, but no such efforts amounted to anything. īt had become prey in the mouth of a predator, and struggling only made the teeth bite down harder.
More soul mist emerged from Xu Qing.
From a distance, the soul mist of a god caused everything around Xu Qing to ripple and blur. The aura of a god was now starting to pulse from the finger outside Xu Qing, which was rapidly transforming from illusory to corporeal.
Xu Qing maintained silence. Emperor Ancient Spirit wasn’t just interested in absorbing the god’s finger; Xu Qing’s life force and god vitality was also being drawn out. As that happened, Xu Qing’s personhood was dropping from that of a god to that of an ordinary cultivator.
Xu Qing wasn’t surprised at all that Emperor Ancient Spirit would reveal such malicious intentions.
He and Emperor Ancient Spirit weren’t exactly on good terms. And a bit of food wasn’t going to turn things around in that regard. That was one reason why he hadn’t wanted to use the spirit abyss talisman unless he had absolutely, positively no other options.
Those who would pit the lion against the wolf ended up walking on the edge of the cliff. And the slightest mistake could end with them plummeting to their death.
However, because of the bit of good faith from earlier, at least Xu Qing had the chance to speak up for himself.
“Your Majesty,” he said calmly, “were you pleased with the interest I paid earlier?”
Emperor Ancient Spirit ignored him. The emperor seemed completely focused on the snack that was taking shape above Xu Qing’s head.
In fact, Emperor Ancient Spirit wasn’t even paying much attention to extracting Xu Qing’s life force. That was how attractive that sweet morsel was.
Hē doesn’t think it’s worth it. Also, hē doesn’t seem worried that I’ll summon another god here.... Combine that with the lieutenant governor’s failure to summon Cruelmurk, I’d say it means that Emperor Ancient Spirit has hidden the Ancient Spirit world even better than I imagined.
Xu Qing looked around thoughtfully, and suddenly wondered if he was actually standing in the same Ancient Spirit world he had been to before. Was it possible that no one would ever be able to find the real Ancient Spirit world again?
Regardless, Xu Qing could sense a bit of the daring and nerve that Emperor Ancient Spirit must have possessed when conquering Revered Ancient. Clasping hands and bowing, he took the talisman and then turned to the vortex.
Before he could enter, Emperor Ancient Spirit’s divine will once again echoed out.
“Given that you really did bring me some nice food, human child, I’m going to give you a friendly reminder. Those life lamps in you have enabled you to stand out as brilliant in that low level of yours. But they’re a rickety amalgamation. They’re not made from your own blood. Each one is packed with differing karma, and you’ll have a hard time using them to reach the highest level.”
Xu Qing stopped in place and looked over his shoulder at Emperor Ancient Spirit’s huge eye. “How can I resolve that issue, Your Majesty?”
“Bring me the food I want, and I’ll tell you.” With that, the huge eye closed.
Xu Qing nodded. He remembered his Eldest Brother mentioning something similar to this, and now he was getting the same information from Emperor Ancient Spirit. [1]
Bowing one last time to Emperor Ancient Spirit’s huge eye, Xu Qing entered the vortex. Rumbling sounds swept out as he disappeared. Then the vortex vanished.
After Xu Qing was gone, the Ancient Spirit world blurred.
The land, the sky, the evil souls, the zombies, the Underworld River. All of them vanished like a popping bubble. The entire world became a pearl, which then dropped down into the boundless depths of the Spirit Abyss. After a time, a withered, mottled hand appeared in the depths of the Spirit Abyss. It pulsed with an aura of rot as it reached out and grabbed the pearl. A moment later, chewing sounds could be heard. Shortly after that, a sigh of contentment could be heard.
“Scrumptious! I hope the little punk brings something good to eat next time. As for his delicious flavor... I’ll wait until he grows up a bit before I devour him. Now, that Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan... is quite interesting.”
***
Near the altar atop the Spirit Abyss, a figure could be seen slowly climbing up the cliff.
Xu Qing’s wounds were influencing his speed. However, given how he had just survived by the skin of his teeth, he found enough energy in himself to keep moving. Slowly but surely, he kept climbing toward the top. Blood flowed from his wounds, which dripped down the cliff walls of the Spirit Abyss.
Xu Qing gritted his teeth as he struggled against the abyss’s gravitational force. It took all the effort he could muster. Unfortunately, there are sometimes things that will never happen no matter how much you want them to, and similarly, many things that will happen no matter how much you don’t want them to. Xu Qing felt himself gradually losing consciousness.
He didn’t want to. But he was so exhausted, and was so physically weakened, that unconsciousness gradually started to sweep over his mind like the tide.
His vision blurred, and darkness began to take over everything. But then, just barely, he saw a figure in white rushing toward him.
1. In chapter 117, the Captain explained that life lamps are legacies passed down from the people who originally created them. ?