Chapter 858: The Gray Fog of Ninedawns

Chapter 858: The Gray Fog of Ninedawns

In the Mountain and Sea Region, the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands was both physically and figuratively the core of the region. From an outside perspective, it was covered with fog rife with both mystery and death.

Every time the Great Hunt occurred, there would be people who went inside and never came out. However, the stories that constantly spread about the ninedawns ensured that, from generation to generation, there was no end to the Firemoon cultivators that were drawn to the place.

Master Stillwinter could be considered among them. In the past, he had considered entering the place to explore it. But the more he learned about the location, including secrets that weren’t known to the public, the more speculations cropped up.... In the end, he didn’t dare.

Ninedawns... is a very special name.

Master Stillwinter’s eyes gleamed as he looked into the fog. Thinking back to the fight with Xu Qing, he had to admit that, though Xu Qing wasn’t on his level, killing him wasn’t exactly something easy to do.

He definitely counts as this generation’s number one chosen in humankind. Or at least... he was.

Master Stillwinter looked away and flicked his sleeve. A blurry blood clone appeared in front of him and bowed deeply.

“Go tell King Brightsouth that Xu Qing is dead,” Master Stillwinter said coolly. He turned, floated up into the air, and vanished. From his perspective, it didn’t matter exactly when Xu Qing died. The fact was that he had entered the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands, and thus, the infection of the fog would ensure that he could never leave.

***

Xu Qing... had already picked up on that point!

He was surrounded by gray fog, and his expression was dour. The moment he entered, the fog swept toward him with such greed and longing that it seemed alive. It seemed like it wanted to absorb him. The fog wasn’t mutagen, but rather, something else.

When Xu Qing’s violet godsource touched the gray fog, it felt like it was permanently restricted. At the same time, his soul threads wilted listlessly. It was as if the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands was specifically antagonistic to gods, and thus, everything related to gods was rejected by it. Xu Qing’s god state began to melt away and destabilize.

My violet moon godsource comes from Crimson Mother.... Although it’s not comparable to her, on a substructural level, and a personhood level, it’s the same. Yet this gray fog can suppress it!

Xu Qing had known from the beginning that the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands was a complicated place, and now that was clearer than ever.

If it was just a suppression of things related to gods, it might not have been a big deal. But Xu Qing quickly realized that his cultivation base power was also being rejected and suppressed. The furnaces in his secret troves were about to go out. Even his heavenly dao... was unexpectedly going to sleep.

Everything is being rejected?

Xu Qing frowned. What was even more unexpected was that he was able to sense some of the special power of the gray fog. Like bonds of karma, he was restricted and bound... making it impossible to flee this place.

After some thought, he tried to take a step back. He unleashed all the strength he could muster to make it happen, but after taking only one step, felt like he couldn’t even move.

Then he experienced a sensation of deadly crisis hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of times as powerful as he had sensed when dealing with Master Stillwinter. It filled him from head to toe and made him shake so hard he felt like he might collapse.

Then he heard whispering sounds coming from the surrounding fog. All of the voices were saying the same thing, and their sounds combined became like the roar of heavenly thunder.

“Die!”

Xu Qing’s expression was grim as he looked around. From what he could tell, he was fairly deep into the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands, but wasn’t anywhere near the center. Other than fog, he hadn’t seen much other than marshlands.

I wonder what’s under the surface of the marsh?

Xu Qing looked down at the black marsh and decided that he shouldn’t be the one to experiment.

“Little Shadow,” he said. His shadow appeared beneath his feet on the surface of the marsh. It sent weak fluctuations his way and made sure to highlight the portions of itself that had been burned. It was clearly trying to remind Xu Qing that it was injured.

Xu Qing ignored it. “Go see what’s below the surface.”

Little Shadow felt it was very unfair, but after all the years, it had come to accept its fate. Thus, it sank into the muck below and then spread out.

After going down only about 9 meters, the shadow suddenly spasmed and let loose a howl of grief. It even started to fade away.

“Pain... decay... disperse... afraid....”

Xu Qing remained unmoved, and focused on just sensing what was below.

When Little Shadow realized Xu Qing was ignoring it, there was no choice but to ignore the feeling of being dispersed and simply go deeper.

Soon it reached a depth of 30 meters. 150 meters. Eventually it was 300 meters down. It was surrounded by muck. The sensation of fading into nothing was stronger than ever, but Little Shadow managed to send out some pleading emotional fluctuations.

“Continue... die... afraid... please....”

Xu Qing mulled the situation over. “If I die here, so do you. But if you help me get out of here, then I promise that after you die, I’ll figure out a way to resurrect you.”

Little Shadow could sense the determination in his voice. Shivering, it erupted with even stronger fluctuations as it dropped down further.

600 meters. 900 meters. 1,500 meters....

The sensation of fading into nothing caused Little Shadow to moan with agony. It began to crumble, until eventually turning into dozens of threads, one of which headed back toward Xu Qing. The rest kept going down further in a very suicidal fashion.

The shadow threads crumbled one after another. The remainder interlocked like a web as they continued to descend. The howling and destruction continued. After about ten breaths of time passed. Little Shadow had collapsed dozens of times, turning into hundreds of shadow threads. But eventually there was only one left that reached a depth of 3,000 meters.

Just before it collapsed, it transmitted an image into Xu Qing’s mind.

When he saw that image, he shivered from head to toe. “Is that...?”

1. The incense burner was featured in the fight that took place in chapters 828 and 829. ☜

2. There are many types of incense, and one is a type in which the incense is shaped into concentric rings. Here’s a picture of an incense ring and the burner it fits in. ☜