Chapter 869: Encountering a Fiend

Chapter 869: Encountering a Fiend

Three days passed.

During that time, the storm caused by Xu Qing only got bigger in the Mountain and Sea Region. With the exception of a few random people who isolated themselves and didn’t contact anyone else, just about everyone heard about the situation between Xu Qing and Master Stillwinter.

Among the Firemoon Darkheaven people, Master Stillwinter was universally recognized as the number two chosen. Whether through direct experience or not, all Firemoons knew that he had terrifying battle prowess. Therefore, after hearing about the way Xu Qing was challenging Master Stillwinter, none of them put much stock in his ability to come out on top of a fight. Although Xu Qing was certainly making a dramatic show, it wasn’t enough to change the minds of all those cultivators.

After all, it was only two months before that word had spread rapidly about Master Stillwinter seeking Xu Qing. Then, an announcement was made that Xu Qing had perished. Although that proved to be incorrect, the fact that he went missing for that period of time seemed to be an indication of how the clash between them ended. How much could have changed in two months?

But what many people found strange was that Master Stillwinter didn’t respond to Xu Qing’s challenge. In fact, many Firemoon cultivators came to the realization that nobody knew where Master Stillwinter was. That was very thought-provoking, and it didn’t take long before speculations began to run wild.

The more than one hundred Saia and Whitemarsh cultivators that Xu Qing was dragging behind him only got weaker and weaker, while at the same time, they also started wondering what was going on. They had been doing everything they could, and had reached the point where they had sent messages to everyone they could think of. And yet, Master Stillwinter never showed up. In fact, not one person that they messaged ever came to their rescue. That actually wasn’t surprising considering that... these people weren’t idiots. None of them wanted to put their own lives on the line to save people unless they were completely confident in succeeding.

But eventually, it did happen. At around noon, when the sunlight was brightest in the Mountain and Sea Region, yang energy flourished, and yin-based grues and beasts were normally resting.

As the bright sunlight shone down, illuminating heaven and earth, Xu Qing suddenly stopped in midair and looked toward the horizon. The over one hundred cultivators behind him instantly ceased their wailing and moaning, and nervously looked in the same direction. Before long, they all caught sight of four beams of prismatic light shooting over the horizon.

Within each of them was a cultivator with an exceptional demeanor and a powerful cultivation base. Three of them were Saias, and they had murderous looks on their faces.

The fourth was a Whitemarsh with a powerful fleshly body. He was like a small mountain pulsing with an intense aura of energy and blood. The beating of his heart was like muffled thunder, and imparted the sensation of invincibility.

Most shocking was that all four of them had extraordinary mounts. The Whitemarsh was riding a huge winged python that was completely ferocious in appearance. The three Saias all had different mounts. One had the head of a lion and the body of a wolf, and emanated an aura that could stun the soul. The second looked like a turtle, and emanated a boundlessly powerful sensation. Unexpectedly, the last mount looked like an evil ghost. It was pitch black, blurry, and incomparably gruish. The mounts provided significant blessings to all of them. Powerful fluctuations rolled out in all directions, causing the dome of heaven to turn as dark as if it was stained by ink.

When the captives saw these four cultivators racing toward Xu Qing, their hearts leaped with joy. These four were chosen cultivators from their own species, so it was only natural that they recognized them.

The three Saias were the strongest representatives of their species in the second round of the Great Hunt. All of them had second-stage Void Returning cultivation bases, yet could unleash battle prowess equivalent to the fourth stage. Although they weren’t as exceptional as Master Stillwinter, they were extremely respected by most species.

As for the burly Whitemarsh, he had a fleshly body equivalent to fourth-stage Void Returning, and was also a member of the nobility. He was the second-born son of the leader of the Whitemarsh species!

These four had received messages asking for help. Knowing that Xu Qing was involved, they had joined forces to come deal with him. The fact that they had shown up after all this time seemed to indicate that they were very confident in the chances of success. The moment they appeared, it was without a moment of hesitation that they shot toward Xu Qing to attack him. They didn’t even exchange any words.

“Brother Heavenink,” he blurted, “you—”

Except, his longevity couldn’t sustain him for long enough to finish speaking. He crumbled into pieces, all while countless soul threads emerged from him.

Xu Qing vanished again, to reappear in front of the final Saia.

The Saia shivered and turned to flee. But the gray fog exerted a karmic tug, making it impossible for him to do so. As Xu Qing approached, his eyes went wide with madness and he unleashed his curse power to the fullest extent possible.

“Die, die, DIE!!”

Curses streamed out of him, causing his body to wither dramatically. Unfortunately, when those curses entered Xu Qing, they did as much good as as throwing a stone ox into the ocean. Nothing happened. Xu Qing approached him calmly and took his life.

Finally, Xu Qing turned to the young Whitemarsh lord, who was currently trying to get away.

With a single step, Xu Qing appeared in front of the blood-red giant. Ignoring the warhammers, he passed the giant and closed in on the Whitemarsh.

The young Whitemarsh lord was astonished to the core. In fact, he had been shocked from the moment the gray fog appeared and the plan they had agreed upon went awry as their fifth member failed to intervene. The fact that the three Saia chosen had died so quickly went to show the massive level disparity. And that crushed him mentally.

Dammit, dammit, dammit!! Didn’t they say that Master Stillwinter chased this guy away when they fought? He... he’s actually far more terrifying than Master Stillwinter! And that gray fog... it’s from the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands! How can he be using it here? Don’t tell me... that he’s got something to do with the dramatic events that went down there earlier!

Numerous thoughts ran through his mind as Xu Qing approached. Then the gray fog streamed into him, and all he could do was howl in agony as he was killed in body and soul. The gray fog disappeared. The over one hundred cultivators that Xu Qing had taken captive were no longer useful. They died.

Sunlight streamed down, illuminating Xu Qing.

Looking at the distant patch of clouds, he coolly said, “Sir Heavenink.”

The clouds dissipated, revealing a young Firemoon cultivator. He was in third-stage Void Returning, but had battle prowess in the great circle. He was listed as fourth among Firemoon chosen, and was part of the stewarded nation of High God Starfire. In the past, he had fought Tuo Shishan and defeated him, which went to show the quality of his battle prowess. Right now, he looked extremely respectful as he clasped hands and bowed formally to Xu Qing.

“Greetings, Brother Xu! I, Heavenink, have come here today to give you two gifts. The first gift came in the form of those four flunkies. I hope you enjoyed venting your fury on them. The second gift is information about Master Stillwinter! I secretly carried out my own investigation, all for the purpose of helping you find him, Brother Xu!”

Sir Heavenink took out a jade slip he had prepared moments ago and respectfully offered it to Xu Qing.