Chapter 968: The Flame of Love (part 1)

Chapter 968: The Flame of Love (part 1)

‘Heaven-shaking and earth-shattering’ was certainly a description.

Of course, different people had different concepts of what ‘heaven’ was.

For example, to the empress, ‘heaven’ was humankind. Everything shē did was for hēr people. And in a time period in which humans were not flourishing, shē was fighting an uphill battle.

To Xu Qing, ‘heaven’ consisted of all the people he had come to care about on his journey. There was Sergeant Thunder, Grandmaster Bai, his Master, Erniu, Plumdark, Ling’er, and others.... That ‘heaven’ also contained things connected to those people, for example, Sea-Sealing County, Seven Blood Eyes, or the Holytide Region. Those things brought meaning to his life, and were a foundational element of his personal human nature. They were like an anchor that enabled him to stay connected to his human nature even when using godly nature.

That was even more the case considering that his new fleshly body was made from the flesh of the broken face. He was now more like a god than ever, and therefore, the brightness of human nature was incredibly important.

It was no surprise that Huang Yan had his own ‘heaven’ in his heart....

Years ago, he had been soaring proudly through the sky when he casually looked down and caught sight of something stunning. He saw a figure on the Forbidden Sea brandishing a huge sword. That became his ‘heaven and earth.’ It became his world. His everything.

Because of that, he joined Seven Blood Eyes as a clone, not concerning himself at all with status or identity as he pursued the object of his desire. He experienced setbacks, but always kept moving forward. He was proud, but for the sake of that person, he could be humble. He was strong, but for that person, he could be weak. For his entire life, he had refused to offer sacrifices to the broken face. He didn’t concern himself with the lives or deaths of other living beings. As the ‘South Phoenix,’ and in fact, one of the only members of the Phoenix species, he had always held his head high.

But there was one person that could cause him to bow his head. That was because his heart had been touched. It was the only time it happened in his entire life.

Therefore, after Huang Yan said what he said moments ago, Xu Qing had already guessed what was going on.

Second Elder Sister was angry.

“No,” Huang Yan said forcefully. “NO! We have to get moving right now!”

Taking a deep breath, he transformed into Flame Phoenix, causing the Forbidden Sea to turn dark. His massive form could only be described as sky-obscuring and sun-blocking. Where he went, wild colors flashed in heaven and earth. When his feathers rippled, winds screamed.

The majestic ruler of South Phoenix raced across the Forbidden Sea.

Xu Qing had been around to watch as love developed between Huang Yan and Second Elder Sister. And therefore, he quickly flew up into the sky to follow.

Moving with the speed of lightning bolts, the two of them disappeared over the horizon. Their target destination was an island some distance away.

“As you know,” Huang Yan projected to Xu Qing, “every few decades Seven Blood Eyes holds the Grand Competition. Last time it was in the Merfolk Isles, and you and I both participated. Well the Grand Competition is happening again, and this time, Elder Sister is officiating. This time, the training is being held in Lobsterfolk territory. Just now, Elder Sister sent me a voice message indicating that the Lobsterfolk summoned their god, which is really just a godly entity.” [1][2]

To truly powerful experts, godly entities weren’t a very big deal. Over the past few months, Xu Qing had killed seven or eight of them. And if Huang Yan took action, he could wipe one out with a single breath.

With those two sealing marks in place, Xu Qing’s soul wouldn’t be influenced by the broken face’s flesh. And even with the seals in place, his fleshly body power was at an astounding level. Nothing beneath an Imperial Sovereign could even harm him.

After having fought several godly entities, Xu Qing had verified that. His fleshly body defenses were beyond comparison.

For example, when that god-river dragon lashed its tail at him, Xu Qing remained as unshakable as a mountain. And when the tail hit, it shattered.

Unfortunately, that only related to his fleshly body, meaning that his cultivation base didn’t receive any benefits. That said, his fleshly body was now so strong that the difference between his battle prowess was vastly beyond what it had been before.

The past several months of training had enabled Xu Qing to confirm the exact level of his battle prowess. He could kill four-world Smoldering Gods. As for those with five worlds or more... it would be difficult for him to cause trouble for them. That said, they wouldn’t be able to harm him.

Therefore, Xu Qing knew that his most important task right now was to assimilate godly authority to make himself more deadly! At the same time, he had to cultivate the Profound Sun Immortal Light Magic and work on removing the sealing marks.

I need to fight. I need to gain enlightenment. And I need experience in deadly situations.

After enough time passed for half an incense stick to burn, Xu Qing and Huang Yan were just about to arrive at Lobster Island.

Huang Yan cast his senses about, and after confirming that Elder Sister was safe, he transformed back into the form of a human fatty.

“By the way, this spot was picked for the training because of its connection to Torchlight. It’s one of Torchlight’s secret bases on the Forbidden Sea. After Seven Blood Eyes found out about it, they picked it for the event.”

Xu Qing didn’t react in any way to Huang Yan’s words. After detonating his soul and being resurrected, he had reached the point where talk of Torchlight and Zi Qing didn’t elicit an emotional reaction from him. It wasn’t just his facial expression. He felt that way deep in his heart. He was like a deep sea with no waves on it. But if such feelings did erupt, they would do so with killing intent.

That was how Xu Qing had always been since he was young. The situation with Zi Qing had been the only exception. But that exception had been resolved.

Xu Qing’s calm mental state was back. It was with complete calm that he looked at Flame Phoenix in Huang Yan form.

Huang Yan cleared his throat. “Elder Sister doesn’t like it when I look like a big bird. She prefers this handsome and dashing look.”

Huang Yan patted his belly, causing his flesh to jiggle a few times.

Xu Qing chuckled and then looked off into the distance.

1. The Chinese characters for Lobsterfolk does not include the most common characters for ‘lobster,’ and in fact, it’s a more general term that can refer to a variety of clawed crustaceans. For the sake of simplicity, I’m just going to go with the lobster interpretation. ☜

2. Huang Yan actually gave Xu Qing all of the background information about the Grand Competition in chapter 111. The actual event started some chapters after that. ☜