Chapter 1036: The Face Beside the Red Candle

Inside the Secret Realm of World Origin, in the central area illuminated by the red candle's fiery halo, as Xu Qing arrived, the collapsing star suddenly plunged into a state akin to deep winter.

Only moments before, in Xu Qing's perception, the sky had been ablaze with flowing fiery light, and intense heat permeated the surroundings.

Yet, in the next instant, frost appeared on the ground, and a piercing coldness abruptly intensified around him.

Accompanying this chill was an unending surge of murderous intent.

It emanated invisibly from all directions, converging on Xu Qing.

A cold glint flickered in Xu Qing's eyes. He took a step forward, and the moment his foot touched the frozen ground, the ice-covered earth around him rumbled, cracking outwards from his position.

These cracks rapidly spread, resembling a shattered mirror or a spiderweb, covering a vast area. They then simultaneously ripped upwards, collapsing and exploding.

They intertwined chaotically in mid-air, inducing convection currents that formed a storm.

Amidst the spraying earth, the storm grew larger, dispelling countless icy chills.

It swept across all directions.

Simultaneously, Xu Qing leveraged the power of this storm to leap up and speed towards the distance.

However, the murderous intent from the invisible entities, which he could not see, did not diminish with the fragmentation of the area. Instead, it instantly intensified, merging into the storm.

The storm emitted creaking sounds and was immediately frozen solid, forming a colossal, astonishing ice pillar that connected heaven and earth.

Its edges continued to spread in the direction Xu Qing was heading.

It seemed to be in pursuit.

Xu Qing frowned. In Blood Dust's memories, although he had come to this star by chance to avoid a crisis, he hadn't encountered much danger here.

Instead, he had entered the great canyon relatively smoothly.

But now, after his arrival, things were different.

Had something changed here recently, or was it... different because of his presence?

As Xu Qing pondered, he accelerated. With a whistling sound, the chilling cold behind him grew more intense. Everywhere he passed, the ground froze, and even the winds between heaven and earth were arrested, forming pillars of ice.

Some plummeted to the ground, while others converged, forming menacing, claw-like shapes that stretched towards the sky.

The sky itself showed signs of freezing.

It seemed that the murderous intent, initiated by those strange entities, was relentlessly pursuing Xu Qing from every level: from the sky, from the ground, from the storm, and from the void.

"This is becoming too passive!"

As he passed a lake, which quickly froze over, Xu Qing paused in mid-air. After perceiving his surroundings and confirming there were no other cultivators, the divine source within him suddenly erupted. Endless golden light burst forth from Xu Qing's body.

The Divine Authority of Sound and the Divine Authority of Purple Moon manifested at this moment, unleashing destructive power that swept through everything.

Everywhere the freezing sounds appeared, they directly exploded.

The frozen sky even took on a purple hue, and a purple moon, in this ethereal projection, ascended into view.

It suffused the collapsing star with its color.

Furthermore, vast quantities of Foreign Immortal Soul threads roared out from Xu Qing's body, transforming into a torrent that replaced the storm, forming an immense vortex, intending to tear everything apart.

Such a display of power would cause even cultivators at the fifth or sixth stage of Soul Incarnation to feel a ripple in their hearts. Yet here, even with Xu Qing's divine authority shaking heaven and earth, the cold, chilling aura did not diminish in the slightest. At most, it was scattered, but it quickly reconverged from all directions around Xu Qing, its murderous intent undiminished.

Moreover, the disturbance here seemed to attract even more strange entities near the star, drawing them from outside the star to surge towards this location.

Although he couldn't see these strange entities, the freezing phenomena appearing outside the starry sky made Xu Qing realize this.

"They cannot be destroyed."

A sharp glint flashed in Xu Qing's eyes. He stopped using his divine authority and instead took a deep breath. Immediately, a great sun rose within the sea of consciousness in his body.

This was precisely the Profound Sun Immortal Light.

This light erupted from Xu Qing, generating light and heat that shone outwards in all directions.

But the effect... was still ordinary.

Even if Xu Qing temporarily escaped, these invisible strange entities quickly resumed their pursuit.

If this continues, even if I reach the canyon, it will be difficult to fully concentrate on searching for the source of the white dust that appeared in Blood Dust's destiny.

Xu Qing pondered. Through his previous encounters with these strange entities, he had formed a rough judgment.

These strange beings, assimilated and thus stripped of their physical bodies, transformed by the red candle, indeed possessed the quality of immortality.

However, this quality must be relative.

Because, according to Xu Qing's observations of all beings and even deities throughout his journey, none could truly be called immortal.

Even true gods were no exception.

Otherwise, how could Jade Glazed Dust scheme against a true god?

"So, whether it's immortality or indestructibility, they can only be achieved under specific conditions."

"Therefore, for these strange beings here, which I can seemingly crush directly, what are the conditions required for their immortality?"

As Xu Qing moved forward, pursued by the invisible entities, his mind raced with thoughts.

A few moments later, Xu Qing suddenly turned his head, a sharp expression on his face, and murmured.

"It's obvious. The condition for these strange beings here to be immortal is that they cannot be seen."

"Because they are unseen, they cannot be killed."

"In other words, to kill them, one must first see them."

Almost the instant Xu Qing realized this, he felt emotional fluctuations from Little Shadow within his mind.

"Master... correct... if I merge... visible..."

Xu Qing frowned. Little Shadow's emotional fluctuations arrived almost too perfectly, as if it had been waiting for him to realize this point himself.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Xu Qing's voice grew cold.

"Master... I... could not... this place... Shadow Candle... restriction... cannot speak!"

Little Shadow was anxious, rapidly transmitting its feelings.

Xu Qing understood its meaning: due to the so-called "Shadow Candle" restriction in this place, it couldn't tell him in advance; it could only speak once Xu Qing realized it himself.

Under different circumstances, Xu Qing would surely investigate this matter concerning Little Shadow, but now was clearly not the time.

So he suppressed the thought and, with a mental command, gave Little Shadow an order.

The next instant, Little Shadow's aura erupted, covering Xu Qing's entire body.

In earlier years, Xu Qing and Little Shadow would choose to merge when encountering danger. After merging, Xu Qing's cultivation power would be suppressed, with only a few special divine abilities remaining usable as normal.

This exchange brought a significant increase in the power of his physical body.

Later, as Xu Qing's cultivation grew, he gradually stopped merging with Little Shadow, until now, when this merge reappeared.

In a blink, shadow transformed into a black robe, enveloping Xu Qing. A black cape formed behind him, fluttering with his purple hair, as terrifying physical power surged within him.

Heaven and earth changed color; winds arose and clouds surged.

Even more astonishingly, Xu Qing's eyes became completely black.

Then, through his shadow eyes, he looked at the world...

The world seemed to have its veil lifted, revealing its true appearance.

The sky was vast emptiness.

The starry sky was void.

The far reaches were of jade-like quality.

The surrounding dust and stars had become a series of paintings, and the mountains and land within the star were all part of these paintings.

Only the red candle remained as before, still burning eerily.

And then... the strange entities that had previously been invisible were now seen by Xu Qing.

They were clearly streaks of black shadow emerging from beyond the candlelight.

Their shapes varied: sometimes humanoid, sometimes beast-like, sometimes irregular, sometimes mere threads. They were bizarre and myriad, but all were pitch black, essentially shadows.

For countless years, the cultivators assimilated within this secret realm had lost their physical bodies, leaving behind... only shadows.

And this secret realm was, in fact, a painted world belonging to shadows. This discovery caused a huge stir in Xu Qing's mind.

Little Shadow's origin had been a mystery to him, one he couldn't solve.

But today... he seemed to have found a clue.

Xu Qing abruptly looked up, gazing at the red candle in the distance. As his pupils contracted, the countless shadows surrounding him suddenly surged towards him.

The next instant, as the Profound Sun Immortal Light erupted from Xu Qing again, light and heat spread in all directions from his body, and piercing wails suddenly reverberated.

Immortal Light was not common, but through the merge with Little Shadow, this technique was now displayed.

The shadows that could not be killed before now rapidly blurred under the illumination of the Immortal Light, vanishing amidst piteous wails.

The surrounding temperature also rose abruptly.

Xu Qing's body swayed, and he sped forward. The Immortal Light illuminated his path, sweeping over the painted lakes and mountains. Everywhere he passed, all shadows shattered and disintegrated. After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a massive canyon appeared in Xu Qing's sight.

However, to Xu Qing's eyes, this canyon... just like the lakes and mountains, was merely painted.

It appeared lifelike, but in reality, it couldn't be entered.

He stood at the edge of the painted canyon, and after a brief contemplation, the Immortal Light on his body shone again, directed by Xu Qing to surge over the canyon, sweeping continuously.

After several sweeps, the blackness in Xu Qing's eyes receded, and he disengaged from his merge with Little Shadow.

In Xu Qing's sight, the world reverted to its initial appearance. The canyon before him was no longer a painting; it had truly formed.

It was pitch black inside, making details indiscernible.

Xu Qing stood at the canyon's edge. After a sweeping glance, he lifted his foot and stepped directly into the canyon.

His divine sense spread out, enveloping all areas of the canyon, and he began his search.

He needed to find the source of the white dust that had appeared in Blood Dust's destiny.

However... as time passed, an hour later, Xu Qing flew out of the canyon, hovering in mid-air above it, his brow furrowed.

Although the canyon was deep, it wasn't very large overall.

Therefore, within an hour, not only had his divine sense explored every inch, but Xu Qing had also personally walked through all parts of the canyon, examining with his own eyes, yet ultimately found nothing.

He found no place where white dust might exist, nor did he sense any trace of it.

It was as if he had come to the wrong place.

"It's not here."

Yet, according to Blood Dust's memories, the dust in his threads of destiny had distinctly appeared only after entering this place.

Xu Qing pondered. After a moment, he suddenly shot upwards, reaching high altitude in an instant. Looking down at the land, everything appeared normal.

So he flew up again, until he left the star, continually observing it from orbit, but still found no clues.

"Then..."

Xu Qing sent a mental command. The next instant, Little Shadow merged with him once more. As his eyes turned completely black again, Xu Qing, from his elevated position, looked down at the star below.

With this glance, Xu Qing's eyes widened abruptly.

The star, as seen through his shadow eyes, was merely a painting... and the canyon fissure within it resembled an opening and closing mouth!

The mountains in the distance were like a nose!

And the two lakes even further away seemed like eyes!

This painting was not a star at all; it was distinctly a face.