Chapter 686: Seven Lanterns and Ghostly Fire Curse

The resounding drumbeats concealed poison within their sound waves, and as the invisible diffusion spread, the pervasive poison curse technique within also assailed all things.

Irregular, corroded-like rings became visible in the void, and the earth was similarly affected. Winds from all directions howled at this moment, transforming the poisonous mist into black mist that billowed outwards.

The Dominator's Fourth Son stood within this poisonous mist, his gaze cold as he watched the rattle drum in Xu Qing's hand continue to shake. The mist churned violently like surging waves, and a ferocious beastly shadow materialized within it, roaring.

Among these beastly shadows, some had bottle-like bodies covered in eyes, while others floated eerily like strands of hair. Some were dragon-turtle hybrids bristling with sharp thorns, and still others were humanoid with a flower of waves blooming on their forehead.

Such were their various forms. Each one was a highly venomous beast, a rarity even in this era, let alone in Xu Qing's time.

Almost all of them were extinct spirits. The moment they materialized, the mist erupted again, and the poison within it was further amplified by their appearance.

Ultimately, it transformed into a composite poison, capable of invading all spiritual repositories and even hidden furnaces. It churned and surged directly towards Xu Qing.

In response, Xu Qing's expression remained unchanged, and he felt even more composed about this battle.

He had realized that the Dominator's Fourth Son was not as unfathomable as he had initially believed.

The opponent was indeed a favored child of heaven, but they had their limits. Xu Qing also possessed emperor-tier cultivation methods that illuminated fundamental origins, just like the Fourth Son. As for this poison path, Xu Qing merely shook his head.

His eyes turned pitch black as his inherent poison restriction integrated into them, and he calmly cast a glance. With that single look, the world seemed to change color, winds surged, and the blurry, distorted poisonous mist rushing towards him violently trembled and visibly dissipated at a rapid pace.

While there were poisons in this world that could affect Xu Qing, the Dominator's Fourth Son clearly did not possess them. Xu Qing's inherent poison was fundamentally different from conventional poisons. It was a manifestation of an anomalous substance, truly an eruption of a divine curse, with the poisonous mist originating from the clear external essence of all living beings.

Compared to this, the poison from the rattle drum's sound waves, though peculiar, was still insufficient in terms of potency. With a single glance, the poisonous mist disintegrated.

The Dominator's Fourth Son's expression changed for the first time, and the hand shaking the rattle drum paused involuntarily. Simultaneously, Xu Qing's gaze pierced through the rapidly thinning poisonous mist, fixing on the Dominator's Fourth Son.

At that glance, the Fourth Son's hair stood on end, and a sense of life-or-death crisis abruptly erupted. He was not to be underestimated; without hesitation, his body abruptly retreated, and he unhesitatingly threw out the rattle drum in his hand, forming a hand seal and pointing a finger!

Instantly, this rattle drum, considered a precious treasure in the outside world, shattered and self-destructed with a bang, creating an even denser poison and a more agonizing sound.

Along with the violent power it contained, it exploded towards Xu Qing, effectively blocking him. It did indeed have an effect!

While Xu Qing could neutralize the drum's poison, the fluctuations from the treasure's self-destruction ultimately caused a slight pause in his forward movement.

Using this time, the Dominator's Fourth Son had retreated over a thousand zhang. When he reappeared, his expression was grim and his heart heavy. He had to admit that the sudden techniques before him were not only similar to his own but also slightly stronger in every aspect.

A murderous glint flashed in the Dominator's Fourth Son's eyes. He was not going to continue playing around; in his view, this battle could end.

He raised his right hand to form a seal, pointing at his glabella, his fingertip hovering three inches away without touching it.

“Bloodline.” As he uttered the word, numerous vein-like lines instantly appeared on the Dominator's Fourth Son's skin. Upon closer inspection, those dense black lines, thick and thin, were indeed his entire network of blood vessels.

They swelled and moved across his body, and the black blood vessels on his face specifically formed a hideous ghostly face!

As the Dominator's Fourth Son's finger landed and touched the ghostly face, in an instant, it ignited as if it were a lamp!

From a distance, it truly looked like a burning lamp. This lamp, merged with the Dominator's Fourth Son's face, appeared extremely eerie. Simultaneously, his aura erupted, becoming significantly stronger than before.

Seeing this, Xu Qing felt a surge of unease. The poison in his eyes intensified again, and his body flickered, achieving astonishing speed as he rushed directly towards the Dominator's Fourth Son.

The Dominator's Fourth Son narrowed his eyes and rapidly retreated. With his left hand forming a seal, the rhinoceros form reappeared outside his body, fully blocking as it was corroded by poison. Simultaneously, strands of hair emerged from thin air with a wave of his hand, wrapping around Xu Qing in an attempt to block him. Xu Qing's gaze turned cold, and his body erupted at that instant, moving much faster than before, forming afterimages as he ignored everything and shot towards the Dominator's Fourth Son.

This speed was not something a Spirit Repository could possess; it was formed by Xu Qing's long-term training under the prince, by being tied to an ancient sun!

The Dominator's Fourth Son's expression changed again. He suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a sheet of white light towards Xu Qing. The white light formed countless grids that enveloped Xu Qing, and he hid his figure within as the grids rapidly stacked, layer upon layer, encasing him.

Instantly, Xu Qing closed in, his hidden repository materialized behind him, and he threw a punch. The earth shook, the sky thundered, and those grids rapidly collapsed, tearing apart into hundreds of scattered fragments.

Yet this technique was mysterious: the Dominator's Fourth Son's figure simultaneously appeared within these hundreds of scattered grids.

For a moment, it was impossible to distinguish true from false. Xu Qing's expression was grim. His shadow rapidly spread out beneath his feet, and his Demonic Sky Body materialized around him, rapidly invading all the grids, searching for the true body. Meanwhile, within these grids, the Dominator's Fourth Son raised his finger and placed it on his shoulder.

The next moment, black blood vessels rapidly gathered at his shoulder, and a second lamp was lit. This was followed by his other shoulder, then his dantian, then his legs, and finally, his heart.

All these hand seals were completed in an instant! Seven lamps ignited completely within the Dominator's Fourth Son's body!

The ignition of each lamp caused his aura to surge considerably. With all of them burning, his aura surged like a rainbow, emanating terrifying fluctuations from his entire body!

Xu Qing's Demonic Sky Body and shadow's invasion also spread to all the grids at this moment, reaching the Dominator's Fourth Son's true hiding place.

Amidst the roar of the True Sun, the grids exploded, and the Dominator's Fourth Son stepped out. With the momentum formed by his entire burning body, he pointed a finger!

The sky shattered, the void collapsed, and the Demonic Sky Body that touched him was instantly torn apart!

“I underestimated you,” the Dominator's Fourth Son said calmly. “Regardless of your era or mine, within this realm, you possess peerless talent!”

He waved his right hand, and the seven lamps throughout his body began to sway. As this swaying fell into Xu Qing's eyes, a strong sense of crisis arose in his heart. His steps involuntarily paused, and a hint of solemnity appeared in his eyes.

This technique was something he had never encountered before. It was not a divine ability from his era, but belonged to this current era, a forbidden technique originating from Dominator Li Zihua.

Among Li Zihua's children, only the Fourth Son managed to cultivate it due to a special reason. This forbidden technique was called the Seven Lamp Netherfire. It was deemed forbidden because it not only stimulated one's own power to greatly increase their aura, but its greatest effect was a curse.

This was a curse of certain death: when a lamp extinguished, the person perished. A fierce murderous intent flashed in the Dominator's Fourth Son's eyes as he was about to speak.

Xu Qing didn't understand this technique, but he disliked idle talk and didn't believe the opponent could provide any useful information.

He rapidly approached, intending to force the Dominator's Fourth Son to quickly unleash his trump card. Seeing this, as the Dominator's Fourth Son willed it, Xu Qing's figure was reflected within the seven lamps of his body as they swayed!

It was as if Xu Qing was imprinted by these lamps. As Xu Qing approached, one of the seven lamps on the Dominator's Fourth Son's body directly extinguished.

As this lamp extinguished, Xu Qing's internal organs immediately suffered severe pain, he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his body instantly aged, and his clothes became covered in grime.

His life flame dimmed. As Xu Qing's expression changed, the Dominator's Fourth Son extinguished the second lamp. Xu Qing's body began to crack, a large amount of blood overflowed, his hair fell out and withered, and his cultivation sharply declined. This feeling of certain death emerged in Xu Qing's mind!

Then the third, fourth, and fifth lamps extinguished; in the blink of an eye, six of the seven lamps were gone. Xu Qing fell from the sky, and as he hit the ground, his entire body was drenched in sweat like rain. Moreover, this sweat was strangely and intensely corrosive, melting half of his body!

Unspeakable agony dimmed Xu Qing's expression, and the aura of death permeated his entire body. Along with a strong stench, his mind uncontrollably filled with feelings of despair, anxiety, and terror, among other negative emotions.

Looking down at Xu Qing, the Dominator's Fourth Son spoke calmly.

“Though you possess peerless talent, an ant is still an ant in the end,” he said, extinguishing the last, certain-death lamp within his body.

As the lamp disappeared, Xu Qing's aura abruptly vanished!

“It's over!” The Dominator's Fourth Son turned to leave, but the next moment his expression suddenly changed again. He abruptly turned to see the ground where Xu Qing's body lay glowing, as five fate lamps materialized there!

The fate lamps, crown-like with their needles, were all aligned in one direction, and at this moment, they instantly reversed, turning back Xu Qing's time in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, Xu Qing's body rose into the air. All the certain-death curses on him dissipated, and his melting body instantly recovered to its unharmed state in mid-air, exactly where he had been moments before.

This was precisely his Sundial Fate Lamp divine ability.

“You…” Witnessing this scene firsthand, the Dominator's Fourth Son's pupils contracted, and his mind was greatly shaken.

“You have a Dominator's bloodline?” Xu Qing took a deep breath, looking at the enemy before him. Just a moment ago, he had experienced death; had he not unleashed his Fate Lamp divine ability at the last moment, he would have been utterly dead.

The process of dying had given him a relatively detailed understanding of this Seven Lamp technique!

“This technique… very good… very good,” Xu Qing licked his lips and spoke softly. As he finished speaking, a morning glow light erupted from his body, spreading to cover the surroundings. This light also rapidly transformed, faintly appearing to form seven netherfire lamps within him, making his form indistinct.

He was simulating. Using the power of morning glow light to imitate myriad techniques, he was simulating the Seven Lamp Netherfire Curse.