Chapter 694: Godmouth Snatches Food

Beyond Time!

"Ancestor of the Spirit Tribe. You Dingmu!"

The Prince's eyes flashed with a cold light as he revealed the identity of the six-eyed face.

It wasn't just the Prince who recognized the face; all his siblings identified it the moment they saw it.

The Captain narrowed his eyes, a slight smile playing on his lips. Clearly, he too knew the identity of the gate's totem face, for in his previous life... he had also been here.

Xu Qing's eyes sharpened as he recalled what the Prince had told him on their journey to the northern ice plain, upon seeing the Spirit Tribe.

The Spirit Tribe's ancestor was once a subordinate of the Sovereign. When the Crimson Mother arrived, he chose to betray, and was subsequently killed by a single finger of the Sovereign in the northern ice plain, causing his downfall and the fragmentation of his great world. The world fragment Xu Qing had acquired was precisely a part of this totem face's former great world.

Now, this subordinate, killed by the Sovereign, appeared on the Moon Palace's gate, transformed into a guardian. This was clearly a method employed by the Crimson Mother to revive him to some extent.

That's why Senior Brother had wanted to go to the northern ice plain to imprint the fingerprint there onto his own skin...

Xu Qing looked at the Captain. Their gazes met, and the Captain's expression was smug, as if to say, "Now you know how powerful I am." He thought to himself that Little Ah Qing had shown off enough, and now it was finally his turn to shine.

So he looked up and spoke loudly.

"Seniors, the Crimson Mother's awakening requires a process. We must reach her slumbering place before she fully awakens!"

"As for this gate guardian, please help me stall him. I have a way to suppress him!"

Hearing this, Xu Qing's gaze swept around, then landed on the Captain, but he held back from speaking. Meanwhile, with the appearance of the Moon Palace, the Red Moon Star's ground shook and rose, pulled upwards, and the sky tilted downwards, as if stretched by an unseen force.

From a distance, the Moon Palace appeared ancient and weathered, its colossal stones exuding a primeval aura. Yet, every pattern and detail on its surface spoke of exquisite craftsmanship and luxury, along with a grand and majestic presence.

Its vermilion walls and crimson tiles shone with dazzling blood-red brilliance. Sculpted beams and painted eaves displayed unparalleled beauty, and the eaves' jagged teeth were intricately arranged. Inside, every scene and creature depicted was vividly lifelike.

Especially shrouded in the hazy blood mist, it resembled a silhouette floating on clouds, appearing exceptionally silent and solemn.

Its arrival seemed to make it the core of this world; everything converged towards it.

Be it sky or earth, all were drawn to it.

The sky twisted, the earth heaved, and the entire world rumbled.

Only the Moon Palace stood prominent, its radiating blood light illuminating all directions and enveloping the entire Red Moon Star. At this moment, the Red Moon Star itself seemed to be bowing before it. The bodies of those whose prayers Xu Qing had altered instantly reverted to crimson, and their chants returned to their original form.

With this crimson prominence, the face of the gate's totem became even more ferocious, glaring at Xu Qing. Its pervasive majesty carried a murderous intent, and its voice erupted like countless heavenly thunders, rumbling and shattering in all directions.

Furthermore, crimson snowflakes appeared everywhere, rapidly coalescing into armored skeletons that charged towards Xu Qing and the others.

Facing these, the Prince snorted coldly and took a step forward. The moment his foot landed, divine power erupted from his body, forming a gigantic hand that grasped forward through the air.

Instantly, the void blurred. The armored skeletons trembled and collapsed en masse, but the very next moment, they reassembled into monstrous blood-bone beasts.

It seemed their existence was eternal; no matter how many times they were destroyed, they could not be truly annihilated. Instead, they would grow stronger with each reassembly.

But the Prince's siblings were certainly not weak, especially given their incredibly synchronized cooperation.

At this moment, Princess Mingmei formed a hand seal, and a river of time flowed, washing over them. Old Eight let out a low roar that could stir the seven emotions and six desires, and even instill emotional fluctuations in those who lacked them. Instantly, the blood-bone beasts became agitated, overcome with terror.

Before the emotions could fully suppress them, the long river of time arrived, and a great wave swept them all away, engulfing them completely.

Meanwhile, the Captain wasn't idle either. He took out a human skin scroll from his storage bag, called for Xu Qing, and together, they each held an end and fully unfurled it.

In the blink of an eye, they spread the human skin open, revealing a gigantic fingerprint imprinted within.

This fingerprint was extraordinary; a single glance instilled a thrilling sense of awe. It was the Sovereign's fingerprint, the one that had once suppressed the Spirit Tribe's ancestor.

"Little Ah Qing, infuse your poison bane into it!" the Captain shouted. Then, he spat out a mouthful of blood onto the human skin, activating it. Instantly, the fingerprint pulsed with intense light, and a terrifying pressure erupted from within.

Xu Qing's eyes turned pitch black, and his poison bane power flowed into it, enveloping the fingerprint, while the Captain continued to spit out mouthful after mouthful of blood.

Soon, the pressure from the fingerprint on the human skin grew even stronger. Watching the Captain spitting blood, Xu Qing wanted to say something, but seeing his enthusiastic demeanor, Xu Qing decided it was better not to interfere.

The Prince and his siblings' offensive hadn't ended. After neutralizing the blood-bone beasts, they ascended and headed directly towards the Moon Palace.

However, as the guardian of the Crimson Mother's gate, the Moon Palace's totem face naturally had more tricks up its sleeve. Its six eyes simultaneously flickered, emitting six crimson beams of light that transformed into six lumps of red mud, flying directly towards the Prince and the others.

This mud was extraordinary, imbued with divine essence. Moving at incredible speed, it instantly approached and enveloped five of the Prince's group within the mud. The extra lump, however, shot directly towards Xu Qing.

But before this lump of blood-colored mud could descend, a black sword appeared directly in front of Xu Qing, taking the impact of the mud in his stead.

Old Nine, who had been enveloped by the fifth lump of mud, appeared before Xu Qing. He was actually confronting two lumps of the Spirit Tribe ancestor's mud by himself.

"Hurry!" Old Nine's deep voice, muffled by the mud, came from behind Xu Qing and the Captain.

The Captain was moved and nodded quickly.

"Seven breaths at most," he said, spitting out even more blood. Xu Qing also increased the flow of his poison bane. As they did so, both of them rapidly ascended, and simultaneously, with the infusion of the poison bane and the Captain's blood, the human skin continuously expanded.

Under their combined pull, the human skin quickly expanded to three zhang, ten zhang, forty zhang...

The fingerprint on it became increasingly clear, and the aura it emitted gradually turned terrifying.

Seeing this, the totem face on the Moon Palace gate closed all six of its eyes simultaneously. On its closed eyelids, six soul shadows appeared.

Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that these six soul shadows were precisely the five members of the Prince's group, with the additional one being a second soul of Old Nine.

The moment they appeared, the blood mud surrounding the Prince and the others simultaneously exploded and recoiled, merging together to form six mud figures identical to them.

Each figure bared a strange smile, their cultivation erupting with identical divine power, and they charged towards the Prince and his group.

At the same time, a fissure opened on the totem face's brow, revealing a seventh eye. It gazed at Xu Qing and the Captain, focusing especially on the fingerprint on the human skin.

The seventh eye contracted. The totem face shimmered, then detached itself from the gate, appearing in the outside world as an enormous mud face.

Her existence was clearly composed of blood mud. At this moment, she charged directly towards Xu Qing and the Captain, her massive mouth opening wider and wider, as if intending to devour them.

But just then, as the blood mud face had just flown out and before it could swallow Xu Qing and the Captain, a black light suddenly appeared from the void. This black light had been deeply concealed, and its manner and timing of appearance were extremely cunning, as if it had been waiting precisely for the moment the face left the gate.

As it flew, an uncontrollable burst of greed and hunger erupted. Moreover, murky Yellow Springs water fell from all directions—that was... the ancient Spirit Emperor's saliva.

The black light was precisely the cloak transformed from the ancient Spirit Emperor. In the blink of an eye, this cloak shot directly into the gaping mouth of the blood mud face. The hunger suppressed for countless years erupted completely at this moment, and the ancient Spirit Emperor's consumption became frenzied.

A shrill scream immediately emanated from the blood mud face. For the first time, terror appeared in her eyes. At this moment, she completely disregarded devouring Xu Qing and instead rapidly retreated, attempting to return to the gate.

But the ancient Spirit Emperor had been lurking nearby until now simply to get a meal. How could it let such delicious food escape? So, within the blood mud's body, its consumption became even more manic, tearing and biting relentlessly. Instantly, more Yellow Springs saliva flowed, forming a river, while a thunderous sound of hunger echoed in all directions.

This scene made the Captain pause. He glanced at the grand move he had prepared, then looked at the blood mud face, feeling a bit deflated.

Xu Qing blinked. He wasn't surprised by this. Based on his understanding of the ancient Spirit Emperor, it would be strange if it *didn't* act this way. In fact, he had intended to warn the Captain earlier, but on one hand, he didn't want to dampen Senior Brother's enthusiasm, and on the other, he feared that a warning might cause the ancient Spirit Emperor's sneak attack to lose its effectiveness.

As the Captain was feeling deflated, the Spirit Tribe ancestor, composed of blood mud, let out a piercing shriek. Her face instantly disintegrated, and amidst a rumble, her body shattered into vast amounts of blood mud, which then rapidly coalesced again.

However, the reassembled blood mud only constituted forty percent of its original mass. The remaining sixty percent had, at this moment, transformed into eyeballs, emanating greed, and now belonged to the ancient Spirit Emperor.

The Spirit Tribe ancestor was terrified. Her remaining forty percent of her body was about to return to the Moon Palace, but the Captain seized the opportunity. He released the human skin he was holding and let out a loud roar.

"Seal!" As his words rang out, Xu Qing also released his grip. Instantly, the fingerprint on the human skin erupted, appearing like a rule or law. Its emergence was earth-shattering and its momentum overwhelming. It raced ahead of the ancient Spirit Emperor, imprinting itself upon the Spirit Tribe ancestor.

If this fingerprint were used on someone else, its power might not possess many miraculous effects. However, it had once suppressed and killed the Spirit Tribe ancestor, carrying a profound karmic connection with her. Therefore, its appearance at this moment immediately caused the Spirit Tribe ancestor to tremble all over.

The next instant, the human...