Chapter 725: 吾暗冥空

Xu Qing's gaze sharpened as he looked at the shadow on the ground. Under his gaze, the shadow trembled a few times, cautiously conveying emotional fluctuations.

"Fire... rumble rumble rumble..."

Xu Qing remained silent. He missed the Patriarch of the Vajra Sect a little, as the shadow's emotional fluctuations could sometimes be understood, but more often than not, their meaning was hard to grasp accurately.

The two words "divine fire" were particularly sensitive. According to Xu Qing's understanding from the Moon Sacrifice Domain, it was a necessary path to becoming a god; only by igniting the divine fire could one truly ascend to godhood.

Both the Crimson Mother and the Son of God followed this path. However, the former succeeded, while the latter's divine fire ultimately failed to fully ignite, burning himself instead.

Thus, hearing the words "divine fire" from the shadow stirred a ripple in Xu Qing's heart.

"Can you form divine fire?" Xu Qing asked.

The shadow first nodded, then shook its head. It eventually became agitated itself, conveying, "Rumble rumble rumble..."

Xu Qing frowned in thought. He then raised his hand and set up an arrangement around them, before taking out a feather of the Crimson Mother's flesh and blood.

Gazing at the feather, the shadow excitedly writhed on the ground, as if transforming the pavilion's floor tiles into black mud.

Sensing the shadow's excitement, Xu Qing waved his hand and tossed the feather. Before it even landed, the shadow eagerly rose from the ground, opened its maw, and instantly devoured the feather.

Its body was like a black hole capable of devouring everything. In the blink of an eye, the feather vanished without a trace, and at that moment, the shadow trembled violently, continuously expanding outwards.

Xu Qing watched the entire process. After half an hour, the shadow's fluctuations gradually diminished, eventually stabilizing. It then retracted from all directions, returning to Xu Qing's feet.

An incredibly eager emotion emanated from within the shadow.

"Delicious..."

"More..."

A thoughtful look appeared in Xu Qing's eyes. After checking his remaining Crimson Mother flesh and blood, he resisted a pang of reluctance and took out a fist-sized piece.

Such a large piece immediately thrilled the shadow to the extreme. Shadowy spikes formed from the ground, and all of its eyes, constantly undulating, showed excited expressions. Its maw opened wide, emitting the sound of swallowing saliva.

To eat this piece of meat, the shadow even formed a shadow-tail, wagging it on the ground like a small dog.

It was unclear if this was knowledge it had gained from possessing someone's consciousness in the past, or if it was an inherent trait.

Xu Qing glanced at the wagging shadow-tail on the ground, then tossed the flesh and blood in his hand to the shadow.

Instantly, all the shadowy spikes shot towards the flesh and blood, enveloping it in an instant, followed by the echoing sound of swallowing.

The shadow's fluctuations erupted even more intensely than before, like boiling water. But clearly, such a large piece was too much for it to bear, and its body quickly became unstable.

With a boom, the shadow's body directly collapsed, like an inkstone dropped to the ground, shattering into hundreds of pieces.

The Crimson Mother's flesh and blood, which had been tossed down, also fell out of its body. But in the blink of an eye, the hundreds of fragmented shadow pieces, like hungry wild dogs, rapidly converged from all directions towards the flesh and blood. They enveloped it again, continued to devour, and continued to collapse!

This cycle repeated itself, fully displaying the shadow's persistence at this moment.

Until the distant sky lightened slightly, after an entire night, the shadow had shattered countless times. It finally swallowed the piece of flesh and blood bit by bit, its body barely managing to hold together, no longer shattering.

Yet, it was still not satisfied. At this moment, while maintaining its form, it tried to emit emotional fluctuations towards Xu Qing.

"Master... good... want..."

"You've swallowed an entire piece and there's no change, what good are you?" Xu Qing said coldly.

He felt there was a possibility that the shadow could transform but was deliberately suppressing it. This suspicion displeased Xu Qing.

So he was about to activate the purple crystal, to see if he could force out what the shadow had swallowed, while also intimidating it.

Sensing the purple light emanating from Xu Qing, the shadow immediately trembled, quickly emitting emotions of begging for mercy.

"Don't... don't eat... restricted area... can!"

Xu Qing ignored it and directly suppressed it. In an instant, purple light emanated from Xu Qing's body and fell upon the shadow. A wail echoed as the shadow collapsed, spitting out the half-eaten piece of flesh and blood.

Xu Qing raised his hand and grabbed it through the air. The shadow trembled, watching wistfully as Xu Qing took its food away. It was clearly anxious, swiftly circling Xu Qing, forming a black vortex.

"Swallow... swallow..."

"Rumble rumble rumble!"

"I... powerful... useful..."

The shadow quickly conveyed its usefulness. Xu Qing gave it a cold glance. "No more extra flesh and blood needed."

"No... restricted area... possible."

The shadow cautiously conveyed its emotion.

Xu Qing did not speak further. He recalled that the shadow's previous ascensions were all related to heteromorphic matter, and there was plenty of heteromorphic matter in any restricted area, not just in flesh and blood.

Therefore, due to the need for the shadow's advancement and his speculation about the "divine fire" the shadow mentioned, Xu Qing's body vanished from the pavilion in an instant, reappearing outside the county capital.

Without a moment's hesitation after appearing, he took a step forward. The vast land seemed to shrink beneath his feet, each step covering a large area.

Principles and laws could already be initially manifested by Spirit Repository cultivators. An hour later, Xu Qing left the county capital's territory, appearing in a neighboring prefecture.

This prefecture was called Lingtu. It was the smallest prefecture within Fenghai County and was named for the numerous Lingtu Restricted Zones within it.

The "Ling" here did not refer to spiritual energy, but to spirits of the dead.

That restricted area was a paradise for specters and ghouls. Ordinary people could venture to its edges, but entering its depths meant certain death. Only cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage, combined with some luck, had a chance of survival.

It was also a necessary route for the Ghost Market Ship. Xu Qing saw the Ghost Market when he arrived. Although it was still daytime, dark clouds permeated the restricted area in the distance, and the sky gradually turned pitch black. Mist churned, enveloping the heavens, making the light diminish, and a chilling aura spread in all directions.

A vast, dilapidated ghost ship was in the mist, moving across the sky.

Xu Qing's expression remained calm as he gazed at the ghost ship.

His cultivation was no longer what it once was, nor was his status the same. As a county governor, he could tap into the qi of Fenghai County. He no longer harbored much curiosity about this ghost ship he had once ridden.

The ghost ship, in turn, showed respect to Xu Qing. After detecting Xu Qing's presence, the mist around the ghost ship solidified. A multitude of ghostly figures rose from the ship, floating outwards, and bowed towards Xu Qing.

Xu Qing nodded, passing the ship as he continued towards the Lingtu Restricted Zone.

After his figure had moved away, the mist in the sky churned again, the ghost ship resumed its journey and quickly vanished, and the sky brightened once more.

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, as Xu Qing continued forward, the Lingtu Restricted Zone appeared in the distance. There were a total of thirteen Lingtu Restricted Zones in the entire prefecture.

Each one was extremely ancient, having experienced countless eras.

Records indicated they had formed during the era of the Human Emperor of Dongsheng, existing for endless ages.

Originally, they were sacred Lingtu forbidden lands, but later, changes occurred. Overnight, the forbidden lands collapsed, shattering into thirteen fragments, which then became restricted zones.

As for the reason, it was not recorded in any ancient texts. However, based on clues, some speculated that a divine war might have taken place here, but the truth remained buried in history.

The restricted zone currently before Xu Qing was similar in size to the one near the Scavenger Camp in Nanfeng Prefecture.

From a distance, it appeared as a black forest, mostly black, exuding an aura of decay. Potent heteromorphic matter permeated it, forming a black mist that covered the restricted zone. At the same time, roars that could be sensed by the soul continuously echoed from deep within the restricted zone.

Closer inspection revealed the forms of skeletons roaming through the forest, along with various other eerie creatures.

For instance, as Xu Qing stood outside the restricted zone now, he clearly saw an old woman standing inside.

The old woman, dressed in burial clothes and with a ghastly pale face, smiled at Xu Qing. Her wide smile revealed black teeth, and a strong stench of decay emanated from her, spreading all around.

Xu Qing's expression remained unchanged. After encountering so many bizarre entities on his journey to this point, there was nothing surprising about them.

These were merely the shadow's food.

"I'm only giving you one chance," Xu Qing said. "If you still can't advance, then I won't need you anymore!"

Xu Qing spoke calmly. The shadow at his feet trembled, and after conveying a resolute emotional fluctuation, it immediately spread from Xu Qing's feet towards the restricted zone.

The moment the shadow appeared, the old woman who had been staring and smiling at Xu Qing changed her expression drastically, as if she had seen a natural predator. She rapidly turned to flee.

But she was too slow; the shadow spread even faster. In the blink of an eye, it surged into the restricted zone, enveloped her figure, and the old woman instantly melted and vanished into the shadow.

The shadow did not stop. While emitting chewing sounds, it expanded with full force in all directions. Xu Qing did not follow; he stood outside the restricted zone, sensing the shadow's actions through their connection.

Gradually, his expression turned to surprise, then finally, his mind was shaken.

"What is it doing?"

In Xu Qing's perception, this time, the shadow's spread completely surpassed all previous instances, reaching an incredible extent.

It had spread across the entire restricted zone. The moment the zone was covered by it, the entire restricted zone appeared before Xu Qing, gradually blurring, as if being devoured.

Xu Qing quickly confirmed that the restricted zone was not merely *as if* being devoured, but was truly being devoured. It became increasingly faint, increasingly blurry, and its edges completely vanished.

A day later, Xu Qing gazed forward in shock. The area had become completely empty.

The forest zone had vanished. From then on, Lingtu Prefecture no longer had thirteen restricted zones, but forever one less. It had been swallowed by the shadow.

On that vast, empty land, the soil was gray, devoid of life and death. That gray expanse was like the underlying color of the world.

Above this background lay a continuously writhing black mass. Whispers, like those of a deity, emanated from within the black mass, echoing through heaven and earth.

"Three origins nourish, nine vital energies transform, five impurities form the body, seven stars mark the extremity; as all souls depart, three feet above their heads, starlight brightly shines upon my dark, abyssal void!"