Chapter 811: Corpse Fire Spreading Through the Fields

The great hall was silent. No one spoke, only the Fifth Prince’s words echoed.

His actions did not provoke ill will from others. After all, he spoke directly, without feigning calmness or plotting in secret. Instead, he openly challenged, stating his reasons clearly and logically.

It was also acknowledged that the Seventh Prince’s mistakes and death were indeed as he had described. He was, after all, the Seventh Prince’s own brother. If he remained indifferent to his brother’s death, it would certainly cause an internal impediment.

His emphasis on family affection, which formed the basis of clan loyalty, made it even harder for anyone to retort.

Even the Human Emperor chose to remain silent, evidently leaving the choice entirely to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing looked down at the Fifth Prince. The Fifth Prince’s eyes gleamed intensely, and the moment their gazes met, black flames, imbued with an ominous and deathly aura, surged within his eyes, threatening to erupt. Yet, he clearly suppressed them, maintaining his gaze on Xu Qing.

“This battle has nothing to do with our identities. I am merely a brother acting on behalf of my sibling!”

“When we were young, whenever he was bullied by other princes, he always came to me for help.”

“Xu Qing, my brother was wrong and deserved to die, and you killed him. Therefore, I challenge you!” As he spoke, his fighting spirit became increasingly palpable, awaiting Xu Qing’s reply.

Time passed breath by breath. A ripple formed in Xu Qing’s heart. He thought of some childhood memories, recalling a time when he, too, had believed he had such a brother…

He then closed his eyes and spoke calmly.

“Very well!”

Almost the instant Xu Qing’s words were uttered, the fighting aura in the Fifth Prince’s eyes could no longer be suppressed, erupting with a roar. A sea of black fire spread outwards in all directions with a thundering sound.

At that moment, the entire palace changed as if stars had shifted. The palace was gone; only Xu Qing, seated, and the Fifth Prince, standing below, remained between heaven and earth. It was as if their location had been carved out into a separate, infinitely vast space.

This allowed the Fifth Prince’s black flames to instantly spread far and wide, surrounding the area and forming an endless sea of black fire, its temperature rising sharply. The flames surged higher, and the Fifth Prince’s figure instantly grew colossal. His entire aura erupted, his cultivation power displayed to its maximum, as he strode towards Xu Qing.

His black armor also ignited, and he became like a fire giant, his momentum like a rainbow, capable of engulfing mountains and rivers. Each step caused the space to rumble and vibrate. He moved faster and faster, transforming into a fiery meteor streaking towards Xu Qing.

The instant he neared, threads of soul energy flew out from Xu Qing’s body, weaving around him, instantly forming his third-level God-like state: crystal as bone, soul threads as flesh, with a blood-red cloak billowing and a purple moon rising. As the aberrant energy spread in all directions, clearly manifesting the divine intent, this third-level God-like state became a separate entity, detaching from Xu Qing. A single step forward, it collided with the charging Fifth Prince.

A heaven-shaking roar erupted. The Fifth Prince, like a fire giant, suddenly reeled back. Xu Qing’s third-level God-like state also retreated at that moment.

The Fifth Prince’s cultivation was at the third stage of Gui Xu! Xu Qing’s second-level God-flame state also possessed similar combat power. Their initial simple exchange resulted in a stalemate.

After retreating a hundred zhang, the Fifth Prince stopped, abruptly looked up, and formed hand seals. Half of his long hair instantly turned gray and began to spin, forming a black oil lamp with flames burning atop it. The flame appeared golden, and the lamp itself was ancient in form, imbued with an aura of the underworld—clearly not for the living, but for offerings to the dead. The lamp oil within was very murky, emanating an ancient aura and a sense of divinity—it was unmistakably lamp oil refined from the corpse of a deity!

Holding the lamp, the Fifth Prince took a deep breath and blew onto the wick. Instantly, the lamp’s flame surged, its internal fire rapidly spreading outwards, constantly swaying and causing the surrounding space to expand with it. All the sea of fire gathered, surging towards the oil lamp, and ultimately, a fiery figure formed. This figure was mutable in form: at times a bird, at times a beast, at times strange, at times blurry, with no specific shape. Only the aura it emitted was shocking. It was indeed the aura of a deity, as if the corpse oil, under the Fifth Prince’s divine ability, had transformed into the deity’s former thoughts.

Appearing now, it charged directly towards Xu Qing’s current God-like state. But the instant this illusory figure approached, Xu Qing’s God-like state flickered, then burst forth. Soul threads danced, completely forming the aura of both the first and second God-like states, merging them into one. With greatly enhanced momentum, its right hand lifted and pointed at the approaching illusory figure. The two directly collided, and after both blurred momentarily, Xu Qing’s God-like state recovered, while the illusory figure dissipated.

The oil lamp in the Fifth Prince’s hand emitted a cracking sound, revealing seven or eight fissures. Blood also spilled from his mouth, but the fighting intent in his eyes grew even stronger. Rapidly retreating, the Fifth Prince let out a low roar and slammed the shattered oil lamp onto the ground with both hands.

“Fiery essence, altar rise, seal divine thought, suppress heavenly heart!” As his words echoed and the broken oil lamp touched the ground, it crumbled into pieces. All its lamp oil scattered, and the sea of fire throughout the space was infinitely empowered. Rumbling sounds reverberated, the flames raged wildly, changing form. In a blink, they transformed into rolling lava, continuously rising. Furthermore, within this lava, a white altar was slowly rising.

An object was enshrined upon the altar. It was a black urn, with somewhat decayed seals affixed to it. An extremely strong sense of eerie dread emanated from it, accompanied by a thick aura of ill omen spreading outwards. A malevolent remnant thought escaped from within the urn, locking onto Xu Qing’s God-like state. The rapidly rising lava seemed intent on filling the entire space. Xu Qing had never seen such a divine ability; he felt it was both like a spell and like a manifestation formed by combining a magical artifact.

“The path of King Zhenyan!”

As Xu Qing pondered, his mind stirred. Immediately, his externalized God-like state flickered and shot towards the heavens. His gaze fixed on the altar below, he raised his right hand. Instantly, the sky roiled, and the celestial canopy of this space blurred. Three colossal suspended mountains materialized directly. One mountain was of flames, one of frost, and one of blood-red. The moment the three mountains appeared, the lava and sea of fire below them were stirred as if by a strong gale, causing ripples. This was precisely the Barren Flame Demonic Art’s true form, which Xu Qing had learned from the little butterfly!

As his God-like state’s right hand slammed down, the three mountains descended from the sky in an instant, carrying terrifying pressure and a vast aura, crashing into the lava and sea of fire. A cold glint flashed in the Fifth Prince’s eyes. He rushed forward, his aura spreading as he waved both hands, further stirring the lava and sea of fire, intending to resist. But before he could get close, Xu Qing’s God-like state formed a hand seal and pointed. The three mountain peaks showed spiderweb-like cracks, then collapsed and shattered into numerous fragments, like countless meteors raining down into the lava and sea of fire.

Even if the Fifth Prince tried to destroy them, he still underestimated the power of Xu Qing’s God-like state. His God-like state formed another seal, and three more mountain peaks reappeared in the sky. Then another. All crashed down, all self-destructed, turning into even more fragments, followed by four more. This technique was deployed by Xu Qing’s God-like state a full ten times! They fell in an instant.

Despite the Fifth Prince’s attempts to block them, he ultimately couldn’t destroy all of them. Soon, the lava exploded with fire, and the countless fragments, continuously raining down, pressed the Fifth Prince’s body deeper. Eventually, the entire sea of lava and fire, along with the altar within, was almost completely filled. However, it appeared uneven, with the Fifth Prince’s low roars echoing from within. Many areas were still churning, seeming ready to burst forth at any moment.

But Xu Qing’s God-like state now descended with a roar, landing directly on the rubble-filled surface. Raising its right hand, it pressed down fiercely onto the ground. The God-like state’s body expanded, transforming into countless soul threads that spread across the earth. Wherever it passed, the uneven ground vanished, ultimately revealing a flat surface. Soul threads spread across it, forming numerous shimmering sealing runes. Yet, to Xu Qing’s perception, all of this seemed too simple; the power of the urn did not appear to have fully manifested.

Just then, “Xu Qing, you were careless,” the Fifth Prince’s voice echoed calmly.

The instant his voice rang out, the sealed ground immediately trembled. Over a hundred areas collapsed, and bone chains formed from ashes burst forth from within. The majority of these chains wrapped around the land, suppressing the soul threads within and preventing their spread. The remaining bone chains shot directly towards Xu Qing’s distant main body. They arrived instantly, not to entangle him, but to rapidly spin around him, forming a vortex.

“Xu Qing, as a Domain Lord, you hold significant importance for the human race. Therefore, I will not kill you.”

“I will extract your spirit, take one of your three souls and seven spirits, and burn it within my Corpse God Lamp. Whenever you believe you can defeat me, come and retrieve it!”

As the Fifth Prince’s voice echoed, eight figures appeared in mid-air—not one, but eight figures. Upon materializing, each simultaneously reached out, grasped a bone chain connecting Xu Qing to the soul threads of the earth, and pulled fiercely. A mysterious power suddenly emanated from these bone chains. It was unclear how it achieved this, but its purpose was to use Xu Qing’s soul thread power at one end as a pulling force to extract his main body’s spirit.

In an instant, overlapping shadows appeared on Xu Qing’s body; his spirit manifested, showing a tendency to separate from his physical form. Yet, his expression remained calm. His eyes opened, gazing at the Fifth Prince.

“A decent spell. Since you wish to extract my soul, I suppose I shall try as well.” Xu Qing spoke, and within the vortex of bone chains, he slowly raised his right hand, lightly pressing it towards the space, and softly uttered, “This realm of heaven and earth can be seen as a well…”