Chapter 834: Thank You

The East Finger governs life! Therefore, Xu Qing's vast finger, formed from starlight in the east, emitted a rich life force.

However, everything in excess is as bad as too little; once something exceeds its limits, it no longer feels righteous, but rather malevolent! Thus, this finger, at the culmination of life, appeared demonic and sinister.

The South Finger governs prosperity! Similarly, a fiery intent soared, like the spear of a fire god, seeking to incinerate and seal heaven and earth.

The West Finger governs decay! Likewise, a sense of decay and the burden of wasted time permeated it completely, further imbued with the passage of years, making anyone who gazed upon it feel as if they were witnessing the changes of time.

Finally, the North Finger governs death! It seemed to arrive from the underworld, bringing death to the world. As these four fingers descended, life and death, decay and prosperity, were all encompassed within. Witnessing such a spell, the Grand Prince's expression changed from afar, filled with inner anxiety.

He had been defeated by this very 'Star Shift, Nine Stars Suppression' technique; more precisely, after he used his bloodline to break through the 'Star Shift' spell, he was defeated by the hidden killer move within it. This was merely the surface; Prince Mingnan's true killer move was concealed within this superficial display.

The Grand Prince wanted to warn them, but he couldn't. Both his speech and spiritual sense had been sealed off by Prince Mingnan earlier, making it impossible to give even the slightest warning. Thus, he could only watch helplessly as the four fingers thundered down.

However, the Captain remained still; he believed Xu Qing would not be suppressed so easily.

Indeed, this was the case. Almost the instant the four fingers descended, although Xu Qing's body was unable to move, bound by an invisible force, his eyes could still open. In the next moment, Xu Qing's eyes turned completely black. The 'Poison Ban Vision' technique he had comprehended years ago in the Sacrifice Moon Great Domain played a crucial role at this moment; the poison ban, following his gaze, gained a channel for eruption.

Xu Qing looked at the East Finger, and the power of the poison ban surged forth. Wherever his gaze fell, the massive East Finger trembled violently, and blackness, like a spreading blight, rapidly expanded and rose from the finger! No matter how rich the life force within, under the poison ban, it melted away rapidly, like ice and snow meeting boiling water.

It wasn't over. Xu Qing's gaze shifted again, turning towards the North Finger, which represented death. The poison ban also represented death. In a blink of an eye, the North Finger trembled, and the poison ban within it, like a fish in water, surged forth. With two fingers shaken, Xu Qing's body finally broke through its restraints, regaining freedom as his soul threads wriggled.

Without the slightest hesitation, the moment his body could move, he raised his right hand and pressed towards the sky. The 'Withered Flame Demonic Art - True Self Path' roared forth. Three massive mountains suddenly appeared, descending from the sky, dramatically falling towards the West Finger. At the same time, with a thought from Xu Qing, the distant black long spear changed direction, carving a long streak across the sky, and thrust towards the South Finger, which represented prosperity.

All of this takes time to describe, but it unfolded in a flash of lightning. In the next moment, the poison ban, the demonic mountains, and the long spear roared in unison, their sounds merging into a colossal noise akin to the creation of heaven and earth, like the roar of the cosmos, shattering the void.

The East Finger collapsed, the South Finger shattered, the West Finger broke, and the North Finger turned to ash. The light of the nine stars above the sky also dimmed, no longer as conspicuous, but instead merged with the light of the other stars, seemingly dissipating. Xu Qing's figure also burst forth from the destruction of these four fingers, heading directly for Prince Mingnan.

However, with his divine abilities destroyed, there was no surprise on Prince Mingnan's face; instead, he revealed a chilling smile and softly asked, "Have you remembered?" He was naturally not asking Xu Qing. Instantly, countless echoing voices responded from the sky, from the earth, from the void, from the clouds, from every location within this area.

"Remembered!" These three words were composed of countless different vocal tones: male and female, old and young, deep and sharp, weeping and laughing, roaring and whispering. All voices uttered these three words.

Finally, the nine dim stars in the sky suddenly moved to form a circle. Once their starlight connected, they resembled a black hole, from which a terrifying power emanated. This power did not originate from cultivators but carried a rich divine aura and contained endless alien substances, surpassing restricted zones and forbidden lands, locking onto Xu Qing. Xu Qing's figure paused. He had a premonition that he couldn't proceed. He abruptly looked up at the Nine-Star Black Hole, which had locked onto him, recognizing a similar aura he had encountered before. That was a divine domain!

Almost the instant Xu Qing sensed it, an object fell from the Nine-Star Black Hole in the sky: a yellow paper, a piece of ghost money. This yellow paper drifted down, seemingly slowly, but in reality it grew larger and larger, its speed astonishing. Even more bizarre was a face rapidly being sketched onto the paper, and that face was Xu Qing's. From afar, the Grand Prince's anxiety intensified as he witnessed this scene; he had been defeated by this very move before. He later learned that this yellow paper was bestowed by Prince Mingnan's father. It didn't originate from Wanggu but from a divine domain filled with strangeness and death.

The superficial damage of 'Star Shift, Nine Stars Suppression' was not the main point. The crux was that by leveraging this damage, one could imitate the enemy's soul. Coupled with that yellow paper, the imitated soul could be outlined by those bizarre sound lines using a special method, allowing that divine domain to remember Xu Qing's appearance and subsequently burn and seal his soul. He tried to struggle and warn, but he couldn't. The yellow paper rapidly descending in mid-air had already begun to burn, just as the living burn paper money to sacrifice to deceased souls. This yellow ghost money was being rapidly sacrificed.

A tremendous pulling force, along with the burning of the ghost money, emanated from within the Nine-Star Black Hole, enveloping Xu Qing and acting upon his soul. In an instant, Xu Qing's body paused in mid-air, losing sensation of his physical form. Overlapping shadows appeared on his body, and his soul wavered within, seemingly drawn upwards by this suction. Furthermore, illusory iron chains suddenly descended from the black hole in the sky, falling onto Xu Qing's soul, binding it and pulling it upwards. Xu Qing's soul struggled with all its might, but the chains grew more numerous, hundreds of them densely packed, gradually pulling his soul out of his body.

"Nothing more than this," Prince Mingnan stood in mid-air, observing the scene, and calmly stated, "But fighting you has taught me one thing: never give your opponent any chance to turn the tables. So, even though your soul is powerless to reverse this, I won't give you even a sliver of an opportunity." A sinister glow appeared in Prince Mingnan's eyes. He took a deep breath, bit his tongue, spat out a mouthful of blood, and swiftly raised his right hand, forming a hand seal within the mist of blood.

As the hand seal formed, the blood mist churned outwards, revealing an illusory scene within. The scene appeared to be a sea of blood, with thirty-six massive whirlpools roaring within it. Upon closer inspection, thirty-six weapons were distinctly visible within these thirty-six whirlpools, each one emanating a forbidden aura identical to that of the black spear. These were precisely the forbidden weapons sealed within the Emperor-level cultivation technique, the Thirty-Six Immortal Gangs.

At this moment, empowered by Prince Mingnan's hand seal, three of the thirty-six forbidden weapons roared to life, breaking through their seals. One was a trident, emanating terrifying divine might, its momentum overwhelming. One was a black long saber, its blade sharp and cold, its malevolence intimidating all. One was a blood-colored battle-axe, with countless departed souls circling its blade, a horrifying sight. To kill Xu Qing, Prince Mingnan exerted the utmost power in every divine ability; these three forbidden weapons were a testament to that.

At this moment, with a pull of his right hand, the three forbidden weapons burst forth from the illusory scene, transforming from ethereal to substantial, and as they appeared before Prince Mingnan, their forbidden power soared sky-high. Ordinarily, the Heavenly Dao would have interfered, but this was the Blazing Moon Profound Heavens Tribe. The Blazing Moon's own Heavenly Dao was suppressed by them, allowing for such interference. Therefore, though muffled thunder echoed, no lightning struck.

The next instant, as killing intent erupted in Prince Mingnan's eyes, the three terrifying forbidden weapons abruptly shot towards Xu Qing's physical body, from which his soul had already half-departed. There was no obstruction, no resistance, only a faint seven-colored light that seemed to flicker a few times within him. Then, the trident pierced Xu Qing's soul, the black long saber slashed his neck, and the blood-colored battle-axe vertically struck his chest.

His soul disintegrated, turning into specks of light that drifted towards the earth. His head flew up, twirling before being flung towards the magma. His physical body was torn apart, countless fragments of flesh and dust scattering. From afar, the Grand Prince's expression twisted, his eyes bloodshot, his body trembling, and an endless sorrow rose in his heart. The Captain also seemed to freeze in place, completely motionless.

In the sky, Prince Mingnan let out a long sigh of relief, feeling somewhat unsatisfied. "I didn't expect that, apart from those few individuals, there's truly no one among my peers who can still stand after my move."

"How uninteresting." Mingnan waved his hand, and the nine stars in the sky dissipated. The surroundings returned to normal. He raised his right hand, preparing to grasp something from where Xu Qing had shattered.

But just then, his expression suddenly changed. He felt a vast and astonishing power of time erupting from within Xu Qing's scattered flesh and shattered soul. Before he could confirm it, a massive and boundless sundial appeared in mid-air. Amidst its roar, heaven and earth changed color, the gnomon rotated, and time reversed! All the scattered flesh and soul fragments instantly rolled back from the earth, from the magma, from the void, rapidly retreating. In the blink of an eye, they reassembled, reforming Xu Qing's divine physical body and soul. Red soul threads fluttered, crystal-like bones gleamed, and his monstrous body exuded a unique beauty. Xu Qing, standing there, shone like a divine idol in this world!

Completely unharmed? This scene, witnessed by everyone, made the Grand Prince in the distance freeze for a moment. The Captain, however, maintained his usual expression, a smile appearing at the corner of his lips. Prince Mingnan abruptly staggered back several steps, staring intently at Xu Qing, and uttered word by word, "Time Law!"

Xu Qing opened his eyes, seven-colored light spilling from them. His expression calm, he looked at Prince Mingnan, whose expression was now intensely grave, and calmly said, "Although it was a bit difficult, I still have to say thank you." As he spoke, Xu Qing raised his right hand and grabbed at the void. Instantly, a fiercely malevolent black long saber, a terrifyingly powerful trident, an endlessly murderous blood-colored battle-axe, and an indestructible black long spear—four forbidden weapons—appeared simultaneously around Xu Qing.