Chapter 856: Nine Li Gray Mist

The Shanhai Great Domain, the Jiuli Forbidden Zone.This place is the center, the very core of this domain!

From the outside, grey mist hangs heavy, engulfing everything. As it churns, it holds endless mystery and death.

During every Great Hunt, anyone who ventures into Jiuli never returns alive.

Yet, the legends about Jiuli continue to attract generations of cultivators from Yan Yue Xuantian to venture forth relentlessly. It was the same for Jidongzi.

He once harbored the thought of entering and exploring it, but as he gained more understanding of the Jiuli Forbidden Zone, as well as some undisclosed secrets, and even some of his own conjectures... he no longer dared.

"Jiuli... that is a special name."

Jidongzi's gaze was profound as he looked at the grey misty land before him. Recalling his battle with Xu Qing, he had to admit to himself that although Xu Qing was not as strong as him, killing him would still be considerably difficult.

"This individual is truly the greatest contemporary prodigy of the human race."

"However, he is now a thing of the past."

Jidongzi retracted his gaze. With a flick of his sleeve, a blurry blood-red shadow immediately appeared beside him, bowing slightly towards Jidongzi.

"Go tell King Mingnan that Xu Qing has fallen."

Jidongzi said calmly, then turned and took a step, walking towards the sky, vanishing between heaven and earth.

In his view, Xu Qing, having entered the Jiuli Abyssal Land, was destined to perish. The time of his demise was no longer important; having been tainted by the grey mist, he was destined not to leave.

Xu Qing also noticed this!

At this moment, within the Jiuli Forbidden Zone, he was covered in grey mist from head to toe, and his expression was grim.

The moment he entered this place, the grey mist here seemed to possess life, carrying greed and longing, instantly enveloping him, intending to assimilate him.

But this grey mist was not an alien substance; it was an unknown entity.

The purple divine essence within Xu Qing, the moment it came into contact with this grey mist, felt suppressed. All of his soul threads actually withered, gradually losing their vitality.

It was as if the Jiuli Forbidden Zone was utterly hostile towards deities, thus everything related to deities was to be repelled by it.

Consequently, Xu Qing's divine state began to degenerate, becoming unstable within a short period.

"My Purple Moon Divine Essence comes from the Scarlet Mother... although it cannot compare to hers. Yet, its essence and divine rank are the same, but the grey mist here can actually suppress it!" Xu Qing had already realized that Jiuli was not simple, but now, this feeling was even more pronounced.

Furthermore, if only things related to deities were suppressed, it would have been fine, but Xu Qing soon discovered that his cultivation power was also being repelled and suppressed.

The furnaces within his Secret Vaults were extinguishing, and even the Heavenly Dao... seemed intent on slumber.

"Repelling everything?"

Xu Qing frowned. In addition to this, what was even more unexpected for him was the special power he felt contained within this grey mist.

Like karma, it forcibly bound him to this place. He... could not retreat, and multiple attempts yielded the same result.

Xu Qing fell silent. After a moment, he suddenly took a step back to test the limit. All the abilities he could currently display instantly erupted within him, but the next moment, his retreating body froze.

A life-or-death crisis, hundreds or even thousands of times more intense than what Jidongzi had brought, descended upon his entire body, causing Xu Qing's body to tremble uncontrollably, as if on the verge of collapse.

At this moment, the surrounding mist also began to whisper, all voices ultimately coalescing into a single word, which roared like thunder in Xu Qing's mind.

"Die!"

This word contained ultimate resentment, towering rage, and a killing intent stronger than anything Xu Qing had ever felt in his life. He clearly felt that if he took another step back, then in the next instant, this Jiuli Forbidden Zone would unleash an annihilative power he could not resist, and he would be utterly annihilated in a single moment.

Moving forward, due to the repelling force, the further he advanced, the harder it became, potentially leading to all his extraordinary powers being repelled, turning him into a mere mortal.

Retreating, however, meant certain death. This predicament of being caught between a rock and a hard place was something Xu Qing rarely encountered.

So Xu Qing narrowed his eyes, suppressing his inner agitation, and forced himself to remain calm, observing his surroundings. Although his current area was within the Jiuli Forbidden Zone, it was near the periphery. The mist here was, of course, denser than outside, but noticeably thinner compared to the depths of Jiuli in the distance.

Thus, he could vaguely make out the environment. There was no vegetation, no mountains, no alien substances!

As for the ground beneath his feet, it was somewhat soft—a swamp. Within the black swamp, countless skeletons were visible. They had been submerged here for an unknown number of years, silently gazing at time, filled with the marks of ages and desolation.

Only a sizzling sound continuously and rapidly emanated from outside Xu Qing's divine state.

It was the sound of him resisting the grey mist's invasion.

But the increasing instability of his divine state meant this resistance could not last much longer.

"Staying in place could delay the invasion, but offered no possibility of resolution."

"Since retreat is impossible, then... rather than waiting for death here, I might as well go all the way in and see what this Jiuli truly is. Perhaps... there might still be a chance for survival."

A resolute gleam flashed in Xu Qing's eyes. His heart resolute, he lifted his feet and walked forward.

With every step, he was extremely vigilant, controlling his body to avoid sinking into the mud, while also fully exerting himself to resist the mist's invasion. Thus, time passed, and three hours went by. Walking through the Jiuli Forbidden Zone, Xu Qing found no signs of life, nor any discernible features, for Jiuli was too vast, seemingly boundless, with nothing but increasingly dense mist.

What he found was only increasingly soft ground and a stronger sensation of sinking.

Consequently, Xu Qing's speed gradually slowed until his Fourth Divine State could no longer be sustained and degenerated into his Third Divine State, followed by his Second Divine State, and then his First Divine State.

Finally, all his soul threads became dormant, the Purple Moon fell asleep, leaving only the swamp.

"So, what's beneath the swamp?"

Xu Qing lowered his head, gazing at the black swamp beneath his feet. After some thought, instead of recklessly attempting to explore it himself, he spoke in a low voice.

"Little Shadow!"

Some shadows appeared in the swamp beneath Xu Qing's feet, emitting weak emotional fluctuations towards him, and displaying a body riddled with burn marks, as if reminding Xu Qing that it was injured.

Xu Qing ignored it.

"Go down and take a look."

Little Shadow felt aggrieved, but years of being suppressed had made it resigned to its fate. With a flicker, it sank into the mud and spread inwards.

Having just descended less than three zhang, it began to twist violently, emitting wails, and its shadowy body showed signs of dissipating.

"Pain... demon... dissolving... fear..."

Xu Qing remained unmoved, continuing to observe. Seeing that Xu Qing paid it no heed, Little Shadow felt even more wronged. Enduring the feeling of dissipation, it continued to spread downwards.

Soon it reached ten zhang, fifty zhang, until it hit one hundred zhang; all areas were still mud.

At this depth, the dissipating sensation on Little Shadow's body intensified significantly, making it unable to resist sending out pleading emotional fluctuations again.

"Continue... death... fear... please..."

Xu Qing pondered, then spoke.

"If I die here, you will die too. But if you bring me back some opportunity, I promise to find a way to resurrect you after your demise."

The voice was firm. Little Shadow, after perceiving this, trembled, and the next moment, it burst forth, creating greater fluctuations, and continued to spread downwards.

One hundred zhang, three hundred zhang, five hundred zhang...

The dissipating force intensified, the wails became shriller, and Little Shadow's body continuously fragmented, eventually shattering into dozens of wisps. One of which returned, while the rest all plunged deeper, spreading to their extreme in a near-suicidal manner. These shadow wisps collapsed one by one, some dissipating, while the remaining ones split into dozens more wisps, like a vast net, continuing deeper.

The wailing continued amidst constant fragmentation until more than ten breaths passed. Little Shadow had split dozens of times, forming hundreds of shadow threads. Finally, one such thread burrowed to a depth of one thousand zhang.

The moment it dissipated there, it successfully transmitted a scene, which appeared in Xu Qing's mind.

"The moment Xu Qing saw this image, his body trembled, his breathing quickened, and his expression changed."

"This is..."

Xu Qing's main body manifested above the swamp, and at the moment the mist rapidly encroached, the Poison Ban spread across Xu Qing's body.

As a divine essence of higher rank than the Scarlet Mother, the Poison Bane's support lasted noticeably longer. But as time passed, and Xu Qing grew increasingly anxious, the amount of Poison Ban still became a vulnerability.

Under the suppression of this dense mist, the Poison Ban... fell dormant.

Along with it, Xu Qing's Secret Vaults also became dormant.

Extinguishing one by one.

The moment the last wisp of Secret Vault furnace fire extinguished, the sense of greed emanating from the grey mist intensely surged, like a ferocious demon constantly lurking nearby, sensing an opportunity, it fiercely lunged towards Xu Qing. But the next instant, a bronze incense burner appeared above Xu Qing's head.

This incense burner exuded an ancient aura, emitting strange fluctuations. From within it, green smoke curled upwards, reaching about a hundred zhang high, then spreading out at its apex, cascading down like a waterfall, forming rings of smoke, enveloping Xu Qing and blocking the grey mist's invasion.

It was precisely the treasure belonging to Tianlingzi of the Baize Tribe, who Xu Qing had slain on the Ninth Forbidden Mountain within the Forbidden Zone that day.

When in Tianlingzi's hands, this item had once contended with Xu Qing's Poison Ban, allowing Tianlingzi to successfully ascend the Ninth Mountain, thus demonstrating its power.

Upon being taken out now, as the smoke rings descended, Xu Qing's dormant cultivation and divine essence within him both showed signs of recovery. This incense burner seemed to isolate the outside world.

Although the karmic entanglement sensation was still strong, it had, to some extent, alleviated Xu Qing's pressure.

However... he could sense that this incense burner was consuming a lot of its internal power, and the material forming the smoke rings was scarce, so it wouldn't last long. It was currently being rapidly eroded, and would likely dissipate within the time it takes for a single stick of incense to burn.

"The time afforded by this incense burner can restore my divine essence and cultivation, but it will only grant me a brief reprieve." Xu Qing's expression was grim as he gazed around. According to his judgment, even if he hadn't reached the absolute core of Jiuli, he was already deep within it. Along the way, nothing but mist had revealed itself.