Chapter 862: The Ninth Skull

The entire Mountain and Sea Realm was shrouded in a blurred sky. As wind and clouds surged, the earth rumbled, and countless fierce beasts in their various habitats roared.

Their voices merged, echoing through the clouds and causing the very world to shift dramatically.

Accompanying the roars were mournful wails, filled with an agonizing, intense resentment. It was as if they resented the injustice of the heavens and the earth, the betrayal of their kin, and their own misguided loyalty.

All of this seemed to have been inherently present deep within the souls of these fierce beasts and in their inherited bloodline, usually hidden so deeply that they themselves couldn't perceive it. Now, due to the changes in the Mountain and Sea Realm and the aura of a formidable foe, it had awakened to some extent, instinctively surfacing.

Each of the trial participants of the Blazing Moon Profound Sky Tribe's Great Hunt also showed constantly changing expressions; some were surprised, some were horrified, some were shocked. All kinds of emotions erupted in their hearts like a storm.

"What's going on?!"

"Why is the Mountain and Sea Realm suddenly like this?!"

"These fierce beasts seem to be extremely agitated!"

Not only were the ordinary trial participants experiencing inner turmoil, but the Blazing Moon Great Chosen in the Mountain and Sea Realm were also similarly affected.

While Ji Dongzi looked toward the Jiuli Restriction with trepidation, in another area, Fan Shishuang, who had been meditating calmly, suddenly opened his eyes. His expression shifted, and he quickly turned to gaze at the Jiuli Restriction in the distance.

His expression gradually grew solemn, and his pupils contracted. "The source is from Jiuli!" "What... what happened there?"

Unease rose in Fan Shishuang's heart; neither his experiences nor what he had heard had ever included such an event. Tian Mozi and Tuo Shishan were also in different locations, experiencing similar internal storms, shaken by the fluctuations emanating from Jiuli.

The feeling of unease spread further. Meanwhile, in the lower ring area of the Mountain and Sea Realm, within Shanchi Land, a figure was sprinting rapidly. This figure moved extremely fast, but if one looked closely, for some reason, one would always feel a hint of something furtive about him. It was Er Niu.

He also felt these vast fluctuations. As he sped along, he looked up at the sky, and a single conjecture arose in his heart: "How is it that this feels a bit related to Junior Brother?"

Er Niu blinked, thinking to himself that his Junior Brother hadn't come to meet up; could it be he had found some even better treasure?

As he pondered, a sharp whistling sound came from behind him. A youth with a face as refined as jade burst out of the jungle behind Er Niu.

Even with such drastic changes in heaven and earth, nothing seemed to matter in the youth's eyes; only Er Niu, who was ahead, was his sole focus.

Upon appearing, he fiercely gave chase. If any other Blazing Moon cultivators were there, they would surely recognize this youth as Yan Xuanzi, the supreme First Great Chosen of Blazing Moon!

As the First Great Chosen, his status and identity were extremely high. No one among his peers dared to provoke him, so it was rare for him to be pursuing someone.

But here, it had happened. Most importantly, Yan Xuanzi, who appeared here, was somewhat disheveled in appearance, with a grim expression containing murderous intent, as if Er Niu was his mortal enemy.

Such an occurrence was indeed rare.

"Swallow, why are you relentlessly chasing me, a grown man? My heart already belongs to someone, so please give up." Er Niu's voice came, sounding rather cheeky and full of emotion.

After speaking, he swayed his body and re-entered the rainforest, though a hint of madness now gleamed in his eyes. Behind him, Yan Xuanzi, upon hearing those words, had bloodshot eyes, his murderous intent growing even more rampant. Gritting his teeth, he continued the chase.

Thus, the entire Mountain and Sea Realm was engulfed in turmoil and storm.

At the core of this storm, within the Jiuli Land, Xu Qing's heart also roared. The tremors from the shrine a thousand zhang beneath the mud and the terrifying aura made him feel like a lone boat in a raging storm, on the verge of collapsing and tearing apart at any moment.

Clearly, retrieving the last skull had touched the root of the matter, causing the shrine's change. Resolving it was simple: Xu Qing just needed to abandon the retrieval. However, having already retrieved eight, with only one more needed for completion, Xu Qing was deeply unwilling to give up. He had a strong intuition that if he could retrieve the ninth skull, a strange transformation would likely occur among the skulls. He couldn't perceive what this change would be, but he felt it would be significant.

But the cost of acquiring it was high. If he forcibly retrieved it, it would surely provoke an even more terrifying aura from the shrine. Facing such a power that surpassed even the Scarlet Mother Deity, Xu Qing clearly understood he possessed no power to resist. Yet...

Had he faced such a choice before understanding the history of the Blazing Moon Profound Sky Tribe, he would naturally have abandoned it without hesitation. After all, survival was the priority. However, his understanding of the Blazing Moon Profound Sky Tribe's history gave Xu Qing a subtle judgment: he might not be entirely unable to snatch food from a tiger's mouth!

So he quickly weighed his options, and the layout a thousand zhang beneath the mud, where the shrine lay, appeared in his mind. "The shrine is suppressed by the three deities... Its tremors will surely provoke their seals." "From historical records, it seems there's a hint of something between the three deities and this spider deity."

Thinking of this, determination shone in Xu Qing's eyes, along with a madness akin to that of Er Niu. Sometimes, life cannot be too conventional; one needs to take a gamble!

At this moment, "Drawing the Moon from the Well" was collapsing under the pervasive aura, even Er Niu's formation was affected, and the opportunity was about to vanish in an instant.

Xu Qing no longer hesitated. His entire cultivation and divine power burst forth simultaneously, transforming into a tremendous force that merged into the "Drawing the Moon from the Well" divine ability, fiercely scooping out the last skull.

Water rippled, and Xu Qing's body trembled. This forceful retrieval caused multiple parts of his body to collapse, leaving him covered in countless wounds, a veritable bloodied figure. But after paying such a price, the ninth skull clearly appeared within the water trace of his raised right hand. The moment he retrieved it, Xu Qing swallowed it without hesitation, while his body rapidly ascended, preparing to escape the area.

But an even more violent surge of fluctuations erupted from beneath the mud. It spread out completely, accompanied by an aura of revival. The sky shattered, the earth collapsed, as if the apocalypse had arrived! A murmur, seemingly from ancient times, echoed from deep within the earth. The muddy land, affected, trembled and surprisingly formed a massive whirlpool. This whirlpool rumbled as it spun, stirring up all the mud. Initially slow and only a few thousand zhang in size, it became astonishingly vast in the blink of an eye, reaching tens of thousands and then hundreds of thousands of zhang. It eventually covered the entire Jiuli Land, spinning faster and faster, drawing in from all directions and sending countless amounts of muddy soil splashing outwards. The thousand-zhang depth beneath the mud was instantly revealed within this whirlpool; the cave within it appeared before their eyes! Inside, the shrine, resembling a mountain, was rising. The light emanating from it illuminated the sky; from a distance, even the gray mist of Jiuli began to dissipate. And from this shrine burst forth monstrous fluctuations, sending its internal murmurs to every corner of the Mountain and Sea Realm. Instantly, the beasts' wails and roars intensified, and the cultivators' bodies and souls trembled even more profoundly. The Mountain and Sea Realm… completely erupted!

And the spider deity statue, the source of it all, with the rumbling of heaven and earth, its aura stirred with an intent to revive. More noticeably, the Sun Flame power on its brow, the Moon Flame marks on its body, and the Star Flame suppression surrounding it all showed signs of being expelled, beginning to loosen. Its eyelids also trembled, as if about to open. Witnessing this, Xu Qing's breathing quickened. His body was now above the whirlpool, and as he sped along, a vast amount of gray mist surged towards him from all directions, encircling him and empowering him. However, such empowerment had little effect when facing the spider deity. Amidst this intense burst of revival aura, a tremendous suction force also rose from within, enveloping Xu Qing. His attempts to leave were not only halted but he was instead pulled backward by the suction. It seemed that unless he abandoned the skull, it would be impossible for him to leave.

"Could it be that my judgment was wrong, that there is no anomaly between the Sun, Moon, and Star deities and this deity?" At this critical moment, as Xu Qing faced the choice of whether to give up, another unforeseen event occurred!

The tree branch formed by the Sun Flame power on the brow of the spider deity statue within the shrine, after being forced out by an inch, suddenly emitted a blinding light. This light was like the sun, dazzling in the extreme, and as it spread across heaven and earth, it felt to Xu Qing as if a real sun had appeared on the brow of the spider deity statue.

A painful wail emanated from within the spider deity statue. When it reached Xu Qing's ears, his mind reeled, and he spat out blood, unable to bear it. Fortunately, the gray mist, now completely fused with Xu Qing due to the completeness of the nine skulls in his purple crystal, permeated all around him, resolving the effect.

Simultaneously, the four long spears formed by the Moon Flame power on the spider deity statue's body instantly sharpened, spreading a chilling sensation. Overlapping shadows appeared on them, forming four more long spears that immediately descended. The wails grew even more agonizing, and eight earthen jars, seemingly from the Star Flame, appeared to become heavier, pressing down fiercely.

The Jiuli whirlpool paused for an instant. The shrine within, which had been rising, trembled violently and, under the power of the three Sun, Moon, and Star deities, was unable to continue ascending, forced to fall back into the cave. The emitted suction force also vanished.

As for Xu Qing, his entire body trembled. During the spider deity's previous wail, he had endured immense pain; his physical body continuously broke down, and his soul dimmed. Had it not been for the gray mist's protection, he would likely have been annihilated both in body and spirit. At this moment, he forced himself to gather his wits, and as the suction dissipated, he put forth all his strength and lunged forward.

With a boom, he finally broke free from the area, appearing several thousand zhang away. Without any hesitation, Xu Qing bit his tongue hard, forcing his nearly unconscious mind to clear somewhat, and continued to speed away until he was a hundred miles distant from the commotion.

Vast ripples, like massive waves, spread out, accompanied by three earth-shattering divine pressures. Xu Qing's breath hitched, and he looked back. A hundred miles away, above the core of the whirlpool where the spider shrine resided, a magnificent and world-shaking scene unfolded in the sky! It was a colossal shrine that had materialized out of thin air. Within it, three structures appeared: one shaped like a war chariot, enshrining the sun; another resembling a wind palace, enshrining the moon; and a third in the form of a red sedan chair, enshrining the stars. Simultaneously, golden light filled the sky, pressing down forcefully.