Chapter 863: Figures in the Bone Ash Mountain

Throughout the world, ripples spread out continuously, reaching in all directions.

Countless gray mists emanated from Xu Qing's entire body. This primal power, originating from the Witches, allowed him to withstand the immense pressure at such a distance and take a quick look back.

After that glance, Xu Qing immediately looked away and sped forward without turning his head. From a distance, one could see thick gray mist swirling around Xu Qing, so dense it seemed to blot out the sky. Enhanced by this mist, his speed became even more astonishing.

A dozen breaths later, when Xu Qing's figure vanished into the horizon, the mist in that area had surprisingly diminished by as much as thirty percent. To be precise, it wasn't a reduction, but rather thirty percent of the core mist seemed to come alive, flowing away into the distance. As Xu Qing progressed, this flow became even more rapid, as if the entire mist of the Nine Li Restriction had split into two parts.

Convection currents formed, howling across the land. Two hours later, at the edge of the Nine Li Restriction, the mist suddenly intensified, spreading out in wisps and breaking through the Nine Li boundary, appearing in the outside world. Soon, a massive cloud of mist surged out from within the Nine Li. This mist cloud was terrifyingly vast, permeated with an immense amount of gray mist. So dense was the mist that it formed a massive gray vortex. Any cultivators in the vicinity, upon seeing it, would undoubtedly be aghast, their hearts thundering with shock. The aura of this mist vortex was truly astounding.

Moreover, this was the first instance since the formation of the Nine Li Restriction that mist had ventured outside. Previously, the Nine Li mist had a fixed boundary and would not dissipate even a bit beyond it. Until today, that had changed.

And within this mist vortex was a figure: Xu Qing. He had successfully left the Nine Li Restriction! Although those who entered this Nine Li Restriction would form a karmic bond with the gray mist, making it impossible to leave, Xu Qing had managed to depart with the mist, following his own intentions.

As for the changes at the core, he now had no time to consider them. The moment he appeared outside, Xu Qing's speed surged again, and he sped forward. He needed to find a place quickly to recover from his injuries. Additionally, he couldn't yet absorb the gray mist surrounding his body, making him extremely conspicuous. This visibility was unfavorable for concealment. In his current weakened state, encountering a great talent like Jidongzi would be extremely disadvantageous. He needed time to fully retract the gray mist.

With a sway of his body, Xu Qing descended directly from the sky. The moment he landed, he lifted his right foot and stomped down hard, his figure instantly merging into the earth. As he continuously sank, he also drew the gray mist outside his body deep underground. He sank to a depth of over a thousand zhang, where the gray mist merged with the surroundings, leaving few traces visible from the outside. Only then did Xu Qing feel a partial sense of relief.

But he knew this place was still relatively unsafe due to its proximity to the Nine Li. So, with gritted teeth, he persevered and continued to move underground. A day later, he finally found a suitable hiding place. It was a mountain range within a rainforest. This mountain range could better conceal the gray mist, forming a natural barrier. So, deep beneath this mountain range, Xu Qing excavated a cave and sat down cross-legged to meditate.

"It's meaningless to keep searching for a hiding place," he thought. "I'm hiding from other cultivators participating in the great hunt, not the Three Deities. If the Three Deities want to find me, then within this vast Mountain and Sea Domain, it makes no difference whether I hide or not."

Xu Qing was well aware of this. After considering it, he closed his eyes, and the purple crystal within his body emitted a purple light, enveloping his entire body as he began to recover.

Time slowly passed. Three days later, Xu Qing, sitting cross-legged, opened his eyes, which gleamed with a brilliant purple light. The visible wounds on his body had fully healed, but his internal injuries had only partially recovered. This time, his injuries were too severe; even with the purple crystal's aid, it would take some time for him to fully recover.

However, Xu Qing now had sufficient combat power. So, the next step was to absorb this gray mist into the purple crystal. Xu Qing narrowed his eyes, knowing that the gray mist hadn't followed him out but rather accompanied the Nine Li's nine skulls. So, after pondering for a moment, he closed his eyes and immersed his consciousness into the purple crystal, trying various methods to absorb the gray mist. This was a process of exploring the Nine Li skulls, so it wasn't fast. However, as Xu Qing studied the nine skulls within the purple crystal, the gray mist permeating the soil around him slowly gathered towards him. Wisps arrived from all directions, piercing into his body and flowing along his flesh into the purple ice crystal in his chest.

The process was still somewhat slow. Two days later, as the purple crystal's light intensely flared, Xu Qing's eyes suddenly snapped open.

"Finally," he murmured, his eyes narrowed as he raised his right hand to his chest, "my imprint has merged into these nine skulls, reluctantly becoming one with them, and they no longer repel me!"

"Witch Source!"

As soon as he spoke, the nine menacing skulls suddenly appeared within the surrounding flashing purple light, each emitting a faint sense of shared origin with Xu Qing.

"Converge!"

Xu Qing's right hand, forming a hand seal, pressed outwards. The gray mist lingering around him paused instantly, then turned wild in the next breath, frantically emerging from the soil in all directions and rapidly merging into the nine skulls. The mist grew increasingly sparse. The nine skulls astonishingly grew gray flesh and blood. Finally, when all the mist had merged into them, their appearance underwent a massive change, transforming into lanterns made of blood and flesh! These nine lanterns were gray, appearing to be composed of flesh and blood, but in reality, their essence was still gray mist. At this moment, they floated around Xu Qing, slowly rotating within the purple light.

Xu Qing gazed intently. He could clearly perceive a faint sense of shared origin between himself and these nine lanterns, formed from the Nine Li skulls. However, this connection was tenuous and could be erased and stripped away at any time. Ultimately, this was a seal performed by his purple crystal, not a true fusion with his own body, and thus it didn't entirely belong to him. It was essentially a semi-external object. And with the appearance of the ninth skull, the memory fragments in his mind became complete, revealing a relatively complete history of that past era within Xu Qing's sea of consciousness.

It was not much different from his previous guesses and judgments. Overall, this was a story of betrayal. As for the subsequent history, it was not present in the skull's memory fragments. After all, the skull's memories ended at the moment of its death. There was no answer in the memory fragments as to why the Great Archon acted in such a way. Likewise, there was no information on how or when the Three Deities of Sun, Moon, and Stars appeared.

Xu Qing pondered. The subsequent history, judging from the existing clues, was actually not difficult to infer. The Three Deities might have originally been in the same faction as the Spider Deity, or they might have appeared later and plundered everything here. Regardless, it was likely that one day, a vast divine mountain appeared in the sky above the Xuantian Great Witch Clan. This mountain descended, and three deities emerged, taking a superior position. Because of their arrival, the Xuantian Great Witch Clan was renamed the Flame Moon Xuantian Clan, leading to its subsequent history and current glory.

Looking at this outcome, Xu Qing couldn't immediately tell whether this was good or bad for the clan. To say it was bad, yet this clan not only survived but also reached astonishing heights. To say it was good, yet the betrayal hidden in history was ultimately a regrettable act. Especially in the current era, the Nine Li were demonized into the mount of that Great Archon, and the fierce beasts formed from the bloodline of the Great Witch who had sacrificed everything for this clan suffered the same fate. This fabrication of history by later generations made Xu Qing feel a sense of reflection.

"Only those who live are qualified to write history," he thought. "This is the Great Archon's embellishment of his own actions, and also what the deities wish to see."

A thought surfaced in Xu Qing's mind: the Three Deities' final suppression of the Spider Shrine. He also recalled the Captain's enigmatic, half-smiling expression when he had investigated the Nine Li Restriction in the Holy City earlier. At that time, the Captain had taken out a shrimp broken into two halves. Xu Qing understood then: "shrimp" (虾, xiā) sounded like "blind" (瞎, xiā), signifying fabricated nonsense.

Xu Qing shook his head. When the Three Deities of Sun, Moon, and Stars appeared in Flame Moon, and whether they were related to this conspiracy, these questions held no meaning for Xu Qing.

"Right now," he thought, "the most important thing for me is how to transform the Nine Li sealed within the purple crystal into my combat strength and enhance my cultivation. To make them truly merge with me!"

Xu Qing's expression was resolute; he already had an answer in his heart regarding how to achieve this. "I currently have three Divine Treasures and one Emperor Sword Secret Treasure," he thought. "I only need one more to reach grand completion. Originally, it could also be formed using the Crimson Mother's form, but there were hidden dangers. However, if I refine the Nine Li into a Secret Treasure now, everything will fall into place smoothly. The Nine Li, as the pinnacle of shamanic arts, and valued so highly by the Spider Deity, means its status is certainly not weaker than the Crimson Mother's, and most likely surpasses it. Making it my fifth Secret Treasure is very suitable; this would be a Witch Treasure. Once it becomes my Witch Treasure, it will naturally become completely one with me and won't be easily stripped away. And the Nine Li's mist will also become my means!"

A faint light flickered in Xu Qing's eyes. He felt a strong connection to the Witch Source gray mist, understanding how domineering its inherent intent to repel deities and cultivation truly was. At this thought, Xu Qing stood up, his expression solemn, and bowed respectfully towards the Nine Li. This bow honored the karmic ties and revered the glory! Afterwards, he sat down, closed his eyes, and began to refine!

Meanwhile, deep within the Nine Li Restriction, some distance away, the Three Deities' suppression of the shrine had also concluded. As the Three Deities' shrine dissipated, the surrounding mud on the ground returned to normal, and the flowing mist covered all traces. Beneath the mud, the Spider Deity's seal within the shrine became even more concentrated, and its last breaths seemed to show signs of extinguishing. Below it, the Ash Mountain remained as usual, without any changes.

However, deep within this mountain, where outsiders couldn't probe, a faint sigh echoed. That was a figure hidden within the Ash Mountain, exuding an aura of extreme ancientness and the passage of time. He was motionless, like a corpse. But at this moment, he opened his eyes. If any cultivators of the Flame Moon Xuantian Clan were here and clearly saw this person's appearance, they would surely be utterly shocked. Because his appearance was identical to that of the unified Great Archon of the Flame Moon Xuantian Clan, who had fallen countless ages ago!