Chapter 877: Original Divine Domain

On the sacred mountain, amidst the heavens, the divine aura of the Sun, Moon, and Star Gods obscured the sky. Winds and clouds changed color, and the celestial canopy seemed to collapse, unable to support itself, forming a vast depression.

All eyes were fixed upon them.

In the center stood the Sunflame God, a phantasmal figure, seemingly clad in a golden robe. It was difficult to discern their gender; while appearing female, their face had masculine features. Behind them, a blazing sun ascended, its fiery light illuminating the land, and their divine power surged towards the heavens.

To their right was the Moonflame God, adorned in a long silver gown whose flowing hem seemed to cover the vast sky. Their face was flawless, as if it gathered all the beauty of the world.

While striking awe, their expression remained as cold as an iceberg. With one hand, they performed a seal gesture before their chest, and behind them, a lunar halo cast a serene moonlight upon their divine form, imbuing them with an inherent sacredness.

To the left was the Starflame God, who lacked the imposing grandeur of the Sunflame God or the perfect flawlessness of the Moonflame God. They appeared merely as an ordinary mud fox.

Yet, when one's gaze fell upon them, ripples would rise within everyone's mind, transforming into a fervent heat that spread throughout their bodies, affecting their consciousness and even their life force.

Behind them, countless shimmering stars transformed into scattered starlight, forming a tableau of a stellar sea.

The three gods had emerged together.

Within the holy city, all flying cultivators felt their hearts stirred. They bowed their heads, regardless of their cultivation level or status, their expressions utterly devout as they knelt before the three gods.

Even further away, the projections of the three grand tents of the Flame Moon Administrators appeared behind their respective deities. The Administrators within also emerged from their tents, bowing their heads to their gods.

Xu Qing stood in mid-air at his residence, gazing at the scene, waves of emotion echoing in his heart.

At this moment, he witnessed the difference between the Flame Moon Profound Sky Clan and humanity.

The Flame Moon Profound Sky were a race controlled by gods; before their deities, all beings were slaves.

Xu Qing remained silent. He was not of the Flame Moon Profound Sky Clan, but being present, he could only bow his head.

After a long silence, as the world remained still, the three gods on the sacred mountain scanned all directions. Their gazes converged on Xu Qing, each with a distinct expression.

The Sunflame God was indifferent, the Moonflame God's expression was complex, and the Starflame God smiled.

Then, the sun behind the Sunflame God suddenly blazed with dazzling light, directly setting the firmament ablaze, as golden flames spread.

That was divine fire.

As it continuously burned, the firmament began to melt, layer by layer, revealing void. After an unknown number of layers were corroded, a black hole formed.

The burning continued.

The black hole collapsed within the divine fire, then a new black hole formed, repeating the cycle, becoming increasingly profound.

During this process, the heavens and earth of the entire great domain trembled. One could even faintly hear the mournful roars of the Heavenly Dao, as if attempting to stop it, but to no avail.

Finally, a golden vortex appeared in the deepest part of the void.

Within the vortex was a layer of turbid membrane. Through it, a world seemed to exist, visible but indistinctly.

Almost immediately upon the golden vortex's appearance, the Moonflame God raised their hand. The moonlight behind them transformed into a long river, flowing directly into the vortex and instantly merging with the turbidity.

Soon, a roar, distinct from that of the Heavenly Dao, echoed from the depths of the vortex, seemingly trying to impede them. But with a cold snort from the Moonflame God, a trace of the Scarlet Mother's aura suddenly emerged from their body.

Xu Qing's mind was shaken. The next moment, the turbid membrane, infused with the Moonflame God's power, immediately became clear. The world within was revealed, appearing to be a white realm.

Before anyone could look closer, the mud fox smiled. The starlight on its body surged, transforming into two colossal mud hands that reached into the vortex and fiercely tore at the now transparent membrane.

A tremendous, world-shattering sound erupted at that moment. The sheer volume caused a ringing buzz in the minds of all cultivators.

Within the celestial vortex, the membrane was directly ripped open, and the affected area expanded. Looking up from the ground, one could see the fissure extending across half of the sky.

It was like a wound in the heavens.

A putrid stench, an ancient aura, and an unfamiliar sensation, accompanied by a rich exotic essence and clear roars, permeated outwards through the opening.

At the same time, because the fissure was so large, the world within became clearer, revealing more scenes.

Xu Qing looked up. After seeing clearly, countless thoughts flooded his mind.

The world within the fissure prompted too many associations for him, and the aura emanating from it felt familiar.

Inside the fissure was an unfamiliar starry sky. Amidst the countless stars, a colossal spider web was spread out!

This web was horrifying to behold; it enveloped this starry sky and countless stars. Though each strand of silk was not as wide as a star, it was still about one-tenth of a star's width.

This was the divine domain opened by the Flame Moon Profound Sky Clan!

"An ownerless divine domain." "Previously opened three times for exploration." "A primordial divine domain."

Tian Mozi's words echoed in Xu Qing's mind at this moment. Combined with the contents of the jade slip the other party had given him, a definitive answer quickly surfaced in Xu Qing's heart.

"This is the core of Jiuli, the divine domain of that Spider God!"

Xu Qing's eyes gleamed with an unusual light, and he fully understood.

Everything aligned. Because the Spider God had encountered an issue and was suppressed by the three gods, its divine domain naturally became ownerless.

And the reason for the three gods' multiple explorations was evident.

As Xu Qing's heart stirred, a divine voice, imbued with an inexplicable majesty, echoed from the heavens across the land!

"My children, hunt!"

The moment these four words were uttered, a colossal suction force immediately burst forth from the fissure in the celestial canopy. Guided by the three gods, it split into tens of thousands of strands, drawing towards all cultivators who had passed the second stage.

Instantly enveloped, all participants, including Xu Qing, found their bodies uncontrollably rising into the air, accelerating rapidly. They eventually transformed into streaks of rainbows, sucked into the fissure.

They entered the void where the divine domain resided, into that unfamiliar starry sky!

Compared to this vast divine domain, the figures of tens of thousands of cultivators were utterly insignificant, yet the danger was immense.

Almost immediately upon being drawn into the starry sky, some people's bodies shuddered, letting out horrific screams. Their forms disintegrated directly, flesh and blood scattering, each piece seemingly retaining consciousness, then continuing to collapse until they were utterly destroyed, body and soul.

What killed them was a black tendril that suddenly appeared from the nearby void.

With just a sweep, anyone it touched was either killed or severely injured.

Following the tendril, Xu Qing saw a thousand-foot-long decaying giant fish emerge from the void.

This huge fish was covered in countless tendrils of astonishing length; some hung down, while others floated in all directions, making it appear extremely bizarre.

A putrid aura also emanated terrifying fluctuations from the giant fish, causing the Flame Moon cultivators who entered the area to feel a profound unease.

However, the feeling of unease was quickly suppressed. All participants of the Great Hunt had prepared themselves before entering this place.

After all, this was a divine domain!

So, the moment the bizarre giant fish appeared, everyone reacted swiftly, scattering immediately and speeding towards the distant divine domain spider web using various methods.

Xu Qing's pupils contracted as he witnessed a prodigy from a Flame Moon subordinate clan being destroyed after touching the tendril. In his mind, he recalled the description of this 'tendril fish' from the jade slip Tian Mozi had given him.

"A spirit of the divine domain's void, shaped like a decaying fish. Its tendrils can extinguish life, and it devours all external matter. Its size is peculiar, appearing differently to different people. Some see it as ten thousand feet or even larger, while others see it as around a thousand feet. Moreover, these void spirits are astonishingly numerous and possess immortality; even if slain, they will resurrect from the void."

After recalling this information, Xu Qing did not hesitate. He burst forth with speed, immediately leaving the area and rushing through the starry sky, his vigilance reaching its peak.

Along the way, he saw several more tendril fish, which he carefully avoided one by one.

As he proceeded and the spider web grew larger in his sight, Xu Qing remotely sensed that the vast stars he passed in the outer regions were permeated with death.

They were dead stars.

There were no signs of life within them, only endless spider webs and ruins.

As he drew closer, the spider web appeared incredibly vast in his eyes, eventually forming white paths that traversed the starry sky.

Compared to the spider silk, Xu Qing was like a speck of dust.

On those gigantic spider silks, Xu Qing also saw many cocoons of varying sizes, enveloped by the web, within which lay skeletons that had likely been dead for countless years.

All of this caused Xu Qing's sense of danger to continuously escalate.

Especially after he experimented, he discovered that the spider webs were terrifyingly sticky. When he threw an object to test them, it would instantly be stuck fast upon touching the large paths formed by the spider silk. Afterward, spider webs would spontaneously grow from it, enveloping the object.

Witnessing this, Xu Qing understood the origin of the skeletons.

"The spider webs here cannot be touched!"

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes, carefully flying through this bizarre divine domain, collecting all available information. At the same time, he took out the bottle containing Captain from his storage pouch, just about to open it.

Just then, his expression suddenly changed. His body abruptly retreated thirty feet, and his soul threads spread outwards, millions of them coiling around his entire body, forming the Fourth Divine Form in the blink of an eye.

His aura expanded, stirring up a tempest.

The instant he retreated, a dark shadow violently struck where he had just been, whistling past.

The force was so immense that the void shattered. After missing its target, the shadowy figure landed on a giant spider silk nearby.

Its appearance was revealed.

It was a spider!

Its body was a hundred feet in size, covered in dark gold spots, and it bore the head of an old man.

Its eyes, now open, had red pupils and stared indifferently at Xu Qing.

Triangular fangs were visible in its mouth.

The moment he saw this creature, Xu Qing immediately thought of Jiuli's Spider God.

In terms of appearance, they were almost identical, save for the head.

However, it clearly lacked the oppressive might of that Spider God.

As Xu Qing observed the spider, it was also observing him. Gradually, the red glow in its eyes intensified, and it let out a roar before darting forward once more.