Chapter 919: Full Blood Liao Xuan

As Lan Yao spoke, the gaze of the young man named Feng also fell upon Xu Qing.

Though Xu Qing's combat prowess was astonishing, being stared down by these two Incarnated Soul cultivators, especially with the captain still in their opponent's hands and his legs beginning to twitch, made him seem utterly passive in this situation.

Consequently, Xu Qing said nothing more. His body flickered as he shot downwards, whizzing past Lan Yao and hurtling towards the depths of the pit.

The Grand Profound Heavenly Armor shone brightly on him, radiating the power of a deity's physical body. The Ancestral Shaman Armor also enveloped him, and nine lanterns orbited around him. Combined with his long hair and green robe, Xu Qing exuded an extraordinary aura at this moment!

At the same time, with a wave of his hand, a large number of ghost centipedes appeared, scouting ahead. Upon seeing this, a gleam of brilliance appeared in Lan Yao's eyes, while the young man named Feng's gaze grew even darker as he watched the ghost centipedes, though he ultimately said nothing.

And so, with Xu Qing leading the way, the three continued deeper into the pit.

Xu Qing moved swiftly, no longer holding back as he had before. Consequently, their speed was comparable to when the young man named Feng and Lan Yao had initially led the way.

Perhaps due to Xu Qing's good fortune, or the deterrent effect of the Eight-Colored Peacock's aura, they encountered no obstacles along the way. After another stick of incense's time, they finally reached the bottom of the deep pit.

This place was clearly also an underground cavern, though smaller than the outside. Similarly, there were far fewer structures, with only nine towering pagodas standing out distinctly.

They were relatively well-preserved, with ancient runic seals carved upon them. One could imagine that at their peak, these runic markings would have glowed, and the nine pagodas would have formed corresponding restrictions!

However, with the passage of time and the encroachment of foreign substances, they now completely lacked any spiritual essence.

While there were few structures here, withered roots were far more densely packed, covering everything in all directions, whether it was the ground or the cave walls. Even the towering pagodas were entwined with these withered roots.

Yet, Xu Qing's arrival seemed to have brought with it the aura of the outside world, breaking the tranquility here and triggering some strange changes!

The first change occurred in the roots; some of them spontaneously turned into ash...

Immediately after, the ash did not dissipate but, under Xu Qing's gaze, converged to form numerous grimy black children.

These children, looking to be only five or six years old, numbered in the hundreds. Upon appearing, they each clung to the still-present withered roots, their dark eyes fixed on Xu Qing, their expressions filled with greed and hunger.

A cold glint flashed in Xu Qing's eyes. Then, a whistling sound came from above, and the figures of Lan Yao and the young man named Feng appeared.

The two scanned their surroundings before their gaze settled on the grotesque children, but they made no move. Xu Qing naturally understood they were waiting for him to act.

As a native cultivator of Wangke Continent, Xu Qing immediately recognized the origin of these children: they were grotesqueries formed by the fusion of vengeful spirits and a particular divine aura after its invasion and mutation.

Such grotesqueries were difficult to deal with for others, unpredictable and hard to guard against, but Xu Qing had slain far too many of them.

The most effective way to deal with them was Little Shadow!

However, although Little Shadow had been used before, it had only revealed its ability to possess. For Feng and Lan, who were behind him, its full capabilities remained unknown.

Given this, Xu Qing didn't want to expose it prematurely!

So, he chose not to use Little Shadow, instead having the ghost centipedes guard his rear, wary of a sudden attack from the young man named Feng and Lan Yao.

Having done this, the fleeting greed he had observed in the young man named Feng's eyes earlier resurfaced in his mind.

He also recalled Lan Yao and the other man's mutual wariness throughout their journey.

“Although I shouldn't reveal too much of Little Shadow's abilities so soon, a necessary display of my own power might serve another purpose here.”

Xu Qing pondered, then stepped forward. The moment he landed, the black children clinging to the withered roots suddenly ripped open their exaggerated mouths, emitting soul-shattering shrieks as they lunged fiercely towards Xu Qing.

Almost the instant they approached, Xu Qing's internal soul threads erupted outwards. In the blink of an eye, ten million soul threads shot forth, piercing outwards from Xu Qing as their center.

Their speed and sharpness were astounding!

Every grotesque black child in their path paused in mid-air. Each body was pierced by a large number of soul threads, and because the area was not large, the threads connected in all directions, freezing these black figures in mid-air.

As they watched, this scene caused both the young man named Feng and Lan Yao's eyes to stir slightly.

Indeed, the soul threads at this moment had formed a spiderweb-like pattern, with Xu Qing at the center and hundreds of grotesque black children surrounding him, completely motionless.

Soon, as the surrounding walls trembled, the grotesque black children disintegrated into black mist and dispersed. Only then did the ten million soul threads slowly retract, one by one, merging back into Xu Qing's body.

Xu Qing's expression remained calm as he stood aside, clearing the path forward, and looked at the young man named Feng.

“It's your turn!”

The young man named Feng glanced at Xu Qing, then suddenly spoke, “Those soul threads of yours are quite peculiar. What are they made of?”

Xu Qing did not answer, instead asking, “Fellow Daoist Feng's five-colored feathers are equally strange. How were they formed, I wonder?”

The young man named Feng frowned. “Do you think I would tell you that?”

“I wanted to say the same thing,” Xu Qing replied indifferently.

The young man named Feng flicked his sleeve, said nothing more, and shot forward, heading directly for the fifth pagoda. There, he began to form hand seals, seemingly performing some secret technique. Meanwhile, Lan Yao flew towards Xu Qing, not getting too close, remaining more than ten zhang away. While subtly keeping an eye on the young man named Feng, she smiled and spoke to Xu Qing.

“Fellow Daoist Yan Xuanzi, Fellow Daoist Feng's five-colored feathers are called 'Spirits of the True Realm'. It's a special secret technique from the Incarnated Soul realm, but not all Incarnated Souls can possess it!”

As Lan Yao's words left her lips, the young man named Feng, who was still casting his spell in the distance, let out a low shout, “Fellow Daoist Lan, why are you so talkative?”

Upon hearing this, a chill flashed in Lan Yao's eyes.

“Fellow Daoist Feng, the 'Spirits of the True Realm' secret technique you're using is a legacy of my Demonic Feather clan, not exclusive to you. How is it that a single word from me, your junior sister, makes me 'talkative'? Fellow Daoist Feng, mind your words.”

The young man named Feng fell silent, letting out a cold huff, and simply ignored her, continuing his spell casting.

Lan Yao, however, was clearly disgusted by his earlier remark about her being talkative. Her gaze remained cold, though she didn't continue speaking much to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing blinked, discerning that Lan Yao's actions, to some extent, carried a hint of goodwill.

He pondered inwardly, about to say something, when suddenly, the fifth pagoda where the young man named Feng was located, boomed and began to emit a white light.

This light emerged from the pagoda's spire, flowing like water to cover the entire structure before spreading along the withered roots entwining it.

However, almost all of the roots, after being bathed in the light, merely flickered a few times before dimming again, clearly lacking life force and unable to be activated.

Yet, there was one particular root that, after flickering, revealed a white line within it.

This line slowly flowed along the course of the root, capturing the attention of all three of them.

Under their gaze, the white line moved within the numerous withered roots for a moment before disappearing, appearing as lifeless as before.

But the young man named Feng's expression was somewhat excited. He formed hand seals again, activating a lineage technique. The next instant, the pagoda's light flared once more, and the same phenomenon occurred.

After nine consecutive repetitions, the young man named Feng raised his hand, seemingly calculating based on the points where the white lines vanished.

Xu Qing watched all of this, thinking to himself that if what the young man named Feng had said earlier was true, then his ancestor had indeed gone to great lengths and meticulously planned everything.

For an outsider, without knowing the secrets of this place, it would be difficult to discern any clues.

As Xu Qing mused, time passed. After a while, the young man named Feng, who was still calculating, suddenly his eyes brightened. He looked at the surrounding muddy walls, his gaze settling on one spot.

“That's it.”

No sooner had the young man named Feng spoken than his body instantly neared the spot. He pressed his hand against the muddy wall, which immediately rumbled, caving in and revealing cracks!

There was nothing inside!

But he showed no panic. He bit his tongue, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood.

The moment the blood touched the recessed muddy wall, it immediately glowed with a crimson light, and the earth began to dissipate. However, the speed was slow, indicating some difficulty.

“Fellow Daoist Lan, I am only a half-blooded Liao Xuan, and my bloodline power cannot meet my ancestor's requirements. Haven't you taken out the blood banner I gave you yet?”

“Those clans I sacrificed possessed the Liao Xuan bloodline, albeit as lower clans. Their twenty million units of remnant blood, used as nourishment, can activate my bloodline and open this restriction.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Qing finally understood the purpose of the blood sacrifice. He hadn't expected that the ones being sacrificed were actually from the same race! However, it was clear that in the other party's eyes, those sacrificed clans were no different from livestock.

Lan Yao, who seemed to have anticipated some of this, showed little surprise. After taking out the blood banner, she glanced at the young man named Feng, and as she began to cast her spell to activate it, she spoke.

“Fellow Daoist Feng is indeed extraordinary. To sacrifice twenty million of your own bloodline kin, and to act with such decisiveness, you are surely destined for great heights in the future.”

Lan Yao was clearly still displeased with his earlier remark about her being talkative, and spoke with clear sarcasm.

As she spoke, the blood banner in her hand boomed. Blood mist, carrying countless souls, surged out simultaneously, heading straight for the young man named Feng.

Upon hearing her words, a cold glint flickered in the young man named Feng's eyes, but he restrained himself. With a raise of his hand, he immediately drew the surging blood mist and souls to envelop his entire body. Then, activating a technique, he shuddered, merging all the blood mist and souls into his body.

The next moment, the wings on his back vanished, as did the third eye on his forehead. He no longer bore the hallmarks of the Demonic Feather clan. Instead, as his body writhed, a second head sprouted from his neck. The Liao Xuan lineage all possessed two heads.

Having done all this, the young man named Feng took a deep breath and spat out another mouthful of blood onto the muddy wall. The previously sluggish dissolution there immediately accelerated dramatically.

In just over ten breaths, a passage roughly a zhang in size was revealed.

Seeing this, Lan Yao's expression finally showed excitement. The young man named Feng was similarly eager. Both of them flickered, about to rush forward, but at that very moment, an unforeseen change occurred.