Chapter 327: The Long Road Ahead

Chapter 327: The Long Road Ahead

At the same time, the other three sects’ outposts were also engaged in similar battles, though they clearly lacked the arrangement and rhythm of the Seven Blood Eyes. Yet, with the Swordholding Court present, they too were resolved. But sealing proved impossible.

The corpses at those three points, after being suppressed, had their divinity eerily surge to a peak, then spontaneously collapse into ash, leaving nothing behind, as if self-destructing.

Meanwhile, as the Eight Sect Alliance’s assault concluded, outside Welcome Province, on the road from another county of Sea-Seal Commandery toward the central commandery capital, the Purple-Gold Crown Prince, clad in a black robe and wearing a divine mask, strolled forward.

Beneath the mask, his eyes held no ripple of emotion, calm as still water, showing no attachment to Welcome Province behind him, just as when he had left Southern Phoenix Province to come here.

Behind him, Night Owl followed with respectful deference.

“Master, of the five willing divine transformation test subjects, four were found unexpectedly, and one remains hidden.”

“Not surprising,” the black-robed youth ahead spoke blandly.

“The four found test subjects had their abilities and shortcomings recorded and relayed to the fifth, to support the next round of divine transformation.”

“But… there’s a small hitch,” Night Owl hesitated.

“Speak,” the black-robed youth ahead replied, his expression unchanged, voice calm.

“The trouble occurred at the Lesser Sacrificial Sect outpost. The Seven Blood Eyes seemed to have discerned our intent.”

“From before and after, it appears their target was that test subject, and its self-destruction failed—it was sealed. The orchestrator was likely that Seventh Lord,” Night Owl said, a sweat breaking on his brow.

These four outposts were his arrangement; all had run smoothly. The discovery was unexpected but acceptable, yet one divine transformation test subject being sealed—such responsibility was too great for him to bear.

The black-robed youth ahead paused mid-step.

After a long moment, he turned to face Welcome Province. Beneath the divine mask’s remnant, his eyes were no longer calm but gleamed with a strange light.

“That brother of mine’s master? I’ve noted him before. Looking now, this man… is no simple figure.”

“A pity the matter in Welcome Province is concluded. Otherwise, I would have liked to converse with him.”

The black-robed youth gazed toward Welcome Province for a long time, then withdrew his gaze and continued onward.

“Let him take it, then. Consider it my gift for taking in that brother. Besides… divinity is not something mortals can study or control.”

The black-robed youth spoke blandly, walking further and further away.

Night Owl breathed a sigh of relief behind him as he followed, unable to resist asking.

“Master, what exactly is divinity?”

“A difference in the level of life, so I cannot explain it to you,” the black-robed youth answered calmly.

“You cannot know it, nor can you fathom it, just as an ant cannot comprehend your thoughts, and you likewise.”

“This is the unbridgeable chasm between humanity and divinity.”

“Simply put, in the span of a single thought—if your thought has three thousand moments—then what a divine being pursues is an infinite number of moments within a single thought, each moment yielding depths you cannot grasp.”

“Once achieved, or achieved to a certain degree, in its eyes, you are not an individual but countless beings. Everything about you is transparent; your past and your future all exist simultaneously within its gaze.”

As he spoke, the black-robed youth waved a hand, and countless images appeared around Night Owl—past and future, countless scenes overlapping into a vision that would shatter any mortal’s mind upon seeing.

From these numerous images, the black-robed youth casually grabbed seven or eight, each showing Night Owl dying at different hands.

“It can alter everything about you, can twist your fate’s images—in but a single moment,” the black-robed youth said, lightly crushing them to fragments.

Having done this, he looked up at the divine remnant in the sky and sighed softly.

“Thus, from its appearance, we have called it a god, despite ourselves.”

Night Owl shuddered at the dissipating images, then looked at his master ahead with even more fervent devotion.

The sun set in the west, and two figures walked farther and farther toward the capital of Sea-Seal Commandery.

And in Welcome Province, an endless distance away, at the Lesser Sacrificial Sect’s location, with the shriek of the Great Wing, the Seven Blood Eyes crew, having completed their blood-killing mission, boarded the Great Wing and sped toward the alliance.

As the teleportation ripples echoed, the sky and earth shifted, and the Seven Blood Eyes party vanished entirely.

When they reappeared, it was above the Seven Blood Eyes’ mountain gate. The setting sun’s rays spread across heaven and earth, falling upon the returning disciples, though most still nursed lingering dread in their hearts.

Before this, everyone knew divine power was vast, that it could alter heaven and earth and affect all things, but these were hollow words.

Few knew the specific manifestations of a god—only that its breath invaded life, and wherever its gaze fell became a forbidden zone.

But now, they understood a little of the specifics… and that little stirred uncontrollable terror within them.

Yet not all were so afflicted. A minority of cultivators, after sensing all this, still had battle intent rising within them. Xu Qing was one.

He had seen the god open its eyes twice. Along with his misfortune, he had his fortune: first, he survived; second, he saw more.

Thus, upon returning to the sect, Xu Qing’s first act was to go before Sixth Lord’s grave. There, he placed Saint Yunzi’s head before the tomb, then sat down, silently gazing at the epitaph.

As night deepened, Xu Qing took up a jug of wine, drank a mouthful, and murmured softly.

“It’s not over yet.”

“Indeed, it is not over!” The reply came from Seventh Lord’s voice behind him.

Seventh Lord approached, stood beside Xu Qing, pressed his shoulder to indicate he need not rise to pay respects, and looked at the grave and the head of Saint Yunzi below.

“What Candle-Light intends is intolerable to all races. This matter is but a beginning. I have discerned the identity of that Night Owl’s master—behind this man… exists a Divine Domain.”

“A great age has arrived, and thus those Divine Domains will walk among men once more,” Seventh Lord said softly. Xu Qing remained silent.

After a long while, Seventh Lord patted Xu Qing’s shoulder again.

“He is not your brother anymore,” Seventh Lord said, and walked into the distance.

Xu Qing’s body trembled.

After a long pause, he turned to look at the direction Seventh Lord had gone.

He had not deliberately hidden this matter—he simply did not wish to speak of it—but clearly, it could not escape the notice of the master who had spent this time wholly focused on studying Candle-Light.

Night descended. Xu Qing stood, bowed once to Sixth Lord’s grave, and turned away.

He walked down the mountain, out through the gate, alone on the road, alone watching the night sky.

The October wind, carrying a chill, blew in from the sea, falling upon his body, his face, his hair.

But Xu Qing did not feel cold. He gazed at the crowds on the streets, at the scattered lights, until he spied a stall being packed up. The vendor he recognized.

It was the breakfast shop he had frequented back in Southern Phoenix Province. The owner had also come to Wanggu Continent, now serving not only breakfast but all day.

Perhaps because of the alliance’s recent desolation, the stall was closing a bit early today. The owner spotted Xu Qing and recognized him.

“Something to eat?”

Xu Qing nodded, walked over, and sat down. The owner cheerfully ladled him a bowl of beef soup and handed him three eggs. Xu Qing took a sip; the familiar taste brought a smile to his face.

The wind blew, sweeping past Xu Qing again, but that no longer mattered.

The soup was good. Xu Qing drank slowly, mouthful after mouthful, until not a drop remained. Then he picked up an egg, peeled the shell bit by bit, and ate.

He didn’t much like peeling eggshells, but for that sense of satisfaction, he still stripped them carefully.

Finally finishing, Xu Qing rose contentedly, paid the spirit coins, bowed to the vendor with clasped hands, and left amid the vendor’s flustered response, returning to his berth aboard the dharma vessel.

“Life must go on. No rush… Saint Yunzi was only the first.” Xu Qing looked up at the bright moon, his eyes gleaming with profound light. He turned and entered the cabin, sat cross-legged, and began to cultivate.

In this battle, he had slain Saint Yunzi and devoured his Golden Crow, advancing his own Golden Crow to the second tier, gaining one palace’s worth of combat power. Now, though he had only two palaces of transformed emptiness into solidity, his combat strength could erupt to the power of three palaces.

In conjunction with other methods, Xu Qing was able to sweep through the three palaces, and even once he deployed his Poison Seal, he felt that his Wuji Crown's protection was sufficient. As long as the four palace gold cores couldn't break the Wuji Crown's power in a short time, they would ultimately perish under his Poison Seal.

"However, I must work even harder to strive for my third celestial palace, transforming void into reality." Xu Qing murmured softly, gazing inward. After several instances of him seizing his enemies' gold cores through the Mysterious Way of Robbery, his third celestial palace had already taken shape to half its intended form.

Though the progress seemed unremarkable, compared to other palace gold cores, Xu Qing's pace was remarkably swift, whereas Shen Junzi's advancement was obviously due to other opportunities, not the ordinary speed.

Moreover, the residual wills embedded within the gold cores he had stolen could not shake him in the slightest.

The dark emperor seated within his consciousness suppressed all things.

Thus, time flowed slowly, and soon a month had passed.

In this month, the Alliance had completely erased the aftermath of the catastrophe, while simultaneously intensifying efforts to recruit disciples, adding many new recruits to each sect.

Meanwhile, the Seven Blood Eyes had steadily made progress, and particularly because the Elder of East Ying had agreed to the Blood Refinement Child's invitation, making not only the East Ying Island an ally but also herself a guest ancestor of the Seven Blood Eyes.

Her inclusion elevated the Seven Blood Eyes' strength significantly, and combined with their seizure of the Bloody Tree's forbidden treasure, the Seven Blood Eyes' status within the Eight Sect Alliance had leaped to unprecedented heights.

Everything seemed to be moving in a favorable direction when Xu Qing successfully solidified his third celestial palace to eight-tenths completion, the final stretch now within reach.

His emotions had largely recovered, and all events were buried deep in his heart.

The old ancestors of the Golden Core Sect and the Shadow both exerted themselves, pushing forward with renewed vigor to transcend their own confines.

And at this moment... an unprecedented event occurred within the Alliance!

This event transpired in the Xuan You Sect.

The location was the forbidden ground where the Xuan You Sect had nailed the Demon Serpent.

The incident occurred at dawn that day, as a deafening howl spread across the entire Alliance—the Demon Serpent's soul had awakened.

Its awakening was due to stimulation, and additionally, one of its bone mouth's teeth had been severed by an unknown method.

The perpetrator was apprehended on the spot, who was none other than Wu Jian Wu of the Seven Blood Eyes.

It was said that Wu Jian Wu was still reciting a poem to the serpent's soul when captured.

Though the culprit was caught, the stolen items had vanished.

Upon learning of this matter, Xu Qing was seated at a breakfast stall sipping soup, while Lan Lan stood beside him, appearing like a devoted wife as she peeled an egg for him.

Not long after, Xu Qing set down his spoon, lifted his head, and gazed at the figure rushing toward him.

It was the Team Leader.

He arrived swiftly and directly sat beside Xu Qing, his expression clouded, glancing around uneasily.

"Team Leader, your complexion is not very good. Did you do something wrong?" Xu Qing took a sip of his soup and spoke softly.

"Don't spread rumors, I just caught a chill from the cold." The Team Leader coughed once, then composed himself.

"By the way, do you remember the major task I mentioned last time? I'm planning to leave on a trip. Are you two going?"