The three-tribulation Mirrorling stopped moving. He couldn’t sense anything or move. And when he recovered, Xu Qing was right in front of him. Another head flew through the air, and more nascent souls were destroyed. All of that happened in only two breaths of time.

The other two-tribulation experts let loose cries of alarm. Scalps tingling, they spun to flee.

Xu Qing ignored them and focused on the giant mirror spell formation.

Temporarily pushing aside his astonishment at Xu Qing’s abilities, Duanmu Zang shouted, “This thing is a precious treasure belonging to the Mirrorling royal preceptor! It’s not going to be easy to destroy. But without anyone powering it, there’s a possibility. Back up! I’ll detonate one of my nascent souls. That should damage it!”

With that, he prepared to detonate one of his nascent souls.

But then Xu Qing waved his right index finger, and Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior became a red lightning bolt that shot forth. He moved with incredible speed, guiding the Spike of Misfortune directly into the mirror.

The vicious face in the mirror looked at Xu Qing and was about to speak. But then its expression flickered. Rumbling echoed out as the Spike of Misfortune completely ignored the mirror’s defenses and stabbed into its surface like a hot knife through butter. A loud crack could be heard as the mirror shattered.

Not even looking at Duanmu Zang, Xu Qing turned around and waved his hand.

His taboo poison rushed back toward him, as did the shadow. The Spike of Misfortune was a red glow that sped back into his hand.

Then Xu Qing blasted away at the highest speed possible. During the entire time, he didn’t say a single thing. He struck like a metric ton of lightning, then left without even the hint of a sound.

The mirror trembled as more cracks spread out over its surface. The face distorted in anxiety as it glared at Xu Qing fleeing off into the distance.

As for Duanmu Zang, he inhaled deeply and ceased the nascent soul detonation process. Racing toward the hole that had been punched in the mirror, he waved his sleeve, sending his collapsed secret trove shooting out in front of him.

BOOM!

More cracks covered the mirror’s surface as it dropped out of the sky and slammed into the lava.

The face seemed like it wanted to speak, but had suffered such a grievous injury that it couldn’t send out any divine will.

Snorting coldly, Duanmu Zang hawked a loogie and spat onto the mirror. The force of the spitting caused the mirror to sink further into the lava. With that done, Duanmu Zang turned and fled off into the distance.

About six hours later, a tempest raged on the horizon as a huge figure approached. The figure wore a golden robe, and had no face, only a mirror. After arriving, he stopped and looked down at the lava. His face reflected the images in the area. A moment passed, and he extended his right hand. The mirror slowly emerged from the lava. After he had it in his hand, a cold voice emanated from his mirror-face.

“Humans….” 𝑖𝘦.𝑐ℴ𝘮

Three days later, some 5,000 kilometers away on the Heavenfire Sea, Xu Qing finally slowed down. He’d been moving nonstop that entire time, staying concealed and moving toward the shore. During those three days, the sky had become brighter, as if the fires of the sea had begun burning more strongly. The popping bubbles of lava had become more common. As a result, the heat had been rising, to the point where his soul was hurting.

I need to get to the shore, otherwise I’m not going to be able to hold on, and my soul’s going to melt.

Xu Qing even felt like his hair was starting to dry up. He was just about to speed up, but then he coolly said, “Senior, do you really need to follow me secretly for so long?”

A moment later, he continued on his way.

He’d been doing this roughly every two hours for the past three days.

Though Xu Qing had the ability to sense the aura of his taboo poison, he knew that complacency could easily lead to slip-ups. And in a chaotic world like this one, slip-ups could lead to very tragic outcomes. Therefore, even though he hadn’t sensed any taboo poison aura, he still made a point of speaking out loud like he just had.

Another day went by. At that point, Xu Qing stopped and said, “Senior, you really do love staying invisible, don’t you?”

This time, he got a response….

“Hmm?”

A bit more than thirty meters to his right, the air rippled, and Duanmu Zang appeared. He was surrounded by a bubble that completely isolated his aura. What was more, he had a cloth wrapped around his right hand, which masked the taboo poison aura.

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed as he realized this actually seemed very familiar.

How’d the little punk detect me? Duanmu Zang wasn’t sure, but considering what he’d seen Xu Qing doing, it seemed most likely that some unusual technique was responsible. Or maybe he’s just stopping every so often and saying something like that! How treacherous!

Duanmu Zang noticed Xu Qing looking at the strip of cloth around his hand. He offered no explanation. Glaring angrily, he said, “You have no conscience, boy! I didn’t do a single thing to harm you. I even gave you a box to keep those heavenfire stones secret. But the antidote you gave me was fake!”

Xu Qing frowned.

Seeing that frown, Duanmu Zang quickly changed to a more agreeable tone. “However, since you did help me escape back there, I guess there’s no need to bicker about the past.” Waving his hand dismissively, he cleared his throat. “We’re both human. So… why not give me that antidote?”

Face completely expressionless, Xu Qing coolly said, “10,000 spirit stones!”

Duanmu Zang inhaled sharply and glared at Xu Qing. Then he smiled wryly, shook his head, and took out the very same bag of holding Xu Qing had given him earlier.

Xu Qing took it and checked it. There was nothing unusual about it.

Seeing Xu Qing meticulously check the bag of holding caused Duanmu Zang’s temper to heat up, but he forced himself to remain calm.

“Good enough?” 𝘪𝘳.𝘤𝑜

Xu Qing nodded and waved his hand. A tremor passed through Duanmu Zang, and then all the poison power in him stirred. An expression of pain appeared on his face as the poison then burrowed out into the open. Once outside of him, it turned into a black mist that swept back toward Xu Qing and vanished inside of him.

When the taboo poison vanished, Duanmu Zang immediately felt a wave of relief. His cultivation base power surged, and his body returned to normal. Heaving a sigh, he looked at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing backed up a few steps, looking supremely vigilant.

Duanmu Zang’s eyes narrowed. “After seeing how formidable you are, boy, why did you need my help those other two times?”

“I didn’t have time to do anything,” Xu Qing replied calmly and honestly.

Hearing that, Duanmu Zang confirmed that this kid really didn’t talk much. He turned to leave. However, after only taking a couple steps, he looked over his shoulder at Xu Qing.

“The Heavenfire Skycrossing is starting. You’d better find a place to hole up.” He tossed Xu Qing an umbrella. “The umbrella will keep you safe for short periods of time. But it won’t last long. You’re on your own now.”

With that, he turned to leave.

Xu Qing inspected the umbrella to make sure it was safe. That was when something occurred to him, and he called out, “Wait a moment.”

Duanmu Zang stopped in place and looked back at him curiously.

Xu Qing reached out and extracted one last bit of poison from Duanmu Zang. He’d left it there as insurance just in case the old man suddenly attacked him.

When the poison appeared in the open, Duanmu Zang’s expression flickered. Glaring at Xu Qing, he breathed in and out heavily a few times, then suddenly burst out laughing.

“Completely unethical!”

Xu Qing betrayed no facial expression in response. Given everything he had experienced from a young age, he had been forced to develop caution. And that was more appropriate than ever considering he was in this unfamiliar region. From beginning to end, he’d harbored no harmful intentions.

Duanmu Zang eyed Xu Qing, then nodded. “Whatever. It’s normal to be so vigilant.” With that, he tossed a jade slip to Xu Qing. “If you can’t find any good place of refuge from the fire, you can go there.”

This time, Duanmu Zang really did disappear.

Xu Qing scanned the jade slip and then put it away. He knew what the Heavenfire Skycrossing was that Duanmu Zang had referred to. It was a special weather pattern in the Moonrite Region in which the sky turned very bright.

Presumably it has something to do with the Heavenfire Sea.

Xu Qing hadn’t been aware of the details before, but he’d had his speculations, especially considering how things had been heating up recently. He started moving again. A few days later, he was back on shore. He didn’t return to the same mansion grotto he’d hollowed out earlier. He didn’t like the idea of using the same place twice.

Looking up into the sky, he could see that it really was a lot brighter than two months ago. The Heavenfire Sea also seemed to be in a much greater state of agitation. From where he was standing, the rumbling sounds coming from the Heavenfire Sea sounded like thunder. And there were hardly any cultivators out and about like there had been before. The ground trembled occasionally, as if there were some enormous creature preparing to rise up from the depths of the Heavenfire Sea.

It made Xu Qing think back to how the Mirrorling guards had sunk down into the ground.

Is that the way to avoid the Heavenfire Skycrossing?

After some thought, he found a suitable location to carve out a cave. Covering the entrance, he settled down cross-legged to focus on recovery. Although he had a god body, the Heavenfire Sea was a mysterious place, and the lava there was terrifyingly hot. At the most, Xu Qing could sink down about three meters into it. He wouldn’t dare to go any further lest his soul be damaged. Not even the violet crystal would be able to keep up with the effects.

Days passed. Eventually, Xu Qing had fully recovered. During that time, he did some further study into his sundial life lamps.

Occasionally he would chat with Ling’er. Because of that, he still didn’t feel lonely.

Seven days later, he was back at a new peak. And that was when he noticed what was happening outside. The temperature during the last week had soared. Even being deep underground, he could see the soil around him starting to turn red. Eventually, he heard a distant rumbling like the crack of thunder. Then, using divine sense, he caught sight of something that struck him with waves of astonishment.

Something like a tsunami was rolling across the Heavenfire Sea. The lava exploded with massive waves. As they slammed into the shore, a pair of 300,000-meter-long severed arms rose from inside the Heavenfire Sea.

The severed arms ended in huge, cancerous growths that had countless tentacles growing out of it. And the palm prints on the palm of the hands were like the canopy of heaven. As the two hands floated into midair, they slowly performed an incantation gesture. Massive amounts of lava began to rise into the air, creating rivulets and streams that spread out in all directions. The sky was turning very bright.

Endless fire began to fall from the sky, immolating the lands below. That was why this area was full of barren landscape and low-lying mountains, and also why it had no vegetation. The effects stretched out, covering the lands of the Twofold Alliance, going from east to west until it covered the entire Moonrite Region.

Seeing it, Xu Qing murmured, “Heavenfire Skycrossing….”

𝘳𝑎.𝒸ℴ