The evening of the day when the red moon became visible, a black wind sprang up in the Greenhair Badlands. Similar to the various legends about the desert, it started when the green wind mixed with the redness from above. Closer examination would reveal that the color was actually more like violet.

As the wind blew, Xu Qing and the Captain left the Green Spirit Pharmacy with a few allies in tow. The others in the group included Ning Yan, Wu Jianwu, Ling’er, Nethersprite, and Li Youfei. It had been very difficult to convince Nethersprite to come along. It was impossible to say how the Captain did it, but eventually she gritted her teeth and agreed. The parrot wasn’t spared, as Xu Qing borrowed him from the Heir Apparent. The parrot had, of course, been dead set on refusing. However, after Xu Qing grabbed him, he inexplicably agreed to go along.

The Heir Apparent and his siblings were adamant about not joining, but they didn’t do anything to stop the group from leaving.

And thus, they traveled out into the windy desert.

As the red moon became more visible, and the tideflow power erupted in the region, the living people experienced indescribable bitterness. Countless mountains had collapsed, and entire lakes of water had begun flowing up into the sky.

The effects of the curse were especially prominent among the mortals. If there were a pair of eyes that could take in the entire Moonrite Region, they would see countless villages and cities that were full of death and sorrow. The souls of those who died couldn’t leave the Moonrite Region, and instead gathered at the Red Moon Cathedral, to be stuck in this hell for life after life.

The insanity only lasted for a short time, to then be replaced by an eternal vortex of despair.

All species. All sects. All cultivators. They all experienced it.

Those alive now were simply unfortunate to be around when Crimson Mother came. After all, Crimson Mother would usually only come once every thousand years or so. There was no fixed schedule. Sometimes a lot of time passed between visits; in other cases, it was a very short time. Not everyone who was born and raised in the Moonrite Region would necessarily live to see the coming of Crimson Mother.

The ordinary people weren’t the only ones in despair. Even organizations closely allied with the Red Moon Cathedral waited in silence. Historically speaking, those who adhered closely to the cathedral might have a better chance of survival, but it all depended on how hungry Crimson Mother was.

Therefore, when the red moon appeared, despair overtook madness as the primary operating force in the Moonrite Region. It filled the world, even the wind in the Greenhair Badlands, which whimpered past Xu Qing and the others.

Everything in heaven and earth was blurry, making it difficult to see them clearly.

As they walked along, they left behind footprints in the sand. However, those footprints were quickly filled in by the wind, leaving nothing behind.

The Captain was in the front, leading the way. Xu Qing was right behind him. As they traveled, Xu Qing instinctively kept his eyes on the surrounding wastelands. He had been in this area before. He had passed it back when he went to rescue the shadow. In fact, just up ahead was the spot where he had first laid eyes on the Wind Guardians.

“We’ve been moving for about four hours already,” the Captain said. “After another incense stick’s worth of time, we’ll be at our destination.”

“The Wind Guardians?” Xu Qing asked.

The Captain looked over his shoulder at Xu Qing. Because of the wind and sand, it was impossible to make out his facial features, but his eyes were glittering.

“Well done, little Junior Brother. You really do understand me. Our destination is indeed the land of the Wind Guardians. You’ve heard of their story, haven’t you, little Junior Brother?”

His gaze flitted from Xu Qing to Ning Yan and the others.

Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu were both wearing thick garments and face coverings. Neither of them were very happy about that. The truth was that they hadn’t been very eager to come along, especially considering they had no idea where they were going.

Xu Qing nodded in response to the Captain’s question. The Wind Guardians’ mission was to guard the wind in this huge desert. And that mission was the source of the species’ unusual characteristics.

“Their species didn’t even exist before the desert came into being,” the Captain said. “Long ago, a certain entity and a certain great individual entered an agreement. That’s how the species came to be. The moment they were created, the Wind Guardians got their mission. From a substructural standpoint, the species’ mission is actually a key.”

The Captain suddenly stopped in place and turned to look at Xu Qing, his eyes shimmering with reminiscence.

“The key to opening the Imperial Sovereign’s Land of God Decapitation!”

Xu Qing’s gaze hardened. Everyone else looked surprised to hear the words coming out of the Captain’s mouth.

“Like I told you before, little Ah Qing, before reaching godly ascension, Crimson Mother was actually killed by the Imperial Sovereign.

“At that time, the Imperial Sovereign used heaven as the blade and earth as the altar. Connecting the sun and moon, he created an altar atop which to behead Crimson Mother.” As the Captain’s garments fluttered in the wind, he pointed at the ground. “The execution spot is right beneath our feet! It’s the past-life body of the Greenhair Badlands!”

Everyone was shaken, and looked down at the ground beneath their feet, Xu Qing included.

The wind picked up, making it slightly more difficult to hear the Captain as he continued, “Afterward, that entity and that great individual and his partner found the ruins of the Land of God Decapitation. By employing strange magics, signs of awakening were provoked in that land.

“It became a desert wind that covered everything. In order to open the way, a few requirements have to be met. The first one is for the red moon to rise and turn the green sand into red.” With a profound look in his eyes, the Captain proudly continued, “The second requirement is that… the wind in the Greenhair Badlands needs to turn from green to black. And that needs to be stable, with the black wind flowing for eight hours. Right now, the wind is violet.”

The Captain lifted his right hand, and a stream of yellow light emerged from his palm. It was none other than the Captain’s Little Roundy. The light cast by the artificial sun was yellow. As it rose up into the sky, the yellow light it cast merged with the green wind and the red sand.

With those three colors overlapping, it produced black! Instantly, a black wind filled the area. An aura of death proliferated in heaven and earth, growing stronger by the moment.

Ning Yan and the others were astonished. The Captain’s words and actions were giving them the very strong feeling that his latest job was going to be monumental.

Xu Qing looked at the Captain with a very serious expression. “There’s got to be more than two requirements, right?”

The Captain laughed heartily, then waved his hand with a flourish, producing eight daggers that he tossed around.

The eight daggers didn’t stab into the sand. Instead, they floated with their tips pointing down. Then they emitted black lightning bolts that spread out to create a rough circle. They were holy relics of the Wind Guardians, which had been sent to the Green Spirit Pharmacy to the Heir Apparent. Apparently, he had loaned them to the Captain.

Having accomplished these things, the Captain extended his hand in Xu Qing’s direction.

“Okay, little Ah Qing. I need the holy relic you took from the Wind Guardians. Lend it to me for a bit, okay?”

Without hesitation, Xu Qing took the dagger out of his bag of holding and tossed it to the Captain. The Captain performed an incantation gesture and then pointed out.

The dagger shot into the rough circle. The black lightning spread, creating a roughly 3,000-meter circle with the group in the middle. Complex magical symbols appeared in the lightning, almost like writing, although no one could read it.

“Wind Guardians, in compliance with the agreement built into your bloodline, I hereby summon you!”

The Captain lifted his foot and then stomped it hard onto the ground.

As black wind screamed, the nine strange daggers thrummed loudly, bolstering the Captain’s voice so that it echoed deep beneath the surface of the desert. Outside of the 3,000-meter circle, vortexes sprang up left and right in the desert. There were both big ones and small ones, and they numbered in the thousands. As they swirled around beyond the circle, Wind Guardians began to pop out into the open.

Each member of the species had a similar circle on their forehead, which seemed to look like the circle that the Captain had created, and seemed to flicker just as the circle did.

Closest to the 3,000-meter circle was Patriarch Wind Guardian, who looked suspiciously at Xu Qing and the others, his expression flickering.

The other Wind Guardians looked at the circle with their hearts pounding.

“This ceremony….”

Patriarch Wind Guardian could hardly have been more astonished. He knew about this ceremony. It was one of the most important ceremonies possible to his species, and it was something related to their mission that no outsider should possibly know about.

Guard the wind. Guard the desert. And wait…. One day, in the midst of the black wind, a person would appear. That person would appear along with a circle that would call out to the Wind Guardian’s blood, and cause a ceremonial spell formation to appear on their foreheads that resembled an eye. It related to the entire purpose of their species.

Never could Patriarch Wind Guardian have imagined that, after all the years their species had carried out their mission, that this would happen right here and now. What was more, the ‘person’ who had appeared was one of the cultivators from the Green Spirit Pharmacy. That left him absolutely, positively gobsmacked.

“Little Ah Qing, the third requirement to open the way naturally lies with the Wind Guardians. And that requirement is for all members of this species who have appeared for the black wind to come forth.”

As the Captain’s voice echoed out, he looked at Patriarch Wind Guardian.

The patriarch shivered. Feeling his blood shivering, he bowed his head and said, “Heed the godly orders!”

Astonishingly, four of the surrounding vortexes suddenly turned white, and out of them emerged four Wind Guardians.

They included men and women of different ages. But the unique thing about all of them was that they had white hair, down to their eyebrows, and pure white eyes. They were obviously unique among Wind Guardians, and were in fact closely cared for from the moment of their birth until their death. According to the requirements of the Wind Guardians’ mission, at any given time, they were to have at least three such individuals.

“And now, the skulls!” the Captain said, slowly floating up into the air.

Patriarch Wind Guardian inhaled deeply, then relayed the orders. Before long, nine black skulls were carefully produced and carried out by various Wind Guardians, who placed them underneath each of the floating daggers.

“That great individual made the God Decapitating Altar illusory, then hid it in the wind in the Greenhair Badlands. It’s only the memories of the Wind Guardians that can unlock it. And now, we can begin the ceremony.”

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