In the past, the taboo poison couldn’t distinguish between friend and foe. It affected everything within its range. But now that it was part of Xu Qing’s gaze, he had much more control over it. He could set specific targets, and in the current situation, that meant the Moonrebel Congregation cultivators weren’t affected.

The slaughter was focused on the cathedral cultivators. Within moments, cries of alarm began rising up, and numerous cathedral cultivators fell back in terror. Some of the weaker ones screamed as their flesh melted and they turned into pools of blood on the ground. The majority, however, just had to deal with rotting flesh as well as the pain it brought. The mere threat of death was enough to completely unsettle them and force them to unleash whatever red moon power they could. Only the toughest cultivators were temporarily unharmed.

In the final analysis, the Moonrebel cultivators had a bit less pressure, and thus Fourth Vice-Bishop issued the orders to immediately flee into the desert.

Earlier, he had used various methods at his disposal to confirm that the Heir Apparent wasn’t in the desert. In order to avoid causing unnecessary complications, Fourth Vice-Bishop had been prepared to fight a battle to the death with cathedral cultivators. After all the years that had passed, Fourth Vice-Bishop was weary to the core. They were fighting a hopeless resistance fight, and though he didn’t want to just give up, the reality of the situation was bitterly painful.

When Fourth Vice-Bishop saw Xu Qing step out and open the desert, he gritted his teeth and raced toward safety.

At the same time, he personally launched attacks to buy time for his people. Booms rang out, and the fluctuations of magical techniques spread everywhere.

The cathedral cultivators were blocked by the taboo poison, yet there were experts in their number who weren’t ready to just give up. Scattering, they raced to intercept.

The chickens surrounding Xu Qing shot forth to meet them. At the same time, Xu Qing’s closed his eyes, lifted his right hand, and pointed out to the desert.

“Let the Ghost Emperor mountain become the altar. Let D-132’s destiny be the trough!”

The moment the words left Xu Qing’s mouth, colors shifted in the sky, rumbling sounds echoed out, and both the Ghost Emperor mountain and D-132 manifested outside of him. A 3,000-meter projected image of the God Decapitation Altar’s blade and trough appeared.

As the Ghost Emperor held the prison cell in both hands, the power of destiny aura created a huge blade. The 3,000-meter altar was shocking and ghastly. It caused lands and mountains to shake, and as it settled down, it blocked the path of the advancing cathedral cultivators.

Of course, the scene playing out was both familiar and shocking to the cultivators present.

“What’s this…?”

“It’s so familiar!!”

As exclamations of shock rang out, Xu Qing’s eyes began to shine brightly.

“Let the heavenly dao be the body of the blade. Let the godly curse of taboo poison be the edge of the blade. And let daybreak light be the blade’s light!”

The dome of heaven rumbled as the bluegreen dragon turned into the blade itself. Taboo poison converged on the edge of that blade, as did a dao-severing resonance. This was a heavenly saber, and it shone with scintillating daybreak light. It could shatter countless magics and melt innumerable techniques.

The moment the heavenly saber appeared, both Moonrebel and cathedral cultivators thought back to why this seemed so familiar. And it didn’t take long for them to put the pieces together.

“That’s what everyone saw projected into their minds. It’s… the God Decapitation Altar!”

“It looks exactly the same!”

“Don’t tell me he’s the guy who did all that stuff at the God Decapitation Altar??”

Xu Qing no longer bothered hiding who he was, and allowed everyone to see his true features, which everyone had seen on the day of that momentous event.

When the truth was revealed, everyone was flabbergasted, and felt like they were being struck by lightning from heaven. All of the Moonrebel Congregation cultivators were incredibly excited. Back when they had felt numb, it was the image of the things playing out at the God Decapitation Altar that sparked their desire to fight back, and turned it into a raging fire. Now, in a moment of hopeless despair, they again glimpsed that God Decapitation Altar, as well as the person they had previously only seen in the broadcast! That person seemed to overlap with the image of the Imperial Sovereign.

A voice echoed out.

“Let the golden crow be the connection. Let the violet moon be the seal!

The golden crow danced in the air. The violet moon sent out rippling fluctuations. The god trove combined everything into one.

“Let the timescape be the container…. Let the sundial life lamps be the catalyst….”

Five sundials formed behind Xu Qing. The flames of the life lamps stirred the night. And the gnomons began to move, causing the power of time to surge. They all stopped at noon!

“When the sundials hit noon, heaven and earth will be severed together!”

Xu Qing’s eyes shone brightly as the blade fell! The heavenly saber descended from above, like a massive waterfall or a mountain, filling the sky and shaking the lands below.

It wasn’t slashing into a cultivator, but rather, heaven and earth. The saber contained boundless godly might. As the blade and the trough met, the air was cut, and the void was shredded. Rumbling sounds swept out as the cathedral cultivators’ path was completely severed. A huge gorge appeared in the lands, and a strong wind blew a baleful aura out on either side. Shocked, the cathedral cultivators had no choice but to stop moving.

As of this moment, Xu Qing was like the Imperial Sovereign awakened. As of right now, the God Decapitation Altar that all of them had seen in their minds was now a reality, visible to all of the cathedral cultivators, as well as the hundreds of thousands of Moonrebel cultivators.

As they all reeled in shock, a boundlessly destructive tempest rose up outside the desert.

As Fourth Vice-Bishop looked deeply at Xu Qing, his hundreds of thousands of subordinates took advantage of the threat created by the God Decapitation Altar to speed into the desert.

The Red Moon Cathedral’s Void Returning experts were shaken. However, though Xu Qing’s God Decapitation Altar was well-known at this point, it wasn’t mighty enough to force them into retreat. In fact, they had just been preparing to strike back. But then, a towering might erupted from the depths of the desert, specifically, the direction of the Bitter Life Mountains.

Suns, moons, stars, and heavenly bodies appeared mysteriously in the dome of heaven. At the same time, a majestic river of time also appeared, and wherever it flowed, the aura of a great dao grew stronger.

These were the fluctuations of a Smoldering God! It was just barely possible to see a pair of eyes within that river of ancient time.

They were the eyes of Princess Brightblossom!

Those eyes caused all cathedral cultivators outside the desert to fall back in horror and amazement. After all, the main reason they had dared to come here was that they had been informed the Heir Apparent and his siblings were gone from the area.

Yet here they could sense a Smoldering God aura, leading to no small amount of amazement. Although it was possible it was a trick, the reality was that these cathedral cultivators weren’t interested in taking any dangerous risks. And what was happening right now indicated that a Smoldering God attack was incoming.

Therefore, even the top experts from the Red Moon Cathedral chose to be safe rather than sorry. As they fell back, the Moonrebel Congregation cultivators finally made it into the desert. Looking excitedly in Xu Qing’s direction, they clasped hands and bowed.

Taking it all in, Xu Qing waved his hand, causing the desert wind to close up and once again seal the interior away from the prying eyes of the Red Moon Cathedral. With that accomplished, Xu Qing turned to the travel-weary Fourth Vice-Bishop. He clasped hands in greeting.

“Well met, Senior.” Despite the serious expression on his face, Fourth Vice-Bishop didn’t use his cultivation base disparity as an excuse. He bowed deeply to Xu Qing. “Many thanks for your assistance, young friend!”

Xu Qing nodded and was about to say something further when a group of a few thousand cultivators caught his attention thanks to their cheering and other behavior.

Before, he had been paying attention mostly to the enemy forces, and thus hadn’t looked closely at the Moonrebel army. But now that he could see what that group of several thousand cultivators was wearing, it caused him to hesitate slightly. They were led by a woman who was so excited that she had dropped to her knees to kiss the ground. Many of the thousands behind her did the same.

Xu Qing blinked a few times as a strange feeling welled up in his heart.

“Young friend,” Fourth Vice-Bishop said quietly, “those people are followers of Grandmaster Pill Nine. Their leader calls herself the Apostle, and she’s the one who heard the grandmaster’s dao reverberation for two months. They came from all over, but they’re very united and always help each other out. They weren’t always following us around, but at a certain point we crossed paths and found that they were heading here to the desert just like we were. They believe that Grandmaster Pill Nine is actually hiding out here.”

Hearing all of that, Xu Qing looked at the group. They were so excited that not even the wind could suppress their chatter.

“This is our holy land!”

“That’s right! The grandmaster’s medicinal pills contain the power of the white wind, and that just goes to show how important that wind is! This is the only place in the Moonrite Region where you can find it.”

“The Apostle was right! The grandmaster is definitely hiding out here.”

“In this chaotic world, we need to find the grandmaster, to follow him and also keep him safe!”

Xu Qing was surprised at the fanatical looks on their faces, especially when it came to the leader. After looking at her closely, and hearing her speak, he came to the realization that she was probably his bare-chested neighbor.

As the wind blew in the desert, the group went back to the Bitter Life Mountains.

Fourth Vice-Bishop returned to the very same garrison where they had been camped before. As he set about getting things in order, the followers of Grandmaster Pill Nine went their own way.

In the following days, their people scattered throughout the Bitter Life Mountains, hoping to find clues leading to Grandmaster Pill Nine. Though they didn’t meet with any success, they were persistent.

One thing they did was create their own camp a short distance away from the mudbrick city. In the middle of that camp was a statue that looked just like Xu Qing’s statue from back in the Moonrebel Congregation.

There was no way Xu Qing couldn’t keep an eye on them. He had never experienced anything like this. In fact, on the day they erected their special statue, he couldn’t help but go over to take a look. As he entered the Pill Nine camp, he saw that the thousands of cultivators there were all in very high spirits. They also had a map prominently displayed that showed the entire desert. The map had been divided up into sections, some of which had been crossed out.

His arrival attracted some notice, and many people bowed in his direction. Meanwhile, the woman called the Apostle dropped what she was doing to go receive him.

“Well met, Fellow Daoist,” she said as she stood next to the statue of Pill Nine. She wore an outfit that made her seem quite capable and experienced. Her expression was serious as she clasped hands and bowed to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing examined the statue and noticed how lifelike it was. All the details were correct. Turning, he looked at the valiant and formidable young woman. He thought back to that burly neighbor of his, and that image superimposed with that of the young woman.

Glancing at the statue again, he said, “It’s entirely possible that the cathedral could get into the desert eventually, especially as the red moon continues to rise. Leaving these mountains is inherently dangerous. There’s no need for you to do any searching out there.”

The young woman shook her head. Eyes flashing with determination, she said, “That’s exactly why we have to find him as soon as possible. The grandmaster could be in a lot of danger!”

Xu Qing hesitated briefly, then said, “Or he could be very safe…. Besides, if you found him, would you even be able to recognize him?”

The woman laughed proudly, as did the other followers in the area. “Fellow Daoist, you simply don’t understand. After all, you’ve never seen the grandmaster. But I heard his dao reverberation for two months! What’s more, I’ve been by his side on many occasions. I know how mighty and compassionate he is, and I’m also familiar with his unique aura. All it will take is one glance for me to know if someone is the grandmaster or not!”

With that, she looked more closely at Xu Qing.

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