In the end, Xu Qing left. He didn’t reveal that he was actually Pill Nine. However, in his heart, he knew that he had to do his best to take care of these followers of his. After all, they had traveled great distances in their zeal to support Grandmaster Pill Nine. And one reason why the name of Pill Nine was so widespread in the Moonrebel Congregation was because of their tireless efforts.

Before leaving, Xu Qing had his shadow put a shadow eye on the woman known as the Apostle. That way, he would know if she ran into any danger, and would hopefully be able to provide assistance.

The warning he had provided earlier wasn’t a case of speaking without thinking. As the resistance armies on the outside suffered defeat after defeat, the Red Moon Cathedral was gradually gaining the upper hand. The cathedral forces didn’t pay much attention to the smaller, scattered resistance forces. After all, most cultivators from the Red Moon Cathedral wanted there to be as many people alive as possible later on. But as the resistance on the outside crumbled, the Greenhair Badlands increasingly became the center of attention.

That was especially true after Fourth Vice-Bishop made his escape there.

Xu Qing even got some intelligence reports from Wu Jianwu’s children, who were scouting on the outside. According to them, there were cathedral cultivators constantly attempting to break into the desert. Although the sandstorm generally stopped them, they were having some limited success. According to the parrot, there were large numbers of cathedral cultivators gathering outside the desert. That said, they weren’t taking any specific actions. They were just waiting. Everyone was on guard.

The cathedral cultivators only had to wait about a week. They had been waiting for a specific person to show up.

It was an old man with a long, crimson robe and an imperial crown. He was none other than the Red Moon Cathedral’s Smoldering God pontiff. He held a scepter in his hand, and when he arrived, wild colors flashed in heaven and earth, and winds screamed. Unexpectedly, a second red moon appeared in the sky above him.

It was only a projection, but when it appeared in the canopy of heaven, it caused a tideflow reaction to appear in the desert. The sandstorm was interfered with. Mountains collapsed. Sand was sent blowing everywhere. And intense rumbling sounds filled the desert.

To the shock of everyone in the Bitter Life Mountains, the red moon sent innumerable red lightning bolts shooting down into the desert. The desert trembled, and the sand storm seemed like it might collapse at any time. The red moon power was mounting a full invasion of the desert. It was a superlatively domineering invasion, causing the sand everywhere to collapse into red mud.

At the same time, the cathedral cultivators all received further blessings, causing them to shine with blood-colored light. The blessings of Crimson Mother became so intense that the cultivators could stand up to the power of the wind and actually step into the desert. And then they began to close in on the Bitter Life Mountains. Wherever they went, the sky and land alike turned as red as blood.

Meanwhile, the godly might on display caused the sandstorm to slowly start shrinking. Thankfully, the storm had been instigated by a god, and therefore, disregarding it wasn’t exactly simple. Therefore, the cathedral cultivators who entered it couldn’t simply pass through it in one shot.

Getting all the way to the Bitter Life Mountains was going to take time. However, the pressure that they created was immense. It was like entire mountains weighing down on the hearts of the locals, making it difficult for them to even breathe.

In the shortest of moments, everyone felt immense apprehension and danger covering them. That grim feeling spread through the Bitter Life Mountains and eventually affected the Green Spirit Pharmacy.

Ning Yan, Wu Jianwu, and even Li Youfei all seemed mentally agitated. Nethersprite was no exception, and even the chickens in the backyard.

Only Xu Qing didn’t seem affected. He knew that things were now down to the wire, and he was already mentally planning out what to do.

The key to dealing with all this rests largely on the return of the Heir Apparent and his siblings. And also… opening the main door of Paramount Temple in the Moonrebel Congregation, to become the Archbishop of Moonrebel!

Xu Qing’s eyes shone brightly as he thought back to that lake governed by the Moonrebel Congregation’s spirit automaton. There were dozens of ice sculptures that had been building up there since the last coming of the red moon. They were all cultivators who had participated in the archbishop trial. Each of those individuals was a complicated person, and many of them were similar to Fourth Vice-Bishop, being in the fourth stage of Void Returning.

Put people like that anywhere, and they would be incomparably powerful. And if they showed up in the desert now, they would be a huge help in resolving the current crisis.

The key to freeing them was to become the Archbishop of Moonrebel. The Archbishop of Moonrebel’s power wouldn’t be limited to that. Based on what Xu Qing had learned recently from the Captain, he was fairly certain that the Archbishop of Moonrebel could take the Moonrebel Congregation from its illusory state and make it true and real. At that point, the Moonrebel Congregation… would no longer be the Moonrebel Congregation. It would be the precious treasure of an Imperial Sovereign! That level of mightiness could shake the lands of an entire region.

Xu Qing’s eyes flickered thoughtfully as he sat in the seat usually occupied by the Heir Apparent and analyzed the situation.

It’s a domain treasure! Furthermore, the Archbishop of Moonrebel has the ultimate level of privilege, and can remove the seals put in place by the traitorous vice-bishops. Then the Moonrebel cultivators will once again be able to enter the Moonrebel Congregation to recover from injuries and evade pursuit.

In the end, I can’t control when the Heir Apparent returns. But becoming the Archbishop of Moonrebel… will be the key to solving everything!

After everything he had gone through with the Captain recently, he had come to a much clearer understanding of the plans the Captain had laid out.

Becoming the Archbishop of Moonrebel, plus receiving help from the Heir Apparent and his brothers and sisters, combined with the power of all living beings in this region, plus all the cultivators, can be used to crush the Red Moon Cathedral before the red moon arrives. That’s the first major step in dealing with Crimson Mother.

Xu Qing looked up. His calm demeanor had spread to the others in the medicine shop. Ning Yan and everyone else seemed calmer.

Xu Qing harvested some more godchild blood from the world fragment and then went to Paramount Temple to deliver it to the Captain. In the past, the Moonrebel Congregation had always been a bustling place. But not now. Thanks to the sealing marks placed by the traitorous vice-bishops, no one could get inside.

At the moment, there was no one on the Moonrebel Congregation’s mountain. The temples were all closed, and no lamps burned within them. There was no incense either. The only signs of life came from Paramount Temple, where the constant booming echoed out like thunder. The door shook constantly, and looked like it might open at any time. In fact, light had started seeping out through the cracks on the side of the door, creating a very holy atmosphere. Occasionally, the entire mountain would be affected, and it would vibrate, sending out shockwaves into the surrounding void.

Although there had been other occasions during this epoch in which someone banged on the door, it had never occurred with this intensity. Unfortunately, no one was present to witness it, otherwise it would have been a big subject of discussion.

Inside Paramount Temple, the Crimson Mother totem on the door was now mostly blurry. Some of that was because of the godchild blood, as it was effective in erasing the totem. Another factor was the hard work the Captain was putting into it. Both he and Xu Qing knew that they were in a race for time, and both were doing everything possible.

When Xu Qing entered Paramount Temple, the Captain cried out excitedly from the door. “In no more than five days, little Ah Qing, I’ll be able to completely erase the totem. When that happens, we’ll be the Archbishops of Moonrebel!”

Xu Qing nodded and prepared to go all out to help the Captain open the door. Though the time situation was urgent, they should have enough time, as long as something completely unexpected didn’t happen.

As it turned out, something unexpected did happen.

On the third day of intensive efforts to open the door, the cultivators from the Red Moon Cathedral in the desert managed to create a unified front that mostly surrounded the desert. Wherever the cathedral cultivators went, everything turned as red as blood, both overhead and underfoot.

It was at that exact same moment that the leader of the cathedral’s desert extermination campaign, the pontiff himself, waved his scepter into the air to release a torrent of energy. All of the cathedral cultivators present dropped to their knees to prostrate, all while chanting in a monotone. The red color grew so strong it became liquid that swirled around and around. After ninety-nine rotations of the energy, the red-robed pontiff raised his scepter overhead.

A heaven-rending, earth-crushing sound erupted from above, as if a huge pair of hands were ripping open the sky.

Shockingly, a massive 5,000-kilometer rift opened up. Then, in an even more appalling development, blood began to spill out of the rift, becoming a blood rain that fell onto the desert.

The storm that protected the Bitter Life Mountains began to disappear because of the blood rain. But most shocking of all was the aura that emerged from the rift. It was so terrifying that, as it spread, it didn’t just affect the desert, but also the entire Moonrite Region. In the blink of an eye, all souls in the region were trembling in terror.

That was because the source of the aura was a patch of skin that was slowly coming out of the rift. It grew larger and larger, until it seemed to fill the sky. There were mountains on its surface, and it was decorated with suns, moons, stars, and heavenly bodies. It had innumerable warding spells and spell formations, and also contained souls from myriad species, all howling in grief and pain.

The skin was pure red, like a red hell, full of absolute evil. At the same time, it imparted a holy sensation. It was as if it was a gruish combination of righteousness and evil, of goodness and wickedness, of life and death.

Gradually, the sky grew so blurry that only the rift was visible. Below, the land twisted and distorted. Godly might abounded. Cathedral cultivators all dropped fanatically to their knees to kowtow.

Then, after the skin was fully stretched out, it shrank in on itself to form the shape of a person. An arm appeared. Then a torso… Eventually, a headless body was visible, slowly descending. As it dropped, the lands quaked and sank down. The storm collapsed, and the sand all became the color of blood.

The blood rain fell everywhere, forming rivers that made the mortal world seem like hell itself. And anguished howls drifted out from the body, causing the souls of everyone present to shiver.

This body was the Red Moon Cathedral’s greatest asset. It could suppress Smoldering Gods, and was a reserve power that could be used to punish all living beings in the region. It was Crimson Mother’s mortal husk!

Updated from frewebnovl.