“Godfire?” Xu Qing’s eyes glittered as he looked at his shadow beneath his feet. The shadow twitched a few times, then cautiously sent out some more emotional fluctuations.

“Fire… rummmmbbble….”

Xu Qing frowned slightly and realized he actually missed Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior a bit. Occasionally he could understand the shadow’s fluctuations, but more often than not, he wasn’t sure what they meant.

What was more, ‘godfire’ was a very sensitive term. Based on what Xu Qing had learned in the Moonrite Region, one of the paths to godly ascension involved lighting godfire. Both Crimson Mother and the godchild walked that path. That said, the former succeeded, while the latter didn’t manage to fully ignite the godfire, and ended up burning himself to death. Therefore, hearing the shadow say ‘godfire’ was a surprise to Xu Qing.

“You can form godfire?” Xu Qing asked.

The shadow nodded, then shook its head. Suddenly getting nervous, it added something.

“Ruuuummmblee….”

Xu Qing frowned. After considering the matter, he took steps to secure the area, then took out one of Crimson Mother’s flesh feathers.

When the shadow saw the feather, it got excited and spread out on the ground, until the building’s ground floor was like a black pond.

After sensing the emotions from the shadow, Xu Qing tossed the feather toward it.

Before the feather could reach the ground, the shadow stretched up, forming a large mouth that devoured the feather. It became like a black hole that could consume anything and everything. The feather disappeared in the blink of an eye, and then the shadow started twitching and expanding.

Xu Qing paid close attention the entire time. About an hour later, the shadow’s fluctuations started dying down. The shadow seemed to get anxious, shrinking back to gather beneath Xu Qing’s feet. Then it sent him fluctuations of incomparable longing.

“Delicious… devour… need….”

After some more thought, Xu Qing checked his stockpile of Crimson Mother flesh. Though it pained him slightly, he took out another fist-sized chunk. To see a piece that large caused the shadow to instantly surge with elation. It formed a host of shadow spikes that undulated up and down, and its numerous eyes shone with excitement. It also opened its mouth wide, from within which drifted the sound of flowing saliva. In fact, in the hope of securing a shot to eat the flesh, the shadow made a shadow tail for itself, which it wagged back and forth almost like a puppy.

It was hard to know what it had devoured in the past that gave it the idea to do this…. Regardless, it was an effective tactic.

After noting the shadow’s wagging tail, Xu Qing tossed the meat to it.

Instantly, the shadow spikes pierced the flesh and dragged it down, where vicious swallowing sounds could be heard. The shadow’s fluctuations were ebullient by this point.

Unfortunately, it actually proved difficult for the shadow to handle such a large piece. Soon, it started to destabilize, until a boom rang out and the shadow exploded, shattering into hundreds of pieces that splattered around like ink onto a table. The piece of flesh the shadow had just swallowed was now in the open. A fraction of a moment later, the hundreds of pieces of the shadow became like starving wild dogs that lunged back onto the flesh and started devouring it again. They exploded again. The cycle continued after that as the shadow stubbornly persisted.

The night passed. Around dawn, after the shadow had exploded numerous times, it finally devoured the last bit of flesh. It had to struggle, but it managed to prevent itself from exploding. Yet it didn’t seem satisfied. While managing to stay whole, it sent some fawning fluctuations to Xu Qing.

“Milord… obedient… I… need….”

“You ate a whole piece and yet didn’t transform,” Xu Qing replied coldly. “What good are you?”

Xu Qing was convinced that there was a distinct possibility the shadow actually could transform, but was holding back. And that didn’t please Xu Qing at all. He was just about to tap into the violet crystal and force the shadow to spit up what it had devoured, while simultaneously teaching it a hard lesson.

Seeing the violet light build up on Xu Qing, the shadow shivered and quickly sent out pleading fluctuations.

“Not that… no eat… forbidden region… can do.”

Xu Qing ignored the shadow. Violet light surged out from him and slammed into the shadow, which let loose a howl of grief. Then the shadow exploded, and a half-chunk of flesh appeared.

Xu Qing reached out to grab it.

The shadow trembled anxiously as it watched its food about to be taken away. Then it began swirling anxiously around Xu Qing, forming a black vortex. frew𝐞bn𝗼v𝐥.𝚌𝗼𝚖

“Devour… devour…. Ruuuuuuumble. I… stronger… useful!”

Xu Qing looked coldly at the anxiety-wracked shadow. “You don’t need more flesh?”

“No… forbidden region… can….” the shadow cautiously projected.

Xu Qing didn’t ask any more questions. Based on the previous times the shadow had reached a higher level, he could only conclude that its breakthroughs were related to mutagen. Mutagen existed in other places than in this flesh. Any forbidden region would have a lot of it.

Considering it related to the shadow reaching a higher level, and also given Xu Qing’s speculation about the use of the term godfire, he quickly vanished and materialized outside of the county capital. As soon as he appeared, he started moving. It was as if the ground beneath his feet were contracted significantly, as every step he took propelled him a vast distance. Spirit Trove cultivators were able to take initial forays into manipulating natural and magical laws.

Two hours later, Xu Qing was far from the county capital, and was nearing another prefecture. This prefecture was named Spiritsoil, and it was the smallest prefecture in Sea-Sealing County. It was so-named because it had a number of forbidden regions with spirit soil inside.

In this case, the ‘spirit’ in the name didn’t refer to spirit energy, but rather, to departed spirits of the dead. Those forbidden regions were like playgrounds for grues and spirits. Usually, cultivators could traverse the outer regions, but going too far inside would be risking almost certain death. Only cultivators in Nascent Soul or higher, who also had a bit of luck, could come out alive. This was also a route taken by the ghost galleons that traveled between ghost wards. 1

Upon arriving, Xu Qing actually saw a ghost galleon. Though it was currently daytime, the black clouds covering the sky, and the thick mist filling the air, reduced visibility and light in all directions. The massive, dilapidated ghost galleon appeared through the mist, making its way through the dome of heaven.

Xu Qing observed it, his facial expression the same as ever. His cultivation base wasn’t anything like it was years ago. His status and identity were completely different as well. As the governor, he could draw on the destiny aura of Sea-Sealing County. Besides, he wasn’t interested in causing any trouble for the ghost galleon.

Meanwhile, the ghost galleon treated Xu Qing with deep respect. After detecting him, the mist around it went still, and then a host of ghostly figures rose up from the ship and bowed deeply to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing nodded, passed it, and headed into the spirit soil forbidden region. After he was gone, the mist around the ghost galleon seethed again, and it continued on its way. It vanished, and the dome of heaven turned bright again.

Sometime later, Xu Qing spotted the spirit soil forbidden region up ahead.

In Spiritsoil Prefecture, there were a total of thirteen spirit soil forbidden regions. Every one of them was ancient, with a history going back countless years. According to certain ancient records, these forbidden regions went back to the time of Emperor Eastglory. At one time, it was actually a spirit soil forbidden ground. But then something changed. Overnight, the forbidden ground collapsed and turned into thirteen smaller forbidden regions. The ancient records didn’t go into the reasons for that. However, there were certain bits of evidence left behind, and later analysis led people to the conclusion that it was probably the result of a battle between gods. The truth of the matter was buried in history.

The forbidden region up ahead wasn’t very different from the forbidden regions back in South Phoenix that always had scavenger basecamps near them. From a distance, it looked like a black jungle. All plants and vegetation within it were the color black, and they emanated a sensation of decay. The mutagen was strong, making a black fog that filled the forbidden region. From within it came howls that touched the soul. Even just getting close, it was possible to spot skeletons trudging about in the jungle. There were also a variety of grues.

As Xu Qing stood on the border, he noticed an old woman inside.

She wore burial garments, and had a pale complexion. Grinning, she rushed toward Xu Qing. Her grin turned wider, until her gaping mouth opened to reveal a host of fangs. The noxious stench of a corpse surrounded her.

Xu Qing’s expression was the same as ever. He had encountered many, many grues on the path that he had walked, and wasn’t surprised by those here. They could all be considered food for his shadow.

“I’ll give you one chance. If you don’t achieve a breakthrough, then I’ll have no further use of you.”

The shadow shivered, then sent out fluctuations of determination. Without hesitation, it spread from Xu Qing’s feet and into the forbidden region.

The moment the shadow appeared inside, the old woman who had been rushing toward Xu Qing stopped in place. Suddenly seeming like she had spotted a deadly archenemy, she turned to flee. She was too slow. The shadow sped into the forbidden region, swept over her, and swallowed her up. The shadow didn’t stop there. As chewing sounds rang out, it spread out in all directions.

Xu Qing didn’t follow. He stood outside the forbidden region, using his connection with the shadow to monitor its actions. Soon, his expression became one of curiosity.

What’s it doing?

Based on what he could sense, the extent to which the shadow could spread was now far beyond its previous limit. In fact, it was almost unbelievable. The shadow had filled the entire forbidden region! And then, the forbidden region blurred as though the entire place was being devoured. It only took a moment for Xu Qing to realize that it didn’t ‘seem’ like the place was being devoured. Rather… it was being devoured!

It grew fainter and more blurry, and then the border regions started to disappear. A day later, Xu Qing was stunned by what was right in front of him. It was… absolutely empty. The forbidden region was gone!

As of that moment, Spiritsoil Prefecture didn’t have thirteen forbidden regions. It had one less!

The shadow had devoured the entire thing. The lands were gray, without a scrap of life force. Nor did it contain death, or any energy at all for that matter. The entire world was just gray.

There was also a writhing black shadow. Chanting like that of a god drifted out from it.

“Three primordials nurture nine energies make up five earthly things form into seven stars as apertures; all beings’ souls reach the peak of three laws with starlight shining on me, Dark Nethervoid.”

1. Ghost wards were introduced in chapter 246.1. Ghost galleons were introduced in chapter 389. ☜