A lot of cultivators were observing the two sealed areas not too far away from God Mountain. In fact, the streams of divine will only continued to increase. Most were various species associated with the Firemoon Darkheavens, although members of the main species were also represented. The fluctuations had attracted them, after which they were able to read the clues to see what was happening. The presence of the nine servants on the mountain peak ensured that everyone realized Tuo Shishan was involved. As a result, everyone felt fairly calm.

They all knew that Tuo Shishan was from the Darkheaven Clan. He had been extraordinary since childhood, and was considered one of the top five chosen among the Firemoon Darkheaven people. Once he took action, there was no chance he would lose.

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It was true that Xu Qing had a spirit that could conquer mountains and rivers, and had methods that no one could afford to underestimate. But there are always people more important than you, and there is always a heaven beyond heaven. There was no gifted person among humankind, not even one of their chosen, who could compare to the Firemoon Darkheavens. The disparity was just too immense. However, as time continued to pass, their confidence began to waver. After four hours went by in which Tuo Shishan had not escaped, surprise began to build in their hearts, and speculation ran wild.

“Something strange is going on here!”

“This Xu Qing’s sealing methods… are not simple!”

Tuo Shishan’s nine servants were really starting to get worried.

As far as they could tell, there was only one reason things could be playing out this way. And that was for something unimaginable to exist within Xu Qing’s sealing area. There seemed no other explanation for why their young lord would have such trouble breaking free.

Master Gravesparrow was also feeling a bit hesitant, and was thinking something similar to the nine servants.

Only the Captain seemed more relaxed than ever. However, inside was a different story.

That Tuo Shishan is definitely pulling some sort of scam. He seems heroic and honorable, but he could still be full of crap. Otherwise, why else would he have the crappy name ‘Tuo Shishan?’ 1

That said, the Captain still wasn’t truly worried. Considering how long little Ah Qing had been following him around, he had long since transformed from a naive youngster into the type of person that even the Captain had a hard time scamming. Considering all the hard training the Captain had put him through, it seemed unlikely that a simplistic situation like this would be very troublesome for him.

I worked really hard to bring up little Ah Qing, and by now, he’s got a broad depth of knowledge. He can suffer through just about anything. But there’s one thing he won’t suffer, and that’s a loss. I bet that crappy Tuo Shishan is really starting to get worried.

The Captain’s speculation was absolutely correct.

Inside of D-132, Tuo Shishan stood in front of the main entrance of the cell block, grinding his teeth and cursing constantly.

“Dammit!”

The more he looked at the door, the more helpless he felt. He had already tried numerous ways of skirting the Dawning Sun to open the door. But every single one of his attempts had failed. No matter what ideas he came up with, there was no way to open the door without detonating the Dawning Sun. There were even a few times in which the Dawning Sun had started to pulse with the energy of self-detonation. Tuo Shishan couldn’t be sure if it was a bluff, but it was completely frightening and left him fearing for his life. At this point, he was starting to go slightly mad.

How shameless! I can’t believe he put a domain treasure like that in here…. What kind of honorable person goes around with a domain treasure? How am I supposed to get past that thingy to escape? Xu Qing, oh, Xu Qing. I really underestimated you. I can’t believe you’re so sinister!

That said, no matter how crafty you are, you’re not on my level. I have the soul of a Smoldering God in my sealed area. There’s no way you’ll be able to get past that obstacle. Maybe I’m trapped, but you can keep dreaming if you think you’ll get free! Worst case scenario, we have a stalemate!

Tuo Shishan chuckled coldly.

The same Xu Qing who had him grinding his teeth constantly was inside the three-colored sealing area, frowning as he looked at the three-colored glow ahead of him.

Within that glow was a hale and hearty old man. He sat down cross-legged in the light, his expression indifferent, his gaze calm as he looked at Xu Qing.

“Don’t waste your energy, human child. With me here, you can’t leave this place.”

Xu Qing stood there silently. He had employed a number of methods in his attempts to escape, but they were as good as throwing a stone ox into the ocean in dealing with this Smoldering God’s soul. Whatever divine abilities he used, the old man could negate them with the wave of a hand. What was more, the pressure from the sealing grew stronger and stronger, almost as if it was connected to the old man. He wouldn’t back down, and the seal wouldn’t open.

From all of this, Xu Qing could only come to the conclusion that this wasn’t the soul of an ordinary Smoldering God. That was especially true considering how closely tied he was to the sealed area.

I bet this place is one of that Smoldering God’s major worlds!

As Xu Qing thought such things, the old man smiled faintly. Sounding very casual, he said, “You most likely already guessed that this place was made from one of my major worlds. Outside of here, I was a Smoldering God. Therefore, inside of this major world, I am a god.

“That said, I won’t go hard on you. Just be obedient and stay put. But if you don’t pipe down….” The old man licked his lips, and suddenly, his gaze became malevolent. “I’ll eat you!”

Xu Qing looked up and studied the Smoldering God soul for a time. His eyes began to glitter.

Although he was confident that Tuo Shishan wouldn’t be able to escape confinement, he also didn’t want things to end in a tie, which was where things seemed to be heading. Furthermore, he didn’t like having his life threatened. Eyes narrowing, he made a decision.

There was one other thing he was prepared to try, and he felt reasonably confident it would work. With his decision made, he tapped his bag of holding to produce an object.

Seeing that Xu Qing wasn’t giving up, the old Smoldering God’s face flickered with displeasure, and his eyes gleamed with cold light.

In his opinion, humans were just too stubborn. Just as he was about to snort coldly and crush the human, he sensed what was coming out of Xu Qing’s bag of holding, and it caused his eyes to narrow. Then, both his gaze and his divine will locked onto the object.

It was a command medallion.

“Is that…?” The old man’s heart started pounding. “Emperor Ancient Spirit’s netherworld medallion??”

The tempest within him caused the light surrounding him to start rippling dramatically.

Xu Qing was actually somewhat surprised, as he hadn’t expected the old man to recognize the medallion. It was indeed the very same teleportation medallion Emperor Ancient Spirit had given him to deliver food. The fact that the old man recognized it was going to make this entire situation easier.

Xu Qing held the command medallion aloft, looked straight at the old Smoldering God, and calmly said, “This is a teleportation medallion that leads right to Emperor Ancient Spirit. The venerable Emperor Ancient Spirit has been starving for quite a while now. For the past few years, I’ve been responsible for feeding hīm.

“Truth be told, Senior, you would make the perfect snack for Emperor Ancient Spirit. Because you have no fleshly body, hе? won’t get any food stuck between hīs teeth. Your soul is clearly plump and full of flavor.

“That said, I’d rather not cause any trouble for you. All you have to do is be obedient and let me pass. But if you don’t pipe down….” His gaze hardened as he looked at the old man. “I’ll teleport you to Emperor Ancient Spirit to be the next meal!”

The old man’s heart raced as he realized Xu Qing was saying almost the exact same thing that he had just said earlier. He looked at Xu Qing. He looked at the command medallion. He hesitated.

Xu Qing’s expression was the same as ever. Without giving the old man any time to think the situation over, he pushed down on the medallion, which instantly resulted in bright light shining out. A stream of netherworld energy rushed out, quickly turning into a black vortex. Rumbling sounds echoed out, along with something eerie and corrosive. It was death energy. There was also a sigh that sounded both incredibly hungry and profoundly ancient.

“So hungry….”

When the old man heard those words, he shivered dramatically.

Xu Qing’s eyes gleamed as he prepared to finish the teleportation. ƒrēewebnovel.com

All of a sudden, a look of decisiveness appeared on the old man’s face. Shooting to his feet, he blurted, “Hey now, young friend, we can negotiate! Let’s be friends.”

Xu Qing looked at him coldly.

After a brief bit of negotiating, the old man stepped back, smiled, and let Xu Qing pass.

“Many thanks, Senior.” Xu Qing was as polite as ever, so it was no surprise that he would bow thankfully before leaving.

The old man’s face hardened, but he kept smiling.

The next instant, Xu Qing’s view of the three-colored dimension blurred, and then he was outside. The moment he was out, numerous gazes locked onto him. Incredulous gasps rang out everywhere.

Tuo Shishan’s nine servants reacted with visible astonishment.

Master Gravesparrow looked excited, and the Captain grinned.

Xu Qing ignored all of that. As he hovered in midair, he looked at D-132. As the guard of the place, all it took was a thought for him to check everything that was happening inside. Then he waved his hand. D-132 vibrated, then blurred. A moment later, Tuo Shishan appeared.

“You lose,” Xu Qing said quietly.

Tuo Shishan looked at him, all while cursing inwardly. He was also a bit hesitant, as he wasn’t sure how Xu Qing had freed himself. Based on his understanding, that should have been impossible.

Did the old man actually let him go?

Tuo Shishan was somewhat at a loss. However, he had spoken some very grand words earlier, and with so many people watching, he would lose all face if he went back on his own agreement. Face darkening, he waved his hand, sending over 900 mountains over to Xu Qing. He kept only one.

Xu Qing waved his hand to collect them. Now he had over 1,800 forbidden mountains orbiting overhead in a truly shocking display. Seeing that Tuo Shishan had kept his word, Xu Qing turned and flew off in the direction of God Mountain.

The Captain chuckled and followed. Master Gravesparrow excitedly did the same.

The shocked onlookers made way for them.

After they were off in the distance, the depressed and suspicious Tuo Shishan took back his three-colored sealing pearl. Once it was in his hand, he sent a message inside.

“Old grandpa, why did you let him go?” 2

Furious, the Smoldering God replied, “Damn it all! That human brat had a command medallion from Emperor Ancient Spirit! He used it to threaten me! I had no choice! That codger Emperor Ancient Spirit has been starving for years. If I got sent to hīm, I’d be nothing but a snack. You think this is my fault? What took you so long to get free?”

Tuo Shishan only felt more depressed now. “He had the door sealed with a Dawning Sun! What was I supposed to do?”

The old grandpa inhaled sharply, but said nothing further.

Tuo Shishan likewise said nothing further.

1. The Captain makes a somewhat juvenile joke here that my kids would love. Actually, it’s the kind of joke I would make and Madam Deathblade would roll her eyes at. It’s essentially impossible to render in translation because it involves wordplay relating to the specific characters in Tuo Shishan’s name. The Captain uses different characters for Tuo and Shi than the actual characters from the name. The tones on the characters are not the same, but the general pronunciation is similar, and the pinyin is the same. Instead of the Tuo surname, the Captain uses a different character pronounced tuo that means “lump, pile of.” And he uses a different character pronounced shi that means “poop, crap, feces.” The Shan character (mountain) remains the same. So instead of the characters in Tuo Shishan’s name being ‘inscribe – stone – mountain’ they become ‘pile – crap – mountain.’ The Captain will use this name a couple times, and in order to highlight it, I’ll use the adjective ‘crappy’ along with it. Whenever you see the Captain referring to Tuo Shishan as ‘crappy,’ you’ll know that he’s using the dad-joke pun name. ☜

2. The term used here ‘old grandpa’ could theoretically imply that the old man is the grandfather or great-grandfather of Tuo Shishan. More likely, it’s just a term of respect for an elderly person, similar to how the Heir Apparent was called ‘old grandpa.’ ☜