The sky became redder.

Inside Heavenfire City, countless gazes and innumerable streams of divine will were focused on Xu Qing. Among the observers, it was possible to see expressions of surprise, shock, astonishment, and other complex emotions.

Silence reigned supreme.

Xu Qing’s actions had shaken everyone and proved how valiant he was. He definitely deserved to be the champion of round one! As of this moment, not one person flew out of the city to challenge him.

Xu Qing’s actions had truly shaken everyone deeply. If he had used the methods of cultivators, it would have been less dramatic. But he had used the power of gods. That left everyone feeling extremely disturbed. Cultivators had been dealing with gods for a long time, and there were even some who could use god magics. That was especially true of people known as godheralds.

But Xu Qing had just taken the future image of the death of a fourth-stage Void Returning cultivator and turned it into a reality. That was something rarely seen. In fact, for many cultivators present, it was their first time witnessing anything like it.

And the miserable fate of the Whitemarsh cultivator who had switched at the last moment before dying was still appalling. He couldn’t stop the blood from spraying out of his mouth as his five viscera and six bowels decayed. And the withering to his soul was irreversible. Destroying his major world didn’t just cause his cultivation base to decline, it also drained his life force. His body looked much older. And when he finally backed up by about 3,000 meters, other Whitemarsh cultivators clustered around him to help hold him up. At that point, he looked like an elderly second-stage Void Returning cultivator.

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Death energy abounded all over him, and his eyes shone with lingering fear and shock. Although he managed to escape with his life, when he thought back to the fight just now, he realized he had essentially already died once. If this was a battlefield, and the natural law protections of the city weren’t in place, he would definitely be dying right now.

That knowledge caused his lingering fear to intensify until he was shaking.

What was more, as Xu Qing looked at him from outside the city, the Whitemarsh averted his gaze. He didn’t dare to look at him directly.

Xu Qing looked away. However, he had already committed the details of the enemy’s aura to memory. Later on, he would find an opportunity to cut the weeds and eliminate the roots. With such thoughts on his mind, he turned to look at the Saia cultivator trapped in D-132.

He started walking forward. Every step he took caused ripples to flow out as if on the surface of water. Inside D-132, the power of misfortune was building up, and no amount of curse magic unleashed by the Saia cultivator did any good against it. All curse magic was dispelled by the misfortune. After all, the god authority of misfortune was a type of curse, and excelled at negating other similar divine abilities.

The Saia was trapped and unable to break free. He could only devolve into desolation and amnesia as the effects of misfortune built up.

Xu Qing’s approach accelerated the process. He was already on top of D-132, causing violet moonlight to spill down from his fourth-level god state. It both covered D-132 and bolstered it.

But then, the moonlight suddenly changed directions. Instead of falling down, it converged in front of Xu Qing in the form of a violet screen. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

Then a finger appeared out of nowhere, to be blocked by the screen of light. It was a faint touch. But ripples spread across the violet light, turning it white. In short order, it transformed… into a jade stone!

From a distance, it was possible to see the light of the jade stone spreading. Wherever it went, it changed the violet moonlight. In hardly a breath of time, an arc-shaped jade stone appeared in midair. Having lost any of the power of the violet moon, it dropped down toward the ground.

A thump rang out as it hit D-132 and shattered. Then, D-132 itself began to transform into the same jade.

In response to the sudden and unexpected development, Xu Qing didn’t hesitate to back up and wave his finger out in front of him. Even as D-132 transformed into jade, it vanished into thin air. Some distance away, Xu Qing looked up, his eyes gleaming as he studied the area where the finger appeared.

In that spot, glowing light revealed an extremely attractive young man in the clothing of a scholar. He almost looked human.

After materializing, he smiled at Xu Qing.

“My little companions have taken a liking to you, and they want you to become like them.”

The young man’s soft voice didn’t contain even a hint of anger. It was as if he was just stating an incontrovertible fact about the future. His gaze even seemed soft and welcoming.

Xu Qing didn’t take any action, but his eyes glittered. Although it was only his first time seeing this individual in person, thanks to Grand Prince’s jade slip, he knew exactly who he was. He thought back to the description.

“Fan Shishuang is also in the third stage of Void Returning, and he ranks third. He also has great circle battle prowess. In fact, he actually fought a battle to the death with an expert from another species who had just stepped into Smoldering God, and made it out alive. He’s a member of the stewarded nation of High God Moonfire.”

In addition to the general description, there were also some images of him in action. Anyone who he touched would be turned into jade. That was Fan Shishuang’s custom. He liked taking enemy cultivators and converting them into jade puppets that followed him around as attendants.

A Firemoon Darkheaven chosen that surpasses Tuo Shishan….

Xu Qing was taking the situation very seriously. Moment’s ago, he had experienced an intense sensation of deadly crisis, and that was especially true considering that he had sensed godly power in the jade attack.

As he looked around, one jade puppet after another appeared around him, each dressed in different clothing. All of them stood unmoving as they stared at him.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? I guess you’re just agreeing to cooperate?” Fan Shishuang smiled as he looked Xu Qing up and down. He looked pleased. “Turning that state of yours into a statue for my house would be perfectly suitable. I advise you to not struggle. If you accidentally ruined that state, it would be a big pity. Also, you’re not a match for me.”

Fan Shishuang smiled softly and gently swished his sleeve. A pulse of great circle Void Returning energy swept out, causing the sky to tremble and the lands to shake. A tempest spread out from him, connecting the ground to the sky.

Winds screamed, causing the night to undulate. Just barely, it was possible to see streaks like meteors, which were dao lineaments. At first the effect wasn’t very dramatic. But as the dao lineaments grew more numerous, they reached a terrifying level that made it seem like it was raining meteors.

An incomparable energy was building that Xu Qing had never seen on a Void Returning cultivator before, and it caused his pupils to constrict. A host of afterimages sprang up behind him, like legions of gods and devils. Every single one was extremely lifelike, and glared downward with terrifying pressure.

This was the hallmark of second-stage Void Returning. That said, Xu Qing had never heard of anyone forming images of gods and devils.

Normally speaking, a third-stage Void Returning expert could convert divine will into illusory bubbles. But Fan Shishuang wasn’t doing that.

The bubbles weren’t divine will. Instead, they were the gods and devils. They contained both life force and death itself, and as they formed, crumbled, and reformed, they created a massive tableau. It was a super-massive major world that filled the canopy of heaven, sending out endless fluctuations that surpassed those of ordinary Void Returning worlds by ten times over. It was illusory, but it still contained mountains and rivers, suns and moons, and living beings alongside natural and magical laws. It was just like an actual world. In fact, if it was just slightly more true and real, it would be the hallmark of a Smoldering God.

As the scene developed, Fan Shishuang’s aura spread, causing Xu Qing’s expression to turn grim. That aura… surpassed the middle-aged Whitemarsh by many times over. Comparing the two was like comparing the full moon with some faint stars. Both were manifestations of fourth-stage Void Returning, but the battle prowess disparity was dramatic.

“In ten breaths of time, it will all be over.”

Fan Shishuang grinned in a very nefarious way as he looked at Xu Qing, then extended his right hand and pushed out slowly.

That motion caused thunderous rumbling to fill the canopy of heaven outside the city. Astonishingly, the sky was now emanating a jade-like glow. It was the same with the lands below. It was all centered on Xu Qing, and was turning everything the color of jade. The jade light swept around, then shot toward Xu Qing with mountain-toppling, sea-draining force.

A sensation of danger exploded within Xu Qing. His flesh trembled with pain, making him feel like he was facing an actual Smoldering God. At the critical juncture, Xu Qing took a deep breath. The desire to do battle started burning in his eyes. He wanted to know exactly where his limits were, and how far away he was from the number three Firemoon Darkheaven chosen.

He lifted his right hand, and ripples spread out from beneath his feet, turning into a surface of water. It was none other than the beginning of Fishing the Moon in the Well.

Countless gazes and streams of divine will from the city were closely watching the battle. The meaning of the fight had changed significantly once Fan Shishuang stepped in.

However, just as Xu Qing and Fan Shishuang were about to clash, God Mountain suddenly trembled. It was a simple tremor, but it resulted in the sky shattering and the lands cracking.

Fan Shishuang’s jade light dimmed, then disappeared. At the same time, the nefarious look on his face transformed into one of piety as he dropped to his knees and kowtowed in the direction of the mountain.

He wasn’t the only one. All cultivators in the city started to breathe heavily as they ducked their heads and bowed to God Mountain.

Xu Qing, being unable to release any divine abilities, turned and bowed to God Mountain.

At that point, a coquettish voice echoed through the sky and lands, reaching the hearts of all cultivators. It was a thrumming, godly voice. It was High God Starfire!

“The first round is over, so the idea was to give you all some time to rest. But since you seem so energetic, we can forget the resting. The second round of the Great Hunt will begin with a teleportation to the Mountain and Sea Region!”