In the Mountain and Sea Region, the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands was both physically and figuratively the core of the region. From an outside perspective, it was covered with fog rife with both mystery and death.

Every time the Great Hunt occurred, there would be people who went inside and never came out. However, the stories that constantly spread about the ninedawns ensured that, from generation to generation, there was no end to the Firemoon cultivators that were drawn to the place.

Master Stillwinter could be considered among them. In the past, he had considered entering the place to explore it. But the more he learned about the location, including secrets that weren’t known to the public, the more speculations cropped up…. In the end, he didn’t dare.

Ninedawns… is a very special name.

Master Stillwinter’s eyes gleamed as he looked into the fog. Thinking back to the fight with Xu Qing, he had to admit that, though Xu Qing wasn’t on his level, killing him wasn’t exactly something easy to do.

He definitely counts as this generation’s number one chosen in humankind. Or at least… he was.

Master Stillwinter looked away and flicked his sleeve. A blurry blood clone appeared in front of him and bowed deeply.

“Go tell King Brightsouth that Xu Qing is dead,” Master Stillwinter said coolly. He turned, floated up into the air, and vanished. From his perspective, it didn’t matter exactly when Xu Qing died. The fact was that he had entered the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands, and thus, the infection of the fog would ensure that he could never leave.

***

Xu Qing… had already picked up on that point!

He was surrounded by gray fog, and his expression was dour. The moment he entered, the fog swept toward him with such greed and longing that it seemed alive. It seemed like it wanted to absorb him. The fog wasn’t mutagen, but rather, something else.

When Xu Qing’s violet godsource touched the gray fog, it felt like it was permanently restricted. At the same time, his soul threads wilted listlessly. It was as if the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands was specifically antagonistic to gods, and thus, everything related to gods was rejected by it. Xu Qing’s god state began to melt away and destabilize.

My violet moon godsource comes from Crimson Mother…. Although it’s not comparable to her, on a substructural level, and a personhood level, it’s the same. Yet this gray fog can suppress it!

Xu Qing had known from the beginning that the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands was a complicated place, and now that was clearer than ever.

If it was just a suppression of things related to gods, it might not have been a big deal. But Xu Qing quickly realized that his cultivation base power was also being rejected and suppressed. The furnaces in his secret troves were about to go out. Even his heavenly dao… was unexpectedly going to sleep.

Everything is being rejected?

Xu Qing frowned. What was even more unexpected was that he was able to sense some of the special power of the gray fog. Like bonds of karma, he was restricted and bound… making it impossible to flee this place.

After some thought, he tried to take a step back. He unleashed all the strength he could muster to make it happen, but after taking only one step, felt like he couldn’t even move.

Then he experienced a sensation of deadly crisis hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of times as powerful as he had sensed when dealing with Master Stillwinter. It filled him from head to toe and made him shake so hard he felt like he might collapse.

Then he heard whispering sounds coming from the surrounding fog. All of the voices were saying the same thing, and their sounds combined became like the roar of heavenly thunder.

“Die!”

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The word contained infinite fury and rage. In fact, Xu Qing hadn’t encountered killing intent as intense as this ever before in his life.

He could sense that if he took another step back, then the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands would unleash destructive power that he couldn’t possibly defend against. He would be killed in body and soul. However, because of the force of expulsion pushing against him, moving forward was going to be very difficult. And if the force of expulsion kept up, he would eventually be turned into a mortal. Going back meant certain death.

It wasn’t a common thing for Xu Qing to find himself in an impossible situation. Eyes narrowing, he suppressed his frustration and forced himself to remain calm as he studied his surroundings.

He was currently in the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands, but had only just passed over the border. The fog here was thick compared to the outside, but was actually thin compared to the depths of the place.

Things weren’t very clear, but they were clear enough to get a general idea of what was around him. There were no plants. There were no mountains. There was no mutagen! The ground beneath his feet was a spongy marsh. Within the black marsh were countless skeletons. It was impossible to say how many years they had been there, untouched by sunlight.

The entire area seemed both ancient and desolate. The only sound to be heard was the sizzling of Xu Qing’s god state as it continued to melt. That was the sound made by the invasion of the fog.

As his god state continued to destabilize, he became less and less capable of defending himself.

If I just stand here, I might be able to resist the invasion for a bit longer. However, that’s not going to resolve the situation. And since I can’t go back, then… rather than sit around and wait to die, I might as well go in further. Let’s see what these ninedawns are like. Maybe… I can figure out a way to survive.

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered as he made his decision and started walking. He took every step with full vigilance, taking care not to sink down into the muck, but at the same time, defending himself against the fog.

Six hours passed.

As Xu Qing trekked into the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands, he didn’t see any signs of life. Nor did he find any of the ninedawns beasts.

The place was so huge it seemingly had no end. Other than the enveloping fog, it had nothing inside. The only change he noticed was that the ground got softer as he went in.

Eventually, his speed declined. His fourth-level god state couldn’t last any longer, and reverted to his third-level god state. After that he dropped to the second-level god state. And finally the first-level god state.

Ultimately, all of his soul threads went still. The violet moon was dormant. Xu Qing’s true form was now visible on the marsh. The fog invaded, while taboo poison spread from inside of him.

The taboo poison personhood was on a higher level than Crimson Mother’s godsource, so it lasted longer. But as time passed, Xu Qing’s anxiety increased as his taboo poison weakened. And then, under the pressure of the fog, the taboo poison… went dormant.

Also dormant were Xu Qing’s secret troves. They went dark one by one. Finally, the flames in the secret trove furnaces went out. The greed of the gray fog grew stronger, until it was like a fiendish devil stalking around him, looking for any opportunity to pounce on him.

But then a bronze incense burner appeared atop Xu Qing’s head. It looked completely ancient, and emanated strange fluctuations and streams of black smoke. It was some 300 meters high in the air, and its black smoke flowed down like a waterfall, surrounding Xu Qing and blocking the fog. This was the same incense burner Xu Qing had taken from the Whitemarsh cultivator named Sir Heavenhark, back during their fight over the ninth forbidden mountain in that forbidden region. 1

With that item, Sir Heavenhark was able to defend against Xu Qing’s taboo poison, and thus successfully step into that ninth mountain. That alone made it obvious how formidable it was.

With the protective smoke around Xu Qing, his dormant cultivation base and godsource stirred again. That karmic-like tug was only getting stronger; to a certain degree, it also reduced the pressure on Xu Qing.

Unfortunately… he could sense that the incense ring inside the incense burner was being worn away rapidly, and wouldn’t last very much longer. Given the intensity of the invasion, it wouldn’t last much more than an incense stick’s worth of time.2

I don’t have that much time to get my godsource and cultivation base back to normal. But even that will only be a temporary solution….

Xu Qing’s expression was grim as he looked around. From what he could tell, he was fairly deep into the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands, but wasn’t anywhere near the center. Other than fog, he hadn’t seen much other than marshlands.

I wonder what’s under the surface of the marsh?

Xu Qing looked down at the black marsh and decided that he shouldn’t be the one to experiment.

“Little Shadow,” he said. His shadow appeared beneath his feet on the surface of the marsh. It sent weak fluctuations his way and made sure to highlight the portions of itself that had been burned. It was clearly trying to remind Xu Qing that it was injured.

Xu Qing ignored it. “Go see what’s below the surface.”

Little Shadow felt it was very unfair, but after all the years, it had come to accept its fate. Thus, it sank into the muck below and then spread out.

After going down only about 9 meters, the shadow suddenly spasmed and let loose a howl of grief. It even started to fade away.

“Pain… decay… disperse… afraid….”

Xu Qing remained unmoved, and focused on just sensing what was below.

When Little Shadow realized Xu Qing was ignoring it, there was no choice but to ignore the feeling of being dispersed and simply go deeper.

Soon it reached a depth of 30 meters. 150 meters. Eventually it was 300 meters down. It was surrounded by muck. The sensation of fading into nothing was stronger than ever, but Little Shadow managed to send out some pleading emotional fluctuations.

“Continue… die… afraid… please….”

Xu Qing mulled the situation over. “If I die here, so do you. But if you help me get out of here, then I promise that after you die, I’ll figure out a way to resurrect you.”

Little Shadow could sense the determination in his voice. Shivering, it erupted with even stronger fluctuations as it dropped down further.

600 meters. 900 meters. 1,500 meters….

The sensation of fading into nothing caused Little Shadow to moan with agony. It began to crumble, until eventually turning into dozens of threads, one of which headed back toward Xu Qing. The rest kept going down further in a very suicidal fashion.

The shadow threads crumbled one after another. The remainder interlocked like a web as they continued to descend. The howling and destruction continued. After about ten breaths of time passed. Little Shadow had collapsed dozens of times, turning into hundreds of shadow threads. But eventually there was only one left that reached a depth of 3,000 meters.

Just before it collapsed, it transmitted an image into Xu Qing’s mind.

When he saw that image, he shivered from head to toe. “Is that…?”

1. The incense burner was featured in the fight that took place in chapters 828 and 829. ☜

2. There are many types of incense, and one is a type in which the incense is shaped into concentric rings. Here’s a picture of an incense ring and the burner it fits in. ☜