The mountain range trembled. Cracks appeared in the boulders, spreading out rapidly from the spot where Xu Qing was holed up. They proliferated like a spiderweb, growing increasingly dense.

After three breaths of time passed, the entire massive mountain collapsed as surely as if it had been made from clumps of dust that lost their ability to adhere to each other. The wind blew, causing something like a sandstorm to spread in all directions. What also spread was the terrifying aura from the depths of the ground.

There was something domineering about that aura, and also something as majestic as a god. It spread out like a shock wave. Wherever it passed, huge ravines opened up the ground. At the same time, the plants in the surrounding rainforest wilted and became part of the sandstorm.

The same thing happened to any beasts nearby. The effects spread for about 500 kilometers before they stopped. At the very center of the sandstorm, in what had once been the mountain range, were countless ravines snaking out from a central crater.

Floating up from the bottom of the crater was a person. He exuded a pressure that would shake anyone to the core, and caused the sandstorm to become even more violent. The wind affected the dome of heaven, which also transformed thanks to the emergence of this figure. Black fire radiated off him, filling the ravines and making the entire place seem like the Yellow Springs, full of death and slaughter. Countless soul threads whipped about, obscuring the sky and surrounding the figure.

In the gaps between the fire and the soul threads, it was possible to see a young man. His facial features weren’t clear, but he had a long head of hair that glittered with violet light within the fire. As he emerged from the crater and hovered in the sandstorm, his black robe whipped in the wind, making him seem unusually fierce.

He looked up. His features were spectacularly good-looking, like a god that no one would dare to profane. He had a cold, apathetic look in his eyes, and on his forehead glittered a nefarious, circular mark that was the sign of a mage!

He was none other than Xu Qing.

Spirit Trove… great circle.

He looked down at the ravines below, then at the soul threads around him. He took a deep breath. He had spent more time in Spirit Trove than any other level. It wasn’t because of the difficulty level, per se, but rather, because his secret troves were all different from the ordinary kind.

Other people had secret troves. He had god troves, an emperor trove, and a mage trove. Because his standard was set so high, he had to take his time. Now, he had finally reached the great circle. However, in order to break through to Void Returning, he needed to meet a certain requirement.

“Heavenly daos….”

His eyes glittered.

What he wanted now was to go to the place where his Eldest Brother said it was possible to acquire heavenly daos. And that was the third round of the Great Hunt, which was held in a god domain!

When the Firemoon Darkheavens open the god domain, I should be able to reach Void Returning! Right now, I lack four heavenly daos. However, it’s a totally different picture when it comes to my battle prowess.

After some thought, he stopped worrying about the future. He exercised a thought, and soul threads began to wrap around him. In the blink of an eye, he had formed his first-level god state. That gave him battle prowess equivalent to first-stage Void Returning.

Next, the soul threads converged, and his second-level god state appeared. The fluctuations of second-stage Void Returning battle prowess spread out. More soul threads appeared as his third-level god state formed. Third-stage Void Returning power rocked the area.

Things weren’t done yet, though. As the last of his soul threads emerged, so did his fourth-level god state. The Crimson Mother form was the ultimate manifestation of the god state. The battle prowess of fourth-stage Void Returning swept through the sky, shook the lands, caused the air to vibrate, and made mutagen flourish.

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This used to be his most powerful state, as it combined his cultivation base power and all the godly authority he had developed up to this point. Both his sundials and his violet moon were part of it.

This was my ultimate state before acquiring the Ninedawns skulls. But now….

He closed his eyes, and his fifth secret trove erupted like a volcanic furnace. The roars of the different Ninedawns skulls echoed out from within him. The sky trembled. The clouds split apart. The air vibrated. The nine skulls of Ninedawns appeared in the open, swirling about to create a huge vortex.

Each one looked different, but they all worked together to form crushing power. It looked extremely ghastly.

After the fluctuations couldn’t get more intense, the ox-dragon emerged from the vortex, turning into an illusory totem that shot toward Xu Qing and formed a helmet around his head! It could bolster all of Xu Qing’s abilities that were related to sound. When Xu Qing was in his fourth-level god state, his voice sounded like the chanting of a god. With the blessing of the ox-dragon, that chanting became even more terrifying.

Next, the phoenix-dragon flew out of the vortex and merged with Xu Qing. A pair of black wings appeared behind him, each flap of which sent gale-force winds out in all directions. It provided a huge boost to his speed!

Next came the roaring-dragon, the tiger-dragon, and the fish-dragon. The roaring-dragon became vambraces and boosted divine abilities and magical techniques, and would thus improve his battle prowess dramatically. The tiger-dragon became a breastplate, which would boost his sealing abilities. Whether it was D-132 or anything else, in this state, they would be far more terrifying. As for the fish-dragon, it was the backplate, and it had a simple function. It could mitigate any type of disastrous attack!

Next came the turtle-dragon and the graceful-dragon. The former filled in the rest of the torso armor, covering all other vital spots, and boosting Xu Qing’s fleshly body defense power. Going forward, Xu Qing’s defenses would be astonishing. The latter had a similar function, except not for the fleshly body, but rather, the soul. In this state, the undying graceful-dragon would make Xu Qing’s soul unable to perish. Going forward, he would have defenses for his body and soul that were vastly different compared to before.

Most unique was the lion-dragon! Its function was a surprise even to Xu Qing. It didn’t turn into armor, but rather, into smoke that floated behind him, connected to the dome of heaven, and blessed… his godliness! With its blessing, his fourth-level god state was improved from the godsource up. Xu Qing could only speculate that the lion-dragon didn’t do this before, but had experienced some sort of mutation after being suppressed and devoured by the spider god. That was the only explanation as to why the lion-dragon of Ninedawns would have something to do with gods.

Forgetting about that for the moment, Xu Qing focused on the final of the Ninedawns skulls. It was the jackal-dragon. It turned into a terrifying mask that flew onto Xu Qing’s face. It boosted slaughter; going forward, all of his magical treasures and weapons would benefit from it and become more deadly and fierce. As it connected with his face, the canopy of heaven dimmed, rumbling echoed out, and lightning crashed like dancing silver snakes.

The sandstorm became more violent as Xu Qing hovered there, looking completely different from before. He was now a gruish combination of a god state and a mage state.

The grayish-black dragon armor was somber, desolate, and mysterious. The Ninedawns totems pulsed with an ancient, wild aura. He had wings behind him, and a violet moon hovering above. Beneath the dragon armor was a god body, thus combining the mage and the god. A thick gray fog spread out around him, filling heaven and earth, pulsing outward in a way that could shake the heart and mind.

Being in this state gave Xu Qing a very unique feeling. He could turn the canopy of heaven black with a thought. He could shatter the lands with a gaze. He could eradicate all living beings with no effort. He could ignore natural laws with the wave of a hand.

So, this is the battle prowess of the great circle of Void-Returning….

Thinking back to the major chosen of the Firemoon Darkheaven people that he had encountered, his eyes gleamed. He could tell that with the full set of Ninedawns skulls blessing him, his battle prowess surpassed fourth-stage Void-Returning and reached the level of the great circle. Just like Tuo Shishan, Fan Shishuang and Master Stillwinter, his battle prowess existed at a peak level. This was Xu Qing’s strongest state!

But it isn’t the strongest state for my mage trove! Based on the memory fragments from the Ninedawns skulls, the mage state wasn’t like this originally.

From what Xu Qing saw in the memory fragments, when Ninedawns sat outside the God-Rejecting Mage Formation, he had a boundless gray fog behind him. In the depths of that fog was a colossal creature with a terrifying aura. It was something that could extinguish heaven and pulverize the earth, but it was not dragon-shaped. Rather, it was humanoid!

That was the true mage state of Antemage Ninedawns of the Darkheaven Archmages!

Moved, Xu Qing tried to pull more out from his mage trove, but no matter what he did, it didn’t produce any sort of supernatural phenomena. It was as if certain imperceptible limitations had settled onto his heart and mind. It was an impenetrable barrier that he couldn’t bypass.

His eyes narrowed as he analyzed the situation.

I guess I’m not strong enough to do it now…. Either that or I need to have four heavenly daos and break into Void Returning first. Maybe then I can truly unleash Ninedawns’s mage state.

Having concluded that this was the best way to think of it, Xu Qing put such thoughts aside and looked off into the distance.

Thinking back to everything that he had experienced in the Mountain and Sea Region, from when he encountered Master Stillwinter to the chase into the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands, he had experienced a lot of deadly situations, but had also benefited greatly. Coupled with the true history he had witnessed, he felt indescribable emotions. After a time, his eyes shimmered with cold light.

Since I made it out of the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands, now… I need to find Master Stillwinter!

As killing intent appeared in his eyes and thunder crashed above, he shot off into the distance.