From their perspective, the spider webs just kept getting bigger and bigger. At the same time, the trees became easier to see.

As the Captain zipped among the spider webs, he said, “Slow down, little Junior Brother. The faced trees are actually the ancestral emperor’s bodyguards, who were transformed by mutagen invasion. They’re asleep, but they still have extraordinary battle prowess. What’s really surprising is that if you wake them up, they’ll release a chant that can shatter the soul. And their chanting can also bring terrifying entities with it.”

Xu Qing nodded. He had been able to sense the gruish nature of the faced trees even from a distance.

The faces were all middle-aged, and there were no women, only men. They seemed human, but the color of their skin was unusual. What was more, they had slits behind their ears that resembled fish gills. Their eyes were closed, but their expressions were distorted, and they seemed to pulse with both mutagen and rancorous energy. All in all, their expressions were those of defiance.

“People are like bugs compared to the gods. They fought back, but sadly….” The Captain sighed as they passed among the trees, being careful not to touch any of them.

After enough time passed for an incense stick to burn, their invisibility as provided by the Wordless words enabled them to slip past the terrifying trees unnoticed. They passed through layer after layer of spider webs, almost like mosquitoes as they got closer to what was in the middle.

Soon, the huge planet loomed just ahead. It was gray, and was covered with all sorts of rifts and crevices. It also pulsed with an aura of death, and had swirling vortexes on its surface, which were storms. What was more, there were roughly sixteen irregularly shaped craters visible on it. Each one was terrifying to behold.

When Xu Qing spotted the craters, the sensation they imparted caused him to think back to the spider god he’d seen in the shrine in the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands. That god had sixteen legs, which was a perfect match for the number of craters: sixteen.

All of a sudden, Xu Qing could see something in his mind; the terrifying and gargantuan spider god made a home on this gray-colored planet, with sixteen legs plunged into the lands of the planet. That was how the sixteen craters formed.

Looking at the planet, the Captain said, “Based on what I found out back in the day, this was the main habitat of the master of this god domain. But then that master left and never came back, which was when this place started devolving into ruin.

“Things in this spot are not as dangerous as elsewhere. But in the end, we’re still in a god domain, and this is the core of the place, so we can’t let our guard down. Of course, the more that’s the case, the better the rewards are going to be!”

Despite the crazy look in his eyes, the Captain didn’t forget to offer a quick reminder to Xu Qing. “This is where we’ll find a heavenly dao suitable for your Emperor’s Sword secret trove! Let’s keep moving, little Junior Brother!”

The Captain flew onward.

Eyes gleaming with determination, Xu Qing followed. Since he had already made his decision, there was no need for hesitation.

Eventually, they stepped onto the planet. The ground was gray and the sky was black, although the storm clouds made everything dim and blurry. The deafening storms blew here constantly. This really seemed like a danger zone.

The biggest storm Xu Qing had seen in his life up to this point had been in the Greenhair Badlands in the Moonrite Region. But having stepped onto this planet and entered the storms that covered it, he could see that the two couldn’t compare. These storms were vastly bigger than the one in the Greenhair Badlands! It was as if the storms were the only thing here, scouring the lands and making it difficult for Xu Qing and the Captain to make progress as they traveled.

They were no ordinary storms. They contained the aura of a god, as well as astoundingly high personhood. They also contained the lingering remnants of imperial energy and god magic. It was easy to imagine what kind of heaven-shaking, earth-shattering battle had been fought here.

Thankfully, Xu Qing had his god states. By tapping into godsource, he could make his way through the storm winds. The Captain had obviously been here before, and considering all the secrets he kept, it was no wonder that he was also able to force his way through the storms. It actually seemed like he was following a specific path.

Time passed. Seven days later they had forced their way through the storms, getting closer and closer to their destination. The two of them were really starting to feel the strain of fighting against the wind.

What really struck fear into the heart of Xu Qing was that the storms seemed to carry with them the sound of a beating heart. It was as if… there was something alive in the middle of them.

Xu Qing looked at the Captain. The Captain shook his head and said nothing.

It was around the time the sixth storm spread out around them that the Captain led Xu Qing to a big crevice in the ground.

After climbing down inside, it was no surprise to Xu Qing that they found a cave. It was impossible to say how long ago it had been carved out there, but the craftsmanship was superb, and it provided a great hiding spot to stay safe from the storm winds.

Once inside, the Captain let loose a long sigh of relief. He looked around. “This place hasn’t changed much at all, little Junior Brother. Let’s rest here for three days. According to my calculations, the storms outside will complete a cycle at that point. When that happens, the storms will get very weak for a time.

“As for what you were wondering about before, I’m not sure. In one of my past lives I did get sucked into the middle of one of the storms. I didn’t die, but after I came out, I had no memories of what happened inside. Even now, I have no idea.”

Xu Qing was shaken. The more he knew the Captain, the more he knew how to interpret his stories. And that left him shuddering at the thought of what terrifying things might lurk in the middle of the storms. After a bit more thought on the subject, he looked around the cave.

“How many times have you been here, Eldest Brother?”

Stretching, the Captain chuckled and sat down next to the wall in what seemed to be a familiar spot. Leaning back against the wall, he held up three fingers and said, “This is the third time!”

Xu Qing looked deeply at the Captain for a long moment. It was obvious that only something really incredible would keep the Captain coming back after having failed twice. Xu Qing also found himself thinking about the ‘amazing treasure’ the Captain had mentioned.

“What’s the goal this time around?” he asked.

The Captain blinked a few times, looked around furtively, then shook his head. “I really can’t say it, little Junior Brother. Just wait a bit…. All I can say for now is that compared to this, the Crimson Mother situation will count for almost nothing! I’ve been thinking about this place for a long time. In fact, about half of all the preparations I’ve made in this life are for here.

“I was previously thinking it might take four or five lives for everything to take shape. But then you came along, little Junior Brother, and things changed.”

The Captain slapped his thigh excitedly.

Xu Qing sat there thinking. He knew that the Captain wasn’t just being deliberately mystifying. There had to be a good reason for him holding back an explanation. After all, the Captain liked to show off, and would surely have loved to reveal his master plan and revel in the look of shock it would elicit.

Whatever’s making the Captain hesitate, I bet it has something to do with the three gods….

After all, there had to be a reason the three gods had set the Great Hunt here repeatedly. And then there was the fact that the spider god was sealed in the Ninedawns Forbidden Lands. All of a sudden, a very dramatic possibility occurred to Xu Qing.

Fourth god?

Pupils constricting, he refrained from saying anything else. Closing his eyes, he began to make adjustments to his cultivation base to keep himself in peak condition.

The only sound in the cave was the wind outside, like a howling god. Sometimes it changed, turning into a whimper. Other times it seemed to contain struggle, or bitterness, or something else very gruish. The changes to the wind only served to remind Xu Qing of how terrifying this place was.

Three days passed very quickly.

The Captain really did understand this place well, because the sound of the wind started to die down. Then, after the third day was over, there wasn’t any sound at all!

“It’s time!” the Captain said, his eyes glittering. Xu Qing followed him out of the cave to find that the black sky was now visible again. The gray lands around them were perfectly visible as well.

There wasn’t any trace of a storm.

“We only have two hours!” the Captain said, and he burst into motion, becoming a bright beam of light that shot off into the distance.

Xu Qing raced after him.

Unfortunately, two hours wasn’t a lot of time. Despite how fast they were moving, the wind gradually started to pick up again. Around the time that it really started to get loud, a strange mountain and a group of statues appeared ahead of them.

The mountain was majestic and towered high into the sky. There was a circular cave in the middle of the mountain. Wind screamed in the area, and even in the cave, creating a piercing sound that shook the soul. There was also a very ancient feeling to the area that built up in Xu Qing as he looked around.

At the foot of the mountain were a host of very old statues. The three-headed six-armed statues were looking up into the sky. They held enormous blades in their hands, and emanated a terrifying pressure. What was especially noteworthy to Xu Qing was the fact that every one of the huge statues had a half-moon mark on their forehead. The statues on the edges seemed to be kneeling in worship to the sky.

As Xu Qing took everything in, the Captain’s voice drifted out with the wind.

“Those are the thirty-six princes of the ancestral emperor. Just before dying, they offered worship to the moon. Not Moonfire, and not the red moon. I’m talking about the most ancient moon there is. That moon is formless. It’s the yin from yin and yang.

“Some species even call it the ancestral moon. That mountain is what we’re here for. That’s the tomb of this planetary system’s ancestral emperor!”

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The Captain started heading toward the mountain, but when he realized Xu Qing wasn’t following him, he looked back.

Xu Qing was standing in front of one of the statues, studying it, his eyes shining. The bluegreen dragon had started sending out fluctuations as if to remind Xu Qing of something. And that reminder seemed to have to do with his third secret trove. That third trove was related to moons. And it seemed to be pulsing with longing. Xu Qing could tell that this statue would be the perfect heavenly dao for his third secret trove.