265 In the Enemy’s Lair
Xu Qing glanced at the captain.
He felt that the captain was too immersed in his role. If he wanted to speak, then speak properly. That soft cough that sounded like a moan made Xu Qing very uncomfortable.
However, Xu Qing didn’t say anything. This was because he knew that although the Diamond Sect’s ancestor had been silent these few days and didn’t appear, according to the other party’s personality, he must have secretly recorded some scenes.
These precious recordings should be useful in the future.
As such, he cast a deep glance at the captain before turning his head and ignoring him.
The captain raised his brows and was about to continue speaking when an energy fluctuation came from afar. The screening power of the array descended again and landed on the black wooden ship.
The octopus trembled and crawled on the ground, allowing the array formation to sweep over. As for the ghost-faced butterflies, they quickly spread out. Xu Qing also looked down with a solemn expression. He saw a huge building in the distance.
The design of this building was simple; there were two huge stone pillars that seemed to form a headless door. There was a black vortex inside that was rumbling and spinning, emitting red lightning that spread in all directions.
Outside the door, there were many sea corpse cultivators sitting cross-legged on red lingzhi. There were men and women among them, some looked like humans and some had nonhuman bodies.
At a rough glance, there were no less than a thousand of them and they guarded this place extremely tightly. Any existence who wanted to pass through this place and enter the vortex had to pass through them before.
Moreover, there were clearly experts among them. A few gazes swept over, making Xu Qing feel danger.
The power of the array formation spread out. As it swept through, the mark formed by the three fires Foundation Building cultivator on the black ship – Xu Qing and the captain were on – shone. After it resonated with the power of the array formation, the array formation fluctuations dissipated.
Only then did the octopus get up again and carefully move forward. When it passed by many lingzhi, the sea corpse cultivators on them stood up and greeted the captain.
“Greetings, Third Princess.”
“Greetings, Third Princess.”
Xu Qing looked calm but he was vigilant inwardly. With so many people staring at him, if he wasn’t careful and revealed a flaw, all his previous efforts would be in vain.
At the same time, the gathering of the senses of the sea corpse cultivators here caused the pressure here to be extremely great. Xu Qing clearly felt that the material in the small bottle in his pocket was evaporating even faster. If this continued, it would probably lose its effect before long.
Even the captain was nervous no matter how well disguised he was. He took out many black pearls and played with them in his hand, revealing an impatient expression.
When they were about to reach the giant stone pillar gate, and more and more gazes from the surroundings landed on him, the captain suddenly threw a black bead to the side.
Boom! The auras of all the sea corpse cultivators in the surroundings fluctuated.
“Have you seen enough?”
The captain’s expression changed from impatience to a sweet smile. Although his pale face revealed extreme weakness, it was this weakness that made his smile seem more charming.
The surrounding sea corpse cultivators fell silent and immediately lowered their heads.
“Help me in.” The captain smiled and walked to the front of the ship, raising his hand at Xu Qing.
Xu Qing really admired the captain’s acting skills. He lowered his head and walked over. He held the captain’s small hand and took a step forward, leaving the black wooden ship and the octopus below. They then rapidly approached the huge black vortex.
Compared to this vortex, Xu Qing and the captain were like ants.
The terrifying power emitted by the vortex caused Xu Qing and the captain’s minds to shake.
However, the two of them had mentally prepared themselves. They still continued to move at a moderate pace. When they were right in front of it, they looked at each other and stepped into the vortex at the same time without any hesitation.
As they walked in, their minds shook. It was as though they had entered another space and appeared in a red world!
The area of this world wasn’t large. The ground was covered in a red liquid that was like a blood pool. There was a circle of stone pillars in the surroundings, and there were more than 70 of them.
On each of them sat a cultivator of the Sea Corpse Race!
Other than that, the most eye-catching thing in this world was a huge statue. This statue stood above the pool and its feet were submerged in the water. It was over 30,000 feet tall and looked like it could touch the sky.
Its entire body was red and covered in spots. It looked like a human corpse that was roaring at the sky. Its hands were also placed very strangely.
Its one hand was raised as though it wanted to grab at the sky, while the other hand was placed flat on its chest.
A large number of tentacles grew on the statue’s body. These tentacles spread in all directions like streamers and opened eyes appeared on them. If one took a closer look at those eyes, they would see that they reflected worlds.
Different worlds were reflected in those eyes, causing the aura of this statue to be earth-shattering. The pressure shook the surroundings and seemed to resonate with all the Sea Corpse Race members here.
It was as though these sea corpses were all transformed from the aura of this statue. This statue itself was their source.
At the same time, the pressure here clearly surpassed that of the outside world by at least tens of times, causing the small bottle on Xu Qing’s body to continue to evaporate.
A crack appeared on the captain’s face, as though his disguise was about to shatter. However, it was unknown how he did it, but the crack quickly healed. However, Xu Qing could sense some unstable fluctuations from the captain’s body.
Clearly, he too couldn’t hold on for too long here.
The two of them were shaken.
This statue was the Seventh Ancestral Corpse Statue of the Sea Corpse Race.
The appearance and size of the nine ancestral corpse statues of the Sea Corpse Race were different. This seventh one wasn’t the largest or the strongest among them. However, as one of the Nine Ancestors, his status in the Sea Corpse Race was supreme.
Even the Sea Corpse King had to bow respectfully every time he arrived.
This was because these nine statues contained the secret of the birth of the Sea Corpse Race. The red pool under the statue produced the liquid by itself. The liquid inside was a necessity for the Sea Corpse Race to transform new clansmen, and was also holy liquid for healing.
At this moment, there were dozens of sea corpse cultivators sitting cross-legged and recuperating in the red pool.
The weakest among these people was at the level of two fires. There was also one with three fires who was injured. Clearly, he had returned from the front line.
What really caused Xu Qing and the captain’s minds to shake intensely was that on the left hand of the statue which was placed on its chest, there was a boy in a red robe sitting cross-legged!
Xu Qing had seen this kid before in the Pearl Islands.
The other party was none other than the Golden Core cultivator of the Sea Corpse Race who had walked toward the Pearl Islands back then!
Xu Qing looked at the captain.
The captain was also shocked. He responded with a bitter smile.
Clearly, his information was wrong. Perhaps the previous guardian had been transferred and a new guardian had arrived.
Xu Qing fell silent. He felt that he was too crazy to believe the captain, and come here with him.
Not only were there tens of two fires here, but there were also a thousand cultivators outside. Moreover, there was a Golden Core cultivator who could slap him to death at such a close distance.
Although the other party was meditating, Xu Qing could imagine that if the other party opened his eyes and took a closer look at them, he might be able to infer something. After all, the pressure here was already removing their concealment effects.
Not to mention that this was the Sea Corpse Race’s territory. It was possible for even more experts to appear at a slight disturbance…
Xu Qing drew in a deep breath and suppressed the nervousness in his heart, transforming it into determination. He gritted his teeth fiercely. Since he was here, he had to get some benefits no matter what.
At the same time, he also noticed the madness in the captain’s eyes. The two of them looked at each other and walked forward at the same time.
The pool was about a thousand feet away from where they were. As they walked, rotting corpse hands rose from the ground.
These hands didn’t coil around them. Instead, they were like steps to put the feet on. Xu Qing and the captain slowly approached the pool. When they arrived, not many sea corpse cultivators on the surrounding pillars opened their eyes.
Only a few opened their eyes and swept their gazes across Xu Qing and the captain. After noticing the third princess, they retracted their gazes one after another.
As for the Golden Core boy, he also didn’t open his eyes.
This caused Xu Qing to heave a sigh of relief inwardly. He saw the captain quickly stepping into the pool and finding a place close to the statue’s feet. After he sat cross-legged, he would occasionally shift his position, wanting to completely touch the statue.
Xu Qing also stepped into the pool. The instant he entered, he sensed a strange power stored in the pool. It wasn’t spirit energy or anomalous substances.
It was more like a pure nourishment that also contained soul power, causing the magic apertures in Xu Qing’s body to tremble faintly just by walking in. This immediately allowed Xu Qing to confirm that this pool was indeed of great help in opening the magic apertures.
He quickly sat down and swept his gaze across the surrounding sea corpse cultivators who were recuperating. He then carefully tried to absorb that power.
Xu Qing knew that he couldn’t open his magic apertures here. Otherwise, the fluctuations emitted would be too obvious and he would be discovered in an instant. Hence, the best method was to store this power.
He would store enough energy in his body and open his magic apertures when he got out.
How many magic apertures he could open depended on how much he could store here.
Determination appeared in Xu Qing’s eyes as he circulated the cultivation base in his body. Immediately, traces of blood-colored energy flowed into his body from the pool and slowly gathered at his dantian.
As soon as this red spirit liquid appeared in his dantian, it emitted a soul-stirring might, causing the magic apertures in Xu Qing’s body that hadn’t been opened to continue shaking.
A strong desire rose in Xu Qing’s heart.
Xu Qing suppressed his breathing and carefully checked his surroundings before continuing to absorb. This feeling of stealing under the enemy’s nose…
It was very stimulating.