423 Rapid Progress
Three life fires could illuminate six palaces, four fires illuminated seven palaces, and five fires illuminated eight palaces!
At this moment, the six illusory Heavenly Palaces under Xu Qing’s life fog emitted a hazy light that formed the power of a life level. It raised his cultivation from the Foundation Establishment realm and stabilized it in the Golden Core realm.
Within the life fog, the 7th and 8th illusory Heavenly Palaces were still shining brightly even though they were shrouded in the fog. However, compared to the eight Heavenly Palaces, the 9th palace at the top was truly peerless and extremely dazzling.
The ninth palace was formed by the Rainbow Wind Song Lantern. Its light was dazzling and pierced through the life fog, illuminating the surroundings.
The Rainbow Wind Song Lantern inside formed a terrifying energy fluctuation that transformed into a shocking pressure. Just this palace alone possessed the power of six fires.
At this moment, as Xu Qing raised his second life lantern, thunderous rumbling sounds rang out from his sea of consciousness. It was as if a divine being was roaring, and all living things responded. The energy fluctuations spread out from his body, causing the sky to change color.
The black umbrella shuttled through everything and appeared above the ninth palace in the life fog. There, a dazzling light flashed. The rumbling continued, and the light moved like an ocean. As it swept through everything, the Heavenly Palace quickly formed around the black umbrella life lantern, and it was visible to the naked eye.
It was not illusory, but real.
This was the tenth palace!
Unlike the rainbow glow of the ninth palace, the tenth palace was pitch-black, with boundless black flames burning within, making it seem like a necropolis from hell.
It was a terrifying sight, but at the same time, a powerful force emanated out, causing Xu Qing’s battle prowess to advance by leaps and bounds, far exceeding what it had been in the past!
Not only did he advance to the Golden Core Realm, but he also formed two Heavenly Palaces in one step!
The Golden Core was a dividing line for cultivators in the Wanggu Continent. Those below the Golden Core realm were all considered low-level cultivators building their foundation. When they stepped into the Golden Core realm, it meant their foundation was already formed. Their subsequent cultivation would make a qualitative leap.
There were also extremely few people like him who surpassed many Golden Core Dao Protectors of the Alliance.
Sima Ru, for example, had not completed the formation of the second Heavenly Palace even after so many years.
From this, one could see the importance of the life lantern.
Xu Qing’s combat prowess wasn’t just limited to that. He also had an emperor-grade cultivation art that was in the midst of transforming.
From a comprehensive perspective, Xu Qing’s combat prowess had already surpassed that of ordinary cultivators of two Heavenly Palaces.
Not to mention his poison pill.
Xu Qing’s task now was to quickly form his third Heavenly Palace and suppress it with the poison pill, allowing his cultivation and combat strength to soar again.
Then, he would transform all the remaining Heavenly Palaces from illusions to real existences. At that time, with the ten Heavenly Palaces, his battle prowess would reach a terrifying level that would shock cultivators of the same cultivation base.
This process would not take a long time because his Golden Core cultivation method was different from others.
Xu Qing’s eyes suddenly opened. The mark of the Bizarre Nether Dao Snatching Art that his master had imparted to him spread out and fused into his mind. At the same time, his right hand slowly became transparent.
It was as if it was between reality and illusion.
Xu Qing looked at his right hand. He could sense a terrifying aura contained in his right hand, as well as an endless strangeness.
This hand could enter the enemy’s sea of consciousness, break through the Heavenly Palace, grab the golden core inside, and forcefully plunder it. Not only that, Xu Qing’s perception also told him that this right hand of his was filled with intimidation towards bizarre entities.
“Master said before that when this cultivation technique is cultivated to the extreme, my entire body will be in an illusionary state. That way, I can avoid most dangers.” Xu Qing muttered inwardly as determination appeared in his eyes.
He was eager to improve himself and become stronger.
After a long while, Xu Qing took a deep breath. He knew that he had to work harder than before. With a thought, his right hand instantly returned to normal.
Xu Qing stood up and bowed respectfully to Lord Third who was guarding him.
“Thank you, Lord Third.”
Lord Third had been protecting him throughout the whole aperture sensing and advancement. Even though Xu Qing knew that it was because of his master, he was still very grateful.
Up in the sky, the eyes of Lord Third gleamed with a strange light as they glanced at Xu Qing. He didn’t conceal his admiration for Xu Qing at all. From his point of view, Xu Qing could be said to be one of the most outstanding disciples in this generation.
“Live on. In the future, you will have a place in the Yinghuang Province.” The three peak leaders slowly spoke.
Xu Qing bowed again.
Lord Third waved his hand, and the surrounding formation dissipated. He also disappeared from the sky.
Xu Qing looked at the place where Lord Third had disappeared and then at the vast ancient bronze mirror in the sky. After a long time, he took out the magic warship and stepped on it. With a thought, the artifact spirit in the magic warship let out a roar and suddenly emitted a power comparable to a Golden Core, speeding toward the distance.
Its speed was so fast that it reached the port in an instant. Without stopping, it rushed into the Forbidden Sea.
When he came here, he was at the four fires Foundation Establishment stage. When he left, he was at the Two Palaces Golden Core stage.
The difference in combat strength was like heaven and earth.
As he sped, Xu Qing looked into the distance. After a long while, he suddenly spoke.
“You Lingzi.”
“Master!” In the next instant, the black iron stick appeared beside Xu Qing. The Diamond Sect’s ancestor appeared with reverence on his face. He immediately knelt on the ground and greeted nervously.
“Your combat prowess is a little weak. If you can’t keep up with me…” Xu Qing didn’t finish his sentence. He looked at the Diamond Sect’s ancestor, his eyes shining with a deep light.
The Diamond Sect’s ancestor trembled. He immediately raised his head and patted his chest as he spoke loudly.
“Master, don’t worry. I’ve been preparing for this matter for a long time. I was just about to report it to you. At most six months, no, at most three months!! My Lightning Spirit Body will advance again and transform into a soul!”
The Diamond Sect’s ancestor’s eyes were a little red. He was going all out.
In truth, he was still very far from breaking through. However, there was nothing he could do now. He felt that if he didn’t work countless times harder, given Xu Qing’s current state, he would definitely become cannon fodder.
However, if he wanted to break through in three months, he needed a lot of nutrients. Therefore, after some hesitation, the Diamond Sect’s ancestor spoke softly.
“Master, actually, I can absorb souls as well. When I was advancing to a Lightning Spirit, I needed to absorb magic artifacts. And to advance into a Lightning Soul, I need a large number of souls…”
“Okay.”
Xu Qing glanced at the Diamond Sect’s ancestor. He originally wanted to say that if the other party couldn’t keep up, he planned to release him. After all, the things the Diamond Sect’s ancestor had done in the past few years had satisfied him.
However, since the other party had already said so, Xu Qing thought about it and didn’t mention it.
At the same time, when the shadow saw this, it grew anxious and began to emanate emotional fluctuations.
“Three… same!!”
“Fragment… I… Three… Break!”
There was no need for the Diamond Sect’s ancestor to translate. After Xu Qing heard it, he already understood that the shadow was referring to the Taboo magic treasure he obtained from Sima Ling.
Previously, Xu Qing felt that he couldn’t give it so easily. The instinct of the shadow could easily cause trouble.
But now that he had stepped into the Golden Core realm, the situation was different. Hence, Xu Qing nodded and with a wave of his hand, he took out the fragment and threw it onto the shadow on the ground.
In the next moment, the shadow cheered and quickly spread over. After enveloping it, it greedily absorbed it.
Several days later, Xu Qing saw the port of the Eight Sects Alliance from afar. He had spent almost a month on this trip. It wasn’t a long time, but to the restoration works, under the efforts of the entire Alliance, there were basically no traces of the calamity anymore.
The anomalous substances had been mostly dispelled and some that remained were already undetectable as the immortal Qi of the Immortal Enrichment River spread. The sect had also built some array formations which were activated day and night to dispel the anomalous substances.
All the buildings had been repaired. Other than the stifling silence in the city that would time to disappear, everything else was normal.
Xu Qing informed his master only of his return and no one else.
After he returned, Xu Qing stayed in his berth and continued to cultivate. He was familiarizing himself with the Golden Core realm strength as well as studying the Bizarre Nether Dao Snatching Art.
He was also adapting to the techniques and spells that had changed in power because of his breakthrough in cultivation.
Regardless of whether it was the Mystic Nether Curse, the Nine-Layers Howling Sea, or even Under the Nine Springs, Xu Qing was feeling out their powers again.
In addition, his intrinsic mosasaur had also changed after breaking through.
As the spirit of the magic aperture, if he didn’t have the poison pill and the life lanterns, it would have become the first golden core that Xu Qing could have refined and placed in the Heavenly Palace.
Regarding this, Xu Qing wouldn’t give up. He was going to nurture the poisonous pill and the intrinsic golden core together.
“As for the Golden Crow Refines All Life, I still need to devour one more time before it can advance to the second level.” Xu Qing closed his eyes. After sensing his emperor-level cultivation art, he fell into deep thought.
Time passed day by day as Xu Qing adapted to the Golden Core Realm. As the Alliance’s internal departments recovered, their search for information on Illuminate became more and more intense.
This was especially true for the Seven Blood Eyes. Old Master Seventh was the one who personally checked the intelligence and searched for traces of Illuminate.
Regardless of whether it was the Eight Sects Alliance or the Seven Blood Eyes, they all needed a massacre to vent the pressure. Xu Qing also needed it, so he waited.
However, the search for information and the verification of the details required time. No one would underestimate Illuminate now, and they had to be wary of falling into trap.
Before the information was confirmed, visitors came to the Seven Blood Eyes. The visitors came from Dongyou Island in the Forbidden Sea, and there were hundreds of cultivators.
The ones at the front were Esteemed Master Dongyou and her granddaughter, Yanyan.
As close allies of the Seven Blood Eyes, what happened to the Seven Blood Eyes this time naturally attracted the attention of Dongyou Island. This time, they would work with the Seven Blood Eyes to make plans and get revenge against Illuminate.
Almost as soon as they arrived, during the meeting between Xue Lianzi, Old Master Seventh, and Esteemed Master Dongyou, Yanyan sneaked out.
Clearly, she had been paying attention to the Seven Blood Eyes, especially any news about Xu Qing.
Hence, there was no need to ask where Xu Qing was. She immediately arrived at Xu Qing’s berth.
“Brother Xu Qing, Yanyan missed you so much.”
Outside the magic warship, Yanyan stood there and spoke softly.