462 Unrivaled
The Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar in the northern icy plain was incomparably huge.
Its ten thousand feet thick body and the endless height that pierced into the clouds made it seem like it was supporting the world.
Countless runes and totems protruded from the pillar. Some were hundreds of feet tall and some were just ten feet tall.
All of this made cultivators look very insignificant when climbing it.
At that moment, Xu Qing had climbed a height of 2,000 feet on the Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar. His right hand grabbed the protruding edge of a totem on the pillar and he leaped up to stand on the totem.
This totem looked like a fanged ghost face that was filled with malevolence and baleful aura.
Xu Qing took a look and a look of realization appeared on his face. This was because the figure that appeared in his sea of consciousness earlier was somewhat similar to this ghost face.
However, even he didn’t expect that the soul formed by the countless resentment in his sea of consciousness would be directly suppressed and destroyed by the Ghost Emperor Mountain the instant it appeared.
This destruction was different from the rules Xu Qing understood about climbing the Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar.
When climbing normally, cultivators would withstand the impact of resentment. After the resentment soul formed in their sea of consciousness, because it was difficult to extinguish and suppress it, they only needed to disperse it from their sea of consciousness.
After dispelling it, they could continue forward. The next time the resentment gathered, it would form an even stronger soul of resentment in their sea of consciousness. This cycle repeated again and again.
Hence, the higher they went, the more difficult it was.
At the same time, there was a certain chance of obtaining a reward if the dispelling was successful.
This reward wasn’t given immediately but distributed after the participants left the Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar.
It was the same for Li Ziliang back then and the others during this period of time.
However, the probability was extremely low. At a height of about 2,000 feet, the probability of obtaining a reward after successfully dispelling the soul of resentment was about one in 10,000. The higher one went, the higher the probability.
If one failed, they would be expelled from the Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar and fall to the ground.
However, there was no possibility of being possessed. This was because the vengeful spirits on the Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar had fused with this pillar and were suppressed by its battle intent, unable to leave.
Similarly, they could also be said to be indestructible.
However, earlier, Xu Qing could clearly sense that the resentful soul in his sea of consciousness had dissipated.
It had truly dissipated.
Or to be precise, it was… devoured by his Ghost Emperor Mountain.
This was because the moment the resentful soul let out a mournful cry and its body dissipated, Xu Qing clearly felt that his Ghost Emperor Mountain seemed to have become more lifelike.
As for the ghost face totem, it showed signs of dimming.
However, the dimming was slight and couldn’t be sensed just from sight. Only by touching it and using their senses could others see some clues.
This discovery caused a strange glint to appear in Xu Qing’s eyes. He didn’t continue immediately as he wasn’t sure if this had violated some taboo.
He waited for a while.
As he waited, he could faintly sense a faint divine sense coming from the Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar.
This divine sense didn’t have any emotions and was filled with numbness.
After Xu Qing sensed it, he understood that it was the intent of a reward. However, it wasn’t specific and was very blurry.
At the same time, his pause attracted the attention of everyone below.
After the battle between Xu Qing and Li Ziliang, he was already the center of attention. This was especially so now that it was his first time climbing the Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar. Naturally, he attracted extremely high attention.
Regardless of whether it was rogue cultivators or disciples from various forces, all of them were observing him.
“He stopped? It’s only 2000 feet.”
“He should be adapting to the soul of resentment. However, he is taking a little too long.”
“Does he have a powerful physique and spells, but his soul is weak?”
“Impossible. I’ve heard of Xu Qing. He has a senior brother called Chen Erniu. He’s extraordinarily handsome and has a forthright personality. He’s known as the number one kind person in the Eight Sects Alliance and treats Xu Qing extremely well. Under Chen Erniu’s care, Xu Qing shouldn’t have any weaknesses!”
As everyone below guessed and stared, Xu Qing waited for the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn. Seeing that nothing happened and no one came to stop him, he thought about it and continued to leap up.
He rapidly climbed up. With every step he took, he could sense the increasingly dense resentment emitted by the Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar.
The so-called resentment was different from death aura. The death aura would often emit a cold feeling, causing the entire body of living creatures to turn cold. For example, the coldness emitted by the forbidden zone was often formed by the death aura.
Resentment was a cold aura that contained emotions. It was mainly filled with resentment and grudges, and could affect the mind of cultivators.
This effect was an impact.
Countless mournful roars echoed in Xu Qing’s ears. That was the curse and madness left by countless lives before they died. Even if he blocked his hearing, it was useless. This wail would directly echo in his soul.
Moreover, the higher he went, the denser the resentment would be and the more it could accumulate and stack in his mind.
Gradually, they filled his sea of consciousness. When Xu Qing reached a height of 4000 feet, the resentment aura in his sea of consciousness gathered.
The second soul of resentment was rapidly forming.
A hint of anticipation rose in Xu Qing’s mind. He wanted to see if the scene earlier was an accident or a coincidence. Hence, he didn’t interfere and allowed the second resentful soul to gather.
He could vaguely see that the appearance of this second resentful soul was different from the first one. It had two curved horns and its body was even larger. There was also a huge tail on its back and its entire body emitted powerful fluctuations and an ancient aura.
It was as though it had walked out of the long river of time, stirring up waves of violent energy.
A hoarse laughter rang out from it, revealing cruelty and greed.
Xu Qing continued to observe. Three breaths later, the body of the second resentful soul became clearer, revealing its turbid eyes that contained madness. It let out a roar at the sky and stretched out its arms, as though it wanted to release its fiendish aura.
However, at this moment, the light of the Ghost Emperor Mountain in Xu Qing’s sea of consciousness flickered again and tremors rang out again. In an instant, the second resentful soul’s body suddenly trembled and the turbidity in its eyes disappeared. The madness transformed into shock and disbelief.
“What… Ghost Emperor?!!”
An ear splitting cry rang out from the mouth of the resentful soul. As the Ghost Emperor Mountain shone and shook, the resentful soul’s body collapsed loudly. It shattered into pieces and transformed into strands of black gas that were directly absorbed by the Ghost Emperor Mountain.
The entire process took less than ten breaths.
It was over.
Xu Qing looked at the Ghost Emperor Mountain that was becoming clearer and clearer. Looking at the face that was becoming increasingly similar to his own, the doubts in his mind grew deeper.
However, no matter what, from the looks of it, all of this was beneficial to him. This was because he could sense the reward divine sense from the Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar again.
Xu Qing waited for a while before continuing to sprint up. Very soon, he reached 5,000 feet and 6,000 feet.
During this period, he occasionally saw runic totems that contained signs of withering. This meant that before this, someone had used a similar method to destroy the soul of resentment.
As he pondered, a third resentful soul formed in his sea of consciousness.
“Suppress!”
This time around, before it could form, Xu Qing willed it. Immediately, the Ghost Emperor Mountain swayed and the resentful soul let out a blood-curdling scream.
Xu Qing continued.
7000 feet, 8000 feet, 9000 feet, 10,000 feet!
During this process, the resentment grew increasingly dense, and more and more resentful souls appeared in Xu Qing’s sea of consciousness. One would appear almost every 300 to 500 feet.
In fact, after reaching a height of 9,000 feet, every 200 to 300 feet would form the resentful souls.
Such a high frequency made it extremely difficult for cultivators to climb.
However, everything was different to Xu Qing.
“Suppress!”
“Suppress!!”
“Suppress!!!”
Xu Qing sped all the way. The Ghost Emperor Mountain in his body erupted with light and shook, continuously suppressing the souls that appeared one after another. The mournful cries of these resentful souls before they died were the only sound in Xu Qing’s sea of consciousness.
The Ghost Emperor Mountain slowly became clearer under the continuous devouring. The light on it was pitch-black and the face that resembled Xu Qing’s gradually became gloomy and filled with killing intent.
This gloominess caused the Ghost Emperor Mountain to form a sense of oppression. The divine charm on its body also grew.
At the same time, its connection with Xu Qing became increasingly close. It even gave Xu Qing a feeling that if this continued, he might be able to manifest this Ghost Emperor Mountain outside his body one day.
What shocked Xu Qing even more was that he discovered that there seemed to be a blurry and illusory rod gradually forming on its hands!
Right now, there was only the outline and it wasn’t clear but it didn’t affect Xu Qing from recognizing it. This rod… was extremely similar to the Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar.
These discoveries caused a huge commotion in Xu Qing’s mind. At the same time, he also saw faint cracks appearing on the Ghost Emperor Mountain’s body. It was as though it had grown too quickly and it didn’t have time to completely digest the energy.
Reaching the 10,000 feet height caused an intense uproar among the crowd who were paying attention.
Before this, the person who climbed the highest was Li Ziliang, who had been killed by Xu Qing. He had once reached a height of 8,000 feet.
Although there were some heaven’s chosens from the various forces who didn’t participate for various reasons, it had to be said that Li Ziliang’s height was already very astonishing at this stage.
But now, it was easily broken by Xu Qing.
“10,000 feet. This is a height I dreamed of reaching.”
“Hmph, if the Eight Sects Alliance also gives me the treatment of a Dao Child, I can do it as well. This Xu Qing’s life is just better than ours. Maybe his family are all higher ups in the Seven Blood Eyes. He’s not like us who have to fight for every resource.”
“I heard that Xu Qing came from the slums…”
“You believe such words? This person kills when he attacks. With such an attitude, he must be a silkpants.”
“You’re wrong. In reality, according to my information, Xu Qing isn’t a silkpants. He knows how to repay kindness and is very respectful to his senior brother, Chen Erniu. He once said that he would live and die with Chen Erniu.”
“I don’t care about these. What I care about is what reward Xu Qing will obtain after this climb ends!”
Amidst everyone’s discussions, there was complexity, shock, envy, and desire. Xu Qing stood at the 10,000 feet of the Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar. As a strong wind blew at him, he looked above.
His location looked very high, but he was actually still very far from the clouds. There was an even longer portion of the Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar above the clouds.
“I can’t continue for the time being.” Xu Qing mumbled inwardly. He sensed his Ghost Emperor Mountain. Through the close connection with it, he could sense that this mountain showed signs of fullness because it had absorbed too many resentful spirits.
Those cracks on it were formed because of this. The energy needed to be further refined before he could continue climbing.
At the thought of this, Xu Qing made a decision. Just as he was about to let go and leave the Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar, his gaze froze at the next instant as he looked into the distance.
In the distant sky, a huge ball of black fog was whistling toward this place. From where he was, he could clearly see a giant in the fog.
This giant’s entire body was green and its body was about 30,000 feet tall. At the same time, it emitted waves of terrifying divine fluctuations. This was a divine creature.
It rode the clouds. There were a hundred or so figures in black Daoist robes standing on its body. Every one of them had an extremely cold expression, as though they didn’t have any emotions.
Above the giant’s head, there was a red figure standing against the wind.
The red-clothed figure carried a huge evil ghost scythe, looking extremely heroic.
The moment he saw that figure, Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed imperceptibly.
Woman in red.