<h4>Chapter 501: Half-Step into Smoldering God! (part 1)</h4>


    Xu Qing didn’t push them for an answer. He waited for a moment, then seeing that neither the heavenly spiritual soul nor the earthly spiritual soul was responding, he decided not to continue with any sort of sales pitch.


    “August Spirits, please take time to think it over. This evening at sunset I’ll be waiting outside the Eight Sect Coalition atop Mount Seagazing.”


    With that, he spoke to Qingqin via divine will. Qingqin burped, cawed, then stretched his wings and flew up into the sky. Clouds gathered, surrounding Qingqin. They rapidly turned pitch ck and filled with countless lightning bolts. The rumbling of thunder echoed out. Then Qingqin burst into motion, exploding from the clouds and shooting in the direction of the Ghost Emperor mountain.


    Two hourster, the giant mountain became visible ahead.


    The Ghost Emperor had sat down cross-legged and be an incredibly formidable mountain. Although the surface of the mountain had degenerated and ultimately be a ‘garment’ of nts and vegetation, that couldn’tpletely cover the suit of armor or the two vicious des that emanated strong, baleful auras. The Ghost Emperor sat there, facing the direction of the Forbidden Sea, head slightly bowed as if waiting for something....


    Just looking at the spectacr mountain filled Xu Qing’s heart with emotion. Back when he came here with Master Seventh to seek enlightenment, he didn’t see the seven physical souls of the Ghost Emperor mountain. He had stayed in a little residence near the base of the mountain. [1]


    Now that he was back and looking at the real Ghost Emperor mountain, he felt his Ghost Emperor pce stirring.


    Eyes shining, he took a deep breath and threw out some demonization talismans. As Qingqin got closer to the mountain, a projection of the Ghost Emperor appeared behind Xu Qing. Wild colors shed in heaven and earth. Winds screamed. From a distance, it was possible to see two Ghost Emperor mountains. One wasrge, the other small. One was real, the other was illusory. The two of them almost seemed to be looking at each other.


    A roar echoed from the real Ghost Emperor mountain, something that sounded almost like a threat. At the same time, seven streams of ck smoke shot out from the two major worlds resting on the Ghost Emperor mountain’s shoulders. Each was roughly 300 meters thick, and was extremely ghastly. They all pulsed with terrifying fluctuations as they rose into the dome of heaven and transformed into seven enormous faces that looked down at Xu Qing.


    They were bizarre in appearance. Some were human, some were beastly. There were men and women, old and young represented. And the middle face actually looked extremely simr to the actual Ghost Emperor.


    Their arrival on the scene caused the air to ripple and distort. What was actually a bright day turned into something more like a gloomy evening as immense pressure pulsed down from the faces. A ferocious and brutal sensation erupted out as they red down at Xu Qing with seeming displeasure.


    At the same time, ghostly shadows emerged from the two major worlds, spreading out in all directions. Among those entities were evil ghosts and grues. They were unhealthy yin entities that hade to exist after those two major worlds were extinguished. They spread out to obfuscate the sky and enshroud thends, making it seem almost like the gates of hell had been opened.


    Of course, such things hardly registered with Qingqin. He even looked a bit excited, as though he were now wondering what these evil ghosts tasted like.


    Xu Qing stood atop Qingqin’s right head, looking at the seven faces of smoke. Expression calm, he said, “I already talked things over with the spirit automaton and the heavenly and earthly spiritual souls. I don’t want to rehash the same information. Presumably, the seven of you already know what’s going on. Tonight at sunset I’ll be waiting on Mount Seagazing outside the Eight Sect Coalition.”


    He sped hands, bowed, and turned to leave.


    Truth be told, he didn’t even need toe here. The three spiritual souls and seven physical souls were technically two distinct groups, but they had the same origin. Xu Qing refused to believe that these seven faces didn’t already know what had yed out at the Three-Spirits Dao-Suppressing Mountain.


    That said, even people who knew all the information mighte up with additional demands.


    Therefore, it wasn’t a huge surprise that, as Xu Qing turned, the face that resembled the Ghost Emperor, who ranked first among the physical souls, spoke in a voice that boomed like thunder.


    “I want to see your heavenly dao!”


    Xu Qing stopped in ce.


    Turning to face the first-ranked physical soul, he waved his hand toward the sky, and a rumbling howl filled the dark canopy of heaven. The clouds became like an ocean, and the bluegreen dragon leaped out of it. Its long whiskers rippled as it swirled through the air, pulsing with astonishing energy and the clear aura of a heavenly dao.


    The seven physical souls looked on silently.


    Xu Qing waited for a moment, called back the bluegreen dragon, then turned to Qingqin’s middle head and sped hands. Qingqin knew exactly what Xu Qing was getting at. Cawing, he flew a circle around the Ghost Emperor mountain, then pped his wings and shot off into the distance.


    The day passed, and eventually evening approached. It wasn’t a red evening. Instead, the dome of heaven was a waxy yellow color, like an old person clinging to life who just couldn’t bear to let go. As that fading light enveloped Mount Seagazing outside of the Eight Sect Coalition, the evening hour arrived.


    Xu Qing stood at the summit of the mountain. To his right was the Eight Sect Coalition, which had long since activated its defensive shields. Martialw had been imposed there, just in case the seals on Forbidden by the Zombie failed. The sect wasn’tpletely locked down, but was close. All of the sects had activated their taboo treasures, which would asionally send pulsing beams of radiant light into the depths of the sea.


    In front of Xu Qing was the pitch-ck Forbidden Sea.


    Waves crashed there, smashing into the rocky shore and creating a brown froth that piled up on the shoreline. The froth would build up, dissipate, and then build up again. The mutagen in the Forbidden Sea’s waters was also in that froth, and when the froth dissipated, the mutagen would spread out into the area.


    <i>Forbidden by the Zombie is in that direction</i>. Xu Qing continued looking out at the sea.


    He waited. Time passed. Eventually, evening deepened, and darkness started to gobble up the light. Just when it seemed like the sky was going to turn ck, a huge figure appeared a great distance away in the canopy of heaven.


    He was emaciated, with a vicious-looking head and a cancerous growth on his back that made him look like a hunchback. He was none other than August Spirit Sunughter!


    He wasn’t alone. Astonishingly, there was a dwarf standing on his head.


    The dwarf wore a ck robe and had tiny, beady eyes along with a bulging forehead. He had two very long eyebrows that drooped down to his cheeks, a recessed chin, and a mustache shaped roughly like the character 八, with the ends curled up so they resembled tusks. In short, the dwarf was very ugly. However, the fact that he was standing on August Spirit Sunughter’s head made it clear how high of a position hemanded. He was surrounded by a ck cloud that looked like it was formed from countless shrieking centipedes. The dwarf was looking at Xu Qing. He was, of course, August Spirit Sporelight.


    “We’ll help you this one time,” August Spirit Sporelight said in a raspy voice. It was the voice of the heavenly spiritual soul that Xu Qing had heard earlier.


    Next, rumbling sounds filled the dark sky as seven enormous faces appeared. They were also looking at Xu Qing.


    “We’ll help you this one time!” they said, all at the same time. Their voices echoed like thunder.


    “Okay.” Xu Qing nodded. Since the deal had already been struck, there was no need for formalities.


    Every single one of the seven physical souls was in the first stage of Void Returning, with the exception of the first-ranking soul, which was in the second stage. August Spirit Sunughter, the earthly spiritual soul, was surrounded by second-stage projections, and August Spirit Sporelight, the heavenly spiritual soul, was so powerful Xu Qing had a hard time assessing him. However, given that he was the leader of all the three spiritual souls and seven physical souls, it went without saying that he was extraordinary. With battle prowess like that, all it would take was one instance of help at the right time.


    That was even truer considering that they hadn’te alone. Xu Qing could sense the aura of countless evil cultivators from the Three-Spirits Dao-Suppressing Mountain, as well as a host of evil ghosts.


    Both of these groups, which were two of the major powers of Emperor-Receiving Prefecture, hade in full force. Xu Qing also had Qingqin. With the full power of Emperor-Receiving Prefecture in y, Xu Qing was confident that Forbidden by the Zombie could be fully sealed.


    With such thoughts on his mind, he took a step forward. Qingqin materialized in front of him and epted him. Then the great bird looked around, let loose a deafening cry, and flew out over the Forbidden Sea.


    Behind Qingqin, August Spirit Sunughter licked his lips and followed. August Spirit Sporelight sped his hands behind his back and stood atop August Spirit Sunughter, his facepletely expressionless. Above them, the clouds seethed as the seven massive faces also followed along. Within those clouds were innumerable evil ghosts, pulsing with a formidable aura that made them seem like a horde of devils that darkened the sky.


    The sky was dark, and the Forbidden Sea was just as dark. Waves surged, and mutagen pulsed. Currents flowed under the surface, and it was just possible to see sea beasts swimming through them. They were a lot different than Xu Qing remembered. Most of them existed in various stages of rot. And by inhaling deeply, it was possible to detect the aroma of decay in the salty sea air.


    Clearly, this incident with Forbidden by the Zombie had severely contaminated the Forbidden Sea. After all, the true heart of the sea was Forbidden by the Zombie, which made it easy for the containments to freely spread through most of the sea.


    Up ahead, Xu Qing spotted a massive wave heading in a certain direction. Meanwhile, a stiff wind built up. The two forces mmed into each other with a deafening crash, sending more waves, some dozens of meters tall, others hundreds, sweeping out in all directions. The Forbidden Sea looked like an irascible giant, frantically trying to ease the pain that wracked its body.


    The fluctuations of magical techniques merged with the sound of sutras being chanted, alling from the direction of Forbidden by the Zombie.


    As Xu Qing continued on his way, he noticed the color of the sea changing. He saw streaks of gold spreading out, as if the area around Forbidden by the Zombie were slowly bing golden. The closer he got to Forbidden by the Zombie, the more gold he saw. It got denser and more numerous, and glittered dazzlingly.


    The sound of sutras and the fluctuations of magical techniques became more boundless, until they were like the cry of countless people.


    <i>“A person can fail the dao; the dao cannot fail a person. A person can lose their life; a life cannot lose the dao.</i>


    <i>“Things touched by a god are given life by that spirit. Gains are not gifted by heaven, failures are not seized by a person.”</i>


    The sutra seemed capable of stirring one’s soul; as soon as Xu Qing heard it, his expression flickered, and his mind vibrated as though his soul might leave his body.


    But then Qingqin’s head shifted slightly beneath his feet, and magenta light spread out. Daybreak light erupted from Xu Qing. Thus, his soul was kept under control, and ceased attempting to escape.


    The physical and spiritual souls behind him looked out at the Forbidden Sea with gleaming eyes.


    A shocking formation was active on the Forbidden Sea right now.


    From his position in the sky, Xu Qing looked around and saw masses of cultivators from all over Emperor-Receiving Prefecture. And he also saw what Forbidden by the Zombie looked like now.


    It resembled a massive golden face.


    1. Xu Qing arrived at the mountain with Master Seventh in <u>chapter 305</u>. ?