Chapter 114

Chapter 114: Alien Race’s Territory

Across the merfolk race’s four islands, sounds of slaughter and fluctuations of spells continuously burst out. Looking from the sky, it could be seen that the four islands were actually arranged in a curve like a crescent moon.

Of the four islands, the top of the crescent was Mer Island, the middle two were Juying Island and Image, and the bottom was Serenity Island.

In fact, Image was the merfolk race’s primary island, and the other three were only subsidiary islands.

Xu Qing originally didn’t know much about the merfolk race, but the jade slip Huang Yan had given him was extremely detailed. Not only did it mark the locations of various precious treasures, it also contained a description of the merfolk race’s history and culture.

According to the merfolk race’s belief, after death, they would enter a strange world called Cloudfield through the Temple of Mer. Cloudfield was the divine kingdom where the god they placed their belief in was buried.

That god was called Mer.

This was also where the name Mer Island came from, and the armor enshrined in the Mer Island’s volcano was called the Armor of Mer.

However, although the god Mer was the utmost holy being in the merfolk race’s religion, it eventually still died. Something was needed to bear the merfolk’s faith, and there were even experts among the merfolk who relied on the power of faith to display divine spells.

Thus, they placed their faith in another existence, embellishing it with mystery and naming it Juying.

Juying Island was named after this existence.

However, Huang Yan’s jade slip had mentioned that this so-called god, Juying, was actually… just a divinity lifeform that lived deep in the Forbidden Sea.

It was certainly powerful, but far from being worthy of the title of god.

As for Serenity Island, it was home to the relics of the dead.

The merfolk race attached great importance to the relics and funerary objects of the deceased. They believed that more funerary objects being buried with them meant that they had led a greater life. Thus, if possible, most merfolk would be buried in Serenity Island, and all of their belongings in life would be buried along with them.

However, the merfolk race had no taboo on later generations digging up graves. In their belief, for a funerary object to be dug up by a fated descendant and accompany them in battle was another form of rebirth.

Finally, there was Image.

Image was the primary island of the merfolk race, and as such, it was named after the first generation ancestor of the merfolk race. It was also the surname of the merfolk race’s royal family.

These four islands of the merfolk race could be said to hold the roots of their culture itself.

As Xu Qing recalled the contents of the jade slip, he also remembered what the little fatty had said about the clues to a temple hidden in the Spiritual Breath Lamp.

According to the merfolk race’s legends, after the death of the god Mer, the Temple of Mer itself disappeared. The Spiritual Breath Lamp, which was used nowadays only to help merfolk juniors establish their foundations, supposedly contained clues to the location of the Temple of Mer. But after so many years, no one had found anything.

Xu Qing didn’t care about the temple at all. He only cared about the value of the Spiritual Breath Lamp. After quickly running through its information in his mind, his body sped up and he shot forward in the jungle.

Soon, Xu Qing heard the sounds of battle in the distance, as well as fluctuations of spiritual energy. Clearly, there were Seven Blood Pupils disciples fighting with merfolk.

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes slightly and quickly scanned his surroundings. He moved forward in a proficient manner, jumping through the treetops and speeding through the dark corners of the jungle without slowing down in the slightest.

He was very familiar with jungles.

As he ran, Xu Qing finally put down the rock in his heart, knowing that no one would come to trouble him for killing that merfolk youth.

Feeling slightly more at ease, he leaped up tho the top of a tree and was about to kick off and leap forward. However, his pupils suddenly contracted at that moment.

A sense of crisis suddenly filled his heart, and his body pulled back instantaneously. As soon as Xu Qing stepped backward, a red branch shot out from the large tree that he was on top of just now.

This branch lashed out swiftly and flexibly, like a tentacle.

At the same time, the large tree withered at a rate visible to the naked eye, and dozens of similar trees around it also withered away.

As soon as the trees withered, red branched shot over from all directions, piercing straight toward Xu Qing.

Xu Qing’s expression didn’t change. His body swiftly dodged the branched, but he didn’t counterattack immediately. Instead, he jumped up and glanced over into the distance at the source of these red branches.

There, the soil was crumbling, and a thick, blood-red tree was slowly rising up from the ground.

As it rose, it shone with red light, but it couldn’t block Xu Qing’s vision. He could clearly see a large number of broken corpses buried in the tree trunk.

There were those of humans, but also those of alien races.

All of them were bluish-black.

Clearly, these people had been buried there, and their flesh and blood became nutrients to nourish the large tree. At the same time, their corpses became mutation points where the tree stored its heterogeneity.

Once the tree rose up out of the ground, Xu Qing saw over a dozen huge fruits on it.

These fruits were growing among the branches, and they were all translucent. Xu Qing could see a merfolk race cultivator inside each one.

These merfolk cultivators all had their eyes closed, and large amounts of heterogeneity were being sucked out of their bodies. The heterogeneity was then absorbed by the large tree, which sent it into the countless corpses inside its trunk.

This was clearly the merfolk race’s special method to purify their heterogeneity.

And this wasn’t the only such tree. Raising his head, Xu Qing could see at least seven or eight more in the distance. It could be imagined that there were even more of this sort of tree all around Juying Island’s peripheral jungle.

Just as Xu Qing glanced into the distance, the red tentacle-like branches lashed over from all directions, filled with towering killing intent.

But as soon as the first one got close to Xu Qing, it began to wither at a rate visible to the naked eye. The red color of the branch was quickly replaced with spots of black, and the black spots instantly began to spread, corroding the branch everywhere they passed.

Thus, before the branch could reach Xu Qing, it rotted away, turning into black slime and falling to the ground. This black slime was also extremely poisonous, corroding anything it touched, and even the soil sizzled when it touched the ground.

Of course, it wouldn’t end with just one. At that moment, all the branches closing in on Xu Qing rotted away in an instant. The blackness on the branches rapidly spread along the roots, corroding everything in their way.

From a distance, it could be seen that dozens of branched were rapidly turning into black slime, and blackness was spreading along the roots toward a huge blood-red tree from all directions.

Just as the blackness was about to reach the big tree, the dozen or so fruits on its branches suddenly trembled violently. Sensing danger, the merfolk cultivators within opened their eyes and broke out of the fruits one after another.

However, not all of them were able to wake up and rush out quickly enough. In the end, only four of them managed to escape before the blackness reached the tree.

As for the rest… as soon as the blackness reached the big tree, it was like ink meeting water. The fruits instantly turned black and rotted away, and with them, the merfolk inside.

The four merfolk who had managed to escape immediately burned with killing intent. The fluctuations of their spiritual energy revealed them to be peak Qi Condensation cultivators, and they all charged toward Xu Qing.

In their eyes, Xu Qing was nothing more than a peak Qi Condensation cultivator just like them. He may have been at the same level of cultivation, but in the human race, few people were able to awaken their racial talent. Thus, when fighting in the same realm, alien races generally had an advantage.

Although his poison skills were strong, the body structure of a merfolk cultivator was vastly different from that of a human, so they could directly ignore many poisons that were fatal to humans.

Thus, these four merfolk cultivators didn’t hesitate to approach Xu Qing, encircling him. However, just as they closed in, a cold light flashed through Xu Qing’s eyes, and he suddenly sped up.

His speed was far faster than the four merfolk had expected. Before horror could even appear on their faces, Xu Qing had already arrived in front of one merfolk cultivator and swung his dagger, sending a head flying into the air. In the next moment, he changed direction and slammed his body into another merfolk cultivator.

Cracking sounds rang out. Although this merfolk cultivator’s racial talent allowed him to divert a certain amount of force, his body still instantly caved in, and both his bones and flesh crumbled instantaneously before he could even cry out.

As blood and flesh splattered everywhere, Xu Qing’s dagger pierced through the air and penetrated the third merfolk cultivator’s forehead, killing him instantly. The last merfolk cultivator finally went pale, and he immediately retreated, trying to escape.

But he was still too late.

He had barely made it a dozen meters away when his body shuddered and countless black spots appeared all over him.

As the black spots spread rapidly, his miserable screams echoed in all directions. Soon, the merfolk cultivator’s entire body rotted away, melting into black slime.

Although merfolk had a different body structure from humans and could ignore some poisons, Xu Qing had already modified his poison powders to specifically target merfolk.

After killing four merfolk in a row, Xu Qing’s expression remained as neutral as ever. When he was rummaging around for loot, his eye suddenly twitched and he looked up into the distance to see a Seven Blood Pupils disciple on the horizon.

Xu Qing didn’t recognize this person, but the fluctuations of the Sea Transforming Scripture, which were almost at the peak of Qi Condensation, proved that they were real. Just as Xu Qing looked over, the other disciple’s footsteps also came to a stop.

As soon as his gaze met Xu Qing’s the Seven Blood Pupils disciple’s breathing suddenly hitched. It was as if he had encountered a mighty sea beast on the Forbidden Sea, and his entire body froze up. Unprecedented vigilance filled his eyes as he forced himself to open his mouth.

“Senior brother, I have no ill intentions, I’m just passing by.” As he spoke, he quickly took out a handful of pills and swallowed them, then raised his hands and slowly backed away.

Xu Qing glanced at the disciple coldly. After putting away his loot, he left in a flash.

It wasn’t until after Xu Qing had already disappeared from sight for a long time that the Seven Blood Pupils disciple finally let out a breath. His eyes were filled with shock, and his mind was utterly terrified.

“If I had gone just a little closer, or if I showed the slightest hint of ill intent, I’m afraid I would have died here!”

Fear still lingered on his face. Xu Qing’s power and the aura coming off his body had made the disciple feel a heavy pressure, as if he had not been facing a fellow Qi Condensation disciple, but rather a Foundation Establishment deacon of the sect.

“When did such a character appear in the mountain foot…”

This Seven Blood Pupils disciple had been at sea for the past half a year, so he didn’t know about Xu Qing’s fame. He quickly moved to leave, but after just a few steps, he suddenly coughed up a mouthful of black blood, startling him into quickly swallowing another handful of pills before finally feeling a little better.

This was only because Xu Qing’s poisons had been modified to target the merfolk race. If it was his previous poisons, this disciple would have already died when he approached the battlefield just now.

“Powerful cultivation, kills decisively, and his poison is also so terrifying…” The veteran Seven Blood Pupils disciple’s eyes were filled with terror, and he didn’t dare to follow Xu Qing, decisively changing his direction. He had already decided that he would never go to the same place as Xu Qing even if it killed him.

As time passed, battles continued to erupt on the merfolk race’s four islands, and deaths and injuries were mounting. Soon, Xu Qing slowly exited the jungle on Juying Island.

As soon as he stepped out of the jungle, he saw a merfolk city in the distance!

This city was very special. It wasn’t built from brick and tile, but rather the skeleton of an enormous fish.

This fish skeleton was extraordinarily grand, as large as one of the districts of the Seven Blood Pupils’ main city.

Xu Qing quickly recalled the information on Juying Island that had been in Huang Yan’s jade slip before speeding toward the city.

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