The Supervisor was the Heavenly Dao?!
No wonder Grandmother Gu said that if the Supervisor died, everyone would be finished… Xu Qi An’s mind was filled with questions as countless past clues and details flooded back to him.
But he successfully suppressed his professional instincts, clearing his mind of distractions to focus on the battle. He swung the Taiping Blade toward Huang.
Although the humble blade hadn’t awakened yet, after absorbing the Heaven’s Gate, its hardness had surpassed that of magical treasures. Combined with the overwhelming qi and strength of a Half-step Martial God, cutting off one of Huang’s horns shouldn’t be difficult. After all, this ancient god-demon who devoured heaven and earth wasn’t known for physical prowess.
Just as the dark golden blade was about to sever the horn, Xu Qi An’s world went dark. He lost his sight, hearing, smell, touch, and even his divine soul’s perception of the surroundings.
Dark Gu — Blind!
This technique was familiar to him, as he could use it too, though not nearly as powerfully.
While the Gu God blinded Xu Qi An’s senses, Huang calmly countered. The six horns atop its head suddenly expanded into vortexes that could devour everything.
At this moment, Xu Qi An’s martial artist’s danger perception was also blinded. In the next second, he would have fallen into Huang’s vortex like a moth to flame.
But then, his figure was tinged with a layer of shadow, beginning to melt… The melting failed as his shadow jump was interrupted.
It was the Gu God again!
The expanding vortex immediately swallowed Xu Qi An, and the Half-step Martial God vanished without a trace.
Far away in the sky from Huang and the Gu God, Xu Qi An’s figure materialized. Above his head floated a golden Buddhist pagoda, its spire threaded with a hair-woven bracelet.
Using the bracelet required first seeing the space with one’s eyes, then using the Giant Eye to cut through space for teleportation.
When Xu Qi An’s five senses and six perceptions were blinded, he lost the “qualification” to use the Giant Eye. But the Pagoda Spirit could — it hadn’t been blinded by the Dark Gu technique.
Good thing I stayed cautious and kept a backup plan… Xu Qi An let out a light breath, feeling somewhat afraid in retrospect.
Though the exchange had been brief, it was fraught with danger, making him smell that familiar scent of mortal peril that made his hair stand on end.
The strength of two Transcendent Realm experts couldn’t be underestimated. The only consolation was that they were both somewhat wounded now. Although these wounds couldn’t damage their foundations as Transcendent Realm experts and would heal with time, Xu Qi An was counting on this temporary weakness.
Additionally, what disappointed him was that the Supervisor seemed unable to help him advance to Martial God.
His earlier risky assault on Huang had two purposes: to rescue the Supervisor and to test the old schemer up close. If he could help Xu Qi’an advance to Martial God, he wouldn’t have missed that earlier opportunity.
The result was disappointing.
Xu Qi An guessed that the Gu God and Huang’s seals were affecting the Supervisor.
“Huang, didn’t you want to devour the Guardian’s spiritual essence? Well, here I am,” Xu Qi An taunted. “Can you resist such a delicacy delivered to your doorstep?”
Huang, towering like a mountain, flashed anger in its amber eyes. Its nature was volatile and quick to anger, and it harbored a deep hatred for Xu Qi An. It instinctively wanted to charge forward and fight to the death, to devour this little bug into ashes.
Its nostrils flared, exhaling a breath of stagnant qi. Huang turned its head to look at the Gu God: “What’s his story?”
If they hadn’t known the Supervisor was the Heavenly Dao’s avatar, Huang would have found Xu Qi An’s overseas journey difficult to understand.
Now, it instinctively sensed there must be deeper reasons behind Xu Qi An’s attempt to rescue the Supervisor.
The Gu God’s voice was vast and ethereal: “I said earlier — kill the Supervisor, destroy the Martial Gods!”
Destroy the Martial Gods… The Supervisor, no, the Heavenly Dao is connected to the birth of Martial Gods. Xu Qi An sailed overseas to save the Supervisor to advance to Martial God… Huang understood now. It hadn’t been expected that before the war to devour the Central Plains had even begun, the battle that would determine this great calamity would occur overseas.
“This kid got close to me earlier, but the Supervisor showed no response,” Huang said.
“The Supervisor is sealed,” the Gu God answered. Then, looking at Xu Qi An, it continued slowly: “You think having a spatial treasure means you’re invincible?”
Xu Qi An’s vision went dark as his neck erupted in pain. The Seven Fatal Gu connected to his spinal nerves quickly developed self-awareness, no longer under his control, and began fighting for dominance over his body.
The seven powers symbolizing seven Gu arts traveled along his nerves, invading Xu Qi An’s brain and limbs, attempting to claim this Half-step Martial God’s body for themselves.
Body possession shouldn’t be possible against a First-Rank martial artist’s special characteristics, but the Seven Fatal Gu wasn’t strictly an external object — it had long been connected to Xu Qi An’s body, becoming part of him.
Simply put, it was as if your hand developed its consciousness, no longer obeying the brain’s commands, and wanted to seize control of the body.
It has gained consciousness… Xu Qi An frowned.
“You were too confident, thinking you could suppress the Seven Fatal Gu that had no soul or will, thinking I would use it to invade your body,” the distant massive flesh mountain’s voice was magnificent and calm:
“External will cannot affect a Half-step Martial God’s characteristics, and I indeed can do nothing about that. But I can give it consciousness, and it is also you — it’s part of your body.”
As it spoke, the massive flesh mountain vanished. Then the sky darkened as the Gu God’s dark red body appeared above Xu Qi An. Muscles bulged and tendons tensed as the two rows of air holes on its back spewed crimson mist.
The air around the Gu God instantly distorted, space cracking like a mirror, as if unable to bear its weight.
Seizing the opportunity while the Seven Fatal Gu fought for territory, it moved to engage Xu Qi An in direct combat.
Meanwhile, the five horns atop Huang’s head expanded into vortexes, then merged, transforming itself into a black hole of swirling energy rushing toward Xu Qi An.
Facing the attacks of two Transcendent Realm experts, the Half-step Martial God’s vision went dark as his five senses and six perceptions were blinded once again.
…
Jingshan City.
Within a hundred li of the Witch God Religion’s main altar, human presence had vanished. The sound of waves crashing against reef rocks could be heard from the coastal cliffs, and seabirds glided along the ocean surface under the azure sky.
Except for the absence of people, everything appeared peaceful and normal, no different from usual.
In fact, without human activity, wildlife in the mountains and wilderness appeared more frequently. From tiny insects to birds and beasts, all were enjoying this quiet time without human presence.
The civilians of Jingshan City and those within several hundred li had been forcibly evacuated by the Great Feng army over the past few months.
All supplies and provisions had been moved as well.
Outside Jingshan City, in a valley, a cracking sound suddenly came from the several-hundred-zhang-tall altar.
The sound came from the statue of an elderly man wearing a Confucian cap and robes. Deep cracks crawled across the statue’s surface, continuously splitting it apart.
Opposite the Confucian Saint statue, the Witch God statue wearing a crown of thorns had two streams of black smoke rising from its eyes.
Under its gaze, the cracks spread faster, until finally, with a crumbling sound, the Confucian Saint statue collapsed.
The next moment, with a thunderous boom, black smoke erupted like a geyser from the Crown of Thorns statue. It quickly spread through the high sky, and accompanied by earth-shaking sounds, the black smoke obscured the azure sky.
Moreover, this black smoke expanded without limit, as if attempting to completely replace the heavens.
Under the layers of black smoke, living creatures on the ground died silently, then rose with dead eyes. Whether insects, birds, or beasts, they silently began marching westward.
…
On a desolate mountain somewhere, Chu Yuan Chen stood on a treetop, holding up a monocular telescope. He saw the strange black clouds slowly spreading from the distant horizon.
Beneath the black clouds was a dense flock of birds, while on the ground, beasts and snake swarms appeared all over the mountains and wilderness. They gathered together regardless of species, forming a vast army of walking corpses.
“The Gu God has broken free of its seal…”
Chu Yuan Chen’s scalp tingled. He immediately leaped up, stepping onto his flying sword and heading straight for the nearest military camp.
He hadn’t gone to Lei Province to fight, partly because his combat strength was limited, and partly because the Empress had assigned him a more important task — monitoring the Witch God’s movements.
The Witch God would break free of its seal more slowly than the Gu God, but not much later, so the court maintained the highest vigilance over Jingshan City.
Chu Yuan Chen was chosen for surveillance because he had the Earth Book fragment for communication and could fly on his sword, making him highly mobile.
Before long, billowing smoke signals rose from the military camp.
The troops stationed there abandoned all military supplies and equipment, quickly withdrawing.
Amid the sound of horse hooves, Chu Yuan Chen watched the army driving civilians in a mad dash across the wilderness. While anxious, he couldn’t suppress his sadness, not knowing how many of these civilians could outrun the Witch God and survive.
And even if they temporarily escaped the Witch God, without a Half-step Martial God to contain it, where could they run to?
Chu Yuan Chen seemed to see a scene of devastation before him.
Taking a deep breath, he took out the Earth Book fragment and sent a message to the Heaven’s Society:
[The Witch God has emerged.]