"Respect the god's decree!"
The Wind Guard Ancestor lowered his head.
Outsiders didn't know but the members of the Wind Guard Race were very clear that they had a belief, and what they believed in was a god.
This god gave them life and a mission.
And from the fluctuations from their souls, they could clearly sense that the god… was right in front of them.
As for the form and strength of the god, it wasn't something they had to consider. This was because a god was a god, capable of transforming all things and assuming myriad forms.
As he spoke, the ancestor immediately sat down cross-legged. The instant he closed his eyes, he lifted his right hand and pressed two fingers on the circle on his forehead.
The soul fluctuations instantly spread out from his body and fused into the black wind.
At the same time, chants echoed from the mouth of the captain who was floating in the air.
"The heavens and earth coexist, the black wind scalds the gods, refining the nine paths, returning to the true form!"
"The black platform has no cover, the memory sea has a body, the soul and spirit are one, sharing the same root with heaven and earth!"
This voice was ancient and contained some kind of will. The moment it was transmitted, the entire green sand desert rumbled. The ground trembled and sand rose from the ground, all of them shaking.
Lightning descended from the sky and exploded in all directions, stirring up endless echoes.
The entire green sand desert was stirred.
This chant didn't end there. It continued and repeated.
Very soon, the Wind Guard Ancestor also chanted.
In the end, all the surrounding Wind Guard clansmen also lifted their fingers and pressed them on their forehead, chanting as well.
As they chanted, the fluctuations of their souls continued to spread and fuse into the wind. Gradually, the black wind here transformed into a huge vortex.
The rotation of this vortex was the exact opposite of the vortex in the ten-thousand-foot-long circle!
One went left to right, and the other went right to left.
The two vortices continued to spin, forming an astonishing force that emitted a heaven-shaking sound.
As they pulled at each other, the memories hidden in the wind were slowly sensed by this race.
Xu Qing looked at all of this from afar. Even though he had some understanding of his eldest senior brother's past, he still felt the same shock as the ritual dance for the gods back then.
"How many more arrangements did Eldest Senior Brother make in his previous life…"
"The god's grand ritual dancer is one of them, and the Wind Guard Race is another. Also, Eighth Grandpa and Fifth Grandma said that they are familiar with Eldest Senior Brother. Eldest Senior Brother should have gone to the places where the descendants of the ruler were sealed back then."
With Xu Qing's understanding of Chen Erniu, when the other party introduced this Wind Guard Race, the so-called great person he mentioned was most likely referring to himself.
"Then, the existence he mentioned…"
Xu Qing narrowed his eyes. He instinctively thought of the high god that the captain had mentioned in the ritual dance incident in the Heavenly Bull Mountain Range.
'High god…'
The legend of the green sand desert appeared in Xu Qing's mind. An answer appeared in his mind.
While Xu Qing was pondering, the expressions of Ning Yan, Wu Jianwu, Li Youfei, and the others were moved. Even though Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu had done a few things with the captain, a storm still stirred in their hearts.
As for Li Youfei… To him, ever since he met Xu Qing, everything he had experienced had exceeded his imagination.
Even Nether Fairy had a solemn expression. Clearly, she was also shocked by this huge move.
In the vortex, as the different vortices pulled and the wind fused with the memories of the Wind Guard Race, images gradually appeared in the vortex.
'Countless images, encompassing all things, conveyed a sense of ancientness.'
These were all memories that came from everyone in the Wind Guard Race. They also came from the memories of this desert.
After these memories appeared with the soul fluctuations, they gathered together and transformed into a sea of memories inside and outside the vortex.
This sea spread out, illuminating the sky and landing on the ground. After covering the surroundings, it poured into nine locations.
That was where the nine skulls on the ground were.
These nine skulls were like bone bowls that seemed to be able to contain everything.
Just like that, time flowed by.
The sea of memories continued to appear and flow.
When the eighth hour arrived, the nine skulls were already filled with memories that were like liquid.
This water changed between illusory and real. It was sometimes black and sometimes white.
It was extremely strange.
Xu Qing swept his gaze over. In the water of memory, he sensed a wisp of god's aura.
It was also at this moment that the captain, who was floating in the air and presiding over the ritual, performed a series of hand seals with both hands and waved them fiercely. Immediately, lightning erupted unprecedentedly from the nine daggers.
"Freeze!"
Under his thunderous voice, the nine bronze daggers headed straight for the nine bowls below and pierced into them one by one, instantly stabilizing the memory water that was fluctuating between illusion and reality.
The black and white fused together and turned gray!
In this gray liquid, a miniature image appeared.
It was a straight mountain range that extended into the pitch-black darkness. There seemed to be lightning streaking across the sky inside, and on both sides of the mountain range were black abysses, as though they were hiding demons.
As for the details, as the water surface rippled, it couldn't be seen clearly.
However, everyone, including Xu Qing, had an answer to describe the origins of this scene in their hearts. Clearly, that place… was the place where the ruler had killed the god.
At the same time, a single drop of blood floated out of the foreheads of the four Wind Guard clansmen who were born on special days. They gathered in the air and floated in front of the captain.
They were part of the process of opening the memory key.
The other part came from the captain.
The captain bit his finger and squeezed out a drop of blood that was different from the past. The color of this blood… was blue.
The moment it appeared, the five drops of blood fused into nine portions that landed in the nine skulls.
After doing all this, it reached the eighth hour since the black wind blew.
"Let's… enter!"
The captain laughed loudly. He lifted his right hand and grabbed a skull, drinking the liquid in it in one gulp. His body instantly blurred and fused into the wind, disappearing.
Xu Qing didn't hesitate and did the same.
The others gritted their teeth. For their own goals, they all picked up a bone bowl and drank the liquid.
Very soon, everyone's figures dissipated like the captain.
Everything was normal in the green sand desert. As the black wind whistled, the sea of memories was still fluctuating, drowning everything here.
As for Xu Qing and the others, they had already appeared at the place they had seen in the bone bowl.
This place didn't belong to reality or illusion. It existed in the gap between illusions and memories. It was mysterious and ingenious.
However, at the instant it appeared and the instant he saw his surroundings clearly, everything here was slightly different from what Xu Qing and the others saw in the bone bowl.
Firstly, the world here wasn't completely pitch-black. Between the sky and the ground, there was a bright light.
The source of the light came from lanterns floating in the air.
There were a lot of them and they were densely packed. They shone brightly and illuminated this world.
Every lantern's leather exuded an eerie atmosphere, adorned with ghostly faces – some crying, some laughing, some angry, and some surprised.
It was lifelike, as though it was made of human skin.
With the help of the light from these lanterns, a straight and vast mountain range was clearly reflected in Xu Qing's eyes.
It was like a blade, slanting upward and extending extremely long. Its end seemed to be connected to the sky.
The place they were at was the starting point of this mountain range. A circular platform had been built here. The ground was shattered and filled with cracks. An ancient feeling of time lingered in all directions, revealing ancientness and decay.
As for the two sides of the mountain range, it was endless darkness. The light from the world couldn't shine in. Occasionally, there would be mournful roars that rang out from the darkness, accompanied by the sound of sharp claws rubbing against mountain rocks.
It was as though there was an extremely terrifying existence trying to climb up the mountain range from the abyss below the mountain range.
The sky was also pitch-black and it was difficult for the light source to illuminate it. One could only vaguely see a huge crack that was split open in the sky like a scar.
Thunder continued to rumble from the crack, as though it was very difficult to stop.
Occasionally, there would be blue lightning flickering in the crack in the sky.
This was an incomparably strange place.
This scene caused everyone who arrived to have solemn expressions. Even Nether Fairy was extremely vigilant. Regardless of whether it was the human-skinned lanterns or the terrifying aura under the abyss, she sensed intense danger.
"Those human-skinned lanterns are transformed from the sins of the sovereign. They hate all living beings. Once one is touched by them, they will be assimilated into human-skinned lanterns."
"As for the existences under the abyss, they are the accumulation of resentment before the Crimson Goddess died. Their malefice makes everyone who walks on this mountain range a target of hostility."
The captain understood this place extremely well. He stood at the front and spoke in a low voice. After that, he turned around and faced Xu Qing with a smile on his face.
"Junior Brother, welcome to… the recording venue of the large-scale show."
"Here, you will see an earth-shattering event that happened in history long ago."
"And what we need to do is walk there."
The captain raised his hand and pointed at the crack in the sky.
"Walk there and begin our recording."
"As for the name of the script, I've already thought of it. It's called… God Slaying!"
"As for the content, I'll tell you guys when we get there. Don't worry… Every one of you has a role to play."
The captain was beaming with joy. After saying that, he took out several blue candles and gave one to each of them.
Xu Qing took it and held it in his hand. While it felt greasy, he also detected the stench of blood. Just as he was making a guess, he discovered that Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu had complicated expressions on their faces, as though they wanted to vomit.
"If we light the candles in our hands, we'll be able to safely pass through this area. However, the prerequisite is that… the candles can't be extinguished on the way."
As he spoke, the captain blew on the candle in his hand. Immediately, the candle burned and a black fog was released, enveloping his figure as he walked toward the mountain range.
Xu Qing nodded and also exhaled on the candle. Black fog emerged and spread in the surroundings before he stepped forward.
As the others ignited their candles one after another, very soon, their group walked on the mountain range.
"Remember, the candle can't be extinguished…"
The captain's voice rang out from the black fog ahead.
From afar, on the mountain range that connected to the sky, six lumps of black fog enveloped six figures. They were separated by dozens of feet and proceeded further and further away.
As for the human skin lanterns in the air, they were still swaying. The abyss on both sides of the mountain range rumbled as usual and the sound of sharp blades grating against rocks resonated ear-piercingly.
