At that moment, Xu Qing's condition wasn't very good. He didn't know if his current body was some illusory state of his body or if his soul had left his body.
The first three deaths made him feel as though he had experienced countless cycles of reincarnation.
At that moment, his thoughts were somewhat obstructed and many of his memories fell into a blur. Only the hut and ritual under the Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar back then were exceptionally clear.
Vaguely, the singing voice seemed to echo in his ears.
"The previous life is not here, but the afterlife is always here. I cut off the lovesickness and drew the mortal world…"
Xu Qing lifted his head and looked at the stele in front of him. He suddenly understood the name of this ritual that his eldest senior brother had mentioned.
Soul transcendence.
This was a ritual to become a god, but it wasn't the only one.
This was the choice of the Crimson Goddess and also the choice of the woman from the ghost cave. As for the latter… it was obvious that she had been carrying out this ritual for a long time.
"The god sleeping in the ghost cave is her target of plundering. She wants to use it to achieve her god status."
"The five elements in this soul transcendence ritual are metal for dissection, wood for hanging, water for drowning, fire for burning, and earth for burying.
"Then, what's next for me is earth and fire."
Xu Qing was decisive. He lifted his hand and continued to inscribe his name on the stele in front of him.
He had finished writing the word 'Xu', but there was also the word 'Qing'.
He could already sense that names inscribed on this stele had nothing to do with the strokes. Even the simplest stroke would have to undergo the punishment of the five elements.
After two strokes, Xu Qing's body collapsed. A large amount of soil appeared out of thin air in the surroundings, drowning his body. He couldn't resist or dodge.
In an instant, Xu Qing's figure disappeared and was replaced by a grave.
This grave had a tombstone, but it had no inscriptions.
This was the buried corpse of the five elements!
The cultivators within the Crimson Goddess' mortal skin couldn't take their eyes off, and their hearts were in turmoil. This scene was truly a stormy sea for everyone involved.
This ritual had exceeded their understanding. Only the fourth hall master and a few of his subordinates had bits and pieces of knowledge about it.
"Divine tribulation!" The fourth hall master took a deep breath. However, he didn't understand why such a legendary ritual was appearing here.
Ning Yan and the others were even more shaken. Ling'er couldn't help but want to step forward many times but was stopped by Nether Fairy.
During this period of time in the apothecary, Nether Fairy had a different impression of this little girl, Ling'er.
Just as everyone's thoughts were churning, beside the golden stele in the air, the soil of the grave shook. A hand stretched out and a body slowly crawled out.
The person who crawled out was none other than Xu Qing. However, the strange thing was that as Xu Qing crawled out, the soil didn't move at all. It was as though Xu Qing didn't exist in the same space as this soil.
Even Xu Qing's body was illusory and blurry, as though he could dissipate at any moment. He walked step by step to the stele with a confused expression.
The countless deaths in his consciousness caused Xu Qing to be extremely exhausted. His memories were blurry and his life force was dim.
At that moment, he seemed to only have his instincts left. He lifted his hand in front of the stele and slowly inscribed until there was only one stroke left.
Before the stroke landed, a sea of fire appeared on his body. Amidst the intense burning, Xu Qing's body turned pitch-black and he slowly fell down, turning into a corpse.
This was the burning corpse of the five elements!
There was still a line left on the stele before the word 'Qing' could be completed.
In the five directions in the surroundings, there was a corpse each. They died in different ways that exuded bizarreness and were motionless.
Until the next moment, the captain's eyes revealed a mysterious glow. A scepter appeared in his hands, and he pointed it towards the five corpses under the stone tablet. Chanting emanated from his mouth.
"The divine decree commands, transcend mortal souls, the mortal corpses rebel, spirits and ghosts be banished, and the five elements bestow favor."
As the chant echoed, the captain walked closer to the stele and circled around Xu Qing's five corpses. He walked faster and faster and his voice became more impassioned, causing the color of the sky and earth in this area to change and the wind and clouds to surge.
"Drowned ones ascend, dissected ones rise, hanged ones release, buried ones break free, burned ones revive."
At that moment, it was as though life and death were being reversed. Even the sky above the Crimson Goddess' mortal skin rumbled. In an instant, wind, rain, lightning, the sun, moon, and stars were stirred. There were also murmurs that were like the shouts of gods.
Xu Qing's five corpses shook. There seemed to be a strange force faintly awakening in them.
The captain's speed also became faster and faster. In the end, it was almost impossible to see his figure. There were only afterimages circling the stele and Xu Qing's corpses. Finally, it turned into a low roar, like thunder exploding.
"Rescue everyone, swiftly transcend life, break free from the sea of suffering, reincarnate."
The instant he finished speaking, the captain's body and Xu Qing's corpses stopped. From a distance, the captain transformed into five figures. At this moment, all five figures raised their scepters high and suddenly descended upon Xu Qing's corpses.
A rumbling sound suddenly erupted.
"Return!"
The captain let out a loud shout and a cold wind rose in the surroundings. It was extremely cold and when it landed on a living person's body, they would instinctively tremble. It was as though the netherworld had been opened, and countless wild shrieks and howls rang out.
In an instant, Xu Qing's five corpses opened their eyes in unison. Even the burial soil collapsed, revealing the eyes of the buried body.
Immediately after, the five corpses stood up and rapidly approached each other. After coming into contact with each other, they actually overlapped.
They continued to squirm as they fused, finally Xu Qing's true body with its eyes closed.
At this moment, he seemed to be different from before, but it was hard to describe the difference. After he opened his eyes, he took a deep breath and his heart was filled with endless waves.
Just now, he felt the sinking of death. He felt that he was in a pitch-black world and had lost himself, becoming one of the countless souls.
When Eldest Senior Brother's chant echoed in his ears, he followed the guidance of the chant and walked back from death to life. However, his thoughts were still chaotic.
The captain let out a low bellow.
"Junior Brother, why aren't you drawing your last stroke!"
When Xu Qing heard this, he lifted his head and stared at the stele in front of him, staring at the last stroke that was missing. He instinctively lifted his right hand and waved it, completing the name.
Xu Qing's name was completely inscribed on the stele.
Immediately, the stele swayed and golden light shone, gathering on Xu Qing's name, causing its color to change from red to golden.
Xu Qing's entire body trembled. His blurry memories became clear at that instant and all the confusion dissipated in the blink of an eye. Everything instantly surfaced.
"I'm transcending the divine tribulation!"
Seeing that Xu Qing had woken up, the captain heaved a sigh of relief inwardly and hurriedly spoke.
"Junior Brother, you don't have divine fire and this isn't a true divine tribulation, so the simulation of this ritual can't be completed. However, it's fine. This divine stele has the foundation to become a god and can plunder the power of gods. It's incomparably precious. This item is your greatest fortune this time!"
"Now, let's skip the divine fire and send this divine stele that has your name… into the Crimson Goddess' mortal skin!"
"Treat It as an ancient deity and leave your mark. Although you can't control this mortal skin now, you might be able to control It one day in the future."
There was madness in the captain's eyes.
"Junior Brother, this opportunity is hard to come by!"
Xu Qing lifted his head and stared at the sky formed by the Crimson Goddess' mortal skin. His eyes displayed an even crazier intent than the captain as he shook his head.
"Eldest Senior Brother, it's a little wasteful to send this divine stele into the Crimson Goddess' mortal skin. After all, mortal skin is just a shedding."
"Since our target this time is Crimson Goddess, I want to hold this divine stele for now and find an opportunity… to send it into the Red Moon Star to plunder the Red Moon that the Crimson Goddess wants to fuse with!"
"There should be no two masters of the Red Moon's authority!"
As soon as Xu Qing finished speaking, the captain's eyes revealed a strange glint. Even he could sense the madness of Xu Qing's thoughts at this moment.
After Xu Qing finished speaking, he waved his hand and an illusory secret repository appeared behind him. As it rumbled and rotated, the Purple Moon inside shone. Endless blood sea spread out from the Purple Moon and transformed into a vortex.
This vortex erupted from the secret repository, forming a suction force that enveloped the golden divine stele in front of Xu Qing.
With a single breath, the thousand-foot-long divine stele was instantly pulled in and directly emerged in Xu Qing's secret repository and stood upright on the Purple Moon.
The golden color of the divine stele instantly spread out. After it enveloped the entire Purple Moon, Xu Qing's five corpses manifested around the divine stele, accompanied by the fluctuations of the Purple Moon. Five elements, five corpses, with their own strangeness.
If someone saw this, they would definitely be as shocked as when Xu Qing first saw the statue of the Red Moon. This was because that was the layout of the gods.
However, all of this was now in Xu Qing's secret repository.
With the descent of the divine stele and the formation of the Purple Moon's layout, Xu Qing's tribulation… was finally over!
At that moment, his cultivation base was surging rapidly. He had directly crossed from the perfected Nascent Soul realm to the Dao Nurturing realm. His aura was astonishing and his combat strength had also increased on a large scale.
The Dao Nurturing realm, which for others would require a considerable amount of time to gradually pass through, was a state that Xu Qing had long possessed due to his mastery of the Heavenly Dao, which had already transformed into the rules and laws within his secret repository.
Hence, he didn't need to go through this stage.
At the next instant, the secret repository began to circulate. The Sundials seemed to burn intensely with energy like huge furnaces.
An earth-shattering boom rang out.
The secret repository also rapidly materialized from its illusory state.
Xu Qing's cultivation had also completely broken through and stepped into the first stage of the Spirit Repository!
From afar, Xu Qing's long hair fluttered in the wind and he was extraordinarily handsome. The secret repository on his back contained the world and the furnace erupted with scorching flames. His aura was like a rainbow that shook the surroundings.
Among the hundreds of thousands of cultivators in the surroundings, there were also Spirit Repository cultivators. However, at that moment, they were all dumbfounded and their hearts were in turmoil.
Xu Qing's secret repository was unprecedented and earth-shattering.
What shocked the cultivators even more was that behind Xu Qing in the air, the surroundings of the opened gate became blurry at this moment. A huge mirror was rapidly manifesting.
This mirror quickly spread out in the sky. It was astonishingly majestic and emitted an ancient feeling. The mirror reflected a tall mountain with 100,000 temples on it. There was a statue in each temple.
A figure emerged in the mirror. That figure was an old man, the artifact spirit of the Moon Rebel Hall.
He stared at Xu Qing and the captain from the mirror. In the end, he lowered his head and cupped his fists.
"Greetings, Masters."
Countless information about the Moon Rebel Hall gushed into Xu Qing and the captain's minds. The two of them stared at each other and articulated at the same time.
"All statues… return to your positions!"
