Looking from the sky, the four islands of the merfolk race that were covered in purple light and frequently erupted with killing and spell fluctuations were arranged in the shape of a crescent moon.
Among the four islands that formed the shape of a crescent moon, the one at the top was Mire Island. The two in the middle were Binding Island and Image Island, and the one at the bottom was Hidden Island.
Among them, Image was the main island of the merfolk race and the other three were sub-islands.
Xu Qing originally didn't know much about the merfolk race. However, the jade slip Huang Yan had given him had an extremely detailed description of the merfolk race.
Not only were there various valuable places marked, but there were also mentions of the history and culture of the merfolk race.
In the merfolk race's culture, after their people died, they would enter a strange world called Cloud Field through the Temple of Mire. They called it the divine kingdom and it was where their original god was buried.
This god was called Mier.
This was also the source of the name of the island. Hence, the armor worshiped in the volcano on the island was known as the Armor of Mire.
However, although Mire was sacred in their myths, it still fell in the end. Moreover, the faith of the merfolk race needed a carrier. In fact, some of their experts also needed this carrier to cast their divine spells.
Hence, they believed in another existence and embellished it with mystery. They called it Binding.
This was how the Binding Island got its name.
The jade slip Huang Yan had given him also mentioned this so-called God Binding. In reality… it was just a divine creature in the depths of the Forbidden Sea.
It was powerful, but it was far from being called a god.
As for the Hidden Island, it represented relics.
The merfolk race placed great importance on the belongings and burial items of the dead. They felt that the more burial items there were, the greater the proof of their greatness when they were alive. Hence, most of the dead clansmen would be buried on Hidden Island with all their lifelong belongings.
However, they weren't against future generations digging their graves. This was because in their culture, burial objects were dug out by fated clansmen to fight alongside them. That was considered another form of rebirth.
Finally, there was Image.
As the main island of the merfolk race, it was named after the surname of the first patriarch of the merfolk race. This surname was also the surname of the merfolk royal family.
These were the four islands of the merfolk race and contained the foundation of their culture.
The contents of the jade slip appeared in Xu Qing's mind. At the same time, he recalled what the little fatty had said. It was rumored that there were clues about a temple hidden in the merfolk Foundation Building holy item, the Spirit Breath Lantern.
According to the legends of the merfolk race, after the first-generation god, Mire, died, the Temple of Mire disappeared with it. It was rumored that there was a hint of a clue to find the Temple of Mire hidden in the Spirit Breath Lantern, but no one discovered anything after so many years.
Xu Qing didn't care about this. He only cared about the value of this Spirit Breath Lantern. Hence, while this information flashed through his mind, he didn't stop at all as he whistled through the jungle.
His speed was extremely fast. From afar, Xu Qing heard many rumbling sounds and also sensed the fluctuations of spirit energy.
This was the sound of the Seven Blood Eyes disciples fighting against the merfolk race.
Xu Qing quickly swept his gaze across the surroundings. He habitually moved in a crouching posture, jumping across the tree crowns or walking in the dark and hidden spots of the jungle without slowing down.
He was very familiar with the jungle environment.
As he sped, Xu Qing's guess and analysis of the third highness and the sect back then were finally confirmed. He knew that no one would find trouble with him for killing the merfolk race.
This made him feel at ease. He leaped to a tree crown and was about to borrow the momentum to move forward when his eyes suddenly narrowed.
A sense of danger suddenly rose in his mind and he retreated. The instant he retreated, a red branch rushed out from the tree crown he was on earlier.
This tree branch swept like a tentacle.
The moment the branch appeared, the large tree withered visibly. At the same time, dozens of large trees in the surroundings withered as well.
Red tree branches whistled in all directions, heading straight for Xu Qing.
Xu Qing's expression was as calm as ever. His body rose and fell agilely but he didn't attack immediately. Instead, he dodged the surrounding branches and leaped up, looking at the source of these branches in the distance.
The soil on the ground there was collapsing and a blood-colored thick tree was slowly rising from the ground.
As it rose, red light flashed but it could not block Xu Qing's vision. He could clearly see that there were a large number of broken limbs buried in the tree trunk.
The limbs belonged to both humans and nonhuman races.
All of them were greenish-black.
It was as though they were buried here and their flesh and blood had become nutrients for the tree. Moreover, they had also become a mutation point for the storage of anomalous substances.
This was because as the tree rose, Xu Qing saw more than ten huge fruits growing on it.
These fruits grew on the tree branches and were translucent. One could see a merfolk cultivator in each fruit.
These merfolks had their eyes closed. A large amount of anomalous substances spread out from their bodies and fused into the fruit. They were then absorbed by the tree and sent to the countless corpses inside its trunk.
Clearly, this was a special method of merfolk cultivators to remove anomalous substances from their bodies.
Moreover, there wasn't just one such tree. There were at least seven to eight of them in Xu Qing's vision. One could imagine that there were definitely more such large trees in the entire jungle that surrounded the outer area of Binding Island.
Just as Xu Qing was looking into the distance, the red branches that looked like tentacles whistled over from all directions with intense killing intent.
However, the instant they got close to Xu Qing, the red branch that was the fastest to approach suddenly withered at a speed visible to the naked eye. The redness was replaced by black spots, and these black spots seemed to have a life of their own as they rapidly spread out, corroding wherever they passed.
All of this caused the tree branch to suddenly rot as it got closer, causing a large amount of black slime to fall.
This slime was also highly toxic. After it landed on the ground, it would corrode any substance it came into contact with. Even the soil emitted a sizzling sound.
Moreover, that branch wasn't the only one to rot. All the branches that were close to Xu Qing instantly rotted. The black spots on the branches didn't dissipate and followed the branches to their source.
From afar, one could see that the black color rapidly covered the dozens of melting branches and spread toward the huge blood-colored tree from all directions.
Just as the huge tree was about to be swarmed by the black color, the dozen or so fruits suddenly trembled. The merfolk cultivators inside sensed danger and opened their eyes one after another, breaking out of their shells.
However, not all merfolk cultivators could awaken and escape so quickly. In the end, only four were able to rush out in time.
As for the rest… the instant the tree was covered in black color, the fruits instantly turned pitch-black and rotted as though they had been dripped with thick ink.
This scene incensed the four merfolk cultivators. Their cultivation bases at the Perfected Qi Condensation Realm erupted as they charged toward Xu Qing.
In their perception, Xu Qing was also at the Perfected Qi Condensation Realm and he was a human. Very few humans could awaken racial talents. Hence, when fighting at the same realm, the nonhuman races had the advantage.
Although the poison path was invasive, their body structure was different from the human's, so they could ignore many human poisons.
Hence, these four merfolk cultivators approached Xu Qing without hesitation. However, the instant they got close, a cold glint flashed in Xu Qing's eyes and his speed suddenly increased.
This speed exceeded the judgment of the four merfolk cultivators. Before they could express horror, Xu Qing had already arrived in front of a merfolk cultivator. His dagger swept out with a cold light. The instant the merfolk's head flew up, his body ruthlessly collided with another merfolk cultivator.
Cracking sounds rang out, even though the merfolk cultivator who was knocked into by him had a powerful racial talent that could dissipate some impact, he still couldn't withstand it. Before he could let out a cry, his bones and flesh shattered.
As flesh and blood splattered everywhere, Xu Qing's dagger left his hand and headed straight for the forehead of the third merfolk cultivator. At the same time, the face of the last merfolk cultivator turned pale and intense fear appeared in his eyes. He didn't dare to continue approaching and quickly retreated.
However, it was too late.
He had only fled for less than 100 feet when his body trembled and countless black spots appeared.
As the black spots spread out, his miserable cries rang out. His body rapidly corroded until it melted.
Some poisons were indeed ineffective on merfolks due to their internal body structure, Xu Qing specially targeted this point and had optimized his poison powder.
After killing the four, Xu Qing walked over and searched the four of them for items when his mind stirred and he looked into the distance. In the distance, a Seven Blood Eyes disciple appeared.
Xu Qing was unfamiliar with this person, but the fluctuations from the latter's Sea Transformation Art that were close to the great circle of perfection proved that the other party was indeed a fellow sect member. At the same time that he looked over, this disciple suddenly stopped in his tracks.
The instant his gaze met Xu Qing's, the Seven Blood Eyes disciple's breathing paused. It was as though he had encountered a powerful sea beast on the Forbidden Sea, causing his body to stiffen. He relied on his great willpower to barely move and speak.
"Senior Brother, I don't have any ill intentions. I'm just passing by." As he spoke, he hurriedly took out a large number of medicinal pills and swallowed them. After that, he raised his hands to indicate that he had no ill intentions and slowly retreated.
Xu Qing coldly glanced at this person. After organizing the spoils of war, he left.
It was only after he confirmed that Xu Qing had moved far away that the Seven Blood Eyes disciple, whose cultivation was close to the great circle of perfection, gasped. His eyes were still filled with horror and his heart was beating extremely rapidly.
"If I had gotten closer or revealed any ill intentions earlier, I might have died here!"
The aura emitted by Xu Qing and his ruthless actions really gave him a huge pressure. This pressure caused him to have an illusion just now. It was as though he wasn't facing a Qi Condensation cultivator but a Foundation Building deacon from the sect.
"When did such a ruthless person appear at the foot of the mountain…"
He had been out at sea for the past half a year, so he didn't know of Xu Qing's existence. He quickly left. However, after taking a few steps, he spat out a large mouthful of black blood, scaring him so much that he hurriedly consumed a large number of medicinal pills again. Only then did he feel a little better.
This was mainly because the poison Xu Qing used earlier was mainly targeted at the merfolk race. Otherwise, if it was the ones in the past, this person would definitely die when he got close to the battlefield.
"His cultivation is high, he's decisive in killing, and he has terrifying attainments in the poison path…" The fear in the eyes of this old disciple of the Seven Blood Eyes was intense. He didn't dare to follow Xu Qing's path but moved in another direction. He had already decided that he wouldn't go anywhere the other party went even if he died.
Just like that, time flowed by. The slaughter on the four merfolk islands continued with casualties on both sides. Xu Qing also slowly fought his way out of the jungle.
The moment he walked out of the jungle, he saw a merfolk city in the distance.
That city was special. It wasn't built from bricks but was the skeleton of an enormous fish.
This skeleton was extremely majestic. It was as big as an area in the Seven Blood Eyes' main city.
Xu Qing compared the scene with the information about Binding Island in the jade slip Huang Yan had given him. He then sped toward the city.
