Xu Qing immediately punched. However, the outer wall of the pagoda was extremely firm. There was also a layer of barrier that instantly spread out, neutralizing the power of Xu Qing's punch.
However, because of the Seven Blood Eyes array formation in the air above the island, all cultivation and external forces were forcefully suppressed at the Qi Condensation Realm. This Foundation Building Pagoda was no exception. The protective barrier it emitted was severely weakened. Although it neutralized Xu Qing's punch, it shook intensely.
A cold glint flashed in Xu Qing's eyes. He didn't have time to waste. He performed a series of hand seals with his right hand and the magic boat at the side instantly buzzed and changed directions, smashing fiercely toward the pagoda.
The sturdiness of Xu Qing's magic boat was already comparable to a Foundation Building item. It could be said that other than the fact that it didn't have a Foundation Building power source, this was a Foundation Building magic ship.
The powerful collision instantly destroyed the protective barrier outside the Foundation Building Pagoda and also shattered the outer wall.
Xu Qing kept the magic boat and rushed in through the damaged part.
In the pagoda, the flames of the Spirit Breath Lantern swayed, illuminating Xu Qing's shadow on the wall.
Xu Qing didn't pause at all and directly moved toward the Spirit Breath Lantern. However, at this moment, the merfolk youth who was breaking through suddenly opened his eyes. His expression revealed anxiety and anger. Just as he was about to speak, he spat out a large mouthful of blood.
The cultivation power in his body instantly became chaotic. However, he still gritted his teeth and pointed at Xu Qing. Immediately, a merfolk phantom formed behind him and slapped fiercely at Xu Qing.
Xu Qing punched out fiercely, forming a storm that directly landed on the merfolk phantom.
The phantom instantly collapsed, and even the merfolk youth behind it spat out a mouthful of blood. His body was swept up and slammed into the wall at the side.
The pagoda had lost the protective barrier, so the wall became ordinary. It collapsed under the impact, and the merfolk youth's body fell through it.
Xu Qing didn't have the time to bother with the other party. He quickly approached the Spirit Breath Lantern and grabbed at it.
Right at this moment, his shadow that was reflected under the lantern's light distorted. It moved on its own!
Xu Qing lifted his hand, and so did the shadow.
However, before Xu Qing could grab the Spirit Breath Lantern, his shadow suddenly extended a little further. Its black hand actually beat Xu Qing to it and instantly extended to the Spirit Breath Lantern. It was as if it hated this burning fire to the extreme and… extinguished it!
Xu Qing suddenly paused and turned his head to look at the wall.
The shadow disappeared from the wall after extinguishing the fire.
However, Xu Qing's perception could clearly sense the shadow rapidly drawing back and restoring its normal appearance.
Xu Qing's expression was ugly as he grabbed the Spirit Breath Lantern.
After this lantern was extinguished, it didn't look anything special. Only its shape was special.
However, Xu Qing was in no mood to care about the Spirit Breath Lantern. He stared coldly at his shadow, his expression becoming increasingly gloomy. The other party's actions reminded him of the words the mute youth had left in the jade slip.
"It's sleeping."
The scene earlier, after connecting it to the words in the jade slip, gave Xu Qing the feeling of a person in deep sleep. His eyes were dazzled by the light that suddenly appeared. Hence, in his impatience, he instinctively raised his hand and extinguished it.
A terrifying glint appeared in Xu Qing's eyes. Suddenly, the spirit energy in his body gushed into the Spirit Breath Lantern. With the continuous transfer of spirit energy, the Spirit Breath Lantern was ignited again.
The light of the fire spread out in all directions, causing Xu Qing's shadow to appear on the wall again.
The instant the lantern was lit, the shadow on the wall distorted under the illumination of the fire. Very soon, the black shadow hand stretched out again and arrived at the Spirit Breath Lantern Xu Qing was holding, wanting to extinguish it.
Xu Qing let out a cold snort and his will spread out, controlling the shadow with all his might, causing the shadow's hand to pause beside the Spirit Breath Lantern. It was actually showing a hint of struggle.
It was as though it wanted to ignore Xu Qing's control and extinguish the light.
"Are you sleeping or pretending to be asleep?" Xu Qing coldly spoke. At the same time, he circulated the purple crystal, forming a suppressive force that ruthlessly suppressed the shadow that was struggling under his control.
Xu Qing was very familiar with suppression. Previously, he would suppress it about five to six times a day. However, this time, the number of times Xu Qing suppressed it reached 13 in one go.
Under his suppression, the shadow trembled intensely and grew dimmer.
Xu Qing's face was expressionless but he didn't stop. He suppressed it for over 20 times until the shadow distorted and showed signs of shattering.
However, Xu Qing wasn't satisfied with just this. He coldly looked at the shadow and lifted the lit Spirit Breath Lantern to the shadow. At the same time, he let go of his control over the shadow.
However, this time, the shadow didn't dare to extinguish the light. It trembled even more intensely and didn't even dare to evade the light.
Xu Qing's expression was still cold. He placed the Spirit Breath Lantern completely in his shadow. The light from the Spirit Breath Lantern changed in color in the shadow. It was no longer dim yellow but a dark green color that was filled with strangeness.
The shadow's trembling had reached its limit, but it still didn't dare to resist.
Xu Qing narrowed his eyes and was about to speak when his expression suddenly changed. He lowered his head and looked at the Spirit Breath Lantern in his hand.
When he held this lantern earlier, regardless of whether it was extinguished or lit, there was no strange change. However, now that it was placed in his shadow, it actually emitted a faint fluctuation.
At the same time, there seemed to be a fluctuation coming from the underground. Both sides were resonating.
Xu Qing's expression changed and he immediately took out the Spirit Breath Lantern from his shadow. The moment he took it out, the fluctuations disappeared as though they had never appeared. The lantern seemed to have returned to normal.
Xu Qing fell silent. As the shadow trembled, he placed the lantern in it again. The fluctuations rose again and the guidance was very clear.
"This is…" Xu Qing recalled the rumors about the Temple of Mire in the jade slip the little fatty had given him.
This caused him to have some guesses.
As he fell into deep thought, Xu Qing coldly glanced at the shadow. He didn't care if the other party could understand him or not as he spoke in a low voice.
"You can continue sleeping."
After saying that, Xu Qing memorized the specific location indicated by the resonance. He blew out the Spirit Breath Lantern in his hand and stored it. After that, he leaped down the Foundation Building Pagoda.
When he landed, he quickly checked his surroundings, searching for the merfolk youth who had fallen earlier.
The other party had suffered a backlash from failing to reach Foundation Building and had suffered a blow from him. Even if he didn't die, he would be heavily injured. At this moment, his gaze swept over and landed on the ground not far away.
There was a corpse there. It was none other than the merfolk youth.
Clearly, the backlash from failing to reach Foundation Building was severe. After he fell to the ground, he wasn't able to crawl far before he died.
However, Xu Qing was still worried. He cast a few spells and even scattered poison powder. Only after he confirmed that the other party wasn't pretending to be dead did he approach. He quickly searched the merfolk's body and took out a storage bag.
"His identity isn't simple. He must have prepared Foundation Building Pills. I hope he hasn't finished them." Xu Qing was tempted. He quickly opened the storage bag and took a look, a smile appearing on his face. He kept the bag and was about to leave.
However, at this moment… a sound of applause came from not far away.
Xu Qing turned his head and saw a figure walking over while clapping with half a small apple in his mouth.
It was the captain!
"Wow, Deputy Captain Xu, did you kill everyone here? Looks like you gained a lot. You should have taken that Spirit Breath Lantern, right?"
"I'm a step too late." Xu Qing was on guard but his expression didn't reveal anything as he calmly spoke.
At the same time, he was also very puzzled. How did the other party manage to speak with an apple in his mouth?
Noticing Xu Qing's gaze, the captain's expression didn't change at all. He took a bite of the apple and let it fall from his mouth, catching it with his right hand. He glanced at Xu Qing ostentatiously and then at the sharp iron pieces on the surrounding corpses.
"This is the damage caused by your magic boat, right? That brat Zhang San has invested a lot in your magic boat. Also, when are you going to return the 2,000 spirit stones you owe me?"
"No money."
Xu Qing looked at the small apple in the captain's hand and expressionlessly took out a very large apple from his storage bag to eat.
The captain was stunned. He looked at the big apple in Xu Qing's hand and then at his little apple. He felt that his apple didn't taste good anymore.
"Stop acting. Your acting skills are too lousy. I was the one who taught it to you. Isn't it just a Spirit Breath Lantern? What's there to hide? I don't fancy that thing. I don't want it even if it's given to me. It's not even a life lantern." The captain's tone was a little sour.
Xu Qing didn't speak.
"Why aren't you asking what a life lantern is?" The captain was surprised.
Xu Qing looked at the captain and asked.
"What is a life lantern?"
The captain sighed.
"Seeing that you're my team member and owe me 2,000 spirit stones, I'll tell you."
"The Spirit Breath Lantern is actually a replica. It's a replica of the life lantern, and the copy quality is inferior."
"You should know about the Mystic Brilliance Form of Foundation Building cultivators, right? That's an explosive state from igniting the life fire in one's body. There are three life fire at most."
"Forming the first ball of life fire is the early-stage Foundation Building realm. Forming the second ball is the mid-stage Foundation Building realm. When the third ball of life fire appears, it will be the sign of the late-stage Foundation Building realm. In theory, the cultivator can attempt to form their Core now."
"As for forming the fourth ball of life fire, that requires great opportunities. It was the same even before the god's fragmented face arrived."
"However, there's a type of extraordinary people. They are the direct descendants of the ancient kings and sovereigns. The path they take is completely different from ordinary cultivators. When they reach the Foundation Building realm, because of their incomparable bloodline and emperor-level cultivation arts, they don't give birth to life fire but life lanterns!"
"One life lantern is equivalent to the might of two balls of life fire!!"
"Life fire has no roots, but life lantern has a foundation. The former is like willow catkins, while the latter is like a boulder. The difference is obvious."
"If you have a life lantern in your body, you can fight those above your level. If you have two life lanterns, you'll basically be unrivaled among Foundation Building cultivators and already have the qualifications to form your Core. If you have three life lanterns, you'll be the number one person among all races below the Golden Core Realm. Of course, it is a different matter if the opponent also has life lanterns."
"Because the ancient kings and sovereign have been gone for many eras, there is no one who can cultivate life lanterns anymore in this era. Only some peerless heaven's chosen from the Wanggu Continent will obtain a life lantern with their background and monstrous opportunities."
"As for the life lanterns they get, they were all passed down from the descendants of the deceased ancient kings and sovereigns. After the person with the life lantern dies, the life lantern will scatter. If others obtain it, they can fuse it into their bodies and make it their own life lantern."
"Of course, you don't have to think about these. Just treat it as giving you some common information. Life lanterns are legendary items. Any one of them can cause the large sects in the Wanggu Continent to take action."
"Let's not talk about this. If you want to reach the Foundation Building realm, you should try to obtain more Foundation Building Pills. However, your luck isn't bad. Coincidentally, I know that the merfolk race has a large pill vault and there should be a lot of Foundation Building Pills inside. Come with me. There's nothing good on the Merfolk Islands."
"The real good stuff is in the underwater world below. Let's go quickly. That brat Zhang San should have already reached there." The captain licked his lips and his eyes gleamed as he pointed to the ground.
Xu Qing's heart trembled when he heard about the life lanterns. He thought of the guiding power of the Spirit Breath Lantern and his heart couldn't help but race.
"Life lantern?"
