The merfolk race clearly didn't know about this. Otherwise, they could have sent it to any large faction and obtained protection!
If it wasn't for the shadow, Xu Qing would not have found it either.
Waves surged in Xu Qing's mind as he looked at the life lantern. However, he didn't act rashly. He took a deep breath and suppressed the waves in his mind.
He wiped away the blood flowing out of his eyes. With the continuous recovery from the purple crystal, his current state was slightly better than before.
After a long time, Xu Qing calmed his mind and looked at the lantern again. A hint of determination slowly appeared in his eyes.
He walked forward until he was right above the stairs. He glanced at the huge steps below and jumped down.
However, the instant he landed on the second step, the pressure from this place became stronger than before.
Xu Qing's body trembled once again and he felt a sweetness in his throat as he spat out a mouthful of blood. His countenance was extremely pale and his body started swaying. He immediately sat down to regulate his breathing.
It took him a long time to recover. He gritted his teeth and continued walking forward. His body was shaking and his seven orifices were bleeding. His bones seemed to be about to collapse and shatter.
When he barely got close to the edge of the second step, his body… had reached the limit of what he could withstand. His vision started getting blurry.
Xu Qing was clear that he couldn't continue. He had a strong premonition that if he stepped on the third step, he would face a huge danger.
He stared fixedly at the life lantern. He was really unwilling to leave just like that, so he looked at the ground under his feet.
The light here came from the front, so his shadow was vaguely revealed behind him.
Xu Qing turned his head and glanced at his shadow. His eyes narrowed as he suddenly spoke.
"Wake up. Don't you like to extinguish lights? Go and get them for me."
As he spoke, Xu Qing immediately began to control the shadow. Immediately, the shadow distorted and slowly retreated to the ground under his feet unwillingly before spreading forward.
Due to the position of the light, the shadow that extended forward couldn't be seen clearly. Xu Qing was only able to sense it through his perception. Under his control, the shadow landed on the third step.
He didn't feel any discomfort.
A sharp glint flashed in Xu Qing's eyes as he continued to control the shadow to extend until the fourth step, the fifth step…
Finally, the shadow spread to all the steps and arrived at the altar below. It then continued forward, heading toward the three statues in the sea of bones.
Xu Qing didn't have an answer to how long the shadow could extend to.
However, he could sense that the more he extended it, the greater the control he needed. At the same time, the shadow seemed to be more unstable.
When it was almost near the three god statues in the sea of bones, the unstable feeling of the shadow became increasingly intense and it was unable to continue extending.
Xu Qing's eyes were bloodshot. He looked at the life lantern and sensed the shadow. With no other choice, he let out the suppressive force of the purple crystal to see if the shadow could extend if he tried to suppress it.
However, before the suppressive force could descend, the originally unstable shadow suddenly trembled. As though it was overdrafting itself, it suddenly extended by a large large measure.
It directly spread to the giant's body, only one step away from the life lantern in the snake head's mouth.
However, this time, it had really reached its limit. It was shaking and showed signs of tearing.
Even though the suppression force landed, it was still unable to continue. In fact, it was about to retreat, as though it couldn't withstand it anymore.
Xu Qing's breathing became hurried. However, he didn't trust the shadow. He didn't know if the other party was deliberately not going over or if it really couldn't do it. He stared at the shadow and spoke in a low voice.
"If I don't get it, then after I get out, even if I die, I'll suppress you a thousand times before I die until I kill you!!"
Xu Qing's voice was very calm.
However, the lethality contained in it seemed to have reached the extreme for the shadow. The shadow frantically tried to extend forward, but it was obvious that it had reached its limits as the signs of tearing became even more clear.
Xu Qing sensed this scene and only then did he believe it in his heart. Determination quickly appeared in his eyes. He took out talismans and the magic boat, fully activating its defense.
He then climbed onto the magic boat and took out a large number of spirit stones to place in the grooves of the array formation, increasing its defense.
After that, he took a deep breath and controlled the magic boat to fly a step forward without any hesitation, appearing above the third step.
The instant he moved forward with the magic boat, the shadow also moved forward by an additional step. It touched the life lantern in the snake's mouth and grabbed it.
However, at the same moment, a monstrous rumbling that was much louder than before erupted in front of him. This rumbling formed an overwhelming force that surged toward Xu Qing.
His magic boat was the first to collapse. The first layer of defense formed by the sails directly tore apart and the entire magic boat rolled back.
After that, the second layer of defense also collapsed and exploded. Even with a large number of spirit stones supporting it, it was useless. As for the magic boat, it rolled back even further.
Next was the bow of the ship. The divinity on the sea lizard's skin spread out but it was still unable to neutralize the force, causing it to instantly shatter into pieces. After that, it was the same for the front half of the ship.
This force also landed on Xu Qing's several talismans.
The protective talismans frantically blocked but the words on them instantly dimmed. After they disappeared, the remaining energy swept over and landed on Xu Qing.
Xu Qing trembled violently as though he had been smashed by a mountain peak. He spat out a large mouthful of blood.
Many of the bones in his body shattered and his skin and flesh tore. At this moment, his magic boat was already forced back to the limits. As the light in the surroundings shone, Xu Qing and his broken magic boat were suddenly blasted out of the mural.
The force of this explosion was so great that Xu Qing's magic boat violently collided with the wall on the other side. The wall collapsed and the magic boat dragged a thousand feet long trail on the ground.
Xu Qing spat out large mouthfuls of blood. Many parts of his body were destroyed, revealing his bones that were mostly broken.
There was also a huge wound on his stomach that penetrated his body. As for his robe, only parts of it were left.
Bood kept gushing out and spreading on the ground. Xu Qing's vision rapidly blurred. His injuries were unprecedentedly serious but he was holding onto an item tightly.
That was… the life lantern that the shadow had captured and brought back!
"I can't faint!"
As his vision blurred, Xu Qing ruthlessly bit his tongue and opened his eyes. With much difficulty, he grabbed a large number of medicinal pills from his storage bag. He didn't have time to eat them, so he directly pressed them on his wounds. He also released poison powder in the surroundings to guard against any danger.
He didn't have time to check the life lantern. He quickly put it away and placed it in the storage bead he had obtained from the Diamond Sect's ancestor.
He was still worried and placed the storage bead in a storage bag. He still felt that it wasn't safe, so he placed this storage bag in another storage bag. With so many layers, its aura couldn't spread out at all.
In addition, the broken magic boat still had some divinity left. Xu Qing didn't have time to feel heartache and immediately controlled the magic boat to disperse the divinity, turning it into a protective barrier that enveloped his surroundings.
After doing this, Xu Qing spat out another mouthful of blood. The intense sense of weakness made him feel as though he was being summoned by death. The purple crystal in his body emitted a dense purple light that continued to flow through his entire body.
However, the intense pain that followed still caused Xu Qing to groan, but he continued to hold on while gritting his teeth, waiting in torment for the purple crystal to heal him.
