The seriousness of his injuries this time was unprecedented for Xu Qing.
Moreover, this was after the two layers of defense on the magic boat and the resistance of divinity had weakened the force. He even exhausted many talismans and the strength of his body at the great circle of perfection before he could barely resist it.
Even so, he almost lost his life.
Even with the purple crystal's recovery, Xu Qing felt that it would take some time for his injuries to heal. At the same time, lingering fear also surfaced intensely in his mind.
Xu Qing felt that if his defense arrangements had lacked even a bit, he would probably have died.
"But, it was worth it!"
Xu Qing gritted his teeth and endured the intense pain in his body as he checked his expenditures.
The talismans were one of them. More importantly, the magic boat he had used a lot of money to build had very little divinity left on it.
Half of the boat had collapsed. The cost of repairing it would be astonishing.
Even so, Xu Qing was extremely excited. He felt that it was all worth it. He had made a killing!
"Moreover, I have the replica Spirit Breath Lantern as well!"
"No wonder the captain risked his life. Once such a venture succeeds, the harvest can be so astonishing…" Xu Qing thought of the captain but he felt that this wasn't a good habit. One day, it would get him killed.
Xu Qing took a deep breath and suppressed the excitement. He slowly circulated his cultivation base, trying to speed up the purple crystal's healing power.
After all, he couldn't move now and would definitely be in danger if he stayed here for too long.
Time flowed by and very soon, an hour passed.
Some distance away from Xu Qing within the cluster of temples, Zhang San had dug a cave and sat by the flesh and blood statue while looking at the entrance warily.
He had set up a large number of single-use self-destructing items outside the entrance. There was also a dense poison lingering in the surroundings, causing this place to be filled with danger.
Even he had to be very careful when going out, and had to take the specific path he had left behind.
However, Zhang San was still a little worried. He even spread out his threads in the cave. While being on guard, he would occasionally turn his head to look at the flesh and blood statue and sigh.
"Captain, you didn't really play yourself to death inside, right?"
"Why do you have to play with your life? Can't you play with the senior sisters and junior sisters of the sect…"
"That's Binding. Although it's not a real god, it's still a terrifying divine creature. Who in the entire merfolk race is older than him? I reckon other than Mire who no one knows if it is alive or not, there's nothing else."
"Don't die. If you die, my investments over the years… it will be a huge loss."
Zhang San let out a long sigh. He had been guarding here for almost four hours and was starting to feel that the captain was dead.
He shook his head helplessly. He decided to wait for another incense stick of time. If the captain still didn't come out, then he would have to move on.
He was thinking about whether he should peel off a piece of this flesh as a memento before he left, when suddenly, the flesh and blood statue shook violently and roars that caused Zhang San's heart to tremble rang out.
Zhang San's expression changed and he immediately took a few steps back. The surrounding threads quickly retracted and enveloped the statue.
The crack on the flesh rapidly contracted and expanded. One moment, they were larger, and the next moment, they were smaller. It was as though it was breathing. The roars coming from it became clearer as it opened and closed.
It was as though some terrifying existence was approaching from the flesh tunnel. This scene shocked Zhang San and he retreated again until he reached the exit. He was prepared to escape immediately if the situation didn't look good…
Not long later, under Zhang San's nervous gaze, a hand covered in blood suddenly stretched out from the slit of the flesh. There were only three fingers left on the hand and only some traces of flesh were left on them, revealing the bones clearly.
The hand grabbed at the flesh outside. It borrowed the force to support itself and gained the strength to continue crawling out. Very soon, half of the captain's body crawled out from the gap in the flesh.
His hair was gone and his head was covered in blood. His face was also corroded in many parts and the parts that were alright were badly mangled.
As for the densely-packed wounds on his body, they were even more shocking. The deepest ones looked like they were about to penetrate his body.
However, his right hand was tightly grabbing onto a piece of squirming golden flesh. The bloody flesh carried terrifying fluctuations of divinity. It was… the flesh and blood of Binding!
Its appearance immediately distorted the surroundings, as though countless mournful roars echoed out, causing Zhang San's mind to buzz and blood to flow from his seven orifices. His body seemed to collapse.
"Give me a hand!"
The captain seemed to have used all his strength to crawl. At this moment, his expression was filled with anxiety as he quickly spoke to Zhang San.
Zhang San barely regained his senses. With a wave of his hand, the surrounding threads wrapped around the captain's body. With a tug, this half of the captain's body fell from the crack.
His lower body was gone.
Only a bloody mess of his upper body was left.
"Quickly attack with me and shatter this flesh gate. Something is chasing after me!!" After coming out, the captain immediately shouted. He performed a series of hand seals and pointed at the flesh gate behind him.
Zhang San knew that he was in danger and gritted his teeth as he attacked. Immediately, intense fluctuations of spells spread in the surroundings. The strength of the two gathered and blasted the meat gate, causing it to instantly collapse. As it shattered into pieces, a faint roar of anger could be heard coming from it.
Just a trace of it caused Zhang San's entire body to tremble violently and he spat out several mouthfuls of blood. As his body retreated, cracking sounds rang out. At least 40 protective jade slips collapsed before they could neutralize the force, but it still heavily injured him.
He took out medicinal pills with a lot of difficulty and swallowed them before he regained a hint of color on his face.
The captain also spat out a mouthful of blood and his body was swept to the side. However, his right hand was still tightly gripping the flesh of Binding. His expression revealed a hint of excitement as he laughed loudly.
"Who can compare to me? Ever since I knew that we were going to attack Merfolk Island, I started planning. I finally obtained the flesh of this divine creature. I'm rich! I'm completely rich this time!" The captain was extremely excited. His laughter affected his injuries and he gritted his teeth in pain. He hurriedly stored the flesh.
"Is it worth it? Half of your body is gone." Zhang San smiled bitterly at his captain.
"It's worth it!! It's only half a body. I've specially cultivated the secret art of broken limb regeneration. Coupled with some of the sect's great medicine, it will only take a few months for it to regrow. Moreover, I have this flesh of Binding. After fusing it into my body and refining the divinity, my recovery will be faster."
The captain looked around excitedly.
"Where's my vice-captain?"
"How is this the time it takes for an incense stick to burn? It's been almost four hours. After Junior Brother Xu guarded the temple for two incense sticks of time and saw that you hadn't returned, he left in low spirit because he had his own arrangements. Before he left, he left me a lot of poison powder," Zhang San said as he ate the medicinal pills.
"It's fine. I didn't expect it to take so long either. I almost couldn't make it back." As the captain spoke, he took out an apple and ate it. Just as he was about to continue speaking…
The ground suddenly rumbled.
The entire Binding Island shook intensely at this instant, as though the earth was moving and the mountains were shaking. All the buildings in sight instantly collapsed. Wisps of black gas surged out of the collapsed buildings, the seaweed, and the sea anemone.
A large amount of black gas rose from all the things in the underwater world. This black gas rapidly gathered and transformed into black fog that spread in all directions, as if it wanted to fill the entire underwater world.
It contained dense anomalous substances that could corrode everything. At the same time, it seemed to contain strange things, causing all the corpses that had died in the underwater world to move, as though they had been revived.
Moreover, as the black gas continued to rise, the range of the black fog also grew larger and larger. The expressions of all the Seven Blood Eyes disciples in the underwater world to change. All of them hurried toward the exit.
The trembling of the ground was like an earth dragon flipping over, causing the captain's broken body to be jolted up. He almost lost the apple in his mouth. His expression changed and he quickly climbed onto Zhang San's back.
"This is the trump card of the merfolk race to bring mutual destruction. I came out late. Hurry, we have to get out of here quickly."
Zhang San's expression changed. As the surrounding fog surged, he quickly ran in the direction of the exit.
At the same time, in another direction of the temple cluster, Xu Qing, who had recovered a little with the help of the purple crystal, opened his eyes. He could sense the rumbling of the ground and also saw the black fog rolling over in the distance. His eyes narrowed.
Without any hesitation, Xu Qing stood up with difficulty and put away the damaged magic boat. He gritted his teeth and sped forward. Not long after he left, the black fog in the surroundings enveloped the place. While it filled the place where he had recuperated earlier, it also invaded the dilapidated temple.
In the fog, on the blank wall of the dilapidated temple, the mural was constantly flickering, as though it wanted to reform but in the end, it still failed.
Only the carving of the merfolk king in the mural slowly weathered and dissipated.
While all the Seven Blood Eyes cultivators at the underwater world sprinting toward the exit, the same thing was also happening in the outside world.
Not only did the black fog appear on Binding Island, but Image, Hidden, and Mire Islands also erupted at the same time with this fog that seemed to be able to devour everything.
From afar, a large amount of black fog rose from the four islands and spread in all directions. It was as though this was the last resort of the merfolk race.
In the sky, Old Master Seventh, who was on the great wing, lowered his head and looked at the merfolk islands enveloped by the array formation. Although there was an array formation blocking his vision, he could still sense the changes inside.
However, not only did this change not cause his expression to turn solemn, but he also smiled at the merfolk ancestor at the side.
"Not bad, finally something decent. I was thinking that this trial was too simple for those wolf cubs."
"How is this a trial? This is clearly giving away resources. Fortunately, you added some difficulty."
