Right at this moment, the volcanoes on Mire Island rumbled and erupted one after another. Thick black ashes rolled in all directions and were poured onto the battlefield of the Sea Corpse Race by the power of the Seven Blood Eyes' array formation.
However, some of them still landed on Mire Island like black snowflakes.
The ground continued to quake and rumbling sounds that drowned out all sounds appeared from time to time.
Xu Qing didn't dare to stay in the sky for long. He headed straight for the ground. When he landed, he saw countless Seven Blood Eyes' disciples from the various peaks bustling about.
Everyone had a target.
Some were building array formations, some were cooperating with the maintenance of magic artifacts, and some were rushing toward the teleportation array that linked to the distant battlefield.
In the air, the figures of Foundation Building cultivators whistled past. Accompanied by waves of light, new people continuously descended on the four islands.
Xu Qing's identity token continued to vibrate. Information about missions flowed out like a waterfall.
While maintaining vigilance against his surroundings, Xu Qing took out his token and quickly checked it.
One mission after another appeared in the token. Some disappeared as soon as they appeared. Clearly, they had been taken away by someone. Most of them were missions that required many people to complete. They showed the number of participants required, and once it was filled, the mission would disappear.
"Maintenance of the magic artifacts on Binding Island. Need 30 Sixth Peak disciples at fifth level of Qi Condensation and above, and three Foundation Building cultivators. 50,000 spirit stones will be distributed according to the contribution and cultivation level."
"60 Qi Condensation disciples and two Foundation Building disciples are needed in Image Island to rear magic artifacts for the First Peak's disciples. The total reward is 70,000 spirit stones."
"300 array formation specialists required. The total reward is 60,000 spirit stones!"
"Need ten Qi Condensation cultivators to accept the bizarre body. One thousand spirit stones a day!"
Among the large amount of mission information, there was one that was at the top. It was a war mission.
"Long-term war mission: Head to the battlefield outside the islands and kill the Sea Corpse Race cultivators. Regardless of cultivation level, kill ten thousands of them and obtain the Core Formation opportunity."
When Xu Qing saw this mission, his heart trembled. The reward was extremely generous. One could imagine that the Core Formation opportunity would definitely make a large number of Foundation Building cultivators envious.
Just as Xu Qing was continuously flipping through the mission information, a blood-colored mission suddenly appeared among the many missions. Every word on it was blood-colored.
"Need ten Foundation Building disciples who can activate Mystic Brilliance Form to cross the battlefield and head to the third island outside the Sea Corpse Race's territory. The specific details will be arranged by the elders. This mission is extremely dangerous. If you face the danger of a Golden Core, the participant will be rewarded with eight million spirit stones each."
The moment Xu Qing saw this blood-colored mission, he was shaken by the reward. His breathing became hurried. However, it was obvious that the danger of this mission was extremely great and there was a slim chance of surviving.
However, at the next instant, the number of participants for the mission was filled. The mission instantly disappeared from the vast list.
Xu Qing fell silent. He thought of what Zhang Yunshi had said that day. In the sect's war, drive the disciples with benefits. Both sides were willing to accept this.
"I need to accept a mission." A long time later, Xu Qing started looking at the suitable missions. The rewards for Qi Condensation were usually not much and most of them were shared by many people. Most of the rewards for Foundation Building missions required one to have the Mystic Brilliance Form.
Xu Qing's cultivation made it impossible for him to accept such missions. At the same time, Xu Qing felt that he was still a little lacking to go to the battlefield.
What he needed was the kind that could both earn spirit stones and kill the Sea Corpse Race.
It wasn't like there weren't such missions among the many missions. Very soon, Xu Qing saw one.
"There are several small-scale teleportation arrays left behind by the Sea Corpse Race in the underwater world of the four islands of the merfolk race. Need eight Foundation Building cultivators to investigate and destroy all the teleportation arrays on each island. If you encounter the Sea Corpse Race, kill them. If you can't defeat them, report it immediately. You will be rewarded with 10,000 spirit stones for each teleportation array destroyed. Kills will be scored and ranked."
The instant he saw this mission, Xu Qing's eyes narrowed. This mission suited his needs very well, so he didn't hesitate at all and immediately accepted it.
Almost at the instant he accepted the mission, the eight spots needed for this mission were instantly gone. Xu Qing was the last one. If he had hesitated just a bit, he wouldn't have been able to get it.
After receiving this mission, new information immediately popped up in Xu Qing's identity token. The names of the eight participants were hidden. They had already been automatically assigned to different islands.
The island Xu Qing was assigned to was none other than Mire Island.
There was a detailed introduction of the appearance and fluctuations of the small-scale teleportation arrays and how to destroy them. There was even a reminder that the Sea Corpse Race members were found to have teleported from these arrays.
According to the judgment of the command center, under the envelopment of the sect's large array formation, even if such small-scale teleportation arrays were forcibly activated, they would not be able to teleport cultivators with two balls of life fire. There was a high chance that the ones who were teleported here were all Sea Corpse Race members who hadn't formed their life fire.
The purpose of these people coming here should be to attempt to destroy the array formations and magic artifacts of the various islands like sacrificial soldiers.
The activation of the Sea Corpse Race's teleportation arrays didn't require spirit energy and magic power but rather anomalous substances. In the underwater world, there were a large number of anomalous substances in the seawater, so these arrays were extremely hidden and difficult to detect.
As such, this mission was issued.
Xu Qing knew that there was someone else on this island who had accepted this mission like him. As such, he headed straight for the nearest city here.
Regardless of which island it was, the entrance to the underwater world was in the cities. Xu Qing was experienced in this.
As for the merfolk's cities, most of them were in ruins. However, the jade slip Huang Yan had given him that day also had a very detailed description of Mire Island. He remembered that there was an entrance tunnel that wasn't far from here.
Xu Qing sped up in the air. The volcanoes continued to erupt from time to time, the ground quaked, deafening explosions sounded, and black snowflakes fell.
About fifteen minutes later, Xu Qing saw a ruined city in the distance. He didn't stop at all and flew over. On the way, he also saw some Seven Blood Eyes disciples but they didn't greet each other and hurriedly passed by each other.
Very soon, Xu Qing found the entrance. The surroundings had already been opened up. The tunnel emitted waves of cold air as well as a bloody intent. The seawater that should have been in the depths had risen quite a bit now and could be seen from the outside.
Xu Qing stood at the edge of the entrance. After taking a look at the tunnel, he took out a bag containing poison and threw it down. After it mixed with the water, he jumped in.
He grabbed the poison pouch and rushed down rapidly. The entire process only lasted for more than 30 breaths of time. Xu Qing continued to move deeper and slowly approached the exit.
The deeper he went, the quieter his surroundings became. The clamor outside was isolated by the seawater, even the rumbling of the volcanic eruptions was much weaker here.
However, Xu Qing's vigilance was still there. When he got close to the exit, he threw out the bag, causing it to explode. A large amount of poison permeated the air and he rushed out.
He immediately looked around. Most of the buildings here had collapsed, and the corals and sea anemone had decayed. It was probably because of the eruption of the black fog that day.
"I have to find the small-scale teleportation array of the Sea Corpse Race as soon as possible." Xu Qing retracted his gaze and calmly spoke.
A long time later, seeing that there was no reaction, the magic power in Xu Qing's body surged into the purple crystal, causing it to emit a trace of suppression. At the next instant, the shadow quickly pointed in a direction.
The reason why Xu Qing accepted this mission was because he knew that his shadow had a keen perception of anomalous substances. It might be a little difficult for others to find a teleportation array driven by anomalous substances under the sea and they would need some special magic artifacts.
However, he didn't need them. In fact, Xu Qing even felt that magic artifacts might not be as keen as the shadow.
The only thing that made him unhappy was that the shadow actually didn't take the initiative. Hence, he slowly spoke.
"Your inspection period will be reduced by ten days."
The shadow trembled. As it rapidly probed the surroundings, the faint voice of the Diamond Sect's ancestor rang out from the black iron stick.
"Master, don't be angry. The shadow might not understand you but I know that Master is usually very tired and needs us to take the initiative to share the burden. I'm worried about Master!"
When the shadow heard this, killing intent instantly appeared.
Xu Qing felt that what the Diamond Sect's ancestor said made sense. As such, he coldly glanced at the shadow and instantly suppressed it three times.
"I don't like your killing intent."
The shadow trembled as though it was extremely aggrieved. It could only obediently show the way under the Diamond Sect's ancestor's smugness.
Xu Qing followed the direction the shadow pointed and sped all the way. Very soon, he arrived at the place the shadow had found. This place was a concave land. It should have been blasted by a spell before, so it looked a mess.
There was a teleportation array hidden in the mud layer and there were no energy fluctuations from it, so it was very difficult to detect. Only the anomalous substances here were slightly denser than the surroundings.
Xu Qing took a look. He sensed that the array formation didn't seem to have been activated before. He followed the description in the mission and found the location of the array eye. He then stomped fiercely on it. The array formation collapsed loudly.
After that, without needing Xu Qing to speak, the shadow quickly probed and pointed to the next location.
Xu Qing sped all the way. Just like that, he destroyed the second and third teleportation arrays. In the area with the fourth teleportation array, he was about to destroy it when the array… actually shone.
Xu Qing let out a soft cry of surprise and immediately sensed carefully. Very soon, he sensed a hint of Foundation Building aura from the flickering of the array formation. Someone seemed to be teleporting from the other end of the array formation.
In Xu Qing's perception, this aura wasn't very strong. It didn't seem to have reached the state of life fire, so he didn't destroy the array formation. Instead, he quickly took out the poison powder and used the fastest speed to spread it around the teleportation array.
In the span of over ten breaths, Xu Qing released over a hundred types of poison in one go. As they enveloped the array formation, the black iron stick flew out and hid at the side.
There was also a bell tied to this iron stick.
When a person with flesh and blood used this bell, their soul would be affected. However, the artifact spirit wouldn't be affected, so Xu Qing tied the bell to the iron stick.
As for the Diamond Sect's ancestor in the iron stick, he was clearly very excited, as though he felt that it was time for him to perform again.
The shadow was also anxious and spread out, not to be outdone. After making preparations to pounce over in an instant, Xu Qing took out the magic ship just in case. He took a few steps back and squatted down. A cold glint flashed in his eyes and the black fire in his body rose, transforming into a dagger in his hand.
"It's coming." The instant Xu Qing muttered inwardly, the light of the teleportation array flickered. Amidst the dense anomalous substances, the figure of the Sea Corpse Race member slowly appeared.
