Xu Qing knew that the shadow was deceived by the Diamond Sect's ancestor. Its spirit had dimmed and its wisdom was affected because of the suppression.
Even so, he still had the urge to suppress it again.
However, he was reasonable after all. Hence, he suppressed the thought of suppressing and glared at the Diamond Sect's ancestor.
The Diamond Sect's ancestor hurriedly revealed a fawning expression and didn't continue to bait the shadow.
Xu Qing looked at the shadow and suddenly spoke.
"How did you attract the dragon carriage giant? What exactly are you? Are there other existences like you?"
The shadow shivered and tried its best to express.
"Connect… Shadow…" With that, it hurriedly looked at the Diamond Sect's ancestor.
The Diamond Sect's ancestor squatted down and asked in a low voice. After the shadow continued to blink and nod, the Diamond Sect's ancestor turned his head and bowed to Xu Qing before respectfully speaking.
"Master, what Little Shadow is saying is that it doesn't know what it is either. From the moment it gained consciousness, it has been a shadow that can parasitize and sleep in the host's shadow."
At this point, the Diamond Sect's ancestor blinked. When Xu Qing asked if there were other existences like the shadow, he sensed a hint of hidden killing intent in Xu Qing's words.
Hence, he spoke in a low voice.
"The shadow said that it hasn't sensed an existence like it until now… However, I feel like there are very few unique things in this world."
"As for the matter of attracting the dragon carriage giant, it doesn't know. For some reason, when it saw the giant, it could instinctively circulate the other party's voice and summon it. My analysis might be that its formation is related to the dragon carriage?"
Xu Qing's eyes narrowed. He only believed a portion of the shadow's words but the other party had said so much. There was no point in continuing to suppress and interrogate it.
Moreover, the probability of it saying the truth was very high.
"It can attract the dragon carriage giant… If I use this well, it will also be a trump card."
Xu Qing sat on the magic ship and continued to look at the sea. It was already afternoon. Although the sunlight was still bright and dense, it seemed to be flowing.
Elder Zhao's description of the giant and the dragon carriage kept echoing in his mind. The more he thought about it, the more tempted Xu Qing became and the desire grew increasingly intense.
It would have been fine if he had only encountered it once. Now that he had encountered it again and the shadow clearly had a way to lure it over, Xu Qing felt that if he planned it, it wasn't impossible for him to have the opportunity to obtain the emperor-level cultivation art.
However, this matter was too difficult. Xu Qing recalled the feeling he had when he saw the dragon carriage giant earlier. The pressure from the other party caused his body and soul to be unable to withstand it.
He could imagine that if the giant got any closer, his body would definitely collapse.
Xu Qing had once felt a similar feeling in the merfolk race's murals. Although his cultivation was different from back then, the level of this dragon-carriage giant clearly surpassed the divine existence in the murals.
"If I can't get close, I can't step onto the dragon carriage. Moreover, even if I use some methods to forcefully barge through at all costs, as long as that giant turns its head and takes a look, I'll definitely be unable to withstand its might."
"I wonder how the Lord of the Seven Sects Alliance broke in back then…" Xu Qing sighed with emotion. He felt that unless the giant was in a deep sleep, it was impossible for him to enter the dragon carriage.
"Shadow, I'll give you a chance to redeem yourself. Summon the dragon carriage giant and cover it. Imprint the emperor-level cultivation art inside for me." Xu Qing looked at the shadow.
The shadow instantly emitted a clear fluctuation of horror.
"Restrict… afraid…"
The Diamond Sect's ancestor was in high spirits. Without needing Xu Qing to speak, he hurriedly went up to communicate and quickly turned to explain.
"Master, Little Shadow said that there are strange divine fluctuations on that giant's body. It can't get close and will be restricted. Moreover, it sensed that the giant doesn't have a shadow, so the shadow eye can't be placed inside."
"I also asked why it summoned the giant just now. It said that it wanted to borrow the pressure of the dragon carriage giant to shock Master to death. It felt that it could last longer than Master under that pressure. As long as Master died, it would be free. Sigh, Little Shadow, how can you be so muddle-headed?"
When Xu Qing heard this, he glanced at the shadow and recalled the backlash from the shadow earlier. He raised his hand and suppressed it, causing the shadow to let out a blood-curdling scream. After it recovered, the emotions it emitted were horror and pleading.
Xu Qing didn't look at the shadow. He looked at the gradually setting sun as all kinds of thoughts raced through his mind. Finally, when the sky darkened, he recalled the murals on the dragon carriage and… the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts he had encountered when he first went out to sea.
"There are wonders in the Endless Sea that mortals haven't heard of. With the Golden Crow Chi Yang as a companion, a hundred sounds form a tune - Heavenly Voice Welcomes the Moon."
"God was delighted. When He closed his eyes and looked, the Endless Sea became Forbidden. The hundred sounds became Yin."
These sentences were the sea record's description of the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts. When Xu Qing recalled them, his heart raced slightly as many thoughts quickly rose in his mind.
"Elder Zhao said that the dragon carriage is the sun's carriage, so the youth in the murals on the dragon carriage should be the sun. Moreover, the murals also portray the scene of him transforming into the sun."
"This point matches the description in the sea record. The sun is the Golden Crow. When it is time for sunrise, it rides the dragon carriage to the sky and transforms into the sun. When it is time for sunset, it returns on the dragon carriage and listens to Heavenly Voice Welcomes the Moon in its bedroom."
"If that's true, then that giant must have listened to Heavenly Voice Welcomes the Moon many times when it was alive. Even though it has fallen now, it still has some instincts to pull the carriage under the Forbidden Sea. If it hears Heavenly Voice Welcomes the Moon again, will it be dazed…"
When Xu Qing thought of this, his eyes gleamed.
If he wanted to accomplish this, he first had to search for the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts. Secondly, he had to have an item that could store music. Moreover, the quality of this item was extremely important. Xu Qing looked at his storage bag where there was a sound-catching bottle.
Other than these conditions, he also had to find the dragon carriage giant.
The Forbidden Sea was too large. The other party was usually in the deep sea and would only be seen occasionally. It was basically impossible for him to take the initiative to search.
"If my judgment is feasible, then if I can think of it, others should be able to think of it too. Perhaps the Seven Sects Alliance's headquarters did this back then."
"However, I have an additional ability compared to them. Even if they think of this method, they can only passively seek opportunities to encounter it. However, the shadow can take the initiative to summon it."
"The difference between the probability of active and passive state is extremely great."
Xu Qing was tempted. He felt that he had to speed up his plan. Even though the difference in taking the initiative and being passive was huge, as long as someone was willing, they could still do it.
In fact, it was very likely that someone was already prepared to search for the dragon carriage.
Xu Qing clearly remembered Elder Zhao saying that every time the dragon carriage appeared, it would search for an inheritor. As long as the emperor-level cultivation art engraved on it was comprehended by someone, it would dim on its own. The giant would then return to the bottom of the sea with the dragon carriage and wait for many years to accumulate the power of inheritance before appearing again.
"This also indirectly shows that cultivation arts of that level might only be obtained through inheritance and it's difficult to impart it to others. However, whether it's true or not will be determined in the future."
Xu Qing felt that what he thought should be feasible. He planned to give it a try.
"Then, the first thing I have to do is to search for the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts!" Xu Qing took a deep breath. He knew that the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts only appeared at night and didn't exist for long. Whether he could find it depended on luck.
Hence, Xu Qing didn't hesitate. He spread out his perception with all his might and controlled the magic ship to move forward rapidly on the Forbidden Sea, beginning to search for the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts.
Just like that, days passed. Xu Qing's search wasn't very smooth. After all, the Forbidden Sea was too vast. Although the difficulty of searching for the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts couldn't be considered a needle in a haystack, it was about the same. It depended on luck.
However, Xu Qing wasn't in a hurry. During this month, he was also familiarizing himself with the changes to the black iron stick. After the Diamond Sect's ancestor became a lightning spirit, the speed and lethality of the iron stick became astonishing.
This was especially so after the lightning runes formed by the refinement of the black iron stick shone completely. Xu Qing was quite surprised by the aura that erupted. That speed had completely surpassed that of a Foundation Building cultivator with one ball of life fire and was comparable to two balls of life fire.
Although it was slightly inferior, it was enough to be of help to Xu Qing's current cultivation and allow his combat strength to increase greatly. At the same time, Xu Qing understood the abilities of the shadow as well.
Xu Qing tested the ability to control other beings after devouring their shadows on a megalodon. He watched helplessly as the shadow devoured its shadow and controlled the megalodon to twist its huge head. The neck broke with a loud cracking sound.
This scene was extremely strange, and even the Diamond Sect's ancestor was shocked. He was glad that as an artifact spirit, he didn't have a shadow.
The only flaw was that the devouring process was a little slow.
Other than that, the shadow's other ability, shadow eyes, also gave Xu Qing a huge surprise. He controlled the shadow to release a hundred shadow eyes and scattered them on many sea beasts. As these sea beasts spread out in a disorderly manner, it was equivalent to Xu Qing having countless eyes.
As for the sea beasts he had placed the shadow eye on, they were all those who liked to travel at night and jump on the surface of the sea. Hence, their help in searching for the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts was extremely great.
Just like that, another month passed.
That night, Xu Qing, who was observing through the shadow eyes, suddenly locked onto one of the shadow eyes.
Through the shadow, Xu Qing clearly saw… that in that sea area, groups of ghosts were rising into the air.
"Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts!"
