In the Phoenix Forbidden, where three trees formed a triangle, the three candles had long burned out, leaving only wax oil that had formed a thick layer on the trees.
Xu Qing stood in the center of the three trees and looked at where the Ghost City had disappeared.
He checked his storage bag and discovered that the items he had bought were still there.
"The items in the Ghost Lane can't be taken out during the day. They can only be used at night."
Xu Qing mumbled. This was in the information he had gathered. He recalled the scenes in the Ghost Lane and many guesses rose in his mind.
"That monk's head mentioned the Golden Crow?"
"Did it belong to a race that was refined by the Golden Crow before?" Xu Qing pondered and left the place. After looking around, he sped into the distance.
As for the Ghost Lane, he felt that there was a high chance that it was as he had guessed. As for the exact details… he could naturally investigate when he was capable.
Hence, Xu Qing stopped thinking about this matter. With a sway, he sped up in the jungle.
Other than the Ghost Lane, his plans in the Phoenix Forbidden also included some toxic beasts and plants. He needed to find and collect them.
"If everything goes smoothly, I'll be able to let the little black bugs break through its shackles and progress again. My plan to refine the Poison Restriction Pill should not be affected again."
Xu Qing's speed became faster and faster. On the way, he would occasionally compare his directions and search for the poisonous grasses he needed.
Just like that, a day passed.
The danger level of the Phoenix Forbidden during the day was much lower than at night.
Xu Qing moved only in the outer area. In addition to his current cultivation and combat strength, although he did encounter some ferocious beasts, he dealt with them easily.
He also found a portion of the grasses and herbs he needed. However, the trip wasn't completely free from danger. At dusk, Xu Qing saw a red grassland in the distance. That place gave him a sense of danger.
He only took a glance before the red grassland squirmed strangely. Many eyes grew on it and they opened one after another, staring at Xu Qing.
A wave of malice spread out from those eyes.
Xu Qing's body trembled. He felt that the skin all over his body was very itchy. He rapidly retreated while igniting his life fires and the life lantern, only then did he block this malice.
After leaving this place, he examined his entire body. On his arms, Xu Qing saw half an eye had grown out at some point in time.
The reason why he said half was because the eye hadn't completely grown to the extent of opening.
However, its eyelids and eyelashes were very clear. They looked exactly the same as the eyes in the red grassland.
This eye was extremely strange. Regardless of whether Xu Qing burned it with fiendish fire or tried to dig it out, he couldn't remove it. Even the shadow could only make it drift out of his body for a short period of time. However, when the shadow moved away, it would grow back.
Moreover, it was obvious that this eye was still growing. It gave Xu Qing the feeling that it would open in a few days at most.
Xu Qing didn't want to know what would happen when it opened. Hence, he controlled the shadow to separate it and activated Golden Crow Refines All Life. Finally, he refined this half-grown eye.
"This Phoenix Forbidden is very dangerous."
Xu Qing looked at his arm and then examined his body carefully. In the end, he cleared more than 30 eyes from his body.
These 30-odd eyes were far from the stage of completion. Moreover, most of them were just like seeds. What left Xu Qing with lingering fear was that they didn't grow on the surface of his body but in his internal organs.
He could imagine that if he checked them too late or neglected them, once they had time to grow, he would definitely be in a tragic state.
Xu Qing drew in a deep breath. As dusk passed and night fell, he became even more cautious. He chose a tree hole and entered.
"I have almost all the poisonous grasses. Next, I need to gather some toxic beasts…"
He didn't plan to go out tonight because the activity time of his next target was mainly during the day.
Moreover, he was going to try to fuse the evil yin poison into the little black bugs tonight. He began to set up array formations and poison powder outside the tree hole.
After ensuring his safety, he closed his eyes and meditated.
Night fell and the surroundings were silent. From time to time, strange cries would ring out from the outside world. As Xu Qing listened, he felt as though he had returned to the ruined city back then.
'I wonder when I'll be strong enough to… ignore the forbidden zones and forbidden regions.' Xu Qing mumbled inwardly.
Time flowed by and very soon, midnight arrived. As the cold air in the surroundings continued to permeate the air, white fog emitted from Xu Qing's mouth when he breathed. This caused the coldness he hadn't felt in a long time to surface again.
Xu Qing was afraid of the cold. However, ever since he reached the Foundation Building realm, as his cultivation and combat strength increased, he rarely felt the cold anymore.
However, today… he was feeling it again.
"Something is wrong." A sharp glint appeared in Xu Qing's eyes. Last night, at this moment, although he sensed the temperature in the forbidden region dropping, it was not to such a low degree as now.
With a thought, the life fires in his body were instantly ignited. After he entered the Mystic Brilliance Form, he rushed out of the tree hole and checked his surroundings. At the next instant, Xu Qing's expression darkened.
He saw that a large amount of fog had suddenly appeared in the distant jungle. This fog spread out and enveloped the surroundings. The ghost city from yesterday had silently descended again.
This time around, Xu Qing hadn't played the ghost flute. He had also checked the surroundings and there was no one who summoned the ghost city. Xu Qing did not hesitate at all and instantly fled at full speed.
Behind him, the monk's head that was chained by countless arms in the air above the Ghost City slowly turned and looked in the direction Xu Qing had fled in. His voice was like lightning as it echoed again.
"The Golden Crow refined my race. The Golden Crow must die!"
As it spoke, the head suddenly leaped out and flew high. The chains made by arms were also stretched extremely long but they couldn't stop it.
The head directly smashed into the jungle outside the Ghost City. As a large number of trees collapsed, the head rushed forward, rolling like a ball as it chased after Xu Qing!
Its rolling speed was very fast. Wherever it passed, any obstruction on its path would collapse. The arm chains behind it were also lengthened and distorted. Even the ghost city rumbled as though it was about to be shaken.
All of this caused Xu Qing's eyes to narrow as a sense of danger rose in his heart. The life lantern and life fires in his body were all activated with full strength and the Golden Crow manifested behind him, boosting his speed.
However, the huge mountain-like head behind him continued to chase after him.
At the same time, sharp sounds rang out from the ghost city. Countless ghost hands stretched out and chased after the head.
From afar, Xu Qing was in the front and the head was chasing after him. The chains connected to the head limited its speed. At the same time, those ghost hands stretched out of the ghost city and chased after the head.
"Golden Crow…" In this pursuit, the head was still a little delirious and let out a violent cry.
"All of them…"
"Die!!!"
It leaped into the air again and shouted as it smashed toward Xu Qing in the distance. However, the chains on its body had already extended to their limit, causing the head to suddenly fall to the ground.
Seeing that the ghost hands were about to arrive, the head smiled strangely. Its body actually exploded on its own, transforming into countless small heads that landed on the ground and chased after Xu Qing.
Without the restrictions of the chains, those small heads' speed became even more astonishing. In an instant, more than ten of them rolled and leaped toward Xu Qing, opening their mouths and wanting to bite him.
Killing intent flashed in Xu Qing's eyes. He turned his head and the Golden Crow appeared behind him. The black iron stick also flew out and headed straight for these heads.
The Golden Crow let out a cry and fiercely inhaled. The black iron stick also rapidly moved. A rumbling sound echoed as the few small heads collapsed and turned into ashes.
However, not a single substance was absorbed.
It was as though these heads were just an illusion and didn't exist.
Moreover, the ashes gathered again and took shape. They were unscathed, and a head actually appeared beside Xu Qing's feet and bit down on his calf.
The life fires in Xu Qing's body suddenly spread out. The heads in the surroundings were swept away but they were still unscathed. At the same time, they were chewing, emitting a blurry sound.
"Delicious, delicious, delicious"
"Weak, weak, weak, weak!"
Xu Qing's expression was gloomy. He knew that it wasn't that the Golden Crow was weak but that his current cultivation wasn't enough to display the true power of the Golden Crow.
He looked at his calf. A piece of flesh had been bitten off by the other party.
In the past, he was the one who absorbed others. This was the first time someone was able to bite him.
That small head licked its tongue, revealing a strange smile. Just as it was about to take another bite, it was grabbed by a ghost hand and dragged back to the ghost city.
As for the other heads, some of them avoided the ghost hands and bit at Xu Qing again.
Xu Qing's expression was ugly. He discovered that the power of his life fires were ineffective against them. Seeing another head charging over sinisterly, a cold glint appeared in his eyes.
The shadow sensed Xu Qing's thoughts and instantly pounced over, ruthlessly absorbing the anomalous substances in the head. The Diamond Sect's ancestor wasn't to be outdone and rapidly stabbed the head.
That head was also savage. It actually didn't dodge at all and bit at the shadow and the Diamond Sect's ancestor.
As it bit, the head collapsed and countless bugs flew out of its eyes.
These were Xu Qing's little black bugs. He had released them when he was fleeing earlier and they were attacking together with the shadow.
However, they were still ineffective.
Whenever the head was destroyed, it would form again. Moreover, there were even more pouncing over from the surroundings.
Xu Qing's expression was ugly. He knew that it was useless to tangle with these heads. He turned and used all his strength to flee.
Just like that, a night passed.
Xu Qing spent the whole night running wildly. If he was caught, he would quickly destroy the heads and continue to escape, not giving those heads a chance to surround him. At the same time, the ghost hands continued to grab one head after another and dragged them back to the ghost city.
It was only when a ray of light appeared in the horizon and Xu Qing erupted with his full strength to destroy a head that the pursuing heads finally disappeared.
All of them were grabbed by the ghost hands. As the sunlight scattered down, they disappeared.
Only Xu Qing was left in the area, his eyes revealing cruelty as he stared in the direction of the location where the ghost city appeared last night.
His clothes were tattered and although the mangled flesh had grown again, the bite marks dissipated slower.
"What is this thing? It's useless to destroy it and it can re-form immediately. Only those ghost hands can restrain them."
"It gives me the feeling that those ghost hands are like prison guards, and that monk's head is more like a criminal. It forcefully broke out of prison because of me…"
"And…" Xu Qing glanced at the bite marks on his body and the ferocity in his eyes increased.
"I have to think of a way to kill it!" The coldness in Xu Qing's eyes was extremely dense. When the Diamond Sect's ancestor noticed this scene, he snorted coldly in his mind.
'It's fine if you bite me, but if you dare to bite Demon Xu, your head will be done for!'
