In the jungle in the Phoenix Forbidden, Xu Qing ran extremely fast, displaying his current limit. However, during this process, he felt an intense piercing pain from everywhere in his body.
That was the corrosion of the aura of the Poison Restriction Pill, causing his body to rot inside and out. Although his resistance had increased far beyond what it had been back then, he had stayed in the sealed blood world for too long.
Moreover, he had already been seriously injured and weakened then.
Fortunately, the integration of the life lantern allowed his body to possess the power to burn five life fires. They were burning unprecedentedly wildly and provided him with astonishing power. In fact, due to the injuries on his body, flames spread out from his body, illuminating the surroundings.
From afar, Xu Qing looked like a burning person. As Xu Qing moved forward, the shadow revealed its shadow eyes and looked with a hint of curiosity. When it looked at Xu Qing, a wisp of purple intent rose from Xu Qing's body, forming a suppression that directly landed on the shadow.
The shadow immediately let out a blood-curdling screech and hurriedly sent fawning emotions.
"Even with my injuries, I still have the strength to suppress you to death. Also… cherish the contributions you made," Xu Qing said coldly. The shadow hurriedly expressed its obedience.
In reality, when it saw that Xu Qing was so heavily injured earlier, it indeed had a trace of evil intent. However, it was really afraid of Xu Qing, so when Xu Qing was fighting with Saintly Star, it didn't dare to not listen to the instructions. It blocked the magic aperture with all its strength and didn't dare to take it easy.
This wasn't its personality. It was all because it was afraid of Xu Qing.
This fear was the key to Xu Qing's control over the shadow. Hence, it didn't dare to reveal that trace of evil intent earlier and hid it in curiosity.
However, it didn't expect that Xu Qing would still sense it.
On the other hand, the Diamond Sect's ancestor was very sensible as he followed Xu Qing with a loyal expression. Xu Qing swept his gaze over and nodded slightly. After that, he controlled the shadow to cover his two life lanterns, preventing the flames from spreading.
He then looked behind him with a gloomy expression. He could sense the three figures chasing after him relentlessly. If it wasn't for his six fire speed, he would have been caught up long ago.
"If I was in a normal state, I could have put up a fight!"
Xu Qing endured the waves of dizziness caused by his injuries and weakness. He bit the tip of his tongue and used the pain to perk himself up. He maintained his full speed and ran.
He had used all his poison on Saintly Star. In the battle with the other party, Xu Qing had no way to hold back and had to go all out. Only the little black bugs that had fallen asleep after eating the immortal jelly were left. The rest were all in Saintly Star's body.
Dawn wasn't far away. As Xu Qing sped, he bit the tip of his tongue again and continued to flee.
"I have to shake off the three Dao Protectors and leave the Phoenix Forbidden as soon as possible…"
"I am not sure about what the Seven Blood Eyes' attitude is. I still need to observe."
"It might not necessarily be the best choice to leave the Phoenix Forbidden. Surviving here is the same thing." Contemplation appeared in Xu Qing's eyes. Although the price of this matter wasn't small, when he thought of the life lantern he had obtained, determination appeared in his eyes.
In this cruel chaotic world, everything needed to be fought for with all their might.
At the thought of this, Xu Qing changed his direction and headed straight for the depths of the Phoenix Forbidden. At the same time, he recalled the voice from the depths of the Phoenix Forbidden and the peerless aura that had appeared in his moment of life-and-death crisis earlier.
"Erasing the mark of the rainbow glazed lantern, was it caused by its aura or was it intentional?" Xu Qing narrowed his eyes. He didn't think that this matter was just a coincidence. There was a high chance that it was the latter.
"Why?" Xu Qing couldn't understand but his speed didn't decrease at all. At the same time, he made a grabbing gesture; immediately, a few medicinal herbs at the side flew toward him and he swallowed them.
This wasn't the first time he did this. During this escape, he did this whenever he saw useful medicinal herbs. No matter how much effect they had, eating them would provide some help to recover his injuries.
However, the herbs hadn't been treated and their medicinal effects couldn't be fully displayed. However, it was still better than nothing. Xu Qing checked his storage bag and saw that there were still some black pills inside.
"It's better to use these black pills at night when the anomalous substances are dense."
Although he was in danger now, Xu Qing took a deep breath and calmed himself down. He calculated the time. If he wanted to completely recover, he would need about five days.
"Five days… I have to consider the reaction of the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect as well. Five days is too long. I have to reach the depths of the Phoenix Forbidden in two days at most and shake off the three people behind me." Xu Qing jumped to a tree crown and sensed the wind.
"I can only use the Poison Restriction Pill!"
Xu Qing sensed his injuries and sighed inwardly. However, his eyes were ruthless as he took out the wish box again and opened it. He borrowed the flow of wind to spread the poisonous pill's aura behind him.
The three Dao Protectors of Saintly Star were chasing him with gloomy expressions. They were filled with extreme killing intent toward Xu Qing because the Soaring Cloud Ancestor had already made it very clear that if Xu Qing didn't die, the three of them would die.
While they were furious, they were also shocked and in disbelief that Saintly Star had actually lost to Xu Qing and his life lantern had been snatched away.
This caused them to be cautious in their pursuit. They even used protective magic artifacts and wind spells.
"This kid is good at using poison. We have to be careful!"
"That's right. This kid must have extremely strange methods. We can't be careless." The three of them looked at each other. They didn't split up but chased together.
They weren't stupid. Even though Xu Qing was heavily injured, they still had to treat the person who almost killed Saintly Star cautiously. No matter how anxious they were, they couldn't lose their calm.
Xu Qing had already sensed this. As he sighed inwardly, his eyes flashed sharply. He had made preparations for both scenarios.
If these three people split up, he would lay an ambush and use everything to kill and devour one of them to heal his injuries.
If they didn't disperse, the aura of his Poison Restriction Pill would be able to affect all of them more easily. Even if the three of them kept using wind spells to disperse the poison, as long as they were careless, the Poison Restriction Pill's aura would touch them.
He lowered his head and looked at his palm that was slowly growing flesh. He crouched down before moving forward again.
Just like that, the sky slowly brightened. One of the three Golden Core old men behind Xu Qing glanced around as he chased. His expression suddenly changed. He noticed that a part of another old man's face was rotting.
"Your face!"
That person was stunned. He touched his face before his expression changed. The other two also immediately examined their bodies, but didn't see any signs of poisoning. Only then did they heave a sigh of relief. However, they became even more vigilant.
"Damn it!" A cold glint flashed in the poisoned cultivator's eyes as he tried to suppress the rotting. However, the effect was minimal. In the end, he chose to do the same thing as Saintly Star; he took out medicinal pills that replenished vitality to neutralize the effect of this poison.
"We can't continue like this. The poison I was poisoned with is strange and difficult to dispel. We're already so cautious but we still fell for his trick!"
"If this continues and we continue to be poisoned, we might fail miserably!" The poisoned person quickly spoke. The other two also revealed determination in their eyes.
"We have to end this quickly!"
The three of them looked at each other and gritted their teeth. They instantly used their methods to increase their speed. They were 30% faster than before and transformed into three rainbows that rushed forward even faster.
Xu Qing sensed the movements and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.
He still had a final trump card, and that was to activate the Poison Restriction Pill, causing the power of the pill to be greatly released, forming a land of death.
Xu Qing felt that he might not be able to completely activate the pill, but with the Golden Crow Refines All Life and the power of the life lanterns, even if he could only activate a small portion, the power would definitely be incomparably terrifying.
He believed that the three pursuers wouldn't be able to survive in this land of death.
'Should I take a gamble…'
This trump card was basically mutual destruction. Xu Qing was calculating the probability of him surviving.
'The chance is extremely slim…' Xu Qing fell silent and suppressed this thought. He then sensed his injuries. By now, more than half of his hands had healed. Although they were still badly mangled, they had a form now and were much better than before.
Xu Qing lowered his head and was about to continue fleeing. However, before he could take a few steps, Xu Qing suddenly stopped in his tracks. His pupils narrowed as he stared ahead.
In front of him, a figure walked out of the jungle.
It was an old man.
He wore a purple robe. Although his face was covered in wrinkles, his gaze was very bright and he exuded a scholarly aura.
He stood there, in complete contrast with the darkness of the forbidden region's jungle. Distortions appeared outside his body, causing light to be pulled to him.
He was fiddling with a black chess piece in his hand. When Xu Qing looked at him, his gaze also swept past Xu Qing's badly mangled body.
"Put the poison away."
Xu Qing lowered his head and stored the wish box. He was still vigilant but he knew that in front of this person, regardless of strength or status, he could only be obedient.
The old man in front of him was the peak lord of the Seventh Peak of the Seven Blood Eyes, Old Master Seventh.
However, Xu Qing was still vigilant. As a precaution, although he kept the wish box, he left magic power inside so that he could use it immediately when needed.
Almost at the same time that Xu Qing put the wish box away, Old Master Seventh's figure blurred. When he appeared, he was already behind Xu Qing. He looked at the jungle. At that moment, the three Golden Core cultivators erupted with full speed and rushed out of the jungle.
However, the instant they rushed out, the expressions of the three changed drastically and they came to an abrupt stop. Their breathing became hurried in nervousness and they instinctively retreated.
If it was in the Seven Blood Eyes, they wouldn't be like this. This was because they were certain that the Seven Blood Eyes wouldn't dare to make a move in public. However, in this forbidden region, the three of them didn't dare to gamble.
The three of them hesitated. The Golden Core cultivator in the middle braced himself and cupped his fists.
"Greetings, Seventh Peak Lord."
"This kid has caused a disaster by injuring the heaven's chosen of my Soaring Cloud Sword Sect and snatching my sect's life lantern. We are under the orders of the Soaring Cloud Ancestor to capture and deal with him. I hope Old Master Seventh can excuse us."
Old Master Seventh calmly glanced at the three of them and waved his hand.
In an instant, an indescribably vast and astonishing force erupted from the void, directly transforming into a ghastly mouth above the three of them. The instant the expressions of the three Golden Cores changed drastically, this mouth swallowed the three of them!
The sound of cruel chewing echoed in the quiet jungle.
Xu Qing's body shook. When he saw this scene and looked at Old Master Seventh, he didn't know what to say. Old Master Seventh placed his hands behind his back and walked into the distance, his voice drifting over.
"What are you waiting for? Let's go back. I still have a game of chess to finish."
