The little mute's eyes revealed horror and his body trembled. He wanted to struggle but Xu Qing's right hand was like an iron clamp, firmly grabbing his neck, making his struggles useless.
The huge difference in cultivation also made it impossible for him to resist.
Even though… he was already close to the Foundation Building.
The reason why it was close was because the little mute's cultivation was very strange. He was between Qi Condensation and Foundation Building, as though his Foundation Building hadn't ended.
This place could be considered a bustling part of the city. There were many pedestrians in the surroundings and there were also many disciples of the Seven Blood Eyes and other sects. However, when everyone saw Xu Qing and the little mute, their expressions froze. The mortals retreated while the cultivators lowered their heads to greet Xu Qing.
With Xu Qing's current status in the Eight Sects Alliance, forget about him grabbing a disciple's neck, even if he killed someone on the streets, he wouldn't face any trouble.
At most, he would be reprimanded. In fact, if he had the slightest reason, he wouldn't even be reprimanded.
After all, to a certain extent, he was already someone who represented the younger generation of the Eight Sects Alliance.
Xu Qing coldly looked at the little mute. He remembered that when they were patrolling the river before, the little mute was at the Perfected Qi Condensation Realm and was about to step into Foundation Building. His current state coupled with what he had seen with the Ghost Emperor Mountain, an answer appeared in Xu Qing's mind.
He was very sure that the person in front of him was just an empty shell. The soul inside was definitely not of the little mute.
Seeing that this person wasn't saying anything, Xu Qing carried the little mute and flew straight for the berth.
When he arrived, he took out the magic ship that still had one chance to self-destruct. The moment he stepped into the cabin, Xu Qing's hand instantly emitted dark soul fire that flowed down the little mute's neck and entered his body.
At the next moment, a mournful whimper rang out from the little mute's mouth. His body visibly weakened and his entire body was trembling violently as his soul was extracted by Xu Qing's dark soul fire.
This soul was different from the little mute's appearance. It was a ball of black fog that kept changing its appearance. It emitted an evil aura and dense anomalous substances, as though it wanted to taint the surroundings.
However, under Xu Qing's dark soul fire, it could only tremble. As Xu Qing's shadow spread out and the shadow opened its eyes, revealing a hungry intent to devour, the soul trembled even more intensely.
Finally, Xu Qing absorbed it and fused the soul into his body, suppressing it on the 61st magic aperture. The magic power fire burned and as he continued to refine it, the little mute's body trembled and the expression that Xu Qing was familiar with slowly appeared in his eyes.
Xu Qing let go of his grip.
The little mute's body landed on the ground. His breathing was hurried and he was a little confused. However, he seemed to have recalled something. His expression turned gloomy and his eyes revealed a baleful aura.
After that, he knelt down before Xu Qing and kowtowed three times. When he lifted his head, he looked at Xu Qing gratefully.
Xu Qing carefully sized up the little mute and spoke.
"What happened?"
The little mute immediately took out a jade slip and quickly imprinted it. He then respectfully handed the jade slip to Xu Qing. After Xu Qing took it, the mute lowered his head and looked at his body that no longer had a leather coat. He clearly felt a little uncomfortable.
"Go and change." With Xu Qing's word, the little mute immediately took out his old dog skin coat from his storage bag and put it on. Only then did he calm down. He squatted there and silently waited for Xu Qing's instructions.
Xu Qing checked the jade slip and quickly understood the reason.
Everything was because of the little mute's Foundation Building.
When a cultivator reached the Foundation Building realm, a great terror would descend. Hence, they needed to rent a shelter in the sect and borrow the lights there to protect themselves.
The little mute indeed did this but his perception was extraordinary and his intuition extremely sharp. This terrifying intuition usually helped him a lot. He could even sense the existence of the shadow.
However… this became a huge flaw when he attempted the Foundation Building. His intuition and perception were like a bright and dazzling torch. Not only did it attract more unknown existences, but it also made it easier for those existences to occupy his body.
Hence, he encountered great terror. He was invaded by those shadows that existed in another world. One of them even suppressed the little mute's soul, almost succeeding in possessing him.
If it wasn't for Xu Qing seeing it, the little mute's soul would probably be fused and devoured after some time. If that happened, there would not be many flaws for others to detect.
Xu Qing glanced at the little mute who was kneeling there. Although his body was weak now, his expression was calm. He recalled the various performances of the other party in the past. To a certain extent, he could be considered his direct subordinate.
After all, the little mute had frequently expressed his desire to follow him from the start. Later on, he also worked extremely hard in his department.
Xu Qing retracted his gaze and calmly spoke.
"Advance to Foundation Building here."
The little mute's eyes lit up. Without any hesitation, he immediately sat down cross-legged.
From what he knew, although the Foundation Building contained great terror, as long as Xu Qing was around, he wasn't afraid of the terror.
Hence, as he sat cross-legged, the little mute's breathing quickly became even. His cultivation base gradually circulated.
Xu Qing was also meditating. At midnight, he opened his eyes and looked at the little mute.
At that moment, the spirit sea tides in the little mute's body spread out and he was sensing his magic apertures when a cold wind blew from the surroundings.
Xu Qing's expression was calm. The canopy above his head suddenly shone and the black umbrella manifested. With a wave of his hand, the umbrella moved above the little mute's head and pressed down. Immediately, a light enveloped the little mute's body.
The protective force instantly spread out and the surroundings lit up. There were waves of screams that couldn't be heard but could be sensed by one's mind.
It was the sound of countless shadows rapidly retreating under the light of the black umbrella.
However, before they could completely escape, Xu Qing's shadow spread in all directions, transforming into large mouths that devoured them crazily. As the sound of chewing rang out, more than half of these shadows were devoured by the shadow.
Xu Qing fell into deep thought. He suddenly lifted his hand and grabbed the remaining shadows. These shadows couldn't break free at all and were immediately grabbed by Xu Qing. They fused into his body and were suppressed on the 61st magic aperture.
In an instant, the suppression power of the 61st magic aperture was filled.
"This works too?" Xu Qing's eyes lit up. The shadow at the side felt a little aggrieved. It felt that its food had been snatched away by Demon Xu but it didn't dare to show it. It could only silently close its mouths.
A strange glint appeared in Xu Qing's eyes. After pondering for a moment, with a thought, the light of the black umbrella instantly converged. Its protective power was still there, but it was no longer visible.
By doing this, there was no light to cause damage to the shadows in the surroundings. Very soon, the shadows appeared again. These shadows didn't seem to have much intelligence. Driven by their instinctive greed, they headed straight for the little mute.
However, what awaited them was Xu Qing's dark soul fire.
This fire suddenly spread out and swept through the surroundings, enveloping all the shadows in the surroundings. With a sweep, they all entered Xu Qing's body and quickly landed on the 62nd magic aperture. At the next moment, the 62nd magic aperture was directly filled.
Xu Qing was overjoyed. He didn't expect this method to have such a miraculous effect. This was much easier and convenient than him going out to kill and absorb. As long as the little mute was attempting the Foundation Building, these shadows would come endlessly.
Just like that, time flowed by.
After a night, Xu Qing's mood was extremely joyous. In just one night, the number of magic apertures filled with suppressed souls increased from 62 to 73.
Such speed caused Xu Qing to be quite satisfied when he looked at the little mute.
Moreover, the little mute's spirit sea tides were still spreading throughout his body. From the looks of it, it would continue for a few days. Xu Qing weighed the probability and felt that there was a high chance that he could fill all 120 magic apertures.
In fact, occasionally, Xu Qing saw that great terror. When the Ghost Emperor Mountain manifested in his eyes, he could see the great terror clearly. It was a huge shadow that was much larger than the shadows he suppressed.
Its form wasn't a lump of fog either. Instead, it transformed into various strange shapes. For example, what appeared in Xu Qing's perception at this moment was a huge black fish.
This fish was a thousand feet long. After it was attracted over, it circled the surroundings. In the end, it seemed to be unable to hold it in and abruptly approached. The instant it got close, Xu Qing took a step forward and appeared beside the little mute. He then lifted his right hand and pressed down.
The black fish's body trembled and it wanted to retreat but it was too late. The eruption of the dark soul fire was like a huge net that directly enveloped the big fish. It shrank and instantly, cold soul power flowed into Xu Qing's body.
It was suppressed in the 74th magic aperture, causing this magic aperture to be completely filled.
Xu Qing was satisfied. He sat and continued to wait.
Because the little mute's Foundation Building was already halfway done, his sensing only lasted for seven days.
Even so, it was enough for Xu Qing to fish. After all, in the perception of those shadows, the little mute was like a bright lantern in the night, filled with attraction.
Very soon, Xu Qing's filled magic apertures reached 80, followed by 90. On the sixth day, he successfully suppressed souls in all of his 120 magic apertures!
However, Xu Qing wasn't done. This was because the souls suppressed in the magic apertures could be replaced by better souls. Hence, on the seventh day, Xu Qing continued and replaced some shadows with three large ones.
The little mute's magic aperture sensing ended and he began to open his magic apertures, entering Foundation Building. Those shadows also completely stopped coming.
Although Xu Qing felt regretful, he was mostly satisfied.
As for the little mute, on the rainy night of the ninth day, he opened his eyes. A magic aperture opened in his body and emitted magic power fluctuations. He had successfully stepped into the Foundation Building!
After sensing his cultivation, the little mute excitedly knelt down and kowtowed to Xu Qing again.
Xu Qing glanced at the little mute and calmly spoke.
"You can learn the Fiendish Fire Soul Devouring Art. You have to form a ball of life fire as soon as possible because… Foundation Building cultivators who cannot activate Mystic Brilliance Form are just weaklings."
"Only by forming the first ball of life fire and activating the Mystic Brilliance Form can you be considered a true Foundation Building cultivator."
The little mute bowed heavily and determination appeared in his eyes.
At the same time, outside the Eight Sects Alliance, in the not-too-distant mountain forest of the Grand Affairs Misfortune Passing Mountain, beside a lone grave. Under the cold rain at night, two figures were walking away from the grave.
The surroundings were quiet and there was no sound at all. It was as though no living beings dared to make a single sound in their presence. Only the sound of the rain was faintly discernible.
These two figures were both wearing pitch-black robes that covered their heads, revealing only… the mask that looked like the fragmented face of a god.
The mask emitted an aura that made one feel uneasy and terrified, causing the void wherever the two figures passed to distort.
From afar, they looked like gods walking in the human world under the rainy night.
Regardless of the cultivation base of all the existences they encountered on the way, due to the difference in life level, they couldn't sense or see them clearly at all.
These two were Night Dove and his master.
"We're almost at the Eight Sects Alliance. Is the person who invited us to watch the performance ready?" A young voice rang out from under the mask of the black-clothed man walking in front.
"Master, he's ready."
