Seeing the shadow shaking its head, the Diamond Sect's ancestor's nervousness grew even more intense. His body trembled as he looked at Xu Qing in despair. He felt that he was done for this time.
"Master…"
"Is your body alright?" Xu Qing looked at the Diamond Sect's ancestor and asked softly, his voice filled with concern.
This voice was like a spring breeze to the Diamond Sect's ancestor. His eyes were wide open and his breathing was hurried as he looked at Xu Qing in a daze. He didn't expect that Demon Xu wasn't asking about his overstepping words earlier but was concerned about him.
This caused his emotions to fluctuate intensely, especially after experiencing life and death earlier. The feeling of his heartbeat after experiencing great sorrow and joy caused the Diamond Ancestor to have an indescribable feeling.
He felt that his heartbeat was because of Xu Qing.
This reminded him of the books he had read. Some of the settings were like this. On a certain year, a certain month, and a certain day, the great god finally met the loyal servant who was going to accompany him for the rest of his life.
Under the witness of the wheel of history, this would be the moment when the fate of the loyal servant would change.
The Xu Qing in front of him seemed to be, as the book said, his master in his previous life. In this life, he had gone through countless hardships to meet him. This was fate.
'That's right!' The Diamond Sect's ancestor was excited.
He had never experienced such a feeling before. At this moment, his heart was filled with gratitude, so he hurriedly spoke.
"Master, don't worry. I'm fine. I'm very excited because under the witness of time, I can fight on the battlefield for Master again. In this life, Master, I'll pave the path for you!"
Xu Qing glanced at the Diamond Sect's ancestor in surprise. He felt that the other party's behavior was a little strange. However, when he thought of his experiences on the way, he nodded.
Little Shadow was stunned for a moment. It cast a deep glance at the Diamond Sect's ancestor and remembered what it had said earlier. It planned to say the same thing in the future.
"Your advancement this time shouldn't be a complete success, right?" Xu Qing looked at the Diamond Sect's ancestor.
"Master, although I didn't completely succeed, I can sense that I'm different from before." As he spoke, the Diamond Sect's ancestor raised his right hand. His body shook and a red bolt of lightning instantly appeared in his palm.
However, this lightning was still very weak but its essence was exactly the same as the power of the heavenly tribulation Xu Qing had seen earlier.
"Although it's small… I'm already half of an artifact soul. After fusing it into the iron stick, the power of the iron stick will increase greatly!" The Diamond Sect's ancestor looked at the weak lightning in his hand and felt a little guilty. He hurriedly spoke. After he finished speaking, he swayed and returned to the black iron stick at the side, wanting to display it immediately.
However, the instant his body fused into the iron stick, the black iron stick suddenly trembled.
Cracking sounds rang out as red runes appeared on it. As they continued to permeate the iron stick, the iron stick emitted a terrifying aura as though it had been modified.
There were also streams of red arcing lightning swimming on the iron stick, causing the color of the iron stick to change from black to purple.
Seeing that the iron stick that had followed him for so many years had become extraordinary, Xu Qing was about to take a closer look. However, at that moment, the Diamond Sect's ancestor let out a blood-curdling cry and cracks suddenly appeared on the iron stick.
Three deep cracks appeared on the iron stick, and the iron stick seemed to be on the verge of shattering.
Xu Qing immediately grabbed the iron stick. After his divine sense swept over, his expression turned somewhat ugly. At this moment, the Diamond Sect's ancestor also manifested and carefully spoke.
"Master, the level of this treasure I possess is ultimately too low…"
"It's fine when I was below the Golden Core realm, but by being 70% artifact soul, it is no longer able to bear my strength. Moreover, the power of the red lightning heavenly tribulation isn't something the iron stick can withstand."
Xu Qing held the iron stick and fell silent for a long time.
This item had accompanied him through his childhood. Regardless of whether it was before or after the slums, the scavenger campsite, or the early stages of the Seven Blood Eyes, it had accompanied him.
For countless days and nights, he held the iron stick in his hand and slept.
"Let's stop here. After I return to the sect, I'll think of a way to forge it again and see if I can increase its level." Xu Qing calmly spoke and kept the black iron stick. After that, he took out the mirror magic treasure fragment he had obtained in the small country as a temporary shelter for the Diamond Sect's ancestor.
Xu Qing flicked his sleeve and the shadow and the Diamond Sect's ancestor instantly hid again.
"It's time to leave." Xu Qing's eyes gleamed. This time, the advancement of the shadow and the Diamond Sect's ancestor had further increased his combat strength.
As for the specific changes, he was going to return to the magic warship and ponder over them.
After all, this was a forbidden region and he had to be vigilant. Moreover, the energy fluctuations caused from the Diamond Sect's ancestor's breakthrough was huge and it was very likely that they would attract some unknown existences. Hence, Xu Qing planned to leave immediately.
At the thought of this, his body swayed and he headed straight for the exit. He waved his right hand, causing the mountain rocks at the exit to explode. He then rushed out.
However, at this moment, his expression changed and he abruptly looked into the distance.
He could see that in the distant jungle, a group of strange giants that were over 100 feet tall were roaring and chasing wildly. Every one of these giants emitted extraordinary fluctuations, and there were more than ten of them that were comparable to Golden Cores.
Two or three of them even gave Xu Qing the feeling that he had encountered six Heavenly Palaces Golden Cores, causing his eyes to narrow.
What made Xu Qing gasp was the roar that echoed through the sky from even further away. This sound was intimidating and seemed to be able to suppress everything. It was extremely terrifying.
The color of the sky changed, wind surged, and the ground quaked.
It was as though an existence was struggling, wanting to escape from its location.
As for the target of those giants… it was none other than the captain.
Xu Qing only took a glance and knew that the captain must have done something infuriating again. Hence, he sighed and turned to run rapidly.
The captain also saw Xu Qing from afar and was pleasantly surprised.
"You're here too? What treasure appeared here? Let me see." The captain shouted.
"Don't worry, it's not that easy for that big fellow to struggle out. Although it has awakened, the place it sleeps in is a little complicated. It's a quagmire with only half its head exposed. I saw some remaining restrictions of the myriad races."
As the captain spoke, a monstrous boom echoed in the distance. Cracks appeared in the ground and an even more violent aura erupted.
Amidst the violent wind, a portion of the restrictions seemed to have shattered, so the struggle became even more intense.
As the violent wind formed, resistance actually appeared in all directions, causing Xu Qing and the captain's speed to involuntarily slow down, while the chasing giants became even faster.
The distance between the two sides was rapidly shortening, and the captain was about to be caught.
"F*ck, don't tell me it's really going to break free." The captain's expression changed and he sped up crazily, chasing after Xu Qing.
Xu Qing didn't even turn his head but his right hand grabbed backward through the air, allowing the captain to borrow the momentum.
At the next instant, the captain's speed was enhanced even more and he arrived behind Xu Qing.
However, the resistance here was very strong. The violent wind blew in his face and even the breath of the giants behind him could be smelled by Xu Qing. This scene gave Xu Qing a headache and he couldn't help but speak.
"Captain, what did you do this time?"
"It's nothing much. I caught up to you earlier and saw that you were fine. After that, I smelled something good, so I went to take a look."
"In the end, guess what I saw? I saw a group of fools worshiping a fruit. I naturally had to educate them about such a foolish act, so I took the fruit away."
"And then?" Xu Qing looked at the captain.
"That's it." The captain had an aggrieved expression, as though he didn't understand why the other party was so angry when he had only taken a fruit.
Xu Qing didn't believe him and looked at the captain's mouth.
The captain blinked and spoke in a low voice as he ran.
"There's really nothing else. It's just that before I left… I saw half of their ancestor's head outside the quagmire. There was a wooden sword stuck in his head that looked very good, so I took a bite."
"It didn't taste good!" The captain coughed.
Xu Qing fell silent.
"Aiya, two bites, two bites. I only took two bites!" The captain felt guilty and quickly spoke. He ran with all his might. Because he was running too fast or ate too much, he couldn't help but burp.
Xu Qing sighed. He felt that the captain should have eaten a lot, so he didn't ask anymore. His cultivation base erupted and he moved forward at full speed. However, very soon, the giants caught up to them.
A cold glint flashed in the captain's eyes. He quickly performed a series of hand seals and waved his hand fiercely behind him. Immediately, a blue light erupted from his body, forming a sea of light that enveloped and froze wherever it passed.
The poison palace in Xu Qing's body also swayed and emitted a poisonous intent that rapidly spread behind him. Wherever it passed, everything would rot.
In an instant, screams and cries rang out from behind them. A portion of the giants were frozen, while all the giants were poisoned. For a moment, roars echoed and the pursuit slowed down.
However, at that moment, a furious roar rang out from afar. As the struggle grew even more intense, a layer of fog rose from there. It was like a breath that rumbled toward Xu Qing and the captain.
It arrived in an instant. Under the ruthless collision, Xu Qing's Infinite Crown shone. However, he still spat out a mouthful of blood as his bones shattered.
The captain also coughed out blood and his body was riddled with holes. The two of them had shocked expressions and each used their extreme speed to escape crazily.
Fortunately, their location wasn't the core of the Sword Forbidden Region. It could only be considered close to the inner regions. Hence, with their respective speeds, they finally rushed out of the Sword Forbidden Region six hours later.
They didn't dare to stop at all on the way. All their strength was focused on speed. The instant they rushed out, roars filled the sky from the depths of the Sword Forbidden Region. One could see a huge figure standing there.
This figure was too tall. Even though it was very far away, one could still see that after it stood up, its head seemed to want to touch the sky. It emitted a terrifying sense of oppression that enveloped the surroundings.
Vaguely, it was as though its nose… had collapsed and withered a little, as though it had lost its nose.
As it roared angrily, the giant lifted its feet and was about to chase after the captain and Xu Qing.
The expressions of the two changed drastically.
However, at this moment, threads that contained the rhythm of Dao suddenly erupted from the Sword Forbidden Region, forming a seal that enveloped the giant's body, preventing it from struggling. It could only roar continuously.
Even though the roars were very far away, they still caused Xu Qing and the captain to continuously vomit blood. Their bodies even showed signs of shattering. The two of them rushed out of the Sword Forbidden Region and ran all the way to the magic warship.
Xu Qing panted heavily. He looked at the giant's nose and then turned his head to cast a deep glance at the captain.
The captain coughed and changed the topic.
"Damn, it really struggled out. This big guy must have been a general under the Sword Emperor back then. It's so powerful."
On the magic warship, Yanyan was dumbfounded when she saw this scene.
She seemed to be unable to understand how these two people caused such a huge commotion in the Sword Forbidden Region.
