The captain's sudden outburst caused Qing Qiu to reveal an unwilling expression.
At this moment, the blood light outside her body became even denser and filled the surroundings, as though transforming the surroundings into a sea of blood that was floating in the air.
With the enhancement of the blood sea, Qing Qiu's speed also soared a little. She crossed the height of 22,000 feet, but she was still a distance away from the captain and couldn't catch up in a short period of time.
Just as the red light in her eyes grew increasingly intense, an even more astonishing aura suddenly spread out from behind her.
The red woman abruptly turned her head. At this moment, an intense piercing pain appeared in her eyes, as though she was facing the sun.
The person who looked like the sun was none other than Xu Qing.
At that moment, the Golden Crow was completely revealed. It transformed into a thousand-foot-long body and spread its wings in the sky, forming waves of vast might. At the same time, it emitted a dazzling light.
The 19 rainbow phoenix tails stirred up a sea of fire. With the Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar as the center, it rumbled in all directions with a shocking aura.
As for Xu Qing, who was in the sea of fire, his speed instantly soared. With a step, he reached 21,000 feet.
As for the resentment impact emitted by the Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar and the resentful souls that manifested in his sea of consciousness, Xu Qing directly ignored them.
He lifted his right hand and waved it. Immediately, two canopies appeared above his head. One formed a black umbrella with black flames flowing at the edges, adding a mysterious feeling to Xu Qing and isolating the resentment!
The resentment that arrived was greatly weakened.
As for the other canopy, it was like a treasure lotus, emitting a rainbow light. The sound of wind whistling echoed in the surroundings, purifying Xu Qing's entire body, causing the resentment that had originally fused into him to instantly disintegrate.
The Third Heavenly Palace in his body was shaking. Every time it shook, it would destroy a resentful soul.
Under their enhancement, Xu Qing's aura reigned supreme, shaking the sky and causing the weather in the surroundings to change. At this moment, he took a second step.
At 22,000 feet, he reached the same height as Qing Qiu.
However, all of this wasn't over. Xu Qing's eyes gleamed. There was no Qing Qiu in his eyes, only the captain's figure.
They were both brothers and fellow Daoists. At the same time, they were peers who could accompany each other on their respective cultivation paths.
First or not, it was no longer important. What was important was that they each had their own pursuits and persistence. They both had their own dreams and paths.
They could travel together and sacrifice themselves for the other party, but they couldn't deliberately give in.
Since they were competing, they would compete properly.
Xu Qing thought so.
The captain also thought so.
Xu Qing moved again. After the Golden Crow let out a piercing cry, it fused into Xu Qing's body, causing Xu Qing's body to seem to be wearing a yellow robe. The power of his physical body circulated completely at this instant.
It was as though endless power was gushing in, causing the qi and blood in Xu Qing's body to rise to a majestic level. Although his body wasn't that muscular, anyone who saw him at this moment would instinctively feel as though there was a world burning in his body.
Under this terrifying physical strength, Xu Qing took his third step forward.
With this step, the Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar let out a rumbling sound. Xu Qing's figure soared into the sky, surpassing Qing Qiu. He appeared at the height of 23,000 feet and appeared… beside the captain.
The captain looked at Xu Qing and a strange glint appeared in his eyes. However, there was a little sweat on his forehead. Clearly, the eruption earlier wasn't that easy for him. However, he wouldn't admit it verbally. Hence, he laughed loudly.
"Junior Brother, not bad, but this is just a warm-up." After saying that, the captain suddenly rushed out to 23,300 feet, surpassing Xu Qing.
Xu Qing circulated all the strength in his body and also leaped up, overtaking the captain by reaching 23,700 feet. Although he wasn't sweating, he was still slightly out of breath. He raised his brows and calmly spoke.
"Eldest Senior Brother, me too."
As the two of them spoke, a low shout rang out from behind them and blood light erupted in the sky. From afar, this blood light directly rose by a thousand feet.
Amidst the blood light, Qing Qiu's unique laughter rang out amidst the dangerous aura being released from all over her body.
"Hehe… You guys are so interesting."
As she spoke, her speed also increased explosively as she chased after Xu Qing and the captain.
Xu Qing didn't turn his head and rushed out as well. It was the same for the captain. The speed of the three of them was astonishing as they continued to charge upward.
24,000 feet, 25,000 feet, 26,000 feet!
After reaching this location, Qing Qiu couldn't help but slow down because her cultivation was limited and she had used too much strength many times. However, Xu Qing and the captain continued to rush out.
The two of them leaped over 26,000 feet in one leap. As they sped, they would occasionally look at each other. One was panting and the other was covered in sweat.
There was even a conversation between them.
"You can't do it, Junior Brother. Your panting is a little exaggerated. I reckon those people on the ground can hear it. Sigh, it's not that I want to criticize you, but you are too young and your body is too weak."
"Eldest Senior Brother, wherever you walk, the Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar will be covered in your sweat. If you don't rest, I'm worried that you'll collapse."
As the two of them spoke, they secretly erupted with more strength. They chased each other and continued to climb the Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar, taking turns to be first.
As for Qing Qiu, she looked at the two people in front of her and gritted her teeth fiercely.
"Why do I always encounter these two damn fellows!"
This was especially so when she heard the conversation between the two of them. She couldn't calm down because the impact of resentment at this height was too terrifying. It was much harder to disperse or suppress the resentful souls in her sea of consciousness than before.
She no longer had the strength to speak, but the two people in front of her still had the time to mock each other.
"I'm afraid these two people have some serious illness in their brains!" Qing Qiu gritted her teeth and the evil ghost quickly persuaded.
"Let's go all out. We'll perish together with them!"
As the evil ghost continued to egg her on, Xu Qing and the captain surpassed 27,000 feet one after another, reaching 28,000 feet.
From this position, when one lowered their head and looked down, the ground had shrunk and the crowd could no longer be seen.
Even the city, which had a very large range, seemed to be only the size of a palm.
The surroundings were filled with flowing fog and whistling wind.
However, they were still very far from the end.
At this height, the resentment impact was incomparably powerful. In fact, it wasn't just gathering in the sea of consciousness but had fused into Xu Qing and the captain's entire bodies.
Resentment gathered in a large amount in every inch of their flesh and blood. Even though Xu Qing's third palace was dispersing them, the resentment here was too much and dense. The speed of dispersion couldn't keep up with the integration.
Even the life lanterns were a little unstable under such consumption. It wasn't that the life lanterns were not powerful enough, but with Xu Qing's current cultivation, it was difficult for him to unleash their full potential.
It was the same for the Golden Crow. It showed signs of fatigue.
After all, this height had already surpassed the records of the cultivators from the Sword Holding Court who had participated in the Sword Holder's assessment.
Although there were many people who had surpassed this height when looking at the whole history, those were all people with higher cultivation levels and didn't meet the conditions for the Sword Holder's assessment.
Xu Qing and the captain were starting to speak less.
"Little Qing, you can't do it!" The captain's entire body was covered in sweat and he began to pant. He leaped up and overtook Xu Qing by 50 feet.
"Captain, I still haven't released the poison." Xu Qing suddenly stomped his feet and surpassed the captain. He then lifted his right hand and grabbed the edge of the totem on it. He then exerted strength and leaped up, exceeding 50 to 60 feet.
"I also have a trump card that I haven't used!" When the captain heard the word poison, his expression changed. Seeing that Xu Qing had surpassed him again, madness appeared in his eyes. He directly opened his mouth and bit at the protruding rune at the side.
Although the rune wasn't bitten off, there were faint teeth marks on it. If one took a closer look, they could see that the resentment on the rune was countless times denser. It was as though the captain wasn't chewing but vomiting.
He vomited the resentment accumulated in his body onto the rune.
After his body relaxed, his speed instantly soared to 28,000 feet, 29,000 feet, and he rushed toward 30,000 feet.
This scene caused Xu Qing's eyes to narrow. Qin Qiu at the back was also stunned on the spot. The evil ghost exclaimed.
"He's indeed a mad dog!"
Seeing that the captain was about to reach the height of 30,000 feet, Xu Qing's eyes also revealed madness. The poison pill in the Third Heavenly Palace in his body suddenly erupted and endless poison gushed out, instantly flowing through Xu Qing's entire body.
It didn't spread out of his body but filled every inch of his flesh and blood.
Poison Restriction Pill could poison all things. Resentment was also one of them.
Xu Qing had already tested this point when he encountered the huge monk's head in the ghost market in the Phoenix Forbidden.
At that moment, as the poison surged, the resentment accumulated in his body, flesh, and sea of consciousness instantly transformed into waves of mournful wails that were completely destroyed by Xu Qing.
The captain spat it out while Xu Qing destroyed it.
The different methods served the same purpose. They all purified the body.
At the next instant, Xu Qing's speed erupted, reaching 29,000 feet. At the same time that the captain's body stepped onto 30,000 feet, he also leaped up and stepped at the height of 30,000 feet!
Here, there was a special totem.
Its appearance was a humanoid creature that covered its face and sat on the moon.
Almost at the instant the two of them stepped onto 30,000 feet, this totem flashed and transformed into two balls of energy fluctuations that were different from ordinary resentment. They actually carried some divinity as they headed straight for Xu Qing and the captain, and surged into their bodies.
Xu Qing's body trembled.
The captain was the same.
The two of them instantly stopped at the height of 30,000 feet. In their sea of consciousness, a figure that seemed impossible to look at appeared.
At the same time, in the Sword Holding Court above the clouds, the Sword Holder Elders who were watching everything revealed strange gazes.
"Finally… participants who can reach 30,000 feet."
"According to our research, the totem there portrays… one of the past 37 moons in the Wanggu Continent. It's still here."
