Xu Qing nodded slightly as a dark glint appeared in his eyes. He cast a quick glance at the captain before scanning his surroundings with a keen eye.
In addition to the boundary defined by the 36 cities on the ground, there were several distinct differences between the depths and periphery of the True Immortal Ten Guts.
Firstly, the jungle in the depths was even denser and more intertwined. In the dark of the night, the trees seemed to transform into sinister ghosts and monsters, giving off an eerie feeling. Occasionally, whispers could be faintly heard, adding to the overall bizarre atmosphere.
Secondly, there were more Dao Fruits in the depths. Those countless eyes didn't remain open but kept blinking and swaying, and looking around.
Thirdly, there were no dried leaves or fallen branches on the ground in the depths.
The ground here was clean and there was only soil.
Xu Qing retracted his gaze and waited for the black-clothed guards to explore ahead before walking forward under the protection of Lin Yuandong.
As they walked in, the eyes hanging on the branches that were looking around gradually turned and stared fixedly at everyone.
Hints of malice spread out from these eyes and fused into everyone's minds.
Everyone stopped in their tracks and circulated their cultivation bases warily. They waited for a long while but didn't discover any other changes in these eyes. They cautiously continued forward.
The Dao fruits in the depths of the True Immortal Ten Guts couldn't be plucked. They would melt into stinky liquid after being touched.
They encountered some dangers as they continued forward. However, with the Spirit Repository cultivators, Zhou Xingwu and the king of the Zenith Nation, along with those black-clothed guards, Xu Qing was safe and sound on the way.
Two hours later, as they reached deeper and deeper, one of the black-clothed guards who was scouting ahead suddenly let out a mournful cry.
His body was wrapped by a black shadow and lifted up from the ground, hanging upside down in the air. Before the others could save him, the black-clothed guard started bleeding violently and his body withered at a visible speed.
In the blink of an eye, he became a dried corpse.
Dozens of densely packed egg-sized bumps grew out of his withered body. After a short moment, they all burst and yellow liquid flowed out, revealing sinister eyes that looked at everyone.
The expressions of the cultivators here turned solemn. They had already noticed corpses hanging in the trees behind the withered corpse!
The number of corpses was so high that there were no less than tens of thousands of them.
Almost every branch had dried corpses. There were even some dried corpses that were stuck together.
These corpses had rotted and dried up. The clothes on their bodies were also tattered.
Looking at the styles of the clothes, they were from different races.
The bodies of these corpses were also covered in many egg-sized bumps; some had dozens, and some had more than a hundred. When the wind blew over, the countless corpses swayed horrifyingly.
At the next moment, the bumps on some corpses burst open. Yellow liquid flowed out, and sinister eyes appeared on them, looking at everyone with dense malice.
There were also some corpses whose bodies fell off from the branches like ripe fruits.
Very soon, corpses fell one after another.
The expression of the king of the Zenith Nation changed. There was no record of this scene in the 36 cities.
"There's something very wrong with the True Immortal Ten Guts this time." The eyes of the king narrowed and he quickly glanced at Xu Qing. He then glanced at the black-clothed guards but didn't say anything.
Xu Qing took a few steps back. At that moment, a corpse that had landed on the ground suddenly moved.
Its head swayed mechanically and its neck turned in reverse. A large number of eyes that covered its entire face focused on Xu Qing and the others. Then, it rushed out towards them like a wild beast, its movements erratic and aggressive.
A black-clothed guard attacked immediately and slashed the corpse into two.
However, dozens of corpses on the ground moved, followed by hundreds. In the blink of an eye, all the corpses on the ground jumped up and let out soundless roars as they pounced crazily at everyone.
The wind blew again. Many of the corpses on the tree trunks moved and struggled to escape, letting out unintelligible screams.
Zhou Xingwu's expression was gloomy. With a wave of his hand, a large number of corpses in front of him collapsed. All the black-clothed guards also moved to stop the corpses. Booming sounds and spell fluctuations instantly spread in all directions.
Xu Qing didn't make a move. He watched all of this coldly while the captain stood beside him with narrowed eyes.
However, this wasn't the only danger here. Very soon, more corpses appeared running from the depths of the jungle.
In fact, there were even some malevolent bodies that had fused together from a large number of corpses and emitted high Golden Core combat strength.
There were many similar fused corpses.
This place instantly fell into chaos.
Not long later, a shocking roar rang out from the depths of the jungle. In an instant, dozens of corpses appeared, and their entire bodies emitted fluctuations comparable to Nascent Soul cultivators.
As the ground shook, a behemoth formed by over a hundred corpses appeared in the distance. The energy fluctuations that were comparable to the Spirit Repository caused everyone's expressions to change drastically.
What was especially shocking was that there wasn't just one Spirit Repository corpse but several.
This scene caused Xu Qing's expression to change as he quickly retreated.
The captain's eyes gleamed as he transmitted his voice to Xu Qing.
'As expected, there's Shebi[1] tribulation. Little Qing, we will definitely get the astronomic fortune I told you about previously!'
'Eldest Senior Brother, have you been here before?' Xu Qing transmitted his divine sense.
'I've never been here in this life.' The captain looked at the Ten Guts that towered into the sky in the distance and muttered.
Xu Qing fell into deep thought. Just as he was about to continue asking, the captain's expression suddenly changed. He grabbed Ning Yan, who was currently looking at those corpses in horror. He then sped into the distance and quickly transmitted his voice.
"Little Qing, follow me!"
Xu Qing didn't hesitate at all. He lifted his right hand and grabbed at Qing Qiu. As Qing Qiu's heart trembled, Xu Qing grabbed her shoulder and chased after the captain.
When the four of them left, Zhou Xingwu, who was fighting against those corpses, suddenly turned his head. After he saw Xu Qing and the others leaving, he was about to chase after them.
However, at the next instant, the king of the Zenith Nation, who was fighting against two Spirit Repository corpses, spat out a mouthful of blood and retreated, looking like he was not a match for them.
Without his obstruction, the two corpses headed straight for Zhou Xingwu.
The king of the Zenith Nation also went forward to obstruct Zhou Xingwu.
Zhou Xingwu's expression changed and he had no choice but to give up on pursuing. As he quickly dodged, he looked at the king of the Zenith Nation with a dark expression.
"Lord Zhou, I'm sorry. The divine son has private matters of the Black Heaven Race to deal with. It's not convenient for us to follow him. Don't force it," the king of the Zenith Nation said calmly.
"Are you sure they're really from the Black Heaven Race? They're in such a hurry and didn't ask us to follow them. There must be a problem!" Zhou Xingwu's expression was gloomy.
"Then, Lord Zhou, are you sure that they're really not from the Black Heaven Race?" The king of the Zenith Nation spoke softly.
"Besides, the decree you received doesn't include investigating if they're real or fake. Everything is decided by the higher-ups. Why do you have to take responsibility?"
Zhou Xingwu no longer spoke. He naturally understood the logic, and what he wanted to hear was actually these words. This way, even if something really happened, he would have an explanation.
Taking advantage of the opportunity when the corpses were attracted by the black-clothed guards, Xu Qing and the other three sped through the jungle. The captain led the way and his speed erupted completely. He carried the trembling and terrified Ning Yan and kept jumping up and down.
Ning Yan was on the verge of tears. He didn't know why the other party still wanted to hold him at a time like this. This clearly couldn't be with good intentions. He definitely wanted to use him to do something.
Qing Qiu had the same thought.
Xu Qing held her and followed behind the captain, shuttling through the jungle.
Qing Qiu was filled with grief and indignation. She wanted to struggle, but she knew that it was unrealistic.
During the entire process, Xu Qing didn't say a word. While keeping up his vigilance against the surroundings, he also observed the captain from time to time.
He didn't continue to ask for the specific reason.
Xu Qing felt that since he had chosen to trust his eldest senior brother, there was no need for him to ask about it immediately.
This was especially so after the captain's words earlier had partially resolved his doubts.
'Just because he didn't come here in this life doesn't mean that he didn't come here in his previous lives…' Xu Qing muttered inwardly. His body swayed as he dodged the tree branches in front of him and moved forward in the jungle with the captain, getting closer and closer to the depths.
He could tell that the path the captain took wasn't a straight line but a detour, as though he was searching for something.
"Eldest Senior Brother, what are you looking for?" Xu Qing asked through voice transmission.
The captain's breathing was clearly hurried and the light in his eyes was intense. What he revealed wasn't madness but unprecedented desire.
"I'm looking for Aluoe. Why isn't it out yet? There shouldn't be anything wrong. First, it is the Shebi Corpse Tribulation, and then it should be the Aluoe tribulation…"
The instant the captain responded, a sound suddenly rang out from afar.
Toc!
Toc, toc!
Toc toc toc!
This sound immediately attracted the attention of the two of them. When they looked over, they noticed a three-foot-tall bird perched on a nearby tree. The bird's body was almost entirely devoid of feathers. A portion of its body was badly mangled, with blood oozing out of the wounds.
The bird's eyes were blank and there were only two empty black holes where its eyes should have been. It moved jerkily as it pecked at the tree.
As for the area it was in, it gave off a strange feeling. If this area was compared to a painting, then there were a large number of holes in the painting.
A corner on the left, a corner on the right. Many parts had disappeared and it looked like it was riddled with holes.
As for the places that disappeared, they were pitch-black, as though they were nothingness.
When this strange scene fell into the eyes of Xu Qing and the others, the sound of wood pecking echoed again.
Xu Qing's eyes narrowed slightly. He noticed that the sound emitted by the bird pecking at the wood had strangely materialized and transformed into a distorted note that floated to the side.
The place it landed on rapidly blurred as though it was devoured.
Regardless of whether it was soil or trees, they all disappeared the instant the musical notes came into contact with them, turning into black holes.
"This is the place!"
The captain's eyes widened in surprise at this scene. When new notes formed and flew to the side, he quickly motioned to Xu Qing. While holding Ning Yan, he rushed towards the notes.
Xu Qing drew in a deep breath and grabbed Qing Qiu as he rushed out.
In the blink of an eye, the four of them came into contact with the musical notes, the power of the musical notes erupted. The four of them disappeared, their spots turning into black holes.
The bird continued to peck at the wood and produce notes.
All the areas in the surroundings continued to disappear. Finally, after everything disappeared, the featherless bird flapped its wings and flew, heading in another direction while letting out unpleasant cries.
Not long later, it found a large tree and perched on it, resuming its pecking action. The notes appeared again and the surroundings disappeared again, repeating the same cycle.
Under the blood-colored sky, purple mountains crisscrossed. There was no sun or moon in the sky and the source of the light was the dark red ground which instead illuminated the sky.
This was the place where Xu Qing appeared after coming into contact with the musical note.
There were no flowers, grass, or trees in the surroundings. Regardless of whether it was the ground or the mountain range, they weren't made of soil or rocks. When Xu Qing stepped on them, he felt that they were soft but also hard. They felt like flesh.
As the red light spread out, Qing Qiu's breathing hastened slightly. Like Xu Qing, she was observing her surroundings. Ning Yan's entire body trembled. After touching the ground, he instantly wailed.
"It's over. We've been devoured by the nightmare of the Calamity Immortal Race. We can't get out of here…"
"Shut up!" The captain glanced at Ning Yan.
Ning Yan immediately fell silent. With a long face, he squeezed out a fawning expression and looked at the terrifying Black Heaven Race in front of him.
[1] A creature of Chinese folklore.
