In the temple, the instant Xu Qing's hand touched the door, his entire body trembled.
The vast will that had appeared many times before instantly enveloped his mind from the temple's door.
It didn't give him any chance to react or retreat. This will was like the sea, instantly flooding Xu Qing's mind and drowning everything. After that, it transformed into waves of intense pain.
This intense pain spread out from every inch of his flesh and blood and erupted from every bone, sweeping out like a storm.
It was as though countless sharp blades were cutting his flesh piece by piece and scraping his bones.
The sudden drastic change caused Xu Qing's heart to tremble. At the next instant, the pain changed. However, it didn't weaken but became stronger.
It transformed into flames that burned all parts of his body.
Immediately after, the burning dissipated and rotting intent formed. Regardless of whether it was his body or soul, they felt as though they had sunk into the netherworld at this instant. Even though Xu Qing had experienced many serious injuries in the past, this intense pain still caused his entire body to tremble.
However, he couldn't faint.
At the next moment, the pain of being bitten appeared on top of the rotting.
It was as though he was in a huge mouth where his body was bitten off piece by piece and chewed into minced meat.
The most terrifying thing was that all of the pain was constantly magnified. In the end, when it reached the extreme, it became indescribable torture.
In just a while, even with Xu Qing's determination, he couldn't help but let out a muffled sound. His body trembled violently and he could no longer stand steadily.
Ten breaths later, everything reversed and all the pain instantly dissipated.
The only thing seeping out was sweat, trickling through the cracks of the statue, splashing on the ground.
Xu Qing's breathing was hurried. The vast divine sense that filled his mind echoed in his mind for a long time.
"This is what it is like when the Crimson Goddess' curse erupts. The pain you will have to endure in the future is also the torment that all living beings in this region will have to endure."
"This is also the third test. You don't have to complete it. You just have to experience the pain of the curse in depth."
"Then, in the future, do you want this to happen?"
"If you don't, if you want to struggle, if you want to resist, push open this door. You're welcome to join our Moon Rebel Hall!"
The divine sense dissipated.
Everything was an illusion.
Xu Qing lifted his head. He finally knew what the third test was.
"Let all the participants feel the pain of the eruption of the curse and firm their hearts of rebelling against the moon."
Xu Qing mumbled, but he soon froze.
"If this is the third test, then what was the test I took to blast open the pathway?"
Xu Qing hesitated and his expression was a little strange. He turned his head and glanced at the altar, falling silent.
A while later, Xu Qing's eyes gleamed. He no longer thought about these trivial matters. He lifted his hand and pushed the wooden door of the temple.
The creaking sound as the door opened carried a sense of time and antiquity as it echoed in Xu Qing's ears.
A strange world was reflected in Xu Qing's eyes.
The sky was a long-lost blue, with sunlight scattering across the firmament, and all around was a curtain formed by flowing light.
Waves of fragrance gushed into Xu Qing's nose and gentle light seeped into his eyes.
Compared to the darkness in the Moon Worship Region, the first impression this place gave to Xu Qing was like a paradise.
Even Xu Qing, who had come from another region, felt this way. One could imagine the shock of those living beings who had been here for generations.
Xu Qing's heart was stirred, and he took a step out of the temple. In front of him was an ancient bronze cauldron covered in rust. The temple was located on a mountain.
This was the only mountain in this world.
This mountain was infinitely large and countless temples were built on it. Some were pitch-black and some shone brightly. However, every temple exuded the feeling of ancientness.
"This should be the Moon Rebel Hall."
Xu Qing, who was at the foot of the mountain, lifted his head and looked up. A feeling of insignificance involuntarily rose in his heart.
He saw nine larger temples floating in the sky above the huge mountain.
They were high and mighty and emitted a vast might. Among them, five of them emitted boundless light and one could vaguely see the boundless auspiciousness of the statues inside.
The other four were dim and listless.
Above the nine temples was the sun that illuminated all the light. However, upon closer inspection, Xu Qing could see that there was actually a temple in the sun.
However, its door was tightly shut.
It was clearly built on the sun but the moment Xu Qing saw this temple, he instinctively had a feeling that this temple… was dead. There were no gods inside.
Or to be precise, there was no one in it!
Other than that, Xu Qing also saw statues similar to him entering and exiting the countless temples on the huge mountain. They came and went and occasionally communicated with each other.
This liveliness caused Xu Qing to feel a little dazed. It was as though he had arrived in a god's kingdom.
Even to the point that he had a bizarre thought, he instinctively looked back at the temple behind him.
"As if the world I am in is just within this temple…"
Xu Qing shook his head and waved away this thought. He knew that this was impossible. Hence, he controlled his statue body to rise into the air and observe the Moon Rebel Hall in greater detail.
Time flowed by. Under Xu Qing's observation, he finally had some basic understanding of this Moon Rebel Hall.
If a temple was dim, it meant they were unoccupied and inaccessible.
The flickering light indicated that there was a spirit inside. Even if the owner wasn't around, as long as it wasn't actively restricted, the other statues could enter freely.
Almost every temple had a different number of light clusters, each of which held information about transactions.
"The initial function of this Moon Rebel Hall is a place of trade?"
Xu Qing fell into deep thought. He walked into the temples to take a look and confirmed this.
Outside every temple, there were bronze cauldrons. Some of them were empty but some had incense sticks inserted. Incense curled up, giving off a feeling of prosperity.
Xu Qing was a little puzzled about this. He didn't know how the incense in the bronze cauldron appeared.
This lasted until he observed for a long time. He discovered that every time a statue entered someone's temple and completed the transaction, the number of incense sticks in the temple's bronze cauldron would change.
Sometimes, there was one less, and sometimes there was an additional.
"It feels like a reputation…" Xu Qing fell silent. When he looked at the temples again, he felt that they were like shops.
Xu Qing pondered and searched. In the end, he found a light cluster in a temple and sensed that the owner of this temple needed to trade for some poisonous pills. The items he put up for exchange were some precious medicinal herbs.
There were a few stalks inside. When Xu Qing saw them, he was tempted. He felt that this person should be an extraordinary Alchemy Master. Just as he was checking, the statue on the altar suddenly moved. It opened its eyes and looked at Xu Qing, emitting a cold voice.
"You've been watching for a long time. If you don't want to exchange, feel free to leave."
Xu Qing fell silent and asked.
"I wonder what type of poison pill you need?"
The statue glanced at Xu Qing and calmly spoke.
"I am cultivating a physique that is immune to a hundred poisons, so any poison pills will do."
Xu Qing thought about it and took out one of his poison pills, adding a reminder.
"The potency of my poisonous pill is a little unique. Fellow Daoist, please try it gradually."
As he spoke, Xu Qing placed the poison pill into the light cluster.
The statue chuckled inwardly, thinking that it had received such warnings many times before, but most of them were ordinary. After sensing it again, it felt that this pill was still acceptable, so the transaction was completed.
Very soon, a medicinal herb that Xu Qing wanted was revealed in the light cluster and landed in Xu Qing's hand. At the next instant, a weak fluctuation appeared in his mind.
This fluctuation contained a simple divine sense. He could choose 'dissatisfied' or 'satisfied'.
After Xu Qing chose 'satisfied', an incense stick appeared in the bronze cauldron outside the temple.
"So it works like this."
Xu Qing's interest was piqued and he left the temple. Before he left, he looked at the statue and reminded it again.
"Fellow Daoist, you have to be careful. In the beginning, you can scrape off some medicine powder and try it. It's best not to swallow it at once."
"You may leave now." The statue furrowed its brow, sounding somewhat impatient and cold.
Seeing how confident the other party was, Xu Qing thought to himself that there were always more knowledgeable people, and perhaps he was too naive. He decided not to persuade any further and turned to leave.
As he walked in this world of the Moon Rebel Hall, Xu Qing looked around. He felt that this Moon Rebel Hall was different from what he had thought in the past. In addition, he had been to many temples and had a better understanding of this place.
Not only were there items traded here, but there was also information, requests for help, and wanted posters… There were all kinds of things.
There was also some information about the curse.
One of the items related to the curse attracted Xu Qing's attention because it was too expensive.
That was the curse-resolving pill!
Xu Qing only knew about the curse-resolving pill after he and his eldest senior brother were wanted by the Yin Yang Flower Sect. He understood its value and purpose, but he was still shocked by its price.
The pill couldn't be bought with spirit stones and was in limited supply. To acquire it, one had to either trade valuable treasures or complete specific tasks assigned by the supplier.
Among the heavenly treasures, Xu Qing saw red heavenly fire crystals. The number needed for the transaction was 20!
Xu Qing had red heavenly fire crystals. He knew that this item was very rare. 20 of them could basically allow a small race to complete a tribute to the Red Moon.
As for missions, most of them were related to the Spirit Repository, such as hunting down designated Spirit Repository experts and exchanging their souls in return.
There were also some that required signing a soul contract and making sufficient contributions to the other party.
Xu Qing checked for a long time. After buying information about the curse in many temples, he finally returned to his small temple at the foot of the mountain. On the way, he met a few neighbors.
The statues in the nearby temples all had strange expressions in their eyes when they saw Xu Qing, especially in the temple adjacent to his. As Xu Qing returned, a statue emanating an orange light stepped out.
This statue appeared to be a burly man, with a bold chest and some stone streamers adorning his body. It had a formidable appearance and was glaring at Xu Qing with intense disapproval.
Xu Qing sensed this and became vigilant. He quickly returned to the altar in the temple. The moment he closed his eyes, he appeared in the room behind the apothecary.
Sensing that his surroundings were normal, Xu Qing's eyes gleamed. He recalled the scenes in the Moon Rebel Hall and felt that it was strange. After a while, Xu Qing took out the jade slip about the curse he had traded and fused his divine consciousness into it.
At the same time, in the Moon Rebel Hall, after Xu Qing left, the statue of the burly dude with protruding breasts looked at Xu Qing's temple and let out a cold snort.
"I thought he was some formidable character, continuously bombarding for over a month, making it seem like he's so powerful. He disturbed my peace!"
At the same time, in a small temple at the other end of the mountain, the door creaked open and a skinny statue with six eyes walked out.
On each of the statue's shoulders stood a divine bird. After it walked out, the statue stretched out its arms and spoke proudly with a smug expression.
"Little Qing, it's not that Eldest Senior Brother is deliberately late, but I'm really too outstanding. I actually obtained the qualifications to enter the Moon Rebel Hall halfway through a small matter. Sigh, I'm too outstanding. I have no choice but to continue being outstanding."
"Moreover, with Little Qing's actual situation, he probably won't be able to enter considering the difficulty of this assessment. It's a pity that I can only enjoy the scenery here alone."
"There's also that silly bird. I wonder if it has reached the Bitter Life Mountain Range. I hope it doesn't croak halfway…"
