“Once we’ve passed through… this… region… we’ll be… in the central… area of Gods and Demons island.”
Desolation’s voice echoed through that silent world.
Its enormous body moved forward slowly. After every step, it seemed to pause for a long while.
If one looked carefully, though, it wasn’t pausing on purpose. Its stride was continuous, without interruption, it was just that the motion had been slowed down infinitely.
“Do you… want to know… the real reason… the gods and demons fell? This concerns… the greatest secret… since the creation… of heaven and earth… and it’s also why… I brought you… here.”
Desolation talked to Itself for quite a while without getting any response from the Jianzheng. After a moment of silence, It said:
“You don’t seem… very happy…”
The Jianzheng’s annoyed voice came from within the horn:
“The human world isn’t worth it…”
“The human world isn’t worth it… mm, that makes… a lot of sense…” After thinking seriously about it, Desolation expressed agreement.
You’ve never taken on a disciple, what would you know… the Jianzheng sneered:
“Stop probing… Since we’ve already… come here… whether I’m… the gatekeeper or not… will soon… become clear…”
“If I obtain it… then even… without fortune, I can still contend… with Beyond-rank. If I then devour… your spiritual essence, I’d be able to suppress Beyond-rank… Of course, first I’d… destroy the Great Feng, and seize… the fortune of the Central Plains.”
After saying that, It spoke no more, and continued forward, slow but resolute.
Time flowed slowly in this region. One day here was equal to half a month outside. The best way to break through it was to devour the spiritual essence of this place.
But if It did that, It would fall into slumber.
Under normal circumstances that would’ve been fine, but now Xu Qi’an and the nine-tailed fox were on the island. Once It fell asleep, it wasn’t that It feared for Its own safety, It was afraid that child would get there first.
That was why It had previously taken the initiative to leave this place and try to hunt Xu Qi’an.
Unfortunately, that old thief the Jianzheng had seen through Its weakness and given a warning, letting Xu Qi’an escape disaster.
…
The barren wilderness, bleakness and deathly silence were the main tones of Gods and Demons island.
This place had lain hidden in the endless Guixu for countless years, never seeing daylight. Coupled with the lingering influence of the gods and demons’ power after death, no living thing could survive here.
As they walked across the wilderness, all they heard by their ears was soft, seductive music, meltingly tender and alluring. Together with the illusory beauties everywhere, posing and preening, any man without strong self-control would by now have been burning with desire.
Thinking only of carrying out the most instinctive sort of movement.
Xu Qi’an admired the illusory beauties. Although he was a lecher, apart from being unable to control himself in front of the Flower God, most of the time it was the head on top that made the decisions.
I’ve seen this soul-hooking demonic music before, when the nine-tailed fox used it in the Southern Marches… These beauty phantoms should be the manifestation of charm power. The nine-tailed fox really does have quite a lot of talents… After looking at the phantoms for a while, Xu Qi’an couldn’t help turning his head to examine the nine-tailed fox beside him, unconsciously comparing her to those illusory beauties.
The silver-haired fox spirit smiled charmingly and said:
“Is this queen’s figure better, or theirs?”
“Each has her own merits,” Xu Qi’an replied fairly.
The vixen didn’t hear the flattery she wanted, and was a little unhappy. She hmphed and said:
“You’ve only got the Desire Gu with you, that’s why you can control your lust. Otherwise you’d have gone mad already.”
“And then whip you with a lash?” Xu Qi’an said cheerfully.
The nine-tailed heavenly fox felt there was something off about that remark, but couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
Xu Qi’an continued admiring the beauties. Looking carefully, one would find that they had nine forms in total:
Timid and delicate like a sheltered young lady, noble and aloof like an immortal maiden, reserved and dignified like a well-to-do young miss, passionate as fire like a little mare, a seductive enchantress with languid glances, gentle and mature like an elder, valiant and spirited like a heroine, wanton and bewitching like a courtesan, pure and romantic like the girl next door.
He suspected these forms were the nine tails of that Qingqiu fox from back then.
Each one was a peerless beauty capable of toppling cities and kingdoms.
“Have you noticed that the Jianzheng is very strange?” the nine-tailed fox suddenly said.
“He’s always been very strange… Mm, do your tails include one that’s similar to that woman?” Xu Qi’an replied absent-mindedly.
The nine-tailed fox followed his gaze. It landed on a flawless woman with a faint upward curl at the corner of her lips, seductive eyes, seeming to want to speak and yet holding back, her posture alluring without being wanton, a true seductive enchantress.
“There’s no woman like that among your confidantes.” The nine-tailed fox understood, and struck decisively:
“No, but you can train Baiji into this sort of woman. She’s very malleable, and she’s cute. In future she won’t be any worse than Yeji or Xueji.”
“Are the Yao all this deranged? I’m raising Baiji as a daughter.”
Xu Qi’an spat and wore an expression of shame at being in her company. Before the nine-tailed fox could flare up, he said seriously:
“The Jianzheng can use the power of Gods and Demons island. Desolation probably can’t even do that.”
That butterfly was the best proof.
The ruler of the Wanyao Kingdom gave an “mm” and said:
“So that’s why you deliberately probed him, asking whether he let Desolation seal him on purpose, just so he could borrow Its power to come to this island.”
Xu Qi’an didn’t deny it, and sighed:
“But he didn’t answer me directly. That means this concerns a core secret, and he still doesn’t want to tell me.”
“You’re slightly better than a coarse martial artist.”
The silver-haired fox spirit gave this haughty assessment.
Their earlier exchange had been full of probing and verbal traps, every sentence carrying another meaning. In the end, Xu Qi’an had lost. Apart from what the Jianzheng had wanted to tell him, he hadn’t managed to probe out any additional information.
That was why, at the end of the conversation, he had retaliated by telling the Jianzheng that Chu Caiwei would be taking over his position.
He’d done it on purpose to annoy him.
“So the Jianzheng is most likely the gatekeeper,” the nine-tailed fox concluded.
“Probably.” Xu Qi’an rubbed his brow and said:
“He’s still got a lot of secrets. The rise of the first generation was anything but ordinary. If he was the gatekeeper, then everything makes sense. But judging from the current situation, it seems the present generation is the gatekeeper instead, and then the first generation’s rise becomes impossible to explain.
“Forget it. We’ll find out sooner or later. I’ve got a feeling.”
After a pause, he thought of something else and said in a conversational tone:
“I suddenly thought of something. Back then, when the Daoist Venerable drove the descendants of gods and demons out of Jiuzhou, why did he spare your nine-tailed heavenly fox line alone?”
The nine-tailed heavenly fox line was extremely powerful, absolutely the sort of thorn in the Daoist Venerable’s side and splinter in his flesh.
The fox spirit frowned and shook her head.
“Actually, ever since I learned that the Daoist Venerable drove the descendants of gods and demons out of Jiuzhou, I felt something was off.
“But my mother never mentioned anything about the reason.
“Also, although the Wanyao Kingdom line remained, the rest of our clansmen were still driven out of Jiuzhou by him.”
Xu Qi’an’s heart stirred, and he said, “Do you think one of the queens of the Wanyao Kingdom might’ve been the Daoist Venerable’s mistress?”
“That’s actually quite possible,” the nine-tailed heavenly fox said frankly.
They encountered no danger along the way. After all, with Xu Qi’an’s rank, aside from Desolation, there was almost nothing on Gods and Demons island that could threaten him.
After walking for who knew how long, the two of them finally saw the objective of this trip, the remains of the Qingqiu fox.
Ahead on the wasteland stood a gigantic skeleton. It looked like a canine, but its size rivalled that of a full-grown elephant. It lay collapsed on the wasteland in utter weakness. Apart from the skull, which was covered in cracks but remained intact, the bones across the rest of its body had all shattered.
They were scattered about in chaotic pieces.
Xu Qi’an noticed that the skeleton had no tailbone, while the cracked skull was carved with profound and complex patterns. He had only taken one glance when soft seductive music rang in his ears, and he felt that this skull was so movingly beautiful that he wanted to take it home and make it his wife.
“The Qingqiu fox’s spiritual essence is imprinted on the skull?” he said in surprise.
Wasn’t its innate divine ability supposed to be the nine tails?
But then he quickly understood. The tails had only been the carriers. The real key to the substitute bodies had been the nine divided souls.
The ruler of the Wanyao Kingdom bent down and picked up the skull, raising it high above her head, a look of intoxicated obsession on her face.
She had yearned for this day for a very long time.
Although the spiritual essence was incomplete, it was enough for her to advance to first rank. After all, she had long since reached the peak of second rank and had been stuck at that level for years.
Only upon advancing to first rank would she truly have caught up to her mother’s realm and become the rightful ruler of the Wanyao Kingdom, leaving no room for others to say that each generation of rulers was worse than the last.
Only upon advancing to first rank could she protect the Yao race and seek survival amid the great calamity.
Only upon advancing to first rank would she be qualified to take part in the great calamity and possess the strength to affect its outcome.
The nine-tailed heavenly fox took a deep breath and slowly put the skull on her head. During the process, the skull automatically shrank until it became the right size for her to wear, covering her head and eyes, leaving only the lower half of her snowy white, delicate pointed face exposed.
Her silver hair slipped out from beneath the skull and fell smoothly down her back.
From an aesthetic point of view, though, this attire gave the nine-tailed fox an extra touch of tribal wildness, adding to her charm.
As the skull settled into place, the patterns on it lit up, glowing with a dim azure light.
The nine-tailed fox sat down cross-legged and said rapidly:
“The quickest way to advance is to keep the skull and fuse with me. It’ll take three to five days. If I want to completely digest the spiritual essence within the skull, it’ll take two months.”
Xu Qi’an pondered for a moment, then said:
“The first method.”
The deadline the Jianzheng had given them was ten days. After ten days, Desolation would cross that region of slowed time and reach the core of Gods and Demons island.
And if they wanted to snatch the prize first, they had to cross that region within five days.
They didn’t have much time left.
The nine-tailed heavenly fox said nothing more, and peacefully began refining and absorbing the spiritual essence within the skull.
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