OBS Chapter 1011: Spiritsound Absorbing Zimei
Chapter 1011: Spiritsound Absorbing Zimei
Chapter 1011: Spiritsound Absorbing Zimei
A classified report was sent from the Swordsage Court in Emperor-Receiving Prefecture all the way to the Swordsage Palace in Sea-Sealing County! The Swordsage Palace received the report and immediately assigned a powerful expert to Emperor-Receiving Prefecture. The report was also sent to Xu Qing.
“Twenty days ago, a sect by the name of the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society in Emperor-Receiving Prefecture issued an arrest warrant for a disciple named Li Zimei. The entire prefecture was notified that she had been bedeviled and was no longer human. She had killed fellow disciples in the most brutal manner. She fled, and the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society pursued her for ten days. Of the dozens of teams the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society sent after her, more than half were wiped out.
“During the process, she encountered Swordsage Qing Qiu from the Swordsage Court in Emperor-Receiving Prefecture. For some unknown reason, the two of them started fighting, and then ended up disappearing into the Spiritsound forbidden ground.”
***
The Sageheaven Pagoda that Seven Blood Eyes had mobilized to create was able to cross the Forbidden Sea in only a day. Upon arriving in Emperor-Receiving Prefecture, Xu Qing was seated cross-legged in the pagoda when he received the classified report from the Swordsage Palace.
“Qing Qiu...” he murmured.
As he pulled his divine will out of the jade slip, he thought back to the scavenger basecamp, and the little girl that had later come to be a fellow swordsage. He would never be able to forget her strong determination.
The other name also struck a chord in him. She was someone he had come to know in Seven Blood Eyes, and she was similar to Qing Qiu in some ways. Though she had a timid personality, her sense of pride was sky-high. Later, she ended up being taken into the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society. The last time Xu Qing remembered seeing her was on the Everlasting Immortal Profundity River. Back then, Li Zimei had left him a letter explaining that she was going to accept a legacy. Xu Qing eventually moved on to Sea-Sealing County, and the two of them lost touch.
Never could he have imagined that the next time he heard about either of them, it would be in a situation like this.
“Spiritsound forbidden ground....” Xu Qing looked down at Ling’er sleeping and mulled the matter over.
“Have something to take care of?” asked Grandpa Ninth, who was standing off to the side.
Xu Qing turned to look at him. “I received a classified report from the Swordsage Palace. Two old friends of mine went missing in the Spiritsound forbidden ground.”
Grandpa Ninth looked at Ling’er. Before he could say anything, Erniu interjected, “Spiritsound? That craphole of a forbidden ground? Raze it to the ground, I say! Who went missing there?”
“Qing Qiu,” Xu Qing replied calmly.
Erniu thought about it for a moment, and then smiled enigmatically. “Qing Qiu? The same one who tried to steal our loot on the Nethersprite heist, and then later became a swordsage? The same chick who went to the Holytide Region with us? Right, I remember. She loved that scythe of hers. It had a spirit automaton, right? And I remember she had some kind of blood will domain. That girl was a real freak of nature! Who’s the other one?”
“Li Zimei,” Xu Qing replied.
“Li Zimei? Who? That’s not ringing a bell.” Erniu scoured his memories but couldn’t recall who Li Zimei was. After all, whether it was her time in Seven Blood Eyes or the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society, he had never had any dealings with her.
Meanwhile, Grandpa Ninth looked away from the sleeping Ling’er. “Dealing with one forbidden ground shouldn’t waste too much time. Go if you want.”
Xu Qing nodded, then sent the Sageheaven Pagoda flying over the Eight Sect Coalition and toward the mountain range beyond it. The mountain range was made of undulating black mountains, some of which were very tall, some of which weren’t. They seemed to stretch on endlessly into the depths of Emperor-Receiving Prefecture. Altogether, they resembled the corpse of some massive beast, dark and hazy as if filled with sinister evil. The place overflowed with vile trees and grues.
These were the Emperor-Receiving Prefecture’s Supreme Arbiter Salvation Mountains! In the spot where the mountains approached the sea, the Eight Sect Coalition had made their headquarters. At the other end of the mountains in the Emperor-Receiving Prefecture was the notorious Three-Spirits Dao-Suppressing Mountain.
After Xu Qing’s pagoda sped into the airspace over the Supreme Arbiter Salvation Mountains, it slowed to a halt.
In the direction of the Three-Spirits Dao-Suppressing Mountain, two figures appeared, one short and one tall. Both were looking in the direction of the pagoda.
The tall one was incredibly skinny, almost to the point of looking skeletal. The only thing about him that wasn’t incredibly bony was his back, which was hunched and looked almost like a small mountain. That ‘mountain’ was actually some sort of cancerous growth, covered with horrid, greenish-red veins. It almost looked like that growth had absorbed all of the other flesh and blood on his body.@@@@
However, there is karma in all things, and counterparts in everything. For years on end, water full of immortal energy had poured into the forbidden ground. Though that water ended up polluted, the reason was that it was taking mutagen out of the forbidden ground. And the result was that, despite how much time had passed, the Spiritsound forbidden ground hadn’t expanded its borders.
Though it was officially a forbidden ground, it wasn’t close to being on the same level as Forbidden by the Zombie. Nor could it compare to the forbidden ground in South Phoenix.
The lord of this forbidden ground, who was sometimes referred to as Emperor Spiritsound, and sometimes as Lord Spiritsound, occasionally awoke. But when that happened, the combined forces of Emperor-Receiving Prefecture would work together to create a sealing mark to contain him. After all, if the emperor of a forbidden ground ended up dying, as long as the forbidden ground itself remained, a new emperor would eventually arise. And as far as Emperor-Receiving Prefecture was concerned, it made a lot more sense to just keep dealing with an entity they knew, rather than have to handle an unfamiliar entity. Thus, the two parties had existed for a long time without very much friction.
But today, catastrophe loomed over the Spiritsound forbidden ground. As the haze of evening spread out in heaven and earth, a nine-floor pagoda shining with seven-colored light appeared. It pulsed with a chaotic, primeval aura, and emanated terrifying pressure as it came to hover above the forbidden ground.
As soon as it arrived, Xu Qing stepped out of the pagoda and hovered in the air.
The afterglow of sunset would make it hard to see most things, but it didn’t obscure Xu Qing at all. He stood tall and straight, his eyes glittering profoundly.
“The lord of this forbidden ground will come out immediately to see me.”
In response to his words, countless sounds erupted from the forbidden ground.... They included the sound of the wind, the sound of rustling leaves, the sound of water dripping, and the sound of swamp lands stirring.... Countless sounds, including those of innumerable living beings and everything else that existed in the forbidden ground, erupted uncontrollably. Every single one of those sounds existed within Xu Qing’s authority of sound. Every movement was within his god perception.
As of this moment, all of those sounds didn’t belong to the forbidden ground. They belonged to Xu Qing! As they converged, they became part of the words he had spoken, causing heaven to shake and the earth to quake.
When facing the authority of sound, this forbidden ground had no choice but to acknowledge allegiance.
Countless images and perceptions appeared to Xu Qing. He saw everything, including... Li Zimei in the depths of the forbidden ground. She was trapped inside of a gruish tree. Her long hair was draped around her, and her eyes were closed, but her expression was fierce, and she pulsed with a baleful aura. Her aura was very gruish, and seemed to be on the verge of fusing with the forbidden ground around her.
It was at that exact same moment that the entire forbidden ground came to be under Xu Qing’s control....
The only part of Li Zimei that was visible was her head. Suddenly, her eyes opened, and they shone with a fiendish, bloody glow. In the past, her face had been delicate and pretty. But now it was ferocious, covered with black veins that formed the image of a ghost face.
The sight of it caused Xu Qing to sigh inwardly. He suddenly thought back to the letter Li Zimei had left for him when they parted ways last.
The past was now vividly in mind.
***
“Elder Brother Xu Qing, I’ve been doing well in the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society....
“I’m going to participate in one of the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society’s ceremonies of enlightenment.... If I succeed, it’s possible that my personality will change.... I’ve never liked my personality anyway. Sometimes I’m too weak....
“I don’t know if I’ll succeed, and if I do, I have no idea how I’ll transform....
“Finally, Elder Brother, I want to offer you my sincere well wishes. I hope you do really well in life. Forever. Always.
“Li Zimei.”
1. The part in which Sporelight and Sunslaughter helped Xu Qing with Forbidden by the Zombie started in the second part of chapter 500. ☜