The moment Princess Ming Mei's finger touched the ground, the voice of Flowing Time echoed in the present moment. The Crown Prince had also used his authority.
Unlike Ming Mei, the Crown Prince's authority was to change perception.
Not only could he change the perception of all living beings, but he could also change the attributes of the laws and even the thoughts of all living beings in the world!
By changing all living beings and affecting the laws of the world, he could deceive the heavens and the seas. Even the Heavenly Dao would ignore him at this moment, and even the gods would lose sight of him for an instant.
At this moment, the entire Jiyue Region would be unable to sense what was happening here.
This included the Red Moon Temple.
This authority was too terrifying. Unfortunately, the Crown Prince had used it to such an extent. Even though he was a Soul Condensation cultivator, he was confident that he could be in absolute control within ten breaths.
If it were anyone else, ten breaths would not be enough.
However, Ming Mei was not one of them.
The river of time flowed between her fingers, and everything in the village became hazy.
One could vaguely see children, adults, and the elderly in the village.
As he looked around, he saw the densely packed figures in the village. It was as if a video was being played continuously.
The nursery rhyme was also being played over and over again.
In his senses, everything was being stretched out. It should have been ten breaths, but in reality, everything that happened was completed within three breaths.
It was as if someone had compressed all the information and then forcefully limited it to three breaths.
This method created a terrifying feeling of collapse. If an outsider stood in Xu Qing's position and did not have the body of a god, or if their cultivation was insufficient, their soul would collapse at this moment.
This was Princess Ming Mei, who had the most outstanding talent among the Sovereign's children before the Ninth Prince was born. Even the Emperor of the Ancients praised her.
When Xu Qing saw this, he was moved.
"Flowing Time …"
A strange light shone in Xu Qing's eyes. The moment he looked at Princess Ming Mei, the murmurs of the souls of all the people in the village turned into rumbling sounds. Their nursery rhymes echoed endlessly in the air, forming a dreamy figure in the sky.
This figure seemed to be a woman. Her back was facing everyone, and her head was lowered as if she was crying.
Countless departed souls could be seen tearing at her body. While her flesh was badly mangled, there were also red chains that bound her.
Her figure was blurry, and so were the chains. They did not exist in the world, only in the nursery rhyme.
Although it was revealed at this moment, it was constantly distorting and dissipating, as if it wouldn't last for long.
"Xu Qing."
Princess Ming Mei's voice sounded in Xu Qing's mind. Without any hesitation, the power of the Purple Moon erupted from Xu Qing's body, and the power of the Heavenly Red Moon rose as well.
A blood-red light spread out from his body. Countless drops of fresh blood flew into the air. With a wave of Princess Ming Mei's hand, the fresh blood flew towards the nursery rhyme.
In the blink of an eye, the color of blood enveloped the haze and dyed everything red. It solidified the crying figure from the state of nothingness into reality.
At this moment, the illusory and the real seemed to overlap.
The ripples caused by the overlapping were incredibly violent. As the entire picture trembled, the red chains also began to shake violently. Eventually, with cracking sounds, cracks began to appear on them, as if they were about to break.
In the end, Princess Ming Mei took a step forward and entered the dream. She walked to the crying figure and hugged her in her arms.
"Fifth sister, don't cry. Big sister will take you home."
The crying figure trembled violently. At this moment, the broken chains around her shattered with a loud bang.
All the deceased souls wailed in anguish as they were reduced to ashes.
The tenth breath had arrived.
The Crown Prince's figure disappeared, and so did Xu Qing's figure. The dream between heaven and earth also disappeared without a trace.
It was as if the river of time had never appeared, and so were the deceased souls. Everything returned to normal. As for the residents who walked out of the village, although they were a little dazed, they soon became numb again.
The only difference was that the content of the children's nursery rhymes had changed.
"Rag doll, rag doll, big eyes and black hair, I want to carry you home."
"Rag doll, rag doll, don't be afraid of the lightning in the sky, always laugh happily, hahaha."
…
The Clan was an extremely special tribe in the Sacrificial Moon Region.
This tribe didn't have their own territory. Whether the tribe members reached adulthood or not depended on whether they found their own door in the Tomb of the Clan.
Once they found it, they would wander around the Sacrificial Moon Region and constantly move forward.
They would wander around the Sacrificial Moon Region until they reached all the places they could go.
This was their custom, and it was also their way of survival, as well as their method of cultivation.
No one knew why the Clan acted this way. Even the Clan members themselves didn't understand. This was their instinct.
There was another special thing about the Clan, and that was … every time the Scarlet Mother's red moon arrived, their bodies would be destroyed, but the door on their backs would not disappear.
Every time the Scarlet Mother arrived, the Clan would be calmer than the other Clans. The Clan members would return to the same place from all directions and put down their door there.
This place was called the Tomb of the Clan.
The Tomb of the Clan was located in a huge canyon in the eastern part of the Sacrificial Moon Region. Outsiders called it the Great Abyss, because not only was the canyon astonishingly long, its depth was also unknown.
In the canyon, in the abyss, there were countless doors. They were big and small, had all kinds of styles, shapes, and materials.
A sense of decay spread through this place, and it didn't dissipate even after a long time.
Cultivators didn't want to come here, because there were too many mysterious things in and out of the canyon, and cases of people going missing could be found everywhere.
However, at this moment, four figures appeared on the walls of the canyon.
Two were old grannies, one was an old man, and the fourth … was Xu Qing.
Today was the fourth day since they left the Black Centipede Mountain.
The additional old granny was a lot thinner than Princess Mingmei. She wore a black robe, and her cheekbones were very high. She didn't look kind, but rather harsh.
There was also a dense gloominess that wouldn't go away.
Every time she looked at the crown prince, her gloominess would get deeper. Only when she looked at Princess Mingmei would the black-robed old granny show a hint of familial warmth.
Also, when she looked at Xu Qing, her gloominess lessened a lot. Instead, it was replaced with the kindness of a senior looking at a junior.
Xu Qing could feel that this black-robed old granny wasn't good at showing kindness. This kindness was already very attentive.
"Eighth brother was sealed here."
"He was sealed in an ancient door, and that door was broken into countless pieces. Thus, the Clan was born in this world.
"The Clan doesn't have a land, but the Clan does.
"To be more precise, the Clan members aren't the cultivators, but the Clan members are the Clan members.
"This is the Clan Land of the Clan members.
"Every Clan member is a part of Eighth Brother, and every teleportation of the world consumes Eighth Brother's spirit.
"This consumption will form an invisible karma, and this karma will continue to torture Eighth Brother …"
The crown prince spoke softly on the cliff.
Princess Mingmei's gaze fell on the bottom of the canyon. Fifth Granny, who was beside her, snorted coldly and ignored the crown prince.
There was obviously some conflict between the two of them. Xu Qing didn't know the reason, but he could see the guilt in the crown prince's eyes.
At the same time, when he heard the crown prince's words, he recalled that he was just one step away from using the Clan Teleportation.
Now that he thought about it, it seemed that … the crown prince had deliberately stopped him from entering.
"So, if we want to break Eighth Brother's seal, it's still not perfect with just Third Sister and me. Youngest Sister, this will require your power of the Heavenly God …" The crown prince looked at his fifth sister and spoke in a gentler voice.
The black-robed old granny looked at the crown prince coldly and didn't say anything.
Princess Mingmei sighed and held her fifth sister's hand.
The black-robed old granny fell silent and nodded after a while.
The crown prince sighed in his heart, but he still pulled himself together. Just like before, he was in charge of concealing all fluctuations while Princess Mingmei entered the canyon to retrieve the ancient door that sealed Eighth Brother.
"Kid, give me a drop of your Purple Moon Blood."
Before leaving, Princess Mingmei looked at Xu Qing.
Xu Qing didn't hesitate and immediately released the power of the Purple Moon Blood, which turned into a sea of blood and gave it to her.
Princess Mingmei smiled at his actions, and the black-robed old granny also nodded secretly. She looked at Xu Qing with a more amiable expression.
Princess Mingmei took Xu Qing's Purple Moon Blood and went straight down the canyon. After she left, the cliff suddenly became quiet.
The black-robed old granny didn't say a word, and the crown prince didn't know what to say either. Hence, he looked at Xu Qing.
"Kid, you're quite free these few days. You can't use the power of the Purple Moon on the way back. You have to walk back on your own."
"Bullsh * t!" The black-robed old granny snorted coldly.
The crown prince smiled bitterly and looked at his fifth sister.
"Youngest Sister …"
"Shut up!"
The crown prince raised his eyebrows and was a little angry. However, when he looked at his sister in front of him and sensed that her aura was weak, he sighed again and looked at Xu Qing with anger.
Xu Qing blinked and moved closer to the black-robed old granny. At that moment, there was a rumbling sound in the canyon. The ground shook and the mountains shook. The crown prince also put away his thoughts and waved his hand to affect the heaven and earth. When it turned into a concealment, the sound at the bottom of the canyon became even more shocking.
Vaguely, there were countless wails reverberating in the air, and there was even a terrifying fluctuation spreading out.
The fluctuation was so strong that not only did it shake the canyon, but there were also a large number of cracks on the cliff below. As it continued to shatter, countless pieces of rock fell down.
Xu Qing only sensed it slightly, and he felt an endless sense of danger. He could imagine that there must be something extremely terrifying in the canyon.
However, it was obvious that this was nothing to Princess Mingmei.
After a while, the fluctuation stopped. Princess Mingmei's figure silently appeared on the cliff. She looked relaxed, and there were no traces of her fighting.
In her hand was a piece of wood the size of a palm. She waved her hand and it floated in the air.
"The ancient door that sealed Eighth Brother has been completely shattered. It is difficult for it to form a carrier. I gathered dust from below and molded it in the river of time. This is all that can be formed."
An ancient aura spread out from the piece of wood.
Xu Qing sensed it and instinctively looked at the black-robed old granny.
He wanted to know what her authority was.
The black-robed old granny stared at the piece of wood. She raised her right index finger that seemed to be unable to recover on its own and gently tapped it.
In just a moment, her body had clearly aged, but the piece of wood trembled violently and began to recover at a visible rate!
It continued to grow and spread. In a short five breaths, it formed an ancient door that stood between the heavens and earth.
The door frame was black and the door was white. There were intricate vine patterns carved on the door. The vines carved on the door formed a gray morning glory.
This flower was demonic and could shake the soul.
Bursts of primordial will of the passage of time spread out in all directions, forming a pressure that shattered the surrounding void.
The moment the wooden door appeared, there were violent knocks on the door.
Bang bang, bang bang!
It sounded like thunder.
"My authority is not obtained through cultivation. It is something that I was born with. I can revive all things except for myself. It cannot be reversed."
The black-robed old granny turned to look at Xu Qing and said in a hoarse voice.