What was projected into Xu Qing's mind through Xiao Ying was a scene that shocked him to the core.
Ten thousand feet below the mud, there was an astonishingly vast catacomb.
For this catacomb, the mud was like the sky, and the catacomb itself was like an isolated world.
As for the ground of this world, it was a pitch-black void. Endless gray fog could be seen spreading out from the void, lingering in this world.
However, this was not the source of Xu Qing's shock.
What shocked him was that in this world, there was a huge shrine floating in this world!
The size of this shrine occupied one-tenth of this world, and its shape was square. At first glance, it looked like a coffin suspended in midair.
Rotten strips of cotton drifted around its edges, like tentacles that swayed with the flow of the fog.
The long ones hung down into the void, and the short ones were still ten thousand feet long.
It was dark gold in color, without any luster, and even gave off a sense of decay.
As if it had experienced countless years, it gave off a feeling of endless vicissitudes.
As for the interior, a terrifying existence was enshrined.
It was a strange creature that looked like a spider. Its entire body was covered in dark gold spots, and it had a male head.
A tree branch was nailed between the eyebrows of the head. Although the tree branch was dim, it gave Xu Qing a feeling as if he was looking at a blazing sun. It pierced through the head.
At the same time, four long spears made of ice pierced through the spider's body, firmly binding it to the shrine.
Xu Qing could acutely feel the fluctuations of the moon from these four long spears.
That was not the end. On the eight legs of this terrifying existence, there were eight clay pots that were suppressing it. The aura that was emitted was the power of Astral Flame.
This terrifying existence had been sealed to death. As for the shrine, it was indeed like a coffin!
It had the effect of storing things, and also the power of sealing.
Upon closer inspection, one could see that there were countless marks carved on the outside of the shrine, and each mark exuded the will of the gods.
Xu Qing's heart was in turmoil, but this was not all that shocked him.
At most, it was only half.
The remaining half of the shock came from … below the shrine.
Below the altar, in the void of this world, as the fog flowed, some rare images were revealed. There … was a huge mountain formed from bone ashes!
Although it was slightly smaller than the altar in terms of size, the difference was not big.
This mountain of bone ash was constantly emitting grey fog. It was obvious that it was the source of the grey fog of Jiuli.
It was hard to imagine what kind of existence could produce such a level of bone ash after death. Around this mountain of bone ash, there were nine relatively smaller mountains.
Or rather, it was not a mountain, but nine skulls!
It was like the head of a dragon. It looked ferocious and at the same time, exuded a desolate aura.
Although there was no flesh and blood, one could still vaguely sense the rage and madness they had when they were alive from the gaping mouths of the skulls.
The ancient intent was extremely dense, and the sealing intent was incomparably strong.
The scene ended there.
Above the Nine Li Forbidden Land, Xu Qing's body trembled. He coughed out seven or eight mouthfuls of blood uncontrollably as he fell back. Even though he could see what was happening through Xiao Ying, it was still difficult for him to bear.
As for Xiao Ying … it was no longer moving. It was unknown whether it was dead or alive.
However, Xu Qing was no longer in the mood to think about Xiao Ying. His expression changed as he stared at the ground. The scene in his mind brought about too many speculations.
"That altar itself is a seal, and the spider-like being inside it is clearly a god!"
"It has the power of the Sun, Moon, and Star Gods. To be able to be suppressed by all three of them at the same time and require an external object to help seal it, it must not be simple.
"As for the mountain of bone ashes below the shrine …"
Xu Qing took a deep breath. He did not know who it was, but the nine skulls made a name appear in his mind.
"Nine Li?"
Xu Qing was not sure. According to the information he knew, Nine Li had nine lantern-like heads, which did not match what he saw.
However, Xu Qing had personally experienced that the information about the Nine Li Forbidden Land was fabricated to a certain extent, so he was unable to determine the truth.
"Whether it is Nine Li or not, for it to exist here, there must be some connection. But if it is, why would Nine Li, the national beast of Flaming Moon, have a shrine to suppress it?
"It is clearly dead, but it is still suppressed."
Xu Qing pondered. This was clearly a chain of suppression. The three gods suppressed the strange god, and the strange god suppressed the mountain of bone ashes and the nine skulls.
Xu Qing found it difficult to understand the cause and effect of this.
Xu Qing frowned. He sensed the bronze incense burner above his head.
"It's almost burnt out …"
Compared to the empty space in the mud, this time, through Xiao Ying's investigation, the scene 10,000 feet below the mud was clearly the focus of this Nine Li Forbidden Land.
Especially the source of the gray fog. Xu Qing also knew about it.
Then, at this moment, Xu Qing had no other choice.
"If I want to leave Nine Li, perhaps the source is the key. If I can get some of the bone ashes … or if I can find a way to get one of the nine skulls …"
This was a crazy idea.
Xu Qing was silent. He checked his storage bag.
"Actually, there is another way that can let me last a little longer here …"
Xu Qing raised his hand, took out a piece of Red Mother's flesh, and threw it into the incense burner.
In the next instant, the incense burner began to tremble and more smoke rings came out. However, in this environment, it only slowed down the burning of the incense burner. The side effect was that the smoke around the burner became thicker.
"After all, this is not a long-term solution. The more god power I use, the stronger the cause and effect will be."
Xu Qing looked at the incense burner and sighed.
Then, he sensed that due to the isolation of the bronze incense burner, he had recovered a lot of his god source power.
Finally, he calculated the time and the layout below appeared in his mind.
"The mountain of bone ashes is directly under the altar. It is not easy to move it, but the nine skulls are a little further away …"
Thinking of this, Xu Qing's eyes showed a hint of decisiveness and madness. He lowered his head and looked at the mud under his feet. Without any hesitation, he put away the bronze incense burner that was still burning.
The moment the gray fog surrounded him, the god power in his body burst out, and his body sank rapidly into the mud.
The moment his body completely sank into the mud, intense pain immediately spread throughout his body.
It was a feeling of corrosion. Whether it was the mud itself or the surrounding gray fog, they were all corroding his body and soul.
Xu Qing forced himself to endure it. He used his cultivation and god source power to resist, and his body flew downward rapidly.
In the blink of an eye, he was a thousand feet deep. The corrosion and invasion here was even more terrifying. There were even many parts of Xu Qing's body that had disappeared.
However, his speed was still explosive. Soon, he was two thousand feet, three thousand feet …
When he reached four thousand feet, his body was like a skeleton. However, Xu Qing gritted his teeth and sank another thousand feet.
He reached a depth of five thousand feet.
Limit.
His body began to melt, and his soul showed signs of shattering. At the critical moment, Xu Qing took out a piece of Red Mother's flesh, put it in his mouth, and swallowed it.
Swallowing the Red Mother's flesh was like eating fire. It exploded in his body, and a large amount of god source power spread out from Xu Qing's body.
This caused him, who was already in a melting state, to almost collapse.
In reality, if he was not in this environment and directly swallowed the Red Mother's flesh, Xu Qing would probably collapse more easily. This was also the reason why he did not use it in the battle with Ji Dongzi.
However, in this place, the god power was rejected, hated, and melted. The gray fog and mud from the surroundings helped Xu Qing indirectly.
Like a balloon that was about to explode in water, there would be a certain degree of mutual cancellation.
This caused his body to be able to withstand the Red Mother's flesh.
Relying on this violent power, Xu Qing charged forward again.
Six thousand feet, seven thousand feet, eight thousand feet. During this period, the power brought by the Red Mother's flesh was rapidly dissipated.
When he reached nine thousand feet, his limit was reached.
Xu Qing knew very well that he could not continue to swallow the Red Mother's flesh. Even in this place, his body would not be able to withstand it.
Therefore, he raised his melting right hand and grabbed at the skull closest to him from his memory.
With this grab, heaven and earth seemed to have turned into a well. Whether it was illusory or real, everything appeared inside.
However … the seal here and the restriction of distance blurred everything. What was reflected by Fishing for the Moon in the Well was also distorted and not clear.
With this grab, there was nothing.
Fishing, failed!
In the next instant, Xu Qing's body started to melt as if he was going to be swallowed by the mud. However, life lamps quickly flew out from his broken body and formed a sundial.
They rotated and the power of time exploded from his body.
Time reversed.
In the next moment, Xu Qing's figure disappeared. When he reappeared, he was not outside the mud, but inside the mud. However, instead of nine thousand feet, he was one thousand feet.
The environment here could affect everything. Even the power of time of the sundial was weakened.
After appearing, Xu Qing did not hesitate and charged up. When he broke through the mud and charged out, he spat out blood. His body was full of decay and he was severely injured.
He immediately took out the bronze incense burner and it floated above his head.
With the help of the incense burner's smoke ring, Xu Qing sat down cross-legged and recovered with all his strength.
Time passed. Every time the incense burner was about to extinguish, Xu Qing would raise his hand and throw out a piece of the Red Mother's flesh to delay its extinguishing. This consumption was extremely extravagant, and as the power of the gods continued, the surrounding fog became extremely dense.
The feeling of karma had already penetrated deep into his bones.
However … there was no other way.
Even if this was drinking poison to quench his thirst.
Half a day later, Xu Qing opened his eyes. His injuries were still there, but his divine source had recovered a little. His soul threads had also become active after absorbing the Red Mother's flesh.
However, because of this consumption, his heart was in great pain.
But now, he could only suppress this heartache and close his eyes to continue recovering.
A day passed by slowly.
When Xu Qing opened his eyes again, his power of the gods had mostly recovered. He lowered his head and looked at the mud beneath him, recalling his previous failure.
"There is another way … in theory, it should work!"