1237 Gate of Life and Death
Xu Qing’s cold voice echoed through the forbidden zone, sweeping across the heavens and earth like the wind of death passing through the mortal realm, yet also akin to the beckoning light of the underworld, calling forth lost souls.

His body gathered a majestic force, seated atop the ninth mountain, with countless red soul threads spreading behind him, exuding a blood-red aura akin to that of a devil.

The ghost faces formed by the seven underworld fire lanterns on his body spread out of his body and circled in the surroundings, looking bizarre and eerie.

Coupled with his handsome face and long hair, Xu Qing truly looked peerless at this moment.

That aura that could destroy anything caused the sky to change color and the wind to howl.

When Tian Lingzi saw this scene, his heart couldn’t help but tremble. Thunder rumbled in his mind and his expression changed drastically. An extremely intense sense of life-and-death crisis that had never appeared before surged in his mind.

It was like an avalanche, drowning his mind. It was as though every piece of flesh and every inch of bone in his body was screaming at him at this moment.

Danger, danger, danger!

All his senses and consciousness transmitted a sense of danger at this moment. In the end, they gathered together and formed an even greater wave.

The smoke rings outside his body also rippled and distorted.

Tian Lingzi’s breathing became hurried and he paused, wanting to retreat and distance himself from this strange human.

However, it was too late.

Xu Qing coldly looked at Tian Lingzi. With a raise of his hand, the poisonous fog that permeated the ninth mountain rose rapidly, forming a vortex.

The black poison fog storm emitted a destructive and terrifying aura that blotted out the sky, transforming into a huge demon face. It opened its ghastly mouth and ruthlessly pressed down on the incense burner above Tian Lingzi’s head.

The incense burner shook and the smoke rings that fell like a waterfall became increasingly distorted.

This suppression wasn’t over. The invasion of the poison fog became even more ferocious and descended again, blocking all of Tian Lingzi’s escape paths.

At the same time, the seven flickering lanterns in Xu Qing’s body reflected Tian Lingzi’s figure as they swayed. After that… one was extinguished.

The instant this lantern was extinguished, Tian Lingzi’s pupils contracted and a huge storm stirred in his mind. His internal organs suddenly felt intense pain, as if a sharp dagger was invisibly piercing and tearing through his body.

A loud scream rang out from his mouth.

Despite spewing forth seven or eight mouthfuls of blood consecutively, he couldn’t alleviate the agony. Horrified, he staggered, his entire demeanor collapsing, no longer adorned in regal attire but instead covered in filth as if a lowly ant, pressed down upon the earth.

His body showed signs of aging, and the flames of his life dimmed as though they were being buried in dust.

“You…” As Tian Lingzi’s heart churned intensely, Xu Qing extinguished the second lantern.

The instant the lantern was extinguished, an even more miserable wail rang out from Tian Lingzi’s mouth. Many cuts appeared on his body and under the dense intersection, it was as though he was about to be slashed into a thousand pieces. A large amount of blood flowed out from the cuts, dyeing his scales and his robe red.

His hair withered, and his scales fell off, turning into ashes.

As for his cultivation base, it was as though it had been stripped away and his aura continued to decrease.

The feeling of certain death surfaced intensely in Tian Lingzi’s heart. Fortunately, the power of the incense burner was still there to protect him, and barely isolated this feeling of certain death.

However, he was panicking. Endless terror and the envelopment of death made him feel like a lone boat on a raging wave. At this moment, he suddenly fled, not hesitating to burn his cultivation base to leave this terrifying ninth mountain.

Xu Qing didn’t stop him because… the other party couldn’t escape.

He coldly stared at the heaven’s chosen of the Baize Race and the crumbling incense burner above his head. The third, fourth, and fifth lanterns in his body… were extinguished one after another.

With every extinguished lantern, Tian Lingzi, who was escaping, screamed miserably. His body and soul were withering.

In the blink of an eye, six of the seven lanterns were extinguished.

There were also a million soul threads that rushed past Xu Qing’s back, heading straight for the incense burner.

Finally, with a cracking sound, a crack appeared on the incense burner. Under the enhancement of the Poison Restriction, Xu Qing’s Seven Lanterns Underworld Fire Curse, and the soul threads, this treasure finally couldn’t last and became dim.

The cascading smoke rings also stopped for a moment. One ring disappeared.

The Poison Restriction invaded through this gap.

At the next moment, Tian Lingzi’s retreating figure suddenly trembled and fell from the sky, smashing into the ground.
He had reached the foot of the ninth mountain.

As he lay there, his entire body was covered in sweat that contained corrosion, melting half of his body.

Not only was his body and soul heavily injured by the lanterns dimming, but the power of the Poison Restriction also spread in his body, corroding his flesh and blood and shattering his spirit, causing the black gas in his entire body to spread.

The indescribable pain caused Tian Lingzi to lose the strength to scream.

The feeling of death rose from his entire body, accompanied by an extremely strong stench. Hesitation, trepidation, horror, and various other emotions drowned his mind.

It was as though the world had lost its vitality in his eyes. Only the flames of his life were left.

He had thought that one day he would die, but in his imagination, it was after he became a Soul Accumulation cultivator, falling in battle during the Baize Race’s campaigns against external foes.

When he died, he would leave a deep mark in the records, letting future generations know that there was once an era when an expert called Tian Lingzi appeared in their race.

The scene today was something he never expected. Hence, unwillingness and madness began to rise in the flames of his life, trying to reverse the situation.

Xu Qing removed this hope as he extinguished the last lantern in his body. He then closed his eyes.

As the flames extinguished, a gust of wind blew over, extinguishing the last of Tian Lingzi’s fire of life.

All his unwillingness became lingering sounds.

All the madness returned to calm.

When the lantern was extinguished, so was the person.

The corpse at the foot of the mountain also turned into ashes under the influx of soul threads. They scattered in the wind and landed on the other mountain peaks…

The surroundings fell silent again.

Different from the silence from before, it was now… a dead silence where even the breathing stopped.

Countless gazes that were filled with horror seemed to have lost their ability to move. They landed on the ninth mountain and on Xu Qing, who had been sitting cross-legged from the start.

“Tian Lingzi… died?”

“The heaven’s chosen of the Baize Race…”

“Who, who the hell is this person? When did such a heaven’s chosen appear in the human race?!”

A long time later, an uproar broke out in all directions.

“I think I saw records of his divine power in an ancient book…”

“That’s a Ruler’s spell. It can only be used by someone with the bloodline of a Ruler!”

“Seven Lanterns, Underworld Fire Curse!”

“It is the Dao of one of the rulers who appeared at the peak of the human race, Li Zihua!”

As one of the super races in the Wanggu Continent, the comprehensive knowledge of the Flame Moon Mystic Heaven Race greatly surpassed the other races. Even though Xu Qing had used an ancient art, someone still found the source.

While this uncontrollable gasp and shock filled the air, on the ninth mountain, Qiu Quezi’s heart was also trembling.

The gaze with which he looked at Xu Qing was already one of complete submission.

He didn’t know how many cards this human had up his sleeve and how strong he was.

What happened today even gave him the illusion that… the other party was like a black hole that could devour everything.

The captain was also surprised. He glanced at Xu Qing a few times. This was the first time he had seen Xu Qing using the Seven Lanterns Underworld Fire Curse.

‘This kid has learned to hide. This won’t do, I have to put in more effort!’

Even the expression of the Flame Moon dignitary in the golden palace in the air changed. His gaze landed on Xu Qing as he fell into deep thought.

“Some time ago, something major happened in the Moon Offering Region. A few humans killed a god…”

Amidst everyone’s shock, the shrunken forbidden mountains slowly descended from the air and ultimately floated above Xu Qing’s head.

Together with his 27, there were a total of 139 forbidden mountains.

They were connected by lightning, forming a single entity. At the same time, endless pressure spread out from it.

Such a large number of forbidden mountains caused waves in everyone’s hearts again. They knew that Xu Qing was very strong but the temptation of more than a hundred mountains and Xu Qing having no background was still tempting.

This was especially so for the cultivators on the predesignated mountains. Their greed grew even more, but they chose to restrain it and wait.

It was also at this moment that the ten-day limit of this forbidden zone reached its limit and disappeared.

The moment it dissipated, it was as though a cage had opened. The aura of the outside world followed, and the ground rumbled and trembled. The 27 forbidden mountains also automatically severed their connection with the forbidden zone.

The voice from the golden palace echoed at this moment.

“Mountain moving, begin.”

As soon as these words were spoken, it was as though a horn of slaughter and competition had been blown. No one paid attention to Xu Qing anymore. Even though they were still greedy, the most important thing now was to take away the mountains they were on.

However, just as all the cultivators here erupted with their nurturing bases and killing intent flashed in their eyes, Xu Qing slowly opened his eyes.

It was time.

He lifted his right hand and waved it. At the next instant, the sky darkened and clouds surged. An presence that caused the entire forbidden zone to tremble manifested in the sky, suppressing the ground.

The expressions of everyone in the forbidden zone changed again.

In the sky, a pitch-black and vast prison slowly appeared, covering the sky and enveloping the forbidden zone.

Countless bolts of lightning swam in the surroundings, and wails that came from the void spread in all directions.

Majestic, eerie, bloody, oppressive—these were the sensations that the prison instilled in everyone.

The ground quaked, and the prison pierced through the mountains, landing on the earth.

The twenty-seven forbidden mountains and the surrounding area were all imprisoned within.

At that moment, sinister laughter rang out from the prison. A stone lion danced within a cell and manifested gigantic figures.

A head rolled, emitting both crying and eerie laughter.

A millstone spun, squeezing out endless streams of blood.

A straw doll wove straw, creating countless small figures, each one wailing.

An old painter seemed to have gone mad, brandishing his brush and ink, depicting the death of every cultivator within the forbidden mountains.

There was also… a huge finger that pierced through many cells.

A god’s presence erupted from It.

It was the complete D132.

Xu Qing’s voice moreover echoed at this particular moment.

“Within three breaths, all living beings here will die.”

As he himself spoke, the prison gate of D132 slowly opened.

This was the gate of life and death.