Chapter 1811: Benevolent Teacher and Filial Disciple

Editor: Atlas Studios

Amid the lingering opera melody, Third Senior Brother murmured in bewilderment:

"The Black Pagoda deceived me... made me believe the calling came from Ghost Emperor Mountain..."

"Never realizing... the true voice was here all along..."

"I’ve been to this Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar before, yet never sensed what I do today..."

His words drifted like snowflakes in the storm. Xu Qing understood—this was all the doing of the Black Pagoda Venerable God’s power.

It had wanted Third Senior Brother to merge with the Ghost Emperor.

Thus, It hadn’t merely deceived him—It had redirected the calling to Ghost Emperor Mountain.

Though Xu Qing couldn’t fathom why the Black Pagoda would value the Ghost Emperor...

For while the Ghost Emperor was formidable to lower-level cultivators, his Soul Accumulation cultivation meant little to higher existences.

"Perhaps there’s some connection I’m unaware of..."

Xu Qing pondered as his dazed Third Senior Brother slowly approached the Ghost Cave’s entrance—without hesitation, he leaped in.

Xu Qing followed.

Inside the pitch-black cave, the opera grew clearer. Funeral paper money fluttered up from the depths, and the concentration of anomalous substances was overwhelming.

Yet Third Senior Brother paid no heed, allowing the corruption to assail him as paper bills swirled around his speeding form—his heart racing faster than his steps.

As if lifetimes of waiting had led to this moment.

Lost memories, forgotten faces—they seemed to surge back through time itself, reforming contours in his mind.

His expression trembled with emotion; his body shook.

Watching this, Xu Qing recalled another figure from his past—one who’d worn that same look of trembling anticipation when reunited with a lover in the forbidden region near the scavenger camp of Nanhuang Continent.

"Captain Lei..."

Xu Qing murmured inwardly, silently following while dispelling anomalous substances and enhancing his senior brother’s speed.

Finally, within the pitch-black Ghost Cave, a red lantern gradually appeared. As it drew closer... a wooden hut came into Third Senior Brother’s view.

It was a dilapidated structure, as if weathered by countless years, now on the verge of decay.

The wooden hut was shaped like a pentagon.

There was a gray iron chain at each corner that was connected to the mud wall in the distance.

At the junctions where the chains met the five corners of the hut, several horrifying corpses were bound.

One was drenched and severely decomposed, clad in tattered black robes, riddled with holes as if it had endured endless ages.

Another had its hands placed on its stomach, its abdomen torn open to reveal a hollow cavity devoid of organs.

The third was different from the first two—a red vine was tightly coiled around its neck, its ends gripped in the corpse’s own hands, as if it had strangled itself to death.

The fourth and fifth were equally grotesque.

The fourth stood before a blank tombstone, beneath which lay the skeletal remains of an infant.

As for the fifth... it was a corpse charred by fire, its appearance... familiar to Xu Qing.

Not the one he had seen before, but the remains of the deceased Grand Affairs’ Dao Child, who had died here years ago.

"Metal for dissecting, wood for hanging, water for drowning, fire for burning, and soil for burial."

Xu Qing murmured softly, then turned his gaze to the wooden hut suspended in mid-air by the five iron chains.

Inside, a faint red glow cast the silhouette of a woman onto the paper window.

Through the torn parts of the window paper, a woman in a red opera robe could be seen sitting by the window, her jade-white hand scattering paper money outward.

Sheet after sheet of paper money fluttered upward, carried by a chilling breeze.

Yet, at a certain moment, the outstretched hand suddenly froze.

The singing voice also ceased abruptly.

"You... came..."

A gentle voice, tinged with bitterness, echoed from within the house.

Third Senior Brother trembled, staring at the silhouette on the window paper.

"I came too late..."

Muttering to himself, he reached out to push open the door of the wooden house, but it remained firmly shut.

"Just sit outside... and talk with me... that’s enough..."

The woman’s voice also quivered.

Third Senior Brother nodded and sat down outside the house, gazing at the silhouette on the window paper as fragments of memories surged in his mind—yet they remained hazy.

Seven lifetimes of love had led to this moment.

But he realized he only remembered the feeling, not the person.

Watching this scene, Xu Qing felt a pang of melancholy.

He didn’t know the story between Third Senior Brother and the woman in the Ghost Cave, but he understood why she refused to meet him face-to-face.

Because while her silhouette on the window paper remained graceful and vibrant...

The woman inside the house was already a corpse.

This altar, this ritual—it was never about the five corpses...

There were six.

She herself was the sixth corpse—the corpse of drowned love.

So... they needed time alone.

Xu Qing averted his gaze, looking downward beneath the wooden house.

What others couldn’t see was crystal clear to him—including the trembling eye at the very bottom of the Ghost Cave, too afraid to open even slightly.

In the past, the opening of this eye had brought Xu Qing immense pressure, pushing him to the brink of life and death. Without help, he might have perished from corruption.

But now, this eye was insignificant in Xu Qing’s eyes.

"So... it comes from Brilliant Heaven."

Xu Qing spoke softly, sensing the same bloodline fluctuations as the Golden Crow Crown Prince emanating from the eye.

He raised his hand and made a slight grasping motion.

Instantly, the trembling divine eye shrank rapidly, condensing into the size of a fist before flying into Xu Qing’s palm.

The golden eye quivered even more violently.

Xu Qing paid It no further mind, storing It away. With the source gone, the anomalous substances in the Ghost Cave dwindled significantly.

Even the decaying wooden hut began to show faint signs of vitality.

After one last glance at the figure inside the hut and Third Senior Brother, Xu Qing quietly retreated.

He walked upward.

Just as he was about to leave the Ghost Cave, his footsteps paused. He turned to look at a section of the cave wall, where a figure was trembling as it stared at him.

It was the centipede woman who had once saved him.

Xu Qing’s gaze softened. He raised his right hand and flicked his fingers, sending a wisp of immortal essence into her body, reconstructing her foundation.

The centipede woman shuddered violently. By the time she looked up again, Xu Qing was gone.

...

The snowstorm continued to rage.

Time fell like snowflakes, one after another.

Xu Qing’s suppression of Wanggu had ended, and he no longer appeared openly before others.

Yet the rise of the human race was now unstoppable. Under the leadership of the Empress, all races submitted—even those with gods among them.

Most of their gods chose to retreat into seclusion.

Only the Flame Moon Mystic Heaven Race, reinvigorated after the return of the clay fox’s avatar and Its fusion with the main body who then soared above the Sun and Moon Gods, forming an alliance with the human race.

Together, they ushered in a new era.

Of course, there were still those who resisted. Wanggu had been infiltrated like a sieve after the descent of the fragmented-face, with forces from the Ninth Star Ring and beyond embedding themselves in various ways.

But under the clay fox’s intervention, all opposition was swiftly quelled. Even those connected to external powers were dealt with when Zhou Zhengli and the others descended.

Thus, the unification of Wanggu became an indisputable reality.

Amidst all this, Xu Qing did not linger with old acquaintances. Instead, at Erniu’s eager anticipation, they arrived together... at the sealed entrance to Brilliant Heaven beneath the human imperial capital!

Across Wanggu, Xu Qing had now swept through nearly every region, directly or indirectly—except for the Sky Devouring Region.

As for the Brilliant Heaven buried beneath the continent...

It was time to resolve that as well.

Moreover, Eldest Senior Brother’s true body was also in Brilliant Heaven.

"Listen here, Little Qing, you might be badass, but your Eldest Senior Brother is also a big deal in Brilliant Heaven!"

At the sealed entrance, Erniu declared proudly.

But before he could finish, someone smacked him hard on the head.

"Big deal? If you’re such a big deal, why couldn’t you escape on your own? What kind of joke is it to just pop out a clone?"

Old Master Seventh glared at Erniu.

This trip to Brilliant Heaven, Old Master Seventh had come as well.

Ignoring Erniu’s aggrieved expression, he turned to Xu Qing with a face full of paternal kindness, his eyes brimming with pride as if Xu Qing were his one and only true disciple.

"My dear disciple, I’m more familiar with Brilliant Heaven. Let me guide you—it’ll go smoother."

"Back then, those old fogies couldn’t kill the Brilliant Heaven God Emperor, so they had to seal It away..."

"I suspect It’s still alive. And based on my later analysis, that God Emperor wasn’t quite at the Lord God level... but It was close."

Xu Qing nodded and bowed respectfully.

"I’ll trouble Master, then."

"No trouble at all. Just like how I took you to the underground palace back then, this time, I’ll take you to Brilliant Heaven!"

Old Master Seventh waved his hand grandly, his smile growing even more benevolent.

Meanwhile, Erniu, who felt utterly ignored, couldn’t help but interject sourly.

"Master, you’re so biased! Back then, you took both me and Little Qing to the underground palace. How come you don’t even mention me now?"

"Besides... I know Brilliant Heaven better than you! Have you even seen that God Emperor? Let me tell you, old man, I even went to take a look at the place where It’s sealed. Back then, I—"

Erniu’s complaints were cut short as Old Master Seventh kicked him straight into the entrance.

"You little rascal! Since you like calling me ’old man,’ don’t call me Master anymore. You know Brilliant Heaven so well? Then go scout ahead!"

Erniu let out a dramatic wail as he tumbled into the sealed passage. Old Master Seventh didn’t even spare him a glance, instead warmly taking Xu Qing’s hand.

"Come, my dear disciple. Let’s go."

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