It’s not letting me go?

Keeping his eye on the distant red candle, Xu Qing backed up a bit. Then, skirting the halo of light surrounding the candle, he flew in the direction of the rift leading to the second level. Upon nearing the area, he found... that the rift was gone.

Not only is it not letting me leave, but also, the rift to the second level vanished. But why...?

Looking grim, he pondered the situation, eventually coming up with three possibilities.

First, it could be related to the mask. Maybe it’s the karma I developed with the mask. Or maybe the mask is incapable of leaving the pocket dimension. Perhaps the power of the mask itself is preventing me from leaving until I complete my wish.

Second, it could be related to the candle. I do have a special body, so maybe it has malicious intentions directed at me. Maybe it wants me to stay so it can absorb me.

Third, maybe it’s that godly authority of luck from before! Although I have a bit of control over that godly authority, in the end, it’s not complete. Maybe it evolved in some unexpected way. Or maybe the luck causes misfortune later on.

𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Xu Qing checked his godly authority of misfortune to see if it was any more active than before. Unfortunately, all he had were speculations that couldn’t be proven or disproven.

I suppose it’s also possible that it’s a combination of all three possibilities. In that case, the way to deal with this situation is....

As Xu Qing frowned in thought, an icy will suddenly gathered around him. Instantly, he shot backward. Loud cracking sounds rang out from the spot he had just occupied, as that entire area froze solid.

Xu Qing’s eyes turned pitch black as he used the Shadow Fusion Secret Magic. In an instant, a host of grieves became visible to him, surging maliciously toward him from all directions. From the way they were acting, it seemed as if they were being controlled by some external force.

A moment later, a huge sun rose within Xu Qing, and the profound sun immortal light shone out. Beams of immortal light stabbed out in all directions, shattering the ice, and causing countless shadows to howl in grief. In the blink of an eye, more than half of the grieves around Xu Qing were gone.

He blurred into motion. However, the remaining shadows were still racing toward him.

How can there be so many? It doesn’t seem possible!

Xu Qing fled while simultaneously emitting immortal light. At the moment, he was in quite a passive position, and all the while, the flame of the red candle sent its light pulsing out. With every pulse of light, the surrounding painting of stars transformed. And when the candle light touched Xu Qing, his soul started sizzling.

These shadows aren’t just cultivators from the Devilbird holy lands that died here! The World Origin Pocket Realm is extremely old. Older than the holy land. Before it came to the Revered Ancient mainland, it definitely passed through other worlds. It stands to reason... that that’s why it accumulated so many of these shadows!

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered with killing intent. He could tell at a glance that these shadows were trying to kill him. Therefore, since Xu Qing

could

see them, he could kill them, not only with immortal light, but with other methods. Rumbling sounds echoed out as masses of xeno-immortal soul threads shot out from him, accompanied by godly authority. Wherever they passed, shadows exploded.

Unfortunately, the sense of crisis within Xu Qing didn’t lessen at all. Instead, it grew more intense. And that was because the flame of the red candle was causing his soul to feel more and more like it was burning. At the same time, the star painting that was the World Origin Pocket Realm was changing rapidly. It was almost as if painted eyes were opening and staring at him with boundless greed.

The sense of crisis they imparted to Xu Qing continued to grow. In addition to burning, his soul was starting to crack and crumble. It was as if the painted eyes were exerting a terrifying force onto his soul, to try to drag it out of him.

There was more. What caused Xu Qing’s heart to sink even further was the sensation that his soul was transforming from something formless into something with a form.

And it was the form of a painting! He was currently transforming into a painting! Put precisely, it was a canvas made from a fleshly body with a design painted on it that resembled a soul.

Being fused with Little Shadow makes it possible to see all these other shadows. That’s why I can attack them. However… there is balance in all things. Because I can see them, the red candle can also see me... and that’s why I’m being absorbed so quickly. But if I exit this state, then I won’t be able to see the shadows, and I won’t be able to wipe them out!

It was like a deadly paradox.

Looking very grim, Xu Qing unfused with Little Shadow. As his eyes ceased to be pitch black, he also ceased to feel the sensation of his soul being ripped out of him. Unfortunately, because he couldn’t see the grieves around him, and thus couldn’t fight back against them, he had no choice but to just run away and try to find a way to escape the pocket realm.

Sadly, the red candle ensured that every attempt he made met with failure. Whenever he activated the medallion, it failed to work.

Eventually, despite not being fused with Little Shadow, he could see the signs that he was being absorbed by the red candle. His fleshly body seemed fine. But his soul was gradually being affected. In fact, even his thoughts were being influenced, as if they were starting to corrode.

Beyond that, the fate lineaments from Xu Qing’s incarnated form of Sir Blood Dust were unexpectedly being melted by the gruish candle. As a result, he couldn’t maintain the form. His disguise, and everything he had done to connect himself to the real Sir Blood Dust, were being undone.

Of course,

when it rains, it pours

. Either that, or the third possibility Xu Qing had considered was coming true. After all of the luck he had experienced, he started to see signs of very familiar misfortune...

A cultivator appeared in front of him! This was the first living person Xu Qing had encountered since coming to the pocket realm.

It was a three-world Smoldering God cultivator. Apparently, he hadn’t been here for very long, and was in the middle of seeking enlightenment. However, the dramatic things that were going on caused him to emerge from his enlightenment and look around suspiciously. He quickly caught sight of Xu Qing. The Devilbird cultivator’s jaw dropped, and his expression became one of utter incredulity.

“Xu Qing?”

Given how utterly famous Xu Qing was among humankind, now that his disguise was gone, he was recognized instantly. And it made complete sense that, as soon as the cultivator recognized him, he took out his medallion and activated it to leave. The medallion immediately caused a vortex to appear.

It looked like he was about to make his escape. But then Xu Qing’s eyes glinted with cold light, and he shot forward with a burst of speed. Rumbling sounds accompanied his movement. Unfortunately, as he neared the vortex, the red candle pulsed with light, and the vortex was wiped out of existence. The Devilbird cultivator’s teleportation portal had been severed.

Xu Qing was still stuck.

It was hard to say if the misfortune was striking Xu Qing or the other cultivator. Maybe it was hitting both of them at the same time. After all, Xu Qing did command the godly authority of misfortune....

Xu Qing didn’t have time to break down the exact reason right now. Seeing that the other cultivator’s teleportation had been unsuccessful caused a grimace to appear on Xu Qing’s face.

As for the Devilbird cultivator, he was backing away in astonishment. However, before he could get more than thirty meters away, a tremor passed through him, and his eyes went black. It was as if something else was controlling him. Suddenly looking at Xu Qing with deep greed, he shot forward and began a self-detonation.

A rumbling boom echoed out. A moment later, Xu Qing was fleeing the area.

The detonation of a three-world Smoldering God couldn’t harm his fleshly body. But it would have an effect on his soul, which was currently in the middle of being absorbed. Thankfully, after that, he didn’t encounter any other cultivators seeking enlightenment. After all, getting into the World Origin Pocket Realm required a huge amount of battle credit, so it wasn’t common for cultivators to come in.

Unfortunately, Xu Qing still hadn’t come up with a plan to get away. More grieves were chasing after him. The absorption effects were getting more severe.

Eventually, Xu Qing could sense very clearly that the entire pocket realm was pulsing with malicious intentions. In fact, as he went along, there were planets and worlds that, despite clearly not being about to detonate, would be influenced by the flame, and would explode.

There were even empty spots with nothing in them, where planets would appear out of nowhere and then explode. The destructive forces unleashed by such detonations were impossible for Xu Qing to defend against. Most ridiculous of all was that the red candle seemed to be losing patience. Every pulse of the flame would cause explosions.

The candle was like a volcano, sending intense light throughout the World Origin Pocket Realm, which melted everything. From the look of it, everything inside the pocket realm was going to end up melted.

Planets. Worlds. Dust.... The red candle was burning with such intensity, that the candle itself was starting to disappear.

It wants to exterminate me. It doesn’t want any trace of me left alive. My only options are to somehow get the empress to realize that something unusual is going on, or to last until the candle burns itself out.

In the case of the former, I’m in a passive position. In the case of the latter, well, I have no idea how long that will take. Besides, what if the candle just resets after it burns out? After all, this could all be because of the karma of the mask! Most importantly of all is that I really can’t afford to wait around.

After trying many options, none of which worked, Xu Qing’s eyes erupted with killing intent. There was only one option left. Stopping in place, he turned to look at the burning candle with determination filling his gaze. Going forward, everything pointed to disaster.

“Since you won’t let me leave, and want to absorb me...”

Xu Qing’s eyes filled with ferocity and a crazy look. And then he shot toward the core of the World Origin Pocket Realm, which was none other than the red candle.

This final option was going to be extremely dangerous. Maybe it wouldn’t work. After all, the three possibilities he had considered all ended with him being absorbed. Whether it was the karma of the mask or the influence of the candle, he couldn’t leave this place.

The greedy candle wanted to absorb him. The godly authority of good luck was followed by misfortune.

“... well, I’ll absorb you!”

His eyes were completely bloodshot as he shot toward the flickering candle flame, followed by countless shadows. He was like a shooting star, or perhaps a moth flying toward the flame. Either way, he was... pressing forward!