Chapter 130: Using a Lamp in Lone

Cultivation

Xu Qing knew he had to be very careful about picking a location

for his Foundation Establishment breakthrough.

There were many aspects to consider. For example, he needed to

make sure no one was following him. At the same time, he needed
to determine if there were any powerful organizations nearby. The
local spirit power levels were important; he wanted a place where
it wasn’t too strong, but wasn’t too weak. He didn’t want to be too
close to a forbidden region, but at the same time, didn’t want to be
near a city. All things considered, the wilderness seemed like the
best option.

It didn’t seem like there were going to be a lot of places to pick

from.

After he narrowed down the places that were suitable, he needed

to determine if anyone else had used those places in the past for
breakthroughs.

He had considered the temple complex in the forbidden region by

the scavenger basecamp. But the surroundings were too
dangerous. Besides, the Singing made him hesitant. So in the
end, he chose not to go there.
The first place he visited was a Seven Blood Eyes city near Violet
Lands territory. It was in the heartland of human-occupied South
Phoenix, where there weren’t many forbidden regions, and things
were relatively safe.

That said, there were a wide variety of people here.

As the light of teleportation faded, Xu Qing walked off the spell

formation. He didn’t immediately leave the city. Instead, he found
an inn where he could keep an eye on his surroundings and rest.
The next morning, he used a talisman treasure to change his
appearance, then teleported out of the city.

That was how he spent the next two weeks. He teleported to

seven or eight different locations, changing his appearance each
time. Not only did it give him a chance to see what the rest of
South Phoenix was like, but also, it allowed him to confirm that
nobody was following him. At that point, he breathed a sigh of
relief.

During those two weeks, his wounds recovered by about seventy

or eighty percent, placing his battle prowess at roughly the same
place it had been when he went to the Merfolk Isles.

After his last teleportation, he left the city and began searching the
wilderness for a suitable spot for his Foundation Establishment
breakthrough. That search took another half month. The place he
finally selected was a mountainous region in the southeast of the
continent. There were many mountains here, and most of them
were covered with jungle. It wasn’t a forbidden region. Rather, it
was more like a rainforest, with high humidity and silty soil.

Because of the terrain, there weren’t many cities nearby. In fact,

the nearest one was about a week away. The mutagen wasn’t very
strong, but neither was the spirit power. Because of that, there
were no major organizations nearby. Although there were some
aspects to this area that weren’t perfect, after having inspected so
many other areas, Xu Qing decided that it would work for him.

The specific location he picked wasn’t on top of one of the

mountains, but rather, in a deep jungle valley between two
mountains.

Given his experience dealing with jungles, it wasn’t hard for him to
find a space to excavate a cave. The soil was loose, making it
difficult to dig in. However, Xu Qing was able to use the
Seaforming Scripture to extract most of the moisture from one
section. Then, deep beneath the surface, he created something
like a cave temple.

He concealed the entrance, and also scattered poison powder all

over the area. Then, he sat down cross-legged in the cave, took a
moment to settle in, then set up and activated all five of his
defensive spell formations.
He had an additional formation that would conceal his aura and
fluctuations. Putting some spirit stones into the formation to
activate it, he settled into place and started breathing deeply. At
long last, he was feeling safe.

This is where I’ll reach Foundation Establishment.

Looking down into his bag of holding, he checked the various food
items he had purchased on his journey through the various cities
recently. There was enough food to last for at least half a year.

He wasn’t sure how long he would need for the breakthrough, but
he had already decided that once he started the process, he
wouldn’t go outside until it was finished.

He was now totally ready for the breakthrough. However, before

beginning any actual cultivation, there were two things he needed
to take care of.

Taking out his black iron skewer, he performed an incantation

gesture with his left hand and then sent spirit power into it to
suppress Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior. The patriarch instantly
wailed in agony.

“What’s going on, milord? I’m sorry! I was wrong! Don’t kill me.
Just tell me what I did wrong!”

Xu Qing ignored him and continued with the suppression.

Eventually, the patriarch became so weak that he passed out. At
that point, Xu Qing stopped. He had been worried that the
patriarch might interfere with him in the middle of the breakthrough
process. But now the patriarch was weak enough that it wouldn’t
be an issue. Next, with numerous incantation gestures and
portions of spirit power, he put a host of seals on the iron skewer.

His shadow was able to sense everything he had just done, and
now it was trembling with the knowledge of what was to come.

Face expressionless, Xu Qing looked at his shadow.

The shadow trembled even more. Then, as Xu Qing stared at it, it

started splitting apart, as if it were damaging itself intentionally.

“Not enough,” Xu Qing said tranquilly. Using the power of the violet
crystal, he viciously suppressed the shadow, until it became so
faint it looked like it was about to collapse. Only then did he stop
and say, “If I fail to reach Foundation Establishment, then right
before I die, I’ll suppress you out of existence!”

With his shadow taken care of, Xu Qing had weakened two of his
greatest potential calamities. Only then did he feel like he could
rest at ease. Taking out the Spirit Breath Lamp, he lit it.

Instantly, the light of the lamp spread out to encompass him.

Normally speaking, using protective magical devices like this was
very expensive. Because of that, cultivators generally would only
light them right on the verge of reaching Foundation
Establishment.
It was the same even in the fabulously wealthy Seven Blood Eyes.
Most disciples who were approaching a breakthrough would rent a
spot in the sect, not go outside like Xu Qing. Doing that was
considered a luxury.

That said, Xu Qing wasn’t ready for his breakthrough quite yet. His
first goal was to expand his spirit sea as much as possible. What
was more, he wasn’t going to power the lamp with his own
resources, but rather draw on the lamp’s inherent spirit power. He
could sense that the lamp had an abundance of spirit power, and
he felt no qualms about burning it.

Next, he produced two jade boxes.

One of them contained three Foundation Establishment Pills. The

other contained two. The first he’d acquired from the Captain, and
the second was from the corpse of the unlucky merman whose
breakthrough Xu Qing had interrupted at Foundation
Establishment Tower in the Merfolk Isles. That merman had
obviously been an important person, and had originally possessed
more than these pills. But he had consumed several of them,
leaving only two remaining at the time of his death.

Xu Qing was pleased to have a total of five pills. Taking a deep

breath within the light of the Spirit Breath Lamp, he closed his
eyes and began cultivating.

Seven days passed.

During that time, Xu Qing completely immersed himself in
cultivation. He constantly used the Seaforming Scripture, bringing
in spirit power from the surroundings and sending it coursing
through his body and into his spirit sea. As the process continued,
his spirit sea grew larger. It went from the previous limit of 891
meters to 1,020!

That alone smashed all historical records in the Seventh Peak.

After all, when Master Seventh broke through, he only reached
810 meters. [1]

Before Master Seventh, no one had reached that level. Now, a full
sixty-year-cycle later, in a little cave no one knew about, Xu Qing
pushed the Seaforming Scripture to new heights. [2]

His 1,020-meter spirit sea was shockingly majestic, and if he

revealed it openly, it would shake the jungle around him. If people
in Seven Blood Eyes found out about it, they would be shaken,
from the top leaders to the lowliest disciples.

Unfortunately, that would attract far too much attention in the sect.
And in a place where the only unifying force was profit, being so
dazzling wouldn’t necessarily lead to a good outcome.

Xu Qing had no intention of letting anyone know the truth. Prestige

didn’t matter to him. He just wanted to stay alive, and maybe
increase his quality of life. In the brutal world he lived in, the only
way to do that was to get stronger. If an enemy threatened your
safety, you needed to be able to kill them. That was the only way
to stay truly safe.

Of course, if there was some purpose to revealing his spirit sea,

he would consider it. But until he was sure that he was superior to
everyone around him, he would keep it hidden, and use it only to
strike a killing blow unexpectedly. That was his way of staying
alive.

Taking a deep breath, he calmly continued with his cultivation.

More days passed. He had not reached the final limits for his spirit
sea, and thus, every day it would grow by another thirty meters.

1,050.

1,110.

By the time another seven days passed, his spirit sea reached the
shocking level of 1,200. His spirit sea was now quadruple the size
of an ordinary disciple in the great circle.

Thanks to the light of the Spirit Breath Lamp, Xu Qing seemed

sparkling and translucent, as though endless seawater was
flowing through him. In fact, the entire cave was filled with thick
water vapor.

Opening his eyes, he took a short break to eat, check the spell
formations and poison powder, and then prepared to continue.
I can still push it farther!

1,230 meters. 1,260 meters. 1,290 meters.

At the end of the third week, his spirit sea reached 1,410 meters,
and at long last, he was starting to feel pain.

It was like he was a bag of water. As that bag filled with water, it
would eventually reach its limit, and burst if too much was added.

Breathing unsteadily, Xu Qing mulled the matter over and then

gritted his teeth and continued with his cultivation. This time, he
went slower. Instead of adding 30 meters per day, he instead
added 15.

As he made further progress, the pain increased. Half a month

later, his spirit sea reached the astounding size of 1,500 meters.

Pain assailed him throughout his body, to the point where he

seemed like he might burst. Meanwhile, the violet crystal worked
madly to help him recover.

“That’s my limit,” he murmured.

He had pushed himself so far that he felt like it would be difficult to

move. It was like entire mountains and seas were resting on his
shoulders, pushing down on him with incredible force. Thankfully,
he had the violet crystal, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to continue
with cultivation.
Now it’s time for Foundation Establishment!

Eyes shining with determination, he took out the first Foundation

Establishment Pill and put it in his mouth.

It was like throwing water into boiling oil. His 1,500-meter spirit sea
exploded, its surface instantly turning into raging waves as it
spread out with mountain-toppling, sea-draining force.

1. It was in chapter 105 that we first heard about someone

reaching 810 meters. Now we know who that person was. ☜

2. I believe this is the first time a sixty-year-cycle is mentioned in

this novel. The sixty-year-cycle, or a sexagenary cycle, is a
common way of measuring time using the system of Heavenly
Stems and Earthly Branches. If you want to learn more, here’s a
wikipedia link. Over the years I’ve seen a few questions about my
translation choice for this term, so I’ll answer them here. Question:
Why not just say “sixty years” to make it simple? Answer: because
this is an important and unique aspect of Chinese culture, and I
think it’s important to keep those things in the translation as much
as possible. Question: Why not use “sexagenary cycle” instead?
Answer: For the specific term used in Chinese, virtually all of the
dictionaries I use in translation (and there are over twenty of
them), use “sixty-year-cycle” or a variation on that. Furthermore,
using “sixty” in the translation makes it easier for everyone to
understand what it’s talking about. Also “sexagenary” sounds
weird right? 🤣 ☜
Deathblade's ThoughtsThis is the beginning of Volume 3: Small
Grain. Yet again, here's the solar terms reference link.

This is the beginning of Volume 3: Small Grain. Yet again, here's

the solar terms reference link.
Chapter 131: Grues Blowing Out the Lamp

The breakthrough from Qi Condensation into Foundation

Establishment involved three steps.

The first step was sending accumulated spirit power exploding into
one’s body to search for dharma apertures and memorize their
location. The most important aspect during this time was the total
number of dharma apertures found. The step could be repeated as
many times as necessary, and Foundation Establishment Pills
helped during it. Usually, this part took up about half of the total
breakthrough time. The second step was to converge one’s spirit
sea, use it to batter the first dharma aperture, and ultimately open
it. After enough spirit power was poured into the opened dharma
aperture, then the cultivator’s first batch of dharma force would
result. When the dharma force was unleashed, it would fill the
cultivator, transforming their flesh and blood, and increasing their
life level. That was the third step in the process.

When all three steps were complete, the cultivator was officially in
Foundation Establishment. It sounded simple, but the reality was
that the only way to successfully complete all three steps was to
be 100% prepared, and also have a bit of luck.

Xu Qing started with the first step by unleashing the full power of
his 1,500-meter spirit sea. As the waves of power surged, he
began the search for his dharma apertures.
Dharma apertures were not acupoints. Because no two physical
bodies were exactly the same, the dharma apertures were never
in the same location.

Xu Qing had a huge reserve of spirit power, so he could spend

more time looking. What was more, there were various ways to
attempt to sense the location of the dharma apertures. Among the
jade slips Ding Xue had given him was a suggestion to use a
method called Forceful Exploration. [1]

The reason it was called Forceful Exploration was that it involved

using one’s spirit power to force the dharma aperture to reveal
themselves. Many Qi Condensation disciples considered it a trump
card to use at the very end of the step.

But Xu Qing could use only a small portion of his spirit power to
utilize the method much earlier.

He didn’t expect one usage of Forceful Exploration to reveal all of

the dharma apertures. So he planned to do some experiments
first. He started by releasing only twenty percent of the power of
his spirit sea, in other words, 300 meters of it.

Although it was only twenty percent to him, it would be going all

out for most ordinary disciples.

He trembled from head to toe as 300 meters of spirit sea erupted

from his dantian region, sweeping through his meridians, flesh,
and bones like the tide. As it spread, his meridians became like
rivers, and the spirit sea raged like sea dragons through them.

As for his flesh, bones, and organs, they were like parched fields
that sucked up the spirit power greedily. As all of that happened,
he began his search.

Almost immediately, he noticed places in his meridians that were

like small vortexes. They were very small and difficult to spot, and
would only be noticeable when the meridians were absolutely full
to capacity.

The vortexes were like heavenly gates that, when filled with spirit
power, released a very mysterious aura. Upon sensing that aura,
Xu Qing came to realize that the vortexes were indeed the dharma
apertures.

The apertures weren’t just located in his meridians. They were

also in his flesh, organs, and bones.

91 of them!

His eyes shone as he ended his first attempt to sense the dharma
apertures.

According to the information he’d read about Foundation

Establishment, mutagen would interfere with the attempt to sense
the apertures. However, theoretically speaking, there should be
120 of them in total. Normally, finding only 80 would be considered
a success, while someone who found 90 would stand head and
shoulders above ordinary cultivators.

Because 30 dharma apertures was the requirement to form a

single life flame, that meant that only three life flames were
possible after the first.

If Xu Qing didn’t care about the total number of apertures, then he

could easily proceed to the second step of Foundation
Establishment.

Wait, I don’t have any mutagen in me. So why did I only sense 91
dharma apertures?

After some thought, he came to the conclusion that it must come

down to aptitude. Before the broken face of the god came, there
was no mutagen in the world. Back then, cultivators didn’t have to
worry about the purity levels within their bodies. Everything came
down to aptitude.

But things were different now. Most sects and organizations didn’t
care much about aptitude. The only people who did were the
important scions of massive organizations.

In other words, my lack of mutagen doesn’t change the fact that if

my dharma apertures are deeply hidden, my ability to sense them
will come down to aptitude.
After thinking about it some more, his eyes shone. He wasn’t
worried that he hadn’t found all the apertures. And if his aptitude
was limited, that didn’t matter either. As long as he had enough
spirit power, then there were ways for him to find the hidden
dharma apertures.

If he didn’t find them in one shot, then he would try a second time.
And if that didn’t work, he would try five or six times.

Having reached the conclusion that this was definitely the best
idea, he closed his eyes and released half of his remaining 1,200
meters of spirit sea.

600 meters of spirit sea exploded out as he began his second

attempt to sense the dharma apertures.

What he was doing was absolutely incomparable, and would be

considered astonishing to ordinary cultivators. As his spirit sea
erupted, his meridians swelled, and his flesh, organs, and bones
filled with spirit power, causing him to tremble inside and out. The
force of his effort was so intense that, in the blink of an eye, five
dharma apertures appeared.

He had already sensed a total of 96 dharma apertures!

There was still spirit power left for his second attempt, however, so
he continued the search.
I have enough spirit power and enough Foundation Establishment
Pills.

Before his second attempt was even over, he decided to unleash

his remaining 600 meters of spirit sea. However, that was when
something unexpected happened!

As he sat there cross-legged in his cave temple, the Spirit Breath

Lamp, which was casting its light over him and separating him
from the darkness, suddenly seemed to sway as if it had been hit
by some wind. In fact, as the flame flickered, it looked like it might
be extinguished.

As the flame swayed, shadows appeared on the walls of the cave,

like people or creatures. However, they were incomplete, and so
blurry that it was impossible to make them out clearly. It was like
they existed in the cracks between time and space, and thus
weren’t completely visible.

Normally speaking, they didn’t pay attention to what was

happening around them. But the aura created by Xu Qing sensing
his dharma apertures seeped into their world, attracting their
attention. Their world was a huge place, and auras like this would
often appear there. Because of the great distances involved, only
grues who were in the immediate vicinity would usually notice. But
the flame of the Spirit Breath Lamp could exert pressure on them,
and thus, all they could do was congregate in the cave and look on
greedily.
As that greed transformed into malicious intentions, Xu Qing
sensed it, and his mind spun.

He didn’t know exactly what these grues were. His jade slips with
information about Foundation Establishment hadn’t offered a clear
explanation. But he could sense their maliciousness, and knew
that if they attacked him, his breakthrough would fail. Thankfully,
the Spirit Breath Lamp couldn’t be extinguished so easily. Though
its flame flickered, it still cast its protective light around Xu Qing.

Knowing he didn’t have a lot of time to work with, he took a deep

breath and used his spirit sea to continue looking for dharma
apertures.

Rumbling filled him as he found an additional seven. He was now

at a total of 103!

He only needed seventeen more to reach the theoretical limit of

120!

“Again!” he murmured through gritted teeth.

Sending his spirit sea sweeping through himself, he heard

cracking sounds as he found four more dharma apertures.

107!

At the same time, the bizarre shadows around him grew clearer.
Howling noiselessly, they circled, exhaling sinister winds to try to
extinguish the lamp. The Spirit Breath Lamp’s flame flickered even
more wildly, as if it might be extinguished at any moment.

Xu Qing ignored all of that. Opening his eyes, he consumed

another Foundation Establishment Pill, instantly causing his dried-
up spirit sea to fill with spirit power. Without hesitation, he sent the
power through his body, making him feel like he was swelling up
dramatically.

As his third attempt began, and the spirit power flowed through
him, he found three more as-yet undiscovered dharma apertures.

He was now at a total of 110!

Gasping for breath, he waved his hand, causing one entire box of
Foundation Establishment Pills to fly over. Inside were three pills
that he consumed all at once.

Rumbling filled him as the power of the pills became like raging
sea dragons within him. He wondered if his body could even
sustain the force, as it felt like he was swelling up even more than
before. However, one dharma aperture after another appeared.

111. 113. 115.

All the way to 118!

He just needed two more dharma apertures to reach the limit.

However, no matter how he searched, he found that the aura
emitted by the dharma apertures he’d found so far was too
intense. That itself was what had attracted the grues.

Most cultivators would sense 90 apertures, or perhaps a few more.

Xu Qing really was very close to the limit.

The intense aura that resulted was like a bright torch on a dark
night.

As for the Spirit Breath Lamp, it wasn’t the highest-quality treasure

possible, and it could only hold on for so long. After all, it had
never been tasked with protecting a cultivator like Xu Qing.

As the flickering of the flame grew even more intense, a final blast
of sinister wind suddenly extinguished it!

1. Ding Xue gave him the jade slips in chapter 108. ☜

Chapter 132: Life as an Umbrella

In the instant the lamp went out, all of the light vanished, and the
countless grues erupted into cackling laughter. Filled with
unprecedented greed and longing, they lunged toward Xu Qing.

However, also in that instant, a light flared that surpassed the

Spirit Breath Lamp by many times over. In fact, it wasn’t even
possible to compare them. One was like a firefly, the other was like
the brightly shining moon. The light swept out to fill the entire cave
with brightness like that of daytime!

The grues let loose bloodcurdling screams as they were instantly

transformed into ash.

In front of Xu Qing appeared a burning lamp that looked like a

black umbrella. Of course, it was none other than the precious
treasure he had taken from the Merfolk, the life lamp. The lamp
had not been lit; the brilliant light that shone out from it came from
the lamp itself. It looked like it was burning, yet actually wasn’t.

Even unlit, it was shocking to the extreme, and its light covered Xu
Qing with such intensity that the grues in the area were like moths
that flew into a flame. Though some survived at the outskirts, none
of them dared to get close after that.
The brilliant light also gave Xu Qing some clues about the dharma
apertures.

As spirit power rushed through him, his mind spun and his body
shook violently. At the same time, he found the final two dharma
apertures!

120 apertures!

Throughout the entire history of Seven Blood Eyes, no one had

ever sensed 120 dharma apertures. And it was only possible to
sense the apertures during the breakthrough process. Therefore, it
was generally accepted that, however many you sensed in that
moment, that was your limit going forward.

It wasn’t just rare for someone to sense 120 dharma apertures in

Seven Blood Eyes. It was also the case in most great sects and
organizations.

However, in the information in Xu Qing’s jade slips, 120 was

actually called the ‘theoretical’ limit for dharma apertures. Though
there was no information indicating there was anything past that,
after sensing the 120th dharma aperture, Xu Qing realized that
120 actually wasn’t the limit. Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to
detect beyond 120 at the moment. He would have to open all the
apertures before he could explore what was beyond.

What was more, he got the feeling that if he broke past that point
of 120, then finding more dharma apertures would result in
heaven-shaking, earth-toppling transformations.

He took a deep breath, his heart filled with anticipation. However,

he also knew that now wasn’t the time to contemplate those
matters. He could worry about them later.

In that case, I’ll start the second step. It’s time to open my first
dharma aperture of Foundation Establishment!

He reached out, took his final Foundation Establishment Pill, and

consumed it. His spirit sea exploded like the raging tide, rushing
directly toward his first dharma aperture. Xu Qing felt like he was
being pummeled, like an enormous beast was smashing into him
at high speed. It almost seemed like his body might collapse.
However, it was also to his surprise that his 1st dharma aperture
immediately opened!

The opened dharma aperture became like a point of light, a

burning flame that started sucking in spirit power until it became a
vortex.

Rumbling sounds echoed out as dramatic transformations

occurred to his energy. Burning like fire, it expanded rapidly. At the
same time, a brightly burning thread of highly compressed fire
appeared within the vortex. That thread was the dharma force of
Foundation Establishment! It surpassed the great circle of Qi
Condensation by a huge amount, to the point where they were on
completely different levels.
As it rose up, glittering with dazzling light, it emitted shocking heat
that seemed reflected in Xu Qing himself. The spirit sea in his
dharma aperture vastly surpassed anything from an ordinary
cultivator. Clearly, his work to push his spirit sea to 1,500 meters
had been worth it. And given that his dharma aperture could fit a
1,500-meter spirit sea, it was little wonder that his dharma
aperture surpassed anything that an ordinary cultivator could form.

As Xu Qing’s aura transformed, the dharma force coursed through

him, provoking extremely dramatic transformations. It started with
his meridians, which became tougher. Furthermore, it was
possible to see countless natural striations within him. Next was
his flesh. As the dharma force flowed through it, it transformed on
a substructural level. Then came his bones and organs, all of
which became tougher. And all of them, along with this flesh, came
to bear natural striations. This was a dharma body!

When cultivators stepped into Foundation Establishment, their life

force leaped to a higher level. They turned what was mortal into
something dharmic!

As his dharma body formed, and his dharma force proliferated, he

began to emit fluctuations that surpassed Qi Condensation. As
they rolled out explosively, he opened his eyes, which shone with
violet light.

According to what he’d read in the jade slips, when a disciple who
had a Forbidden Sea dragonwhale reached Foundation
Establishment, they would be able to open their 2nd dharma
aperture more quickly than average.

During the actual process of the breakthrough, opening a 2nd

dharma aperture would result in a second opportunity to refine the
body. And it could only happen then. After the breakthrough point,
opening more dharma apertures wouldn’t result in any changes.

It was a precious opportunity, and in some ways, that 2nd dharma

aperture became like a second life.

Xu Qing threw both of his hands out, and his dragonwhale

appeared, which had reformed after his previous grievous injuries.
Forcing it down into the size of his fist, he put it in his mouth and
swallowed it. A moment later, the snakeneck dragon emitted a
cheerful cry as it rushed toward his 2nd dharma aperture.

Rumbling sounds echoed out as the 2nd dharma aperture opened!

The snakeneck dragon charged inside, transforming into a 1,500-

meter spirit sea vortex. Flames raged, and a second thread of
dharma force appeared! When it appeared, it swept through him
and once again transformed and blessed his body.

The shadowy grues surrounding him looked more greedy than

ever, but when they tried to approach, the life lamp kept them at
bay.
But then, an unprecedented sinister wind erupted, like a tempest.
It was as if some mighty fiend had risen up from within the grues,
and was trying to extinguish the lamp. Although the grues could
not blow out the fire, they did manage to weaken it. And as it
weakened, that unseen fiend seemed to get very excited, and
howled noiselessly. Then it unleashed a projection that, in the blink
of an eye, shot toward Xu Qing’s forehead.

However, as the life lamp glittered brightly, the projection was

forced to abandon its assault and shrank back.

Then, Xu Qing’s shadow, which he had suppressed earlier,

seemed to catch a whiff of an appetizing aroma, and shot toward
the projection. Before the projection could return to where it came
from, the shadow arrived and gobbled it up.

As the fiend’s howls faded, the shadow burped and then looked
back maliciously at Xu Qing. In the end, though, it shivered a few
times and seemed to reconsider taking action. It remembered
being viciously suppressed, and as a result, didn’t dare to make a
move. Returning to Xu Qing, it once again assumed its bored and
bedraggled countenance from before.

Meanwhile, the grues in the area all trembled like fish in the face
of a shark. Then, all in the same moment, they vanished.

Xu Qing opened his eyes and looked down at his shadow.

The shadow shivered, and more cracks appeared on it. Whether it
was real or an act, Xu Qing didn’t know. Narrowing his eyes, he
examined himself. His dharma body was still being blessed, and
rumbling sounds filled him from the beating of his heart.

It sounded like war drums.

At the same time, the second thread of dharma force combined

with the first.

That new unified thread of dharma force made Xu Qing burn even
brighter as the two spirit seas in his two dharma apertures
continued to produce more dharma force. After filling him
completely, it seeped out into the open.

His aura was now far beyond what it had been in the past. In fact,
it surpassed comparison. And in terms of level, if he encountered
another Foundation Establishment cultivator right now, then that
person’s dharma apertures wouldn’t be nearly as dazzling as Xu
Qing’s.

The point of opening dharma apertures is for life flames! 30

dharma apertures allow you to form your first life flame! One life
flame is the true early Foundation Establishment. Two life flames
is mid Foundation Establishment. Only by forming life flames can
one truly unleash the signature power of Foundation
Establishment cultivators, the profound radiance state!
As Xu Qing knew from his jade slips, Foundation Establishment
cultivators didn’t keep their life flames ignited for long periods of
time. After all, being in the profound radiance state was extremely
draining. That said, the profound radiance state provided
incredible amounts of battle prowess. That was why most
Foundation Establishment cultivators with life flames only used
them in battle.

That was why I was able to beat Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior.
He hadn’t opened his 30th dharma aperture. I need to get to that
point as quickly as possible!

Xu Qing’s eyes shone with both vigilance and anticipation. The

vigilance was from the fact that he now knew Foundation
Establishment cultivators were more complicated than he had
realized. The anticipation was from knowing that after opening
enough dharma apertures, he could enter the profound radiance
state. And then there was his life lamp!

Even the great sects and organizations long for life lamps. One
such lamp contains the power of an entire additional life flame.
That said, in order to use the lamp I have, I first need a life flame.
Only then can I ignite it within me.

In other words, once I form my first life flame, I can then put it onto
the life lamp. With that foundation for my life flame, I’ll actually
have the power of two life flames, allowing me to crush anyone in
early Foundation Establishment. And I bet that, given the
profundity of my dharma apertures, I’ll be able to stay in the
profound radiance state for much longer than average. [1]

Eyes flashing like lightning, he picked up the life lamp. As its light
reflected in his eyes, they seemed to burn even more brightly.

Next, I need to put the life lamp inside of me. That’ll be the safest
thing.

The dharma force within him erupted out of his 2 dharma

apertures. Placing his hands over the life lamp caused it to
become slightly transparent. Then he used the dharma force to
merge it into himself. As his dharma force came back inside his
body, he sensed the life lamp in his dantian region, like a black
umbrella. It abounded with profound mystery, and as it slowly
opened and closed, it pulsed with a baleful aura.

After the life lamp pulsed brightly, then darkened back and forth a
few times, it settled down. It had become part of Xu Qing’s body,
and as it did, a feeling of ancient times settled into him.

Just barely visible above Xu Qing’s head was the image of a black
umbrella, like an imperial canopy, tapping into the fires of heaven
to emanate a screen of protection around him. Beneath that
umbrella, Xu Qing felt incomparably safe.

At the same time, his dharma apertures experienced a blessing.

The spirit seas within them rotated faster, and the speed of
production for his dharma force increased.
It was now possible to sense some of the aura of that black
umbrella within his dharma force. It seemed wild and ancient, and
burning hot. As it spread through Xu Qing, he felt like he was
being scalded. In fact, at that moment, his clothes crumbled into
ashes. The cave temple filled with intense heat, causing the walls
to crack. And then the rainforest outside started steaming. Trees
burst into flames then crumbled into ashes. Before long, the
intense heat spread out to the entire rainforest.

As steam roiled up, the ground became parched. And soon, all the
trees had been burned into ashes, for a range of over 9,000
meters!

Within that area, the shocking heat made the land look like it had
been scorched by drought for a thousand years!

In the middle of that drought-scourged area, the soil around Xu

Qing’s cave had already been baked into black crystal. And he sat
in the middle of it all, eyes closed peacefully as he meditated.

If someone else in Foundation Establishment was able to look

inside of him in that moment, they would be flabbergasted to
realize that their dharma apertures were small while his were
enormous. Furthermore, he had a black umbrella inside of him
protecting his soul. The glow of the black umbrella completely
encompassed him, and within that glow it almost seemed possible
that there existed heavenly palaces.
After a long time passed, Xu Qing opened his eyes.

1. Given the description of how the life flame and life lamp work
together, it makes sense that the lamp would resemble real-life
ancient Chinese oil lamps like this. Combine that with images from
previous footnotes about Chinese umbrellas and ‘imperial
canopies’ in chapter 123 and you should have fertile inspiration to
imagine what the life lamp looks like. ☜
Chapter 133: Leaving Mortality

When his eyes opened, the 9,000-meter area of flame grew more
blistering, sending steam roiling up into the sky to form the
indistinct image of a black umbrella, which in turn masked the
fluctuations. As a result, no one saw what was happening.
However, all of the wild beasts in the area trembled and prostrated
on the ground, not daring to move. One reason was that Xu Qing’s
aura was already that of Foundation Establishment, the might of
which would weigh down in stupefying fashion. The other reason
was because of the life lamp in him!

It was impossible to know what that umbrella-shaped life lamp had

gone through during its existence, but it had an intense,
murderous aura.

According to the information from the Captain, this lamp had to

come from the time before the broken face of the god arrived, and
was linked to the bloodline of one of the Ancient Emperors or
Imperial Sovereigns. And it must have been created using an
imperial-class technique.

Even in that past era, people like that were as rare as phoenix
feathers or qilin horns. Any such individual could dominate
everything around them. And the only cultivators who could fight
them were also from a bloodline of one of the Ancient Emperors or
Imperial Sovereigns, and also possessed life lamps.
After the broken face of the god arrived, the Ancient Emperors and
Imperial Sovereigns left. Because of that, life lamps were
exceedingly rare in the world. Only the trusted scions of powerful
sects and organizations would be lucky enough to get them.

I wonder which of the Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns

this lamp comes from. Xu Qing took out an ordinary set of clothing
and put it on. He looked at the black umbrella above, formed from
steam and mist, then opened his mouth and inhaled. Instantly, all
of the mist from the 9,000-meter area of flame rushed toward him.

Xu Qing became the center of a vortex as the intensely hot mist

rushed into his nose and mouth. As the mist vanished, his eyes
shone brightly, glittering as if they had stars in them, their light
thrumming with the dharma force of Foundation Establishment,
which could shake one down to the soul. Apparently, he was so
full of dharma force that he was instinctively releasing it.

Xu Qing’s expression was the same as ever as this happened. He

knew that, because he had just stepped into Foundation
Establishment, he simply wasn’t accustomed to the terrifying
nature of dharma force.

Ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators form one life flame

per 30 dharma apertures. As a result, they usually form three
before stepping into a new cultivation realm. But my current
dharma apertures already have the potential to eventually form a
total of four life flames.
Looking down at the umbrella-shaped life lamp within him, his
eyes shone with keen anticipation.

According to the Captain’s speculations, even back in the era

before the broken face of the god came, the scions of the Ancient
Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns generally only formed one life
lamp.

Back then, only those truly chosen by heaven and thought to have
the potential to become Ancient Emperors or Imperial Sovereigns,
would form multiple life lamps. And for them, the number of life
lamps they could form was equal to the number of life flames they
had.

I’m happy to just have one. Now I really need to open 30 dharma
apertures!

Xu Qing took a moment to inspect himself thoroughly. Because of

the black umbrella covering him, his cultivation base fluctuations
weren’t very obvious.

Looking down at his shadow, he sent his thoughts out to control it.
In response, the shadow sent a sliver of itself inside Xu Qing to
cover over the life lamp. As the shadow neared the lamp, it
shivered as though it was being shoved away. However, Xu Qing
calmly forced the shadow to continue, and it didn’t dare to resist.
Under Xu Qing’s control, the shadow formed a cover that went
completely over the lamp.
Xu Qing’s entire person seemed to go dark at that moment. He still
pulsed with Foundation Establishment fluctuations, but the life
lamp wasn’t visible.

It’s too bad my Sea and Mountain Incantation is at such a low

level. Or maybe it’s because the technique really has reached its
final limit. Either way, it doesn’t seem like I can push it any higher
than it is.

The Sea and Mountain Incantation had been immensely helpful to

him, and he had pushed it far past its original limit. Now, it seemed
impossible to improve it any further. But Xu Qing couldn’t help
feeling that he was missing something.

I need to try to figure out a way to push the Sea and Mountain
Incantation to a higher level. And now that my cultivation base is
stabilizing, I need to hurry back to Seven Blood Eyes, register my
cultivation base on the Seventh Peak, and get a new Foundation
Establishment technique.

Because he didn’t have a Foundation Establishment technique, he

couldn’t open any new dharma apertures. Therefore, he took a
deep breath, closed his eyes, and focused on recovery cultivation.

A month passed slowly but surely.

He had now been away from the sect for about three months. With
his fluctuations held back, and his shadow covering the life lamp,
he seemed like an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator in
all respects.

During the month that had just passed, he significantly improved

his understanding and control of the life lamp.

When he opened his eyes, something like lightning flickered in

their depths. Calmly performing an incantation gesture, he pointed
his finger toward the dome of heaven.

Igniting his 2 dharma apertures, he sent their shocking power

through his finger and shooting high up into the sky.

Up above, a semitransparent entity became visible, spiraling in the

air as it turned into a snakeneck dragon. Throwing its head back, it
roared to heaven as its semitransparent form grew more and more
visible.

A wild aura built up within it, stronger and stronger. Eventually, it

looked like a real, living creature, with absolutely no differences
from a real snakeneck dragon. What was more, it pulsed with the
fluctuations of Foundation Establishment. It seemed savage and
wild, pitch black in color, with a long neck and a crest of vicious
spikes. And its burning eyes seemed completely lifelike. In fact, if
you put it in the Forbidden Sea, then unless it actually started
fighting, it would be difficult for anyone to tell that it was the result
of a magical technique.
Its back was almost like a turtle shell, providing powerful defenses.
Its mouth was full of sharp teeth that made it look even more
ferocious. And its four draconic flippers were so impressive they
would obviously make it capable of attaining incredible speed in
the water. As the 900-meter snakeneck dragon hovered in the air,
Xu Qing stood and walked toward it. Now, he didn’t need a flight
talisman to walk through the air.

Step by step he ascended, walking toward the dragon.

At first, the sensation was unsettling. But after seven or eight

steps, he acclimated, and walked up into the air toward the
snakeneck dragon.

The dragon lowered its head, and he stepped onto it. When he
turned around to face forward, the dragon howled, flapped its four
flippers, and shot up into the sky.

The speed it could attain was shocking.

Mortals wouldn’t be able to see the snakeneck dragon. And even

Qi Condensation cultivators would see little more than a vague
blur, unless they focused their spirit power on their eyes.
Otherwise, they would only see Xu Qing standing in midair, his
hands clasped behind his back as he moved forward!

This was Foundation Establishment.

It was just like how, back when Xu Qing had fled from Patriarch
Golden Vajra Warrior through the slums into the depths of the
forbidden region, the patriarch had moved along while perched on
his golden vajra warrior projection. [1]

That said, the patriarch’s golden vajra couldn’t compare to Xu

Qing’s snakeneck dragon, whether it was in terms of its level of
corporeality, or its aura.

The two were in the same cultivation realm, but they were still
poles apart.

Xu Qing looked calmly down from the snakeneck dragon’s head

as he sent it toward the nearest city with a teleportation portal. As
he flew along through the wilderness, he noticed how the rugged
environment was filled with countless bones. Mortals in this world
lived very difficult lives.

Although it seemed like cultivators had better opportunities than

mortals, the truth was that because of the dangers of mutagen,
and how expensive cultivation resources were, most cultivators
had no hope of advancing far.

The only way to get stronger was to fight, and fighting could
always lead to dying. In reality, cultivators had very few options to
pick from.

It was for that reason that people like Patriarch Golden Vajra
Warrior, who had experienced some level of glory, eventually
decided that, after struggling so hard, it was better to settle down
and eke out a living as a local tyrant, and just enjoy life as best
they could in the chaotic world they lived in. It was a decision that
had benefits and drawbacks.

Xu Qing might have done that as well, except he had the feeling
that you could only last for so long living in such a way. Eventually,
someone would come along out of nowhere and crush you out of
existence. Therefore, the only way to be truly safe, and the only
way to stay alive, was to get stronger and stronger.

I just want to stay alive in this chaotic world, and maybe improve
my quality of life.

Xu Qing’s thoughts were focused inward as the snakeneck dragon

picked up speed. Eventually, as the wind buffeted his face, he
caught sight of a city in the distance. It was not the city he had
come from. Despite being a Foundation Establishment cultivator
now, Xu Qing was just as cautious as when he was in the Qi
Condensation level.

As he neared, he dispelled the snakeneck dragon and dropped to

the ground.

There, he adjusted his clothing and changed his physical

appearance so that he looked like a sallow-faced, middle-aged
man. Then he started walking. The city ahead was not run solely
by Seven Blood Eyes.
It was a place similar to the city he’d passed through in the
Crimson Wilds. Here, Seven Blood Eyes, the Violet Lands, and the
Church of Departure cooperated to maintain a spot with a
teleportation portal. Places like this were common throughout
South Phoenix. There were many locations on the continent that
were occupied by humans, but not considered to be the territory of
any one specific organization. In some cases, shared cities were
located on the borders. In other cases, they were in places with no
resources, and were generally considered unimportant. However,
in order to facilitate travel, multiple groups would create places
that were relatively safe havens around the teleportation portals.

Xu Qing’s arrival caused an alarmed buzz of activity among the

city guards. Despite having hidden his life lamp, and dispelling his
snakeneck dragon, he was still a Foundation Establishment
cultivator. And his arrival in the city was noticed.

Unless a Foundation Establishment cultivator worked hard to

conceal their fluctuations, then they would automatically release
some of their aura, and that would cause alarm for any Qi
Condensation cultivators who sensed it.

It was the same for Xu Qing when he was a Qi Condensation

cultivator. He remembered the first time he saw Patriarch Golden
Vajra Warrior. Even from a distance, it had left him feeling shaken.

And the patriarch didn’t even have a life flame, and could not enter
the profound radiance state.
The lower one’s cultivation base, the stronger the effect would be.
Only someone in the eighth level of Qi Condensation could stand
up to a Foundation Establishment cultivator. And even then, it was
only true because most Foundation Establishment cultivators from
small sects couldn’t even open 30 dharma apertures.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator from a big sect who had a

life flame and could enter the profound radiance state would be
someone that even the most amazing Qi Condensation cultivator
couldn’t deal with. They were just on completely different levels.
Back in the incident outside the Pilot Assistance Division, Honor
Guard Li had shown up and spoken a single sentence that left Xu
Qing shaken to the core. The cultivators in this city reacted
similarly to Xu Qing’s arrival.

1. The patriarch moved along atop the vajra warrior projection in

chapter 42. ☜
Chapter 134: Bells Arouse Notice in the
Mountain

In the chaotic world that existed after the arrival of the god’s
broken face, the majority of cultivators were in the Qi
Condensation level. Relatively few ever reached Foundation
Establishment. Because of that, outside of cities, they were rare.
And only big sects like Seven Blood Eyes would have Foundation
Establishment in numbers. It was only natural that Xu Qing’s
arrival would cause something of a commotion. As the guards
offered respectful greetings, and before Xu Qing could even make
his way toward the teleportation portal, powerful fluctuations rolled
out from the direction of the city magistrate’s manor.

Frowning, Xu Qing looked in that direction, his eyes cold.

A beam of light appeared, shooting in his direction and coming to

a stop about nine meters away from him in the form of an
extravagantly dressed middle-aged man. He was handsome, and
pulsed with Foundation Establishment dharma force as he sized
up Xu Qing.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing glanced at his throat and simultaneously tried

to judge how many dharma apertures he had opened.

“Can I help you, Fellow Daoist? I’m Zhou Hengli from the Zhou
Clan in Violet Lands. I was appointed as city magistrate to run this
city, which is jointly owned by Violet Lands, Seven Blood Eyes,
and the Church of Departure.”

“I’m just passing through for teleportation,” Xu Qing said tranquilly.

He could sense that this man didn’t have many dharma apertures
open, and thus didn’t have a life flame.

Zhou Hengli hovered in the air, his expression nothing out of the
ordinary. However, inside he was fully on guard, as he could sense
a very strong baleful aura from this sallow-faced cultivator.
Obviously, he had killed many people. However, it was hard to tell
where he was from, and thus, Zhou Hengli didn’t take the situation
lightly. Especially noteworthy was how his hair stood on end when
the young man looked at his throat. Most shocking of all was that
he couldn’t tell if this cultivator had a life flame.

“After you!” Zhou Hengli said, feeling shaken but trying not to show
it. Turning, he gestured toward the teleportation portal and barked
some orders.

Immediately, everyone on the street moved to the side to make

room for Xu Qing, leaving a path that led straight to the portal.

Xu Qing’s expression remained the same as ever. He could sense

that the city magistrate wasn’t very happy to have him in the city,
and wanted him to leave as quickly as possible. What was more,
Xu Qing could sense other powerful fluctuations in the city. They
didn’t come from a cultivator, but from a spell formation that was
just being activated.

This was an ordinary reaction as far as Xu Qing was concerned.

This was a city in the middle of the wilderness, so it made sense
that they would be wary of a random Foundation Establishment
cultivator who showed up out of nowhere.

Xu Qing nodded. Then, instead of walking, he flew through the city

toward the teleportation portal, kicking up a strong wind as he did,
which sent dust flying everywhere.

Pupils constricting, Zhou Hengli quickly followed.

When Xu Qing arrived at the teleportation portal, he saw that it

had already been cleared for his use. There were no random
people present, only the handful of guards that operated the
portal, who trembled and bowed to him in greeting.

“Well met, Senior. The teleportation portal is ready. Sir, where

would you like to go?”

Xu Qing looked at them, and then at the city magistrate, who was
obviously trying to look casual but was fully on guard. It really gave
Xu Qing a sense of what it meant to be a Foundation
Establishment cultivator.

Walking up to the portal, he said, “The capital city of Seven Blood

Eyes.”
The guards voiced acknowledgement, made some adjustments to
the formation, and then after triple checking to make sure
everything was in order, backed away thirty or so meters.

Xu Qing looked at the teleportation portal. He wasn’t intimately

familiar with the workings of spell formations, but he had learned a
bit. After examining it, he stepped onto the portal, whereupon the
formation started shining with bright light.

After he vanished, Zhou Hengli breathed a sigh of relief. He was in

Foundation Establishment, but he had no interest in provoking
someone with such a powerful baleful aura.

Seven Blood Eyes doesn’t permit outside Foundation

Establishment cultivators to enter their capital city. But that’s where
he’s going. I’d say it’s unlikely he’s a criminal. So does that mean
he’s a Seven Blood Eyes Foundation Establishment cultivator?

Scratching his neck, Zhou Hengli decided not to think about it. As
far as he was concerned, all outside Foundation Establishment
cultivators were dangerous. If such a person had a life flame and
could enter the profound radiance state, they could take his life in
an instant. Therefore, all he wanted to do with such people was
escort them on their way as quickly as possible.

If conflict erupted with a person like that, given how far away he
was in the wilderness, away from his clan, he would be dead long
before his clan had any idea what was happening.
***

In the eastern part of the continent of South Phoenix, where the

Mountains of Truth connected to the sea, there were seven huge
blood-red eyes that looked down on a bustling city. In the city
center there was a teleportation portal, where Xu Qing stepped out
of the glittering light.

The moment he appeared, and before he could even look around,

his expression flickered. He could sense powerful fluctuations
filling the city, and in the blink of an eye, they were converging on
him. They didn’t do anything, but they remained around him, as if
they were monitoring him. Xu Qing knew what was happening.
This was the Seven Blood Eyes Grand Formation at work.

It had never behaved like this in the past when he returned to the
sect. But things were different now that he was in Foundation
Establishment. Now he had a better understanding of why outside
Foundation Establishment cultivators wouldn’t blithely enter Seven
Blood Eyes.

From the perspective of the spell formation, the fact that he was in
Foundation Establishment was more important than him being a
disciple. So though it recognized him as a disciple, until he went to
the Seventh Peak to register his cultivation base, the spell
formation would continue to monitor him closely.
Taking a deep breath, he calmly walked off the teleportation portal.
The fact that he was being monitored by the spell formation was
not something other cultivators or ordinary citizens would notice.
After leaving, he changed into the standard gray daoist robe. He
had learned his lesson after Sealizard Island, and upon returning,
had bought several gray robes as spares. As he walked down the
street, he tested out whether hiding his cultivation base would
prevent the spell formation from locking onto him. It didn’t, which
gave him an even deeper understanding of the spell formation.

I wonder if it would work if I used my shadow.

After some thought, he decided not to do any experiments. For the

time being, it wasn’t necessary, and besides, could theoretically be
dangerous.

I guess it’s time to go up the Seventh Peak.

Looking at the distant Seventh Peak, he started walking.

As he passed the various shops, the cold and detached

pedestrians, and the occasional gray-robed disciples, he thought
back to everything that he’d done in Seven Blood Eyes. It caused
him to sigh inwardly. At the same time, he was full of anticipation
at the idea of getting his share of the sect’s profits in the form of
5,000 spirit stones a month.

Just as he was about to start walking faster toward the Seventh

Peak, he noticed a familiar face.
This person immediately attracted the attention of the common
citizens, who looked at him in awe. Some of the nearby Offpeak
disciples stared at him with open envy. He was a young man in a
pale violet daoist robe. Of course, the color of his robe indicated
how important he was. Coupled with his handsome features and
his powerful cultivation base fluctuations, he seemed like the child
of a god descended into the mortal world. He was none other than
Zhao Zhongheng.

Xu Qing saw him.

He saw Xu Qing.

Before, Zhao Zhongheng would have ducked his head and walked
in the other direction without saying a word to Xu Qing. But today,
he snorted coldly, waved his hand, and pointed toward the dome
of heaven. All of a sudden, a Forbidden Sea dragonwhale
appeared above him, roaring briefly before vanishing.

The scene caused a commotion in the area, with many of the

Offpeak disciples cheering loudly.

Looking extremely pleased with himself, Zhao Zhongheng faced

the expressionless Xu Qing.

“I also cultivated a Forbidden Sea dragonwhale!” he said proudly.

Xu Qing showed no reaction whatsoever. Not wanting to waste

time on Zhao Zhongheng, he just kept walking toward the Seventh
Peak.

Zhao Zhongheng frowned. He was a bit irritated that Xu Qing

didn’t react with shock to his dragonwhale. However, he hadn’t
forgotten everything that happened when they met out on the open
sea. And therefore, he just bit his tongue, stowed any thoughts of
showing off, and headed toward the Seventh Peak. He had come
off the peak today to pick up a phoenix hairpin he’d had custom
made for Elder Sister Ding, and now he planned to give it to her.
As he went further south in the city, he eventually neared the gate
that led to the seven peaks. Because that was the only thing in this
part of the city, there weren’t a lot of pedestrians. And that was
when a look of surprise appeared on his face as he realized Xu
Qing was still ahead of him.

At this point, he realized that Xu Qing must be planning to go to

the peaks. Of course, Zhao Zhongheng was curious about this, but
being as proud as he was, he didn’t ask for details. Sometime
later, they were getting close to the stairs that led up the Seventh
Peak. When they were about 300 meters away, he finally couldn’t
hold back any longer.

Hurrying to catch up, he asked, “Where are you going, Xu Qing?”

“Up the peak,” Xu Qing replied with a slight frown.

Zhao Zhongheng looked Xu Qing up and down, and didn’t notice

any unusual fluctuations coming from him to indicate he was
stronger than before. What was more, he didn’t see anyone
waiting to receive Xu Qing. Snorting coldly, he said, “Up the peak?
Gray-robed disciples can’t go up the peak unless they’ve been
invited. And even if they have been invited, they have to wait to be
escorted up! Only conclave disciples can go up without an escort!”

Xu Qing ignored Zhao Zhongheng and kept walking toward the

stairs.

Seeing this, Zhao Zhongheng laughed coldly. “Offpeak disciples

are prohibited from going up the peak, Xu Qing. If you step onto
that staircase, the spell formation will activate. Xu Qing, if you
keep walking you—”

Before he could finish speaking, Xu Qing calmly placed his foot

onto the first step on the staircase. The moment his foot touched
the step, it suddenly blurred, as though some invisible force were
gathering there to confirm something about him. Xu Qing looked
up toward the top of the peak and simultaneously released the
power of his cultivation base. A Foundation Establishment aura
erupted out, causing the tolling of bells to echo out from the top of
the Seventh Peak.

As the melodious sound filled the air, Xu Qing started walking up

the stairs. Behind him, Zhao Zhongheng staggered backward
under the force of the Foundation Establishment aura, trembling,
his face pale and his eyes nearly popping out of his skull.
“F-F... Found... Foundation Establishment!”
Chapter 135: Onpeak Rules

The moment Xu Qing’s Foundation Establishment aura erupted

out, and the sound of bells filled the Seventh Peak, three figures
shot down from the top of the mountain.

If an outside Foundation Establishment cultivator tried to step onto

the peak, the spell formation would block their path, not cause
bells to ring. Then the formation would ask why that cultivator was
visiting. If they had come to pay a visit to someone on the peak,
that person would be notified. If that person agreed to see the
visitor, then the spell formation would let them in. That was what
happened when Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior came to visit
Daoist Idlecloud. [1]

But for bells to ring like this meant only one thing: a sect disciple
had arrived who hadn’t yet registered as reaching Foundation
Establishment. Of course, enemy attacks were another matter
entirely.

Not every disciple in Seven Blood Eyes would use the sect’s
facilities set aside for Foundation Establishment breakthroughs.
For one thing, such places were expensive. Also, most disciples
who managed to claw their way up through Qi Condensation in
such a chaotic world would have some ‘destined opportunity’ that
would set them apart from the masses. Such situations weren’t
uncommon. In a sect that focused solely on profit, trust was a rare
commodity, therefore, about thirty percent of disciples would leave
the sect for their Foundation Establishment breakthrough.

Such matters of ‘destined opportunities’ often involved going to

distant ruins. In such cases, other disciples would usually notice if
someone close to a breakthrough left, and could theoretically
follow them to take advantage of the situation. However, that was
heavily frowned upon. After all, if word got out, it could harm the
reputation of Seven Blood Eyes.

Therefore, the sect was very strict about prohibiting internal

fighting when it came to Foundation Establishment breakthroughs.
Granted, it still happened, and in those cases, the Onpeak
cultivators didn’t pay much attention, as whoever carried out such
operations would plan them carefully. Few people would be foolish
enough to try without doing so.

Of course, Xu Qing had carefully considered all of those factors

before making his decision to leave the sect for his breakthrough.

A sharp whistling sound could be heard as the three figures from

further up the mountain flew toward him. In the lead position was
an average-looking man in a violet robe, with a round face. He
was the very same cultivator who had led Xu Qing up to get his
daoist robe when he first joined the sect. He was also the one who
had given Xu Qing advice about his habit of holding his hand in a
certain way, and had told him it was better to be a needle
concealed in silk. Xu Qing felt a bit nostalgic seeing him. Back
then, he hadn’t truly understood what it meant to be a needle
concealed in silk. But after his experiences in Seven Blood Eyes,
he knew firsthand how important it was. [2]

Xu Qing had learned a lot in Seven Blood Eyes. Clasping hands,

he bowed deeply to the three cultivators. He was met with hearty
laughter.

The round-faced cultivator landed in front of him and smiled

warmly. “Xu Qing! I knew when we first met that there was
something special about you. That’s why I gave you that advice.
Now, look! You’re already someone I can consider a peer!”

“Many thanks for that advice, Senior,” Xu Qing said, clasping

hands again.

“You don’t need to call me Senior. You’re a Foundation

Establishment cultivator now, so we can call each other Elder and
Junior Brother. Junior Brother Xu Qing, my name is Zhang Yunshi.
From now on, just call me Elder Brother Zhang.” [3]

Looking down, Zhang Yunshi noticed the astonished Zhao

Zhongheng. Being a shrewd individual, he could guess what was
going on between Zhao Zhongheng and Xu Qing, but didn’t ask
any questions.

“Junior Brother Xu Qing, shall we go up the peak?”

“If it’s no bother, Elder Brother Zhang,” Xu Qing replied, politely
bowing his head. At the same time, he respectfully clasped hands
to the other two cultivators flanking Zhang Yunshi.

Apparently, all Onpeak Foundation Establishment cultivators

concealed their fluctuations, as he had no idea how strong any of
them were. That included Zhang Yunshi. That realization made
him more aware of keeping his guard.

These two obviously ranked lower than Zhang Yunshi; when they
realized that Xu Qing and Zhang Yunshi knew each other, they
smiled faintly and took their leave.

And thus, Zhang Yunshi took Xu Qing with him up the peak.

The trees on either side of the mountain path connected overhead

like a canopy, and as the sea breeze drifted through the leaves,
birds sang.

It sounded lovely, and also stirred Xu Qing’s memories, making

him think back to the first time he’d walked this path.

“Junior Brother Xu,” Zhang Yunshi said, “I was the one who
introduced you to Offpeak life in Seven Blood Eyes. Today, I’ll
explain about Onpeak life. There are thirteen elders on the
Seventh Peak, and all of them are Gold Core cultivators.
Underneath them are the Foundation Establishment cultivators like
us. There are currently more than 140 of us in total. After you
register today, there will be exactly 149 Seventh Peak Foundation
Establishment disciples.

“That seems like a lot, but it really isn’t. In total, Seven Blood Eyes
has close to a thousand. That’s it. And remember that our sect is
one of the four largest on the continent of South Phoenix. The
point is that Foundation Establishment cultivators have a very high
status. It’s the same everywhere in South Phoenix, including
Seven Blood Eyes.

“After you register, you’ll start earning about 5,700 spirit stones per
month. The exact amount changes every month depending on
sect income and expenditures.

“As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, you have the right to

live on the peak. But you’ll have to spend your own money to get a
mansion grotto. It’s the same with Foundation Establishment
techniques. In Qi Condensation, you got them for free, but not
now. That said, you do qualify to purchase any Foundation
Establishment technique from the Hall of Scriptures and Magic.

“As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, you have four

privileges.

“The first privilege comes with two options. The first option is to
develop your own harbor in the port! It can be a sect harbor or a
public harbor. As the owner, you’ll split the profit from that harbor
with the sect. That said, you’ll have to run the business, and you’ll
need to provide the initial investment funds for the development. If
you don’t want to have your own harbor, your second option is to
lay claim to one of the streets in the capital city. All of the shops on
that street will pay their rent to you. That option is easier than the
first. All Foundation Establishment cultivators get to pick between
one of these two options. Take your time to think about which one
fits you best.

“The second privilege is that if any Offpeak disciple offends you,

you can kill them on sight. However, you have to pay a fee of
10,000 spirit stones for the first person you kill. If you kill a second,
you have to pay double, and so on. You can never kill someone
without paying that fee, and the debt can never be wiped out.”

Although Zhang Yunshi explained this with a smile, it caused Xu

Qing’s pupils to constrict.

“This rule is something that all Seven Blood Eyes Foundation

Establishment cultivators have to bear in mind. It doesn’t matter if
you’re outside the sect, or in it. You always have to consider
whether or not it’s worth it to kill someone weaker than you. By the
way, if it’s an Offpeak disciple from one of the other peaks, the fee
is double.

“The third privilege is that you can pick two Offpeak disciples, or
anyone else that you approve of, to be your attendants. They earn
the right to live for free in the capital city, or they can practice their
cultivation on the peak, registered under your name. Coupled with
the third privilege is the right to teleport to any Seven Blood Eyes
city for free. In addition, every year, you can distribute one
hundred living permits for any Seven Blood Eyes city. Remember,
in scavenger basecamps and other small towns, such permits are
very expensive. And they are only available to people with a
recommendation from a Seven Blood Eyes disciple.

“The final privilege is that you get protection from Seven Blood
Eyes. Because of that, no Gold Core cultivator from the outside
would dare try to kill you. In fact, assuming you pay enough spirit
stones, not even a Nascent Soul cultivator would dare cut you
down. Actually, if you offer enough spirit stones as a reward, the
sect will even help you go out and kill people like that.

“Something you must remember is that, while Offpeak disciples

are like wolf pups, Onpeak cultivators are a pack of lone wolves!

“You don’t need to worry about Gold Core cultivators harming you
in the sect. Outside the sect, you’re on your own. But here in the
sect, a Gold Core sect member who kills a Foundation
Establishment disciple has to pay an initial fine of 1,000,000 spirit
stones. It’s the same for a Foundation Establishment cultivator
who kills another Foundation Establishment cultivator. And the
fines double for every subsequent kill. Just like the fines I
mentioned before, such debts can never be wiped out. Also like I
mentioned before, it’s a situation of determining whether killing
that person is really worth it.”
Zhang Yunshi was still smiling, but his words made it clear what
the Foundation Establishment position and Onpeak brutality were
all about.

“What are my responsibilities?” Xu Qing asked.

“Responsibilities?” Zhang Yunshi chuckled. “All of us here worked

hard to fight and kill our way up from among the Offpeak disciples.
It was all our own effort. Therefore, we owe no responsibilities to
the sect. If you want to stick around, you can make money. If you
want to leave, no one will try to get you to stay. That said, the
missions posted by the sect offer handsome rewards, so people
usually scramble to finish them. If you want to save up a lot of
spirit stones, earning some extra on the side always helps.

“Now, if enemies harm our interests and interfere with our long-
term profit, we will step in. After all, as long as Foundation
Establishment cultivators are careful, we can live a very long time.
So maintaining our monthly income is important.

“Of course, it’s always possible that enemies will try to buy you off.
And you’re free to accept such offers if you want. But consider: do
you really think our enemies are stupid? For one thing, they know
that buying off one or two of our cultivators wouldn’t be worth it. If
they wanted to make any such operation work, they would need to
buy off a lot of us. In fact, it would cost so much money that, in the
end, it wouldn’t even be worth it.
“Full-scale wars with our enemies can actually be quite profitable,
as you learned in the Grand Competition, so our cultivators
generally flock to join in the fighting.

“The Onpeak elders know that disciples are wolf pups, so they
don’t worry much about overseeing us. Everything comes down to
profit. The ones the leadership really care about are the conclave
disciples, who enjoy the best aspects of the sect. They really try to
give them a unifying force and sense of belonging.”

Thanks to Zhang Yunshi’s explanation, Xu Qing understood a lot

more about Onpeak life in Seven Blood Eyes. At this point, they
were about halfway up the peak.

“You came at a bad time. Normally, new Foundation Establishment

cultivators get to offer greetings to the peaklord. But all seven
peaklords went out to sea recently. I guess something big is going
on.

“Grand Elder and Second Elder are gone as well, which means
Third Elder is in charge right now. After you offer greetings to him,
I’ll take you to get your mansion grotto and show you the Hall of
Scriptures and Magic.”

Just then, Xu Qing spotted Third Elder’s grand hall, which he had
been to before. In fact, there was a familiar figure sitting cross-
legged outside: it was none other than Honor Guard Li, who
worked closely with Third Elder. [4]
Upon opening his eyes and seeing Xu Qing and Zhang Yunshi,
Honor Guard Li smiled faintly. “I had a hunch the bells were ringing
because you reached Foundation Establishment.”

Xu Qing clasped hands politely. Honor Guard Li was also masking

his fluctuations. However, from what Xu Qing remembered of
being around him, he was likely in Foundation Establishment, and
strong within that level.

He’s probably got a life flame, Xu Qing thought, though he

remained calm and collected.

“Go on in. The elder’s waiting for you.” Honor Guard Li looked
from Xu Qing to Zhang Yunshi. Zhang Yunshi shrugged his
shoulders and backed up a few steps to wait.

Xu Qing took a deep breath and walked into the hall for the
second time. He sensed the same thing he had last time. As soon
as he stepped in, he felt mountain-toppling, sea-draining force
coming from the person seated cross-legged on the other side of
the hall.

But this time, he was able to see the old man clearly. Third Elder
had age spots on his face, and wore a violet daoist robe
embroidered with gold. His face was completely expressionless as
he looked at Xu Qing. When their gazes met, Xu Qing’s mind
spun. The elder’s eyes seemed to pierce through him like
lightning, allowing the elder to see everything about him.
Thankfully, the life lamp was hidden by his shadow, and the elder
didn’t detect it.

“Greetings, Third Elder.” Xu Qing said, inclining his head, clasping

his hands, and bowing deeply.

“You’re so young, but you’ve already opened two dharma

apertures. Impressive.” Then Third Elder said something that
struck Xu Qing to the core. “So, you’re the one who took the Spirit
Breath Lamp from the Merfolk?”

1. Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior visited Daoist Idlecloud in

chapters 70-71. ☜

2. The conversation with the round-faced cultivator about a needle

concealed in silk was in chapter 51. ☜

3. Zhang Yunshi: Zhang is #3 on the list of the 100 most common

Chinese surnames. It’s the same surname as Zhang San. Yun
means “cloud” and Shi is a title word that can mean a lot of things,
including “soldier, scholar, gentleman.” Madam Deathblade said
that this name made her picture “an older guy with glasses,
probably a scholar.” ☜

4. Honor Guard Li, and also Third Elder, last appeared in chapter
110. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsTranslator note: This chapter really

thrashed me. It’s been a long time since there were passages in
Chinese that I just could not understand. I often make mistakes,
misinterpret things, etc. But rarely do I just give up on trying to
decipher certain passages, and this chapter did that to me. Thanks
to my wife for helping break down some of the really vaguely
written passages that required some contextual interpretation that
I just couldn’t pull off on my own.

Translator note: This chapter really thrashed me. It’s been a long
time since there were passages in Chinese that I just could not
understand. I often make mistakes, misinterpret things, etc. But
rarely do I just give up on trying to decipher certain passages, and
this chapter did that to me. Thanks to my wife for helping break
down some of the really vaguely written passages that required
some contextual interpretation that I just couldn’t pull off on my
own.
Chapter 136: Donning the Violet Robe

Third Elder’s question was like a thunderclap ringing in Xu Qing’s

ears. However, he managed to keep his face mostly
expressionless. And he didn’t take much time thinking before
responding.

“Yes, sir,” he said respectfully. There was no point in hiding the

truth. The Merfolk’s Spirit Breath Lamp was valuable, but it wasn’t
something considered impossible to acquire. Although Xu Qing
had tried to hide any evidence that he was involved, if someone
thoroughly investigated the matter, they would probably find clues
leading to him. Lying wouldn’t benefit him at all, and would actually
make him seem more suspicious.

“What do you plan to do with it?” Third Elder asked calmly.

“Sell it,” Xu Qing answered immediately. He looked up at Third

Elder. The old man radiated endless ripples and distortions, and
caused immense pressure to weigh down on the entire hall. And
when he had spoken just now, that pressure grew even more
intense. The piercing nature of his gaze was similar to last time,
except now, Xu Qing found it easier to endure. On his previous
visit, it had taken immense effort just to lift his head, and his eyes
had burned.
Upon hearing Xu Qing’s answer, Third Elder smiled. Apparently,
the answer satisfied him. “Xu Qing, I’m not going to beat around
the bush. I like you. You took the Spirit Breath Lamp fair and
square, and I’m not going to try to take it away from you. I don’t
care about the lamp, but you’d do well to sell it quickly. Eventually,
people are going to start wondering where it ended up. If I could
figure out that you took it, so can someone else. Now, give me
your identity medallion.”

Shifting his gaze away from the elder, Xu Qing took out his identity
medallion. Third Elder waved his hand, and the identity medallion
flew over and landed on his palm. Almost instantly, it started
shining with bright light. The elder inspected it, and then a moment
later, fluctuations rolled out as he imprinted it with new information.
It shone more brightly, and then the light faded. Finally, the Elder
sent it flying back to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing caught it, expecting it to slam into him with immense

force, as had happened when he offered greetings to the director
when he checked in to the Violent Crimes Division.

However, that didn’t happen. When he caught the medallion, it

was as if all the force dissipated the moment he touched it. That
caused Xu Qing’s pupils to constrict as he realized how different
Third Elder was from the director. It was easy to unleash force
externally, but controlling it with such finesse was difficult.

“You can leave now,” Third Elder said, closing his eyes.
Xu Qing again clasped hands respectfully, then turned to leave.
Just as he was about to step out of the hall, Third Elder’s voice
reached him.

“Zhongheng... has a good heart.”

“I understand,” Xu Qing said, turning and bowing again. Then he

left the hall. Last time, Third Elder hadn’t said these words to him
personally, but rather delivered them through Honor Guard Li. The
reason was that, back then, Xu Qing’s status was too low. But
things were different now. [1]

Upon leaving the hall, Honor Guard Li gave him a nod, then closed
his eyes. Xu Qing walked over to Zhang Yunshi.

Smiling, Zhang Yunshi took him to get his daoist robe and pick out
a mansion grotto. Unfortunately, most of the mansion grottoes
were already occupied, so the one he picked was in a somewhat
remote location. Even still, he liked it. And it wasn’t as expensive
as he’d imagined it would be.

Finally, Zhang Yunshi took him to the Hall of Scriptures and Magic,
where he could get some Foundation Establishment techniques.
He also acquired a new body refinement method.

By the time everything was taken care of, it was dusk. Zhang
Yunshi took Xu Qing back to his mansion grotto, then clasped his
hands in farewell. Before leaving, he smiled and said, “Junior
Brother Xu, there are two reasons why I’m the one who helped
you out today. The first is that I think we’re connected by destiny.
The second is that I’m receiving a nice reward from the sect for
accepting the task of receiving all new Onpeak disciples this
month.

“So you don’t need to be overly suspicious of why I’m working so

hard to help you out. That said, I really do feel like there’s some
destiny at work in our encounters. If we ever meet each other
while out at sea, I hope we can have each other’s backs.

“Finally, Junior Brother Xu Qing, I’d like to offer you a friendly tip.
When we cultivators enter Foundation Establishment, the most
important thing is to open 30 dharma apertures. As quickly as
possible. When you form your life flame, you can enter the
profound radiance state.

“Cultivators without a profound radiance state are on a completely

lower level than those who have it. Since you worked so hard to
get into Foundation Establishment, you must form your life flame
as quickly as possible. Until then, you’re at a huge disadvantage.
Many dead Foundation Establishment cultivators lost their lives
before they formed their life flame. Foundation Establishment
cultivators without the profound radiance state can do little more
than bully Qi Condensation cultivators.”

Having finished speaking, he glanced at Xu Qing’s right hand.

Detecting no signs of the previous bad habit, he smiled and
strolled away.
Thanks to Zhang Yunshi’s reminder, and Xu Qing’s own
understanding, he now realized more than ever how important life
flames were in Foundation Establishment. Clasping hands, he
bowed toward Zhang Yunshi as he disappeared. At the same time,
he relaxed the guard he had been keeping against the man.

Turning, he looked at his new mansion grotto, which was located

next to a cliff. Right now, the pitch black stone door was closed,
and there were weeds growing everywhere. There was even moss
creeping up the door. A humid wind constantly blew through the
area.

After inspecting the area, Xu Qing stepped up to the stone door

and took out the jade slip that acted as the key. When he sent
some spirit power into the jade slip, magical symbols glowed on
the door. Then Xu Qing used the method described in the jade slip
to touch the magical symbols.

After imprinting his mark onto the door, the magical symbols
glowed brightly as the mansion grotto became linked to him. Then
the door opened, revealing the interior. It wasn’t very large inside.
It had two rooms, and was lit by luminescent pearls set into the
ceiling. It obviously hadn’t been used in a long time, as everything
was covered in dust.

Xu Qing waved his hand, sending a wind through both rooms to

clean them out. Then he closely inspected the entire place to
make sure it was safe. After, he went back out and sprinkled
poison powder everywhere. He applied the poison very liberally,
making sure every area was thoroughly covered. Then he went
back inside and spread even more poison. After, he took out his
defensive spell formations and activated them.

With the door closed and the formations activated, he breathed a

relaxed sigh.

Sitting down, he thought back to everything he had seen and

heard. It reminded him of his first day in Seven Blood Eyes, except
back then he was in Qi Condensation, and now he was in
Foundation Establishment.

I’m finally in Foundation Establishment.

Thinking about all the perks to being a Foundation Establishment

cultivator in Seven Blood Eyes, he changed into his new violet
robe. Looking down at the daoist robe, his eyes shone. The robe
itself had a defensive spell formation in it. It was the type of
garment that people outside the sect, or even Offpeak disciples,
would fight over, assuming the color was different.

After donning the robe, he sat down cross-legged and pulled out a
jade slip. This was one of the Foundation Establishment
techniques he had acquired at the Hall of Scriptures and Magic.

Pouring some spirit power into it, he examined the contents. He

knew that it was important to start cultivating a Foundation
Establishment technique as quickly as possible after a
breakthrough. Otherwise, he would be wasting time. After all, he
could further the cultivation of his new and old techniques at the
same time.

Time passed as he examined the contents of the jade slip. Soon,

moonlight touched the door of his mansion grotto, and eventually,
the bright moon rose high in the sky. In the light of the moon, the
stone door seemed simple and unsophisticated, yet also filled with
the sensation of ancient time and profound changes.

Inside the mansion grotto, Xu Qing looked up from the jade slip,
his eyes glittering sharply.

Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture!

One of the Seventh Peak’s signature Foundation Establishment

techniques was the Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture. From the
name alone, it was obviously something meant for killing. It was
easy to imagine that this technique would be categorized as a
nefarious art. That said, Xu Qing felt that it was befitting of a sect
named Seven Blood Eyes.

The Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture wasn’t divided up into

different levels. Instead, the cultivation method was focused on
opening dharma apertures as quickly as possible. In addition to
that, it allowed for the creation of a type of flame inside the dharma
apertures, a flame called balefire.
When that flame was mixed with the aura of the Forbidden Sea, it
created a bizarre reaction. The more one cultivated it, the hotter
the balefire became.

On the one hand, balefire could be used to attack. Also, it was a

key component in the scripture’s ‘soulswallowing’ aspect. After
extracting the soul of an enemy, it was used like kindling for the
flame. The resulting explosive force was used to burst open
dharma apertures. It was a brutal method, but at the same time,
simple and direct. According to the technique description, a
disciple cultivating the Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture could use
the soul of a Foundation Establishment cultivator with no life flame
to open one dharma aperture. If using the souls of Qi
Condensation cultivators, they would need over a hundred to
achieve the same result. Of course, the requirements only
increased as one rose in cultivation level.

Both sea beasts and nonhumans can be used as kindling for the
Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture. Between the two, nonhumans
are better, especially Seazombies. Because of their physical
nature and their soul, they lead to spectacular results.

The words in the jade slip almost seemed to drip with blood.

The technique was indeed simple. There was nothing complicated

or flashy about it. It was just about pure brutality.
After he finished reading the description, Xu Qing took a deep
breath. Upon cultivating the Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture to
completion, the balefire would reach its ultimate state, and would
exist in all of one’s dharma apertures. At that point, one wouldn’t
need souls to open dharma apertures, and you could extract
enemy souls and imprison them inside the dharma apertures. By
burning them day and night, it was possible to make one’s dharma
force even stronger.

In a word, disciples who cultivated the Balefire Soulswallowing

Scripture became living gods of death.

However, not all disciples cultivated the technique. There were a

total of three signature Foundation Establishment techniques in
the Seventh Peak.

The second technique was called the Sea King Register.

It was a less brutal technique that focused on assimilating sea

beasts, then using a special method to keep them in one’s dharma
apertures and absorb nutrients from them. It was divided into ten
levels, and each level involved opening about seven or eight
dharma apertures. The key to cultivating it lay in constantly
capturing and absorbing sea beasts. When fighting with this
technique, the results were astounding. When all the dharma
apertures were opened, all of the numerous sea beasts inside the
disciple would make their dharma apertures very impressive.
The first technique was brutal. It led to rapid cultivation
advancement, but required a lot of killing. As a result, the slightest
mistake could also lead to the cultivator dying. The second
technique revolved around sea beasts, and made one’s dharma
force more and more powerful. It made it easier to defend oneself,
but at the same time, didn’t help improve battle prowess very
much.

The third technique was called the Life Nurturing Incantation.

This technique was even milder, and didn’t involve the use of any
external force. Disciples who cultivated this technique spent most
of their time in seclusion. It took time to succeed, but came with
some big advantages as one didn’t need to go out fighting and
killing. Because disciples who cultivated this technique didn’t need
to fight a lot, it was usually suitable for those who preferred
support positions in a group. Each technique seemed good for
different personalities, and each disciple would pick one based on
their preferences.

After thinking about it, Xu Qing wasn’t sure which one was best for
him. The first one he ruled out was the Sea King Register, as it
seemed mediocre at best. As for the Balefire Soulswallowing
Scripture and the Life Nurturing Incantation, they seemed like
polar opposites.

***
As Xu Qing wrestled with his decision, far away from Seven Blood
Eyes out on the Sea of Endlessness, a dreadnaught roared
through the heavens. This dreadnaught was almost like a godly
entity. Everywhere it went, waves crashed beneath it. In one of the
buildings on the dreadnaught’s back, Master Seventh was looking
back in the direction of Seven Blood Eyes.

Standing next to him was the same middle-aged servant who had
given the identity medallion to Xu Qing. He had a jade slip in his
hand. After examining it, he turned to Master Seventh and quietly
said, “Master Seventh, the Kid reached Foundation Establishment.
After we return, shall I arrange for him to meet you?”

Master Seventh shook his head. “There’s no need. War is coming.

We’ll worry about it after that. I passed out a hundred identity
medallions. He was the first to report in, but there are others out
there. We need to see how they measure up to each other.
Besides, he has a long way to go before he’s ready to become my
fourth apprentice.”

1. Honor Guard Li talked to Xu Qing about Zhao Zhongheng in

chapter 110. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsThanks to everyone who participated in the

poll about the merch. After taking a close look at the poll results,
work is already underway. We have an amazing artist working on a
custom piece of original, official art. Things like this take time, so I
imagine it will probably be a month before the art piece is done
and we can release the actual merch. I just wanted to update
everyone. This announcement is going to be mirrored in a later
chapter so all the Champions can see it as well.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the poll about the merch.

After taking a close look at the poll results, work is already
underway. We have an amazing artist working on a custom piece
of original, official art. Things like this take time, so I imagine it will
probably be a month before the art piece is done and we can
release the actual merch. I just wanted to update everyone. This
announcement is going to be mirrored in a later chapter so all the
Champions can see it as well.
Chapter 137: Balefire Soulswallowing
Scripture

The Life Nurturing Incantation is too passive!

Xu Qing’s eyes gleamed with determination as he sat in his

mansion grotto.

On the one hand, the Life Nurturing Incantation would work well
with his life lamp, as he wouldn’t need to leave his mansion grotto.
Once he reached the point of being able to use the life lamp, his
battle prowess would be astonishing.

However, it would take too long to reach that point. Cultivation

required spirit stones, and he also needed to upgrade his
dharmaboat. Most important of all, Xu Qing knew that it was
possible his situation could change overnight.

Therefore, it didn’t make sense for him to focus on the quiet and
peaceful Life Nurturing Incantation. It seemed entirely possible
that, before he even reached the point of being able to use the life
flame, catastrophe could befall him. He did not like the idea of
being so passive.

Therefore, he decided to cultivate the Balefire Soulswallowing

Scripture.
With the Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture, he could imprison the
souls of enemies in his dharma apertures. Not only would it make
his dharma force more powerful, but according to the technique
description in the jade slip, he could use a special method to link
the imprisoned souls to a dharmaskiff. By doing so, his
dharmaskiff would essentially have its own spirit. In other words,
his dharmaskiff would have some of the characteristics of a
magical treasure!

Xu Qing had actually never laid eyes on any magical treasures.

But he knew that they were extremely rare, could not be used
indefinitely, and had heaven-shaking, earth-shattering power.

Is my life lamp actually a special kind of magical treasure?

He wasn’t completely sure.

After some more though, he confirmed that this was the right
decision. Taking the jade slip, he sat there cross-legged, closed
his eyes, tapped into his dharma apertures, burned his spirit seas,
and began following the description of the Balefire Soulswallowing
Scripture to cultivate the technique!

The first step in the Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture was forming

the actual balefire.

All Foundation Establishment cultivators had flames in their

dharma apertures. Those flames could ignite the spirit sea and
turn into dharma force. It was also the same flame that was critical
to lighting one’s life flame.

Because of fusing with the black umbrella that was the life lamp,
the flames in Xu Qing’s dharma apertures had changed, and were
now pitch black.

As it happened, the fire cultivated in the Balefire Soulswallowing

Scripture was also the same color. The two types of flame seemed
very similar. However, after only four hours of cultivation, Xu Qing
succeeded in creating balefire in his dharma apertures, which was
when he realized they were actually very different.

The flame from the black umbrella existed on a higher level than
the balefire, and it was also much hotter. The only thing it lacked
was the ability to absorb souls.

However, it was an easy issue to resolve. Xu Qing simply

combined the balefire with the black fire that already existed within
him. Soon the black fire in him also developed the ability to absorb
souls, just like the balefire.

Feeling very pleased, Xu Qing proceeded with cultivation.

Three days passed.

Eventually, when the black fire in both of his dharma apertures

was fully capable of absorbing souls, he stopped the session of
cultivation. Going forward, the most important thing for him would
be souls. He needed souls as kindling to open his third dharma
aperture.

I wonder if Elder Brother Zhang San is back. Once he finishes

fixing my dharmaboat, I can go out to sea.

Looking down at his shadow, he thought for a minute, then took

out his black iron skewer and undid the seals on Patriarch Golden
Vajra Warrior.

The patriarch’s aura appeared, but he didn’t say a word. He was

obviously afraid that if he said the wrong thing, it would provoke
killing intent in Xu Qing. After studying the iron skewer briefly, Xu
Qing tapped into the power of the violet crystal and crushed his
shadow with suppressive force. This was all while the patriarch
was hiding in the skewer watching.

Xu Qing did this on a daily basis. During the entire process, his
facial expression didn’t change. His shadow was also used to it,
and didn’t fight back. It just allowed itself to be viciously crushed.

However, inside the iron skewer, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior

trembled in fear at the sight of it. It was a case of killing a chicken
to frighten the monkey, and in this case, the patriarch was the
monkey.

“You aren’t as useful to me now as you used to be,” Xu Qing said

calmly to his shadow.
Now that Xu Qing was in Foundation Establishment, he viewed his
shadow differently. It had its own sense of will, but he could
suppress it. At this point he actually wanted his shadow to be
stronger. Otherwise, his shadow wouldn’t be able to keep up with
him, and he couldn’t use it as a trump card in a fight. He also felt
the same about Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior in his iron skewer.

The patriarch had nothing to do or worry about, and that didn’t suit
Xu Qing’s path. The words he had just spoken caused both his
shadow and the iron skewer to tremble.

A moment later, his shadow rippled and distorted. As the

fluctuations rolled off of it, a tiny scrap of will appeared and spoke
in Xu Qing’s mind.

“Mutagen... upgrade... godliness....”

A thoughtful expression appeared on Xu Qing’s face. Then he

looked from the shadow to the iron skewer, and his eyes burned
with killing intent. That gaze caused the skewer to tremble even
more intensely.

“What good are you?” he asked slowly. He raised his right hand,
and within it appeared a scrap of the patriarch’s life essence spirit.
It looked like Xu Qing was ready to crush it. However, that was
when the patriarch flew out of the iron skewer to appear in front of
him.
“Milord, Milord, don’t kill me!” he moaned. “I can practice
cultivation! I have a spirit automaton technique. But lately I’ve
either been too weak or just asleep, so I haven’t been able to
cultivate it. Give me a chance, Milord. I’ll definitely, definitely,
definitely cultivate it! I’ll work really hard!”

He looked absolutely terrified.

“In six months I’m going to assess both of you,” Xu Qing said. “The
loser gets eliminated!”

In response to his words, his shadow seemed to pulse with

ferocity. However, it wasn’t targeting Xu Qing, but rather, Patriarch
Golden Vajra Warrior. The patriarch felt a similar ferocity in
himself, but he didn’t let it show on his face. Instead, he made
himself seem calm and placid. That seemed suspicious to the
shadow, who reined in some of its ferocity.

Xu Qing knew how the patriarch operated, so he didn’t bother

paying attention to the scheming that was already underway
between him and the shadow. Putting away the iron skewer, he
opened the door of his mansion grotto.

It was currently noontime. The sky was blue and dotted with white
clouds. Sunlight streamed down, and carried on the humid wind
were the sounds of the Offpeak world. However, the city was
distant, so the clamor seemed like it came from another world. It
almost didn’t seem real.
Xu Qing walked over to the cliff and looked down at the city,
noticing the bustling harbors and the ships coming in and out of
the port. The other districts in the city were just as busy. The
streets were packed with people. The Seven Blood Eyes capital
city really was a flourishing place. On Xu Qing’s first time up the
peak, he’d had a chance to look down at the Offpeak world like
this. But now he was an Onpeak cultivator, and the feeling was
very different.

Things are the same. And they’re different.

What was different was his level. What was the same was that the
broken face of the god still loomed over everyone.

Eventually, Xu Qing headed down to the Port District. As a

Foundation Establishment cultivator, he now had the right to
develop his own harbor. However, he hadn’t yet decided if he
wanted to do that. In fact, he was thinking about that very topic as
he walked through the air down toward the city.

His plan was to visit some of the shops in the Port District and buy
some powerful jade talismans that were suitable for Foundation
Establishment. After all, given the level of his cultivation base,
ordinary talisman treasures wouldn’t be of much use. Foundation
Establishment cultivators primarily used jade talismans.

Another thing he planned to do was find his informant. As a

Foundation Establishment cultivator, he was allowed to have
attendants, and he wanted his informant to be the first, though he
didn’t plan to take her up the peak. Another objective was to see if
Zhang San was back.

Given his breakthrough, his standing in the Violent Crimes Division

had changed. He still had a position there, but his position was
different. Instead of being the deputy captain of Unit Six, he was
now a deputy director, and he was in charge of the Celestial
Bureau. Being a deputy director meant that he didn’t have to go to
the Violent Crimes Division very often. In fact, he only needed to
show up for important operations. His salary had increased, and
was now 100 spirit stones per month.

As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he could resign from the

division if he wanted. His spirit stone salary wasn’t much
compared to what he would earn from the sect’s profits. But for
now, he wanted to stay. After all, when he first arrived in Seven
Blood Eyes, 100 spirit stones was a huge sum.

Upon coming down from the peak, he became the subject of

numerous envious gazes in the port district. When he landed and
started walking the streets, everyone got out of his way, and no
one spoke to him. When he entered one of the shops, the
shopkeeper rushed to meet him, bowing and offering respectful
greetings.

The Offpeak disciples present, regardless of which peak they were

assigned to, bowed at the waist and called out respectful
greetings.

To Offpeak disciples, Foundation Establishment cultivators were

no different from gods. After all, both gods and Foundation
Establishment cultivators could kill them. And the latter were a lot
more likely to do so.

As the sun shone onto Xu Qing’s violet robe, it seemed to radiate

a boundless majesty.

To Xu Qing, who preferred keeping a low profile, being the focus of

so much attention was unusual. Therefore, he quickly left the
shop.

The next place he appeared was his set meeting location with his
informant. After he summoned her, she came running. When she
saw his dark violet daoist robe, she skidded to a stop, seemingly
at a loss for what to do. The reverence in her eyes increased, and
she started breathing heavily. She looked completely stunned.
Then she saw Xu Qing’s cold gaze, and she shivered and fell to
the ground to kowtow.

“Milord!”

Xu Qing took out a jade medallion and waved his hand, sending it
streaking toward her. It stopped right in front of her, hovering in the
air until she put out her trembling hands to take it.
“That’s an attendant medallion. I’m sure you know how much it’s
worth. For now, you won’t live on the Seventh Peak. For the next
three months, your task is to determine what’s necessary for me to
develop a harbor.”

A moment later, Xu Qing was gone. The sea breeze stirred his
informant’s long hair, revealing a look of complete incredulity on
her pretty face. Looking up at the departing Xu Qing, she tried to
steady her breathing. Never could she have imagined that he
would reach the lofty Foundation Establishment level in such a
short time.
Chapter 138: This is the Profound Radiance
State!

On the way to the Transportation Division, Xu Qing happened to

pass the Sixth Peak shop in which the shopkeeper had tried to
scam him. Upon noticing the place, he stopped outside the door.
As everyone in the area greeted him reverently, the shocked
shopkeeper and clerks noticed what was happening and rushed
out to kowtow. “Well met, Senior!”

Xu Qing looked coldly at the shopkeeper but didn’t say anything.

Sweat poured off the shopkeeper’s face onto the ground, and his
back was already soaked. He was terrified, and had the feeling his
life was on the line. Never in his wildest dreams could he have
imagined that Xu Qing would reach Foundation Establishment.
Back during that incident, he had mostly been frightened of
Second Highness. Xu Qing had hardly been worth giving thought
to.

The shopkeeper was an attendant of Honor Guard Idlecloud from

the Sixth Peak, so no Offpeak disciples would dare to mess with
him. But Xu Qing was now a Foundation Establishment cultivator,
and the shopkeeper had no idea if Honor Guard Idlecloud would
risk hostilities with a fellow Foundation Establishment cultivator
just to help an attendant.
As the shopkeeper trembled, Xu Qing looked away from him and
moved on.

Even after Xu Qing was gone, the shopkeeper felt paralyzed, like
he had just toed the line between life and death.

The reason Xu Qing hadn’t killed him was because it was too
expensive. What was more, he didn’t want to beat the grass to
startle the snake. He had learned from Patriarch Golden Vajra
Warrior that the shopkeeper was connected to Idlecloud, who was
currently listed on his bamboo slip. He just hadn’t found a good
opportunity to take action.

For now, he put the matter out of mind. On this, his first trip down
the peak after his breakthrough, he was finally coming to realize
why he had hardly seen any Foundation Establishment cultivators
in the city. They just attracted too much attention. Wherever he
went, everyone was watching him.

Only people who loved attention would feel comfortable in such a

situation. And it was worse considering Xu Qing preferred sticking
to the shadows. It was simply impossible to do that with so many
people paying attention to him.

Considering that the Foundation Establishment cultivators on the

Seventh Peak were all grim individuals who had slaughtered their
way out of the Offpeak world, it was only natural that none of them
were like that.
What does everyone else do? He could only speculate.

Thinking about these matters, he hurried through the streets even

more quickly on his way to the Transportation Division. Along the
way, he sent a voice message to Zhang San, and found that he
was indeed back already. Upon arriving at the Transportation
Division, Xu Qing spotted Zhang San in his gray daoist robe. Next
to him, with his lower half back, was the Captain, also wearing a
gray robe.

Perhaps the ordinary workers in the Transportation Division didn’t

realize it, but Xu Qing, as a Foundation Establishment cultivator,
could sense that they were a lot stronger than before. In fact, just
looking at them, he knew that they had both risen to the
Foundation Establishment level. They were just masking their
auras.

The two of them squatted on some sandbags, Zhang San smoking

a pipe, the Captain munching an apple. As the sun shone down on
them, their gray robes seemed particularly splendid. It didn’t take
long for them to notice him approaching. And when they saw his
violet daoist robe, the Captain smiled proudly, while Zhang San
sighed.

“You lose,” the Captain said. Zhang San took out a spirit stone and
handed it to the Captain.
Seeing all this, Xu Qing realized that his previous speculation that
they were leaving the sect for Foundation Establishment
breakthroughs had been correct.

Grinning, Zhang San said, “Xu Qing, why are you actually wearing
your violet robe? Foundation Establishment cultivators in Seven
Blood Eyes only wear their colored robes when something
important is happening. Otherwise, you stick out too much.”

Zhang San was now a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but he

hadn’t forgotten Xu Qing’s ferocity in the Grand Competition. Thus,
he kept things as friendly as possible, while also explaining to Xu
Qing why he and the Captain weren’t wearing violet robes.

“You should go back and change ASAP,” Zhang San continued.

“By the way, don’t spend all your time on the peak. Nothing’s more
boring than Onpeak life. Didn’t you notice that there are basically
no Foundation Establishment cultivators up there? You listen to
me. Every single one of them is completely treacherous. They all
wear gray robes and hide down here in the Offpeak world. And
who can blame them? Everything is much more exciting and much
more convenient down here.”

Xu Qing nodded seriously.

As for the Captain, he smiled enigmatically and said, “For all you
know, Xu Qing, you might have already run into some gray-robed
Foundation Establishment cultivators. You just didn’t realize it.
Hardly anyone on the Seventh Peak flies around everywhere like
Honor Guard Li. Besides, he only started doing that after he took
up working for Elder Zhao. And you only see Zhang Yunshi when
he shows up for work. People say he actually enjoys helping out
newbies. By the way—” he took a bite out of his apple, then
cleared his throat and continued, “Deputy Director Xu, you owe
your director 10,000 spirit stones. When do you plan to settle up,
huh?”

Xu Qing looked at the Captain. Just like before he had reached

Foundation Establishment, the Captain’s cultivation base
fluctuations were impossible to read.

“The director?” Xu Qing asked.

“Yeah, that’s right. After I got back, I was appointed as the director
of the Violent Crimes Division. So, Deputy Director Xu, I suggest
you get those spirit stones together as quickly as possible. The
director is running a bit low on cash right now.” Seeming very
pleased with himself, the Captain looked at Xu Qing expecting him
to be envious.

Recognizing this look from the Captain, Xu Qing didn’t need any
prompting. “Congratulations, Captain.”

“Hahaha! It’s great to be chatting like this again with you, Deputy
Director Xu. Although, you need to update your form of address
and call me Director.”
Xu Qing nodded. “Okay, Captain.”

“Director!” the Captain corrected, then viciously took a bite of his

apple.

“Sure,” Xu Qing replied with another nod. Taking out three large
apples, he gave one to Zhang San and one to the Captain.

Grinning, Zhang San said, “Would the two of you calm down
already? I finished fixing your dharmaboat, Xu Qing. In a minute I’ll
take you over there to see it. Ai. It’s hard to believe the three of us
all reached Foundation Establishment so smoothly. It feels like it’s
been a lifetime since the last time we were together.

“I honestly never thought I’d see Foundation Establishment. I

heard that a lot of people broke through after the Grand
Competition. And Ding Xiaohai was one of the first. He made the
breakthrough here in the sect.” Zhang San sighed.

“What an idiot, right?” the Captain said, taking a bite out of the
apple Xu Qing had just given him. “Everyone else went to the
Grand Competition to get rich. He went to become a conclave
disciple. Then the first thing he does afterward is reach Foundation
Establishment. What was the point of the whole conclave thing?

“I hope neither of you are ever like that. Deputy Director Xu, I think
you’re doing fine. You don’t care about anything but getting rich,
so you’re not in danger of becoming an idiot. But Zhang San, you
need to watch yourself.”
At this point, the Captain lowered his voice. Looking both
mysterious and very excited, he said, “Alright, listen up, both of
you. I’ve been working on a big plan. I still need to get a bit more
information, but once I do, the plan will be ready to carry out. I’m
going to take the two of you with me, and we’re going to make out
like bandits. The rewards are going to be far more spectacular
than Joine’s flesh.”

Zhang San suddenly looked like he was on guard, as did Xu Qing.

“What are you looking at me like that for?” the Captain said,
glaring at them. “Fine, I won’t explain any further. Besides, I have
to gather some more information first. Regardless, the two of you
are far too weak. You need to form life flames as quickly as
possible, so that you can unleash the power of the profound
radiance state. Otherwise, I won’t let you take part in my plan.”

The Captain rose to his feet.

“What exactly is the profound radiance state?” Xu Qing asked. He

had heard about and read a bit regarding the profound radiance
state, but that was all theoretical. He had never actually seen it.

Zhang San also looked curiously at the Captain. Apparently, he

was in a similar situation as Xu Qing, having not ‌had many
dealings with Foundation Establishment cultivators when he was
in Qi Condensation.
“You want to know?” the Captain asked, smiling at Xu Qing and
Zhang San. “Ah, whatever. Considering we’ll be working together
in the future, I guess I might as well explain. Do you know why I
wanted to get some of Joine’s flesh? It’s because after you eat the
flesh of a godly entity, you can open multiple dharma apertures in
rapid succession. And that makes it possible to form your first life
flame. So, what is the profound radiance state? Instead of using
words to explain, I’ll just show you.”

Suddenly, a shocking rumbling sound erupted from within the

Captain, like heavenly thunder. As everything around them shook,
a terrifying shockwave rolled out from him.

Xu Qing’s eyes went wide with shock as he backed up rapidly.

It was like there was a furnace inside the Captain that had been
ignited, sending intense heat rippling out in all directions. At the
same time, the fluctuations coming off of him instantly became
stronger than before by many times over.

The Captain looked like he was made of fire now. There was a
heaven-shaking, earth-shattering image projected behind him, but
even looking at it was painful to the eyes. And everything around
him rippled and distorted. Then he moved.

Xu Qing saw nothing but a series of afterimages, and then his

mind reeled with an intense sensation of deadly crisis. He wanted
to fall back, but wasn’t fast enough.
The Captain was right in front of him, holding his right hand out.

Clasped in his fingers was a single one of Xu Qing’s hairs.

Because of the intense heat, it rolled up and dissolved into ashes.

Xu Qing’s pupils constricted as the furnace within the Captain

suddenly went out, and he returned to his normal state. Smiling at
Xu Qing, he said, “Deputy Director Xu, if I had wanted to kill you
just now, you’d be dead already.”

Xu Qing didn’t say anything in response, but his heart was

pounding and his mind spun in shock. Most of what he had known
about the profound radiance state came from what he’d read in
jade slips. But seeing it in real life was totally different.

Just now, the Captain had seemed completely invincible.

“Of course, I am a genius,” the Captain said proudly, “so when

other people enter the profound radiance state, it’s not as
impressive. But you wouldn’t stand a chance against them either.
Entering the profound radiance state involves unleashing power
from all of your dharma apertures. When you do that, both your
magical techniques and your fleshly body reach their peak state. It
doesn’t last for long, but it’s enough to either kill your enemy or
escape with your life.

“The only way to fight the profound radiance state is to also be in

the profound radiance state yourself. And Foundation
Establishment cultivators without the profound radiance state are
as weak as wild chickens. Therefore, little Ah Qing, don’t let the
wild chickens you’ve seen in the past fool you about what
Foundation Establishment cultivators are like. You need to work
hard! And remember to hurry up and pay back the 20,000 spirit
stones you owe me.”

Smiling, the Captain took a bite out of his apple and then walked a
few paces away. There, he shot into the air in a beam of light,
heading, not toward the Seventh Peak, but toward the Violent
Crimes Division.

Xu Qing watched him go. The sense of danger he had

experienced just now was like nothing he had ever experienced
before. And it left him feeling very anxious. He needed to open
more dharma apertures, and get to 30 as soon as possible. With a
life flame, he could then enter the profound radiance state. That
was obviously a big priority.

Zhang San was also standing there silently. A moment later, he

chuckled bitterly and shook his head. “The Captain is such a freak.
Come on, I’ll take you to your dharmaskiff.”

Xu Qing didn’t respond. Keeping his eye on the disappearing

Captain, he followed Zhang San.

Once I form a life flame, then with the blessing of the life lamp, I’ll
actually have the power of two life flames!
Eventually Zhang San reached his warehouse. As Xu Qing
followed him inside, he caught sight of a watercraft that was both
familiar and unfamiliar. It was a huge dharmaskiff, 150 meters
long, with a hull covered with a Foundation Establishment
sealizard skin. It also had a different overall shape. Before it had
looked like a crocodile, but now it looked like a sealizard!

And fluctuations of godliness rolled off of it. Instead of the

feathered wings that had been on his dharmaboat, this sealizard
had two leathery wings on either side of it. The entire thing
seemed completely fierce and violent.

“Okay, Xu Qing. The Captain gave both me and you a very small
portion of Joine’s flesh. I added it in as the power source. With that
upgrade, your dharmaboat became a true dharmaskiff! Of course,
if you want to uninstall Joine’s flesh, that’s fine. But I think having a
dharmaskiff is better for you. With it, you’ll have a much better
chance of surviving out on the Forbidden Sea!”

Deathblade's ThoughtsAs of adding this note, I just got back from

our family summer vacation. During that time, I didn't shout out
any of the reviews. Taking two small kids on vacation is usually the
opposite of relaxing. So there are a bunch of review this time.
Many thanks to everyone who wrote reviews. It's very much
appreciated! Thank you: FreedomDao, Aeglaeca226,
Mengbaiqing, Otarin888, Onigiri69, Balderdash, marxwal, Arthut,
WaveAngel, Dr Worm, Popo, Tanka008, Divine Emperor,
QOBrien67.P.S. I'm adding a sizeable Champion tier, so the next
round of thanks won't show up for a few more chapters...

As of adding this note, I just got back from our family summer
vacation. During that time, I didn't shout out any of the reviews.
Taking two small kids on vacation is usually the opposite of
relaxing. So there are a bunch of review this time. Many thanks to
everyone who wrote reviews. It's very much appreciated! Thank
you: FreedomDao, Aeglaeca226, Mengbaiqing, Otarin888,
Onigiri69, Balderdash, marxwal, Arthut, WaveAngel, Dr Worm,
Popo, Tanka008, Divine Emperor, QOBrien67.

P.S. I'm adding a sizeable Champion tier, so the next round of

thanks won't show up for a few more chapters...
Chapter 139: His Own Fortune

Xu Qing felt battered by waves of shock as he looked at the

sealizard-shaped dharmaskiff.

He had seen Foundation Establishment sealizards before. And

because he had seen one in real life, he could spot the differences
between a real sealizard and this sealizard-shaped dharmaskiff
that Zhang San had crafted. However, in terms of the aura, it was
almost exactly the same.

The hull was 150 meters long, and it had four limbs with razor-
sharp claws at the end. Its head was extremely lifelike, and its tail
even swished back and forth. It really looked just like a sealizard.

The main thing that didn’t resemble real sealizard anatomy was
the pair of leathery wings. They were huge, and just looking at
them, Xu Qing guessed that when they unfurled, each wing would
be as long as the lizard’s entire body. He could only imagine what
wild winds would spring up when they flapped.

The cabin was on the lizard’s back, a three-story structure that

looked beautiful while simultaneously coming across as being very
sturdy.

Zhang San looked extremely proud of himself, and his jaw even
jutted out a bit as he gazed at his masterpiece. “Seventh Peak
dharmaboats are classified as boats, skiffs, ships, and cruisers.
Yours is one hundred percent in the dharmaskiff category, and
class-3 at that. However, because of the godly lizard skin and
Joine’s flesh, it actually surpasses that level in some ways.

“The points of weakness are the keel, some of the miscellaneous

building materials, and the core power source. Joine’s flesh is
precious, but the Captain didn’t part with much of it. And the
godliness within it is limited. If you can get your hands on the full
heart of a godly entity, then your dharmaskiff will be worth far
more.

“Unfortunately, Foundation Establishment dharmaskiff materials

are vastly more expensive than the Qi Condensation type. Also,
dharmaskiff parts are a lot more complicated. Basically, to upgrade
even the lowest level Foundation Establishment materials, you’re
going to have to spend 30-50,000 spirit stones.

“If you want to upgrade something higher-level, such as your

sealizard skins, it’s going to be even more expensive. Probably
150,000 or more. Not even I could afford that. And there are more
expensive items that go for astronomical prices. In other words, Xu
Qing, if you want to upgrade your dharmaskiff, you really need to
make some money.

“One reason why dharmaskiffs are so amazing is that, once they

reach class-8, they have a special function related to the profound
radiance state. Simply put, it lets you suppress an enemy’s
profound radiance state! The better materials you have, the longer
it works!”

Upon hearing that, Xu Qing was shocked. Seeing the Captain’s

profound radiance state had left him feeling very anxious. Now
that he knew the dharmaskiff could do something like this, it
caused his eyes to glitter.

Zhang San grinned. “Surprised? Well, now you know why Seventh
Peak Foundation Establishment cultivators are so focused on
upgrading their dharmaskiffs. And you also know why people from
the Seventh Peak are often called ‘boat cultivators.’

“Considering your previous dharmaboat got half-destroyed, I

decided to shore up its toughness and defenses. Significantly.
Your dharmaskiff is definitely much more impressive than your old
dharmaboat. Whether it’s moving on the surface of the water,
flying in the air, or moving under the surface, it’s capable of
shocking power.

“Finally, I added an exterior shell to the boat, taking inspiration

from the way sealizards shed. If your dharmaskiff sustains an
overwhelming attack, the exterior shell will explode like heavenly
maids scattering blossoms. It will look like your dharmaskiff is
badly damaged, and hopefully it will make your enemy hesitate to
waste dharma force on a second attack.
“However, with a mere thought on your part, the shattered pieces
of the exterior shell can form back together. That said, I’m not very
familiar with the method of constructing the exterior shell, so don’t
use it too many times. I’d say no more than twice. In any case,
when you use that ability, whether you fake death or
counterattack, it will catch your enemy off guard.”

Xu Qing looked at Zhang San, and then back at the dharmaskiff.

He could sense how much effort Zhang San had put into helping
him upgrade his boat. It was a precious thing considering how
things worked in Seven Blood Eyes.

Clasping hands, Xu Qing bowed deeply. “Many thanks, Elder

Brother Zhang San!”

“Don’t be so polite,” Zhang Said. “I’ve invested in you, and seeing

how you and the Captain are turning out, it seems I invested
wisely. I just hope that I can improve your chances of staying alive.
After all... I think both of you are absolutely crazy. Although, the
Captain will probably end up dead sooner than you.” He sighed.

Xu Qing hesitated for a moment, then asked, “Does my

dharmaskiff still have the materials in it you originally bought for
the Captain’s coffin?”

Zhang San cleared his throat and smiled. “Of course! Those were
some good materials. Half of them got destroyed when your boat
was damaged, but there’s no need to waste the rest!”
Xu Qing didn’t say anything. Clasping hands, he thought for a
moment, then took out 20,000 spirit stones and handed them over.

Zhang San accepted them. After all, he had used quite a few
materials in his work. Waving goodbye, he left.

Xu Qing took his dharmaskiff and looked out at the open sea, his
eyes shining with anticipation.

Tomorrow morning, first thing, I’m going out to sea!

Having made his decision, he left the Transportation Division, all

the while calculating how many spirit stones he had on hand.

I spent way too much on Foundation Establishment. I barely have

50,000 spirit stones left now. I really need to sell that Spirit Breath
Lamp. That’ll replenish my coffers.

By the time he was heading back toward the Seventh Peak, it was
getting late, and there were few people on the streets of the capital
city. Night time was when Offpeak disciples would prowl the
streets with malicious intentions. None of that had anything to do
with Xu Qing. Criminals from the bounty list weren’t worth it
anymore. However, as he moved along through midair, he
suddenly stopped and looked down.

Lying there in the middle of one of the streets was a person he

recognized. It was a young man in a gray robe, underneath which
was a dog skin jerkin. Both the jerkin and the robe were soaked
with blood. It looked like he had a mortal wound on his abdomen.
There were other cuts and wounds visible on him, and he had also
been poisoned. His fingernails had been plucked out, as had all of
the teeth that he had filed into points.

It was the Mute.

He was badly wounded and gasping for breath. As for the identity
medallion laying on his chest, it had no merit points in it. Based on
the time, when the sun rose in the morning, he would be wiped out
of existence by the Seven Blood Eyes Formation. Xu Qing looked
down at the Mute. Then he dropped to the street and stood above
him.

The Mute was unconscious. In fact, he looked so badly wounded

that he might not make it to dawn. He had no sack and no
dharmaboat.

Xu Qing knew that beating someone to the point of death, then

taking all of their belongings, was a common way for Offpeak
disciples to get revenge on someone.

The Mute had earned a vicious reputation in the Violent Crimes

Division, and someone had finally retaliated.

As he looked down at the Mute, Xu Qing recalled how the young

man had offered him a dead criminal from the bounty list. And he
remembered how the Mute had followed him on the day of the
Grand Competition, and also the advice he had given about his
shadow. After some consideration, Xu Qing picked up the Mute’s
identity medallion and transferred one spirit stone’s worth of merit
points into it. Then he forced some medicinal pills into the Mute’s
mangled mouth. After that, he grabbed him by his clothing and
dragged him away. Upon arriving at the Mute’s small shack, which
seemed like little more than a doghouse, Xu Qing tossed him
inside. Turning, he left.

In the chaotic world they lived in, these actions alone could be
considered extreme humanity and utmost virtue. As for whether
the Mute pulled through and managed to stay alive, it was up to
his own fortune.

The truth was that the Mute had actually regained consciousness
on the way to his shack. Xu Qing knew that, but didn’t care. After
he was gone, the Mute opened his eyes and shivered. Looking
weakly at Xu Qing’s retreating figure, he closed his eyes and
curled up into a ball.

Back at the Seventh Peak, Xu Qing was heading toward his

mansion grotto when he saw a familiar figure sitting on the edge of
the cliff. It was Huang Yan.

His legs dangled over the edge of the cliff, and he was currently
sipping from an egg. Upon seeing Xu Qing flying toward him, his
eyes widened and he waved.
“Hahaha! You’re finally back. I’ve been waiting forever!” Huang
Yan reached into his robe and pulled out an egg which he tossed
to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing caught it and sat down next to Huang Yan. Xu Qing was
in Foundation Establishment now, but things didn’t seem any
different than before. Poking a hole in the egg, he took a sip. It
was just as delicious as he remembered.

Sounding very pleased with himself, Huang Yan said, “I heard

yesterday that you were back, so I came to see you. Well? Am I
awesome or what? I can come and go as I please now on the
Seventh Peak. The spell formation doesn’t do anything to stop
me.”

“Second Highness treats you well,” Xu Qing replied with a grin. He

really liked Huang Yan. In fact, of all the people he had met from
the Seventh Peak, Huang Yan was the one he truly felt was a
friend.

As soon as Xu Qing mentioned Second Highness, Huang Yan

proudly thumped his chest. “Well that’s a given. I’m telling you, Xu
Qing, she really does treat me well. She gave me an identity
medallion so that I could come visit her whenever I want.”

Xu Qing smiled and continued enjoying his egg. As they sat

beneath the moonlight, it was just like the old days in Harbor 79.
Xu Qing mostly listened while Huang Yan talked and talked about
how well his Elder Sister treated him. About an hour later, Huang
Yan stood up, wiped the dust off his rear end, and grinned.

“By the way, Xu Qing, there’s another reason I came. I heard

you’re the one who got the Spirit Breath Lamp from the Merfolk.
Want to sell it to me? I’d like to give it to my Elder Sister. We’re
bros, so I’m not even going to think of taking advantage of you. I’ll
buy it for 500,000, except I don’t have that much saved up. It’ll
take me a month to get it together. But if you’re fine with it, then
let’s seal the deal right now.”

Xu Qing thought about it, then nodded in agreement.

Hearing that, Huang Yan was very excited. Shortly after, as he

was preparing to leave, he suddenly thought of something, and his
expression turned serious. Lowering his voice, he said, “Xu Qing,
my Elder Sister told me that something big is going on in the sect.
During the battle with the Merfolk, our Seven Blood Eyes patriarch
experienced a cultivation base breakthrough, and then invaded
Seazombie territory. But there’s more to come. After all... his
cultivation base is different now. It looks like the sea territories
need to be redistributed.

“If things don’t go smoothly, war will break out. Actually, it’s a good
thing for us. War is like the Grand Competition. There’s always a
big opportunity for profit. Of course, the more dangerous the
situation, the more profit there is to be had.” With that Huang Yan
took his leave.
Xu Qing watched him go, then looked out at the open sea.

“War, huh?” he murmured.

Deathblade's ThoughtsAs of uploading this chapter, a new

Champion tier is available!

As of uploading this chapter, a new Champion tier is available!

Chapter 140: Fishing for Dragons

Xu Qing had never experienced war personally, but he had

witnessed something similar. That said, it was a far cry from real
war. The small city in whose slums he had lived had battled with
another city. The fighting had gone on for about seven or eight
days.

If Seven Blood Eyes goes to war with some other force, will it last
for that long?

Xu Qing thought back to the Grand Competition and the fight with
the Merfolk. Then he remembered what the Captain had said.
Such weighty matters were beyond their control, and would be
handled by the leadership of the sect.

If there’s not enough profit to be had, I won’t join in the fighting.

Going back into his mansion grotto, he sat down cross-legged and
took out the Life Nurturing Incantation jade slip.

The Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture was a martial technique, but

the way it used slaughter made it something like a magical
technique. After cultivating it, the way you opened dharma
apertures revolved around magical martial arts stances.

The Life Nurturing Incantation was different. It revolved solely

around a cultivator’s breathing exercises. In that regard, it was
similar to the Seaforming Scripture. By slowly strengthening
oneself, the cultivator would open dharma apertures one after
another.

After more thought, Xu Qing had come to the conclusion that his
previous assessment was incorrect, and that the best thing would
be to cultivate both techniques at the same time. It didn’t matter
which one he focused on more, as the Foundation Establishment
level was all about opening dharma apertures and forming life
flames, and both could do that.

And thus, he began cultivating the Life Nurturing Incantation.

The night passed.

The next morning, as sunlight slowly filled the sky, Xu Qing

opened his eyes. He organized his weapons and poisons, as well
as the talisman treasures he’d purchased. Then after his usual
routine of suppressing his shadow, he opened the door of his
mansion grotto and looked out at the rosy sky.

I need to go out to sea, kill some sea beasts, and use their souls
to open more dharma apertures. Striding away from his mansion
grotto, he stepped out into midair. His snakeneck dragon then
appeared beneath him, roaring to heaven. Flapping its four
draconic flippers as if the sky were the sea, it shot with shocking
speed toward the horizon.

***
The Sea of Endlessness was covered with black waves.

Compared to the bright sky, the darkness of the water was bizarre.
It seemed almost like ink. Its mysterious depths imparted a sense
of awe.

Though this was not Xu Qing’s first time out at sea, he didn’t feel
very much different than the previous time. He remained cautious
and careful. In the sect, there were rules that everyone had to
follow, but outside the sect, anything could happen.

Instead of showing off by flying, he traveled on his dharmaskiff.

And he used the disguising function to make it seem like an
ordinary dharmaboat. After sitting down cross-legged, he activated
the defenses and set a course.

It feels better to be on my boat than in my mansion grotto.

His first destination was a location he had been to before,

specifically, the area where he, Zhao Zhongheng, and Ding Xue
had encountered that snakeneck dragon. [1]

And that was because his first chosen type of prey was snakeneck
dragon.

He needed souls to open his dharma apertures, and he’d decided

that sea beast souls would be the perfect kindling for now. Of
course, he knew it was unlikely he would encounter the exact
same snakeneck dragon. But he figured it would be a good place
to start looking.

Not wanting to waste time, he cultivated the Life Nurturing

Incantation while he traveled, and simultaneously worked on
putting his personal snakeneck dragon into one of his dharma
apertures. His snakeneck dragon had a Foundation Establishment
aura now, and he was worried that if it was out in the open, wild
snakeneck dragons would fear it and stay away.

As he traveled, he saw other Seven Blood Eyes dharmaboats. He

was always very leery of them. It didn’t matter that he was in
Foundation Establishment now, he was still as cautious as ever.
Generally speaking, other watercraft treated him the same.
Everyone was careful when on the open sea, and hesitated to get
too close to each other.

Time passed. Three days later, Xu Qing’s Foundation

Establishment level of speed allowed him to reach that same spot
he was looking for. It was high noon, and puffy clouds danced in
the blue sky above.

As Xu Qing sat on the deck, he looked at the black waters of the

Forbidden Sea, then focused his senses on what was happening
beneath the surface. After quite some time passed, he didn’t see
any snakeneck dragons. Xu Qing stilled his dharmaskiff so that it
didn’t send out any fluctuations. Then he looked to the skies,
peering about until he spotted a pseudotooth albatross circling in
the distance.

Waving his hand, he sent his iron skewer shooting out. The
pseudotooth albatross reacted with alarm, but it wasn’t fast
enough to completely avoid the attack. The skewer pierced the
bird’s wing, causing the bird to let out a piercing shriek. Then Xu
Qing controlled the skewer in a manner to pull the bird out of the
sky and onto the surface of the water, preventing it from flying
away.

Then Xu Qing waited.

Time passed. The pseudotooth albatross’ struggling didn’t do any

good. Eventually, Xu Qing’s pupils constricted as he noticed
something deep beneath the surface. Water flowed, and
eventually, he saw a majestic snakeneck dragon more than 900
meters long.

It had an astounding aura, apparently somewhere between Qi

Condensation and Foundation Establishment. But most amazing
was its physical form. There was no way a Qi Condensation
cultivator could fight it. As it neared, it noticed Xu Qing’s
dharmaskiff. However, Xu Qing had the dharmaskiff’s fluctuations
masked, and was doing the same for himself. The snakeneck
dragon circled around him, then suddenly shot right in his
direction, completely ignoring the pseudotooth albatross.
From the look of it, the dragon thought that Xu Qing would taste
more delicious than the bird.

As the dragon neared, Xu Qing sat unmoving on the deck. When it

was almost upon him, his eyes turned cold and he reached out
toward it with a grasping motion.

The water around the snakeneck dragon erupted, rising high in the
shape of a hand that pulsed with the dharma force of Foundation
Establishment.

As the hand grabbed the dragon, the iron skewer shot down from
above. Inside the skewer, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was
going all out to prove his worth, and didn’t hold back as the skewer
stabbed toward the dragon.

The dragon howled, creating a sound wave that blocked the iron
skewer. At the same time, its draconic flippers swept through the
water, creating a wave to fight back against the huge hand. From
the look in its eyes it was clearly alarmed and wanted to flee. But it
reacted too slowly. Rumbling sounds echoed out as the massive
hand crushed around the dragon. As it did, the iron skewer
glittered, stabbing into the snakeneck dragon and piercing through
its flesh toward its heart.

“I need it alive!” Xu Qing said coolly. The iron skewer trembled as

it stabbed into the heart, then came to a stop before going all the
way through. Although the iron skewer was like a tiny needle
compared to the dragon, the creature still howled in pain. It
writhed, trying to free itself, but the huge hand lifted it out of the
water and into the air.

Seawater poured off of it like a waterfall. The dragon was so huge

that it blocked the sun, casting Xu Qing’s dharmaskiff completely
into shadow.

Xu Qing looked up at the snakeneck dragon, his expression placid

as he extended both hands and began an incantation gesture.
Black balefire shot from his dharma apertures out into the open.

From a distance, it looked like Xu Qing was wreathed in black fire.

As the fire rose into the air, the snakeneck dragon’s eyes filled with
terror, and it howled and struggled even more ferociously.

Its efforts did nothing. Xu Qing’s incantation gesture caused more

and more black fire to erupt forth, eventually transforming into
what looked like the head of a devil, cackling as it approached the
dragon. When they collided, the devil head spread out to cover the
dragon and then immolate it. Of course, what was being
immolated wasn’t the dragon’s body, but its soul. After enough
time had passed for an incense stick to burn, the dragon’s
struggling grew weaker and weaker. Eventually, the fire swept
away from the dragon and back into Xu Qing. Its body was limp
now. Having lost its soul, there was no life left in its physical form,
making it useless.
The giant hand released the dragon, and it splashed down into the
water and sank down.

As the iron skewer flew back and circled around Xu Qing, he

looked at the results of his first usage of the Balefire
Soulswallowing Scripture. Inside of him there was a white soul
shadow with a few traces of green on it that looked like a
snakeneck dragon.

“So, it’s white,” Xu Qing murmured. According to the description in

the Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture, Qi Condensation souls were
white, Foundation Establishment souls were green. Green souls
were ideal for opening dharma apertures, whereas the white
variety were inferior.

Might as well give it a shot. With a thought, he caused the

snakeneck dragon soul shadow to ignite like kindling. As the fire
burned, he sent it racing toward the spot where his third dharma
aperture existed.

A tremor passed through him as the third dharma aperture

trembled, and a crack appeared on it. However, it didn’t open. And
then the snakeneck dragon’s soul power faded away.

It’s working, but not fast enough. After some thought, he wondered
if it was because he wasn’t familiar enough with the process.
Piloting his dharmaskiff to another location, he used the same
method to try to catch another dragon.
The pseudotooth albatross had only been the starting point. This
time, he used himself as bait, but releasing some Qi Condensation
fluctuations into the water. At the same time, he prepared to fly up
into the air in case things went wrong. After all... it was possible
that his attempt to catch snakeneck dragons could actually result
in something more terrifying coming up from the depths.

Of course, it didn’t seem extremely likely, as the truly terrifying

entities wouldn’t be enticed by a mere Qi Condensation aura.

Three days later, Xu Qing’s attempts bore fruit as a second

snakeneck dragon approached. Following the same pattern, he
used its soul power to batter at his third dharma aperture. After
that, he went to another location. And thus, for the greater part of a
month, he hunted for snakeneck dragons. It was only after taking a
dragon in the great circle of Qi Condensation that he finally broke
his third dharma aperture open, although not all the way.

The process was going far too slow. Frowning, he did some quick
math, and came to the conclusion that at this rate, even if he
worked nonstop and without rest, it would take three years to open
thirty of his dharma apertures. And that was probably being too
optimistic with his estimate, as dharma apertures weren’t all the
same. The more you opened, the more soul power you needed.
Considering that, he would probably need twice as much time.
That wasn’t to mention that he would eventually have to go back to
the city. And who knew what other things could cause delays. All
in all, using this method to open dharma apertures would probably
end up taking him dozens of years.

I need to think of a way to kill sea beasts faster!

Eyes glittering coldly, he looked off into the distance.

There, he saw a giantfang shark racing through the water,

hundreds of meters long, pulsing with the fluctuations of
Foundation Establishment. Flying in the sky behind it in pursuit
was a person standing on a huge, ancient bronze sword. It was a
young man wearing a First Peak crimson daoist robe. His long hair
whipped behind him in the wind, and he looked grave and stern,
with cold eyes.

When he noticed Xu Qing, he looked at him coldly and said,

“Calling the wind and summoning the rain is not unique; put the
stars in a bag to play hide and seek.”

Xu Qing frowned.

1. They encountered the snakeneck dragon in chapter 83. ☜

Chapter 141: Opening Apertures on an
Uninhabited Island

In Seven Blood Eyes, each peak used daoist robes of a different

color. The Second Peak was orange, the Sixth Peak was blue, and
of course violet was for the Seventh Peak. As for the First Peak,
they had robes as red as blood.

When it came to Seven Blood Eyes, the most famous peaks in

South Phoenix and the Forbidden Sea were the First Peak and the
Seventh Peak. The First Peak warrior cultivators were known for
being grim slaughterers. They rarely went out to sea, and
preferred to do their training in Forbidden by the Phoenix. Only
First Peak cultivators who had complete confidence in their own
cultivation base and battle prowess would go out to the unfamiliar
Forbidden Sea for training. Because of that, whether it was in the
sect or out at sea, this was the first time Xu Qing had ever seen
one of the First Peak warrior cultivators.

It was impossible to misidentify another disciple. That was

because their daoist robes contained invisible designs that were
connected to the identity medallion and aura of the disciple. When
they got close to another daoist robe with such designs, they
would shimmer in response. The reason for this was that the sect
was too big for all disciples to recognize each other, and thus,
there was a need for a method to prevent outsiders from
impersonating disciples.

However, it didn’t matter that this was a fellow disciple. Xu Qing

didn’t let his guard down in the slightest. What was more, he had
no idea what this disciple meant with his cryptic poetry. His guess
was that, perhaps, this disciple was warning him not to steal his
prey.

After all, he did mention a “bag” and “hide and seek” while
simultaneously chasing a giantfang shark.

Xu Qing watched him coldly, his iron skewer glittering at his side,
his shadow beneath him looking like nothing special, but ready to
leap out under Xu Qing’s control. His dharmaskiff was ready as
well, and his snakeneck dragon was in his dharma aperture, the
row of spikes running down its long neck bristling.

As the giantfang shark fled in Xu Qing’s direction, he could sense

its extraordinary aura. Roaring, it spun in place and then lunged
toward the incoming First Peak disciple, its mouth opened wide.
Suddenly, a blood mist erupted from the shark’s mouth, which
transformed into a host of fish and shrimp that shot toward the
First Peak disciple.

“The puny heavenly maiden’s silver river; it’s waiting for me to

drink in one gulp.” His right hand flashed in an incantation gesture,
and his bronze sword thrummed, causing row upon row of sword
projections to appear.

In the blink of an eye, over fifty smaller versions of his bronze

sword could be seen, radiating an aura of slaughter. The First
Peak disciple waved his finger, and all the swords except for the
one he stood on shot toward the giantfang shark.

Shocking rumbling echoed out, and waves surged out across the
water as the giantfang shark howled. Seven or eight of the swords
stabbed into its massive frame, causing blood to splash into the
water around it as it fled off into the distance. That blood contained
a Foundation Establishment aura, so it would scare away many
sea beasts. On the other hand, it was also possible it could attract
even stronger sea beasts into the area.

Xu Qing simply looked on.

Hovering in midair, the First Peak disciple snorted coldly.

“The snow-white rabbit slips through the sky; the night-black toad
swims on by.”

As the words left his mouth, his huge sword thrummed again,
growing larger and larger until it was roughly 300 meters long.
Then, he shot over the water in pursuit of the shark.

Xu Qing hadn’t spoken a word the entire time, nor had he done a
single thing. He had listened to the disciple’s ridiculous poetry,
then watched him race off, staying on guard the entire time. Now
that he was gone, Xu Qing simply piloted his dharmaskiff off in a
different direction. Based on what he had sensed, the First Peak
disciple was stronger than he was, but not by much. He wasn’t at
the level of being able to enter the profound radiance state, and
probably had something around 20 dharma apertures opened. If it
came to an all-out battle to the death, Xu Qing had the feeling he
could come out on top. But a Foundation Establishment sea beast
wouldn’t be worth getting in a fight like that.

A few days later, Xu Qing reached his next target destination. He

was about halfway between South Phoenix and the Westcoral
Archipelago, roughly where he had encountered the creeping
vines. There was also an island nearby.

It wasn’t very large, but the island itself was shaped like the
character 凹, with a natural bay.

There were a lot of uninhabited islands on the Forbidden Sea.

Some of them were always there, others came and went. The
former were real islands, while the latter were often some type of
huge sea beast.

As for this particular island, Xu Qing checked the water

underneath to confirm that it was a real island. His sea chart also
indicated it was, but it was always good to double check things like
that. The island itself was barren and had no resources, which was
why it was uninhabited.
After scouring the surface of the island to make sure it was safe,
he moored his dharmaskiff in the bay and took out a small bottle.

Within that bottle was a blue liquid, which was ghostlonging

horseshoe crab blood. By refining that blood according to the
principles of yin-yang polarity, and by combining it with other
medicinal plants, it was possible to create a substance that would
attract ferocious beasts. It was similar to the substance the young
merman had used on Xu Qing. [1]

This was the method Xu Qing was going to attempt in the hopes of
opening his dharma apertures. He would attract a large number of
sea beasts, then kill them and take their souls. However, it was
going to be difficult to control, and it was entirely likely he could
attract a beast he couldn’t deal with.

In the hopes of fine-tuning the process, he would use

chrysanthemum mollusks, which could function as a harmonizing
agent. With their aura as an added layer, Xu Qing’s idea would still
be risky, but he was willing to try it. [2]

Once I start it, it’s not going to stop....

As he sat on the deck, he started refining the ghostlonging

horseshoe crab blood. It took about an hour, and it was nightfall by
the time he finished. He watched as the shell of the
chrysanthemum mollusk turned blue; at this point, all that was
required was a drop of his blood to start the process. Seeing that it
was already dark, he decided there was no rush, and closed his
eyes to meditate.

The night passed without incident. The next morning at dawn, he

opened his eyes and scattered poison around the area.

Because he was in a harbor, the poison powder mixed with the

seawater and began to spread about. Being very determined
about how the event should play out, he put even more poison into
the water. However, that wasn’t enough. He needed something
else to enhance the poison effect.

Therefore, he took out a stick of incense and put it off to the side.
It was a kind of incense designed to stimulate the poison. Once it
entered the water, and he added more poison, it would become
hyper-poisonous.

Everything’s ready to go. Eyes flickering with anticipation, he bit

the tip of his finger and spilled a drop of blood onto the blue
chrysanthemum mollusk. The moment it fell onto the shell, the
mollusk turned a darker shade of blue. At the same time, a very
faint smell pulsed off of the shell, so faint, in fact, that it was easy
to miss. As the smell wafted out, Xu Qing looked at the entrance of
the bay, his eyes narrowed, the poison-stimulating incense gripped
in his hand.

Time passed.
An hour later, his eyes flickered with cold light as he saw a huge
plume of water in the distance. A 300-meter-long whale breached
the surface, let loose a piercing cry, then splashed back down into
the water. That, in turn, revealed that within the water around it
was a school of fish that resembled crocodiles. They were black-
scaled crocfish, which were similar to black-scaled wolves. They
usually congregated in schools of over a hundred individuals, and
usually reached the eighth or ninth level of Qi Condensation.

As for the whale, it was in the great circle of Qi Condensation.

Seeing this, Xu Qing’s eyes lit up. As he waited, the black-scaled
crocfish caused waves to surge as they rushed toward the bay.
The whale was close behind. Shortly thereafter, rumbling sounds
filled the bay as the black-scaled crocfish entered, swimming
straight toward Xu Qing and slamming into his dharmaskiff
defenses. Booms rang out, but his dharmaskiff defenses were
strong, and they didn’t even crack under the assault.

Just as in the forbidden region jungle, sea beasts were primarily

body cultivators, and few had magical techniques. For the most
part, their tough physical form was their greatest asset.

Only about a hundred. That’s not much.... Not hesitating at all, he

put more spirit stones into the formation to power the defenses.
Before long, he saw more waves off in the distance.

This time, it was a school of huge swordfish, larger than any he’d
seen before. There appeared to be hundreds of them. Most were
between the third and fifth levels of Qi Condensation, but there
were forty or fifty that were in the eighth or ninth level. Their eyes
were bright red as they rushed into the bay. That was when Xu
Qing tossed the poison-stimulating incense stick into the water.

Instantly, the more than one hundred types of poison in the water
erupted, and the black water turned an even deeper black color,
so that it looked like a thick ink. As the effect spread, the black-
scaled crocfish trembled and went still. The whale was also
rendered motionless. The same thing happened to the swordfish.
After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the entire bay,
which had just been spraying with water, was completely still and
silent.

Eyes filling with anticipation, Xu Qing waved his hand and made a
grasping motion. As a result, a huge hand formed from water
grabbed all the sea beasts and dragged them toward him.

Then, Xu Qing’s dharma apertures erupted with flames that shot

out to burn them. Of course, they weren’t dead. His poison was
powerful, but he hadn’t designed it to kill them, just render them
incapable of fighting him. As the black flames burned, one soul
after another flew into Xu Qing. There in his dantian region, they
became soul shadows that served as kindling as he battered at his
3rd dharma aperture. Only a moment later, a tremor passed
through him, and his eyes glittered as his 3rd dharma aperture
completely opened. When that happened, spirit power rushed into
it, and then dharma force spread out into his body.
He didn’t stop there. With the black flames still absorbing souls, he
was able to send the power toward his 4th dharma aperture. It
opened!

The bay had become a place of death. Though there was nothing
on the surface, below the surface were numerous beast corpses.

With 4 dharma apertures opened within him, dharma force surged

through him, and his aura became stronger than before. As the
black flames raged, and the fire within his 4 dharma apertures
burned, it made Xu Qing seem like he was engulfed in flames as
he sat on the deck. Though this was a far cry from the profound
radiance state, it was clear that his dharma force was far more
majestic than when he had first stepped into Foundation
Establishment.

This is the kind of speed I’m looking for! Sometime later, Xu Qing
opened his eyes, looked around, and then started creating more of
the ghostlonging horseshoe crab substance.

1. The young merman applied the substance to Xu Qing in chapter

73, but the details weren’t explained until chapter 74. ☜

2. The idea of combining chrysanthemum mollusks and

ghostlonging horseshoe crabs was first brought up in chapter 109.
☜
Chapter 142: Massive Killing Intent

Time was like water, flowing by day by day. The beast corpses
were like dead leaves, drifting down. In the blink of an eye, more
than twenty days passed. Xu Qing was no longer in the same bay
as before. He had changed islands five times. This was his sixth
uninhabited island, and on this one, he had dug out a simple bay
to use. During those twenty days, he had done only one thing
other than change islands: focus on breaking open dharma
apertures. He just opened his 10th.

Within the black iron skewer, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior had
spent the last half month in a state of absolute trepidation. By now,
he was in somewhat of a daze, and was convinced he was in one
of the ancient records he’d read in the past. With each dharma
aperture that a cultivator opened, more soul power was needed,
and the process became more difficult. Because of that, it had
taken the patriarch eight years to open 10 dharma apertures. But
Xu Qing had done the same thing in twenty days.

It was a rate of progress that left the patriarch gobsmacked. Based

on what he knew, even in Seven Blood Eyes, it was common for
disciples to take two years or so to open that many dharma
apertures. The only exception would be in the case of a huge war,
in which a cultivator could kill large numbers of enemies.
But there had been no major war for Seven Blood Eyes in many
years. There were only occasional small battles. As for the use of
sea beasts, the Forbidden Sea was vast, but although the sea
beasts weren’t very intelligent, it was hard to kill them in large
numbers.

It was only by using poison and spell formations that Xu Qing was
able to achieve such rapid progress. There weren’t many people
who could do that. It not only required special resources, it
necessitated an exceptional level of strength to begin with. And it
also required the ability to make sure truly dangerous sea beasts
didn’t show up.

Xu Qing knew that he couldn’t keep this up for a long time. First of
all, ghostlonging horseshoe crabs were rare, and he had already
refined the two he had, and only had a bit of their blood left. At the
same time, he didn’t have a large number of chrysanthemum
mollusks. What was more, Xu Qing was starting to feel nervous.
He was creating a lot of beast corpses in the bays he visited, and
if he kept it up, he was worried it might attract the attention of
something truly terrifying. Because of that, he was already thinking
of going back to the sect. Right now, he was extracting the soul of
a snakeneck dragon, which he used to batter at his 11th dharma
aperture.

Even as a crack appeared on the 11th dharma aperture, Xu Qing’s

pupils constricted, and he looked off at the distant sea, his eyes
gleaming.
That aura....

Off in the distance, the surface of the water exploded as a roughly

300-meter long sea beast shot up into the air. It was covered with
what appeared to be a metallic suit of armor, and it had a huge,
vicious mouth. While it hung in the air over the water, it looked
over at Xu Qing in the bay.

That’s a Foundation Establishment armored mackerel!

This wasn’t the first Foundation Establishment sea beast he had

encountered in the past twenty days. Just seven days before, he’d
run into a spiraltooth horseshoe crab. Its terrifying appearance,
astonishing aura, and the furnace-like heat it had in it gave Xu
Qing the impression it could enter the profound radiance state. He
had immediately retreated to the land, maintaining full vigilance,
and keeping his dharmaskiff’s godliness ready to use. However,
the creature hadn’t seemed very interested in him. It simply
examined him for a moment then left. Ever since then, he had
been even more on guard against such dangerous beasts.

As he looked at the armored mackerel, he came to the conclusion

that it was very powerful. It seemed intelligent, as it didn’t get too
close to him, but rather circled the island as if taking stock of him.
Its armor made a distinctive clinking sound as it swam through the
water. Then, after enough time had passed for an incense stick to
burn, it suddenly shot toward the bay Xu Qing was in.
Halfway toward him, it leaped into the air and howled in his
direction, releasing a shockwave that created a wave on the
surface of the water that rumbled toward the island with mountain-
toppling, sea-draining force.

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered coldly, and his dharmaskiff thrummed as

godliness converged within it. Xu Qing reached out with a grasping
motion, and his snakeneck dragon appeared in midair. Rumbling
sounds echoed out as the snakeneck dragon flew toward the
armored mackerel. In response, the armored mackerel stopped
and backed up to flee. Apparently, it realized Xu Qing was
someone who shouldn’t be trifled with, as it dove into the water to
flee.

It can’t enter the profound radiance state!

Xu Qing’s eyes lit up. He had been hoping to find a Foundation

Establishment sea beast that couldn’t enter the profound radiance
state. Now that he had found one, there was no way he could let it
get away.

Bursting into motion, he became a streak of light that shot forward,

while at the same time, he raised his hand over his head. The
image of a heavenly saber appeared above him, which he slashed
down toward the surface of the water.

Water crashed as a 300-meter-long furrow opened up in it,

revealing the armored mackerel. However, its armor was truly
spectacular, as the heavenly saber didn’t damage it at all. Instead,
the fish turned to look at Xu Qing with a ruthless expression.

However, that was when the iron skewer flew forth, a bluish light
glittering on it that revealed it was covered with poison. Xu Qing
had done that at the fervent request of Patriarch Golden Vajra
Warrior. It seemed like the iron skewer was intending to hit the
fish’s armor, but at the last minute, it spun bizarrely in the air, then
stabbed into the armored mackerel’s eye.

The armored mackerel let loose a howl, then shivered. Instantly,

the area around it became filled with countless projections of fish
scales. All of them thrummed with dharma force; if they struck a Qi
Condensation cultivator, that person would definitely die.

Yet they didn’t stop Xu Qing. The black flames within him spread,
emerging from his right hand to form something that looked like a
dagger.

This was a magical technique from the Balefire Soulswallowing

Scripture that came after opening 10 dharma apertures. It was
called Baleblade, and it changed its appearance depending on the
needs of the cultivator. Right now, the dagger of black fire pierced
right into the armored mackerel, destroying its armor and sending
fire out to cover it. Xu Qing wasn’t done. Next, he sent his shadow
out toward the fish. Looking very alarmed, the armored mackerel
twitched, causing its armor to vanish and take the flame with it,
then transform into a metallic tempest that raged toward Xu Qing.
Having accomplished that, it swished its tail, which caused a huge
wall of water to rise up between it and Xu Qing. Glaring at Xu
Qing, the fish then opened its mouth and spat out a huge black
pearl.

The pearl was filled with rotting corpses, some of them beasts,
some of them humanoid. The corpses all opened their eyes and
howled as if they wanted to escape from the pearl. In fact, their
arms began to emerge from within the pearl, making it look like it
was covered with spikes as it flew toward Xu Qing. His eyes were
cold as the fire billowed higher around him. The spectral drought
demon appeared behind him, howling, while at the same time, his
snakeneck dragon shot out from the water and toward the black
pearl.

Rumbling sounds echoed out as the snakeneck dragon swallowed

the pearl. The dragon’s belly suddenly swelled as if the pearl were
fighting violently to escape, but the dragon kept it contained. After
all, the dragon was the manifestation of a magical technique. That
said, it seemed like it wouldn’t last for much longer.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing burst through the metallic tempest sent at him

by the armored mackerel. His personal defenses were activated
as he closed in on the fish with his dagger of flame aimed at its
eye.

The fish howled, and seemed to want to dive back down to the
bottom of the sea. But Xu Qing’s shadow had split into two parts,
one stretching toward the island, and the other wrapping around
the armored mackerel. As the fish struggled against the bonds, Xu
Qing’s dagger stabbed into its eye. Then he lifted his left hand,
and his 10 dharma apertures raged with fire, covering that hand.
Pushing down on the armored mackerel, he began to immolate it.

As it burned, and soul power streamed into Xu Qing, he suddenly

felt a sensation of profound danger.

Looking up, he saw dozens of ancient bronze swords flying

through the air toward the armored mackerel.

They were arrayed in such a way that the attacker obviously didn’t
care about hitting Xu Qing. Worse, a huge vortex appeared
directly below, giving Xu Qing no other option than to back up and
use his black flames to create a shield to defend himself.

Rumbling sounds rang out as the dozens of swords fell, stabbing

into the armored mackerel. Of course, it had lost its armor, so it
was immediately sliced to bits. At the same time, Xu Qing backed
away at top speed. After making sure he was clear of the falling
swords, Xu Qing’s face turned extremely grim as he looked at the
fish corpse floating on the water. Then he looked up to see a
young man flying atop a huge ancient bronze sword.

His crimson daoist robe made him very eye-catching. As the First
Peak disciple stood with his hands clasped behind his back on his
sword, streams of energy and blood rose from the corpse of the
armored mackerel, which he then absorbed.

Looking down coldly at Xu Qing, he said, “It is no waste to wait

from dusk ‘til dawn; as you wish, produce a new treasure to add
on.”

Then he turned and left.

Xu Qing didn’t say anything. Looking at his snakeneck dragon, he

saw that the pearl inside it had stopped struggling now that the fish
was dead. It was completely suppressed by his snakeneck
dragon, who was now consuming it. He hadn’t been able to extract
all the soul power from the armored mackerel, but he had
managed to take about forty percent of it. So he sent it toward his
11th dharma aperture.

A moment later, the 11th aperture opened, and his dharma force
rose to new heights. Then he looked in the direction the First Peak
disciple had disappeared to. Knowing that the disciple didn’t have
a life flame, Xu Qing’s killing intent began to burn. Waving his
hand toward his dharmaskiff in the bay, he sent the terrifying
godliness within it out in an attack. A golden beam of light shot off
into the distance toward the First Peak disciple.

When the First Peak disciple saw that, his face fell, and he
scrambled to pull off an incantation gesture. As he did, the huge
bronze sword he stood on tilted up to block the incoming godly
attack. Then the sword shattered, and blood oozed out of the
corners of the First Peak disciple’s mouth as he was shoved
backward 300 meters. There, his eyes shone with killing intent as
he looked at Xu Qing.

“Easy it is for youths to discard an escort; the fifth watch sounds,

taking the escort’s life.” [1]

Xu Qing had no idea what that meant, so all it did was make his
killing intent stronger. Bursting into motion, he closed in on the
First Peak disciple, his dagger slashing toward the young man’s
throat.

1. This particular poem contains two lines from a real-life poem,

except tweaked slightly by the author. Most Chinese readers did
not realize this, but some readers in the comments made the
connection. It’s a poem by Song Dynasty poet Yan Shu. I could
not find any existing translation of the poem, although it might exist
somewhere. For the most part, all of the other ‘poetry’ spouted by
this guy is invented by the author. ☜
Chapter 143: Set to Kill

Xu Qing had his own set of principles. Previously, this person

chased a giantfang shark right past him. It wasn’t that he hadn’t
been tempted by that shark. He had been. But he hadn’t made a
move because he felt that the shark wasn’t his.

It was just like that time, so long ago, when Sergeant Thunder
gave him some steamed buns to eat. He had been deeply grateful
from the bottom of his heart. That said, he wouldn’t have felt it
inappropriate for Sergeant Thunder to not give him those buns.
Later, he treated Sergeant Thunder to some snake, and had felt
fully justified in joining whole-heartedly. He had no problem wolfing
down what belonged to him.

It was the same today. He had worked hard to capture that

armored mackerel, had nearly killed it, and was just about to fully
extract its soul. Then this person rudely jumped in and attacked
the fish. It was behavior that, to Xu Qing, crossed the line. The last
person who had acted this way toward Xu Qing was that young
merman. If someone far stronger than him treated him in this way,
he would patiently wait for the right opportunity to destroy them.
But this person wasn’t that strong. And Xu Qing wasn’t feeling
patient.

Bursting into motion, his black dagger rippled with dark flames as
he aimed it toward the young man’s throat.
The First Peak disciple’s sword had collapsed, but an illusory
sword appeared in front of him which blurred to intercept the
dagger.

A boom rang out, and Xu Qing didn’t hesitate to follow up with a

punch mirrored by the howling spectral drought demon. His Sea
and Mountain Incantation coupled with his dharma body
unleashed such force that a vortex sprang into being in the air in
front of his fist, rumbling toward the First Peak disciple like it could
rip apart anything it touched.

The First Peak disciple’s expression flickered as he backed up.

His hands met each other to perform an incantation gesture, but
then Xu Qing’s shadow closed in, wrapped around his wrist, and
interrupted. That distraction had profound effects.

Xu Qing’s fist slammed into the illusory sword in front of the

disciple. His fist crushed through the sword like a boulder crushing
a drinking glass, and as the sword exploded, the blow landed on
the young man. The First Peak disciple’s pupils constricted, and
blood sprayed out of his mouth as he tumbled backward like a kite
with its string cut. And before he could stabilize the terrifying force
threatening to rip him apart from the inside, the water below him
exploded as a snakeneck dragon lunged up with its gaping maw.
At the same time, a huge heavenly saber appeared, bursting with
shocking momentum as it slashed toward him.
In that moment of deadly crisis, the First Peak disciple’s eyes were
bloodshot and he howled at the top of his lungs. Instantly,
something like a furnace raged into life within him, something
almost like the profound radiance state. Brilliant light spread out
everywhere, shredding the snakeneck dragon into pieces that
dropped down to the water blow. They quickly reformed, but it was
obvious the dragon had sustained serious damage. Meanwhile,
the heavenly saber struck true, but let loose a thrumming boom as
it did. Though the saber hit the disciple, it didn’t slash him in half.
Instead, it caused blood to ooze out of his mouth as he borrowed
the force from the blow to retreat 300 meters.

Xu Qing had noticed that the young man had something that
resembled the profound radiance state, yet was different. His best
guess was that it was a secret magic that released a fraction of the
power of the profound radiance state. However, this young man
didn’t have a life flame, and therefore, using this secret magic
would harm him.

Xu Qing’s assessment was correct. As the First Peak disciple fell

back, he coughed up a huge mouthful of blood, and the raging
furnace within him winked out. His face was now very pale, yet his
eyes were still locked on Xu Qing and burning with the desire to do
battle. He didn’t know Xu Qing, and didn’t believe that Xu Qing
was worth knowing. This disciple was the most recent, and also
final, apprentice to be taken in by the peaklord of the First Peak. In
other words, he was the First Peak’s ninth highness, and it had
been a very long time since he encountered a fellow disciple from
the sect who could make him cough up blood.

Now, his eyes filled with killing intent as he glared at Xu Qing.

Stabilizing his energy and blood, he wiped his mouth clean of
blood and waved his trembling right hand. Instantly, a host of over
thirty bronze swords appeared behind him, arranged in a complex
spell formation pattern. As they radiated intense sword energy, he
pointed at Xu Qing, and the swords shot forward. Then the First
Peak disciple sprang into motion, looking almost like a sword
himself as he headed right toward Xu Qing.

Xu Qing looked completely calm as he also charged forward,

waving his hand to cause the black fire in his 11 dharma apertures
to spring to life. The fire then erupted out of him, wreathing him
completely in flame. At the same time, numerous illusory flame
daggers appeared around him.

When they slammed into each other, a heaven-shaking, earth-

shattering boom rumbled out. Xu Qing’s daggers collapsed, and
the flames surrounding him faded a bit. However, the First Peak
disciple’s swords all shattered, and he coughed up three
successive mouthfuls of blood.

Xu Qing also sustained injuries, but because of his body

cultivation and dharma body, he didn’t even pay attention to them.
But the First Peak disciple was an extraordinary individual. More
sword projections appeared around him and shot toward Xu Qing
as he approached, filling the sky and causing rumbling sounds to
echo out over the surface of the water.

Xu Qing waved his right hand, and a huge wave rolled up,
transforming into an enormous hand that grabbed toward his
opponent. Meanwhile, the First Peak disciple performed an
incantation gesture and touched his forehead. Instantly, the mark
of a sun appeared on his forehead, then sent out dazzling light
that destroyed the hand of water. Xu Qing frowned, but kept
pressing the attack. This time, as they closed in on each other, he
decided to resort to a simple head-butt. A boom rang out, and
blood oozed out of the corners of his mouth.

At the same time, the First Peak disciple howled in grief, tumbling
back, his forehead bleeding and seemingly about to collapse.

Xu Qing was about to chase after him again, but suddenly realized
something and backed up. The instant he did, all of the broken
pieces of the sword from earlier suddenly shot out of the water,
creating a tornado of blades that swept right over the spot where
he would have been passing through if he gave chase.

The First Peak disciple suddenly ceased howling. After backing up

a few more meters, he stopped in place to catch his breath. Inside,
he was shaken by Xu Qing’s performance. The First Peak disciple
felt confident in his own status as a very strong cultivator. His own
Master had outright said he was. In fact, his Master said he was
the strongest new Foundation Establishment cultivator with no
profound radiance state in the entire history of the First Peak.

This fight was a big blow to his faith in himself. However, he wasn’t
ready to give in yet.

“When I go strolling in the sky; the sun and moon both say good-
bye!”

The only response he got from Xu Qing was a second godly attack
from his dharmaskiff. The dazzling beam of light caused
everything around it to ripple and distort as it shot toward the First
Peak disciple. The First Peak disciple’s expression yet again
flickered, and he immediately threw out a jade talisman in front of
him. The talisman exploded, and a host of soul shadows appeared
from within it.

These soul shadows were all the beasts the First Peak disciple
had slain. By using a special sealing method, he captured them
and transformed them into a magical technique he could unleash.
Most were beasts from forbidden region jungles. As they appeared
in the open, they merged together to form one huge, pitch-black
monster that faced the incoming attack of godliness. Everything
rumbled loudly.

The First Peak disciple’s eyes burned with killing intent as he bit
the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood. Then he
lifted his right hand again and jabbed it onto his forehead. A tremor
passed through him, and his energy and blood surged. His skin
became crimson, to the point where he looked like he was covered
in blood. And there was something sharp and incisive that glittered
within him as well. Just barely, it was possible to see the image of
a huge, blood-colored sword surrounding him as he pierced
through the air toward Xu Qing.

Xu Qing felt a sensation of danger, but he didn’t back down.

Throwing both hands out in front of him, he tapped into all 11 of his
dharma apertures, causing each of them to emit a 1,500-meter
sea of fire.

Combined together, that was a total of 16,500 meters that raged in

all directions. As that sea of fire was reflected in the water below,
the Forbidden Sea energy for 16,500 meters in all directions
combined with it, creating a crushing pressure. And the First Peak
disciple in his blood sword form slammed right into it.

A boom rang out. Xu Qing’s 16,500-meter sea trembled and

began to fade away. But at the same time, the First Peak disciple
in his sword form shook violently, and began to collapse starting
from the tip of the sword. It didn’t take long. After ten breaths of
time, the blood sword collapsed, and the First Peak disciple was
sent tumbling away. As he did, Xu Qing’s 16,500-meter spirit sea
became a massive fist which shot toward him.
Mouthful after mouthful of blood sprayed out of the First Peak
disciple’s mouth, and his eyes went wide. In that critical and
potentially deadly moment, he didn’t hesitate to pull out a pearl
that he then crushed. A haze of water vapor instantly surrounded
him, blocking Xu Qing’s terrifying attack, and simultaneously
allowing the First Peak disciple to turn and flee. His expression
seemed very unsightly, and he had given up any aspirations of
continuing the fight.

For one thing, he got the feeling he couldn’t beat this opponent. In
addition to that, he was terrified of this Seventh Peak disciple’s
spirit sea. He couldn’t assess Xu Qing’s cultivation base, but he
had the feeling it was close to being able to produce a life flame.

However, just as he thought he was about to escape, a black

shadow shot out of the water and wrapped around his leg. Then,
the First Peak disciple’s face fell as he realized an iron skewer
was shooting toward his throat. He was nearly losing his mind with
the intense sense of imminent crisis. Before he could do anything,
a pop could be heard as the iron skewer hit him.

However, it didn’t pierce into the skin of his throat. What was more,
it seemed the shadow had finally met its match, as the First Peak
disciple slipped out of its grip as if he were coated in oil.

The First Peak disciple didn’t escape without paying a price,

though, as a jade pendant he had hanging around his neck
shattered.
It was a life-saving item his Master had given him, which would
substitute itself for him in death. Now that it was destroyed, true
terror appeared in the First Peak disciple’s eyes. Without any
hesitation, he started fleeing at the highest speed he could muster.
However, behind him, Xu Qing waved his hand, causing his
dharmaskiff to fly out of the nearby bay. As its wings unfurled, Xu
Qing jumped onto it, recalled his shadow and skewer, and then
started chasing after the First Peak disciple.

This opponent was strong. In fact, he was the strongest

Foundation Establishment cultivator Xu Qing had encountered
outside of the Captain in his profound radiance state.

If the old Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior faced an opponent like

this, he would die within three breaths of time. But he had stolen
something that belonged to Xu Qing, and therefore, Xu Qing was
dead set on killing him.
Chapter 144: Unprecedented Brutality

The First Peak disciple could move fast. But out on the water, he
had only himself to rely on. That was especially true considering
that Xu Qing had destroyed his huge bronze sword.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing had his dharmaskiff. Not only did he not need
to expend any effort to move at top speed, but also, he could
simply sit on the deck and recover while doing so. It was easy to
imagine how a chase between the two would ultimately play out.
This was one reason why the ‘boat cultivators’ from the Seventh
Peak were so mighty. Once in Foundation Establishment, they
were strong on shore, but at the same time, could stay out on the
water for long periods of time.

As a result, after about two hours passed, the First Peak disciple
was starting to feel extremely anxious at having Xu Qing chase
him with his dharmaskiff.

Xu Qing wanted to kill his target, and therefore, he had no qualms

about using the godliness in his boat. At a certain point, he
unleashed another godly attack. The First Peak disciple let loose
an agonized shriek, and quickly performed an incantation gesture
and threw out a talisman treasure to defend himself. Blood
sprayed from his mouth, but he survived and kept fleeing.
Snorting coldly, Xu Qing kept up the chase. Before long, it was
getting dark. As the sun set, slowly turning sea and sky the same
color, Xu Qing accelerated on his dharmaskiff. This time, instead
of using the godliness in an attack, he just tried to close the
distance.

Then he waved his hand, and the sea erupted loudly as a

snakeneck dragon suddenly popped up in front of the First Peak
disciple, blocking his path. Then, as Xu Qing closed in from
behind, he sent his black iron skewer shooting out. As it circled
around, looking for an opening, the excited voice of Patriarch
Golden Vajra Warrior could be heard from inside.

“Milord, milord, you have to destroy this guy! Over the years, your
humble servant has read many ancient records, and I’ve seen a lot
of accounts of people like this. Based on his clothing, he’s
obviously from the Seven Blood Eyes’ First Peak. He’s in
Foundation Establishment, but hasn’t ignited his first life flame, yet
is obviously very strong. In books, people like that are usually the
main character. He’s obviously not an ordinary person. He might
even have the title ‘highness.’

“Also, milord, did you notice that he talks very strangely? In most
books, people with so many special qualities are usually very hard
to kill!

“However, compared to you, milord, he’s like a knockoff

protagonist while you’re the real thing. In the ancient records your
humble servant has read, people like this usually have incredible
destiny. However, after you kill them, you can take their destiny!
So you really, really, really don’t want to miss out on this
opportunity!

“Another thing. Considering how this guy loves to indulge in

histrionics, and how he loves spewing loads of meaningless crap,
we have a duty to beat him until he talks like a normal person. It’s
satisfying just thinking about it!”

As the patriarch jabbered excitedly, he flew the iron skewer closer

and closer to his target. At the same time, he was thinking, You’re
dead! There’s only one person who can survive being chased by
the Fiendish Xu. And that’s me! There won’t be a second!

As the patriarch pushed the iron skewer to higher speeds, Xu Qing

got closer, lifted his hand overhead, and summoned the illusory
heavenly saber.

Wailing inwardly, the First Peak disciple threw out a dozen or so

talisman treasures, and as they exploded, they repelled the
snakeneck dragon and the heavenly saber. Then he continued to
flee.

However, that was when Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior saw his
opening, and shot forward to stab the First Peak disciple through
the arm.
Breathing heavily, and his eyes filled with a vicious gleam, the First
Peak disciple shouted, “Burn!”

Instantly, the blood covering the iron skewer burst into flame.

The patriarch shouted in alarm and quickly worked to put out the
fire. Feeling like he had lost a lot of face, he howled angrily,
causing a huge sealing mark to appear outside the skewer and
shoot toward the First Peak disciple.

The First Peak disciple was about to fight back, but then Xu Qing
arrived. The moment he did, black fire erupted from him and
surrounded the First Peak disciple. It seemed like Xu Qing was
about to start extracting his soul.

This level of brutality was shocking to the First Peak disciple, and
he fell back at top speed while simultaneously trying to point out to
Xu Qing that they were both from the same sect, and didn’t need
to be fighting like this.

“A home amongst immortals puts the heart at ease; we two are

neighbors within the mountains and seas!”

Xu Qing had no idea what that meant, so he tuned out the First
Peak disciple’s voice and sent black flames raging out with full
force. As the moment grew more critical, the First Peak disciple
shouted loudly and pulled out a small black statue of a human.
When he threw it out, dazzling light exploded from it, and a
projected image appeared. It was a middle-aged cultivator in a
black daoist robe, his face expressionless. Looking at Xu Qing, he
flicked his sleeve, and a wild wind sprang up, blocking Xu Qing’s
black flames.

Xu Qing was also sent spinning away, blood oozing out of the
corners of his mouth. When he finally stopped his backward
motion, the First Peak disciple was fleeing in the opposite
direction.

“Milord,” Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior shouted urgently as he

flew back in the iron skewer. “This little punk has too many tricks
up his sleeve. Let’s just poison him!” The patriarch was really
trying to make it sound like he and Xu Qing were working together
as a team.

“I already did,” Xu Qing said coldly, looking at the First Peak

disciple’s retreating form.

All of a sudden, the First Peak disciple coughed up a mouthful of

black blood. Terror grew in his eyes, as he sensed his energy and
blood growing very unstable. At the same time, intense pain struck
his internal organs, as if they were melting. Realizing that these
were symptoms of poisoning, he immediately pulled out some
antidote pills. However, consuming them didn’t do anything. In
fact, they made the symptoms worse. Xu Qing had designed his
poisons specifically to counter the effects of common antidote pills.
Looking more alarmed than ever, the First Peak disciple
unleashed a secret magic to suppress the poison. He was really
confused by everything that was happening. They were both from
the same sect, and all he’d done was snatch a Foundation
Establishment sea beast. Was that really worth this sort of life-and-
death battle?

“Modern morals have fallen far; bullies make me wonder who I

am.”

Xu Qing ignored him and sent his dharmaskiff forward in a

battering attack.

The First Peak disciple howled in grief, wondering why this

Seventh Peak brat was so difficult to communicate with. He had
already explained who he was and where he came from, yet his
opponent wouldn’t give up the fight. At this point, he was coming
to the realization that he actually might die. As anxiety built in his
heart, he bit his tongue and spat out some more blood. Yet again,
he entered his blood sword form, then shot away.

Time passed.

Xu Qing pursued with relentless brutality, chasing the First Peak

disciple for two days and three nights!

They clashed numerous times, and Xu Qing always fought at full

force. He took advantage of every opportunity to utilize poison, but
the First Peak disciple skillfully used some sort of bloodletting
magic to neutralize it. What was more, he repeatedly tapped into
his secret magic to assume his blood sword form and escape. Xu
Qing had landed grievous blows on him numerous times, yet
couldn’t kill him.

However, he wasn’t ready to give up. Meanwhile, Patriarch Golden

Vajra Warrior sighed inwardly. Watching the First Peak disciple flee
kept making him think of himself.

You little brat. I don’t care if you really are an MC. That alone isn’t
enough now that you’ve run into the Fiendish Xu. The only way
you could survive is if you do the same thing I did. But there are
only a few open spots left for that kind of thing. At this point, only
the dharmaskiff is available!

Though the patriarch sighed, he also felt quite proud of himself.

By now, the First Peak disciple’s hair was disheveled, his robe was
in tatters, and he looked very weak. The paleness of his face
made it obvious how much blood he had lost. He had bitten his
tongue so many times that he was worried that if he kept it up, he
might not have a tongue left. By now, his cold demeanor had long
since vanished. He had never met anyone as stubborn as this.
During this two-day and three-night chase, neither of them had
slept. It really seemed like this person was not going to give up
until the First Peak disciple was dead.
“The heart falls numb when winter comes and autumn goes; when
leaves fall and blood pools, homesickness grows!”

The First Peak disciple suddenly threw a medicinal pill out behind
him, which exploded, revealing a host of souls. However, they
didn’t launch an attack. It seemed more like the First Peak disciple
was giving them to Xu Qing. The First Peak disciple had been
collecting them, some for cultivation use, and some to sell to
Seventh Peak Foundation Establishment cultivators. After all, he
knew that though these types of souls weren’t as useful as freshly
extracted ones, they could still be helpful.

“Where water meets land, reach the moon in the sky; all living
beings know that you rule on high!”

He forced the words from his mouth hoping they would save his
life, then bit his tongue and transformed into a blood sword.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing couldn’t make heads nor tails of his babbling

poetry. However, after seeing all those souls, he sent out his black
flames to absorb them. The souls didn’t resist, and immediately
became kindling that he sent smashing into his 12th dharma
aperture. As a result, he managed to half-open it. Eyes lighting up,
he accelerated in his pursuit.

Seeing that, the First Peak disciple’s expression became one of

grief and indignation. He really didn’t understand why Xu Qing was
being so unreasonable. The First Peak disciple had begged for
forgiveness, and even offered compensation. He had even pointed
out that they were on the same side! But despite all that, including
flattery, this was the result?? It was just a sea beast, right?

“Sun, moon, and stars are seen every day; to we immortals they
are friends to stay.”

Xu Qing didn’t say anything in response, and instead, kept up the

chase. Another day and night passed. The First Peak disciple had
run out of souls, and Xu Qing had opened two dharma apertures,
putting him at a total of 13. Despite that, he wasn’t giving up the
chase, and had even launched some mortal blows, only to have
his quarry evade them. The First Peak disciple was so bedraggled
his robe almost didn’t look like clothing. He had dark circles under
his eyes, and his face was extremely pale.

On a few occasions he was hit so badly he saw stars, and was

worried he might pass out from exhaustion. And thanks to the
poison, he was even weaker, pushing him closer and closer to the
point of despair. He was glad he had prepared so well for this trip
out to sea. All the boosts to his battle prowess allowed him to
evade numerous mortal attacks from the Seventh Peak disciple.

Unfortunately, he had gone too far out to sea. Despite the days
that the chase had stretched out, they still weren’t close to the
sect. And if his calculations were correct, they were still about five
days away from it. Realizing that, his heart filled with despair. He
had tried sending some voice messages to ask for help, but was
so far away from shore that the messages didn’t go through. As
his pursuer accelerated, the First Peak disciple moaned inwardly.
But then, he noticed rumbling sounds in the sky ahead. Craning
his neck, he saw figures flying through the sky, causing
thunderous rumbling sounds, and kicking the seawater into a
storm-like frenzy.

Dozens of figures up ahead were engaged in fierce fighting, and

there appeared to be two groups. Their cultivation bases were
difficult to assess, and the shockwaves that rolled out from their
blows filled the area with wild winds. The sky above them was
dark.

Despite being a great distance away from them, the First Peak
disciple felt such immense pressure from their aura that he
coughed up some blood. Behind him, Xu Qing saw the same
thing, and as his mind spun, he also coughed up blood.

The figures ahead seemed almost like gods, and they definitely
surpassed Third Elder. Just looking at him caused Xu Qing to feel
like his body might collapse. Then he saw that beneath one of the
figures was a dreadnaught, which was when he realized who they
were.

At the same time, the First Peak disciple’s eyes lit up as he

realized that one of those figures was his Master. Whooping with
joy, he cried, “The setting sun casts out a divine ray of light; a new
thread of hope rises up deep in the sea.”
Chapter 145: One Talisman, Two Lives

When the First Peak disciple called out in excitement, he projected

his voice with dharma force, ensuring that he could be heard from
quite a distance. His voice pierced shrilly high into the dome of
heaven. In fact, all of the dozens of fighting cultivators from both
sides of the conflict heard him.

Xu Qing’s expression flickered and he backed up. It wasn’t just the

unfathomable poetry that caused him to do so, but also... the
dozens of gazes that turned in their direction. Every single one of
those gazes had eyes like gods, and all of them had auras that,
despite the great distance involved, had caused Xu Qing to
tremble and cough up blood. Therefore, when they looked over...
Xu Qing backed up without any hesitation. He fully activated his
dharmaskiff’s defenses, took out some defensive talisman
treasures, and waved his hand to call over his snakeneck dragon
as well.

However, the indescribable terrifying pressure was so intense that,

as Xu Qing’s mind spun, his snakeneck dragon collapsed, and his
talisman treasures shattered. Thankfully, his dharmaskiff was
extraordinary, and had been built with godliness. Therefore,
though the defenses were destroyed, the boat itself remained
intact. Shaking, he coughed up two more mouthfuls of blood.
However, as the dharmaskiff’s defenses reactivated, and he
backed up at high speed, he managed to finally stand up to the
pressure.

Meanwhile, the First Peak disciple coughed up eight successive

mouthfuls of blood as three of his life-saving items collapsed and
his blood sword form was destroyed. He even pulled out an
amazing shield, but it shattered. By that point, he was far enough
away that he could resist the pressure. Xu Qing’s heart pounded
with fear as he continued to back up, while simultaneously taking
in the scene.

High in the dome of heaven, the two parties involved in the conflict
exchanged blows that caused wild colors to flash in heaven and
earth, massive rumbling to echo out, and a tempest to rage on the
surface of the water. Among the figures involved in the fight, Xu
Qing spotted the peaklord of the Seventh Peak. There were six
other individuals with him, wearing different colored robes, and all
of them pulsing with auras similar to his.

Xu Qing didn’t need to guess who they were. They were obviously
the peaklords of the other mountain peaks in Seven Blood Eyes.

Fighting them on even terms were Seazombies. Xu Qing had

encountered Seazombies in the Merfolk Isles. As for these, his
eyes stung as he looked at them, but he could tell that they looked
like humans. Each one wore a black suit of armor, and their eyes
burned with black flames. At the same time, they seemed to exude
a towering zombie poison.
There were other cultivators present as well, with weaker
cultivation bases. However, they were still mighty. Xu Qing saw
Third Elder, as well as Seazombie cultivators who were roughly on
the same level as him.

Eventually, Xu Qing’s eyes hurt so bad that he looked away. If he

kept looking, he knew that his eyes would eventually collapse.
That was how much more powerful this group was than him.

Suddenly, a howl echoed across the dome of heaven, and a

crimson-robed old man from the Seven Blood Eyes group waved
his hand. Instantly, an awe-inspiring golden sword appeared
around him as he shot away from the Seazombies and toward Xu
Qing and the First Peak disciple. The old man’s face was as red
as his crimson robe, making it seem like he was a burning sun. At
the same time, he emanated a hair-raising heat. This was the
peaklord of the First Peak.

Seeing him approach, the First Peak disciple excitedly shouted, “A

new thread of hope rises up deep in the ocean; the setting sun
casts out a divine ray of light!!!”

“Even in a moment like this you refuse to talk like a normal person,
my apprentice?” shouted First Peaklord. “Get the hell out of here!
Stick around and you’ll end up dead!” He waved the sword in his
hand, blocking an attack from one of the Seazombies that had
broken away from the main battle to chase him.
In the blink of an eye, their fighting had taken them off into the
distance. Hearing what the old man said, Xu Qing’s pupils
constricted and he sent his dharmaskiff underwater and shooting
away at top speed.

Not too far off, the First Peak disciple also seemed anxious to get
away. He knew that time was limited, and if his Master left him, he
would be dead for sure. Looking like he was hardly able to spit the
words out, he shouted, “Master, help me! This Seventh Peak punk
has been trying to kill me for ten days and ten nights! He won’t rest
until I’m dead! Don’t leave me, Master! Heeeelp!!”

Meanwhile, Xu Qing didn’t hesitate to push his dharmaskiff in the

opposite direction with as much speed as possible.

Some distance away, the old man from the First Peak looked back
in shock. He had known from the beginning that his last apprentice
liked to babble meaningless poetry. And that was because the
young man had learned that Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity had
often hidden profound truths within poetry. Ever since then, he’d
gone crazy trying to do the same thing. In fact, the last time the
peaklord heard his apprentice speak like a normal person was
three years ago. The old man’s gaze shifted like lightning to Xu
Qing’s fleeing form.

Despite how far away he was, and the fact that Xu Qing was now
under water, the pressure of his gaze still caused Xu Qing to
tremble. And then he simply couldn’t move at all, as though he
were restrained in place, his life hanging on a thread.

Opening his mouth, First Peaklord said, “You—”

“It’s a kid’s scrap,” a voice said coolly from higher up. The person
who spoke the words stood atop a dreadnaught, and was casually
fighting three Seazombies. He was none other than Master
Seventh.

The First Peak disciple was visibly taken aback. However, First
Peaklord didn’t react at all, and continued speaking, making it
impossible to determine if Master Seventh’s words had made him
change his mind about what he had been about to say.

“—You two are really getting into a scuffle considering the

circumstances?” He waved his hand, and a golden paper talisman
flew out. It appeared to be a talisman treasure, but at the same
time, seemed a hundred times more powerful than any talisman
treasure Xu Qing had ever seen. It splashed into the water and
headed toward him. As it closed in, it suddenly ripped in half, with
one part heading toward the shocked First Peak disciple and
landing on his face. The other part pierced right through Xu Qing’s
dharmaskiff defenses and landed on his arm.

The moment it happened, Xu Qing and the First Peak disciple

trembled, and the talisman disappeared, leaving behind a golden
mark on both of them.
“This lifelink talisman won’t harm you in any way. However, if one
of you dies, the other will also die. If you want to kill each other,
then go ahead. But if you don’t, then get the hell back to the sect.
Once you’re there, the grand formation will dispel the talisman.”

Next, the peaklord sent a massive wave of force down, picked up

Xu Qing and the First Peak disciple, and threw them off into the
distance. Finally he shot back into the battle, waving his sword to
chop the leg off of one of the Seazombie cultivators. Before the
Seazombie could react, sword energy shot through him, and he
exploded. Then another Seazombie engaged with him, and they
started fighting, rapidly moving off into the distance.

Waves rolled across the surface of the sea, and a very unsightly
expression appeared on Xu Qing’s face as he looked down at the
mark on his arm. The mark wasn’t actually limited to his arm; it
covered his entire body.

Not too far away, the First Peak disciple was also looking at the
mark. However, in contrast to Xu Qing, he was breathing a sigh of
relief. In fact, he even took out a half-broken sword, sat on it, and
looked at Xu Qing on his dharmaskiff.

Xu Qing looked back at him coldly. “What’s your name?”

“I’ve lived free, as if drunk or dreaming; with a masked face, I’ve

traveled the world.”
Struggling to keep his killing intent under control, Xu Qing
summoned an illusory dagger of black flame and rushed toward
the First Peak disciple.

The First Peak disciple’ heart leapt into his throat, but he trusted
his Master, so he forced himself to just sit in place. The knife
closed in on his throat, and just when it seemed like it was about
to plunge into the flesh…

Xu Qing suddenly felt an intense sensation of deadly crisis. He

hated to admit it, but it seemed this lifelink talisman really was
astonishing. With the talisman in place, he couldn’t kill his
opponent. Nor did it seem possible to beat him to a pulp, or cripple
his cultivation base.

Besides, given how tenacious he was, it was always possible Xu

Qing might accidentally kill him, and thus, kill himself. That wasn’t
even to mention that the fellow had formidable battle prowess,
ensuring that it would take a lot of effort to completely defeat him.
After weighing the options, Xu Qing quashed his killing intent,
glared coldly at the young man, then put his dagger away and got
back onto his dharmaskiff.

Seeing that, the First Peak disciple finally started to recover from
the terror which had been building up in him.

As for Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior in the iron skewer, he looked

at the distant peaklords and sighed deeply.
Why didn’t I think of that? It’s a freaking good idea!!!

Meanwhile, Xu Qing sat cross-legged on his dharmaskiff, using his

shadow to overload himself with mutagen, hoping that it might get
rid of the lifelink talisman mark. Actually, the lifelink talisman mark
did flicker a bit, but Xu Qing could tell that the process was going
very slowly.

Ignoring the First Peak disciple, Xu Qing kept up the process of

chipping away at the mark, then took out his bamboo slip and
used the iron skewer to carve something on it.

Upon seeing the bamboo slip and all the names on it, Patriarch
Golden Vajra Warrior’s eyes went wide. That was especially true
considering his name was at the top of the list. That got his heart
pounding, and he was suddenly struck with how vengeful of a
person Xu Qing was. But what caused him to tremble even more
was the realization that, though his own name was crossed out, it
looked different from other names that had been crossed out. The
other names were crossed out with three lines, but his was only
crossed out with one. And it was very faint.

Don’t tell me he’s still thinking about killing me? Terror gripped the
patriarch, and he suddenly decided that he had to work much
harder at being useful. The patriarch then watched as Xu Qing
wrote a new name on the list.

‘Idiot.’
Peering surreptitiously at the First Peak disciple, the patriarch
mused that he fully approved of putting this name on the list.

As for the First Peak disciple, he was breathing a sigh of relief,

and thinking that if he hadn’t run into his Master, he would
probably have lost his life already.

Then he started thinking about the implications of Master

Seventh’s words, and that caused him to look over at Xu Qing.

Unfortunately, he didn’t actually know a lot of poetry. Most of the

things he said were just random words thrown together. Though
he wanted to ask Xu Qing some questions, he wasn’t really sure of
how to word them.

After thinking for a moment, he forced out the following lines.

“On a sleepless night, I listen to the rain; is the immortal in the sky
your father?”

Completely ignoring the psychotic ramblings, Xu Qing finished

writing ‘Idiot,’ and then put the bamboo slip away. After that, he
activated his dharmaskiff’s defenses and prepared to put some
distance between himself and this young man.

Just as he was about to perform an incantation gesture... a

rumbling could be heard off in the distance. Looking over toward
where the Seven Blood Eyes cultivators were fighting the
Seazombies, he saw the mangled torso of a Seazombie Gold
Core cultivator splash into the water, sending out a huge wave
before sinking down.

Xu Qing’s pupils constricted.

Chapter 146: Xu Qing’s Dao Protector

Xu Qing recognized that Seazombie as the same one First

Peaklord had slashed with his sword. This was apparently the
second grievous injury he had sustained. Though it wasn’t
possible to tell if he was alive or dead, if he wasn’t dead, he would
be soon. Looking at the spot where he had fallen, Xu Qing’s eyes
lit up in the same way the Captain’s eyes had lit up upon seeing
Joine’s flesh.

The First Peak disciple was also looking at the same thing,
although he seemed hesitant.

Xu Qing thought about it for a moment, and then a look of

determination appeared on his face. Beneath his dharmaskiff, his
snakeneck dragon suddenly shot down toward the sinking remains
of the Seazombie cultivator.

The body was in bad shape. Its lower half was gone, as was its
head, leaving behind only the torso. Vast quantities of black blood
spewed out of it into the surrounding water. The Seazombie’s
chest was still; it really seemed as if he was dead.

As his snakeneck dragon reached the torso and prepared to bite it,
the torso suddenly twitched and its arm lifted. Its hand touched the
snakeneck dragon, whose entire body collapsed. The only thing
left behind was the armored mackerel’s core. However, the dragon
quickly reformed back around that.

Meanwhile, the Seazombie cultivator seemed to have drained the

last of his strength. His hand dropped, and his aura seemed
incredibly weak. In fact, the mere act of moving his arm had made
many of his chest wounds worse.

Eyes narrowing, Xu Qing performed a double-handed incantation

gesture, sending his snakeneck dragon back in for another bite.
This time, the Seazombie twitched again, severely damaging the
dragon, but at the same time, the dragon managed to bite off
some flesh. In this case, it was a finger.

Xu Qing wasn’t going to go down himself, and instead reformed

the snakeneck dragon. He wasn’t hiding what he was doing, so off
to the side, the First Peak disciple saw everything.

At first he seemed suspicious, but when he realized what Xu Qing

was doing, his eyes lit up. Looking at Xu Qing, then looking down
into the water, he watched as the snakeneck dragon made a
second attempt.

Rumbling sounds echoed out as the Seazombie’s arm exploded,

causing the snakeneck dragon to collapse. Seeing that, Xu Qing
shot to his feet.

However, that was when the First Peak disciple laughed heartily,
and before Xu Qing could do anything else, dove into the water
and went down toward the sinking Seazombie.

Xu Qing dove into the water right behind him, and pretended to try
to catch up, though he intentionally hung back a bit. He had never
planned to be the first into the water. Despite the tests with his
snakeneck dragon, he was still leery. After all, this was a cultivator
on the same level as one of the sect elders. Even in the
dilapidated state he was in, it was still possible he had lifesaving
items on him. That wasn’t even to mention the bizarre recovery
capabilities of the Seazombies, which Xu Qing himself had
personally witnessed. Therefore, he would rather have someone
else go ahead of him to check out the situation.

As for whether this disciple from the First Peak would end up
dead... Xu Qing doubted it. The disciple obviously had more
lifesaving items hidden away on him. And if he really got into a
deadly situation, Xu Qing was fairly confident he could save him
using his shadow. Having reached the conclusion that this was
definitely the best idea, Xu Qing kept his distance and watched as
the First Peak disciple got close to the Seazombie cultivator.

As the First Peak disciple neared, he performed a double-handed

incantation gesture, summoning a host of swords that he sent
flying down. He wasn’t stupid. Although he had beat Xu Qing into
the water, he was worried the whole thing might be a trick.
However, the temptation was too great for him to resist, so he had
gone ahead. That said, he was still going to do some of his own
testing.
Just as his swords were about to reach their target, the
Seazombie cultivator’s chest suddenly opened up, and a glob of
black blood appeared, which transformed into a vicious ghost.
Roaring, it flew toward the First Peak disciple.

That roar contained shockingly violent power, which smashed all

of the incoming swords and caused blood to ooze out of the First
Peak disciple’s eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Pulling out a jade
pendant, he crushed it, causing a defensive barrier to appear while
he fell back, terror written on his face.

However, at the same time, Xu Qing rushed past him, heading at

top speed toward the Seazombie cultivator.

Again, the ghost on the Seazombie’s chest roared. As it did, Xu

Qing’s eyes glittered coldly, and a black umbrella appeared,
opening up and bearing the brunt of the attack as the sound once
again rumbled out. Xu Qing trembled violently, and blood oozed
out of him. But at the same time, a dagger of black flame
appeared in his right hand, and he thrust it out viciously toward the
ghost.

The ghost writhed as black flames swept out over it. Then, a
second ghost appeared on the Seazombie’s chest, and it also
unleashed a roar.

Xu Qing was shoved backward by about thirty meters. Meanwhile,

the Seazombie cultivator took advantage of the moment to
accelerate downward into the water. He was trying to flee.

Xu Qing’s eyes flickered coldly. In the brief contact he had made

with the Seazombie, he could sense a scrap of its discarnate soul.
That alone was tempting, but more than that, he had noticed a bag
of holding on the Seazombie. [1]

There was no way he would let this opportunity slip through his
fingers. It wasn’t often that you would run into a dying cultivator on
the level of a sect elder. And even if you did, it wouldn’t
necessarily be possible to take their belongings.

His mind made up, Xu Qing shot toward the rapidly sinking
Seazombie corpse. His snakeneck dragon swirled down to
surround him, helping him pick up speed. And his dharmaskiff also
sank under the surface of the water, glittering as it prepared an
attack of godliness.

Meanwhile, the First Peak disciple watched with wide eyes as Xu

Qing shot down. Although he was tempted by the possibilities of
this situation, he didn’t feel like it was worth risking his life over.
After all, he was the ninth highness of the First Peak. He didn’t
mind taking some risks, but putting his life on the line blithely
wasn’t an option. He had a bright future ahead of him. But... Xu
Qing was going for it. And he was connected to Xu Qing with a
lifelink talisman. If Xu Qing died, he would die as well, and vice
versa. While only moments ago, he had felt very pleased because
of that, now he was feeling very nervous. He was also starting to
think that his Master might not be the amazing genius he’d
thought.... After vaccilating for a moment, he gritted his teeth,
uttered a curse in his heart, and followed after Xu Qing.

In order to pick up speed, he bit his tongue, spitting out some

blood to use his secret magic and turn into a blood sword. After all,
he was worried this Seventh Peak lunatic would get himself killed
if he didn’t hurry up. As he neared, he took out a lifesaving jade
amulet and, despite how much it pained him, tossed it to Xu Qing.
Xu Qing grabbed it.

When the First Peak disciple saw that, he sighed deeply, and
mused that he really shouldn’t have tried to steal this person’s sea
beast. Instead of feeling free from worry thanks to the lifelink
talisman, he felt more like he’d become a dao protector.

Feeling very frustrated, he watched as Xu Qing head-butted the

Seazombie corpse. Picking up some speed, he hurried to help,
keeping an eye out for his own safety, but simultaneously making
sure Xu Qing was safe as well.

And thus, the two of them engaged in a bitter fight with a

Seazombie under the surface of the water. The Seazombie only
had a discarnate soul left in him, but the ghost projections he
could create were still formidable. Both Xu Qing and the First Peak
disciple took significant damage.
The way Xu Qing seemed to disregard his own life made the First
Peak disciple very frustrated. So, he kept giving him lifesaving
items, while also using his own trump cards in the hope of ending
the battle sooner.

Eventually, Xu Qing completely stopped defending himself. His

hands flashed in a double-handed incantation gesture, black
flames erupted and he started extracting the soul power while the
First Peak disciple protected him. Anyone who saw how this was
playing out would be deeply stunned. Finally, the First Peak
disciple gritted his teeth and backed away, convinced that Xu Qing
wasn’t actually suicidal, and that he would take over defending
himself.

Xu Qing just looked at him coldly, then ignored him and kept up
the assault on the Seazombie. The First Peak disciple watched in
shock. When he saw Xu Qing nearly die a few times, he howled
inwardly and threw out some more defensive jade talismans. A
bitter look on his face, he also joined in on the attack.

He put all of his frustration into his attacks. The battle lasted all
day. Eventually, Xu Qing had extracted all of the Seazombie’s
discarnate soul, and had also taken his bag of holding. At that
point, both he and the First Peak disciple were completely
exhausted.

Back on the dharmaskiff, the First Peak disciple whipped out a

sword and held it up to his own throat. Gasping for breath, and his
eyes filled with incomparable determination, he gritted his teeth
and said, “During Tomb-Sweeping, two incense sticks are burning;
heartbreak is avoided when splitting the earnings!”

“I don’t understand,” Xu Qing replied coolly, putting the bag of

holding away.

The First Peak disciple’s eyes were completely bloodshot as he

stared at Xu Qing. After some struggling, he forced himself to
speak like a normal person for the second time.

“We split the loot! If you don’t, I’ll kill myself right in front of you!!”

Xu Qing looked at him and saw the determination in his eyes. And
as he thought about it, he realized the young man had been a big
help. He had worked hard keeping Xu Qing safe, to the point
where he actually seemed superior to an ordinary dao protector.

Opening the bag of holding, he dumped it out between the two of

them. A mass of items fell out into a huge pile, including a stack of
spirit notes, a vast assortment of spirit notes and jade slips, some
medicinal pill bottles, various crafting ingredients, and the like.

There were two particular jade slips that emanated powerful

fluctuations. Xu Qing had seen jade slips like this before. They
were like the lifesaving items the First Peak disciple had used.
Given the fluctuations, they were obviously very impressive. Xu
Qing had also seen things like them in shops in the Port District,
and knew that they hadn’t been created by Foundation
Establishment cultivators. Instead, they had been made by Gold
Core cultivators. Of course, mere jade couldn’t contain the full
might of a Gold Core cultivator, so such jade slips usually
contained only a bit of Gold Core power.

These two slips seemed recently crafted, and weren’t something

this Seazombie would have needed. In all likelihood, they had
been intended as gifts for someone else. There was also a piece
of jade carved into the shape of a feather. When Xu Qing and the
First Peak disciple saw it, both of their eyes glittered.

A magical device! Xu Qing thought. The Spirit Breath Lamp was a

magical device, and his iron skewer was, in some ways at least,
similar to a magical device.

Magical devices existed between talisman treasures and magical

treasures, and were items that had been created by a cultivator.
However, they were not as powerful as the legendary magical
treasures. And they were categorized into the tiers of lesser,
greater, and superior.

Few cultivators would ever have the opportunity to get a magical

treasure, and magical devices were similarly rare. Xu Qing didn’t
hesitate for a moment to reach out and grab the jade feather. The
First Peak disciple also reached out at the same time, but he didn’t
reach for the feather. Instead, he picked up something that didn’t
look very impressive at all.
It was an iron box.

1. I’m going to continue to use “discarnate soul” to maintain

continuity with my other translations. Essentially it means a
broken, damaged, and/or incomplete soul. ☜
Chapter 147: Wish Box

When Xu Qing noticed the box, his pupils constricted. He had

seen two other boxes like this.

The first had been in the possession of Horsefour back in the

scavenger basecamp. The second had been with the young
merman. To this day, Xu Qing still had no idea what they were.
And in all of the shops he had visited in the capital city, he never
saw anything like them. [1]

Today, he saw a third one. However, exactly as he laid eyes on it,

the First Peak disciple snatched it and put it into his robe. Looking
vigilantly at Xu Qing, he, “A hundred mouthfuls of blood were
coughed up today; splitting the earnings is what true heroes do.”

“Talk like a normal person,” Xu Qing said coldly, then he waved his
hand, activating the dharmaskiff’s defenses and making it
impossible for the First Peak disciple to leave.

Seeing this, the First Peak disciple sighed. Then he punched

himself in the gut, causing himself to cough up a mouthful of black
blood. After confirming that he had been poisoned, he used his
secret magic to suppress it, then looked helplessly at Xu Qing. All
the while, he mused that people from the Seventh Peak really
lacked good character. This guy put poison on his own
dharmaskiff? Was he trying to kill himself?
A long moment passed in which Xu Qing just stared.

Finally, the First Peak disciple sighed and said, “We said we’d split
the loot, right? I just want this. You can have everything else.”

Without a word, Xu Qing collected all the other items together. As

he did, he happened to notice a seven-colored medallion. It had
been crafted of wood, and appeared to be an identity medallion. It
looked quite well-worn. From the patina on the surface of the
wood, it seemed like it had been handled frequently by someone.
Xu Qing studied at it, then looked up at the First Peak disciple.

“In the vast wilds, people flock to the—” Before he could finish with
his poem, he noticed Xu Qing frowning, and stopped talking.
Worried that if he didn’t make himself clear, Xu Qing might not
cooperate, he again forced himself to talk like a normal person.
“It’s an identity medallion from the Seven Sect Coalition. Since we
got it from a Seazombie, it probably means that, in life, he was a
Seven Sect Coalition cultivator.”

“What’s that other thing you picked up?” Xu Qing asked.

The First Peak disciple hesitated. Obviously, this Seventh Peak

disciple didn’t know what a wish box was. Originally, he’d intended
to not explain. But then he decided that might not be a good idea.
If the Seventh Peak disciple thought he was trying to keep some
astounding treasure, it could lead to a very dangerous situation.
Shaking his head helplessly, he said, “It’s a wish box. Wish boxes
contain gifts from cultivators from a previous epoch, placed inside
specifically to be received by other cultivators in subsequent
epochs.

“After the broken face of the god arrived, this tradition began as a
way to mark the ending of epochs in the Revered Ancient
mainland. In the last days of an epoch, wish boxes will be created
using special materials. A lot of them have been created over the
years.” At first, the First Peak disciple had found it difficult to speak
without poetry, but the more he talked, the easier it became. In
fact, it actually felt somewhat comfortable.

“Wish boxes are specially made to be able to survive the ending of

an epoch. I’ve heard that some people have found wish boxes that
look like coffins, and contain dead cultivators. Other people find
wish boxes that are empty. There’s no way to know what’s inside
before you open it.

“Each box contains items sealed inside by a different powerful

expert. In other words, that person is the only one who could know
what the box contains.

“I’ve heard of people finding magical treasures. Techniques.

Things like that. Sometimes a wish box will contain nothing more
than some leaves or other random things. In some cases, it can be
completely worthless. In the final analysis, it all comes down to
how lucky you are.
“I’ve already opened three wish boxes, and none of them had
anything spectacular in them. But I have the feeling this is the time
I’m going to get lucky. They’re easy to open. You just concentrate
your dharma force on the box and it’ll open, though it’s usually a
slow process. The reason I want this one is that you can tell the
dharma force concentration has already reached the point where it
will open soon.”

Apparently, once the First Peak disciple started talking, he would

keep going without giving any opportunities for interruption. After
he finished speaking, he backed up a few steps and looked
vigilantly at Xu Qing.

“If you don’t agree, then I’ll give you the wish box in exchange for
that magical device and those two jade talisman treasures.”

After mulling the matter over, Xu Qing opened his dharmaskiff’s

defenses. From that, the First Peak disciple realized that Xu Qing
was allowing him to leave. He quickly flew off the boat and landed
on his sword.

Xu Qing looked away from him, sat down cross-legged, and sent
his dharmaskiff back in the direction of Seven Blood Eyes. He
wanted to get rid of the lifelink talisman as quickly as possible.
Although his shadow was eating away at the mark, the process
was too slow, and felt like a waste of time.
As he sat there, he started going through the items he’d acquired.
The bag of holding had belonged to a Gold Core cultivator, and it
contained some astonishing things. The spirit notes alone were
worth more than 200,000 spirit stones. Granted, they weren’t
Seven Blood Eyes spirit notes, but he could exchange them in the
sect for a small fee.

Xu Qing estimated that he could sell the random items in the bag
for a few hundred thousand spirit stones. As for the two jade
talismans, they were probably worth a few tens of thousands of
spirit stones.

What was worth the most was the magical device shaped like a
feather. It was a shocking haul.

However, Xu Qing had the feeling that a Gold Core cultivator

should have a lot more belongings. This was probably only a small
portion of his true savings. After all, most people didn’t just have
one bag of holding.

What a pity. I guess whoever injured him must have taken his
other things. Either that, or he kept them somewhere else.
Sighing, he focused inwardly on the discarnate soul that was just
now beginning to burn as kindling. Let’s see what an elder-level
discarnate soul can do. And the Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture
supposedly works great on Seazombies. I wonder how many
dharma apertures I can open!
He checked his dharmaskiff defenses, then looked at the First
Peak disciple, who seemed very much on guard. Then he closed
his eyes and focused on the black flames within him. All 13 of his
dharma apertures raged with balefire, burning the Seazombie
discarnate soul. Then he sent the resulting soul force toward his
14th dharma aperture. The dharma aperture trembled and then
opened. But the process didn’t stop there. Under Xu Qing’s
control, the power of the burning discarnate soul continued to his
15th dharma aperture, which also opened! Then his 16th and 17th.
It was only after the 20th opened that the discarnate soul finally
faded away.

I opened 7 dharma apertures!

Although he had anticipated something like this might happen, it

was still surprising, and his eyes shone brightly as a result. The
more dharma apertures you opened, the harder it became to open
new ones. And once he had gone past 10, he had increasingly
sensed that the soul power he needed was reaching ridiculous
levels. Despite that, this discarnate soul had allowed him to open
seven in a row, which suddenly made him wish he could find more
such souls.

Sadly, it’s too hard.

Xu Qing knew full well that he had only succeeded with the help of
the young man from the First Peak. Without all the lifesaving items
he’d given, it would never have worked.
I made out quite well. Now I just need to get back to the sect,
remove the lifelink talisman, then come out to sea again. Before
long, I should be able to form my life flame!

At this point, Xu Qing focused on gathering dharma force in his

dharma apertures. At the same time, he took out the feather-
shaped magical device. After inspecting it closely, he sent some
dharma force into it.

Gradually, three days passed.

While Xu Qing focused on his dharma apertures and the magical

device, the First Peak disciple worked on the wish box. When it
finally reached the point where he knew he could open it, he
looked over to confirm that Xu Qing was working on his cultivation.
Then he slowed down a bit to put some distance between himself
and the dharmaskiff. Finally, he waved his hand to summon a
defensive barrier that would give him some privacy.

As he held the iron box in his hands, his eyes shone with
excitement. He had not been lying to Xu Qing. He really had
opened three wish boxes in the past. However, what he hadn’t
revealed was that the first one he opened contained an ancient
jade slip. Although the slip itself wasn’t valuable, it had contained
information about the Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns.
Information like that was worth a lot.
Specifically, that ancient jade slip told the life story of three specific
Ancient Emperors. The First Peak disciple had become fascinated
with those stories, especially the detail about how Ancient
Emperor Dark Serenity loved hiding profound truths in poetry. That
had been very inspiring.

Taking a deep, excited breath, the First Peak disciple again made
sure that Xu Qing wasn’t looking at him. Rubbing his hands in
anticipation, he hit himself on the forehead, and then landed a
blow on the pit of his stomach. Then he went into a ritualistic
prayer with his eyes closed.

After enough time passed for half an incense stick to burn, his
eyes opened, and he reached down and put his hands on the box.
A cracking sound rang out. There had been no visible cracks on
the box before. It had seemed like a pure lump of metal.

But now, it opened exactly like a box to reveal a finger-sized jade

bottle. It already had dark spots on it, making it look very old. And
it seemed to contain a medicinal liquid of some sort. Next to it was
an ancient jade slip. The First Peak disciple’s heart started
pounding.

The first wish box he had opened had contained something

interesting, but the other two had been completely worthless.
Therefore, seeing that this box not only had an ancient jade slip,
but also a bottle with medicinal liquid in it, he couldn’t help but be
excited.
“I struck pay dirt!” he murmured. Suddenly realizing that he was
getting too used to speaking normally, he cleared his throat. “All
the misery at sea was not in vain; prosperity surges to amazing
heights.”

Feeling a bit better, he picked up the bottle, studied it for a bit, and
then opened it. Almost immediately, a very unusual odor wafted
out. The First Peak disciple had no idea what was in the bottle, but
the odor stimulated his psyche, giving him the feeling that the
liquid was still effective.

Chuckling, he murmured, “Jade dragons and heavenly spirits give

good fortune; yet only I shall benefit from it.”

That said, he didn’t dare to consume the liquid. After taking

another whiff, he closed the bottle and looked at the ancient jade
slip.

The moment he inspected it, a message from inside rang into his
mind.

“Greetings and best wishes, oh ye destined one.

“I wast born in the Dark Serenity epoch, and blessed with the dao
by an Ancient Emperor. I knoweth not whether the god Ru Cang
existeth in thy time. This wish didst containeth the treasure of a
foolish friend, but in mine disdain, I didst discard it as refuse and
replace it with mine precious gift.
“That gift beeth mine bloodline. If thou beeth of the fairer sex, then
bear thee mine descendants.

“Thank me not, oh ye destined one. Fare thee well.”

1. The first iron box was mentioned in chapter 10, then again in
chapter 11. The second mention was in chapter 76. The item was
also referenced by name in chapter 77. ☜
Chapter 148: What Did You Get?

The First Peak disciple stared in shock. He believed himself to be

very skilled in literary and academic arts. After all, he normally
spoke in poetry. But the contents of this jade slip were bewildering,
to the point where he needed to analyze everything bit by bit. Even
after that, he still didn’t feel that he understood completely, and
could only stare blankly at the jade slip.

Mine descendents? Wait… ‘mine descendents.’ What

descendents? And what does he mean by ‘fairer sex.’ Isn’t the
term ‘fairer sex’ used to describe women?

Then he looked at the bottle, and his eyes went wide.

There’s no way…. Then he thought back to how he’d smelled the

contents of the bottle, and suddenly felt a bit queasy.

“This is ridiculous!!” He almost threw everything into the water, but

couldn’t quite bear to. After all, he basically had half of the
bloodline of an Ancient Emperor. But why did it have to be the
male side?

Around this time, Xu Qing opened his eyes and looked over from
his dharmaskiff. Guessing that the First Peak disciple had opened
the box, and curious about the results, he said, “What did you
get?”
The defensive barrier around the sword faded away, and the First
Peak disciple sat there, an unsightly expression on his face as he
breathed heavily through his nose. It almost seemed like he was
trying to purge it of something. He even brought dharma force
through his nose until, eventually, his expression returned to
normal. Looking up at the sky, he put the wish box away without
saying a word.

Xu Qing felt even more curious now, but he looked away.

Time passed as the two of them got closer and closer to Seven
Blood Eyes. Along the way, Xu Qing got more familiar with the
feather-shaped magical device, which he came to realize
augmented speed. When activated, it gave one explosive
quickness that surpassed one’s ordinary limit by many times over.
However, it drew deeply on the fleshly body.

Because he wasn’t alone, he didn’t want to test it out. But he could

imagine what shocking levels of speed he could achieve if he did.

I need to find a place to test it out and get familiar with how to
actually use it. Around that time, he spotted a Seventh Peak
dharmaboat off in the distance.

The First Peak disciple had seemed overwhelmed with boredom

ever since opening the wish box. When he spotted the distant
dharmaboat, he took out a new daoist robe and put it on. He
seemed so familiar with the process that it was a habit for him.
Then his expression turned as cold as ice. Sword energy swirled
out to surround him, making him look extremely vigilant. And as
the sword energy swirled, it lifted his hair around him, such that
any casual observer would think he was a very extraordinary
person.

However, it was apparently all an act. After the Seventh Peak

dharmaboat passed by them, he slumped back down dejectedly.
That, coupled with the rapid manner in which he changed clothes,
was very strange to Xu Qing.

As time passed, they encountered more and more disciples from

Seven Blood Eyes. The same thing happened each time. Xu Qing
got used to it. Eventually, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior took
advantage of the situation to quietly say, “Milord, this brat
obviously cares a lot about outward appearances. Given he’s that
kind of person, maybe we don’t need to kill him after all. People
like that can sometimes be useful.

“When the moment is right, say a few flattering words to him.

Based on the ancient records your humble servant has read, this
is the kind of person who will shed blood for the sake of face.

“Furthermore, because your humble servant realized that he cares

so much about face, I used a special technique to record images
of this brat in his bedraggled state. I also recorded him speaking
like a normal person. I’m not sure it will come in handy later, but at
the very least, we have some things we can use against him.
“If you find the right opportunities, Milord, you should create some
situations in which he’ll lose a lot of face. For example, make him
beg you for help, make him fall into some filth, that sort of thing. I’ll
make sure to get a recording of it, and then we’ll have even more
ammunition for when the time comes.” The patriarch spoke at a
very rapid rate, and though he didn’t emphasize his own role, it
was obvious he was trying to prove his worth.

“Also, Milord, I beg you to punish me for not thinking of this

sooner. It took a lot of thought on the part of your humble servant,
and I know I spent too much time coming up with the idea. Please,
punish me, Milord. Please. I’m such a fool! Milord, your talents and
mine are poles apart.

“If you just give me a chance, Milord, I’ll work very hard. Please, in
the future, let me handle small tasks like this. The grunt work. The
dirty work. Just entrust those things to me. Master Freespirit will
work himself to the bone to do everything you ask me to do.” [1]

Looking at the iron skewer, Xu Qing quietly said, “You have three
more months, but for your sake I’ll add an extra month. The
shadow gets the same advantage.”

The patriarch was very excited, and pretended to glance casually

at the shadow. As for the shadow, it trembled, then stretched down
into the sea water and started absorbing mutagen.
Xu Qing ignored them, closed his eyes, and started cultivating the
Life Nurturing Incantation.

As time passed, they got closer to the Seven Blood Eyes port. As
ships and boats became more prevalent, the First Peak disciple
eventually put aside whatever was bothering him, and stood in
place looking determined and extraordinary.

As Xu Qing coldly sized him up, he noticed that he didn’t seem as

depressed as before.

In fact, after glancing at Xu Qing a few times, the First Peak

disciple calmly said, “In front of Chenghuang Temple grew a
flower; cultivators who passed it died more quickly.”

Hearing this, Xu Qing reached down and rubbed his iron skewer.
Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior discreetly released a ferocious
aura that settled on the First Peak disciple.

The First Peak disciple cleared his throat. He could obviously tell
that Xu Qing didn’t understand his poetry, but also wasn’t inclined
to explain what he meant out loud. Taking out a jade slip, he
imprinted it with some information and tossed it to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing frowned and caught it. Looking inside, he saw the

message.

“Brother, I think the two of us are connected by destiny. I’m the

ninth highness of the First Peak, Wu Jianwu. You know the old
saying: from an exchange of blows, friendship grows. You have a
strong baleful aura, but we’re members of the same sect, and
there’s no need for us to be mortal enemies.

“Be careful about showing too much of a baleful aura outside the
sect. I heard that, years ago, the conclave disciple Elder Brother
Chen from the Third Peak had a strong baleful aura, and ended up
going missing. Even years later, his killer has never been found.

“Furthermore, the only son of the Sixth Peaklord also had a strong
baleful aura, and he went missing too.

“Anyway, I urge you to handle matters judiciously.” [2]

As Wu Jianwu stood atop his sword, he looked at Xu Qing

examining the jade slip. Then, he shot up into the sky in a blood-
red streak, where he transformed into a huge sword. He looked
extremely impressive.

In the blink of an eye, he was a huge distance away from Xu Qing

and his dharmaskiff. Just before he screamed through the sky
toward the First Peak, he uttered one final poem.

“Surpass mortal life and be refined; I’ll become an immortal and

surpass mankind.”

As his words echoed out in all directions, quite a few people

looked over in amazement. To them, this chosen disciple from the
First Peak in his crimson robe, his hair swirling around him, really
did seem like an immortal.

Xu Qing watched coldly as he left. He wasn’t bothered by Wu

Jianwu’s little act. And the closer they got to the sect, the less
likely Xu Qing was to react violently to his annoying behavior.

Looking away, Xu Qing piloted his dharmaskiff into port. Once he

was inside, the lifelink talisman mark glittered with soft light, then
faded into nothing. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Glancing at Wu Jianwu, who was still flying toward the First Peak,
Xu Qing put away his dharmaskiff, then ascended into the air and
flew toward his mansion grotto on the Seventh Peak. Landing
outside, he checked the area to make sure all of the poison he’d
placed in the area was still in place. Then he opened the door,
entered, and sealed himself inside.

Now that I’m back, I need to go see how many spirit stones it will
take to develop my own harbor. Living here on the peak is just too
inconvenient. I’d rather just stay in my dharmaskiff.

After some thought, he looked at his violet daoist robe, and then
thought back to how the Captain and Zhang San both wore their
gray robes. A gray robe did seem like the best decision.

Next, he looked at the jade disc in the middle of the grotto, which
pulsed softly with glowing light. That jade disc was the heart of the
mansion grotto’s spell formation, and made the formation function
without needing to add spirit stones into it. It also served as a
recording device, and would keep track of the details of everyone
who had sent messages to see if he was able to accept visitors.
He saw one request from Huang Yan, one from Zhou Qingpeng,
three from Ding Xue, and two from Gu Muqing. There were two
people who had made far more requests than the others. One was
from the director of the Violent Crimes Division, who had sent
twenty-three requests.

And the other was from a Unit Six constable. The Mute. He had
sent forty-one requests. In fact, it seemed that he had sent such
requests on a daily basis. Xu Qing thought back to the day when
he found the Mute on death’s door, and had spent a few moments
to save him. Clearly, the Mute was strong, and had survived the
incident.

Even as Xu Qing was examining the jade disc, it shimmered with

light as another request from the Mute came in. Outsiders needed
permission to visit Onpeak cultivators, and that applied to Offpeak
disciples as well. After thinking about it for a moment, Xu Qing
approved the request. Before long, an emaciated figure appeared
cautiously outside of Xu Qing’s mansion grotto.

Opening the door, Xu Qing stepped out. “What do you want?”

The Mute stood about nine meters away, and obviously didn’t want
to get any closer. He was dressed the same as before, and all his
wounds were healed. However, he seemed grimmer than before.
Having returned from death’s door, he seemed to have grown a
lot.

Xu Qing’s gaze caused the Mute to shiver slightly. Taking out a

medallion, he respectfully placed it off to the side, then backed up
a few paces. Looking at Xu Qing, he then dropped to his knees
and kowtowed, banging his head onto the ground so hard his
forehead started bleeding. Then he stood and raced down the
peak.

Xu Qing watched him go. Then he made a grasping gesture with

his right hand, and the medallion flew over to him. Examining it, he
realized it wasn’t an identity medallion, but rather, an
authentication device linked to a warehouse.

Being familiar with the port district, Xu Qing knew exactly what it
was. The port district was generally divided into two halves. One
was used by Seventh Peak disciples, and the other was for public
use. All sorts of ships and boats would come in and out of it,
sometimes even pirate vessels.

Non-sect watercraft couldn’t be put into bottles like Seven Blood

Eyes dharmaboats and dharmaskiffs, so they needed to either lay
anchor or be stored in dry dock. And to access such watercraft,
one would need to use an authentication device.

In Seven Blood Eyes, the only way to lay claim to a watercraft was
to have an authentication device.
Xu Qing realized what was going on. After his gift of a dead
criminal was rejected, the Mute came to believe that Xu Qing
didn’t like criminals. So he was offering an authentication device
instead. This time, Xu Qing accepted the gift.

1. As a reminder, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior’s original daoist

name was Master Freespirit, which was revealed in chapter 71. ☜

2. Wu Jianwu: Wu is listed #9 on the list of the 100 most common

Chinese surnames. It doesn't really mean anything by itself, other
than being a surname. It’s also the name of a number of different
ancient Chinese dynasties. Jian means “sword.” Wu means
“witch/wizard/shaman.” Madam Deathblade says this sounds like a
dramatic, edgelord style name. ☜
Chapter 149: Emerging with a Gray Robe

The next day, Xu Qing went to the location linked to the

authentication device. He found an average-sized trading vessel
packed with ordinary cargo. It wasn’t anything unusually valuable.
What was noteworthy was that the cargo contained a lot of
medicinal ingredients. The disciples in charge of the area
cautiously explained that no one had come to claim the ship for
two months.

Xu Qing collected the medicinal ingredients, then called his

informant over to deal with the trading vessel. While she was
there, he asked her about the matter of developing a new harbor.

Lowering her voice, she said, “Milord, I learned everything there is

to know about developing new harbors. I can explain everything,
sir. You can either open a sect harbor or a public harbor. Both
have different advantages. Sect harbors aren’t very profitable. But
they’re helpful in establishing information and power networks with
Offpeak disciples. Public harbors can be very profitable. However,
they require the presence of a lot of sect departments to operate.
For example, Pilot Assistance, Dispatch, Transportation, and so-
on. But even the simplest of harbors will bring in a lot of trading
vessels, and thus, astounding profit. Businesses will also want
spots on the docks, and you get a share of their profits as well.”
His informant had held nothing back in her efforts to learn about
this subject over the past two months. She had even spent a
significant amount of spirit coins to get good information.

“However,” she continued, “the construction costs are high. Even

the most barebones harbor will require an investment of 3,000,000
spirit stones for all the initial construction. And if you want
buildings for businesses to rent, that investment cost will rise to at
least 10,000,000. Of course, the cost can go even higher
depending on your requirements.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Qing’s facial expression didn’t change, but

inside, he felt deeply shocked. He had considered himself
somewhat wealthy, especially considering that the seazombie bag
of holding he’d looted had contained several hundred thousand
spirit stones worth of loot. But his informant’s explanation left him
a bit speechless.

“That said, the profits you’ll earn are astounding. There’s limited
space in the Seven Blood Eyes port, and after spending some
time observing the water traffic, I can tell you that every day about
thirty percent of the vessels are forced to wait outside.

“If you open a public harbor, there won’t be any lack of trading
vessels who want to use it. Milord, after studying some of the other
harbors, and also doing some calculations, I think that if we invest
3,000,000 to start, we can easily use subsequent profits to expand
the initial construction. If things go smoothly, it will only take about
two years to reach an equilibrium point. Then, it will take an
additional three years to earn back your investment. After that, you
should be able to make an annual profit of 3,000,000 spirit stones.

“Furthermore, I asked around about other Senior Foundation

Establishment cultivators who have opened harbors. Most of them
don’t make an investment solely with their own funds. Usually,
they pool funds with others. Milord, if you have any friends you
trust, it might be worth trying that. The only prerequisite is that they
would also need to be Foundation Establishment cultivators. Also,
I heard that there are private investment firms that will lend money
for harbor development, although there are a lot of restrictions in
place by the sect, so it’s not very common.”

Xu Qing mulled the matter over. He had previously felt that he

didn’t want to waste the opportunity to open a harbor. After all,
once he did, he would be able to rake in a significant annual profit
without doing anything. That was why he’d asked his informant to
gather all of this information.

But now, though he still thought it would be an amazing

opportunity, he also knew it was simply too expensive. And there
was also a lot of complicated work involved. Furthermore,
investing so many spirit stones in that manner would tie him
deeply to the sect. All of these aspects made him hesitate. Now it
made sense why so few Foundation Establishment cultivators
chose to open harbors.
After more thought, he decided to abandon the idea. Dismissing
his informant, he changed into a gray daoist robe, then got ready
to go shopping.

There were a lot of things he needed to buy, including medicinal

plants and talisman treasures. And he also wanted to check what
magical devices were available. Magical devices were extremely
expensive, so in the past, he hadn’t even considered buying any.
But he had some money to work with now, so he figured he’d at
least look around. He was also very interested in the soul pills Wu
Jianwu had used, and wanted to see if he could find a place that
sold them. After all, they weren’t that amazing, but did make it
easy to absorb souls. And then there was the Spirit Breath Lamp.

As he walked along in his gray robe, he kept his cultivation base

hidden, and thus looked like an ordinary disciple. However, he
would occasionally sense people looking at him from within the
crowd.

Now, he realized that they were other Foundation Establishment

cultivators who, like him, were disguised in gray robes. When he
spotted them in the crowd, they would lock gazes briefly, then part
ways without causing any trouble for each other.

Xu Qing went to his usual spot for breakfast and sat down. The
vendor called out a friendly greeting and brought some food. This
time, Xu Qing ate four eggs. Upon reaching Foundation
Establishment, it wasn’t necessary for a cultivator to eat food.
They could survive on dharma force alone. But Xu Qing enjoyed
his usual routine, and enjoyed the sensation of eating.

As he ate, he took out his identity medallion and sent a voice

message to Huang Yan asking about whether he still wanted to
buy the Spirit Breath Lamp.

Huang Yan didn’t reply immediately. It was only after Xu Qing was
finished eating and getting ready to leave that the reply came in.

“I’m in, Xu Qing! Are you back? Where are you? I’ll come find
you.”

Hearing the reply, Xu Qing’s eyes gleamed with anticipation. He

was really looking forward to having an additional 500,000 spirit
stones. After telling Huang Yan where he was, he only had to wait
a short time before the pudgy cultivator was rushing toward him.

As it turned out, Huang Yan looked even pudgier than before, and
his robe hardly seemed able to contain his girth. Upon catching
sight of Xu Qing, he laughed heartily and pulled out a thick stack
of spirit notes.

“These are 1,000-spirit-stone notes directly from the Sixth Peak.

Two hundred of them. I didn’t have enough time to gather more
than this. Can I make up the difference with a magical device?”

With that, Huang Yan produced a black hauberk that he offered to

Xu Qing.
“Magical device?” Xu Qing said, taking it. Sending some dharma
force into the armor, he saw countless magical symbols arranged
in a special design. At first glance, he estimated that there must be
a hundred thousand of them. Obviously, this was a very
extraordinary hauberk.

“It’s a Myriad Talismans Hauberk,” Huang Yan explained. “I’d

planned to give it to my Elder Sister, but I think she’d like the Spirit
Breath Lamp more. If you sell it, you can easily get 300,000 spirit
stones. It’s a lesser-tier magical device, but it has good defensive
qualities. With that on, you could hold your own for several rounds
of combat against a Foundation Establishment cultivator in the
profound radiance state, as long as they don’t have two life
flames.”

Huang Yan seemed to know a lot about Foundation

Establishment. Obviously, his Elder Sister had helped him a lot in
that regard. In fact, it seemed he was just on the verge of a
breakthrough.

Xu Qing nodded and accepted the Myriad Talismans Hauberk,

then handed the Spirit Breath Lamp over.

“Do you need me to escort you back to the Seventh Peak?” Xu

Qing asked quietly.

“Nah,” Huang Yan replied, patting his belly. “Who would dare to
steal a gift intended for my Elder Sister?”
Putting the Spirit Breath Lamp away, he took out his identity
medallion to send a voice message to his Elder Sister. However,
that was when he seemed to suddenly remember something, and
looked back at Xu Qing. “Hey, Xu Qing. Remember I told you
about the possibility of war? Well, it’s definitely going to happen.
You should think about whether or not you want to participate.”

With that, he waved goodbye and rushed off toward the Seventh
Peak.

Watching him go, Xu Qing sighed. Huang Yan really did have a lot
of money. He just handed over hundreds of thousands of spirit
stones, plus a magical device, all without hardly thinking about it.
Up to this point, Xu Qing had not looked into Huang Yan’s
background. There were some things that were taboo in Seven
Blood Eyes, and he had no intention of violating those taboos.

After Huang Yan was gone, Xu Qing thought about his parting
words.

“War....” he murmured. That was enough to make him completely

forget about his idea of opening a harbor. Instead, he would invest
in a street in the city. Although the profits wouldn’t be as amazing,
it would be better than nothing. Having made his decision, he went
to find a shop that sold jade talismans.

Most of the shops that catered to Foundation Establishment

cultivators were run by Sixth Peak disciples in the Rocbright
District as opposed to the Port District. Because prices were so
high in such shops, they usually weren’t very busy. Most of them
had private viewing rooms and disciples trained in sales.

After arriving in the Rocbright District, Xu Qing looked around and

settled on a shop called the Brightness Pavilion. It was one of the
largest shops there, being fully five stories tall, with each story
covering about 600 meters. It was extravagantly decorated inside,
and the clerks, whether they were male or female, were all
extremely good-looking. And there seemed to be more clerks than
customers. Upon entering, Xu Qing attracted a bit of attention.
Though he only wore a gray robe, he was extremely good-looking,
and thus, quite a few female clerks eyed him. He seemed to bring
a bit of brightness to the shop. What was more, it was obvious that
anyone who dared to enter a shop like this had to be extraordinary
in some way. At the very least, he was a conclave disciple.
Furthermore, since these clerks had dealt with lots of Foundation
Establishment cultivators, they knew it was common for such
people to wear gray robes.

Several of the clerks made to walk over to Xu Qing. However, the

fastest of them was a pretty young woman with pigtails. Flushing a
bit, she softly said, “Hello, Elder Brother. You can call me Little Hui.
I’m happy to help you with whatever you need. I’m completely at
your service. Here at the Brightness Pavilion, we specialize in
tools, weapons, items, and the like. The first floor is devoted to
magical treasures, the second floor to jade talismans, and the third
floor to magical devices. Whatever you’re looking for, Elder
Brother, I can help you find it.”

Xu Qing looked around and noticed that he was the only customer
on the first floor. Furthermore, the walls were covered with all sorts
of talisman treasures. Though they were all sealed, they still
released extraordinary fluctuations. There were also a few crystal
pillars upon which rested brightly glittered talisman treasures.

The fact that they were being displayed as individual items

indicated that they were very high quality.

“I want to see your magical devices,” Xu Qing said, looking back at

the clerk.

When the blushing girl heard that, her eyes glittered.

Chapter 150: War Brings Opportunity

“The magical devices are on the third floor. Allow me to lead the
way, Senior!” Upon hearing that Xu Qing wanted to shop for
magical devices, this young woman, who had dealt with many
Foundation Establishment customers, immediately knew that Xu
Qing was also in Foundation Establishment. It was for that reason
that she switched from calling him Elder Brother to Senior. Eyes
shining, she led the way instead of waiting for Xu Qing to go
ahead of her.

There was nothing rude about the way she led the way. In fact, as
she climbed the stairs, her garment clung more snugly to her hips,
making her curves even more obvious. She was very seductive,
but at the same time, her pigtails made her seem charming and
innocent.

Sadly for her, Xu Qing didn’t notice those things. When they
reached the third floor, it was to the young woman’s
disappointment that she didn’t get any sense Xu Qing was
attracted to her. However, she quickly dismissed her
disappointment and led Xu Qing to a private viewing room. There,
she asked him for more details about what kind of magical devices
he wanted to see.

“Weapons,” he replied. “Under 300,000 spirit stones.”

Nodding, she left the room. A short time later she returned with a
tray, upon which were arrayed three items.

One of them was a blue shortsword, attached to which was a

paper talisman that reduced its fluctuations by about ninety-nine
percent. The second item was a necklace, inlaid with five finger-
nail sized black pearls. It was also sealed with a talisman. The
final item was a small red bell.

“The Frigid Mountain Sword contains the aura of the Forbidden

Sea. Part of the forging process involves burying the sword for
three years at the bottom of the sea, which imbues it with a
shocking level of frigid coldness. With dharma force, you can
control that frigid energy. It’s a very fast sword, and is
incomparably sharp.

“This is the Fivebales Pearl Necklace. Each pearl contains a

golden baleful aura that, upon being released, transforms into a
golden lightning bolt of punishment that can kill anything it hits.
Once hit, the victim must dispel the energy, or they will die. To
operate the necklace, fill it with dharma force and inscribe the
name of your opponent onto one of the pearls.

“Last is the Living Spirit Bell. By ringing this bell, you can shake
your opponent’s soul into immobility. It is ineffective against grues,
as it only works on opponents with fleshly bodies. This weapon
has a weakness, as the wielder suffers the effects of the bell as
much as the target. However, because it’s a very rare magical
device related to souls, it’s more expensive than average magical
devices.

“The Frigid Mountain Sword costs 270,000 spirit stones. The

Fivebales Pearl Necklace costs 300,000 spirit stones. And the
Living Spirit Bell costs 330,000 spirit stones.”

Xu Qing’s expression remained neutral as he looked over the

three items. Inside, he was bemoaning the fact that magical
devices were so expensive. But at the same time, he knew that,
considering he couldn’t enter the profound radiance state, he
really needed the added benefit of having a magical device. That
was especially true considering that... war was coming. It made
sense to start preparing now; once the official announcement was
made, prices would start climbing.

Truth be told, he liked all three of these items. But he couldn’t

afford them all. He still had jade talismans to buy, as well as all
sorts of poisonous plants. After further inspection, he finally gritted
his teeth and chose the Living Spirit Bell. Though the weapon had
a weakness, he had a way of negating that weakness. He planned
to attach the bell to his iron skewer, and have Patriarch Golden
Vajra Warrior use it. After all, the patriarch didn’t have a fleshly
body. As a spirit automaton, he wouldn’t suffer the adverse effects.

“That one,” he said, pointing at the bell.

The clerk looked excited. Obviously, selling this magical device
would come with a big commission for her. Being very respectful,
she helped him take care of all the formalities of the purchase.
Then, upon his request, she took him down to the second floor to
browse the jade talismans. There, he purchased three defensive
jade talismans and one talisman used for offense. In total, he
spent 120,000 spirit stones on them.

After leaving the shop, he rubbed his bag of holding and sighed.
Back in Qi Condensation, he had believed cultivation resources to
be expensive. Now that he thought back, he realized that the
things he had believed to be too expensive actually weren’t so
bad. The jade talismans and magical devices required in
Foundation Establishment were really expensive.

Upgrading my dharmaskiff is also going to require a lot of spirit

stones....

Shaking his head, he tried not to think about how much money he
had spent and headed toward the Second Peak’s Clearspirit
District to shop for medicinal plants. After all, the medicinal plants
available in the Clearspirit District were on a different level than
those available in the Port District.

He also wanted to see if he could find some ghostlonging

horseshoe crabs and chrysanthemum mollusks to buy. Both were
critical in attracting sea beasts to open his dharma apertures.
However, as he was on his way to the Clearspirit District, his
identity medallion vibrated, and he took it out to find that Zhang
San had just sent him a voice message.

“Xu Qing, are you back?”

“I got back yesterday,” Xu Qing replied.

“Where are you? Can you come meet me? Or I can go to you. I
have a business proposition I want to talk to you about.”

“I’m heading to the Clearspirit District to shop for medicinal plants.”

Xu Qing was curious what it was about, and wondered if it had

anything to do with the Captain’s visitor requests back in his
mansion grotto.

“Okay. Do you know the Hundred Plants Workshop in the

Clearspirit District? Why don’t we meet there?”

Xu Qing thought the matter over as he headed to the Clearspirit

District. Eventually, he found the Hundred Plants Workshop, which
was a very large establishment. In fact, it was one of the most
famous Second Peak shops there was.

Even before he got close, he spotted Zhang San waiting outside.

Zhang San sat on one of the stone steps smoking a pipe, looking
very unremarkable in his gray daoist robe. When he saw Xu Qing,
he grinned, stood, wiped the dust off his rear end and hurried over.
Pulling Xu Qing off to the side, he lowered his voice and said,
“Junior Brother Xu Qing, did you happen to talk to the Captain
since you got back?”

“I haven’t seen him,” Xu Qing replied, looking curiously at Zhang

San.

“Okay, good. The crazy loon has been going around borrowing
money like there’s no tomorrow. He even tried to get me to put my
port development rights as collateral for a loan. Said something
about buying a technique to disguise yourself as another species.
He keeps saying if he can get that technique, he can get a one
thousand percent return on his investment. I have the feeling he’ll
hit you up for money eventually. Anyway, Junior Brother Xu Qing,
do you still have your port development rights?”

“Yeah,” Xu Qing nodded.

“Awesome!” Zhang San said, laughing heartily. “Xu Qing, would

you be willing to transfer your port development rights to me? It
took some convincing, but I already got the Captain to give me his.
If I add yours into the mix, we can make a really big investment.

“I got some very reliable information indicating that the sect is

going to war with the Seazombies soon. Of course, many people
have speculated this will happen. But information like this means
different things to different people. Everything is about context.
“When war comes, some people worry about personal safety.
Some people think about earning merit points. Some people are
just downright scared. Some people realize war can make you
rich, but just don’t know how to actually make it happen. Many of
those people think that hoarding important resources to sell later is
the way to go. But I’m different.” Having reached this point in his
explanation, a look of pride appeared on Zhang San’s face.

“I’m telling you, Xu Qing, when war breaks out, it’s the perfect
opportunity to get really rich. If I were you, I wouldn’t even think
about some sort of hoarding scheme. It’s useless, and also, most
people hate that behavior. No, we’re not going to make money off
of fellow disciples. We’re going to make money off the sect!

“The sect is definitely going to make a very big deal about this war
with the Seazombies. And when the time comes, they’re going to
make full use of the harbors. Whether it comes to storing magical
devices, prepping battleships, or providing transportation for
disciples from the various mountain peaks, everything is going to
focus around the harbors.

“Furthermore, there are limited harbors available. Therefore, if I

take three harbors and develop them together into one larger
harbor, the sect will definitely put that one on the top of their list to
use.

“And of course, we’ll charge for that. Therefore, we need to get

this thing up and running before the war starts, with at least a few
buildings and some extra berths. Based on my calculations, if the
war lasts for three months, we’ll make our entire investment back
in that time. If it lasts for a year, we’ll make quadruple profit! And if
the war lasts even longer, then we could be sitting on the kind of
opportunity that only comes around once every hundred years. We
have to do this!”

Hearing this explanation from Zhang San, Xu Qing’s eyes went

wide, and he felt deep admiration for him. Zhang San obviously
had great instincts when it came to making money, far beyond that
of ordinary people.

Seeing the look on Xu Qing’s face, Zhang San threw his head
back and laughed.

“You look just like the Captain did, Xu Qing. By the way, I don’t
need a single spirit stone from you. Just transfer your port
development rights to me, and I’ll handle the initial investment.
After we break even, then we’ll split the profit between you, the
Captain, and me. 25/25/50.

“Of course, we can keep the harbor running after the war, and we’ll
still keep making money.”

Zhang San looked expectantly at Xu Qing, awaiting his answer. Xu

Qing considered the matter, then took out his port development
authentication device and gave it to Zhang San.
Zhang San’s face lit up with enthusiasm. “I guarantee that within a
year, I’ll be handing you at least a few million spirit stones of
profit!”

Laughing again, he took out his identity medallion and started

contacting people in his network to start the project. Then he
waved goodbye and left.

Xu Qing watched him go. He couldn’t help but think that Zhang
San really was a genius. Not only was he amazing with equipment
forging, he also seemed to make good progress in cultivation, and
also was amazing at making money.

I hope that in a year I really do get a good split of profit. The

thought of making millions of spirit stones as Zhang San had
mentioned caused Xu Qing’s heart rate to increase a bit. To
someone with a nearly empty bag of holding like Xu Qing, talk of
that much profit was just too much of a temptation.

Finally, Xu Qing took a deep breath and entered the Hundred

Plants Workshop.

After enough time passed for two incense sticks to burn, he

walked out with all the poisonous plants he needed. Although he
had spent a lot of spirit stones, he was satisfied with his purchase.
This shop actually had more poisonous plants than it did vital yang
plants. As far as Xu Qing was concerned, this was what a shop
was supposed to be like that claimed to specialize in plants and
vegetation. After all, in the final analysis, the vast majority of
medicinal plants were actually poisonous‌if used correctly.

He even managed to buy a lot of plants that, to date, he had only

read about in the medicinal codex Grandmaster Bai had given
him. He was now very eager to work with them. Sadly, he hadn’t
found any ghostlonging horseshoe crabs. However, the
shopkeeper had placed an order for him, and told him he should
be able to pick it up in about a month.

I need to concoct some poisons that will quickly kill someone in

Foundation Establishment. And also something that works on
Seazombies!

With that, he rose into the air and hurried back to his mansion
grotto on the Seventh Peak.

Time passed.

As Xu Qing worked on poison concocting in his mansion grotto,

half a month went by. Then, a bit of news started spreading that
caused the atmosphere in Seven Blood Eyes to grow very tense.

“Seven Blood Eyes is going to wage full-scale war on the

Seazombies!”

Deathblade's ThoughtsI would like to offer profound thanks to all

the Champions. You make translations like this possible. Without
your support, they simply wouldn't happen, and I wouldn't be able
to put food on the table by working full-time on projects like this.
Thank you so much! 🙏

I would like to offer profound thanks to all the Champions. You

make translations like this possible. Without your support, they
simply wouldn't happen, and I wouldn't be able to put food on the
table by working full-time on projects like this. Thank you so much!
🙏
Chapter 151: Declaration of War

The news was like a tempest that rapidly spread throughout all of
Seven Blood Eyes. Both Onpeak and Offpeak cultivators were
deeply interested in the subject.

In a war, high-level cultivators would make up the backbone of the

fighting force. However, there were still many things that higher-
level Qi Condensation cultivators could do, whether it was as foot
soldiers, handling logistics and transportation, or many other
things. Besides, there were Qi Condensation level Seazombies as
well. In other words, the Offpeak disciples could also participate in
the fighting.

As the news spread, a buzz filled the city.

However, Xu Qing wasn’t paying attention to all that. For one

thing, he had personally witnessed the peaklords and elders
fighting the Seazombie experts. Also, Huang Yan had already
mentioned war twice to him, and then there was Zhang San and
his whole business plan. Because of all that, Xu Qing had long
known that war was coming.

Xu Qing had never thought much about war. Earlier, Zhang Yunshi
had told him that Foundation Establishment cultivators weren't
obligated to join the fighting, and that the main reason they would
go was for profit.
But after Xu Qing started cultivating the Balefire Soulswallowing
Scripture, he'd changed his mind. And the truth was that all
Foundation Establishment cultivators who practiced that technique
thought of a war as very important. After all, it was an easy thing to
get souls when fighting in a war. All you had to do was stay alive,
and you could open multiple dharma apertures.

That was even more the case considering that Seazombie souls
were especially effective for use with the Balefire Soulswallowing
Scripture. That was what got Xu Qing excited, especially the
thought of how useful Seazombie souls were....

He currently had 20 dharma apertures open. That meant he had

only 10 to go before he could form his first life flame.

If he had ghostlonging horseshoe crabs and chrysanthemum

mollusk to attract sea beasts, then considering the diminishing
returns as he opened more apertures, he had the feeling it would
take about two years, even if he did occasionally run into a
Foundation Establishment beast.

Of course, that method was also dangerous, and that wasn’t even
taking into consideration travel time, plus the question of whether
or not he could get enough ghostlonging horseshoe crabs.

Taking those factors into consideration, three years was a more

reasonable estimate.
Going for that long on the open sea without being able to enter the
profound radiance state seemed extremely dangerous. When a
powerful expert ran into a Qi Condensation cultivator out at sea, it
wouldn’t be worth it to kill them. But it was a different story when
running into Foundation Establishment cultivators.

War would be dangerous, but in terms of the potential benefits, it

was vastly superior.

As the news spread about war, Zhang San was working hard on
the combined harbor project. He had spent a lot of spirit stones
already. Having identified the harbors to develop, he had hired
thousands of Sixth Peak disciples, as well as tens of thousands of
ordinary construction workers. The work had already begun.

With so many people working day and night to develop a new

harbor, the place changed on a daily basis.

And there were already new businesses planning to open there.

Because Zhang San was a deputy bureau chief in the
Transportation Division, it was within the scope of his authority to
establish a new bureau to service his harbor.

The Captain had similar authority. Though he was away from the
sect, he arranged for the Celestial Bureau to move to the new
harbor to serve as a new branch of the Violent Crimes Division.

Somehow, Huang Yan learned that Xu Qing was one of the

investors in the new harbor, and made the arrangements for the
Pilot Assistance Division to set up a branch operation there.

As news spread, Gu Muqing quietly made arrangements to open a

very large medicine shop there as well.

The Sixth Peak shopkeeper who had once tried to blackmail Xu

Qing, perhaps at the behest of his backer, was one of the first to
arrive and buy a storefront. Apparently, it was a show of goodwill.

As more and more people showed up at the new harbor, things got
more and more lively. Other than the upcoming war, it was the
biggest topic of conversation in the sect.

When Ding Xue heard about what was going on, she wanted to
show her support, and thus purchased three storefronts that
formed a triangle surrounding Gu Muqing’s shop. Ding Xue didn’t
really know what she was going to do with them, but seemed very
enthusiastic about the prospects. She even contacted all of her
best friends and asked them to also come support the new harbor
project.

The day after Ding Xue bought her storefronts, Zhao Zhongheng
hurriedly made arrangements for the Dispatch Division to open a
branch there as well....

Zhang San was very pleased with all of this. Of course, he had
been the one to spread word about Xu Qing’s involvement, at the
Captain’s behest. As the Captain had said, good-looking people
often came in very handy.
Zhang San also tapped into his own network, and before long,
people from the Third, Fourth and Fifth Peaks were coming to
purchase storefronts. Just about anything you could possibly need
for cultivation was available there.

Considering that this new harbor was basically being run by the
Violent Crimes Division, it was no surprise that gambling halls and
brothels started popping up there immediately. In fact, they made
up the majority of the new arrivals.

Storefronts were selling out fast.

Another half-month went by, and the ghostlonging horseshoe

crabs Xu Qing had ordered from the Hundred Plants Workshop
came in.

That was when, with great fanfare, the new harbor officially
opened for business. They went to the Seventh Peak to officially
apply for a harbor number, and were assigned 176.

The day it opened, Xu Qing moved off of the mountain peak and
found an out-of-the-way berth in Harbor 176, which was where he
would call home going forward. As he walked along the new
harbor, which was already bustling, Xu Qing mused that Zhang
San really had gone all-out to get the place done in time to start
earning money from the sect. When Xu Qing sat on his
dharmaskiff, listening to the sound of the waves and feeling his
boat sway in the water, it made him think back to his Qi
Condensation days. Right now, he was simply meditating. For the
time being, he was delaying his plan to go out to sea.

As Harbor 176 was being constructed, more and more rumors

about war spread. And just about every day, it was possible to see
beams of light shooting through the air as cultivators returned to
the seven peaks. That was what gave Xu Qing the indication that
the war was getting close.

Another half month passed.

One morning, when Xu Qing had just used the Life Nurturing
Incantation to open his 21st dharma aperture, the sound of bells
rang out from the seven mountain peaks. It was very rare to hear
bells like this. Their loud tolling filled all of Seven Blood Eyes,
attracting the notice of both Onpeak and Offpeak cultivators.

Many disciples stepped out onto their dharmaboats to look at the

seven mountain peaks. Many such disciples were actually
Foundation Establishment cultivators. Similar things happened
throughout the capital city. There were also Foundation
Establishment cultivators who lived on the peaks, and they
emerged from their mansion grottos, their gazes sharp.

Shortly after the bells rang, the voice of an old man echoed out,
suppressing the sound of the bells as it filled Seven Blood Eyes.

“Disciples of Seven Blood Eyes, I am Sir Bloodsmelter, whom you

may address as Patriarch. Today, I have an important matter to
share with you. War has come.

“Our sect is formally declaring war on the Seazombies. They have

accumulated wealth worth over a hundred billion spirit stones, and
I intend for at least half of that to go to you as a reward!”

As his ancient voice echoed out, countless streams of blood

emerged from the seven peaks, like writhing eels that shot up into
the dome of heaven and became a massive cloud hanging
overhead. As the countless threads of blood that made up the
cloud merged together, they eventually formed the huge face of an
old man. The ghastly looking face sent rumbling sounds
throughout the sect, and caused everything to look like it was the
color of blood.

Looking at it, Xu Qing was reminded of the time he had spotted

Flame Phoenix. From a distance, it seemed like the entire area
had been turned into a land of devils.

Meanwhile, a torrent of sword energy erupted from the huge eye

on the First Peak. As it shot out, it turned into a blood-colored
sword, formed from countless bolts of crimson lightning. It was a
shocking sight, as even one of those lightning bolts was strong
enough to crush a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Standing
on that sword was a crimson-faced old man who was none other
than the peaklord of the First Peak. He pulsed with a shocking and
deadly aura that made it seem like he could slaughter gods.
“Your orders shall be followed, Patriarch!”

Almost as soon as the peaklord from the First Peak appeared,

rumbling echoed out from the Second Peak as a massive pill
furnace rose up from it. Sitting cross-legged atop it was a graceful
middle-aged woman who was surrounded by a medicinal pill aura
so powerful it glowed. Even more astonishing was that, within the
pill furnace she sat atop was a medicinal pill that shone like the
sun, and emanated terrifying fluctuations.

“Your orders shall be followed, Patriarch!”

From the Third Peak came a scholarly middle-aged man who

stood on a yellow cloud. That cloud was filled with a shocking,
grue-like aura, and surrounding the man were countless ghost
projections. Stunned, Xu Qing realized the ghosts reminded him of
the faceless woman in white that he'd seen back in the slums of
the city he once lived in. They were all grues! [1]

“Your orders shall be followed, Patriarch!” the middle-aged scholar

said.

After him came someone from the Fourth Peak. He was a burly
man with a chain wrapped around him. The front end of the chain
was a huge eyeball which he held in his hand. As soon as the
eyeball appeared, a god-like, holy aura erupted out, which Xu
Qing realized came from a godly entity, although one not quite on
the level as Joine.
No one came out of the Fifth or Sixth Peak!

Finally came the Seventh Peak. Rumbling sounds echoed out as

Master Seventh appeared, striding out into midair. He seemed
ordinary in nature, and compared to the other peaklords, didn’t
look very impressive. He almost seemed mortal, as he didn’t emit
any fluctuations. And yet, with the exception of First Peaklord, all
the other peaklords bowed their heads in deference.

“Your orders shall be followed, Patriarch!” Master Seventh said,

clasping hands and bowing.

When the patriarch Sir Bloodsmelter looked down at Master

Seventh, he seemed surprised, and even laughed. “Little Seventh,
you’ve improved your dao resonance and didn’t say anything.
You’re getting close to a breakthrough. Congratulations!”

1. The faceless woman in white was introduced in chapter 42 and

the details of the ghost faces were in chapter 44. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsThere are so many callbacks to various

characters’ events in this chapter that I didn’t footnote everything.
If you’re not clear about something, leave a comment and
hopefully I or another reader can answer any questions.

There are so many callbacks to various characters’ events in this

chapter that I didn’t footnote everything. If you’re not clear about
something, leave a comment and hopefully I or another reader can
answer any questions.
Chapter 152: Going to War

In response to Sir Bloodsmelter’s praise, Master Seventh smiled

faintly. He didn’t say anything, but he did clasp hands and bow
again.

The patriarch, his face made up of countless streams of blood in

midair, shifted his smiling gaze from Master Seventh to the capital
city below. Given how high he was in the air, and the level of his
cultivation base, it seemed like all the disciples in the sect were
fixed in his mind. As he looked at them, he spoke in words that
boomed like thunder.

“Based on the existing agreement, peaklords and elders are

required to fight in this war. However, it is not so with Foundation
Establishment and Qi Condensation. I know that you have
reached your state of cultivation due to your own hard work;
though the sect may have provided some bit of help, it wasn’t
much.

“Therefore, you will not be required to participate in this. But those

of you who do wish to participate, you may choose missions that
are appropriate to your own abilities and style. Therefore, disciples
of Seven Blood Eyes, who is willing to fight?”

Throughout Seven Blood Eyes, all disciples in the fifth level of Qi

Condensation and higher felt their identity medallions vibrate as
information poured into them regarding the profits that were up for
grabs.

Seeing all that, Xu Qing took out his identity medallion to check
the information.

“Those who go to war will be compensated according to the level

of their cultivation base. There is an initial payment of
compensation for anyone who participates. Those in the fifth level
of Qi Condensation will receive 500 spirit stones. That number will
increase with each level to the great circle of Qi Condensation,
which will be rewarded with 3,000 spirit stones. Foundation
Establishment compensation starts at 100,000 spirit stones, and
goes up to 500,000 for the great circle. Once you agree to go to
war, you may not leave the fighting until the war is over. However,
you’re free to accept whatever missions you want.”

When Xu Qing saw the initial payment just for joining the war
effort, he felt excited. It meant he could instantly get his hands on
100,000 spirit stones, which was no small amount of wealth.

“During the war, missions will be handed down from the peaklords
to the elders. The elders will then distribute the missions for any
disciple from any peak to take. The rewards for the missions are
incredible.

“Any valuables you acquire, whether during a mission, or not

during a mission, are yours to keep, and you don’t need to report
them!

“After the war is over, the sect will carry out a comprehensive
analysis of the efforts of everyone who participated, and will
distribute the final loot accordingly.

“Seazombie souls are particularly effective for our sect’s Balefire

Soulswallowing Scripture. You’ll understand when you use them!

“So, who is willing to go to war?”

Considering the base pay for participating in the war, it was easy
to imagine the astonishing possibilities with the missions.

Seeing the message, Xu Qing was shaken. After all, he was

suffering from a severe lack of spirit stones. After buying all the
magical devices and poisonous plants he needed, he only had
enough spirit stones for daily expenses. He knew full well how
important spirit stones were for cultivation. If he had 10,000,000
spirit stones, then he could post his own missions, and have
hordes of sect cultivators go hunting for Foundation Establishment
sea beasts to bring him. In fact, with enough spirit stones, he could
hire elders to help him. In that case, opening 30 dharma apertures
would be a lot easier.

And if he had an even larger amount of spirit stones, he could

forget the elders and just upgrade his dharmaskiff to a
dharmaship, and then as long as he avoided anything too
dangerous, he could dominate entire swathes of the Forbidden
Sea.

The rewards being offered during this war were extremely enticing.
That was especially true considering how effective seazombie
souls were. Xu Qing had already experienced that himself, and it
only added to the temptation. After all, he was already the type of
person who could slaughter enemies decisively. After thinking
about it for a while, he made his decision.

As the cultivators saw the details, their eyes lit up with excitement
and hope. Before long, voices began to ring out from within the
capital city and the mountain peaks.

“I’ll go to war!”

“I’ll go to war!!”

As the cries echoed in the sect, figures flew out from both the city
and the peaks and stopped to hover in midair. They included
Foundation Establishment cultivators, and also Offpeak Qi
Condensation disciples in the fifth level and higher who had flight
talismans.

Of the roughly 1,000 Foundation Establishment cultivators from

the Seven Peaks, about seventy percent chose to participate.
Together, they formed a massive force whose energy fluctuations
caused winds to scream in the area, and the sea to surge violently.
Of course, numerous elders appeared to stand next to the
peaklords from their respective peaks. In the capital city, there
were too many Qi Condensation cultivators to count. Some chose
to go to war, others chose to simply see how things played out.

After all, disciples in the fifth level of Qi Condensation or higher

were not people who just sat around idly.

“Activate the grand spell formation,” Sir Bloodsmelter said, “and

connect the teleportation line to the Merfolk Isles!”

All of Seven Blood Eyes trembled as the seven huge eyes on the
mountain peaks emitted bizarre light that covered the entire sect.
The grand spell formation was activating.

Within the identity medallions of all the disciples, there was more
than just mission information. There was also a general outline of
the sect’s battle strategy. Apparently, the sect wasn’t worried about
the details being leaked.

The Merfolk Isles were to be the frontline base of operations. Any

Seven Blood Eyes cultivators who wished to join the war effort
would simply affirm through their identity medallion that they were
participating. The spell formation would then teleport them to the
Merfolk Isles.

For one thing, this would ensure that the battlefield would be far
from Seven Blood Eyes. Also, the Merfolk Isles occupied a
strategic location, being halfway between the sect and the
Seazombies.

During the Grand Competition, the sect concealed the fact that
they were going to the Merfolk Isles. Then, by taking advantage of
the patriarch’s breakthrough, they sowed chaos among the enemy
and caught the Seazombies completely unaware. As a result, they
easily took the islands. That was really the first part of the overall
battle strategy. The second part was to quell any resistance from
the Seazombies who remained in the Merfolk Isles. The first part
of the strategy had been a clever scheme. The second part was
not.

“Warriors, advance!” Sir Bloodsmelter collapsed into innumerable

terrifying red streams of light that shot into the spell formation and
disappeared.

The five peaklords followed.

Next came the elders, and finally, the seven hundred Foundation
Establishment cultivators. Bristling with baleful aura, they
disappeared into the teleportation.

Xu Qing was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but he wasn’t

the first one to teleport away. He was watching the city. Although
there were people staying behind to guard the capital, the place
already looked a lot emptier than normal. Though the place was
protected by the spell formation, it was still in a precarious state.
That said, his time in Seven Blood Eyes had left him the
impression that every member of the sect was a profound
schemer, so he doubted the patriarch and peaklords would be
negligent when it came to the sect headquarters.

I bet Seven Blood Eyes has secret reserve powers that nobody
knows about. In fact, I wonder if the city and the sect headquarters
are actually being left vulnerable as a trap to lure in an
unsuspecting enemy.

After some thought, he looked at the grand spell formation, eyes

glittering. Raising his identity medallion, he thought, I’ll go to war!

Light from the spell formation shot down and surrounded him.
Then he vanished. As similar beams of light shot down into the
city, numerous disciples disappeared as they were teleported
away. It seemed unlikely that such a large number of teleportation
lights would appear again in the city anytime soon.

***

Out on the Forbidden Sea, a blanket of spell formation light also

covered the Merfolk Isles.

The formation obviously had defensive properties, and it was

linked to the formation in the sect headquarters. This was how the
disciples were teleporting in. Fierce fighting was already underway
in the air above all four islands. The sea was covered with surging
waves and thick water vapor, which also emanated the sounds of
fighting. It was possible to see some of the fighters. There were
Merfolk cultivators fighting Seazombies!

After being crushed in the Grand Competition, the Merfolk had

been forced to fully acknowledge allegiance to Seven Blood Eyes.
And now they were serving as the first wave of fighters in the war.
However, the fighting didn’t seem as intense as it could be.

The four islands that made up the Merfolk Isles all had unusual
non-Merfolk structures on them. They were towers, all of them
glittering as blue lightning crackled on them. That lightning
connected to the other towers on the other islands, so that all four
islands were linked. There were also huge magical devices that
had been installed on the islands, which were capable of
launching shocking magical techniques onto the battlefield.

There were also spell formations active on the islands. At regular

intervals, magical symbols would appear in the air above them,
then sink into the ground, stabilizing the spell formations.

There were simple residence structures that had been erected in

various locations. On Nethervault Island, massive amounts of
mutagen had been collected into the shape of a nine-headed
snake, apparently to be used as a mount.

The volcanoes on Meegah Island had also been altered by Seven

Blood Eyes, and their eruptions caused massive amounts of
terrifying force to roll out in all directions.
On Emiche Island, a huge lake of swords had been carved out of
the surface of the island, filled with swords that were currently
gathering power. That was clearly the work of the First Peak, and
when it was unleashed, the result would be astonishing.

The biggest changes were to Joine Island. The island now had a
huge eye on it that took up about seventy percent of the island.
Looking at it closely, it actually resembled the huge eyes on top of
the mountain peaks back in the sect. As the eye blinked, it sent
out information into the identity medallions of all the cultivators in
the area.

When Xu Qing arrived, he was in the air over Meegah Island.

Looking around, he saw the Merfolk Isles and all the dramatic
changes to them. Shaken, he looked off into the distance, where
Sir Bloodsmelter and the five peaklords could be seen above
Joine Island.

Bowing in front of Sir Bloodsmelter were the other two peaklords

who hadn’t been present in the sect. One of them was an old
woman, standing atop a spell formation chart that seemed to
contain tens of thousands of spell formations. The other was an
old man with a grim facial expression. He didn’t seem imposing at
all, as if there was a bitterness within him that could never be
dispelled. He held a gourd of alcohol in one hand from which he
occasionally sipped. These were the peaklords of the Fifth and
Sixth Peak.
Now Xu Qing realized why these two hadn’t been present when
the other peaklords gathered. They were the ones who had
orchestrated all the dramatic changes to the four Merfolk islands!

Deathblade's ThoughtsAt the very last second, our illustrious

proofreader found a big math mistake in this chapter. It was totally
my fault. I suck at math. If you ever notice a discrepancy in math,
whether it's cultivation related, straight numbers, dates, money,
etc., please let me know. I do my best, but I'm not perfect and am
bad enough in Math in my native language, let alone when dealing
with Chinese.

At the very last second, our illustrious proofreader found a big

math mistake in this chapter. It was totally my fault. I suck at math.
If you ever notice a discrepancy in math, whether it's cultivation
related, straight numbers, dates, money, etc., please let me know.
I do my best, but I'm not perfect and am bad enough in Math in my
native language, let alone when dealing with Chinese.
Chapter 153: Someone’s Teleporting In

The volcanoes on Meegah Island rumbled, sending out billowing

clouds of black ash in all directions. The ash was then captured by
the power of the Seven Blood Eyes formations and sent out onto
the Seazombie battlefield. Some of the ash fell on the island like
black snow. Occasionally, the rumbling of the volcanoes ramped
up into a deafening sound that overwhelmed all other sounds.

Xu Qing didn’t dare to stay up in the air for long. Dropping to the
ground, he looked around at the disciples from the various peaks,
rushing about this way and that.

Everyone had their own goals and destinations. Some were

setting up spell formations, others were performing maintenance
on weapons. Some were heading toward teleportation portals to
go to the field of battle, which was just beyond the boundaries of
the island. Up above, certain Foundation Establishment cultivators
flew in midair, just within the bounds of the spell formation. And
new people continued to arrive.

Xu Qing’s identity medallion vibrated as new mission information

arrived. In fact, upon arriving, a waterfall of new missions poured
in. Keeping his guard up, Xu Qing started to inspect the mission
listings.
Some missions disappeared almost as soon as they came in,
having been accepted by individual disciples. Other group
missions would list how many people had accepted them, and
when the slots were filled, would disappear.

“Stand guard over weapons on Joine Island. Needed: three

disciples from the Sixth Peak in the fifth level of Qi Condensation
or higher and three Foundation Establishment cultivators. Reward:
50,000 spirit stones, split up based on performance and cultivation
base.”

“Sixty Qi Condensation disciples needed on Emiche Island, plus

two Foundation Establishment disciples, to root out enemy
ambushes targeting First Peak disciples as they work on frontline
magical device setup. Total reward: 70,000 spirit stones.”

“Needed: three hundred people skilled in spell formation

maintenance. Total reward: 60,000 spirit stones.”

“Needed: ten Qi Condensation disciples to accept grue forms.

1,000 spirit stones for one day of service.”

After glancing through the missions, Xu Qing realized there was

one particular mission that was pinned to the top. It was a battle
mission.

“Long-term mission on the battlefield outside the islands. Kill more

than 10,000 Seazombie cultivators, regardless of cultivation base
level. Reward: a destined opportunity to reach Gold Core.”
After looking at the mission, Xu Qing felt shaken. The reward was
incredible. For most Foundation Establishment cultivators, any
destined opportunity to reach the Gold Core level was something
that would turn their eyes red with anticipation.

As he continued to look through various missions, he noticed a

new mission that was bright red, like blood, making it stand out
from the others.

“Needed: ten Foundation Establishment disciples who can enter

profound radiance state, to cross the battlefield to the
Seazombies’ third fortified island. Mission details will be provided
by an elder. This mission is very dangerous, and could involve
clashes with Gold Core cultivators. The reward for each individual
participant is 8,000,000 spirit stones.”

It was a shocking mission as far as Xu Qing was concerned, and it

seemed incredibly dangerous. In fact, it was the kind of mission in
which death seemed more likely than success.

However, after only a few moments, the mission capacity filled up,
and the mission vanished. It made Xu Qing think back to what
Zhang Yunshi had said about war, and how disciples would rush to
accept missions that came with a lot of profit.

I need to pick a mission.

Based on what he was seeing, the Qi Condensation missions

didn’t come with very good rewards, and most of them were split
between the participants.

And the really good Foundation Establishment missions required

profound radiance state. Because of his cultivation base, he
couldn’t accept such missions. For that same reason, he didn’t
think it was a good idea to accept any battlefield missions.

What he needed was a mission that would provide some spirit

stones, but at the same time, give him a chance to kill a lot of
Seazombies.

It didn’t take long for him to find a mission just like that in the list.

“Scouts report the underwater world on all four Merfolk islands

have small-scale Seazombie teleportation portals. We need eight
Foundation Establishment cultivators, two for each island, to
search for these spell formations and destroy them. Kill any
Seazombies you encounter, or if they’re too difficult to kill, report
them immediately. For every teleportation portal you destroy, the
reward is 10,000 spirit stones. You will also be rewarded based on
your kill count.”

The mission seemed to meet every one of Xu Qing’s

requirements, so without any hesitation, he selected it. By the time
he did so, seven of the other mission slots had already been filled.
He was the final one to sign up. Had he been even a bit slower, he
would have missed out on the mission.
After accepting the mission, more mission details were sent to his
identity medallion. He was assigned to Meegah Island. There were
eight people signed up for the mission, but the names were kept
private, so he had no idea who the other seven were.

The mission details also contained a physical description of the

teleportation portals, and an explanation of how to identify them by
their fluctuations. It explained how to destroy them, and also
included a reminder that, until a teleportation portal was destroyed,
it was possible Seazombies could teleport through it.

Because of the restrictions in place by the sect’s grand spell

formation, it was impossible for the small-scale teleportation
portals to accommodate Seazombie cultivators with two life
flames. The majority who came through wouldn’t even have life
flames, and they would be on suicide missions to destroy spell
formations and magical devices belonging to Seven Blood Eyes.
That said, Seazombie teleportation portals didn’t operate on spirit
power or dharma force, but rather, mutagen. Coupled with the high
concentrations of mutagen deep underwater, the teleportation
portals would be difficult to find.

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed as he considered that there would be

another sect disciple on the same island as him, working on the
same mission.

With that, he moved toward the nearest city. The passages to the
underwater world were all in the cities, as he knew from
experience. Most Merfolk cities were now nothing but ruins, but
the jade slip Huang Yan had given him had a detailed description
of Meegah Island, and he remembered that there was a tunnel not
very far away.

As he sped along through midair toward his destination, the

deafening sound of the volcanoes surrounded him, and black ash
drifted down everywhere. He saw other Seven Blood Eyes
disciples as he went, but no one called out greetings to each other.
Everyone just hurried on their way. After an incense stick’s worth
of time, he saw the crumbled ruins of a city up ahead.

It didn’t take long to find the tunnel entrance. The area around it
had been cleared. Coming from deep in the tunnel was a frigid
energy and also the smell of blood. Previously, the sea water had
been deep in the tunnel, but the water level had risen, and was
visible from the tunnel mouth.

Looking down suspiciously, he took out some poison powder and

scattered it. Before it could even dissipate into the water, he
jumped down.

Once in the water, he took out a sack of poison like he had before,
then started moving down. For about thirty breaths of time, he just
went down and down. Everything was still and quiet, with all of the
clamor of the world above cut off by the water. The rumbling of the
volcanoes was little more than a faint vibration. However, Xu Qing
kept his guard up as usual. When he neared the bottom, he tossed
the sack down, where it exploded and sent poison everywhere.
Finally, he emerged from the tunnel.

Looking around, he saw that all the buildings were in complete

ruin. The coral and sea anemones were all rotting. Apparently, the
black smoke that had spread out during the Grand Competition
had lain waste to everything.

I need to hurry and find the teleportation portals.

Looking around, he didn’t get any sense of where the portals were.
Therefore, he sent his dharma force into the violet crystal within
him to create a force of suppression. The shadow instantly pointed
out a direction to go in.

One of the reasons he’d accepted this mission was that he knew
his shadow was sensitive to mutagen. Others might have a hard
time finding the teleportation portals due to the strong mutagen
under the water, and would have to rely on special magical
devices. But Xu Qing didn’t have to do that. Besides, he had the
feeling his shadow would be much better than any magical
devices at sniffing out the mutagen signature of the teleportation
portal. The only thing he was worried about was that his shadow
wouldn’t cooperate.

“I’m going to assess you ten days earlier....” he said.

His shadow trembled, then clearly focused on trying to find the

right mutagen signature.
Meanwhile, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior spoke from within the
iron skewer. “Don’t be angry, milord. The shadow doesn’t
understand you the way your humble servant does. Milord, I know
how tired you get from all your hard work. Obviously, the two of us
need to take the initiative to share in your weariness. What worries
you, milord, worries us. What concerns you, milord, concerns us.”

Hearing this, the shadow suddenly bristled with killing energy.

After thinking about it, Xu Qing decided that what the patriarch had
said made sense, and thus he looked coldly at the shadow and
suppressed it three times in a row.

“I don’t like that killing energy of yours.”

The shadow trembled as if in humiliation. However, it cooperated,

dutifully pointing the way to the teleportation portal while Patriarch
Golden Vajra Warrior looked on complacently.

With the shadow as his guide, Xu Qing quickly found the

teleportation portal. It was located in a crater that had likely been
hewn out by a blast from a magical technique. Within the mud and
silt was the teleportation portal. It didn’t emanate any fluctuations,
which meant that the only way to find it would be to notice how
strong the mutagen was in the area.

Looking at it, he could see that the portal wasn’t active. Based on
the description from the mission, he knew where the eye of the
portal was. With one vicious kick, he destroyed it. It didn’t take any
prompting for his shadow to find the next portal and lead the way
to it.

Xu Qing moved at high speed, quickly destroying a second and

third portal. As for the fourth portal, just when he was about to
destroy it, it flared to life.

Muttering in surprise, he focused on the glittering portal, and

sensed a Foundation Establishment aura. It seemed that someone
was teleporting in. The aura wasn’t particularly strong. Whoever
was coming, they didn’t have a life flame. Eyes narrowing, Xu
Qing chose not to destroy the portal, and instead quickly scattered
poison powder all over the portal. In only ten breaths of time, he
put over a hundred types of poison in place.

Then his iron skewer flew out and hid itself next to him. There was
now a small bell tied to the skewer. That bell would affect the soul
of anyone with a fleshly body. But it didn’t affect spiritual souls.
Inside the skewer, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was very
excited, as he knew his time had come to shine.

The anxious shadow, not wanting to show any weakness,

remained at the ready.

Finally, Xu Qing took out his dharmaskiff, then backed up a few

paces and squatted on his haunches, his eyes glittering with cold
light as black balefire rushed out to form a dagger in his hand.
“They’re almost here,” he murmured. The teleportation portal
flared with light, and the mutagen levels soared. Then,
Seazombies started emerging.
Chapter 154: A Meal for Three

Xu Qing had fought a Seazombie in the great circle of Qi

Condensation. It had been a tough fight. Whether in terms of
fleshly body power or their tenacious life force, it had taken an
immense effort for Xu Qing to kill the Seazombie. [1]

Unfortunately, he had no experience fighting Foundation

Establishment Seazombies, and therefore, he kept his guard up.
Also, he didn’t get too close to the teleportation portal. As he
watched the portal, a shadowy shape took form within the glittering
light.

It was not a human that had been zombified. Instead, it was a

nonhuman the likes of which Xu Qing had never seen before.
Shockingly, this Seazombie had bat-like wings, although they were
tattered and broken. Despite the damage it had obviously suffered
before dying, it pulsed with a clear Foundation Establishment aura.
This Seazombie was obviously a cautious individual, for as soon
as he materialized fully, he prepared to back up.

However, he could never have anticipated what Xu Qing had set

up. Before he could even start moving, the water in the area
stirred, transforming into solid walls in front of him, behind him, on
either side, and even overhead, making it impossible for him to
move anywhere. And each wall pulsed with a terrifying aura that
crushed down on him.
He slammed into the wall behind him, and a muffled rumbling
sound could be heard. Foundation Establishment was mighty, and
the wall collapsed. But then, a second, third, and fourth wall
appeared to replace it. Xu Qing’s dharma force vastly surpassed
anything from someone in the same level as him. His hands
flashed in an incantation gesture, causing all of the walls of water
to rush toward the Seazombie cultivator.

The Seazombie glanced around with cold eyes, and quickly

spotted Xu Qing. Grinning viciously, he said, “You’re alone?”

He was completely ignoring the poison around him. After all,

seazombies were known for their zombie poison, which gave them
general immunity to other poisons. But as he put his hands
together for an incantation gesture, his face suddenly fell as he
realized that the surrounding poison was causing his wings to
melt.

“What poison is this?”

Then his face flickered even more dramatically as he noticed that

the surrounding walls of water were causing the poison levels to
increase. As more than a hundred types of poison combined, the
Seazombie cultivator’s entire body started to show signs of
melting.

Shocked, he shifted to a different incantation gesture, sending

clouds of zombie poison out. At the same time, he flapped his
wings, releasing terrifying shockwaves to slam into the walls of
water. The walls collapsed, but as they did, new walls appeared. In
fact, though the Seazombie managed to destroy some of the
walls, so many new ones formed that the total number increased,
not decreased.

At the same time, the poison cloud being kept in place by the walls
was causing big problems. The Seazombie had a powerful fleshly
body power and amazing regenerative powers. But he was still
starting to melt from head to toe. In fact, he had the feeling that if
things kept going as they were, that after enough time passed for
an incense stick to burn, he would be melted into nothing.

Without any hesitation, he pulled out a pitch-black beast bone.

Eyes flashing with killing intent, he spat out a mouthful of blue
blood onto the bone. The bone trembled, and then erupted with
mutagen, which created a black, shadowy form that seemed
intelligent. Erupting with cackling laughter, it sent out waves of
energy in all directions, destroying whatever walls it touched.

That beast bone was clearly a magical device. The Seazombie

focused its effect on Xu Qing, using it to smash through the
intervening walls. Bursting out from the cloud of poison, he closed
in on Xu Qing with cold killing intent.

Xu Qing remained in place, his expression placid and his heart

calm.
He’s in Foundation Establishment, but can’t enter the profound
radiance state.

If the Seazombie could enter the profound radiance state, it

wouldn’t have been so difficult for him to break through the walls.
He would have instantly smashed through. And it seemed very
unlikely that this Seazombie could enter the profound radiance
state, but was holding back as a trick. After all, he was in enemy
territory. Anyone in this situation would want to kill any enemies
they found, then go into hiding to make sure the coast was clear.

Having come to these conclusions, killing intent flared in Xu Qing’s

eyes.

The Seazombie cultivator blasted through the final wall, and

though the shadowy figure he had summoned faded away, he
thrummed with a killing aura as he lunged toward Xu Qing.

However, Xu Qing was a lot faster; he burst into motion, and in the
blink of an eye, body-slammed the Seazombie.

The Seazombie looked shocked as blood sprayed out of his mouth

and he was thrown backward. Before he could do anything, Xu
Qing unhesitatingly charged forward again. Black balefire surged
on his dagger despite the fact that it was in water. As Xu Qing
closed in, he and the Seazombie clashed again.

Booms rang out as they fought back and forth.

The Seazombie grew more and more shocked. It was similar to Xu
Qing’s original fight with the Seazombie in the great circle of Qi
Condensation. His mutagen had no effect on Xu Qing, nor did his
zombie poison. And Xu Qing obviously had amazing recovery
powers.

As Xu Qing slashed his dagger out, the Seazombie raised his right
hand and used his beast bone to send the cackling shadowy figure
toward Xu Qing. The shadowy figure had red eyes that burst with
greed as it closed in. However, then those eyes went wide, and
the figure tried to back up. But it was too late!

All of a sudden, Xu Qing’s shadow burst out. It had been eying the
shadowy figure, and now, suddenly seemed hungry as it rushed
toward it.

The shadowy figure reacted as if it had suddenly encountered a

deadly predator. It trembled and slowed down, as if it didn’t dare to
flee.

Xu Qing’s shadow pounced on it, opening its mouth wide and

swallowing the shadowy figure.

A moment later, a burping sound could be heard, and then the

shadow’s incorporeal eyes locked onto the shocked Seazombie
cultivator.

The Seazombie looked terrified, and backed away rapidly.

However, that was when the sound of a bell rang out from behind
it. It was a sound that seemed to pierce through the fleshly body
and lock onto the soul. As it entered the Seazombie’s ears, he
suddenly stopped moving. It only lasted for a moment, but during
that moment, the sound of the bell got closer.

Black light flashed as the iron skewer stabbed through the

Seazombie’s forehead, swirled around, then stabbed him through
the throat. Afterwards, the bell rang again.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing was covered in black balefire, becoming like

a human torch. At the same time, he tapped into the feather-
shaped magical device.

As soon as that magical device was activated, Xu Qing’s top

speed skyrocketed. He took a step forward, and water surged
around him as he moved with incredible speed toward the
shocked and injured Seazombie.

His dagger slashed viciously through the Seazombie’s throat,

causing blue blood to explode out along with an agonized shriek.
Then, Xu Qing’s dagger became a stream of black fire that
entered the wound and spread into the Seazombie’s body.

The Seazombie struggled to break free, but Xu Qing slammed his

knee into his abdomen. A thump rang out as the Seazombie’s
body almost collapsed. And as the black fire burned his soul, he
let loose a hoarse scream.
Then Xu Qing’s shadow arrived and wrapped around the
Seazombie’s legs, provoking more howls of anguish. On the spots
where the shadow touched the Seazombie, its flesh melted. It
seemed that, within moments, he was going to be an actual
corpse. That was because the mutagen within him was being
devoured by Xu Qing’s shadow. And as a result, the shadow
began to let off some of the aura of a Seazombie.

The black iron skewer wasn’t sitting around doing nothing. It

stabbed directly into the beast bone magical device. After it did,
Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior began devouring the spirit
resonance in the device.

The entire process took an incense stick’s worth of time.

As the Seazombie cultivator fell into despair, he grew weaker and

weaker. Then a final rumbling could be heard as the last of his
mutagen was sucked out. At the same time, he lost his soul, and
his entire body crumbled into ash that dissolved in the water. The
beast bone magical device also crumbled into nothing.

Xu Qing used the Seazombie soul as kindling, sending raging fire

toward his 21st dharma aperture.

A boom echoed through him as the dharma aperture opened. As

spirit power poured into it and turned into dharma force, Xu Qing
turned to look at the teleportation portal.
Instead of destroying it, he set up more poison, then fell back to
wait. At the same time, he looked at his shadow. He had been
paying attention when his shadow devoured the Seazombie’s
mutagen and thus gained a Seazombie aura.

After some time passed, it was to Xu Qing’s disappointment that a

second Seazombie did not teleport in.

Seazombies weren’t stupid. It seemed likely that after the first one
teleported in, those preparing to follow had realized something
unusual was going on. Finally, Xu Qing just destroyed the portal
and moved on.

His shadow’s mutagen levels were clearly higher, and at the same
time, it seemed it had developed a new taste for Seazombies. It
seemed more interested than Xu Qing in encountering a second
one.

Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior seemed stronger as well after

devouring the enemy’s magical device. Xu Qing wasn’t sure what
he thought about that, considering magical devices could be sold
for a tidy profit. The patriarch could tell from Xu Qing’s expression
what he was thinking, and quickly went into a very carefully
worded explanation.

“I lost control, milord. Next time, I’ll only absorb seventy percent,
and leave thirty percent behind. That way, you can still sell the
thing. As a spirit automaton, I can do it in a way that whoever you
sell it to won’t be able to tell. That said, milord, I suggest you not
sell such items in the sect. I know plenty of black markets that
would be a much better choice.”

Xu Qing looked at the skewer but didn’t say anything.

The next day, thanks to the help of the shadow, Xu Qing found
another teleportation portal hidden in a crevice. After making
various preparations, he waited. Days passed and he finally
destroyed it and moved on to another portal. This time, after he
made his preparations, the portal started to activate.

1. Xu Qing fought the Seazombie in chapter 119. ☜

Chapter 155: Opening Apertures Like Mad

The fluctuations coming from the portal were so strong that Xu

Qing’s pupils constricted, and he suddenly felt physically jumpy.
His shadow also transmitted alarmed emotions to him.

At the same time, a figure rapidly became visible in the portal. He

saw a tall, burly fellow that was clearly in the Foundation
Establishment level, but also pulsed with the fluctuations of a life
flame. Obviously, this Seazombie cultivator, knowing he was
teleporting into enemy territory, had activated his profound
radiance state before teleporting, just in case he ended up in a
dangerous situation.

Without hesitating for a moment, Xu Qing thrust out his right hand,
and before the figure could fully coalesce, he activated a detonator
among the items he had set up around the portal. A thump rang
out as the portal collapsed. As for the figure that had been
teleporting in, he let out a defiant howl that slowly faded into
nothing.

Face expressionless, Xu Qing gathered up the items he had

placed in the area and moved on to look for another portal. Four
days later, he found one. This time, he didn’t have to wait long
before two Seazombie cultivators teleported in.
They were also Foundation Establishment cultivators, but after Xu
Qing confirmed they weren’t in the profound radiance state, he
had his shadow check their mutagen levels. The shadow, knowing
that this was as much of a benefit to it as Xu Qing, earnestly did
so. These two Seazombies were exceptional; however, they
definitely couldn’t enter the profound radiance state. Therefore, as
soon as they materialized, fierce fighting began.

After previous encounters, Xu Qing had made adjustments to his

poisons. This time, he employed it in a much more efficient
manner. And the plan of attack was for the shadow to move first,
followed by Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior, with Xu Qing following
up as the third wave.

His dharmaskiff would be his trump card, used only as a last

resort. Enough time passed for two incense sticks to burn, during
which time booms and shrieks rang out. They faded away when
Xu Qing successfully slaughtered the second of the two
Seazombies.

After absorbing their souls and immolating them, they provided

enough force to open his 22nd dharma aperture! Xu Qing was
quite excited, and now understood that the talk of Seazombie
souls being effective were no exaggerations.

I only need 8 more dharma apertures before I can form my first life
flame! Once I do, and I put it on the life lamp, then my battle
prowess will increase dramatically!
He was about to destroy the teleportation portal, when suddenly
he sensed another aura teleporting in.

It was ordinary, without any trace of the profound radiance state.

However, his shadow urgently informed him that this aura was
actually exactly the same as the Seazombie they’d encountered
who did have the profound radiance state. Apparently, this
Seazombie had learned from his previous mistake by not entering
the profound radiance state before the teleportation. Sadly for him,
he had the bad luck to run right back into Xu Qing.

Even as his form began to take shape, Xu Qing viciously struck

the spell formation, destroying it. The figure struggled as if he
thought he could make it through just in time, but failed, and could
only let loose another defiant howl.

I have the feeling this method of mine isn’t going to work for much
longer. The Seazombies are going to figure out what’s going on.

This mission really couldn’t be more perfect for him, but it wouldn’t
last forever. He had the feeling that if he wanted to reach the
profound radiance state, he was eventually going to have to go out
to the battlefield.

I’ll try a few more times.

As he continued his search, days passed. There weren’t very

many teleportation portals underneath Meegah Island. Probably
no more than a dozen.
Xu Qing had already personally destroyed eight of them. He
encountered two more Foundation Establishment Seazombies.
One of them he killed quickly. But the other had many lifesaving
magical devices, and was very close to forming a life flame. It took
Xu Qing a lot of effort, and about two hours, before finally being
able to kill him.

That gave him a very good sense of how powerful Foundation

Establishment Seazombies were. Thanks to those two, he was
able to open three dharma apertures, leaving him with a total of
25. However, he wasn’t done yet. He found three more
teleportation portals, but didn’t encounter anyone coming through
them, so he just destroyed them.

Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior sighed in disappointment at that,

and the shadow seemed bored stiff.

Having destroyed all of the teleportation portals, Xu Qing had no

choice but to head back to the surface of the island. Just when he
was about to turn the mission back in and consider going to the
battlefield, his identity medallion vibrated as a text message came
in.

“This is Elder Ouyang Ling from the Third Peak. Based on your
identity information, your name is Xu Qing, right?”

Xu Qing looked suspiciously at the message and didn’t respond.

Then a second message came in. This time, it wasn’t a text
message, but rather, a voice message, and the voice was so
powerful it caused Xu Qing’s mind to spin and his 25 dharma
apertures to tremble.

“Don’t overthink why I’m messaging you. I’m the one in charge of
the teleportation portal mission. Unfortunately, things aren’t going
as quickly on the other three islands. I don’t care how you finished
your mission so quickly. That’s personal and it doesn’t matter. I’m
wondering if you would consider going to Joine Island and the
other two islands to do the same thing you did here. What do you
think?”

Eyes narrowing, Xu Qing responded with a voice message. “I

accept the mission, Elder.”

The Third Peak elder seemed satisfied with Xu Qing’s answer. He

quickly adjusted Xu Qing’s mission, so that it wasn’t just to scour
Meegah Island, but all the islands. His spirit stone reward for the
original mission also came through. When Xu Qing saw the
number, he felt even more anticipation than before.

110,000 spirit stones!

He had destroyed eleven portals, and was rewarded 10,000 for

each one. As for the four Foundation Establishment Seazombies
he’d killed, he didn’t get a spirit stone reward for them, but they
were added to his kill count.
Xu Qing looked at the reward and the kill count, and sighed
regretfully. Of those four Foundation Establishment cultivators,
only two of them, the first and the last, had magical devices.

That said, my goal is to open dharma apertures!

Looking in the direction of the other three islands, he decided to

head to Emiche first.

Given that Joine Island had that huge eye on it which resembled
the giant eyes back in the sect, he had the feeling the teleportation
portals there would be easier to find for the disciples on the quest.
And if he was wrong, it didn’t really matter.

Flying out over the water, he headed to Emiche Island, which was
where the sect had hewn out a lake of swords. And that lake had
been imbued with some power that made the swords in it
incredibly sharp. From a distance, the lake was covered with water
vapor, but inside, it was possible to see countless flying swords
floating about. There were also many smaller sword lakes set up
around the larger one.

As Xu Qing got closer, he sensed a very dangerous aura from

within the sword lake, and it was focused on him.

Apparently, it was scanning him. A moment later, it vanished, and

he stepped onto what had once been the home of the royal
Merfolk clan, Emiche Island. Xu Qing didn’t pause for a moment.
Using the information from Huang Yan’s jade slip, he immediately
went toward the nearest tunnel going to the underwater world.

When he reached the underwater world of Emiche, he was met

with a sight that was far more entrancing than the islands of Joine
or Meegah. There were countless palaces here, and even though
most were in ruins, it was still possible to see how glorious they
had been. This place had once been the Merfolk’s royal palace
complex.

After gaining his bearings, Xu Qing started looking for teleportation

portals. It seemed a given that other disciples had already
searched the surrounding buildings, and sure enough, his shadow
quickly led him away from the palace complex.

About half a day later, in a place full of coral, he found the first
portal. Eyes glittering, he set things up around the portal and
waited. This time, luck was with him. After only a few days, the
portal glittered, and an aura seeped out. Xu Qing confirmed that
the cultivation base level was appropriate, then attacked. It didn’t
take long. After killing the new arrival, Xu Qing destroyed the
portal and continued his search.

In that manner, time passed. Over the course of a month, Xu Qing

went all over the underwater world on Emiche Island, searching for
teleportation portals and destroying them. Along the way, he
reached 28 dharma apertures.
Only two more until I can start my life flame!

Full of anticipation, he headed toward Nethervault Island.

As Xu Qing went about his mission, the war between Seven Blood
Eyes and the Seazombies became more intense. The fighting had
been going on for nearly two months, and the Seazombies had
already launched five full-scale assaults in the hopes of forcing
Seven Blood Eyes out of the Merfolk Isles.

Each of those five assaults was bigger than the last. However,
thanks to Seven Blood Eyes’ tight defenses, the sect’s forces held
strong. What was more, they took the initiative to launch their own
counter-offensives into the Forbidden Sea.

At the same time, more and more Seven Blood Eyes disciples
were arriving to join the fighting force. There were also nonhuman
allies of Seven Blood Eyes who bolstered their forces. Because of
that, other nonhumans were a common sight in the Merfolk Isles.

Of course, the Seazombies had other nonhumans working with

them as well. The scale of the war just kept getting bigger and
bigger.

None of that had anything to do with Xu Qing. Right now, he was

speeding along in the underwater world of Nethervault Island,
following the direction of his shadow to the next teleportation
portal.
If I’m lucky, I should be able to open the last two dharma apertures
in less than half a month!

Scanning his identity medallion, he saw that he had a bit over

300,000 spirit stones. But the idea of starting his life flame was far
more exciting than that.

I wonder how I’ll measure up to the Captain after I ignite my first

life flame and add the life lamp to it.

Inside the black iron skewer, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was
equally excited, as he could sense that he was also getting close
to a breakthrough. Once I break through, I’ll be even more useful.
Then I won’t need to worry about the Fiendish Xu getting rid of me!

The shadow was in a similar state. Its mutagen continued to grow

stronger. Of course, that made Xu Qing consider deeply whether
or not to start suppressing it even more often. Sensing what Xu
Qing was thinking, the shadow trembled and tried to act as
ingratiating as possible.

But Xu Qing’s eyes were firm with determination. There was

something very strange going on with his shadow. After
consuming a Seazombie, it gained a Seazombie aura, and that
alone put Xu Qing on guard. Even if he prevented it from breaking
through, he felt like he still needed to be very careful.

Just when he was tapping into the violet crystal to suppress his
shadow, his expression flickered, and he turned to look off into the
distance. About five kilometers away, he saw very clear
teleportation fluctuations. Considering how powerful they were, it
wasn’t a single person teleporting in. It was a large group!

Deathblade's ThoughtsProfound thanks to daofather_notsobright,

and kevther for the reviews!

Profound thanks to daofather_notsobright, and kevther for the

reviews!
Chapter 156: It’s You!

The powerful fluctuations were joined by faint rumbling sounds, as

well as a flow of dharma force.

Xu Qing stopped moving and looked at the distant portal,

numerous thoughts running through his head. The portal was
active, and there were Seazombie Foundation Establishment
cultivators coming through.

He could hear the sounds of fighting; obviously there were already

Seven Blood Eyes disciples there fighting the invaders. Most
disciples were on the surface carrying out missions. In the two
months he had been down here, he hadn’t encountered very many
other disciples. If he was correct, these were other disciples on the
same mission as he was.

Xu Qing wasn't quick to take action. Staying hidden, he slowly

approached. When he felt he was close enough, he squatted
down and looked at his shadow.

The shadow had been with Xu Qing long enough to know his
personality. What was more, after Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior
had trifled with the shadow earlier, it had been working very hard
to be impressive. It didn’t need any urging to stretch out toward the
battlefield. The light in the underwater world came from the colorful
coral, and though it provided illumination, it wasn’t very bright.
Therefore, it was easy for the shadow to move around undetected.
That was especially true considering how strong the mutagen was
in the area. Therefore, it didn’t take much effort for the shadow to
reach the battlefield.

After looking around, it came back to Xu Qing. There, it projected

some vague information to him while simultaneously creating
some images on the ground that only he could see. Xu Qing
looked down at the images. Though he could control his shadow,
he did not have the ability to look through its eyes. Based on the
images the shadow had created, Xu Qing realized what he was
dealing with.

“Three Seazombie Foundation Establishment cultivators,” Xu Qing

murmured. “They’ve surrounded a Seven Blood Eyes Foundation
Establishment disciple. And you can tell none of them have the
profound radiance state.”

His shadow nodded its head, then danced back and forth in
anticipation.

“Are you sure you didn’t miss anything, Little Shadow?” Patriarch
Golden Vajra Warrior said. “Like me, you should be taking our lord
and master’s safety seriously. That should be your number one
priority! Under absolutely no circumstances should you ever be
careless!”
The patriarch felt very proud of his words. If the shadow performed
well, then he could claim some of the credit with the Fiendish Xu.
And if the shadow made a mistake, then the patriarch would still
get credit with the Fiendish Xu. It was a win-win situation.

The shadow’s killing intent locked onto the black iron skewer, but
Xu Qing ignored both of them as he crept forward. He currently
had 28 dharma apertures open, and if his calculations were
correct, then killing two or three more Seazombies might get him
to the point of opening 30.

I can't let this opportunity pass me by!

He kept his cultivation base hidden as he got closer and closer to

the powerful fluctuations ahead. Eventually, he caught sight of the
teleportation portal. The place was covered with long seagrass
that made it difficult to see the portal. However, it couldn’t block
out the light the portal emitted.

There was one Seazombie Foundation Establishment cultivator on

the portal, making adjustments to it. Apparently, he was preparing
it to receive even more Seazombies via teleportation. This
Seazombie had once been human. Other than his rotting skin and
the zombie poison which surrounded him, he still looked almost
completely like an ordinary human. In fact, he resembled a
scholar, with a black daoist robe and powerful cultivation base
fluctuations.
In addition, there was a young disciple from the Third Peak, clad in
a dark yellow daoist robe, who was fighting with two Seazombies
who were slightly weaker than him.

There were obviously other things to worry about in the area;

when Xu Qing got close enough, his identity medallion lost its
connection to the sect. Xu Qing ignored that and kept observing
the battlefield.

The Third Peak disciple had a set of black gauntlets that

emanated black mist as he fought. That mist spread out and took
the indistinct shape of various grues. At the same time, on the
disciple’s forehead was the image of what appeared to be a grue,
facing away and struggling to turn around. However, it was
restricted in place so that turning around would be completely
impossible.

This Third Peak disciple couldn’t enter the profound radiance

state. However, he was fighting two Seazombies at the same time,
so it seemed likely he had about 20 dharma apertures open.

However, the Seazombies were attacking with materialized

mutagen, and combined with their powerful fleshly bodies and
zombie poison, plus the fact that they were teaming up two-
against-one, the Third Peak disciple was obviously in great
danger.
The image on the disciple’s forehead made Xu Qing think back to
the Third Peak’s reputation in the sect.

The Third Peak magical techniques revolve around grues!

As Xu Qing was examining the combatants, they seemed to take

notice of him.

The Third Peak disciple launched an attack, forcing the two

Seazombies away. At the same time, he shouted to Xu Qing, “The
Seazombies locked down all voice messages. Help me out, and I’ll
pay you 10,000 spirit stones.”

This was how Seven Blood Eyes disciples usually did things.
Despite being fellow disciples from the same sect, they had no
obligation to help each other.

Even as the Third Peak disciple called out, the Seazombie in the
black scholar robe stopped working with the spell formation, rose,
and rushed toward Xu Qing. As he closed in, his hands flashed in
a double-handed incantation gesture, causing the field of
interference to sweep wider and completely contain Xu Qing.
Apparently, he felt that he had trapped this new disciple,
preventing him from retreating. And he also felt confident in being
able to kill him. Despite not being able to enter the profound
radiance state, he had 29 dharma apertures open.

Couple that with the Seazombie’s naturally superior fleshly body

and regenerative powers, plus the strong mutagen near the sea
floor, and he was completely confident that he could defeat
virtually anyone in the same cultivation level as himself. And that
wasn’t even to mention that this new opponent was only a human.
He had killed his fair share of Foundation Establishment humans.

However, as his dharma apertures rumbled with power, a look of

surprise appeared in his eyes, as this Seven Blood Eyes disciple
didn’t retreat as expected. Instead, he charged forward.

“You have so much confidence in your cultivation base and battle

prowess that, instead of retreating, you’re fighting? That’s not how
you Seven Blood Eyes cultivators usually operate. In that case,
let’s see if my fleshly body is stronger than yours!”

Laughing coldly, the Seazombie accelerated, obviously intent on

crushing Xu Qing into a bloody pulp.

Some distance away, the Third Peak disciple looked over. A violet
robe? He's from the Seventh Peak. How could someone from the
Seventh Peak be that stupid?

However, he wasn’t in any position to do anything other than

speculate. He couldn’t extricate himself from the fighting, and was
struggling just to defend himself. A moment later, the Third Peak
disciple’s eyes narrowed.

Xu Qing and the Seazombie raced toward each other, and when
they were only about thirty meters apart, both of them suddenly
accelerated dramatically.
Xu Qing had pulled out the feather-shaped magical device, while
the Seazombie scholar was using a black fan. However, almost as
soon as the Seazombie accelerated, he shifted in a different
direction. Xu Qing also veered to the side.

As it turned out, Xu Qing’s real target wasn’t the scholar. Instead, it

was one of the two Seazombies the Third Peak disciple was
fighting.

Xu Qing preferred taking out the weak targets first. Things usually
went smoothly when he fought in that way. And thanks to the
feather-shaped magical device, he was so quick that, after
changing directions, he almost immediately arrived next to the two
Seazombies that were fighting the Third Peak disciple.

As for the Seazombie scholar, he hadn’t been targeting Xu Qing at

all. And his previous talk about battle prowess and fleshly body
had been a ruse. His true target was the Third Peak disciple.

And thus, in the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint,
both of them streaked toward the spot where the Third Peak
disciple was fighting the two Seazombie cultivators. A huge boom
rang out.

The Third Peak disciple coughed up a huge mouthful of blood and

staggered back in shock. However, in that moment of crisis, a
black tattoo appeared on his neck. It depicted a lotus, and it
quickly spread out to cover his head, blocking what would have
been a mortal blow from the scholarly Seazombie.

Off to the side, Xu Qing was wreathed in black balefire, and his
iron skewer flew next to him at incredible speed. In the blink of an
eye, one of the weaker Seazombies was pierced through the
forehead, while the other’s throat was slashed with a dagger. The
one pierced through the forehead grunted and staggered back, his
hands flying into an incantation gesture that summoned a huge
six-armed statue of a god. Roaring, the god statue blocked the
iron skewer, preventing it from making any further attacks.

As for the Seazombie whose throat Xu Qing had slashed, he

wasn’t as lucky. The black dagger turned into flames that engulfed
him. And then Xu Qing’s left hand closed into a fist, which
smashed into the Seazombie's chest and crushed his heart. At the
same time, black balefire erupted from all of Xu Qing’s 28 dharma
apertures!

The Seazombie let loose a bloodcurdling scream as he burst into

flames. However, that was when Xu Qing’s shadow wrapped
around him and started absorbing his mutagen. Almost
immediately, the Seazombie withered up by half. Then, as he
screamed and burned, his soul was sucked away.

As for the shadow, its Seazombie aura grew stronger, though it

immediately tried to suppress it.
All of this takes a bit of time to describe, but as a matter of fact, it
happened in an instant. After the slaughter, Xu Qing looked up at
the Seazombie with the black scholar’s robe. He seemed
surprised that the Seazombie had used the exact same tactic as
he had.

The Seazombie scholar looked equally surprised. Ignoring the

Third Peak disciple who had just barely escaped death, he glared
at Xu Qing.

That was when the teleportation portal suddenly emitted powerful

fluctuations, as a new teleportation began. However, the aura that
accompanied it wasn’t very strong, as if it were only interested in
probing the area.

Then it seemed to catch sight of Xu Qing, and the portal surged as

a howl came out from the other side.

“It’s you! You just wait, I’m going to kill you!”

The fluctuations of the profound radiance state erupted from the

portal. This was the very same Seazombie cultivator that Xu Qing
had already twice prevented from teleporting in. After detecting Xu
Qing, it was with a heart full of rage that he fully activated the
teleportation portal!
Chapter 157: Xu Qing’s Profound Radiance
State!

Upon hearing the words spoken by the profound radiance state

Seazombie cultivator, the Seazombie scholar looked thoughtful.
As for the Third Peak disciple, he backed away in shock.

Xu Qing frowned but didn’t say anything in response. Using the

soul of the Seazombie he’d just killed, he started battering at his
29th dharma aperture. At the same time, he ignored the scholar
and dashed toward the other Seazombie that had been injured by
the iron skewer, and was now scrambling in the opposite direction.
Along the way, he looked at the Third Peak disciple and spoke for
the first time, saying, “If you don’t want to die, keep that black-
robed one busy.”

Xu Qing knew that it would be a waste of time to either try to

destroy the teleportation portal or deal with the Seazombie
scholar. If he tried to destroy the portal, the other Seazombies
would interfere. And killing the scholar would just take extra time.
He was strong, and he was also very smart, and Xu Qing didn’t
feel like dealing with such an opponent right now. Instead, he
wanted to reach the profound radiance state and deal with him
after.
Therefore, the optimal choice was to have the Third Peak disciple
buy time with the scholar, while Xu Qing tried to kill the second of
the weaker Seazombies. If he could devour his soul and use it to
open his 30th dharma aperture, then he could form his life flame.

Xu Qing had plenty of experience fighting. From when he was

small in the slums to right now, it was impossible to say how many
fights he had been in, and how many people he had killed. But he
had long since honed his senses and his judgment.

Thus, he bore down on his target at top speed. This particular

Seazombie had been a nonhuman in life. He had a long nose like
a trunk, similar to the cultivator Xu Qing had dealt with on
Sealizard Island. [1]

Xu Qing closed in, not hesitating at all to attack. Rumbling booms

echoed out everywhere.

Meanwhile, the Seazombie scholar was trying to decide what was

going on. He couldn’t figure out what Xu Qing was planning,
although he guessed that it had something to do with the profound
radiance state. That would explain why, instead of fleeing, he tried
to kill the other Seazombie on the battlefield.

Despite not knowing the details, he did know that if this person
reached the profound radiance state, he still wouldn’t be a match
for the person coming through the teleportation portal, the exalted
Yun Chen.
After all, profound radiance states differed from each other based
on the number of dharma apertures they drew on.

However, there wasn’t time to analyze the situation deeply.

Whatever was happening, he had to stop the enemy from
succeeding. Therefore, he prepared to charge toward Xu Qing.
People who could cultivate their way to Foundation Establishment
were generally not idiots. And this Seazombie scholar was no fool.

Neither was the Third Peak disciple. He had just been a bit slow to
react earlier. He didn’t quite understand what Xu Qing was
planning, but he did know that despite his own Third Peak
advantages, he wasn’t quite strong enough to block the path of an
opponent as strong as this Seazombie scholar. And if he couldn’t
block him, then it made sense to flee.

But if a Seazombie capable of entering the profound radiance

state entered through the teleportation portal, then even if he
managed to get out of the area of interference and send a voice
message asking for help, it wouldn’t do any good. He knew how
terrifying the profound radiance state was. It didn’t matter where
he fled to, he would almost certainly die. The best course of action
seemed to be going all out in a different way.

As soon as he made this decision, his eyes shone with

determination. If he wanted the best shot at staying alive, there
was only one option.
Gritting his teeth, he went into a double-handed incantation
gesture, then viciously hit his forehead to unleash a Third Peak
secret magic.

When he did that, the figure on his forehead turned around to

reveal the face of a woman. She had a pale face with blood oozing
out of her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. She was a grue, and she
looked ghastly, almost like she was ready to climb out of his
forehead. She grew larger and larger until, finally, she did separate
from him, floating out into the open. Then, the spectral grue shot
forward, not in the direction of the Seazombie scholar, but instead,
toward the glittering teleportation portal!

That was the Third Peak disciple’s plan. If the portal was
destroyed, it would resolve the crisis. And the only thing
preventing him from destroying it was the Seazombie scholar.
Therefore, doing this would also align with the request from the
Seventh Peak cultivator.

It would ensure that, if the Seventh Peak disciple was plotting

against him, it wouldn’t work. It would also ensure that the
Seazombie scholar didn’t have time to attack him, since he would
be defending the portal. And that meant the disciple would have a
better chance of escaping this situation with his life.

If the portal opened, then the Seventh Peak disciple would be the
initial target, giving further opportunities for escape.
I gotta risk it!

The Third Peak disciple gritted his teeth, and without looking back
at all, ignited his dharma apertures and fled at top speed.

Situations could change in an instant on the battlefield, and when

dealing with opponents at roughly the same cultivation level,
victory was often decided by who could think most quickly. When
the Seazombie scholar saw the Third Peak disciple send a grue
toward the teleportation portal, then flee, he had a bad feeling
about what was happening.

From his perspective, the most important thing was making sure
the exalted Yun Chen arrived. Therefore, he couldn’t bother
fighting Xu Qing, nor could he waste time chasing the Third Peak
disciple. He headed straight toward the teleportation portal. As he
neared, he went all out to prevent the grue from reaching it.
Booms echoed out.

Xu Qing wasn’t surprised at all by the Third Peak cultivator’s

decision.

Xu Qing was currently doing everything possible to kill his

Seazombie opponent. The Seazombie struggled mightily, and
used his summoned statue skillfully, but it did no good.

The black iron skewer whistled through the air, stabbing into the
statue and absorbing it madly. With other people present,
Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior didn’t show himself. But he didn’t
hesitate at all to absorb the statue. That said, he also knew he
needed to show some restraint, as he didn’t want to harm the
Fiendish Xu’s chances of making some spirit stones. Therefore,
after absorbing seventy percent of the statue, he stifled his greed.

The shadow acted similarly. Taking advantage of the fact that no

one could see him, the shadow lunged toward the Seazombie
cultivator and wrapped around his leg.

The Seazombie screamed shrilly as his leg collapsed into ashes,

and terror filled his eyes. He wanted to flee, but couldn’t. And then
Xu Qing’s dagger plunged toward his throat. In that moment of
deadly crisis, the Seazombie cultivator proved how vicious he was.
A look of madness filled his eyes as he detonated half of the
dharma apertures within him. Booms echoed out as the shocking
power of half of his dharma apertures erupted, breaking him free
from the grip of Xu Qing’s shadow. Dodging the iron skewer and
avoiding Xu Qing’s dagger, he turned to flee.

The Third Peak disciple was nowhere to be seen. Furthermore,

the grue he had left behind was starting to fade away thanks to the
distance between them. And then, under the powerful attack of the
Seazombie scholar, it vanished.

Having handled the grue, the Seazombie scholar turned to look at

Xu Qing. However, just as he was about to charge forth, he saw
that his fleeing companion suddenly shivered violently and
coughed up a huge mouthful of black blood. Seazombie blood was
blue. But he coughed up black blood. It wasn’t poison that Xu Qing
had thrown out. Instead, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior had
requested that Xu Qing coat the iron skewer with poison. And
when he stabbed the Seazombie through the forehead, he
released that poison.

It just took a bit of time to kick in. Therefore, when the Seazombie
detonated half of his dharma apertures, he became so weak that
the poison took effect. As the poison flared up, numerous daggers
of black flames shot toward the Seazombie at high speed and
stabbed into him. There were six in total. One hit his neck, one hit
his heart, one hit his forehead, and the other three hit limbs.
Cracking sounds rang out as the Seazombie was thrown to the
ground from the impact. Then the iron skewer shot toward him.
The skewer stabbed him numerous times, and then the shadow
wrapped around his other leg.

Agonized shrieks rang out as black fire spread all over him.
Meanwhile, Xu Qing ignored the incoming Seazombie scholar.
Stepping toward the wounded Seazombie, he reached down and
clamped his hand over the thing’s mouth. The screaming stopped.
Meanwhile, balefire shot into the Seazombie. After taking its soul,
Xu Qing turned it into kindling to batter his 30th dharma aperture.

A massive rumbling filled him!

He shook as his 30th dharma aperture opened. Then, all 30 of his

dharma apertures linked together as one. Dharma force streamed
out of them, turning into threads of fire that converged in his
dantian region. Wrapping around themselves, they became a
small ball of fire. It grew denser and brighter, and then a
whooshing sound could be heard, which signified that this
Foundation Establishment cultivator had formed his first life flame!

Shocking fluctuations rolled out in all directions as the life flame

ignited. Bright flames shone on his thirty dharma apertures,
making them almost transparent, and faintly illuminating his
heavenly palaces.

At the same time, a mighty aura shot out from within him. As Xu
Qing looked around, the world seemed different. Everything
moved more slowly, even the water, the crumbling ruins around
him, and the Seazombie scholar. The scholar was still charging
forward, but seemed like he was moving in slow motion.

In fact, everything was moving so slowly it felt uncomfortable to Xu

Qing at first. He even noticed individual dust particles within the
water. And when he focused on the dust particles, he felt like he
could zoom his view closer to them at will. As he noticed all of
these things, the life flame inside him burned, and he felt a
terrifying power within him.

His magical techniques were all improved now, and his fleshly
body seemed on a higher level. It was as if his soul was now clad
in armor. Everything seemed different from before. Xu Qing had
known all along that having a life flame was completely different
from not having one. But now that he was personally experiencing
that difference, he realized that he had underestimated it. They
were two completely different realms. Now, his 30 dharma
apertures were like thirty ovens, all of them burning rapidly through
their fuel. As they burned to create his life flame, brilliant light
shone in all directions, making it seem like there was a huge
furnace within him!

Within the iron skewer, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior trembled in

envy and hope. The shadow also trembled, as though Xu Qing’s
brilliance made it uncomfortable

But Xu Qing’s upgrade wasn’t over yet. As everything around him

slowed, and as the teleportation portal in the distance became fully
activated, Xu Qing moved his life flame to align with the wick of the
black life lamp.

The surrounding seawater exploded wildly as a terrifying aura

swept out. As the life lamp ignited, it released power vastly more
terrifying than the life flame, sweeping through his meridians,
flesh, and blood. Everywhere it passed, Xu Qing felt like his life
force was advancing. He trembled as massive rumbling sounds
echoed out within him.

Now, what was inside him wasn’t a furnace, it was an erupting

volcano!! This was a power that could crush anything in its path!
As that power was raging through Xu Qing, the teleportation portal
finished opening fully.

Within it appeared a Seazombie Foundation Establishment

cultivator in the profound radiance state. He was not fully
materialized, but by now, there was no way to stop the
teleportation.

Grinning cruelly, he said, “You failed to stop me this time, human

brat. Are you ready to die?”

1. The “trunked cultivator” was introduced in chapter 86 and killed

in chapter 92. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsMany thanks to angeeau for the review!!!

Many thanks to angeeau for the review!!!

Chapter 158: Mount Tai Crushing an Egg

“Uhhh....” The Foundation Establishment Seazombie on the

teleportation portal suddenly stopped talking.

In life, he had been a species that looked mostly human except for
having six eyes. In addition to the eyes where humans normally
had them, he also had an eye on each cheek, one on his
forehead, and one on the back of his head. He was now about
half-materialized on the teleportation portal, and the materialized
parts included his head and eyes. His breath was already coming
in ragged pants, and all of his five visible eyes that Xu Qing could
see were filled with shock and disbelief. It was simply impossible
for him to hide the heaven-shaking, earth-toppling incredulity he
felt in his heart.

“Y-you... you have a life flame? And not just one!! Th-this... this....”

The Foundation Establishment Seazombie was so shocked he

was physically shaking. The intense sensation of deadly crisis was
so strong that even his soul was trembling. In fact, now he wanted
the teleportation portal to be destroyed. Given how far along the
teleportation was, there was no way for him to back out of it now.

Looking at the black-robed Seazombie scholar, he shouted,

“Destroy the portal. Now!”
Of course, the incoming Seazombie wasn't the only one to be
shocked. The Seazombie scholar who had just now been closing
in on Xu Qing was also being ravaged by waves of astonishment.
The fire within Xu Qing was just absolutely terrifying! There was an
explosive, volcanic level of strength in him that caused the
Seazombie scholar’s eyes to sting so badly he felt the urge to look
away. And his heart was so rocked by shock that he thought he
might pass out.

Given the circumstances, the Seazombie scholar didn’t dare to get

any closer. The sensation of deadly crisis within him was telling
him that he had only one option. And that was to ignore his
instinctual drive to follow the orders of his superior, and take
advantage of the distraction that superior was providing to make
an escape.

He made the decision in the blink of an eye. Turning, he fled.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing slowly looked up.

The volcanic power within him caused burning fire to circle around
him, boiling the surrounding seawater. And his eyes also seemed
to contain piercing fire that made him look like the child of a god.
His gaze seemed capable of piercing through all barriers and
obstacles. Not even the fluctuations of the teleportation portal
could influence it. And thus, Xu Qing looked directly at the six-
eyed Seazombie cultivator.
From Xu Qing’s perspective everything was still moving very
slowly. The Seazombie scholar was running away in slow motion,
and the dust in the area seemed frozen in place. Everything
looked like a painting.

The teleportation portal’s fluctuations were like ink slowly

spreading out in the water. Only the six-eyed Seazombie cultivator
seemed to be moving slightly faster than everything else. But he
was still slow!

When Xu Qing looked at him, the six-eyed cultivator’s mind reeled,

and his facial expression flickered dramatically. Inwardly, he
howled in anguish. Two life flames. He has two! This is a Seven
Blood Eyes Seventh Peak disciple with two life flames!! But why
did he prevent me from teleporting in before?

Taking advantage of the part of him that had already materialized,

he began attacking the teleportation portal, hoping to destroy it.
However, that method wasn’t fast enough.

Xu Qing raised his right hand in the direction of the portal, then
exerted a slight pressure.

Rumbling sounds echoed out as black balefire erupted from within

him with volcanic might. Sweeping forth, it became a huge black
hand that descended toward the Seazombie. The heat being
released by his hand could devastate anything and everything.
Cracks and crevices spread out on the ground, until it seemed like
it might crumble into nothing.

The seagrass in the area crumbled into ash, and the water in the
area boiled away, leaving an empty space that revealed the
teleportation portal all by itself. The six-eyed cultivator on the
portal was shrieking hysterically. As the sensation of deadly crisis
grew more intense, he held nothing back in his efforts to fight
back. Four additional arms sprouted out from his torso.

Clenching all six hands into fists, he activated his profound

radiance state, going so far as to destroy some of his own dharma
apertures to release all of his latent power. Instantly, he
transformed into a mass of fire as he braced himself against Xu
Qing’s hand of black flame. At the same time, he produced three
magical devices and also spat out a blue piece of jade. His
expression was one of madness and despair.

Sadly for him, none of that was enough! Someone with a single life
flame simply couldn’t compare to a cultivator with a life lamp.

As the hand of black flame descended, everything was reduced to

ashes. The six-eyed Seazombie’s first magical device collapsed.
His second broke into pieces. And his third didn’t even last for half
a breath of time before exploding.

Then the blue piece of jade shattered. As the cracking sounds

echoed out, the Seazombie’s fleshly body failed to stand up to the
force, and began to rip apart. Three of his six arms exploded into
clouds of blood. Then his legs couldn’t take it, and they also
exploded. His remaining three arms bent under the force, then
also exploded into a haze of blue blood.

Xu Qing’s hand of black flame crushed through everything with

ease, landing on the surface of the ground, and continuing
onward! The teleportation portal was smashed into bits of ash.

A huge handprint appeared embedded in the ground. The six-eyed

Seazombie had already been crushed out of existence, leaving
behind nothing other than a dim ball of green fire that shot off in
flight.

It moved so fast that someone without a life flame wouldn’t be able

to track it. But to Xu Qing, it looked slow. He took one step
forward.

As he did, the water in the area exploded, turning into rivulets that
spun away in every direction. Xu Qing moved with such speed
that, in the blink of an eye, he appeared right in front of the fleeing
six-eyed Seazombie’s soul. Ignoring the heat of the cultivator's life
flame, he reached inside and grabbed the soul like he was
grabbing a baby chicken.

The Seazombie cultivator screamed in agony as black flames

enveloped him. Xu Qing was directly refining his soul! The dead
Seazombie had no way of understanding how this Seven Blood
Eyes disciple could be so strong, yet earlier had prevented him
from teleporting in. All in all, he had never encountered someone
with a single life flame who was this strong. To him, Xu Qing didn’t
seem like someone who had just created their life flame.

Three breaths of time passed, and then Xu Qing relaxed his hand.
The Seazombie’s soul had been fully refined, and was now
kindling within him.

Having accomplished these things, Xu Qing turned and looked at

the Seazombie scholar who was still slowly fleeing. All of a
sudden, Xu Qing was struck by the difference between someone
with a life flame and someone without it.

The difference is beyond astounding.

Sighing, he took a step toward the fleeing Seazombie scholar.

Because Xu Qing was in the profound radiance state, the fleeing

Seazombie couldn’t even track his movement. Then, the water
around him boiled away explosively, and Xu Qing was standing in
front of him.

As a look of terror spread across his face, Xu Qing reached out,

summoned a dagger of black flame, and slashed it through the
scholar's throat. His head flew off his torso, though the two
remained linked by black fire. But as the fire burned them, the two
parts separated. And then they both collapsed into ash. Xu Qing
turned to look in the direction of the fleeing Third Peak disciple.
Because of how far away he was, there was no way he had any
idea what had happened. After thinking about it for a moment, Xu
Qing decided not to chase him.

The disciple could still unleash grues. And though his actions had
been mostly out of self-preservation, he had still helped Xu Qing to
a degree.

Xu Qing collected his battle trophies from the area, looked around
to make sure there were no clues left behind as to what had
played out, then vanished.

As Xu Qing sped through the underwater world while in the

profound radiance state, he felt a sensation that was difficult to
describe. It was a feeling of all-encompassing safety that stemmed
from his immense strength. He moved with such speed that
ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators wouldn’t be able to
see him. The resistance of the water did slow him down, but only
by a bit. When he looked inward, the volcanic explosiveness within
him was shocking to say the least.

I wonder how I would compare to the Captain. Within him, he

could sense the life flame burning in his life lamp, and the power of
the profound radiance state. All strength is the result of
transformation!

As he sped along, he waved his hand, sending out a sea of black

flame that descended onto a Seazombie teleportation portal and
wiped it out of existence. Then he clenched his hand into a fist and
punched, hewing out a massive crater.

Next he performed an incantation gesture. Seawater roiled around

him, changing into a tornado-like vortex that smashed into the
crater with deadly force. Any ordinary Foundation Establishment
cultivator who faced that attack would be destroyed in body and
soul.

My magical techniques and fleshly body have all improved!

Finally, he came to a stop in a remote part of the underwater

world. As the seawater boiled around him, he looked down at his
shadow, and also waved his hand to summon the black iron
skewer.

His shadow trembled, and Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior in the

skewer was also shaking. After Xu Qing entered his profound
radiance state, both of them had remained silent. Even they were
terrified by Xu Qing in that state, and how easily he could destroy
anything.

“Assessment time is coming,” Xu Qing said calmly.

Deathblade's ThoughtsI recently went onto the local San Diego

Podcast "The Written Scene." This was a very fun and unique
conversation. I talked about many things that I haven't talked
about before publicly, including many things related to translation
(including this translation project), but also many other things.
Check it out on Spotify, Apple, and other podcast places.

I recently went onto the local San Diego Podcast "The Written
Scene." This was a very fun and unique conversation. I talked
about many things that I haven't talked about before publicly,
including many things related to translation (including this
translation project), but also many other things. Check it out on
Spotify, Apple, and other podcast places.
Chapter 159: A Shadow Scam

Xu Qing didn’t need to issue any more threats. His shadow

immediately shivered in response to his words. In fact, in its terror,
it seemed to react instinctively by ripping itself apart in several
places. Then it seemed to exert its consciousness anxiously to
send a message to Xu Qing.

“Seazombie... eat... quick breakthrough... breakthrough quick....”

Xu Qing didn’t bother to wonder what the difference was between

‘quick breakthrough’ and ‘breakthrough quick.’ Nor did he care
whether or not the shadow was being sincere. Instead, he shifted
his attention to the iron skewer.

The skewer trembled as Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior appeared

on its surface. He had obviously prepared himself mentally over
the past few moments.

As soon as he appeared, he slapped his chest and confidently

said, “Don’t worry, milord! All I need to do is consume a few more
magical devices and I can achieve a breakthrough with my spirit
automaton techniques. Based on your humble servant’s
calculations, once that happens, then under my control, our dear
little skewer will be able to achieve a speed and sharpness
comparable to the profound radiance state.
“Although it won’t be able to stay in that state long, milord, I’ll work
very hard not to hold you back. Incidentally, your humble servant
has been looking into self-detonation methods.

“I’ve already thought it through. What worries you, milord, worries

me. What concerns you, milord, concerns me. My life isn’t worth
anything, so if a true moment of deadly crisis arrives, then your
humble servant won’t hesitate to self-detonate to make sure you
have a chance to escape. Milord, all of this is to make sure you
can follow the path of the Ancient Emperors and Imperial
Sovereigns!”

The patriarch spoke with great passion, and repeatedly thumped

his chest to emphasize his words. Off to the side, the shadow
trembled in amazement. Afterward, Xu Qing looked deeply at the
patriarch, then nodded.

“I understand.” Looking away, he exercised a thought, and the life

flame within him winked out. As it did, Xu Qing returned to his
previous state, and no longer shone brightly. The terrifying
pressure that he had exuded vanished.

The moment he left the profound radiance state, he felt a

temporary uncomfortable sensation. In fact, he briefly felt the urge
to go back into the profound radiance state. He suppressed the
urge.
It was a normal sensation for any Foundation Establishment
cultivator who left the profound radiance state. That state involved
explosively releasing everything from one’s dharma apertures. It
caused dharma apertures and spirit seas alike to surge, and also
boosted the dharma body. As could be imagined, it was extremely
draining.

As a result, Foundation Establishment cultivators had to exercise

restraint, and know how long they could stay in that state. For
most single-flame cultivators, they could last for an hour or
perhaps a bit longer.

Because of that limited time, most people wouldn’t use the

profound radiance state unless they absolutely had to. And that
was because the state tapped into the life flame. If the life flame
ran out, then the dharma apertures in one’s body would rapidly
wither up. And withered apertures would leave one irreversibly
crippled.

After getting used to being out of the profound radiance state, Xu

Qing checked his battle trophies.

He had just killed four Seazombie Foundation Establishment

cultivators, and the most disappointing thing about it was that the
one who had teleported in wasted four magical devices defending
himself.
Because it happened when Xu Qing had just entered the profound
radiance state, and also had his life lamp active, he had been
unable to exert refined control, and had only been able to attack
with full force. And sadly, crushing his opponent had also involved
crushing those magical devices.

They were probably worth more than a million spirit stones!!

Thinking about that, he sighed, then took out the bags of holding
he’d taken.

These bags were better than any of the ones he’d taken up to this
point. In total, they contained about 300,000 spirit stones. Sadly,
he only found a single magical device. It was the fan belonging to
the Seazombie scholar, which was a speed-boosting item. Xu
Qing looked at Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior, who was obviously
antsy to devour it. He tossed it over.

The iron skewer thrummed as it stabbed into the fan in a very

crafty way, into the frame of the fan from underneath, in a way that
the damage wouldn’t be easy to spot.

As the fan’s spirit resonance was sucked away, it grew a bit

dimmer. When the patriarch was satisfied, he pulled the skewer
out of the fan, then turned back and exhaled onto the fan. That
exhalation had a marvelous effect; when it landed on the fan, it
went from being dim to glowing brightly. It looked exactly the same
as before!
“It’s just a bit more fragile, that’s all!” the patriarch said, blinking a
few times. He looked a bit apologetic, as if he was intentionally
trying to seem like he wasn’t a shady character. Xu Qing’s facial
expression was the same as ever as he took the fan back.
Ignoring the patriarch’s facial expression and words, he unleashed
the power of the two Seazombie souls within him to open his 31st
dharma aperture.

I need more souls!

Now that he had passed 30 dharma apertures, he could tell that

the soul power wasn’t as effective. An ordinary Foundation
Establishment soul wasn’t enough to open a dharma aperture. He
needed souls from cultivators with life flames. Though he had
opened the 31st aperture, he could now see that he would need
more souls to open the 32nd.

As his dharma force built back up, Xu Qing burst into motion,
heading toward the exit of the underwater world. He soon found it
and went right in without slowing down. Before long, he was back
on the surface. As soon as he was there, he saw numerous Seven
Blood Eyes cultivators flying overhead. The atmosphere of war
was even stronger than before. As rumbling echoed in the
distance, shocking fluctuations rolled through the sky. Xu Qing’s
expression turned somber as he looked up. High in the sky, he
saw more than ten high-ranking members of Seven Blood Eyes
fighting with a group of Seazombies. Further away over the water
there was even fiercer fighting going on between the two sides.
Meanwhile, row after row of magical devices on the four islands
sent out powerful magical techniques, creating a multi-colored
glow which rose high into the sky. Flying swords shot out of the
sword lake and screamed through the air. The spell formations
were also working like mad.

Apparently, the war had reached a critical point, and the

Seazombies were counter-attacking in a ferocious manner.

Xu Qing sent some dharma force into his identity medallion to

check the missions, and saw that most of them were for the front-
line battle. The rewards were spectacular. And there were already
seven or eight people creeping close to completing the mission to
kill 10,000 enemies and get a destined opportunity for core
formation. While he was paying attention to his identity medallion,
he turned in the completed teleportation formation mission.
However, he didn’t immediately pick a new mission.

Right now, the most important thing as far as he was concerned

was to explain how he had the power of two life flames within him,
despite only having a single life flame.

The obvious way to avoid revealing that fact would be to figure out
a way to stay away from Seven Blood Eyes disciples. Otherwise, if
he got into a fight in the presence of others, he would have to
reveal the truth, and might end up in a deadly crisis as a result.
But that would be difficult long-term. So the alternative was to
come up with a plan to explain his unusual strength.
The best explanation he could think of would be to say that he had
devoured a lot of souls in battle. That seemed like the least risky
cover story.

Looking at his kill count on his identity medallion, he saw that he

had killed fifteen Foundation Establishment Seazombies, but none
in the Qi Condensation level.

That’s not enough. If someone investigated him, and saw such a

low kill count, they would immediately become suspicious.
Therefore, Xu Qing found a remote area, checked to make sure he
was alone, then looked down at his shadow.

“You emitted a Seazombie aura earlier, right? Do it again.”

The shadow seemed confused, and even formed itself into a

question mark on the ground in front of him.

“Just do what you’re told!” barked Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior.

Looking somewhat hurt, the shadow released a small Seazombie

aura. However, the moment it happened, the violet crystal in Xu
Qing immediately suppressed it out of existence. As the shadow
looked terrified and bewildered, Xu Qing checked his identity
medallion and found that his count for Qi Condensation kills had
risen from 0 to 1. Xu Qing’s eyes lit up.

So, I was right.

When he had seen that Seazombie aura coming from the shadow
earlier, he had wondered how the identity medallion would keep
track of the kills. Seeing the result of his experiment, he was very
pleased.

The identity medallion wasn’t alive, and thus had no sense of

judgment. All it did was take note when various auras and
fluctuations collapsed, and used that as the basis to determine the
kill count. Normally speaking, it wouldn’t be easy to cheat the
medallion. As for what would happen when multiple people
attacked a single target, there was a function in place to calculate
the results. It wasn’t perfect, but was good enough in most cases.
But Xu Qing’s bizarre shadow was different.

This was the method he planned to use to deal with the situation.
He would accept a mission, and use it to actually refine souls to
open apertures, but at the same time, use his shadow to bolster
his kill count for both Qi Condensation and Foundation
Establishment enemies. Then it would be more believable that he
would have the battle prowess of two life flames. That was
especially true during wartime, when so many enemies were
present. As long as he didn’t do anything too outrageous, it
wouldn’t seem suspicious. The main thing to consider was how
many times the shadow could be suppressed.

After a bit of consideration, Xu Qing decided it wasn’t worth

worrying about. After all, he had suppressed the shadow
numerous times without it dying, so he doubted a few more times
would hurt much.

And thus, for the next two months, Xu Qing accepted missions like
mad. For most missions, he only used the power of a single life
flame, and would only use his life lamp when he was alone.

And of course, just to make sure there weren’t problems because

of his identity medallion noticing the power of two life flames, he
had his shadow conceal the presence of the lamp at all times.

All of the missions required high kill counts. And of course, Xu

Qing would occasionally require his shadow to release Seazombie
auras in the Foundation Establishment level. However, it could not
attain that same level of battle prowess.

Apparently, the shadow had limits. Regardless, Xu Qing’s kill count

of Foundation Establishment Seazombies increased.

His shadow was in a miserable state, and that caused Patriarch

Golden Vajra Warrior to shiver in terror. Although the current
situation had nothing to do with him, he still couldn’t stop worrying
about his own survival. That was more true than ever on a few
occasions when it seemed like the shadow was really about to
collapse. Through the two months, Xu Qing also got many
legitimate kills. Because of that, the shadow got a chance to
bolster itself some, and its battle prowess was slowly returning to
normal. That was quite a shock to Xu Qing. Meanwhile, Xu Qing
reached the point of opening 40 dharma apertures.

Deathblade's ThoughtsMany thanks to ken for the review! You

rule!

Many thanks to ken for the review! You rule!

Chapter 160: Hooking a Fiendish Killer

Xu Qing’s kill count soon reached a much better-looking state. He

was at over 3,000, and most of them were thanks to the shadow.
At that point, Xu Qing figured he was in a good place, and didn’t
dare to push his luck any further.

If he recorded too many fake kills, it would be too suspicious.

Upon checking the sect’s kill list, he saw that even among the
most vicious disciples, virtually none had more than 10,000. There
were only seven or eight who had more than 7,000, with a larger
group that had around 5,000.

Xu Qing suspected that those high kill counts must be from people
using special methods, or perhaps killing a lot of Qi Condensation
enemies. Without some such explanation, such high numbers
seemed ridiculously exaggerated and unrealistic.

After all, Seazombies weren’t weak by any stretch of the

imagination.

The person occupying the top spot on the list was Wu Jianwu. His
kill count was so high that Xu Qing couldn’t help but suspect that it
was a fake number. Considering that, though, it seemed unlikely
that his own numbers would be investigated. There were others
with far more suspicious numbers. That said, there were people on
the list whom he knew were ferocious fighters. The number two
spot was occupied by Second Highness, who had killed over
8,000 enemies. [1]

After some more thought, Xu Qing wondered if the sect was fine
with such ridiculous numbers to either improve morale, urge the
disciples to fight harder, or make Seven Blood Eyes seem
impressive.

Regardless, now that he was done padding his numbers, he

started looking for an actual mission for himself. After all the hard
work he’d put in lately, he was feeling a bit tired, and was hoping
to find something simple.

It didn’t take long for an escort mission to catch Xu Qing’s eye.

Second Peak cultivators were known for their pill concocting.

However, they didn’t just concoct pills for healing and boosting the
cultivation base. They also concocted poison pills, or medicines
with random and unusual properties. There was also a category of
pill they would make that were known as taboo pills.

Generally speaking, taboo pills were made for war purposes; once
they were unleashed, their terrifying and lethal effects were difficult
to deal with. Some could cause instant mutation, some could
attract mutagen, and some could provoke meteorological
phenomena. Every taboo pill had different effects, and every pill
was used in a different way.
What was more, taboo pills had to be buried immediately after
being concocted. Therefore, in most cases, the Second Peak
disciples would concoct a partial taboo pill in the sect, then find a
good place on the battlefield to finish the concocting process.

This escort mission was being assigned because there were a lot
of small islands surrounding the Merfolk Isles, many of which had
volcanoes that served perfectly as locations for Second Peak
disciples to concoct pills.

Of course, the Seazombies also valued such locations, and would

do everything possible to break through the battle lines, reach
those islands, and interrupt the Second Peak disciples’ efforts.
And thus, this urgent mission was calling for Foundation
Establishment cultivators to buy time for the Second Peak
disciples to move from one location to another as they concocted
and buried their pills.

The listed mission reward was 300,000 spirit stones.

When Xu Qing saw that, he was intrigued. An escort mission

seemed a lot more reasonable than a mission to join the chaotic
fighting on the battlefield. As he pondered whether to accept it, the
twenty open positions in the mission began to fill up. When he saw
that there were less than half of the open slots available, he
accepted the mission. He immediately received a small portion of
the spirit stone reward upfront. Then he was given the location of
the teleportation portal to go to the mission area, as well as some
other instructions.

After looking over the information, Xu Qing headed to the

teleportation portal, and soon disappeared within the glittering
light.

***

To the southwest of the Merfolk Isles were a series of large islands

stretched out in a row like a pearl necklace. The islands had been
there for a long time, and though they were very large, the
volcanoes that covered them made them unsuitable for habitation.
On the Seven Blood Eyes sea charts, these islands were called
the Pearl Archipelago. The volcanoes in the Pearl Archipelago
were active, belching out black smoke that caused ash to fall down
like snow, and burning lava to fall like rain. The ash and lava that
covered the Pearl Archipelago made the place seem like the
Yellow Springs.

Meanwhile, waves surged around the islands as figures rushed

toward the shore at high speed.

Those figures were, of course, Seazombies. When they climbed

on shore, fierce fighting broke out, and booms rippled across the
islands. Dharma force fluctuations rolled out, and mutagen surged.

On one of the islands in the middle of the archipelago, a large

force of Seazombies had already slaughtered their way to the
central region. In that central region was a valley where the ground
was covered with black ash. Occasionally, lava would spray down
into the valley, forcing the people there to keep their defensive
shields active.

The people there were all Seven Blood Eyes disciples, most of
them from the Second Peak. They looked very anxious as they
watched a group of Fifth Peak disciples trying to repair a spell
formation nearby.

The Second Peak disciples had come here to bury taboo pills near
the subterranean earthflame. The fierce Seazombie assault had
come seemingly out of nowhere. In fact, they had just buried their
taboo pills, and hadn’t even had a chance to make any
adjustments. Because of the assault, they had no choice but to
leave the area.

Unfortunately, once the Seazombie army appeared, the

teleportation portals stopped working correctly. They now only
allowed for incoming teleportations, not outgoing. As far as these
disciples could tell, the Pearl Archipelago was a trap laid by the
Seazombies.

And they were right. The large Seazombie army assaulting the
Merfolk Isles was actually a feint to allow for the real operation to
take place in the Pearl Archipelago. If they succeeded, then they
could establish a command base here, and then use it to deploy
troops against Seven Blood Eyes much more easily.
If Seven Blood Eyes sent forces to deal with the Pearl
Archipelago, then the Seazombies could easily turn their feint on
the Merfolk Isles into the main assault. All of the spell formations
on the island were being affected. Furthermore, the Seazombies
were going so far as to destroy some of the teleportation portals,
while keeping others intact. Apparently, they wanted to guard a
tree stump waiting for rabbits; if any Seven Blood Eyes cultivators
teleported in through those portals, they would attack and kill them
to earn battle credit.

In the northwest part of that one particular island, there was a

deep valley in the middle of the island where a teleportation portal
currently glittered with bright light. Surrounding the portal were
several dozen Seazombie cultivators.

The leader of the Seazombies here was an ordinary Foundation

Establishment cultivator, a nonhuman with three eyes. Keeping
those eyes fixed on the teleportation portal, he shouted,

“Everybody get ready. Keep a close eye on the dharma force

fluctuations. If a cultivator with a life flame starts to come through,
destroy the portal instantly. Hopefully no one like that appears,
because I really want to rack up some merit points.”

The Foundation Establishment cultivator looked at the glittering

teleportation portal with keen anticipation.
The truth was that when the Seven Blood Eyes patriarch
unexpectedly invaded the Seazombies after his cultivation base
breakthrough, he ended up seriously injuring their patriarch. And
that threw the entire Seazombie people into chaos. If it wasn’t for
the fact that some of their sleeping old-timers awakened to take
control, the Seazombies might have been wiped out. After that,
Seven Blood Eyes set up their main command base in the Merfolk
Isles. Subsequent attempts by the Seazombies to retake the
Merfolk Isles had all failed.

In the hopes of eking out a victory, the Seazombie leadership were

offering amazing rewards, including the chance to upgrade their
life force. All that was required to get those rewards was enough
merit points, and that had whipped the Seazombie cultivators into
a frenzy.

The Seazombie cultivator waiting in ambush by this teleportation

portal was no exception. However, he was also cautious, and was
worried that a Foundation Establishment cultivator with the
profound radiance state would come through. Thus, he had
brought along a magical device that could read fluctuations.

In fact, right next to him was an enormous eyeball that had eight
tentacles, each of which had dug into the forehead of a Qi
Condensation Seazombie in the great circle. The eyeball was
slowly absorbing them to assess what was happening with the
portal.
Suddenly, the eyeball shone with white light.

Seeing that, the Foundation Establishment Seazombie grinned

viciously and prepared to jump toward the portal. However, that
was when, just as a figure became visible in the portal, a stream of
black light shot out from within. It moved with such incredible
speed that, in the blink of an eye, it was right in front of the
Foundation Establishment Seazombie.

Shocked, the Seazombie lurched backward. But at the same time,

the black blur doubled its speed, carrying with it the tinkling of a
bell that seemed to affect the soul. The Seazombie cultivator
shivered.

Then the black blur stabbed into the Seazombie’s chest and came
out the other side.

Meanwhile, as the figure in the teleportation portal grew more

distinct, the giant eyeball glittered, not with white light, but with red
light.

“Red dharma force!” shrieked the wounded Seazombie. “Destroy

the formation!”

The moment the order left his lips, the surrounding Seazombies
attacked the teleportation portal. Unfortunately for them, it was
right then that the roar of a dragon echoed out from the formation.
A snakeneck dragon shot out, growing larger by the moment until
it was 300 meters in length. Rumbling sounds echoed out as it
bore the brunt of all the incoming magical techniques, ensuring
that none of them hit the teleportation portal.

At that point, the figure coming through the portal became clear. It
was none other than Xu Qing. Instead of stepping off the portal
immediately, he looked around.

He saw the shocked Foundation Establishment Seazombie, and

the dozen or so Qi Condensation Seazombies. It was obvious that
he was being ambushed, and yet, that wasn’t much of a surprise
to him. He had come in as prepared and vigilant as always. Given
that he had recently done the exact same thing these Seazombies
were doing, it was no wonder that he’d made preparations before
teleporting in.

Having sized up the area, the volcanic force within him exploded,
and he entered the profound radiance state. As intense flames
spread out from him, bringing incredibly high heat, the
surroundings rippled and distorted.

As a result, the huge eye exploded, and the eight Qi Condensation

Seazombies connected to it screamed and coughed up mouthfuls
of blood. The other Qi Condensation Seazombies in the area also
let loose agonized shrieks. Given how far their cultivation bases
were below Xu Qing, to them, he was on a completely different
level of existence. It was similar to how he had felt when he first
met Third Elder.
Of course, he currently wasn’t on the level of Third Elder, but then
again, these Seazombies weren’t comparable to his level back
then.

As the screams echoed out, Xu Qing burst into motion, arriving

right in front of the wounded Foundation Establishment
Seazombie.

The Seazombie was so shocked that, before he could even turn

around, Xu Qing’s hand had latched onto the top of his head.
Then, black fire raged out to consume him. The Seazombie
struggled. Unfortunately, Xu Qing’s life lamp exerted terrifying
pressure, and this Seazombie didn’t even have a life flame. His
eyes went wide as his dharma apertures rumbled and his
cultivation base was thrown into chaos. Then, black balefire
surged into him.

He let loose another agonized shriek. He was strong. So strong, in

fact, that back when Xu Qing didn’t have a life flame, a fight
between the two of them would have gone a different way. But
right now, the Seazombie had no hope.

To Xu Qing, Foundation Establishment cultivators with no life

flame were as weak as wild chickens.

1. Wu Jianwu is the disciple who got that wonderful wish box in

chapter 147. ☜
Chapter 161: Mission Alteration

Xu Qing ignored the screaming Seazombie, whose soul power

was rapidly being sucked away. Instead, he checked his
surroundings and also mentally reviewed the map he had been
given as part of the mission. According to the map, this particular
teleportation portal was supposed to be difficult to find.

Considering that the Seazombies had been waiting there in

ambush, it seemed to indicate that things in the area weren’t going
very well for the sect. It was definitely not what the mission
description had indicated.

After Xu Qing absorbed the souls of all the Seazombies, he looked

back at the teleportation portal and thought about just reactivating
it and leaving. If a mission turned out to be too different from its
description, disciples had the right to give up on it.

A moment later, his heart sank. There was some strange force
suppressing the teleportation portal, making it impossible to leave
through it.

“Well, isn’t this interesting.”

Still in the profound radiance state, he flew up into the air. Of

course, he didn’t just hover there like an idiot. He started moving,
while at the same time, assessing his surroundings. All the while,
he used the souls he’d absorbed to batter at his next dharma
aperture. Unfortunately, with 40 open apertures, the soul power
required going forward just kept getting more astonishing. An
ordinary Foundation Establishment Seazombie just wasn’t enough
to break one of them open. He needed more than that.

After getting an overview of the island, Xu Qing dropped down out

of the ash and lava-filled sky, landing atop a tree in the jungle. The
treetop had no leaves, only charred branches.

He left the profound radiance state, and when he returned to his

ordinary state, he frowned. He had just seen a large number of
Seazombies in the distance. It was an army, surging out of the sea
and onto the shore.

And he had also seen numerous locations on the island where

Seazombies lay waiting in ambush. With that many Seazombies,
there had to be some who could enter the profound radiance state.
And it was even possible there were Gold Core cultivators among
them. It was for that reason he’d left the profound radiance state;
he didn’t want to attract any unwanted attention.

There’s something unusual going on with this mission!

Xu Qing braced himself mentally. The mission description hadn’t

mentioned anything about dangerous circumstances. There was
no way that only twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators
could hold this spot against an entire army.
Around then, his identity medallion vibrated, and he looked at it to
find that the mission had been updated.

“A huge Seazombie army has suddenly assaulted the Pearl

Archipelago. All escort and aid missions are being changed. The
mission rewards are being doubled. Head without delay to the
central part of the island you are on and help any Second Peak
cultivators there to evacuate.

“Be aware that all central areas have Fifth Peak disciples on duty.
After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the sect will
activate the grand spell formation on the Merfolk Isles, and
unleash a tideflow power to destroy the restrictive spell limiting
teleportations on the Pearl Archipelago. At that time, all disciples
can work with the Fifth Peak cultivators to teleport to safety.”

Even as Xu Qing read the information, the mission classification

changed to red, indicating that it was now an extremely dangerous
mission.

I wanted a simple mission that would allow for some rest. This is
annoying.

Sighing, he shot backward to collide into a Qi Condensation

Seazombie who had been sneaking up on him. The Seazombie
was on such a lower level than him that he instantly exploded. Not
bothering to look over his shoulder, Xu Qing waved, sending his
snakeneck dragon out. As it slammed into the ground below, trees
shattered, revealing several dozen Seazombies who had been
preparing an ambush. They were all in Qi Condensation, and thus,
they exploded one by one.

That said, their presence was concerning. Ordinarily speaking,

why would Qi Condensation cultivators try to ambush a
Foundation Establishment cultivator? He wasn’t in the profound
radiance state, but his fluctuations were that of Foundation
Establishment. It didn’t take long for him to find out the answer to
the question.

Within the remains of the exploded Qi Condensation cultivators,

he saw white threads. They were implanted within the bodies in a
way that would allow those cultivators’ minds and actions to be
controlled like puppets.

Right when Xu Qing spotted the white threads, two shadowy

figures suddenly shot toward him at high speed. They were both
Foundation Establishment Seazombies.

One of them had a huge tumor on his arm that split open to reveal
an eye. The eye glowed with white light as it stared at Xu Qing, as
if it were assessing him. It reminded Xu Qing of the eye he had
seen when he first teleported in. It seemed these eyes allowed
Seazombies to check whether a Foundation Establishment
cultivator could enter the profound radiance state.
Thankfully, Xu Qing’s shadow was still keeping his life lamp
concealed.

After these two Seazombies believed that Xu Qing couldn’t enter

the profound radiance state, they launched their attack.

As they closed in, one of them performed an incantation gesture to

summon a huge battle-ax with a black dragon coiled around it,
which stared at Xu Qing with vicious eyes. The other summoned a
host of puppetized great circle Qi Condensation Seazombies,
each of which stared at Xu Qing with glowing eyes as they spread
out to surround him. At the same time, both Seazombies pulled
out magical devices which vastly increased their destructive
capabilities.

They were apparently skilled at performing magical attacks in

combination with each other. As they unleashed their dharma
force, a skeletal hand formed over Xu Qing, pulsing with power
that bordered on the profound radiance state as it crushed down
toward him.

Xu Qing took it all in, quickly checked the surroundings to make

sure it was safe, then ignited his life lamp! It didn’t matter that
these opponents didn’t have the profound radiance state. Xu Qing
was going all out, like a lion pouncing on a hare. The last thing he
wanted to do was fail where failure was least expected.
It was like a volcano erupting within him as dazzling light spread
out to cover him. Terrifying force radiated out, smashing into
everything around him with mountain-toppling, sea-draining force.

The attacking Foundation Establishment Seazombies’ faces fell,

and their pupils constricted.

As for the Seazombie with the eye on his arm, his mind reeled as
that eye suddenly emitted bright red light. That was a warning that
this Seven Blood Eyes cultivator was extremely dangerous!

However, the warning came too late.

With Xu Qing’s life lamp lit, these two Seazombies were trembling
so badly it seemed like they might collapse....

The skeletal hand they had summoned didn’t have a chance to

even reach Xu Qing before it started emitting cracking sounds. In
the blink of an eye, it was so damaged it was obviously about to
explode. The Qi Condensation puppets burst into flames and were
wiped out of existence. The battle-ax flying toward Xu Qing turned
bright red, as if it were about to melt, and the eyes of the coiling
dragon changed from vicious to terrified.

The two Seazombies were already scared out of their minds. How
could they ever have predicted that the cultivator they had already
scanned and thought to be safe, would actually be able to enter
the profound radiance state?
And this terrifying power obviously surpassed the level of a single
life flame. This was the power of two life flames, in other words,
mid-Foundation Establishment. And they knew full well how
terrifying of a level that was.

Not all Foundation Establishment cultivators were the same.

Those who had a life flame, and those who did not, were different.
And the difference between one life flame and two... was poles
apart.

It was possible for Qi Condensation cultivators in a lower level to

fight a cultivator in a higher level of Qi Condensation. But in
Foundation Establishment, the terrifying difference between levels
made that impossible. There weren’t many Foundation
Establishment cultivators who had cultivated their way to having
two life flames. As a result, people like that generally had high
positions.

And none of them were random people no one had ever heard
about. The only person who could fight someone like that was
another cultivator with two life flames.

These terrified Seazombies now wanted nothing more than to

simply flee.

To Xu Qing, everything was moving in slow motion. Reaching out

to the two shocked Seazombies, he made a grasping motion with
his right hand.
The battle-ax shattered. The black dragon screamed as it
crumbled into ashes. The skeletal hand crumbled.

The two terrified Seazombies were wrapped up with massive force

that dragged them toward Xu Qing. That force was so strong that
cracking sounds rang out from inside their bodies. A moment later,
black balefire erupted from Xu Qing and engulfed them. They
didn’t even have time to scream. Their dharma apertures
collapsed, their bodies exploded, and their flesh and blood
became a haze as their souls were sucked into Xu Qing. Turning,
he left.

Everything happened in the time it takes a spark to fly off of a

piece of flint.

And after Xu Qing disappeared, the area went still, as if nothing

had just happened. The ground was dry, the plants and vegetation
gone. The skeletal hand and the battle-ax were nowhere to be
seen, and the Seazombies had turned into dust that mixed with
the black ash falling from the sky.

Xu Qing was moving in the profound radiance state, like a

lightning bolt crossing the island toward the central area.

He could accept a change in the mission. Circumstances on a

battlefield could transform very quickly, and often in ways that no
one could predict or control. However, the fact that the mission
had been amended so quickly went to show that the overall
situation was still under the control of Seven Blood Eyes.

Therefore, he would carry out the mission to help the Second

Peak cultivators evacuate. As for the other disciples who had
accepted the same mission as him, he didn’t care about them. He
knew that he only had the time it takes an incense stick to burn.
And thus, he didn’t hold anything back. In only ten breaths of time,
he caught sight of the central valley.

Deathblade's ThoughtsMany thanks to Salamangkero and rm365

for your reviews!

Many thanks to Salamangkero and rm365 for your reviews!

Chapter 162: Hair Like Black Snow

The valley wasn’t very big, and was filled with the fluctuations of
teleportation. There were over a hundred Second Peak disciples,
most of them disassembling pill furnaces and other magical
devices that Xu Qing didn’t recognize. Behind them was a mid-
sized teleportation portal. Next to the portal were a handful of Fifth
Peak disciples in green daoist robes, attempting to make
adjustments to the formation. Every so often, the portal would emit
fluctuations and glitter with light, then go dark.

There was fighting at the entrance of the valley. About thirty

cultivators from various peaks were engaged in fierce combat with
a swarm of Seazombies. The ground beneath their feet was
littered with corpses, severed limbs, and the like. It was a shocking
and ghastly sight. The fighting was primarily between Foundation
Establishment cultivators, and the shockwaves from the combat
rolled out far in all directions.

Meanwhile, further in the distance were two cultivators who

surpassed the others. Shockingly, they were both in the profound
radiance state.

The Seazombie had been an old human man in life. He wore an

extremely tattered gray robe, the extraordinary fluctuation of which
pegged it as a magical device.
The Seven Blood Eyes cultivator was a tall young woman. [1]

She wore the orange daoist robe of the Second Peak, and though
her beauty carried with it an air of maturity, she moved with
incredible speed. Unfortunately, Second Peak disciples weren’t
known for their fighting ability. Therefore, despite the fact that she
and her opponent were both in the profound radiance state, she
was clearly at a disadvantage. Blood oozed out of the corners of
her mouth, and she didn’t have time to wipe it away.

The profound radiance state made cultivators capable of incredible

speeds. However, the slightest misstep could be fatal, and
therefore, she couldn’t afford to get distracted.

Right when Xu Qing appeared, the young woman from the Second
Peak ran out of dharma force, and her life flame started flickering
out. Her speed suffered as well, and the Seazombie took
advantage of the opportunity to land a vicious blow to her chest.

The young woman’s garments were shredded open, revealing

flesh beneath. At the same time, blood sprayed out of her mouth
as she flew backward and slammed into a nearby boulder. The
boulder cracked in half and sent chunks of small rock flying out in
all directions. The young woman struggled to get back to her feet,
but her life flame was already out. Once again, she coughed up
blood, causing her face to turn even more ashen than before.
Seeing that, the Seazombie snorted coldly, then ignored the young
woman as he turned toward the teleportation portal in the valley.
Before he could move toward it, his expression became one of
shock as he looked over his shoulder.

“The power of two life flames!” he blurted. From his perspective,

everything in the valley was moving in slow motion. However, off in
the distance, he saw a shocking figure blurring toward him at
incredible speed.

The contrast between the slow motion and the incredible speed
prompted the Seazombie to immediately turn tail to flee.

Given that he only had one life flame, he knew full well that he was
as different from someone with two flames as a regular
Foundation Establishment cultivator with no profound radiance
state was different from him.

Dammit, there’s a two-flame cultivator here. That’s mid-Foundation

Establishment! Only a fellow Seazombie who also has two flames
could fight him! The intelligence reports were wrong!!

Though the Seazombie tried to flee, he was too late.

Xu Qing had already spotted him! And now, this Seazombie with
only one life flame was his prey.

Right now, Xu Qing needed souls to open dharma apertures, and

ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators weren’t enough to
open them. In fact, even the two Seazombie cultivators he had just
killed weren’t enough to open his 41st dharma aperture.

But assimilating a Seazombie with a life flame would be totally

different. Even just one would be enough to open a dharma
aperture.

As soon as the Seazombie started fleeing, Xu Qing changed

directions. Instead of heading toward the portal in the valley, he
shot right toward the Seazombie. He was moving so quickly that it
only took three breaths of time before he was right in front of his
target.

Clenching his right hand into a fist, he unleashed a blow backed

by the terrifying power of his life lamp.

The Seazombie could only attempt to avoid the blow. He was in

the profound radiance state, but was so far below Xu Qing that he
couldn’t compare to him in terms of speed. Therefore, he failed,
and Xu Qing’s fist slammed into his chest. A boom rang out, like
heavenly thunder, crashing out in all directions.

Blood sprayed out of the Seazombie’s mouth, and his body was
ravaged as he was sent spinning off to the side, where he
slammed into a boulder. In fact, he hit the boulder so hard he
couldn’t extricate himself. He was clearly grievously wounded. It
was only due to the fact that he had released the power of the
magical device that was his robe, and simultaneously overdrawn
on his dharma apertures, that he wasn’t killed in one blow.

Even still, he was so badly injured that he clearly wouldn’t recover

anytime soon. Despair filled his eyes.

And that was because, from his perspective, Xu Qing had just
vanished.

A moment later, black flame filled the Seazombie’s field of vision. It

was Xu Qing’s hand, reaching out toward his forehead.

As rumbling sounds filled the Seazombie’s mind, Xu Qing’s

shadow went crazy, lunging forward to corrode the Seazombie’s
fleshly body. The iron skewer also stabbed into the daoist robe,
and began to absorb the magical device.

Because of those three assaults, the Seazombie let loose a

bloodcurdling scream. However, it didn’t last long, as he
transformed into nothing but ashes a moment later. The only
things left behind were his daoist robe and bag of holding, which
Xu Qing took, then hovered in midair looking down at the fighting
in the valley.

More black ‘snow’ fell, intermixed with crimson droplets of lava that
looked like phoenix feathers.

The red light from the lava shone on Xu Qing’s stern face, creating
a stark contrast to the coldness of his eyes. It was an image like
something from an ethereal scroll painting, filled with both beauty
and somberness.

The battlefield had gone still. All eyes were fixed on Xu Qing, and
they seemed as dazed as if they were gazing at the child of a god.
As the cultivators who had come here for the same mission as Xu
Qing arrived, they also saw him, and felt shaken to the core, their
hearts filling with reverence as they saluted him formally.

It was the same with the Second Peak disciples, as well as the
Fifth Peak cultivators who were trying to fix the teleportation portal.
All of them looked at him with deep respect.

Gu Muqing was in the crowd, and when she looked up at Xu Qing

hovering amidst the black snow and falling crimson sparks, she
seemed lost in a daze. It was a profoundly moving visual image
that she would never be able to forget. [2]

As for the Seazombies trying to invade the valley, they were all
trembling. And though it was hard to say which one was first, they
began to flee in terror.

Unfortunately for them, a black iron skewer was waiting for them,
as well as a shadow that, because evening was falling, was hard
to see, yet was very interested in competing with Patriarch Golden
Vajra Warrior.

Just outside the valley was the Second Peak young woman who
had finally struggled to her feet. With a strange look in her eyes,
she said, “Well met, Elder Brother! Many thanks for the kindness
of saving my life!”

After she spoke, everyone said similar things.

“Well met, Elder Brother!”

“Well met, Elder Brother!!”

The wind blew, causing the black ‘snow’ to swirl along with Xu
Qing’s long hair. Then he looked up, and his eyes glittered like
stars.

As the disciples offered greetings, screams could be heard in the

distance as Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior and the shadow
unleashed a whirlwind of death. To the shadow, any Seazombie
could be considered food, and though they didn’t taste very good,
the shadow wasn’t picky. Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior
specifically needed magical devices. However, he felt like he didn’t
quite match up to the shadow in terms of strength, so he made a
big show of the fighting. The reality was that he hoped to arouse
the shadow’s fighting spirit. The faster the shadow absorbed
enemies, the sooner the patriarch would be able to find the
magical devices. Given that, the circumstances actually ensured
that they were working well together.

That said, compared to the wily old fox that the patriarch was, the
shadow was actually a bit immature. As a result, the shadow never
realized what was going on, and continued to fight harder and
harder, even occasionally looking a bit contemptuous of the
patriarch. The patriarch, in turn, egged on the shadow by
pretending to look annoyed.

The screams of the Seazombies created a stark contrast to the

Seven Blood Eyes disciples in the valley offering respectful
greetings to Xu Qing

After looking over the group, Xu Qing turned his attention to the
Second Peak young woman, who was in a very weak state.
Nodding to her, he exited the profound radiance state.

He had a lot of dharma force, but could only support the sustained
use of his life lamp for about six hours. Therefore, he wanted to
conserve dharma force as much as possible. Of course, most two-
flame cultivators who knew about that would be shocked, as they
would only be able to remain in the profound radiance state for
about an hour, perhaps a bit more. Because of all the work Xu
Qing had done in Qi Condensation to prepare for his
breakthrough, that was how different he was from the crowd.

Xu Qing moved down into the valley.

Now that he had extinguished his life flame, it was much easier for
the other disciples to make out his features. Before, they had only
been able to catch a glimpse of his face, but now they could
clearly see his spectacularly good-looking, nearly bewitching,
features.
All the disciples who looked at them, be they male or female, felt
dazed. Of course, the female disciples seemed to remain in a
daze for longer than the male disciples. Much of that had to do
with the dazzling display they had seen moments ago.

Regardless, Xu Qing’s features, plus the power of his cultivation

base, combined with his violet robe and long, flowing hair, made
everyone feel like they were looking at an immortal.

As he walked through the valley, the Second Peak disciples all

treated him with great respect, and the female cultivators’ eyes
glistened as they secretly studied him from head to toe.

When Xu Qing spotted Gu Muqing in the crowd, he gave her a

slight nod. Because of that, many of the surrounding Second Peak
disciples glanced in her direction. She blushed a bit, and was
thinking of saying something, but Xu Qing just walked past to the
teleportation portal.

“When can we teleport out of here?” Xu Qing asked quietly.

The Fifth Peak disciples greeted him respectfully. Then one of

them, a Foundation Establishment cultivator with no life flame,
said, “Elder Brother, the formation is mostly ready. Once the sect’s
tideflow power arrives, I think we should be able to open the
portal.”

1. There are different words in Chinese that can be translated as

‘young woman.’ The word I normally translate that way (and the
word most commonly used by the author, at least in this novel)
implies a young woman in her mid to late teens. The term used
here specifically means “young (married) woman” and refers to a
woman in her mid twenties to early thirties. ☜

2. Gu Muqing was introduced by name in chapter 94. She was

mentioned briefly in both chapter 148 and 151. ☜
Chapter 163: A Freak!

Seven Blood Eyes was a sect in which profit was the most
important thing to everyone. For that reason, the weak showed
clear respect to the strong. And no one would be foolish enough to
behave improperly in front of someone stronger than them. People
who did that didn’t end up living for very long.

That was why the Fifth Peak Foundation Establishment disciple

was acting as respectfully as if Xu Qing were a sect elder. It didn’t
matter what he thought inside, he made sure to show the right
attitude on the outside. In response to the disciple’s words, Xu
Qing nodded, then found a place to sit down cross-legged and
meditate. His plan was to wait for the tideflow, and simultaneously
work on his 41st dharma aperture. The soul of a life flame
Foundation Establishment cultivator turned out to be just as useful
as he’d imagined. It only took a moment for him to open his 41st
dharma aperture, and even make some progress with his 42nd.
He felt very pleased. If he could keep up this level of progress,
then it wouldn’t be long before he could ignite his second life
flame. At that point, it would look like he had two flames, but would
actually be as strong as someone with three.

Sadly, Foundation Establishment cultivators with life flames aren’t

very common. I guess it’s going to come down to luck. The more
he thought about it, the more he realized he was probably going to
have to accept dangerous missions.

As he pondered the matter, more disciples entered the valley to

help the Second Peak disciples dismantle their pill furnaces and
magical devices. When all of the work was done, the disciples
gathered near the teleportation portal to wait for the sect’s tideflow
to arrive.

Of course, many of them were surreptitiously looking at Xu Qing

and whispering amongst themselves. He was their pillar now.
Though they were still on the battlefield, his presence made them
feel a lot safer. As time passed, the island shook and trembled.
Simultaneously, the fluctuations of teleportation continued to
spread out. Also, the mutagen got stronger. Meanwhile, the sky
grew darker, and the clouds above made the sky vague and
indistinct, as though great danger were hidden inside them.

As Xu Qing sat in meditation, the young woman from the Second

Peak approached, holding her ripped garment against her chest
as she did. She was obviously seriously injured, as her face was
pale white. However, it didn’t make her any less attractive. She
had an oval face with arching eyebrows and phoenix-like eyes that
seemed perpetually sad. Her age was probably around thirty, and
because of her constant work with medicinal pills, she was similar
to Gu Muqing in that she exuded a pleasant, medicinal aroma.
“Elder Brother, I previously hid a lot of magical eyes on this island.
More than half have been destroyed, but there are enough left to
get a good idea of what’s going on.”

Xu Qing looked at her. It was hard to say if she was doing it

intentionally, but the way she stood over Xu Qing as he sat there
made it impossible for him to not see right through the ripped part
of her garment to her half-covered bosom, which was as fair as
snow.

Xu Qing shifted his gaze to focus on her face.

Meanwhile, as she got a good look at his face, and sensed how
terrifyingly powerful he was, her heart started pounding. However,
she quickly realized she was acting inappropriately, so she bowed
her head, performed an incantation gesture, and summoned a
projected image.

The image revealed large amounts of Seazombies pouring onto

the other islands from the water. It was a shocking scene. There
were Seazombies converging on this island as well, in several
locations, including the valley they were in.

“How long until the tideflow?” Xu Qing asked.

“A hundred breaths of time.” The one to answer wasn’t the young

woman, but Gu Muqing.
She seemed anxious as her long black hair swirled around her. A
few strands of hair fell across her face, but that only made her
seem more beautiful. Her bright eyes, and the pleasant aroma she
naturally exuded, made her seem like a beauty from a painting.

Looking at the injured Second Peak cultivator, she bowed slightly.

“Well met, Sect Aunt Li.”

The woman smiled, then gave a deep, meaningful look to Gu

Muqing, who in her eyes was nothing more than a little girl.

Gu Muqing turned back to Xu Qing. “Elder Brother Xu.” When she

confirmed that Xu Qing didn’t mind if she addressed him in that
manner, she relaxed a bit inwardly. “Elder Brother Xu,” she
continued, “this jade slip contains all the instructions for the taboo
pills here. We were instructed to activate the pills before we left.
You have the highest cultivation base here, so the decision is
yours to make.” With that, she handed him a jade slip.

He took it, not bothering to think about why Gu Muqing possessed

the jade slip, and not the Foundation Establishment cultivator. As
he well knew, many of the old-timers in Second Peak trusted
conclave disciples more than anyone else, so it was no surprise to
him.

As he scanned the jade slip, shouting could be heard from outside

the valley as a group of Seazombie cultivators appeared. Hardly
paying any attention at all to the corpses on the ground, they
charged into the valley.

Everyone in the valley seemed nervous, but Xu Qing didn’t look

away from the jade slip.

However, only a moment later, agonized shrieks rang out as the

approaching Seazombies realized they had started melting. Some
only managed to take a few more steps before becoming nothing
more than pools of blue blood. The disciples in the valley were all
shaken. However, the Second Peak disciples recovered their wits
more quickly than the others. Looking at the area where the
Seazombies had been killed, they then looked at Xu Qing. They
knew that it was poison.

Only a very unique poison could kill a Seazombie so quickly, and

could only be concocted by someone with a very deep
understanding of medicinal theory. And it would also require a lot
of experimentation. The former was a lot more attainable than the
latter.

That was one reason why not very many people on the Second
Peak specialized in concocting poison. Oftentimes, the person
concocting the poison would end up poisoning themselves and
dying before they even had a chance to use their poison on
someone else.
The presence of the deadly poison made everyone feel a little less
nervous, and the area outside the valley went quiet. The poison
there, plus the presence of the iron skewer and Xu Qing’s shadow,
ensured that things were still.

Thus, a hundred breaths of time passed, and everyone stood and

approached the teleportation portal to wait for its activation. The
portal wasn’t very large, and thus, it was going to take three
rounds of teleportation to get everyone out.

Standing, Xu Qing walked over to the portal, and was about to say
something when his expression suddenly flickered, and he looked
in the direction of the valley entrance. There in the distance, from
out of the darkness of the night, emerged a burning fire
surrounding a man in a white robe. He pulsed with zombie poison,
and had a profound radiance state that obviously surpassed the
level of one life flame. As he neared, thunder rumbled.

He moved with such incredible speed that ordinary Foundation

Establishment cultivators couldn’t track his movements properly.
Not even the Second Peak woman with one life flame was able to
see him clearly. The other disciples present simply felt an
immense pressure building up in their minds.

The volcanic power within this Seazombie, combined with his

zombie poison, made it so that the flames surrounding him were
green.
Two life flames. Xu Qing’s pupils constricted.

This was the first cultivator Xu Qing had seen on the battlefield
who had two life flames. His shocking power and burning light
made everything in the area turn a shade of green. It was like a
huge green hand was approaching the valley to crush it.

When the approaching white-robed Seazombie got close enough

to see everything in the valley clearly, he seemed to pause for a
moment. But then he laughed bizarrely and sped up. Xu Qing’s
eyes narrowed as he stepped forward and ignited his life flame.

The volcanic eruption caused him to enter the profound radiance

state, which was now becoming quite familiar. Then, everything
around him slowed down except for the incoming white-robed
Seazombie. Xu Qing shot up into the air to meet him.

In the blink of an eye, they slammed into each other, causing a

boom to crash out that surpassed any kind of thunder. Then Xu
Qing clenched his right hand into a fist and let loose a punch
backed by his burning life flame. The white-robed Seazombie did
the exact same thing, and when their fists met, another huge
boom exploded out.

A tremor passed through Xu Qing, and he felt his internal organs

vibrating. This opponent was so powerful that he was now gaining
a new appreciation for two-flame opponents. Thanks to the
reserves he had built up in Qi Condensation, and his life lamp, he
should still have an advantage over someone with two life flames.
But from what he could tell, he was about on equal footing with
this white-robed Seazombie.

Waving his hand, he sent his snakeneck dragon roaring forth,

while simultaneously tapping into his balefire to summon a host of
flame daggers. As the daggers flew forth, he raised his left hand
over head to summon the heavenly saber. Boosted by the
profound radiance state, the saber was stronger and could affect a
greater area. And black flames wreathed it as it slashed toward
the white-robed Seazombie. A huge boom rang out.

The white-robed Seazombie staggered backward, as if it had been

difficult to stand up to the attack, and his life flame was flickering
dangerously.

Then, Xu Qing’s expression turned more vicious as he pressed the

attack. The Seazombie’s white robe was so voluminous it was
hard to make out his facial features. But his zombie poison was
extremely potent. What was more, his eyes were visible, and they
radiated a crazy look that caused Xu Qing to frown briefly.
However, there wasn’t time for him to consider the situation at
length. Charging forward, he slammed into the Seazombie again.

Booms rang out continuously as they clashed back and forth,

moving at incredible speed and unleashing shocking magical
techniques. In the space of only a few dozen breaths, they
attacked each other over a hundred times.
After a final barrage, the two of them backed away from each
other. Xu Qing was coughing up blood, as was the Seazombie.
However, as the Seazombie glared at Xu Qing, his eyes radiated
that crazy look, plus... a bit of defiance.

Xu Qing looked him in the eyes. Then, without a word, he tapped

into that volcanic power and shot forward like a blade.

His dagger danced, and the heavenly saber appeared. His spirit
seas unleashed crushing might, and the black iron skewer shot
through the air, its bell tinkling. Of course, Xu Qing released
poison as he attacked. As he closed in at top speed, he aimed his
dagger right at his enemy’s throat.

The white-robed Seazombie was also extraordinarily skilled. His

hands flashed in a double-handed incantation gesture, causing
frigid cold to freeze the entire area in front of Xu Qing, blocking his
path. As that barrier shot up, the Seazombie also launched an
attack.

Xu Qing was forced to back away. At this point, the Seazombie

cultivator’s eyes shone brightly as he suddenly used a secret
magic to pierce through the air and appear right in front of Xu Qing
and reach out toward his throat.

Seeing that, Xu Qing did something the Seazombie couldn’t ever

have predicted. Instead of evading, he viciously head-butted the
Seazombie’s hand.
As blood flowed out of Xu Qing’s head, the white-robed
Seazombie’s hand collapsed past the wrist, and he howled in
anguish. Then, just as he was about to flee, Xu Qing pressed the
attack and slashed his dagger into the Seazombie’s abdomen.

The attack was so quick that the white-robed Seazombie’s pupils

constricted, and he lunged in the opposite direction. Though he
succeeded, he didn’t quite move fast enough, and Xu Qing’s blade
slashed open his robe, causing some items inside to fall out.

It was an odd assortment of things, but what stood out most to

anyone who could see it was the fruit. There were tangerines,
peaches, pears, and of course a lot of apples….

Deathblade's ThoughtsChapter 150.Many thanks to MtGu for the

review!!!

Chapter 150.

Many thanks to MtGu for the review!!!

Chapter 164: Seeking Revenge over the
Smallest Grievance

Xu Qing froze for a moment and looked at all the fruit. Especially
noteworthy was that the pile included several very large apples.
Xu Qing had to wonder why this Seazombie would have so many
things like that stuffed into his robe.

The white-robed Seazombie had been in the process of retreating

at full speed. But now he also froze in place. As he did, the hood
of his robe shifted, and though it didn’t reveal his face, it did cause
some of his hair to fall out into the open. At the same time, he
looked down at the fruit.

The two of them looked back up, and their gazes locked. Xu Qing
stood there quietly. The white-robed Seazombie also stood there
quietly.

Then, the ground quaked, and the surface of the sea beyond the
shores of the island exploded into motion. Off in the distance, a
rumbling sound echoed out that could shake heaven and earth,
like the roar of a god.

A violet light appeared off in the distance, like a violet sea,

spreading out rapidly. Looking at it closely, it was possible to see
that the source of that rumbling, and the light, was the Merfolk
Isles. This had to be the Seven Blood Eyes Formation’s tideflow
power that was mentioned in the mission description.

As the sea of light expanded, the Seazombie’s ability to suppress

the teleportation portals in the Pearl Archipelago waned, allowing
for teleportations to begin. Thus, the Fifth Peak disciples behind
Xu Qing in the valley made some adjustments and activated the
teleportation portal. The first wave of disciples stepped onto the
portal and vanished. Similar things were happening on the other
islands in the archipelago. Xu Qing didn’t pay close attention to all
that, but he could sense that the second wave of teleportations
would begin soon. Right now, what interested him more was this
white-robed Seazombie.

A moment after their eyes locked onto each other, Xu Qing burst
into motion. In the profound radiance state, he was capable of
spectacular levels of speed, and the life lamp gave him immense
strength. In the blink of an eye, he was closing in on the white-
robed Seazombie. However, instead of aiming a blow at his
abdomen, this time he aimed toward his hair.

For some reason, he seemed particularly interested in this

Seazombie’s hair. The white-robed Seazombie gasped and again
unleashed the power of his life flames. A terrifying wave of energy
erupted out, allowing him to evade Xu Qing’s grasp. Then the two
of them started fighting again, and booms echoed out.
Xu Qing moved so fast that the cultivators in the valley couldn’t
even see him clearly. The Second Peak woman, who had not yet
teleported out, nervously activated her own profound radiance
state, but not even she was able to see exactly what was
happening. All she could see was a host of blurred afterimages.
The ground shook, and the terrifying crashing sounds made it
obvious how dangerous this battle was.

The white-robed Seazombie also fought with deadly precision,

although, as the battle raged, he seemed mostly interested in
protecting his hair. He was so incredible that Patriarch Golden
Vajra Warrior was incapable of doing anything to him; the patriarch
couldn’t catch up to him, and in fact, could hardly see him. It was
the same with Xu Qing’s shadow. Compared to the white-robed
Seazombie, the shadow was slow.

However, Xu Qing attacked with brutal ferocity. On a number of

occasions, he almost managed to grab some hair. At one point, he
sent his dharma force into his fist, only to dodge to the side to
avoid the Seazombie’s attack, then send his knee flying viciously
toward his opponent’s lower half.

The white-robed Seazombie’s expression flickered. However, this

Seazombie was a ferocious opponent. Blocking the knee with one
hand, he opened his mouth and spat out a huge cloud of zombie
poison.
The poison attack seemed like it would immediately start to melt
Xu Qing. And yet, Xu Qing’s facial expression was the same as
ever. With his knee strike blocked, he spun, sending his left leg
flying toward the Seazombie’s head like a whip.

A boom echoed out, and the two separated. Not hesitating for a
moment, Xu Qing performed an incantation gesture, causing black
fire to rage out into the shape of numerous hands, which then shot
toward the Seazombie.

By this point, the Seazombie was gasping for breath. Obviously

this battle was very draining to him. Howling, he threw out a hand
and performed an incantation gesture, then shoved his hand
toward Xu Qing. Instantly, the air in front of him crumbled in on
itself, the effect spreading rapidly toward Xu Qing.

Xu Qing’s expression flickered, and he dodged to the side. As he

did, the white-robed Seazombie suddenly accelerated, appearing
right in front of him and shoving his hand out to hit him in the
chest.

Xu Qing tumbled backward about 300 meters, blood oozing out of

his mouth. Then he stabilized himself and shot back toward the
fight. As he did, ten heavenly sabers appeared above him which
he slashed down in an attack.

The Seazombie’s pupils constricted. There was no time for him to

avoid the attack, and thus the attack slashed into him, sending him
flying back 300 meters, blood spraying out of his mouth. However,
he immediately shot back into the fight. The two opponents
clashed again in midair, and this time Xu Qing’s knee again flew
viciously toward his opponent’s lower half. It was almost as if Xu
Qing knew that his opponent’s lower half was his weak spot.

The white-robed Seazombie cursed, but the sound of it was lost in

the chaos of the combat. Then a crazy look appeared in his eyes
as, instead of blocking the attack, he also sent a knee flying
toward Xu Qing.

At exactly the same time, Xu Qing managed to reach out and grab
a handful of his opponent’s hairs.

One of them let loose a muffled grunt, the other shouted miserably.

The muffled grunt came from Xu Qing, and the miserable shout
came from the Seazombie. Although both exclaimed in different
ways, as they backed away from each other, both of their knees
were bent unnaturally. However, the awkward bend to the
Seazombie’s knee made it obvious his injury was far more severe.
Furthermore, sweat was dripping down his face.

Xu Qing backed up, his eyes gleaming. As the Seazombie

watched, he held up the handful of hair. Then the hair turned into
ashes. It was a very familiar scene, except this time, it was a
handful of hair instead of a single strand. [1]
As the ash drifted away, Xu Qing prepared to charge forward
again. However, that was when an urgent voice rang out behind
him.

“Elder Brother, the tideflow is about to end. This is the last chance
to teleport out!”

Hearing that, Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. At the same time, it was

possible to see that, on the horizon, a mass of black flames was
approaching, spreading out through the sky. Within those flames
was a Seazombie that appeared to be a young boy, his hands
clasped behind his back as he stared at the Pearl Archipelago. As
he moved along, the sea beneath him split, forming a valley with
two huge cliffs of water on either side. The Pearl Archipelago
trembled as terrifying might weighed down, and wild winds
whipped over them.

Xu Qing’s gaze hardened, and without any hesitation, he retreated

back into the valley. At this point, the second wave of
teleportations had ended, and the third was beginning. The Seven
Blood Eyes disciples on the portal had previously been closely
watching Xu Qing’s fight as they waited for the portal. But now
they were waiting for Xu Qing to join them. As soon as he
appeared among them, the Fifth Peak disciples immediately
activated the portal. Thanks to the continuing tideflow, light
glittered on the portal.
The white-robed Seazombie didn’t give chase. His eyes were
glued to Xu Qing, and despite the distance between them, and the
teleportation beginning, they could both see the odd expression in
each other’s eyes. Then, the teleportation light reached an apex,
and their mutual gaze ended as Xu Qing was whisked away.

***

After Xu Qing and the other disciples were gone, the white-robed
Seazombie looked up into the sky and realized that the incoming
Gold Core Seazombie had gone to a different island. Gritting his
teeth against the pain, he rubbed his knee vigorously, then
touched the spot on his head where some hair had been ripped
out.

What exactly is going on here? How could the brat have become
so strong in such a short time? OUCH!

I think he recognized me, too. He was targeting my lower half! And

it seemed like he was trying to rip out my hair out of revenge! This
sucks! He has no respect for his superior! Besides, all I did last
time was pluck out a single hair, right?

It’s not like this big mission of mine has been easy. If I want to get
a high-level zombie heart, then I have to pay a lot of merit points. I
freaking invested a lot to perfectly disguise myself as a
Seazombie.
I was just trying to scare them, grab some pill furnaces, and then
turn them in for merit points. And once I realized that brat was
here, I was just planning to give him a good thrashing as payback
for the poison in that tunnel in the Merfolk Isles.

OWWWW!

The white-robed Seazombie shook out his half-destroyed right

arm, then used some unknown method to regrow the hand.
Gasping for breath, he took a short time to recover. Cursing to
himself, he lurched over to where his fruit had fallen to the ground.
Most of the fruit had been destroyed. There was only half of one of
the large apples left. Picking it up gingerly, he took a big bite. But
then, his eyes went wide and he spat it out.

“It’s poisoned!” he shouted angrily. At this point, he realized this

situation wasn’t acceptable. As a captain, he couldn’t allow himself
to suffer such a loss of face. In fact he decided that he was going
to find an opportunity to remove one of his seals and teach a good
lesson to the brat. That was the only way to maintain dignity.
Although he was loath to remove a seal, he would have to endure
that pain to make sure he saved face. Having made that decision,
he shot off into the distance.

***

Back on Meegah Island, a teleportation portal glittered as Xu Qing

and the other disciples appeared. As Xu Qing walked off the
portal, he noticed that the atmosphere in the frontline camp was
tense. Numerous figures zipped overhead in flight.

The battle raged off in the distance, and everyone seemed busier
than before. All of the disciples who had just teleported in from the
Pearl Archipelago clasped hands and offered greetings to him.
The Second Peak woman joined them. After exchanging contact
information with him, she then hurried away.

Then Gu Muqing approached to say farewell. As she did, Xu Qing

returned the taboo pill jade slip, and told her that he had activated
them before leaving.

“Elder Brother Xu, my fellow disciples and I still have to complete

this mission. We need to go to another location to activate more
taboo pills. I heard my Master say that Seven Blood Eyes is
prepared for this war to drag out for years, and that we have to win
it. And there are going to be some big operations coming soon.
Please be careful, Elder Brother.” At this point she hesitated for a
moment, then edged a bit closer to Xu Qing, lowered her voice,
and continued, “I’m a conclave disciple, so there are times when I
have no choice but to go out on certain missions. But you don’t
have to do that, Elder Brother. By the way, if you see any missions
related to the Seazombies’ seven fortified islands, you absolutely
must not take them.”

With that, Gu Muqing gave a curtseying bow and then left.

Looking thoughtful, Xu Qing took a look at his identity medallion.
The mission he had been working on just now was complete, and
more new missions were flooding in.

Meanwhile, he thought back to his fight with that white-robed

Seazombie, who had seemed like a Seazombie in every respect,
down to his zombie poison. But it hadn’t taken Xu Qing long to
realize he seemed familiar. That was especially true of his eyes.
And of course the fruit.

Why is the Captain disguised as a Seazombie? Is there some

Seazombie loot he’s trying to get that requires it? I guess it’s also
possible he just got unlucky and got killed by a Seazombie, and
was turned.

If it were any other person, Xu Qing would assume the second

option was the most likely. But with the Captain, it actually seemed
like the first was more in line with his crazy personality.

Given how petty the Captain is, I bet he’s not happy with how our
fight ended. His cultivation base really is unfathomable. He’s
definitely going to try to get back at me. I need to open more
dharma apertures!

1. I remember a scene similar to this one in chapter 138…. ☜

Deathblade's Thoughts
As I quasi-mentioned in the previous footnote, this development
was foreshadowed in chapter 150.
Chapter 165: A Mysterious Summons

A month went by.

During that time, many dramatic things occurred in the war

between Seven Blood Eyes and the Seazombies. The
Seazombies made several full-scale assaults on the Merfolk Isles,
but failed to take them. They could do nothing but watch as Seven
Blood Eyes grew more deeply entrenched, bringing in more
magical devices and more allies. The islands were becoming an
increasing threat to the Seazombies.

However, the Seazombies had some victories of their own. Thanks

to their diversionary tactics, they successfully took control of the
Pearl Archipelago, which became their new command base. The
taboo pills that Seven Blood Eyes had buried on the islands were
all dug up by the Seazombies after a very thorough search of all
the islands in the archipelago. For the Seazombies, it was a
military victory. For Seven Blood Eyes, it was an embarrassing
slipup.

And in war, slipups could be fatal. For about half a month, Seven
Blood Eyes was put into a passive position, and thus, there were
two dangerous Seazombie offensives that almost succeeded in
taking the Merfolk Isles. On one occasion, the peaklord of the
Third Peak fell into a Seazombie ambush and nearly perished.
Only by using a technique called Grue Death Substitution did he
manage to make his escape, badly wounded. In addition to that,
the peaklord of the Sixth Peak was also ambushed and seriously
injured.

Ten Gold Core elders were wounded to the point of being on

death’s door. All of those things were a huge blow to the morale of
Seven Blood Eyes, and resulted in an immediate decline in
mission participation. This was one big flaw in Seven Blood Eyes’
methods of operation. When they had the upper hand, the
disciples were as ruthless as wolves or tigers. But when things
didn’t go well, it was easy for the disciples to lose courage. And
when that happened, it wasn’t easy to recover.

After the Seazombies’ trap successfully won them the Pearl

Archipelago, Seven Blood Eyes launched a counterattack. It was
half a month later in the middle of the night. Intense rumbling
sounds echoed out, and Xu Qing, who was just coming back to
Meegah Island from a minor mission, looked out and saw
numerous mountain peaks rising up from the sea.

Together, they formed a majestic mountain range.

As the seawater seethed, the mountain range continued to rise,

until it seemed like a spine. Using his snakeneck dragon, Xu Qing
looked under the water and realized it was actually a huge beast.
In fact, that beast was familiar. It was a sealizard! And those
mountains were the sealizard’s back!
It was so massive that it made the islands of the Pearl Archipelago
seem like insignificant ants. The sealizard simply rolled over, and
the Pearl Archipelago was completely smashed into oblivion.
Afterward, the sealizard, who had only revealed part of its back
above the surface of the water, left.

That sealizard attack was a huge shock to the Seazombies. An

entity like that was multiple levels above them, and obviously was
not something Seven Blood Eyes could casually call on for help.
Yet it had come, and it had obviously been targeting the Pearl
Archipelago.

Even Xu Qing was shaken by what happened. It gave a big morale

boost to Seven Blood Eyes. What was more, there was an official
announcement regarding the matter. The announcement made it
clear that the sealizard had come at the behest of the peaklord of
the Fourth Peak. Many years ago, that peaklord had been friends
with the giant lizard, so it had come to destroy the Pearl
Archipelago as a favor.

According to the official announcement, the entire thing had been

arranged in advance. In other words, the entire situation with the
Pearl Archipelago had been a double trap. Seven Blood Eyes had
encouraged the Seazombies to attack it, and had buried taboo
pills there to lure them in. The Seazombies had fallen right into the
trap.
The end result was an instant boost in morale for Seven Blood
Eyes.

Of course, Seven Blood Eyes disciples weren’t stupid, and the

Seazombies were inherently schemers. It didn’t take much
analysis for anyone to come to the conclusion that the Seven
Blood Eyes leadership’s story was probably only partly true.

Besides, if Fourth Peaklord could get a giant sealizard to destroy

an entire archipelago, then why not send it to attack the
Seazombies’ fortified islands or their main island?

So the matter led to a lot of questions, and many people assumed

it had something to do with the Seven Blood Eyes patriarch. As for
what was really going on, no one but the Seven Blood Eyes
leadership knew. Regardless, the Pearl Archipelago was gone,
and the Seazombies there had been routed.

Seven Blood Eyes took advantage of the situation to launch

assaults on the Seazombie positions surrounding the Merfolk
Isles. This also was the call for a general offensive. The
Seazombie’s main army was constantly battered backward and
forced into defensive fighting. Seven Blood Eyes pressed the
assault, forcing the battle lines further and further away from the
Merfolk Isles, and closer to Seazombie territory.

Now, the only thing between the Seven Blood Eyes forces and the
Seazombie’s main island were their seven fortified islands. That
was their last line of defense. The close proximity of the enemy put
a lot of pressure on the Seazombies. However, due to their fierce
counterattacks, the fighting eventually reached a stalemate.

There were casualties on both sides, though the Seazombies had

it worse.

That said, Seven Blood Eyes also suffered horrendous casualties.

As a result, there was already a wave of applications from
disciples wanting to leave the fighting. Although the sect didn’t
refuse such applications, they did combat the trend by offering
greater rewards for missions, including the first batch of destined
opportunities for core formation. They also added in two trump
cards. The first were fifty magical treasure projections. Every
disciple who reached the top fifty would be able to call upon a
projection of the sect’s magical treasure.

Magical treasures were legendary items, each one of which would

have heaven-shaking, earth-shattering power. In fact, they were so
unimaginable that Seven Blood Eyes only had one such item.

But even the projection of that item would be incredibly shocking.

The news caused a big stir among the disciples participating in the
war. However, the second trump card was even more astonishing.
And that was... the patriarch would accept ten Foundation
Establishment disciples as inner sect apprentices and three Gold
Core cultivators as successor apprentices! The apprentices would
be selected based on the missions they had completed and how
many Seazombies they killed.

This news caused such a commotion among Seven Blood Eyes

disciples that many who had applied to leave the war changed
their minds and stayed.

After all, for years, the patriarch had not accepted any apprentices.
And considering he had just experienced a breakthrough, it was
obvious that whoever he selected as apprentices would benefit
spectacularly.

Getting into that position would make one like the carp leaping
over the dragon’s gate. An inner sect apprentice would be superior
to elders, and would stand on a similar footing as the peaklords.
And a successor apprentice was an even loftier position.

The news wasn’t enticing to just Foundation Establishment

cultivators. Even the Gold Core cultivators were moved. Not even
they were sure when the sect would ever offer rewards like this
again.

From all of this, it was possible to see how determined Seven

Blood Eyes was to defeat the Seazombies.

Xu Qing was moved, but he quickly suppressed thoughts of

pursuing such lofty goals. Although the rewards were amazing, he
knew that there were a lot of strong people in the sect. He was a
far cry from being the strongest in Foundation Establishment, as
each mountain peak had disciples with three life flames.

With people like that around, it would be hard to secure an

apprenticeship without putting his life on the line. That said, he
was confident he could make it into the top fifty, and thus get that
magical treasure access.

The overall ranking for the war effort was different from the kill
count. The overall ranking took into consideration both missions
and kill count, and was also weighted based on the type of mission
and its requirements. Because of how Xu Qing had gone a bit wild
earlier trying to inflate his kill count, his name wasn’t far from being
in the top fifty.

“Seventy-third,” he murmured as he accepted another mission.

Another half a month went by, during which time Xu Qing’s name
climbed up to fifty-ninth. At the same time, as he slaughtered more
Seazombies, his dharma apertures continued to open. He was
now at forty-four. As he progressed, he needed more and more
souls.

One day, as he had just accepted a reinforcement mission, a

personal summons appeared in his identity medallion.

It was obviously a message from someone important, as it

immediately dismissed all other missions, even the one he had
just accepted. In fact, he instantly received the reward for that
mission, despite not having done a single thing.

“Seventh Peak Foundation Establishment disciple Xu Qing, come

to Joine Island and report to the command tent there. The vice-
peaklord of the Seventh Peak wishes to see you!”

Xu Qing was stunned. After mulling the matter over, he had some
ideas about what it was about, but couldn’t be sure. After all, he
had never even heard of there being a vice-peaklord. However,
there was no doubt that the summons was authentic. And as he
thought about it, the message repeated itself several times with
the same information. Obviously, there was no way he was going
to get out of this. Finally, he headed toward Joine Island.

Although he did not enter the profound radiance state, he still

moved quickly. Before long, he saw the island ahead of him, and
the huge eye in the middle of it all. This was where Seven Blood
Eyes’ main command base was.

Normally speaking, disciples couldn’t even get close to this place

without being summoned. As Xu Qing neared, he felt a terrifying
divine will lock onto him. Also, the massive eye shifted to look at
him.

Xu Qing stopped in place and presented his identity medallion.

“Disciple Xu Qing here at the summons of the Seventh Peak’s
vice-peaklord. I seek an audience.”
His identity medallion glittered, and the huge eye blinked three
times. Then a teleportation power swirled around him, and before
he could react, he vanished.

Inside of the huge eye was a magnificent grand hall, which was
where Xu Qing had been teleported to. As he materialized, he
heard the voice of a woman speaking.

“So, you’re Xu Qing?”

Deathblade's ThoughtsProfound thanks to NeverGonnaBeTheGuy

for the review!!!

Profound thanks to NeverGonnaBeTheGuy for the review!!!

Chapter 166: The Seventh Peak is Her
Home....

The voice was lyrical and unearthly. But at the same time, it was
cold, and when it entered Xu Qing’s ears, it became an iciness
that pierced through all of his body, leaving him shivering. He
exhaled, and his breath became white vapor in front of him. His
eyebrows and hair were starting to freeze, and he felt himself
going stiff from head to toe. It reminded him of times in the past
when he had encountered deadly grues. Even the air around him
seemed to crack as if it were turning to ice, and that wasn’t even to
mention his 44 dharma apertures. Xu Qing felt like they were
dead. His dharma force seemed incredibly sluggish, and his spirit
seas were the same. As for his life flame, in this state, he couldn’t
even ignite it!

He felt absolutely shaken to the core. The sense of security he’d

acquired after getting his life flame was completely gone. And now
he realized what it was like to be in the presence of someone truly
powerful. They could prevent him from entering the profound
radiance state!

That said, he wasn’t completely powerless to fight back. As the

coldness spread through him, he could still sense warmth in his
life lamp. It didn’t seem affected at all by the invasion of frigid cold.
In fact, Xu Qing suspected that he actually could use it to light his
life flame. That realization made his guard go up even further. He
knew that he absolutely, positively couldn’t allow anyone to know
about his life lamp. After confirming that his shadow was still
covering the lamp, he took a deep breath and, with great effort,
turned around.

As he did, he saw that there were two women standing behind

him. One was middle-aged, the other was younger.

The middle-aged woman was dressed in a crimson, double-

breasted official’s garment. It was embroidered in gold thread with
the images of butterflies and flowers, and was as extravagant as
the rising sun. However, that did nothing to dispel the iciness that
she exuded from head to toe, or the seemingly endless depths of
her phoenix-like eyes. It was as if everything she looked at would
be turned into ice. And anyone who looked into her eyes for long
enough would be shaken to their soul. Right now, this woman was
looking right at Xu Qing.

Her clothing was not that of any specific mountain peak. And Xu
Qing had never seen her in Seven Blood Eyes. However, he had
seen the young woman who was standing next to her.

She wore a voluminous daoist robe of pale violet, which almost

resembled a formal gown. She had an ancient sword strapped to
her back, and her hair was tied into a ponytail. She seemed valiant
and formidable, but at the same time, whatever skin her garment
didn’t cover was fair and slightly rosy. She seemed heroic, but at
the same time, warm and tender. In fact, she was smiling at him,
and her eyes were like glittering crescent moons. This girl was
none other than Ding Xue. [1]

She blinked a few times as she looked at him, an enigmatic smile

playing out on her face. “Elder Brother Xu, this is my aunt. She’s
the vice-peaklord of the Seventh Peak, providing assistance to my
uncle, the peaklord.” [2]

Within Ding Xue’s softly spoken words were something of a

warning.

Despite the fact that the vice-peaklord’s mere gaze made Xu Qing
feel like he was about to be frozen, he clasped his hands
respectfully and said, “I’m Disciple Xu Qing. Well met, Vice-
Peaklord.”

She seemed surprised to see him react in this way. Looking him
up and down, she said, “Relax.”

She could see how brightly her niece’s eyes were shining. Having
been around the block herself, she knew what that gaze meant.
Sighing inwardly, she reduced the intensity of the coldness in her
gaze. Her voice also seemed softer as she said, “I summoned you
here today to give you a mission. I want you to be Ding Xue’s dao
protector for a time.”

“Aunt,” Ding Xue blurted, reaching out to grab the older woman’s
arm, “we’re just friends helping each other out!”
Xu Qing’s expression was the same as ever, and he remained
standing in place just like before. But inside, he was shocked. For
one thing, he could never have guessed that Ding Xue would have
such an impressive background. Beyond that, from what he could
tell, this vice-peaklord’s cultivation base gave him the same feeling
as when he’d encountered the peaklords out at sea.

More than ever, he realized how terrifying people on the level of

the peaklords were.

In response to Ding Xue’s outburst, the middle-aged woman’s cold

gaze turned a bit warmer. Patting Ding Xue’s head, she said, “Xu
Qing, I know you and Ding Xue are friends. So I’m not asking this
of you as the vice-peaklord. Instead, I’m asking it as a member of
the older generation. The front lines aren’t safe, but Ding Xue has
to be here. And I have other matters to attend to that I can’t ignore.
I’m worried about Ding Xue’s safety, so I want you to take care of
her for a month. What do you think? Once the mission is over, I’ll
give you the right to leave the war at any time you want. Plus, I’ll
also give you three entropic teleportation talismans.”

When Xu Qing heard ‘entropic teleportation talismans,’ his heart

started beating faster. Entropic teleportation talismans were a type
of jade talisman that were actually more expensive than magical
devices. A single one would usually sell for more than 700,000-
800,000 spirit stones.
They were also very rare, and when they appeared, people would
often fight over them. Back when Xu Qing went to the Brightness
Pavilion in the Sixth Peak’s Rocbright District, he had seen one,
except it wasn’t for sale. Items like that could count as an extra
life, as all you had to do was crush it, and it would randomly
teleport you to another location. It could be nearby, or it could be
5,000 kilometers away.

This alone made it obvious that Ding Xue had specifically asked
for Xu Qing to be her dao protector. After all, there were countless
top experts who would fight fiercely for the chance to get three
entropic teleportation talismans.

Xu Qing looked at Ding Xue.

When she noticed, she blushed slightly, and gave him a sweet
smile.

Seeing that, Ding Xue’s aunt shook her head. Handing a bag of
holding to Ding Xue, she coolly said, “You two make the final
decision.”

With that, she turned and left.

Seeing that, Ding Xue hurried up to Xu Qing and said, “Elder

Brother Xu Qing, my aunt usually stays in the Westcoral
Archipelago as opposed to Seven Blood Eyes. Remember back
when you escorted me across the sea? I told you I was going to
visit her. [3]
“Zhao Zhongheng insisted on coming with me, and my aunt’s so
nice that she gave him a medicinal pill. If you had come with me, I
bet she would have given it to you instead. Zhao Zhongheng used
that pill to make his Forbidden Sea dragonwhale. What a
cheapskate.”

Xu Qing thought for a moment, then looked at Ding Xue and

asked, “Who is Seventh Peaklord to you?”

“He’s my uncle,” she said with a smile.

Xu Qing didn’t say anything in response.

“My aunt and uncle are daoist partners, but they have differing
views on some things, and because of that, my aunt moved out of
Seven Blood Eyes. That’s why she lives in the Westcoral
Archipelago now. However, because of the war, she came back.

“Elder Brother Xu Qing, can you please agree to watch over me?
I’m here to fill out my résumé. You see, conclave disciples get
assessed every so often. And my uncle wants to send me to the
Seven Sect Coalition. If I want my application to be accepted, I
have to have some real-life experience. By the way, going forward,
I really want to focus on plants and vegetation. And that’s why I’m
hoping you can help.”

Ding Xue was very direct in explaining the entire situation. At the
same time, she put the bag of holding into his hands. Clearly, she
was going to give him the entropic teleportation talismans whether
he agreed or not. He looked at the bag of holding, and then at
Ding Xue.

He had always liked the way she seemed so enthusiastic about

learning new things. And whether it was the Foundation
Establishment jade slips she’d given him, or these three entropic
teleportation talismans, he knew he had no logical reason to
refuse to help her. If he did, he would feel bad. So he nodded.
Within the bag of holding were glowing jade slips that pulsed with
dharma force.

“Awesome! Thank you, Elder Brother Xu Qing!” Ding Xue looked

extremely excited, and even reached out to grab Xu Qing’s arm,
though he pulled it away from her reach. She didn’t seem bothered
by that. Smiling, she led him to a nearby teleportation portal to
leave the central command base.

After that, Ding Xue would spend the evenings with her aunt, and
the rest of her time with Xu Qing gaining experience on the front
lines. Ding Xue was smart. Though she had fought to get this
chance to work with Xu Qing, she didn’t allow her personal
feelings to show. And she repeatedly got him to agree to go on
special missions.

Xu Qing knew that as a conclave disciple, Ding Xue had access to

different missions. Conclave disciples got better rewards.
Furthermore, their missions were usually less dangerous. Most of
them could be finished without going out onto the battlefield. That
said, conclave disciples were tied much more deeply to the sect. If
ordinary disciples got into some irresolvable conflict with the sect,
they could simply leave, and no one would care. But if something
like that happened with a conclave disciple, they would be hunted
down and killed. In other words, being a conclave disciple came
with ups and downs.

Xu Qing wasn’t envious of them. And he was actually very pleased

with the current arrangement. On a daily basis, he would take Ding
Xue out to accomplish all sorts of random missions. They were
things like transporting goods from one island to another, taking
care of funerary arrangements after battles, or tracking casualties.
None of them were very difficult, and none involved life-
threatening danger. When they had free time, she would ask him
about plants and vegetation, and would always show her respect
for knowledge by offering spirit stones.

To Xu Qing, her payments of one or two hundred spirit stones

didn’t seem as amazing as before, but as the saying went, piling
up many grains of sand will make a pagoda. About a week later,
the missions available to Ding Xue started getting more difficult.
For example, she was tasked with finding Merfolk traitors or
Seazombie infiltrators.

That said, though they were more difficult, they came straight from
central command to her, so they weren’t extremely dangerous.
The sect was quick to provide her with such missions, which made
sense considering she was trying to fill out her résumé.
Ding Xue was obviously taking the matter very seriously. Even
when the missions became dangerous, she didn’t hold back from
fear of getting hurt. In fact, the more dangerous a mission was, the
more eager she was to finish it. Of course, with Xu Qing watching
over her, she always ended up more scared than hurt, and any
dangerous situations were resolved.

However, that made Ding Xue a bit nervous. This wasn’t exactly
how she had planned things out. That was especially true after
she realized the month time-limit for the mission was approaching.
One morning at dawn, she suddenly appeared in front of Xu Qing
coughing up blood. Face pale, she staggered in place as if she
might fall over at any moment.

Xu Qing stared at her in shock, not quite sure what to do.

Examining her more closely, he saw that her cultivation base was
in chaos. Her energy was clotting, blocking her meridians. And if it
wasn’t fixed quickly, she could suffer serious injuries. Face pale,
she said, “Elder Brother Xu, it’s my fault. I was in too much of a
rush. I know I’m weak. I really just want to reach the great circle as
quickly as possible. Last night I experienced a mishap and ended
up injuring myself. My aunt is out on the battlefield, so she can’t
help.”

“Why don’t you just rest for a few days,” Xu Qing said. “You can
finish more missions after you’re better.”
“No!” she blurted. Are you really telling me to go rest, you dolt! If I
did that, then I would have hurt myself for nothing!

1. Although Ding Xue has been mentioned a few times in recent

chapters, the last time she appeared “on-screen” was in the
chrysanthemum mollusk scene starting in chapter 107. She was
introduced in chapter 82. ☜

2. Just to reiterate, the specific title used here in Chinese is

“mother’s younger sister (aunt).” So Ding Xue is related by blood
to her aunt, while the peaklord is her uncle by marriage.What’s
also of note is that when Ding Xue and Xu Qing met in chapter 82,
she told him to address her as Elder Sister. In chapter 107, she
still addressed him as Junior Brother. Now she’s addressing him
differently. ☜

3. Ding Xue initially mentioned her aunt in chapter 84. Fun fact:
she also mentioned her aunt in chapter 108. ☜
Chapter 167: The Obvious Social Situation

“Joining the Seven Sect Coalition is my dream!” Ding Xue said,

her eyes full of determination. “I have everything I need except a
complete résumé! I can’t give up just because I made a little
mistake! I accepted sixteen missions today, Elder Brother Xu. I
only have average aptitude, so the only way to get ahead is to
work hard. I might be hurt, but I’m not going to give up. Otherwise,
what’s the point of all the work I’ve put in so far? I can’t let my aunt
down. Elder Brother Xu, can you please help me finish my
missions? Please??”

Toward the end, Ding Xue’s voice trembled, until finally she gave a
curtsying bow. However, she seemed so weak that she could
barely stand, so Xu Qing stepped forward with his hand held out to
support her. She collapsed into his arms, her eyelashes fluttering,
panting slightly as a flush crept up her neck to her face.

Xu Qing didn’t say anything. He could tell something strange was

going on, but also couldn’t think of a way to refuse her request.
After all, Ding Xue really was hurt, and it looked serious. And so,
he spent the day helping her complete all sixteen of her missions.

As for Ding Xue, though she was weak, she was feeling incredibly
excited about how things were going. This was the result she had
hoped for. The whole reason she had begged her aunt to assign
Xu Qing as her dao protector was that she wanted to have time
alone with him to forge deeper bonds. She also knew that winning
him over was going to take time. The best strategy was to take her
time and slowly get closer to him. That was why she had
intentionally injured herself. Of course, she couldn’t do this kind of
thing all the time. Nor could she allow herself to seem desperate.

Therefore, the next day when she was feeling better, everything
went back to normal. Over the following days, Ding Xue kept
careful track of how much time was left for the mission. With great
enthusiasm, she dragged Xu Qing from island to island doing all
sorts of tasks.

About a week later, Ding Xue decided that it was time to move on
to the second phase of her plan. She was confident that during
this phase, she would be able to get to know Xu Qing much better.
After all, she had been preparing all this for months.

Unfortunately, something happened that dampened her

excitement. And that was an unexpected guest.

Zhao Zhongheng.

For some unknown reason, after Xu Qing reached Foundation

Establishment, Zhao Zhongheng suddenly started making rapid
progress in his cultivation. Right now, he was in the great circle of
Qi Condensation, putting him very close to the point of attempting
a Foundation Establishment breakthrough. Realistically speaking,
he should have been preparing to go into seclusion to prepare for
that breakthrough.

Except after he heard about what was going on with Xu Qing and
Ding Xue, he decided he would participate in the war after all.

After arriving in the Merfolk Isles, he ignored all sense of propriety

and face, and went to find Ding Xue. And once he found her, he
refused to leave her side.

When she got irritated at his presence, he quickly pulled out a

mission jade slip. Using some unknown method, he had procured
the same mission as her. And thus, she had no choice but to
accept his presence.

Xu Qing didn’t care. After all, it didn’t have anything to do with him.
What was more, after calculating the time that had passed, he
realized that they were getting very close to the end of the month-
long mission.

While Xu Qing stood off to the side, Ding Xue glared in irritation at
Zhao Zhongheng

“If you want to come with us, Zhao Zhongheng, you have to agree
to two things,” she said. “First. You’re not allowed to speak, from
the beginning of the mission to the end! Second. You have to stay
at least nine meters away from me. If you don’t agree to those
things, you can leave! If you do agree, you can stay!”
Zhao Zhongheng took a deep breath. Before coming, he’d
assumed she would react like this. Looking at her beautiful face
and curvaceous form, then at Xu Qing, who didn’t seem to be
paying attention to what they were talking about, his eyes flickered
with unprecedented determination.

I don’t care how high his cultivation base is. He can’t measure up
to my unswerving sincerity. Pursuing a woman isn’t a fight, so a
high cultivation level doesn’t mean crap. My grandpa’s cultivation
base is even higher, and my grandmother kicked him to the curb!
And Master Seventh lives alone on the Seventh Peak. That just
proves that having a high cultivation base is useless!

My sincerity is the key to ultimate happiness. It’s unstoppable! It’s

a reflection of heaven, and is a lesson for both gods and men
alike! The eyes of the broken face above could never destroy it!

If pursuing women was only a matter of cultivation base, then the

patriarch would have concubines galore! All the women in the sect
would be his!

The more Zhao Zhongheng thought about it in this way, the more it
made sense. Determination filled his eyes as he looked at the girl
he had been in love with his entire life.

“Fine!” he said.

Ding Xue wasn’t happy at all to have Zhao Zhongheng tagging

along.
But it didn’t make any difference to Xu Qing, even when he caught
Zhao Zhongheng surreptitiously staring in the general direction of
his forehead. That made Xu Qing curious, but he wasn’t worried
too much about it. That was especially true considering that Zhao
Zhongheng went out of his way to avoid doing anything to offend
Xu Qing. Sometimes Xu Qing even forgot he was around.

A few days later when the three of them finished a random mission
and were gathering after a night of rest, Xu Qing looked at Zhao
Zhongheng with a very unusual expression.

And when Ding Xue saw Zhao Zhongheng, her jaw nearly
dropped. She looked at Zhao Zhongheng’s eyebrows, then looked
at Xu Qing, and her expression turned even odder.

Only Zhao Zhongheng’s expression remained the same as ever.

Feeling very pleased with himself, he lifted his chin to give Xu
Qing and Ding Xue a good view of his eyebrows.

Anyone present to observe what was happening would realize that

Zhao Zhongheng’s eyebrows now looked exactly like Xu Qing’s.
Whether it was how high they were on his face, how long they
were, or their angle. Everything was the same.

Seeing that, Xu Qing now realized why Zhao Zhongheng had been
glancing at his forehead over the past few days. He’d been looking
at his eyebrows.
This guy has a screw loose, Xu Qing thought. Then he recalled
what Elder Zhao had said about his grandson, and had to admit
the old man was right. [1]

Ding Xue sighed. As far as she was concerned, Zhao Zhongheng

was acting like he was possessed. Different eyebrows looked
different on the faces of different people, and of course, Xu Qing’s
eyebrows looked much better on Xu Qing’s face. She actually
thought that Zhao Zhongheng’s original eyebrows looked good,
while the new ones just looked freakish. In fact, they looked like
two peacock feathers stuck onto a wild chicken.

But Zhao Zhongheng clearly didn’t think that. He looked quite

pleased, and felt that he now stood out much more when Ding Xue
looked his way. Next, he started eyeing Xu Qing’s nose....

Xu Qing didn’t say anything.

Over the next few days, the three of them got along well. However,
Zhao Zhongheng’s appearance continued to change slowly.
However, it was very obvious what was happening, leaving Xu
Qing speechless.

There was another change to Zhao Zhongheng that was even

more surprising to Xu Qing. And that was... whenever Zhao
Zhongheng gave gifts to Ding Xue, he gave her two of the same
thing.

Ding Xue was also surprised by this.

When Zhao Zhongheng saw how Xu Qing and Ding Xue reacted
to this new behavior, he was very happy. His most recent session
of secluded cultivation had been very productive, as it resulted in
this idea. When in love with someone, it was good to remember
the common phrase, love for a person extends even to the crow
on their roof.

He had devoted his life to pursuing Ding Xue, and therefore, he

had to be patient. And that included being patient with whatever
other passing travelers she encountered. Therefore, why would he
possibly give her gifts in a way that didn’t conform to the obvious
social situation? If he was going to give gifts, he would give two!
That way, she could give a gift to the passing traveler, but also
have one for herself. And it would also highlight how different Zhao
Zhongheng was. Zhao Zhongheng was really proud of how he’d
thought all this through. [2]

Zhao Zhongheng’s mood only seemed to improve. On one

particular day after they opened a hidden tunnel filled with
mutagen, and were waiting for the mutagen to dissipate, Zhao
Zhongheng pulled two medicinal pill boxes out of his robe and
handed them to Ding Xue.

When Ding Xue opened them, she looked surprised.

“Mutagen-Stripping Pills?” she said. “These are secret legacy pills

from the Second Peak. They’re not even allowed to sell them.
Normally speaking, it’s hard to lay eyes on one!”
Zhao Zhongheng smiled and nodded.

With an odd expression on her face, Ding Xue held the two boxes
and looked at Xu Qing.

“Elder Brother Xu Qing,” she said, “thank you for helping me on

my missions over the past few days. And also, thank you for all the
information about plants and vegetation. I have the feeling a pill
like this won’t be of much use to you. But it’s rare. Maybe studying
it will give you some new insights.” Smiling sweetly, she offered
the medicinal pill to Xu Qing. “Also, Elder Brother, you took good
care of Zhao Zhongheng over the past few days. Consider this a
reward for that.”

Xu Qing thought about it and realized her reasoning made sense.

He took the pill. Zhao Zhongheng struggled to keep his breathing
steady, forced a smile onto his face, and gave Xu Qing a nod of
agreement.

Xu Qing looked at the pill and was about to put it away, when
suddenly his expression flickered and he looked at the hidden
tunnel. Walking over to the tunnel mouth, he said, “You two get
back.”

In response, Ding Xue immediately flew backward, as did Zhao

Zhongheng. Meanwhile, Xu Qing stared at the tunnel mouth, his
eyes narrowed. The tunnel entrance was located beneath a
collapsed building. Obviously, the area had been recently
excavated and set up as some sort of safehouse. There were
magical symbols everywhere, though none were still working.
Most likely, they had been set up to keep the tunnel hidden.

The tunnel wasn’t large; it was made to accommodate a single

person crawling through it. Now that the tunnel entrance had been
cleared, the cold air inside mixed with the hot, humid air outside
and created a fine mist. That mist contained strong mutagen
levels, plus a bit of zombie poison.

Xu Qing’s guard was up. This was a mission Ding Xue had picked
to search for Seazombies hiding throughout the Merfolk Isles. So
far they had searched a few locations but hadn’t found any
Seazombies. Now they were in a town on Nethervault Island,
where Ding Xue was using a special magical device to sense
unusual mutagen fluctuations. That was what had led them here.

Xu Qing had no qualms about their search method. Based on his

experience killing Seazombies, he knew that even if there were
some of them hiding in the Merfolk Isles, a Qi Condensation
cultivator like Ding Xue wouldn’t be able to find them. Not even her
special magical device would help much. Unless a Seazombie
intentionally revealed themselves, it would be an easy matter for
them to hide their aura indefinitely.

From what Xu Qing could tell, the sect had prepared missions like
this for Qi Condensation cultivators so that they could understand
how war worked. In reality, there was almost no danger involved.
Moments ago, after Ding Xue opened the tunnel, the strong
mutagen coming out of it had alerted Xu Qing to the fact that
something strange was going on.

Don’t tell me Ding Xue really found a Seazombie.

Eyes flashing, Xu Qing tossed some poison powder into the

tunnel, and also neutralized the zombie poison. However, that was
when he realized that the zombie poison had long since broken
down and become ineffective. As he stood there taking stock of
the situation, a weak voice echoed out from inside the tunnel.

“Daddy, come home....”

It sounded like the plea of a young boy, filled with longing. In fact,
as it reached Xu Qing’s ears, it seemed so realistic he wondered if
there might actually be a boy in the tunnel.

As Xu Qing’s pupils constricted, Ding Xue and Zhao Zhongheng

also heard the voice, and their expressions flickered.

“Is it a grue?” Zhao Zhongheng asked, breathing heavily.

1. Elder Zhao made a comment about Zhao Zhongheng in chapter

136. He previously had the same message relayed in chapter 110.
☜

2. The line about passing travelers is a callback to his internal

monologue in chapter 108. ☜
Chapter 168: Anxious Patriarch

Ding Xue immediately took out her identity medallion and looked
at Xu Qing. At his signal, she would send a voice message
requesting help. But Xu Qing didn’t say anything. Instead, he
listened. A short while later, the voice again spoke out in the
tunnel, saying exactly the same thing.

“Daddy, come home....”

The voice seemed full of longing and deep emotion. As it echoed

out of the tunnel, it seemed to be calling out to anyone nearby who
could hear it. It was so clear and distinct it was possible to
visualize the boy uttering the words.

After further consideration, Xu Qing determined that there were no

dangerous fluctuations in the tunnel. Also, he didn’t sense the
frigid cold of grues. However, just to be safe, he ignited his life
flame and entered the profound radiance state. Despite the fact
that the month time-limit for the mission was almost up, this was
his first time entering the profound radiance state in the presence
of Ding Xue. So far, none of the dangers they had faced required
it.

As his energy erupted, Ding Xue and Zhao Zhongheng gasped

and instinctively backed away, shielding their eyes from the painful
light.
Ding Xue had it a bit better off. Though she had to close her eyes,
she felt more excited than astonished. As for Zhao Zhongheng, his
expression flickered; he had been mentally prepared for this
moment, but now that it was here, felt like he was going to
collapse from disappointment.

Who says standing in the light makes you a hero? I have true
sincerity on my side. I’m different from everyone else!

Xu Qing had no idea what Ding Xue and Zhao Zhongheng were
thinking, nor did he care. Now that his profound radiance state
was active, he didn’t hesitate to go right into the tunnel. He moved
at top speed, shooting down the tunnel, causing explosive popping
sounds to ring out as he did. At the same time, he confirmed that
the mutagen and zombie poison in the place really was fading
away. It was almost like it was dead. As he pondered that, he burst
out the other end of the tunnel like a lightning bolt.

He found himself in a simple room that was obviously constructed

as a hiding place.

There was a Seazombie huddled in the corner who looked like an

old human man. He was dead. He had a number of ghastly
wounds on him, and his dantian region was a mass of shredded
flesh. That was obviously the fatal blow that had killed him, as it
seemed to pierce all the way through his body. This corpse was
obviously the source of the mutagen and the zombie poison.
Although the Seazombie was dead, he still emitted some faint
fluctuations.

After looking him over, Xu Qing determined that, at the very least,
he had possessed one life flame. The Seazombie had obviously
sustained mortal wounds in the fighting, but had still climbed down
into this hiding spot. Unfortunately for him, he never had a chance
to escape, nor did he have any way to recover from his wounds. It
seemed doubtful that he’d been dead for very long, which was why
there was still mutagen in the tunnel when they opened it.

Xu Qing left the profound radiance state.

This Seazombie’s facial expression was different from other

Seazombies Xu Qing had encountered. Though his skin was
rotting, it couldn’t hide the bewilderment he had experienced
before dying.

What was more, his hands were tightly clasped around a small
bronze bottle. It was as if, in the moments before dying, that bottle
had been the most important thing to him. It was an old, battered
bottle, opened, and the voice Xu Qing had heard was coming out
of it.

“Daddy, come home....”

The voice spoke softly, yet was full of longing and emotion.
As this old Seazombie lay dying, he had opened this bottle and
listened to those words repeating over and over again. Apparently,
it was the voice of a relative....

Xu Qing looked at the bottle, then studied his surroundings further

to make sure there was nothing dangerous around. Around then,
he heard footsteps behind him.

Zhao Zhongheng and Ding Xue had come through the tunnel after
coming to the conclusion there was nothing dangerous inside.
Ding Xue had been most anxious, and had hurried through the
tunnel first. Zhao Zhongheng had had no choice but to follow.

Upon seeing Xu Qing standing there, Ding Xue breathed a sigh of

relief. Then she looked around and noticed the bottle.

“That’s a recording bottle,” she said in surprise. There were many

things that ordinary cultivators wouldn’t recognize that she knew a
lot about. Seeing Xu Qing glance at her, she quickly continued,
“Recording bottles are ancient items that you don’t see very often.
To some people, they’re literally priceless, while other people think
they’re useless. They only have one function. They can capture
sound. Afterward, you can open the bottle and hear whatever
sound you captured.

“The sound quality is perfect, just like the original. That’s the
amazing thing about them. However, the recording doesn’t last
long once you start listening to it. After a while, it fades away, and
then you need to capture a new sound.”

Looking at the bottle clasped tightly in the Seazombie’s hand,

something suddenly seemed to click in her mind. “Seazombies
can come from different species. The special method used to
resurrect and zombify them removes most of their memories,
leaving them with only scraps of their old life. However, those
memory scraps don’t do them any good. After being resurrected
and zombified, they become brutal and ruthless. Their connection
to their previous life is severed, and in most cases, they have no
physical object to connect them to the past.

“But if this bottle belonged to him, then maybe this Seazombie was
different. If the bottle tied him to the past, then he must have been
reluctant to part with it. Perhaps it was his obsession. As for the
voice in the bottle, maybe it was his son. Although, I guess it
doesn’t matter what his life was like before. In the end, he ended
up as a Seazombie.”

Ding Xue didn’t speak with a lot of conviction, as she couldn’t be

sure if any of her conjectures were true. After she finished
speaking, she looked at Xu Qing.

“It doesn’t matter now,” he said, shaking his head. He waved his
hand, and the bottle flew to him. The voice from the bottle was
very weak now, and a moment later, it spoke one last time and
then went silent.
Ding Xue exchanged a glance with Zhao Zhongheng. Any other
person who she looked at that way wouldn’t understand the
meaning behind the look. But Zhao Zhongheng understood. He
immediately walked over to the Seazombie, searched him, and
found a bag of holding.

Then the three of them left through the tunnel.

As for the bottle, Xu Qing closed it and stashed it with his

belongings.

Ding Xue notified the sect of the hiding spot they’d found, which
meant she could mark the mission as completed. As for the bag of
holding, it didn’t contain much. There were a few random items,
but no magical devices or jade talismans.

There were a few hundred spirit stones, three or four spirit notes,
and nothing else. Perhaps this Seazombie had been poor, or
perhaps he kept his riches stored somewhere else.

Xu Qing didn’t need any of it, and was happy to just keep the
bottle. He had no idea if he would ever find a use for such an item,
but it seemed marvelous and he had the feeling it could come in
useful.

Zhao Zhongheng and Ding Xue were both from rich families, so
the contents of the bag of holding weren’t very impressive.
However, they split them evenly anyway. After all, profit was profit.
Now that the location of the hiding spot had been reported, the
sect would send other disciples to handle any follow-up matters.

With that, Xu Qing’s month-long mission ended.

Of course, Ding Xue was very depressed that Zhao Zhongheng

had shown up and ruined everything. As Xu Qing was taking his
leave, she hurried over to him.

“Elder Brother Xu, the front lines are dangerous. You have to be
careful. Remember, put safety first. My cultivation base is weak, so
there’s nothing I can give you to help. But I’ll talk with my aunt and
make sure she looks out for you. If you run into any situation you
can’t deal with, you get in touch with her immediately, okay?

“Oh, another thing, Elder Brother Xu. Thanks for all of your help.
I’m going to work really hard to learn everything I can about plants
and vegetation, and then join the Seven Sect Coalition. When that
time comes, Elder Brother, maybe I can help you out with plants
and vegetation.”

Looking very earnest, she said one final thing. “Truth be told, the
Second Peak’s dao of plants and vegetation isn’t that great. I’m
definitely going to surpass the Second Peak disciples eventually.”

“Many thanks,” Xu Qing said. “Take care of yourself. And keep up

the good work.”
The truth was that he was a bit touched by her words. She
sounded very sincere. During the month he had worked with her,
he could tell that she’d had something on her mind that she never
talked about. But overall, she was a good person. Also, she was
enthusiastic about learning new things, which he very much
approved of. He hadn’t had much of a chance to interact with the
Second Peak, so he had no way of knowing if her assessment of
their dao of plants and vegetation was correct, but it seemed
possible. Clasping hands to her, he turned and left.

She watched reluctantly as he disappeared. Then she turned and

glared at Zhao Zhongheng briefly before snorting coldly and
leaving the Merfolk Isles. She knew full well that the danger on the
front lines was too great, and her cultivation base was too low.

As Zhao Zhongheng watched her go, the determination never left

his eyes. He was still confident that he had the right outlook.

Cultivation base isn’t important. My sincerity and genuineness will

win out over everything. That Xu Qing has a high cultivation base.
But he just said goodbye and left without looking back. I’m not like
that. I’ll always stay with you, my Elder Sister.

With such thoughts on his mind, Zhao Zhongheng took a deep

breath and followed Ding Xue, ignoring how irritated she seemed.

Xu Qing did not leave the Merfolk Isles. Thanks to the mission with
Ding Xue, he now had three entropic teleportation talismans, as
well as a dharmic decree from the vice-peaklord, which meant that
he could decline to participate in the frontline war effort without
even needing to submit an application. He could even do that
while in the middle of a mission.

In other words, he could go back to the sect headquarters any

time he wanted. That said, he could still support the war, just not
necessarily on the front lines. If he did that, his kill count and
contributions to the war effort wouldn’t suffer. In other words, it
gave him a lot of freedom of choice.

Not even Gold Core elders could issue dharmic decrees like this.
Only someone similar to a peaklord had that authority. Xu Qing
was well aware that the vice-peaklord had given him this gift at the
behest of Ding Xue.

It’s a big favor. I’ll definitely repay Ding Xue later on.

Having made that decision, Xu Qing took out his identity medallion
and started looking through the missions again.

He didn’t plan to go back to the sect immediately. Thanks to

wasting a whole month as Ding Xue’s dao protector, his standings
in the war rankings had dropped below seventy. That said, he
didn’t think it would be hard to climb back up. He wanted to be in
the top fifty to earn the right to summon a projection of the sect’s
magical treasure.
Going forward, he once again immersed himself in taking one
mission after another. He would kill Seazombies, absorb their
souls, and sometimes bolster his kill count with his shadow.

Eventually, he rose above the sixtieth rank, which meant he was

very close to being in the top fifty. One day when he had just
turned in a mission and was about to select a new one, his
expression flickered and he looked down toward his feet.

Then his eyes glittered, and then he burst into motion and headed
to a remote area. There, he calmly said, “What do you want to
say?”

Moments ago, he had detected fluctuations of emotion coming

from his shadow. It took some struggle, but his shadow conveyed
to him, “Upgrade... quiet... safe... breakthrough....”

Xu Qing’s pupils constricted.

During this whole war with the Seazombies, his shadow had
proved very helpful. After consuming many Seazombies, it was
now on the verge of a breakthrough. Xu Qing was actually looking
forward to that.

After forming his life flame, both the shadow and Patriarch Golden
Vajra Warrior had fallen behind. That said, he was still on guard
against both of them, especially the shadow.
As the shadow conveyed that message to him, the black iron
skewer shivered, and then the patriarch said, “Milord, your humble
servant needs to report that he is also close to a breakthrough. I
also need a quiet, safe place to do so. However, because of
cultivating spirit automaton techniques, and also some other
random things, my breakthrough will be different. It will provoke
Soul-Cleansing Heavenly Lightning!! Once I break through, I’ll
have something similar to the profound radiance state. I’ll be
almost unstoppable!”

Although the patriarch’s words were spoken with utmost

confidence, he was actually feeling extremely anxious. He wasn’t
exactly on the breakthrough point, yet felt that he couldn’t wait any
longer. After all, if the shadow broke through before him, then
given his current state, he would rank second between the two of
them. In other words, he would be of little value or interest to Xu
Qing. And if that happened, then he had the feeling it wouldn’t be
long before he became cannon fodder. So he decided to put
everything on the line.

Xu Qing looked at the iron skewer, then the shadow. He had

already made his decision.
Chapter 169: Fighting for Position!

The top fifty cultivators in Seven Blood Eyes’ battle rankings would
get the right to summon a projection of the sect’s magical treasure.
The thought excited Xu Qing. He had never even seen a magical
treasure before, but had heard astonishing stories about them.
After all, in the entire Seven Blood Eyes sect, there was only one
magical treasure. Xu Qing was curious why there were so many
rumors about magical treasures, and also wanted to know what
the Seven Blood Eyes’ magical treasure looked like, and what it
did.

That said, right now, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior and the
shadow both were about to reach breakthroughs. He didn’t want
simple curiosity to interfere with that. He knew without any doubt
which of the two was most important.

Even if magical treasures were incredibly powerful, the prize was a

single use of the projection of that magical treasure. In contrast,
upgrading the shadow and the patriarch would permanently boost
his battle prowess.

Therefore, Xu Qing unhesitatingly dropped the mission he had

been considering, and used the dharmic decree from Ding Xue’s
aunt. Even as Seven Blood Eyes seemed to be making a lot of
headway in the fighting, he chose to leave the battlefield.
I need to find some safe, remote island somewhere. A place
where the patriarch and the shadow can break through without
worrying about being interrupted.

Of great concern was the fact that Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior
mentioned dealing with tribulation lightning.

After some thought, he used a teleportation portal to head in the

opposite direction of the fighting. Specifically, he teleported to a
location very far away, where a nonhuman species called the
Hornsanders lived.

The Hornsanders were allies of Seven Blood Eyes. They were

generally kind and peaceful, and had benefited from the protection
of the sect for over a hundred years thanks to a crafting ingredient
they produced called seaglitter, and also their skill in puppet
creation.

The Hornsanders were a strange people; they looked exactly the

same as humans, except they were about as tall as an average
person’s hand. To them, humans were like giants. Their ancestral
land was a lilliputian kingdom. However, to make it easier to
welcome friends from other species, they had built an ordinary-
sized city not far from their teleportation portal.

By the time Xu Qing materialized on the Hornsander’s

teleportation portal, it was already dusk. The afterglow of the
setting sun cast burning red light through the sky, while the black
water had a violet hue to it. Everything seemed mysterious and
profound. It was rare to find harmonious and peaceful places like
this on the Forbidden Sea. And considering that Xu Qing had just
come from a war zone, and pulsed with a baleful aura, he didn’t
seem to fit in.

Looking up, he saw numerous small cities off in the distance.

Within them, countless Hornsanders bustled about, sometimes
singing as they went about their tasks. He even saw some very
tiny children playing in the sand. That said, he also detected the
auras of quite a few powerful experts.

Hornsanders were very small, but that didn’t mean Xu Qing looked
down on them. He had read the file about them back in the Violent
Crimes Division, and knew that though they were normally
peaceful, when they did fight, they revealed astonishing fighting
prowess. What was more, they were experts in the dao of
puppetry.

Stepping off of the teleportation portal and looking around, he saw

that there were a total of eight puppets seated cross-legged in the
area. The puppets were human-sized, and were made of a
combination of metal and wood. Their faces were pitch black, and
they had gemstones for eyes. They didn’t emanate any spirit
power fluctuations, making them seem like they were dead.

As he looked them over, one of the puppet’s gemstone eyes lit up.
Then clicking sounds filled the air as the puppet got to its feet,
clasped hands and bowed.

“Welcome to Hornsander territory, esteemed guest from Seven

Blood Eyes. How can we help you?”

Xu Qing looked more closely at the puppet. Despite the fact that it
had just spoken, he still didn’t sense any spirit power fluctuations
coming off of it. He was very curious about that, but at the same
time, didn’t feel it was appropriate to pry.

“I’m just passing through,” he said gruffly. “I’m heading to a sea

district not far from here. Do you have sea charts for sale?”

“Why would an esteemed guest from Seven Blood Eyes need to

spend money on something like that?” The puppet extended its
right hand, and a grain of sand appeared there. It waved its hand,
and the sand shot toward Xu Qing.

He caught it, whereupon his expression flickered with surprise.

The tiny grain of sand was actually just like a jade slip filled with
information. Sending some dharma force into it, he saw a very
detailed sea chart.

After offering his thanks, he took a final glance at the peaceful

Hornsanders, then flew up into the air and headed out over the
Forbidden Sea.

Moving at top speed, he disappeared within moments. After he

was gone, the other seven puppets looked up in the direction he’d
left. Then they began to communicate with each other.

“Seven Blood Eyes is at war with the seazombies. This person’s

cultivation base is profound, and he exerts immense pressure. He
also has scraps of battlefield aura on him. Why did he pass
through our lands?”

“I also sensed his cultivation base fluctuations. Although it’s hard

to say for sure, given the fact that I have a single life flame, and
his presence caused my dharma apertures and dharma force to
turn sluggish, I’d guess he’s in mid-Foundation Establishment.”

“That said, he didn’t seem to have any ill intentions.”

After they were certain that he was gone, they relaxed, bowed
their heads again, and then remained in place unmoving.

The night passed. The next day at dawn, the light of day spread
through the dome of heaven.

Xu Qing could be seen, speeding along under the burning sun, not
having slowed down a bit.

He chose not to use his dharmaskiff, as it would attract more

attention. As he sped along, he searched for his destination as
described on the sea chart, which was an abandoned mining
island.

According to the sea chart, a vein of spirit ore had been

discovered there a hundred years ago, and thus the island
became very important to the Hornsanders. However, after mining
it for a full sixty-year-cycle, the mine went dry, and the island was
abandoned. The spirit power wasn’t very strong there, while the
mutagen was. Though there were some plants and vegetation
growing, most of them were aggressive in nature. Given that there
was nothing of value inside or outside of the island, few people
ever went there. There were many islands like this on the
Forbidden Sea.

Upon finding it, Xu Qing examined it from the air. After determining
that it was a suitable location for the shadow and the patriarch to
break through, he landed on the island. The first thing he did was
wave his hand to send poison powder drifting out everywhere.
Instantly, all the plants and vegetation that had been stirring in his
direction to attack him withered and died. Ignoring them, he
headed toward the actual mine, which took a bit of time to find.

Despite the fact that the morning sun was bright outside, the
interior of the mine was pitch black. Furthermore, it was filled with
strong mutagen and a frigid energy. Black ice surrounded the
exterior of the mine, and there were no plants anywhere.
Apparently the black ice was poisonous.

To most cultivators, this would not be a suitable location to practice

cultivation. But as far as Xu Qing’s shadow was concerned, it was
more than satisfactory. In fact, as the sun cast his shadow down, it
seemed to have a hard time not stretching forward into the mine.
After checking around again to make sure there were no dangers,
he broke off a piece of black ice to examine.

It had an astonishing frigid energy, as well as strong mutagen. In

fact, as soon as he touched it, that mutagen poured into Xu Qing,
only to be immediately absorbed by his shadow.

“Well isn’t this stuff interesting,” he murmured. Squatting down, he

tried to collect some of the ice. Unfortunately, as soon as he broke
off a piece, it would release all its mutagen and become useless.
Shrugging, he entered the mine.

“Be careful, milord,” the patriarch said. “As the saying goes, a
wealthy person should never sit under the eaves, lest a falling tile
crack him on the head. You really need to be cautious about your
own safety. Allow me to scout ahead.” With that, he took control of
the iron skewer and flew into the mine. A short time later, he
reported, “Milord, there’s nothing out of the ordinary here.”

The shadow, who had been focused on absorbing the black ice,
shivered and stretched out into the mine, then sent out fluctuations
to similarly indicate that it was safe to proceed.

Xu Qing was actually pleased to see the patriarch and the shadow
contending with each other, but kept his expression neutral. After
lacing the entrance with poison, he entered the mine. The
mutagen inside was clearly stronger, and the frigid energy more
intense. Everything was completely dark, so he sent more dharma
force into his eyes to see more clearly. There was a huge tunnel
leading deeper into the mine, and the walls were covered with the
signs of excavation. Without any hesitation, Xu Qing ignited his life
lamp.

In the blink of an eye, brilliant flames exploded out all over him.
The indistinct shape of a black umbrella became visible, protecting
his soul, while volcanic fluctuations rolled out within him. Xu Qing
blurred into motion as he started checking the entire mine for
danger. Although he felt generally safe, until he explored every
corner of the place, he couldn’t rest at ease. Thus, the flames of
his profound radiance state swept through the mine.

There were a lot of passages, but he moved so quickly that it only

took a single incense stick’s worth of time for him to cover
everything. Other than some bats, he didn’t see anything. The
place was indeed safe.

Finally, he settled down cross-legged in the depths of the mine,

and softly said, “Shadow, you can break through now.”

Instantly, the shadow stretched out. Although it was still connected

to Xu Qing, ninety-nine percent of it went off into the distance.
There, where no one could see what it was doing, though Xu Qing
could sense it, it started sucking in mutagen like mad. The
mutagen became like a vortex, sweeping in from all corners of the
mine. As it spun, it became a huge, rotating circle thirty meters
across.
Within that circle, the shadow’s ‘body’ melted, becoming a black,
viscous substance upon whose surface bubbles constantly formed
and popped. Each time a bubble burst, it would emit a hair-raising
howl, as if to give evidence that some dramatic evolution was
occurring.

Xu Qing’s eyes shone with anticipation, but he kept his guard fully
up. After all, his shadow had always been secretly sinister, and it
was impossible to say whether or not it would rebel against him
after it broke through. In fact, Xu Qing actually kept dharma force
flowing into his violet crystal, just in case he needed to suppress
the shadow.

Meanwhile, off to the side, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior saw the
shadow getting to work. And he noticed the Fiendish Xu’s look of
anticipation, as well as the way he almost seemed to be acting as
a dharma protector. All of a sudden, a stabbing sensation of crisis
and anxiety filled the patriarch.

He’s acting as a dharma protector? The Fiendish Xu is obviously

favoring the shadow now! Logically speaking, if the shadow breaks
through, then I’m going to be at a big disadvantage. Even if I do
break through later, I’ll still be trailing behind. In the stories I’ve
read, people who fall behind never catch up. Eventually, they hit
rock bottom. I can’t let that happen!

The patriarch shivered inwardly at that thought. To protect my

position, and to make sure I don’t become cannon fodder, I have
to break through before the shadow. It’s time to fight!

Having reached this point in his train of thought, the patriarch’s

eyes turned bloodshot, and with an incredibly serious voice, he
said, “Milord, I beg thee to let me break through!”

Deathblade's ThoughtsMany thanks to Ghost for the review! Rock

on!

Many thanks to Ghost for the review! Rock on!

Chapter 170: Lightning Spirit Body

Xu Qing was shocked. He looked at the patriarch, musing that the

words he had just spoken sounded a bit odd.

“Are you sure?” he asked. Although he could sense that the

patriarch’s aura was stronger than before, and was even getting
close to a critical juncture, it also seemed unstable. It definitely
didn’t seem like he was ready for a breakthrough.

“Your humble servant is absolutely certain,” the patriarch said

loudly, glancing in the direction of the shadow.

Xu Qing had never been a spirit automaton, so he wasn’t sure

exactly what they looked like when on the verge of a
breakthrough. After hearing the patriarch’s words, he mulled over
the matter for a bit.

The patriarch waited nervously while Xu Qing considered the

matter. The patriarch was worried that Xu Qing cared about the
shadow more than him, and would thus refuse his request.
Thinking back to the countless ancient records he had read, he
remembered one specific, very noteworthy scene. In that scene,
the MC refused one of his pet’s requests. For some reason, he fell
in love with that feeling, and afterward, would refuse all of the pet’s
requests. Eventually, because of all those refusals, the pet ended
up being turned into food.
Has the Fiendish Xu been thinking of using me as fuel for the
Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture this entire time?

Although Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was now only the

remaining essence of a living being, in life he had always been a
jabberer. But after becoming a spirit automaton, he spent most of
his days living in fear, and had thus become more perceptive than
before. He was convinced he was going to die, and that the
Fiendish Xu was preparing to devour him.

Terrified that Xu Qing wasn’t going to agree to his proposal, he

loudly said, “Milord, I can’t hold it any longer. Here I come....”

The patriarch erupted with power as he tried to force himself into a

breakthrough. His eyes turned red and his heart filled with
madness.

I have to break through before the shadow!

His soul shadow rose up from the black iron skewer and black
clouds began to form within him. Then they clashed, and lightning
shot from the clouds through the patriarch. Unable to hold back,
he screamed and looked at Xu Qing in terror.

The patriarch cultivated an incomplete technique that allowed him

to turn into a spirit automaton. It had a very unusual and
impressive-sounding name, that being the Supreme Yin Lightning
Spirit Transformation. He had never been able to determine where
the technique came from, but presumably it was created by some
almighty being who had been researching lightning spirits. By
cultivating it to the point of initial success, one could transform
oneself into a body of lightning.

The first part of the cultivation process required a certain amount

of natural skill, as well as a stockpile of resources. The second
part of the process required the tenacity to kill oneself and become
a soul body. Then, by using the resources built up in the first part
of the process, one could transform into a spirit automaton. And
that was the beginning of the third part of the process,
transforming into a body of lightning. Once one completed that
final transformation, it was considered an initial success with the
technique.

However, becoming a lightning spirit was different than starting out

as a lightning spirit. And thus, the technique... did not describe any
way of reaching the highest level of success.

Right now, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was risking his life to
break through and transform into a lightning spirit, a painful
process that involved clashing with clouds and dealing with
lightning. When the lightning passed through the soul body and
provoked heavenly lightning, then it would baptize the soul.

Xu Qing inhaled sharply upon hearing the patriarch’s anguished

screams. Then he shifted some of his attention away from the
shadow so he could watch both of them. Seeing the state the
patriarch was in, Xu Qing had a bad feeling. He started to wonder
what would happen to his iron skewer if the patriarch couldn’t hold
on, and ended up being destroyed.

The patriarch’s screams didn’t just attract Xu Qing’s attention. The

shadow in its black liquid form suddenly stopped forming bubbles
for a moment, then started again, this time even faster than
before.

And thus, the shadow and the patriarch went crazy competing with
each other. The clouds within the patriarch clashed with greater
intensity, and lightning bolts built up within his soul body. As they
filled him, it reached the point where the patriarch felt like he might
collapse. At that point, a bolt of lightning finally found a way out
through the top of his head.

After that, massive amounts of lighting erupted from that opening,

spreading out to cover the patriarch. At the same time, his energy
and aura began to skyrocket.

When that happened, the patriarch breathed an internal sigh of

relief. The process had not been easy. But then he thought about
the baptism to come, and his heart again filled with anguish. He
knew full well that the breakthrough process was dangerous, and
that if he failed, he would be wiped out of existence. Back when he
was a living person, he would definitely not have done anything
like this.
That aspect of his personality was one reason why he had been
slow in opening his dharma apertures. He had come across many
opportunities to speed things up, but they all involved risking his
life. And therefore in the end, he had just gritted his teeth and
slowed down. Right now, he was tempted to do the same thing.

But then he looked at the shadow in its inky pool of black, and how
something seemed to be rising up from within it! It wasn’t a bubble.
Instead, there was something taking shape in that swampy mass.
It was something struggling to get to its feet, and as it did, an aura
that surpassed Qi Condensation roiled out from it. As that aura
grew stronger, it got closer and closer to the Foundation
Establishment level. And it didn’t seem like it would stop any time
soon.

The shadow was obviously reaching a critical point in the

breakthrough process, and was going to succeed at any moment.
Expression turning vicious, the patriarch glared at the inky mass.

Eyes turning even more bloodshot, he shouted, “Bring on the

lightning!”

As the words left his mouth, the sky outside filled with dark clouds
and rumbling sounds. Then a huge lightning bolt formed and
smashed down in a zigzag shape toward the island.

The lightning bolt smashed into the dirt overhead, piercing down
into the mine until it hit Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior viciously on
the head. A tremor passed through him as massive amounts of
lightning coursed into him. Then it merged with the lightning he
had been producing, and it began to converge in an astonishing
fashion. Meanwhile, the patriarch screamed as his body grew
transparent, like it might collapse into nothing.

The shadow seemed shocked, but kept struggling to reach its next
form as it rose from the black liquid. In fact, it seemed to be going
all out.

Xu Qing was visibly moved. He looked at the shadow, then at the

patriarch, and a strange expression appeared on his face.
However, he didn’t say anything.

Enough time passed for an incense stick to burn.

The patriarch continued to howl as more and more lightning built

up. Finally, he let loose a scream as all the lightning was sucked
through the top of his head and into his body. When that
happened, he shivered. It was now visible to the naked eyes that
his entire body was being transformed by the lightning, down to his
soul body. Gradually, the patriarch looked over at the black iron
skewer, and inhaled deeply. The skewer flew over and he sucked
it in; inside him, it was assailed by countless lightning bolts. It was
like he was an automaton furnace, the lightning of heaven and
earth was a hammer, and his soul body was the flame, all of it
being used to reforge the iron skewer.
With every crash of the lightning, the patriarch trembled. However,
each blast also refined the iron skewer, and also added magical
symbols of lightning onto it. The skewer was also trembling as
much as the patriarch. However, the patriarch didn’t give up.
Lightning smashed into the skewer ten times. Twenty times. Thirty
times. Forty times.

The skewer grew darker and sharper, and the lightning symbols
grew brighter until even Xu Qing felt them stinging his eyes.
Finally, after striking the skewer with forty-nine bolts of lightning,
the patriarch had reached his limit, and he spat out the iron
skewer. The skewer had forty-nine lightning symbols flickering on
it; its aura surpassed Qi Condensation and seemed unusually
strong even for a Foundation Establishment aura.

Once its aura erupted out, the patriarch could again be seen
inside. But this time, his body had transformed significantly.
Although his features were the same as before, he glittered with
endless bolts of lightning, and he was semitransparent. It seemed
that he had transformed into a lightning body. The lightning bolts
didn’t hurt him, as they were now part of him. And he pulsed with
such a violent aura that Xu Qing felt like he was in front of
someone with a life flame.

Also, Xu Qing sensed terrifying fluctuations coming from the

lightning symbols on the skewer. Furthermore, the skewer wasn’t
in combat readiness; he could only imagine how powerful it would
be when its power was unleashed in full. It could probably fight
someone with two life flames.

The reason for all this was partly because the patriarch had
started out in Foundation Establishment. The rest was because of
the technique he cultivated. That combination, plus everything he
had stockpiled, led to an amazing breakthrough.

The patriarch was feeling very strong, and also very excited,
especially considering how much effort he had expended.
However, he hadn’t forgotten that Xu Qing had some of his life
essence spirit, and thus prepared some words that he was sure
would please Xu Qing.

“I’ve finally lived up to your expectations, milord! Your humble

servant—”

At that exact moment, the shadow in the dark liquid seemed to

become profoundly stimulated, and the figure rising up within it
roared. The shadow was transforming! It didn’t look like it had
before. Instead, it looked like a great tree rising out of the ground
in front of Xu Qing and Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior. Branches
and leaves spread out rapidly from it, and upon them grew
numerous fruits.

Then the fruits burst open to reveal a host of crimson eyes. There
were over a hundred of them, and as they opened, they all
focused on Xu Qing. Each and every one of those eyes emanated
a fierce and vicious feeling. Then a ghastly mouth opened up on
the trunk of the tree, filled with countless razor-sharp teeth. And
from that mouth came a bizarre sound that seemed vaguely
familiar to Xu Qing.

C-c-crunch. C-c-c-c-c-crunch. C-crunch.

It sounded like the grinding of teeth. [1]

1. I don’t consider it a spoiler to call back to a clue from a previous

chapter. Besides, I’m sure some readers remember exactly where
this sound came up before. Either way, here is the reference:
chapter 80. ☜
Chapter 171: Suppress! Suppress!!
Suppress!!!

The shadow was now an incomparably bizarre and gruish pitch

black tree. It had over a hundred eyes, all of which radiated an
astonishing crimson light that made the entire mine seem like a
world of blood. The malicious ferocity it exuded seemed filled with
madness. It was as if the shadow had been holding back for so
long that, when it finally managed to reach a breakthrough,
everything it had been suppressing in its heart finally erupted into
the open. Strangely, though, much of that ferocious maliciousness
wasn’t directed at Xu Qing, but rather, at Patriarch Golden Vajra
Warrior.

Given how Xu Qing had suppressed the shadow on a daily basis

for such a long time, it would have made sense for all its killing
intent to be focused on him. But obviously, some of the things the
patriarch had done aroused the shadow’s hatred to this level.

The patriarch’s expression was solemn as lightning crackled

around him and he looked at the shadow. However, inside he was
bursting with joy.

Ah, Little Shadow, you did perfectly. You couldn’t have picked a
better way to reveal your rebellious nature. This is only going to
make my position more stable.
With those thoughts on his mind, the patriarch shouted, “You evil
shadow! I can’t believe you want to devour our lord and master!!”

As the words left his mouth, he flew in between Xu Qing and the
shadow, looking very loyal and protective. At the same time, the
lightning symbols on the skewer glittered brightly and exuded a
terrifying aura.

Xu Qing’s eyes shone brightly as, instead of worrying about the

shadow’s sudden maliciousness, his mind raced as he tried to
recall why that crunching sound was so familiar. Then it hit him.

The giant with the dragon chariot! [1]

Suddenly, to his shock, he noticed a muffled rumbling sound

coming from far off in the distance, beyond the mine and the
island.

It was a faint noise, like something very heavy being dragged

along the ground. Its vibrations caused waves to roll out on the
surface of the water, and the entire island trembled. Under the
water beyond the shore of the island, Xu Qing’s snakeneck dragon
appeared and looked off into the distance.

What Xu Qing saw through its eyes sent shock rolling through him.
Off in the distant sea, he saw a dense mist covering the surface of
the water. And besides the sound he had just detected, he also
heard chains clanking. Shockingly, there was a massive giant on
the seafloor, slowly walking toward him step by step. Its huge body
was covered with numerous tentacles that looked almost like hair.
Every step the giant took caused powerful currents of water on the
seafloor, and kicked up massive clouds of silt.

As it walked along, a set of ghastly black chains appeared behind

it. Those chains draped behind it, ending in an astonishing bronze
dragon chariot. It oozed a sensation of ancient time, and was
covered with rust and corrosion. It looked to be in very bad
condition, and was tilted so badly it seemed like it might fall on its
side. It left a huge furrow in the sea floor as it moved. Both the
giant and the chariot were enormous, to the point where Xu Qing
would seem tiny compared to them. To him, both of them seemed
like mountains.

What was more noteworthy were the carvings on the chariot itself.
They seemed like something belonging to an emperor, as if only
someone filled with a spirit of incomparable dignity could ride in
this chariot.

As the giant got closer, the sea whipped into a frenzy. The waves
became so huge they turned into a tsunami. This terrifying aura
surpassed the level of Joine by so many times over that it was
impossible to calculate. It was like the difference between a firefly
and a torch. In fact, a moment later, Xu Qing’s snakeneck dragon
started to crumble to pieces.

Xu Qing’s eyes began stinging, and then blood dripped out of

them. Then the walls of the mine collapsed, with cracks spreading
across them and sea water flowing into the mine. A moment later,
the walls completely crumbled, such that Xu Qing didn’t need the
snakeneck dragon to see the giant; he could see it with his own
eyes. The aura assailing him caused his mind to tremble.

Without any hesitation, Xu Qing ignited his life flame and entered
the profound radiance state. He erupted like a volcano to fight
back against the aura. However, being this close to the dragon
chariot, he was actually able to see one of the engravings on it!

It depicted a handsome young man wearing fine clothing and an

emperor’s crown. He sat on the dragon chariot, one hand rested
on his chin, the other holding a bamboo slip from which he read. It
was a beautiful image, and it was very lifelike. The young man’s
posture and expression were very clear. He seemed very
interested in what he was reading, and the corners of his mouth
were even tilting up in a smile. The dragon chariot was being
pulled into the sky by a running giant, around whom curled five
golden dragons. The giant was obviously extraordinarily mighty;
despite it being a simple engraving, he seemed incredibly
powerful.

The giant in the engraving was looking back at the young man as
they ascended into the sky. His expression seemed one of loyalty
and even fanaticism. It was as if, to him, that young man carried
his fate in his hands. It was as if, to him, pulling that chariot was
the greatest honor he could ever experience.
That wasn’t the only engraving Xu Qing could see. In the next one,
he saw the young man with the emperor’s crown riding the chariot
through the clouds all the way to the horizon, where he
transformed... into the sun. There it hung, high in the dome of
heaven! Its radiance shone on all the lands below!

In the final engraving, it was evening, and the sun had once again
transformed back into a young man. As before, he sat on his
chariot, and was being pulled by the giant across the sea. These
series of images shook Xu Qing deeply, leaving him trembling to
the core.

Meanwhile, the giant pulling the chariot issued forth another

sound.

C-c-crunch. C-c-crunch.

Bizarrely, it seemed like that sound was a response to the shadow!

Although Xu Qing’s shadow was already submerged in water now,

making it impossible for anyone to see, Xu Qing knew that it was
still in the shape of that bizarre tree, bursting with malice and
madness. And it was still making that same noise!

C-c-crunch. C-c-crunch.

The giant trembled and continued to walk in Xu Qing’s direction.

As it got nearer, fear rose up in Xu Qing. He looked deeply at the
giant for a moment, then chose to flee. Sending out the power of
the crystal, he suppressed the shadow, took out his dharmaskiff,
and started speeding across the surface of the sea.

It was currently dawn, and the sun shone brightly onto Xu Qing.

That, in turn, caused his shadow to appear clearly on the deck of

the dharmaskiff. The shadow twisted and distorted as it tried to
fight against his suppression. As it did, its appearance changed
again. Tentacles spread out from the tree, making it look very
similar to the giant pulling the dragon chariot.

Killing intent appeared in Xu Qing’s eyes. Tapping into all 44 of his

dharma apertures, he sent dharma force into the violet crystal.
Rumbling sounds echoed out as the power of the crystal erupted
from his chest and slammed into the writhing shadow. This time,
Xu Qing suppressed the shadow 50 times in a row!

The shadow fought back fiercely, its eyes glowing bright red. Then,
when it seemed like it was going to issue forth more sound from its
mouth, Xu Qing snorted coldly and added the power of his life
flame into the violet crystal. Then he waved his hand, and a huge
black umbrella appeared.

Instantly, brightly colored light flashed in heaven and earth. Winds

screamed as Xu Qing covered the shadow with the umbrella,
blocking it from the sun, and thus its connection to the outside
world. Beneath the umbrella, no one could see the shadow. But Xu
Qing could sense its position, and knew its connection had been
severed, causing it to look surprised, and to struggle even more.

“Fool,” Xu Qing said. By imbuing the violet crystal with his life
flame, it became even more impressive, and unleashed an
unprecedented level of suppressive power. It was a violet halo that
crushed down onto the shadow over and over again.

3 times. 7 times. 16 times.

With the added power of the life flame, the suppression was vastly
beyond anything from before. The shadow trembled, and its fight
against the suppression grew weaker and weaker. It couldn’t emit
any sound, and eventually began shaking.

At the same time, Xu Qing checked and found that, thanks to the
black umbrella and his effort in suppressing the shadow, the giant
and the chariot had stopped moving. Apparently, whatever had
allowed the giant to sense them was now gone. Turning, the giant
dragged the dragon chariot in a different direction, going deeper
and deeper into the sea.

Even after the giant was gone, fear lingered in Xu Qing’s heart.
Turning coldly to look at his shadow trembling in trepidation.

“Your plan failed,” he said coolly.

The shadow shivered as it reverted to its previous shape. The

tentacles disappeared, and though its eyes were still red, they
didn’t radiate malice, but instead seemed fawning.

Out on the open sea, the morning sun was brighter than it seemed
on land, its red light spreading out everywhere, making it seem like
everything was on fire. Even the black Forbidden Sea couldn’t
contend with the glory of the sun at sunrise.

Xu Qing wasn’t paying attention to that, though. Waving his hand,

he dispelled the black umbrella. As the sunlight shone down on
them again, the shadow became visible on the deck. After being
suppressed so many times in a row, it was back to the same color
it had been before its breakthrough. As Xu Qing glared at it coldly,
it shook harder.

“My... bad....” the shadow conveyed.

Xu Qing tapped into the violet crystal and suppressed it violently

again.

10 times. 30 times. 70 times. 120 times.

In the middle of it, he sat down and looked off into the sky, making
it seem like he had no intention of stopping. Off to the side,
Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was excited, but as it went on, he
started to feel more and more anxious. He watched as the shadow
got weaker and weaker, trembling so badly that it looked like it
might die.
Then the patriarch looked at the expressionless Xu Qing. Finally,
the patriarch couldn’t hold back, and said, “Milord, it’s... it’s about
to die.”

Xu Qing looked at him. “You feel sorry for it?”

“Absolutely not!” the patriarch blurted, terrified at Xu Qing’s gaze.

Slapping himself on the chest, he produced a mass of lightning
that swirled around him. “Milord, we can put this traitorous shadow
to death together!”

Worried that he wasn’t reacting fast enough, he sent some

lightning flying toward the shadow.

1. The reference to the giant and the dragon chariot is the same
as the link from the last chapter. Chapter 80. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsMany thanks to SOVEREIGN_YUAN for

the review!

Many thanks to SOVEREIGN_YUAN for the review!

Chapter 172: The Final ???? ????

Xu Qing wasn’t paying attention to the patriarch’s performance. He

just continued suppressing the shadow while still looking off at the
horizon.

He was thinking back to the time when he acquired the shadow. It

was back in the jungle forbidden region when he and Squad
Thunderbolt had fought a pack of black-scaled wolves. The
shadow had come out of one of those wolves, almost as if it were
a parasite. [1]

That was the first time the violet crystal within him had done
anything different from before, as it had sealed the shadow. From
that point on, his shadow had changed. More precisely, it seemed
like his own shadow became the host for the black-scaled wolf’s
shadow. The two had become one.

From then on, his shadow could absorb mutagen, which made his
practice of cultivation go much more smoothly. Of course, as the
shadow absorbed mutagen, its battle prowess increased. Other
than helping him, the shadow hadn’t done much or changed. And
after Xu Qing figured out how to control it, it became one of his
trump cards.

It was when he killed that young merman that his shadow first
showed some signs of intelligence. Later, the Mute warned him
about the shadow. And then there was the time when the shadow
seemed to wake up and extinguish the Spirit Breath Lamp in the
Merfolk Isles. After that point, his shadow didn’t just seem alive, it
seemed intelligent. [2]

Xu Qing had long since predicted where it all was going. However,
the entire time, he had been able to keep the shadow suppressed
with his cultivation base and the violet crystal. Therefore, though
the shadow had been of concern to him, since he never let it get
too strong, there was no risk of it attacking him. The fact that it had
done so just now wasn’t surprising. What was surprising was that
the shadow had somehow attracted the giant with the dragon
chariot. That got him even more curious about what exactly the
shadow was.

Looking down calmly at the shadow, he said, “Regardless, as far

as I’m concerned, you’re more of a risk than a benefit.”

When Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior heard those words, he

shivered.

At the same time, the shadow could sense that things were
different this time around, and it emitted fluctuations of terror and
pleading.

“Since that’s the case,” Xu Qing continued, “I don’t need you

around!”
Closing his eyes, he extended his right hand and pushed it down
onto the shadow on the deck. Violet light surged out with
suppressive force, causing the entire dharmaskiff to tremble. The
shadow didn’t seem like it could last much longer, and let loose an
unprecedented shriek, along with emotions associated with pain
and anger.

Xu Qing could sense them, but he ignored them and kept

suppressing the shadow.

Hearing the howls of grief, the patriarch was so shaken he backed

up a bit and looked nervously at Xu Qing.

The shadow howled as it grew fainter, until a sound rang out like
something shattering, and the shadow reverted from a tree to its
previous ordinary form. Another weak cry rang out, one of
pleading.

Face completely expressionless, Xu Qing continued suppressing

the shadow.

180 times. 240 times. 320 times.

Violet light erupted as he suppressed the shadow over and over

again. It grew fainter, more transparent, and its cries grew weaker.

Xu Qing’s eyes remained decisive. He really did intend to wipe the

shadow out of existence. As for how he would deal with mutagen
afterward, he wasn’t sure, but it didn’t concern him too much. To
him, the violet crystal was his most important asset, and the
shadow was secondary.

The shadow could absorb mutagen, but the violet crystal could
keep it sealed. If that was the case, then it meant the crystal could
seal other things similar to the shadow. Worst case scenario, after
the shadow died, Xu Qing could start hunting forbidden regions
and try to find something else similar to the shadow.

Therefore, no matter how weak and faint the shadow became, he

continued suppressing it.

350 times. 460 times. 570 times. 680 times.

He continued relentlessly and without stopping.

Eventually, as the shadow grew fainter, it shrank into a ball,

making it a bit less faint. At that point, it took the shape of a small
person that began kowtowing over and over again.

Xu Qing looked at the shadowy person and once again

suppressed it. With a single palm, he crushed it. A scream rang
out.

Xu Qing remained calm as he sat beneath the sun, casting no

shadow whatsoever. Ignoring the strangeness of that, he walked
to the edge of the dharmaskiff and looked out at the black water.
Given the angle of the sun, if he had a shadow, it should have
been cast out onto the mutagen-filled sea.
Standing there, Xu Qing looked toward the prow of the boat and
said, “Get the hell out into the open!”

Everything was quiet on the deck of the boat.

Xu Qing suddenly smiled, and his eyes turned cold. Violet light
glittered on his chest as if it were about to erupt out.

At that point, the trembling shadow appeared on the deck in the

spot where he had been suppressing it. It quickly converged into
the shape of a tiny person, which began kowtowing over and over
again pleadingly.

“You took too long,” Xu Qing said, and he suppressed it a few

more times. There was another bang, and the little person
screamed, then exploded.

Xu Qing remained completely expressionless as he sat there

meditating, his eyes closed.

As it turned out, killing the shadow was much more difficult than it
seemed. It looked like he would need to do some more research
into the violet crystal to see if he could come up with a more
efficient method. Some time passed, and eventually it was noon.
With the sun hot overhead, and Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior
stewing in anxiety, Xu Qing finally opened his eyes and looked at
that same spot on the deck.

“Get the hell out into the open!”

This time, the shadow appeared with astonishing speed, clearly
terrified of being tormented further. It was still faint, but after
recovering for a few hours, it had regained some strength, and
now looked like a tree again. Trembling, it sent out emotions of
pleading and terror that surpassed anything from before by ten
times over.

“You’ve been with me long enough to know what I’m like,” Xu Qing
said, looking at it coldly. He really did want to kill it, but it would
take time to figure out how to use the violet crystal to do so.
Therefore, seeing how terrified it was, he said, “I’ll give you three
months to convince me not to kill you. If you fail....”

He trailed off and didn’t say anything further.

The shadow trembled and kowtowed over and over again to voice
its agreement.

Looking at it, Xu Qing said, “Listen well. It doesn’t matter that you
experienced a breakthrough just now. Nothing has changed.”

“Gobble... control....” the shadow said.

However, whether because it was so weak, or because of its

inherent nature, even after its breakthrough, it wasn’t capable of
ordinary speech, and had trouble expressing itself.

Xu Qing frowned. He needed more detailed information. Now that

the shadow had risen to a higher level, he wanted to know what it
was capable of. That information would be critical in fights later on.

“Milord, I’ll handle this!” the patriarch said. Lighting crackled

around him as he hurried over to the shadow’s side, squatted
down, and glanced at its one hundred eyes. Lowering his voice so
Xu Qing couldn’t hear, he said, “I’ll ask you some questions. Blink
for yes. Nod for no. Now, tell me what you meant just now when
you said ‘gobble.’ Gobble what? Gobble mutagen? Gobble flesh?
Gobble shadows?”

The shadow clearly didn’t like the patriarch, but it had no choice
but to follow his lead. Eventually, when it heard the patriarch say
‘gobble shadows,’ it blinked.

“Gobble yourself? Or gobble other peoples’ shadows? Gobble a

mouthful? Or the whole thing? Control the body? Or control the
soul?”

After communicating in this manner, the patriarch finally reached a

certain level of understanding, and turned to Xu Qing.

“Milord, I get it now. Little Shadow means to say that it can devour
the shadows of others. Once it consumes the entire shadow, it
gains control of that individual’s body. However, milord, you
possess something that it fears greatly, and thus, it didn’t work on
you!”

As the patriarch explained, the shadow sent out emotions of

approval, and nodded repeatedly. But then, only a moment later, it
started shaking its head vigorously. Then it stared helplessly at the
patriarch.

Apparently, Xu Qing’s unprecedented act of suppression had

damaged its intellect to a certain degree, leaving it less intelligent
than before.

“Remember, Little Shadow,” the patriarch said kindly, showing no

signs that he had any ulterior motives, “blink for yes, nod your
head for no. That method should make it relatively easy for me to
figure out what you’re trying to say.”

The shadow blinked.

Though the patriarch was smiling, inside, he was thinking, This

obnoxious shadow still dares to look at me maliciously? Just wait
and see how I punish you! Once you get used to me interpreting
for you, then as long as you remember how to say yes and no,
then I can think of numerous ways to make you suffer!

Xu Qing wasn’t concerned with whatever the patriarch was

scheming. But he was interested in the shadow’s bizarre ability. He
also found it intriguing that the shadow was terrified of the violet
crystal.

“Anything else?” he asked.

“Eyes... observe....” the shadow replied quickly, and then it looked

at the patriarch.
After another back-and-forth conversation, the patriarch explained
what the shadow meant.

“It has another ability that lets it send out shadow eyes and hide
them in someone else’s shadow. If you do that, milord, you can
observe things through those eyes.”

“Domain...” the shadow said.

The patriarch thought, then asked some follow-up questions. After

confirming the shadow’s meaning, he turned respectfully to Xu
Qing.

“Milord, it can create something like a shadow domain. Once it’s

formed, its powers become much stronger while inside the
domain.”

The shadow seemed pleased with that explanation, and looked at

the patriarch with much less revulsion than before.

Xu Qing thought about the situation. The patriarch’s changes were

visible to the naked eye. Meanwhile, the shadow just grew more
and more gruish. It was actually a good combination, and gave
him a lot more options.

After some more thought, he looked back out at the sea, and
recalled the giant pulling the dragon chariot. His eyes narrowed,
and he thought back to what Elder Zhao had told him about the
dragon chariot containing some sort of secret magic. An imperial-
class secret magic. Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits! [3]

I wonder if I could get into that dragon chariot and learn that secret
magic.

The thought excited him as he looked out at the sea. Then a

thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

Still squatting off to the side, the patriarch said, “Little Shadow, I
know you don’t like our lord and master very much, do you?”

The shadow seemed surprised, but quickly nodded.

“You shouldn’t be like that,” the patriarch continued. “I’ve read

many ancient records, and I can tell you that rebels never meet a
good end. I know you don’t like how this has turned out for you.
You think that flying free is the only way to live. And thus, you’re
still thinking of rebelling. In fact you want to come up with a way to
kill our amazing lord and master, am I right?”

Hearing the question, Xu Qing looked over.

Seeing Xu Qing’s gaze shift, the shadow trembled and cautiously

nodded.

1. Xu Qing killed the wolf and got the shadow in chapter 13. ☜

2. The shadow “being alive” was mentioned in chapter 76. The

Mute warned him about the shadow in chapter 111. And it
extinguished the lamp in chapter 117. ☜

3. Elder Zhao talked to him about the chariot in chapter 110. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsI’m not totally sure why, but this chapter

has missing Chinese characters in the title. It seems like it was
censored. In any case, Chinese commenters were more than
happy to leave their own thoughts in the comments about what the
censored words were. Most of their suggestions… were as dirty as
you might expect lol. If you think you know what the missing words
were, leave a comment.

I’m not totally sure why, but this chapter has missing Chinese
characters in the title. It seems like it was censored. In any case,
Chinese commenters were more than happy to leave their own
thoughts in the comments about what the censored words were.
Most of their suggestions… were as dirty as you might expect lol.
If you think you know what the missing words were, leave a
comment.
Chapter 173: Destined Opportunity for
Imperial-Class

Xu Qing knew full well that he had suppressed the shadow enough
that its intelligence had dropped, and thus it had been tricked by
Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior. Despite that, he still felt the urge to
suppress it for what it had just indicated. However, doing so
wouldn’t be logical, so he dismissed the urge and then glared at
the patriarch.

Appearing very obsequious, the patriarch ceased his attempts to

make the shadow more irritating to Xu Qing.

Looking at the shadow, Xu Qing said, “Why are you able to attract
the attention of that giant pulling the dragon chariot? What exactly
are you? And how many other things like you are out there?”

Shivering, the shadow did its best to express itself.

“Through... shadow....” Having finished speaking, it looked urgently

at the patriarch.

The patriarch, still squatting next to the shadow, started

whispering. After a series of blinks and nods from the shadow, the
patriarch turned to Xu Qing, clasped hands, and respectfully said,
“Milord, Little Shadow is trying to say that it doesn’t know what it
is. From the moment it gained consciousness, it was just a
shadow capable of living like a parasite in the shadows of host
beings.”

At this point, the patriarch blinked a few times. A moment ago

when Xu Qing had asked if there were other things out there like
the shadow, he had sensed some hidden killing intent in the
question.

Lowering his voice, the patriarch said, “The shadow also said that
it has never sensed the existence of another being like itself. That
said... your humble servant is of the opinion that there are few
things in the world that are truly one-of-a-kind.

“In terms of the giant pulling the dragon chariot, the shadow also
doesn’t know the details. It just knows that upon seeing the giant,
it was possible to make the same sounds as it, and therefore
summon it. Having thought about it myself, your humble servant
thinks that the shadow might have something to do with the
chariot.”

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. He only partly believed the shadow’s

explanation. But given that it had already said so much, he didn’t
think it would help to threaten it with more suppression.

The fact that it can attract the attention of the giant and the chariot
is enough. That alone can be a trump card.

Xu Qing sat cross-legged on his dharmaskiff, looking out at the

sea and mulling things over. It was already afternoon, and though
the sun was bright, it was already showing signs of nearing
evening. He kept thinking about what Elder Zhao had told him
about the giant and the chariot. And the more he thought about it,
the greater his desire grew.

If he saw the thing once, and never again, then he wouldn’t have
thought much of it. But now he’d seen it twice. What was more, the
shadow had the ability to bring it again. And that made Xu Qing
wonder if he could devise a plan to get a destined opportunity for
an imperial-class technique.

Of course, it would be incredibly difficult. Just looking at the giant

and the chariot from a distance, he had felt like his soul almost
couldn’t take the pressure. If he got closer, his body would
probably collapse. It was a pressure that came from a higher level
of life, the same thing Xu Qing had experienced in the mural in the
Merfolk Isles. Though his cultivation base was higher at this point,
the giant and the chariot had godliness that surpassed the mural.
He couldn’t get close, much less step onto the chariot. And even if
he somehow did manage to do so, if the giant looked back, then
Xu Qing knew he couldn’t withstand that level of might.

I wonder how the president of the Seven Sect Coalition managed

to do it back then.

Xu Qing got the feeling that unless the giant was asleep, it would
be simply impossible to get onto the chariot.
“Shadow, I’ll give you a chance to atone for some of your crimes.
Summon the giant and the dragon chariot to me. Then you sneak
inside and make a copy of the imperial-class technique.”

The shadow immediately released fluctuations of terror. “Very...

scared....”

The patriarch didn’t need any urging from Xu Qing. Looking very
excited, he started communicating with the shadow. Shortly after,
he had an explanation.

“Milord, Little Shadow says the giant has strange fluctuations of

godliness, which make it impossible to get close to. Furthermore,
the giant doesn’t have a shadow of its own, which would make it
even more difficult.

“Of course, this led me to ask why the shadow summoned the
giant and chariot if that’s the case. The answer is that Little
Shadow hoped the might of the chariot would kill you, milord. Little
Shadow can’t sustain that level of pressure for very long, and it
knew that if you died, it would mean freedom for it. Ai, Little
Shadow, how could you be so muddle-headed?”

Hearing that, Xu Qing thought back to when the shadow had

attacked him, and immediately suppressed the shadow. The
shadow screamed, then sent out emotions of both terror and
pleading.
Looking away from the shadow, Xu Qing stared out at the sky as it
gradually crept toward dusk. Many thoughts ran through his head.
Eventually, the sun set and the sky grew dark. That was when Xu
Qing thought back to the first time he saw the dragon chariot, and
also the time he saw countless ghosts haunting the night on his
first time out at sea.

“There is a fantastic symphony in the endless sea; mortals are

unable to hear it; it accompanies Crimson Yang the golden crow;
countless movements become a song; it is called Natural Sounds
Welcome the Moon.

“The god loved it; the god’s eyes gazed upon it; the endless sea
became forbidden; countless movements became sinister.”

Those lines were from the sea annals, and they described
‘countless ghosts haunting the night.’

As Xu Qing recalled them, his heart started beating, and new

thoughts occurred to him.

Elder Zhao said that the dragon chariot is actually the sun’s
imperial carriage. In that case, the young man in the engraving
must be the sun. And that engraving describes how he transforms
into the sun.

That conforms to what was described in the sea annals. The sun
was a golden crow that normally assumed the form of a young
person, riding through the sky on a dragon chariot during the day
as the embodiment of the sun. Then, at night, the dragon chariot
would return, and in his palace, the golden crow would listen to
countless harmonic movements that welcomed the moon with the
sounds of nature.

If all that is true, then the giant must have accompanied the sun to
listen to that symphony. And now, despite having perished, he still
pulls that chariot across the Forbidden Sea. If some of the giant’s
instincts remain, then if he hears that symphony of natural sounds
welcoming the moon, won’t he lose himself in the music...?

Having reached this point in his train of thought, Xu Qing’s eyes

shone with anticipation.

If he wanted to make this plan a reality, then he would have to find

countless ghosts haunting the night, and at the same time, have a
way to collect their music. That last aspect was the most
important, and it made Xu Qing look down at his bag of holding,
within which was that recording bottle. Once he had captured the
music, then he would have to find the giant and the chariot.

The Forbidden Sea was vast, and the giant and chariot were on
the seafloor. Anyone who caught a glimpse of them would be
considered lucky, and searching for them was basically
impossible.

Assuming I’m correct, then I’m surely not the first person to have
realized this. Perhaps the president of the Seven Sect Coalition
got the technique in a similar way. Regardless, it doesn’t matter if
other people have thought of this idea, does it? Even if they did,
they would have to search for the giant and chariot, whereas I can
call them to me with my shadow. One method is active, one is
passive, and the difference between the two in the chances of
success is immense.

Even still, he felt like he needed to carry out his plan as soon as
possible. For all he knew, there was someone out there already
trying to do the same thing as him.

Xu Qing also remembered Elder Zhao saying that whenever the

dragon chariot found someone to inherit its legacy, and that
person gained enlightenment of the imperial-class technique, then
the giant would go to sleep somewhere on the seafloor. Years
later, after building up enough power to impart the legacy again, it
would reappear.

This seems to indicate that the legacy of that high-level technique

cannot be imparted onto a chosen successor, but rather, can only
be acquired in this way. I suppose that can’t be proven until later,
though.

At this point, Xu Qing was determined to try out his idea.

“The first thing to do,” he murmured, “is find countless ghosts

haunting the night!”
He knew that the haunting would only occur at nighttime, and
wouldn’t last for very long. And thus, it was without the slightest
hesitation that he sent his dharmaskiff flying out over the
Forbidden Sea in search of the ghosts.

Days passed, and Xu Qing’s search proved fruitless. After all, the
Forbidden Sea was massive. Searching for ghosts haunting the
night was like fishing a needle from the sea, and was fully
dependent on luck. However, Xu Qing was patient.

During the month that passed, he got more familiar with the usage
of the black iron skewer. With Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior
having transformed into a lightning spirit, the skewer was now
astonishingly faster and more deadly. Now that the skewer was
covered with lightning symbols, it burst with power that shocked
even Xu Qing. And its speed surpassed that of a Foundation
Establishment cultivator with a single life flame, and approached
the level of one with two flames. Although it wasn’t exactly the
same as two flames, when combined with Xu Qing’s cultivation
base, it made his battle prowess reach an amazing level.

In addition to that, Xu Qing could clearly sense the abilities of his

shadow. He had the ability to control its power to devour other
shadows, and had tested it on a giantfang shark. After his shadow
devoured the shark’s shadow, the shark viciously bit itself in half.

It was a bizarre sight that left Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior

astonished, and also musing that he was glad he was a spirit
automaton with no shadow. The only downside was that the
devouring process was slow.

In addition, the shadow could also produce shadow eyes, much to

Xu Qing’s delight. Under his control, the shadow could produce
over a hundred shadow eyes, and when attached to different sea
beasts, they gave Xu Qing the ability to see far and wide. For the
most part, he attached shadow eyes to nocturnal sea beasts. That
way, he had a better chance of finding ghosts haunting the night.
Another month passed.

On one particular night as Xu Qing was monitoring things through

his shadow, his heart thumped as he focused on one shadow eye
in particular.

Through that eye, it was possible to see countless ghostly

specters rising up from the water in one particular region of the
sea.

“Countless ghosts haunting the night!”

Deathblade's ThoughtsMany thanks to ProfBob and Threewings

for the reviews!

Many thanks to ProfBob and Threewings for the reviews!

Chapter 174: The Moment Arrives!

Without any hesitation, Xu Qing put away his dharmaskiff and

entered the profound radiance state. His life lamp erupted
volcanically as he moved with astonishing speed in the direction of
the shadow eye.

The shadow eye was attached to a fish called a moonglow

seabass. Such fishes reached a length of thirty meters and had
huge heads that made up about ninety percent of their body. They
had tiny fins and tiny tails, and their mouths weren’t capable of
ever closing fully, making them look anything but intelligent. They
didn’t swim very fast either. Because they were attracted to light,
whether sunlight or moonlight, they generally stayed on the
surface of the water, despite being able to dive down to the
seafloor. Normally speaking, they would just float on the surface,
unmoving as if dead.

Moonglow seabasses were definitely one of the more unusual

creatures in the Forbidden Sea, as they were usually surrounded
by all sorts of injured sea beasts. They weren’t creatures injured
by the moonglow seabass. Instead, they treated the fish like a
giant rag to clean their wounds. The entry for moonglow
seabasses in the Seven Blood Eyes sea annals explained that the
mucus they secreted had healing properties, and because of that,
they played an important role in the balance of nature in the
Forbidden Sea.

Xu Qing flew along at high speed, guided by his shadow. After

traveling for about two hours, he saw numerous ghosts floating up
into the sky in the distance.

It was indeed an instance of countless ghosts haunting the night.

The area in question was large, stretching several thousand

meters from one end to the other. That was different compared to
the last time Xu Qing had encountered ghosts haunting the night.
Obviously, each instance wasn’t the same.

All of a sudden, he started worrying about whether his idea was

going to work or not. He had no idea if his theory had merit, but
after the work he had put in so far, he wasn’t going to give up now.
He waved his hand, and his dharmaskiff appeared, rumbling as it
splashed down into the water. As waves rolled out, his shadow
retracted its shadow eye.

Xu Qing stepped down onto the dharmaskiff, then piloted it toward

the ghosts. As he looked at them, strange sounds reached his
ears. It didn’t sound like music at all, but rather, the piercing howls
of evil ghosts, like weeping or the cry of wolves.

Xu Qing slowed his dharmaskiff down to a halt right in the middle

of all the ghosts. Then he produced the recording bottle, opened it,
and sent some dharma force into it.
Thread-like streams of light floated out of it, spreading out as the
bottle’s sound-capturing ability was activated.

With that, Xu Qing looked up into the dark sky and the ghosts
floating up into it. He heard their strange sounds, and thought back
to the first time he had encountered this phenomenon. Taking
control of his thoughts and emotions, he forced himself to calm
down.

Instead of rejecting the sounds as vicious, he accepted them. He

tried to sync himself with the sounds, and gradually, as he grew
more and more calm, time passed. Before he realized what was
happening, it was the next day.

When the first rays of dawn spread out, and the sea breeze
brushed against his face, he slowly opened his eyes. Deep therein
was a profound sadness that he slowly forced into the depths of
his heart.

It was daytime. The ghost-haunting event was over.

The night went by quickly.

Thinking back to the previous night, he remembered how, as he

slowly sank into a state of deep calm, the sounds had changed.
He clearly remembered hearing a beautiful symphony.

He had dreamed. This time, he didn’t dream about Grandmaster

Bai’s lessons. Instead, he dreamed that he was eating snake with
Sergeant Thunder in the scavenger basecamp.

Eventually, Xu Qing looked down at the recording bottle. As he

picked it up, he heard the same sounds from the night before.
They were such a perfect copy that if he closed his eyes, he felt
like he was once again watching countless ghosts haunt the night.

Mixed emotions filled him as he again felt like he was dreaming.

This time, the images that he saw were of himself, walking out of
the scavenger basecamp with Sergeant Thunder on his back. He
could even hear the old man’s reminders.

“You need to keep your eye on the other scavengers.

“Don’t forget to feed the dogs every night. You can trust them more
than anyone else in the basecamp.

“Remember to eat well. And don’t eat cold food. Warm it up first!
You’re still growing, so don’t get lazy about that kind of thing.

“If you do, you’ll regret it when you get older. Oh, right. Remember
to sleep in bed. And use the bedding! Don’t be afraid of getting it
dirty. Just wash it if you need to, and hang it in the sun to dry.”

Xu Qing shivered. The sea breeze blew, stirring his robe and hair,
but it couldn’t dispel the sadness he felt from those memories.

Time passed, and eventually he sighed, looked down at the bottle,

and whispered, “I still haven’t found a lifespan flower.”
It took a while for him to get his emotions under control. When he
finally did, his eyes glittered sharply with determination.

I’m too weak. I need to get stronger!

Looking around, he realized he was in a very remote location.

Flying up into the air, he checked the area to make sure he was
alone. Then he dropped back down to his dharmaskiff and looked
out at the sea.

“Shadow, call the giant and the dragon chariot.”

The early morning sun was soft on the surface of the sea. The
dark water looked like a huge slab of mysterious black jade. As the
sun touched it, it seemed partly rotten or decayed. Perhaps in the
past, the sea had seemed profound because of its boundless
majesty. But now it seemed putrid, thanks to the aura exuded by
the terrifying entities that slept on the seafloor. Such as the giant
pulling the dragon chariot.

The shadow didn’t hesitate for the slightest moment. It didn’t

understand what exactly Xu Qing was doing, and wanted to
transform into the shape of a question mark. But instead, it acted
docile and obedient, like any other living being that was terrified of
dying

As soon as Xu Qing issued his order, the shadow immediately

opened its mouth and emitted a loud sound.
“C-c-crunch. C-c-crunch.”

A sound like the grinding of teeth echoed out over the water. It
wasn’t extremely loud, but there was something unique about it, as
if it was a signal meant to attract the attention of specific entities.

As Xu Qing waited, maintaining full vigilance, the wind started to

blow. Ripples spread out over the calm surface of the water,
gradually growing larger and larger until they were waves. Black
spray from the waves drifted along with the wind.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing’s attention was focused on his snakeneck

dragon, as he looked through its eyes to what was happening
beneath the surface.

It took time. Perhaps it was because Xu Qing had traveled so far

away from the last spot where he saw the giant and the dragon
chariot. Or perhaps it was because the giant had moved to a
distant location. Either way, it took an incense stick’s worth of time.
The waves grew higher. Then, through the snakeneck dragon, Xu
Qing saw something massive moving through the water in the
distance.

“It’s here.”

He felt nervous, but was filled with determination. Lighting his life
flame, which caused his life lamp to shine brightly, he entered the
profound radiance state.
As soon as he did, the murky darkness of the sea changed. He
could see more clearly, and thus was able to easily spot the
massive giant covered with countless tentacles.

Everything around Xu Qing moved in slow motion, with the

exception of the giant. It was almost as if his profound radiance
state was useless in the presence of the giant. It strode toward
him, becoming clearer and clearer, the clanking sound of the chain
echoing through the water. Behind the giant was the dilapidated
bronze dragon chariot. Rust covered it, but it was still immensely
large and ghastly in appearance. They were already as close as
about 3,000 meters. The surrounding water didn’t seem to provide
any resistance at all to the giant’s movement. And it emanated a
profound and terrifying aura.

Xu Qing hadn’t gotten this close before!

The first time, he had been about 30,000 meters away, and had
barely been able to make out the engravings on the chariot. The
last time, he was a few thousand meters away, and had a much
higher cultivation base, so he had seen the images even more
clearly.

Now, as the giant reached the 3,000-meter mark and got even
closer, those engraved images became even clearer. At the same
time, Xu Qing sensed a mountain-toppling, sea-draining pressure
weighing down on his soul.
Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior shivered and flew into the depths
of the iron skewer to fight back against the pressure.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing, his mind reeling, felt blood oozing out of his
nose and eyes.

Only the shadow didn’t seem affected at all. Apparently, the

shadow had been truly cowed by Xu Qing’s torment. Despite
seeing that Xu Qing wasn’t in a very good state, the shadow didn’t
dare risk doing anything against him.

Wiping the blood off his face, Xu Qing looked coldly at the shadow,
but didn’t say anything. Then he looked back out at the sea. After
a moment of analyzing the situation, his eyes shone with
determination.

“It’s still a short distance away. There’s no time to lose!”

Deathblade's ThoughtsHey everyone, I want to thank you for all

the reviews. At the same time, I want to remind everyone not to
write a short review and pad it with nonsense words or obvious
filler. WW staff (not me) do check reviews for that, and reviews
that break the rules will be deleted. I have seen it happen.

Hey everyone, I want to thank you for all the reviews. At the same
time, I want to remind everyone not to write a short review and pad
it with nonsense words or obvious filler. WW staff (not me) do
check reviews for that, and reviews that break the rules will be
deleted. I have seen it happen.
Chapter 175: Where the Sun Reclined

Xu Qing gritted his teeth. Now wasn’t the time to sit around
hesitating. The question was whether or not the music from the
countless ghosts haunting the night would work on the giant. If it
didn’t, then Xu Qing would have to think of a way to make his
escape. Even if it was effective, he had no idea how long it would
take to work.

Therefore, he waved his hand, causing the recording bottle to

shine with glittering light. The same sound from before echoed out.

Xu Qing held his breath and looked at the giant and the dragon
chariot.

The giant didn’t seem affected by the sound at all, and continued
to stride closer and closer to Xu Qing.

2,700 meters. 2,400 meters. 2,100 meters.

Xu Qing reeled as the pressure grew greater, weighing down on

him, pushing down onto his lungs so hard he struggled to breathe.

Don’t tell me it’s not going to work.

Xu Qing looked at the dragon chariot and was now able to see the
engravings even more clearly, including some written text. The text
was hard to make out, but from what Xu Qing could tell, it
contained holy content written by a king or emperor.

I can’t give up now!

But then he coughed up a mouthful of blood and, looking regretful,

sighed and prepared to leave. If the recording bottle wasn’t going
to work, there was no point in staying around. If the giant got any
closer, then it would be difficult to get away safely.

However, just as Xu Qing was about to start moving backward, his

pupils constricted.

The giant, which was only about 1,800 meters away, suddenly
stopped moving. Then it tilted its chin up, revealing the black holes
that were its eye sockets. It seemed like it was listening to
something.

Xu Qing’s eyes went wide, and his heart started pounding.

Then the giant subconsciously took a half-step forward, bringing it

within 1,500 meters.

At that point, the pressure had reached a terrifying level. Xu Qing’s

mind spun and blood oozed out of his eyes, ears, nose, and
mouth.

Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was moaning from the pressure,

and the entire dharmaskiff was creaking as though it might not
hold out.
Thankfully, after the giant took that final half-step, it didn’t move at
all. It just stood there like a marionette with its strings cut. Then,
the black holes that were the giant’s eyes seemed to quiver, as if
emotions did exist on its previously expressionless face.

As for Xu Qing, a crazy look appeared in his eyes as, without the
slightest hesitation, he shot up into the air, putting away his
dharmaskiff, but keeping the recording bottle out. Then he dove
into the water and started moving toward the giant and the dragon
chariot 1,500 meters away.

As he got closer, cracks spread out across his skin, wounds that
immediately oozed blood. His soul trembled as though it might
collapse, and his life flame whipped about as if it were being
battered by a fierce wind. In fact, an ordinary life flame would have
been extinguished. But Xu Qing had a life lamp, and because of
that foundation, the flame couldn’t easily be put out. In that critical
moment, Xu Qing waved his hand, and a huge black umbrella
appeared over his head. As soon as the umbrella appeared, black
fire flowed out to surround him. As that protection surrounded him
on the outside, the violet crystal regenerated him from the inside.
But Xu Qing wasn’t paying attention to such things.

Accelerating, he sped past the 1,500-meter-mark as he headed

closer to the listening giant. Xu Qing was roughly at the level of the
giant’s waist. Compared to the giant in size, he was like a fly that
could be killed with a single swat of the hand. An extremely
disturbing sensation filled him.
The closer he got, the more clearly he could see the rotting flesh
of the giant. And he could smell its stench. Furthermore, it was
now possible to see the shocking wounds that covered it. From the
nature of the wounds, it seemed they were made when the giant
was trying to protect someone important. Seeing all this, Xu Qing
was deeply moved.

His plan was working!

However, despite the external protections, and the violet crystal

restoring him from the inside, his body was still teetering on the
verge of collapse. And all of it was simply because of the aura
exuded naturally by the giant. The two of them were poles apart.

Xu Qing moved in a blur toward the giant, and more specifically,

the bronze dragon chariot. Closer and closer he got, until he was
right in front of the imperial carriage. Though it was covered in
rust, it still exuded the sensation of a monarch. Though it was
dilapidated, its carvings were incomparably extravagant. Though it
was a remnant of the ancient past, it still felt like something
imperial.

Now, Xu Qing could clearly see the engravings, and they were
instantly branded into the depths of his soul!

At the same time, he was filled with the urge to offer obeisance.
That said, the sensation of danger coming from the giant prompted
Xu Qing to ignore that urge. With that, he stepped forward onto the
bronze dragon chariot.

This was where the sun reclined!

This was where an emperor sat!

This was a place ordinary individuals would never get close to in

an entire lifetime.

The dragon chariot was so enormous that, as Xu Qing stepped

onto it, he felt like he was entering a palace. In fact, opposite of
him, there was an enormous imperial throne. Everything around
him was decorated with auspicious designs. He saw broken
lampstands. And even more shocking was that, on the walls were
scribbled rows of text. They seemed to have been written in a
hurry, perhaps by someone about to die, but not willing to let their
legacy disappear.

As Xu Qing looked at the text, his mind felt like it was being struck
by a hundred thousand lightning bolts which then coursed out with
destructive power into every corner of his body. He shook violently
as his eyes filled with blinding, golden light that gradually took the
shape of a golden crow, its wings held tightly to its sides as it shot
up to the highest heavens. The golden crow was so large that,
even though its wings weren’t spread, it filled half the sky, and its
golden light made it seem like a god. Its aura surpassed anything
Xu Qing had ever encountered. Both Joine and Flame Phoenix
would seem like peasants in comparison. This was the imposing
grandeur of an emperor or sovereign!

Whether it was the Seven Blood Eyes sea annals, or what Third
Elder had told him, or what Xu Qing himself was able to see by
looking at the images, they all indicated the same thing.

The sun of this world was an entity like an Ancient Emperor. The
sun was not human, but rather, a divine bird. A golden crow! Hē
would leave with the sunrise and return after the sunset. The sun’s
light warmed the lands before, and though it might not encompass
all of Revered Ancient, at the very least, hē was a god to all living
beings.

Xu Qing was shaken to the core, waves of shock battering him, his
soul trembling, and his fleshly body quivering. It was a sensation
difficult to put into words. He felt almost like he was inside of
something not really true, like a myth. Like he had entered a world
of the ancient past, before the broken face of the god arrived. And
he was standing high above as all living beings offered worship to
the sun’s imperial carriage.

A whole series of feelings struck Xu Qing to the core. And the

image he was seeing, of the golden crow flying to the highest
heavens like an emperor and like a sovereign, was so clear he
was able to see the feathers of its wings, which were still held
tightly to its sides. All of the feathers rippled, thrumming with
something like a dao resonance.
It was the same type of feeling he got back in the forbidden region
by the scavenger basecamp, when he entered that temple and
saw the golden statue wielding a saber. That saber strike had left
him shaken, and had served him as a trump card ever since.
However, his level had been too low at the time, and thus, he
didn’t have a full understanding of the move. In turn, that meant he
couldn’t unleash its complete potential.

And yet, that also went to show that Xu Qing’s ability to obtain
enlightenment surpassed that of ordinary individuals. In terms of
aptitude, he was outstanding in Seven Blood Eyes. That said, if
you included all of the countless species and sects in the Revered
Ancient mainland, there were plenty of people who surpassed him.
But for him to have acquired a saber move with dao resonance
while in the Qi Condensation level proved that he had unusual
powers of understanding.

Those powers of understanding were on full display again, as he

immersed himself in the sight of the holy golden crow. He watched
hīm fly to the highest heights. He watched hīm pierce the sky. He
watched hīm rebuke the heavens.

Outside of Xu Qing’s life lamp, an illusory figure appeared. As it

became more and more clear, it came to resemble a golden crow.
The image became rapidly clearer. In Xu Qing’s eyes, he was
watching the divine bird, the golden crow, emanating golden light
that shone onto all heaven and earth. Then it spread its wings
wide and flapped them.
Heaven and earth seemed like they might collapse, as intense
rumbling sounds echoed out everywhere. It was like countless
lightning bolts crashing at the same time, and it filled Xu Qing with
profound astonishment. Though he felt like his mind was about to
collapse, the golden crow outside of his life lamp coalesced even
faster. At the same time, immense amounts of information flew
from the golden crow he was seeing and into his mind.

That information was like a tempest, raging so wildly that Xu Qing

had no time to ponder it. He was shaking, veins bulging out on his
forehead, his eyes bloodshot as he accepted a new legacy.

Deathblade's ThoughtsAs of this upload, there is a new Champion

tier. If you aren't a Champion, don't forget that even the lowest
level will unlock all chapters, meaning you don't have to mess with
Karma to read.Also, in order to keep my head straight I do
shoutouts for reviews on my daily upload. This means that the
next shoutout won't be for a few more chapters from this point.

As of this upload, there is a new Champion tier. If you aren't a

Champion, don't forget that even the lowest level will unlock all
chapters, meaning you don't have to mess with Karma to read.

Also, in order to keep my head straight I do shoutouts for reviews

on my daily upload. This means that the next shoutout won't be for
a few more chapters from this point.
Chapter 176: Golden Crow Assimilates
Myriad Spirits

The spreading of wings was the imparting of a legacy. And then,

shortly thereafter as Xu Qing was still reeling, the golden crow’s
wings flapped again. This time, it released a terrifying shockwave
that caused all light to dim, and sent wild winds screaming
everywhere.

Though Xu Qing didn’t notice, blood was flowing out of his nose,
and the recording bottle was weakening. At the same time, the
giant stirred, as though slowly leaving its state of absent-
mindedness.

Next, Xu Qing watched as the golden crow climbed higher. Then,

the crow’s wings spread again. This was the third time! This time,
every feather radiated dazzling golden light. Along with the
spreading of the wings, the sky seemed about to split open, and
terrifying ripples spread out in all directions.

Then the sky did split open as a huge crevice opened up above,
revealing another world. Xu Qing saw countless species of living
beings, all of them strange-looking, and all of them howling. As
they howled, the golden crow’s mouth opened, and an echoing
sound erupted into that world.
To Xu Qing’s shock, black flames enveloped that world,
assimilating everything in an instant. Countless drops of blood
rose up into the air, converging into a golden liquid that shot into
the golden crow’s mouth. From a distance, it almost looked like the
crow was drinking water.

Next, Xu Qing was shaken to the core as the golden crow

suddenly looked around. Those bright, glittering eyes seemed
capable of piercing through the River of Time. And they surpassed
even the great dao of space.

From the most ancient time, and from the most boundless space,
that gaze came to rest on Xu Qing. His mind vibrated as a gentle
voice spoke to him.

“This is the life essence technique of an emperor. Of me. Golden

Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits.”

Terrifying levels of information poured into Xu Qing, making him

feel like he was a little rowboat floating on the sea during a violent
storm. Blood oozed out of the corners of his mouth, out of his
eyes, out of his nose, and out of his ears. As that happened, Xu
Qing’s vision slowly collapsed, and he reverted to his normal state.

At the same time, he heard Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior wailing.

“Wake up, milord! The giant’s rousing! We’re finished! Oh, milord.
Hurry and wake up!”
The recording bottle had ceased emitting any sound, and as the
giant looked at it, it started to collapse. Emotions seemed to be
stirring in the giant. Its chest heaved as though it wanted to
breathe, and then the tentacles covering it started to sway. Its
breathing contained unspeakable power that shoved the water
away from it. And the astonishing tentacles were writhing.

It seemed that the sounds from the recording bottle had stirred the
giant’s memories, causing it to weep. And then it threw its hands
wide, resulting in a tsunami on the surface of the sea. Waves
surged out in all directions, some hundreds of meters tall, some
thousands. From a distance, it looked like ripples spreading out on
a pond, except vastly more terrifying. Then the giant started to turn
around to look at the dragon chariot.

As it turned, breathing, the water around it boiled and evaporated,

leaving the surrounding area empty. Xu Qing’s eyes snapped
open, and he heard the wailing of Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior.
Then he saw the black, empty eye sockets of the massive giant.
As the giant’s face turned directly toward him, its breath swept
over him.

The dragon chariot was made from special materials that wouldn’t
be affected by the giant’s mere breathing. But Xu Qing was not.
His flesh and blood immediately exploded with intense pain. His
face, chest, and abdomen were ripped into bloody shreds. The
front of his arms and legs suffered similarly. The mere breathing of
the giant was ripping him apart.
During that moment of crisis, a black umbrella appeared in front of
him, blocking the giant’s breath. As the umbrella trembled, Xu
Qing reached up with a hand that was mostly bloody flesh and
bone. Producing an entropic teleportation talisman, he crushed it!

Instantly, the glittering light of the teleportation talisman

surrounded him and the umbrella. Then, rumbling sounds could be
heard as he vanished.

***

After Xu Qing and the umbrella were gone, there was nothing to
block the giant’s breath, and it swept over the dragon chariot.
When it passed, the giant looked mutely at the empty dragon
chariot, then once again began to weep in grief. It didn’t care
whether or not Xu Qing escaped. It looked at the chariot, its
emotions clearly having been provoked by the recording bottle,
causing it to think of its master from the past. Weeping echoed out
into heaven and earth.

Eventually, the giant squatted down in front of the dragon chariot.

The weeping grew louder, as though the giant were defiantly trying
to summon something. But in the end, there was no response. Its
emotions began to die down, and it again returned to its previous
state of blankness. Acting on instinct alone, it started slowly
dragging the dragon chariot across the seafloor. The legacy had
been passed on, and the giant would now go into a deep sleep
from which it couldn’t be awakened. A hundred years later, it
would return.

However, the sea did not calm down. The tsunami that had been
kicked up, as well as the winds, continued to sweep out.

***

At a location a few thousand kilometers away that was still not

affected by the storm, Xu Qing appeared in a glow of teleportation
light. After materializing, he fell down onto the water. As soon as
the mutagen-filled seawater touched his wounds, more pain
pierced into him. He could hardly see, but he waved his hand to
summon his dharmaskiff, climbed on board, and then activated the
defenses.

There he lay on the deck, trembling from head to toe, bleeding

profusely.

The flesh had been shredded off of most of the front half of his
body, leaving behind little but shattered bone. He looked extremely
ghastly. In fact, if there were someone present to look at him, they
wouldn’t have been able to recognize who he was.

Vision swimming, he shakily produced massive amounts of

medicinal pills that he began to consume. He also pushed the
violet crystal to heal him. As the violet light spread out, he endured
the pain. At the same time, his eyes shone with cold light as he
looked at his shadow.
As the sunlight shone down, the shadow shivered obsequiously. It
was very afraid. It had been there when Xu Qing got the life lamp,
and had seen him injured. But that was nothing like this. So, not
only was it afraid because of how Xu Qing had suppressed it in the
past, but now it could see what indescribably crazy things Xu Qing
was capable of doing. If he could treat himself this viciously, then it
was only possible to imagine how viciously he could treat others.

Therefore, the shadow didn’t dare to even think about trying to

cause problems. It tried to send out fawning emotions, and even
attempted to stretch out in a way that would block the sun from
hitting Xu Qing.

Meanwhile, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior couldn’t stop himself

from shaking. Face pale and eyes wide with terror, he thought,
Never in all my freaking years have I seen someone act so
suicidal. Back in that unfathomable world we entered in the
Merfolk Isles, I felt terror. But this was even worse than that!

The Fiendish Xu really is crazy. In fact, if he keeps this up, the day
is going to come when he ends up killing himself. If he dies, then
I’m going to die.... But if he keeps doing this and surviving, he’s
going to get more and more precious treasures. And if that
happens, then it’s entirely possible he might think I’m not useful
anymore, and kill me.

What am I supposed to do?

The more the patriarch thought about it, the more scared he got. In
fact, he was so scared that he uncharacteristically wasn’t even
paying attention to how the shadow was ingratiating itself to Xu
Qing. The only solution he could think of was to work even harder
to make sure the Fiendish Xu did well.

That caused the patriarch’s eyes to turn bloodshot. He wasn’t the

type of person who liked taking risks. But as he thought about it,
he realized that if he didn’t put his life on the line, then his poor
little life would end up lost.

However, there was something else that made him feel like he was
in more danger than ever. Based on the ancient records and
stories he had read, if someone learned too many secrets about
another person, they almost always ended up dying horrible
deaths.

That thought caused him to shiver even more. It was around then
that he noticed the fawning shadow, so he quickly sent the iron
skewer swirling around Xu Qing. Trying to look so protective that
he would risk his life to keep his lord and master safe, he said,
“Milord, I’ll keep you safe while you recover. Leave everything to
me!”

With that, he glared at the shadow. After all, he knew that the
shadow was probably the biggest danger right now. Xu Qing took
note of the shadow’s fawning behavior, and the patriarch’s efforts
to watch over him. After casting a placid glance at the shadow, he
looked at the patriarch.

The patriarch saw the expression of approval and very nearly

started weeping out of excitement. In fact, all of his fears about
death vanished, and he felt profoundly moved.

Trembling, he did something he rarely did and started talking

without planning out his words first. “Milord!! Going forward, as
long as I don’t get killed, I’ll always keep you safe. Your humble
servant is even ready to self-detonate if necessary!”

Xu Qing nodded, then focused on his injuries. The truth was that
he was actually trying to distract the patriarch and the shadow, just
in case they were thinking of attacking him in his moment of
weakness. He was ready to suppress the shadow or crush the
patriarch’s life essence spirit at a moment’s notice.

He had been injured so badly that he had basically lost half a life.
However, that also meant he still had half a life left. After his
experience with the life lamp, and having witnessed the Captain’s
craziness, Xu Qing wasn’t too worried about his current state.
Although he hurt from head to toe, and his aura was weak, his
eyes still glittered with craziness and excitement.

It was worth it!

Struggling to the side where he could lean against the rail of the
dharmaskiff, he ignored his injuries and started thinking about
what he had risked his life to acquire. He knew that he had only
been inside the dragon chariot for a few breaths of time. But he
also knew that his life lamp now had the image of a golden crow
attached to it. It wasn’t just a mere outline. It was completely
lifelike. Even on the Revered Ancient mainland, this was
something precious.

An imperial-class legacy technique. Golden Crow Assimilates

Myriad Spirits!
Chapter 177: Like a Devil or a Demon

So-called imperial-class techniques were secret magics created by

Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns from the Revered
Ancient of epochs past. Some were entire collections of
techniques. Others were individual secret techniques.

Regardless, they were all astonishingly mighty.

And they were so mysterious and powerful that most people found
them unimaginable, and of course, incomparably valuable. The
fact that imperial-class techniques were extremely rare ensured
that they were often kept as reserve powers for huge
organizations. That said, the majority actually couldn’t be
cultivated, as they had very strict requirements. For example, they
might need to be coupled with a bloodline power that was itself
exceedingly rare.

In a similar vein, it was generally difficult for one species to

cultivate and control a technique designed for another species.
There were only a few that didn’t have a bloodline requirement,
and those were the most valuable. If a technique like that
appeared in the world, people would either go crazy or turn
despondent. They would go crazy out of envy, or be despondent
because they couldn’t get it.
Once an imperial-class technique formed a seed in someone,
others couldn’t get it, not even by killing that person.

If that person explained the technique, the other person wouldn’t

be able to remember it. And even if someone had a special way to
preserve the memory of the technique, without the legacy seed in
them, they wouldn’t be able to cultivate it. The legacy seed was
proof that the person who had it qualified to cultivate the
technique.

Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits was like that.

Put precisely, Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits wasn’t a

martial technique, but rather, a secret magic!

Based on the description from the information Xu Qing had

acquired, after cultivating the magic to the highest level, the
cultivator could form the Golden Crow Emperor Body.

With the Golden Crow Emperor Body, the cultivator’s fleshly body
battle prowess would be at the level of an emperor, and they could
transform into a golden crow and rebuke the highest heavens.

From the descriptions, and based on what Xu Qing knew about

cultivation, he came to realize that Golden Crow Assimilates
Myriad Spirits was a body cultivation secret magic.

The cultivation method revolved around studying the process of

natural selection. By assimilating the essence blood of myriads of
spirits, and absorbing them into one’s body, it was possible to
reshape the fleshly body, making it like a magical treasure. And
the ultimate goal was to form the Golden Crow Emperor Body.

Because the magic had been created by the golden crow, it was
not intended to be either good or evil. After all, to hīm, the world
was a place where the weak were the prey of the strong, and one
had to continuously evolve into being a stronger entity. By
constantly absorbing the essence blood of myriads of living things,
one could not only strengthen oneself, but also could absorb the
innate abilities of other species! That aspect was extremely
domineering.

Of course, there were limitations. In order to acquire the innate

abilities of a species, one couldn’t absorb simply a single
individual. It required absorbing many, and preferably, individuals
with high cultivation bases.

Xu Qing leaned against the side of the dharmaskiff, his eyes

closed as he went through all of the information. As he did, his
heart pounded. Sometime later, he opened his eyes, and they
shone with astonishment.

An imperial-class body cultivation secret magic!

He was not unfamiliar with body cultivation.

The very first technique he had encountered on his path of

cultivation was the Sea and Mountain Incantation, which was also
a body cultivation magic. He had killed many enemies with it in the
scavenger basecamp, and even after arriving at Seven Blood
Eyes and getting other techniques, he still didn’t give up on it.

Eventually, he had pushed the Sea and Mountain Incantation as

far as it could go, which was the ninth level, which was its limit.
The spectral drought demon that appeared behind him at that time
had two fleshy lumps on its back that seemed like they would grow
into wings eventually. However, it had never transformed after that,
and it didn’t seem like it would be easy to push it to a theoretical
tenth level.

It had nothing to do with Xu Qing. He had no mutagen in him, and

coupled with the violet crystal, he had cultivated the Sea and
Mountain Incantation to an unheard-of level. His inability to
achieve a breakthrough with it was a limitation of the technique
itself. After all, it was nothing more than a common low-level
technique. Because of that, Xu Qing had been forced to use the
Seaforming Scripture to reach Foundation Establishment.

That said, he hadn’t given up on his pursuit of body cultivation.

After reaching Foundation Establishment, he had acquired some
other body cultivation techniques, but none of them had worked
out, and none seemed to correspond well to the Sea and Mountain
Incantation.

Now, Xu Qing’s eyes were shining brightly. As he reviewed the

information from Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits, and
sensed the legacy seed of the golden crow attached to his life
lamp, he felt incredible anticipation.

I wonder if my Sea and Mountain Incantation will improve now that

I have Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits.

They were both body cultivation techniques, and thus it made

sense to him that the blessings of the Sea and Mountain
Incantation would bolster Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits.

Unfortunately, he was too seriously injured right now. It wasn’t a

good time for cultivation. Taking a deep breath, he ignored the
pain and steadied his breathing, then poured dharma force into the
violet crystal to focus on recovery.

In that matter, time slipped by slowly but surely. Ten days went by.

Day and night, the shadow sent out emotions of loyalty. During the
day, it would try to block the sun, and during the night it would
stand guard under the water.

Seeing that, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior chuckled coldly in his

heart. The more you do that, the more the Fiendish Xu will want to
suppress you. After all, you’re giving the impression that you won’t
behave unless you’ve been beaten down. The best thing would be
to not be so obvious. Show your loyalty in more subtle ways.

With such thoughts on his mind, the patriarch sent the iron skewer
flying up into the sky, where he circled around slowly, keeping an
eye on the entire area around Xu Qing. On a few occasions during
those ten days, Xu Qing encountered dangerous sea beasts.
However, both the shadow and the patriarch used a variety of
methods to ensure that Xu Qing was always safe the entire time.

As for the sea beasts, Xu Qing didn’t want them killed. He had the
shadow bind them and keep them underwater, almost like sheep
in a pen.

As the violet crystal worked to heal him, he eventually reached a

point of seeming relatively normal, other than still being quite pale.
At that point, he decided the time had come to start cultivating
Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits.

Sitting down cross-legged beneath the morning sun, he reviewed

the information that he had been studying for the past ten days.

“Nine firmaments forge the emperor’s body; the golden crow

assimilates myriad spirits; innate abilities are recovered from
myriad species; mine own life glorifies the vault of heaven!!”

He performed an incantation gesture, then put his thumbs together

in front of his dantian region, spreading his other fingers out like
wings. Looking up at the sun, he took a deep breath. Instantly, the
spot he was looking at seemed to grow blurry, and an intense heat
appeared there that only he could see. Streaming down from the
sun, it entered his body.
The golden crow attached to his life lamp opened its eyes and
spread its wings. Lifting its head it opened its mouth and
consumed the warmth from the sun. As that warmth flowed inside,
its eyes opened further, but not all the way. Only a crack, within
which glowed brilliant light. This was the first step in cultivating
Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits. It was activating the
legacy seed of the golden crow.

And the method to awaken it was to bring in some of the sun’s

aura, then nourish it with blood.

Next, the golden crow shivered and became like a black hole,
while Xu Qing started withering. He shook, his energy and blood
trembling as wisps of it entered the golden crow. In the blink of an
eye, he looked like a desiccated corpse. His arms became limp,
his face sank in, and he shrank so much that his clothes seemed
empty.

However, his expression was not one of panic. Given all the
research he had done into Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits
over the past ten days, he knew exactly what was happening. As
he remained calm, the golden crow within him absorbed his
energy and blood.

Though he became so withered it looked terrifying, the golden

crow eventually reached a critical point and struggled to open its
eyes.
The legacy seeds of imperial-class techniques didn’t just
immediately activate. The cultivators needed to take the initiative
to activate them. And that was because legacy seeds took a lot of
power. Normally speaking, people wouldn’t attempt it alone.
Usually they would have the help of a powerful organization, who
would spare no cost to help them.

For example, the requirements of energy and blood for Golden

Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits were so incredible that ordinary
cultivators wouldn’t be able to meet them. And if they failed in their
attempt, they would be in danger of being killed.

But because Xu Qing was already at a shocking level of body

refinement, and had powerful energy and blood, he was able to
last much longer than any ordinary person. Even still, he was
reaching the point where he felt like he might not be able to
continue. He saw how withered his body was, to the point where
he looked like a corpse. However, his eyes glittered as he
activated the Sea and Mountain Incantation, causing the spectral
drought demon to appear behind him. It roared to heaven, the
cracks that covered it flowing with molten lava. It emanated a
shocking aura, and a powerful aura of energy and blood.

Then, a tremor passed through it as streams of energy and blood

erupted out of the drought demon and pierced into Xu Qing,
heading right to the golden crow.
The golden crow shivered. As it absorbed more and more, its eyes
opened further. The drought demon began to wither, and after
about ten breaths of time, it collapsed, turning into a haze of
energy and blood that shot into Xu Qing to the golden crow.

The golden crow shook as it tried harder to open its eyes.

However, it seemed that the energy and blood Xu Qing was
capable of providing wasn’t sufficient. It just wasn’t enough to fully
open the golden crow’s eyes.

Without any hesitation, Xu Qing extended his right hand and put it
onto the deck. Instantly, a gravitational force popped into being,
causing Joine’s flesh to emerge from the middle of the
dharmaskiff. When that flesh flew over to him, it emanated a
terrifying power of energy and blood that filled Xu Qing.

After the golden crow consumed it, the crow’s eyes opened all the
way, and it let loose a piercing cry filled with a dao resonance that
shook everything.

Waves spread out from the dharmaskiff, creating something like a

small-scale tsunami.

From the sky, the sea surrounding Xu Qing looked very strange.
The waves were making a very specific image. It was the image of
a huge eye. The golden crow’s eye! And Xu Qing’s dharmaskiff
was the pupil of that eye.
As he sat on the deck, he looked like a corpse, but his eyes shone
like the stars, and his hair drifted in the wind. All in all... He looked
like a devil or a demon!
Chapter 178: Sweeping the Sea, Sealing a
Dragon!

Rumbling sounds rolled out over the sea. As the waves crashed,
Xu Qing sat on his dharmaskiff trembling from head to toe, his
breath coming in ragged pants, and the coldness in his eyes
transforming into madness. The reason was... he was hungry!
More hungry than he had ever been before. One reason for that
hunger was that his withered fleshly body needed to be
replenished in order to return to normal. The violet crystal couldn’t
help out at all in that regard. It could speed up recovery from
injuries, but it couldn’t create energy, blood, and nutrients out of
nothing.

The other reason for that hunger was right behind Xu Qing. There
was nothing in the air behind him. But both Patriarch Golden Vajra
Warrior and the shadow were both very nervous, as they knew
that right behind Xu Qing lurked something extremely vicious and
dangerous.

Xu Qing also knew that there was something behind him.

Put precisely, the patriarch and the shadow were both tense with
fear because, beneath Xu Qing’s clothing, right on his back, was a
magical totem tattoo.
The moment the eyes of the golden crow opened, an image
appeared on Xu Qing’s back that looked exactly like it in every
aspect. And it pulsed with a hair-raising aura.

This was the second phase of activating the legacy seed!

During the ten days in which Xu Qing studied the legacy

information about Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits, he
came to find that activating the legacy seed involved two phases.
The first phase was stimulating the seed, causing a totem tattoo to
appear on one’s body.

The second phase was making that tattoo visible as a projection of

energy and blood. Once that was done, the legacy seed was
considered fully activated. The second phase needed massive
amounts of energy and blood, and also resulted in extreme
hunger!

As Xu Qing panted for breath, he turned his bloodshot eyes to

Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior.

The patriarch shivered. The look in Xu Qing’s eye made it seem

like he was getting ready to devour someone. The patriarch
immediately revealed a projection of himself, making sure to keep
himself mostly transparent to reinforce the fact that he had no
energy or blood.

Xu Qing looked away from him to the shadow.

The shadow also trembled.

“Bring them up here,” Xu Qing said, his voice faint and raspy. The
shadow didn’t hesitate for a second. It slid down into the water,
and a moment later, dragged up a huge armored mackerel.

As Xu Qing eyed the fish, the tattoo on his back shimmered as

though it wished to manifest itself, but couldn’t. What did happen
was that a host of illusory golden feathers shimmered into being
behind him, making two wings. As they swayed, they created a
gravitational force that locked onto the armored mackerel.

Instantly, the 300-meter-long fish trembled as all of its energy and

blood were sucked out of it. They converged into a 30-meter
sphere of rippling blood that collapsed in on itself until it created a
tiny point of golden liquid. The golden wings swayed as it
absorbed it.

At the same time, Xu Qing waved his hand, causing black balefire
to sweep over the armored mackerel and extract its soul.

The shadow couldn’t restrain itself, and greedily devoured the

mutagen and spirit power that remained behind. Then the shadow
dragged up a second sea beast. Then a third. A fourth....

During the previous ten days of study, Xu Qing had intentionally

kept a group of twenty-three sea beasts confined in the water
beneath his dharmaskiff, that way, once his tattoo manifested the
golden wings, he would be able to have instant access to
nourishment. As the wings absorbed the energy and blood, they
became more and more corporeal. At the same time, Xu Qing
replenished himself, and became less and less withered. He was
starting to recover.

Now he could clearly sense that his fleshly body power had
progressed past its previous point of stagnation. He was stronger
and faster. He also had a new level of perception. That perception
was apparently a resonance with magical techniques, allowing him
to tap into some of the abilities he knew without using incantation
gestures.

Unfortunately, after performing some tests, he wasn’t able to use it

properly.

I wonder if this is one of those innate species abilities mentioned in

the Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits description. And I
haven’t assimilated enough living beings to use it.

Right now, his hunger was only partially abated. After some
thought, he stood, put away his dharmaskiff, and dove directly into
the water.

Once under the surface, rumbling sounds surged out as he

entered the profound radiance state. The tattoo on his back
radiated an awe-inspiring aura that made the pressure he exuded
even more powerful. Off to the side, Patriarch Golden Vajra
Warrior crackled with electricity, and the lightning symbols on the
iron skewer glittered. The shadow spread out in all directions as
well, resembling a ghastly tree, its over one hundred eyes open
and looking in all directions.

Xu Qing’s overall battle prowess vastly surpassed what he was

capable of before. Though the Forbidden Sea was still a place
where caution was needed, he was strong enough to be virtually
all-powerful in most situations.

Rumbling swept through the sea as Xu Qing vanished into the

distance and began slaughtering every sea beast he encountered.

He needed many more sea beasts, and a lot more blood, to sate
his hunger and complete the second phase of the legacy seed
activation.

Half a month passed.

***

In a remote part of the Forbidden Sea, seawater exploded as a

500-meter long bluegreen dragon jumped up into the air. It had a
terrifying aura and appearance; even when its mouth was closed,
its razor-sharp teeth were still plainly visible. These dragons were
simply a nightmare for most trading ships and cultivators who
traveled the Forbidden Sea. [1]

The Seven Blood Eyes sea annals went into a lot of detail about
bluegreen dragons. They were apex predators in the Forbidden
Sea and were known for being vicious and terrifying. What was
more, their mutated cultivation base gave them shocking battle
prowess.

This particular bluegreen dragon was an extraordinary specimen.

As it leaped into the air, it was possible to see two balls of red fire
burning within it. That indicated that this bluegreen dragon had
reached the level of two life flames. As the sea exploded around
well over a thousand meters in each direction, its normally cold
and indifferent eyes actually brimmed with fear. And looking
closely, it was possible to see a totem mark on its abdomen.

That mark looked exactly like a tree, with over a hundred blinking
eyes on it. They almost looked like mouths as they devoured the
bluegreen dragon’s shadow.

Then, a host of lightning bolts shot up from the water, within the
middle of which was a black iron skewer. It moved with astonishing
speed as it stabbed directly into the bluegreen dragon. A boom
rang out as the spot where the dragon had been stabbed
exploded. The intense pain caused the dragon to attempt to open
its mouth and howl in pain.

However, it couldn’t open its mouth!

Instead of a howl, it could issue little more than a muffled grunt.

And that was because a young man stood in its mouth. He wore a
violet daoist robe as he stood between two of the dragon’s teeth,
his hair dripping wet.

As the bluegreen dragon thrashed, his hair whipped about,

spraying water like black ink. Water flowed down his face,
accenting his delicate features and fair skin. He was so handsome
as to be beautiful, with eyebrows like willow leaves, a body like a
jade tree, and long black hair that was both wildly unkempt and
stunningly breathtaking. His eyes contained something fiendish.
And that fiendishness wasn’t just visible on his stunning face.
Instead, his entire person exuded it.

At the moment, he had one hand on the bluegreen dragon’s upper

teeth, while his feet were planted like nails into its lower teeth.
Using his power alone, he was preventing the dragon from
opening its mouth!

This young man was none other than Xu Qing. For half a month
he had been hunting and killing sea beasts. The totem tattoo on
his back was very close to being complete, having absorbed quite
a bit of energy and blood.

Thanks to the nourishment, Xu Qing had recovered. He was now

vastly stronger and faster than before, to the point that he was
able to contend with a bluegreen dragon using fleshly body power
alone.
As his cold eyes flickered, black balefire erupted out to cover the
bluegreen dragon that he had been chasing for half a day. At the
same time, countless golden feathers materialized behind him,
rippling as they sent out a gravitational force to absorb the dragon.
The bluegreen dragon thrashed as it splashed back down into the
water. However, that was when a snakeneck dragon appeared,
slamming into the bluegreen dragon and stopping it from sinking
down.

Although the snakeneck dragon collapsed, it created enough of a

delay that the balefire covered the entire bluegreen dragon. Also,
Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits was fully unleashed.

A howl barely managed to escape through the bluegreen dragon’s

teeth as countless amounts of energy and blood were sucked out
of it and absorbed into the wings.

Its soul then appeared within Xu Qing, serving as kindling as he

opened his 47th and 48th dharma apertures!

His dharma force surged, and nourishment from Golden Crow

Assimilates Myriad Spirits swept through him. Cracking sounds
filled his body, causing him to become even more good-looking,
and at the same time, boosting his fleshly body power!

I only need a few more sea beasts to finish the second phase of
Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits. At that point, the totem
tattoo will fully manifest, and this imperial-class technique of mine
will be mine permanently.

Xu Qing then sped off into the distance, leaving behind the
desiccated corpse of the bluegreen dragon to sink to the bottom of
the sea. As the shadow raced to follow him, it sent out emotions of
frustration.

It felt that it had been too slow in consuming the dragon’s shadow.
The dragon had been killed before the shadow even finished.
Unexpectedly the shadow was sending these emotions to the
patriarch, who didn’t take the opportunity to try to mess with the
shadow. Instead, he was looking at Xu Qing, his long hair and
violet robe rippling. The patriarch’s mind was spinning.

He had witnessed Xu Qing unleash slaughter. He had witnessed

Xu Qing go crazy. He had witnessed Xu Qing cause members of
the opposite sex to swoon. And he had witnessed Xu Qing getting
stronger and stronger the entire time. All of it caused a specific
thought to occur to him.

This is what the main character of a novel is supposed to be like! I

need to start taking notes, then later on, I can write my own book!

1. This “dragon” bears the same name as mosasaurs. That’s the

dino from Jurassic World that leaps out of the water in a Shamu-
style water show. Guess what? A mosasaurus has already made a
cameo in this novel’s footnotes, specifically in the picture attached
to the chapter 108 footnote of Battle Boy and Princess Deathblade
at the ammonite exhibit at the local museum. Above them was a
big painting of ammonites and a mosasaurus. Here’s a better view
of the painting, showing the mosasaurus. To reiterate, I’m not
using the Latin-based dinosaur names for creatures in this novel.
☜
Chapter 179: Big Bro Xu Qing!

While Xu Qing sped through the Forbidden Sea, absorbing one

sea beast after another, some distance away from him, three
enormous warships made of black wood sped through the dome of
heaven. They exuded an aura of ancientness, and almost looked
like three enormous trees. The glittering black light they exuded
kept the ships’ aura locked down and virtually undetectable. At the
same time, they would make it difficult for anyone to see who was
on the ships.

The truth was that it was a disguise ensuring that no one knew
these were Seazombie warships.

The ships were powered by mutagen, and because they could

constantly absorb mutagen from their surroundings, they could fly
for shockingly long periods of time. There were over a hundred
Seazombie cultivators on the ships, although most of them were
only in the Qi Condensation level. There were four, though, who
pulsed with the aura of Foundation Establishment. Those four
weren’t ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators. They all
had life flames.

The strongest among them wore a white robe. Though he wasn’t

in the profound radiance state, he radiated the obvious aura of two
life flames. He was in charge of these warships, and as he stared
off into the distance, his gray pupils pulsed with intense coldness.
In fact, his entire person radiated frigidity, as though nothing
around him were possibly worth him paying attention to.

Standing next to him was a young woman. She was also a

Seazombie, and had once been human. She had clearly been
beautiful in life, and even after having been zombified, she was an
important person. Because of that, she didn’t radiate any of the
aura of zombie poison, and had fair skin without any necrotic
patches. She was actually good-looking, and even a bit cute. Her
eyes seemed livelier than the average Seazombie, and if she was
standing in a crowd, it wouldn’t be immediately apparent that she
was a Seazombie at all. She currently had an arm wrapped
around the white-robed Seazombie’s arm.

“Big Bro Xu Qing,” she said, pouting a bit, “tell me! Come on,
please! How’d you find me, huh? I was very careful to stay in
disguise.”

The white-robed Seazombie shook his head slowly, but seemed to

be having trouble resisting the young woman’s pleas. Then she
took out a black stone and handed it to him. He took it.

Looking at her, he said, “Third Princess, knowledge is priceless.

And since you value knowledge so much, I, Xu Qing, will tell you
the answer to your question. Before I was a Seazombie, I was a
disciple from the Seventh Peak in Seven Blood Eyes. Thanks to a
little technique I learned back then, I was able to deduce your
identity.
“Princess, your father the king is very anxious, which is why he
posted the mission to find you and bring you back. Please,
Princess, don’t make this hard for me. The return journey won’t
take long. On the way back to our ancestral land, don’t throw
things around randomly. If you provoke someone you shouldn’t
provoke, it could lead to trouble.”

Grinning shyly, the young woman said, “Aw, fine. But don’t forget,
Big Bro Xu Qing, you promised that you would be my special dao
protector when we got back. I like your personality, Big Bro Xu
Qing. You’re special. I can tell. You know, I can’t believe you dared
to make me pay you a mutation stone just to answer my question.
Not one other member of our species would do something like
that.

“All those things you say, such as ‘knowledge is priceless’ and

‘respect knowledge,’ well... I just really like that. They’re very
unique.”

The white-robed Seazombie clasped his hands behind his back

and stared off into the distance. “I, Xu Qing, am a person who
never goes back on his word. As long as you help me complete
this mission smoothly, Princess, then I won’t stop at just being
your dao protector. I’ll even be your consort, if you wish. And if I,
Xu Qing, go back on my word, then let me be poisoned with the
most deadly poison, and struck by heavenly lightning five times in
a row!”
“You’d really be my consort, Big Bro Xu Qing?” Third Princess
asked, her eyes lighting up.

“Absolutely!”

The white-robed Seazombie cleared his throat.

Meanwhile, in another part of the Forbidden Sea, Xu Qing

shivered, and his eyes shone with vigilance as he slowly backed
up.

Further ahead of him on the seafloor was a shocking group of

ghostly figures moving through the water toward a city. The
enormous city was full of buildings, as well as countless shadowy
figures moving about through them. Xu Qing heard the hustle and
bustle you would expect in a city; there were even vendor stalls
and carts that the ghostly figures shopped from.

At a glance, this place looked just as big and bustling as the

Seven Blood Eyes capital city.

The sight of it caused Xu Qing’s heart to pound. It didn’t matter

how much he had advanced in cultivation base and battle
prowess, this scene still filled him with dread. What he was looking
at was a ghost city.

And what caused him to fear it weren’t the ghosts, but rather the
city, which was an entity unto itself. That was why, without any
hesitation, he backed away from it. The ghost city didn’t seem
interested in him, and had no intention of pursuing him. However,
Xu Qing didn’t have any desire to test that out. Picking another
direction, he started moving, and only when he was some distance
away did he breathe a sigh of relief.

The seafloor is a dangerous place. Given the level of my

cultivation base, I need to be careful about exploring down so far.

This was the second entity Xu Qing had run into recently that left
him palpitating in fear. The first time, he had seen an enormous
head rise up from the water, then splash back down, as if it were
playing. And it had cackled with laughter. That time, just as this
time, he immediately fled. There had been no conflict, and yet Xu
Qing didn’t dare to stay around such beings for long. And he had
the feeling that if he ran into a third such entity, it would lead to
true danger.

Therefore, he left the seafloor, went back to the surface, and got
onto his dharmaskiff. There, he had the shadow and his Forbidden
Sea dragonwhale keep watch.

I’m almost finished with the second phase of Golden Crow

Assimilates Myriad Spirits. Going forward, I need to be more
careful.

Sitting down cross-legged, he sent his senses down toward his

Forbidden Sea dragonwhale.
His life essence dragon no longer resembled a snakeneck dragon.
Instead, it had changed into something more like a bluegreen
dragon. After having hunted and killed that bluegreen dragon, he
had applied that enlightenment to adjust his Forbidden Sea
dragonwhale.

Unfortunately, I’ve only killed one, so my imitation isn’t perfect.

Xu Qing closed his eyes. Seven days passed in a flash.

He had been out at sea for months now, and had no idea how the
war was going back at the Merfolk Isles. However, his identity
medallion indicated that his ranking had dropped from the fifties to
past a hundred. That seemed to indicate that the war was raging.

However, Xu Qing wasn’t worried about that right now. For the
past week, he had been completely focused on Golden Crow
Assimilates Myriad Spirits, to the point where it was almost
complete.

I just need one more Foundation Establishment sea beast, and

then the legacy seed will be fully activated!

Xu Qing’s eyes shone with anticipation as he sent his bluegreen

dragon down into the water to search for more sea beasts. The
shadow also sent out quite a few shadow eyes to help in the
search, and Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior joined the bluegreen
dragon.
In the middle of that search, Xu Qing suddenly looked up into the
sky. It was evening, and as the sky turned as red as autumn
leaves, he saw three enormous black trees flying through the air in
the distance. They looked like strange warships. He couldn’t sense
any fluctuations coming from the ships, nor could he see who was
on them. Thinking back to the sea annals in Seven Blood Eyes, he
didn’t remember seeing anything like this mentioned. Therefore,
he had no way to know where these ships were from.

It looked like they were just going to pass by, but he kept his guard
up nonetheless, and also activated his dharmaskiff’s defenses. He
even sank down below the surface of the water. That way, if they
were planning to just pass by, then it was more likely they would
leave him alone. And if they did attack, he would be ready to either
fight back or flee.

However, even as he sank below the surface of the water, the

hand of a woman reached out from the lead ship. It was as fair as
white jade, and held a black pearl, within the depths of which was
sealed a magical symbol. Then she released the pearl, and it shot
with lightning speed toward Xu Qing.

Xu Qing’s pupils constricted, and he sent his dharmaskiff shooting

away in the opposite direction.

Except, to his shock, the magical symbol in the pearl glittered, and
the pearl suddenly blinked out of existence, then blinked back into
existence right in front of his dharmaskiff.
It happened so quickly that Xu Qing couldn’t react. His dharmaskiff
slammed into the pearl and exploded into countless pieces. Huge
waves splashed out everywhere, and then wreckage floated up to
the surface.

From a distance, the flotsam and jetsam roughly corresponded to

the shape of a dharmaskiff.

Up in the sky, Third Princess leaned over the rail of the warship, a
grin on her face. “Aiya! That was too easy! It exploded with one hit!
So boring. The waves were pretty though.”

Next to her, the white-robed Seazombie was holding his breath,

and had a strange look on his face as he looked down at where
the dharmaskiff had exploded. After a long moment, he exhaled
and said, “Third Princess, what are you doing? I just want to finish
this mission. Why are you causing so much trouble?? Can’t you be
a bit more low-key? What happens if you provoke some fiendish,
monstrous, murderous killer? What then?”

Feeling very depressed, the white-robed Seazombie produced an

apple and took a bite.

Smiling up at him, Third Princess said, “What’s the big deal, Big
Bro Xu Qing? It was just a boat from Seven Blood Eyes. And all it
took was one strike of my damned father’s divine lightning to
destroy it. Who cares?”
The white-robed Seazombie shook his head. He felt like explaining
more, and also lecturing her about the way she talked about her
father the king, but in the end he kept his mouth shut and piloted
the ship onward. As the three tree-like warships passed overhead
and disappeared into the distance, the waves dispersed the
scattered remnants of the dharmaskiff.

Meanwhile, another dharmaskiff sped along under the surface. It

was smaller than the previous one, but looked more vicious,
almost like a sealizard. And it was following the three warships!

The boat that had exploded was the external shell that Zhang San
had specially crafted to distract enemies. Currently, Xu Qing stood
on his actual dharmaskiff, an unsightly expression on his face. As
he looked up toward the surface, his eyes burned with killing
intent. [1]

“Seazombies?”

1. It was in chapter 139 that Zhang San mentioned the special

exterior that would explode under attack as a distraction. ☜
Chapter 180: The Golden Crow Cometh

The moment the black pearl shot down from the warship, Xu Qing
had sensed unique mutagen fluctuations that led him to the
conclusion the operators of the ship were most likely Seazombies.
He didn’t have even the slightest favorable impression of such
creatures. He had killed too many.

What had just happened was definitely an unexpected disaster.

Although that black pearl hadn’t been capable of truly hurting him,
it did contain extraordinary levels of power. In fact, the attack was
comparable to one from a cultivator with a life flame!

And the magical symbol it contained was profoundly mysterious.

Thinking back, Xu Qing remembered seeing the magical symbol

flash, and then the pearl had moved so quickly it was like a
teleportation. In fact, it was so fast that he hadn’t been able to
react in time to avoid it.

With that ability, that pearl is on the level of two or even three
flames. That thing... is a real treasure!

Xu Qing’s eyes turned cold.

A cultivator who could casually toss out items like that either had
an extraordinary cultivation base or an extraordinary background.
In this case, he had the feeling it was the latter.
And that means they probably have a dao protector.

As he sped along in his sealizard dharmaskiff, he kept his eyes

glued to the three black ships flying along overhead. Given that he
wasn’t sure if there was a high-level expert on those ships, he
wasn’t going to casually launch an attack.

As was his practice, he would follow and observe, like a hunter

searching for weak prey to pounce on.

***

On the lead warship, the white-robed Seazombie sighed. As he

stood looking down at the sea below, he felt very annoyed. And
that was because he could sense that there was an aura locked
onto the three warships. And that aura... was very familiar.

“Don’t be upset, Big Bro Xu Qing,” Third Princesss said. “I’m

already being low-key. I was going to throw out three of those
divine lightning pearls, but instead, I just threw out one....” She
glanced at the white-robed Seazombie, but seeing that he was
ignoring her, she stepped over and shook his arm gently. “Alright,
fine. I won’t throw out any more pearls. Don’t be mad, Big Bro Xu
Qing. Why are you frowning so hard? What are you thinking
about?”

When the white-robed Seazombie heard her call him Xu Qing, he

sighed again, then turned to look at her. “I’m trying to figure out a
way to make sure he doesn’t kill you, and at the same time,
prevent him from realizing what I did. If he does, he might really
flip out.”

“I’m not really sure what you mean, Big Bro Xu Qing....” Third
Princess smiled sweetly, but seemed genuinely confused by his
words.

The white-robed Seazombie waved his hand dismissively. Inside,

he was bemoaning the fact that, because Seazombie merit points
were so hard to acquire, he had accepted this mission to find Third
Princess. Not only had he successfully found her, but he had also
won her affections.

Now all he had to do was get back to Seazombie territory, turn in

his merit points to acquire a high-level zombie heart, and then use
the trust he had earned from Third Princess to get into the
Seazombie ancestral sanctuary. Then he could wrap up his
second major escapade.

He was almost done with the first part of this plan, and was now
only about a month away from Seazombie territory. Unfortunately...
this Seazombie princess just had to go throwing those lightning
pearls around.

Just as the white-robed Seazombie was about to sigh again, he

looked down at the water and made an expression of surprise. Xu
Qing’s aura, which had been locked onto the ships, had vanished.
Apparently, he wasn’t following them anymore.
What’s going on? Don’t tell me the brat has changed his ways. Or
did something else come up that he needed to handle?

The white-robed Seazombie kept his eyes on the sea as the

warships continued on their way. Another three days passed, at
which point he was convinced Xu Qing wasn’t following them.

Weird.

He was curious what happened, but at the same time, breathed a

sigh of relief. Truth be told, he wasn’t worried about Xu Qing
learning of his plan with the Seazombies. Instead, he felt a bit
guilty at having used Xu Qing’s name.

Ah, it doesn’t matter. I’m just doing this to make sure he finds a
daoist partner. Besides, it’s simply the right thing to do. As his
superior, I need to care about his personal life. In fact, he should
be thankful that I’m personally trying to make sure he gets a girl.

As he continued to convince himself that he was right, the white-

robed Seazombie sent orders to speed up.

***

Xu Qing’s sealizard dharmaskiff... was still there under the surface

of the water! However, it was now covered over by his shadow.

Three days ago, he’d come to realize that someone was observing
him. Therefore, he pretended to leave, then disguised his
dharmaskiff with his shadow, using it to make his aura seem just
like Forbidden Sea mutagen.

Then he followed and observed. This time, no one noticed him,

which meant he was truly hidden from them.

Furthermore, it also gave him some important information. For

instance… he now knew that there were no Gold Core cultivators
on those three warships. And it was most likely that there were no
three-flame cultivators either. If there were, they would be able to
detect his aura, and would likely have long since dropped down to
deal with him. He had learned other things during the past three
days. For instance, he had figured out a way to pierce through the
warship’s external disguise if he needed to. And he also
determined how fast they could go.

With all the things he had learned, he was convinced that the three
warships did not contain any truly dangerous experts.

In that case....

Killing intent swirled in Xu Qing’s eyes. For one thing, he was

angry about that black pearl. Also, he needed more fuel for his
dharma apertures, and didn’t see any reason to let these
Seazombies get away. Another reason... was that his progress
with Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits had been interrupted
by these Seazombies. And therefore, they were going to become
nutrients to help him complete it. That was only fair.
On the evening of the third day, when the night was dark and the
moon wasn’t shining very brightly, Xu Qing stood on the deck of
his dharmaskiff and began a double-handed incantation gesture.

His dharmaskiff rumbled as wings stretched out from its sealizard

form, and it shot up out of the water. As it flew up into the air, its
sealizard mouth opened wide, and a golden convergence of light
appeared, then became a beam that shot out at top speed.

That golden light was, of course, the attack of godliness that Xu

Qing’s dharmaskiff was capable of. The instant it appeared, wild
colors flashed in heaven and earth, and the wind screamed. The
light stabbed through the darkness of night, moving at a shocking
speed as it carried holy might... right into the second of the three
black warships. It smashed through the warship’s defenses as if
they didn’t exist, and in the blink of an eye, hit the ship itself. As
the warship trembled, and even started to bend, the sea beneath it
exploded as a 900-meter-long bluegreen dragon shot up, roaring,
to attack the lead warship.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing himself flew off of his dharmaskiff, his life

lamp erupting volcanically, sending flames all around him as he
shot with incredible speed toward the final warship! Without any
hesitation, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior sped toward the second
warship, which was sustaining the attack of godliness.

All of this takes a bit of time to describe, but actually happened in

the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint!
As rumbling sounds echoed out in the sky, Xu Qing arrived at the
third warship. Without pausing for a moment, he unleashed all the
power of his fleshly body power to slam into the ship’s defenses.
Cracking sounds erupted out as the shield began to crumble. A
moment later, it exploded, and Xu Qing stepped onto the ship.

There were over thirty Seazombies aboard, but other than a single
early Foundation Establishment cultivator with one life flame, they
were all in the Qi Condensation level. All of them looked shocked,
and yet to Xu Qing, they were moving in slow motion. Even the
Foundation Establishment Seazombie was slow to ignite his life
flame.

Xu Qing glanced them over coldly, then unhesitatingly stepped

toward the Foundation Establishment Seazombie.

Terror and despair filled the Seazombie’s eyes as Xu Qing

reached out and put his palm on the Seazombie’s forehead.

Rumbling filled the air as the Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture

went to work! At the same time, the totem tattoo on his back
transformed into countless feathers that enveloped the
Seazombie. In the blink of an eye, both techniques were used,
turning the Seazombie into a desiccated corpse. His soul had
been extracted, and his fleshly body was drained of blood. The
wings consumed the sphere of blue blood, whereupon the totem
tattoo surged with heat and power.
Earlier, Xu Qing had been just on the verge of completing the
second phase of the legacy seed activation. With that
Seazombie’s blood, Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits... was
complete!

A cry rang out to the highest heavens from behind Xu Qing. Then
the feathers around him ignited with black flame. The countless
feathers of black fire converged behind him, becoming like a sea
of flames that was fully thirty meters from end to end, and cast
darkness all around him.

Another cry rang out, this time more clearly. And it came from the
black sea of flames. The moment the cry could be heard... the sea
of flames rose towering into the sky, where it took the shape of a
divine bird wreathed in darkness!! It was as if it had been born in
the flames, as if it had taken shape in the ancient past. It made it
seem like the dark night around it was boiling!

From a distance, that divine bird had a head like a crow, a body
like a crane, a tail like a phoenix, and three long legs with claws on
the ends! [1]

As it flew up into the sky, black fire flowed over it, converging on its
tail, where it fanned out into a spectacular circular tail of flame! It
was very beautiful, but even more than that, profound and
mysterious.
It circled overhead, then dove toward Xu Qing. As it neared him, it
seemed to view him as a familiar friend, spinning around him
almost as if it were dancing. It spread fire wherever it flew,
surrounding Xu Qing with fiery brightness.

At that moment, just about all of the Seazombies on the three

warships looked over at him, and their eyes stung. It was almost
as if, in this moment, Xu Qing, with the golden crow circling around
him, had become an entity no one dared to look at!

1. The description of the bird essentially corresponds to the classic

description of the three-legged golden crow from Chinese
mythology. Here’s one artistic rendition. ☜
Chapter 181: Incisive

On the lead warship, Third Princess’ wide eyes stung with pain.
However, despite the tears that welled up in them, she refused to
look away from what was happening. She seemed stunned, as if
she were looking at the most beautiful thing in the entire world.

Next to her, the white-robed Seazombie was staring at Xu Qing, a

feeling of deep foreboding welling up within him. Dangit... the
brat’s even stronger! The golden crow...? Don’t tell me he got that
freaking imperial-class technique that’s been floating around the
Forbidden Sea?

With such thoughts on his mind, he edged over to Third Princess,

lowered his voice, and said, “Princess, this fellow cultivates a very
nefarious technique. I read about it in an ancient record I read
once. It’s called the Yin-Naming Life-Maiming Incantation. It’s very,
very formidable. Once he finds out the name of his enemy, he can
use that technique to take their life in an instant. Therefore, you
absolutely, positively must not say my name. Just call me Big Bro,
okay?”

Meanwhile, screams rang out from the ship Xu Qing was on. As
the golden crow circled around him, it swished its tail, and the
black sea of flames rumbled out, becoming chains of fire that
whipped toward the surrounding Seazombie cultivators like fiery
snakes. Wrapping around them, the fire lifted them into the air.
Given the cultivation base disparity at play, the Seazombie
cultivators were powerless to fight back. From a distance, it looked
almost like the golden crow was fanning its tail!

Meanwhile, the Seazombies let loose bloodcurdling screams, and

withered rapidly as their energy and blood was sucked out of their
eyes, ears, noses, and mouths.

Xu Qing’s expression remained the same as ever as he took a

single step forward, sending terrifying fleshly body power along
with the might of his life lamp into the warship. Instantly, the ship
exploded.

Xu Qing remained hovering in the air, his violet daoist robe rippling
in the wind and his long black hair whipping around him, the
golden crow circling behind him amidst black flames. The
desiccated corpses attached to the fiery chains on its tail made the
image even more ghastly. Given Xu Qing’s bewitching facial
features, anyone who looked at him in that moment would think
they were looking at a demon or devil.

Third Princess’ eyes shone even more brightly than before; she
had never seen anyone like this before.

Of course, Xu Qing wasn’t paying any attention at all to Third

Princess considering she was only in the great circle of Qi
Condensation. Instead, his eyes were locked on the white-robed
Seazombie standing next to her.
The white-robed Seazombie was currently contending with the
bluegreen dragon, while simultaneously keeping his eyes on Xu
Qing.

Xu Qing looked at him silently.

He looked back at Xu Qing, seemingly a bit sheepish.

During that awkward moment, cackling laughter suddenly echoed

out, breaking the tension. All eyes turned in the direction of that
laughter.

It came from the second warship, and as Xu Qing looked over, he

saw lightning shoot out from the ship and into the air. It was the
black iron skewer. It was covered with crackling electricity, which
would occasionally stab out into the surrounding air in shocking
fashion. The lightning symbols on the skewer glittered, each of
them thrumming with a dao resonance that made the skewer
seem incomparably beautiful, like a precious treasure! In fact,
anyone who looked at it would think it was the kind of object you
would never want to part with once you laid your hands on it.

There was a bell attached to the iron skewer, which had obviously
been blessed by the lightning. A host of souls were attached to
that bell, all of them from Seazombies, and they howled in anguish
and pain as they struggled in vain to free themselves.

Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was obviously being very

considerate. Knowing that Xu Qing needed souls, he had taken
advantage of his lightning spirit body to slaughter as many
enemies as possible, take their souls with the Living Spirit Bell,
and then seal them with lightning. His consideration was on full
display, as was the majestic power he was capable of unleashing.

As for that cackling laughter, it was obviously not from the

patriarch. Instead, it came from a figure who walked out of the
ship’s cabin right after the patriarch flew out into the open. It was a
Seazombie with a burning life flame. He looked like a middle-aged
human cultivator, very thin, with prominent necrotic patches on
him. He wore a tattered daoist robe, and he had a very arrogant
expression on his face as he walked out cackling.

Anyone who looked at him would feel like they were actually
looking at a grue. That was because he took his steps in a very
odd way, as if he had only just learned to walk. It was somewhere
between a stagger and a stumble. What was even more unusual
was that despite his arrogant expression, his eyes were filled with
absolute terror. All of these things combined into a very odd
image.

Lurching out onto the deck, he suddenly stood straight. Glancing

contemptuously at the white-robed Seazombie and Third Princess,
as well as the other Seazombies on the lead ship, he then turned
to Xu Qing. Looking very somber, he dropped down to one knee
and offered a formal salute.
Then he reached up with both of his hands and viciously broke his
own neck with a loud pop.

The other Seazombies all stared at him in absolute astonishment.

And yet, things weren’t over yet. With vicious strength, the
Seazombie ripped his own head off his shoulders and tossed it to
the deck, still cackling with laughter. Then he plunged his hand
into his own abdomen toward his life flame... which he
extinguished! More popping sounds rang out as he then detonated
all of his dharma apertures, causing the rest of his body to
collapse and fall to the deck. It was a very gruesome spectacle
that caused the other Seazombies to gasp with horror.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing frowned slightly. He could tell that his shadow

had consumed the shadow of the Seazombie cultivator, and then
possessed the body. However, doing that ended up wasting a
perfectly good soul. Xu Qing didn’t say anything about that though.
Instead, he turned and headed toward the first warship. As he
neared, the Seazombies trembled, and eventually started jumping
overboard.

However, the golden crow behind Xu Qing sent out flaming chains
that wrapped around them. Screams rang out into the night.

Xu Qing ignored them as he stepped onto the deck of the warship.

The first thing he did was lift his right hand and point at the young
Seazombie woman, who despite the pain that caused her eyes to
well with tears, was looking at him with morbid admiration.

Instantly, lightning crackled as the black iron skewer shot with

incredible speed toward the young woman. Just when it was about
to pierce through her forehead, the white-robed Seazombie
sighed, reached out, and flicked the skewer. A thrumming sound
could be heard as the iron skewer was sent spinning off to the
side. A moment later, it returned, unharmed, but its baleful aura
thrumming and more electricity crackling around it.

The white-robed Seazombie looked closely at the iron skewer,

then at Xu Qing’s feet, and at the golden crow. He felt a big
headache coming on.

Finally he looked at Xu Qing and sighed again. “Hello, Fellow

Daoist. This young woman is very important to me....”

Xu Qing looked at the white-robed Seazombie. At first glance he

had come to the conclusion that the Captain was using this
obviously important young Seazombie woman in one of his crazy
plans. Attacking her had been little more than a test, and as
expected, the Captain interfered.

Therefore, Xu Qing wasn’t surprised at all by his words.

Furthermore, the fact that he addressed Xu Qing as ‘Fellow
Daoist’ seemed to reinforce the fact that he didn’t want his true
identity revealed. Everything confirmed Xu Qing’s theory, and
therefore he didn’t hesitate to name his price.

“100,000 spirit stones!”

The Captain’s eyes went wide in a glare, and he was about to say
something when Third Princess suddenly started laughing.

“Big Bro, this sweet little thing is very cute. I think I want him to be
my dao protector too!”

As the words left her mouth, she lifted her right hand, upon which
was a bracelet. The bracelet shimmered, then cracking sounds
emanated from it as it broke up into numerous sections that flew
out, then wriggled back together to take the shape of a desiccated
corpse. It was wrapped in red bandages, and emanated a
powerful baleful aura. When it opened its eyes, they glowed red,
and it took a step toward Xu Qing.

The moment its foot landed, rumbling sounds echoed out as two
life flames flickered to life within it. Then red flames spread out to
cover its entire body as it rushed toward Xu Qing. Before it could
get close, the iron skewer’s lightning symbols flashed brightly, and
it shot with shocking speed toward the desiccated corpse.

Xu Qing’s shadow also spread out surreptitiously, reaching the

corpse’s feet, where all of its eyes opened. As the more than
hundred eyes locked onto the desiccated corpse, it froze in place.
Suddenly, spots of decay appeared all over the corpse, while at
the same time, massive amounts of mutagen flowed out of it. At
the same time, the iron skewer stabbed through its throat, then
circled around and stabbed it through the back.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing strode forward with incredible speed, his

fleshly body power surging as he slapped his palm on the corpse’s
forehead. Winds screamed around his palm, making it seem
unstoppable.

The corpse howled, its body flashing red light as it fought back
against Xu Qing’s attack. But Xu Qing didn’t pause for a moment
to bend his arm and smash his elbow into the corpse’s jaw. A loud
crack rang out. The desiccated corpse was able to take the first
attack, but not the second. Its head exploded, revealing that
though it had flesh and blood, it had no spirit power in it. It was just
a puppet!

In fact, the shattered head also revealed countless slimy strings

that twitched and wriggled as if to begin the process of repairing
the puppet.

Eyes narrowing, Xu Qing lunged forward and smashed his knee

into the corpse, sending it staggering backward, its abdomen
crushed. And yet, it was still repairing itself.

Snorting coldly, Xu Qing tapped into Golden Crow Assimilates

Myriad Spirits. Behind him, the golden crow let loose a cry as it
swept toward the puppet. As black flames swept about
everywhere, the puppet was enveloped. Even as it repaired itself,
the golden crow absorbed it.

Then the crow reached out with its three claws, grabbed the
devastated corpse puppet, and ripped it to pieces. As the crow
stood upon the ravaged corpse, a glob of blue blood so dark it was
almost black flew up and into the crow’s mouth. The corpse
puppet had been absorbed, and now crumbled into ash.

The crow then flew back to Xu Qing, trailing a cloak of flames that
flapped in the wind. It stopped at Xu Qing’s right side, where it
stared back at the young woman and the white-robed Seazombie
with cold eyes.

It was an absolutely stunning and beautiful scene.

“Awesome!” Third Princess exclaimed excitedly. “Thanks, sweetie,

for helping me get rid of the bracelet my damned father gave me.
I’ve tried so many ways, even provoking all sorts of enemies, but
none of them could kill that thing.

“Big Bro Xu Qing, I knew all along you aren’t really a Seazombie.
You don’t really want to become my dao protector, do you? You
bad boy! And you even said that you, Xu Qing, would be struck by
five bolts of heavenly lightning if you went back on your promise to
be my dao protector.... You were also lying when you said that
you, Xu Qing, would be my consort, weren’t you?
“But that’s fine. You’re actually from Seven Blood Eyes, aren’t you
Big Bro Xu Qing? I guess that means you and this little sweetie
here already know each other. And you probably want me to
sneak you into Seazombie territory. Are you after precious
treasures? Or do you want to destroy some top-secret area? I
don’t care what it is, I can help you. I know a lot of things. But
there’s only one requirement. You have to take me with you!”

Third Princess still looked very excited, but then she noticed the
strange expression on the face of the white-robed zombie. “What’s
wrong, Big Bro Xu Qing?”

Meanwhile, Xu Qing looked at the Captain, his face

expressionless, and his life lamp burning hotter and hotter.
Chapter 182: A Crazy Plan

Seeing the flames burning hotter within Xu Qing, the Captain’s

expression flickered.

“Don’t kill her!” he blurted. “I need her!”

Before the words finished leaving his mouth, Xu Qing was in

motion, moving with blinding speed to arrive right in front of Third
Princess. As she gasped, he raised his right hand and slapped her
across the side of the face.

A boom rang out, and blood sprayed from her mouth as she
flopped backward like a kite with its string cut, smashing through
the side of the deck and off the ship. However, before she could
fall, the golden crow sent out a chain of black fire, which wrapped
around her and threw her back onto the ship, where she landed in
front of the Captain.

Xu Qing didn’t kill her. He could have done it with his first blow, if
he wanted to. But he did take her bag of holding.

Third Princess coughed up another mouthful of blood. Half the

bones in her body were broken, yet there was no fear in her eyes,
only confusion. As the blood oozed down her chin, she looked at
Xu Qing and curiously asked, “He used your name to do all sorts
of things. Don’t you care? Shouldn’t you have it out for him? Why
hit me?”

The Captain sighed, squatted next to her, and said, “Because it’s a
matter between us bros. It doesn’t have anything to do with you.
And since you were riling things up, who did you expect him to hit?
If I was in his place, I’d have done the same thing.”

Reaching out, he picked up one of her hands to check for broken

bones. He shook her head. “All broken. But at least you can talk. If
you can talk, you can breathe, so that’s good.”

Third Princess, however, was still confused, and didn’t think it

made sense that Xu Qing hit her. In fact, she even opened her
mouth to ask some more questions, but the Captain smacked his
palm onto her head, rendering her unconscious. Putting her into a
special bag of holding, he turned and faced Xu Qing.

Now that they were alone, Xu Qing looked back at him and said,
“You swore an oath using my name?”

“Nah, she was kidding.” the Captain blinked a few times, then
shouted, “HEY! You dropped a spirit note.”

Reaching down, he shuffled his hands on the deck, then produced

a spirit note worth a hundred spirit coins. Grimacing, he handed it
to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing took it, but his eyes never left the Captain.
“Struck five times by heavenly lightning?”

“Hahaha. That could never happen. Little Junior Brother, I think

you weren’t listening carefully. Furthermore, I have to offer you
some constructive criticism. Don’t be so gullible when dealing with
strangers! As your Elder Brother, and as your superior, I would
absolutely, positively never do anything like you’re suggesting. It’s
similar to how you have never owed me any spirit stones.”

“Consort?” Xu Qing asked.

The Captain sighed.

Xu Qing stared at him.

A long moment passed, then the Captain smacked his own

forehead.

“Xu Qing,” he said conspiratorially, his eyebrows dancing up and

down, “forget all that. I have some good news.... The reason I’m
disguised as a Seazombie is that I’m trying to get a high-level
zombie heart.

“And there’s more. My other goal is a lot more risky, so I originally

was planning to keep it secret. But since we’re out here alone, I
guess I can tell you.

“As you might know, the Seazombies have a lot of precious

treasures and even more top-secret locations. Any one of those
top-secret locations could change the whole situation with the war.
Of course, that doesn’t really have anything to do with the two of
us. The point is that one of those locations is the main target of my
plan. I’m trying to reach one of the Seazombies’ most holy relics...
one of the divine likenesses of the nine Seazombie ancestors!!

“According to the legends, the Seazombies started out as a

species because of those nine statues. They’re divine likenesses
made of a special, one-of-a-kind material.

“The zombification that creates Seazombies is carried out by those

nine statues. They’re scattered throughout the Seazombie
ancestral land, and not only are they the source of the
zombification power, but also, they’re known as holy locations
where Seazombies can be healed.

“Most importantly, most of the Seazombies’ top experts are out on

the battlefield, meaning their defenses in their ancestral land are
flimsy. Though they do have some measures in place to keep
things secure, that young woman you nearly beat to death is very
important in Seazombie society. She’s their Third Princess, and
with her to lead the way, the Seazombies won’t be suspicious at
all. And by the time they realize something’s happening, we’ll be
long gone.”

The Captain had the same look in his eyes that Xu Qing
remembered seeing back in the Merfolk Isles, before he did
something really crazy. Upon hearing the explanation, Xu Qing’s
eyes narrowed. Obviously, sneaking into the Seazombie ancestral
land was an act that would take a massive amount of daring. And
it wasn’t just sneaking into their ancestral land. The plan also
involved finding holy relics of the Seazombies. That was
something the word ‘daring’ couldn’t even begin to cover. Even
though the Seazombie ancestral land was much emptier than
normal right now, it was still something that only someone who
was absolutely crazy would try to do.

Xu Qing looked deeply at the Captain, musing that he was clearly

just as crazy as before. Just as he was about to refuse to help, the
Captain excitedly continued talking.

“Each of the nine zombie ancestor statues have shocking power,

as well as incomparably strong godliness. And they’re not just
useful to Seazombies. Human cultivators can use them as well.
They can easily open dharma apertures! I’ve heard people say
that if you only take a small bite out of one of the statues, you can
easily open dozens upon dozens!”

When Xu Qing heard that, his words of refusal stuck in his throat,
and his heart started to pound. Right now he had 49 dharma
apertures open, with the 50th just barely cracked, and a long way
from being fully opened.

At this point, it was really getting hard to open them. Generally

speaking, cultivators grouped dharma apertures into tens. In other
words, going from 40 to 50 was a major upgrade. And the only
way to open the next dharma aperture was going to be to kill an
enemy with a life flame.

Truth be told, Xu Qing was making rapid progress. Without the

Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture, and also the war, he would
have been hard-pressed to progress this quickly. Normally
speaking, Foundation Establishment cultivators would take ten
years to start their first life flame. And in terms of the second... it
wasn’t unusual to spend thirty years or more. And of course, they
had to deal with threats to their life, plus the challenge of purging
mutagen. For that reason, there weren’t very many cultivators with
two life flames. As for three life flames, that usually took even
longer.

50 to 60... that’s going to take a lot of soul power.

Xu Qing felt like he wasn’t progressing fast enough, and therefore

the Captain’s description of the zombie ancestor statues was very
enticing. After thinking about it for a moment, he looked at the bag
of holding with Third Princess in it.

“I don’t trust her,” he said.

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll handle it,” the Captain said, slapping
himself on the chest. “Besides, you don’t know her situation. If you
did, you’d feel sorry for her. Trust me.”

Xu Qing shook his head. If the entire success of the plan hinged
on Third Princess, then she would have to be completely and
sincerely on their side. That was the only way they would be able
to successfully sneak into the Seazombie ancestral land. She
would have to provide cover to get them through all the defenses,
inspections, and whatever else stood in their way to reach the
zombie ancestor statues. Even the slightest slipup during that
process would leave them damned by myriad tribulations.

The Captain blinked a few times as he saw Xu Qing hesitating.

Then he chuckled. “Look, there’s a simple way to solve this
problem. I can just disguise you as Third Princess! I’ve been
around her long enough to know her well, plus, I got my hands on
lots of information about her. I can’t claim to know her like the back
of my hand, but I can give you some tips on how to talk like her,
act like her, and so-on. It wouldn’t work long-term, but for our
purposes, it’ll be perfectly sufficient.”

Raising his eyebrows, Xu Qing said, “If you know so much about
her, you disguise yourself as her.”

“Deputy Captain Xu, I’m your superior!” the Captain said somberly.

“Consort?” Xu Qing replied.

The Captain’s expression suddenly wasn’t as somber. He sighed.

“Why don’t we have a little bet? Whoever loses has to be Third
Princess?” He looked around, then spotted a sea snake off in the
distance. Apparently, it wasn’t very smart, as it was glaring at their
warship aggressively. “That thing. Whoever kills it wins!”
The moment the words left the Captain’s mouth, he lit his life flame
and simultaneously sent out a shocking frigid energy that froze
everything around him, including Xu Qing. Then he burst into
motion toward the snake. At the same time, an enormous hand
appeared over the water, rumbling toward the sea snake.

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. Behind him, the golden crow cried out,
causing flames to erupt that canceled out the Captain’s frigid
energy. Xu Qing also burst into motion. At the same time, he
summoned a huge hand which shot, not toward the sea snake, but
toward the Captain’s magical technique.

Rumbling echoed out as the two hands slammed into each other.
Then, Xu Qing rammed into the Captain, and more deafening
rumbling echoed out. At the same time, Patriarch Golden Vajra
Warrior sent the black iron skewer shooting toward the sea snake.

However, even as lightning bolts crackled around the skewer, a

frigid energy surged toward it. Cracking sounds rang out as it was
sealed, leaving the patriarch shocked and unable to fight back.

Ice also built up around the sea snake, freezing it in place. But
then the golden crow cried out, and fire roiled out, melting the ice.

Xu Qing lifted his hand, and the heavenly saber slashed down,
backed by volcanic force. At the same time, he clenched his hand
into a fist and punched out, backing his fleshly body power with
Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits.
That shocking fist strike caused a vortex to spring up in front of Xu
Qing. At the same time, it emanated wisps of zombie poison!

The Captain’s eyes narrowed, and he performed an incantation

gesture to block the move. A huge boom rang out, and the Captain
staggered backward.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing accelerated.

“It hasn’t been that long, and you’ve changed so much!” the
Captain blurted. “Your fleshly body power is off the charts!
Combined with your profound radiance state, you’re comparable to
the three-flame level! Also, what’s with the zombie poison? You
seem more like a Seazombie than I do! You’re bullying me with
that imperial-class technique!”

A crazy look appeared in the Captain’s eyes. In order to ensure

that Xu Qing had to become Third Princess, and also to save face
for himself, his eyes suddenly shone with golden light.

Within that light was a golden magical symbol, and as it pulsed, he

erupted with power that surpassed the two-flame level!

Deathblade's ThoughtsIf you want to filter out the "thanks"

comments and see more "meaningful" comments, just sort by "top
comment." The substantive comments tend to get some upvotes,
while the thanks comments don't, so sorting properly will allow you
to see what people are chatting about. I thought this was kind of
obvious, but I guess some people didn't realize it was possible.
Beyond that, throw some upvotes onto the comments you like. I
don't think it has a function other than to help sort the top
comments. But if you see comments you like you can give them a
better chance of being noticed if you upvote them.And thank you
to everyone for all the comments in general, even just the "thank
you" comments.As for those of you who leave more detailed
comments, I also appreciate those and read them all (well... the
ones that are in the latest chapters).

If you want to filter out the "thanks" comments and see more
"meaningful" comments, just sort by "top comment." The
substantive comments tend to get some upvotes, while the thanks
comments don't, so sorting properly will allow you to see what
people are chatting about. I thought this was kind of obvious, but I
guess some people didn't realize it was possible. Beyond that,
throw some upvotes onto the comments you like. I don't think it
has a function other than to help sort the top comments. But if you
see comments you like you can give them a better chance of
being noticed if you upvote them.

And thank you to everyone for all the comments in general, even
just the "thank you" comments.

As for those of you who leave more detailed comments, I also

appreciate those and read them all (well... the ones that are in the
latest chapters).
Chapter 183: Bewitchingly Charming

He was unsealing his second seal!

The Captain’s true identity had always been a mystery. Xu Qing

had his speculations about who he really was, and had even
considered that he was the grand highness of the Seventh Peak.
However, he would only consider that matter occasionally, as it
wasn’t really important. After all, regardless of who the Captain
was, it wouldn’t affect the unique relationship they had.

Seeing the Captain suddenly surging with energy, Xu Qing’s eyes

glowed with a fierce light. He didn’t want to lose this bet either, and
what was more, was very much interested in seeing the Captain
transform into Third Princess.

Therefore, as soon as the Captain went all out, Xu Qing burned

his life lamp even brighter. Then, the two of them clashed again.

Massive booms rang out everywhere. Having unsealed himself,

the Captain’s entire body glowed with golden light that, to Xu Qing,
seemed similar to godliness, yet wasn’t. Godliness was holy, but
this sensation from the Captain seemed incredibly domineering, as
if it was capable of crushing anything and everything. Surrounded
by glittering light, the Captain waved his hand, creating a golden
sea of light that in turn transformed into an enormous hand that
crushed toward Xu Qing.
“You’re going to be Third Princess!” he roared.

The sea of light slammed into Xu Qing, shoving him backward

relentlessly. That light seemed both crazy and domineering,
making it difficult for him to breathe, and even affecting his
cultivation base, causing his life flame to flicker.

From a distance, that giant golden hand was a hundred times

larger than Xu Qing, and it seemed like there was no way he could
stop it from smashing him down into the water.

This level of might seemed like the level of two flames to Xu Qing.
And the speed was so great he had a hard time matching it. The
only way to do so... would be to have the power of three flames!

Xu Qing’s pupils constricted as killing intent filled his eyes. The

veins on his forehead bulged, and he threw both hands out.
Instantly, the cry of a bird echoed out from behind him, and black
flames surged as the golden crow swirled out. As it threw its head
back and howled, it superimposed itself on Xu Qing.

The golden crow’s body overlapped with his, covering his violet
robe. The feathers became like an imperial robe, illusory, yet
bursting with a sense of majesty. The head became like an
imperial crown pulsing with a paragonic aura. The phoenix-like tail
became a pendant, and the black sea of flames attached to it
became a cloak.
From a distance, Xu Qing, with his delicate and even pretty face,
coupled with this extraordinary outfit, made him seem like a young
emperor. In fact, he actually seemed similar to the golden crow
Ancient Emperor in the dragon chariot.

Even the Captain was stunned, and his eyes narrowed as Xu Qing
expressionlessly clenched his right hand into a fist and punched
toward the incoming hand!

The punch was a combination of his life flame, life lamp, and the
berserk fleshly body power of Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad
Spirits. Together, they created the most powerful attack he was
currently capable of. Heaven and earth rumbled as the fist created
an illusory projection that grew larger by the moment, until it was
just as big as the incoming hand. And it also radiated an extremely
domineering sensation!

However, the domineering sensation from Xu Qing felt like the

disdain of an imperial monarch, whereas the Captain’s felt like the
madness of a savage.

When they hit each other, a deafening explosion occurred at the

impact point.

Blood sprayed out of Xu Qing’s mouth as he was sent spinning off

to the side. The imperial garb created by Golden Crow Assimilates
Myriad Spirits couldn’t stand up to the force, and disappeared. At
the same time, pain exploded into Xu Qing’s right fist as his arm
was dislocated.

The Captain similarly coughed up blood as he was cast backward,

completely out of control. The magical symbol in his eyes flickered
a few times, then faded away. His right hand also flared with pain,
and a cracking sound rang out from his wrist as, apparently, it
broke.

As the two of them skidded away from each other, panting for
breath, Xu Qing grabbed his right arm with his left hand, and
wrenched it back into place.

At the same time, the Captain waved his left hand, causing golden
light to flare, instantly healing the damage to his wrist. Not showing
any indication that he felt pain, he calmly said, “Not bad, punk. You
already have about ten percent of the battle prowess your director
can unleash. Keep working hard. Oh, by the way... you lose.” With
that, the Captain looked at the surface of the water.

The sea snake the two of them had been fighting over was
currently being wrapped up by a tentacle that then dragged it out
of the water.

The Captain looked very pleased with himself, and was clearly
expecting Xu Qing to say something. However, that was when a
gruish light shone in the eyes of the snake, and it opened its
mouth wide and bit its own neck.
The bite contained immense power, and the snake was clearly
holding nothing back in the effort. A ripping sound could be heard
as the snake’s head was torn off the rest of its body. However, it
wasn’t dead. The gruish sensation grew even stronger as the
snake then began to eat the rest of its body. Blood sprayed out
from the severed parts of the snake, creating a shocking and
ghastly sight.

As the Captain stared in shock, Xu Qing calmly said, “Actually,

Captain. I win.”

After the words left his mouth, the snake’s head shuddered, and
then it seemed to lose whatever power was sustaining it. It
dropped down into the water, while Xu Qing’s shadow quietly
returned to him.

It was only at this point that Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior finally
managed to unseal himself. Returning to Xu Qing, he looked
angrily at the Captain. The patriarch had lost a lot of face just now,
and what was more, he had to wonder if the Fiendish Xu was
going to think he was useless after this fight. Even worse, the
shadow had clearly performed amazingly. The patriarch felt a
sensation of crisis growing stronger and stronger with him.

The Captain stared blankly at the mangled sea snake floating on

the surface of the water. Then he looked at Xu Qing. Seemingly a
bit embarrassed, he lowered his voice and said, “Little Junior
Brother, why don’t we negotiate a way—”
“You lose.”

“Hey, you dropped a spirit note!”

“You lose.”

“Yeah, yeah. I get it. Wait, I just had a really good idea! I think—”

“I said. You. Lose!” Xu Qing’s expression was very serious as he

said the words one at a time. Then he thought for a moment, and
an odd expression appeared on his face, as if he disapproved of
the Captain’s behavior. As far as Xu Qing was concerned, if you
lost a bet, you needed to take the matter very seriously. It was just
as important as paying back money you owed. Both came down to
heaven’s law and earth’s principle.

Meanwhile, the Captain was having trouble steadying his

breathing. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was even grinding his
teeth.

“Fine. All we’re talking about is dressing up like Third Princess,

right? Not a big deal! Hold on a second!” Eyes filling with
determination, he turned and went into the ship’s cabin.

The anticipation in Xu Qing’s heart built as he stared at the cabin

door and waited.

Time ticked by. About an hour later, when Xu Qing was just
beginning to lose patience, the cabin door slowly opened, and a
bewitchingly charming, elegantly lithe young woman strode out.
She was none other than Third Princess.

At first, she walked slowly and steadily. But after taking a few
steps, she turned her delicate and charming face toward Xu Qing.
That was when she noticed the odd look on his face, and her own
expression turned sour. Snorting coldly to hold back from lashing
out, she stomped over to him, then hiked up her skirt, revealing
two long legs. Squatting down, she pulled out a large apple and
viciously took a bite.

“Happy?” the Captain said. His disguise was remarkably true to

life, making him truly a feast for the eyes. No matter which angle
Xu Qing looked at him from, he couldn’t find any flaws. The only
exception was that his legs were a bit too hairy. Everything else
was perfect. The bright eyes and white teeth. The dainty hands, as
fair as jade. The arms as slender as a lotus root. Even the most
beautiful female disciples back in the sect would have been
jealous at the sight.

Xu Qing was really curious about how the Captain managed to do

this, and took a long moment to size him up. Meanwhile, the
clearly irritated Captain stretched a delicate hand toward Xu Qing.

“Give me the bag of holding.”

Xu Qing took out Third Princess’s bag of holding and held it upside
down. Instantly, numerous miscellaneous objects tumbled out into
a big pile. Most were clothing items. There weren’t very many spirit
stones, although there were some small black stones that pulsed
with mutagen. And Xu Qing also spotted numerous finger-sized
crystal bottles, all of which contained black pearls. And each pearl
had a magical symbol inside. Presumably, it was an item like this
that he’d run into with his dharmaskiff.

“So many!” Xu Qing picked up one of the bottles to inspect.

Rifling through the other things, the Captain said, “Those things
are called Yin-Illuminating Lightning Pearls. They’re a disposable
magical device unique to Seazombies. They’re very powerful, and
can only be created by top Seazombie experts. Because of that,
they’re rare among other species, and go for different prices
depending on how powerful they are.

“Different Seazombies will make different versions. There was one

type created by the Seazombie patriarch that could unleash an
attack comparable to the Nascent Soul level. A few years ago, it
went up for auction in the Violet Lands, and ended up selling for
an astronomical price. One unique property of these pearls is that
you need to power them up with blood. And they’re more lethal to
whatever species the blood comes from.”

As he spoke, the Captain picked up an identity medallion.

Sounding pleased, he continued, “I spent a lot of money on this
disguise technique. It’s really amazing. Not only does it allow you
to imitate the aura of a species, but also, it can perfectly mask
your own fluctuations. Since I’ve been keeping an eye on Third
Princess for a while now, I can imitate her perfectly.

“Now, we need to head into Seazombie territory. As long as we

don’t somehow end up stuck there for a long time, and as long as
we don’t run into any Gold Core experts who can pierce through
this disguise, then no one will have any idea what’s going on.”

At this point, the Captain looked at Xu Qing and then tossed him a
white robe. He also handed him a small bottle.

“Get dressed in that. Then open the bottle and pour some of the
contents on yourself. It will allow you to exude zombie poison,
plus, it will mask your aura and change your physical appearance.”

Xu Qing did as told. Afterward, the zombie poison he emanated

and his withered features made him look exactly like a Seazombie.
As for the little bottle, Xu Qing could tell that it had been created
by someone with a very extraordinary cultivation base.
Furthermore, it gave him even new insights into the unorthodox
and extraordinary things the Captain did.

“And now,” the Captain said somberly, “you’re going to be my dao

protector. You will escort me, the princess, back to Seazombie
territory. Going forward, we need to put on an act that nobody can
see through. Agreed?”

Xu Qing nodded, as what the Captain said definitely did make

sense.
The Captain cleared his throat, stretched at the waist a few times,
which revealed his attractive figure, then sat down and slowly
crossed his legs. Gently bobbing one leg up and down, he took out
an apple and bit into it.

“Come, little Ah Qing. The princess needs a leg massage.”

Xu Qing looked at the Captain, then took out some poison powder
from his bag of holding and prepared to pour it out into his palm.

The Captain tucked his legs back and looked somberly at Xu Qing.
“It just occurred to me that we need to talk about the plan.”

Deathblade's ThoughtsIMPORTANT: The

IMPORTANT:

The
Chapter 184: Strange Seazombie
Developments (1)

In the dome of heaven, a warship that resembled a black tree

sped along rapidly, piercing loudly through the clouds. Assuming it
stayed on its current course, it was obviously going to reach the
island that was the Seazombies’ ancestral land in only ten days.

Based on the sea charts Seven Blood Eyes had given out during
wartime, Xu Qing knew that though the place was called an island,
it was vastly larger than the home of the Merfolk. Actually, it was
about ten percent the size of the continent of South Phoenix.

Xu Qing and the Captain were on that warship. After going through
lengthy discussions, they had finalized their plan.

“Only ten more days,” the Captain said, “and we’ll arrive in
Seazombie territory. Your plan is okay, Xu Qing. Except, we’ll need
several days, and I’m worried your plan doesn’t allow for enough
time. Also... why do you seem so excited about all the prep work
for this plan of yours?”

The Captain seemed both hesitant and suspicious.

In terms of plans, their discussion the first day had revealed that
the Captain actually didn’t have any. He had just intended to
charge into Seazombie territory and figure things out as they
developed.

Xu Qing couldn’t agree to that.

After some thought, and determining what his goal was, he came
up with the idea of trying to get to the nearest zombie ancestor
statue as quickly as possible. After setting that goal, the plan fell
into place quickly. The fastest way to get to that statue would be to
have a Seazombie cultivator personally escort them there. That
way, there wouldn’t be any time wasted.

As for how to get that escort, Xu Qing and the Captain had already
decided that it would be: injury!

If Third Princess was ‘injured’ and had struggled to get back

safely, then it would be a given that she’d be sent for healing. And
given her status, the obvious location for healing was a zombie
ancestor statue. After all, the Captain’s intelligence report made it
clear that the statues were used for two main purposes:
zombification of new Seazombies, and astonishing healing.

That was why the Captain was still a bit hesitant and suspicious,
and had asked the question he just did. “If the healing finishes in a
day,” he continued, “people will notice and get suspicious.”

Xu Qing shook his head. “Not if we keep adding injuries daily for
the rest of the journey. Old injuries added onto new ones will seem
more realistic!”
The Captain still wasn’t convinced, and was fairly certain Xu Qing
was using public authority to avenge private wrongs.

Xu Qing looked the Captain in the eyes and didn’t make any
attempt to look away.

Seeing that, the Captain sighed and remembered the advice he

had given Xu Qing some time ago. Because of that advice, he
wasn’t really sure what Xu Qing was thinking. [1]

That said, the Captain was a ferocious, determined person. Thus,

it was no surprise he suddenly pulled out a dagger and stabbed
himself viciously in the gut with it. Instantly, his artificially blue
blood spilled out, staining his garment.

“What’s the big deal about something as trivial as that?” the

Captain asked, continuing to munch on his apple.

Xu Qing shook his head. “Captain, self-inflicted wounds look

completely different from real wounds. For the good of our plan,
you’re going to have to suffer through a bit of humiliation. Don’t
worry, I’ll help.”

The Captain stopped mid-bite, his eyes widening into a glare.

Xu Qing looked back at him seriously, straight in the eye. After a

moment of silence, the Captain sighed, tossed his dagger to Xu
Qing, and then held his arms out wide.

“Bring it on.”
Grinning, Xu Qing gripped the dagger, walked forward, and
slashed the Captain’s stomach. Then he pulled the dagger back
for a moment before stabbing the Captain. It was a great feeling.
Then the Captain gasped as Xu Qing slashed the dagger across
his right thigh. As the blood bubbled out, Xu Qing used the
Seaforming Scripture to strike the Captain in the chest.

A boom rang out, and blood sprayed out of the Captain’s mouth.
As his face became deathly pale, Xu Qing’s dagger flashed left
and right, until the Captain was covered with blood, and looked
completely bedraggled.

“Okay! Enough! Enough, Xu Qing!!”

Xu Qing was a bit disappointed. Those handful of dagger attacks

had felt wonderful. After stopping, he looked at the Captain’s left
leg, and decided he would focus there tomorrow.

When the Captain noticed Xu Qing studying his leg, his eyelids
twitched. “Deputy Director Xu, as a dao protector, it makes very
little sense that the princess would be so badly wounded while you
don’t have a scratch on you.”

Xu Qing’s smile faltered.

“Therefore,” the Captain continued, a slight grin appearing on his

face, “for the good of our plan, you’re going to have to suffer
through a bit of humiliation. Don’t worry, I’ll help.”
Heart filling with anticipation, he took the dagger back, then
viciously stabbed it toward Xu Qing’s thigh.

Xu Qing’s instinct was to evade the blow, yet he couldn’t refute the
Captain’s logic. Taking a deep breath, he simply looked the
Captain in the eye as the dagger stabbed into this thigh.

Xu Qing gritted his teeth.

Next, the Captain excitedly stabbed Xu Qing three times in the

stomach, slashed the side of his neck, and inflicted numerous
superficial wounds over spots where vital organs were.

After Xu Qing was dripping with blood, he suddenly took a step

back, glared at the Captain, and hoarsely said, “Your right leg is
pretty badly injured, but not your left. That doesn’t make much
sense.”

As the words left his mouth, a dagger suddenly appeared in his

hands, and he stabbed it toward the Captain’s left leg.

A moment later, the Captain gritted his teeth and stabbed Xu Qing
again.

And thus, the two of them exchanged dagger attacks back and
forth. Sometime later... they stopped. Both of them lay on the deck
gasping for breath, covered in numerous appalling wounds.

Voice tremulous, the Captain said, “Xu Qing... I don’t think we

need to do this every day. I’m the princess. You’re the dao
protector. We’re supposed to be fleeing after having been
attacked, right?”

After a bit of thought, Xu Qing said, “Yeah, maybe we should flee

for seven or eight days, then get ‘attacked’ one more time. What
happens if the Seazombies figure out who we are after we arrive?
Do you have an escape plan?”

Hearing this, the Captain’s eyebrows shot up. Grabbing back his
half-eaten apple, he took a bite and smiled complacently. “Deputy
Captain Xu, I do indeed have an escape plan for that scenario. But
you don’t need to worry. When risking one’s life, it’s better to keep
things exciting by not revealing all the details. So you should
probably be ready to take care of yourself.

“Given that you work for me, I suppose I can tell you some details.
That said, it’s one of my biggest secrets and so it’s worth, um,
1,000,000 spirit stones!”

Xu Qing had been thinking about selling an entropic teleportation

talisman to the Captain. But when he looked over and saw the
lowbrow look on the Captain’s face he decided not to. There
wasn’t any need.

The Captain was shocked that Xu Qing didn’t ask any follow-up
questions. Given that, he came to the conclusion that Xu Qing
must have his own life-saving techniques. But even if he did, the
Captain couldn’t believe that they were as amazing as his own.
“When the time comes, you’re welcome to use it,” the Captain
said. “All you need is 1,000,000 spirit stones.”

Time passed quickly. Seven days. They were now only three days
away from Seazombie territory.

Xu Qing and the Captain spent time meditating and occasionally

reviewing their plan. Also, in the interest of making sure the plan
went smoothly, the Captain explained some things about the
Seazombies.

“... and that’s about all there is to say about the Seazombies,” the
Captain said. “Now let me tell you more about Third Princess. You
have to feel bad for the girl. The truth is that she hates the
Seazombies more than anyone in Seven Blood Eyes. That’s why I
told you she would help us.”

The Captain glanced into his bag of holding to check on Third

Princess.

“She was born to Devakind parents. Her father had astonishing

cultivation aptitude, and was named a chosen among Devakind.
He was thought to have the potential to follow the path of the
Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns.

“However, he eventually rebelled against his people and

intentionally zombified himself. Considering his shocking
cultivation base, he met the approval of the Seazombie patriarch,
and was named as the first Seazombie king.
“As the Seazombie king, he cultivated a very unique Seazombie
technique called The King Severs Love. And he cultivated it to the
highest level, gaining enlightenment of a ‘will domain’ called...
Forgetting Grief! It was all part of his plan. When he rebelled
against Devakind, he took his wife and three daughters with him,
and zombified them along with himself, all for the purpose of
sacrificing them to his pursuit of the dao. Simply put, whenever the
Seazombie king reaches a cultivation bottleneck, he can sacrifice
a loved one to break through it. Over the years that have passed,
he’s already sacrificed his wife, his firstborn daughter, and his
second daughter. Only his third daughter is left, and the only
reason she’s still alive is that her father hasn’t reached a
cultivation bottleneck.

“That’s why I wanted to include her in the plan. The girl seems
foolish, but that’s only because of the sheltered life she’s lived.
The truth is that she hates her father down to her core, far more
than anyone from Seven Blood Eyes could hate him. Therefore,
she’s always getting into trouble. My plan was to get her to swear
an oath to help me, with the promise of taking her with me
afterward, and helping her truly free herself. I told her over and
over again not to stir up any trouble, but that obviously didn’t work.
The girl feels like her fate has already been sealed, and that
fatalistic outlook has seeped down to her soul.

“As a matter of fact, my intelligence reports indicate that she’s

already been killed seven or eight times in the past few years.
Sadly, her father extracted half her soul and keeps it on him at all
times. Because of that, he can recreate her any time he wishes,
and therefore, even if she dies somewhere far away, it doesn’t
mean much to him.”

Hearing this story from the Captain, Xu Qing felt quite moved.

“My intelligence report also contains a line attributed to the

Seazombie king,” the Captain continued. “Listen and tell me what
you think.

“Red dust scatters on a scroll painting;

“The ink can’t trace out the years that pass;

“They leave behind a burst of loneliness;

“How can I forget my grief?”

As the words echoed across the deck of the warship, they seemed
to contain with them an unspeakable grief.

Xu Qing didn’t say anything.

Everyone in the world had their own story to tell about what
happened after the broken face of the god arrived. And those
stories always seemed to be tragedies. Seeking the dao by killing
loved ones seemed like a bitter and desperate thing. But Xu Qing
had seen things like that from the time he was young. It wasn’t
anything unusual. Even still, Xu Qing took out a medicinal pill and
tossed it to the Captain.

The captain caught it in surprise. And when he realized what it

was, he said, “What’s this for? My wounds aren’t that bad! I don’t
need this.”

“Give it to Third Princess,” Xu Qing said quietly.

“Little Ah Qing!” the Captain said, smiling enigmatically. “I had no

idea you were so kind and gentle!” Hefting the pill, he continued,
“Hold on, do you like her? Are you actually thinking of becoming
her consort?”

Xu Qing looked placidly at the Captain. Seeing the rakish

expression on the Captain’s face, he declined to comment.

“When you look at me like that, little Ah Qing, are you really
looking at me? Or are you looking at your beloved Third Princess?
Aiya, if the female disciples back in the sect knew about this, I
think they’d all start weeping.”

The more the Captain talked, the happier he seemed. Eyebrows

dancing, he put away the medicinal pill and took out a tangerine,
which he started to peel. Noticing Xu Qing frowning slightly, he
was about to keep on in the same vein.

However, Xu Qing interrupted him. “Princess, we arrive in

Seazombie territory in three days. I think you need some fresh
wounds.”

Before the Captain could say anything else, Xu Qing walked over,
produced a dagger, and plunged it into the Captain’s stomach. The
Captain gasped, grimaced in pain, then took out his own dagger
and glared at Xu Qing.

“As the princess’ dao protector, you also need a few wounds!”

He prepared to launch a stab, but Xu Qing dodged out of the way.

“Princess, your cultivation base is only in the great circle of Qi

Condensation, which means you heal slowly. As your dao
protector, I need to spend more time on the lookout for trouble, not
wasting time healing you. That means your wounds will get worse
as we travel. As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, my
wounds heal much faster. If I have too many wounds, it won’t be
realistic!”

The Captain was temporarily struck speechless.

Seeing that, Xu Qing jumped forward and stabbed him several

more times.

Cradling his abdomen, the Captain jumped backward and glared

at Xu Qing. However, when he noticed Xu Qing’s earnest
expression, he sighed. “Despite being chased, the princess and
her dao protector would still have time to rest. Besides, given how
close we are to Seazombie territory, our pursuers would eventually
give up the deadly chase out of fear.”

Xu Qing thought about it for a moment. “That’s true. However,

given how close we are to the ancestral land, the princess
definitely needs to be seriously wounded and even on the brink of
death. Otherwise, they might not send her immediately to the
healing area.”

The Captain looked bitterly at the wounds he already had, then

looked at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing’s very serious expression caused the Captain to hiss out

a sigh and then close his eyes.

Feeling wonderful, Xu Qing inflicted another four or five dagger

wounds, until the Captain was obviously seriously hurt and very
weak. Only then did the session of ‘deadly pursuit’ end.

In this manner, time passed.

1. The advice referred to here was given in chapter 129. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsAs I mentioned in the previous chapter, this

is a large chapter being split. Normal chapters are around 3,000
Chinese characters, this one was 9,000. What's more, it's split into
three obvious sections. I can't be totally sure, but I feel like the
author probably originally had them as three chapters, then
combined them for a special promotional release of some kind.
As I mentioned in the previous chapter, this is a large chapter
being split. Normal chapters are around 3,000 Chinese characters,
this one was 9,000. What's more, it's split into three obvious
sections. I can't be totally sure, but I feel like the author probably
originally had them as three chapters, then combined them for a
special promotional release of some kind.
Chapter 184: Strange Seazombie
Developments (2)

Soon the three days were almost up, and the warship was finally
closing in on the Seazombie ancestral land.

As the massive island appeared in the distance, Xu Qing’s

expression turned very serious. Taking a deep breath, he looked
down at himself to make sure his disguise was in place. He also
had his shadow emit a Seazombie aura. For all intents and
purposes, Xu Qing was a Seazombie. Also, thanks to Golden
Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits, he really did have one of the
innate abilities of the Seazombies: zombie poison. With that
addition, his disguise was perfect.

Though the Captain didn’t have such, he had obviously come

prepared, so Xu Qing wasn’t worried about his disguise being
seen through.

“Finally, we’re... home....” the Captain said, clutching his abdomen

as he leaned weakly against the railing, the wind stirring his blood-
soaked hair to reveal his delicately beautiful face. His pale skin
and the mixed emotions on his face made it seem like the Captain
really was Third Princess. It was as if he truly understood
everything about her, down to the core of her being.
If it weren’t for the fact that Xu Qing had spent the past few days
getting used to the Captain in this form, he wouldn’t have ever
guessed who he really was.

“Thank you for your help on this journey,” the Captain said,
swaying in place, his voice both weak and charming. Trembling,
he reached out to steady himself on the rail. He seemed to be
expending all of his effort on controlling inner wounds so serious
that, if he lost control of them, he would die instantly.

There was an extremely vicious stab wound on his chest right next
to where his heart was. From the look of it, the slightest instability
would cause the heart to explode. Given that, it was obvious he
had damage to his meridians.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing’s once-white daoist robe was splattered with

blood, and his pale skin was even paler than normal. His aura
seemed unstable, as if it were taking him a lot of effort to keep it
under control. And his most severe wound was on his neck, where
it seemed his windpipe had been ripped open.

Although he had recovered some, he wasn’t able to speak. At the

same time, blood slowly pooled around his feet.

In response to the Captain’s words, Xu Qing ignored his own

injuries and expressionlessly clasped his hands and bowed.

That was when powerful energy fluctuations swept over the entire
ship, including Xu Qing and the Captain.
The ship instantly slowed to a halt. These fluctuations didn’t come
from a cultivator, but rather, a spell formation! It was the
Seazombies’ Grand Protective Spell Formation.

Considering the war going on, the Seazombies kept their grand
formation operating at all times, not only to prevent outsiders from
entering, but also to bolster the effectiveness of everything inside
the formation.

As Xu Qing knew, these spell formation fluctuations were the first

obstacle they needed to pass.

Of course, both he and the Captain were prepared. As the

formation assessed them, the Captain released the correct
fluctuations in response. Xu Qing did the same thing, using the
contents of the small bottle to help. A moment later, the energy
fluctuations vanished. The formation had corroborated their
identities.

Xu Qing couldn’t help but feel a bit of admiration for how well-
prepared the Captain was. With that, he looked past the ship’s rail
at the huge island that was the Seazombie ancestral land.

What he saw was an island so large it might as well have been a

continent. It looked different than any other location he had ever
seen before. The coastal area in front of him was covered with
enormous growing plants that resembled magical lingzhi
mushrooms. However, these magical mushrooms were pitch black
and emanated zombie poison and a shocking pressure. Even the
smallest of the black, magical mushrooms were several hundred
meters in diameter. They grew both on the shore and in the water,
and at first glance, he saw over a hundred in the area in front of
him. [1]

Atop each magical mushroom were mooring facilities made of

bleached bones. Docked there were countless warships that
looked like coffins, ready to fly up into the sky.

Out of the stalks of the magical mushrooms grew innumerable

tentacles, which burrowed into either the land or the water,
depending on where the mushroom grew. Some of the tentacles
were absorbing mutagen from their surroundings. Others had
ropes attached to them to secure various boats that floated on the
water’s surface.

Eventually, Xu Qing realized he was looking at a harbor. And up

and down the coast, there were more harbors.

Meanwhile, the sky overhead was filled with endless dark clouds.
Teleportation light flickered within those clouds as Seazombie
cultivators teleported away or returned from afar. Seazombie
warships as well as individual Seazombie cultivators were
constantly moving about. There were constant rumbling sounds,
but strangely, virtually no talking.
The lands further in had pitch black soil, and large growths that
were similar to the coastal magical mushrooms, but with different
colors. The inland types were bright red.

There were also huge trees that were very eye-catching and
unique. The trees were rotting, and emanated powerful mutagen.
And there were pitch black butterflies that flew around everywhere.
Also, numerous rivers crisscrossed the lands, all of them filled with
bright red liquid. This place seemed like it belonged in the Yellow
Springs of the underworld. It was horrendous and appalling, and at
the same time, indescribably terrifying.

As Xu Qing and the Captain remained stuck in their warship,

undergoing the inspection of the spell formation, sixteen coffins
shot up into the air from the shoreline. Nearing, they surrounded
the warship, creating a formation of their own.

Black lightning bolts shot out, connecting all of the coffins and
trapping the warship.

Then, the coffin directly in front of Xu Qing and the Captain

opened, and a Seazombie emerged, wreathed in black smoke. His
features were difficult to make out clearly because of the smoke,
but he appeared to be of human stock. Eyes flashing like lightning,
he looked at Xu Qing and the Captain. The fluctuations of
Foundation Establishment were strong on him, making it obvious
that though he wasn’t currently in the profound radiance state, he
had about 90 dharma apertures opened.
Xu Qing’s heart sank. Obviously, this person was in charge of the
harbor below, and had come personally to inspect the warship. Xu
Qing bowed his head to show respect according to Seazombie
etiquette.

This Seazombie was a three-flame cultivator, and after sizing up

Xu Qing and the Captain, he said, “Well met, Third Princess.”

Gripping the rail, and face rather grim, the Captain said, “How’s
my father, the king?”

“The king left for the battlefield and hasn’t returned yet.”

“Is that why you refuse to kneel to me, and even went so far as to
lock my ship in place?”

The Captain lifted his left hand, within which was a black pearl that
he instantly threw at the Seazombie cultivator. The pearl slammed
into the Seazombie and exploded.

The Seazombie was caught by surprise, but wasn’t hurt. Face

expressionless, he gave the Captain an unreadable look, then
dropped one knee.

The Captain had exacerbated his wounds just now, and coughed
up a mouthful of blood. Seemingly barely capable of standing, he
grimly said, “Take me to the nearest zombie ancestor divine
likeness. I need healing!”
The three-flame Seazombie coolly replied, “The king left orders
that you’re to be confined to the palace of operations as soon as
you return, and aren’t to be allowed to leave.”

He waved his hand, and the aura of cultivators drifted out of all of
the surrounding coffins. At the same time, the black lightning
which had been connecting the coffins reached out and began to
guide the warship forward.

This development didn’t catch Xu Qing and the Captain by

surprise. In fact, they already had a plan in place in case things
played out this way.

The Captain coughed up another mouthful of blood, and sagged

so badly it seemed like he was about to die. Staring straight at the
three-flame Seazombie, he sweetly said, “That’s fine. If I die in the
palace of operations, I’ll just get resurrected. Then I’ll have a good
excuse to consume you and your entire little squad here. It’ll be
fun. Okay, since the matter’s set, please get me to the palace
ASAP.”

The Captain, in his disguise as Third Princess, smiled in a sweet

and beautiful way that made him seem completely naïve and
innocent. However, the words he spoke were incomparably
nefarious. They seemed to conceal profound resentment and
madness, and as their import sank in, the Foundation
Establishment Seazombie cultivator stopped in place.
The Captain was familiar with Third Princess’s personality, and
knew that on previous occasions she had repeatedly gotten
herself killed. Furthermore, every time she was resurrected, her
father would arrange for some other Seazombies to be given to
her to consume, to speed up the resurrection process.

“Very well,” said the three-flame Seazombie. Then, after a moment

of silence, he looked at Xu Qing. “But you can screw off.”

1. This isn’t the first time we read about structures resembling

poisonous mushrooms. We also read about that back in chapter
115. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsHey everyone, I know there's a bug with

the chapter scheduler that causes chapters to come an hour later
at the end of the week. For me it's Friday night and Saturday
morning. There is a new chapter scheduler on the backend, but it's
currently a beta version. I'm really hesitant to adopt it until I know
for sure it won't spaz out. So for the time being, I'm going to
continue using the old one, which means that once a week the
chapters will come an hour later. Some time later this year
(hopefully), when the new admin backend is running smoothly, I'll
switch to the new scheduler.

Hey everyone, I know there's a bug with the chapter scheduler

that causes chapters to come an hour later at the end of the week.
For me it's Friday night and Saturday morning. There is a new
chapter scheduler on the backend, but it's currently a beta version.
I'm really hesitant to adopt it until I know for sure it won't spaz out.
So for the time being, I'm going to continue using the old one,
which means that once a week the chapters will come an hour
later. Some time later this year (hopefully), when the new admin
backend is running smoothly, I'll switch to the new scheduler.
Chapter 184: Strange Seazombie
Developments (3)

Xu Qing’s expression was icy as he released a wave of zombie

poison that swirled around him. Voice hoarse, he said, “Are you
trying to take credit for my bodyguard work?”

Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, one of the black
coffins behind him opened, and a Seazombie cultivator emerged,
bursting with the aura of two life flames. She had been a mermaid
in life, and as she closed in, she released a crushing pressure.
Clearly, the Foundation Establishment Seazombie in charge of the
harbor really was trying to take the credit Xu Qing had earned from
acting as the princess’ bodyguard.

Xu Qing’s eyes were as cold as ice, but his facial expression didn’t
change. As the mermaid closed in, he suddenly lurched backward
and slammed into her. A boom rang out as he then reached back
to grab her viciously.

The mermaid’s face fell as the power of Xu Qing’s fleshly body

power smashed into her, and then her life flames flickered as she
tried to get away from him.

He was too fast, plus his hand seemed like it contained a

gravitational force that slowed the mermaid down. In the blink of
an eye, his right hand stabbed into her chest, where he grabbed
her heart and squeezed down viciously.

A thud echoed out as the two-flame mermaid’s heart exploded.

Seazombies didn't feel pain, but the injury caused her to scream
nonetheless. However, this mermaid cultivator was a vicious
woman, as the next thing she did was try to bite Xu Qing in the
neck. This, of course, was standard Seazombie behavior. It
seemed as if her sharp teeth were just about to bite into his flesh.

But then, Xu Qing smiled coldly and slammed his head into her
mouth. Cracking rang out as her teeth shattered in a mass of
blood and gore. As she screamed even more shrilly, Xu Qing’s
expression turned vicious, and he opened his mouth and bit into
her neck. He put an immense amount of force into his jaws,
ensuring that his single bite nearly ripped the mermaid's neck in
half.

Instantly, strong mutagen flowed out of the mermaid's body and

into Xu Qing. She struggled violently, but Xu Qing held her tightly
with both arms wrapped around her. It was a very brutal scene.

After six or seven breaths of time passed, the mermaid had been
sucked dry of mutagen, and Xu Qing dropped her. Her life flame
had been extinguished, her dharma apertures drained, and she
looked like a desiccated corpse. Though not dead, she lay there
convulsing.
“Ai,” the Captain said sweetly. Hips swaying, he walked over to the
mermaid and licked his lips. “What lovely fun. But why does this
sweet girl look so shriveled now?”

Meanwhile, Xu Qing turned to look at the three-flame Seazombie

cultivator hovering in the air just beyond the warship. Blue blood
dripping down his chin, he exuded cold, emotionless fluctuations
as he said, “Give me nine more like that and you can have my
bodyguard credit.”

A grave expression appeared on the three-flame Seazombie’s

face. The truth was that though he had been considering taking
the credit for the mission, he had also been testing out Xu Qing. In
recent days, Seven Blood Eyes disciples were using all sorts of
methods to try to sneak into Seazombie territory. Although all of
them had been captured and killed, it was always possible that the
princess’ return was part of some Seven Blood Eyes plot.

If things had played out differently, the three-flame cultivator would

have notified his superiors, who would have dispatched people to
investigate further.

Now, he had no intention of doing that. The spell formation had

confirmed the identity of the princess, as well as that of her escort.
Furthermore, the bodyguard’s method of devouring mutagen also
proved who he was, as no one other than a Seazombie would do
such a thing. What was more, the fact that he had so easily
defeated a two-flame opponent went to show that he was very
close to reaching the same level as the three-flame Seazombie
himself. He waved his hand, and the lightning coming from the
sixteen black coffins vanished, and the coffins flew back to their
mooring spots.

“Escort the princess to the seventh zombie ancestor’s divine

likeness!” he said.

Below, one of the magical mushrooms rippled, sending out black

clouds that swirled into the shape of an enormous octopus. The
octopus floated over, sent one tentacle to wrap around the
warship, and then used the others to start carrying Xu Qing and
the Captain off into the distance.

As they left, the three-flame Seazombie bowed his head

respectfully and called out, “Princess, your humble servant is
merely following orders. Please forgive me for any breach in
decorum.”

With that, the three-flame cultivator put his hand in his mouth and
viciously bit off his own finger, which he tossed toward the
warship.

The finger exploded, transforming into a cloud of zombie poison

that spread out over the warship to create a glittering sealing
barrier.

“That sealing barrier will ensure that no one bothers you, Princess.
Please forgive any offense.”
“You can screw off now,” the Captain replied tranquilly.

“Many thanks, Princess.”

The three-flame Seazombie ducked his head, then flew back down
to the coastal area to resume his duties.

And thus, Xu Qing and the Captain remained on the warship as

the enormous octopus ran along at full speed toward the location
of the seventh zombie ancestor’s divine likeness. As a matter of
fact, that was the exact location they had planned to be sent to.

The Seazombies had nine zombie ancestor statues located in

different grottoes, all of which were all heavily guarded. The
seventh zombie ancestor’s statue was closest to the sea, and also
relatively far away from the royal palace.

Most importantly, according to the Captain’s intelligence report,

because the Gold Core cultivator who cared for the seventh
zombie ancestor statue was required to support the front line war
effort, he wasn't even present. The person left behind in charge
was only in the great circle of Foundation Establishment.

Xu Qing had been hesitant about that aspect, but the Captain had
guaranteed that his intelligence report was accurate, and thus Xu
Qing hadn’t pressed him on the issue.

As they proceeded forward, they got to see more and more of the
inland areas of the Seazombie territory.
Just about everything was the color black. There were all sorts of
black plants, all of them pulsing with astonishing mutagen. In fact,
this place was far worse than any of the forbidden regions Xu Qing
had seen. The mutagen made this place like a holy land to the
Seazombies, while simultaneously making it a deadly land of
poison for other cultivators who needed spirit power.

Any person like that who came here long-term would find
themselves filling up with mutagen. And if they didn't suppress and
control it, their chances of mutation would rise rapidly.

However, the Captain seemed prepared with methods that made

him temporarily capable of ignoring the mutagen. Xu Qing wasn't
sure about the details, but he guessed that it had something to do
with godly flesh.

Obviously, the Joine incident wasn’t the first time the Captain had
gone crazy. He had to have done similar things many times
before.

In addition to the black vegetation and the magical mushrooms, Xu

Qing saw more of the huge withered trees and bright red rivers.
The sky was dark, but it was still possible to see, as the clouds
had countless eyes within them. Whenever those eyes opened,
they spilled red light that illuminated the lands. They opened at
different intervals, ensuring that these dark lands always had
some level of light. It was a dusky light, but it was more than
enough for cultivators to be able to see.
Xu Qing quickly realized what those eyes were. When one of them
became visible directly above him, he saw that it belonged to a
massive, rotting fish. The fish had a tentacle on its head, at the
end of which was the eye. When the eye was closed, it was hardly
visible. But when it opened, it shone like a lantern.

Such fish filled the clouds in the skies above the Seazombie
territory. There were too many to count, and they would
occasionally sink down to provide light, then afterward, float back
up into the cloud cover.

It all seemed very bizarre to Xu Qing. He also saw numerous

Seazombies of countless species, many of which he had never
seen before.

And up ahead, there was something that caused Xu Qing’s mind

to reel. It was a huge area of land that had been cleared of trees
and magical mushrooms. As the octopus led them toward it, Xu
Qing saw that countless Seazombies were excavating the area.

The part that had been excavated so far seemed to reveal a huge
hand. It was massive, being hundreds of meters from end to end,
as if some ancient giant had been buried here. As the excavation
work revealed its rotting flesh, Xu Qing noted that some
Seazombies had gathered nearby and were performing a ritual of
some sort.
After the warship passed that area, a heaven-shaking, earth-
shattering roar echoed out that caused Xu Qing to look over his
shoulder. Back in that location, a several-thousand-meter-long arm
was stretching up toward the sky.

“A resurrection!” Xu Qing took a deep breath.

There were other living beings in these lands. One of them was a
type of butterfly that had ghost faces on their wings. Based on all
the information the Captain had provided on their journey, Xu Qing
knew that they were called ghost thirst butterflies. Supposedly,
they were a native insect on this island.

They predated the Seazombies, and lived on all corners of the

island. As Xu Qing and the Captain proceeded along, the
butterflies would dance around them in the air. It should have been
a beautiful sight, but the ghost faces on their wings seemed alive
as they greedily lapped up the surrounding mutagen. They looked
extremely sinister and creepy.

For some reason, the ghost thirst butterflies seemed to be

gathering around Xu Qing. And some were flying toward him from
off in the distance.

He frowned.

Behind him, the Captain delicately cleared his throat and said,
“Well, my dao protector, I had no idea you were such a thirst trap.”
[1]
1. I’ve tweaked the translation slightly to make this joke similar to
the Chinese. Basically, the Captain uses a Chinese idiom related
to butterflies that’s used to describe extremely attractive people ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsThanks to everyone who participated in the

poll about the merch. After taking a close look at the poll results,
work is already underway. We have an amazing artist working on a
custom piece of original, official art. Things like this take time, so I
imagine it will probably be a month before the art piece is done
and we can release the actual merch. I just wanted to update
everyone.UPDATE 8/21: The art is done and I'm getting the
products ready. I probably will get at least one sample of one of
the items to check quality. Once it's ready, I'll make a post here
and also post to my e-mail newsletter. Should be.... maybe a week
or so?UPDATE 8/22: I ordered a sample product. Once I get it in
the mail and confirm it looks good, I'll release it!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the poll about the merch.

After taking a close look at the poll results, work is already
underway. We have an amazing artist working on a custom piece
of original, official art. Things like this take time, so I imagine it will
probably be a month before the art piece is done and we can
release the actual merch. I just wanted to update everyone.

UPDATE 8/21: The art is done and I'm getting the products ready.
I probably will get at least one sample of one of the items to check
quality. Once it's ready, I'll make a post here and also post to my e-
mail newsletter. Should be.... maybe a week or so?
UPDATE 8/22: I ordered a sample product. Once I get it in the mail
and confirm it looks good, I'll release it!
Chapter 185: Settling In

Xu Qing looked back at the Captain but didn’t say a word. As far
as he was concerned, the Captain was taking this role far too
seriously. The charming way in which he’d just cleared his throat
was just plain jarring. However, Xu Qing didn’t say anything. He
knew that though Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior had been quiet
lately, based on the patriarch’s personality, he was surely
recording all of this for later use. One day, they would be precious
images that Xu Qing was certain he could find a use for. After
giving the Captain a long look, he turned away and ignored him.

The Captain raised his eyebrow and was about to say more when
another series of spell formation fluctuations rolled over the
warship.

The octopus shivered and dropped into a kneeling position as it

waited for the spell formation to finish the scanning process. As
the ghost thirst butterflies dispersed, Xu Qing looked over the rail
at a huge structure below them. It was a very simple construction.
There were two freestanding pillars that created a sort of gate.
Between the pillars was a black vortex, slowly spinning as red
electricity crackled within it.

Outside of the gate were numerous red magical mushrooms, atop

of which sat a host of Seazombie cultivators. There were men and
women among them, and they included both humans and
nonhumans. There appeared to be about a thousand in total, all of
them tasked with keeping this location secure. Clearly, anyone
who wanted to enter the vortex would have to pass by them first.
Some of them were powerful experts whose gazes caused a
feeling of danger in Xu Qing.

When the spell formation fluctuations swept over the warship, the
sealing barrier with the mark of that three-flame Seazombie
reacted to it, glittering brightly. Then the spell formation
fluctuations faded away.

The octopus crawled back up and cautiously proceeded forward.

As they passed the various magical mushrooms, the Seazombie
cultivators on them stood and offered greetings with clasped
hands.

“Well met, Third Princess.”

“Well met, Third Princess.”

Xu Qing’s expression remained placid, but inside he was fully on

guard. Given that there were so many eyes on them, if a single
person saw through their disguise, they would be finished.

The combined auras of all these Seazombie cultivators created a

mighty pressure that forced the little bottle in his robe to work
much faster to deal with it. If things kept going like this, the bottle
would stop working much sooner than expected.
It was the same with the Captain. It wouldn’t matter if his disguise
looked even better than it did. He was still in great danger. Taking
out a black pearl, he started fiddling with it while simultaneously
plastering an impatient expression on his face.

Soon enough, they were closing in on the gate. However, all of the
gazes were still fixed on them, therefore, the Captain suddenly
threw the pearl off to the side. It exploded, sending out powerful
aura fluctuations toward the surrounding Seazombies.

“Seen enough?” the Captain said, and his irritation faded into a
broad, sweet smile. Because his complexion was pale, and he
looked visibly weak, which was no act, his smile seemed even
more effective than usual.

The surrounding Seazombies quietly bowed their heads.

“Give me a hand,” the Captain said loudly, walking unsteadily up to

Xu Qing at the prow and reaching out to him.

Xu Qing really did admire the Captain’s acting skills. Bowing his
head, he took ‘her’ by the forearm and helped ‘her’ walk off of the
warship, away from the octopus, and toward the black vortex.

Compared to the vortex, Xu Qing and the Captain looked as

insignificant as ants. The mere fluctuations it emitted were so
terrifying that both Xu Qing and the Captain reeled inwardly.
However, they had strong willpower and were prepared. Moving
neither fast nor slow, they approached the gate. Finally, after
sharing a quick glance, they stepped into it. The moment they did,
their minds filled with rumbling sounds, and they felt like they had
entered a different dimension.

They were now in a world of bright red! It wasn’t a very large

space, and the ground was covered with a red elixir that made it
seem like a pool of blood surrounded by eight stone pillars. Sitting
atop each of the stone pillars was a cross-legged Seazombie
cultivator!

Most eye-catching was a huge statue in the middle of the pool. Its
feet sank below the surface, but it still stood 3,000 meters tall,
making it seem like it was propping up the sky. It was a blotchy
crimson color, and looked like the corpse of a human, its head
thrown back as it howled to the sky. Its hands were posed in a
very unusual way. One hand was extended up, as if to grasp at the
dome of heaven. The other hand rested on its chest. The statue
had many undulating tentacles growing out of it, all of them
covered with eyes. That alone was bizarre, but what was even
stranger was that if you looked closely at the eyes, they all
seemed to contain images of other worlds. Each world was
different, and they added to the statue’s astonishing aura, which
crushed down on everything around it, and seemed to create a
harmonic resonance with the Seazombies.

Apparently, the surrounding Seazombies had been created by the

aura of this statue; the statue itself was their origin.
The mighty pressure was many dozens of times greater than
outside the gate, and it caused Xu Qing’s bottle to start draining
even faster.

Meanwhile, a crack appeared on the Captain’s face, in other

words, a fracture in his disguise. However, using some unknown
method, he quickly fixed the problem. That said, Xu Qing could
sense unstable fluctuations coming from him. Clearly, not even the
Captain would be able to stay in the place for very long. Both of
them were deeply shaken.

This statue could only be one thing: the divine likeness of the
seventh zombie ancestor of the Seazombies.

Each of the zombie ancestor statues were different sizes, and the
seventh wasn’t even the biggest. Nor was it the strongest. Even
still, as one of the nine, it was considered a paramount entity
among Seazombies. The Seazombie king himself would pay
obeisance every time he came to the statue.

That was because these nine divine likenesses contained the

secret of how to create Seazombies. Furthermore, they would
naturally create the bright red pools beneath their feet, an elixir
that was required for the zombification process. What was more, it
had miraculous healing properties.

In fact, there were a few dozen Seazombie cultivators sitting

cross-legged within the elixir being healed. The weakest of them
was at the level of two flames, and there was one at the three-
flame level. All of them had obviously been seriously injured on the
front lines.

And yet, they didn’t count for much. What was really shocking to
Xu Qing and the Captain was that sitting atop the statue’s left
hand, which was right in front of its chest, was a young boy in a
blood-red robe!

Xu Qing had first seen this young boy in the Pearl Archipelago. He
was one of the Seazombies’ Gold Core cultivators, who had led
the assault on the Pearl Archipelago from the sea! [1]

Upon seeing him here, Xu Qing turned to the Captain.

The Captain looked stunned, then smiled back wryly. Obviously,

his intelligence report had not been accurate. Either that, or some
adjustments had been made to ensure that a Gold Core cultivator
was watching over this place.

Xu Qing stood there silently, musing that he had allowed himself to

go too crazy this time, and wondering why he had allowed the
Captain to drag him along. This place had dozens of two-flame
cultivators, over a thousand other cultivators outside, plus a Gold
Core cultivator who could kill both Xu Qing and the Captain with a
single palm attack. The Gold Core Seazombie was meditating at
the moment, and it was impossible to say what would happen
when he opened his eyes. Would he see through their ruse? After
all, the mere pressure in this place was causing problems for their
disguises.

Besides, they were in the Seazombie’s ancestral land, very close

to their army’s main camp. Who knew what other powerful experts
might show up out of the blue...?

Taking a deep breath, Xu Qing stifled his anxiety and turned it into
determination. Gritting his teeth, he decided that since he was
here, he might as well make the best of the situation. Then he
exchanged a glance with the Captain, and saw that familiar crazy
look in the Captain’s eyes. Together, they walked forward. After
they had walked about 300 meters in, rotten corpse hands began
to rise up in front of them.

The hands weren’t there to grab them, but rather, to provide a

place for them to walk. As the two of them proceeded along, the
Seazombie cultivators on the surrounding pillars mostly ignored
them. A few cracked their eyes open, but upon seeing Third
Princess, they quickly closed their eyes. As for the Gold Core boy,
he didn’t open his eyes at all.

At that point, Xu Qing breathed a sigh of relief. Eventually, when

they were close to the statue, the Captain found a place by the
statue’s feet where he sat down cross-legged to meditate. Almost
immediately, he started readjusting his position to edge close
enough to touch the statue.
Without a word, Xu Qing also entered the pool. As soon as he was
in the elixir, he could sense a strange force at work. It wasn’t spirit
power, and it wasn’t mutagen. It seemed full of pure nourishment,
including soul power. As soon as it entered Xu Qing, his dharma
apertures stirred, which was all he needed to confirm that this elixir
was going to be a big help in opening dharma apertures.

He immediately settled down cross-legged, and after taking a look

at the surrounding Seazombies in their healing routines, he
carefully attempted to absorb that unique force. He knew that he
couldn’t directly open any dharma apertures, as the resulting
fluctuations would be too obvious. The best thing would be to just
do some stockpiling. If he could collect enough of the elixir, then
after he left, he could use it to open some dharma apertures. The
number of dharma apertures he opened would depend on how
much of the elixir he could get.

Eyes filling with determination, he rotated his cultivation base,

whereupon blood-colored streams of liquid started moving from
the pond and into his body. He sent them to his dantian region,
and they stirred with such alarming, soul-stirring power that all of
his unopened dharma apertures trembled. At the same time, an
intense feeling of thirst arose in Xu Qing. Stopping for a moment,
he looked around, then continued with the absorption process. As
it turned out, stealing from the enemy right under their noses...
was very exhilarating.

1. Xu Qing saw the Seazombie boy in chapter 164. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsThankyou JudeC for the review!!!

Thankyou JudeC for the review!!!

Chapter 186: Something Happens....

The seventh zombie ancestor statue grotto was still and peaceful.
Normally speaking, there was never much activity in this place.
The Seazombies didn’t permit breakthroughs here. Therefore, the
silence was normal.

The only people allowed to use the blood elixir for healing were
extremely high-ranking individuals, or those who had performed
amazing services to their people. Because of that, there weren’t
many cultivators present. That added to the peacefulness, and
also ensured that no one would dare to make any sort of
commotion. For many years, no member of any other species had
ever infiltrated this holy land of the Seazombies. The heavy guard
outside, plus the spell formation defenses, would make it very
difficult to do so.

That said, such events had occurred on a few occasions in the

past.

Those who attempted to get into the grotto would attempt to

absorb the blood elixir, or steal parts of the statue. The nine divine
likenesses were built from special, extremely rare materials. In
fact, such materials could only be found in those nine statues,
which was why so many other species were keenly interested in
them.
The statues were incredibly durable. Even if they were damaged,
they would automatically repair themselves very quickly. Besides,
not many people would be able to not only sneak into the grotto
and deal with the Seazombies guarding it; therefore, the statues
had never been defaced in that way.

Of course, if someone strong enough came along, they might be

able to harm the statues. However, someone that strong wouldn’t
need to sneak in. They could just demand cooperation from the
Seazombies.

Furthermore, once those special materials left the Seazombie

island, they would lose their miraculous qualities and become
ordinary in nature. Therefore, as time passed, and other species
learned those things about the statues, people gradually stopped
being as curious about them.

And because they could repair themselves, they still looked

exactly the same as the day they’d been made. There were
legends, of course, that there had originally been more than nine
statues, and that the current number were only the ones the
Seazombies had managed to preserve.

Regardless, they were holy objects, and any who came with the
intent to damage or steal them would have to deal with the wrath
of the Seazombies. After all, if the statues were to be harmed in
any way, the Seazombies would see it as a humiliation.
The last time someone infiltrated one of the grottoes was a full
sixty-year-cycle in the past. It was a Foundation Establishment
cultivator who used some unknown method to steal a large
quantity of the blood elixir, and barely escaped with his life
afterward. The Seazombies were enraged, and tried for years to
track him down and kill him. Unfortunately for them, the thief was
profoundly talented, and escaped any traps they lay for him.
Eventually, he was taken in as a son-in-law by an almighty
individual, forcing the Seazombies to temporarily abandon their
efforts. However, from then on, security around the grottoes was
increased.

The Foundation Establishment cultivator who accomplished that

had risen to prominence in the last hundred years or so, and had
become the peaklord of the Seventh Peak in Seven Blood Eyes.
He was... Master Seventh.

On this day, a similar event was taking place again, in the grotto
housing the seventh zombie ancestor’s divine likeness.

Xu Qing carefully absorbed the blood-colored elixir and stored it

within himself. As he did, his dharma apertures seemed to quiver
with greater anticipation. Of course, the surrounding dangers,
especially the Gold Core cultivator atop the statue, made Xu
Qing’s heart tremble with fear. So while he absorbed the elixir, he
kept a close eye on everything around him.
I can’t get too greedy. I’ll just take what I need. Once I’ve filled up,
I’ll get out of here.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he started

absorbing the elixir even faster.

At the same time, his shadow was there in the elixir, its hundred-
plus eyes open and looking around curiously. Then it absorbed a
small portion of elixir, whereupon all of its eyes narrowed as if in
intoxication. After that, it started absorbing the elixir as quickly as
possible.

Seeing that, Xu Qing thought for a moment, then secretly took out
his black iron skewer and put it into the elixir. Patriarch Golden
Vajra Warrior shivered in anticipation, and when he started
absorbing the elixir, his eyes shone.

Does it work on everything? thought Xu Qing. Surprised, he

secretly unleashed Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits,
whereupon the totem tattoo on his back flickered and then began
to suck in large quantities of the red liquid.

Xu Qing couldn’t have been more delighted.

When the Captain noticed what Xu Qing was doing, his eyes
turned bloodshot, and he immediately felt a bit jealous. For Xu
Qing to absorb so much elixir so quickly was obviously a big loss
of face to the Captain, and therefore he looked around to make
sure no one was watching, then took out a little bottle and put it
down into the elixir.

Instantly, large amounts of blood elixir poured into it. It was a

miraculous bottle that could hold a lot of liquid in it, but it filled up
fairly quickly. Not making a sound, the Captain put it away and
took out a second bottle. In that manner, he personally absorbed
the elixir and also stored some in various items, and thus was able
to match Xu Qing’s speed.

When Xu Qing picked up on what was happening, he looked over

with a frown to see the Captain looking back at him, an expression
on his face that said, “Can you top this?”

Xu Qing was well aware of how crazy the Captain was, and didn’t
feel it necessary to try to compete with him in craziness.
Therefore, he kept reminding himself not to get greedy, and to only
take what he needed. Once he had absorbed enough, and once
his shadow and Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior were full, he would
leave.

That said, neither himself, the shadow, nor the patriarch were full
yet. And thus, after a bit of thought, Xu Qing started inching closer
to the statue. After all, it had quickly become obvious that the
closer you got to the statue, the higher the quality of the blood
elixir. As he neared the statue, it was to his delight that he realized
he could absorb the elixir much faster. It was the same with the
shadow.
Around this time, it became apparent that the patriarch was the
most useless of Xu Qing’s assets, as he was already full, and
couldn’t absorb any more. After scanning the iron skewer, Xu Qing
put it away, feeling a bit irritated.

Okay, once the shadow and I are both full, I’m leaving!

With that plan in mind, he kept getting closer to the statue. After
the time it takes an incense stick to burn, he was right by the
statue’s foot.

Meanwhile, the Captain noticed what Xu Qing was doing, and also
started shifting to a more optimal position. Eventually, Xu Qing
was right next to the statue’s left foot, and the Captain was next to
the right foot. In the Captain’s mind, Xu Qing was acting a bit
crazy. After all, why had he stuck around absorbing the elixir for so
long without leaving?

No way. I can’t be outdone by my own subordinate. Grrrrr. What,

he thinks he’s crazier than me?

The Captain suddenly took out ten bottles and started filling them
all at the same time.

Looking over, Xu Qing frowned.

The Captain is being way too greedy. If he keeps this up, we’ll be
discovered! I can’t stick around here for much longer. I just need to
take what I need, no more. I can’t get greedy!
Xu Qing kept absorbing the elixir for the time it takes half an
incense stick to burn. At that point, he realized that he was
absolutely full, and couldn’t absorb any more. Though nothing
about him looked out of the ordinary, he felt like he was about to
explode. From the emotions of contentment rolling off of the
shadow, it seemed it couldn’t absorb anything further either.

Then Xu Qing checked his Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad

Spirits, and found that it still wasn’t at capacity, so he leaned back,
allowing his back to touch the statue itself.

I can’t get greedy. However, though I, the shadow, and the iron
skewer are all full, the golden crow still has some room left....

With his back touching the statue, which was the source of the
elixir’s power, his totem tattoo began filling up rapidly. All of a
sudden, some ripples spread out over the surface of the elixir,
causing Xu Qing’s heart to fill with alarm. He immediately slowed
down his absorption speed.

The Captain’s eyes were wide as he looked over at Xu Qing. Then

he looked down at his bottles, gritted his teeth, and took out an
additional ten bottles.

After enough time had passed for an incense stick to burn... the
golden crow was reaching the point of being full.

However, that was when Xu Qing realized something strange was

going on. As he used Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits on
the divine likeness, there was something else on the move inside
the statue other than its energy and blood. It seemed to be some
current of power. No observer would be able to detect that current,
but with Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits, Xu Qing could.

After a short time, he realized the current was a manifestation of

impurities within the statue. Because the impurities had no way to
leave, they built up inside. What was more, the fluctuations of the
impurities caused Xu Qing’s heart to pound with anxiety. The
fluctuations were unstable, to the point that the slightest instigation
could cause them to explode.

Xu Qing was shocked. After all, if an explosion did occur, it would

be terrifying, and he would be caught up in it. He was suddenly
struck with an intense sensation of deadly crisis.

If this thing explodes, it’ll probably cause a chain reaction with

other things in the statue.... This situation is far too dangerous.

Keeping his guard up, Xu Qing slowly retracted Golden Crow

Assimilates Myriad Spirits, making sure not to disturb that current.
Afterward, he sensed that, having removed his own gravitational
force, the current was now moving upward, and was more
unstable than ever.

Looking up, he spotted the Gold Core boy sitting cross-legged on

the statue’s hand.

Slowly getting to his feet, Xu Qing moved away from the statue.
The motion caught the attention of the Captain, who looked over in
shock. Xu Qing looked back at him and gave him a meaningful
look.

The Captain hesitated, then got to his feet. However, his

expression was one of hesitation and even defiance. He wasn’t
pleased with how things had gone so far.

Besides, this whole thing isn’t as crazy as when the old man did it,
thought the Captain. If he left now, and no one ever found out what
happened, it wouldn’t matter. But if he did leave, and then people
found out, it would be downright embarrassing. Chances are,
people will find out. And people will also find out if I do something
really outrageous. So I might as well go for it. That way, when the
old man hears about it, he’ll have no choice but to admit I outdid
him.

After a bit of thought, a crazy look appeared in the Captain’s eyes.

[1]

Xu Qing was still backing away, and was still trying to wordlessly
tell the Captain to do the same. But then he saw that crazy look,
and he groaned inwardly. Convinced that something bad was
about to happen, he unhesitatingly backed away faster than
before.

Meanwhile, the Captain suddenly burst out laughing and pulled a

lump of flesh out of his robe. The flesh pulsed with the aura of
godliness, and as soon as it was out in the open, caused terrifying
fluctuations to roll out in all directions. Just as the fluctuations
rolled out, the Captain bit a huge chunk out of the meat, chewed it,
and then swallowed it. Rumbling sounds echoed out from inside
him and he erupted with glowing golden light. Instantly, all the
surrounding Seazombies opened their eyes.

The Captain activated his life flame, and at the same, opened one
of the seals within him. His entire person shone with golden light
as he jumped onto the statue’s toes. Then, he completely ignored
all the surrounding Seazombies, including the Gold Core expert,
as he opened his mouth and took a huge bite out of the statue’s
toe!

CRUNCH!

1. What I’m translating as “the old man,” comes with some deeper
implications that Chinese readers jumped on. There were many
comments on this chapter regarding this. I think it comes across in
English as well, but just in case, I’m going to spell it out plainly.
Basically, by this point many Chinese readers were speculating
that the Captain is either the son of Master Seventh, or the “Eldest
Brother” among Master Seventh’s apprentices, i.e. the top-ranking
apprentice or “grand highness.” Obviously some of you readers
have made similar speculations. The fact that the Captain refers to
Master Seventh as “the old man” is the first super concrete
evidence to lend weight to this. ☜
Chapter 187: Second Life Flame, Activate!

Xu Qing inhaled sharply, and his eyes went wide with shock.

That psycho!!

Back again was the same Captain with bloodshot eyes that had
rushed to get Joine’s flesh. A loud crunching sound echoed out as
the wild-eyed Captain took a big bite of the statue’s toe.

Now, an obvious bite mark was visible on the statue. The material
of the statue was inherently something difficult to damage, but by
tapping into the godliness of Joine’s flesh, the Captain managed to
bite a chunk out of it. Before the statue could repair itself, the
Captain had already swallowed the chunk he bit off.

The surrounding injured Seazombie cultivators were dumbfounded

by this shocking twist, and began getting to their feet. The
cultivators on the columns also opened their eyes in astonishment
and looked at the Captain. At the same time, a terrifying Gold Core
aura erupted from the hand by the statue’s chest, as the boy there
opened his eyes and looked down suspiciously. His eyes came to
rest on Xu Qing.

Xu Qing felt himself trembling, and his heart pounding.

Then the Gold Core boy looked at the Captain, who shivered and
started backing away. Then the boy ignored the Captain and
shifted his gaze to the statue’s toe. He instantly noticed the bite
mark, and the missing chunk of the statue. Though the statue was
already repairing itself, the bite mark was clearly visible.

“It’s been a long time since outsiders infiltrated this place,” the
Gold Core boy said coolly. “Interesting. How would the two of you
like to die?”

It seemed that, to him, two Foundation Establishment thieves

weren’t anything to worry about. He hardly seemed to even care
that they were here, and would probably forget about them
immediately upon killing them. Gold Core pressure spread out,
causing a rumble like thunder to fill the grotto with apocalyptic
pressure. As he got to his feet, his calm face suddenly flickered
dramatically as he turned his head to the side to look at the statue.

Inside the statue, an unstable current was flowing rapidly past him
toward the head of the statue. Even as he had spoken a moment
ago, it began to gather by the statue’s nose, where it started trying
to batter its way out of the statue.

Then a massive boom filled the entire grotto as the statue’s nose
exploded!

The explosion was so loud that the entire grotto shook violently,
and the sound was even audible outside. And the force of the
explosion was so intense that... the nose cracked in two and fell
off the statue.
The Gold Core boy was so close to the explosion that he was sent
spinning off to the side, coughing up blood like mad until he
slammed into the wall.

Many of the Seazombie cultivators below were hit by the

shockwave. Blood sprayed out of their mouths, and expressions of
utter shock and disbelief covered their faces as they looked at the
spot on the statue where the nose used to be.

Then, rage filled every single Seazombie’s eyes, a killing intent so

intense it caused winds to whip around the grotto.

Finally, an enraged roar filled the grotto, coming from the Gold
Core boy who was currently embedded in the wall, blood oozing
out of his mouth.

“WHAT DID YOU DO???”

His roar was like heavenly thunder, shaking everything. All eyes in
the grotto were now fixed on the Captain. Killing intent roiled!

Truth be told, the bite the Captain had taken out of the statue
wasn’t a very big deal. But for the statue’s nose to explode was a
different story. The two things were poles apart. Furthermore,
everyone present realized that this event couldn’t have just
happened randomly. There had to be a cause behind this effect.
Obviously, this person disguised as Third Princess had taken a
bite out of the statue’s toe, and then the statue’s nose exploded.
The two had to be connected!
The Captain was stupefied. Considering the Seazombies believed
he was behind the explosion, it was no surprise that he also
suspected that it had something to do with his actions.

But I was too far away from the nose, wasn’t I...?

As the Captain stood there panting, and the Gold Core cultivator
roared in rage, Xu Qing quickly ran over, threw one of the chunks
of the destroyed nose into his bag of holding, and then dashed for
the exit.

Up to this point, no one was paying attention to him. All of the

Seazombies’ rage was directed at the Captain.

Continuing to roar angrily, the Gold Core boy shot toward the
Captain. And though he couldn’t personally do anything about Xu
Qing, he wasn’t just going to let him escape.

“Kill the other one!” he shouted.

Meanwhile, the Captain quickly grabbed the other chunk of the

nose, then released numerous seals within himself, causing him to
rise from two life flames to three. Fire erupted around him, along
with a raging godliness, as he fled.

He was fast, but the Gold Core boy was faster. A boom erupted
out, and blood sprayed out of the Captain’s mouth. However, that
was when he tapped into a secret magic to flee again.
The Gold Core boy’s eyes were bloodshot with madness. The fact
that something like this happened when he was on watch was a
complete humiliation, and his killing intent toward the Captain
raged without limit. It had been years since something as vile as
this happened to the Seazombies. If the culprit was some
incredibly powerful expert, it might not have been a big deal, but
instead, it was a Foundation Establishment cultivator. And what
caused the Gold Core boy to tremble with absolute fury was that...
though the zombie ancestor’s toe had recovered, the nose was
not doing the same thing.

Impossible! Even after an explosion like that, it should still repair

itself!

The Gold Core boy’s heart shook uncontrollably. After all, when it
came to the zombie ancestor statues, repairable damage and non-
repairable damage were two vastly different things. If the damage
could be repaired, the event would be considered vile, but as long
as the culprit could be killed as an example, then overall, it
wouldn’t matter a lot. At the most, it would result in tightened
security on the grottoes. But if the damage couldn’t be repaired....

The Gold Core boy didn’t dare to think about that. It didn’t even
seem possible. From ancient times until now, the Seazombies’
divine likenesses had been damaged, even by explosion, but they
always repaired themselves within a few breaths’ worth of time.
Sometimes when the damage was extensive, it took the time it
takes an incense stick to burn.

It’s not possible!

Taking a breath, the Gold Core boy again looked at the statue,
only to realize that the nose still wasn’t growing back. The rage in
his heart built as he continued to pursue the Captain. He
absolutely had to capture the culprit, otherwise, the consequences
for permanent damage to the statue would be absolutely terrifying.

Because of the unique material the statues were made from, if this
statue didn’t repair itself, it meant it would forever be lacking a
nose. If that happened, then for years to come, any Seazombies
who came to the seventh zombie ancestor statue would be forced
to relive an outright humiliation!

What was more, if someone possessed the power to actually

destroy the divine likenesses, then it meant... they possessed the
ability to wipe the Seazombies out of existence! It was something
that was even more important than the war with Seven Blood
Eyes. And thus, the Gold Core boy was devolving into mad fury.

At the same time, Xu Qing was anxiously trying to make his

escape. Thankfully, the Gold Core boy wasn’t after him; all of the
Seazombies chasing him were in the Foundation Establishment
level. Even still, he was feeling the pressure, as his pursuers,
more than twenty of them, were in the profound radiance state.
Most had two life flames, but there was one with three!

It was an old man, and the power of his three life flames weighed
heavily on Xu Qing. Terrifying fluctuations rolled out from him in all
directions. Normally speaking, if someone with three life flames
pursued someone with two life flames, the chase would end in a
matter of moments. But Xu Qing’s fleshly body power combined
with the power of his life lamp ensured that not even a three-flame
cultivator could catch him easily. That said, the distance was
closing.

If he caught up, and was joined by all the other Foundation

Establishment cultivators, Xu Qing knew he would be in trouble.
Besides, given the fluctuations of the conflict, it was likely
Seazombies from the outside would get involved.

And it wasn’t impossible for another Gold Core cultivator to show

up.

The mere thought of that happening caused Xu Qing’s hair to

stand on end. All of a sudden, he realized that he and the Captain
had done something very big here.

Because of the nature of this dimensional grotto, he couldn’t use

an entropic teleportation talisman. In order to teleport away, he
had to go outside.
I have to open some dharma apertures! Eyes bloodshot as he fled
madly, he decided that his only option was to try to get a second
life flame as quickly as possible.

With a second life flame in combination with his life lamp, he would
have power equivalent to three life flames. Add in the fleshly body
strength from Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits, then he
was confident he could defeat a three-flame cultivator. In fact, if he
reached that point, he was sure that he could break through the
known limitations of Foundation Establishment and wield the
power of four flames, enabling him to fight people in a higher
realm.

With such thoughts on his mind, he reached out to the blood elixir
in his dantian region and sent it toward his 50th dharma aperture.

A tremor passed through him as his 50th aperture opened!

His dharma force increased, and of course, he sped up. But he

wasn’t done yet. Thunderous rumblings filled him, sending out
shockwaves that caused those pursuing him to reel in
astonishment.

Dharma force erupted as his 51st, 52nd, and 53rd dharma

apertures burst open. Yet he still wasn’t finished. Thanks to all the
blood elixir he had absorbed, in the blink of an eye, he opened his
54th and 55th dharma apertures!
The process was happening without pause; with every breath of
time that passed, he opened another dharma aperture! After
seven breaths of time had passed, he had opened his 56th
aperture!

The eighth breath of time arrived, and he opened his 57th dharma
aperture. Dharma force rumbled within him, and his life flame
burned more vigorously. His energy was like a tempest that
caused some of the pursuing Seazombies’ faces to fall.

That was especially true of the three-flame Seazombie, whose

heart was beating with anxiety as he tried to catch up. He could
tell that the cultivator he was pursuing was opening dharma
apertures at a terrifying rate, and so, he gritted his teeth and
accelerated.

“Time to die!” he shouted.

In that moment of deadly crisis, Xu Qing’s eyes were bloodshot as

he relied on the toughness of his fleshly body power to sustain him
as he pushed the blood elixir to its limits.

“Open, open, OPEN!!”

Shocking rumbling echoed out as his 58th, 59th, and 60th dharma
apertures all opened!

In fact, he battered at them with such force that he opened all the
way to his 65th dharma aperture!
“Life flame!”

His eyes were bloodshot and he was trembling from head to toe
as his 31st through 60th dharma apertures connected with
countless threads, converging together and causing flames to
erupt around him.

His second life flame was illuminating heavenly palaces!

Chapter 188: Two-Flame Godly Might

Within Xu Qing, 65 dharma apertures created as many vortexes,

spinning rapidly and causing deafening rumbling noises to echo
out. When his second life flame ignited, blinding light erupted.
Combined with his first life flame, it made his heavenly palaces
even more visible. Meanwhile, as his 65 dharma apertures burned,
he became terrifyingly strong. His two life flames transformed into
a sea of flames, causing the ground beneath him to ripple and
distort, and sending indescribably intense heat out everywhere.
Because of all of this, Xu Qing no longer seemed like he had a
volcano erupting within him. It was more like an entire continent
engulfed in flames!

Several of the injured two-flame Seazombies pursuing him were

caught up in the eruption, and screamed in agony. Their eyes,
which had been fixed on their quarry, began bleeding because of
the heat of his life flames. Even the two-flame cultivators who were
mostly healed from their injuries still trembled, and their cultivation
base teetered unstably. Because of the immense pressure, their
life flames flickered on the point of being extinguished. As for the
three-flame Seazombie, he was shaken to the core, and in his
astonishment, slowed down in his pursuit.

One life flame was early Foundation Establishment. Two life

flames was mid Foundation Establishment!
As of this moment, Xu Qing had two life flames, and thus, he had
stepped into a new stage. Mid Foundation Establishment!

Although it was a breakthrough within one larger level, in the world

that housed the Revered Ancient mainland, the sub-levels
cultivators had to deal with could be profound.

In Qi Condensation, the sub-levels weren’t very dramatic. But in

Foundation Establishment, they were immense. Someone without
the profound radiance state who faced a person with it, could be
killed as easily as turning a hand over. It was the same when
comparing one-flame and two-flame cultivators.

As for Xu Qing, because of his life lamp, even though he had only
two life flames, his battle prowess was no different than someone
with three life flames. When you added in the terrifying fleshly
body power of Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits, then his
breakthrough moments ago could only be called heaven-shaking
and earth-toppling!

Flames wreathed him as his energy surged high, causing

everything around him to twist and distort.

All of his pursuers stopped in place, even the three-flame

cultivator.

Xu Qing turned to face them, his eyes burning with killing intent.
Then he charged toward them with such incredible speed that the
two-flame cultivators couldn’t track his movement. The three-flame
Seazombie’s scalp was tingling so hard it felt like it might explode,
as all he could make out was a blur.

However, he was in late Foundation Establishment, and had

immense experience in battle. It was a moment of deadly crisis,
and thus, he bit the tip of his tongue and spat out some blue blood.
As it ignited, spreading around him, he chose to burn some of his
dharma apertures! Among Seazombies, this cultivator had a
reputation as being chosen. Tapping into all 92 of his dharma
apertures, he entered the profound radiance state. Instantly, his
face fell. That was because he could now see what Xu Qing was
doing. And Xu Qing’s target wasn’t him, but rather... the
Seazombie cultivators further back.

In the blink of an eye, booms rang out as Xu Qing achieved speed

that approached the limit of what Foundation Establishment was
capable of. And he was already closing in on one of the injured
two-flame Seazombies. Without pause, Xu Qing slammed into
him.

The two-flame Seazombie seemed as weak as a piece of paper.

He exploded, and even as his flesh and blood splattered
everywhere, Xu Qing reached the second Seazombie, whom he
also slammed into!

Then a third, a fourth, and a fifth!

He lifted his right hand, and a dagger of flames appeared, which
he slashed through the throat of another two-flame Seazombie!

A head flew!

Blood sprayed!

Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior directed the iron skewer out,

shooting toward another Foundation Establishment Seazombie.

At the same time, the shadow stretched out. A host of eyes

appeared on the ground, and the Seazombie who stood in the
shadow suddenly felt all their mutagen being sucked out.

Over the course of seven or eight breaths of time, roughly half of

the Seazombie pursuers either exploded, lost their heads, or died
in some other way!

The survivors looked absolutely terrified, and without the slightest

hesitation, they fled.

Then, a shriek pierced through the air as the golden crow

manifested behind Xu Qing. Looking around coldly, it flew toward
the survivors, surrounded by shocking flames as it transformed
into a chain.

Xu Qing was on the move again.

He still hadn’t left the grotto, and was still in great danger. But
once he took action, his instincts would lead him to slaughter all
opponents. Stamping his foot onto the ground, he burst into
motion, his fleshly body rumbling as he moved with shocking
speed toward the three-flame Seazombie.

The three-flame Seazombie’s pupils constricted. He had no time to

evade, and therefore, his expression became one of fury and
madness as he threw his hands out in front of him and called on
the fury of all of his 92 dharma apertures. In fact, he even went so
far as to detonate 2 of them! With the detonation of those two
apertures, his energy temporarily rose to a higher level, and he
braced to meet Xu Qing.

The ground in front of him collapsed as numerous skeletal arms

shot out and swept out to surround Xu Qing.

There were so many bleached bones that it looked like a sea.

However, the three-flame Seazombie wasn’t done yet; eyes
flashing with madness, he spat out a mouthful of blue blood. It
transformed into a blue flying sword, and it immediately erupted
with a shocking baleful aura. Locking onto Xu Qing, it screamed
toward him.

Then the three-flame Seazombie performed an incantation gesture

and slapped his own chest. His entire person suddenly blurred as
he split into four different versions of himself, each of which
charged Xu Qing from a different direction.

“Die!”
Xu Qing snorted coldly. Not slowing down a bit, he sent out a burst
of flames that slammed into the skeletal arms and sent them
spinning to the side. At the same time, he lifted his hand overhead,
then dropped it down viciously. The heavenly saber appeared, and
given his current battle prowess, it was even more powerful and
faster than before. In an instant, it slammed into the blue flying
sword.

As a boom rang out, Xu Qing’s right hand clenched into a fist, and
he launched a blow at one of the Seazombie clones coming in
from the side. Blood sprayed out of the clone’s mouth as he
tumbled back. Xu Qing followed, striking him with a knee blow.

Bone and flesh collapsed as half of the clone exploded.

Afterwards, Xu Qing turned his head and exhaled sharply toward

the second clone. A burst of black balefire emerged, turning into a
sea of flames that enveloped the clone.

As bitter screams rang out from within the fire, the third clone
closed in, his eyes burning with insanity as his body collapsed in
on itself. As his flesh rotted and melted, he turned into a black
spike that shot toward Xu Qing’s forehead.

“Well, isn’t this interesting,” Xu Qing murmured, his eyes shining.

This three-flame Seazombie’s methods, especially the black spike
backed by soul-suppressing power, made Xu Qing very curious.
Reaching out with his right hand, he grabbed the spike out of the
air. It struggled against him, but that did no good.

Meanwhile, the air off in the distance rippled and distorted as the
three-flame Seazombie’s true body appeared. Expression
flickering, he backed up and prepared to flee. However, before he
could, he suddenly stopped in place.

Then his eyes filled with alarm and terror, yet strangely, he began
cackling loudly and walking toward Xu Qing. Nearing, he dropped
onto one knee, put his bag of holding on the ground in front of him,
and then broke his own neck.

Popping sounds rang out within him as his dharma apertures

detonated. Xu Qing waved his hand, causing balefire to sweep out
and absorb his soul. At the same time, the golden crow glided
over. The three-flame Seazombie shivered, his eyes bursting with
terror as his soul was extracted. At the same time, his body
withered, and his energy and blood was absorbed by the golden
crow.

The shadow also appeared to be very satisfied with its meal.

Only the iron skewer seemed a bit disappointed. Inside, Patriarch

Golden Vajra Warrior felt a growing sense of crisis as he realized
that he was turning out to be completely superfluous.

I can’t let this happen!!

The patriarch simply was not willing to be turned into cannon
fodder. Reaching out to the Seazombie blood elixir he had
absorbed, he decided that he would find the soonest opportunity to
achieve a breakthrough.

Both the shadow and the golden crow were growing much
stronger due to the blood elixir. And the shadow also benefited
from consuming the three-flame cultivator’s shadow.

And the golden crow continued to grow more and more realistic,
until Xu Qing felt almost like it was made from real flesh and blood.

This was all worth it! Taking a deep breath, he shot toward the
grotto exit. As he did, he thought about the Captain and sighed.
He’s being chased by a Gold Core expert. What a beast....

Though this incident had been incredibly dangerous, it was thanks

to the Captain attracting the fury of the Gold Core expert that Xu
Qing was able to escape his own pursuers. As he neared the exit,
his eyes narrowed, and he didn’t need to issue any orders.
Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior immediately went ahead, shooting
out of the exit to scout the area beyond. The shadow seemed to
have recovered much of its lost intelligence, and stretched out to
do the same thing.

Pleased, Xu Qing focused on preparing his cultivation base for

what was to come.
A moment later, he received details from the shadow about what
was happening outside, and he was stunned. A moment later, his
eyes filled with determination, and he gritted his teeth. Lunging
forward, he shot out of the exit.
Chapter 189: Seazombie Dao Child

“So, you’re finally out?”

The moment Xu Qing stepped out of the vortex between the two
stone pillars, he heard someone speaking to him, calmly and
without any hint of emotion in their voice. He looked up. The truth
was that he had already been expecting this thanks to his shadow.
But to see it with his own eyes caused his heart to sink.

Before, there had been more than a thousand Seazombie

cultivators standing guard over this area, but now they were off in
the distance, bowing in obeisance.

In their place was a single person. It was a young man wearing a

golden imperial robe. However, he did not have an imperial crown
on his head. His skin did not have any necrotic patches, and his
aura was deep and profound. In fact, his eyes seemed to twinkle
with starlight. Though he wasn’t as good-looking as Xu Qing, he
seemed to exude a noble air, the type that would make him the
center of attention wherever he went. He sat atop a huge crimson
mushroom, looking coldly at Xu Qing. Floating next to him was a
black cloud, imprisoned within which was Xu Qing’s iron skewer.
Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior had been captured the moment he
shot out into the open earlier.
Because of the shadow’s special qualities, it hadn’t been noticed.
It was currently on the magical mushroom, slowly and carefully
creeping in position to pounce on this enemy’s shadow.

“I’m Vastworld, the Seazombies’ dao child of this generation,” he

said coolly. “Elder Ying Ling is after you, so there’s no way you’re
getting away. I was really curious who would dare do something as
reckless as this, so I came to see with my own eyes. I’m actually a
bit disappointed. That said, you have a nice spirit automaton. Can
I have it?”

Xu Qing didn’t respond. Now that he was out of the portal, he

checked his surroundings and confirmed that teleportations were
still restricted in the area. He would need to get farther away
before he could use an entropic teleportation talisman.

“There’s no use in studying your surroundings,” Vastworld said. “I

don’t know how you’re planning to escape, but it won’t do any
good. And that’s because today, you’re going to become one of
my battle trophies.”

“You talk a lot,” Xu Qing said.

Vastworld got to his feet, laughing so loudly that it sent out energy
fluctuations, which in turn created a harmonic resonance that
caused wild winds to spring up. It was a tempest that could topple
mountains and drain seas, which kicked up dust and sent the
ghost thirst butterflies spinning away.
Thanks to the wind, Xu Qing’s hair whipped around him, and his
clothing flapped loudly. It was as if the wind wished to erase him
out of existence. Obviously, it couldn’t. All it could do was move his
hair and clothing. It couldn’t move his body, nor could it do
anything about the coldness in his eyes.

For a moment, Xu Qing just stared at the young man in front of

him, and at his surging energy. Then he burst into motion and
charged right toward him.

He ignited his life flames, and the golden crow totem tattoo on his
back erupted with fire, bolstering his fleshly body power. Moving
with shocking speed, he pierced through the wild winds to appear
right in front of Vastworld, his right hand clenching into a fist and
punching forward.

A projection of the golden crow appeared around his fist, and it

pulsed with the power of the Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture. At
the same time, he backed it with the rage of a burning continent.

Rumbling sounds echoed out as the fist sailed right toward

Vastworld’s chest.

Vastworld’s eyes contained contempt as he prepared to wave his

hand. However, before he could, the red magical mushroom he
stood on turned black, and a host of eyes opened up on it.

Those eyes contained a gruish power that caused Vastworld to

pause in place momentarily.
Then, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior, who had previously been
imprisoned in the black smoke, suddenly caused the iron skewer
to glitter with lightning. The lightning symbols on its surface flared,
and then surged with astonishing power. Rumbling sounds echoed
out as the skewer shot out of the smoke and headed right toward
Vastworld’s neck, accompanied by the tinkling sound of a bell.

Obviously, the patriarch had allowed himself to be captured, and

could have escaped at any time, but was just waiting for Xu Qing
to make a move before taking action.

Now that he was making his move along with Xu Qing and the
shadow, the results were spectacular.

Vastworld’s expression flickered as he realized he was in a

dangerous situation. He couldn’t avoid Xu Qing’s fist strike, and
thus he summoned a fist-sized jade coffin, which appeared directly
over his head. It glittered with radiant light that swirled around
Vastworld, creating a defensive barrier. Xu Qing’s fist slammed
into it.

A deafening boom rang out as Vastworld was sent spinning

backward like a kite with its string cut. The patriarch shot after him
relentlessly, and a thud could be heard as the skewer hit the
barrier. Though it didn’t pierce all the way through, it did manage
to send lightning smashing into Vastworld.
At the same time, the shadow came at Vastworld from behind. A
vague tree shape could be seen, and a host of eyes opened,
causing vast quantities of mutagen to be sucked out of Vastworld.

Things weren’t done yet, though. Xu Qing was still charging

forward at full speed. Slamming into the barrier with his fist, he
then summoned the heavenly saber and slashed it down. A
rumbling boom could be heard as Vastworld was thrown back 300
meters, where he slammed into the ground so hard a crater
opened up. The Seazombies that had been bowing in obeisance
all looked shocked, and were about to rush over to help when an
angry howl erupted from the crater.

“Everybody get back! This is my fight!” The power of a single life

flame erupted from the crater, and Vastworld climbed out, his hair
disheveled, his eyes burning with killing intent. After he was out of
the crater, his second life flame whooshed to life. After that came a
third, and finally, a fourth.

Shockingly, this dao child of the Seazombies had 120 dharma

apertures opened, allowing him to ignite four life flames.

Chosen individuals like this would normally spend their time in

seclusion, working toward a breakthrough. Based on what he’d
said earlier, the only reason he wasn’t in seclusion was because
something big was going on with the Seazombies. Perhaps it was
because there weren’t many people left behind in the city, or
perhaps it was just his curiosity. For whatever reason, he had
come to deal with the situation personally.

But how could he have imagined that Xu Qing would attack him,
and also throw in gruish tactics? By striking the first blow, he made
Vastworld lose a lot of face. Now Vastworld had to resort to going
all out.

As Vastworld erupted with power, Xu Qing closed in, his life lamp
burning. That alone gave him strength equivalent to three flames,
but when you added Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits, his
battle prowess actually surpassed the four-flame level. Without
hesitation, he attacked, hoping to once again crush Vastworld.

As a dao child, Vastworld was an extraordinary individual. Right

now, his expression was pure ferocity as he waved his hand,
sending out drops of black rainwater. In the blink of an eye, a black
sea took shape around him, which then spun viciously toward Xu
Qing. Shocking rumbling echoed out as the spinning black sea
turned into a huge mouth that sought to devour Xu Qing.

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered with killing intent, and yet, he knew that
he couldn’t afford to stick around this place. Without any
hesitation, he tapped into all 65 of his dharma apertures, as well
as their spirit seas, creating a 3,000-meter lake of dharma force
around him.
That mighty dharma force crushed down viciously toward
Vastworld.

The mouth-shaped black sea collapsed, but so did Xu Qing’s

dharma force. And then Vastworld shot toward Xu Qing with all
four of his life flames burning, his hand stretching toward his heart.

Xu Qing avoided the attack, then sent his knee slamming into
Vastworld.

A boom rang out as they clashed. Meanwhile, the iron skewer shot
in from the side, its lightning symbols glittering as it screamed right
toward Vastworld’s throat.

Vastworld’s expression flickered, and he was about to dodge out

of the way when the shadow pounced from below.

Xu Qing accelerated, balefire raging as he launched a blow toward

Vastworld’s forehead.

In that moment of deadly crisis, Vastworld howled and sent all the
power of his life flames shooting outward, creating both an attack
and a crushing pressure. Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior screamed
as he spun away. Meanwhile, Xu Qing bore the brunt of the force,
and his internal organs trembled, causing killing intent to once
again burn in his eyes.

The shadow was also repelled, but it still managed to get a sliver
of itself onto Vastworld. As it bored into him, it reached his dantian
region, and just like the time when the shadow saw the Spirit
Breath Lamp for the first time, it tried to extinguish the first life
flame it encountered. The life flame flickered, and in the blink of an
eye, it seemed like it was about to go out.

Yet again, Vastworld was shaken to the core. Inside of him, his life
flames flared with light and power, and his heavenly palaces even
seemed like they were working to prevent the life flame from being
extinguished. Because of that, Vastworld couldn’t pay close
attention to everything that was happening, which gave Xu Qing
the opportunity he had been seeking.

His eyes flashed with icy coldness as he considered that this was
a moment of either life or death. Thus, he didn’t worry about
revealing what he was capable of. The golden crow appeared
behind him, trailing black flames as it lunged toward the
Seazombie dao child. The golden crow let loose a piercing cry as
it dropped onto Vastworld’s face, black fire sweeping out over his
head.

Assimilate!

Xu Qing had used his shadow to create an opportunity to

assimilate his opponent while he was still alive!

The two opponents were fighting each other with such speed that
an ordinary observer wouldn’t be able to see what was happening.
And though it might seem like the Seazombie dao child was in a
bad spot, he was actually incredibly strong, and it was only
because Xu Qing held nothing back that he got this advantage.

In battles between two powerful experts, even slight advantages

can be very important.

Xu Qing’s eyes were completely vicious as he used Golden Crow

Assimilates Myriad Spirits to devour his opponent. Vastworld let
loose a bloodcurdling scream, and his eyes filled with terror as he
realized his energy and blood was being extracted. And his head
was melting! His right ear vanished. The right side of his face had
turned into liquid. His good looks were being completely
disfigured!

The other Seazombie cultivators were visibly astonished, to the

point that they ignored the dao child’s orders and charged forth to
attack.

Deathblade's ThoughtsMany thanks to Mienguy for the review!!!

Many thanks to Mienguy for the review!!!

Chapter 190: Stealing Away

Unfortunately, the other Seazombies were too far away to provide

any help. In that critical moment, Vastworld howled, yet again
summoning that jade coffin. Gritting his teeth, he activated the
coffin, causing a sea of light to spread out. And this time, a finger
stretched out from the coffin and into the light.

It pointed to the space right in front of Xu Qing, which caused

cracking sounds to echo out. Xu Qing’s heart filled with a sense of
imminent crisis, and his expression flickered. Without the slightest
hesitation, he backed up, which was when Vastworld finally
breathed a sigh of relief and also backed up.

Off to the side, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior felt like he suffered
a lot in this encounter, and was very anxious because of how
many times the shadow had helped out. The patriarch was
convinced that if he didn’t change the status quo, he would
definitely end up as cannon fodder. Eyes bloodshot, he howled
and detonated some of the lightning symbols to gain a burst of
speed. A moment later, he managed to stab right through the arm
of the shocked Vastworld.

As blood sprayed out of his arm, the Seazombie dao child’s face
fell.

Meanwhile, the patriarch fled, his face lit with excitement.

From a distance, it was possible to see both parties backing away
from each other. However, Vastworld seemed a lot more
bedraggled, while Xu Qing seemed much more at ease.

Of course, Xu Qing wasn’t an arrogant person. He knew full well

how spectacular Vastworld’s battle prowess was. Vastworld was
only in this state because he had lost the initiative, and also
because Xu Qing had attacked relentlessly and used the gruish
tactics of his shadow along with Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad
Spirits.

Although Xu Qing was confident that he could kill this opponent

eventually, he also knew that he couldn’t afford to keep the fight
going. Turning, he fled at top speed, his shadow and the iron
skewer speeding along with him.

About half of the nearby Seazombie cultivators rushed over to

Vastworld, while the other half prepared to chase Xu Qing.
However, before any of them could take more than a few steps,
their faces fell, and then they coughed up mouthfuls of blood. They
had been poisoned!

The group who had gone to help Vastworld had also been
poisoned. Flustered and exasperated, Vastworld pushed them
aside, his eyes raging with killing intent, and his heart seething
with humiliation.
In life, he had been a chosen from the Spiritjade people, and had
sensed 120 dharma apertures within himself when reaching
Foundation Establishment. After perishing, he had been zombified,
after which the Seazombies had recognized his talents and placed
him into the king’s echelon. After that, his hard work had enabled
him to step into the four-flame level.

Regardless of when he had been a Spiritjade or a Seazombie, he

had never suffered any humiliation, other than the occasion on
which he died. Worse, the right side of his face had been melted
off, including his ear. Given how much he cared about his physical
appearance, he was now going mad with fury.

“I’m going to kill you!” he howled, rubbing his face. Then, flames
erupted around him as he gave chase.

Off in the distance, Xu Qing looked over his shoulder, his eyes
narrowed. He was actually itching to continue the fight, but at the
same time, he had just sensed three auras on the horizon, all of
which surpassed the Foundation Establishment level. They were
Seazombie Gold Core experts, three of them, and they were
heading in his direction.

Rumbling sounds filled heaven and earth, while the clouds stirred
and winds screamed. It was like these three were causing an
angry wave to sweep through the dome of heaven, seeking to
punish all living beings.
Xu Qing inhaled sharply as a sense of crisis filled every fiber of his
being. Without pausing for a moment, he pushed his cultivation
base to its limits, and also tapped into everything his flesh and
blood was capable of. Accelerating rapidly, he shot off into the
distance.

Meanwhile, a different explosive rumbling sound could be heard

behind Xu Qing, along with a howl of rage that echoed through all
heaven and earth.

“Thief! I refuse to believe you can use some paltry invisibility

technique to evade my Seazombie searching abilities!!”

Xu Qing recognized that voice. It was the Gold Core boy named
Ying Ling, who had been chasing the Captain. Apparently, the
Captain had managed to evade that pursuit without being killed.

Yet again, Xu Qing started to wonder at the truth of the Captain’s

identity and cultivation base. At the same time, he was feeling very
anxious. The Captain was the mastermind behind this whole
event, and was obviously the center of attention. But if he
disappeared, then that meant everyone would be focusing on Xu
Qing.

Xu Qing looked at his iron skewer. Without any hesitation, the

patriarch detonated several lightning symbols, creating a boost of
speed that dragged Xu Qing forward rapidly.
With the help of the patriarch, Xu Qing shot along even faster. In
an instant, he was 3,000 meters away, just outside the borders of
the restricted area around the grotto.

As the Gold Core auras closed in, and as Ying Ling howled, his
divine will sending terrifying fluctuations everywhere, Xu Qing
didn’t hesitate for a moment to activate one of his entropic
teleportation talismans.

In the blink of an eye, he started to fade from existence. However,

just when it seemed like he would teleport away, a cold snort
echoed through the air.

It was an enormous Seazombie with three heads and six arms, his
Gold Core aura far stronger than that of the Ying Ling.

Though he was far away, he pointed at Xu Qing and said,

“Confine!”

The single word caused the space around Xu Qing to be locked

down. However, his entropic teleportation talisman was powerful,
and couldn’t be locked down by a Gold Core confinement. It still
activated, and the fluctuations of a teleportation began to roll out.
Clearly, Xu Qing would disappear within moments.

“Hmm?” The Gold Core Seazombie’s pupils constricted, and then

he tossed out a pearl which he crushed. “Sever!”
The moment the word left his mouth, the power of the pearl
connected to the entropic teleportation talisman, and then severed
the teleportation link. Not only was Xu Qing incapable of
teleporting away, but also, he had been hit by the Seazombie’s
divine ability.

A powerful will of destruction immediately began to eat away at his

flesh and blood, causing them to wither.

In that moment of crisis, Xu Qing pulled out another entropic

teleportation talisman and activated it.

He had originally possessed three such talismans. The first he

used to escape the dragon chariot. The second had just been
destroyed. This was his last one.

At the same time, his dharmaskiff appeared to defend him, only to

immediately crumble. However, it had some of Joine’s flesh in it,
and that managed to block the power of destruction from the
divine ability. As a result, what would have been a deadly blow
only ended up injuring him. Blood sprayed from his mouth as
every bone in his body was crushed. His life flames were
extinguished, and he began to rot away. As he tumbled away, the
spot he had just occupied collapsed into nothing. Even his soul
seemed to be damaged.

However, thanks to that last-minute defense, his final entropic

teleportation talisman fully activated. The Gold Core cultivator was
closing in fast, and preparing to attack. However, the entropic
teleportation talisman was a gift from the vice-peaklord of the
Seventh Peak, and it had been created by a Nascent Soul
cultivator. It was no ordinary talisman.

On this second attempt to escape, teleportation power surged out,

wrapping around Xu Qing’s blood-soaked form. Then he vanished!

The moment he was gone, the Gold Core Seazombie arrived,

causing intense rumbling to fill the area.

A teleportation talisman created by a Nascent Soul cultivator. And

he had two of them. He’s obviously an important person. However,
given the level of his cultivation base, my Spiritdepth Curse will kill
him in three days or less.

Looking irritated, the Gold Core turned and went back into the
restricted area.

The events that had played out were already stirring the
Seazombies into a fury. A mad hunt was underway.

***

Some distance away in a wide open space, there were some very
faint ripples. They were so faint no one could see them, but the
reality was that they were there because of the Captain.

He was covered with wounds. One arm had been severed, and he
had a wound on his waist so severe that it had almost cut him in
half. His aura was very weak. His one remaining hand held a
seven-colored conch shell which made him completely invisible,
and also concealed his aura. He had vanished without a trace.
That was how he had evaded his Gold Core pursuer.

Yet, right now he was somewhat flabbergasted. He had watched in

shock as Xu Qing snapped an entropic teleportation talisman and
vanished. He had previously been thinking of calling out a
greeting, but seeing what had played out caused him to shiver.

Gone? He left? He teleported away? I....

Inside, the Captain was howling. Everything about this endeavor

had suddenly gone sideways. All the Captain had done was take a
bite of that statue’s toe. How could the nose have exploded? Even
now, he found it all somewhat hard to believe. It wasn’t that he
didn’t consider Xu Qing could have been involved. But the fact that
the explosion happened right after he took that bite seemed to
indicate that the two events were connected.

The old man didn’t mention anything like this happening. Nothing
so crazy played out the time he came here....

Scowling on the verge of tears, he prepared to leave, when

suddenly, a bit of pride sparked to life in him.

That said, if you think about it, this just proves I’m way more
formidable than the old man. This thing... was actually awesome!
Feeling a bit smug, he looked around at all the commotion,
including all the Gold Core auras. There were even traces of
Nascent Soul auras on the way.

Looking down at his prone body, he tried to move a bit. On the one
hand, he wanted to find a place to hide. On the other hand, he was
worried that he might rip his lower half off.

Worst case scenario, I’ll just leave my lower half behind....

***

Three days passed.

As the matter festered in the hearts of the Seazombies, they got

angrier and angrier. Their mad hunt continued. To them, this was a
vile matter that was humiliating in a way that words couldn’t even
describe.

The situation Ying Ling had most feared ended up happening. The
seventh zombie ancestor’s nose never grew back.

Right now, Ying Ling stood in front of that statue, his face ashen.

A middle-aged cultivator stood next to him. This cultivator wasn’t

human. He had two wings. And though his aura was retracted, as
he stood there, Ying Ling trembled from head to toe.

“Marquis An, this whole thing—”

“Ying Ling, the king is very, very angry.” Marquis An was studying
the noseless divine likeness, as well as the Seazombies
investigating the area. There was also a team trying to fix the
nose.

In response to his words, Ying Ling trembled even harder.

Before long, the leader of the team that had been inspecting the
nose came over to Marquis An.

“Marquis, the divine likeness was damaged by some very bizarre

power. There’s nothing we can do. The only way we might be able
to fix it would be to get the missing pieces back.”

Marquis An was silent for a moment. Then he sighed.

“You’re telling me that one of our most holy Seazombie items, the
seventh zombie ancestor divine likeness, will henceforth have no
nose? And all Seazombies will know this? Is that what you mean?”
Chapter 191: Forbidden Sea Bounty!

Up above was a moderate wind and a beautiful sun. Waves

billowed on the sea as far as the eye could see. The sky was blue,
the water was black, and the high noon sun created beautiful,
touching scenery. As waves crested, a group of swordfish flew out
of the water in a graceful dance. When they splashed back down,
colorful rainbows appeared in the resulting spray. The warm
beauty made the black, cold waters seem slightly more forgiving
and peaceful.

This part of the sea was very far away from Seven Blood Eyes,
and relatively close to Seazombie territory. Because of the war,
there weren’t as many trading ships as normal. Furthermore, the
mutagen was strong, and thus, there were many large sea beasts
under the surface.

At the moment, a bluegreen dragon sped along underwater. It had

a vicious countenance and many sharp teeth. Because of the aura
it emitted, most of the sea beasts it encountered fled in terror.

Nothing stood in the way of this dragon as it sped along rapidly.

That said, if a Gold Core cultivator were present to look at it
closely, they would be able to tell that this bluegreen dragon
wasn’t alive!
It was the manifestation of a magical technique. What was more,
inside of it was a young man sitting cross-legged in meditation.
However, a flaming black umbrella over his head masked his aura.
His clothing was tattered, and he himself was in a bad state. He
was covered with deep wounds, and his aura was unstable. He
was injured internally as well, and within his body was a strange
black thread.

The thread wasn’t physical. It was illusory, yet it was embedded

deeply within his flesh and blood, and was preventing him from
recovering. All of the flesh around it was withered, and its
presence made him feel like his body was breaking down.

This young man was, of course, Xu Qing, still in the process of

fleeing from the Seazombies. After escaping from the restricted
area around the seventh zombie ancestor’s divine likeness, he
was able to successfully teleport away. That said, he hadn’t been
teleported out to the open water, but rather, to the shoreline. Using
his ability to disguise himself, he had forced his injuries into
temporary stability, and then snuck out to the sea. Along the way,
he had encountered various Seazombie experts, but by being very
careful, had avoided any dangerous situations.

The most relevant factor in his ability to escape was that, because
of information provided by Ying Ling, most of the Seazombies’
efforts were focused on the ringleader of the disaster, the Captain.
Though they were also looking for Xu Qing, he obviously wasn’t as
important to them.
As of this moment, ten days had passed since the seventh zombie
ancestor’s nose had exploded.

During that time, Xu Qing relied on the speed of his bluegreen

dragon to get him deep into the Forbidden Sea. Unfortunately, his
injuries weren’t healing, which was very frustrating. The source of
that trouble was the illusory black thread inside of him, which
came from the three-headed six-armed Gold Core Seazombie.
Though Xu Qing managed to escape with his life, he had taken
that black thread with him.

The thread was strong. He had used his life flame to try to burn it
away, but it didn’t work. He had tried suppressing it with his life
lamp, but that didn’t work either. Some of that was because Xu
Qing’s cultivation base wasn’t at the level to fully unleash all of the
lamp’s capabilities. Regardless, he was currently far from being in
top form, but at least he wasn’t dead.

Eventually, he had summoned the black umbrella to prevent his

aura from leaking out. And then he had attempted to use Golden
Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits to assimilate the black thread. The
imperial-class technique existed on a very high level, so even
though Xu Qing’s cultivation base wasn’t at the point to fully utilize
it, when combining it with his life lamp, and further adding in the
consuming ability of his shadow, he was finally able to make some
progress.
Another seven or eight days passed. He had now been traveling
with his bluegreen dragon for half a month. At that point, he finally
managed to eradicate the black thread.

The moment it happened, he coughed up a huge mouthful of black

blood that obviously contained poison. When Xu Qing saw that it
was about to infect his dragon and the surrounding water, he
quickly took out a small bottle and collected the blood. He could
tell that it contained a type of poison that he had never seen
before. Either that, or it wasn’t actually poison. Looking closer, he
realized that the blood contained countless black beetles that
weren’t visible to the naked eye. Actually, the black ‘thread’ that
had existed inside him earlier was actually made up of these black
beetles.

If I research these things, I might be able to turn them into one of

my trump cards.

Taking a deep breath, he put the bottle away and focused on his
injuries.

Without the black beetles inside him, he was already starting to

heal. Seeing that, he finally was able to consider how much he
had profited from his latest venture. The most obvious aspect was
the fact that he had 65 dharma apertures burning inside of him.
That alone made him feel very satisfied.

“It was worth it!” he murmured.

Beyond that, he had acquired an interesting item, which was
currently in his bag of holding. Specifically, it was an item about 30
meters tall, so irregular in shape that it was hard to tell what it was
at first glance. Only by taking in its shape as a whole was it
possible to realize that this item was none other than… the
seventh zombie ancestor statue’s nose! Now that it was away from
Seazombie territory, the material had transformed, and it was
ordinary in nature. It was gray, and didn’t seem miraculous at all.

However, Xu Qing didn’t want to just throw it away. Perhaps he

could find some use for it later. After all... the nose was a holy item
to the Seazombies.

He had no idea what dramatic ramifications would result from his

actions. He had some speculations, but in the end, didn’t think that
they would be too severe. He and the Captain had absorbed some
of that blood elixir. Also... the Captain bit off a chunk of the statue’s
toe, apparently causing the statue to become unstable and
resulting in the nose exploding.

It wasn’t that big of a deal. Besides, the Captain had mentioned

that the zombie ancestor statues could repair themselves, and
therefore, it was entirely possible the statue was already back to
normal.

As for the Captain....

He won’t die that easily.

Xu Qing wasn’t sure exactly why he felt that way, he just knew that
the Captain was not the kind of person who could be easily
dispatched. Not wanting to waste time thinking about it, he sat
down cross-legged within the bluegreen dragon, focusing on
healing and also directing the dragon toward the Merfolk Isles.

His plan was to get back to Seven Blood Eyes. He was so far from
the sect that it would probably take a year and a half to get back
on his own. It would be a lot more convenient to use the
teleportation portals at the Merfolk Isles to shorten the journey.
Because he was participating in the war, he could use that portal
for free.

***

While Xu Qing was traveling and healing up, the Seazombies were
in absolute chaos. Although they had tried to prevent news from
spreading about the seventh zombie ancestor’s nose, word
eventually leaked.

The news of the matter struck the Seazombies like a bolt of

lightning. Once the matter got out into the open, word spread like
wildfire. Before long, virtually all the Seazombies knew about it,
and they were all enraged.

That was especially true of all the Seazombies that had been
zombified by that specific zombie ancestor statue. Their
relationship with that divine likeness was like that between a child
and a mother, and therefore, their reaction was even more intense.

The fact that their zombie ancestor’s nose was missing couldn’t be
any more humiliating. After a thorough investigation, they found
out that the perpetrators were two damnable Foundation
Establishment disciples from Seven Blood Eyes.

To mortals, Foundation Establishment cultivators were incredibly

powerful. But when considered from the perspective of an entire
species, they didn’t count for much. How could the Seazombies
not devolve into a violent rage when they discovered that low-level
people like that had committed such a heinous crime?

It wasn’t just the ordinary Seazombies who were angry. The

nobility, and especially the king, were absolutely incensed. It was
the same with their powerful old-timers.

After the news spread through Seazombie territory, it eventually

reached the front lines of the war.

On the one hand, it caused the Seazombies at the front line to

fight with almost reckless abandon. On the other hand, their troop
formations suffered. There were some military commanders who
could turn their subordinates’ rage into an asset. But it was a
double-edged sword, and without extreme care, could be self-
destructive.
There was no way the wily old foxes in Seven Blood Eyes would
fail to take advantage of a situation like that. Once they realized
what was happening, they started fighting even harder. Over the
course of roughly half a month, they made serious progress in the
war.

The Seven Blood Eyes leadership was surprised by this turn of

events, but it didn’t take long for them to realize what was
happening. They soon learned that two Seven Blood Eyes
disciples had done something absolutely astonishing behind
enemy lines. After hearing the news, quite a few of the peaklords
couldn’t help but look in shock at Master Seventh. They knew full
well that only Master Seventh’s Seventh Peak apprentices could
possibly pull off something like this. After all... it was only sixty
years ago that Master Seventh had done something very similar.
That said, his escapade wasn’t as shocking as this event.

Even Master Seventh was taken aback, and had a very odd
expression on his face. When he heard the news, it looked like
something clicked in his head, but he didn’t say anything out loud.

Regardless, the matter raised the spirits of all Seven Blood Eyes
disciples. The patriarch was extremely pleased, and issued a
proclamation that the two disciples who perpetrated the affair
would be handsomely rewarded.

Before Seven Blood Eyes could even determine who the two
disciples were, the Seazombies did them the favor by announcing
the names. It took a lot of investigation on the Seazombies’ part,
but they had managed to discover the identities of the criminals
and put bounties on their heads! And the rewards weren’t just for
Seazombies, but for anyone who brought in the bounty! The list
had existed for a long time, and the number one name on it had
always been Sir Bloodsmelter. The reward for his head was very
high. In the number two spot was Master Seventh. After him were
various peaklords and vice-peaklords.

Virtually everyone in the top ten was a Gold Core expert. But now,
the list was different.

Wanted: Dead not Alive.

#1 - Chen Erniu - This Seventh Peak disciple is currently the

director of the Violent Crimes Division. He is the mastermind
behind the plan to desecrate the divine likeness of our zombie
ancestor. Any Seazombie who lays eyes on this person should do
anything possible to kill him, dismember him, chop him into pieces,
and consume his flesh and blood! Whoever kills him will be
rewarded with a great dao legacy, will be placed in the king’s
echelon, will be given the right to take ten items from the Treasure
Storehouse, and will be given 100,000,000 spirit stones! [1]

#2 - Xu Qing - This Seventh Peak disciple is currently a vice-

director in the Violent Crimes Division. He is an accomplice in the
plan to desecrate the divine likeness of our zombie ancestor. Any
Seazombie who lays eyes on this person must kill him
immediately. Whoever kills him will be placed in the king’s echelon,
will be given the right to take ten items from the Treasure
Storehouse, and will be given 70,000,000 spirit stones!

#3 - Sir Bloodsmelter is the patriarch of Seven Blood Eyes….

1. Chen Erniu. Chen is listed #5 on the list of the 100 most

common Chinese surnames. Er means “two, second” and Niu
means “cow, ox.” Chen rhymes with “ton.” Er is pronounced like
the letter R. Niu is pronounced like the word “no” but with a Y
sound after the N, so kind of like “nyo.” Madam Deathblade said
this sounds like a very rustic name, almost like the name of a
village bumpkin or a farmer. I guess a rough equivalent in English
would be a name like Cletus or Abner. There were A LOT of
comments from Chinese readers about this name reveal. Many
comments were simply: “Hahahahahahahaha.” It’s a very
underwhelming name. That said, it’s interesting to remember the
nature of Master Seventh’s name, as explained in the footnote of
chapter 113. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsBefore this chapter "Sir Bloodsmelter" was

"Master Bloodsmelter." I'm changing it as of this chapter (and am
also changing previous chapters). Both "master" and "sir" are
common and accepted translations for his title. Generally speaking
I prefer "master," but in the process of reading and translating later
chapters, I came to the realization that "sir" is a better fit in this
instance. (I occasionally use "sir" as the translation of another,
different title, but since that title isn't common in this translation, I
don't think it will cause any confusion.)

Before this chapter "Sir Bloodsmelter" was "Master Bloodsmelter."

I'm changing it as of this chapter (and am also changing previous
chapters). Both "master" and "sir" are common and accepted
translations for his title. Generally speaking I prefer "master," but in
the process of reading and translating later chapters, I came to the
realization that "sir" is a better fit in this instance. (I occasionally
use "sir" as the translation of another, different title, but since that
title isn't common in this translation, I don't think it will cause any
confusion.)
Chapter 192: Becoming Famous

The war between Seven Blood Eyes and the Seazombies had
been going on for about half a year. The scope of the war only
continued to get larger, as more allies joined in the fighting. The
war wasn’t just being fought on the front lines. Other areas in the
Forbidden Sea were affected. Nonhuman allies on both sides of
the conflict played a part, and eventually, small-scale military
operations were being carried out in various locations near and far.
It was a given that a huge war like this would attract the attention
of all sorts of peoples.

However, no event in the war to this point caused a greater stir

than the change to the Seazombies’ bounty list. Virtually overnight,
countless species in the Forbidden Sea suddenly started paying
very close attention to that list.

To countless nonhumans and human-like species, Chen Erniu and

Xu Qing were now household names. Everyone was talking about
them.

There were many people who were enticed by the large reward
being offered by the Seazombies. There were even experts in
Seven Blood Eyes whose hearts were moved by the thought of
that much profit. After all, according to the description, anyone
could claim the bounty, even a disciple from Seven Blood Eyes. As
long as they accomplished the task, they could earn the reward. In
fact, the Seazombies even added a clarification that whoever
completed one of the missions could be zombified, and thus join
the Seazombies.

As a Seazombie, they could then join the king’s echelon as part of

their reward. It almost seemed lopsided in terms of how amazing
of a reward it was. It was enough to turn just about anyone’s eyes
bloodshot with desire. The only downside to consider was the
success rate of the Seazombie’s zombification process; it wasn’t
guaranteed to be successful every time.

However, given the rewards, it was a risk worth taking. After all,
members of the king’s echelon were like crown princes, and were
generally called ‘dao child’ on a day-to-day basis. Vastworld,
whose face had been disfigured, and who now hated Xu Qing
down to his bones, was a member of the king’s echelon. In fact, to
date, he was the only member.

From that it could be seen how unprecedented this reward was. It

also made it clear how furious and determined the Seazombies
were. It was absolutely clear that they wanted Chen Erniu and Xu
Qing dead. In fact, going forward, it would be difficult for the two of
them to travel the Forbidden Sea, as they would find enemies no
matter where they went. That was more the case considering that
such enemies would hide their true motives, making them difficult
to identify.
It would also make cultivation very difficult for Xu Qing and Chen
Erniu, as they wouldn’t be able to trust anyone, and would
constantly have to remain on guard.

That said, Xu Qing was used to living like that....

Right now, Xu Qing was inside his bluegreen dragon on the way to
the Merfolk Isles, and he had no idea what was going on outside.
The only way to get information about the outside world was
through his identity medallion, and he had strayed so far beyond
the Merfolk Isles that the medallion wasn’t working properly.
Because of that, he was completely focused on recovering from
his injuries. Over twenty days later, Xu Qing could tell that most of
his wounds were healed. After some thought, he decided not to
leave his bluegreen dragon. His dharmaskiff was destroyed,
therefore, using the dragon was the most convenient option for
travel. It would save him both effort and worry.

I wonder what things are like out there. Did the Captain make it
out? What has the Seazombie response been like?

When he was about a week out from the Merfolk Isles, he looked
in the direction of the isles and thought, In the future, I can’t do
anything crazy like that again. Every single time, I end up seriously
injured... One of these days, the Captain will drag me into
something that he survives, but I don’t.
Looking down at himself, and then thinking about everything he
went through, he sighed. He just wanted to stay alive in the brutal
world in which he lived. Maybe improve his life just a little bit. To
do that, he needed to put everything on the line occasionally to get
stronger. They were two different philosophies that he had no way
to reconcile.

I’m still too weak.

When he thought back to that Seazombie chosen Vastworld, and

his four life flames, Xu Qing’s heart filled with a sensation of
danger. That was his first time facing someone with four life
flames.

The Captain had revealed some of his aura when being chased by
that Gold Core expert, yet Xu Qing was still convinced that there
was more to the Captain’s cultivation base than he was letting on.

But Vastworld was different. There was no question that he was a

four-flame cultivator.

People like that weren’t exactly very common. That said, when Xu
Qing thought about how big the Revered Ancient mainland was,
and how many countless peoples and species were there, he had
the feeling that four-flame cultivators were probably less rare than
he imagined.

Thinking back to the fight, Xu Qing realized that he had definitely

worked hard to gain the initiative in the fight. Add in his shadow,
Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior, and the fleshly body power of
Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits, and he had managed to
crush his opponent.

But if he met Vastworld again, he would need to be completely on

guard, and also be prepared from the beginning. Crushing him in
the same way wasn’t going to be easy. From what Xu Qing could
tell, though, it also wouldn’t be easy for Vastworld to come out on
top.

Four life flames....

Anticipation flickered in Xu Qing’s eyes. He was now in mid

Foundation Establishment. With his life lamp, he could easily
crush three-flame cultivators, and when he added in Golden Crow
Assimilates Myriad Spirits, he could hold his own against four-
flames. With battle prowess like that, he was already at the peak
of what Foundation Establishment was capable of. What was
more, his ability to escape from a Gold Core expert wounded but
alive was something few people could accomplish. Yet Xu Qing
still wasn’t happy.

I still have 25 dharma apertures to open before I can get my third

life flame.... When that happens, I should be able to crush anyone
in Foundation Establishment, with the exception of someone else
who has a life lamp. At that point, I should be able to live life a little
bit more at ease. And that means that it will take too long if I just
follow the same routine to open dharma apertures.
All of a sudden, he found himself hoping that the Captain came
back sooner rather than later.

The Captain was absolutely crazy, and if Xu Qing could participate

in more missions like this zombie ancestor statue event, then it
might not be that hard to get to his third life flame.

Once the Captain’s back, I’ll go ask him what other places we can
hit.

Xu Qing’s decision was made. As far as his previous decision to

not do anything crazy, he tossed it aside.

I have no choice. My cultivation is going too slow. If I want to open

more dharma apertures, then I have to find opportunities. Once I
have enough dharma apertures open, then I won’t take any more
risky chances.

With that, he nodded his head decisively.

Five days passed. Now he was only about three days from the
Merfolk Isles, and that was when his identity medallion suddenly
vibrated.

Xu Qing took it out and saw the same old mission list, with the
missions constantly updating. At a glance, nothing looked out of
the ordinary. However, something caught his attention; at the very
top of all the missions was something called the Hero Rankings.
He was generally aware of the Hero Rankings; they basically
correlated to the Seazombies’ bounty list. It contained a list of all
the bounties the Seazombies had put on Seven Blood Eyes
disciples, including the rewards. However, it cost money to check
the list, so Xu Qing had never bothered looking at it.

This time, he hesitated. Though he was convinced that he and the

Captain hadn’t done anything incredibly amazing, it still seemed
possible that they might have been added to the bounty list. After
closer inspection, he realized that it cost a hundred spirit stones to
check the list, and that just didn’t seem worth it.

Just as he made his decision to not check the list, his bluegreen
dragon got close enough to the Merfolk Isles that his identity
medallion started vibrating like crazy.

Messages were coming in, one after another, from just about
everyone he knew.

“Elder Brother Xu Qing, are you back yet?”

“You are so amazing, Elder Brother Xu Qing!!!”

Stunned, Xu Qing started going through all the messages.

“I think you might miss this message, Elder Brother Xu Qing,

considering you’re probably getting tons of other messages.
Anyway, I’m so excited! After I saw the news about what you did,
Elder Brother, I couldn’t sleep for days. But I’m also worried about
you. There’s so many things I wish I could say. If you want to know
the gist, look at the first word, the fifth word, and then the third
word of my first sentence.”

That message came from Ding Xue.

Xu Qing checked the words she mentioned, but didn’t notice

anything particularly unusual about them, probably because he
was distracted.

By this point, he was coming to realize that the Seazombie

incident was apparently bigger than he realized. As he went
through the rest of his messages, he found that everyone was
asking about the same thing.

Finally, he unhesitatingly paid the one hundred spirit stones to

check the Hero Rankings. As soon as he opened it and saw his
own name in the #2 spot, his pupils constricted. Then he looked at
the #1 spot.

“Chen Erniu?”

It was obvious that Chen Erniu was the Captain, and the name left
Xu Qing feeling a bit stunned. It was only then that he realized the
Captain had never told him his real name. Perhaps it was because
his name sounded so unsophisticated.

After thoroughly examining the Hero Rankings, Xu Qing took a

deep breath and frowned. Finally, he looked back at the nose in
his bag of holding. During his travels, he had thought deeply about
everything that happened, and the reaction of the Seazombies
seemed to confirm that... it was almost entirely certain that Golden
Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits had created the instability which
led to the explosion. Furthermore, the Seazombies’ divine likeness
obviously had not repaired itself.

It seemed unbelievable.

Maybe after I left the Captain did another crazy thing?

Regardless, the fact that his name was being spread far and wide
left him feeling unsettled. He didn’t like making a scene. It didn’t
conform to the way he had learned to live from a small age, and it
also was not appropriate considering the traditions in the Seventh
Peak and Seven Blood Eyes in general.

It’s all the Captain’s fault! I should have just backed out when I
realized he wanted to do something like that!

As he studied the Hero Rankings a bit more, he came to realize

how furious the Seazombies were. Obviously, they really, really
wanted him dead. Forget other people. Even Xu Qing himself
found his heart beating at the reward being offered for Chen Erniu.
If he had that reaction, others would have an even stronger
reaction.

Why do things never go smoothly for me? Going forward, I’m

going to have to be on guard against everyone. The sect won’t be
safe anymore. That said, it’ll be better than the outside. Given how
big of a deal this is, anyone with malicious intentions won’t be
quick to reveal them in the sect.

He continued to analyze the ups and downs of the situation over

the course of the following days. In order to be as careful as
possible, he had his shadow mask the fluctuations of his identity
medallion.

As he got closer to the Merfolk Isles, he used his previous

methods to disguise himself.

Obviously, there was no choice but to go to the Merfolk Isles;

reaching Seven Blood Eyes any other way would simply take too
long. That said, the matter of the bounty list ensured that he kept
his head bowed as he flew onto Emiche Island.

Not pausing for a second, he headed straight to the teleportation

portal. There weren’t a lot of disciples present; just about everyone
was on the battlefield. Therefore, Xu Qing didn’t attract much
attention. It didn’t take long to reach the portal.

Once there, he glanced at the Fifth Peak disciples in charge of the

portal, then quickly flashed his identity medallion. After the spell
formation confirmed his identity, the teleportation started.

Around then, the Fifth Peak disciple in charge happened to look at

the portal stone, and noticed the name of the traveler on it.
At first he stared, and then his eyes went wide. Turning, he looked
at the teleportation portal and gasped, “Xu Qing!”

Right then, the teleportation light wrapped around Xu Qing and he

disappeared.

***

In the Seazombie ancestral land, in a jungle of bare, rotting trees,

was a giant in a suit of armor, his flesh rotting as he sat there
cross-legged in meditation. Even in a sitting position, he still was
about 1,500 meters tall, making him far bigger than the
surrounding trees.

On his head sat a young man in an imperial robe.

He was none other than Vastworld. Half of his face was withered
and disfigured. Apparently, it wasn’t possible to restore it to its
previous condition. His ear was still missing. Gone forever were
his good looks and noble demeanor; now he looked vicious and
fierce.

Kneeling in front of him was a young woman in a beautiful gown of

purple and cyan. Keeping her face averted, she softly said, “Your
Highness, none of our healing items can counteract the corroding
effects that caused your wound. Only the king and the marquises
have the power to heal you. Except, the king... well, he said you
created this problem, so you need to fix it. Kill Xu Qing, and the
king will treat you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Vastworld snapped. “Back when
you bullied the Spiritjade people and plotted against me, you didn’t
enforce any such rule. Don’t tell me you’ve taken a liking to Chen
Erniu and Xu Qing, and want to zombify them? You Seazombies
are a bunch of shameless bastards. Screw off!!”

Vastworld’s vicious expression caused the woman to tremble and

back away.

After she was gone, Vastworld sat there, his eyes bloodshot and
filled with killing intent. He felt humiliated from head to toe. He was
the dao child of the Seazombies. He was in the great circle of
Foundation Establishment. He was a four-flame chosen. Yet he
had been bested by some random nobody, and had also been
disfigured horribly.

“Xu Qing, we’re not done with each other. I won’t rest until I’ve
killed you!!”

Deathblade's ThoughtsBack when I was translating ISSTH and

AWE, my son BattleBoy was too young to understand the stories
from the novel. But now he's old enough that I can retell him
certain key moments. And I'm happy to report that he absolutely
loved the Nose Heist story with the Captain and Xu Qing. As you
can imagine, there is more to come regarding the nose situation,
and he's been updated on all that. He thinks its the greatest thing
ever. I have the feeling that when he's a few years older and his
reading level is a bit more advanced, he might be coming back to
read this novel on his own.We have a dual review thanks again!
Thank you to bashful fan and Donteatmeturtles for the reviews!

Back when I was translating ISSTH and AWE, my son BattleBoy

was too young to understand the stories from the novel. But now
he's old enough that I can retell him certain key moments. And I'm
happy to report that he absolutely loved the Nose Heist story with
the Captain and Xu Qing. As you can imagine, there is more to
come regarding the nose situation, and he's been updated on all
that. He thinks its the greatest thing ever. I have the feeling that
when he's a few years older and his reading level is a bit more
advanced, he might be coming back to read this novel on his own.

We have a dual review thanks again! Thank you to bashful fan and
Donteatmeturtles for the reviews!
Chapter 193: The Captain Did It All!

Xu Qing remained on guard. In the moment before teleporting

away, he had noticed the reaction of the disciple by the portal.
Although the disciple’s expression had been one of surprise, there
had been a certain amount of thoughtfulness in there as well.

Of course, putting himself in that disciple’s shoes, Xu Qing had to

admit that the reward was indeed enticing, so if anything, it would
be unreasonable to expect people to not be tempted by it.

And then there’s my Seazombie enemy. The... what did he call

himself? The dao child.

If the statue’s nose couldn’t be repaired, then it seemed to indicate

that when things were damaged by Golden Crow Assimilates
Myriad Spirits, they couldn’t be restored. And in that case... it
seemed likely the dao child’s face probably couldn’t be healed.

He definitely hates my guts. I need to figure out how to get rid of

him.

Those thoughts were on his mind as the glittering teleportation

light faded away, and things grew clear. He was back in Seven
Blood Eyes.

He was immediately met by familiar sights and sounds, the usual

hustle and bustle of the capital city. There was a line of people
waiting to access the teleportation portals. And there were two
disciples off in the distance handling registration matters. One was
male, one was female, and both wore gray robes. Glancing at
them, Xu Qing thought they seemed familiar, but didn’t take time to
think much about it.

As he neared, his violet robe caught the attention of the crowd. As

for the two disciples handling registration, their expressions
flickered and they immediately got to their feet and clasped hands
respectfully.

“Well met, Sect Uncle!” they said.

Xu Qing swept past them, but then his gaze landed on the female
disciple, and he stopped walking.

She was pretty, a bit skinny, with a ponytail. When his eyes locked
onto her, she immediately got nervous and even started shaking a
bit. Heart pounding, she bowed her head even deeper.

“Your cultivation base isn’t bad,” Xu Qing said. “You’re not far from
the sixth level. But the Forbidden Sea aura from your Seaforming
Scripture isn’t on par with disciples of the same level from the
Seventh Peak. Improve that aura, and you’ll have a much easier
time with your breakthrough.”

The trembling girl offered thanks for his advice, and then he was
gone.
The reason Xu Qing gave her the advice was that these two
disciples were the same ones who had been there to receive him
when he arrived at Seven Blood Eyes. And this girl had warned
him about the dangers of the sect. It was a small act of kindness,
but Xu Qing figured that upon meeting her again, he might as well
repay her with some good advice. [1]

After Xu Qing was gone, the two disciples stood there sweating.

Xu Qing’s cultivation base naturally emitted immense pressure,

and he also had a baleful aura that could only be acquired on the
battlefield. To these two Qi Condensation disciples, he seemed
like a fiendish monster.

“That senior’s cultivation base... was so strong!!” the male disciple

said, gripping his fan so tightly it snapped in half. Looking curiously
at his female companion, he said, “Wait, do you know him?”

The girl stood there looking absent-minded for a moment, then she
rushed over to the spell formation to look at the teleport records.
After finding what she was looking for, her eyes went wide.

“Xu Qing!”

“Xu Qing!?” the male disciple said, shivering. “Wait, you mean the
same one who got famous recently after destroying a holy item in
Seazombie territory? The one the Seazombies set a huge bounty
for? That Xu Qing?”
The female disciple nodded blankly.

“How do you know him?” the male disciple asked, his eyes
gleaming with unprecedented envy.

“I can envision it clearly,” she said quietly. “It was about a year
ago. Do you remember that scavenger kid who came in with a
white identity medallion? I warned him about the dangers in the
sect. I remember looking at his information back then. His name
was also Xu Qing.”

The male disciple gasped as he thought back to that same

incident.

The girl turned and looked at her companion. “I remember you

saying he wouldn’t last two months.”

The male disciple’s face was ashen; he was having a hard time
breathing steadily and controlling his feelings of alarm. He
remembered thinking back then that this junior sister of his had
acted like a fool. But now it seemed she had created a possible
opportunity for herself.

Xu Qing had no idea what the two disciples were talking about
right now. He had given that advice on a whim.

Now that he was back in the city, he put on a gray robe again as
he headed toward the Transportation Division in Harbor 176. His
dharmaskiff had been destroyed, so if he wanted a safe place to
rest he would either need to go to his mansion grotto on the
Seventh Peak, or rent an inn somewhere in the city. The Violent
Crimes Division was also an option, but instead of going there, he
decided to see Zhang San first to ask him about getting a new
dharmaskiff.

He hadn’t been back in the Seven Blood Eyes capital city for about
half a year. Looking around at the crowds, and the familiar shops
and vendor stalls, he suddenly felt unusually calm.

The battlefield was far, far away, and thus, the atmosphere of war
wasn’t very prevalent. Everything looked the same as it always
did.

One difference was that the sect was making full use of Harbor
176. It was now an important strategic location for the
transportation of goods. Though spell formations could be used to
teleport things instantly, they were extremely expensive. Merchant
ships were slower, but considering the war had already been going
on for half a year, such speeds were acceptable. After all, the war
wasn’t going to end anytime soon.

Elder Brother Zhang San gambled correctly.

Xu Qing thought about the future profits that would be coming his
way, and was very pleased. That said, he also kept his guard fully
up. After all, the escapade with the Captain was going to result in
a lot of greedy people looking his way.
It’s a good thing the Captain is in the #1 spot. And he has a bigger
bounty. Anyone who’s thinking of making a move will probably
target him first.... He’d probably prefer it that way, for his
reputation’s sake. I wouldn’t want to make him lose face.

After thinking about it for a bit, he nodded his head, fully convinced
that his assessment was correct. Now he just had to wait for the
Captain to get back.

Before long, he arrived at Harbor 176.

The sect was using over half of the entire harbor. There were all
sorts of boats and ships present, and when Xu Qing saw them all,
he sighed. The construction work was much further along than half
a year before. The streets were all in good order, and many shops
were already doing business. The place was far more crowded
than before. There seemed to be ten times as many people or
even more.

Because the harbor was a combination of three ordinary harbors,

it was rather large. That led to larger crowds, and also more shops
with more varied wares for sale.

Xu Qing walked at a brisk pace, taking in the hustle and bustle

until he arrived at the Transportation Division.

Instead of immediately going inside, he sent a voice message to

Zhang San.
A moment later, Zhang San flew out.

“Xu—” Zhang San knew what was what, and after blurting out Xu
Qing’s surname, he cut himself off. Looking Xu Qing up and down
excitedly, he pulled him into one of the warehouses in the
Transportation Division.

As soon as they were alone, Zhang San said, “You and the
Captain are famous!!”

“The Captain did it,” Xu Qing corrected.

“You two are both crazy! I can’t believe you actually destroyed the
nose of the seventh zombie ancestor’s statue! Did you know the
damage is permanent? I heard it has no nose now!”

“The Captain did that too,” Xu Qing said immediately.

“It’s absolutely crazy! I heard that the frontline Seazombie forces

went berserk. The Seazombie leadership even tried to open
negotiations with our patriarch. They want that nose back! The
patriarch refused, of course.”

“The Captain is crazy,” Xu Qing said with a sigh, “and I got

dragged along against my will. Did you hear what I said earlier?
The Captain did all of it.”

Zhang San was finally starting to calm down. Looking at Xu Qing

with eyes glittering, he lowered his voice and said, “Any chance
you still have the nose? Can I see it?”
“I still have it,” Xu Qing said. “But after leaving Seazombie territory
it turned into ordinary stone. There’s nothing miraculous about it.”

Sighing regretfully, he took out the stone nose and put it down with
a loud thump.

“Careful!” Zhang San blurted.

It was huge, being about thirty meters tall. Gray in color, it didn’t
emit any aura at all, though it seemed a bit barbaric. There were
countless tiny holes on its surface, seemingly put there by sand
and wind, which emanated a sensation of ancient time. After
walking around it in a circle, Zhang San reached out and touched
its surface. Eyes shining even more brightly than before, he looked
at Xu Qing.

“Xu Qing, who says this nose isn’t miraculous? It’s from the
Seazombie’s divine likeness! Every Seazombie in existence wants
to get it back. It basically represents their dignity.” Zhang San’s
eyebrows danced up and down as he continued, “I have an idea.
Why don’t we build a museum here in our harbor? We can put this
part of the nose in it. And when the Captain gets back, we’ll put his
half in it as well. Together. With a museum like that in our harbor...
believe me, Xu Qing, we’ll be unstoppable!

“We won’t even need to hire guards. The sect will send people to
guard it for us. And the sect will do all our advertisement as well.
Our harbor is going to become famous! People will come from all
over! We’ll be the number one harbor in Seven Blood Eyes!

“Furthermore, the storefronts near the museum will be worth a lot

more money! We’re gonna get rich too!”

Hearing this, Xu Qing’s eyes lit up. Seeing how excited Zhang San
was, he had to admire how talented he was when it came to
running businesses. After some thought, he agreed.

They discussed some of the details, and then Xu Qing lowered his
voice and said, “Elder Brother Zhang San, my dharmaskiff....”

Zhang San rubbed the zombie ancestor’s nose contentedly and

laughed. It was almost as if he had anticipated Xu Qing asking
about his dharmaskiff.

“Bring it out! I figured you’d come back with your dharmaskiff all
messed up. Our harbor is profitable enough that however bad the
damage was, I can have it good as new in no time.”

“Thank you so much, Elder Brother Zhang San,” Xu Qing said.

“Hopefully you can get the job done quickly. Many thanks!”

With that, Xu Qing clasped hands, then turned to leave.

“Uh, hey, where’s the dharmaskiff?” Zhang San said. “How am I

supposed to fix it if you don’t give it to me?”

“It’s gone,” Xu Qing said.

The warehouse went completely silent.

Zhang San looked at Xu Qing, his eyes slowly growing wider and
wider. “Gone?”

Xu Qing nodded solemnly. “Gone.”

1. Xu Qing’s interaction with these two disciples was in chapter 47.

☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsThank you to Al19 for the review!

Thank you to Al19 for the review!

Chapter 194: Half Back

Zhang San stood there for a moment without saying a word. Then
he smiled wryly, shook his head, and sighed. “You lost it in
Seazombie territory?”

“It was smashed by a Gold Core expert,” Xu Qing replied truthfully.

Zhang San studied Xu Qing’s level expression and decided that

his previous assessment was incorrect. This guy was definitely
just as crazy as the Captain. He, a mere Foundation
Establishment cultivator, was so amazing that he lost his
dharmaskiff to the attack of a Gold Core cultivator. Usually... a
Foundation Establishment cultivator wouldn’t even survive an
encounter with a Gold Core cultivator.

“What about the Captain?” Zhang San asked. If Xu Qing had

returned in this state, then surely the Captain must have suffered
just as badly. Considering what the two of them had accomplished,
it made sense that the Captain probably lost his dharmaskiff also.

“The Captain...?” Xu Qing thought back to the circumstances when

he teleported to safety, and how he had sensed three Gold Core
auras.

“Never mind,” Zhang San said with a sigh. “I’ll make the Captain a
new coffin while I’m working on your dharmaskiff. Maybe I won’t
need to use it this time, but I will eventually.”

Xu Qing nodded, said his farewells, and left.

Zhang San watched him go, then shook his head and walked over
to his dharmaskiff workshop, trying to decide if he should make a
second coffin while he was at it.

Since I have two crazy bros, I might as well make a coffin each.
That’s only fair.

***

As night fell, Xu Qing walked along the harbor, listening to the

crashing of the waves and enjoying the feeling of being relaxed.

Going forward, I’ll just lie low in the sect until the fuss dies down.

With that, he headed to Harbor 176’s Violent Crimes Division. As a

deputy director, his arrival caused no small amount of anxiety
among his subordinates. And that was especially true of the
harbor’s newly founded Celestial Bureau.

Xu Qing’s responsibility as a deputy director was to oversee that

specific bureau. All of the constables greeted him with respect
when he entered, and there were even some Qi Condensation
disciples who took it upon themselves to stand guard outside of
his office.

The Mute was one of them.

Almost as soon as Xu Qing entered his office, the Mute rushed
over, squatted outside the door, and glared around murderously at
anyone who got close. It didn’t matter who it was, even if they
worked in the Violent Crimes Division, he treated them as an
enemy.

When Xu Qing noticed the commotion outside, he realized it was

the Mute.

He’s made rapid progress.

The Mute’s spirit sea was already around 210 meters, which
indicated that he was in the seventh level of the Seaforming
Scripture. Xu Qing didn’t even consider trying to determine how
the Mute was progressing so quickly. Everyone had their secrets,
and he had no interest in prying.

Time slipped by slowly but surely. Half a month.

Xu Qing kept a low profile, but word eventually spread of his

return. Though he stayed in the Violent Crimes Division, and had a
very fierce reputation, people started making appointments to visit
him. That said, few of them were strangers. Most were people like
Huang Yan, Ding Xue, and others he knew.

During the half month that passed, the situation on the battlefield
changed significantly. The fighting between Seven Blood Eyes and
the Seazombies reached a fever pitch.
About a week before, a massive battle was fought in which Seven
Blood Eyes split their forces into seven groups to assault the
Seazombies’ seven fortified islands. The goal was seemingly to
take them all and then advance to the main island, the Seazombie
ancestral land. The Seazombies held nothing back to stop them.
However, Seven Blood Eyes’ assault wasn’t as simple as it
seemed. Four of their advances were actually feints intended to
pin down the enemy, not take control of territory. The other three
advances were the real focus, with the goal of taking those three
fortified islands and then using them as springboards to reach the
main island. It was a vicious and brutal battle that shook heaven
and earth. Though Xu Qing wasn’t there to witness it personally,
the Violent Crimes Division had reports from the battlefield, and
they described everything in detail. Eventually, the Seven Blood
Eyes forces managed to successfully take two of the fortified
islands. The end result was not ideal for the Seazombies, and
some of their top experts took to the field. The scope of the
fighting had already reached a very high level. Seven Blood Eyes
offered even bigger rewards for missions, causing the disciples’
eyes to light with even more ferocity.

Because of how the war was ramping up, interest in the bounty on
Xu Qing and the Captain died down. That said, one of the bounty
rewards was unexpectedly increased, and it caused Xu Qing to be
more of a hot topic than the Captain.
That new bounty reward was added by the Seazombies’ dao child,
Vastworld!

Bounty reward increase: I, the dao child of the Seazombies, will

perform ten tasks for anyone who kills Xu Qing. As long as those
tasks are within my ability to accomplish, I will do them! And
anyone who provides accurate clues leading to Xu Qing’s death at
my hands will be rewarded with one task!!

As the dao child of the Seazombies, Vastworld’s battle prowess

was exceptional, and he was also relatively famous. As a result,
many nonhumans heard about the bounty, and were very
interested in it.

Because of this, stories about Xu Qing fighting Vastworld started

to spread. That wasn’t exactly what Vastworld had wanted, but it
was impossible to avoid. All he cared about was killing Xu Qing;
everything else was of little consequence. Thanks to that
increased bounty reward, many malicious eyes came to be fixed
on Xu Qing. Shortly after the initial reward increase, Vastworld
sent Xu Qing a personal message.

“Xu Qing, do you dare fight me, a dao child? No help from any
bystanders. Just you and me!”

Xu Qing obviously was aware of both the bounty increase and the
message, but he ignored them. In his opinion, this dao child
Vastworld was a bit of an idiot. Whether back in the slums or in
Seven Blood Eyes, Xu Qing had never been interested in dueling.
He preferred to slip through the shadows and slit his opponent’s
throat. That was a much more clean and efficient method.

During the half month that passed, quite a few things happened in
the sect. One of the biggest... was that a huge museum was being
built in Harbor 176. Although the details about the museum
construction were kept under wraps, it was such a momentous
thing that word eventually leaked.

Once that happened, Zhang San ceased any efforts to keep it a

secret, and instead started promoting it everywhere. Before long,
everyone in the sect knew about it. There was going to be a new
museum in Harbor 176, and there would only be one exhibit
inside. And that exhibit... was the nose of the seventh zombie
ancestor’s divine likeness!

Any Seven Blood Eyes disciple would be able to look at it, and
nonhuman cultivators would be invited to do so as well.

The news caused a huge stir in the sect. And when the
Seazombies heard about it, they went insane with fury. There
really couldn’t have been anything more humiliating to them than
that.

Sir Bloodsmelter heard about the matter, and was very pleased. In
fact, he was so happy that he personally penned a scroll of
calligraphy and had it sent down to be hung in the museum. The
scroll had four characters on it.

“Nose With Living Flame.”

Zhang San immediately sent a message to Xu Qing about it. That

prompted Xu Qing to finally leave the Violent Crimes Division and
visit the nearly completed museum. When he saw the zombie
ancestor’s huge nose, and the calligraphy scroll hanging above it,
he gaped in surprise.

Zhang San stood next to him, a very serious expression on his

face.

“What does the patriarch mean by that?” Xu Qing asked. He

looked at Zhang San.

“Does he... want us to set it on fire?” Zhang San muttered

noncommittally. “Or make it look like it’s surrounded by flames?”

Right then, Xu Qing suddenly sensed something behind him, and

spun to look at a spot outside the museum.

Zhang San was stunned. “What’s wrong?”

Eyes narrowing, Xu Qing extended his right hand, within which

was a dagger. He slashed the dagger out, and it made a swishing
sound. Also, an exclamation of surprise echoed out from the spot
where the dagger had slashed through the air.
“Hey!”

Along with the voice came a sound like wind, brushing past Xu
Qing. Face completely expressionless, he ignited his two life
flames, and as intense heat rippled out in all directions, he spun
and launched a fist strike.

As rumbling sounds echoed out, Xu Qing backed up several paces

and looked at a nearby spot of empty air that was rippling slightly
as it also backed away from him.

“Chen Erniu,” Xu Qing said.

“That’s Director to you, buddy!” a flustered voice said. And yet the
Captain still didn’t reveal himself.

Off to the side, Zhang San recognized the Captain’s voice, and
looked excitedly at the spot of rippling air. “Captain, you’re back!”

“Of course I am. It’s not like I was in any danger. I got chased by a
few dozen Gold Core experts, that’s all. Escaping from them was
as easy as blowing some dust off my shoulder. I even swung by
the front lines on my way back.”

An apple suddenly appeared in midair, and then a crunch rang out

as the Captain took a bite.

“Why are you still invisible?” Zhang San asked curiously.

Xu Qing and Zhang San couldn’t see it, but the Captain only had
one arm left. His waist was injured so badly his lower half was
about to fall off. And he was covered in countless other wounds,
some of which pierced all the way through him. His face was in
really bad condition as well. It was battered and swollen, and all
his hair appeared to have been burned off.

Ignoring the pain he felt from head to toe, he forced one of his
swollen eyes open as he grinned and said, “I’m just used to it at
this point. Being invisible is great. Very convenient for a lot of
things. And as your superior, being invisible really highlights my
position of authority.” To emphasize his words, he took a huge bite
of his apple, then casually continued, “Anyway, after I ran circles
around those dozens of Gold Core experts, I also figured I should
go find the first zombie ancestor statue and pee on it. Sadly, the
thing was too big to take with me, otherwise I would have brought
it here so you could pee on it too.

“Another reason I’m invisible is for Deputy Director Xu’s sake. You
see, I can get in and out of Seazombie territory with my eyes
closed. But Deputy Director Xu can’t. So to make sure he made it
out safely, I went so far as to visit the Seazombie’s royal palace.

“If I hadn’t been in a hurry to come back and find the two of you, I
would have gone by the place where the Seazombie patriarch gets
healing done, to see if there was anything there worth doing.”
As the Captain proudly said all of these things, his face was so
swollen he looked like a pig, and he was in so much pain he could
hardly endure it. His injuries seemed about as bad as the ones
he’d received in the Joine incident, although the truth was that
they were worse. He had barely made it back alive, but given his
status as a superior, he obviously couldn’t come out on the
bottom.

Glancing at Xu Qing, he said, “Deputy Director Xu, as your

superior, it was my pleasure to help you. This time. Just remember
that you owe me 50,000 spirit stones now. And don’t forget to pay
me back.”

Xu Qing didn’t respond. However, he did look down at the

Captain’s shadow, which wasn’t visible to anyone other than Xu
Qing.

The Captain obviously had only one arm and one leg, and was
trembling from head to toe as he ate his apple.
Chapter 195: The Sorrow of the Weak

Looking away from the shadow to the apple, Xu Qing curiously

asked, “Captain, the bounty on your head is for 100,000,000. But
an arm and a leg together are probably worth 30,000,000 spirit
stones, right?”

Some teeth marks appeared on the apple, as if the person eating

it had been about to take a bite, then stopped.

“Leg? Arm? What are you talking about, Deputy Director Xu? I
don’t understand. All I know is that you owe me 20,000 spirit
stones, and you better not come up short. This time, I risked my
life to make sure you got away safe!”

“Oh,” Xu Qing said, then he took out a jade slip and tossed it to the
Captain.

That jade slip contained a recording made by Patriarch Golden

Vajra Warrior. It clearly showed the Captain prancing about
disguised as Third Princess....

The Captain caught the jade slip, and then a few breaths worth of
time passed. After that, the sound of hearty laughter filled the
museum.

“Oh my dear, lovable little Junior Brother. As your elder brother, I

was just joking around with you! Hey, Zhang San! What are you
doing here? Did you build this place? What’s that big nose you’re
standing next to?”

An odd expression could be seen on Zhang San’s face. The nose

was obviously the largest object in the entire museum. Ahhh,
Captain. You really have a random way of changing conversation
topics, don’t you?

Looking at the spot where the apple was slowly being eaten away,
he shook his head. “Captain, you have the other half of the nose,
don’t you? Take it out and I’ll see if the pieces fit together. That’ll
make our exhibit perfect!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, a rumbling sound echoed out
followed by a loud thump as a huge gray stone appeared. It was
about twenty to twenty-five meters tall, and was none other than
the chunk of the nose that the Captain had made off with.
Strangely, there were teeth marks on one corner of the nose
where someone had obviously tried to bite it.

“This thing is useless,” the Captain said, sounding bored. “On the
way back, I tried to bite it a few times, but nothing worked.”

Ignoring the Captain, Zhang San stepped forward, grabbed the

nose, and excitedly pushed it next to the piece from Xu Qing.

“Alright,” the Captain said. “I just got back and I have some work to
handle. I have a huge plan I’m working on. Now that I have my
high-level zombie heart, I just need to get a few more intelligence
reports. Once I have everything ready, the three of us can go on a
really big job!”

“Another job?” Zhang San gasped, looking in the direction of the

apple as if he was looking at a deity.

Eyes narrowing, Xu Qing said, “Will it involve opening dharma

apertures?”

“Dharma apertures?” the Captain said. “Why? Deputy Director Xu,

you lack ambition! If we do this job, we’ll reach heaven in a single
bound! Both Joine’s flesh and my high-level zombie heart are just
stepping stones for this new plan!” The Captain was starting to get
very excited, but in his excitement, he opened some of his
wounds, and had to grit his teeth against the pain.

“I’ll explain the details later,” he continued coolly. “I have to go

now. Ai. I’m such a workaholic. I have a whole pile of work waiting
for me to handle.” With that, he hopped away.

Zhang San couldn’t see anything, but Xu Qing was able to track
his shadow.

“With two pieces of the nose, our museum is going to be

incredible!” Zhang San said excitedly, slowly walking around the
composite nose.

Xu Qing looked away from the Captain and back at Zhang San.
“Elder Brother Zhang San, how’s the work on my dharmaskiff?”
“It’s done,” he said, tossing a bottle to Xu Qing. “There’s an
instruction manual inside. Go check it out on your own, Xu Qing; I
need to get these two nose pieces properly attached to each other.
I want this exhibit to look perfect!”

Laying himself up against the nose, he started planning how to

attach the two pieces to each other permanently.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing left with the bottle. He didn’t return to the

Violent Crimes Division, but instead went to Harbor 176. When he
produced his dharmaskiff, it landed on the water with a thud,
sending out waves in all directions. It looked exactly the same as
before, down to every detail.

However, the materials were better than before. Clearly, Harbor

176 was producing a good income, as Zhang San had made
general improvements to all parts of the dharmaskiff.

Xu Qing could even sense fluctuations from inside that could

suppress a life flame. He remembered Zhang San mentioning that
class-eight dharmaskiffs could suppress the life flames of other
cultivators.

Looking at the dharmaskiff, he took out the instruction manual

Zhang San had referred to and started looking through it. Because
this dharmaskiff didn’t have any of Joine’s flesh, it lacked
godliness. That said, the materials used to create it were superb.
All of the interior parts were high-level materials. It was a class-
eight dharmaskiff, and it was obviously worth a lot of money.

“Xu Qing, dharmaskiffs are different from dharmaboats.

Dharmaboats are simple things, and thus, every time you increase
their class rating, they become more impressive. Dharmaskiffs
aren’t like that.

“The first seven dharmaskiff classes are different from each other,
but not by much. It’s only when you get to class-eight that you get
something really superior. This time, I focused on creating class-
eight defenses for your dharmaskiff. For its power source I used
the heart of a monolithoid. With that backing the defenses, you
can reach the same level as the profound radiance state of early
Foundation Establishment.

“You don’t have any godliness, but I left space to add it. If you can
get the heart of a godly entity, then your dharmaskiff can be
upgraded to class-nine. At that point, your defenses, and
everything else, will be comparable to mid Foundation
Establishment! Of course, the bigger the godly heart you acquire,
the mightier your dharmaskiff will be. If you reach class-ten, your
dharmaskiff will be comparable to late Foundation Establishment.
Don’t forget that class-ten dharmaskiffs are quite rare.

“I put in the same camouflage technology as before. Also, I

decided to explore a new direction with this dharmaskiff, by adding
a special self-detonation ability. It should make things easier for
you. I also added something to the self-detonation that I like to call
the Participation Effect. Next time you blow up your dharmaskiff,
you’ll see how I participated....”

Xu Qing shifted back and forth between looking at the jade slip
and studying the dharmaskiff. Despite lacking an attack of
godliness, Xu Qing was pleased with the dharmaskiff. Stepping
aboard, he activated the defenses, entered the cabin, and sat
down. It felt cozy.

I really do prefer being on a boat. But what’s this Participation

Effect that Zhang San mentioned?

Xu Qing was curious about it, but didn’t spend much time thinking
about it. After taking a few deep breaths, he settled down to
meditate.

Three days passed in a flash.

Now that the Captain was back, there was another wave of
excitement in the sect regarding Xu Qing and the Captain’s heroic
undertaking. That, in turn, led Xu Qing to wonder about the reward
the sect had mentioned.

At the same time, he felt a bit more at ease. With the Captain
away, Xu Qing hadn’t felt safe at all. If some higher-ranking
member of the sect had malicious intentions, he would have been
in great danger. Although it hadn’t seemed very likely, he liked to
be prepared for anything. But now... the Captain was back, and Xu
Qing felt a lot safer.

After all, he was the mastermind. He blew up the nose, and the
bounty reward for him is off the charts. He’s in the #1 spot! If
someone is thinking of making a move, and they’re trying to pick
between the two of us, they’ll definitely target him.

Xu Qing felt very calm. However, three days later around evening
time, someone who was decidedly not calm arrived at Harbor 176
and headed toward Xu Qing’s dharmaskiff. In fact, this person’s
heart was full of grief.

It was a young woman, not very tall, and obviously quite thin and
weak. She wore a gray daoist robe, and was in the third level of Qi
Condensation. People like this had to be very careful in whatever
they did in Seven Blood Eyes, regardless of if they were male or
female.

As it turned out, this young woman was Xu Xiaohui, who had

joined Seven Blood Eyes on the same day as Xu Qing. [1]

She quietly came to stand in front of Xu Qing’s dharmaskiff, her

expression one of bitterness. In her heart, she felt not just sorrow,
but deep anxiety. Truth be told, it was only because she had run
out of all other options that she was seeking out Xu Qing.

Though she and Xu Qing joined the sect at the same time, she
had never spent much time with him. Furthermore, he was now a
Foundation Establishment cultivator, and was so famous in Seven
Blood Eyes that everyone knew his name. Someone like her
would be hard-pressed to even look someone that important in the
eye.

She had suffered in torment for months before finally making the
decision to come. Therefore, upon reaching Xu Qing’s
dharmaskiff, she dropped to her knees and kowtowed.

“Disciple Xu Xiaohui is here to request an audience with Sect

Uncle Xu Qing.”

Inside the dharmaskiff, Xu Qing opened his eyes and looked

through the defenses to see Xu Xiaohui.

“How can I help you?” he said.

The words echoed in Xu Xiaohui’s ears, causing her to tremble.

Voice quavering, she said, “Sect Uncle, I came to tell you that
Elder Brother Zhou Qingpeng... was killed three months ago.”

Silence filled the dharmaskiff.

After a few breaths of time passed, Xu Qing walked out of the

cabin and onto the deck. Looking at Xu Xiaohui kneeling there, he
thought back to the day the four of them had climbed the peak.
And he thought back to straightforward Zhou Qingpeng giving him
those ghostlonging horseshoe crabs. Although he had never
become very close with Zhou Qingpeng, he hadn’t forgotten that
he owed him a favor because of that. The ghostlonging horseshoe
crabs had proven very helpful. Hearing the news that Zhou
Qingpeng had been killed, he couldn’t help but sigh. [2]

It wasn’t very surprising. Offpeak disciples lived brutal lives, like

venomous bugs in a jar. That reality hadn’t changed because of
the war. There were always people dying, and there were always
people to replace them as new recruits in the sect. That said, Xu
Qing wouldn’t forget the favor he owed, and thus, he wanted to
know more about what happened.

“Explain everything,” he said.

Upon hearing that, Xu Xiaohui’s eyes turned red, and tears began
to flow down her cheeks. For months now, she had despaired. But
now that Xu Qing wanted to know about what happened, she
finally felt a bit of hope.

“Sect Uncle Xu, you might remember that Elder Brother Zhou
started working for Sect Uncle Ding Xiaohai in the Coastguard
Division. He told me that he helped Sect Uncle Ding with a lot of
things that never became public knowledge. Because of that, Sect
Uncle Ding promised that he would make Elder Brother Zhou one
of his attendants. [3]

“However, after Sect Uncle Ding left the Coastguard Division, he

didn’t take Elder Brother Zhou with him. As a result, Elder Brother
Zhou suddenly had no one to keep him safe. He had done some
things in the past that got people angry with him, and that’s one of
the reasons he died.

“In addition to that, back during the Grand Competition at the

Merfolk Isles, Elder Brother Zhou made some considerable profits.
At first, he had no problem keeping those things safe. But after
Sect Uncle Ding Xiaohai took to ignoring him, people started
targeting Elder Brother Zhou. Three months ago, he was killed on
the street. I’ve been investigating his death ever since, but I still
haven’t found out who the killer is.”

Though Xu Xiaohui was visibly distraught, and was even weeping,

her thoughts were very well organized. Clearly, she had thought
through everything she wanted to say.

After a moment passed, Xu Qing said, “Were you and Zhou

Qingpeng...?”

“Elder Brother Zhou was very kind to me, that’s all. A while back, I
took out a big spirit stone loan to buy a dharmaboat. But I couldn’t
keep up with the payments, so I had to throw dignity aside to curry
favor. I eventually sank to being a plaything to other disciples. I
might have seemed well-off at a casual glance, but the truth was I
lived like an animal, enduring whatever torment they desired. I
sometimes ended up covered with cuts and bruises. Perhaps
that’s just what I deserved for being so vain.” [4]
Biting her lip, she lowered her voice and continued, “Elder Brother
Zhou showed pity to me, and helped me pay back my debt. I
thought that maybe he was in love with me, but from beginning to
end, he never even tried to touch me. He just kept helping me. I
think that... I’m not exactly a great person. But I know how to repay
a kindness. It’s just that I’m not that strong. For months I’ve done
everything I can to find out the truth. I’ve even sold myself. Nothing
has worked. And that’s why I’ve come to beg your help, Sect
Uncle.”

Xu Xiaohui bent over to kowtow, but a soft and gentle force

prevented her from hitting her head onto the ground.

“There’s no need for that,” Xu Qing said. “I owe Zhou Qingpeng a

favor. Let me handle this.”

1. Xu Xiaohui was introduced in chapter 51 and the last we saw

her was in chapter 68. As a brief reminder, though her surname
looks the same as Xu Qing’s in English, in Chinese their surnames
are very different. His is 许 and hers is 徐. His surname is
pronounced with the third tone, and hers, the second. ☜

2. Zhou Qingpeng gave Xu Qing the ghostlonging horseshoe

crabs in chapter 68. ☜

3. Zhou Qingpeng mentioned Ding Xiaohai in chapter 68. In

chapter 93, we saw Zhou Qingpeng working with Ding Xiaohai.
And by way of reminder, Ding Xiaohai is the same person Zhang
San and Xu Qing encountered in 118 and 119. Later, he took first
place in the Grand Competition, thus becoming a conclave disciple
(and arousing the disdain of Third Elder). That was in chapter 128.
☜

4. If you go back to read chapter 68, you’ll find that Xu Xiaohui’s

circumstances were hinted at/foreshadowed there. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsMany thanks to Mike Oxmall and

DarylBurns for the reviews!

Many thanks to Mike Oxmall and DarylBurns for the reviews!

Chapter 196: Erniu’s Secret

Xu Qing’s words moved Xu Xiaohui more deeply than anything in

months. She had not lied at all; everything she told him was true.
The only things she had left out were the bitterness and pain she
had experienced during the months in which she had personally
investigated Zhou Qingpeng’s death. And she didn’t mention how
she felt absolutely no sense of belonging in Seven Blood Eyes.
She didn’t hate the sect. But she didn’t understand how a good
person like Elder Brother Zhou could be killed so suddenly. In the
end, she wanted to do everything she could to repay the kindness
he had shown her.

Sometimes she had asked herself if everything she was doing was
worth it.... All she knew was that if she gave up, it would mean
abandoning what little bit of warmth remained in her heart. Ever
since coming to Seven Blood Eyes, that little bit of warmth had
been precious to her. She didn’t want to give it up.

Even though Xu Qing gently prevented her from kowtowing, she

still remained in a kneeling position. From the look of it, to
someone as weak as her, kneeling provided a sense of safety.

Inside, Xu Qing sighed deeply. Taking out his identity medallion,

he found someone in his contacts and sent a voice message.

“Come see me.”

Shortly thereafter, an emaciated figure sped out of the night
toward Xu Qing.

When Xu Xiaohui sensed this person’s presence, her pupils

constricted. Looking over her shoulder, she saw a kid in a gray
daoist robe, beneath which was a dog skin jerkin. The jerkin made
the robe seem full and bulging. However, the kid’s eyes were cold,
and he emanated a baleful aura that would make anyone who
looked at him shiver. Xu Xiaohui inhaled sharply. She had heard
about this person who liked to wear a dog skin jerkin under his
daoist robe.

He was the Mute, and over the past half a year, had earned quite
a reputation for himself. Similar to Xu Qing, he had risen to
prominence in the Violent Crimes Division, and was known for his
cruel and vicious methods. He had slaughtered a lot of criminals,
and though he was only in the seventh level of Qi Condensation,
he had felled quite a few cultivators from smaller organizations
who were in the ninth level of Qi Condensation. And that was
because the Mute was more willing to put his life on the line than
any outlaw. It was as if, to him, risking his life wasn’t a big deal.
Once he set his eyes on an enemy, either they died, or he died.
That was his attitude.

Upon seeing the Mute running toward them, Xu Xiaohui

immediately felt frightened.
The Mute glanced at Xu Xiaohui, then knelt in front of Xu Qing, his
expression one of fanaticism and joy.

“Go look into the death of Zhou Qingpeng,” Xu Qing said. “If you
need to know the details, ask her using a jade slip.” He pointed at
Xu Xiaohui.

The Mute nodded firmly, then turned and left. He didn’t ask a
single question of Xu Xiaohui. Apparently, he felt that asking
others about the incident would make himself seem incompetent.

Xu Qing watched the Mute go, then stood there quietly, waiting.

Dusk had passed, and the lingering glow of sunset was replaced
by inky blackness. The moon was hardly visible. Night had come.

Xu Qing had picked a special berth in the harbor. Regardless of

whether it was daytime or nighttime, things were quiet.

The Mute didn’t keep Xu Qing waiting for long. His entire
investigation only took about two incense sticks’ worth of time.
Returning, he knelt and solemnly offered Xu Qing a jade slip.

Xu Xiaohui had spent months investigating this matter, and had

paid an enormous price to do so. But the Mute took two incense
sticks’ worth of time. Of course, it was a result of his place in
Violent Crimes Division.

As Xu Xiaohui waited, trembling, Xu Qing examined the contents

of the jade slip. It contained all of the details of Zhou Qingpeng’s
death, including what led to it. Xu Qing didn’t care about that. He
just wanted to know who the guilty party was.

The killer wasn’t from the Seventh Peak. His name was Li Zelin,
and he was an Offpeak disciple from the First Peak. He was in the
ninth level of Qi Condensation, and he was a grim killer. According
to the jade slip, he was implicated in the deaths of at least eleven
other Offpeak disciples. However, he was careful. He always went
into other districts of the city to kill other disciples, and was always
very specific about who he targeted. Because of that, he never
became the subject of investigation.

These sorts of things happened all the time in Seven Blood Eyes.
As long as a disciple didn’t go too far, and as long as they didn’t
attract the attention of any powerful experts, then the sect didn’t
care and nothing would happen to them.

This situation with Zhou Qingpeng was a perfect example. If it

wasn’t for Xu Qing owing him a favor, then he would have died
and the matter would have ended.

The Mute had done a good job. In addition to all the details about
the incident and the killer, he also had all the information about Li
Zelin’s network of relationships.

“He was taken in as an attendant by Wu Jianwu from the First

Peak. Just this evening, Wu Jianwu accepted an invitation from an
unknown individual to meet at the Dreamsense Mansion. Li Zelin
is currently standing guard outside there.” [1]

Nodding, Xu Qing handed the jade slip to the nervous Xu Xiaohui.

She accepted it and looked at the contents, then started breathing

heavily. That was especially the case when she got to the end of
the report. She looked up at Xu Qing, her face full of bitterness
and hesitation.

“Sect Uncle Xu, this....”

Although the jade slip revealed the identity of the killer, given who
Li Zelin was, Xu Xiaohui wasn’t sure if Xu Qing would continue to
help.

“Let’s go,” Xu Qing said, his expression the same as ever.

The Mute led the way, and Xu Qing followed. Xu Xiaohui gaped as
Xu Qing walked past her. Then she took a deep breath, calmed
her heart, and followed.

***

Dreamsense Mansion was a restaurant.

In fact, it was one of the most famous restaurants in the Port

District. It was very large, and usually drew big crowds. It was
clearly on a higher level than the restaurants run by the
Coastguard Division.
That became especially obvious when you looked at the menu.
They specialized in spirit food. When you ate food like that, it
would strengthen your fleshly body and help purge mutagen.
Although such benefits were fractional, they were also
incremental, and could lead to significant improvements over time.

On the second floor of Dreamsense Mansion, inside an

extravagantly decorated private dining room, three people sat
around a table.

If Xu Qing were present, he would recognize all of them.

The first was Wu Jianwu from the First Peak. Seated opposite him
was the Captain, who looked a bit pale in the face. The Captain
was no longer invisible, and was back in one piece. All of his
injuries had been healed. The third person, who sat there heaving
sighs, was none other than the innkeeper from Plankspring Way.
[2]

Truth be told, those three weren’t the only ones present. There
was also a snake. It was an anaconda, currently draping from the
rafters. She swayed back and forth, almost as if bored and trying
to amuse herself. Occasionally she would stick her tongue out at
the Captain, or make a few cooing sounds as if to ask a question.

Grinning, the Captain looked at the anaconda and said, “Ling’er,

are you thinking about a certain someone?”

“Coo. Coooo!”
“How about this,” the Captain said, looking very innocent. “Give
me ten bottles of that mutagen mist you harvested. Do that, and I’ll
call the little punk over here and have him spend a whole evening
with you. That’s fair, right?”

The anaconda’s eyes lit up, but not before the old innkeeper
jumped into the conversation.

“You’re pushing it, Chen Erniu! If you want to cheat me, fine. But
don’t even think about cheating the girl!!”

Meanwhile, Wu Jianwu looked coldly at the Captain, picked up a

jug of alcohol, and took a drink. Then he coolly said, “If the heart of
the just fills with greed, the day shall come in which he bleeds!”

The Captain blinked a few times, then took an apple out and
started eating it. Smiling enigmatically at Wu Jianwu, he said, “I
know you just came out of seclusion, Little Jianjian, so you don’t
know what’s been going on, and you have no idea how strong I’ve
become. But let me tell you: if I was Sect Granduncle, I’d beat the
living daylights out of you until you talked like a normal person.” [3]

Wu Jianwu’s eyebrows danced up and down as he replied, “Make

eyes and wink, look mysterious; heavenly lightning strikes heroes
delirious!”

Smiling broadly, the Captain said, “You can stop talking now. I
promised Sect Granduncle that I’d stop beating his apprentices.
So don’t worry, I won’t lay a hand on you.” [4]
The innkeeper face palmed. “Alright, enough. I invited the two of
you here today for three reasons. Let me explain so I can leave.
Just being around you two is annoying....

“First. Wu Jianwu, the time limit your Master promised me is

almost up. Unfortunately, I can’t stick around in Seven Blood Eyes.
So before I leave, I want the seals on the inn strengthened. Tell
your Master to hurry up and send people to help. Otherwise, who
knows what might happen.

“Second. Chen Erniu, I can strengthen your seals three more

times. After that, you need to think of another suppression method.
Ideally, something strong like godliness. Otherwise... if the thing
comes to life, you might not be you any longer.” The innkeeper
gave the Captain a very meaningful look.

The Captain looked back with his usual smile, as though he wasn’t
worried about anything at all. That said, if Xu Qing was here, his
familiarity with the Captain would allow him to instantly notice that,
after hearing the innkeeper’s words, the Captain stopped eating
his apple.

“Third. Like I said before, I need to leave for a time. Ling’er needs
to reach Foundation Establishment. She’s a special girl, and thus,
I need to take her to her ancestral land. I probably won’t be back
for a few years.”
Shaking her head, the snake looked at the old innkeeper and said,
“Coo, coooo!”

The innkeeper glared back at her. “You’re still stuck up on that Xu

brat? Aren’t you worried at all that he might eat you?”

“Cooo!!” the snake said, glaring and not backing down an inch.

Seeing the snake like that, the old innkeeper sighed, and the
wrinkles on his face seemed to deepen.

The Captain cleared this throat and cast an encouraging glance at

the snake. “That brat Xu Qing isn’t bad at all. He and Ling’er would
make a good pair.”

Ling’er looked very happy, and began swaying back and forth. She
even spat out a mist-filled bottle for the Captain.

Smiling, the Captain took the bottle and put it in the fold of his
robe. “Definitely a good pair. In fact, I think that Xu Qing would
make the perfect consort for Ling’er.”

“Cooo?” Ling’er said curiously, obviously not sure of what a

‘consort’ was.

The Captain was about to offer an explanation when Wu Jianwu’s

eyes went wide. It happened when the Captain said ‘Xu Qing.’ At
that moment, Wu Jianwu went from lounging in his chair to sitting
very rigidly. Looking serious, he said, “Who under heaven could
match the description; could it be that person from the past?”
The Captain and the innkeeper looked at each other.

“I don’t understand.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Wu Jianwu seemed to get even more anxious. Struggling to

breathe steadily, he gritted his teeth and gushed, “You mentioned
Xu Qing. Do you mean the same Xu Qing from the Seventh Peak
who’s in Foundation Establishment and recently made a big stir?
The one who’s extremely good-looking? Is that the person you
mean?”

Yet again smiling enigmatically, the Captain said, “Yeah, that’s the
one. Xu Qing. He’s one of my deputy directors. You know him?”

Wu Jianwu snorted and began, “Through the ancient ages, I know

him not; heaven’s—”

“If you don’t know him, then fine,” the Captain interrupted.
“Regardless, he’s back. Why don’t I call him over? You can meet
him! Or I can take you over to his place.”

Wu Jianwu’s eyes went wide. Taking a deep breath, he got to his

feet. “I have a pill brewing at home, how could I go; if we’re
connected by destiny, we’ll meet one day.”

With that, he turned to leave. However, before he could, a

shocking pressure suddenly weighed down on the private room,
coming from the street.
The fluctuations caused Wu Jianwu’s face to fall and Ling’ers eyes
to go wide. As one, they looked out the window to the street.

1. We last saw Wu Jianwu in chapter 148. ☜

2. It’s worth mentioning that we’ve known for a long time the
innkeeper has connections both to the First Peak and the Captain.
The first hint was in chapter 61, and it was also mentioned in
chapter 97. ☜

3. In the nickname the Captain uses, “Jianjian” is a repetition of

the “Jian” character in Wu Jianwu’s name, which means sword.
However, another very common word with the exact same
pronunciation means “slut” or “slutty.” Because of that, and also
just because of how funny it sounds in general, the nickname Little
Jianjian is very humorous. ☜

4. I think the context makes it fairly obvious, but the sect granducle
mentioned here would, by implication, be the peaklord of the First
Peak. ☜

Deathblade's Thoughts The below passage was written by Er Gen

to ask the readers for their monthly vote tickets. I’ve tweaked it
slightly to request that you think about becoming a Champion. For
only a couple bucks you can support the translation and also not
have to deal with the rigamarole of unlocking chapters.…Captain:
“I’m here on behalf of both the author and the translator to ask you
to become a Champion... Got the message? Now, I’m out of here.
If the author has what it takes, maybe he’ll write me a good death
scene.”Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior: “Dear handsome young
men and beautiful young ladies. You are all expert readers, and
thus, I come to you for help. Please become a Champion! I haven’t
appeared in the story in quite a while, and I’m worried that I won’t
end up dead at Xu Qing’s hands, but rather, at the hands of the
Fiendish Er Gen.... I don’t want to die! I want to stick with you
readers until the very end!”Shadow: “Champion...
scared....”Ling’er: “Coo. Coooo.”

The below passage was written by Er Gen to ask the readers for
their monthly vote tickets. I’ve tweaked it slightly to request that
you think about becoming a Champion. For only a couple bucks
you can support the translation and also not have to deal with the
rigamarole of unlocking chapters.…

Captain: “I’m here on behalf of both the author and the translator
to ask you to become a Champion... Got the message? Now, I’m
out of here. If the author has what it takes, maybe he’ll write me a
good death scene.”

Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior: “Dear handsome young men and

beautiful young ladies. You are all expert readers, and thus, I
come to you for help. Please become a Champion! I haven’t
appeared in the story in quite a while, and I’m worried that I won’t
end up dead at Xu Qing’s hands, but rather, at the hands of the
Fiendish Er Gen.... I don’t want to die! I want to stick with you
readers until the very end!”
Shadow: “Champion... scared....”

Ling’er: “Coo. Coooo.”

Chapter 197: Like an Emperor in the
Shadows

The night was deep. The moonlight was cold. The rain fell gently.

The moon was like a silver plate in the sky, casting down cold rays
of light that merged with the rain and cast a cold glow over the
Seven Blood Eyes Port District. And eventually, it reached the
eaves outside the Dreamsense Mansion. Raindrops were pearls
on a string, and the strings formed sheets. The moonlight couldn’t
be avoided, and cast dim shadows. It was like a scroll painting of
people in the night, especially the rare combination of the rain and
the moon.

Walking through the murky streets was a person with a gray daoist
robe and a white umbrella. It was impossible to see who was
under the umbrella, but they were slender and stood straight. The
aura this person emanated caused the rain around them to turn
into a mist that they walked through. The soles of their shoes left
ripples as they walked, creating small circles that widened
outward.

The person with the umbrella was accompanied by two other

individuals, who followed along in the shadows of the eaves. One
of them also had an umbrella, the other ignored the rain. This
newcomer was Xu Qing, and the people following in the shadows
were the Mute and Xu Xiaohui.

It was nighttime, but in a bustling area like this, merriment had only
just begun. The shops on either side of the street were busy.
People ate and drank, laughter rang out, and playful, flirtatious
banter could be heard everywhere. Quite a few disciples with
powerful auras were gathered here, as though to keep watch over
certain shops. Obviously, they were attendants to the important
people enjoying themselves in the area.

Xu Qing’s target was here.

Li Zelin was a skinny young man lounging beneath the eaves of

Dreamsense Mansion. He was chatting with a female disciple, but
then his expression flickered and he looked up the street.

He wasn’t the only one. Virtually all of the shops on the street
suddenly went silent.

Xu Qing didn’t release fluctuations from his cultivation base. But

his baleful aura, backed by his 65 dharma apertures, ensured that
everyone who noticed him was shocked. Countless eyes suddenly
became fixed on him. As everyone watched him, Xu Qing
expressionlessly approached Dreamsense Mansion.

As he did, a window on the second floor opened, and an

anaconda stuck her head out. She made a few happy cooing
sounds, which prompted Xu Qing to tilt the umbrella to the side
and look up.

He smiled.

That smile caused the anaconda to cut short her cooing. Her body
suddenly seemed to go a bit limp, and she was about to slide all
the way out of the window when the old innkeeper grabbed her. At
the same time, he cast an angry, wary glance at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing looked away from them to the trembling Li Zelin standing

beneath the eaves of Dreamsense Mansion.

Li Zelin was bursting with anxiety; he was panting so hard he

could barely breathe, and his eyes stung as he looked at Xu Qing.
It seemed like he was looking at a god, around whom the very air
distorted. It was like this person was a massive vortex, slowly
spinning and spinning as it prepared to devour him. Li Zelin’s
terror and astonishment were so intense that he felt himself going
mad. He shook violently, and his flesh and blood were screaming
at him that he was in incredible danger.

That was because... he didn’t just recognize Xu Qing. He also

realized that Xu Xiaohui was with him, her eyes burning with
hatred.

Xu Xiaohui had been there three months ago when he cut down
that lackey Zhou Qingpeng. Later, he had come to realize
someone was investigating Zhou Qingpeng’s death. After asking
around, he found out it was Xu Xiaohui, the same girl who had
stood around as helpless as a wounded deer when her friend was
killed.

To Li Zelin, people who were so weak he could kill them with a

single slap weren’t even worth paying attention to. However,
seeing that Xu Xiaohui was so intent on her investigation, he’d
pretended to help, then had some fun with her. Afterward, he
found her disgusting and drove her away.

But right now, he was trembling to his core. Everyone in the sect
knew who Xu Qing was. Back when Li Zelin killed Zhou Qingpeng,
he knew that Zhou Qingpeng had joined the sect on the same day
as Xu Qing. But in Seven Blood Eyes, that kind of thing wasn’t
important. Disciples were venomous bugs in a jar, and didn’t
bother developing friendships.

Even now, Li Zelin had trouble believing this was really happening.
In fact, he was trying to convince himself that Xu Qing had come
here for some other reason. Trembling, he clasped hands in
greeting.

“W-well... well met... Sect Uncle Xu.”

“Is that him?” Xu Qing asked, looking over at the Mute and Xu
Xiaohui.

The Mute nodded. Xu Xiaohui ground her teeth as she looked

hatefully at Li Zelin. The moment she’d seen his name in that jade
slip, she realized how much of a fool she’d been. She nodded her
head angrily.

Upon seeing that, Li Zelin’s heart started pounding, and he

instinctively started backing up. “Milord! Help! I—”

Before he could say anything else, a black iron skewer shot from
Xu Qing into his neck.

The power of lightning within it instantly destroyed Li Zelin’s soul,

and cracks spread out over his skin, like his body was about to
collapse. The power of the iron skewer seemed to provoke lighting
from the sky. In the blink of an eye, a massive lightning bolt shot
down, like a silver snake, to smash into Li Zelin’s corpse.

A boom rang out, and the body exploded, becoming countless

chunks of charred, smoking flesh, which landed hissing onto the
rain-soaked street. It was an absolutely shocking scene that
caused waves of astonishment to fill the hearts of all onlookers.

It was a given that a Foundation Establishment cultivator would be

able to kill a Qi Condensation disciple with ease. But Xu Qing’s
methods were simply spectacular. He actually caused lightning to
fall from heaven, and that was enough to leave everyone
stupefied.

The skewer flew back to Xu Qing and hovered behind him,

blending into the shadows.
That also caused the onlookers to tremble.

As silence prevailed, Xu Qing prepared to leave. However, it was

at that moment that a quizzical voice emerged from the second-
floor window that Ling’er had opened.

“Aiya, Little Jianjian. Wasn’t that guy one of your attendants? And
wasn’t he just calling for help?”

The voice belonged to the Captain.

When Xu Qing looked at the anaconda and the innkeeper earlier,

he had noticed the two familiar individuals inside the private dining
room. Inclining his head, he looked through the window.

Inside the private room, First Peak chosen Wu Jianwu was looking
at the Captain, who was smiling enigmatically.

After a short moment of silence, Wu Jianwu snorted coldly, then

flicked his sleeve. Life flame fluctuations rolled out from him, filling
the area.

“Woo-hoo!” the Captain shouted.

In Wu Jianwu’s opinion, the Captain was an idiot, and he didn’t like

wasting time talking to idiots. Therefore, without sparing a glance
for the Captain, he walked toward the window, his expression
deeply grim.
By the time he reached the window, his cultivation base
fluctuations were rolling out wildly. As lightning crashed above,
countless bronze swords appeared in the clouds overhead, and all
of them were pointing down. It seemed almost like heaven itself
was furious. And as Wu Jianwu stood there, explosive killing intent
building within him, he looked down at Xu Qing.

“Why did you kill my attendant??” he asked arrogantly.

His dramatic display of energy plus his grim expression made him
seem exactly like what everyone expected a chosen to be. His
words boomed like thunder, filling the entire area. At the same
time, the countless bronze swords flickered with brilliant light.

Everyone in the area was deeply shaken. In fact, many people

started leaving. They had the feeling that... a monumental fight
was about to take place.

After all, Xu Qing had killed Wu Jianwu’s attendant right on the

street, and that could be considered a slap in the face to Wu
Jianwu. Besides, everyone knew that First Peak disciples cared a
lot about face, and would never rest to avenge slights.

Meanwhile, inside the private dining room, the anaconda’s eyes

glittered as she looked at Wu Jianwu. It seemed as if she wanted
to thrash him. However, the old innkeeper kept his arms wrapped
tight around her.
At the same time, the old man was actually feeling very pleased,
and was thinking, Ahhhh, Xu Qing. What are you going to do now?
The First Peak watches out for their own. Wu Jianwu has eight
Elder Brothers who love big brawls.

Down on the street, the Mute and Xu Xiaohui were both shaken.
The Mute, despite the fact that the pressure rolling off of Wu
Jianwu made him tremble, he was baring his sharp teeth and
eyeing Wu Jianwu’s throat. As for Xu Xiaohui, she was biting her
lip, anxiety building within her as she berated herself for dragging
Xu Qing into this matter.

However... though everyone else seemed shocked, Xu Qing’s

expression was the same as ever. He looked up at Wu Jianwu
standing next to the window, and his eyes were cold. Not saying a
single word, he extended his right hand, causing his iron skewer to
float out of the shadows behind him.

Right then, laughter erupted from Wu Jianwu’s mouth. In fact, he

threw his head back and laughed uproariously. Then he spoke in a
very loud voice that seemed designed to make sure everyone
could hear him clearly.

“So, that’s what happened. Well, that makes total sense. Now I
understand that it was a matter of personal vengeance. I, Wu
Jianwu, should definitely not interfere.”

Xu Qing frowned but didn’t say anything. A moment passed.

“No, no. You don’t need to treat me to a meal. I completely
understand.” After a pause, Wu Jianwu again laughed loudly.
“Hahaha! Brother Xu, you really don’t need to go through that
trouble, and besides, I don’t have the time right now. Really, just
forget about it. By the way, I heard about your heroic undertaking
in Seazombie territory. Amazing…. What? No, you’re being too
polite! Alright, considering how well you’re treating me, I, Wu
Jianwu, will go ahead and pay the 10,000 spirit stone fine for
killing this person!”

Ling’er’s eyes went wide as she looked at Wu Jianwu, then she

scanned the street, as if she was having trouble understanding
what was going on.

“Mm-hmm,” Wu Jianwu continued. “Yes. Okay, fine. We’ll hang out

later when we both have time. Well, I need to say farewell for now.
It was wonderful to see you, Brother Xu. Truly a pleasure!”

Wu Jianwu had started out sounding very serious, but ended up

seeming very happy. Smiling broadly, he clasped hands and
bowed to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing, who had not said a single thing the entire time, just
looked up at him with an odd expression on his face.

Taking note of Xu Qing’s expression, Wu Jianwu shivered, then

flicked his sleeve, laughed, and walked out of the private dining
room. As he flew off into the lightning and rain, he looked exactly
like an immortal from a beautiful painting.

“Surpass mortal life and be refined; I’ll become an immortal and

surpass mankind.”

Surrounded by thrumming bronze swords, he disappeared off into

the distance.

Deathblade's ThoughtsHey everyone, apparently links don't work

in posts or something. So, here are the merch links again:Click
here for the posters.Amazon.com - Standard T-Shirt - ER GEN
OFFICIAL brand searchAmazon.co.uk - Standard T-Shirt
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leave feedback.

Hey everyone, apparently links don't work in posts or something.

So, here are the merch links again:

Click here for the posters.

Amazon.com - Standard T-Shirt - ER GEN OFFICIAL brand

search

Amazon.co.uk - Standard T-Shirt

Amazon.es - Standard T-Shirt

Amazon.fr - Standard T-Shirt

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Take a minute to fill out this short google form if you want to leave
feedback.
Chapter 198: No, I’ll Take the Blame!

When he was far enough away that no one could see him, Wu
Jianwu shivered. His face went pale, and his eyes flickered with
astonishment. Sweat pouring down his forehead, he took a very
deep breath.

What happened? Two flames?? That fiendish killer was terrible

enough before. Now that he has two life flames, he’d definitely be
able to kill me if I ran into him outside the sect!!

Heart pounding, he came to the conclusion that he definitely

couldn’t leave the sect for the next few months.

Thanks to my quick wits, I managed to give him a lot of face. I

even paid the fine for him. He’s a reasonable person, right? Next
time we run into each other he won’t try to kill me. Will he? Ah,
what a headache.... No. I’m not going out of my mansion grotto
until I have two life flames!

Meanwhile, back outside Dreamsense Mansion, Xu Qing stood in

the rain, a strange look on his face.

The Mute was completely taken aback, and Xu Xiaohui looked

dumbfounded.

Ling’er blinked suspiciously, and the old innkeeper seemed

speechless.
These people were right at the epicenter of the event, and all of
them knew that Xu Qing hadn’t said a single thing. He had only
taken a ready stance, and then Wu Jianwu had suddenly started
spouting all sorts of balderdash. Combined with his laughter and
loud voice, it had almost seemed like he was exchanging voice
messages with Xu Qing. And apparently it had involved an
invitation to dinner.

It was all so convincing that anyone who simply overheard Wu

Jianwu would think it was all a real conversation, would come to
the conclusion that Wu Jianwu really admired Xu Qing, and would
believe that the two of them were good friends who respected
each other a lot. Furthermore, it seemed that because Wu Jianwu
had refused Xu Qing’s invitation repeatedly, Wu Jianwu had felt
obligated to pay the fine for killing an Offpeak disciple.

A loud crunch broke the silence as the Captain got to his feet,
munching his apple as he walked over to the window, where he
looked down at Xu Qing and blinked a few times. Very impressive
acting, Little Jianjian. I admit I’m surprised.

Xu Qing looked up and noticed that the Captain had all four of his
limbs intact. An odd look appeared in Xu Qing’s eyes. The Captain
had recovered very quickly this time. But considering how quickly
he’d regrown his lost limbs, Xu Qing had to guess that he didn’t
use a cultivation technique or medicinal pill, but rather some gruish
ability.
Meanwhile, Ling’er took advantage of the innkeeper’s shocked
state to wriggle out of his grasp, slither out of the window, and
approach Xu Qing.

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed briefly, but then he saw the snake’s

eyes, and they seemed familiar, as if they’d met before. Those
eyes did not contain any killing intent, but rather, pure happiness.

“Coo. Cooooo.”

Looking very happy, the snake shrank down, becoming much

more slender, and turning into a snow white color. Wrapping
around Xu Qing’s arm, she looked at him with wide, adorable
eyes. [1]

“Coo. Coooooo. Coo.

“Coo coo.”

When the innkeeper saw what was happening, his heart sank, and
he was about to start scolding the snake. But then Xu Qing looked
up at him with cold eyes.

The innkeeper shivered and thought back to the time Xu Qing had
almost killed him. Feeling both grief and indignation, he realized
that whenever a girl had to pick between her sweetheart and her
father, who had spent so much blood, sweat, and tears raising her,
she would usually pick the former. His heart sank further.
No. I won’t compromise. That brat is no good. He’s definitely not
the right match for Ling’er. Mind racing, he suddenly raised his
voice and said, “Coo. Coooooooo!”

He didn’t dare to speak the language of humans, and instead

spoke Ling’er’s language. He had just told her that if she wanted
to be with Xu Qing forever, she had to be able to shapechange
permanently. And if she wanted to do that, she needed to reach
Foundation Establishment. Thus, they needed to go.

Ling’er obviously didn’t want to leave Xu Qing. But after circling

around his arm softly once more, she dropped to the ground and
raced back to the old innkeeper.

The innkeeper breathed a sigh of relief. Feeling very pleased with

himself, he hurried away.

As they left, Xu Qing could hear the sound of cooing echoing in

their wake.

“Alright, Deputy Director Xu,” the Captain said from the window.
“Enough of that. Come have a few drinks with your boss.” He
beckoned at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing thought about it for a moment, then turned and nodded at

Xu Xiaohui, indicating that she should leave.

Xu Xiaohui bit her lip. Heart full of gratitude, she dropped to her
knees in the rain and kowtowed to Xu Qing, knocking her forehead
against the ground. Then she left.

The Mute didn’t leave. He walked over and squatted outside of

Dreamsense Mansion in the same spot where Li Zelin had been.

Xu Qing didn’t say anything. In a flash, he shot through the

window and into the private dining room, where he took a seat at
the table. Back when the Captain had returned, there were certain
things he’d wanted to ask about the Captain’s bedraggled state,
but hadn’t because of Zhang San’s presence.

“Captain, why did the statue’s nose explode?” he asked, sounding

very serious. He felt like he absolutely had to ask this question. If
he didn’t, then given the Captain’s suspicious personality, he
definitely wouldn’t be able to feel at ease. And of course, Xu Qing
wanted the Captain to feel at ease.

“You don’t know?” the Captain said, taking a bite of an apple and
grinning at Xu Qing.

Looking surprised, Xu Qing shook his head.

“Come on, my deputy director. Don’t forget that I taught you all
your acting skills. We both know exactly why the statue’s nose
exploded. You can’t fool me.”

Having finished his apple, the Captain took out a pear and bit into
it.
“This time, I’ll take the blame,” the Captain continued, looking very
mysterious and solemn. “After all, I am your boss. I won’t even
charge you spirit stones for it. I only have two requirements.”

Xu Qing frowned, looking a bit hesitant.

Seeing that, the Captain took out another pear and tossed it to Xu
Qing.

“Allow me to explain. It’s that reason. Yeah, I saw it all with my

own eyes.” He sighed. “Whatever. Let me explain my two
requirements. What’s the first?” Sounding very grave, he
continued, “It’s that you can never, ever bring up the story of me
disguising myself as Third Princess. That slate is wiped clean!
What’s the second? It’s that you still have to pay me the 100,000
spirit stones you owe!! If you agree to those stipulations, then I’ll
take the blame for you for the Seazombie incident.”

The Captain inhaled deeply, then bit the pear in half and looked
closely at Xu Qing to see his reaction.

Xu Qing sat there quietly for a moment, then shook his head.
“Since it was my fault, I’ll just announce it publicly. I’ll tell everyone
that I did it. I should be the #1 on the bounty list. I was the
mastermind behind the zombie ancestor statue incident. As for
you, Captain, you were simply an accomplice.”

Having said that, Xu Qing stood to leave.

All of a sudden, the Captain looked nervous. Obviously he felt
proud of being the mastermind, and in his attempt to blackmail Xu
Qing, had made a fool of himself in trying to be clever.

Clearing his throat, he chuckled and said, “Ah, look at you. You’re
so serious. I was just joking around! I was responsible for
everything. I was the mastermind. And there’s nobody who can
take that away from me!”

“No, it was me,” Xu Qing said, sounding very serious.

“It wasn’t you. It was me!” The Captain now sounded even more
anxious.

“No, it wasn’t. It was me!” Xu Qing stared at the Captain.

Sounding incomparably serious, the Captain said, “Xu Qing, I have

to give you some constructive criticism here. I’m stating very
plainly that it wasn’t you. Therefore, it wasn’t. It was me!”

Xu Qing suddenly looked uncertain. “It really was you?”

“Of course it was me! I ate Joine’s flesh, then took a bite of the
statue. The power of Joine’s flesh erupted, creating a chain
reaction within the divine likeness that resulted in the explosion. It
was a reaction to the godliness! After I got back, I read through
some of the ancient records, and found that both Joine and the
Seazombies share some common ancestry. That’s clearly why her
aura provoked a reaction from the zombie ancestor statue!”
Xu Qing looked stunned. After some thought, he nodded. But then
he looked hesitant, and was about to ask another question, when
the Captain rose and laughed heartily.

“Sorry, little Junior Brother, but I have another matter to attend to.
I’ll see myself out. Don’t think too much about this. The whole
thing really was my fault. Ai. There’s so much to handle at work. I
really wish it wasn’t like this.... By the way, it won’t be long now
before I’ll get the information I need about that big plan I
mentioned. Then I can explain everything.”

The Captain hurried out of the private dining room. Once he was
down on the street, he pulled out another apple, took a bite, then
sighed.

It seems like it really wasn’t the brat who did it. So, was I actually
the one at fault? Hmm. Yeah, I guess it was me.

It seemed reasonable, and the Captain actually felt wonderful

about that. After all, as the boss, it made sense that he would be
the mastermind.

Back in the private dining room, Xu Qing breathed a sigh of relief.

At long last, he felt he could rest at ease.

After all that, I doubt the Captain will suspect me.

Feeling satisfied with how everything ended up, he left

Dreamsense Mansion and headed back to his berth. There, he
worked on his cultivation and waited in anticipation to hear about
the Captain’s big plan.

A month passed.

During that time, the war with the Seazombies reached a critical
point.

Countless species were watching, because... after occupying

those three fortified islands, there was nothing blocking Seven
Blood Eyes’ path to the Seazombies ancestral land. And thus
began a general offensive to take the main island!

Meanwhile, Harbor 176’s museum finally opened for business.

Zhang San did a spectacular job of fusing together the two pieces
of the nose, to the point where it was almost impossible to tell that
they weren’t one unified nose. He had also added two everburning
flames to the exhibit.

And the patriarch’s calligraphy hung over it all.

The opening of the museum caused a big stir in the sect. Out on
the battlefield, the patriarch and all the other top members of the
sect were very supportive. It also caused a commotion among
surrounding peoples on the sea, many of whom couldn’t wait to
come see the exhibit.

Harbor 176 was soon busier than it had ever been. People poured
in from everywhere. And just as Zhang San had said, they didn’t
need to worry about guarding the museum. The sect handled that
for them. The Gold Core elders who remained behind in the sect
had received orders from the patriarch himself to keep the
museum safe.

Also, the reward for Xu Qing and Chen Erniu was finally
announced by the patriarch.

“Chen Erniu and Xu Qing will serve as envoy disciples of Seven

Blood Eyes. Chen Erniu will be promoted within the echelon. And
Xu Qing is hereby added to the echelon! They will both be allowed
to summon a projection of the sect’s magical treasure three times!
Both will be given a destined opportunity for Gold Core, after the
war is over! The above items are the first part of the reward.
Further aspects of the reward will be discussed after the war!”

The entire sect was abuzz, firstly, because of the mention of the
echelon. The other was because of the use of the term ‘envoy
disciple.’

Truth be told, no one in Seven Blood Eyes had any idea what an
‘envoy disciple’ was. That was because, up to this point... there
had never been any envoy disciples in Seven Blood Eyes.

Soon enough, people came to know what envoy disciples were.

Xu Qing and the Captain were assigned the task of representing

the seven peaklords in receiving and entertaining visitors who
came to see the zombie ancestor’s nose.
1. I’m fairly certain this is the first time in the story that Ling’er is
described as being the color white in her snake form. The fact that
a white snake is interested in Xu Qing is interesting/relevant
because there’s a famous Chinese story called Legend of the
White Snake, centered around a romance between a man named
Xu Xian (same surname as Xu Qing) and a snake spirit. It’s not to
say that Legend of the White Snake will be mirrored in this story.
But it is interesting to ponder whether the author intentionally took
inspiration from the legend. Or not. Here’s the wiki for the legend.
☜
Chapter 199: A Drama Featuring Two
Phoenixes

The so-called ‘envoy disciples’ were basically outward-facing

representatives of Seven Blood Eyes. When nonhumans came to
visit Seven Blood Eyes, they would interact with Xu Qing and the
Captain, and in turn, that would remind them of how badly the
Seazombies had lost face thanks to those two. And thanks to the
museum, many nonhumans were coming to visit. As a result, Xu
Qing and the Captain were both very busy.

At the moment, Xu Qing stood at the entrance of Harbor 176

awaiting a group of nonhumans as evening deepened.

Thanks to the glow of the setting sun, his unusually attractive face
was clearly visible. As the sea breeze blew, his hair drifted like a
black waterfall, concealing the coldness and irritation in his eyes.

This was the seventh group of nonhumans that Xu Qing had

received after the patriarch had appointed him an envoy disciple
half a month ago. He still wasn’t used to it, and in fact, he simply
hated this kind of assignment. He didn’t like putting on a show for
people, and it made him feel very unsafe. That said, though ‘envoy
disciple’ was just a title and nothing more, it did provide him a
measure of protection.
It actually dispelled malicious intentions in many. After all... it
meant that he was the official face of Seven Blood Eyes. On the
other hand, having public duties ensured that if something
dangerous did happen, it would be far more dangerous than an
ordinary situation.

Xu Qing had heard about the echelon before. Seven Blood Eyes
and the Seazombies both had such groups, though they were
different. In the past, the echelon referred to the successor
apprentices of the peaklords of the seven peaks. Getting into the
echelon meant you had a very special status, as the peaklords
were picked from within the echelon. They also received greater
compensation from the sect. As for Xu Qing, he was the only
disciple in the echelon who wasn’t an apprentice of a peaklord.

Chen Erniu got promoted within the echelon.... That means he

must be the Eldest Brother of the Seventh Peak.

Xu Qing was certain of that, yet at the same time, felt that the
Captain had even bigger secrets. Given that, Xu Qing felt like he
didn’t have any options. There was no way he could refuse the
patriarch’s assignment.

The sea breeze lifted his hair, brushing against his face and
interrupting his train of thought. Looking up, he impatiently
murmured, “Why aren’t they here yet?”
“Elder Brother Xu, I heard that the Seastar people all have strange
starfish attached to their backs. Normally speaking, they avoid
daylight, so considering it’s almost night, I imagine they’ll be here
soon.”

Xu Qing wasn’t waiting there alone. There were over thirty

disciples standing behind him. The Captain had handled the
details. He was a lot more interested in assignments like this.

The Captain was the one who made the assignments for the
disciples, and Xu Qing was like his trump card. If a visiting group
was made up of mostly female cultivators, the Captain would be
sure to have Xu Qing join them. Sure enough, whenever Xu Qing
showed up, female nonhuman cultivators who came to visit the
nose museum would be very curious about him. Xu Qing had
originally refused to cooperate, until he realized that if his missions
were focused on female-majority groups, he would actually have
fewer missions overall.

The Captain, worrying that Xu Qing would feel out of sorts, had
arranged for two fellow disciples he was familiar with to be his
assistants.

One of them was the person who had just spoken. Gu Muqing. [1]

Gu Muqing had a soft voice, and her refined, delicate good looks
made her seem like a stunning lotus in a vase. She had a faint
smile and an immature, energetic air to her. Her orange daoist
robe clung to her like the brilliant evening clouds.

Seeing how Gu Muqing was acting, Ding Xue stepped forward and
said, “Elder Brother Xu, the Seastar people are really pushing it! I
can’t believe they’re late. I guess it doesn’t matter, though. Did I
mention I just got accepted by the Seven Sect Coalition? Once the
war is over, I’ll go there to study the dao of plants and vegetation.
Eventually, I’ll be so important I can force the Seastars to come in
person to apologize to you! Elder Brother, I’ve been studying really
hard lately. If you want, you can give me a quiz!”

As she finished speaking, she flashed a spirit note and a jade slip.
[2]

Ding Xue had a sweet disposition, skin as fair as snow, and dark
hair. Beneath her straight nose were dainty, rose-colored lips,
slightly parted, like a flirtatious rose. When she spoke, she
seemed as innocent as an orchid, her glistening eyes so
captivating that one could easily become lost in them. Ding Xue
was the second assistant the Captain had arranged for Xu Qing.

The two young women were standing on either side of Xu Qing.

Both had their own merits, making them as difficult to compare as
plums, orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemums.

Behind the group of three were over thirty Seven Blood Eyes
disciples, including Zhao Zhongheng.
Over the past half month, Zhao Zhongheng had sighed too many
times to count, yet he still managed to have a smile on his face. As
for the other disciples, they all looked at Xu Qing as if they were
staring at a divine being.

During the past half month, Gu Muqing and Ding Xue had
seemingly got along, but the truth was that they were diametrically
opposed to each other. And it was becoming more obvious.

Right now, Gu Muqing was glaring at Ding Xue.

Ding Xue, not wanting to be outdone, raised her eyebrows and

pouted slightly. “Elder Sister Gu, even if the Seastar people have a
good excuse, that has nothing to do with us. I wouldn’t care if they
kept us waiting, but it really irritates me that they’re keeping Big
Bro Xu Qing waiting. Don’t tell me you’re fine with that? Big Bro Xu
Qing is so hardworking when it comes to cultivation, but now
they’re making him stand around. It’s really outrageous.”

Gu Muqing took a deep breath. She was a quiet person who

valued elegance, but over the past half month, she had nearly lost
her temper on several occasions. She just didn’t have a way with
words like Ding Xue. Every time Ding Xue made a scene like this,
Gu Muqing inwardly cursed her whorish, slutty ways.

“Ding Xue, why are you always calling me Elder Sister? I’m only
seventeen years old. Might I ask how old you are?”
Ding Xue’s eyes turned red, and she bowed her head. “I’m sorry,
Elder Sister,” she said quietly. “I... I’m just not good with words. If I
said something to offend you, Elder Sister, it was purely an
accident. I’m just really worried about Big Bro Xu Qing.”

Veins bulged on Gu Muqing’s forehead, and she struggled to

control her breathing.

Meanwhile, the disciples behind them could hear everything they

were saying, and many of them were now looking at Ding Xue with
deep admiration. As always, Ding Xue came out on top.

Xu Qing glanced curiously at Ding Xue, then Gu Muqing. Then he

ignored them. His time spent with them recently had been very
strange, and he’d come to the conclusion that they just didn’t get
along when on assignments together. He was about to say
something when, all of a sudden, a deep rumbling sound could be
heard from out at sea.

Looking out into the evening, Xu Qing saw that there were now
waves rolling out across the previously tranquil water. As the
rumbling sounds grew larger, he spotted a huge, pitch black, star-
shaped battleship about 3,000 meters away. Actually, it was a
procession, as there were six more battleships of the same type
behind the first one. As they emanated shocking pressure in all
directions, the seven huge eyes on the mountain peaks glittered
with red light, as if inspecting them.
Xu Qing’s expression didn’t change. As long as the spell formation
was active in the sect, it would keep things safe. Beyond that,
about half a month ago, Sixth Peaklord had returned to the sect to
rest and recuperate. With Sixth Peaklord on duty, Xu Qing felt a lot
more at ease.

As the seven star-shaped battleships got closer, Xu Qing was able

to make out cultivators standing on them. It seemed that each ship
had about thirty of them.

The Seastar people looked like humans, with the only difference
being that they had blue hair and blue eyes. They also had the
strange starfish-like growths on their backs that Gu Muqing had
just mentioned.

Altogether, they were coming to Seven Blood Eyes with over two
hundred people, and female cultivators made up about seventy
percent of that group. As for the three women who led the group,
they had terrifying fluctuations that reminded Xu Qing of the three-
headed six-armed Seazombie he’d encountered.

The three leaders were middle-aged, and standing in front of them

was a beautiful young woman who looked to be about sixteen or
seventeen. She had blue hair, wore a beautiful gown, and had
unusually pale skin. When she scanned the shore, she barely
looked at Gu Muqing and Ding Xue, and instead focused on Xu
Qing. She was, in fact, a Seastar princess.
“Honored Seastar guests, welcome to Seven Blood Eyes,” Xu
Qing said formally, clasping his hands in greeting.

“You’re Xu Qing?” the Seastar princess said with a smile, eyeing

him curiously.

“Yes, ma’am,” Xu Qing replied with a nod. “The hour is late.

Tomorrow I’ll take you to see the Seazombie’s holy item.” With
that, he turned to the disciples behind him to issue orders. “Take
our Seastar friends to their accommodations.”

“Hold on a moment,” the princess said. “Elder Brother Xu Qing, we

Seastars absolutely detest the Seazombies. I very much admire
you for what you did, so I’d like to give you a gift. Please accept it.”

She gave a meaningful look to her attendants behind her, who

took out a conch shell and presented it to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing looked at the young woman.

“Elder Brother Xu Qing, this is a special magical device my people

created. Blow the conch shell, and you’ll receive a blessing from
us. Also, it can summon all nearby soft-bodied animals from the
Forbidden Sea.” With that, she clasped hands and bowed slightly.
Meanwhile, all of the other Seastar people were debarking, and
most of them were looking at Xu Qing.

Ding Xue frowned slightly, and didn’t seem very pleased. And
though Gu Muqing didn’t show it, she also wasn’t very happy.
Ding Xue could guess what all those female Seastars were
thinking when they looked at Xu QIng, so she was just about to
open her mouth and say something when, all of a sudden, another
rumbling sound pierced the evening silence. Figures appeared,
flying through the air from the interior of the harbor. The Seastar
people all seemed to go on guard, and the three middle-aged
women’s eyes glittered.

Xu Qing looked in that direction, and immediately realized that it

was the Captain and Second Highness. [3]

The Captain was in such a hurry that, when he arrived, he didn’t

even greet the Seastars. Instead, he just looked at Xu Qing and
said, “The patriarch just sent word that Eastnether Isle is sending
a visitor!”

“Eastnether Isle?” Xu Qing said in surprise.

Off to the side, Ding Xue’s expression flickered, and the three Gold
Core Seastars looked visibly surprised.

Sounding very serious, the Captain explained, “The islemaster of

Eastnether Isle is an old woman named Guru Eastnether. After the
patriarch achieved his breakthrough, his cultivation base reached
the same level as hers.... But the visitor isn’t Guru Eastnether. It’s
her granddaughter. And she has a violent personality.... You need
to be careful.”
Even as the words left his mouth, a huge wave suddenly rose up,
rushing toward the harbor with crushing might.

1. We last saw Gu Muqing in chapter 164. She was introduced by

name in chapter 94, though appeared in chapters before that. ☜

2. I doubt any of us have forgotten Ding Xue’s last appearance

starting in chapter 166. ☜

3. Although we’ve heard a lot about Second Highness from Huang

Yan, the last time she appeared ‘on screen’ was in chapter 73. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsMany thanks to Lie Man for the review!

Many thanks to Lie Man for the review!

Chapter 200: Coming With Harmful
Intentions

The pressure was incredibly domineering, and the wave of black

water which appeared at the entrance of the port instantly turned
into a huge wall that rumbled toward the main sluicegate. The
wave was so massive, and contained such brutal power, that it
provoked a reaction from the grand spell formation. The seven
distant eyes glittered, and in response, a screen of red light
appeared to block the progress of the wave.

However, the rumbling grew louder, until it was so deafening that

the people in Harbor 176 felt like heavenly thunder was crashing in
their ears. Xu Qing frowned and waved his hand, causing dharma
force to sweep out and cover Gu Muqing and Ding Xue, blocking
the sound from entering their mind. Unfortunately, the rest of the
disciples didn’t have it as easy, and one after another, they
coughed up blood and staggered backward. This sound was so
intense that it was injuring Qi Condensation cultivators!

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed, while the Captain rubbed his chin and
looked at Second Highness.

Second Highness also frowned as she looked past the sluicegate

and barked, “What’s the meaning of this?”
“Aiyaaa, Big Sis, don’t be angry!” responded a melodious voice
from beyond the sluicegate.

A moment later, a massive octopus tentacle stretched out of the

water in roughly that same spot. It was many meters wide, and
several hundred meters long as it stretched over the sluicegate
and into the port itself. Then a massive octopus rose out of the
water, using its tentacles to simply climb over the gate.

Atop the octopus sat a young woman who appeared to be in her

teens. It was hard to determine her specific age, though, because
of her physical appearance; her style wasn’t typical of a young
woman. She wore tight black clothing and had very short hair. That
said, she was cute, and even seemed dainty as her gigantic
octopus made its way toward Harbor 176.

Upon nearing, the giant octopus dripped black water everywhere,

some of which splashed on the Seven Blood Eyes disciples.
Meanwhile, the Seastars all trembled and bowed their heads.
Shockingly, this octopus radiated the same type of aura as a Gold
Core elder! Terrifying sea beasts this huge had battle prowess
automatically surpassing cultivators in the same level as them.
And right now, this octopus was emitting pressure without the
slightest scruple.

Xu Qing backed up a few steps to avoid the splashing water, all

while coldly eyeing the young woman in black as she got to her
feet atop the huge octopus. She was probably around fifteen or
sixteen, with an oval face, thin lips, lively eyes, and delicate
features. Hopping off the octopus, she landed on the dock,
glanced at Xu Qing and the Captain, and then rushed over to
Second Highness.

“Don’t blame me, Big Sis! It’s all Stinker’s fault! I’ll handle the
punishment!” As the words left her mouth, the young woman
waved her hand, causing a host of sharp black spikes to appear in
the air and then shoot toward her own octopus, pulsing with
astonishing energy. And they weren’t aimed at its tough hide, but
instead, its eyes. The octopus trembled, not daring to move as the
black spikes stabbed into it. A moment later, black blood oozed
down out of its eyes.

Seeing all this, Xu Qing’s pupils constricted. And as he looked

more closely at the girl in the black clothing, his heart beat a bit
faster. The reason was that, though this girl looked like an ordinary
human, she was actually different. She wasn’t like the Captain, or
the Seazombie dao child, or the elders or peaklords. She
seemed... much more pure!

It was a purity that Xu Qing understood very clearly, and it was

why his heart was suddenly racing.

She doesn’t have any mutagen in her!

It was the first time Xu Qing had ever encountered any other
cultivator who lacked mutagen. She was so pure she seemed like
the daughter of a god! What was more, Xu Qing could just barely
make out the evidence that she had many more than 100 dharma
apertures open. She hadn’t quite reached the level of 120. Rather,
she had 104 of them open. What was more, she was clearly
continuing to open more and more of them, and it didn’t seem like
she would stop at 120. It was entirely possible she would go past
that level.

That in itself was no shock to Xu Qing, as he had previously come

to the realization that 120... wasn’t the final limit.

Frowning in irritation, Second Highness said, “Yanyan, this is

Seven Blood Eyes. You—”

“Okay, okay,” Yanyan said sweetly, slipping her arms around

Second Highness’ arm. “My bad, Big Sis.” Clearly, Yanyan was
close to the Second Highness. [1]

Shaking her head, Second Highness looked at the Captain.

“Eldest Brother, uh... look, Yanyan didn’t do any of this on
purpose.”

Smiling, the Captain measured up Yanyan.

She looked curiously back at him. Smiling to reveal two dimples,

she said, “Don’t look at me like that. If you do, I’ll have Stinker dig
your eyes out.”
The Captain’s eyes glittered as he intentionally opened them even
wider. Producing an apple, he took a bite and said, “That’s totally
fine. In fact, I’ll dig them out for you. How about we trade? My eyes
for a bottle of Eastnether serum?”

Yanyan’s eyebrows shot up, but then Second Highness tightened

her arm around her. Yanyan snorted coldly, then finally looked over
at Xu Qing. Before, she had barely looked at him, but now her
gaze met his face.

“Big Sis, this guy isn’t a fellow disciple of yours, is he? I’d like to
use his face for a mask. It’d look great!”

It didn’t seem like she was joking around. Her eyes glittered with a
very odd light, while at the same time, the huge octopus looked
coldly at Xu Qing.

Everyone present was getting very nervous, and the Seastars

were edging away.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing didn’t say anything, but his dharma force was
already converging, and his shadow was ready to act at any
moment.

As Yanyan’s eyes narrowed, Second Highness sighed inwardly.

“Absolutely not!” Second Highness said sharply. It went without

saying that Second Highness was familiar with Xu Qing, and knew
that he was friends with Huang Yan. “Sorry about this, Xu Qing.
You might as well take off now. I’ll explain all of this to Huang Yan
later.”

Xu Qing nodded and turned to leave.

However, upon hearing Huang Yan’s name, Yanyan suddenly

smiled. “Why are you protecting this guy, Big Sis? Do you have a
crush on him? In that case, I don’t want his face after all. Instead,
I’ll slash it to ribbons!”

She burst into motion, speeding toward Xu Qing with deep hostility
burning in her eyes.

Though she moved with unfathomable speed, Xu Qing had been

on guard the entire time. His life flames instantly burned to life as
he entered the profound radiance state and shot toward Yanyan.

At the same time, the octopus erupted with the pressure of the
Gold Core level, and was about to unleash its own attack when a
roar of rage erupted from the Sixth Peak like thunder from heaven.

“How impudent!”

The octopus shivered, and its aura collapsed under the sudden
pressure. The invisible force was so great that it couldn’t move.

The Captain chose that moment to shoot toward the octopus.

Bursting with frigid energy, he headed right toward one of the
tentacles and bit into it.
Meanwhile, Xu Qing and Yanyan smashed into each other. A
boom rang out as she slashed her sharp nails toward his face. He
dodged, and then a dagger materialized in his right hand, which he
swept toward her throat.

She twisted to the side to avoid the dagger, but then Xu Qing’s
knee slammed into her chest. She crumpled with a booming thud
as she flew past him.

Not pausing for a moment, Xu Qing took out a small bottle of black
liquid and smashed it between his hands with all the force he
could muster.

The bottle shattered, and black liquid splashed out in all directions.
Some landed on him, but most of it splattered on Yanyan’s hand,
which had been stretching toward him from behind.

Expression flickering, she flicked her hand at the wrist, but wasn’t
able to get the black liquid off of her. That black liquid was actually
a host of tiny beetles, and the moment they touched her skin, they
started burrowing into her pores.

“You!” she blurted.

However, Xu Qing’s eyes were burning with killing intent. His black
iron skewer appeared, and shot toward Yanyan, joined by his
shadow.
In that moment of potentially deadly crisis, an irritated voice
echoed from the Sixth Peak.

“That’s enough.”

A tremor passed through Xu Qing, and he suddenly felt powerless

to do anything other than back up.

It was the same with Yanyan. Face pale, she stepped backward.
After looking down at her hand, she took out a medicinal pill and
consumed it, but it didn’t do anything. Finally, she had to grit her
teeth and produce a golden paper talisman. After applying it to her
hand, she was able to stop the spread of the black beetles.

Hurrying over, Second Highness sighed again and gave Xu Qing

an apologetic look. Wrapping her arm around Yanyan, she began
to lead her away.

“You’re Xu Qing, right?” Yanyan said venomously as she walked

off. “I’m going to remember you. I have my sights set on that face
of yours. By the way, tell that fatso Huang Yan that if he keeps
going after my Big Sis, I’ll make sure he ends up dead!”

Off to the side, the Captain was struggling to rip off some Gold
Core flesh, but was having trouble. Eventually, he had to settle for
biting off the tip of a tentacle.

The octopus struggled against him, but had been fully suppressed,
and couldn’t move. All it could do was make some piteous
whimpering sounds. Sadly, Yanyan had already forgotten about
the octopus.

As for the Seastars, they were looking at Xu Qing and the Captain
with open reverence.

In their eyes, both of them seemed completely crazy. One of them,

when facing a suppressed Gold Core sea beast, had immediately
tried to take a bite out of its flesh. Meanwhile, the other had openly
attacked a junior princess from Eastnether Isle. And he had
obviously been trying to kill her.

It’s hard to say which is crazier! These two are not to be trifled
with!

Then they thought about the bounty put up by the Seazombies,

and came to the conclusion that it made sense for two people like
this to have done something so dramatic.

With things calmed down, people went their separate ways.

Eventually, the only ones left behind were Xu Qing, the Captain,
the suppressed octopus, as well as Ding Xue and Gu Muqing. The
Captain dismissed the latter two.

Ding Xue was obviously worried, but knew that the Captain and Xu
Qing had things to discuss, so she took her leave. Gu Muqing also
turned to leave, then stopped and gave a medicinal pill bottle to Xu
Qing.
“Elder Brother Xu Qing, this pill works wonders in treating insect
wounds.”

Xu Qing nodded in thanks and took the bottle. When the two
young women were gone, the Captain shouldered the tentacle tip
he’d bitten off, then sauntered over to Xu Qing.

“None of this is my business,” he said with a grin, “but just so you

know, that girlie has had a crush on Second Sib for years.
Obviously, she came here to cause trouble for Huang Yan, and
once she found out you’re good friends with him, dragged you into
it. She obviously didn’t realize you’d be so hard to deal with.”

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered coldly, but he didn’t say anything. Instead,

he started walking toward the octopus.

“Hey, what’re you doing?” the Captain said.

“Chopping off a tentacle,” Xu Qing replied quietly.

“No, don’t! The suppression time is almost over!!”

“If you help, it’ll be easier to chop it off.” As the octopus glared
angrily, Xu Qing summoned another dagger and started chopping.

1. Yanyan could be her given name without the surname, or it

could be a nickname based on her given name. Either way,
Madam Deathblade said that it sounds “cute.” ☜
Deathblade's ThoughtsI would like to thank the team who has
been helping out behind the scenes: Hawk 9211, Jeddrick, Senior
Nepuko, and The Fiery Moth. Thanks to UnifiedDivide for
proofreading.If you like the translation, please consider leaving a
review. They help, and I’ll be sure to give you a shoutout.And
finally, if you’d like to support the translation, you can become a
Champion. For only a couple bucks, you can unlock all published
chapters (no bothering with Karma), and also get early access to
chapters. Without Champion support, licensed translations like this
cannot happen! And for those of you who are already Champions,
THANK YOU!

I would like to thank the team who has been helping out behind
the scenes: Hawk 9211, Jeddrick, Senior Nepuko, and The Fiery
Moth. Thanks to UnifiedDivide for proofreading.

If you like the translation, please consider leaving a review. They

help, and I’ll be sure to give you a shoutout.

And finally, if you’d like to support the translation, you can become
a Champion. For only a couple bucks, you can unlock all
published chapters (no bothering with Karma), and also get early
access to chapters. Without Champion support, licensed
translations like this cannot happen! And for those of you who are
already Champions, THANK YOU!
Chapter 201: I’m in Charge!

“Xu Qing,” the Captain said angrily, “you’ve become even greedier
than me nowadays!” At the same time, he rushed forward and
helped Xu Qing chop away at the octopus’ tentacle.

The Gold Core octopus was clearly enraged, but it couldn’t stop
Xu Qing from removing a small tip of one of its tentacles, about
three meters in length. Throwing it over his shoulder, Xu Qing left
with the Captain.

A short while later, the force of suppression vanished, and the

octopus let loose a howl of fury. Then, just as it seemed it was
about to rise up to its full height, it collapsed onto the ground.

And that was because, out of nowhere, a middle-aged man had

appeared in front of it. The man’s face was a mask of bitterness as
he slowly walked forward, drinking alcohol out of a gourd bottle.

He was none other than Master Sixth, the peaklord of the Sixth
Peak. Long ago, Master Sixth had been like Master Seventh, a
chosen member of the sect. In fact, he had joined the sect along
with Master Seventh. However, years later, he experienced
tragedy. His daoist partner died a horrible death, leaving behind
him and his only son. In his grief, he had focused all of his love
and attention on his son. And his son didn’t let him down.
As the years passed, his son became an outstanding figure in
Seven Blood Eyes. But one day he went out to sea for training and
never returned. His life slip in the sect even shattered. It caused a
huge stir in the sect. However, his killer was never identified, and
the matter became a source of unending torment for Master Sixth.
After that, the peaklord was never seen without a bottle of alcohol.
[1]

Taking another drink from the bottle gourd, Master Sixth came to a
stop in front of the octopus. “I’m crafting a magical device that
could use two eyes. Yours. Give them to me.”

The octopus shivered, and without hesitation, reached two

tentacles up to its two eyes. Gripping the eyes, it ripped them out
of its head, causing blood to spray everywhere. Then, it
respectfully offered the eyes to Master Sixth.

“Now screw off and wait outside for your owner.” Master Sixth
tossed the eyes into his bottle gourd, then turned and headed
back toward the Sixth Peak.

The octopus kept its head bowed until Master Sixth was gone.
Then, trembling, it returned to the ocean and sank into the water.
After it was some distance away from the sect, light glittered
around it as it turned into a burly man.

His eyes had been gouged out, yet the flesh on his forehead
wriggled and twitched, and then opened up, revealing a third eye.
As he looked at Seven Blood Eyes, his expression was one of fear
and trepidation.

Seven Blood Eyes has grown a lot more confident now that Sir
Bloodsmelter achieved his breakthrough. From the outside, they
still seem like a subsidiary branch of the Seven Sect Coalition from
the Revered Ancient mainland. But actually, over recent years,
Seven Blood Eyes... has come very close to being an independent
sect.

Low-level recruits are venomous bugs in a jar. Their mid-level

disciples are set free to do whatever they want. But once a disciple
gets into the echelon and becomes truly high-level, Seven Blood
Eyes takes care of them!

Years ago, the Seven Sect Coalition came to realize that trying to
alternate patriarchs and peaklords didn’t do much. Sir
Bloodsmelter has always been around keeping an eye on things,
and even when the peaklords are forced to rotate back into service
in the Seven Sect Coalition, their hearts always stay with Seven
Blood Eyes.

This is exactly what you expect to see when a sect rises to

prominence!

The trepidation in the burly man’s eyes grew deeper.

***
Xu Qing and the Captain parted ways. Once Xu Qing was back on
his dharmaskiff, he took out his bamboo slip and added a name.

Yanyan.

This time, he scratched a circle around the name, indicating that

he couldn’t kill this person in public. He needed to find her outside
of Seven Blood Eyes and get rid of her in secret. Otherwise, there
would be too much trouble.

Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was very excited when he saw the
new name being added to the list.

Another one! YES!

After finishing carving the name, Xu Qing was about to put the
bamboo slip away when he noticed the iron skewer trembling off to
the side. After thinking about how hard the patriarch had been
working lately, he went to ‘Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior’ and
scratched another line through the name.

When the patriarch saw that, his heart filled with unprecedented
excitement and appreciation. The trembling of the skewer became
even more pronounced. All of his hard work was worth it!
Completely worth it!

Appearing in projected form, he clasped hands and bowed,

trembling from head to toe.

“Many thanks... milord!!”

He really had been working hard lately. And that was even more
the case after some of the successes the shadow had
experienced. On more than a few occasions, he had come close
to developing inner devils during cultivation, thanks to always
wondering if he was going to be discarded. But now, seeing Xu
Qing scratch that line through his name, many of his doubts simply
vanished.

What Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior didn’t notice was that, behind
Xu Qing, his shadow had opened an eye and was paying very
close attention to the patriarch. Clearly, it was trying to learn
something.

Seeing how excited the patriarch was, Xu Qing offered a few

encouraging words, then put away the bamboo slip, walked out of
the cabin, and sat on the deck looking off into the distance. He
was waiting for someone.

Before long, a rotund figure appeared off in the distance, swaying

through the night. He was none other than Huang Yan. He had
obviously been drinking, as he couldn’t walk straight. He looked
depressed. And this time, instead of sitting down off to the side, he
jumped right onto the dharmaskiff. Plopping down next to Xu Qing,
he let loose a long sigh.

“Brother Xu Qing, I owe you for today. I’m really, really sorry. I had
no idea my Elder Sister’s bestie was such a loon!”
Huang Yan pulled out a bag of holding and solemnly offered it to
Xu Qing.

“I don’t have much on me, Brother Xu Qing. That’s 200,000 spirit

stones. It’s the thought that counts, right?”

Xu Qing didn’t immediately take the bag of holding. Looking at

Huang Yan, he said, “What do you plan on doing about it?”

Huang Yan sighed. “Why does love have to be such torment? I

have it so rough! Xu Qing, did you know that I came to Seven
Blood Eyes specifically for Elder Sister? That year... I caught sight
of her from a distance. Just one glance. From that moment on, I
couldn’t stop thinking about her. So I decided to join Seven Blood
Eyes so that I could make her my daoist partner.”

Huang Yan was in a very different mood today than he ever had
been in the past. Lifting his bottle of alcohol, he took a drink. Then
he produced a second bottle and offered it to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing accepted it and took a drink.

“I never would have guessed that her bestie would also be

competition!! You know what? After that shrew showed up today,
she wouldn’t leave my Elder Sister alone. And thus, Elder Sister
hasn’t had any time for me. And when I went looking for her, she
told me to leave! She looked guilty about it, but still!!
“I could tell something strange was going on, so after I had a bit to
drink I went and eavesdropped. And guess what? The shrew is
trying to steal Elder Sister from me!” Huang Yan ground his teeth.
“Why did this have to happen now? If it had happened a few
months ago, I would have crushed her with a single breath.”

Huang Yan seemed to be getting very worked up.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing seemed confused. He wasn’t really sure what

Huang Yan was talking about, and had never experienced
anything like this. Given he didn’t understand the situation, he
wasn’t sure how to comfort Huang Yan. In the end, he just raised
his bottle of alcohol.

Huang Yan saw that, sighed, and then clinked bottles and drank.

“You’re too young to—” Suddenly, Huang Yan’s identity medallion

vibrated in his bag of holding. Eyes flickering, he took it out. After
reading the message that had just come in, he frowned in
displeasure.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing’s identity medallion also vibrated. Sending

some dharma force into it, he saw a long message.

“A quarter of an hour ago, our Celestial Bureau received a request

for backup from the Patrol Division. A Foundation Establishment
cultivator from outside the sect attacked the Pilot Assistance
Division. Many disciples were injured. When Patrol responded, the
commanding officer was injured and all the constables were taken
captive.

“Celestial Bureau provided backup, but were unable to stop the

outside cultivator, and everyone was taken captive.

“The perpetrator demands Huang Yan come over from Harbor

176, immediately.

“This matter surpasses our ability, so we request that the deputy

director decide what to do next.”

Xu Qing looked up at Huang Yan, who was doing the exact same
thing, his expression unsightly and apologetic. Then Huang Yan
stood and rushed in the direction of the Pilot Assistance Division.

Xu Qing suddenly thought back to what happened that day in the

Sixth Peak shop. Then he looked down at the bag of holding,
which Huang Yan had surreptitiously placed off to the side after Xu
Qing refused to take it. [2]

Huang Yan really does stick by his friends.

Xu Qing stood and also went toward the Pilot Assistance Division.
He could move much faster than Huang Yan, so it didn’t take long
before he caught up.

When Huang Yan saw him, he smiled. “You’re coming too?”

Xu Qing also smiled. “Pilot Assistance reported the incident. So of
course I’m going to go.”

“There’s something special about you, Xu Qing. I’ve been in

Seven Blood Eyes for years, and you’re actually the first friend I’ve
made. After years of caring only about Elder Sister, now I have
you at my side. I don’t have very many friends....” Huang Yan took
a deep breath, but instead of saying anything further, he started
running even faster. Xu Qing kept pace as they got closer to Pilot
Assistance.

The Pilot Assistance Division in Harbor 176 looked like a giant

sailboat. As they neared, an astonishing shockwave suddenly
erupted from within it.

The sailboat exploded, sending pieces flying out everywhere. At

the same time, a black figure shot out from inside, heading toward
Huang Yan with astounding speed.

Eyes narrowing, Xu Qing entered the profound radiance state and

stepped in front of Huang Yan. Viciously thrusting his hand out, he
sent black fire streaming out, which the incoming figure slammed
into.

A boom echoed out as the figure was shoved backward into a

nearby rock. At that point, it became clear that the person who had
clashed with Xu Qing was none other than Yanyan.

“What are you doing here?” she said, glaring at him.

Xu Qing’s eyes shifted from her to the wreckage of the Pilot
Assistance Division. At least three hundred disciples were visible,
scattered about randomly.

All of them were seriously injured, but none were dead. Among
them was the Mute.

Xu Qing took everything in, his expression grim.

“You don’t need to look at all of them,” Yanyan said. “Given who I
am, I didn’t kill anyone. But even if I did, so what? Do you think
anyone would bother to help Offpeak bugs in a jar like this? From
the moment I arrived here until now, not one person showed up to
stop me.” Looking at Xu Qing’s face, she licked her lips. “I had no
idea that you were actually in the Seven Blood Eyes’ echelon. I
guess that’s going to make things difficult.”

“Wrong,” Xu Qing said quietly. “The reason the sect didn’t do

anything to stop you is that this matter falls under the jurisdiction of
the Violent Crimes Division. Until I escalate this matter to my
superiors, I’m the one in charge here.”

With that, Xu Qing held up a jade signal slip, then crushed it.
Instantly, a bright stream of light shot up into the night sky, creating
a multicolored glow that read ‘Violent Crimes.’

“According to Section 7 of sect law, outside cultivators who cause

trouble in the capital city shall be arrested on sight. All constables
from the Celestial Bureau, heed my command: lock down Harbor
176 and arrest this criminal!”

1. The incident with Master Sixth’s son was mentioned in chapter

148. ☜

2. The Sixth Peak shop incident mentioned here was in chapter

72. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsThis chapter in particular caused a lot of

commenting and theorizing by Chinese readers. The subject is
something that readers of the translation would never pick up on,
so I’ll explain it here.In Chinese, Huang Yan is pronounced huáng
yán while Flame Phoenix is pronounced yán huáng. As you can
see, Huang Yan’s name is almost the same (in pronunciation) as
Flame Phoenix’s, just reversed, though the characters are
completely different. In any case, Chinese readers were starting to
theorize, especially in this chapter, that Huang Yan is actually
Flame Phoenix (possibly a clone or something like that).This
theory would explain some of the strange things he said in this
chapter. It wasn’t the first time Chinese readers noticed this, but I
think this is the first chapter where the comments blew up about it.

This chapter in particular caused a lot of commenting and

theorizing by Chinese readers. The subject is something that
readers of the translation would never pick up on, so I’ll explain it
here.
In Chinese, Huang Yan is pronounced huáng yán while Flame
Phoenix is pronounced yán huáng. As you can see, Huang Yan’s
name is almost the same (in pronunciation) as Flame Phoenix’s,
just reversed, though the characters are completely different. In
any case, Chinese readers were starting to theorize, especially in
this chapter, that Huang Yan is actually Flame Phoenix (possibly a
clone or something like that).

This theory would explain some of the strange things he said in

this chapter. It wasn’t the first time Chinese readers noticed this,
but I think this is the first chapter where the comments blew up
about it.
Chapter 202: So, What Is the Echelon Like?

“Arrest?” black-garbed Yanyan said, laughing. However, before

her laughter could cease, countless voices rang out from all
corners of Harbor 176.

“Yes, Deputy Director!”

Along with the voices, numerous figures appeared in the harbor,

over a thousand of them, blocking all entrances and exits.

“You think a bunch of Qi Condensation cultivators can stop me?”

Yanyan said. “How about I kill a few so you can see what I can
do?” Her eyes glittered with killing intent as she lit her life flames.
Three of them burned bright, erupting with power as she flew up in
the air and then shot toward the nearest Violent Crimes Division
constables.

Looking at her coldly, Xu Qing lifted his identity medallion high

over his head and said, “I, Deputy Director Xu Qing of the Violent
Crimes Division, hereby request that the sect’s grand spell
formation lock down the airspace over Harbor 176 and prevent all
non-sect cultivators from flying!”

The moment the words left his mouth, a bell rang, its sound
echoing left and right as the Seven Blood Eyes Formation’s power
filled Harbor 176.
Yanyan’s face fell as the formation’s power swept over her, forcing
her to the ground and causing her life flames to flicker wildly.

“What outrageous gall!” she growled. Despite the pressure

weighing down on her, the killing intent in her eyes didn’t soften.
Instead, it grew more intense as her rage burned.

Xu Qing hadn’t been lying. The reason why Yanyan had been able
to run amok without him present was that the chain of command
was always strictly respected in Seven Blood Eyes. Unless a
matter was officially reported to a superior officer, the higher-
ranking members wouldn’t do anything. That was just how the
rules operated in Seven Blood Eyes, and there were few
exceptions.

Staring with cold fury at Yanyan, Xu Qing continued, “Restrict all

non-sect cultivators in Harbor 176, preventing them from lighting
more than one life flame!”

He actually didn’t need to do much to deal with this young woman.

Given his authority in the Violent Crimes Division, and his status
as an echelon cultivator, he basically was the law. One reason for
him doing things this way was that too many eyes were focused
on him right now, and he didn’t want to reveal any of his secrets.

The moment the words left his mouth, the Seven Blood Eyes
Formation rumbled, and invisible power settled down on the
harbor.
Yanyan’s face flickered dramatically as her third life flame instantly
went out! Only a moment later, her second flame also went dark!

As for her remaining life flame, her first, the pressure weighing
down on it created a backlash of power that forced blood to spray
out of her mouth. Veins bulging on her forehead, she glared at Xu
Qing with raging killing intent. She looked like she was about to
explode with mad fury.

Finally, Xu Qing took action. Keeping his life lamp concealed with
his shadow, he lit both of his two life flames and entered the
profound radiance state. Moving with shocking speed, he pierced
through the air and appeared right in front of Yanyan. Then he
smacked her on the side of the face.

A boom rang out as she slammed into a nearby building, her face
already swollen. She also coughed up a huge mouthful of blood,
within which were a handful of teeth.

Xu Qing took a step forward, arriving right in front of her again. He

stomped down.

Glittering light sprang up around her, its source being a pendant

around her neck. It was a defensive item that created a shield
around her, upon which Xu Qing’s foot landed with a boom.

Yanyan leaped to her feet, a vicious expression on her face and

madness in her eyes. Then she ripped the pendant off of her neck.
Voice cool, Xu Qing said, “Prevent all non-sect cultivators in
Harbor 176 from using any types of magical devices or magical
treasures.”

Yet again, the spell formation rumbled to life.

Yanyan’s defensive shield collapsed. She was bleeding profusely

and her hair was disheveled, yet she glared defiantly at Xu Qing
and said, “If you’ve got what it takes, fight me fair and square!”

“Fool.” Xu Qing shot forward and slapped her again. She flew to
the side, more teeth flying out of her mouth. After righting herself,
she pulled out a jade slip and crushed it, causing teleportation
power to swell.

“Prevent all non-sect cultivators from teleporting out of Harbor

176,” Xu Qing said calmly.

Yet again, power swept forth from the Seven Blood Eyes
Formation, crushing all teleportations. Yanyan’s eyes burned with
fury and humiliation, and she was about to say something further
when Xu Qing again stepped toward her and slapped her.

A boom rang out as Yanyan coughed up blood like mad. She was
visibly weak, yet her expression was no less vicious than before.
In fact, it seemed like she would rather die than surrender.

Xu Qing looked at her deeply. His own personal rule was to kill
anyone who could pose a threat to him. But he also wasn’t an
idiot. If he did that in front of all these witnesses, it would lead to
more trouble and danger for himself. In other words, killing her
now would be pure foolishness.

Reining in his killing intent, he smacked her on the top of the head.
Blood spilled out of her mouth as her final remaining life flame
flickered out, and then she lapsed into unconsciousness. Her
injuries were about the same as all the disciples she herself had
knocked out.

With that accomplished, Xu Qing reached down and grabbed her

by the hair.

“Bring me some dharma shackles!”

Numerous Violent Crimes Division constables raced toward him.

The first to arrive produced a pair of handcuffs that he placed on
Yanyan’s forearms. Moments later, her eyes opened and she
howled in fury, causing the dharma shackles to collapse. Then she
laughed madly. “I’m not going to forget this, Xu Qing! No one has
ever dared to treat me this rudely! You’re the first!”

Face completely expressionless, Xu Qing stepped forward and

slapped her yet again.

A thud rang out as her head hit the ground, and she again passed
out.

“Put ten dharma shackles on her,” Xu Qing said calmly.

These shackles had been designed specifically for use on non-
sect Foundation Establishment cultivators. Two of them could
suppress a single life flame, while ten could completely negate the
power of three life flames.

They were the same shackles the old director of Violent Crimes
had used when arresting Night Dove operatives.

Before long, ten shackles had been placed on Yanyan.

“Lock her up in the Celestial Bureau,” Xu Qing said. “Without

orders from me, do not set her free!”

The surrounding constables dragged Yanyan away.

Around then, a voice echoed out through Harbor 176. “Junior

Brother Xu Qing, can you show some leniency here?”

Xu Qing looked up and saw Second Highness flying toward him. It

was possible to detect the lingering traces of a restrictive spell on
her; obviously Yanyan had bound her up, making it impossible for
her to interfere.

“Well met, Second Highness,” Xu Qing said, clasping hands

respectfully. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Huang Yan
standing nearby.

Huang Yan looked at Second Highness and said, “Elder Sister, Xu

Qing was helping me out.”
Second Highness seemed like she wanted to say something, but
held back for a moment. Looking at Huang Yan, and then glancing
at Yanyan being dragged off into the distance, she hesitated
again. Finally, she said, “Junior Brother Xu Qing, if she dies, it’s
going to cause problems for the patriarch.”

There was no threat in her words. Just apprehension. She was

obviously giving him a well-intentioned warning.

“She broke the rules of our sect,” Xu Qing said. Lowering his
voice, he continued, “But she didn’t kill anyone and thus doesn’t
deserve the death penalty. However, according to sect rules, she
must be imprisoned.”

Second Highness nodded. “As long as she doesn’t die. Truth be

told, she pissed me off tonight as well. I owe you thanks, Junior
Brother Xu Qing.”

She looked at Huang Yan, and her gaze softened. She turned and
left.

Xu Qing looked at the two of them, then turned away.

The injured were already being tended to. Eventually, Huang Yan
clasped hands and left. Harbor 176 was already quiet again.

Xu Qing remained in place, waiting. He had taken action this night,

not only to help Huang Yan, but also because Yanyan had
intentionally provoked him. Furthermore, he had been interested to
see how safe he was in Seven Blood Eyes now that he was an
echelon cultivator.

Some time passed, and then an old man appeared up above. He

wore a blue daoist robe, and emanated the fluctuations of the Gold
Core level, causing immense pressure to weigh down everywhere.

Averting his gaze, Xu Qing clasped hands and bowed.

“Well met, Elder.”

Xu Qing didn’t know this person. But given the type of daoist robe
he wore, and the pressure he let off, he had to be an elder.

As the elder hovered in midair, he looked Xu Qing up and down,

and his eyes glittered with approval. “Xu Qing, I come with a
question from Master Sixth. How do you intend to wrap up this
matter?”

“Can I execute her?” Xu Qing asked.

“No. The lass might be domineering, but she mustn’t die. Her
grandmother is personal friends with the patriarch.” [1]

Xu Qing nodded. “According to the sect rules, she should have her
cultivation base crippled and then be confined in the Bone-
Scorching Cavern for three years.”

The elder smiled. He obviously knew what Xu Qing was thinking,

and was aware the girl had instigated the matter. If Xu Qing wasn’t
in the echelon, the sect’s official stance on the matter would have
been different. Except, he was in the echelon, which meant that he
was important to the future of Seven Blood Eyes. People in the
echelon weren’t to be casually insulted, and were obviously in the
favor of the patriarch. Beyond all that, Xu Qing was also an envoy
disciple. Even the patriarch would get angry if someone caused
problems for an envoy disciple right in the middle of the sect.

“Do what you have to do. But don’t cripple her.”

With that, the Gold Core elder turned and left.

Xu Qing clasped hands respectfully, then walked back to his berth,

all the while thinking about the ramifications of the night’s events.
For one thing, he would now have to deal with Yanyan trying to get
revenge. And he might have to worry about her friends or family.
Other than that, there didn’t seem to be any downsides. The
upsides were numerous. Of course, he had helped Huang Yan.
And he had also been able to test out what it meant to be an
echelon cultivator in Seven Blood Eyes.

It seems the sect is a lot more tolerant of echelon cultivators, and

also treats them very well.

Given everything he had experienced recently, he thought back to

the things Zhang Yunshi had told him when he finally qualified for
Onpeak life. For example, he’d said that Offpeak disciples were
venomous bugs in a jar, while Onpeak disciples were like lone
wolves. Perhaps because of Zhang Yunshi’s status in the sect, he
wasn’t very familiar with the echelon. Based on what Xu Qing
knew, it seemed to him that echelon cultivators were more like
conclave disciples than the actual conclave disciples.

As long as I don’t directly break the rules of the sect, I should be

quite safe in Seven Blood Eyes. Of course, the biggest downside
was that he was now tied even more deeply to the sect.

That didn’t necessarily make him care about the sect more, but it
did mean that in terms of status, and also in the view of outsiders,
he was now an even more important part of the sect.

1. Specifically, Yanyan’s paternal grandmother is friends with the

patriarch. ☜
Chapter 203: Another Promotion

Seven days passed.

Yanyan from Eastnether Isle was now locked up in the Celestial

Bureau. Despite being constrained with ten dharma shackles, she
hadn’t shown any signs of submission. In fact, she constantly
came up with all sorts of inventive curses, all of them directed at
Xu Qing. Of course, her voice couldn’t penetrate through the walls
of the prison to the outside. But she was full of energy. After the
week passed, and it became obvious Seven Blood Eyes wasn’t
going to free her, she seemed to go mad.

When Xu Qing heard what was happening, he issued orders to

add ten more shackles to her. However, the increased force of
suppression just seemed to drive her even more insane with fury.
That said, her energy eventually waned, and her cursing grew
more infrequent.

Xu Qing didn’t personally go to see her. He just scanned the

reports about her, then moved on to other matters. He wasn’t in a
hurry to free her. The sect’s attitude about the whole thing was
intriguing. Other than the instructions on the day of the incident,
there hadn’t been a single request made about her. For the time
being, they really were letting him have full authority on the matter.
It was Xu Qing’s first time experiencing something like that.
Is it because I’m in the echelon?

That said, he knew his place, and wouldn’t do anything foolish like
kill her. That would have to wait until she was free and he could do
it without anyone realizing what happened.

Therefore, his plan was to wait until the sect notified him of what to
do next. There was no way the matter was over. After all, Seven
Blood Eyes was in the right, and wouldn’t allow any losses in face.
That was especially true during wartime.

Xu Qing was confident in that assessment; all he had to do was

maintain the status quo to convey that he was in agreement with
the sect.

During the week that passed, Xu Qing had to carry out envoy
disciple duties twice by welcoming delegates from other species
into the sect. He was becoming more and more well-known,
although not necessarily because of his status as an envoy
disciple.

There were some occasions in which the visiting nonhuman

women would specifically ask the Captain to bring Xu Qing along
so they could get a look at him. And every single time, they were
stunned at how breathtaking he was.

Species were different in physical appearance, but everyone knew

that humans had once been the sovereigns of Revered Ancient.
Though the human species had declined since then, the lasting
impression humans had made on the aesthetics and preferences
of nonhumans still lingered.

Because of that, Xu Qing’s bag of holding was full of gifts. Ding

Xue and Gu Muqing were very aware of that, and were keeping a
close eye on everything. The envoy disciple arrangement had
originally annoyed Xu Qing, but now he was warming up to it
considering how valuable all the gifts were.

However, good things never last. The craze over the zombie
ancestor’s nose eventually reached an apex, and then it started
dying down, and the nonhuman visitors started leaving.

Eventually, only a few random allies, including the Seastars,

remained to do business. The young Seastar princess seemed
particularly interested in Xu Qing, and came to visit him on multiple
occasions. However, she only gave him a gift on the first meeting.
She didn’t bring gifts on subsequent occasions. And when she did
come, she innocently asked all sorts of random questions about
him. It really seemed like she wanted to get to know him
personally.

Xu Qing eventually refused to see her.

Around this time, both Xu Qing and the Captain got new
assignments as part of their award. As for Xu Qing, he was
promoted. No longer was he a deputy director in the Violent
Crimes Division. Instead, he was the full director!
He was now in charge of the entire Seventh Peak Violent Crimes
Division!

As for the Captain, according to the normal process of promotions,

he should have been appointed as the deputy minister of the
Violent Crimes Ministry. In Seven Blood Eyes, there was a big
difference between a division and a ministry. All of the seven
peaks had a Violent Crimes Division, but above them was the
Violent Crimes Ministry, which oversaw all seven of the divisions.
However, for whatever reason, the Captain didn’t take that
promotion. Instead, he transferred to the Seventh Peak’s
Intelligence Division, where he would serve as the director.

On his first day as the director of the Intelligence Division, the

Captain called Zhang San over to Xu Qing’s place for drinks. They
gathered on the shore by his dharmaskiff.

“Only an idiot would choose to work in one of the ministries,” the

Captain said. “The Intelligence Division is going to be great! I’ve
been dreaming about working there for a long time. I’ll basically be
omniscient! I’ll be assigning missions to spies outside the sect,
running counterintelligence against traitors within the sect,
gathering information about nonhumans, et cetera. I’m an expert in
all those things! This is going to lead to some really good
opportunities!”

Zhang San was happy to see that Xu Qing and the Captain had
been promoted, but at the same time, was slightly annoyed.
“Next time the two of you go do something crazy,” he said, trying
to sound casual, “don’t forget about me. Am I right, Captain? At
the very least, if you lose half your body again, I’ll be there to carry
you on my back.”

Taking a bite of an apple, the Captain slapped Zhang San’s

shoulder. “Don’t get jealous, Lil’ Third. Big bro still loves you!” The
Captain then looked at Xu Qing, who seemed lost in thought.
Suddenly curious, he asked, “What’s up, Lil’ Second?”

Xu Qing looked at the Captain, then glanced at Zhang San. “Well,

Erniu, I’m thinking about how to improve my poisons. I want them
to be dangerous even to Gold Core cultivators.”

Xu Qing had been pondering this issue for a while, and was
inclined to start working more on his black beetles. During his fight
with Yanyan, he had used almost his entire stockpile. Thankfully,
he had managed to save some. Unfortunately, they just seemed
too weak. He was getting the sense he hadn’t fully unlocked the
potential of the little beetles. After all... they had been created by a
Gold Core expert, so it didn’t make sense for them to be so
ineffective when he recreated them. After all, they didn’t even
seem capable of crushing a three-flame cultivator.

Upon hearing Xu Qing’s words, Zhang San inhaled sharply. To

him, Xu Qing was obviously very different from before. He was
already starting to think about fighting Gold Core experts! Then
Zhang San thought about Xu Qing’s poisons, and he instinctively
edged a bit further away from Xu Qing.

As for the Captain, his eyes went wide. As far as he was

concerned, Xu Qing’s statement was brilliant. They were the type
of words uttered by someone who wanted to stand out without
making a fuss, and the Captain immediately committed them to
memory. At the same time, he cleared his throat, then consumed a
few medicinal pills just to be safe.

“Just take your time doing your research,” the Captain said. “Now,
let’s get down to business. I’m the new director of the Intelligence
Division, and you, Xu Qing, are the director of the Violent Crimes
Division. In the past, those two divisions didn’t work very well
together. But now, we’re one big family.

“I have a plan I’m working on, and the fact that we run both
divisions plays right into it. We need to accomplish something
really big, and do it before the war is over. We need to use our
positions in our departments to dominate the Seventh Peak! We
need to get everyone to stop thinking they need the peaklords for
everything!

“That way, once the old man and the others are back from the war,
they won’t be able to do anything about us. At least not quickly.
The two of us need to become real cultivators and accomplish big
things!”
Xu Qing frowned slightly. “Captain, I was planning to go into
seclusion to research poisons.”

“Researching poisons costs money, doesn’t it?” the Captain said.

“I have plenty of money,” Xu Qing said, shaking his head.

The Captain obviously wasn’t ready to give up. Taking out an

apple, he continued, “Don’t you need people to experiment on?
You’re always looking for test subjects, right?”

“I have plenty,” Xu Qing said, shaking his head.

The Captain was starting to feel a bit discouraged at how difficult it

was to hoodwink Xu Qing. Xu Qing was definitely not like he was
back in the early days, when the Captain could dupe him with
ease. The Captain’s mind raced as he tried to think of a better idea
to drag Xu Qing into his plan, when Xu Qing’s eyes suddenly
glittered. He had just thought of a great way to improve his black
beetles.

Getting to his feet, he said, “Captain. Elder Brother Zhang San. I

need to take my leave now. Let’s meet up again later.”

Clasping hands and bowing, he hurried onto his dharmaskiff. Once

inside the cabin, he activated the defenses, sat down cross-
legged, and took out a large amount of medicinal plants, as well as
his bottle of black beetles. Then he started working according to
the idea he’d just been struck with.
Meanwhile, Zhang San and the Captain exchanged glances.

“Captain, I think we need to get out of here,” Zhang San said. “I’m
not sure if it’s safe.”

“What the hell are you scared of? I don’t—”

He was interrupted by a muffled boom from inside Xu Qing’s

dharmaskiff. Then, a cloud of poison gas billowed out of the cabin.
Thankfully, the dharmaskiff’s defenses prevented it from escaping.

The Captain sat there silently for a few breaths’ worth of time.
Then he stood, laughing heartily. “Come on, Zhang San, let’s
move along. I haven’t been to the Transportation Division for a
long time. Let’s keep drinking there instead of here.”

Zhang San stood, and the two of them hurried away.

Not long after they left, more booms rang out from the cabin.

The black beetles were the only thing Xu Qing had that could pose
a threat to Gold Core cultivators. He had hoped they would be a
trump card, but they had proven disappointing in his fight with
Yanyan. He worked the whole night, using all sorts of medicinal
plants and poison elements to try to catalyze the potential of the
beetles. Nothing really worked, although the flesh of the Gold Core
octopus did seem to make the black beetles slightly stronger.

If the only way to improve them is to feed them Gold Core flesh
and blood, then they’re worthless. They can’t hurt Gold Core
experts, and can only eat, not attack. Useless! I need something
that I can use as a trump card to threaten a Gold Core enemy.
That said... I feel like it’s because I haven’t explored the right
direction.

With that, he took out the old medicinal codex Grandmaster Bai
had given him so long ago. He had always treasured that book,
and had studied it on many occasions. In fact, the pages were so
well-worn that many were starting to fall apart, forcing him to be
very careful when leafing through it.

That book was a gift from Grandmaster Bai, and was a physical
reminder of how thankful he was to his teacher. Grandmaster Bai
was his first true Master. He had introduced Xu Qing to the dao of
plants and vegetation, which led to his exploration of the dao of
poison, both of which were crucially important to him. Without
Grandmaster Bai, Xu Qing wouldn’t know anything about plants
and vegetation, and would not have his poisons, which were one
of his biggest assets.

“I wonder how Grandmaster Bai is doing nowadays,” he

murmured.

After reaching Foundation Establishment, Xu Qing had looked into

Grandmaster Bai. However, the grandmaster was always
traveling, and only stayed in the Violet Lands for short periods of
time.
Dragging himself out of his memories, Xu Qing started leafing
through the medicinal codex, hoping to find something to stir up
some inspiration.

Grandmaster Bai once mentioned that although the dao of

alchemy and the dao of bugs seem different, they’re built on the
same foundation, and actually complement each other....

Eventually, one particular medicinal plant description caught his

attention.

“Duskthorn lily?” he murmured, looking thoughtful. It was a

medicinal plant favored by vicious beasts, but generally useless to
cultivators. When unintelligent beasts consumed it, they would
gain a measure of intelligence. They were also a key ingredient in
shapeshifting pills.

This might work!

Xu Qing left his dharmaskiff and went to one of the medicinal

shops in Harbor 176. Of course, he attracted quite a bit of
attention when he walked in. The shopkeeper reverentially asked
how he could help, and then immediately prepared the items Xu
Qing asked for. Before long, Xu Qing left with a bag of holding,
looking a bit regretful.

These things are expensive!

He didn’t just have the duskthorn lily. He also had all sorts of
medicinal plants required for raising animals, as well as a whole
host of poisonous plants. Some were cheap, others were
expensive.

Xu Qing wasn’t going to let himself worry about money. He really

needed something that could pose a threat to a Gold Core
cultivator. Back at his dharmaskiff, he started doing more research
and experimentation.

Seven more days passed.

During that time, all of the divisions in Seven Blood Eyes were on
edge. That was because Chen Erniu, the new director of the
Intelligence Division, made it his priority to root out traitors in the
sect. The Patrol Division provided the muscle. And all the other
divisions were required to do a full audit of all their members, even
those in the Foundation Establishment level. All of a sudden, the
Captain seemed like a wild dog. However, he had such a high
status that all other disciples were forced to bow their heads and
submit to the investigation.

During the seven days that passed, Xu Qing bought even more
medicinal plants to experiment with. Eventually, he identified
seven types of plants that would stimulate growth in the black
beetles.
Not even that was enough, though. Xu Qing finally realized... that
if he wanted to raise these black beetles, and also make them
stronger, he needed to feed them meat!

Thankfully, as long as I add the right medicinal plants into the food,
I don’t need to give them Gold Core flesh....

Xu Qing’s eyes shone brightly as he stepped out into the evening

and headed toward the cell block in the Celestial Bureau.

Back when the Captain asked if he had enough people to

experiment on, Xu Qing had said he had plenty. And what he was
thinking of at the time were all those inmates. The people locked
up in that prison were those guilty of the most monstrous crimes.
For example, the Night Dove criminals were incarcerated there.
The prisoners included many Foundation Establishment
cultivators, and were made up of both humans and nonhumans.

What a pity Violent Crimes doesn’t have any Gold Core prisoners
locked up. If I have the opportunity, I’ll have to arrest a few.

The mere thought of doing something so audacious caused his

heart to beat a bit faster.

Deathblade's ThoughtsMany thanks to Crokod1le for the review!

Many thanks to Crokod1le for the review!

Chapter 204: Killing a Goat, Scaring a Lass

Wrapped up in his thoughts, Xu Qing headed to Harbor 176’s

Violent Crimes Division headquarters.

It was getting late, and because of all the activity related to the
Intelligence Division, people were on edge. That, in turn, had
caused business to dip at the brothels and gambling halls, as
many people weren’t in the mood for partying.

Because of how the rules worked in Seven Blood Eyes, traitors...

were relatively common. Qi Condensation disciples were like
venomous bugs in a jar, and thus didn’t have any sense of
belonging. Truth be told, the sect didn’t care about providing a
sense of belonging, as everything revolved around profit. Add in
the fact that Foundation Establishment cultivators were like lone
wolves, also motivated by profit, and it was little wonder that there
were always people ready to sell information for the right price.

Xu Qing wasn’t thinking about such things as he made his way

through the city. Nor was he worried about the fact that the Mute
was following him.

Eventually, he reached the Violent Crimes Division.

There were two constables on duty at the main entrance, and

when they caught sight of him, their eyes lit up with passion, and
then dropped down to kowtow.

“Well met, Director!”

To them, Xu Qing was already something of a legend. He had

started out as an ordinary constable in the Violent Crimes Division,
but had quickly risen to prominence. He reached Foundation
Establishment in a year, took only a few months to ignite his first
life flame, and in less than two years, was already a two-flame
cultivator. And then there was that spectacular event with the
Seazombies. He was the one who had crushed the junior princess
from Eastnether Isle, who was now locked up in the Celestial
Bureau. Because of that, Xu Qing was now an object of admiration
among countless disciples.

Expression the same as ever, Xu Qing nodded at the constables

then headed directly toward the underground cell block.

All prisoners were kept together, including those in Qi

Condensation and Foundation Establishment, as well as other
special types of cultivators. There were over a hundred cells, with
restrictive spell formations built into their metal bars. The
atmosphere was vile. The subterranean environment created a
noxious stench, which combined with the odor of feces and urine
into something that provoked the urge to vomit.

Most of the cells were filled with nonhuman criminals, none of

which Xu Qing had personally arrested. After all, Xu Qing usually
didn’t arrest people. He took their heads.

He attracted the attention of the nonhuman cultivators as soon as

he stepped inside. Some bared their teeth, some smiled
ingratiatingly, some spat at him, and some whistled at him in a
vulgar fashion. They weren’t the least bit afraid of him. Being
locked in here away from the light of day, they didn’t fear death.

Within the shouting, Xu Qing detected the sound of black-garbed

Yanyan off in the distance.

“Xu Qing! You’re gonna die a horrible death! Once I’m out of here
I’ll slice your heart out of your chest and eat it right in front of you!!”

Xu Qing’s face remained expressionless as he ignored the

nonhuman cultivators, and instead turned to the Mute.

“No matter what you hear, don’t come in and disturb me.”

The Mute nodded, and the other constables on guard duty

suddenly looked very somber.

Without another word, Xu Qing closed the main door. When that
happened, things got even more raucous.

“So, it’s a human girly boy? Hahaha! I love that kind of thing. I’m
getting turned on just looking!”

“Come over here, little human. I’m in the mood for a massage!”
“Foundation Establishment? Like hell! If you’ve got what it takes,
just kill me!”

“Don’t listen to them, Senior! Help me out, sir! I know a big secret!”

Meanwhile, Yanyan grabbed the bars of her cell, ignoring how the
spell formation caused them to hiss and smoke. Eyes full of
madness, she glared at Xu Qing and cackled loudly. “Xu Qing, I’ve
already cursed you 273,856 times!”

Xu Qing looked around at the cells until his gaze came to rest on a
cultivator with the head of a goat, who was gyrating his hips
suggestively. The goat-headed cultivator was a member of Night
Dove. Obviously nonhuman, he had black fur, and appeared to be
in the Foundation Establishment level. His cultivation base had
been sealed, but he had vigorous life force. Upon seeing Xu Qing
look his way, he licked his lips.

“Me? Oh yeah! Come on, pick me! I’ve eaten quite a few humans
over the years. Given how pretty you are, I’m curious how you
taste! Hahaha!”

Xu Qing nodded and waved his right hand. Instantly, the prison’s
spell formation activated, opening the cell door, wrapping around
the goat-headed cultivator and dragging him out.

As the nonhuman hovered in midair, he laughed loudly, eyes

gleaming with madness. Then, just as he was about to say
something, Xu Qing waved his hand again, sending out some
poison powder that covered the goat-headed cultivator and then
seeped into his body.

“Poison? Are you kidding me, fool? I don’t—” Suddenly, he

twitched, and then twitched again. A vicious grin appeared on his
face. “Feels great!”

Xu Qing studied him for a time, watching as the goat-headed

cultivator twitched even more. Then blood started to ooze out of
his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Finally, Xu Qing took out a bottle
of black beetles and released some of them.

The beetles rushed toward the goat-headed cultivator and

burrowed into his skin. The pain caused the cultivator’s eyes to
turn red, but the insane look on his face didn’t change. That said,
deep within his eyes flickered a bit of terror. Then, a moment later,
he began to wither. Black beetles flew out from him, which Xu
Qing grabbed and studied closely. Finally, the goat-headed
cultivator dropped to the ground, trembling. And yet, the insanity
on his face remained.

“That’s all?”

Turning a deaf ear to the goat-headed cultivator, Xu Qing

continued to study the beetles. As it turned out, their aura seemed
a bit stronger, although only by a small amount.

That left him a bit puzzled. Based on his previous research, he

had been certain that by adding those seven medicinal plants into
their food, it would result in the black beetles getting a lot stronger.
But this result was definitely not matching up to his expectations.

I need to figure out what’s going wrong.

He waved his hand, causing the goat-headed cultivator to fly up to

him. The cultivator was about to make some sarcastic comments
when Xu Qing produced a dagger, slashed it across the
cultivator’s abdomen, then observed the wound closely.

A bloodcurdling scream echoed out, which then faded into a moan

of terror and agony.

The surrounding jail cells went silent as the prisoners looked

fearfully at Xu Qing experimenting on the goat-headed cultivator.

Sometime later, after Xu Qing had fully vivisected the goat-headed

cultivator, he sat there quietly thinking for a time. Then he took
another prisoner out of his cell, one of the ones who had spit at
him earlier.

This one was a merman. His eyes shone with terror and he was
panting. Before he could even say a word, Xu Qing scattered
another batch of medicinal powder on him, then released the black
beetles for another test.

More screams erupted as a similar scene played out as before.

Then Xu Qing went to work with his dagger.
Time passed. The prisoners in the cells no longer shouted and
yelled at Xu Qing. They just waited, terror in their eyes.

They might not fear death, but the idea of being sliced open in an
experiment was something none of them had even considered
possible. And given they were all watching it happen over and
over again, it was only possible to imagine how it was affecting
them mentally.

As Xu Qing methodically grabbed new prisoners, experimented on

them, then sliced them open, the ground became covered with
blood.

Eventually, the remaining prisoners couldn’t handle the pressure,

and huddled into the corners of their cells, watching Xu Qing with
incomparable terror and shock.

As for Yanyan, by the time Xu Qing finished working on the thirty-

fourth prisoner, she wasn’t cursing him anymore. Instead, she
trembled in terror.

The night passed.

At dawn, Xu Qing left.

He had learned a lot, and now had a lot of ideas. After he was
gone, and the Violent Crimes Division constables went back into
the cell block, their faces drained of blood.
It looked like a scene of bloody slaughter. After exchanging
glances, they decided not to clean up. After all... these nonhuman
prisoners didn’t deserve their compassion. Every single one of
them had killed countless innocent people. Raping and plundering
was their bread and butter, and they were particularly brutal to
humans. Some of them had even kept human prisoners just for
food. In fact, they were already doomed to die. Whenever the sect
needed some cannon fodder, prisoners like this would be the first
ones onto the battlefield.

After leaving the Violent Crimes Division, Xu Qing went to the

medicine shop and got some more medicinal and poisonous
plants. Then he went back to his dharmaskiff to do some more
research. The next night, he was back at the prison.

This time, there was no raucous behavior when he walked into the
cell block. The prisoners all trembled in terror at the asura-like Xu
Qing.

Xu Qing strolled past the cells until he stopped at the one next to
Yanyan’s cell. Inside was a three-eyed nonhuman cultivator with a
big scar on his neck.

To Xu Qing’s surprise, this cultivator looked familiar. It seemed he

was from Night Dove, but Xu Qing couldn’t exactly identify why he
seemed familiar. Dragging the man screaming out of his cage, Xu
Qing showered him with medicinal powder, then released the
black beetles.
The night passed in the same way as the previous night.

Eventually, three days had gone by.

The Celestial Bureau constables had started spreading word of

how terrifying Xu Qing was. The prisoners were all dead, with the
exception of black-garbed Yanyan, who now looked at Xu Qing
with even more terror than before.

“Have the Terrestrial Bureau send their prisoners over here,” Xu

Qing ordered. And the process continued.

All imprisoned nonhumans, who had once been so deranged and

arrogant, were now trembling in despair.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing was making progress with his black beetles.

He eventually added zombie poison, which not only helped the
beetles proliferate faster, but also made them more dangerous.
Now, the beetles would almost instantly transform any given
prisoner into nothing but a pile of bones, having sucked them dry
of flesh and blood.

But Xu Qing still wasn’t satisfied.

If they eat from the outside in, then they can be blocked. I need
them to be like a true poison. They need to take effect secretly.

After some thought, he sent word for the Earth Bureau to send
their prisoners to him.
All of this was affecting Yanyan deeply on a psychological level.
Before meeting Xu Qing, she didn’t even know what fear was. But
after the days of watching his experiments, and observing his cold,
calculating expression while he sliced open his subjects, she
finally understood.

When the Earth Bureau prisoners were brought in, she looked at
Xu Qing waving his hand and sending at a cloud of black powder.
At that point, she trembled, and within the terror in her eyes
appeared something else. Something very unusual. Looking at Xu
Qing’s profile, she suddenly bit her own finger until it bled, then
stretched it out toward him as if offering him something to eat.

When she realized Xu Qing was ignoring her, she pulled her
trembling hand back and sucked the blood from her finger.

A moment later, she said in a trembling voice, “Big Bro Xu Qing...

is there anything I can do to help?”
Chapter 205: True Kindness Remains
Forever in Souls and Dreams

Xu Qing ignored Yanyan. His research into the black beetles had
still not yielded the results he sought. The way they ate the target
from the outside in was definitely not what he wanted.

I think I need to pick between two possible directions of research.

One is big beetles, and the other is small ones....

After some thought, he picked the latter.

That would be the key to killing silently. After making some

adjustments to his methods, he continued with his work. He felt
good about the decision. It was like he was a scholar doing
research, constantly adjusting his methods as he sought the
answer to the question.

In addition to zombie poison, he added other types of poisons he

had created over the past two years. Although those poisons
seemed ordinary in nature, when the beetles ate them, they gave
them a powerful ability to resist poisons.

If this works, then I’m going to have created a truly unique new
kind of poison. A living poison.
Compared with all the other poisons he had invented already, this
one definitely stacked up on top.

Of course, as time passed, Xu Qing went through spirit stones like

crazy, and that didn’t make him happy. He had purchased
numerous medicinal plants in his efforts, including some that were
very expensive. In the end, he focused on poison plants, which he
fed to the little black beetles. At the same time, his constant
experimentation allowed him to identify certain plants that caused
the black beetles to grow smaller.

Unfortunately his methods weren’t perfect. Because he constantly

had to adjust dosages, he also constantly needed subjects to
experiment on. The Earth Bureau prisoners were all dead, and Xu
Qing had the feeling the Heaven Bureau prisoners wouldn’t keep
him going for very long. It was frustrating, because he was
reaching a critical point in the process.

I wonder if I should go out to sea....

After some thought, he gave up on that idea, and instead took out
his identity medallion to post some missions for the Violent Crimes
Division.

Shortly thereafter, the constables in the Seventh Peak’s Violent

Crimes Division went mad in the Port District, arresting people left
and right.
Whatever criminals were still in the Port District were scared out of
their minds. Almost overnight, countless criminals were caught,
which resulted in the Port District suddenly becoming a much safer
place.

Upon seeing how well Xu Qing was doing, the Captain, not
wanting to be outdone, sent the Intelligence Division into overdrive
to root out traitors. When it came to the small fish who hadn’t done
much, the Captain just punished them and gave them a warning.
He was more interested in the big fish. But as a result, the Port
District was really becoming an orderly place.

Almost overnight, Xu Qing and the Captain had become even

more famous than before. That said, the Captain was famous for
being like a mad dog, while Xu Qing... was a fiend! Word had
gotten out about him using the criminals for experimentation, and
thus, Xu Qing was feared much more than the Captain was.

Despite that, Xu Qing still wasn’t done with his experiments, and
therefore, he set his sights on the Violent Crimes Divisions from
the other peaks in the sect. Unfortunately, most of them refused to
cooperate.

It was only the First Peak’s Violent Crimes Division that agreed to
send him some prisoners. Because of that, Xu Qing finally had to
send his subordinates into other districts to look for criminals.
Operating out of one’s jurisdiction was generally considered taboo,
but Xu Qing couldn’t worry about that. Seeing that Xu Qing was
going out of his jurisdiction, the Captain decided to do the same
thing.

Because of that, the Intelligence Divisions and Violent Crimes

Divisions in the other six peaks started to get irritated, and thus
started similar activities of their own. All of Seven Blood Eyes was
now wrapped up in the spirit of competition.

Another half a month went by, and the Seven Blood Eyes’ main
army finally reached the Seazombies’ main island. The end of the
war was approaching. At that point, the Intelligence Divisions and
Violent Crimes Divisions finally started to calm down. The biggest
reason was that Xu Qing finally decided he had enough prisoners
to work with. As for his research with the black beetles, it had
reached the point where he was now feeding them black boluses.

Now, instead of a single bottle of beetles, he had five bottles of

them. Each bottle was filled with what appeared to be a black
liquid, but was in reality a host of small beetles. These ones were
even smaller than the original beetles Xu Qing had acquired. On
an individual basis, they were too small to see with the naked eye.
But their fundamental nature hadn’t changed. They were still
black, and when they congregated together, they resembled a
black cloud.
Most important was that they were deadly. After plenty of testing,
Xu Qing had confirmed that they would proliferate inside a victim,
then eat them from the inside out. During the process, they would
release large amounts of mutagen and poison.

They were very difficult to get rid of, as once inside someone, they
would burrow deep into their bones.

In fact, Xu Qing was certain that, if he had used these beetles

during his fight with Yanyan, she would have died in agony within
the space of a few breaths of time.

With an asset like this, Xu Qing felt confident that he could pose a
threat to a Gold Core cultivator.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have any Gold Core prisoners to

experiment on, so he couldn’t be absolutely sure of how effective
the beetles would be. But Xu Qing was very pleased that spending
so much money on medicinal plants had ended with this result.

I’m certain that these little black beetles can progress even further.
I hope that one of these days I can find a Gold Core cultivator to
test my beetles on.

His eyes glittered coldly at the thought, as he knew that doing so

would require putting his life on the line.

Xu Qing had also fed some of his blood to the little beetles, which
would allow him to directly control them.
The beetles would poison opponents, but Xu Qing had poisoned
the beetles! The beetles would need to occasionally feed on a bit
of his blood, otherwise they would die violently. Because of that,
despite the fact that the beetles weren’t really intelligent, they
would instinctively protect Xu Qing. After all, if Xu Qing didn’t stay
alive, neither would they.

The beetles also need to eat large amounts of medicinal and

poisonous plants. That was a big drain on Xu Qing’s finances.
Before, he had thought of himself as being quite rich, but now, it
wouldn’t be long before he went broke.

That said, he had picked up another asset in all of this, and that
was Yanyan.

She no longer cursed him, and instead sat quietly in the cell block
in the Celestial Bureau. When new prisoners came for Xu Qing to
experiment on, she would watch him, and that strange look in her
eyes grew more intense.

On numerous occasions, she offered to help Xu Qing, and it was

obvious from her expression that she was serious.

Xu Qing wasn’t sure what to make of that. In any case, as his spirit
stones dwindled, he started to get more and more nervous. Zhang
San still needed more time to fully develop their harbor, and thus,
it would be a while before Xu Qing got a split of the profit.
That got Xu Qing thinking about the magical devices that Patriarch
Golden Vajra Warrior only absorbed in part. What remained behind
were defective magical devices, and now Xu Qing was
contemplating trying to sell them on the black market.

However, even as he was weighing that possibility, a bright red

jade slip flew from the battlefield into the Seventh Peak’s
Intelligence Division.

When a jade slip was red, it indicated it contained information

about an urgent matter. Only peaklords could send messages like
that, and even when they were sent from the distant battlefield,
they would arrive at the sect only moments later.

To date, only three other red jade slips had been sent from the
battlefield, and they were always related to monumental war
issues that required action in the sect.

But this time... the message had nothing to do with the war. It had
been sent by Master Seventh, and after the Captain read the
message, his face fell. After a long moment of thought, he put
down his apple, and got to his feet to find Xu Qing. But then he
hesitated. A long moment passed. Finally, he sighed, left the
Intelligence Division, and made his way to Xu Qing’s dharmaskiff.

When the Captain arrived, Xu Qing was organizing his collection

of magical devices, and was just getting ready to leave.
At first, Xu Qing didn’t find the Captain’s sudden arrival very
noteworthy. But then he saw the uncharacteristically serious look
on the Captain’s face.

“Captain?”

“Xu Qing.” The Captain hesitated, looking at Xu Qing as if he

wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words.

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. He was starting to get the sense

something was wrong.

“Xu Qing, the old man gave me a mission to assign to someone.”

The Captain didn’t say anything for a few breaths of time. Then his
eyes hardened with determination, and he lowered his voice.

“The mission requires leaving Seven Blood Eyes and going to the
Violet Lands. It’s a very urgent mission. The old man is stuck on
the battlefield, otherwise he would go. He told me to ask you first,
and see if you would personally handle the matter.”

Xu Qing’s expression was grim. He obviously knew who the

Captain meant when he mentioned ‘the old man.’

“There’s no need to beat around the bush, Captain. What’s going

on?”

The Captain gave Xu Qing a long look, then handed him the red
jade slip.
Xu Qing took it, sent some dharma force inside, and then studied
the message.

“My dear friend Grandmaster Bai was assassinated today in the

Violet Lands....”

Xu Qing suddenly felt like the whole world was spinning, and he
staggered backward. His face drained of blood, and veins bulged
out on his head and neck. As he stood there holding the jade slip,
his hands trembled. He was clearly trying hard to stay in control,
yet his breath came harsh and ragged.

Deep inside, he felt like this couldn’t be happening. It seemed so

unreal that he closed his eyes. Within that darkness, he suddenly
saw a tent, and heard a raspy voice coming from inside.

“Kid, you answer!”

“From now on, don’t stand outside the tent. And don’t bring those
random medicinal plants either. Henceforth, you’ll be attending
class inside.”

“Remember this…. The world is a tavern for living beings. And the
timescape is an old guest. As long as we don’t die, we’ll meet
again. I hope that when we do, you’ll have made something of
yourself.”

Within that darkness, the tent ripped to shreds and dissolved into
ashes. It was gone, but the voice would still echo in his mind for all
eternity.

“As long we don’t die, we’ll meet again,” Xu Qing murmured. The
words almost stuck in his mouth. He opened his eyes.

In the truest sense possible, Grandmaster Bai was his very first
teacher, who had changed his life forever.
Chapter 206: Tracking Down the Killer in
the Violet Lands

It was noontime, and it was a bright day. But there was nothing
bright as far as Xu Qing was concerned.

All of the hustle and bustle of Harbor 176 faded away. All Xu Qing
could hear was silence. The sensation of unreality grew stronger,
until he wondered if this was all some kind of joke. He saw people
walking in the distance. Birds flying in the air. Waves crashing
against the boats and ships. But it all seemed disconnected.

It was as if there were two worlds. In one of them, everything else

existed. In the other... there was only him.

This was too sudden.

When news like this came, most people wouldn’t be able to accept
it. Most people would be unable to react.

Xu Qing staggered back further until he reached the dharmaskiff

railing. He grabbed it tightly. The wind blew at his hair, but it
couldn’t dispel the heaviness in his chest. He wanted to yell. To
scream. To howl.

Xu Qing was the kind of person who cared deeply about kindness
shown to him by others.
Will we actually meet again...?

He thought about life in the scavenger basecamp, and about the

lifespan flower. He thought about that tent. About Grandmaster Bai
looking deeply at him. He thought about showing up with random
medicinal plants, and about guiltily eavesdropping. And finally, he
thought about watching the caravan leave, and Grandmaster Bai
sitting on the cart, a smile on his old face as he nodded at Xu
Qing.

Now all of that was gone forever.

Sergeant Thunder felt like family to Xu Qing. Grandmaster Bai had

shown immense kindness to him. After the god’s eyes opened,
creating a blood rain that turned Xu Qing’s world into hell, those
two old men had been the ones to bring him back into the world of
the living.

But now, heaven and earth seemed heartless again. The chaotic
world was full of brutality. In this world, life wasn’t worth much.

After joining Seven Blood Eyes, he had seen a lot. None of it had
been like the constant misery of the scavenger basecamp. Things
had changed. But that didn’t mean the reality of the outside world
had changed. People went hungry and died from starvation.
People brutally slaughtered each other. In the world that the
broken god face had brought about, such things happened all the
time.
Killing intent burned in Xu Qing’s heart, like a sharp blade that
sought to burst out of him and slash heaven and earth to bits. He
was shaking. However, after a very long time passed, he managed
to take a deep breath and look up at the Captain, who seemed
very worried. When Xu Qing spoke, his voice was hoarse and very
quiet.

“I’m fine.”

Lifting the red jade slip up again, he forced himself to seem calm
as he examined the rest of the message. Master Seventh had a
vast network of contacts, and thus, the jade slip didn’t just explain
that Grandmaster Bai had been killed. It also contained clues that
had already been dug up by the investigation in the Violet Lands.

The cause of death was unknown. However, the jade slip did
explain that after Grandmaster Bai died, nothing had been taken
from his body or his residence. Except for one thing. It was the
second half of a pill formula for something called a supreme yin
chosen assimilation pill. It was an item that had been found in a
wish box many years ago. It came from a different epoch, and was
inscribed on animal hide. As for the pill description, it was utterly
heartless and completely evil.

Chosen cultivators were the primary ingredient for supreme yin

chosen assimilation pills. It took three chosen to make one packet
of ingredients, and it took six packets to create one of the pills.
Whoever consumed that pill would undergo a heaven-defying
transformation and turn into a chosen cultivator.

Upon encountering the second half of the formula, Grandmaster

Bai had decided it was too evil to exist, and wanted to destroy it.
However, part of him also realized that it could contain important
medicinal theories, so he hid it and kept it a secret.

The mastermind had not yet been identified, so Master Seventh

didn’t have much information in that regard. However, his network
of informants in the Violet Lands had dug up some clues. The killer
wasn’t human. They were from a very rare species of grue from
the Forbidden Sea called the Grueglooms. They were known as
‘the species that can’t die,’ although the name was a bit of an
exaggeration. Such grues had a special ability that made it very
difficult for others to capture or kill them. Specifically, they could
target another living creature, and upon dying, would be
resurrected inside of that being. Every time they came back to life
in such a way, they ended up weaker than before, and needed
time to get stronger again.

The fact that the killer was a Gruegloom made things difficult for
the Violet Lands. Furthermore... things were generally complicated
there. There were various clans there that were always fighting
against each other for supremacy.

Grandmaster Bai had been an important person who helped a lot

of people. However, he wasn’t a cultivator. He was a mortal
human, and had been an old man nearing death already. To the
people of the Violet Lands, especially to the royals, it didn’t matter
how important a mortal was, they were still lower class.

Tools to be used.

Therefore, though many people in the Violet Lands were angry

about Grandmaster Bai’s death, and though they did investigate
the matter, they didn’t put forth much effort. In fact, even many of
the people Grandmaster Bai had helped didn’t do much.

As the saying goes, the tea gets cold when people leave. Now that
Grandmaster Bai was gone, few people cared about him. That
was just how things worked in this brutal world.

That said, the teleportation portals in the Violet Lands had been
temporarily locked down, and notices had been sent to the Church
of Departure, Words of Truth, and Seven Blood Eyes, who all did
the same.

What seemed most important to the Violet Lands was the pill
formula that had been taken from Grandmaster Bai. Even the Bai
Clan was split on the matter. Some factions in the clan wanted
revenge, others were interested in the pill formula.

That was how the Violet Lands worked.

The reason for this was that the Violet Lands were the remnants of
the true original inhabitants of the continent of South Phoenix. But
because of their deep-rooted obstinacy and isolationism, they
were only one of a handful of powerful organizations.

Master Seventh couldn’t look into the matter himself, so he had

delegated authority to the Captain. After all, in all of South
Phoenix, nobody knew the Forbidden Sea better than the Seventh
Peak. There was no better choice when it came to tracking down a
nonhuman from the sea.

“Usually,” the Captain said softly, “assassinations like this aren’t

carried out by large groups. Given how Grueglooms usually
operate, there’s probably only one killer. I doubt they have a Gold
Core cultivation base.

“The Violet Lands’ grand spell formation restricts and suppresses

outside Gold Core cultivators. And they’ve prohibited Gold Core
cultivators from going to investigate this matter. However, the
formation doesn’t pay close attention to Foundation Establishment.
If I were to go, I would start by searching for mutagen with the
aura of the Forbidden Sea. Combine that with the use of special
magical devices, it should only take a bit of time to find the killer.
That said, there’s no telling how long the Violet Lands will stay
under lockdown.

“After all... there are a lot of clans there, and the Bai Clan is only
one of them.”

“I’ll go,” Xu Qing said quietly.

His voice didn’t contain even the slightest hint of emotion.
However, the Captain could sense that there was something
explosive brewing in him.

“Xu Qing, I have a teleportation portal set up over there that you
can use to get back here easily. Find the killer and bring him back.
Remember, people hire assassins because....” He trailed off. “The
point is we need to find out who the real culprit is!”

Xu Qing rose up into the air, collected up his dharmaskiff, then

flew toward the sect’s teleportation portals. The teleportation
portals were about to be locked down, but with the jade slip from
Master Seventh, he would be able to leave the sect.

His heart was filled with both anxiety and killing intent, and they
merged together into something extremely heavy. That, in turn,
caused him to move with all haste. Anyone in the Seven Blood
Eyes capital city who saw him speeding along felt alarm in their
heart. He soon arrived, and without any hesitation, stepped onto
one of the teleportation portals.

“Violet Lands capital city,” he said, his face completely

expressionless.

When the disciples in charge of the portal realized who he was,

they made the adjustments to the formation. Then, after only three
breaths of time had passed, Xu Qing was surrounded by glittering
light, and then faded from view.
As the fluctuations of the teleportation rolled out, the Captain
arrived. Standing there looking at the light fade away, he sighed.

After becoming the director of the Intelligence Division, he had

read Xu Qing’s file, and knew about his relationship with
Grandmaster Bai. And it was also obvious the old man had
suggested to give Xu Qing the mission for that very reason. After
all, Grandmaster Bai had uncharacteristically approved of Xu
Qing.

Because of that, the Captain knew that he needed to stand aside

and let Xu Qing handle the matter. Xu Qing wouldn’t want others
involved.

Something like this happened to me years ago. And when it did... I

also wanted to handle it alone. Thinking about that event, the
Captain suddenly felt sorrow in his heart. A moment later, he
shoved such feelings away.

Looking around, he grinned and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, the

Intelligence Division is commandeering this portal.”

A buzz of activity resulted as agents from the Intelligence Division

arrived to take over the portal. Meanwhile, the Captain looked up
into the sky.

“As the third-ranking echelon cultivator in Seven Blood Eyes, as

the highest-ranking apprentice of the Seventh Peak, and as the
director of the Seven Blood Eyes’ Intelligence Division, I hereby
request that the grand spell formation lock down all teleportations
in Seven Blood Eyes. I also request that the port be locked down.
No nonhuman watercraft shall be permitted to enter or exit the
port.”

In response to his words, the Seven Blood Eyes Formation

rumbled to life. A moment later, a stream of divine will reached the
Captain from the Sixth Peak.

Turning to the Sixth Peak, the Captain clasped hands and bowed.
“Sect Uncle Sixth, I have certain evidence and speculations that
might solve Elder Brother Chen’s murder. I hereby request that
you allow me to lock down the sect!”

The Sixth Peak suddenly erupted with loud rumbling noises,

causing wild colors to flash in heaven and earth. Then, a moment
later, a deep voice rang out from the peak.

“Request granted!”

The Captain clasped hands and bowed deeply.

I’ve done all that I can do, little Ah Qing. I hope you can get to the
bottom of things quickly. I’m getting the feeling... that this is not a
simple matter. Supreme yin chosen assimilation pill? A lot of
chosen have gone missing at sea over the years.... Quite a lot....
[1]

The Captain narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

1. This is not the first time we’ve heard about chosen disciples
going missing. It was brought up in chapter 148 and of course 201.
From the latter reference you can, by inference, guess about the
meaning of some of the things said in the end of this chapter ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsI recently went onto the local San Diego

Podcast "The Written Scene." This was a very fun and unique
conversation. I talked about many things that I haven't talked
about before publicly, including topics related to translation
(including this translation project), but also other stuff. Check it out
on Spotify, Apple, and other podcast places. (this post is mirrored
in an earlier chapter)

I recently went onto the local San Diego Podcast "The Written
Scene." This was a very fun and unique conversation. I talked
about many things that I haven't talked about before publicly,
including topics related to translation (including this translation
project), but also other stuff. Check it out on Spotify, Apple, and
other podcast places. (this post is mirrored in an earlier chapter)
Chapter 207: Scattering Alcohol on a
Grave; Reciting a Classic

In Seven Blood Eyes, it was still considered the depths of autumn,

but the cold of winter had already reached the Violet Lands. Wind
carried the snow far and wide over the ancient capital city.

Crimson palaces and halls rose up, like a sea of jewels

surrounded by pure white. The snow fell in flurries. Not many
pedestrians were about, and those who were on the streets wore
heavy jerkins. They didn’t bother sweeping the snow off, and thus
it gathered on their heads and shoulders. The falling snow and the
numb expressions on the faces of the pedestrians filled the city
with a pervading sense of torpor and depression.

This place embodied the spirit of the Violet Lands. It had once
been the imperial capital of the entire continent of South Phoenix.
Many millennia ago, there had been only one royal dynasty in
South Phoenix, and it had been called the Sovereign Kingdom of
Violet and Cyan. It had unified South Phoenix, and had taken
Flame Phoenix as its totem. Unfortunately, it wasn’t able to survive
the world’s descent into chaos and brutality.

When civil unrest struck, the Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and

Cyan became a thing of the past. The royal clan and its wealth
was divided among the rebel factions, and its bloodline fractured
and declined. The dividing of the royal clan resulted in eight new
powerful clans that occupied what was now called the Violet
Lands. Even now, they still used Flame Phoenix as their totem,
who they worshiped as a god.

The Violet Lands’ royal capital was larger than the Seven Blood
Eyes capital city, by three times over. And it was divided into eight
districts, each of which was controlled by one of the eight great
clans. Each district had its own royal palace, which was
considered the ancestral home of its respective clan.

Some of those royal palaces stood in the middle of green,

duckweed-covered lakes. The buildings had overhanging eaves
carved with lifelike dragons and phoenixes with scales and
feathers of gold.

Other royal palaces had golden roof tiles that glittered dazzlingly in
the winter sunlight. From a distance, their dramatic architecture
was reminiscent of royal glory.

This place had a very different style than Seven Blood Eyes.

The Violet Lands were like a stubborn old man in resplendent

clothing. Everything revolved around traditions and bloodlines.
This was their way of surviving in a chaotic world. It was different
from Seven Blood Eyes, and it was impossible to say if one way
was superior to the other.
However, Seven Blood Eyes was a subsidiary of the Seven Sect
Coalition, and because of that, at its inception, it couldn’t measure
up to the Violet Lands. But over the years, the two had come to
stand on equal footing.

In fact, now that the sect’s patriarch Sir Bloodsmelter had broken
through, Seven Blood Eyes had even dared to wage full-scale war
on a nonhuman species.

The Violet Lands were not like that. They preferred to isolate
themselves, and did not like interference from outsiders. Like the
broken face in the sky that they gazed upon from below, they
looked down on everyone else in the world. They didn’t even
respect the Revered Ancient mainland. They believed their blood
to be the most respectable, and did not think of their nation as a
frog in a well.

In this place, people who didn’t have the right bloodline didn’t have
any future. Such people lacked vigor, and the mindset of being a
servant was so ingrained in their souls that it was passed on from
generation to generation.

Throughout the milleniums-long history of the Violet Lands, there

had been few people like Grandmaster Bai. He was the first who
wanted to break the ancient traditions of his people, and seek
friends and allies among foreign humans. He had paid a steep
price for having ideas that ran counter to the ways of the Violet
Lands. He had become a mortal. But that didn’t daunt him. Relying
on his outstanding talent, and his understanding of plants and
vegetation, he had carved out a new dao for himself despite his
limited lifespan. Relying on pill formulas alone, he, a mere mortal,
had surpassed any cultivator when it came to the dao of plants
and vegetation.

In some respects, he was the top figure in the dao of alchemy in

all of South Phoenix.

Even the peaklord of the Second Peak in Seven Blood Eyes, who
was a Nascent Soul cultivator, also respected and admired
Grandmaster Bai. And even someone like Master Seventh didn’t
hesitate to address him as ‘Grandmaster.’

From all of that, it was obvious that Grandmaster Bai’s

achievements in the dao of alchemy had reached the highest of
heights. Despite that, when he was in the Violet Lands, he was still
tied down by countless rules and traditions. There were many
things he simply couldn’t do. And it was because of his bloodline.
Grandmaster Bai was not in the direct bloodline of the Bai Clan,
but rather, came from a subsidiary bloodline.

The snow fell even harder than before.

In a public graveyard in the Bai Clan, a group of a few dozen

people had gathered in front of a crystal coffin, within which lay
Grandmaster Bai. He had a wound on his forehead, but it had
been dressed and covered. His body had been augmented with
dharma force and then sealed in the crystal coffin. Despite that,
his corpse was already starting to decompose. The black marks
on his skin were evidence of a powerful poison that was
accelerating the decomposition process. The corpse wouldn’t last
for long. By this very evening, the coffin would need to be put
under the ground.

Because of his substandard bloodline, Grandmaster Bai didn’t

qualify to be interred in the clan’s royal mausoleum. That said,
Grandmaster Bai had always disdained such matters, and had
made it clear years ago that he wanted to be buried in the public
graveyard.

Among the group standing silently by the coffin was Bai Yundong.
[1]

The people gathered were younger relatives of Grandmaster Bai,

as well as people who had a good relationship with him. There
weren’t many. That said, in this world, most people didn’t need a
lot of friends. Four or five was usually sufficient.

As the coffin was lowered into the ground, the atmosphere grew
heavier. One young woman finally couldn’t restrain her emotions
and started weeping.

She was none other than Tingyu. Two years had passed, and she
had grown up in that time. She was slender and elegant, and was
normally as carefree and light-hearted as she had been in the
past. But when Grandmaster Bai died, her world fell apart. As she
knelt in front of the grave, tears of grief spilled down her face. [2]

Next to her was a young man of about seventeen or eighteen

years old. He stood tall, making him seem dignified and imposing.
His gown was extravagant, and he had a jade pendant at his waist
that glittered with the light of a magical device. He was none other
than Chen Feiyuan. [3]

He was the highest-ranking son of the youngest generation of the

Chen Clan. After Grandmaster Bai was killed, he was the one who
had used his authority to call for the lockdown on teleportations.
Right now he stood there with his hands clenched into fists, killing
intent burning in his eyes. Because of his grief and anger, he didn’t
notice that there was a middle-aged man standing quietly in an
alleyway nearby, gazing at the graveyard.

The man wore a rough hemp robe, and had forgettable facial
features and sallow skin. His eyes, however, contained endless
grief, and he trembled as he stood there, his hand clenched so
tightly against the wall next to him that he had already dug a chunk
of the bricks out.

Evening fell, and as the darkness spread, the group gathered by

Grandmaster Bai’s grave quietly dispersed. The last to leave were
Tingyu and Chen Feiyuan, along with some of Chen Feiyuan’s
attendants.
That was when the middle-aged man finally approached, walking
through the departing crowd and past Chen Feiyuan and Tingyu.

As Chen Feiyuan helped support the weeping Tingyu with his

forearm, he noticed the man, but in his own grief, didn’t pay much
attention to him. After all, grieving individuals would visit the
graveyard all the time. That thought made Chen Feiyuan even
angrier. How could it be that his own Master ended up buried in a
place like this? Sadly, there was nothing Chen Feiyuan could do
about it.

“Do you think he’ll come...?” Tingyu asked quietly, wiping the tears
from her eyes.

Chen Feiyuan didn’t need to wonder who Tingyu was talking

about. Grinding his teeth, he said, “Him? Hmph. If he was going to
come he’d be here already. Considering he hasn’t, I’d say he’s just
like everyone else. A thankless wretch!”

Tingyu didn’t respond.

The middle-aged man had already passed them and now stood in
front of the grave, his eyes bloodshot.

“Teacher...” he murmured, his voice hoarse as he dropped to his

knees.

This middle-aged man was, of course, Xu Qing!

The first thing he did after arriving in the Violet Lands was to
determine where Grandmaster Bai was being buried. Of course,
he had known that his Seven Blood Eyes daoist robe would attract
attention, and would in turn make it harder to find the killer. Thus,
he had disguised himself in this manner.

As he looked at the grave, pain filled his heart and spread to the
rest of his body.

This was the second time he had knelt in front of a grave. The first
was Sergeant Thunder’s grave. And now, he knelt in front of
Grandmaster Bai’s grave.

“Teacher,” he whispered, “I’m going to catch your killer, and the

mastermind behind it all.” After kowtowing, he took out a gourd of
alcohol. “Sergeant Thunder told me you like to drink, Teacher. So
let’s drink together.” He took a drink from the gourd then scattered
the rest of the alcohol over the grave. He put the gourd down.

“Teacher, before you left, you gave me the Classic of Plants and
Vegetation. I memorized the whole thing. Sir, allow me to recite it
for you.

“In the dao of plants and vegetation, a myriad phenomena

combine into one, and can be considered a great dao. Understand
plants, grasp heaven’s law.

“First plant. Golden twistgrass, also known as three-leaf pearls or

cold-dispelling grass, is a sedge plant known by the common
name short-leaved kyllinga, and is useful from root to tip. It’s a
perennial herb that grows in forested mountains and damp
wilderness regions. In South Phoenix, it can be found in the
southern prefectures of Rising Nether and Widespirit.

“Second plant. Rhino-fire blossom, also known as cloudydream

silk, is a soulflame plant with a perennial soul form. It is useful in
diffusing the lungs and relieving coughing, can clear heat and
resolve toxins, dissipate blood stasis and reduce swelling, and can
be used to treat venomous snakebites as well as injuries from
falls, fractures, contusions, and strains….”

***

“One hundred and thirty-seventh plant. Meltsoul mist, also known

as heaven closes its eyes, is a mutated spirit plant that exists in
misty conditions. It can be used to melt markings left on the soul,
and is very difficult to detect or extrude. It is a primary ingredient in
twenty-four-hour rot-dispelling pills.”

Xu Qing could envision Grandmaster Bai sitting in front of him,

sipping alcohol and smiling approvingly.

“Nightcorpse morning glory, also known as toxic mountain

rootmottle, refers to the stalk and root of feverfew veined
turtledove chrysanthemums. It is a woody vine-type plant found in
ravines of the Corpse Mountains, usually in chilly streams or
jungle thickets. It’s astringent but feels warm in the mouth. It also
imparts a sensation of decay. It’s particularly useful in protecting
against drafts and inducing perspiration. That said, it’s extremely
toxic, and is a typical example of the polarity of yin and yang in
medicinal plants.” [4]

The snow blew in the wind as Xu Qing’s voice drifted out over
Grandmaster Bai’s grave. Eventually, darkness fell, and then his
shadow suddenly quivered.

It seemed to be telling Xu Qing: I found it!

Xu Qing suddenly looked up at the gravestone. After kowtowing

three times, he stood and disappeared into the night, his eyes
burning with killing intent.

Shortly after he left, a group of people arrived. In the lead was

Tingyu, and behind her was Chen Feiyuan and his attendants.

“You were seeing things, Tingyu,” Chen Feiyuan said. “He’s a

bigshot in Seven Blood Eyes now. How could he possibly
remember Teacher?”

“I wasn’t seeing things. I recognized his eyes. I just didn’t realize it

until I got home. It was definitely him!”

1. We met Bai Yundong in chapter 35. ☜

2. We originally learned Tingyu’s name in chapter 21, though she

was mentioned before that in chapter 18. We last saw her in
chapter 29 (though who could forget the funny scene with her in
chapter 28) ☜

3. Chen Feiyuan’s chapter references are basically the same as

Tingyu’s. ☜

4. A number of the medicinal plants in this chapter, and their

explanations, were previously mentioned in the story. Specifically
golden twistgrass in chapter 21, rhino-fire blossoms in chapter 21
and 57, and nighcorpse morning glory in chapter 24 and 95. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsAuthor Note (translated from Chinese): I

wanted to write an MC with soul. This kid Xu Qing has a lot of
flaws. For example, he’s narrow-minded and cold. But there’s also
a warmth to him. Whether it’s people who show kindness to him,
or whatever partner he ends up with, he treasures them.He’s an
emotional and loyal person.I feel like some of the novels I’ve
written lack a rich cast of supporting characters, with the exception
of Renegade Immortal and Pursuit of Truth. That’s why I want this
novel to have plenty of complex characters. The Captain, the
patriarch, Zhang San, Huang Yan. They all have their own stories,
and those strands will be weaved together into a vast web. And
there are more characters to come that currently only exist in my
head.Life is a dream, and chasing that dream is life.Xu Qing is like
that. We’re all like that. Keep it up!

Author Note (translated from Chinese):

I wanted to write an MC with soul. This kid Xu Qing has a lot of
flaws. For example, he’s narrow-minded and cold. But there’s also
a warmth to him. Whether it’s people who show kindness to him,
or whatever partner he ends up with, he treasures them.

He’s an emotional and loyal person.

I feel like some of the novels I’ve written lack a rich cast of
supporting characters, with the exception of Renegade Immortal
and Pursuit of Truth. That’s why I want this novel to have plenty of
complex characters. The Captain, the patriarch, Zhang San,
Huang Yan. They all have their own stories, and those strands will
be weaved together into a vast web. And there are more
characters to come that currently only exist in my head.

Life is a dream, and chasing that dream is life.

Xu Qing is like that. We’re all like that. Keep it up!

Chapter 208: Grue v. Grue

“There’s no way that brat even remembers Teacher,” Chen

Feiyuan said. “I refuse to believe it.”

Tingyu stopped in front of Grandmaster Bai’s grave. No one was

there.

“Told you,” Chen Feiyuan said. “He couldn’t possibly be here.”

Despite his words, Chen Feiyuan’s eyes darted left and right as he
scanned the area.

“He’s here,” Tingyu said softly, looking at the gravestone.

Surprised, Chen Feiyuan looked at the gravestone and noted the

fragrance of alcohol. He suddenly looked thoughtful. Obviously,
someone had come to visit the grave once they were gone. After
some thought, he sighed. “We don’t know for certain it was him. It
could have been anyone. And even if it was him, what does it
matter…?”

Tingyu bit her lip, as if she wanted to say something, but couldn’t
find the words.

“He’s in Seven Blood Eyes now,” Chen Feiyuan continued, “a

glorious member of their echelon. But if he doesn’t show complete
and utter loyalty to his Master Seventh, then he’ll be nothing....
There’s not much he could do about Teacher’s death, so there’s
no point in deluding ourselves. Besides, maybe you were wrong,
and it wasn’t him. Maybe that thankless wretch didn’t come here at
all. If we want to get revenge for Teacher’s death, we’ll have to do
it ourselves!”

With that, Chen Feiyuan led the crestfallen Tingyu out of the
graveyard and back to her residence. After seeing her inside, his
face became incomparably solemn.

On the way back to the Chen Clan, one of his three attendants,
who looked to be the same age as him, said, “Young Master, the
thankless wretch you mentioned, is it that Xu Qing who everyone’s
talking about nowadays?”

Suddenly, Chen Feiyuan spun in place, his eyes cold as he

viciously slapped his attendant in the face.

The attendant was thrown to the side and smacked into the
ground, but immediately scrambled into a kneeling position.

“If I want to call him a thankless wretch, that’s my business!” Chen

Feiyuan snapped. “But he’s my Elder Brother. Maybe I don’t like
him, but Teacher approved of him, therefore, so do I. Who the hell
are you to talk about him like that in front of me?”

The trembling attendant started knocking his head against the

ground.
“Considering how long you’ve served me, I’ll give you a proper
burial.” The attendant began frantically begging for his life, but only
a moment later, the other two attendants grabbed him and broke
his neck. Everything went quiet.

Chen Feiyuan didn’t pay any attention to the commotion. After

frowning for a moment, he said, “Activate all my deep-cover spies.
I want to know what the Gold Core experts in all eight clans are up
to. I don’t care how much this costs. Pay it.”

“You want all of them activated?” one of the attendants asked.

They both looked surprised.

“All of them.”

The attendants immediately began to make the arrangements.

Meanwhile, Chen Feiyuan frowned. I don’t know what that

thankless wretch Xu Qing is up to right now, but I have the feeling
he’s going to get involved in this thing. If he sticks his head in the
wrong place, he could end up in big trouble.

He did the right thing by not coming to see us. Tingyu is a simple
girl who cares only about studying medicine. She’s not built for this
kind of intrigue. If she slipped up and leaked word that he’s here,
the Seazombie bounty alone would be too tempting for people to
resist.
In fact, it’s possible that someone killed Teacher just to lure out Xu
Qing. Kill two birds with one stone. Or maybe there’s an even
more complicated plot afoot! I just hope I’m overthinking things.

Xu Qing wasn’t the only one who had changed in the past two
years. After Chen Feiyuan returned home and became sucked into
clan power struggles, he had transformed dramatically. For one
thing, he became much more focused mentally. At the same time,
his time spent with Grandmaster Bai affected him deeply, imbuing
him with a profound hatred for the politicking of the Violet Lands.

He looked at his two attendants. “Did you make the

arrangements?”

The attendants nodded. Then, only a moment later, their faces

turned dark and blood sprayed out of their mouths. They dropped
dead.

I had no choice. I can’t even trust the two of you. Now that you’ve
done your job, there was no other option but to see you on your
way.

Previously, the only people Chen Feiyuan had trusted in the Violet
Lands were his teacher and Tingyu. With his teacher gone, the
only person he trusted now was Tingyu.

I suppose I can trust the thankless wretch also. I wonder if he

noticed the evidence of the twenty-four-hour rot-dispelling pill....
Given his skill in plants and vegetation, he should be able to pick
up on the clues left behind by the poison in Teacher’s body.

Frowning, Chen Feiyuan got rid of the corpses and left.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Violet Lands’ capital city, Xu Qing

stalked through the shadows, not revealing a scrap of his aura. His
eyes were cold as he moved along.

The reason he hadn’t made contact with Tingyu and Chen Feiyuan
was that he feared it could cause further complications. Xu Qing
knew how much money was on his own head, and it wasn’t lost on
him that someone might have set this whole thing up as a trap.
Besides, even if it was a trap, it was probably ancillary to the
actual murder. The fact that the supreme yin chosen assimilation
pill formula was missing showed that there was a larger plot.

If someone is trying to use this to get at me, it’s probably someone

from the Violet Lands. Maybe I’m thinking too much into it, but
regardless, I need to be on my guard and ready for anything.

Eyes narrowing, Xu Qing dusted himself with poison powder and

made sure his aura was completely hidden, then continued on his
way.

He had already identified the clues he needed to track down the

killer. Master Seventh’s red jade slip had explained the special
characteristics of the culprit. Considering the killer was a
Gruegloom, it was going to be difficult to catch. The Captain had
offered some advice, but Xu Qing already had his own methods.

Anything that used mutagen in cultivation could be detected by his

shadow. After all, mutagen was food for the shadow.

The Violet Lands capital city was a place where good people and
villains rubbed shoulders, and had a lot of people with strong
mutagen. But when you added in the aura of the Forbidden Sea,
then it narrowed down the range of targets.

Because of that, a matter that would be difficult for most people

wasn’t very hard for Xu Qing. All he needed was to provide his
shadow with a few key pieces of evidence, and he could easily
track down the killer.

What was more, Xu Qing knew that, given his teacher’s skill in the
dao of alchemy, there was no way he wouldn’t leave behind some
clues. After all, even Xu Qing, with his inferior skill, could leave
behind clues if he ended up being killed.

Therefore, Xu Qing had taken time to observe the corpse from

afar, and had also cast his senses into the soil when he grieved in
front of the gravestone. Because of that, he knew for certain that
his teacher had been poisoned with a twenty-four-hour rot-
dispelling pill.

Such pills could actually have a beneficial effect when taken

regularly over a long period of time, especially on mortals.
However, there was an unusual side-effect; someone who
consumed such a pill, then died afterward, would start
decomposing at a rapid rate. In fact, they would usually turn into a
sludge within twenty-four hours.

It was a unique type of pill that Grandmaster Bai would only

concoct when he had free time. However, there was more to the
pill that average people wouldn’t know about. Only Grandmaster
Bai’s students would know that the primary ingredient in twenty-
four-hour rot-dispelling pills was meltsoul mist.

Meltsoul mist, also known as heaven closes its eyes, is a mutated

spirit plant that exists in misty conditions. It can be used to melt
markings left on the soul, and is very difficult to detect or extrude.
It is a primary ingredient in twenty-four-hour rot-dispelling pills.

That was the clue Grandmaster Bai had left behind. It all made
sense. The killer’s soul had been infected with a minute trace of
meltsoul mist, and Xu Qing knew exactly how to identify it.

And thus, he sped through the night, following his shadow to

check on three possible suspects. The first one was staying at an
inn. Once he was close, Xu Qing personally inspected their aura,
then immediately turned and left.

It’s not this one.

Taking advantage of the darkness of night, he headed to the

second possible suspect. This one lived in an ordinary citizen’s
house, and didn’t emit any cultivation base fluctuations or even
any traces of mutagen. However, they couldn’t evade detection by
Xu Qing’s shadow.

Upon nearing, Xu Qing stopped moving. Then his eyes glittered

with cold light, and he slipped inside the residence.

An old man lay asleep inside, but the moment Xu Qing entered, he
opened his eyes. Looking in shock at Xu Qing, he opened his
mouth to speak, but before he could, a black iron skewer
thrummed toward him.

A tremor passed through the man, and though he didn’t emit any
cultivation base fluctuations, he seemed to have entered the
profound radiance state. Dodging the skewer, he appeared right in
front of Xu Qing.

“So, you found me? My disguise was perfect! Let’s see who you
are.” As the words left his mouth, he reached toward Xu Qing’s
face as if to dispel the magical technique he had used to disguise
himself.

But then, Xu Qing’s eyes glittered coldly, and the old man’s face
fell. Overwhelmed by a sense of intense danger, he shot
backward.

He moved too slowly. Xu Qing suddenly thrummed with

spectacular power, as if he were burning on the inside, and then
his knee flew through the air. A boom rang out as Xu Qing’s knee
smashed into the old man’s chest. It collapsed in a mass of blood
and bone, and before the old man could begin to fight, Xu Qing
stepped forward and unleashed balefire. However, his opponent
didn’t have a soul, so without the slightest change of facial
expression, he tapped into Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad
Spirits.

The man shivered as he turned into a mass of energy and blood

that Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits absorbed. What was
left behind was empty skin that flopped to the ground.

This didn’t surprise Xu Qing at all. His shadow immediately

stretched out and covered over the empty skin, then sent some
information to Xu Qing.

“Lead the way!” Xu Qing said. He gathered the items he had

placed in the area to conceal any fluctuations from the fighting,
then sped after the shadow.

He knew full well that Grueglooms were difficult to truly kill. But he
didn’t care. He would kill it over and over again, however many
times it took. After all, it had no way to teleport out of the city. The
only thing Xu Qing regretted was that the Gruegloom had died so
quickly that Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits had only
managed to take a tiny sliver of its essence.

I couldn’t get much Gruegloom essence because of how quickly it

died. But it doesn’t matter. Intense emotions can stir one’s spirit...
once it gets terrified, it’ll be much easier.

***

Somewhere else in the capital city, in the district controlled by the

Zhou Clan, a sleeping servant suddenly opened his eyes. Sitting
up, he took in a few deep breaths and looked around in a panic.

Who was that guy? Not only was he able to find me, but also, his
cultivation base was terrifying. He crushed me in an instant. I was
in that body for a long time, and it could unleash three-flame battle
prowess!

Unfortunately, thanks to natural limitations, I can only resurrect

myself and take over mortals. And it takes time to get used to the
new body and unleash its potential. Otherwise, it would be a lot
easier to get out of here. Dammit! This mission was supposed to
be easy, but then they locked down teleportations. Well, they can’t
lock things down forever. That said, why did they have to send a
grue cultivator after me?

The servant’s eyes gleamed wickedly as he looked around, then

started chuckling coldly.

This is just a minor hiccup. This particular person I marked for

resurrection is a Zhou Clan servant, and now I’m in the royal
palace. Unless that guy is working with someone in the Zhou Clan,
he’ll end up dead for sure if he tries to come in here!
Despite his confidence, he stayed on the alert the entire night. The
next morning at dawn, as the sun’s rays entered the royal palace,
a burly man with a scar and a Qi Condensation cultivation base
opened the door to the servants’ room.

When the other servants saw that scarred face, their expression
flickered and they quickly got to their feet. None of them dared to
move slowly. This scarred fellow was a trusted aide to the Zhou
Clan leaders, and he had a short temper. In the past, he had even
beaten servants to death. The lives of servants weren’t worth
much, and no one cared if they died.

The scarred man spat onto the ground, snorted coldly, and then
strode past servant after servant until he was in front of the one
that had been possessed by a Gruegloom.

The Gruegloom servant shivered nervously as the scarred man

measured him up. Then the scarred man pulled out a knife and
plunged it into the servant’s heart, before slashing it through his
throat!

It happened so quickly the Gruegloom servant could do nothing

other than open his eyes wide and stare in shock at the blood
pouring out. He was stunned, and had no idea what was going on.

Meanwhile, the scarred man grinned, and then, in front of all the
shocked servants, plunged the knife into his own belly and sliced it
open. Pulling out his intestines, he wrapped them around the
Gruegloom’s neck, tightened them, and whispered, “My lord and
master wanted me to say hi, and tell you... the game has just
begun.”

Deathblade's ThoughtsMany thanks to Ritu for the review!

Many thanks to Ritu for the review!

Chapter 209: Without a Trace

The Gruegloom cultivator’s eyes went wide as he slipped away

into death.

Moments later, in the Bai Clan’s district of the city, seven or eight
vagrants huddled in a narrow alley. One of them, a gaunt young
man with scars crisscrossing his body, suddenly opened his eyes.
Out of instinct, his hands shot to his neck. Eyes shining with terror,
he looked around, then relaxed and forced himself to steady his
breathing. That said, the alarm within his heart was not something
he could dispel easily.

What’s going on? That man just now....

This young man was none other than the Gruegloom cultivator.
The fact that Xu Qing figured out his first identity wasn’t very
surprising. But he had felt very confident about his second identity
in the Zhou Clan. Only someone deeply connected with that clan
should have been able to reach him, or even identify him.

He had already come up with a new escape plan that would let
him turn the tables on the person hunting him, and show them the
true terrifying nature of Grueglooms. He had a teleportation portal
hidden outside of the city, but at the moment, he wasn’t desperate
enough to use it. The current state of affairs... couldn’t last for
long. Based on his analysis, the city would be opened up within
about three days, or five at the most. Once that happened, no one
would ever be able to find him. Whether it was a Gold Core
cultivator or Nascent Soul expert, they could kill him once, but then
he would be gone.

He had been in situations like this before. However, there was

something about the current set of circumstances that felt off. The
person hunting him was able to track him down very quickly.
Furthermore, the person who had confronted his second identity
had also seemed gruish.

What was more, the way the man had wrapped his intestines
around the Gruegloom’s throat, and then spoke those final
words... was completely terrifying.

“My lord and master wanted me to say hi, and tell you... the game
has just begun.”

“The game has just begun...?” the Gruegloom murmured. Then he

shivered. He got the sense things were going to get difficult. This
new opponent was strong, and obviously had some very unique
abilities.

I wonder if I should activate that body....

The Gruegloom cultivator thought about it for a while, then decided

against it. The body he was referring to was located outside the
city, and he could activate it at any time. But he only planned to do
that when he was ready to leave the Violet Lands capital city and
never come back. He was hesitant to do that, and still wanted to
wait in hiding until the lockdown ended.

Maybe that second time was just a coincidence!

Looking up, he saw that the sky was turning bright. Around him,
the other vagrants were starting to awaken. The Gruegloom stood
and left the alley.

With each step he took, he felt sluggish. Although his innate ability
was impressive, whenever he possessed a new body, it was as if
he consumed the host. In some respects, the host was actually a
corpse. He was like the turtledove occupying the magpie’s nest.
And at first, he was always weak. Only after warming up the host
body was he able to restore some battle prowess.

He had the ability to infuse a host with his innate ability

beforehand, but that was very draining, and thus, he saved all of
the energy for the body outside the city.

As he started to pick up speed walking, a thousand thoughts ran

through his mind.

Dammit, I’m usually the one lurking in the shadows, preying on

those in the light. But this time the roles are reversed. Who is this
guy? I’ve never heard of any grue that can do something like this.
He can control other people? That can’t be it. Controlling someone
else would involve a release of energy. The only exception would
be a divine will possession, but only Nascent Soul cultivators can
do something like that. This guy definitely isn’t a Nascent Soul
expert. I really get the sense that I’m dealing with a grue.

As he analyzed the situation, the Gruegloom walked out of the

alley, keeping his guard up and heading in the direction of the
city’s teleportation portal complex. His current plan was to stay in
that area and wait until the lockdown lifted. In the meantime, he
would see if this annoyingly mysterious person was able to track
him down again.

After he had been walking along for only about an hour, a hand
suddenly stretched out from an alley he was walking past. The
hand clamped down on his mouth, and then fingers worked their
way through his lips, parting his teeth and making it impossible for
him to bite his own tongue off to commit suicide. It happened
quickly, and though the Gruegloom was able to react, this new
body was just too slow. Then, he felt himself being dragged
forcefully into the alley.

Whimpering sounds escaped his mouth as he opened his eyes

wide in the hopes of catching a glimpse of his pursuer.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t see anything. Then, a moment later, he
was dragged into a room and thrown onto the floor.

At long last he was able to see who he was dealing with. It was the
very same middle-aged cultivator who had killed his first body the
previous day.
The man’s eyes were as cold as ice, and looking into them caused
the Gruegloom cultivator’s heart to pound in his chest. Suddenly,
he felt his jaw being broken, and the pain caused veins to bulge
out on his face.

Thanks to the broken jaw, he couldn’t bite his tongue to commit

suicide. And because he had no cultivation base or battle prowess
in this new body yet, there was no other way to kill himself.

As the Gruegloom whimpered, Xu Qing extended his hand and

scattered some poison powder onto the Gruegloom cultivator.

It wasn’t a very deadly poison. Instead, it was a concoction Xu

Qing had devised that made the body more sensitive to pain. After
watching the powder fall onto the Gruegloom and seep into his
body, Xu Qing expressionlessly reached out and started breaking
his fingers.

Pop. Pop.

One after another.

The pain caused the Gruegloom to tremble. And the poison made
it all worse. It became a tempest in his mind that erupted in the
form of a bloodcurdling scream. And because of his broken jaw,
his scream caused even more pain. But he couldn’t hold back.

Xu Qing heard the sound, but didn’t react. He just kept working
until the Gruegloom cultivator’s hand was a mangled mess. Then
he fed him a medicinal pill to keep him conscious.

The process continued, for though the Gruegloom cultivator

screamed, his eyes did not contain one particular emotion that Xu
Qing was familiar with: terror.

From beginning to end, he screamed and screamed. But despite

the pain, he wasn’t afraid!

As a result, Xu Qing’s eyes grew colder. Eventually, the

Gruegloom’s entire arm was mangled, so Xu Qing moved on to
the other arm, starting with the fingers.

After that, he took out a dagger. The Gruegloom’s screams had

begun to weaken at that point, but he started on the legs
nonetheless, not letting a square inch of flesh go untouched.

There was blood everywhere, but the Gruegloom wasn’t dead,

thanks to the medicinal pills Xu Qing kept giving him. The entire
time, despite all the screaming, the Gruegloom cultivator’s eyes
shone with defiance and provocation.

Suddenly, the Gruegloom spoke by means of divine will. “Want to

know why I’m screaming? Because you’re not the first person to
do this to me, nor will you be the last. And I’ve long since
mastered an ability to vent pain by means of sound.”

The voice spoke to Xu Qing even while he was screaming, almost

as if he were two different people.
“I know that you don’t dare to truly kill me. Are you here to avenge
Grandmaster Bai? When the old fogey died, he was writing a
letter. Who knows, maybe it was a letter to you. I don’t know how
you keep finding me, but I bet you want to know who hired me.
You want to figure out who the mastermind is. Well, I know who it
is. And if you want to know... too bad. I’m not going to tell you.”

Eyes bloodshot, the Gruegloom continued to scream. That is, until

Xu Qing punched him so hard his jaw completely shattered,
making it impossible for the screams to leave his body.

But then, the Gruegloom started laughing maniacally, deep in his

chest.

“Wanna know how I killed the old man? Hahaha! I originally

planned to possess that girl Tingyu. But that didn’t seem very fun.
So guess who I went with in the end?”

Xu Qing suddenly stopped moving and looked at the Gruegloom,

his eyes narrowed as he pulsed with terrifying fluctuations.

The Gruegloom cultivator was shocked by this. The reality was

that he hadn’t been completely truthful. Although he wasn’t afraid
of dying, and had become used to torture, it was Xu Qing’s
ruthlessness that left him feeling astonished. That was especially
true considering that, during this entire time, Xu Qing hadn’t said a
single thing.
It was like he didn’t care about anything other than the torment. He
seemed to have done this before, and what was more, he wasn’t
showing any signs of letting up. For example, he hadn’t cut any
major blood vessels. In fact, it all led the Gruegloom to the
conclusion that this person... had done this kind of thing countless
times in the past.

He’s a psycho! A degenerate!!

He had been hoping to rile this person up and provoke his own
death. Though each body he possessed had a built-in death time,
on this occasion, he wanted to die early.

The totem tattoo on Xu Qing’s back flared to life, and black flames
erupted into the shape of a golden crow. It converged on Xu
Qing’s right hand, which he then pressed onto the Gruegloom’s
forehead.

Massive force erupted out, causing the Gruegloom cultivator’s

eyes to go wide as his body withered. Massive amounts of energy
and blood flowed into Xu Qing’s palm, and thanks to the unsteady
emotions, more of the essence mist appeared than before.

That mist contained the Gruegloom’s essence power.

On their initial encounter, Xu Qing hadn’t been able to absorb

much essence. But this time, thanks to the emotions riled up by
the torment, the golden crow was able to take a lot.
In the last moment before the Gruegloom died, Xu Qing quietly
spoke for the first time.

“This isn’t over. See you soon.”

Deathblade's ThoughtsMany thanks to Patriarch Meng Hao for the

review. Wait... wut? 👀 What are you doing here? Take some
money, take some money! 💸

Many thanks to Patriarch Meng Hao for the review. Wait... wut?
👀 What are you doing here? Take some money, take some
money! 💸
Chapter 210: A Bird in a Cage

The room was quiet now. No screams echoed within it.

Xu Qing closed his eyes as he sensed the unique essence the

golden crow had absorbed. There wasn’t enough of it to use the
ability, but it could at least be used to get a fix on the next location
even faster.

I bet... he’ll be terrified when he resurrects again. But not terrified

enough. I’ll probably need to kill him a few dozen times before it
gets strong enough.

Xu Qing opened his eyes and looked at his shadow.

The shadow was currently stretched out through the blood to the
corpse. After a few breaths of time passed, the shadow returned,
then sent pulses of emotions to indicate a new direction to follow.
It also included a request.

“Pursuit... I’m skilled... bring prisoner....”

There were three reasons why the most recent kill lasted so long.
One was that Xu Qing couldn’t dispel the ruthless fury in his heart.
The second was that the golden crow needed time to absorb the
essence. And the third was that the shadow needed time to
consume the other party’s shadow, and thus get a solid fix on
where to go next.
This time around, given the amount of essence Xu Qing had
absorbed, the shadow could now identify where the Gruegloom
was with precise accuracy.

In response to the shadow’s request, Xu Qing nodded.

The shadow immediately released fluctuations of happiness and

excitement.

Face expressionless, Xu Qing left the room.

In the two days that had passed, he had come to realize that
someone was watching him. As time passed, the feeling grew
stronger. Given that he didn’t want any attention in the Violet
Lands, he was now trying even harder to be stealthy.

About an hour later, outside the city’s east gate, people were lined
up to leave the city. Most people were in caravans, and there were
plenty of cultivators present.

Among them was a young man in nice clothing. He clearly didn’t

come from an average family, but wasn’t important enough to skip
the line. That indicated he wasn’t from a very impressive bloodline.
As he stood there in line, his face suddenly turned pale, and he
started panting and looking around surreptitiously. This young man
was now... the Gruegloom.

He still wasn’t ready to activate his body outside the city. Once he
did, he wouldn’t be able to get back into the city, and if he was
being chased, that could be a problem. His innate ability only
worked in a limited range. To him, places with high populations
were the most ideal, so he didn’t want to leave the city unless
absolutely necessary. After all, if that body were to be killed, it
would be far more harmful to him than when he possessed
someone.

He was hoping to use this most recent body to lure his pursuer out
into the open, then leapfrog back into the city. After all, if this body
died, it wouldn’t be a very big deal to him.

Given that he had been tracked down three times in a row, he

knew his pursuer had a way to find him. What that method was, he
didn’t know, and thus couldn’t guard against it. He was feeling
more and more uneasy, especially because of the final words his
pursuer had spoken. Those words had chilled him to the core.

Of even greater significance was the fact that, after this latest
resurrection, he got the feeling he had lost something very, very
important. In turn, that caused a sensation of deadly crisis to build
within him.

This guy is depraved! That said, I refuse to believe that, given

what I’m capable of, he can truly get the best of me!

Given how distracted he was, he didn’t notice that, within the cast
shadow of one of the city guards at the gate, was an eye.
As the Gruegloom got closer to the gate, a mosquito flew over and
silently landed on his neck. The Gruegloom didn’t even notice
when the mosquito plunged its proboscis into his skin. A moment
later, a voice reached his ears via divine will.

“My lord and master wanted me to say hi.”

The mosquito then exploded, a host of tiny black beetles erupting

from inside. They instantly burrowed into the Gruegloom cultivator.

The Gruegloom cultivator’s new body trembled, and he released a

miserable shriek. The alarmed people in the crowd moved away
from him as he toppled onto the ground with a thud, then melted
into a pool of blood.

A moment later, one of the city guards shivered, closed his eyes,
then opened them as a different person.

Taking advantage of the chaos, he immediately turned to walk out

of the city. But then, he suddenly felt unable to move. Eyes shining
with disbelief, he tried to look down at himself but was unable. In
fact, he even started talking in a bizarre voice.

“Aha! I did it! I got you.”

The guard slowly turned, smiled and called a greeting to one of the
other guards, then quickly walked off. As he hurried away, eyes
emerged from the shadows of all the nearby guards, flew over,
and disappeared into the shadow of the walking guard.
Astonishingly, all of the guards had shadow eyes, and had been
simply waiting for the Gruegloom to show his face.

The Gruegloom had miscalculated, and fell prey to Xu Qing’s

shadow.

The Gruegloom’s eyes were now full of terror. Never in his life had
he ever encountered anything like this, and his emotions were so
unstable he felt like he might collapse. As of this moment, he was
well and truly afraid. He had finally run into another grue that was
actually more terrifying than himself!

And thus, the delighted shadow sent the city guard skipping down
the street, before eventually turning into an alley and entering an
abandoned house. There were a lot of abandoned houses in the
Violet Lands’ capital city, and it wasn’t unusual for bodies to be
found in them.

Upon entering the house, the Gruegloom saw Xu Qing sitting

there, calmly waiting.

After looking at Xu Qing, the Gruegloom fell to the ground into a

kneeling position, then started slapping himself over and over
again on the face.

Ignoring him, Xu Qing looked toward the door. “Since you’re here,
come on in.”
The shadow stopped the Gruegloom from slapping himself for a
moment, then resumed.

Meanwhile, the air outside the door rippled as a young man

appeared. He wore a beautiful garment, as well as a jade pendant
that glowed with soft light. He was handsome, but had mixed
emotions in his eyes. He was none other than... Chen Feiyuan.

Xu Qing looked at him and sensed a strange aura. His cultivation

base fluctuations weren’t very strong, but Xu Qing still got a sense
of danger from him. At the same time, his aura seemed incredibly
weak. That was one reason why not even Xu Qing’s shadow had
noticed him.

Chen Feiyuan entered the house, sat down, and looked at the
Gruegloom cultivator slapping himself.

Then Xu Qing realized what was happening. Chen Feiyuan was

only in the Qi Condensation level, yet his blood emanated a
sensation of ancient time. It was as if there were some object
contained within him.

“Did you become a living treasure?” Xu Qing asked.

“No, not a living treasure,” Chen Feiyuan replied. “In the Violet
Lands, members of the direct bloodline of each of the eight clans
can form a symbiotic relationship with their clan’s sole magical
treasure. When I returned home last time, I started the process. It
isn’t complete yet. This is one of the reasons the clan chiefs in the
Violet Lands have such amazing battle prowess. Although our
cultivation is important, as well as our cultivation base, our blood is
even more important.”

“It’s a very gruish cultivation method,” Xu Qing said softly.

“The royal clan of the Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan were
very gruish. This was their innate ability. They were able to form
symbiotic relationships with any magical treasure. Later, the eight
clans stole that ability from them. Then, thanks to our isolationism
and inbreeding, that innate ability finally reappeared in our blood.”
Chen Feiyuan shrugged. Looking at Xu Qing, he continued,
“Congratulations on your rise to prominence in Seven Blood
Eyes.”

“You’ve changed a lot,” Xu Qing replied, sounding very serious.

The Chen Feiyuan he remembered wasn’t like this. Truth be told,
he had known for days that someone was watching him. Following
him. But until today, he hadn’t been sure who it was.

“Some of it is growing up. Some of it is because of Teacher’s

influence. And some of it is because of the magical treasure.”
Chen Feiyuan shook his head. “Besides, you’ve changed a lot too.
I never thought that wimpy brat from the scavenger basecamp
would end up in the Seven Blood Eyes echelon.” Chen Feiyuan
looked back at the Gruegloom slapping himself, and his eyes filled
with killing intent. “Is this him?”
Xu Qing nodded. “Yes. At least, one of his bodies.”

“I visited the last place you went. There was a lot of blood. This
time... let me have a go.” His eyes filled with ruthless madness, as
well as deep hatred.

Xu Qing nodded, stood, and walked out. His shadow came with
him. And as the shadow released the Gruegloom, bloodcurdling
screams and agonized shrieks rang out in the house. They only
lasted for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. The level of
torment didn’t come close to what Xu Qing had unleashed.

Eventually, Chen Feiyuan walked out, still trembling, and still filled
with madness. His eyes were bloodshot as he stopped next to Xu
Qing and took a deep breath.

“Tingyu was sure you would come. I told her you wouldn’t. Xu
Qing, the great clans in the Violet Lands have no idea you’re here.
I made sure they didn’t find out. For now. There are limits to what I
can do. I can’t keep the city locked down for very long. Avenge
Teacher’s death, and then get out of here. As fast as you can.
Otherwise you’ll be in danger. There are some old codgers in the
great clans who’ll do anything to avoid death. Anything. To them,
that Seazombie bounty is very attractive. You’re on your own now,
Xu Qing. Take care.” With that, Chen Feiyuan walked away.

Xu Qing could sense a bit of Grandmaster Bai on Chen Feiyuan,

and could tell how much he hated the Violet Lands, but at the
same time, wanted to change them.

“Take care, Elder Brother,” he said.

Chen Feiyuan stopped walking, but didn’t look back. A moment

passed and he started walking again, looking more determined
with each step. Finally, he disappeared.
Chapter 211: Controlled Completely

Xu Qing walked back into the house.

The Gruegloom cultivator lay on the floor, looking like the

character 大. Other than his head, there was no flesh on his body.
Only bones. Yet he wasn’t dead. A glowing red light surrounded
his head, keeping him alive. Obviously, Chen Feiyuan had used a
special technique to keep the Gruegloom alive while he vented his
fury.

As Xu Qing approached, the Gruegloom looked at him listlessly.

Xu Qing put his hand on the Gruegloom’s head and unleashed
Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits. The head trembled as
essence power flowed into Xu Qing.

A moment later, the Gruegloom was dead.

Shortly thereafter, in a public graveyard outside of the city, the

ground exploded, sending dirt and bone fragments in all directions.
A burly man with disheveled hair climbed out into the open. His
expression was vicious, and his eyes gleamed with madness. Also
in his eyes was unprecedented terror.

“They’re both degenerates!” he growled. This burly man was of

course the ‘unkillable’ Gruegloom. He had invested a lot to
prepare this body ahead of time and then put it into a state of
suspended animation. It was unusual in that it had the capability to
sustain a three-flame cultivation base. He’d hoped to avoid using
this body, as it would be very disappointing to lose it. But right
now, he was out of options.

He didn’t dare to stay inside the city anymore. It didn’t matter

whether he hid in one of the eight great clans or not, he was in
extreme danger. This opponent seemed able to stay as close to
him as marrow was to bone. And the grue factor caused him to
feel unrivaled danger. The enemy’s grue had a power that seemed
similar to the Gruegloom’s, so much so that, at long last, the
Gruegloom was experiencing the same dread its own victims
faced.

Thinking about it all, the now-burly Gruegloom shivered. After

looking around to confirm that he was outside of the Violet Lands,
he breathed a sigh of relief.

He shouldn’t be able to track me down anytime soon. I’m too far

away. And thus, I should be able to make my escape.

Even still, he had no idea who was after him. Face grim, he
turned, ignited his life flame and entered the profound radiance
state, then started moving at top speed.

After the first time I died, it took him a whole night to find me. After
the second time, it took him two hours. After the third time, it was
an hour....
After enough time had passed for an incense stick to burn, the
Gruegloom’s expression flickered, and he looked over his shoulder
to see a beam of light rumbling through the air in his direction.
Within that beam of light was a middle-aged man who seemed to
burn with scorching fire and crush everything around him with the
pressure he emanated. The Gruegloom, despite having a three-
flame cultivation base, still felt his eyes stinging just at the sight of
it.

So fast!

He couldn’t have been more astonished. He had previously

thought he understood what kind of person he was dealing with,
but now he realized his assessment was off. Based on what he
was feeling, this person’s power surpassed that of three flames. It
was...

Four flames?

Sweat broke out on his forehead. Without the slightest hesitation,

he ignited the rest of his three flames, and started barreling
forward with frantic speed.

He was correct. Xu Qing did indeed have the power of four flames!
With his life lamp lit, Xu Qing had power equivalent to two life
flames. With his second life flame lit, he had battle prowess the
same as three flames. And when you added in the fleshly body
blessing of Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits, then it was
only natural that his battle prowess was comparable to four
flames!

The reason he had been able to track down the Gruegloom so

quickly was thanks to the direction provided by his shadow.

And because Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits had

absorbed some of the Gruegloom’s essence, to Xu Qing, the
Gruegloom stood out like a bright torch on a dark night.

As soon as the Gruegloom resurrected, Xu Qing sensed him, and

was able to reach him in the time it takes an incense stick to burn.

When Xu Qing spotted him, his eyes burned with killing intent.
Given the speed he was capable of, it seemed like the Gruegloom
was moving in slow motion. In the blink of an eye, Xu Qing arrived
and launched a palm strike at him.

Blood sprayed out of the burly Gruegloom’s mouth as he flopped

out of the sky like a kite with its string cut. When he slammed into
the ground, a boom erupted. As the Gruegloom struggled to his
feet in the crater, Xu Qing closed in again, smashing his knee into
his opponent’s chest.

Blood poured out of the burly Gruegloom’s mouth as he flopped

backward. Then Xu Qing stepped onto his chest, eyes filled with
animosity as he produced a dagger. He stabbed the Gruegloom
once, twice, three times, four times. Seven times. Then he picked
the Gruegloom up, broke his arm, then head-butted him.
The burly Gruegloom screamed. His bones were broken, and it
was in a horrifically mangled state. Compared to Xu Qing, his
three-flame power made him incapable of defending himself. And
now, the terror and astonishment in his eyes reached new heights.
It was now pure madness. Finally, he threw his head back and
howled and prepared to detonate his life flames and kill Xu Qing
along with himself.

However, the power of self-detonation fizzled as the shadow

entered him and swept over his life flames.

The volcanic eruption inside him faded into nothing.

Because of how his profound radiance state was instantly

severed, he suffered a backlash, causing popping sounds to ring
out as many of his dharma apertures collapsed. He fell onto the
ground, bleeding profusely. He could already guess what torment
was coming, and thus, he quickly tried to smash himself in the
head to kill himself.

Except, a black skewer appeared, stabbing through his hand and

preventing him from landing the blow.

As his suicide attempt failed, Xu Qing arrived, killing intent swirling

in his eyes. A sharp cry pierced the air as a golden crow
appeared, gracefully gliding through the air before it started
viciously absorbing the Gruegloom.
The Gruegloom shivered as his energy and blood swept out of him
toward the golden crow, within which was his essence.

Then, Xu Qing stabbed his finger into the Gruegloom’s eye and
shattered his skull.

In the moment before dying, a calm but nightmarish voice reached

the Gruegloom’s ear.

“Don’t be too quick to tell me what I want to know. This is fun....

See you soon.”

An instant later, in the wilderness outside the Violet Lands capital

city, a rabbit suddenly jumped out of the undergrowth and started
racing away at top speed.

However, after less time passed than it takes half an incense stick
to burn, a black dot appeared in the sky that raced in the direction
of the rabbit.

It was a cinereous vulture. Instead of trying to capture the rabbit,

however, it slammed into it, causing it to explode into a mass of
blood and gore. The vulture also died, but just before it did, a cruel
voice echoed out from within it. [1]

“Hello.”

Moments after the rabbit died, a snake started wriggling out of a

tree. After a fraction of an incense stick’s worth of time passed, a
black iron skewer shot through the air and nailed the snake to the
tree. As terror still flickered in the eyes of the dead snake, a
goshawk in the air started flapping its wings even harder than
before. The only thing that awaited it was a golden crow.

As time passed, similar scenes played out over and over in the
wilderness. It didn’t matter that the Gruegloom was using his
innate ability to its ultimate limits. Every single time, he ran into a
black iron skewer, or a golden crow, or another possessed animal,
or Xu Qing himself. His mind was growing unstable. He had died
over and over again. Each instance of dying drained him only a
small bit. But when added on top of each other, the effect grew
more and more pronounced.

And every time it happened, he felt like he was losing more and
more of himself. Eventually it reached the point that, when he was
trying to possess a coyote, he experienced interference.

He’s taking away my innate ability!

When the Gruegloom cultivator realized that, it shook him to the

core. Then Xu Qing caught him and started absorbing him.

“I only have three more times!” he blurted. “Then I’ll die for real!
And if I die you’ll never find out who’s behind this!!”

The only response he got was a palm strike from Xu Qing. He

exploded, and before he died, a sliver of his essence was taken by
the golden crow.
After thirty breaths of time passed, a black crow in the sky called
out, “You’re from Seven Blood Eyes, right? I can tell from the
fluctuations of your techniques. I’m willing to say who the
mastermind is. But I’ll only tell Master Sixth!!”

In the blink of an eye, the iron skewer pierced the crow, and Xu
Qing watched expressionlessly as it dropped out of the sky. Then
Xu Qing looked down at the ground for a moment before landing
and stamping his foot. Cracks spread out over the surface of the
ground, revealing a pangolin huddling below.

Fear filled the pangolin’s eyes as it frantically transmitted divine

will.

“Bring it on! Put me to death. Once I’m dead, you’ll never get
answers. Take me to Seven Blood Eyes to see Master Sixth and
tell everything!!”

Xu Qing pulled his hand back and then smacked the pangolin.

Insanity filled the Gruegloom pangolin’s eyes, and his mind was on
the verge of collapse. Yet despite the sense of impending doom
that filled him, he refused to talk.

Xu Qing’s hand stopped briefly, then he grabbed the pangolin and

examined it coldly.

Only a moment later, Xu Qing started moving toward the teleport

spot the Captain had prepared. It wasn’t far away, so it only took
him a moment to reach it. It was a mountainous valley, within
which was an abandoned teleportation portal. Stepping onto it, Xu
Qing produced his identity medallion and touched it to the surface.
Then he waited.

A short time passed, then the portal activated, and the

teleportation began.

At that exact moment, the pangolin in Xu Qing’s hands shivered

and went limp. In an instant, it died. However, right before it died, a
new light of teleportation glittered, as if someone had teleported
away from that spot before the portal fully activated.

The Gruegloom cultivator had clearly been bluffing. He only

wanted Xu Qing to go to a teleportation portal knowing that he had
a special way to make a clean getaway. And of course, he had
used some unknown method to teleport away to a location no one
could possibly identify.

After that, the teleportation light disappeared, and Xu Qing was

still standing there.

The Gruegloom cultivator had disappeared, but Xu Qing didn’t

seem surprised. Nor was he angry. Glancing down at the dead
pangolin, he tossed it to the side.

Then he closed his eyes for a moment. After, he opened them,

and they glittered with a profound light.
“I’m in a bit of a hurry,” he murmured. “Don’t waste time going to
meet the mastermind.”

1. The cinereous vulture is a Eurasian vulture species. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsMany thanks to Jlp3 for the review!

Many thanks to Jlp3 for the review!

Chapter 212: So, It Was You All Along!

Meanwhile, not very far away from Seven Blood Eyes near the
Forbidden Sea was another abandoned teleportation portal. It
flickered with light, and then a mist appeared above it, which
gradually took a humanoid shape.

After the teleportation was complete, the figure smashed the

teleportation portal to bits. Then he breathed a sigh of relief before
throwing his head back and laughing long and hard. The mist grew
denser, eventually revealing the features of a middle-aged man,
his face filled with extreme complacency.

The truth was that, in the end, he had hoped to be captured by Xu

Qing and then use the power of the teleportation portal to activate
a secret magic. Everything had gone according to plan.

I haven’t lost too much time. Next, I just need to get to my

employer and recite the formula for the supreme yin chosen
assimilation pill, which I already memorized. As of now, I’m the
only one who knows it, so if she doesn’t hand over the payment
item I want, she can forget about ever getting the formula.

Laughing coldly, he burst into motion.

As he sped through the moonlit wilderness, he didn’t notice that,

within his shadow... an eye opened. He was a grue, but he still had
a shadow, and as long as that was the case, he was vulnerable to
Xu Qing’s shadow. Xu Qing had intentionally let the Gruegloom
get away. He had never believed the story about wanting to talk to
Master Sixth. His plan all along had been to lure the Gruegloom
into a sense of safety, then follow him to discover the identity of
the true killer!

Back when searching for countless ghosts haunting the night, Xu

Qing came to a clear understanding of how the shadow eyes
worked. When they were very far away, the images they conveyed
became blurry, but they could still impart a general sense of
direction.

Opening his eyes, he made some adjustments to the teleportation

portal. The other teleportation portal had been destroyed, but that
didn’t matter. He had a direction to move in.

A moment later, he vanished.

Meanwhile, the Gruegloom cultivator was speeding along through

the night near the waterfront. On more than one occasion, he
looked over his shoulder, and the entire time, he was keeping
close watch on his surroundings.

Despite confirming that he wasn’t being followed, he was still

being very cautious. Sadly for him, he didn’t understand how Xu
Qing’s shadow operated, and had no idea that his own shadow
had an eye in it.
That said, the Gruegloom cultivator was being very cautious. He
didn’t immediately go to the spot where his employer waited. He
spent the entire night taking a roundabout route before eventually
going to the shore. Eventually, he spotted a merchant vessel off in
the distance.

“Hey!” he shouted. “Come meet me! I have the item you want!”

Then he stood there, quietly keeping an eye on his surroundings.

However, he never noticed the eye in his shadow, which was
narrowed to a slit, but was still observing him closely. After a long
moment in which nothing happened, the Gruegloom turned and
started moving in a different direction. Obviously, his words
shouted to the merchant vessel had been an act to lure out any
potential enemies in the area.

By now, he was finally starting to feel safe. Looking very pleased

with himself as the light of dawn began to spread, he eventually
reached the shore and jumped into the water. A moment later, a
swordfish nearby shivered, then changed directions and started
moving at high speed.

However... the shadow eye was locked onto the Gruegloom’s true
form, so even when he possessed a new body, the shadow eye
stuck with him. Grues existed on different levels, and the shadow
was obviously on a much, much higher level than the Gruegloom.
In fact, it was almost like the shadow was the grue’s ultimate
nemesis.
Meanwhile, the shadow was pulsing with faint emotions. It had
come to realize that it and the Gruegloom were a good match. If it
hadn’t attempted to possess Xu Qing but instead this
Gruegloom….

The shadow suddenly forced itself to stop thinking such evil

thoughts. No, the Gruegloom was not a good match for it. It didn’t
measure up to Fiendish Xu, and was only food. How could the
shadow possibly consider possessing food?

The thoughts made the shadow feel embarrassed but at the same
time terrified as it recalled the torment it had endured at the hands
of Fiendish Xu. Forcing itself to cheer up, it worked hard on
observing what was happening and conveying the information to
Xu Qing.

The Gruegloom had no idea what was happening.

Time passed. The possessed swordfish sped through the water,

taking a wide, arcing path. The Gruegloom switched hosts seven
or eight times, picking a different sea beast each time. Finally, on
the evening of the second day, it possessed a starfish.

Riding the waves, the starfish eventually landed on a black sand

beach within Seven Blood Eyes territory.

Seawater dripped down onto the black sand, and moonlight shone
down onto the frothy water. Everything was mysterious and quiet.
The Gruegloom starfish lay on the sand, not moving at all.

Time passed, and the night wore on. Eventually, the deepest part
of night came and went. Dawn was approaching.... Soon it would
be time for the sun to replace the moon.

Similarly... within the pre-dawn light, shadowy figures appeared in

the distance.

There were four of them.

They wore black daoist robes with hoods that covered their heads,
making it impossible to make out their facial features. In fact, the
robes were so voluminous it was impossible to tell if these people
were human or not.

None of them released any cultivation base fluctuations, and there

was also a strange blurry haze around them. It was something that
blocked divine sense, and was not the result of a magical device,
but rather, an innate species ability.

The four figures walked along the beach until they eventually
reached the Gruegloom in starfish form. When they stopped, one
of them just stood there, while the other three moved away in
three different directions. Some distance away, they produced
disc-like objects which they placed on the ground and studied.
They were obviously scanning the area. After finishing, they turned
around and stood in place respectfully.
A breeze blew across the shore, carrying with it the pungent
aroma of the sea. As it did, it stirred the garment of the figure
standing next to the starfish. As the hood of the garment shifted...
a strand of blue hair appeared!

Simultaneously, the figure within the hood spoke in a melodious

voice.

“You’re late.”

The starfish on the ground responded, “I almost got killed in the

Violet Lands. You didn’t tell me this mission was going to involve
dealing with a degenerate psycho! He was more of a grue than
me!”

“We had no idea that would happen,” came the response. “You’ll
be fully compensated. Now, hand over the item.”

The breeze picked up, enough that the hood of the robe tumbled
back, revealing an extremely pretty face. She had a mass of blue
hair, as well as bright blue eyes, with skin as fair as jade. She was
none other than... the Seastar princess who had come to visit
Seven Blood Eyes! [1]

Upon arriving at Harbor 176, she had given Xu Qing a conch shell,
and had frequently come to visit him afterward. On none of those
occasions did she ever seem like she was plotting or scheming,
and had always seemed to admire Xu Qing. She had asked a lot
of seemingly random questions, but if you considered the group of
questions as a whole... it was obvious she had been trying to learn
more about Xu Qing’s personality and habits.

When you know a lot about someone, you can target them easier.
All of it had been part of her plan. Everything had been devised
with Xu Qing in mind.

“Hey, slow down,” the Gruegloom said. “Considering all of the

chosen you’ve captured over the years, including many from
Seven Blood Eyes, you have plenty of primary medicinal
ingredients. You said you would compensate me, so I also want a
supreme yin chosen assimilation pill!”

While the princess stared down at the starfish, one of the other
black-robed Seastar people said, “Princess, we don’t have much
time left. The elders’ powers are limited, and they can only keep
us concealed for so long before Seven Blood Eyes notices
something.”

“You’ll be rewarded back in our territory. Don’t worry, you can go

back with us.” Without the slightest hesitation, the princess
reached down and picked up the Gruegloom in starfish form.

However, right then...

A cold voice rang out, filled with killing intent.

“So, it was you all along!”

The moment the voice started talking, the Gruegloom starfish
trembled and unhesitatingly self-detonated, killing himself.

At the same time, the Seastar princess’ expression flickered, and

she shot backward. The other three Seastar cultivators
immediately unleashed their cultivation bases to protect her.

She reacted too slowly. A figure moved with lightning-like speed in

her direction. No longer was this person disguised as a middle-
aged man. It was Xu Qing in his true form. Within him was a
burning force like a continent on fire, and he was surrounded by a
massive sea of black flames. And his killing intent surged to
heaven.

Beneath his feet was a massive bluegreen dragon, like a vicious

avenger, and behind him was a golden crow surrounded by black
fire. Xu Qing was not holding back anything. He was letting all of
his murderous rage out!

“Xu Qing!!” the Seastar princess blurted, her pupils constricting.

But before she could back away, Xu Qing was right in front of her,
launching a blow. Intense rumbling sounds echoed out as the
ground below exploded. A huge crater opened up, and all four of
the Seastar cultivators coughed up mouthfuls of blood.

One of them stepped forward to defend against the attack, but Xu

Qing, in his rage, directed a palm strike at him, causing him to
explode and be absorbed by the golden crow.
Xu Qing also extracted his soul, imprisoning it in a dharma
aperture.

The remaining three Seastars were visibly flabbergasted. Without

any hesitation, all three of them tapped into the full potential of
their cultivation bases. Shockingly, two of them were in the two-
flame level, and one was in the three-flame level!

The one with the three flames was the princess herself!

However, their cultivation bases were completely useless. Their

life flames flickered unstably, and obviously wouldn’t remain lit for
long. Meanwhile, Xu Qing, full of rage, erupted with tempestuous
killing intent as he closed in on them.

1. The Seastar princess was introduced in chapter 199. ☜

Chapter 213: Blood-Soaked Garments

Xu Qing had been keeping his killing intent bottled up for a long
time. From the moment he found out Grandmaster Bai had been
assassinated, insane rage had filled him, seeking a release.
Seeking slaughter.

But that wasn’t possible at the time. He had suppressed the killing
intent, and forced himself to remain calm. It was the same in the
Violet Lands. He had been very cautious, and had forced himself
not to outright kill the culprit when he found him.

Instead, he had unleashed torment on him, all with the goal of

finding out who the mastermind was. He had eventually found the
clue he needed. And now he didn’t need to suppress the killing
intent. Instead, he let it erupt.

In the blink of an eye, he arrived in front of one of the Seastar

cultivators.

She had two life flames, but as Xu Qing neared, they flickered
wildly, as though they might wink out at any moment. Then, it was
with extreme animosity and utter madness that he shoved his
hand right into her abdomen. Slipping his fingers around one of
her life flames, he crushed it out of existence!
A boom rang out, along with a tragic scream. In her entire life, this
Seastar cultivator had never experienced pain on the same level
as having one of her life flames destroyed.

But Xu Qing wasn’t done yet. Wrenching his hand to the side, he
grabbed her other life flame and dragged it out of her in a spray of
blood. As it was destroyed, the Seastar cultivator’s dharma
apertures all exploded.

An even more anguish screamed rang out, but it rapidly grew

weak. Blood spilled out of her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, yet Xu
Qing’s killing intent had not lessened. He head-butted her
viciously, causing her delicately beautiful face to explode like a
smashed piece of fruit.

Xu Qing was soaked in blood as he grimly turned his head to look

at the remaining two Seastar cultivators, including the princess.
Behind him, the golden crow let loose a piercing, vicious cry. It
attempted to absorb the fresh corpse but there was nothing there
to absorb, so then it turned its brutal gaze onto the princess.
Beneath the moonlight, Xu Qing’s baleful aura made him seem
like a ferocious god, while the golden crow seemed like an apex
beast, its energy causing heaven and earth to shake violently.

The Seastar princess’ face was pale, and her eyes shone with
terror. “Xu Qing, this whole thing—”
“Get out of here, Princess!!” the other Seastar cultivator shouted.
His entire body burst with light as his life flame burned and his
dharma apertures all erupted. A force of self-detonation began to
build, while at the same time, he performed an incantation gesture
to tap into the three discs that had been set up in the area. The
three discs erupted with a shocking aura, creating numerous bolts
of lightning that shot up into the air like a net, surrounding Xu
Qing.

Seeing that, the Seastar princess gritted her teeth, turned, and
dashed toward the sea. She knew that if she went back to Seven
Blood Eyes, she would never leave.

However, just before she reached the water, a huge sea turtle
suddenly burst out in front of her, its eyes flashing with terror and
despair. At the same time, it growled cruelly as it snapped its
mouth in the princess’ direction. An iron skewer flew from Xu Qing
toward her like a black streak through the air. In the blink of an
eye, the sea turtle slammed into the princess, while at the same
time, the skewer hit her from the other direction.

As that happened, killing intent flared in Xu Qing’s eyes as the

lightning net from the three discs tightened around him. That was
when the power of Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits surged
within him.

He looked up, and the golden crow behind him howled and shot
forth like an arrow from a bow, its phoenix-like tail trailing black
flames. It slammed into the net, and the net collapsed. Then
cracking sounds rang out as the three discs exploded into bits.

Xu Qing was unstoppable! He was currently unleashing every

scrap of four-flame battle prowess possible. Because of that,
trifling two-flame cultivators and their magical devices simply
couldn’t stand up to him.

Xu Qing then vanished, only to reappear in front of the Seastar

cultivator trying to self-detonate. Reaching out, he put his hand on
the cultivator’s head. Unimaginable terror and despair filled the
cultivator’s eyes as Xu Qing then unleashed the power of
absorption. Balefire erupted, extracting the Seastar cultivator’s
soul. The pain caused him to scream shrilly. Then he began
trembling violently as Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits also
began to absorb him.

Energy and blood shot out of his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. In
the space of only two breaths of time, the Seastar cultivator
became a desiccated corpse that toppled over and collapsed into
ashes.

Meanwhile, the sea turtle and the iron skewer had blocked the
path of the Seastar princess, whose face was now as pale as
death. Only moments had passed, yet all of her fellow Seastars
were dead. Turning, she saw Xu Qing walking toward her, surging
with a baleful aura. Terror pushed her mind toward the breaking
point.
She suddenly thought back to when Xu Qing fought that girl in
black from Eastnether Isle, and the fiendish reputation he had
garnered in the Violent Crimes Division. She also thought back to
his beautiful face, which she had gazed at so many times when
she went to visit him.

Everything overlapping, merging together into a reality filled with

unspeakable horror. She flew backward, but not fast enough. Her
shock gave Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior the opening he needed
to send the iron skewer stabbing through her abdomen. Then it
spun around and stabbed toward her again.

As a scream escaped her lips, the sea turtle opened its mouth, bit
down on her elbow, and ripped her arm off. It chewed, a mad
expression on its face, but terror deep in its eyes.

The sea turtle was the Gruegloom cultivator, which he had

possessed after dying in the starfish form. However, before it could
flee, it suddenly found that it couldn’t control this new body at all. It
was a familiar sensation, but there was nothing it could do but
watch in despair as it turned around and swam back to the shore.

And now, the Seastar princess, who had been stabbed through
multiple times, and seemed to be on the verge of total mental
collapse, looked at Xu Qing. Trembling, she piteously wept and
said, “Xu Qing, I’m a victim in this too. I also—”
Before she could say anything else, Xu Qing slapped her, causing
her face to swell up, sending teeth flying and cracking her skull.
The slap also seemed to damage her thinking ability, and caused
her limbs to start twitching spasmodically. The slap also
extinguished two of her life flames. Before she could recover, he
stepped toward her and slapped her again. She screamed as the
other side of her face swelled up, and more teeth flew out
intermixed with blood. This time, her skull seemed almost
completely shattered.

Also, her final life flame exploded out of existence. Then Xu Qing
stepped forward and viciously planted his foot onto the wounds on
her abdomen. Blood sprayed out of her mouth as all of her dharma
apertures shattered, and her cultivation base was crippled.

The pain caused her to teeter on the verge of passing out. But
then Xu Qing shoved a medicinal pill into her mouth, ensuring that
her life force would last longer, and preventing her from going
unconscious.

She lay there screaming from the pain, her face twisting and
distorting. As of now, there was no terror in her eyes. Only
madness and malice. She opened her mouth to speak, but before
she could, Xu Qing punched her, turning her mouth into a mangled
mess.

Coldly eying her, Xu Qing took a deep breath and waved his hand,
causing the bluegreen dragon to quickly consume the sea turtle
and then float up into the air. Meanwhile, Xu Qing grabbed the
Seastar princess and started walking, dragging her behind him.

The grains of beach sand were like knives, slicing agonizingly

through the Seastar princess’ wounded flesh, and making her pain
even more intense than it had been just from the destruction of her
dharma apertures. At this point, her screams almost seemed
animalistic.

As Xu Qing walked, he left behind a long, bloody streak in the

sand.

As the streak of blood grew longer and longer, the screams grew
weaker and weaker. Eventually, Xu Qing was nearing the border
created by the Seven Blood Eyes Formation.

When he spotted the city, he said, “Xu Qing, member of the Seven
Blood Eyes Echelon and director of the Seventh Peak’s Violent
Crimes Division, reporting for duty. The Seastar people have
rebelled. I hereby request that the sect’s grand spell formation
prevent all Seastar cultivators from teleporting away. Furthermore,
do not let them send any messages!”

The spell formation rumbled to life as if to assess his request. But

then, the voice of an old man spoke from the Sixth Peak.

“Request granted!”
As the voice echoed left and right, the Seven Blood Eyes
Formation activated, creating a force of suppression. Meanwhile,
numerous figures flew toward Xu Qing from inside the sect.

The fastest among them was Master Sixth, who seemed to span
the distance with a single step. His Nascent Soul cultivation base
was like a burning sun to Xu Qing, creating maddening scorching
heat all around him.

“What did you find out, Xu Qing?”

Xu Qing took a deep breath as he forced himself to acclimate to

the immense pressure of a Nascent Soul cultivator. Clasping
hands, he said, “Master Sixth, a soulsearch will be most efficient!”

With that, Xu Qing threw the princess onto the ground in front of
Master Sixth. Master Sixth was struggling to control his breathing.
Any of the other peaklords would have been much more hesitant
to perform a soulsearch simply because Xu Qing suggested it. But
he was different. Without the slightest hesitation, he reached out,
clamped his hand onto the Seastar princess’ head, and began a
soulsearch!

Shortly thereafter, the Captain arrived with a handful of others.

Looking very serious as he took stock of the situation, he walked
over to Xu Qing. He noted the screaming Seastar princess, and
also saw the baleful aura that surrounded the expressionless Xu
Qing. He clasped Xu Qing’s shoulder.
“Your Elder Brother will bear this burden with you, little Ah Qing!”
Chapter 214: Dharmic Decree of
Extermination

Xu Qing’s eyes were bloodshot as he turned and looked at the

Captain.

“Life is a unique thing, little Ah Qing. It’s full of both bitter grief and
sweet happiness. It never has just one or the other. In fact, it can’t.
Not even the god above us in the sky can change that. We’re
people, not animals, and therefore... I understand your sorrow, and
I understand your rage. I guess what I’m trying to say is, do what
you have to do. Follow your heart, and live life the way you want to
live it.”

The Captain smiled, and it seemed as bright as the sun.

That light entered Xu Qing’s eyes and illuminated the killing intent
within him, provoking an unusual sensation. He didn’t say anything
in response. He didn’t hear things like that very often. Only two
people had ever talked to him about the principles of life, and they
were Sergeant Thunder and Grandmaster Bai. A moment passed,
and then Xu Qing looked at the Captain and nodded solemnly.
Then he turned back and waited for Master Sixth to finish the
soulsearch.

Xu Qing had handed over the Seastar princess, but not the
Gruegloom. He had not yet inflicted enough torment on the
Gruegloom, nor had he extracted all the information there was to
be had from him.

Now that the mastermind had been unmasked, whatever further

information was needed would be provided by the Seastar
princess.

As Master Sixth performed the soulsearch, he trembled, and veins

bulged on his face and neck. He muttered in rage, then suddenly
barked an exclamation of surprise. Finally, it seemed he had seen
everything he had needed to see, as he let loose a shout of rage.
The Seastar princess exploded into a haze of blood as Master
Sixth extracted her soul and popped it into his mouth. As he
chewed the soul viciously, his eyes turned completely bloodshot.

Without uttering a single word, he performed an incantation

gesture and pointed to the sky. In response, the Seven Blood Eyes
Formation rumbled, and streams of light shot down from it to a
specific section of the capital city. The ground quaked, shaking the
city, and screams of agony rang out as numerous figures were
dragged up into the air by the beams of light.

There seemed to be around two hundred of them, all Seastar

cultivators. Shockingly, three of them were Gold Core experts, and
they seemed particularly alarmed and shocked.

They struggled in vain. The Seven Blood Eyes Formation was so

powerful that no matter how they fought back, it did nothing. A
moment later, Master Sixth clenched his hand into a fist.

The two hundred Seastar cultivators were wrenched through the

air in front of Master Sixth. The force was so intense that many of
them couldn’t stand up to it, and their bodies were ripped to
shreds. Those who survived lurched to a stop in front of him,
trembling in terror.

Eyes full of vicious rage, Master Sixth inhaled sharply. Wild colors
flashed in heaven and earth, and an intense wind sprang up. All of
the cultivators hovering in the air screamed shrilly as their bodies
rapidly withered, and their souls were extracted. It was possible to
see soul shadow streams emerging from their eyes, ears, noses,
and mouths, which then streamed to Master Sixth. That included
the Gold Core cultivators. It seemed that, to Master Sixth, there
was no difference between Qi Condensation, Foundation
Establishment, and Gold Core!

Master Sixth began chewing up the roughly two hundred souls as

he simultaneously extracted information from them. As he did, his
eyes became even more deeply bloodshot. Agonized shrieks rang
out until, eventually, all of the souls had been consumed.

Master Sixth closed his eyes for the space of a few breaths worth
of time. Then he opened them, revealing towering killing intent.
Taking a deep breath, he looked at Xu Qing.
It was a struggle, but Xu Qing managed to stand up to the
terrifying pressure of the Nascent Soul level as he looked back at
Master Sixth.

“Xu Qing, I owe you for this. If Master Seventh doesn’t take you in,
then I want you to be one of my successor apprentices!”

With that, Master Sixth produced a blue jade slip. It was different
from any type of jade slip Xu Qing had ever seen before. It didn’t
look like it was made from spirit stone, but rather, some material
that was even more precious than that. And it pulsed with an aura
comparable to the Gold Core level.

Hefting the blue jade slip, Master Sixth quietly said, “Seventh Sib!”

The truth was that he didn’t need to speak the words audibly. He
could have projected them via divine will. However, because Xu
Qing was responsible for bringing everything to light, he spoke out
loud to make sure that Xu Qing could hear.

“I got to the bottom of it,” he said quietly. “Years ago, the Seastar
people acquired the first half of the formula for the supreme yin
chosen assimilation pill. After that, they secretly started kidnapping
chosen disciples from species far and wide. They worked hard to
keep the matter top secret. There were many, many victims over
the years, and one of them was my son.

“The active ingredient in the drug is already complete, but they

were missing the second half of the formula. That’s why they
assassinated Grandmaster Bai.

“The Seastars came to Seven Blood Eyes to further this

conspiracy of theirs. Every part of the plan, from the kidnapping of
the chosen to the murder of Grandmaster Bai, was ordered
directly by the Seastar chieftain. On the surface, it seems like a
very daring plan.

“But the reality is that the Seastars are weak. They don’t even
have a single Nascent Soul expert. Even if it turns out their
patriarch was in on it, and helped them cover everything up, it’s
not possible that a group like the Seastars could pull off something
this incredible without leaking any clues.

“There has to be someone else involved that we don’t know about.

What do you suggest we do?”

Off to the side, Xu Qing struggled to breathe steadily. His eyes

burned with killing intent, and he radiated a baleful aura. He heard
the Seastar chieftain was the ultimate mastermind, and also heard
Master Sixth suggest that there was someone else involved in the
conspiracy. As for who that mysterious conspirator was, Xu Qing
had the feeling they would find out soon. However, at the moment,
his biggest desire was to slaughter the Seastar chieftain.

As Xu Qing’s killing intent simmered, he heard Master Seventh’s

voice coming from the blue jade slip.
“The Seastar people violated our alliance treaty, and thus deserve
to be exterminated. Time is of the essence, but I’m unable to
return....”

“You don’t need to return,” Master Sixth replied. “If you don’t mind,
confirm with the patriarch that it’s okay for me to handle it. I’ve
been keeping this bottled up for years. I’m ready for a slaughter.”

The killing intent in Master Sixth’s eyes was just as intense as Xu

Qing’s, to the point where it seemed he might not be able to
control it much longer. For the space of about a dozen breaths of
time, there was no response from the jade slip. Then, a grim,
hoarse voice echoed out from it.

“Sixth Apprentice, heed my command!”

“Patriarch!” Master Sixth said respectfully. Xu Qing, the Captain,

and the others present all bowed their heads.

“You’ve had it rough all these years.... Make sure that none of the
Seastar people survive. Exterminate them all!”

Master Sixth looked up, and his eyes radiated madness. Xu Qing
also looked up, and his eyes overflowed with killing intent.

“Your orders shall be followed, Patriarch!” Master Sixth took a

deep breath, then threw his head back and laughed long and hard.
There was nothing joyous about that laughter. Instead, it contained
boundless grief and madness, and toward the end, it almost
sounded like weeping. Then he waved his hand, and the distant
Sixth Peak started rumbling loudly. After a moment, the entire
mountain peak rose up into the air in a massive cloud of dust.
Deafening rumbling sounds echoed out in all directions, while an
indescribable pressure weighed down.

At the same time, countless mansion grottoes on the Sixth Peak

opened up, and disciples poured out, including many Foundation
Establishment disciples, and even Gold Core experts as well.

Although most of the Sixth Peak disciples were on the Seazombie

battlefield, if there was one thing the Sixth Peak didn’t lack it was
magical devices and puppets. Terrifying rumbling sounds echoed
out as countless puppets flew out into the air, numbering in the
thousands. At the same time, numerous magical devices
appeared, all of them designed for warfare.

From a distance, the majestic Sixth Peak, glittering with boundless

light, and pulsing with immense pressure and energy, looked like a
gigantic floating fortress!

Master Sixth strode forward, and as he neared, the Sixth Peak

trembled. The puppets, the Foundation Establishment disciples,
and the Gold Core experts all dropped to their knees and
kowtowed.

“Our respects, Peaklord!”

The sound of their voices echoed up into heaven.

Xu Qing was deeply shaken.

Even the Captain’s eyes were wide as he murmured, “The old

man said he and Sect Uncle Sixth both used to be famous chosen,
but that over the years, Sect Uncle Sixth wallowed so much in
grief that he got careless with his cultivation... Is this what careless
cultivation looks like? He turned the entire Sixth Peak into a
freaking fortress. This is unheard-of! We didn’t even see anything
like this in the Seazombie war.”

Master Sixth suddenly stopped in midair and looked down coldly at

the Captain. The Captain shrank back. Then Master Sixth’s gaze
shifted to Xu Qing, and his eyes softened.

“Xu Qing, take this to keep you safe.” He waved his hand, and
from within the alcohol gourd that hadn’t left his hand for years, a
stream of light appeared and shot toward Xu Qing. Along the way,
it transformed into a blue pendant. It stopped in front of Xu Qing,
floating in the air and radiating magnificent light. Based on what
Xu Qing could sense, it contained a boundless power of
protection.

“Nascent Soul shield!!” the Captain breathed, his eyes wide with
envy.

“Also, Xu Qing,” Master Sixth continued, “go to that museum of

yours in Harbor 176. Get the scroll with the patriarch’s calligraphy.
Those four characters each contain a divine ability. With that scroll
in hand, plus my shield, you can come with me to slaughter
Seastars to your heart’s content! You will have your revenge!! The
two of us are going to vent our hearts out today!”

With that, Master Sixth stepped onto the Sixth Peak.

Xu Qing nodded. He was ready for killing. He wanted to cut down

any Seastar he saw. He wanted to kill the Seastar chieftain. He
wanted to kill until blood flowed like a river. If he didn’t, his
frustration couldn’t be dispelled. If he didn’t, his teacher couldn’t
rest in peace.

“Orders heard, Master Sixth!” Xu Qing clasped hands, then raced

toward the Port District. Upon reaching the museum, he nodded to
the two Gold Core elders standing guard, took the patriarch’s
calligraphy scroll, and then headed toward the Sixth Peak.

Together with the Captain, he stepped onto the Sixth Peak. After
that, intense rumbling sounds echoed out, and heaven and earth
seemed to distort as the entire mountain peak pierced through the
air toward the Forbidden Sea.

As it moved, the entire mountain suddenly grew blurry, and then it

disappeared in a greater teleportation!

Death was coming to the Seastar people!

Chapter 215: Fury Burning the Sea

The Sixth Peak of Seven Blood Eyes had been transformed by

Master Sixth into a huge fortress.

Other than Master Sixth, no one knew exactly how many magical
devices were hidden in the Sixth Peak, or what exactly the fortress
was capable of, as this was the first time it had been deployed. Its
might was not fully on display, but when it disappeared via greater
teleportation, all onlookers were shocked to the core.

A greater teleportation was a divine ability that far surpassed a

minor teleportation. It was capable of a much greater range,
though at the cost of immense dharma force. What was more, it
could only be imagined how much dharma force was required to
teleport an entire mountain fortress.

In the blink of an eye, the huge mountain appeared in the air far,
far, away over the Forbidden Sea. Beneath it, the sea roiled and
countless sea beasts looked up, trembling. None of them dared
come up to the surface. The merchant ships were like leaves on
the water. The cultivators on those ships looked up at the gigantic
mountain, and their expressions were that of astonishment.

Even being on the mountain, Xu Qing was also shocked. Next to

him, the Captain looked left and right, his eyes glittering.
Standing ahead of them was Master Sixth, holding his alcohol
gourd. His face was grim, and his blood seemed to be boiling. As
he directed the Sixth Peak forward, thunder rumbled in the sky,
and lightning shot down like silver snakes.

“The Seastars have a small population,” Master Sixth said coolly,

“especially when compared to Seven Blood Eyes. They’re not
even as numerous as the Merfolk. They only have seven Gold
Core cultivators, and I already killed three of them. That leaves
four.

“The strongest is the Seastar patriarch, who’s in the great circle of

Gold Core. However, I suspect he might have broken through
secretly, and has been keeping his true level hidden. The other
three are in the early Gold Core level. That includes the Seastar
chieftain, who’s the son of the patriarch.

“The fact that such a minor species would dare to provoke Seven
Blood Eyes, as well as other species with powerful chosen, hints
that something else is going on here. Therefore, be careful, Xu
Qing. It’s possible... that the Seastars are keeping something very
powerful hidden.”

Xu Qing nodded silently.

The Captain didn’t say anything. In fact, because Master Sixth and
Xu Qing weren’t paying attention to him, he stepped over to the
face of the mountain and rubbed it thoughtfully. From the gleam in
his eyes... it seemed he was really fond of it.

Before the Captain could take much time to examine the

mountain, deep rumbling sounds echoed out as the entire peak
underwent a second greater teleportation. This time... it
reappeared in the air above the Seastars’ homeland.

They occupied a single island that lay roughly between Seven

Blood Eyes and the Merfolk Isles. Looking at it from above, it
resembled a huge starfish, although the truth was that the
Seastars had built it that way from the ground up. It wasn’t actually
some immense living starfish. There were five major cities, most of
the buildings were made from coral. Even more unique was the
fact that Seastar Island was covered with coral trees! They were
massive, and at night, they emitted a five-colored glow. During the
daytime, though, they were gray. There were buildings constructed
on the huge coral trees as well.

The population of the island seemed to be in the hundreds of

thousands. Having benefited from the protection of Seven Blood
Eyes for many years, they had not suffered any difficulties, and
had prospered greatly.

The sudden appearance of the Sixth Peak obviously attracted

immediate attention. Although the Seastars didn’t recognize the
Sixth Peak in its fortress state, there were many of their top
experts who realized it emanated the fluctuations of Seven Blood
Eyes techniques. Because of that, the moment the mountain peak
appeared, a stream of divine will emerged from the island.

“To what do we owe the honor of your visit, Seven Blood Eyes?
Whichever senior member has come, please forgive us for any
breach of decorum.”

The person sending out the divine will was an old man in a five-
colored daoist robe. He was all smiles, but it was obvious he was
concerned as he floated up into the air and clasped hands in the
direction of the Sixth Peak.

The only response he got was the flick of a finger from the furious
Master Sixth. Then the entire Sixth Peak rumbled and dropped
down toward the island like a huge sealing stamp. Immense
pressure preceded it, crushing down onto the Seastars, causing
numerous mountains on the island to crumble. The land quaked,
and massive crevices snaked out everywhere.

The old man who had come out to receive them was none other
than the Seastar patriarch. Face falling, he said, “What’s the
meaning of this, Master Sixth?”

“What’s the meaning of it? You tell me, you bastard!!” Master
Sixth’s voice dripped with uncontrollable killing intent as he floated
out to meet the Seastar patriarch. Then he reached out with a
vicious grasping motion.

Heaven went dark, the stars dimmed, and the sky fractured!
The Seastar patriarch had no way to evade the move. Master
Sixth’s hand latched onto his head and crushed down viciously.
What resulted was a boom as the patriarch’s head exploded.

However, as he exploded, a star-shaped blood shadow flew out,

then formed into a humanoid shape off into the distance. Coughing
up blood, he said, “Master Sixth, this must be a
misunderstanding!”

Master Sixth looked coldly at the reshaped Seastar patriarch.

“So you have been hiding the level of your cultivation base. You
broke through to Nascent Soul. Well, that doesn’t matter. It just
makes things interesting.... You let me suffer for years after losing
my son, so I’ll return the favor by letting you watch as your
ancestral land and all your people are destroyed.”

With that, he performed a right-handed incantation gesture and

shoved his hand out. The Sixth Peak rumbled even louder as it
continued to drop rapidly toward Seastar Island. It didn’t land on
the surface, though. Instead, it stopped about 3,000 meters
overhead, whereupon it sent streams of blue fire down. They
looked like rivers of blue flame, instantly incinerating countless
buildings, and provoking bloodcurdling screams everywhere.

“Be assimilated! I’ll assimilate your species, your lands, your

blood! I’ll assimilate all Seastars and turn you into a candle that
will burn day and night in front of the tomb of my beloved son!!”
Master Sixth’s eyes were bloodshot and full of madness as he
waved his hand, causing row upon row of magical devices to
appear on the Sixth Peak. And when they rumbled to life,
countless beams of light shot toward Seastar island. At the same
time, the surrounding puppets thrummed with killing intent as they
charged forth to unleash slaughter. The Sixth Peak disciples and
elders also descended to fight.

Seeing all this, the Seastar patriarch’s expression turned grim. He

wanted to do something to stop the attack, but before he could,
Master Sixth attacked him. Yet again, blood sprayed out of the
Seastar patriarch’s mouth. But then, a flicker of silver flashed
through his eyes, and his energy levels surged, creating a tempest
around him as Master Sixth closed in again.

As that happened, Xu Qing and the Captain leaped off of the Sixth
Peak and shot toward the ground below.

Xu Qing landed on one of the coral trees. The gray coral couldn’t
withstand the force and collapsed beneath him. Xu Qing, his eyes
bloodshot and pulsing with killing intent, dropped down to the
Seastar people below.

The Captain kept pace with him. He could sense the vicious aura
that surrounded Xu Qing, and knew that only blood and slaughter
could get rid of it.
The Seastar people weren’t important to the Captain. But because
Master Seventh had entrusted this matter to him, and because of
his relationship with Xu Qing, he really wanted Xu Qing back to
normal. As a result, he was only here for one reason. To show
support for Xu Qing.

“Kill them, little Junior Brother,” the Captain murmured, his eyes
glittering madly. “In this chaotic world, slaughter is the only way to
truly vent. I went through something like this before. If you don’t
carry out a few slaughters like this, no one will respect you.”

Up ahead, Xu Qing was already carrying out that slaughter. He

had lit his life flames, and his iron skewer circled around him. He
attacked anything that moved, causing massive rumbling sounds
to echo out.

All of a sudden, a Foundation Establishment Seastar appeared in

front of him. Before the cultivator could react, Xu Qing viciously
slammed into him, causing him to explode. As blood and gore
rained down, Xu Qing noticed a tiny silver-colored bug wriggling
out of the flesh. After merely glancing at it, he raced in the
direction of the Seastars’ ancestral temple, where the Seastar
chieftain was currently seated cross-legged while concocting a pill.

While on the way to the island, Master Sixth had already explained
what was to come. Master Sixth would focus his revenge on the
Seastar patriarch, and would also assimilate the Seastar people
as a whole.
Xu Qing’s target was the chieftain, who was the one who had
given the order for Grandmaster Bai to be assassinated.

An entire continent burned inside of Xu Qing as he raced toward

the ancestral temple.

Blue fire rained down from above, destroying buildings and

causing countless Seastars to let loose agonized shrieks. The
ground shattered and then started to melt from the intense heat.
Blue flames began to gather in spots of low elevation, as if to
refine the earth itself. Numerous Sixth Peak puppets, driven by
Master Sixth’s will, carried out slaughter, joined by the Sixth Peak
disciples. Seastar Island was in pure chaos. Coral buildings
shattered, and of the five cities on the island, three were already
engulfed in flames.

As Xu Qing raced forward, a group of Seastar cultivators appeared

in front of him to block his path. He waved his right hand, and
Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits instantly turned them into
corpses. He didn’t slow down at all. The golden crow followed him,
its tail trailing fire like a phoenix. At the same time, he was
surrounded by a black cloud of beetles that resembled a vicious
face. His shadow was with him, as was his iron skewer.

Xu Qing looked like a god of death come to the mortal world,

unstoppable, ready to kill everything!
Chapter 216: A Road of Blood

High in the dome of heaven, Master Sixth laughed. However, it

was a laughter of pain and mourning, filled with indescribable grief
that, over the years of being bottled up, had turned into madness.
The Seastar patriarch had been crushed over and over again in
his hands. But the patriarch had a gruish divine ability to be reborn
after being destroyed. And that ability was driving Master Sixth into
even deeper madness. The deeper his pain and grief, the more his
killing intent raged to heaven. Apparently, he was skinning the
patriarch alive, sending down chunks of bloody flesh to be
incinerated by the fires below. Yet his hatred had not been sated.

Down below, Xu Qing’s eyes were completely bloodshot. He was

also in a state of madness. From the moment he landed on the
island until he reached the ancestral temple, any Seastar he saw
ended up dead.

He waved his right hand, causing a dagger of balefire to appear,

which he slashed through the throat of a Seastar cultivator. A head
flew, and Xu Qing stepped forward to deal with another Seastar
cultivator. His dagger plunged into the enemy’s chest over and
over again. Then it flew through the air to sink into the throat of a
third Seastar cultivator. Then Xu Qing stepped over and slashed
out with another dagger. Another head rolled. Yet again, within the
corpse, Xu Qing saw what appeared to be threads made of silver
worms, which were now severed.

In some cases the threads were made of many worms entwined

together. In other cases a thread was made of a single worm. It
was a very gruish sight. It seemed as if all the Seastar cultivators
had them. Xu Qing had seen them in every Seastar he killed, and
upon collecting some, found that they tried to burrow into him.
Thankfully, his tough flesh made that impossible, and he ultimately
incinerated them. Except, the threadworms had a very strong life
force, and ordinary fire from within Xu Qing wasn’t strong enough
to destroy them. He had been forced to use the golden crow.

Beyond the gruish threadworms’ toughness, it seemed to Xu Qing

that they could influence the Seastar cultivators’ will and soul. Part
of the reason for coming to that conclusion was that he had
noticed the threadworms glittering in the eyes of some of the
Seastar cultivators. Whenever they glittered, the Seastar
cultivators seemed to go absolutely insane, and would attack
without regard to their own lives.

Furthermore, upon devouring Seastar souls with balefire, Xu Qing

came to realize that their souls were incomplete and damaged, as
if they had already been partially devoured. It was the same with
their energy, blood, and essence. Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad
Spirits benefited from all that, but only minimally.
The Seastars looked ordinary on the surface, but had been largely
devoured by some other force.

Master Sixth was right. There’s a lot more going on with the
Seastars than any of us knew.

That said, it didn’t matter much to Xu Qing. He blurred into motion,

the golden crow following behind him. Slaughtering six Seastar
cultivators in a row, he absorbed them. At the same time, Patriarch
Golden Vajra Warrior sent the iron skewer stabbing through one
enemy after another. With every stab, thunder boomed, shaking
the life force of the enemy.

The shadow spread out as well. One after another, eyes appeared
in the shadows of the Seastar cultivators and began to ravenously
devour them. In many cases, before the devouring was complete,
Xu Qing or the patriarch would kill the target. That said, the
shadow didn’t give up. And occasionally, it managed to fully
possess one of the enemy. When that happened, the possessed
Seastar would throw its head back and laugh uproariously before
rushing into the nearest group of Seastars and self-detonating.

All of that... was what Xu Qing led the attack with. What was truly
frightening to the Captain as he watched from further back was the
black cloud that surrounded Xu Qing. The beetles that made up
the cloud seemed able to conquer every obstacle in their path. It
didn’t matter if it was coral trees or Seastar cultivators, they would
ravenously devour them. Bloodcurdling shrieks rang out
constantly. The black beetles even devoured the threadworms,
although it took them a lot of effort to do so.

Regardless, Xu Qing was releasing all of his pent-up fury.

Eventually, he slaughtered his way to the ancestral temple, leaving
behind a wake of blood and bones.

Four figures sat cross-legged outside the temple. All of them

looked up at the same time, and when they did, blue veins bulged
on their faces. They were Seastar cultivators, but they were
different from the others. The first difference was in their aura; all
of them surpassed the three-flame level, though they weren’t fully
in the four-flame level. Second of all, the bulging veins visible on
their faces wriggled. Apparently, there were huge threadworms
inside of them, moving about.

As they caught sight of Xu Qing, he laid eyes on the person

seated cross-legged in front of the pill furnace behind them in the
temple. It was a middle-aged cultivator in a long, green robe
embroidered with golden thread. The complex design emanated a
noble aura, which was augmented by the imperial crown the man
wore. He had a Gold Core cultivation base, as well as a starfish
symbol on his forehead.

The cultivator seemed threatening without being angry, and was

ignoring the mass slaughter going on outside. He remained seated
in place, his eyes closed as he sent energy into the pill furnace. It
was as if he didn’t care at all if his people were wiped out of
existence. The only thing that mattered to him was the pill in the
furnace.

This man was the chieftain of the Seastar people, and was the son
of the Seastar patriarch who was suffering up above.

When Xu Qing’s gaze fell on the man, the killing intent in his heart
erupted to greater heights.

Meanwhile, the four Seastar cultivators on guard outside rose to

their feet. Their eyes did not contain any emotions. However,
within their pupils were white threads as thick as chopsticks. As
one, they entered the profound radiance state, revealing the battle
prowess of three life flames as they closed in on Xu Qing.

Each of them had a cancerous growth on their back that

resembled a starfish, which bolstered their fleshly body power.
Howling, they all unleashed fist strikes! Their fists caused
everything in the area to ripple and distort as wild power raged.

Xu Qing didn’t attempt to evade the attack. He stood in place,

eyes closed as the golden crow’s feathers of black flame spread
out like an imperial robe. Its flaming tail became a cape, and its
head was like an imperial crown that settled on Xu Qing’s head. A
wild and domineering aura pulsed out of Xu Qing, making him
seem like a young emperor. Then his eyes opened.

A boom rang out as the four incoming Seastar cultivators found

that their fists couldn’t come close to harming Golden Crow
Assimilates Myriad Spirits. Instead, the power of their attacks
created a backlash that sent all of them skidding backward.

Before they could think about fleeing, Xu Qing took a step forward,
reached out with his right hand, and completely ignoring the fact
that his opponent was in the profound radiance state, grabbed the
Seastar’s throat. He tightened his fingers, and a crunch rang out.
Then the iron skewer stabbed through the Seastar seven or eight
times.

After that, Xu Qing loosened his grip. As he did, the cape of flames
behind him flared, transforming into a beam that shot toward the
second retreating Seastar. A thump rang out as it slammed into
the cultivator, who let loose an agonized shriek. He continued to
flee, but Xu Qing was faster, slamming into him and causing the
Seastar’s head to explode.

Things weren’t over yet, though. A cloud of black beetles swarmed

over the third retreating Seastar, burrowing into his skin and
devouring him. More bloodcurdling screams rang out.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing reached the fourth and final Seastar

cultivator, who could do nothing but watch in horror as a golden
crow shot out from Xu Qing, spreading balefire all over him and
immolating him.

All of this happened in the briefest spans of time. In the blink of an

eye, four Seastars died. Their energy and blood was taken, their
souls were extracted, and their flesh devoured. Sadly, they were
like pieces of meat that had been left in an icebox for years on
end. They lacked nutrients and flavor, and were as useful as
chicken bones.

Xu Qing waved his hand, and the corpses collapsed into ash and
were blown away in the wind. He wasn’t interested in them. His
eyes were dead set on the Seastar chieftain sitting in front of the
pill furnace.

Meanwhile, the Captain caught up with Xu Qing. Holding an apple

that, for some reason, was now black, he took a bite and looked at
the chieftain.

Grinning, he said, “Wowww, little Junior Brother. The way you’re

looking at this guy, he might as well already be dead!”

However, at that exact moment, the Seastar chieftain’s eyes

snapped open, and they glittered like lightning!

Xu Qing’s mind spun as a tempestuous pressure swept over him.

Thankfully, the pendant hanging around his neck dispelled most of
the pressure.

The Captain took a few steps back, magical symbols glittering in

his eyes. Expression turning a bit crazy, he licked his lips,
revealing that he had some black apple flesh stuck in his teeth.

“Xu Qing, why don’t we work together to kill this guy.”

Xu Qing nodded. Then the two of them rushed toward the Seastar
chieftain in the temple.

The chieftain looked at them with a strange light in his eyes. Then
he laughed. “Interesting. Who could have guessed that two runts
like you, having run into a Gold Core cultivator in a little place like
this, would charge into a fight? I still have enough time to play
around.”
Chapter 217: Fiends of Fire and Ice

As the Captain and Xu Qing charged forth, the Seastar chieftain’s

words rang out and he took a step forward. The moment his foot
touched the ground, his entire body superimposed upon himself,
as if two resentful souls had stepped out, one moving to the left,
the other to the right. In the blink of an eye, the Seastar chieftain
became two versions of himself, one of which headed to the
Captain, and the other to Xu Qing. Closing in on Xu Qing, he
extended his right index finger toward Xu Qing’s forehead.

He sneered as the finger unleashed an explosion of force. It was

the power of Gold Core, and it caused a tremor to pass through Xu
Qing, so violent his life flames flickered on the verge of being
extinguished.

At the same time, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior sent the black
iron skewer out to block the force. However, the Seastar chieftain
simply reached out and flicked the skewer. It was sent spinning off
to the side, cracks spreading out on its surface.

Before it could land, the Seastar chieftain lifted his foot and then
stomped it back down onto the ground. Everything trembled as the
shadow beneath his feet collapsed.

“That’s all?” he said, shaking his head, sending his finger once
again toward Xu Qing’s forehead. Just when it seemed like it
would stab into Xu Qing, the golden crow appeared and inhaled
viciously.

The Seastar chieftain shivered and suddenly turned slightly blurry.

However, his finger continued on its path toward Xu Qing’s
forehead. Just before he completed the movement, flames erupted
from the golden crow.

At the same time, madness flickered in Xu Qing’s eyes as, instead

of dodging, he head-butted the finger. A boom rang out. The
golden crow seemed to sag listlessly, but did manage to absorb a
strand of energy and blood. As for Xu Qing, his forehead smashed
into the Seastar chieftain’s finger, resulting in a cracking sound. A
curious gleam then appeared in the chieftain’s eyes as his finger
was crushed.

A massive force sent Xu Qing hurling backward. However, the

pendant around his neck prevented him from being injured. Even
still, his energy and blood vibrated chaotically. As soon as he
skidded to a stop, he looked up and glared at the astonished
Seastar chieftain.

Off to the side, the Captain was facing the Seastar chieftain’s
other version, which was also reaching toward his forehead with a
finger strike. The Captain’s method of dealing with the attack was
similar to Xu Qing’s, but at the same time, different. The magical
sealing symbols in his eyes flickered out, and his energy suddenly
surged. Just like Xu Qing, he didn’t attempt to dodge the attack or
fall back. But what was different was that he didn’t head-butt the
finger. Instead he opened his mouth and, eyes flickering with a
crazy light, viciously bit down on the finger!

It takes some time to describe these two things, but they actually
happened at exactly the same moment. The Seastar chieftain’s
two versions of himself clashed with Xu Qing and the Captain
simultaneously.

The Captain chomped down on the chieftain’s finger, and though

he didn’t manage to bite it off, he did pierce the skin, causing
blood to ooze out. He also broke a few of his teeth in the process.
He released the finger, though the crazy look never left his eyes;
his hands flashed in a double-handed incantation gesture, creating
a shield to block the Gold Core power that sent him flying
backward.

“How amusing.” The two versions of the Seastar chieftain both

looked down at their fingers, then merged back into a unified
version. The finger immediately healed. Then he unleashed the
power of his Gold Core cultivation base. Xu Qing’s eyes stung as
though the sun were attacking them, yet the killing intent never left
them.

It was the same with the Captain. He was missing a few teeth, yet
that just made it easier for him to lick his lips. He even seemed in
high enough spirits to flash Xu Qing a pleased grin.
The Seastar chieftain snorted coldly, then started walking toward
the Captain. However, before he could even take three steps, his
face fell.

His healed finger was now black, as though it were poisoned. And
the effect was spreading to the rest of his body. If anyone present
was able to look inside his body, they would see it full of countless
black beetles. They were madly devouring the chieftain’s insides,
while at the same time were unleashing massive amounts of
mutagen and other poisons.

This was what happened when Xu Qing and the Captain worked
together.

Xu Qing knew how the Captain operated. He had been there when
the Captain took a bite out of the Seazombie ancestor statue. And
the Captain had done the same thing with that Gold Core octopus.
Therefore, Xu Qing had put some black beetles in the apple the
Captain had been eating.

The Captain knew, but didn’t mind, and had allowed the beetles to
remain between his teeth. When he sank his teeth into the
chieftain’s flesh moments before, it gave the beetles just the
opportunity they needed to enter his flesh.

As the chieftain reacted with shock, the Captain laughed viciously

and rushed forward. Xu Qing also charged forth in attack.
As Xu Qing moved, his shadow stretched out, and the lightning
symbols on the iron skewer flickered to life. A piercing shriek rang
out from the golden crow as it superimposed over Xu Qing.

His life flames ignited, and his life lamp shone. Combined with all
the power of his fleshly body, Xu Qing closed in on the Seastar
chieftain with a fist strike! He backed the fist with everything he
had. All of his life flame and life lamp power, combined with the
strength of the golden crow. He added the explosive power of his
more than 60 dharma apertures. Tempest winds screamed, and a
sea of flames erupted out! It was the fire of the golden crow, the
fire of his life lamp, and the dharma force fire of his life flames,
fueled by his rage!

The Captain also exploded into action. More magical symbols in

his eyes opened, causing the temperature around him to drop
dramatically. As a result, the ground froze, and snowflakes
appeared everywhere. They pulsed with a shockingly frigid
coldness, something that surpassed most grues. In fact, it was so
cold it didn’t just freeze the ground, it could freeze one’s will.

The dome of heaven itself seemed to change as the boundless

frigid energy from the captain contrasted with the scorching heat
from Xu Qing.

Fire and ice rushed from two different directions toward the
Seastar chieftain.
In the blink of an eye, the crazy look in the Captain’s eye grew so
intense that, unexpectedly, the hand of a grue stretched out from
his chest! It was a blue, icy hand that didn’t look human at all. It
had long claws of bone, and within the palm of the hand,
astonishingly, there was a face! It was the face of the Captain
himself, though its eyes were closed as if in sleep.

When the hand appeared, the Seastar chieftain’s eyes widened,

and he tried to dodge out of the way. However, the black beetles
chose that moment to erupt with madness, causing countless
detonations of mutagen and poison within him. As the chieftain
twitched, the hand sticking out of the Captain’s chest clamped
onto his head.

A thump could be heard as boundless coldness swept into the

chieftain, as well as cracking sounds as parts of him froze solid. In
the blink of an eye, Xu Qing followed up with his own attack,
causing an endless sea of flames to sweep over him. He also
chose that same moment to take out the patriarch’s calligraphy
scroll.

“Flame!” he growled. The scroll read Nose With Living Flame, and
in response to Xu Qing’s words, the ‘flame’ character turned into
green fire and swept toward the chieftain.

Killing intent burned in Xu Qing’s eyes as all of the fire he had

summoned converged on his fist, which he aimed at the frozen
Seastar chieftain. When the fist landed, cracks spread out over the
chieftain. Fire engulfed him, especially the fire from the patriarch’s
scroll.

As the fire burned, and the chieftain’s flesh melted, his eyes didn’t
show any fear. Strangely, he just seemed a bit surprised.

“I can’t believe you have calligraphy from such an almighty being!”

The chieftain suddenly exploded, whereupon a tentacle snaked

out from the gore, lashing out toward Xu Qing and the Captain.
The power of the blow caused the air to shatter, and seemed
strong enough to wither one’s soul. Xu Qing and the Captain were
hurled spinning backward.

In that critical moment, Xu Qing pulled the Captain over to him so

he could benefit from the protection of Master Sixth’s pendant. As
the pendant blocked the violent attack, the two of them skidded to
a stop 300 meters away, coughing up blood and their internal
organs aching. Looking up in the direction of the tentacle, they
saw... dust settling, and a figure striding out of it.

Numerous silver tentacles swayed back and forth within the clouds
of dust. It quickly became clear that they weren’t tentacles.
Instead, they were a host of huge threadworms, all of them
bearing vicious fangs as they howled at Xu Qing and the Captain!

Then the figure within the dust became clear.

It was a nonhuman, fully three meters in height, pure silver in
color, with a triangular head and eyes with double pupils. It had a
long tongue, and its whole body was covered with threadworms.

Both Xu Qing and the Captain were completely shocked by the

sight of it. But even more shocking were the explosive fluctuations
coming out of it that distorted everything around it. This wasn’t a
Gold Core nonhuman. It was in the Nascent Soul level! As winds
screamed and wild colors flashed, Xu Qing and the Captain
backed up.

“I really didn’t think I would run into two runts like you in a
backwater place like this. One of you has a stage-four grue sealed
in you, and the other has an imperial-class divine ability and the
calligraphy of an almighty being. Sadly, the second of you doesn’t
have a grue sealed inside.”

Hearing this, Xu Qing’s pupils constricted, but at the same time, he

breathed a sigh of relief. His life lamp remained a secret, as did his
shadow and the violet crystal.

Off to the side, the Captain also breathed a sigh of relief.

Apparently, he was thinking something similar to Xu Qing....

As they exchanged a glance , the two of them realized they were

both thinking the same thing.
Chapter 218: Torchlight’s Bai Li

“What species is this?” Xu Qing said as he continued backing up.

“The Revered Ancient mainland is too big and there are too many
species there,” the Captain replied, looking a bit confused as he
also backed up. “It looks like a variant type of Threadwyrm. I
vaguely remember reading a file back in the Intelligence Division
which mentioned them. Let me think.”

Seeing Xu Qing and the Captain backing away, the nonhuman

which had emerged from the Seastar chieftain grinned and blurred
into motion.

Xu Qing’s expression turned grim, and the Captain’s pupils

constricted. Unfortunately, neither of them was fast enough to flee
from someone in the Nascent Soul level. Xu Qing’s vision swam
as something slammed into him, and he was sent flying back,
blood spraying out of his mouth. The same thing happened to the
Captain.

Thanks to the shield created by the pendant, though Xu Qing was

thrown backward 300 meters, he wasn’t injured. That said, his
organs vibrated painfully, and he could tell that if this fight kept
going, the pendant would eventually stop working.
The nonhuman was about to launch into another attack when a
column of blue fire fell from above, blocking his path. Rumbling
sounds filled the sky, and the ground shook violently as even more
fire descended, consuming countless Seastar cultivators.

Wherever they died, threadworms crawled out of their corpses.

The gruish nature of the scene attracted the attention of all the
Sixth Peak disciples, and even Master Sixth. And when Master
Sixth saw what happened to the Seastar chieftain, he crushed the
Seastar patriarch with a palm, then performed an incantation
gesture to block the chieftain from reaching Xu Qing and the
Captain.

“He’s an Ironthread!” Master Sixth said, rushing down.

When the Captain heard those words, his expression flickered and
he said, “Xu Qing! I remember now....”

As for the nonhuman, when he heard the words, he looked up into

the sky and laughed. “It seems I underestimated this sect. That
said, you’re only a single Nascent Soul cultivator. Do you really
think you qualify to disturb my cultivation?”

The Ironthread lifted his right hand and pointed up to the sky. The
wind and clouds seethed as rumbling sounds filled the dome of
heaven. Something like the howls of gods echoed out in all
directions as three huge spell formations appeared overhead,
circular and glowing brightly. Each was fully 3,000 meters in size,
and they emanated a shockingly powerful force of teleportation.

Astonishingly, figures began to pour out of the teleportation

portals.

From within the first teleportation portal emerged a group of

nonhuman cultivators with wings. They were pitch black, making
them look almost exactly like crows. As they emerged, shocking
killing intent rolled off of them, especially the one in the lead
position, whose eyes glittered with sparks of electricity, and who
pulsed with the fluctuations of a Nascent Soul cultivation base.

Things weren’t over yet.

From within the second teleportation portal came a group of

nonhuman cultivators with elephant trunks and incredibly muscular
bodies. Leading them was a burly man who also had Nascent Soul
fluctuations, and whose expression was incomparably vicious.

A similar group emerged from the third portal. They were the
strangest-looking of all. They appeared to be made from seaweed,
and had triangular eyes. They emanated shocking energy that
seemed capable of draining wildlands and crushing mountains,
and were also led by a Nascent Soul expert.

Upon seeing them, the Captain’s pupils constricted.

“Sixwing Inkravens. Herculean Mammoths. And Snakekelp
Daemons. They aren’t exactly major species. They’re on the same
level as the Seastars. But the Sixwing Inkravens are allies of
Seven Blood Eyes. And the other two are neither allies nor
enemies.”

Even as the Captain explained these things, the three groups of

newcomers turned without a word and shot toward Master Sixth
and the Sixth Peak! They had no fear of death, and in fact, some
of them made suicide attacks to damage the mountain peak.
When looking closely, it was possible to see threadworms
emerging from those who died. These three species had all been
taken over just like the Seastars!

Master Sixth was obviously hindered by the onslaught. As for Xu

Qing and the Captain, they had no choice but to flee. The two of
them could fight an early Gold Core enemy, but when it came to
Nascent Soul, there was no way they were strong enough.

Not even the patriarch’s calligraphy could give them an edge,

unless they used it at an absolutely critical juncture.

“I’m curious to see how long your defenses will last against us!”
said the nonhuman who had once been the Seastar chieftain.

Meanwhile, as the Captain fled, he suddenly looked over his

shoulder and blurted, “You’re Bai Li! Bai Li of the Ironthreads!” [1]
Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed, while Bai Li’s expression was one of
surprise.

It would have been amusing to Bai Li if one of the peaklords from

Seven Blood Eyes stated his identity out loud. After all, he had the
feeling the peaklord knew who he was. But instead, it was a low-
level cultivator who actually knew his name. It almost seemed
unbelievable.

“I really didn’t think someone like you from a place like this would
know me. You’re a very interesting character.”

Eyes narrowing, the Captain continued, “Bai Li of the Ironthread

species. A sixty-year-cycle ago, he was a consummate chosen
among the Ironthreads. His people even claimed that he had the
potential to walk the same path as the Ancient Emperors and
Imperial Sovereigns. But for some unknown reason, he betrayed
them, sowing chaos among his people and desecrating their holy
object. It was a catastrophe in which countless of his people died.
After he left, he joined a secret society called Torchlight!”

“Very amusing. You’ve obviously read your fair share of

intelligence reports. I think I’ll soulsearch you to find out what else
you know.”

Bai Li closed in. The Captain’s eyes glittered brightly. Xu Qing’s

expression turned vicious as he pulled out the patriarch’s
calligraphy.
Just when it seemed they would clash, a cold snort echoed down
from the dome of heaven, like thunder. High in the sky, a bottle
gourd appeared above Master Sixth’s head. It was the same gourd
that hadn’t left his hand since his wife and son died.

Now, it suddenly erupted with an incisive, baleful aura as its

exterior came to life with countless weapons. They all flew out into
the open, soaring out like gliding phoenixes and soaring dragons.
They seemed to represent every weapon imaginable. There were
sabers, spears, swords, halberds, hatchets, battle-axes, hooks,
tridents, and more. There had to be millions of them, and they
created a massive vortex of weapons that could crush anything in
its path.

The vortex headed toward the three groups of newcomers. Almost

instantly, it struck the three Nascent Soul patriarchs that Bai Li had
summoned. They couldn’t avoid it, and blood sprayed out of their
mouths as they were sent spinning away, heavily injured and
coughing up blood. As for the other members of the three species,
as the vortex of weapons approached, pulsing with a baleful aura,
all they could do was look on in shock. Most were ripped to
shreds, instantly killed. And those that initially survived obviously
wouldn’t last for much longer.

It was even possible to see a beam of light shooting out of the

bottle gourd, carrying with it consummate ferocity and disdain
toward the nonhumans.
RUMBLE!

The nonhumans hovering there were shocked as they got the

sensation they were about to be exterminated by heaven and
executed by the earth.

Apparently, all of this wasn’t enough, as Master Sixth performed

an incantation gesture and pointed at the Sixth Peak. Flames
erupted from it in all directions, engulfing both the Seastars and
the survivors from the other three species. Everything was being
scorched and melted away.

For the first time, Bai Li’s facial expression changed. “What
magical device is that? How could that baleful aura be so
incisive??”

Being unable to kill Xu Qing and the Captain, he vanished in a

minor teleportation. When he reappeared, he was in midair not
very far away, clearly preparing to make his escape.

Then Master Sixth spoke, and his voice trembled with fury and
killing intent. “I was wondering why weaklings like the Seastars
would have the gall to do something this big. As it turns out, they
were being manipulated behind the scenes by a wanted criminal
from the Revered Ancient mainland, someone working for the
detestable Torchlight. A vile fugitive!”

The bottle gourd above his head erupted further, the baleful aura
creating a tempest full of innumerable weapons that shot directly
toward Bai Li.

Bai Li was shaken, and wanted to flee. But Master Sixth stood
atop the maelstrom of weapons, closing in with a palm strike.
Being unable to escape, a strange light glittered in Bai Li’s eyes,
and he spun to fight Master Sixth. When they clashed, heaven
reeled and the earth quaked. Deafening rumbling sounds crashed
everywhere, and all of the onlookers sped in the opposite
direction.

Xu Qing looked on gravely, relying on the pendant to keep him

safe.

Next to him, the Captain grinned, his eyes glittering with crazy
greed as he said, “I honestly can’t believe we’ve run into someone
from the legendary Torchlight.... From what I’ve heard, every
member of that group is a real character.”

Xu Qing looked at the Captain.

Grinning, the Captain explained, “Torchlight is a notorious group

from Revered Ancient. They haven’t even been around a thousand
years, but supposedly, all of their members are traitors from
various species. The Intelligence Division has files on many of
them. They try to get people to join them by claiming that their
members... get destined opportunities to become gods. The
requirement to join is that you have to put on a terrifying display
called a Blood-Soaked Performance. The better the performance,
the more likely they’ll approve.

“I heard that a number of years ago, someone from South Phoenix

managed to use the opening of the god’s eyes to put on a
performance like that, and ended up joining Torchlight.

“It's too bad they never came looking for me, otherwise I might
have been able to join and see what this ‘chance to become a god’
is like. Is it just a way to follow the Ancient Emperors and Imperial
Sovereigns? Or is it actually a method that lets you turn into a
god? I have a hard time believing it’s true.”

“Same here,” Xu Qing said, narrowing his eyes. Then he rubbed

the patriarch’s calligraphy and looked up at Master Sixth fighting
Bai Li.

1. Bai Li: Bai is listed #70 on the list of 100 most common Chinese
surnames, and it also means "white, pure,” etc. Li means “crime,
sin, perverse, violate, ruthless, unshakable.” Madam Deathblade’s
initial reaction was that this name sounded “sad and unlucky.” The
Li character is uncommon enough that she looked it up to make
sure she understood it correctly. As you can see from the
definitions associated with that character, it definitely does not
sound like a “nice” name. ☜

Deathblade's Thoughts The

The
Chapter 219: The Patriarch’s Calligraphy
Crushes Nascent Soul (1)

The wind whimpered in the sky, but was overwhelmed by the

deafening crashing caused by the fighting between Master Sixth
and Bai Li. Each blow exchanged contained force to rock
mountains and drain seas, and the shockwaves shattered the air.
Rifts filled the sky in the area above them, and occasional
vortexes sprang up like black holes, sucking in everything around
them. Angry bolts of lightning crackled left and right like
thunderous dragons.

The combatants flickered back and forth on the field of battle,

using minor teleportations as they engaged in close-quarters
fighting.

Both fighters casually wielded tempests like divine abilities,

unleashing deadly force. As for Bai Li, he was covered with
countless swaying threadworms, each of them capable of forming
magical symbols that would unleash mysterious lightning attacks
on Master Sixth. If one could carefully examine the lightning bolts,
it would be obvious that they were made up of innumerable
threadworms. As they got close to Master Sixth, they exploded,
creating frozen spatial rifts in the air. From a distance, those frozen
rifts looked like countless white centipedes.
Master Sixth was equally impressive. Each wave of his hand
caused an infinitude of weapons to appear, all of them deadly and
bursting with baleful auras. They pulsed with heaven-destroying,
earth-extinguishing power that could crush any obstacle. However,
Bai Li’s cultivation base was on par with Master Sixth, so despite
the fact that the latter had his amazing bottle gourd... Bai Li was
not at a disadvantage. After all, Master Sixth was innately skilled
at forging equipment, not necessarily fighting with it.

Rumbling echoed out as Bai Li used a minor teleportation to get

right in front of Master Sixth. Hand flashing in an incantation
gesture, he sent blade light slicing through the air toward Master
Sixth, leaving a huge rift behind it.

Expression flickering, Master Sixth backed up.

Seeing that, Bai Li burst into laughter. “You’re obviously a Nascent

Soul cultivator from a backwater sect. You can’t kill me with those
magical devices of yours. Maybe I don’t need to flee this fight after
all. If I kill you, I can take that supreme-grade magical device.
That’s an outcome I can accept.”

Bai Li hit his forehead, causing a tremor to pass through him.

Then, a huge, horrific boil appeared on his back, filled with
countless blood vessels, each of which contained a wriggling
threadworm. As soon as it appeared, the boil exploded, and a
plant burst out. It was fully nine meters long, allowing it to stretch
over Bai Li’s head. It was blood-colored, with six sawtooth leaves,
and a triangular floral disc at the end with thousands of swaying
stamens!

Flowing through the plant like blood were unending magical

symbols. An astonishingly holy aura surrounded the plant,
spreading out in all directions with such power that Xu Qing’s eyes
stung looking at it. It was the same with the Captain, except for the
fact that a crazy look was now visible in his eyes.

“Godliness!!” the Captain murmured.

The plant was indeed emanating godliness. And it was strong

godliness at that. As soon as the plant appeared, it seemed to look
up at the bottle gourd and then shiver. A fierce wind kicked up,
causing the stamens on the triangular floral disc to part,
revealing... a vicious ghost face! It had evil crimson eyes, and was
currently grinning viciously.

“Let’s see which is stronger, your supreme-grade magical device,

or my Torchlight god seeds!” Bai Li threw his head back and
laughed uproariously, then waved his hand, causing a handful of
medicinal pills to fly out of his sleeve and up to the ghost face.

They weren’t complete pills, but rather, a set of half-completed

pills. They weren’t made from any sort of medicinal plant, but
instead, raw flesh and blood. Within each of the pills was the
shadow of a deceased soul, all of which resembled young people.
Obviously, they were the chosen disciples from various locales
that had gone missing in recent years. After mercilessly killing
them, Bai Li had used their flesh and blood to concoct medicinal
pills, into which he inserted their souls. The pills weren’t for his
own consumption. Instead, he was using them to feed this evil
plant. As for the ‘god seeds’ he mentioned, he obviously needed a
lot of them, and that was why he’d come out to the Forbidden Sea.

It would have been too dangerous to do this on the Revered

Ancient mainland. But he obviously thought that, given his strength
and abilities, he could handle any difficulties that popped up here.

As he continued to laugh, the plant gobbled up the medicinal pills,

then looked up at Master Sixth and made a very unique sound.

“Ommmm!” [1]

This was not any ordinary sound. It was an enchantment of some

sort, and didn’t even seem like a single sound. Instead, it sounded
like numerous voices merged together into something completely
extraordinary.

Cracking sounds filled the dome of heaven as lightning bolts

appeared, smashing down into the bottle gourd one after another.
In only a few breaths of time, hundreds of thousands of crimson
lightning bolts appeared, forming a massive magical symbol. The
symbol was incredibly complex, and looked like a sealing mark. All
of a sudden, the might of the bottle gourd faded into nothing.
After, Bai Li roared with cruel laughter and waved his hand yet
again, causing a hulking figure to appear in midair. It was fully 300
meters tall, and resembled a gigantic praying mantis, pitch black,
with front legs like razor-sharp sabers.

This was a battle form, and after it appeared, Bai Li fused with it.
When that happened, the massive mantis’ eyes opened and it
charged toward Master Sixth with blinding speed. The air
shattered as it closed in, raising one saber-like leg in an attack.
That saber attack seemed capable of completely vanquishing the
enemy, and when Xu Qing saw it, he was stunned, and couldn’t
help but think back to the saber move he’d seen in that temple. It
wasn’t the same, but it was similar.

Master Sixth held nothing back to block the attack, yet was still
shoved backward through the air, blood spraying out of his mouth.
Even still, a grim smile covered his face, and the killing intent in his
eyes burned just as hot as ever.

“I’m not that good at fighting, but... I’m still peaklord of the Sixth
Peak in Seven Blood Eyes! And what I am good at is... making
magical devices. Especially big ones!!” With that, Master Sixth
made a grasping motion in the direction of the Sixth Peak. “Come
here!”

The Sixth Peak, which had been in the middle of assimilating

Seastar Island, suddenly blurred. When it became clear again, it
was right in front of Master Sixth. The mountain peak erupted with
godly might. All of the magical devices thrummed to life, and the
peak shot toward the gigantic mantis, bursting with blinding
energy.

“Crush!”

All of the power of an entire mountain was being used to crush a

single person!

Heaven-smashing, earth-extinguishing power swept out, making it

impossible for the target to evade the blow. Bai Li’s expression
flickered, and he began to tremble visibly as he looked at the
mountain barreling toward him. Cracks spread out over his body,
and his eyes turned bright red. Waving both of his saber-like
forelegs out in front of him, he prepared to meet the attack, even
though he was tiny compared to the massive mountain.

A massive boom rang out as the two smashed into each other.
Master Sixth performed an incantation gesture then viciously
shoved his hand down, causing the mountain to crush down onto
Bai Li, pushing him toward Seastar Island.

More rumbling booms echoed out in all directions, and everything

shook violently. Xu Qing and the Captain flew backward as
Seastar Island started crumbling apart. Massive waves surged out
everywhere.

“I’m going to assimilate you!” Master Sixth growled, his hair

disheveled and his eyes shining with madness. Hands blurring
through incantation gestures, he caused a sea of flames to erupt
from the depths of the mountain.

“You assimilated my son. I’ll assimilate you!”

The mountain trembled as Bai Li, who was being crushed

underneath it, struggled to free himself. A shocking power of
godliness seeped out from beneath the mountain, along with
animalistic roars. Then, to the absolute shock of Xu Qing and the
Captain, the flaming mountain moved up slightly.

Bai Li was using the power of the early Nascent Soul stage to do
this, clearly showing... that he deserved to be called a
consummate chosen from his people. As the mountain edged
upward, a mighty roar echoed out from underneath it. As Bai Li
became visible, it became clear he wasn’t using his battle form,
but instead, had fused with the evil plant.

It had a thick stalk, six sawtooth leaves, and countless swaying

feelers. As Bai Li used it to lift the mountain, the triangular floral
disc became visible, along with the vicious face within it.

The face was no longer obscure; it now looked exactly like Bai Li,
and his red eyes flickered with astonishing godliness. Cackling, he
said, “You might be good at equipment forging. But I’ve met a lot
of cultivators like that. And the other ones weren’t just good at
making things, they were good at using them. As for you, I think—”
Before he could finish speaking, a look of utter madness flickered
in Master Sixth’s eyes, and he waved his hand. Instantly, a huge
banner appeared overhead.

The banner was about 300 meters long, and as it flapped, it burst
with colorful energy.

The banner seemed dilapidated, and was splattered with massive

amounts of blood. However, it also pulsed with godliness. It looked
like it had been passed down from a previous epoch, and had
experienced the baptism of innumerable wars. The sensation of
ancient time permeated it, and as it was unfurled, it caused the sky
to change colors, and made the sun seem less brilliant.

For tens of thousands of kilometers around Seastar Island,

countless living beings were shaken to their core. Even entities
lurking at the seafloor opened their eyes in alarm.

What was especially noteworthy was that there was a drop of

golden blood on the flag, which seemed to surpass ordinary
godliness, and imparted a sensation very similar to the broken
face of the god above.

It could look down on anything and everything!

Apparently, this war banner had been used to slaughter countless

godly entities, and innumerable powerful experts from various
nonhuman species. As soon as Master Sixth pulled it out, a
sensation of shocking brutality swept out to fill heaven and earth.
The aura was so strong it locked down everything in the area, and
caused all waves on the surface of the water to go still. This
banner emanated a domineering aura that seemed capable of
destroying everything and crushing all peoples.

Bai Li started shaking visibly, and his voice changed, becoming

filled with terror and astonishment.

“The War Banner of Humankind? What’s that doing in a backwater

place like this??” [2]

1. The Chinese character here has a few definitions, but the one
that applies here is: “the sound of a Buddhist incantation.” ☜

2. The War Banner of Humankind previously appeared in chapter

122. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsMany thanks to CakeWithHat, Marethryu,

javier522, and BlueMountainTrueMonarch for the reviews. You're
awesome!

Many thanks to CakeWithHat, Marethryu, javier522, and

BlueMountainTrueMonarch for the reviews. You're awesome!
Chapter 219: The Patriarch’s Calligraphy
Crushes Nascent Soul (2)

Despite having possessed the chieftain of the Seastars, it seemed

that Bai Li wasn’t very informed. At the very least, he hadn’t heard
that during the initial battle in the Merfolk Isles, Seven Blood Eyes
had unfurled... the War Banner of Humankind!

The mere sight of that banner scared Bai Li out of his mind. He
suddenly started struggling to free himself from the Sixth Peak and
flee.

Master Sixth’s eyes were cold as his hands flew through

incantation gestures, causing the War Banner of Humankind to
glow with blinding light as it loomed over the mountain.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t Master Seventh, and his cultivation base
was insufficient. Because of that, he couldn’t use it the same way
Master Seventh did. He needed time to tap into the power of the
banner.

Seeing that, Xu Qing’s eyes glittered with determination, and he

burst into motion. The Captain took a deep breath and looked at
Bai Li stuck beneath the Sixth Peak. Then his eyes lit up with a
crazy expression.

“Godliness! Pure, unadulterated godliness!! Godliness without

even a speck of mutagen!!!” The Captain’s eyes were now
completely bloodshot.

The two of them shot toward the Sixth Peak, and Bai Li, who was
struggling with all his strength, caused pulses of godliness to
stream out that were so powerful they would instantly kill low-level
cultivators.

Thankfully, Xu Qing had the pendant; with its light surrounding

him, he was able to stay safe, though it took work.

The Captain was also having difficulty. Every movement forward

caused blood to spray out of his mouth, and he was forced to use
a shield to keep himself safe. Despite that, the crazy look in his
eyes never dissipated.

Not paying attention to the Captain, Xu Qing approached the base

of the mountain, and Bai Li. Waving his hand, he sent forth a
stream of black beetles.

Unfortunately, Bai Li’s godliness was too powerful, and the beetles
died before they could even get close to him. By this time, Bai Li
had noticed Xu Qing and the Captain, but had no time to deal with
them. Tapping into everything he was capable of, he pushed up
against the mountain. The mountain trembled as it moved up a
few meters, which was enough room for Bai Li to be able to run
out from under it.

However, it was at that moment that Xu Qing shoved his hand

down on the patriarch’s calligraphy scroll.
“Nose!”

Of the four characters on the scroll, Nose With Living Flame, the
‘flame’ character was already faded. Now, the ‘nose’ character
rippled and distorted, then caused the projection of a huge nose to
appear, which shot toward Bai Li. It moved with such incredible
speed that, before he knew what was happening, it was right in
front of him.

Bai Li’s expression flickered as the nose slammed into him. A

boom rang out as blood sprayed from his mouth. As he was
shoved backward, he lost his chance to flee, and the mountain
smashed down on him again. Bai Li screamed as the mountain
crushed him, and the sea of fire began to melt him.

“Damn you, human vermin!!” Gritting his teeth, he shoved with all
his might against the mountain. At the same time, the Captain took
advantage of the moment to rush toward him with all the speed he
could muster.

Bai Li’s mere aura caused the Captain’s skin to start corroding as
he got close, but he didn’t care. Ignoring all of that, he lunged in
and took a bite out of the trunk of Bai Li’s plant form. A crunch
rang out, and Bai Li shivered.

Meanwhile, the Captain shrieked and shot backward. As he did,

his lower half exploded, his right hand shattered, half of his torso
was destroyed, he lost an eye, his intestines spilled out, and the
rest of his teeth crumbled into nothing. However, he did keep a
chunk of Bai Li’s flesh in his mouth, and as he swallowed it, a
crazy smile covered his face.

Bai Li howled in rage, but the crushing weight of the mountain and
the persistent fire made it impossible for him to do anything. And
he was getting weaker. Eyes bloodshot, he once again released a
burst of godliness, causing the mountain to once again move
upward. Then Bai Li split into two, each of them speeding in a
different direction.

In the blink of an eye, he was racing out from under the mountain.
However, Xu Qing had been watching him closely the entire time,
and chose this moment to make his move. Instantly, the ‘with’
character from Nose With Living Flame rippled, transforming into a
huge fist that shot toward Bai Li. [1]

Xu Qing was planning to unleash the next character as well, but

the fist didn’t need any help distinguishing which of the two Bai Li’s
was real and which was an illusion. It instantly closed in on the
real one, provoking a cry of despair and rage as it slammed into
him. Blood sprayed out of his mouth as the mountain smashed
back down onto him.

RUMBLE!

This time, Bai Li couldn’t fight back. As he tried to struggle to his

feet, blue fire raged toward him, melting his skin. Meanwhile, the
Captain’s eyes were bright red as he used his remaining hand to
propel himself back toward Bai Li. He actually moved faster than
before. However, just when he was about to take another bite, Bai
Li suddenly looked at him and released a frenzied shout.

The sound slammed into the Captain, who screamed as more of

his torso collapsed, and his remaining hand was destroyed. Now,
all that was left of him was a nearly fleshless head that tumbled in
the opposite direction. However, he wasn’t dead, and his eyes
gleamed with a defiant look.

“Throw me back, Xu Qing! Throw me back!”

As the words left the Captain’s mouth, Bai Li went absolutely

manic thanks to the deadly sense of crisis. Rumbling sounds
echoed from inside of him before he exploded, sending a
shockwave out in all directions, including against the mountain. As
he self-detonated, a single threadworm appeared, taking
advantage of the moment in which the mountain lifted up slightly to
speed away. Nothing was left of the evil plant seed.

Obviously Bai Li was paying an extreme price to try to stay alive.

However, he had no other options. Just as he seemed like he was
going to make his getaway, though, Xu Qing’s eyes glittered coldly
and he unleashed the last of the patriarch’s calligraphy.

“Living!”
A huge hand appeared in front of Xu Qing, which shot toward the
fleeing threadworm at incredible speed. A boom rang out as it
slammed onto its target. Broken teeth sprayed out of the
threadworm’s mouth as half of its body was ripped to shreds and it
was sent spinning off to the side. Afterward, it struggled to start
moving again, but that was when the mountain smashed onto it
again. This time, Bai Li was being utterly and completely crushed.

Seeing that, Xu Qing breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, a

sense of extreme weariness swept through him like a tide.

Given the level of his cultivation base, unleashing the patriarch’s

calligraphy had been extremely draining. What was more, he
hadn’t even unleashed all of its potential. Thankfully, he had been
able to buy Master Sixth the time he needed.

Up in the air, Master Sixth waved his arms out in front of him, and
as his eyes flickered with killing intent and animosity, a finger
stretched out from the 300-meter-long War Banner of Humankind.
Wild colors flashed in heaven and earth, and winds screamed. A
terrifying aura appeared from the finger, imbued with a spirit that
could conquer mountains and rivers. The finger pushed down onto
the surface of the mountain, causing the entire thing to viciously
move downward. Unrivaled blue fire erupted from the mountain,
sweeping out over all of the Seastars.

As for Xu Qing and the others from Seven Blood Eyes, it didn’t
harm them at all. However, it inundated all of the nonhumans on
the island, causing bloodcurdling screams to rise up into the air as
they melted. The screams of countless threadworms filled the air
as they were wiped out of existence.

“I hereby assimilate this person and all other living beings on this
island, starting with their blood!” Master Sixth said, his voice
echoing as he performed an incantation gesture and pointed out.
The mountain shook, and streams of energy and blood rose from
the island. That included a powerful stream from Bai Li himself.

As Bai Li screamed, the threadworms tried to burrow deeper into

their nonhuman hosts, but it did no good. All living beings were
being melted and assimilated! Even the rivers and lakes on the
island disappeared.

“I hereby assimilate this person and all other living beings on this
island! Next, their bones!”

Master Sixth waved his hand, and his cultivation base erupted with
power. As it entered the mountain, the bones of the nonhumans
melted, also destroying the threadworms that were hiding there.
The lands received the same treatment, as mountains collapsed,
and earth shattered. As everything fell apart, it rushed into the
Sixth Peak itself, making the mountain even more glorious.

“I hereby assimilate this person and all other living beings on this
island! Finally, their souls!”
Master Sixth waved his hand, and the bottle gourd overhead
shook free from the lightning and floated into his hand. He took a
mouthful of alcohol, then sprayed it out of his mouth. The
mountain trembled as the lands below collapsed, and souls
streamed upward. Any threadworms that had concealed
themselves in their hosts’ seas of consciousness howled in grief.
There was nowhere left to flee!

The island was now shrinking, and the entire thing was covered
with endless flames.

“Assimilate reincarnation!” Master Sixth bit the tip of his tongue

and spat out some blood which landed on the mountain.

The rest of the island collapsed and was sucked up into the Sixth
Peak. All living things, and every part of the island, was swept up
and disappeared. There was no Seastar Island anymore! It had
been completely wiped out! The only thing left behind was a
massive crater. As the seawater swept into it, filling it, the Sixth
Peak rose up into the air, glittering majestically.

Bai Li had been killed in body and soul!

The Seastar people had been exterminated!

1. In Chinese, there is some wordplay connecting the character

from the calligraphy to the word for ‘fist.’ I couldn’t think of a way to
make a similar play on words in English and also make the poem
work. Furthermore, the final character in the poem ‘living,’ is used
later in a way that doesn’t involve any sort of wordplay, so...
ultimately that wordplay isn’t very important. ☜
Chapter 220: Bai Li’s Soul Pill

Time passed.

Back in Seven Blood Eyes, in Harbor 176, Xu Qing sat cross-

legged on the deck of his dharmaskiff. As the boat swayed up and
down in the water, he looked at the brilliant red sunrise. It looked
like fire filling the dome of heaven.

About half a month had passed since the Seastars were

exterminated. That affair had caused a huge commotion. After
Seven Blood Eyes publicly announced what the Seastars had
done, backed by Bai Li from Torchlight, countless groups and
peoples finally got an answer as to why their chosen disciples had
gone missing. And of course, everyone was furious at the
Seastars, Torchlight, and the other three species that had been
involved.

The Seastars had been exterminated, but the other species still
existed. Seven Blood Eyes didn’t need to lift a finger regarding
them. Other groups that had lost their chosen took the initiative.
When countless threadworms were found infecting those other
three species, it was all the proof that was needed.

Before long, those other three species had been exterminated.

Master Sixth’s actions made Seven Blood Eyes even more the
center of attention than before. The fact that he had transformed
the Sixth Peak into a fortress struck fear into the hearts of many.

However, after much analysis, many people came to the

conclusion that though the mountain was mighty, it lacked a truly
formidable power source. Although the fortress was capable of
greater teleportations, it was relatively weak when it came to
crushing power. Some people even speculated that, without using
the War Banner of Humankind, Master Sixth wouldn’t have been
able to crush Bai Li.

Regardless, the extermination of the Seastars, and the

assimilation of Bai Li from Torchlight, were now matters of public
record. As a result, Seven Blood Eyes seemed even more
powerful than before.

After everything was over, Master Sixth had escorted everyone

back to Seven Blood Eyes. Along the way, he didn’t speak. Nor did
Xu Qing. Neither of them had experienced the satisfaction they
had imagined they would after exacting their revenge. Instead,
they felt calm and even slightly melancholy. However, life went on.
There was still a path to follow.

As Xu Qing sat on the deck of his dharmaskiff, he raised an

alcohol gourd in the direction of the Violet Lands, then took a drink
and closed his eyes. “Have a safe journey, Teacher.”
Rumbling sounds echoed within him; his 65 dharma apertures
were like furnaces, burning brightly... as the massive numbers of
discarnate souls within them were slowly being assimilated.

They were the discarnate souls of the Seastars. However, they

were weak and almost valueless. Thankfully, he had acquired
enough of them that they were going to be somewhat helpful in
opening dharma apertures.

There was also one special soul in the group, imprisoned in one of
his dharma apertures. There it burned, day and night, without
ceasing. It was the soul of the Gruegloom cultivator. After
capturing the Gruegloom with his shadow, Xu Qing had tormented
it for some days. Eventually, the Gruegloom’s body collapsed,
whereupon Xu Qing extracted his soul.

Unfortunately, Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits had not yet

been able to take the Gruegloom’s innate ability. It wasn’t because
of a weakness on the part of the imperial-class technique. Rather,
it wasn’t possible to get the ability from only one member of that
species. Many members were required.

That didn’t bother Xu Qing. All he cared about was inflicting

suffering on the Gruegloom. Gruegloom souls were unique in that
they would naturally recover soul power, even when being
suppressed and assimilated.
Master Sixth assimilated the Seastars into the Sixth Peak, where
he refined them into a candle which he now burns at his son’s
memorial tomb. I can’t do that, but I can suppress the Gruegloom’s
soul for as long as I’m alive. I’ll make him wish he could die. And
I’ll continue to use the soul power he provides. Who knows, maybe
one day I’ll be able to steal his innate ability.

Whether because of the usefulness of the soul power, or his

hatred of the Gruegloom, Xu Qing wasn’t going to simply devour
him.

Right now, Xu Qing was using the power from all the other
discarnate souls to batter at his 66th dharma aperture. Before
long, it opened, and more dharma force spread out to fill him.
However, he wasn’t finished. Shortly thereafter, his 67th dharma
aperture opened. Then he sent the remaining soul power toward
his 68th aperture, which he just barely managed to open.

Xu Qing shivered. His aura and dharma force were obviously on a

higher level now. As he had come to find out, after igniting his
second life flame, opening dharma apertures became increasingly
difficult. Furthermore, the Seastar souls were not whole, and as a
result, he only managed to open three apertures.

Opening his eyes, he took out a jade box and opened it. Inside
was a black medicinal pill. On the surface of the pill was the image
of a vicious soul shadow, constantly howling noiselessly. It almost
seemed like there was a soul trapped inside the pill.
This was an extremely precious, high-level soul pill!

To cultivators who used the Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture,

souls were kindling used to open dharma apertures. Only by
slaughtering enemies and extracting their souls was it possible to
advance their cultivation base. But sometimes, slaughtering
enemies was a slow process. Because of that, soul pills like this
were often used to get the large amounts of soul power needed.

For example, the pills Wu Jianwu had given Xu Qing were soul
pills, just not a very high quality version. [1]

This particular pill had been concocted by Master Sixth using part
of Bai Li’s soul. He had then given it to Xu Qing as a gift,
explaining that it was a discarnate soul pill. It was only made using
part of the soul.

Master Sixth had directly explained that he himself needed a lot of

souls for his forging work. This one pill was all that he could give.
That said, he also stated that he owed Xu Qing a big favor.

Xu Qing felt it was perfectly reasonable. The only reason he had

gotten his revenge so smoothly was because of Master Sixth.
Therefore, even if Master Sixth hadn’t given him the soul pill, he
still would have been content.

Besides, Master Sixth had also given him that pendant of

protection. Though he had used most of it during the clash with
Bai Li, there was still some usefulness left to it. In terms of value, it
was worth more than the discarnate soul pill.

Clearing his thoughts, Xu Qing picked up the soul pill and

unhesitatingly put it in his mouth. As he chewed it up, it was
possible to hear agonizing screaming from the pill. Eventually, he
swallowed it, incinerated it with balefire, and then sent the power
toward his 69th dharma aperture.

A moment later, he shivered as his 69th aperture opened. Then he

moved on to his 70th. Then his 71st....

The majestic power of the soul pill allowed him to open even more
dharma apertures. After the 72nd, he proceeded to his 73rd, 74th,
and 75th.

But that wasn’t it! He also opened his 76th, 77th, and 78th!

The discarnate soul pill made from Bai Li’s soul was astonishingly
powerful.

Finally, popping sounds rang out inside Xu Qing, and he opened

his eyes, revealing a violet glitter of light. He had opened his 79th
dharma aperture!

A terrifying energy swept through him, and stupefying dharma

force abounded. Waves rolled out on the surrounding seawater as
Xu Qing’s cultivation base rose to a much higher level.
I actually opened 11 dharma apertures.... I think this soul pill
contained more than just Bai Li’s discarnate soul! Xu Qing was
more than a little surprised. When Master Sixth said it was a
discarnate soul pill, he must have meant... that he included the
discarnate souls of the cultivators from the other three species,
including their patriarchs.

Though those species’ cultivators weren’t very high level, there

were many of them, so even a fraction of the aspects of their souls
would provide terrifying results.

Only 11 more dharma apertures and I’ll be able to ignite my third

life flame!

With that, he looked into his bag of holding at the two wish boxes
he had. After learning how to open them, he had begun the
process, but it took time. Now, it was close to the point where he
could open them.

Next, he looked over his shoulder at the continent of South

Phoenix as a whole. Now that things had calmed down, he found
himself thinking about Sergeant Thunder….

Beyond that, there had been some major developments in the

Seazombie war during the half month that passed. For one thing,
Third Highness had accomplished something very monumental.

Xu Qing hadn’t heard much about Third Highness since the war
started, and only now did he realize there was a reason for that.
Third Highness had been assigned the task of inciting rebellion
behind enemy lines.

Xu Qing wasn’t sure how Third Highness did it, but he had
successfully convinced three of the Seazombies’ most important
allies to turn against them on their home turf. Previously, the
Seazombies and Seven Blood Eyes had been at something of a
deadlock, but now things had changed.

The event had multiple ramifications. For one thing, it won acclaim
for Seven Blood Eyes, and made them even more glorious than
before. It also attracted the attention of the Seven Sect Coalition
on the Revered Ancient mainland, which seemed completely
caught by surprise by the turn of events.

Clearly, the Seven Sect Coalition had been happy to see Seven
Blood Eyes and the Seazombies in a deadlock. Because of that,
they had been content to simply stand by and watch things play
out. But now Seven Blood Eyes had taken the fight so far that they
were about to invade the Seazombie’s ancestral land. The Seven
Sect Coalition seemed worried.

That was because... the Seazombies’ ancestral land was very

close to Revered Ancient.

To be precise, the Seazombie’s ancestral land, their fortified

islands, and the Merfolk Isles created a straight line between
Seven Blood Eyes and Revered Ancient.
Before Third Highness’ plan came to fruition, the Seven Sect
Coalition had been hoping to see Seven Blood Eyes slowly
draining resources as the war dragged on. But then Third
Highness’ plan completely changed their attitude. All of a sudden,
the Seven Sect Coalition began interfering with matters related to
the war. Before long, rumors started spreading in Seven Blood
Eyes. Some people thought that the war would end soon, thanks
to the interference from the Seven Sect Coalition.

Xu Qing wasn’t paying much attention to all that.

He was getting ready to take a trip back to the scavenger

basecamp. He wanted to go back into that forbidden region, clean
Sergeant Thunder’s grave, and try to get news about Crucifix and
Graceful Raptor. Two years had passed, and he was curious how
the two of them were doing. [2]

After looking off into the distance for a time, he stood, put away his
dharmaskiff, and headed toward the teleportation portal complex.
Along the way, he spotted the Captain haggling with a vendor over
how many spirit coins to pay for a bag of fruit.

When the Captain spotted Xu Qing, he tossed over an apple, then

picked one for himself and took a bite. Smiling, he looked Xu Qing
up and down and said, “Going out? Say, why not take me along?”

Xu Qing looked at the apple, then the Captain. He refused to

believe that this was some sort of chance encounter.
The Captain cleared his throat, ate some more of his apple, and
then sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “Fine, you got me. The
old man gave me another mission. I’m supposed to keep an eye
on you while he’s gone. Keep you safe. I think the old man is
anxious to take on a new apprentice, and doesn’t feel like messing
with all those silly tests and assessments. When he sees someone
he wants, he seals the deal. Anyway, now he’s anxious to get the
war over with and come back.”

The Captain seemed to have no qualms about selling out Master

Seventh.

A strange look appeared in Xu Qing’s eye as he considered the

situation. After some thought, he decided there was no reason to
say no. After all, the Seazombies still had a bounty on his head,
and as Chen Feiyuan had pointed out in the Violet Lands, there
were plenty of people who wanted that bounty. Having the Captain
by his side when he went out would make things a bit safer. At the
same time, there was also the possibility for craziness.

“I’m heading home for a bit,” he said.

“Heading home? Then I’ll be a guest! Hahaha! Alright, let’s get

going. It’s so boring in the sect nowadays, we really need to get
out and get some fresh air.” The Captain seemed more anxious to
get out of the sect than Xu Qing, and led the way as quickly as
possible toward the teleportation portal complex.
“You did something, didn’t you?” Xu Qing said. “You want to go out
and lay low for a while?”

“How could that be possible?” the Captain replied, shaking his

head. After arriving at the teleportation portal complex, he asked
Xu Qing exactly where they were going, personally made the
adjustments to the formation, and then dragged Xu Qing onto it. A
moment later, they vanished.

Not long after they were gone, a howl of rage erupted from the
Sixth Peak.

“Chen Erniu, you little bastard! Is there anything you won’t chew
on?”

A stream of divine will swept out of the Sixth Peak and filled the
capital city, looking for any traces of the Captain. All to no avail....

In a temple on the forested back side of the Sixth Peak, Master

Sixth stood looking grimly at a cleverly concealed passageway.
Only members of the echelon could do something like this, and
only the top three members at that. Only they could bypass the
Sixth Peak’s spell formation in this way. The tunnel led deep into
the interior of the Sixth Peak, which was the core of the battle
fortress. The Sixth Peak’s true power source was a secret, and
was kept hidden by a concealing fog that would make it very
difficult for anyone to perceive its true nature. But Master Sixth
could see everything clearly. And on the foot of that power source
was a missing chunk with teeth marks on the edges.

Was Chen Erniu a dog in his last life? He’ll bite anything!

Master Sixth sighed. Struggling to control his anger, he looked up

at the power source concealed by the fog.

The little brat must have seen the whole thing. And I bet he
guessed at the truth.... That said, he knows when to keep his
mouth shut. Besides, he surely noticed that, back when I was
crushing Bai Li, I was careful not to tap into the core power
source.... If he can’t keep his mouth shut, though, the patriarch is
going to skin him alive.

1. The soul pills from Wu Jianwu were mentioned in chapters 144

and 148. ☜

2. Attending to the graves of dead loved ones is an important part

of Chinese culture. I’m sure some of you are aware that one of the
major Chinese holidays is Qingming Festival a.k.a. Tomb-
Sweeping Day. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsThanks to KnightElm for the review. And

special thanks to ParagonStar for the review, and also all the
years of support throughout various translations and original works
of mine!
Thanks to KnightElm for the review. And special thanks to
ParagonStar for the review, and also all the years of support
throughout various translations and original works of mine!
Chapter 221: Seven Blood Eyes’ Big Secret

In the east of South Phoenix, in Antlerville, a teleportation portal

glittered with bright light as Xu Qing and the Captain materialized.

Like usual, Xu Qing had disguised himself, as had the Captain,

who looked like a middle-aged man. As he walked off the
teleportation portal, his legs seemed to be shaking.

Xu Qing was shocked. “Captain, why are you trembling?”

“Trembling? I would never! You’re seeing things, Xu Qing.”

Clearing his throat, the Captain smacked his thighs.

Xu Qing didn’t say anything. It didn’t take much imagination to

speculate that the Captain must have done something big back in
the sect. And it must have been really big. Otherwise, the Captain,
who was used to doing crazy things, wouldn’t still be shaking.

But since the Captain didn’t want to talk about it, Xu Qing wasn’t
going to pry. After leaving the teleportation portal, he looked
around at Antlerville, which seemed both familiar and unfamiliar.
This was the very same place he had passed through after razing
the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect. [1]

Thinking back to those days, he led the way through the city.
Although the place was owned by Seven Blood Eyes, it was in a
remote location surrounded by rugged terrain. Because of that, the
place was a lot dirtier and more chaotic than the capital city.
Noxious things could be seen everywhere, and on most street
corners, emaciated figures huddled, staring with vacant eyes up
into the sky. A constant pressure seemed to weigh down on
everything.

As they walked along, no one caused problems for them. Though

inhospitable places like this were usually full of violent people,
those people also wanted to stay alive, and they weren’t stupid.
People like that usually instinctively knew who they could pick on
and who they should avoid provoking. Xu Qing and the Captain
were the latter.

“Aren’t you curious, Xu Qing?” the Captain said as they reached

the city’s main gate. Producing an apple, he took a bite. He didn’t
seem concerned at all about their surroundings, and was more
interested in why Xu Qing wasn’t asking any questions.

“I’m curious,” Xu Qing said, not bothering to look back at him. After
leaving Antlerville, he looked in the direction of the city where he
had lived for over six years until the eyes of the god above opened
and turned the place into a forbidden region. Antlerville wasn’t very
far from that little city.

“You don’t look curious at all.... Ah, whatever. Considering you

used to work for me, and also owe me 50,000 spirit stones, I
suppose I can let you in on the secret.” Looking furtively left and
right, he lowered his voice and continued, “The patriarch is
involved in a very complicated game of Go! I can’t say more than
that. If I did, the patriarch would most certainly skin me alive!”

“Oh,” Xu Qing said. Then he started moving faster. He didn’t plan

to go to the ruined city. There was nothing for him there, and
besides, during the Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior incident, he
had settled matters with the grues there. There was no point in
going there. Instead, he headed toward the scavenger basecamp.

The Captain kept pace. Spring had just come to the wilderness,
but there was still a bit of snow on the ground. And the wind didn’t
contain any of the pleasantness of spring. It wasn’t freezing, but it
was cold.

Seeing that Xu Qing wasn’t going to ask any questions, the

Captain couldn’t hold it in and said, “Let me tell you, Xu Qing,
Master Sixth... is quite the old trickster. Everything that happened
back on Seastar Island was actually an act!”

The Captain really wanted to explain what he had seen, but

obviously didn’t dare to reveal everything.

Xu Qing nodded.

“Aiyaa! Xu Qing, I have to offer you some constructive criticism.

This attitude of yours just won’t do!” Looking a bit irritated, he took
a bite of his apple. “You really have no idea. What I saw in the
Sixth Peak was absolutely astonishing. Completely unexpected.
I’m telling you, this game of Go is being played on a board as
large as heaven! I suppose it makes sense. The older someone
gets, the more clever they become. The old fogies in Seven Blood
Eyes are all the same. They can toy with you with their eyes
closed.”

The Captain sighed emotionally.

Xu Qing frowned. He had no idea what the Captain was getting at,
but could tell it had something to do with his latest escapade,
whatever that was. Presumably it was related to the Sixth Peak.
Then he thought back to how the Captain’s eyes had glittered
when he looked at the Sixth Peak, and his heart started to pound.

“Captain, did you take a bite out of something on the Sixth Peak?”

The Captain’s eyes shot up in displeasure. “What do you mean

‘take a bite,’ huh? Is that the way you talk to your superiors,
Deputy Captain?”

“I’m the director of the Seventh Peak’s Violent Crimes Division,”

Xu Qing said.

“Furthermore, I’m your Elder Brother!” The Captain finished his

apple and took out a pear, all the while looking at Xu Qing
knowingly.

“I haven’t been formally accepted as an apprentice,” Xu Qing

replied.
Ignoring the comment, the Captain looked down his nose and
said, “Beyond all that, you still haven’t paid respects to Grand
Highness!”

Xu Qing didn’t say anything. As it turned out, he was having

trouble out-talking the Captain this time. Therefore, he pretended
not to have heard. Moving quickly, he was able to get from
Antlerville to the scavenger basecamp in about an hour.

In fact, as they reached this point in their conversation, they

passed over a mountain crest and found themselves looking down
at the basecamp, and the pitch black jungle beyond it. From this
vantage point, the forbidden region seemed covered with black
clouds, within which lightning danced, occasionally striking down
into the jungle below.

The Captain took a look at the forbidden region, and he seemed

surprised. “What a big forbidden region. And there are fluctuations
of godliness in it!”

Xu Qing nodded. Before, his cultivation base had been too low for
him to sense godliness. But now, he could clearly sense such
fluctuations in the jungle.

After a moment, Xu Qing looked away and focused on the

basecamp. It looked as chaotic as it had before, and he could hear
faint, unscrupulous laughter even from this distance. As he started
walking down the mountain, the Captain cleared his throat and
followed.

“I could only say so much earlier, little Ah Qing. Don’t feel

discouraged. This matter is too important for me to reveal any of
the real details to you. You see, it pertains to the war. Seriously,
you have no idea how shocked I was to see what’s in the Sixth
Peak.

“Let me just say that, under the leadership of this group of crafty
old-timers, the future of Seven Blood Eyes is going to be a bright
one.... You’re really not curious at all? How about this: you say a
few nice things, and I’ll risk being skinned alive to tell you more
details.”

Clearly, the Captain had a secret that he wanted to share, but

considering Xu Qing wasn’t interested in hearing the details, he
was starting to get a bit flustered.

Xu Qing, meanwhile, didn’t say a word as he walked down the

mountain and into the basecamp. Things were basically the same
as he remembered. There was trash in every corner. Everything
was dilapidated. Scavengers in animal skin jerkins were
everywhere, some grimy and dirty, some covered in scars.

When Xu Qing and the Captain entered, the noisy camp slowly
went quiet. At the same time, the scavengers backed away from
them with fawning expressions on their faces. Of course, Xu Qing
knew that those fawning expressions were fake. The scavengers
were really studying them in the hopes of robbing them.

Xu Qing ignored them. He didn’t see anyone familiar here. Two

years had passed, and for most scavengers, that was like a
lifetime.

Xu Qing stopped in front of his old house. Someone had taken it

over. Sighing, he turned and left. As for the Captain, he looked at
the house, and guessed that it must have been where Xu Qing
lived in the past. He followed Xu Qing through the camp, and they
were just about to leave it when the Captain noticed one particular
tent that stood out.

A feather hung above the entrance.

The Captain had not grown up like Xu Qing, so he had no idea

how things worked in slums and basecamps. That made him
curious about the feathered tent. However, he soon noticed
someone stepping out of the tent and buckling the belt on their
pants, and everything clicked.

So that’s how it is. It’s like a brothel. But in scavenger basecamps,

they use feathers instead of official signs. He was about to look
away, when suddenly his eyes locked onto one of the feathers for
a moment before looking at Xu Qing.

“Say, Xu Qing, remember back in the Merfolk Isles when I lost my

lower half, and you offered to give me a feather...?” The Captain’s
eyes went wide. [2]

Xu Qing looked back at him, produced an apple, took a bite, then

walked off.

The Captain snorted coldly, glanced at the feather again, then

hurried over to the tent. It was hard to say what he said, but shortly
thereafter, he hurried after Xu Qing with seven or eight feathers in
his hand.

“These things are great. I’m going to give one to Zhang San when
we get back.”

Xu Qing left the scavenger basecamp and walked in the direction

of the forbidden region. He only spared a glance for the feathers in
the Captain’s hand. When they were getting close to the forbidden
region, he suddenly said, “What did you see in the Sixth Peak,
Captain?”

A smile broke out on the Captain’s face. This was exactly what he
had been waiting to hear. He had been biting his tongue the entire
trip and had been reaching the point where he couldn’t take it any
more. Putting the feathers away, he looked around furtively, then
lowered his voice and said, “Before I explain, I want you to think
back to how this war actually played out.

“It started with the Seventh Peak’s Grand Competition on the

Merfolk Isles. That drew out the Seazombies, and then the
patriarch suddenly achieved his breakthrough.... After that, the
Merfolk Isles became our forward base of operations.

“After declaring war on the Seazombies, we advanced step by

step, taking over their fortified islands, and eventually reaching the
point of attacking their ancestral land.

“Now, in your mind, draw a line on the Forbidden Sea. Originally,

Seven Blood Eyes was a long way from Revered Ancient. But if
we take over the Seazombies’ ancestral land, we’ll be very, very
close to the mainland....”

Xu Qing’s pupils constricted.

“So,” the Captain continued quietly, “what exactly is the sect trying
to accomplish? Is it just about defeating the Seazombies? There’s
no way. Defeating the Seazombies... is just part of a much bigger
plan. When I was in the Sixth Peak, I saw... a zombie ancestor
statue that isn’t one of the nine from the Seazombie ancestral
land. That thing is the real power source of the Sixth Peak
fortress!”

1. Xu Qing passed through Antlerville after razing the Golden Vajra

Warrior Sect in chapter 46. ☜

2. Xu Qing made the comment about the feather in chapter 126. ☜

Chapter 222: Supreme Vastness Daoist
Temple

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed as he turned to look at the Captain.

The Captain looked back at him with an enigmatic smile.

“There are grues in this forbidden region,” Xu Qing said. “But

they’re not that bad.”

“Right. Sounds good. I haven’t been to many forbidden regions. I

spend more time at sea. I guess this’ll be a good opportunity for
me to learn a thing or two.”

As they entered the forbidden region, the two of them dropped the
previous conversation topic, leaving it behind as if they had
forgotten it. Both of them knew that it was too weighty of a topic for
them to be talking about openly. It related to Seven Blood Eyes as
a whole. But even just thinking about it, it was obvious there was
something very big going on behind the scenes.

After all, the Seazombies currently had nine ancestor statues. But
that didn’t mean they had always had nine.... In the ancient past,
there had been more of those divine likenesses. However, after
certain events unfolded, some of those statues were taken by
other species to research. And for whatever reasons, they were
never returned. In the end, the Seazombies were left with only
nine statues. [1]

It was worth noting that Seven Blood Eyes hadn’t used the Sixth
Peak fortress in the war. Furthermore, when Master Sixth exacted
his revenge, he only resorted to ordinary tactics. There was deep
meaning to be extracted from all that.

Now Xu Qing understood why the Captain had been so jumpy, and
also why he had shamelessly invited himself to come along on this
trip. For one thing, the Captain was the type of person who always
felt the urge to talk. For him to know a secret like this, but be
unable to brag about it, would be too much for him. Furthermore, if
he stayed in Seven Blood Eyes, the sect would probably have
locked him up in solitary confinement to make sure the secret
didn’t get out.

Xu Qing shook his head and chose not to think about the matter
anymore. It was too monumental of a situation. Besides, it didn’t
have much to do with him personally. The war would end soon,
and then things would become clear.

Taking a deep breath, he cleared his mind and walked into the
jungle. It was hard to say how many times he had come into this
place. He was very familiar with it. Maybe he couldn’t travel about
with his eyes closed, but almost. He recognized the different types
of plants and vegetation, all of which he had seen before.
He picked up speed as he moved, slipping like a specter through
the jungle.

The Captain followed, looking around curiously. He really hadn’t

been into very many forbidden regions. The only place he had
been into was Forbidden by the Phoenix, next to the sect. He had
gone there to seek enlightenment of a divine ability, but had failed
to succeed.

Seeing how quickly Xu Qing was moving, he accelerated, making

sure to step in the same spots. By observing closely, he started to
get an idea of how to move about properly.

I had no idea he knew so many things. The Captain kept his eyes
on Xu Qing, and didn’t seem worried at all about the mutagen. The
mutagen out at sea was stronger, and Seven Blood Eyes’
techniques to extrude mutagen were very effective. Unless a
disciple was stuck in a dangerous location, and was forced to push
their mutagen levels to the limit, they usually didn’t even think
about it.

Xu Qing wasn’t paying attention to the Captain. He was lost in his

memories. Images from times past played through his mind as he
got closer and closer to his destination.

Before long, he slowed down and approached a solitary burial

mound next to a big tree. There were a lot of weeds growing in the
area, but the gravestone was still there, standing straight as
before. Two years had passed, almost three, but it seemed people
still remembered the things Xu Qing had accomplished here, and
had treated this grave respectfully as a result. Maybe they hadn’t
cleared the weeds, but at least they hadn’t disturbed it.

All scavengers knew that for someone to get a proper burial after
death was considered a blessing. No one would take the risk of
desecrating a scavenger grave, especially if there was no profit to
be had out of it.

Xu Qing looked at the gravestone, then sat down in front of it, right
next to the tree. With the wave of a hand, he cleared the weeds.
Then he produced some alcohol, took a sip, and poured some on
the grave.

“Sergeant Thunder... Grandmaster Bai is gone too,” he said

quietly. Leaning up against the tree, he looked up at the dark
clouds overhead.

The Captain didn’t say anything. He looked at the gravestone, and

looked at Xu Qing. And he kept his distance. He could tell that Xu
Qing needed to be alone.

Leaning against the tree, Xu Qing drank until the sky grew dark.
Then he looked out into the jungle and saw... absolutely nothing.

“Sergeant Thunder,” he said quietly, “you once said that if

someone hears the Singing and lives, then hears it a second time,
they’ll see the person they most want to see.... But there are a lot
of people I want to see. If I ever hear the Singing again, I wonder if
I’ll see all of them.”

He took another drink. Everything was quiet around him, and as

the sky grew dark, the jungle also became pitch black. Xu Qing sat
there in silence. After another hour passed, he sighed. After
kowtowing, he stood and emptied the bottle of alcohol onto the
grave.

“I still haven’t found that lifespan flower.” With one last look at the
grave, he turned and walked off. Step by step, he disappeared into
the darkness. Before long, he heard the sound of footsteps behind
him. It was the Captain.

“If we have the chance one day, Xu Qing,” he said, his voice soft
and hoarse, “I’d like to take you to my home. It’s been a while
since I paid respects.”

Xu Qing nodded.

As they moved through the dark jungle, no mutant beasts

appeared. The beasts could instinctively tell that the two people
who had appeared in the jungle on this night were different from
the scavengers.

Late in the night, Xu Qing stepped into a canyon. The blood that
had been spilled here years ago had long since disappeared in the
overgrowth. There were plenty of seven-leaf clovers; clearly, no
other scavengers had found this spot and harvested it. He looked
over at the crumbled remains of his laboratory, and thought back
to all the times he had concocted poison here. His shadow
seemed to be trembling with emotion, and Patriarch Golden Vajra
Warrior hadn’t said much during the entire trip.

After all, the forbidden region had once been home to the shadow,
and the larger area around it had once been controlled by the
patriarch.

Xu Qing passed through the valley and eventually spotted the

temple complex in the distance. It was late at night, but the
occasional bolts of lightning provided some illumination. From
what Xu Qing could see, the temple complex didn’t look like it had
changed at all. Most likely, even if a much greater span of time
went by, and generations of scavengers came and went in the
nearby basecamp, this temple complex would still be here,
unchanging.

Suddenly, the Captain made an exclamation of surprise. “What?

There’s actually a Supreme Vastness daoist temple here?”

“Supreme Vastness daoist temple?” Xu Qing asked, looking over

his shoulder at the Captain.

“I remember now. A while back, I saw you use a divine ability that
resembled a heavenly saber. I remember it looking familiar. Well,
now it makes sense. You little punk! You actually gained
enlightenment of the Supreme Vastness Solitary Saber, didn’t
you?” The Captain’s eyes got wider as he talked, until he looked
flabbergasted. “There’s no way. But the more I think back to that
saber move of yours, the more it makes sense. Did I get it right?

“My god! That was the Supreme Vastness Solitary Saber! Do you
know what the Supreme Vastness Solitary Saber is? This is
incredible!”

Xu Qing looked deeply at the Captain. He knew full well that the
Captain liked to be deliberately mystifying, and he also knew that if
he asked a question, it was entirely possible that he would
somehow end up owing the Captain spirit stones. The best
strategy to use on people like this was to not ask any questions at
all. If you let them stew long enough, then once you asked for
details, they wouldn’t hold anything back.

Therefore, he looked back at the temple complex and started

walking. The Captain blinked a few times, then followed. Sighing,
he started muttering occasionally.

“Incredible.”

“Wowwww.”

“Absolutely tremendous.”

He continued on in that way until Xu Qing reached the temple

complex, and eventually found the very same temple where he
had gained enlightenment of the saber move. Entering, he looked
at the statue for a moment, then sat down cross-legged in front of
it.

In addition to paying respects to Sergeant Thunder, his other

reason for coming back was to seek further enlightenment of the
heavenly saber move.

“So, it really is a Supreme Vastness daoist statue!” the Captain

said. He strolled around the statue, looking at it closely, then
peered at Xu Qing sitting in front of it. Smiling mysteriously, he
stepped to the side.

And thus, time passed. Soon, it was the next day.

Xu Qing felt a little disappointed. Perhaps gaining more

enlightenment of the saber move was going to take more time.
Perhaps months or even decades. As the morning sun grew
brighter, he got to his feet.

Meanwhile, the Captain was grinning broadly. “Didn’t work, did it?
Well, that’s to be expected. It would have been weird if it did work.”

Xu Qing was shocked. “What do you mean?”

“Can’t take it any longer? Just had to ask? Can’t hold it in any
more?” The Captain seemed very pleased with himself.

Xu Qing just looked at him, not saying anything further.

The Captain blinked a few times and held his tongue.

After a moment, Xu Qing sighed. “Why, Elder Brother? Can you
explain?”

The Captain laughed heartily, then cleared his throat.

“Fine, I’ll explain. However, don’t forget that you owe me 50,000
spirit stones.

“The Supreme Vastness daoist temple has its origin in the

Supreme Vastness epoch, in the Supreme Vastness Daoist
Empire. Not much is left over from that daoist empire, just some
random temples in various forbidden regions. The divine
likenesses in those temples all look the same, and some years
ago, people realized that they contain a very shocking legacy. It’s
an imperial-class technique that can be acquired by any species.

“However, it’s extremely difficult to gain enlightenment of it. It

comes down to fate. The saber techniques in each temple are
different, and nobody actually knows how many of those
techniques any one person can master. As you have proven, it’s
possible to gain enlightenment of one. I’ve heard of some people
getting two or three, and supposedly it’s possible to get six or
seven.

“Regardless, there’s no question it’s a mighty technique. If you can

gain enlightenment of three saber moves, then that’s considered
quasi-imperial-class. If you get six or seven, that’s true imperial-
class.
“This isn’t the only Supreme Vastness daoist temple, of course.
There are others. One of them is next to Seven Blood Eyes in
Forbidden by the Phoenix. There are some ruins there with a
temple in the middle. I even went there once hoping to gain
enlightenment, but it didn’t work. Once we’re back in the sect, you
should go check it out.”

At this point, an odd expression appeared on the Captain’s face,

and he continued, “Another thing. Once someone gains
enlightenment in a Supreme Vastness daoist temple, the dao
resonance in the statue disappears and doesn’t return for half of a
sixty-year-cycle. Only then can someone again seek
enlightenment. There was no way you could have achieved any
enlightenment last night. It’s not that I didn’t tell you. You didn’t
ask! In fact, I was curious about what was going on last night!”

A vein on Xu Qing’s forehead suddenly started throbbing.

The Captain cleared his throat. “Well, it’s not that it’s totally
impossible. If you’re in the presence of the statue and kill someone
who gained enlightenment from it, then the dao resonance will
reappear, and you can immediately seek enlightenment.”

1. This is not the first time we were told that the nine zombie
ancestor statues weren’t the only ones. It was also mentioned in
chapter 186. ☜
Chapter 223: Won’t Stay Dead

As the Captain explained these things, Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed.

After all this time, he finally had a bit of an explanation about the
temple complex and the statue. Thinking back to when he
originally saw the saber move, he felt like he understood it even
better now.

Meanwhile, the Captain was sighing in his heart. He knew that a

matter of good fortune like this didn’t come down to simply taking a
bite out of the statue. It required perception and fate. Of even
greater significance was the fact that there was no dao resonance
in the statue, plus there was no way he would even consider killing
Xu Qing to get a chance at enlightenment.... And even if he would
consider something like that, given how deeply deceptive Xu Qing
was, there was no guarantee the Captain could defeat him in
combat. In the end, the Captain was still interested in the Supreme
Vastness Solitary Saber, but had no way to pursue it.

As the light of dawn grew brighter, Xu Qing chose not to go deeper

into the forbidden region. Based on the level of his current
cultivation base, he was able to sense that further in, there was a
concentration of malicious divine will.

After staring for a time in that direction, he decided that the best
thing was just to leave.
The Captain could also sense that divine will, and after looking in
that direction for a while, he began to exude a frigid aura as he
said, “Normally speaking, wherever you find a Supreme Vastness
daoist temple, there will also be some vicious grues sealed
nearby. Xu Qing, your home is next to a very complicated
forbidden region!”

Without saying a word, Xu Qing stepped up into the air. He didn’t

plan to leave via walking, and instead, flew away at top speed.
The Captain laughed heartily and flew up to follow him. When he
was some distance away, he looked over his shoulder at the
temple complex and the deep parts of the forbidden region.

There, the clouds stirring in the sky almost resembled the long,
black hair of a woman. There was a strong rancorous aura in that
part of the forbidden region, rising up and making that long hair
even thicker. From a distance, the entire forbidden region actually
resembled a woman’s skull.

I wonder what grue is sealed here. I really feel like going to take a
look....

After a moment of hesitation, he flew after Xu Qing. After catching

up he stretched lazily, then got out an apple and took a bite. “Say,
Xu Qing, where are you going? Back to the sect?”

“I’m going to a black market to sell some things.”

The Captain’s eyes lit up. “A black market? Sell some things? Like
what? Stolen goods?”

Xu Qing looked at him and nodded.

“Oooh, let me see! Maybe you can just sell them to me. I love
stolen goods!”

Xu Qing hesitated. It didn’t seem like a good idea to sell defective

magical devices to someone he knew personally. If they used such
an item, only to have it break down in a dangerous situation, that
person would obviously come to him looking for answers and a
reckoning.

“I’d rather dispose of them through a black market,” he said

tactfully.

Glaring, the Captain said, “Little Ah Qing, I need to give you some
constructive criticism. It’s never good to be stingy! If you have
good stuff to sell, it doesn’t matter who buys it. You think I’m not
worthy or something? I have money!”

An odd expression appeared on Xu Qing’s face. He really didn’t

want to scam the Captain, so instead, he simply cleared his throat,
ignored the ‘advice,’ and headed in the direction of Antlerville.

His ultimate destination was a black market that Patriarch Golden

Vajra Warrior had told him about earlier. It was in a city called
Rimeshade near Church of Departure territory. It was surrounded
by a wilderness even worse than the Crimson Wilds, and thus,
none of the powerful groups in South Phoenix cared much about
it. In turn, that meant that a lot of ruthless characters ended up
there, and thus, a black market came to be.

The things he wanted to sell were the magical devices that

Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior had absorbed seventy to eighty
percent of, then smoothed over so they looked normal. Originally,
Xu Qing hadn’t planned on selling them at all. But given how many
resources he had gone through while working on the black
beetles, he was running very low on spirit stones.

I’ll sell these things and then head back to the sect.

Having made his decision, he prepared to head to Antlerville as

quickly as possible. Moving at that speed, it would only take half
an incense stick’s worth of time to arrive. However, about halfway
there, he stopped in midair and looked down.

Down below was a caravan heading in the direction of Antlerville.

There were over thirty carts, all of them pitch black in color. And
surrounding them were numerous guards, all clad in black robes.
They seemed very somber and desolate, and also, out of place.
Given the size of this caravan, there wasn’t any group in the area
who would dare to cause trouble for it.

That was especially true considering that there were high-level Qi

Condensation auras in the caravan, which would weigh down
stiflingly on ordinary Qi Condensation cultivators.

Xu Qing also noticed an old man on one of the carts who had a
Foundation Establishment cultivation base. However, he had not
yet ignited his first life flame, and thus could not enter the profound
radiance state. Given his cultivation base fluctuations, he probably
had about 15 or 16 dharma apertures opened.

Most people who looked at the caravan wouldn’t be able to see

what Xu Qing saw; there were cages in the carts, within which
were locked numerous scavengers. Most of them were
unconscious young boys and girls, though there were some older
ones who were awake. However, the conscious ones all looked
dispirited and despairing as they leaned up against the bars of the
cages.

“Night Dove is really annoying,” the Captain said, looking down

with revulsion at the caravan. “It just won’t stay dead. No matter
how many of them you kill, there are always more.”

“I guess it’s because there’s always a demand for living treasures,”

Xu Qing said coldly.

“Exactly. Here in South Phoenix, the demand is primarily from the

Church of Departure and the Violet Lands. Overseas... well, in
Revered Ancient, there’s an even greater demand.

“After all... living treasures aren’t just used to absorb mutagen from
magical treasures. Some magical treasure fragments, and even
high-level magical devices, need pure life force to cleanse them.
Because of that, even some of the so-called chosen from the
Seven Sect Coalition secretly dabble in the trade of living
treasures.

“And living treasures are even more effective when used in

groups. As a result, virtually all species use them. What’s more,
humans native to South Phoenix usually have a bit of the blood of
the Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan in them. As a result,
they make unusually good living treasures. That’s why Night Dove
is so active here.”

Without a word, Xu Qing looked at the caravan as his black iron

skewer suddenly shot down toward it.

The crackle of thunder filled the air as the Night Dove operatives
below looked up in shock. The skewer was like a black lightning
bolt that rapidly pierced through the necks of one Night Dove
operative after another.

The Qi Condensation cultivators couldn’t even see it moving,

much less dodge out of its way. In the blink of an eye, they were
killed. From a distance, it looked like a black streak zipping about,
leaving behind a spray of blood. Not even the Foundation
Establishment cultivator could defend himself, and was pierced
through.
However, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior didn’t kill the man.
Instead, he dragged him up in the air to Xu Qing.

The old man trembled, his eyes shining with terror. He was clearly
scared out of his mind. Though Xu Qing and the Captain were in
disguise, they currently radiated terrifying fluctuations that caused
the old man’s vision to swim. He could sense that either of these
two people could wipe him out of existence with the flick of a
finger. Not all Foundation Establishment cultivators were the
same.

“Seniors, I—”

“Where were you heading with this caravan?” Xu Qing asked

coldly.

When Xu Qing saw the old man hesitating, an expression of

impatience overtook his face, and he was about to resort to torture
when the Captain grinned.

“Allow me,” he said. He waved his hand, and countless streams of

frigid energy swept forth to form a needle. Then, the needle
stabbed into the body of the shocked old man. As it moved about
in him, the pain was so intense that the old man nearly passed
out. Moments later, he was explaining everything he knew.

They weren’t the only Night Dove operatives on the move.

Members throughout South Phoenix had received orders to
secretly take all of their current stock to Seven Blood Eyes.
Apparently, it wouldn’t be long before customers from afar showed
up there, with very deep pockets. In other words, there were
caravans just like this one all over South Phoenix, all of them
figuring out ways to get into Seven Blood Eyes territory.

When Xu Qing heard all of that, his eyes flickered with cold light.
He absolutely hated Night Dove.

Meanwhile, the Captain’s eyes were narrowed as he waved his

hand, causing the old man to explode into a mass of frozen
chunks.

“It looks like the Violent Crimes Division has its work cut out for it,”
the Captain said. “I’m especially curious about who these
customers are. And what does ‘afar’ mean? They’re outsiders?”

Xu Qing didn’t say anything in response, but the vicious look in his
eye grew deeper. With that, he waved his hand, causing all of the
cages to open up. The prisoners inside them were now free.

Xu Qing didn’t pay them much attention. They were strangers met
by chance, like patches of drifting duckweed, and would have to
care for their own lives. He had attacked the caravan because of
his loathing of Night Dove, nothing else. With that, Xu Qing and
the Captain continued on to Antlerville, where they took the
teleportation portal to Rimeshade.

Rimeshade, located in the wilderness just on the border of Church

of Departure territory, was small but bustling. There was no sense
of order in the city, and the place was full of criminals and outlaws.
There were quite a few Foundation Establishment cultivators
present, and even a few Gold Core experts. Most of them were
here to trade in items that they normally wouldn’t want to be seen
buying.

Normally speaking, only very confident people would come here to

do business. That said, despite the general chaos in the city, it
wasn’t a place where wanton slaughter was common. It was a
place where profit ruled, and deals were made. Because of the
prosperity to be had in Rimeshade, it was quite well-known
throughout South Phoenix, and cultivators from just about every
group could be found there.

The main rule that governed it was: the weak are the prey of the
strong.

Therefore, when Xu Qing and the Captain stepped off the

teleportation portal, they were met by suspicious eyes that kept an
eye on everyone who came and went. Some were children native
to Rimeshade, who were always on the lookout for newcomers
who needed the service of a guide.
Chapter 224: Weapons for Treacherous
People

Even in South Phoenix, black markets were places where dragons

and snakes mingled. In other words, they were a mix of good
people and scumbags.

Considering that Seven Blood Eyes was an apex power in South

Phoenix, it was no surprise that wicked people could be found in it.
Given that, and also how cautious Xu Qing was in general, there
was no way he would go into a black market without being
disguised. He now looked like a gaunt, middle-aged man, and he
even made sure to conceal his aura.

The Captain, being the smooth operator that he was, now looked
like a hunch-backed old man. He seemed sickly, but at the same
time, clearly wasn’t the kind of person to casually trifle with. In fact,
his disguise was actually better than Xu Qing’s.

Glancing at him, Xu Qing realized that he still had a thing or two to

learn about disguises.

Looking around Rimeshade, the Captain cleared his throat and

then, in a very raspy voice, said, “What a nice place. I have a few
items to take care of. Once we’re both done, let’s meet back here.”
Strolling over to the group of children, he chose a young boy to
hire as his guide. The boy’s eyes lit up as he raced to join the
Captain.

Xu Qing chose not to get a guide. He had Patriarch Golden Vajra

Warrior, who was very familiar with black markets. As Xu Qing
walked off, a number of malicious gazes followed him. Some of
them shifted away from him, but others seemed to be completely
focused on him.

“Brilliant plan, milord,” the patriarch said fawningly. “As you know,
black markets are full of greedy people, and getting their attention
early is good. That way, when it comes time to sell your goods,
you can make even more profit. I suggest that you take your time
offering things for sale. That way you can avoid attracting the
attention of Gold Core cultivators, and stick to the trashy
Foundation Establishment people. Milord, these jackals all have
very fat purses.”

The patriarch had really been feeling useless lately. One reason
for that was that the Captain had been around the entire time,
giving him few opportunities to come out. The other reason was
that the bratty shadow had really been throwing its weight around.
All of it left the patriarch feeling very wary. And thus, he decided
that this black market trip was the perfect opportunity to make the
Fiendish Xu realize how important he was. Under no
circumstances could he allow the Fiendish Xu to think that he was
worthless.
“Sure,” Xu Qing said, looking around at the shops and crowds.
Most people present were hiding their identity. The majority wore
voluminous clothing, and some even had masks on their faces.
The truth was that Xu Qing was more focused on his surroundings
than the patriarch, and hadn’t even been listening to him.

However, his simple answer left the patriarch feeling incomparably

shaken.

The Fiendish Xu only answered with a single word. That means

he’s not pleased. Don’t tell me... I just said the wrong thing? Or
does the Fiendish Xu not want to simply sell a few things? Maybe
he’s not satisfied with me personally! No. I can’t let this stand. I
have to think of something to do, otherwise I’m going to be turned
into cannon fodder!!

As an intense sensation of crisis caused the patriarch to tremble,

he said, “Milord, I’ve been thinking. If we just sell the magical
devices outright, we might not get that much money. I have a
better idea!”

Xu Qing had been just about to enter a rather busy equipment

shop. But upon hearing the patriarch’s words, he stopped
curiously.

“Honest people don’t do underhanded things. So we shouldn’t try

to pass off defective wares. Instead, let’s explain what they are
when we sell them! I’ve thought it all through. You see, this can be
our specialty! This place has all sorts of people, all working on
their own plots and schemes. Some people come here, not to buy
things for themselves, but in order to lay treacherous traps for
others! Our magical devices are exactly what people like that
need! Therefore, we shouldn’t sell our items to a shop. No, we
should set up our own vendor stall!”

Upon hearing this, Xu Qing thought about it for a bit and then
came to the conclusion it wasn’t a bad idea. As the saying went,
the rarer something is, the greater its value. There were always
people with unique needs looking for unique wares. Thus, Xu Qing
accepted the patriarch’s advice and headed to Rimeshade’s open
market area, which was full of even more cultivators than the area
he’d just been in.

Thankfully, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was very familiar with

the process. With his help, Xu Qing rented a space in the market,
where he erected a large wooden sign.

Xu Qing didn’t need to write on the sign. The patriarch did so with
the iron skewer, carving out four characters in calligraphy as
flamboyant as dancing dragons and swirling phoenixes.

Weapons for Treacherous People!

When Xu Qing saw the finished calligraphy, he raised his

eyebrows but didn’t say anything. Sitting down cross-legged, he
waited. People came and went in the market, and the hubbub of
shopping echoed out in all directions. Before long, people noticed
his sign, but no one approached. Xu Qing was already starting to
get impatient.

“Keep calm, milord. We can do this! I’m very confident. Completely

certain! Remember, I used to go to black markets all the time,
specifically to look for things like this. Items like this aren’t very
common, so I’m sure there are people here willing to buy them.”

The patriarch was so wrapped up in the current situation that he

didn’t notice the shadow off the side, eying him like it was looking
at its arch-nemesis. At the same time, it was studying the patriarch
and learning a lot.

Xu Qing didn’t say anything in response. He just closed his eyes.

Time passed, and the patriarch started getting more and more
anxious. After enough time had passed for an incense stick to
burn, the patriarch’s eyes glittered. Xu Qing noticed the same
thing the patriarch had, and opened his eyes.

A tall cultivator stood over him, wrapped in a black cloak with a

hood that made it impossible to see even a hint of the facial
features within. The cultivator glanced at the sign, then spoke in a
hoarse voice.

“How treacherous?”

Xu Qing didn’t say a word. He just tossed the cultivator a jade slip
and took out a fan-shaped magical device that he placed on the
ground in front of him.

The black-cloaked cultivator took the jade slip and examined the
contents.

The patriarch had created the contents of the jade slip. It

explained how the fan worked, notably how it was essentially an
empty shell that looked normal, and even operated normally, but
would explode at a critical moment of usage. The description was
very vivid and lively. The jade slip made it seem like the device
had been specifically created for this purpose, and was the perfect
item for a treacherous person.

“The price is good. Not too expensive. What an interesting little

device....” The black-cloaked cultivator deliberated for a short time,
then took out a spirit note and handed it to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing accepted it, then flicked his sleeve, sending the fan flying
to the black-cloaked cultivator. When the cultivator reached out to
take it, a single glance at her hand made it obvious she was a
young woman. After examining the fan, she seemed pleased, and
disappeared into the crowd.

Xu Qing was pleased at the transaction, and off to the side, the
patriarch breathed a sigh of relief.

“Don’t worry, milord. I’m an expert when it comes to people like

this. Our special magical devices might seem useless to some
people, but to other people, they’re perfect for treachery. They’re
not common, and thus not easy to guard against. If you can figure
out a way to get one of these things into the hands of an enemy,
you can kill them before they realize what’s happening.”

“Not bad,” Xu Qing said encouragingly.

His words thrilled the patriarch.

The Fiendish Xu actually upgraded to two words this time! He

really thinks I’m helpful!

The patriarch’s previous assessment was completely correct. Not

everyone who came to this black market came to buy things for
their own use. Each person had their own unique circumstances,
and for many, things that could be used treacherously weren’t very
common.

It didn’t take long before Xu Qing got a second customer, a

nonhuman. After examining the jade slip Xu Qing provided, he
unhesitatingly bought three items.

And thus, the day passed. By the time evening fell, Xu Qing had
sold all eight of the items he had prepared. After settling accounts
for the vendor stall, he started walking through the market with the
intention of finding the Captain and heading back to the sect.

As the city got darker, more cultivators arrived in the market. And
as Xu Qing walked along, he scanned some of the items for sale
at various stalls. Suddenly, he noticed something and stopped
walking.

There were no items on display, just a wooden sign with two

characters on it.

Soul Pills? he thought.

The vendor wore a black cloak that made it impossible to tell if

they were male or female. Furthermore, a mask covered their
face. Seeing Xu Qing approach, the cultivator looked at him coldly
and said, “100,000 spirit stones per pill.”

Xu Qing frowned. He knew that soul pills were expensive. They

could be used in equipment forging, in special cultivation methods
to open dharma apertures, as well as in other nefarious ways.
That said, unless these pills were extremely high quality, they
shouldn’t be that expensive.

Seemingly guessing what Xu Qing was thinking, the vendor coolly

said, “They’re high quality. All were concocted using Foundation
Establishment souls.”

Xu Qing mulled it over. If the pills were made with Foundation

Establishment souls, and there were enough of them, they could
be helpful in opening dharma apertures. And right now, he only
needed to open 11 apertures before he could ignite his third life
flame.
Xu Qing had to admit that he was in a hurry to do that, so he
tossed out a roll of spirit notes. The vendor scanned the notes,
then handed him a jade box.

Xu Qing examined them, and his pupils constricted.

They were indeed Foundation Establishment souls, and what was

more... they were Seazombie Foundation Establishment souls!
There were some random Qi Condensation souls as well, but even
those were also from Seazombies.

Xu Qing looked more closely at the vendor. Whoever they were,

he didn’t detect any of the Captain’s aura on them. But considering
that this person had so many Seazombie soul pills, it seemed
highly likely they were from Seven Blood Eyes. Only someone
from Seven Blood Eyes could have so many Seazombie souls.

“How many more do you have?” Xu Qing asked. He remained

casual, but kept the black iron skewer ready in the fold of his robe.

“A lot,” the vendor replied, looking up at him with icy arrogance.

Xu Qing thought about it for a bit longer. “I want forty more!”

The vendor was so surprised that the icy arrogance vanished, and
they inhaled hesitantly. “I don’t have that many. But if you wait a
moment, I have some friends nearby. If we pool our collections, we
can give you that many.”
“Fine, but considering I’m buying so many, you’d better throw in a
few for free,” Xu Qing said, sounding very serious.

The vendor was clearly a straightforward person. Nodding in

response to Xu Qing’s words, the vendor took out a jade slip and
used it to send a voice message. Before long, six similarly dressed
individuals approached from different directions, all of whom took
time to size up Xu Qing. Among them was a tall cultivator with
powerful energy fluctuations, whose gaze lingered on Xu Qing the
longest.

Xu Qing looked back at them.

After a short time, the tall cultivator chuckled quietly. “Seventh

Peak?”

“First Peak?” Xu Qing replied calmly.

The tall cultivator laughed again. Not asking any more questions,
he took out a bag of holding and handed it to Xu Qing.

Forty pills!

After inspecting them, Xu Qing handed over the spirit stones he

had made from selling his magical devices, then turned and left.

The black-cloaked figures watched him leave, then squatted

together to confer. The vendor quietly said, “Second Elder Brother,
who do you think that Seventh Peak fellow was? The sect hasn’t
handed out any rewards for the war, so how could he be so rich?”
“It’s hard to say. Seventh Peak disciples are experts at
deception.... After we’re back, we can ask around. Someone with
that much money surely needs dao protectors, right? Maybe we
can get him to hire us for long-term work. There are less fat cats
nowadays, which make them more of a target. He’ll probably be
happy to hire us.”

“Forget that for now. We need to sell the rest of our loot. The war
is almost over, so after we get back, we probably won’t even need
to go to the battlefield again.”

Deathblade's ThoughtsMany thanks to thricedead, Jangelo.ong,

and skinny_daoist for the reviews!

Many thanks to thricedead, Jangelo.ong, and skinny_daoist for the

reviews!
Chapter 225: A Tempest Builds

Leaving the public market area, Xu Qing walked through the night
and thought back to the encounter with the other disciples.

One of them was one of the First Peak’s highnesses, though I’m
not sure which one.

Though they had taken precautions to conceal their auras, Xu

Qing had still been able to sense a sword energy on them that
reminded him of Wu Jianwu. To any other person, that aura would
have been difficult to identify. But Xu Qing had chased Wu Jianwu
for days on end, and thanks to all the techniques he had used,
was very familiar with his aura. That same sense had come across
strongly just now, so Xu Qing was certain of his assessment.

The war is still going on, but they’re out here...?

Xu Qing thought back to what the Captain had told him, and also
the rumors he’d heard earlier about the Seven Sect Coalition
interfering with the war. He already had some speculations of his
own about what was going on.

It seems the war really is about to end.

He had been waiting for a long time for this. After all, he had a lot
of battle accomplishments that would earn him rewards after the
official conclusion of the war.
Truth be told, he felt poor right now. He had just earned a nice sum
of spirit stones, only to spend them all on soul pills. Although his
investment in Harbor 176 would earn him some profit, the
development still wasn’t complete, and he would have to wait for
that.

Money will be coming my way soon.

Taking a deep breath, he hurried toward the teleportation portal

complex. Along the way, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior had
something to say.

“I made a recording of the transaction just now,” he said excitedly.

“I got everything! Your humble servant thought milord might want
evidence. I realized it the moment you tapped me.”

Xu Qing was pleased. He’d had no specific plans for the recording,
but considering he had been dealing with some First Peak
disciples acting furtively, having a recording of them might be
useful later. With that matter out of the way, Xu Qing continued on
his way.

It was nighttime, so other than certain specific locations, the

streets had much fewer people on them than during the daytime.
Meanwhile, gazes from the shadows locked onto Xu Qing as he
walked. He ignored them, and as he made his way to the
teleportation portal complex, no one caused any trouble for him.
Xu Qing was actually a bit disappointed by that.
People here aren’t fools. Unless they’re completely confident, they
won’t do anything.

Upon arriving at the teleportation portal, Xu Qing shook his head

when he didn’t see the Captain. Taking out a jade slip, he sent a
voice message asking where he was.

“Don’t wait for me, little Ah Qing. You’ll never guess who I ran into.
Hahaha! Some of the highnesses from the First Peak! They’re
secretly fencing some stuff from the war. I’m going to record some
images of them and send them to Sect Granduncle and see what I
can blackmail him out of.”

Xu Qing shook his head. From what he could tell, both the Captain
and Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior were equally underhanded. Xu
Qing himself would never act like that. He would never dirty
himself in that way, and thus, always had a clean conscience.

Entering the teleportation portal, he disappeared into the glowing

light.

***

It was night in Seven Blood Eyes, and as usual, the moon shone
in the sky, and a cold wind blew. The capital city seemed quiet and
peaceful at nighttime, but there were actually many people about.
In some alleys, local gangs struggled for supremacy, and in other
places, disciples fought and killed each other. None of that had
stopped because of the war.
But that was of no concern to Xu Qing. He had risen above such
struggles, having slaughtered his way to his current high standing.

Xu Qing walked along quickly, taking note of the Violent Crimes

Division constables on patrol. He also happened to pass by
Plankspring Way. There, he stopped for a moment. The inn had
been closed for quite a while. Looking at it, Xu Qing suddenly
found himself thinking of that anaconda.

After a moment, he cleared his mind and moved on. Back at his
berth in Harbor 176, he took out his dharmaskiff, stepped aboard,
and sat down cross-legged. Finally, he took out the soul pills he
had just bought.

He did one more inspection to make sure there was nothing

unusual about the pills. Then he selected one and melted it with
balefire. Within moments, the soul power from the pill was
sweeping through his body toward his 80th dharma aperture.

If one wasn’t enough, he would use four. If two wasn’t enough, he

would use ten!

Before long, rumbling sounds filled him, and dharma force

fluctuations rolled out. His 80th dharma aperture was open!

He didn’t stop there. Over the course of the next two hours, he
assimilated forty-three soul pills, which enabled him to open up to
his 83rd dharma aperture.
He was only 7 dharma apertures away from this third life flame.

Sadly, these First Peak soul pills weren’t even close to being as
good as the pill Master Sixth gave me. It makes sense considering
the souls were on a much lower level.

Though Xu Qing was slightly disappointed, that disappointment

was outweighed by anticipation.

At this rate, it won’t be long before I ignite my third life flame. And
when I do that....

His heart pounded as he thought about the astonishing battle

prowess he would attain with that third flame.

With the addition of my life lamp, that’ll be power equivalent to four

life flames. With Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits, it’ll jump
to the equivalent of five flames. I’ll be able to crush anyone else in
Foundation Establishment... as long as they don’t have a life lamp!

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the two wish boxes in

his bag of holding. After checking them, he continued to send
dharma force into them.

“I’ll be able to open them soon,” he murmured.

He was now in a much better mood than before. However, that

only lasted until he started thinking about the Night Dove caravan
he’d encountered. Then, killing intent flickered in his eyes.
However, he was only the director of the Seventh Peak’s Violent
Crimes Division. Furthermore, in doing work with his black beetles,
he had clashed with some of the other Violent Crimes Divisions.
Because of that, getting them to cooperate with him wasn’t going
to be easy.

After thinking about the situation, he took out his identity medallion
and sent a message to Master Sixth. After explaining what he’d
learned from the Night Dove caravan, he awaited a response.

It didn’t take long.

“Xu Qing, I give you complete authority to deal with Night Dove.
You may take command of the forces of all the Violent Crimes
Divisions from all of the mountain peaks. Get rid of Night Dove. If
you run into any trouble, contact me immediately!”

Master Sixth had come to really like Xu Qing, and treated requests
from him as if they were from his own child.

“Many thanks, Master Sixth,” Xu Qing replied solemnly. He had

sensed the approval in Master Sixth’s message, and was very
grateful.

Over the course of the following days, Xu Qing was in constant

communication with the Violent Crimes Divisions from the other
mountain peaks. He sent them documents, and requested help
from their constables in inspecting all of the watercraft in the
Seventh Peak’s Port District.
They also kept a close eye on everyone who teleported in.

Night Dove and the Violent Crimes Division already had a history
of animosity, and thus, the other divisions didn’t have any reason
not to cooperate. Besides, Night Dove was rich, which created an
added incentive. And thus, constables from all of the various
Violent Crimes Division were put to work.

In the initial buzz of activity, quite a few Night Dove operatives

were found and arrested. Night Dove was immediately forced to
work harder at staying hidden, while at the same time, the Violent
Crimes Division prisons filled back up with inmates.

Meanwhile, big news hit that quickly spread, not just through the
sect, but throughout the entire Forbidden Sea.

The war between Seven Blood Eyes and the Seazombies was
over!

The reason for the end of the war was that the Seven Sect
Coalition had stepped in to prevent Seven Blood Eyes from
outright taking over the Seazombie ancestral land. Though rumors
had been spreading for a while about that subject, it still angered
everyone in Seven Blood Eyes. Given how the war was going, it
shouldn’t have taken more than half a year to completely defeat
the Seazombies.

Yet right in that critical moment, the Seven Sect Coalition put an
end to things. Although Sir Bloodsmelter was apparently furious at
their heavy-handedness, he had no choice but to follow orders.
After all, Seven Blood Eyes was still officially considered a
subsidiary branch of the Seven Sect Coalition, and had to follow
orders. Sir Bloodsmelter had no grounds to refuse.

However, Seven Blood Eyes would not give up on the profit it was
owed. Even as Xu Qing was taking stock of the rumors, Sir
Bloodsmelter issued four stipulations to the Seazombies to end
the war.

First: Seven Blood Eyes would own all of the territory it had
captured.

Second: The Seazombies were required to pay war reparations

totaling 100,000,000,000 spirit stones.

Third: The Seazombies had to surrender eight of their zombie

ancestor statues. The only one Seven Blood Eyes didn’t want was
the one without a nose.

Fourth: All Seazombies in the Gold Core level or higher were

prohibited from leaving their ancestral land for a hundred years. In
addition, all members of the Seazombie echelon were to be sent
to Seven Blood Eyes as hostages.

The Seazombies obviously didn’t want to agree to those

stipulations, and thus things remained at a deadlock for half a
month. During that time, there were heated negotiations. And
every time there were negotiations, the details would be leaked to
the disciples in the sect.

After all the negotiations were complete, a final agreement was

reached.

The Seazombies would cede two of their fortified islands, and

three districts in their ancestral land. Instead of 100,000,000,000
spirit stones, they would pay 80,000,000,000. And cultivators in
the Gold Core level or higher would be confined for a sixty-year-
cycle. As for the zombie ancestor statues, they were the
foundation of Seazombies in general, and simply too important.
Therefore, the Seazombies would only give away two of them.

After Seven Blood Eyes agreed to those terms, the war which had
dragged on for over a year was finally over. When the patriarch
and other high-level cultivators finally returned to the sect, a huge
period of celebration began, and the entire sect bustled with noise
and activity. Official orders were passed down that the period of
rejoicing was to last for three months.

During that time, various allies and nonhuman envoys could come
to offer congratulations. Of course, that would bring a big
economic boost to the Seven Blood Eyes port, and would help
things get back to normal even more quickly.

In no time at all, the Seven Blood Eyes’ capital city was once
again a bustling place.
However, Xu Qing didn’t take part in any of the festivities. When
he wasn’t working on his cultivation or researching his black
beetles, most of his attention was focused on directing the Violent
Crimes Division activities against Night Dove. Xu Qing detested
Night Dove, and since he knew that there were so many of them
coming to Seven Blood Eyes, it seemed like the perfect
opportunity to feed his beetles and get souls for his cultivation.

Several days passed, whereupon the first group of nonhuman

envoys arrived to offer congratulations.

Among the group was an old woman in a green robe. Her arrival
caused a huge stir in Seven Blood Eyes, to the point that Sir
Bloodsmelter himself went out to receive her.

The smile in his voice was obvious as his words echoed through
all heaven and earth. “Welcome to Seven Blood Eyes, esteemed
Fellow Daoist Eastnether!”

This old woman was the ruler of Eastnether Isle, also known as
Guru Eastnether. And she was also the grandmother of black-
garbed Yanyan. [1]

1. Yanyan was introduced in chapter 200 and was last mentioned

in chapter 205. ☜
Chapter 226: Dark Serenity’s Ancient Road

Xu Qing knew the moment Guru Eastnether arrived. She didn’t

come to Harbor 176, but thanks to his authority over all the Violent
Crimes Divisions during the Night Dove crackdown, he was
notified immediately.

The Night Dove operation had eased the tension that arose
between Xu Qing and the other six divisions because of how far
out of his jurisdiction he had gone before. After all, credit was
given for every arrest, and every Night Dove operative taken down
brought in a good haul of spirit stones. More relevant than that
was that the directors of the other Violent Crimes Divisions were
all willing to follow Xu Qing’s lead. If they weren’t, then it wouldn’t
matter how much battle prowess or prestige Xu Qing commanded,
if they didn’t want to give him face, there were plenty of ways to do
so. After all, they didn’t owe him anything.

True, Xu Qing was in the echelon. But there had been situations in
the past in which echelon cultivators mysteriously died. And the
other directors were all people who had struggled from the bottom
through a sea of blood. They were intelligent people with many
resources at their disposal. But as long as there was profit
involved, everyone was happy to be friends. And thus, it was no
surprise that Xu Qing was notified of the development right away.
When Xu Qing got the news, his guard went up. That said, he had
already analyzed the situation fully, and taken all precautionary
measures, so nothing about his daily routine changed much.

Meanwhile, Sir Bloodsmelter had invited Guru Eastnether to the

Fourth Peak. Sir Bloodsmelter had started out on the Fourth Peak,
and it was where he normally stayed when in the sect. After
dismissing his attendants, the two of them discussed important
matters.

When that was done, Guru Eastnether said, “I heard my

granddaughter made a new friend here in Seven Blood Eyes.
Someone named Xu Qing. This Xu Qing seems like a really nice
kid, so I brought a gift for him.” A smile covered Guru Eastnether’s
wrinkled face as she produced a jade box and held it out to Sir
Bloodsmelter.

Sir Bloodsmelter laughed heartily, and didn’t even attempt to

pretend that he didn’t know what this was about. Given the
extremely high level of their cultivation bases, people like Sir
Bloodsmelter and Guru Eastnether tended to handle matters very
shrewdly. For example, in the matter at hand. Guru Eastnether
didn’t need to openly make any sort of request. She just offered a
gift, and that was enough to make her stance clear.

Continuing to laugh, Sir Bloodsmelter accepted the gift and put it

away. There was no need to see what he did with it. The two of
them continued to chat for a while, until a sound like whistling wind
could be heard.

Yanyan, who had just been released from prison, burst into the
room. All of the injuries she had sustained had healed, and she
was now completely back to normal. She didn’t look the least bit
upset. In fact, when she saw her grandmother, her eyes glittered,
and she rushed over to hug her arm.

Pouting a bit, she said, “Grandma, what are you doing here?” [1]

When Guru Eastnether saw that her granddaughter looked fine,

she smiled faintly. Though she was glad her granddaughter hadn’t
been harmed, she felt bad for how she had suffered. And of
course, she wasn’t very pleased with Xu Qing. Stroking Yanyan’s
hair, she opened her mouth to speak. However, before she could,
Yanyan jumped in to speak.

“Grandma, I want to marry Xu Qing!”

Guru Eastnether was visibly stunned. She knew her

granddaughter was an odd one, but to hear her suddenly say
something like this took everything to an even more astounding
level of oddness.

Sir Bloodsmelter was similarly stunned. Not even he could have

anticipated that something like this would happen. He knew his old
friend had an unusual granddaughter. But who could have
guessed that after Xu Qing beat that granddaughter up and
imprisoned her for several months, that she would say something
like this upon being released?

Looking incredibly serious, Yanyan shook Guru Eastnether’s arm

and said, “He’s the only person in the entire world who’s a good
match for me, Grandma. I want to marry him! I have to marry him!”

“This is outrageous!” Guru Eastnether barked angrily. “Don’t act so

scandalously in front of your elders!”

Yanyan slumped visibly.

Despite Guru Eastnether’s harsh words, she was actually amazed.

Turning to Sir Bloodsmelter, she said, “Fellow Daoist Bloodsmelter,
if you have the time, do you mind arranging for me to meet this
child Xu Qing?” [2]

Sir Bloodsmelter hesitated briefly. This whole thing was very

bizarre. However, if Guru Eastnether really wanted to arrange a
marriage, it could be a really good thing. Laughing heartily, he
nodded his agreement. That said, he didn’t go into any specific
details about it.

It was hard to say exactly how rumors started spreading, but in

less than a day, everyone in the sect was talking about it. Ding
Xue had the biggest reaction; she was incensed. On the other
hand, Zhao Zhongheng was delighted. On the Second Peak, Gu
Muqing was in her mansion grotto concocting some pills. After she
heard the news, she ended up detonating several pill furnaces.
As for Xu Qing, when the rumors reached him, he frowned at how
absurd it seemed. As far as he was concerned, romance just took
time away from cultivation. Besides, it didn’t lead to any profit.
When he was younger, one of his scholar teachers had explained
a bit about how things worked between men and women. But Xu
Qing had never experienced it, and had no idea what it felt like. He
had always lived alone, whether it was in the slums or the
scavenger basecamp.

“Completely ridiculous,” he muttered.

Over the course of the next few days, he refused multiple requests
from Yanyan to meet up.

Right now, he had the wish boxes to worry about, as well as the
Night Dove operation. Time was precious, and he was in no mood
to be dealing with unimportant matters.

As time passed, more and more nonhuman envoys and allies

came into the Seven Blood Eyes port. The sect bustled with more
noise and excitement than ever. Then, for the first time, cultivators
from Revered Ancient arrived!

There were three of them, all women in green gowns with veils
covering their faces. They were attractive, with a faint mist
surrounding them that was obviously a fantastic technique unlike
anything that Seven Blood Eyes cultivators used. Their long
gowns were embroidered with immortal mountains, and the clouds
drifting between their peaks seemed to contain a dao resonance.
Because of that, these women appeared to exist on a higher level
of being. Especially noteworthy was that they seemed to have very
little mutagen in them. It wasn’t completely lacking. But their
mutagen levels were so low that unless you carefully examined
them, you wouldn’t notice it.

All of that attracted a lot of attention from the Seven Blood Eyes
disciples.

For years on end, no one from Revered Ancient had come to

Seven Blood Eyes. To the disciples here, the mainland was an
amazing and mysterious place. And many people automatically
assumed that cultivators from there were on a higher level. In
some ways, that was true. Whether it was their spirit power, their
techniques, their perception of the world, or their core teachings
and doctrines, people from the Revered Ancient mainland were
generally on a different level compared to those from Seven Blood
Eyes, and by a wide margin. As a result, it was only natural that
cultivators from there would seem superior.

What was more, these three female cultivators didn’t just look
ethereal. They also exuded a fragrant aroma that made them
seem unearthly. They also had astonishing cultivation bases. Of
the group of three, two had opened roughly 100 dharma apertures,
putting them just on the verge of having four life flames. The other
was the superior of the group, and had 120 dazzling dharma
apertures open. Even when she wasn’t in the profound radiance
state, anyone in her presence felt like they were in front of a
burning star. The three women were like bright moons that made
the other heavenly bodies seem dim in comparison. Almost
immediately, they were the talk of Seven Blood Eyes.

Xu Qing was privy to the details about them thanks to the files he
had access to, though he didn’t get a chance to see them in
person and get first-hand information.

What he did know was that the three women were chosen
disciples from an organization on Revered Ancient called the
Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society.

Around this time, the sect suddenly sent out details to all
Foundation Establishment disciples regarding some previously
secret information about Revered Ancient.

Normally speaking, the sect wouldn’t casually reveal this

information, and thus, most disciples didn’t know much about
Revered Ancient. But considering people from there were now
showing up in the sect, it was necessary to reveal the details. As
of now, the veil of secrecy regarding the mainland was being lifted.

The Revered Ancient mainland was a sprawling place that was

generally divided up into large regions. A region was divided up
into counties, and counties were divided into prefectures. There
were countless species and all sorts of other strange things on the
mainland. It was so large that no human could ever walk the entire
continent. In fact, its size defied imagination.

The human species originated in the depths of the sprawling

Revered Ancient mainland, in a location incomparably far away
from Seven Blood Eyes in the Forbidden Sea. It was the same
place where the last of the human Ancient Emperors had
established an imperial capital. Because of it, humans considered
it a holy land.

That Ancient Emperor was called Dark Serenity. He had

conquered all other species during the epoch in which he lived,
unifying Revered Ancient and establishing a road from his imperial
capital all the way to the Forbidden Sea. That road passed through
thirty-seven regions on its way to the shore.

In those days, it was called Dark Serenity’s Imperial Highway.

However, as epochs came and went, it later came to be known as
Dark Serenity’s Ancient Road.

Later, the human species declined, and innumerable other species

rose to prominence. Also, countless forbidden regions had formed.
Because of that, humans were no longer as glorious as they had
once been, and had lost control of much of the territory they once
owned. But they still maintained that ancient road.

Furthermore, other species proliferated and developed the area

surrounding the road.
Over the years, the ancient road became home to seven human
counties. Within those counties, human sects and organizations
rose and fell. Though humans’ overall strength and power
deteriorated, the seven counties and the imperial city made
humans one of the top species on Revered Ancient.

As for the seven counties, they all existed in different regions. The
seventh county occupied the spot where the ancient road reached
the Forbidden Sea, and was in the Holytide Region. It was called
Sea-Sealing County. It was called a county, but in reality it was
vastly more majestic than all of Seven Blood Eyes. It contained
five prefectures, each of which was ten times larger than the entire
continent of South Phoenix.

Within Sea-Sealing County, the prefecture closest to the

Forbidden Sea was called Emperor-Receiving Prefecture.
According to the stories, after Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity went
out to sea to corroborate his dao, he returned to conquer Revered
Ancient, and made landfall on that spot. That was the origin of the
prefecture’s name, and it was still used to this day.

Emperor-Receiving Prefecture was full of powerful organizations

that tended to balance each other out. There were also
nonhumans who had established camps and cities in the
prefecture. Over the years, after countless wars and treaties, six
powerful groups rose to the top.

They were...
A collection of numerous smaller sects and groups, with seven
sects in charge. It was a colossal monster of an organization
known as the Seven Sect Coalition.

The Church of Departure was present in the Emperor-Receiving

Prefecture as well. They venerated Ancient Emperor Dark
Serenity, and had carried out all sorts of insane plots, shedding
blood left and right to make sacrifices to the Daoist Rite of
Departure.

Cultivators native to the Emperor-Receiving Prefecture had a

secret legacy, which was essentially the dao of the prefecture.
They were... the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society!

The fourth group focused on collecting grues. They gave them

food in the form of flesh and drink in the form of souls. They were
a vicious lot that were known to strike despair into the hearts of all
other cultivators. They controlled 137 human cities, all of which
were littered with corpses and rotting flesh. Unfortunately, none of
the other groups could do anything about them. They were Three-
Spirits Dao-Suppressing Mountain.

The fifth group considered themselves supreme. Their entire

organization was centered around a relic that had been passed
down for many epochs. The name of their organization was the
same as the name of the relic they venerated: the Supreme
Beginning Netherflight Pillar. Supposedly, the Supreme Beginning
Netherflight Pillar was so tall it pierced the clouds, and no one
knew the full extent of its height.

The sixth and final group made their home on a 300,000-meter-tall

mountain that resembled a vicious ghost. He sat cross-legged in
the middle of Emperor-Receiving Prefecture, wearing a suit of
armor and holding a massive blade in his hands. A world rested on
each of his shoulders, making him seem like a god from ancient
times. The two worlds on his shoulders were the sixth and final
group. They were called South Tor Ghost Mountain. The vicious
god upon whose shoulders they rested was called the South Tor
Ghost Emperor.

In addition to these groups, there were many nonhumans as well

as plenty of forbidden regions, as well as two forbidden grounds
that were kept under control, but were constantly expanding on a
yearly basis.

1. Yanyan uses the word for ‘paternal grandmother’ here. This is

the same word my children use for my mother when speaking
Chinese. ☜

2. Madam Deathblade and I had a long and heated discussion

about this part of the story. First let me tell you my perspective. I
think this scene heavily implies that Guru Eastnether made a snap
decision (or possibly a premediated decision based on intelligence
reports) to try to arrange a marriage between Xu Qing and
Yanyan. The first evidence is the gift. The exchanging of ‘gifts’
when arranging a marriage is common in China. In modern times,
one side of the family will usually provide a car, the other will
provide a house. And there are often cash gifts involved as well
(often coming from the bride’s side of the family, depending on the
circumstances and local customs). The fact that Guru Eastnether
“wasn’t pleased” with Xu Qing doesn’t inherently mean she
wouldn’t consider an arranged marriage. The second evidence is
her asking to meet Xu Qing. In traditional Chinese culture, a young
man "officially" meeting the parents of a girl (or the grandparents if
the parents aren’t around), is an informal sign that they are
engaged. This “meeting” is particularly important, and it’s
something that I saw cause problems for many foreign guys in
China. If a girl invites a guy to her hometown to meet her parents,
it’s a very serious thing. Except, most foreign guys don’t think
much of it. Therefore, they don’t hesitate to “meet the parents,” not
realizing that they are essentially getting engaged in the minds of
the parents. In any case, Madam Deathblade thinks I’m reading
too much into the scene, that the gift was casual, and the request
to meet Xu Qing was not as important as I believed it to be. So…
you are welcome to side with Madam Deathblade on this matter,
or me. Whichever makes more sense to you! ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsThanks to Sanctusse for the review!

Thanks to Sanctusse for the review!

Chapter 227: Master Shengyun

All disciples in Seven Blood Eyes were stunned by the new

information about the Revered Ancient mainland. They felt as if a
veil covering their eyes had been lifted away, expanding their
minds and opening up the world to them.

It was the same with Xu Qing. However, there was more to it than
that for him. The fact that this information had been publicly
revealed had deeper implications. To Xu Qing, it felt like the sect
was preparing the disciples for things to come.

Obviously, he wasn’t the only one to be thinking that. The disciples

of Seven Blood Eyes were like venomous bugs in a jar, and as a
result, all had similar instincts. The truth was that he was
absolutely right.

Of particular note was that there were only general descriptions of

five of the groups from the Emperor-Receiving Prefecture,
whereas one group had much more detailed information. And that
group was... the Seven Sect Coalition.

The Seven Sect Coalition was actually a composite organization

made up of 137 other sects, some of them large, some of them
small. And there were seven of them that were the leaders of the
group.
That was the origin of the name Seven Sect Coalition.

One reason those seven groups reign supreme was that their
high-level cultivators had amazing battle prowess, they had a solid
group of strong mid-level cultivators, and their low-level cultivators
were numerous. However, there was a more important reason.

And that was... of the 137 sects that made up the coalition, they
were the only ones who had ‘taboo treasures.’

Ordinary magical treasures weren’t very common, not even in

Revered Ancient. Each and every one could be considered
heaven-shaking and earth-shattering, beyond the comprehension
of ghosts and gods. However, they could only be used sparingly,
as each use would cause it to be contaminated with mutagen to a
certain degree. And if used too many times, they would become
‘crippled treasures.’

As a result, anyone who possessed a magical treasure had to be

careful about how many times it was used, and at the same time,
constantly maintain it in an effort to cleanse it of the polluting
mutagen.

As for the ‘taboo treasures’... that was a term applied to magical

treasures that reached a higher level of development. They were
much rarer than ordinary magical treasures, and were so powerful
that even one of them had the capacity to destroy an entire sect.
In the Emperor-Receiving Prefecture, only groups with a magical
treasure capable of wiping out another sect would qualify to be in
a leadership position. The taboo magical treasures were how the
seven sects rose to prominence, and were how they commanded
an apex level of battle prowess. Furthermore, it was how the
Seven Sect Coalition came to be one of the six most powerful
groups in the Emperor-Receiving Prefecture.

With the taboo magical treasures, the Seven Sect Coalition had
the capacity to inflict serious damage onto the core essence of the
Daoist Rite of Departure or the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society.

That capacity was also related to ranking.

The seven strongest sects in the Seven Sect Coalition were... the
Soaring Cloud Sword Sect, Spiritgloam Valley, House of Grue
Hunters, the Lunisolar Dao Palace, the Heaven-Fate Pavilion, the
Heavenmirror Treasure Sect, and the Dark Serenity Sect!

Almost immediately, this information became much more hotly

discussed among Seven Blood Eyes disciples than the three
female cultivators from the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society.

Zhang San even had a long discussion with Xu Qing about it via
voice message.

That said, Xu Qing wasn’t very interested in the subject. His

attention was currently focused on the process of opening his wish
boxes. He had two wish boxes, one that he had acquired from the
young merman he’d killed, which had already been infused with
enough dharmaforce that it was halfway open. The other was from
Horsefour, which had been completely untouched.

As a result, it was going to take longer to open the latter. As for the
former, it was now ninety-nine percent ready, and all Xu Qing
needed was another four or five days and he would be able to
open it.

I wonder what I’ll find inside....

Xu Qing was really looking forward to finding out. That was

especially true when he thought about how Wu Jianwu had
seemingly gone into a trance after opening that other wish box.

What did Wu Jianwu find in that one?

Though he was curious, he doubted the idiot would ever explain.

[1]

Time passed. Outside cultivators and members of other species

showed up on a daily basis. Eventually, on the fifth day, just when
Xu Qing was about to open his first wish box, seven enormous
ships appeared outside of Seven Blood Eyes.

They were luxurious ships, each of them fully 3,000 meters in

length. They pulsed with dazzling energy, and if one looked
closely, it became obvious that they had been constructed with
sea beasts that were godly entities. Each ship looked different.
One resembled a godly bluegreen dragon, another looked like a
terrifying jellyfish. Another resembled a vicious turtle, while one...
looked like a three-clawed black-scaled dragon.

Their arrival brought a huge tempest into the Seven Blood Eyes
port, causing countless watercraft to bob violently in the surging
waves. It almost seemed like a tsunami had hit the sect.

It was an incomparably majestic event that led to widespread

shock throughout the sect.

In fact, the ships completely ignored the Seven Blood Eyes

Formation, sailing right into the port in shocking fashion. It was as
if the formation wasn’t effective against them at all. That made it
clear that this new group of cultivators had a higher level of
authority than the Seven Blood Eyes Formation. It was the first
time in many years that any Seven Blood Eyes disciples had seen
someone enter the sect without being announced. And in very rare
fashion, the sect didn’t do anything about it.

The seven huge ships entered seven different harbors. Then

cultivators disembarked from six of the ships, and they radiated
such immense glory and radiance that all Seven Blood Eyes
disciples were struck to the core.

These huge ships came from the Seven Sect Coalition, and the
people disembarking from them were envoys from the seven top
sects. Specifically, they were chosen disciples. Among them were
both men and women, and all of them were young. They wore
extravagant clothing and imparted a sensation that surpassed
anything mortal. What was more, their auras were dazzlingly
mighty.

Astonishingly, they were all four-flame cultivators!

Every single one had 120 dharma apertures, like glittering stars.
Anyone who looked at them would be shaken deeply, and would
feel like they were sordid and unworthy.

These people really did seem like the children of gods descended
to the mundane world.

The six people stepping off of the six giant ships were obviously
outstanding chosen. However, after they were on shore, the first
thing they did was look toward the ship that resembled a three-
clawed black-scaled dragon.

A roar echoed out from that ship, like heavenly thunder that shook
everything far and wide. And as the dragon roared, its head
dropped down, and its forehead split open.

Out walked a young man wearing golden formal court attire.

Around his waist was a golden silk belt with a spider motif, and his
black hair was bound in a golden crown inlaid with jade. [2]

He stood tall and straight, and his facial features were inherently
noble-looking. The moment he strolled out into the open, the other
six god-like chosen all bowed their heads. It was as if this young
man’s arrival made them all feel as inferior as dust.

What was even more amazing was that seven-colored light swirled
above his head into the form of a canopy. It was an umbrella that
also seemed to pulse with the chanting of wind. From a distance, it
was actually possible to see a seven-colored wind-chanting lamp
in the umbrella! The lamp’s seven colors were dazzling to the
utmost degree, and emanated a mighty pressure that caused all
onlookers to be flabbergasted.

“Life lamp!”

It was impossible to say who uttered the words first, but in only a
moment, everyone was shouting it.

That seven-colored wind-chanting lamp was none other than... a

legendary life lamp!

This young man with the life lamp had opened 120 dharma
apertures! What was more, behind him was the faint image of a
strange bird with a green body and a red tail, and it also emanated
crushing pressure. Shockingly, it was an image projected by an
imperial-class technique!

All of these things created an absolutely astonishing moment. With

his life lamp, he seemed like a person who could crush all the
chosen disciples in an entire epoch.
This person was the number one chosen of this generation in the
Seven Sect Coalition. He was... Chu Shengyun from the Soaring
Cloud Sword Sect. Although he wasn’t in the Gold Core level, he
actually surpassed Gold Core! And his grandfather, the patriarch
of the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect, had bestowed upon him the
name Master Shengyun! [3]

He was the pride of the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect, and was the
dao child and highest-ranking member of their echelon, someone
who they hoped would tread the path of the Ancient Emperors and
Imperial Sovereigns. He had an extremely high position in the
Seven Sect Coalition, and had been groomed to be pitted against
the dao children of the other five leading organizations in the
Emperor-Receiving Prefecture.

Furthermore, among the countless disciples in the Seven Sect

Coalition, he was the only one who had a life lamp and an
imperial-class technique. It wasn’t just his cultivation base that was
amazing. He had extraordinary facial features, with fair and radiant
skin, angular features, and an otherworldliness that made him so
extraordinary he was comparable to Xu Qing.

However, he also radiated a sense of indifference when he looked

at people, as if they were mere bugs to him. In that regard, he was
very different from Xu Qing. Xu Qing was always calm, and the
main thing he did when looking at other people was examine their
throats.
The figurative tsunami that hit the port, and the sudden crushing
pressure that resulted, caused waves to reach Harbor 176.

Xu Qing, who was working with his wish box, frowned. Standing,
he walked out of the cabin and looked toward Harbor 1. Given the
level of his cultivation, he could clearly see the newly arrived
chosen, and of course, the young man with the seven-colored
wind-chanting lamp and the green-bodied, red-tailed bird. The
moment he saw the lamp, his heart skipped a beat, and his eyes
glowed with profound light. At the same time, the green-bodied
red-tailed bird caused his golden crow tattoo to emanate intense
heat, as if it wished to emerge and crush the bird.

From that reaction alone, Xu Qing could tell that the strange bird
was a projection created by an imperial-class technique. This was
his first time encountering someone else with either a life lamp or
an imperial-class technique. After taking a close look, he turned
and went back into the cabin. It didn’t really matter to Xu Qing who
this person was, so long as he didn’t exhibit any killing intent. As
long as he didn’t, the only thing Xu Qing was interested in focusing
on... was opening the wish box!

Sitting down cross-legged, he looked at the lump of metal, his

eyes shining with intense anticipation. He didn’t open the box in
the strange way Wu Jianwu had. Instead, he just took a breath,
closed his eyes, calmed himself, and then opened his eyes.
Putting his hand on the box, he pushed.
CRUNCH!

A wish box left behind by someone in a previous epoch was now

opening in front of Xu Qing! Looking down, his eyes began to
shine, and he inhaled sharply. There were two things inside the
wish box.

A black medicinal pill.

And a jade slip that was covered with black blotches!

1. Here are all the main wish box references for those who are
interested. Horsefour’s box: chapter 11. Box acquired from young
merman: chapter 76. Mermaids mention the actual term “wish
box”: chapter 77. Wu Jianwu wish box arc, including the
explanation and revelation of his wish box loot: chapter 147 and
148. ☜

2. There is no specific picture I can share to convey what “court

attire” is, because it changes based on the time period in China.
And of course, this is a fantasy setting, so that makes things even
more complicated. The implication, however, is that this garment is
not a “daoist robe,” but rather resembles something you would
expect to see in an imperial/royal court. To most modern eyes, it
would not be something that jumps out. But to the eyes of
someone in the setting, that type of garment would look different
from the normal clothes worn by either commoners or cultivators,
similar to the way a military or police uniform would make
someone stand out nowadays. ☜

3. Chu Shengyun/Master Shengyun: Chu does not appear on the

list of the 100 most common surnames. It’s the same surname as
Chu Yuyan from ISSTH (I’m not implying there’s a connection, just
letting you know it’s the same name). Other than being a surname,
it was also the name of one of the Warring States, and in addition,
means “distinct, clear, orderly, suffering, painful.” Sheng means
“holy, sacred, saint, sage” and Yun is a fancy and sort of rare
character that means “sunlight.” As for Master Shengyun, it’s a
daoist name, but it’s simply a riff on his given name, so I’m not
going to translate it directly. As you can see, though, Shengyun
essentially means something like “holy sunlight.” Sheng rhymes
with hung. Yun is a sound that doesn't correspond directly to
anything in English, but is essentially pronounced "yoon." Madam
Deathblade says this sounds like someone scholarly and
gentlemanly, but at the same time, a bit pretentious. ☜
Chapter 228: Poison to Shake All Life,
Eradicate a Myriad Worlds

Xu Qing stared into the wish box, his eyes glittering.

As Wu Jianwu had explained, wish boxes could have anything in

them. If you were lucky, it might be an imperial-class legacy. On
the other hand, you could also get nothing more than some dried-
up leaves. It all came down to chance.

Based on Xu Qing’s understanding, the fact that the very first wish
box he opened had a medicinal pill and a jade slip meant that he
was very lucky.

Settling his thoughts, he prepared to pick up the jade slip and

examine it. However, before he did, his expression flickered, and
he reached out and slammed the wish box shut. The aura from
within the box was therefore cut off, yet his skin was already
starting to turn dark.

“Poison?” Xu Qing’s pupils constricted.

It wasn’t just his flesh that was being affected. Even his internal
organs were starting to rot. What was particularly shocking to Xu
Qing was that he wasn’t experiencing any sensation of pain.
Whether externally or internally, the symptoms were unlike
anything he had ever seen. It almost seemed like he was
hallucinating. He got absolutely no sensation from the darkening of
his skin or the withering of his organs, and couldn’t detect any
dharma force at work within him.

Yet based on what his eyes were telling him, and his
understanding of the dao of poison, he knew that he had been
poisoned.

What kind of poison is this…?

Flesh was starting to peel off of his face and drop to the ground,
causing him to bleed profusely. In fact, it wasn’t just his face. It
was happening to him all over. Yet even still, he felt absolutely no
pain.

Mulling the situation over, he observed what was happening for

the time it takes an incense stick to burn. Though the rot had filled
his entire body, the violet crystal’s powers of regeneration were
combating the effects.

Another incense stick’s worth of time passed, and the rotting had
ceased. Yet another incense stick’s worth of time passed, and
violet light had spread to fill him, and was working on regenerating
him. After about an hour had passed, he was back to normal.
Keeping his breathing steady, he looked down thoughtfully at the
wish box.

It’s a poison pill! A poison pill that’s been sealed away for
countless years. And its mere aura is enough to kill someone in
body and mind.

After some thought, he carefully opened the wish box again.

Even with his violet crystal, the poison was still shockingly
effective against him, so he didn’t dare to actually pick up the pill
and look at it. He was worried that if he touched it, the violet
crystal might not be able to keep up with the effects of the pill, in
which case he would be in danger. That said, he was no amateur
when it came to the dao of poison, and was aware of the general
principles of how to deal with the situation. After opening the box
for a short time, he closed it again while the rotting effects spread
through him.

Normally speaking, once you’re exposed to a poison a few times,

your body will naturally start to resist it.

Ignoring the rotting that was spreading through his body, he took a
large quantity of medicinal plants off of the rack next to him and
started experimenting with a concoction to counter the symptoms.
He had no idea what the primary ingredient in the poison was, so
he had no way to even consider how to create an antidote. But he
could counter the symptoms of rotting by creating a medicine
focused on life force, energy, and blood.

Before long, he had a medicinal liquid prepared. When he took a

mouthful, the symptoms disappeared almost immediately.
Following this pattern, he repeatedly opened the box to do tests.
The night passed quickly, and by daybreak, he had begun to build
a resistance to the effects of the poison.

At that point, he put on a pair of gloves and then took out the jade
slip. When he sent some dharma force into it, an ancient and weak
voice spoke into his mind from the slip.

“What makes a great dao?

“Three thousand great daos, all may be holy. Might one of them be
the dao of poison?

“People of the world disdain the treacherous and vicious. They

disdain the poisonous and vile. How could those who mock it as a
minor dao turn it into a great weapon?

“In the past, I did think the same, and spurned the vile methods of
poison. One day, I cut down a nonhuman who emerged from a
god domain. This cultivator commanded shocking battle prowess,
and walked an incredibly treacherous dao. Before dying, his
poisonous eyes glared at me, causing my cultivation to drop by an
entire realm in a single day. Ten days later, I was a mortal. I lived
for a sixty-year-cycle in the mundane world, experiencing endless
torment and suffering. I wasted endless precious materials, but
finally drove the poison from my body and collected it into a pill.

“Afterwards, I researched that pill until the apocalypse began. I

never fully succeeded, and thus, am leaving behind this partially
completed pill.
“This pill is a poison, and it is also taboo! If you are a high-level
cultivator, do not attempt to use it. You will be damned by myriad
tribulations and will die beyond the shadow of a doubt. Seek a low-
level Gold Core cultivator with one heavenly palace, then use this
poison pill as their gold core. That person will become a poison
core cultivator like no other in existence. [1]

“Only in this way can one transform the soul and truly walk the
path of the taboo pill!

“Based on my calculations, the path of the taboo pill uses poison

to shake all living beings. Use the taboo to eradicate myriad
worlds. Ultimate dread and terror! Or perhaps, fathom the magic of
god domains to be the archenemy of all peoples!”

Waves of astonishment filled Xu Qing’s heart and mind as he

stared at the jade slip. At the same time, he once again filled with
rot.

As the power of the violet crystal worked within him against the
poison, he closed his eyes and contemplated the contents of the
jade slip. By the time he opened his eyes again, day had passed,
and it was night again.

After repeatedly exposing himself to the strange poison in the wish

box, he had slowly but surely improved his natural resistance by a
small degree. And yet, it was still with extreme caution that he
opened the wish box. As of now, he still didn’t dare touch the pill,
not even with a glove on.

It’s a consummate poison pill from a previous epoch, but it’s not
designed to be given to someone to consume. Instead, it can be
assimilated and turned into a Gold Core.

His eyes sparkled as he looked at the pill for a time, then closed
the box again. After he had recovered, he opened it again to
continue his research.

By the time it was light again, he had gone through numerous

rounds of research, and was starting to get an idea of what he was
working with. This poison pill seemed like it was a destined
opportunity to achieve a great dao, and also a turning point in the
Gold Core level. It was different from the Gold Core level in the
current epoch; if someone really practiced cultivation with this pill,
their killing power would be shocking. However, the process of
doing so would be incredibly dangerous.

As Xu Qing considered what the jade slip said, he thought about

how he actually wasn’t very far from the Gold Core level himself.

Unfortunately, the pill isn’t complete. It’s also experienced the

baptism of ancient time, to the point where it’s in danger of
crumbling into nothing....

Based on Xu Qing’s skill with poison, he could tell that the black
pill was itself beginning to decay, and using it properly would
require reconcocting it. The process of reconcocting it would also
be a step in researching and understanding it.

To reconcoct the pill, to bring it to life... will require a massive

amount of poison ingredients!

Xu Qing closed the box again and carefully put it away. He took a
deep breath as anticipation swirled in his heart. From what he
could tell, this particular wish box contained very amazing
contents. And that made him even more interested in finding out
what was in the other wish box.

I wonder when the wartime rewards will be distributed. If he

wanted to reconcoct the pill, he would need a massive amount of
spirit stones to buy all of the poisonous plants he would need.
Given that he was embarrassingly short of money right now, he
couldn’t help but think of the rewards the sect had promised.

The rewards for the Seazombie war had not been distributed,
though, so there was currently nothing he could do on that front.
Taking out his identity medallion, he checked the division files to
see what had been going on in the past few days.

Almost immediately, his eyes narrowed.

During the time he had been researching the taboo poison pill, he
hadn’t paid any attention to anything else. Therefore, he had been
completely unaware that there was a huge commotion among the
sect disciples. It was a dramatic situation related to the chosen
visitors from the Seven Sect Coalition! Those chosen had been
acting very overbearingly, and as a result, were the center of
attention among all of the Seven Blood Eyes disciples.

On the day after they arrived, the chosen from the seven sects,
following certain missions and orders, began issuing dueling
challenges to the highnesses from the various mountain peaks! It
seemed they wanted to establish prestige!

That was especially true of Master Shengyun from the Soaring

Cloud Sword Sect, who was the number one chosen in the Seven
Sect Coalition, highest ranking member of his sect’s echelon, and
whose cultivation base was so high he could crush any other
cultivator in the same level as himself. He was incredibly famous,
not just in Emperor-Receiving Prefecture, but also in the other
prefectures in Sea-Sealing County. As for his duel challenge, he
had issued it to the First Peak.

After all, the First Peak’s supervisory sect was Master Shengyun’s
Soaring Cloud Sword Sect.

On the day he issued the challenge, he went to the First Peak,

offered formal greetings to the patriarch and peaklord, and had
challenged the First Peak’s grand highness to a duel.

Unfortunately, the First Peak’s grand highness was in seclusion

trying to break through to the Gold Core level, and thus could not
accept the challenge. As a result, the one to fight was the second
highness, who was in the great circle of Foundation
Establishment.

Master Shengyun only made one move in the duel. Using that, he
crushed the second highness’ bones, nearly killing him, and
leaving his cultivation base half-crippled. A Gold Core elder tried to
interfere with the fight, but was unable to help the second
highness. In fact, Master Shengyun slammed into him and
knocked him back 300 meters.

This event stunned Seven Blood Eyes, especially when Master

Shengyun ignited all four of his life flames against a Gold Core
expert. Given that he had a life lamp and an imperial-class
technique, it gave him the shocking and legendary battle prowess
equivalent to six flames. That type of battle prowess was a thing of
legend among Foundation Establishment cultivators, and was
inaccessible to the vast majority of people. It was a level of
strength fully deserving of being called ‘the absolute peak’ of
Foundation Establishment.

That was why it was said that Master Shengyun would probably be
an Ancient Emperor one day. Stories of the duel spread
throughout the continent of South Phoenix, and of course left the
disciples of Seven Blood Eyes feeling very powerless. Master
Shengyun was just too strong.

At the same time, other chosen from the Seven Sect Coalition
issued dueling challenges to other mountain peaks, though none
of them could devastate their opponents like Master Shengyun.

Though there were victories and defeats on both sides, overall, the
Seven Sect Coalition chosen had the upper hand. That said, not
all of the mountain peaks received dueling challenges. The
Seventh Peak... did not receive a single challenge.

Unfortunately, one mountain peak couldn’t represent the entire

sect. Therefore, as time passed, Seven Blood Eyes, despite
having come out victorious in the war against the Seazombies,
began to fill with frustration.

Furthermore, the challenges were witnessed by all of the visitors

to the sect, enabling everyone to see first-hand how mighty the
Seven Sect Coalition was. Everyone could tell that the Seven Sect
Coalition had come to establish prestige and put Seven Blood
Eyes in place.

This was not a contest between high-level cultivators. That was

because the battle prowess of high-level cultivators didn’t need to
be tested. Sir Bloodsmelter had shocking aptitude and mysterious
destined opportunities. Unexpectedly, he had recently broken
through from the Spirit Trove level into the Void Returning level,
just the same as the other patriarchs from the seven sects.
However, he was only one person.

What was more, the Seven Sect Coalition’s true battle prowess
didn’t come just from those seven patriarchs, but most importantly,
from their taboo magical treasures! There was no question that
they possessed superior battle prowess. Therefore, the patriarchs
didn’t need to come. Instead, they sent their chosen disciples with
the goal of... crushing the spirits of the Seven Blood Eyes
disciples, and making them feel powerless down to the core of
their being.

That was obvious to Xu Qing. That said, it wasn’t a concern to

him. He wasn’t one of the highnesses. Though he had
accomplished something amazing and thus been placed into the
echelon, he wasn’t the mastermind behind that event. Thus, with
the highnesses around, there was no reason anyone would cause
trouble for him.

Days passed.

The chosen from the seven sects continued to act aggressively,

and the Seven Blood Eyes disciples got more frustrated. One
evening when Xu Qing was researching his new poison pill, he
looked up when his identity medallion vibrated. It was an urgent
message from the Violent Crimes Division.

“Sir, there’s a large gathering of Night Dove operatives in Harbor

79. There’s some sort of deal going down. And the customer... is a
chosen from the Seven Sect Coalition’s House of Grue Hunters.
It’s Sima Ling! How do we handle this, sir? Please advise!” [2] [3]
1. It’s worth noting that the character translated as ‘core’ can also
be translated as ‘pill.’ This is why the “Core” level of cultivation is
often intertwined with pill concocting. ☜

2. Sima Ling: Sima is a compound surname that does not appear

on the list of 100 common Chinese surnames. Compound
surnames like this are archaic, and impart a sense of old-
timeyness. That said, Sima is probably one of the most common of
the ancient compound surnames, and there are still people
nowadays who have this surname, though it’s not seen often. It is
not pronounced “seemuh.” Instead, the first syllable rhymes
(roughly speaking) with the English word “uh.” The second syllable
roughly rhymes with “maw.” So together it’s sort of like “suh-maw.”
To hear it pronounced by google, click here. Ling means “mound,
tomb, hill.” Madam Deathblade says this sounds like a decent,
respectable name. ☜

3. By way of reminder, Harbor 79 is where Xu Qing was originally

assigned when he joined the sect in chapter 52. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsMany thanks to Master of the Kola Bear

Sytle and Emperor Li for the reviews!

Many thanks to Master of the Kola Bear Sytle and Emperor Li for
the reviews!
Chapter 229: Arrogant and Despotic

The message also contained details about this Sima Ling from the
House of Grue Hunters. Xu Qing looked it over quickly.

“Sima Ling is a chosen disciple from the House of Grue Hunters.

His cultivation base is in the great circle of Foundation
Establishment, with four life flames. He has no life lamp and no
imperial-class technique. He cultivates the Nether-Sealing Grue
Index.

“He’s vicious and ruthless, and has numerous grues sealed within
him. He’s incredibly strong; he severely injured the third highness
of the Third Peak in a duel, using vicious tactics. A few days ago,
he fought the Third Peak’s grand highness to a draw, and
scheduled a follow-up match tomorrow morning at dawn.

“Investigation has revealed that Sima Ling is the big customer that
caused so many Night Dove agents to converge on Seven Blood
Eyes.

“Sir, how shall we handle this situation?”

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered as he coolly responded with a text

message.

“Arrest them all, even if they resist. Bring them in alive or dead!”
“Sir, yes sir!”

In response to Xu Qing’s orders, all seven of the sect’s Violent

Crimes Divisions sprang into action. Thousands of constables
went out into the night and headed straight toward Harbor 79. Two
of the divisions sent their directors in as leaders, specifically, the
directors from the First Peak and the Third Peak. As for the
director from the Third Peak, he was personally dissatisfied with
this chosen from the House of Grue Hunters.

After issuing his orders, Xu Qing walked out of the cabin, collected
up his dharmaskiff, and then flew up into the air toward Harbor 79.

The moon hung bright in the air, so even though it was night,
Harbor 79 was well-illuminated. In one particular berth was a very
large ship, fully 3,000 meters long, making it seem like some
hulking beast. Numerous horse carts were lined up to deliver
goods to the ship.

Standing on the shore was a young man in extravagant clothing,

his hands clasped behind his back as he coldly looked at the big
ship. He appeared to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years
old. His eyes sparkled like stars, and his entire person exuded a
gruish aura. In fact, the area around him seemed particularly
strong with mutagen. What was more, his eyes didn’t match in
terms of color. His left eye was red, while his right eye was azure.
Because of the two different colors, anyone who looked at him
would realize he was extraordinary. Especially noteworthy was
that, if you looked closely into his eyes, you would find yourself
looking into two hells, each of them burning with either red or
azure flames. And within those flames were a haze of countless
grues, screaming in agony as they burned. The sound wasn’t
audible to the ear, but anyone who got close to him would feel
their mind and heart trembling.

The young man looked icily arrogant as he stood there. He wasn’t

hiding his identity in any way, as though he wasn’t worried at all
that someone might see him. He apparently believed that, even if
someone did see him, they wouldn’t do anything to him.

This person was Sima Ling, chosen from the House of Grue
Hunters.

Standing in front of him were a few dozen people in black

garments, who were all Night Dove operatives. All of them had
extraordinary cultivation bases, but at the same time, they looked
nervous. They kept looking around, and urging the cart-drivers to
work faster.

Not too far away, atop a building, was an old man, also dressed in
fine clothing, standing in the moonlight as he looked on, radiating
the energy of a Gold Core cultivation base. His eyes were focused
solely on Sima Ling. Obviously, he didn’t care about anyone else.
He was, of course, Sima Ling’s dao protector during his time here
in Seven Blood Eyes.
As the night wind blew, it stirred Sima Ling’s hair. In his hands,
which were clasped behind his back, he held a string of black
pearls that he fiddled with impatiently.

“This is it?” he said. “I expected more goods from Night Dove.”

The black-garbed man who seemed to be the leader smiled

bitterly and said, “Your Highness Sima, there’s really nothing we
could do. You demanded that we bring our goods to Seven Blood
Eyes, except this sect is extremely displeased with us. Over the
past few years, there have been several very violent crackdowns
on us. The reality is that we brought much more with us, only to
have about thirty percent of it confiscated by Seven Blood Eyes.
Their Violent Crimes Division has been a real problem.”

“Violent Crimes Division?” Sima Ling said. He snorted coldly. As a

chosen from the House of Grue Hunters, and a cultivator from the
Revered Ancient mainland, he despised this backwater Seven
Blood Eyes. That was especially true after he challenged the Third
Peak’s highnesses, and found them to be very weak. This wasn’t
his first time hearing of the Violent Crimes Division. He knew that
the division had been causing problems for Night Dove, and that
had him feeling very irritated.

“Your Highness Sima, I urge you... to cover your face, sir. The
Violent Crimes Divisions here in Seven Blood Eyes are no joke.
That’s especially true after the Seventh Peak’s Violent Crimes
Division got a new director named Xu Qing. He doesn’t hesitate to
shed blood, and is both brazen and bold....”

“Xu Qing?” Sima Ling said coolly. “He’s a nobody. If they show up
here, they’ll find out what happens when a bunch of subsidiary
sect disciples dare to interfere with the affairs of their superiors.
That’s not to mention that this Xu... what’s his name? Xu Qing?
He’s not even one of the highnesses from the Seventh Peak. Not
even Huang Yikun from the Seventh Peak’s supervisory sect, the
Dark Serenity Sect, would dare to stick his nose in my affairs! [1]

The black-garbed leader hesitated for a moment, and was about to

say more when a piercing noise could be heard off in the distance.
At the same time, a signal light shot up into the air and exploded,
creating the words Violent Crimes! [2]

Simultaneously, figures rushed in from all directions, accompanied

by a cold voice.

“The Violent Crimes Division is here to arrest all Night Dove

operatives and accomplices. Don’t even think of fleeing!”

The faces of the black-garbed men fell, and they backed up as

Violent Crimes Division constables raced toward them. However,
Sima Ling simply chuckled coldly and took a step forward.

“How impudent!”
The moment his foot landed, his four life flames burned to life,
causing a terrifying aura to ripple out in all directions. The burning
of his four life flames was like an entire world on fire, creating
pressure so mighty it was almost tangible. Rumbling sounds
echoed out everywhere, and the first wave of incoming Violent
Crimes Division constables coughed up blood and were sent
tumbling backward.

A massive tempest now raged on the shore, with Sima Ling at the
center of it.

“Keep loading up the ship,” Sima Ling said, glaring

contemptuously at the Violent Crimes Division constables who
didn’t dare to get any closer.

There were Foundation Establishment cultivators among the

constables, and there were two who stood out among them. One
of them had the aura of the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect on him, and
the other emanated the grue fluctuations of the House of Grue
Hunters. Those two were the directors of the Violent Crimes
Divisions from the First and Third Peaks. But not even they dared
to get any closer, and simply stood, waiting. The cultivation
techniques of Seven Blood Eyes were all derived from the
techniques of the Seven Sect Coalition, but obviously existed on a
different level.

“I really don’t understand why my sect was worried about rabble-

rousers like this.” Sima Ling had always been an arrogant person,
even back in his own sect. Now that he was in Seven Blood Eyes,
he was even worse.

The surrounding Night Dove operatives were shaken. They were

scared of the Violent Crimes Division, but seeing how easily the
division had been cowed, they now breathed sighs of relief. They
were now thinking that the Violent Crimes Division wasn’t that
impressive after all; once a supervisory sect showed up, they had
no choice but to bow their heads.

Stirring back into action, they sent cart after cart into the big ship.
However, just as they were redoubling their efforts, a black streak
appeared noiselessly off in the distance, moving like a lightning
bolt.

Actually, in some ways, it was a lightning bolt.

Streaking forth, it pierced through the necks of one of the black-

garbed Night Dove operatives. Before he could even scream, the
black lightning bolt pierced through the necks of seven additional
black-garbed men. As the black iron skewer zipped back and forth,
its lightning symbols flared, creating something like a web of
electricity that filled the area. As the screams rang out, the rest of
the Night Dove operators looked around in shock.

Sima Ling’s eyebrows shot up. Ignoring the iron skewer, he looked
off into the distance.
What he saw was someone speeding in his direction over the
water, standing atop a bluegreen dragon. This person wore a
violet daoist robe, and his black hair whipped behind him,
revealing his fair face, with handsome features that would leave
just about anyone breathless. He had cold, aloof eyes that were so
calm and peaceful they almost looked bored. As his hair danced in
the wind, he almost looked like an immortal. With him came a
baleful aura that was so cold it caused Sima Ling’s hair to stand
on end, and only enhanced the placid look in his eyes. It was like
this person could crush anything and everything in his path, as
easily as dried weeds.

Sima Ling’s eyes narrowed.

Meanwhile, all of the Violent Crimes Division constables who had

been holding back at a safe distance dropped to their knees and
kowtowed. It didn’t matter if they were from the Seventh Peak or
not.

“Well met, Director!”

Their voices echoed like thunder. As for the constables from the
Seventh Peak, their eyes shone with fervor, and they shouted
even louder than the others. All of the Night Dove operatives in the
area were shaken.

The directors from the First and Third Peaks all breathed sighs of
relief as they clasped hands and bowed.
“I advise you not to stick your nose in my business,” Sima Ling
said slowly, his eyes burning with displeasure.

Xu Qing didn’t even look at him. Turning to the other two directors,
he coolly said, “Start arresting people.”

“Sir, yes sir!” Instantly, the surrounding constables rushed toward

the Night Dove cultivators. Some of them also took the fighting
right into the big ship.

Xu Qing’s arrival left the Night Dove operatives deeply shaken,

and there were some who now just wanted to get away. Sadly for
them, the Violent Crimes Division had the entire place locked
down. In the blink of an eye, the sounds of fighting and killing filled
the air.

“Feeling suicidal, Xu Qing?” Sima Ling growled, his eyes lighting

up with killing intent. His cultivation base then surged, and he
became like a lightning bolt that shot right toward Xu Qing, his
hands reaching toward his eyes to pluck them out.

1. Huang Yikun. Huang is #7 on the list of 100 most common

Chinese surnames, and it generally means “yellow,” although the
character has broader meanings and implications. Yi means “one,
solitary” and Kun is one of the eight trigrams, and though it has a
lot of meaning, it is generally associated with yin things. To Madam
Deathblade, this name sounds classy and impressive, like this
person ‘has the world in their grasp.’ ☜
2. In the original text, it’s only a single Chinese character in the air,
but the implication is that it’s identifying the Violent Crimes
Division. ☜
Chapter 230: Crushing Sima Ling

The House of Grue Hunters was one of the lead organizations in

the Seven Sect Coalition. Given that Sima Ling had been selected
by his sect to represent them here, it was obvious he wasn’t
someone to be taken lightly. After all, he was responsible for
maintaining face for the House of Grue Hunters. To a great sect,
face was an extremely important thing, as it directly related to both
their current ranking and their prospects for future growth. The
weak generally didn’t qualify to survive in a brutal world.

Thus, it made sense that the House of Grue Hunters’ number one
chosen in Foundation Establishment, Sima Ling, was outstanding
in battle prowess, cultivation base, and fighting experience. With
the help of the sect, he was abundantly prepared in all respects.

His voice was icy cold, and his words were still echoing out as his
fingers neared Xu Qing’s face to pluck his eyes out. However,
what was waiting for him was Xu Qing’s cold gaze, as well as a
fire raging from inside.

Xu Qing’s battle prowess, cultivation base, and fighting experience

all came from his experience as a venomous bug in a jar. He had
risen through slaughter. That was a stark contrast to Sima Ling. If
Sima Ling lost a fight in the coalition, he wouldn’t die. But every
single fight Xu Qing had experienced had been a life-or-death
struggle. Had he failed a single time, he would be dead.
Therefore, his experience was carved in his bones and engraved
in his heart!

In the blink of an eye, Xu Qing entered the profound radiance

state. All of his 82 dharma apertures lit up at once, like eighty-two
massive furnaces. As the intense heat spread out, the golden crow
materialized behind him, its heat also filling him, pushing his battle
prowess to the level of four life flames. With his imperial-class
technique bolstering his fleshly body, his battle prowess reached a
barbaric level. Compared to the last time he fought someone in the
four-flame level, the Seazombie dao child Vastworld, he now had
nearly 20 additional dharma apertures. His dharma force was even
more robust, and his life flames more astonishing. Clenching his
right hand into a fist, he unleashed a devastating blow.

His fist landed directly on Sima Ling’s right hand. A massive boom
rang out, causing the water in the harbor to seethe, and crushing
the soil on the shore. A massive wave rolled out as Sima Ling’s
face fell, and he staggered backward with disbelief in his eyes.

He hadn’t even considered the possibility that Xu Qing would be

able to power up so quickly. This was a level of strength that, as
far as he was concerned, wasn’t common at all. Yet he wasn’t able
to pick up on any clues about how it was possible. All he could
sense was Xu Qing’s life flames. Everything else... was a blur.

“You—”
Before Sima Ling could say anything else, Xu Qing stepped
toward him, eyes flashing coldly. Within his right hand appeared a
dagger of balefire which he slashed viciously toward Sima Ling’s
throat.

Sima Ling’s eyes glittered with killing intent as he performed a

double-handed incantation gesture and pushed down on his chest.
As Xu Qing’s dagger neared, Sima Ling opened his mouth and let
loose a roar.

The roar contained a gruish power that caused a projected image

to appear around Sima Ling. It was a partially decomposed grue
wearing a tattered black robe, pulsing with a frigid aura as it
lunged toward Xu Qing.

In almost exactly the same instant, the shadow beneath Xu Qing’s

feet twitched. Transforming into the shape of a tree that no one
else could see, it opened its mouth and inhaled sharply. The grue
projection instantly collapsed! Then, a black lightning bolt shot
toward Sima Ling from off to the side.

Frowning, Sima Ling flew backward and simultaneously threw a

blue scale out toward the skewer to block its path. When the two
items clashed, the scale erupted with countless gray threads that
wrapped around the skewer. However, it couldn’t stop the skewer
from exploding with numerous lightning bolts that continued
onward to Sima Ling.
Sima Ling was about to dodge out of the way when Xu Qing
closed in, his right fist viciously rocketing forward surrounded by
an intense sea of flames. A boom rang out as Sima Ling was once
again shoved backward. Eyes gleaming viciously, he was about to
launch a counter attack when the image of a golden crow looked
at him and inhaled deeply.

“This technique...” blurted Sima Ling, his eyes widening with

shock. He performed another incantation gesture, causing a host
of long hairs to erupt from his chest, which rapidly surrounded him
like a defensive shield. In the blink of an eye, intense rumbling
sounds filled the air as Sima Ling, surrounded by the shield of
hairs, was slammed by Xu Qing down onto the ground.

With the initiative in his hands, Xu Qing didn’t hesitate to unleash

another blow.

However, before his fist could land, the hair surrounding Sima Ling
snapped out into the shape of countless arrows that shot toward
Xu Qing. Thumping sounds could be heard as the arrows pierced
Xu Qing. However, he didn’t so much as frown. His expression
was the same as ever as he reached up, grabbed the hairs, and
yanked them violently.

Sima Ling’s face filled with shock as he realized he couldn’t fall

back. Instead, he was dragged toward Xu Qing. Expression
turning vicious, he howled as the image of a green-skinned, long-
fanged grue emerged from within him and lunged toward Xu Qing.
Ignoring the grue, Xu Qing tilted his head back slightly, then,
without uttering a single word, head-butted Sima Ling in the face.
This was how Xu Qing fought. His style was to lead with
ruthlessness, and it was something that even the crazy Captain
was apprehensive of.

A boom rang out as blood splashed all over Sima Ling’s face.
Meanwhile, the green-skinned, long-fanged grue was shoved back
inside of him, and the countless hairs collapsed. Sima Ling
staggered backward. Inside, he was surprised, but outside, all he
revealed was killing intent and a vicious smile.

“I underestimated you. Good thing I was just warming up.”

Sima Ling shoved his hand to his forehead, causing rumbling

sounds to fill him as all of the grues in the hells in his eyes
vanished. Then, his entire body structure changed as the face of
grue after grue appeared on his skin. The huge number of grues
sealed inside of him were now bulging out of his skin, and as their
auras spread out, it made it seem like he was an entire world
engulfed in flames. The air around him rippled and distorted from
the heat, and the nearby seawater evaporated.

Cracks and crevices spread out on the ground. The sheer might
created a tempest that swept everywhere, causing both Night
Dove operatives and Violent Crimes Division constables to cough
up blood as they staggered away in astonishment.
Before, Sima Ling had taken a step forward and released some
intimidating pressure. But this time he wasn’t holding back, and as
such, those who were hit by the pressure felt their souls burning.
They were grievously injured! Everyone was flabbergasted!

As for the directors from the First and Third Peaks, they were two-
flame cultivators, and they knew exactly what was happening. In
fact, they could sense that their life flames were teetering on the
verge of being extinguished. Although both knew all along that
they weren’t on the same level as Sima Ling, they were still very
surprised.

Only Xu Qing’s facial expression was the same as ever as he

looked coldly at the explosive Sima Ling.

“I hate those eyes of yours!” Sima Ling shrieked like an evil ghost.

Then, just as he was about to charge forward in attack, his

expression flickered, and a tremor passed through him. All of a
sudden, his skin was turning black, and intense pain swept
through him. It was being caused by the black beetles!
Innumerable black beetles had been released by Xu Qing during
his attacks, and they had just been waiting for the right opportunity
to burrow into Sima Ling. They had found that chance when Xu
Qing unleashed his barrage moments ago. As soon as they were
inside, they started voraciously devouring Sima Ling’s organs,
while at the same time releasing massive amounts of mutagen
and highly toxic poison.
This poison had caused the Seastar chieftain to react with
surprise, and Sima Ling wasn’t even close to that level. As he
reacted with shock, so did the faces of the grues. They screamed
sharply, and almost seemed on the verge of being born again as
they tried to break free from his fleshly body.

Sima Ling was nearly driven mad by that. He knew exactly what
was happening. The massive amounts of mutagen suddenly
introduced into his body were weakening the seals on the grues,
and causing him to lose control. Furthermore, the poison being
released caused his vision to swim, and was rapidly weakening
him. Shrieking, he coughed up a mouthful of blood. And at long
last, terror appeared in his eyes as he backed away and prepared
to flee.

Xu Qing didn’t hesitate to take a step forward and raise his right
hand. His energy erupted, and a sea of flames spread out from
behind him, rushing toward Sima Ling with crushing might.

“Help!!” shrieked Sima Ling in terror.

Meanwhile, the surrounding Night Dove operatives and Violent

Crimes constables were all staring at Xu Qing in abject
astonishment. They all knew that Xu Qing was strong, and had
guessed that he had a reason for confidence in issuing an order
for Sima Ling to be arrested. But none of them could have
guessed that he would be able to crush a four-flame chosen with
such apparent ease. After all, in recent days, many chosen from
the Seven Sect Coalition had challenged the highnesses from
various mountain peaks. And the result was that the Seven Blood
Eyes disciples felt like they couldn’t hold their heads up high. They
had to admit that the Seven Sect Coalition disciples were outright
terrifying.

But today... things were changing.

Just as Sima Ling cried for help, and right as Xu Qing was making
his next move, a cold harrumph echoed out from nearby,
accompanied by waves of mighty pressure.

“What outrageous gall you have!” It was Sima Ling’s dao protector,
who had been waiting on a nearby rooftop this entire time. Glaring
coldly at Xu Qing, he took a step forward. “You good-for-nothing
idiot. Be suppressed!”

Xu Qing turned to look at him. He had sensed this man earlier, and
had assumed he would step in. Lifting his hand and pointing to the
sky, he spoke for the first time during the entire encounter.

“The Violent Crimes Division, operating under orders from Master

Sixth to arrest all Night Dove operatives in the city, has caught the
culprit red-handed. According to Section 9 of Seven Blood Eyes
law, and Section 3 of Violent Crimes Division regulations, any
person who interferes with an officer of the law or assists a
criminal shall be crushed. I hereby request the sect’s spell
formation to uphold the law and crush this interloper!”
The visitors from the Seven Sect Coalition qualified to supersede
the spell formation. However... they didn’t qualify to violate the
laws of Seven Blood Eyes! When they simply passed through the
spell formation upon arriving, that was the spell formation
acknowledging them as friends and allies. But not even friends
and allies could interfere with the carrying out of justice. In Seven
Blood Eyes, sect law was the foundation of everything!

This dao protector was different from a chosen disciple. He had a

higher cultivation base, but his status was actually lower. He was
not in any echelon, and didn’t have a lot of authority. Using the
Seven Blood Eyes Formation to deal with chosen might not work,
but Xu Qing was confident it could handle a dao protector.

What was more, the Violent Crimes Division’s actions against

Night Dove were approved by Master Sixth, and there was no way
this dao protector’s authority could surpass a peaklord.

And thus... an emotionless voice rang out through the night.

“The judgment shall be executed!”

Deathblade's ThoughtsMany thanks to AceWanderer for the

review!

Many thanks to AceWanderer for the review!

Chapter 231: Xu Qing’s Name

The moment the voice rang out, an indescribable force swept

down from the spell formation, creating a massive, invisible hand
that shot toward Sima Ling’s shocked dao protector. As rumbling
sounds echoed out, the dao protector, who had moments ago
been insufferably arrogant, was shoved by the hand right onto the
ground. Given that he had a Gold Core cultivation base, he
struggled mightily, but it was to no avail. As he was crushed into
the ground, he howled, “Is this a rebellion, Seven Blood Eyes?
How dare—”

“Pipe down!” Xu Qing said coolly. Next, the spell formation

rumbled again, releasing not crushing might, but a force of
expulsion.

The old dao protector couldn’t stand up to the force battering him.
His heavenly palaces trembled, and his expression became one of
humiliation. He, a mighty Gold Core cultivator, was being crushed
and expelled. It was infuriating, but he could do nothing as he was
thrown outside of the sect.

Ignoring the dao protector, Xu Qing shot toward the fleeing Sima
Ling. Unleashing a palm strike, he sent Sima Ling screaming
through the air until he slammed into a nearby building. As he did,
one of his four life flames went out.
“Xu Qing!!” Sima Ling howled, his hair disheveled, and his entire
person radiating madness. Thanks to the poison throwing his
grues into chaos, he was, for the first time ever, starting to wonder
if he was going to die.

That said, Sima Ling was a ruthless person; as madness filled his
eyes, he bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood
at Xu Qing. In midair, the blood transformed into a host of imps, all
of them radiating a vicious, gruish aura. Shrieking, they shot
toward Xu Qing. As they moved through the air, they became a
diamond-shape mark that pulsed with sealing power.

“Nether-Sealing Dao!” Sima Ling screamed viciously. His hands

flashed in a double-handed incantation gesture, causing the imps
to accelerate. Even if Xu Qing suddenly fell back, there was no
way he could avoid them. And so, the sealing mark surrounded
him, and in the blink of an eye, duplicated itself over and over
again, making a diamond-shaped shell around him.

With Xu Qing inside, Sima Ling raised both of his hands and
shouted, “Detonate!”

The shell started to collapse, but only by about thirty percent. Then
Xu Qing’s hand stretched out and stopped the process. Eyes cold,
he looked down at the raving Sima Ling, then flew down. Before
Sima Ling could react, Xu Qing reached out and grabbed him by
the neck, hoisted him up, then slammed him ruthlessly into the
ground.
The ground quaked, and cracks appeared. Sima Ling shivered,
and blood oozed out of the corners of his mouth. The rest of his
life flames went out, and he went unconscious. The grues within
him suddenly went out of control, and it looked like they were
about to devour his body. But then a soft light radiated out from
him, and they were quelled.

Looking over Sima Ling coldly, Xu Qing said, “Put twenty dharma
shackles on him and lock him up.”

“Yes sir!”

The surrounding Violent Crimes constables were clearly enlivened

by what they had seen. Even the constables from the other peaks
were looking at Xu Qing with utmost respect and admiration. The
directors from the First and Third Peaks both breathed sighs of
relief and bowed to Xu Qing.

As a group of constables put shackles on Sima Ling, Xu Qing

looked around and said, “Arrest all Night Dove operatives here. If
anyone resists, kill them.”

The constables spread out, and soon screams and shrieks filled
the night.

Xu Qing didn’t participate in what happened next. As long as none

of the Seven Sect Coalition’s chosen appeared, he didn’t need to.
The Violent Crimes Division was accustomed to dealing with Night
Dove. It took them half the night to wrap everything up.
The operation ended up spreading through the entire capital city. A
vast number of Night Dove operatives were arrested, although
many of them resisted and died fighting. By the time dawn came,
Xu Qing was back in his dharmaskiff resting. At that time, he sent
out a message to the Violent Crimes Division.

“Hang the heads of all slain Night Dove operatives on the city
walls.”

That was how the Night Dove operation had ended back when he
first joined the Violent Crimes Division. Now that he was a director,
he felt like it was a good tradition to maintain.

By the time it was light outside, the city wall had about a thousand
Night Dove operative heads hanging from it. Everyone who saw
the appalling sight was shaken. There was no hiding what
happened the previous night. The story was already spreading
through Seven Blood Eyes. All visiting species, all allies, all Seven
Blood Eyes disciples, and everyone from the Seven Sect Coalition
was filled with astonishment when they heard.

Of course, what surprised them wasn’t that the Violent Crimes

Division had taken action against Night Dove, and hung over a
thousand heads from the city wall. Rather, the shocking news was
that... Sima Ling from the House of Grue Hunters had also been
arrested and locked up.
Not even his dao protector had been able to save him from that
fate. The director of the Seventh Peak’s Violent Crimes Division
had used the Seven Blood Eyes Formation to drive the dao
protector away.

The challenge that had been issued to the Third Peak was
dropped. After all, Sima Ling couldn’t show up to fight. It was a
huge deal. After all, the Seven Sect Coalition’s challenges to
Seven Blood Eyes had earned them massive prestige. The matter
was like a massive slap to the face.

The first thing that happened was that Xu Qing’s information was
instantly compiled and sent to all of the chosen from the Seven
Sect Coalition. All of them wanted to know what this ‘envoy
disciple’ from Seven Blood Eyes was like. He was the director of
the Seventh Peak’s Violent Crimes Division, had been placed in
the echelon but not appointed to the position of highness, and had
somehow defeated Sima Ling, who was in the great circle and had
four life flames.

Actually, they weren’t the only ones. Many Seven Blood Eyes
disciples, and especially the highnesses from the various
mountain peaks, were all astonished. Although Xu Qing had done
some amazing things, they were all relatively minor when
considering the overall state of affairs. But this time, he had done
something absolutely sensational.

And thus, everyone was scrambling to learn more about Xu Qing.

The afternoon after the conflict between Xu Qing and Sima Ling
played out at Harbor 79, a person arrived to examine the
aftermath.

He wore a fancy golden garment, and had a silk belt with a spider
motif. A seven-colored umbrella floated above his head, casting
brilliant light around him, making him seem like the child of a god.

He was none other than the person who had defeated the First
Peak’s second highness with a single blow, and had stood toe-to-
toe with a Gold Core elder. He was the number one chosen in the
Seven Sect Coalition, Master Shengyun from the Soaring Cloud
Sword Sect.

After arriving at Harbor 79, he stood on the shore, closed his eyes,
and cast his senses out. He stood in the sea breeze like a
beautiful statue, radiating an extraordinary aura and scintillating
light.

Behind him stood three old men, all of whom were Gold Core
experts that Patriarch Soaring Cloud had assigned as his dao
protectors. They were delighted to have such an assignment, and
were actually honored to accompany him as he grew into his own.
All of them had respectful expressions on their faces, and they
kept their heads bowed.

Eventually, Master Shengyun opened his eyes. “Two life flames.

Imperial-class technique. A poison that can threaten Gold Core
cultivators with heavenly palaces. A magical device with a spirit
automaton.... Interesting. With strength like that, it’s no wonder he
sent Sima Ling tumbling. Also, his imperial-class technique seems
somehow familiar....”

After sensing his surroundings briefly, he had described the fight

almost as if he had witnessed it personally. There was no way that
he had some ability to look back in time. It was just that... his
intuition and senses were so advanced that all he needed were
tiny clues to come to correct conclusions. It was a terrifying level of
skill.

Behind him, a strange cry rang out as a green-bodied red-tailed

bird appeared. As it cried out, a greedy look appeared in its eyes
as it inhaled deeply as though it was looking for some aura in
particular.

“Golden crow?” Master Shengyun turned to look in the direction of

Harbor 176, his eyes gleaming.

“So, someone relatively interesting does exist in Seven Blood

Eyes. Sadly, he’s too weak. Don’t be anxious, my little ravagemist
bird. Let that golden crow grow up a little, and then you can eat it
to grow stronger. It’ll be yours sooner or later.” [1]

Turning, Master Shengyun left the area.

Throughout the afternoon, a lot of people came to Harbor 79. By

evening, numerous people had investigated the area, hoping to
dig up as much information about Xu Qing as they could.

“He joined Seven Blood Eyes three years ago, and existed like a
venomous bug in a jar. In the Qi Condensation level, he
slaughtered all of the cultivators on an entire island. It was a
bloodbath!”

“During the war between Seven Blood Eyes and the Seazombies,
he completed a lot of missions. He slaughtered numerous Qi
Condensation Seazombies, assimilated their souls, and opened
lots of dharma apertures. He’s now at the two-flame level, and
apparently, he cultivates Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits!
Also, he has some shocking poisons!!”

“The Seazombie dao child Vastworld put out a bounty for him....
However, Vastworld never responded to any messages people
sent him about that. People have their speculations, but most
people don’t think Xu Qing could beat Vastworld. That said, it
seems Vastworld was hit by Xu Qing’s poison and his golden crow
technique!”

“This Xu Qing... is probably one of the top disciples in Seven

Blood Eyes. That said, he’s not one of their highnesses, just an
echelon cultivator!”

“The most important thing is that, before that incident with the
zombie ancestor statue, no one had even heard of him. That
includes most of the people in his sect. This guy really is a master
of deception!!”

The more information people dug up about Xu Qing, the more

shaken they were. Almost overnight, Xu Qing’s name spread like
wildfire, both among the visiting nonhuman species, and all of the
disciples from the various mountain peaks.

Eventually, as the Seven Blood Eyes disciples realized that Xu

Qing was from the Seventh Peak, they felt it made sense.
Cultivators from the Seventh Peak were known for being
deceptive. That was just how they operated....

You just never know what freaks might be hiding out among the
Seventh Peak disciples.

1. The “ravagemist bird” is from the Classic of Mountains and

Seas. Transliterated into pinyin it’s “miemeng.” This is not a very
common bird, and though there is at least one other existing
translation of the name… I don’t really like it. Considering few
people have ever heard of that translation, I’m going with my own
version. The physical description of the bird in the Classic of
Mountains and Seas is similar to the one in the story here; it has a
green body and a red tail. Later in the story, further descriptions
imply that it’s very ugly. Here’s a picture of the bird from the Baidu
wiki article about it. ☜
Chapter 232: God of Wealth from Revered
Ancient

The chosen from the Seven Sect Coalition were even more deeply
shaken. For one thing, most of them were jealous. After all...
imperial-class techniques could be encountered by chance but
never searched for and found. And such techniques that were
suitable for humans were as rare as phoenix feathers or qilin
horns. That wasn’t even to mention... that this was Golden Crow
Assimilates Myriad Spirits!

Years ago, the president of the Seven Sect Coalition himself had
acquired the legacy of Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits,
and therefore, all disciples in the Seven Sect Coalition were
familiar with it. And the more familiar someone was with that
technique, the more envious they would be of someone who had
it. Thus, they elevated Xu Qing to be alongside the highnesses of
the various mountain peaks in terms of his importance.

However, not one other chosen stuck their head out to help out the
House of Grue Hunters. All of them knew that there was no way
the matter was over yet, and that things were probably going to
get even more complicated. No one was going to make a move
until the House of Grue Hunters and the Dark Serenity Sect
decided what to do. After all, the Seventh Peak’s supervisory sect
was the Dark Serenity Sect. Huang Yikun was the chosen from the
Dark Serenity Sect, and he had an extraordinary cultivation base.
What was more, he had not yet issued any challenges, as he was
taking his time to find the best opportunity.

As everyone was waiting to see what would happen, Huang Yikun

happened to be reviewing Xu Qing’s information on a jade slip. He
smiled.

I’ve finally found my opportunity. Going around issuing challenges

along with everyone else is no way to show off how amazing the
Dark Serenity Sect is. I’d originally been planning to wait until all
other challenges had been settled, and then make a move. But
now it seems I won’t have to do that. This Xu Qing seems like he
has potential. It’d be a pity to destroy him. I’d much rather recruit
him. That said, if he refuses to cooperate, then I guess I’ll have to
end him.

Chuckling, he took out a transmission jade slip to send messages

to the other chosen.

“I’m going to handle the situation with Xu Qing. The rest of you just
wait and see how it plays out.”

While the Seven Sect Coalition chosen, the Seven Blood Eyes
disciples, and the members of the nonhuman species were all
paying close attention to the matter, Xu Qing himself was sitting
cross-legged in his dharmaskiff.

His expression was the same as ever, completely placid.

He was well aware of what was going on outside. From the
moment he chose to take action, he’d known there would be
ramifications. Though he didn’t like to make himself the center of
attention, given the circumstances, he’d had no choice. His hand
had been forced, and thus he revealed his imperial-class
technique and his special poison. He had a lot of secrets, and the
reality was that not revealing them would cause people to
speculate about him, and would lead to further disadvantages.

By selectively revealing certain things intentionally, it made it

easier to keep even deeper secrets hidden.

My first layer of secrets consists of my poison and the imperial-

class technique. The second layer is my life lamp. The third is my
shadow and its ability to absorb mutagen. The fourth is the violet
crystal.

Xu Qing took some time to think about the whole situation, then he
extended his right hand, within which appeared a blue ring. There
was a glittering green gemstone inset in the ring, making the thing
look absolutely extraordinary.

This was Sima Ling’s ring of holding. It was different from a bag of
holding. Rings of holding were more valuable and had a larger
capacity. Furthermore, the fancy gem made it obvious that this ring
was incredibly valuable.
Sima Ling was now a prisoner of the Violent Crimes Division, and
according to the division’s rules, all of his personal items could be
confiscated and disposed of however the division saw fit. Of
course, those rules had to be applied judiciously. For instance,
though Yanyan had been arrested, Xu Qing didn’t go to the extent
of taking away her ring of holding. He simply put it into storage.
Then, after she was released, she got it back.

However... Xu Qing didn’t feel that Sima Ling needed to be shown

the same courtesy. Therefore, he was now studying the ring
closely, and examining the sealing mark that kept it closed. This
ring of holding was designed so that only the person connected to
the sealing mark could open it. But that wasn’t going to pose an
obstacle for Xu Qing.

“Wipe the seal out for me,” Xu Qing said quietly.

His shadow had simply been waiting for the word. It stretched out,
and a moment later, the ring of holding was inundated with
corrosive mutagen. It didn’t take long for the sealing mark to start
fading away. After it was wiped out completely, it was easy for Xu
Qing to send some dharma force inside to inspect the contents.

Despite his experience and willpower, when Xu Qing saw what

was inside, his eyes began to shine. It contained entire stacks of
spirit notes! Upon taking inventory, Xu Qing inhaled sharply.

“9,300,000!!” he murmured.
His eyes went wide and his heart started racing. This was a huge
sum to come across, such that even Xu Qing, who was usually so
calm and collected, instinctively looked around nervously.

And Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior, who normally wasn’t prone to

outbursts, shouted, “That’s a freaking lot of money! This guy
wasn’t a chosen. He’s obviously a nouveau riche playboy from
Revered Ancient!!”

Xu Qing’s heart wasn’t just pounding because of the spirit stones.

There was also a jade box with two pieces of flesh from a godly
entity, each of them roughly the size of a head. Given the strong
level of godliness, it seemed to Xu Qing that they were both from
the great circle of Foundation Establishment.

Those would make a great power source for my dharmaskiff!

Xu Qing continued to examine the contents of the ring.

He soon found that it contained four finger-sized crystals, all of

which exuded powerful fluctuations. Sealed within them was some
sort of mist. Taking them out to examine them, he realized that the
swirling mist inside formed distinct images. One was a headless
ox, one was a distorted ball of black hair, and one was a hand.
Sealed in the final crystal was an eye. Just looking at the
collection, Xu Qing was shaken, as he could sense a strong grue
aura.
Disciples from the Third Peak make deals with grues, and it’s the
same with the House of Grue Hunters. These sealed items are
actually grues....

After some thought, Xu Qing realized why Sima Ling didn’t use
any of these things.

He had been hit by Xu Qing’s poison, causing the mutagen within

him to rise rapidly. Because of that, the sealed grues became
unusually aggressive. If Sima Ling had brought them out under
those circumstances, he probably wouldn’t have been able to use
them against Xu Qing, and would instead have made things worse
for himself.

There were more things in Sima Ling’s ring of holding. There were
five medicinal pills that Xu Qing, given his skill with plants and
vegetation, was very excited to see. Simply inhaling their
fragrance caused his dharma apertures to stir vigorously. What
was more, it seemed like his 84th dharma aperture, which was
unopened, seemed to quiver.

A medicinal pill for opening dharma apertures?

Xu Qing struggled to breathe steadily, and his eyes shone brightly.

He currently had 83 dharma apertures open, putting him only 7

away from being able to ignite three life flames!
Sima Ling’s ring of holding didn’t just contain those items. It also
had about seven or eight magical devices. However, after
examining them, Xu Qing realized they were all designed for use
in controlling grues, and needed to be combined with special
techniques to work properly. There were some jade slips, but they
were all protected by warding spells. From what Xu Qing could tell,
those spells were placed by the sect to prevent their techniques
from being revealed to outsiders. He tried breaking them with his
shadow, but it didn’t work well. There were a bunch of other
random objects. After rifling through them, Xu Qing’s eyes
narrowed as he noticed a wooden box off in the corner of the
ring’s dimensional space. It was black and exuded a strong
mutagen aura. However, there was no sign of it containing a grue.

Something dead? After some thought, he opened the box.

The moment he did, spectacularly strong mutagen poured out. It

vastly exceeded any mutagen from a forbidden region, such that
any mortal who touched it would instantly experience mutation and
then die. Even average cultivators who encountered it would
immediately find their mutagen levels skyrocketing.

In Xu Qing’s case, his shadow just started devouring it madly.

Eventually, the mutagen coming from the box was significantly
reduced, whereupon the shadow burped and shrank back to its
spot.
There was still mutagen coming out of the box, but nothing like
before.

The object in the box that had previously been exuding such
strong mutagen was a palm-sized chunk of metal. It was rusty and
didn’t look special at all. However, Xu Qing’s expression flickered
when he looked at it, as he could sense an astonishing will
contained in the piece of metal, something that imparted the same
feeling as staring up at the river of stars in the dome of heaven. It
was as if something was imprisoned inside. And the force keeping
it imprisoned was mutagen!

Upon studying it more closely, Xu Qing found that this mutagen

was different from the mutagen he was familiar with from the
forbidden regions he’d been in. In fact, this piece of metal actually
resembled a very small forbidden region.

The mutagen was coming from it!

In other words, if this piece of metal were much, much larger, it

would turn into a region of its own. It would be a forbidden region!

“What is this thing?!” Xu Qing breathed, looking confused.

Meanwhile, the shadow, sensing that there was still mutagen

coming out of the piece of metal, stretched out. After covering the
piece of metal, it shivered, then sent out strong emotional
fluctuations filled with deep longing.
“Fragmented... piece....”

Xu Qing slammed the lid of the box shut.

After the mutagen was cut off, the shadow seemed almost frantic.
However, because of the violet light in Xu Qing’s chest, it didn’t
dare to act out of turn.

“What is it?” he said.

“Allow me, milord! I’ll handle this!” Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior
immediately manifested a projection of himself and squatted next
to the shadow. This was the opportunity he’d been waiting for.

The shadow’s eyes burned with animosity as it glared at the

patriarch. It had regained much of its intelligence, and thinking
back to everything that had happened, it had long since come to
despise the patriarch. As far as it was concerned, the patriarch
was its enemy. Furthermore, it needed to be very careful.
Otherwise, it would do all the hard work, and the idiot patriarch
would get all the credit.

Meanwhile, the patriarch was chuckling coldly in his heart.

However, he was careful to keep an amiable look on his face.

“Come, my beloved shadow. Come, come. Let’s have a nice little

chat.”

The shadow seemed inclined to refuse, but without something to

possess, it had no ability to communicate properly. And
considering how coldly Xu Qing was looking at it, it knew it had no
choice. Though it wasn’t happy about the situation, it had to start
explaining things to the patriarch.

After the process was done, the patriarch looked incredulous.

Voice trembling, he quietly said, “Milord, I was wrong. This guy
isn’t a nouveau riche playboy. He’s a freaking god of wealth!
According to Little Shadow, this thing... is a fragmented piece of a
taboo treasure! The shadow is convinced that if it absorbs enough
of it, then it can... unleash some of the power of the taboo
treasure!”

Deathblade's ThoughtsThank you to Thecrazyking for the review!

Thank you to Thecrazyking for the review!

Chapter 233: You Can’t Get Rich Without Ill-
gotten Gains

“Taboo treasure?” Xu Qing said, looking stunned. He had never

heard the term before and had no idea what it was.

After some more communication between the patriarch and the

shadow, Xu Qing was able to get an idea that taboo treasures
were things that existed on a higher level compared to ordinary
magical treasures. As for how the shadow knew this, the patriarch
asked a series of complicated questions, and came to the
conclusion that the shadow wasn’t sure how it knew. At the same
time, the shadow continued to release strong emotional
fluctuations of longing. It deeply desired to consume the item.

Xu Qing thought about it for a bit, but in the end, decided not to
grant the shadow’s request. He wouldn’t do that unless he was
absolutely confident in the outcome. For all he knew, the shadow
might turn on him during the process. As the shadow looked on
reluctantly, he put the wooden box away.

After, he looked at the shadow and said, “If you behave, I’ll think
about giving it to you later.”

The shadow emitted fluctuations of excitement. Off to the side, the

patriarch felt shaken, and realized he needed to be even more
careful about dealing with the shadow. He also needed to take
steps to make sure the pesky shadow didn’t succeed in earning
favor.

Ignoring the patriarch and the shadow, Xu Qing continued to go

through Sima Ling’s ring of holding. However, after examining all
the miscellaneous items, he didn’t find anything valuable.

Finally, he went back to the five medicinal pills. After smelling them
again, his eyes filled with determination, and he put one in his
mouth. It melted, and then a tremor passed through him. He could
already sense that a very powerful and violent force was
converging in him. It wasn’t soul power, but rather some other
high-level force specifically designed for opening dharma
apertures. As it converged, his unopened 84th dharma aperture
stirred even more dramatically than before. Then, all of a sudden,
the violent force shot toward that dharma aperture, and it opened.

Xu Qing shivered, and his eyes lit up with delight.

A single pill actually opened one of my dharma apertures!

This result was far superior to the soul pills he’d purchased at the
black market. In fact, other than Bai Li’s high-level soul pill, these
were the most effective pills he had ever consumed. Without the
slightest hesitation, he consumed the second pill. Moments later,
he shivered again.

His 85th dharma aperture had opened!

“The second was just as effective!” he murmured. Xu Qing could
tell that these were some very precious pills, and it also gave him
a good sense of how wealthy the Seven Sect Coalition chosen
were.

There are still three more.

Eyes glittering, he consumed the third pill. Soon, his 86th dharma
aperture opened. Not stopping there, he consumed the other two
pills. After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, his 88th
dharma aperture opened. His dharma force now flowed through
him like a fire dragon, fierce and burning.

I only have two more dharma apertures to open before I get my

third life flame!

His eyes shone with anticipation.

Over the course of the following few days, he collected more soul
pills from places in Seven Blood Eyes, as he prepared for that
breakthrough with the final two dharma apertures. Unfortunately,
getting soul pills was something that took time, and he couldn’t
quite get enough.

As far as the two chunks of flesh with godliness, Xu Qing did some
experiments and decided that they weren’t good enough for
personal use, and that it was best to use them in his dharmaskiff.
Right now, though, he left his berth and went to the nearest Violent
Crimes Division cell block. There were a lot of Night Dove inmates,
and though most of them had weak cultivation bases, there were
many of them. With that many to work with, he could probably
open one or both dharma apertures. Furthermore, during the
process of refining souls, he would also be able to get used to the
poisonous properties of the taboo poison pill. He could also see if
he could get the poison pill to work with his black beetles. It was a
new conundrum, and if he wanted to make progress, it was going
to take a lot of experimentation.

In that matter, time slipped by slowly but surely.

Seven Blood Eyes was still in a period of celebration. Nonhuman

envoys arrived on a daily basis, and the entire port was bustling.
However, the moods of the Seven Blood Eyes disciples continued
to sink.

Although Xu Qing’s actions had changed things for a few days, the
challenges from the Seven Sect Coalition soon continued. It
seemed the Seven Sect Coalition wanted this state of affairs to
continue for at least three months. As for Master Shengyun from
the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect, he didn’t issue any further
challenges, and took up residence on the First Peak.

His seven-colored wind-chanting lamp that could shake heaven

and earth kept the First Peak disciples completely stifled, and also
cowed all of the nonhuman envoys and allies.
The Seven Sect Coalition’s attitude was clear. This beat-down
wasn’t just a simple reminder, it was a clear warning. Seven Blood
Eyes was not to harbor any thoughts of being independent. What
was more, rumors were spreading that, after the period of
celebration, the seven peaklords were going to be replaced by the
Seven Sect Coalition.

On the one hand, Seven Blood Eyes had won a clear victory
against the Seazombies. But now they were being crushed by the
Seven Sect Coalition. And the Seven Blood Eyes patriarch didn’t
seem to be doing anything about it.

Xu Qing could feel the pressure building in the sect. However, he

got the feeling there was more going on than what was visible on
the surface. That was especially true considering what the Captain
had seen in the Sixth Peak. Xu Qing got the feeling the sect was
waiting for something in particular. [1]

It doesn’t matter too much. The sect leadership will decide how to
make the next move. Xu Qing shook his head and focused on his
own cultivation. The Captain was back in the sect, and he had
sent a voice message to Xu Qing asking what he was up to.

Though Xu Qing had been refining souls nonstop, he hadn’t been

able to open the next dharma aperture. That said, he had made
some progress in his research on the taboo poison pill. And he
was building up enough of a tolerance that he was certain he
would eventually be able to reconcoct it. He also attempted to
force his black beetles into the pill. However, the process was so
difficult for the beetles that not one of them ever survived. Each
and every one died.

Xu Qing wasn’t discouraged. As he sat there cross-legged in the

cell block, he took out all of the bottles he used to store the black
beetles in.

After his previous work with them, he had a total of eight.

However, the attempt to get the beetles into the pill killed all of the
beetles in the first bottle. Opening the second bottle, he performed
an incantation gesture and pointed out. In response, the beetles
flew out and surrounded him. If there had been onlookers, they
would have been shocked. After all, these beetles were such a
threat that even a Gold Core expert would be leery of them.

Xu Qing still didn’t think they were effective enough, though.

Opening the wish box, he sent the beetles streaming toward it in a
black cloud. As the cloud neared, it began to collapse as the
beetles rotted and died. Frowning, Xu Qing continued
experimenting. He soon went through the third bottle, then the
fourth and fifth....

The tiny beetles died one after another, until he reached his final
bottle. Not a single beetle had survived. Xu Qing sighed. He didn’t
dare to continue experimenting with his final bottle, as he needed
those beetles to breed more.
With that, he arranged for more inmates to be brought to him to
feed the beetles. As the beetles fed, Xu Qing continued working
on getting used to the poison pill. Simultaneously, he added
medicinal plants into the beetle’s diets that counteracted poisons.
He also put in some of his own blood. After all, he had already
built up some resistance.

Seven more days passed.

Eventually, his work paid off. He was finally able to get eight black
beetles to survive the process. Though they came out weak, Xu
Qing was still excited at the results. This first group of survivors
would be the starting point to raise a new generation of even
stronger beetles. What was more, even though the beetles were
weak, they had transformed, and were now less dark than before.

If I keep this going, I should be able to eventually raise some

beetles that are completely resistant to the taboo poison pill. And if
I can get them to breed inside that pill, then they’ll absorb the pill’s
qualities and become even more astonishing.

As Xu Qing’s heart filled with anticipation, it was evening outside.

As the red glow in the sky deepened, an uninvited guest suddenly
appeared outside the entrance of the Violent Crimes Division.

He was a young man of about seventeen or eighteen years old,

clad in a violet daoist robe inlaid with gold. His sleeves were
decorated with a gobblewock motif, and his right hand was
covered with a red glove. [2]

As he walked along, his daoist robe emanated powerful dharma

force fluctuations that made his handsome features seem even
more extraordinary. That said, though he was handsome, he had a
rather large nose that disrupted the delicacy of his face, and made
him seem unusually domineering. As he approached, the pebbles
on the road outside the Violent Crimes Division began to float up
and swirl around him, creating something like a tempest.
Especially noteworthy was the fact that the glow of evening
seemed to darken because of his presence. Within that growing
darkness, the glove he wore seemed extremely bizarre and
fiendish.

The Violent Crimes Division disciples on duty at the entrance

noticed him immediately, and their expression turned very serious,
as if they were facing a big enemy. But as the young man neared,
the tempest surrounding him reached the on-duty disciples,
shoving them backward until they bumped into the gate itself.

One of them, veins bulging on his forehead, shouted, “Halt! Who

goes there!?”

The violet-robed young man lifted his hand, revealing a violet pearl
that shivered and then shot toward the on-duty disciples.
“Calm down. Just give this pearl to Director Xu Qing. Tell him that I
wanted to give him a destined opportunity.”

1. To review the Captain’s observations, check out chapter 221,

which was entitled “Seven Blood Eyes' Big Secret”. ☜

2. My translation of “gobbelwock” is another creature from the

Classic of Mountains and Seas. There are so many random
creatures from that book that, when simply transliterated into
pinyin, they become easily forgettable. I prefer using memorable
English names to make them more vivid (which they inherently are
in Chinese thanks to the nature of Chinese characters), and also
more easy to remember. ☜
Chapter 234: Condescending

Xu Qing didn’t like being interrupted in the middle of cultivation or

research. But when he looked down at the violet pearl the Violent
Crimes Division constable had delivered to him, a serious look
filled his eyes. Though he wasn’t familiar with the aura the pearl
emitted, it caused the golden crow on his back to stir abnormally.
In fact, it soon manifested behind him, then gazed at the pearl with
deep longing.

Looking thoughtful, Xu Qing left the cell block and went to the
reception hall, where he saw the young man in the violet robe.

He stood with his back to Xu Qing, looking at a painting on the wall

that depicted evil ghosts fighting over food. Though the young man
wasn’t in the profound radiance state, his 120 dharma apertures
burned with intense heat.

To the Qi Condensation disciples present, it looked like the

surrounding air was rippling, as if this place was the young man’s
home turf. Xu Qing, meanwhile, was unaffected. In fact, as he
stepped into the reception hall, the ripples vanished.

“Xu Qing?” the young man said, turning and looking closely at him.

Xu Qing didn’t like it when people looked at him this way, but he
forced such feelings away and looked calmly at the visitor.
“The power of two flames combined with Golden Crow Assimilates
Myriad Spirits, plus your deadly poison and that body of yours. Xu
Qing... you’re a big fish in a little pond here in Seven Blood Eyes.
This place doesn’t suit you.” With that, the young man sat down in
the seat of honor. His every movement was very natural, as if he
believed it was a given that he should sit in that position.

As he sat down, though, he completely failed to notice that, right in

the air behind him, an apple had suddenly appeared. And then,
some invisible person noiselessly took a bite out of the apple. No
sound could be heard.

An odd expression appeared on Xu Qing’s face as he noticed the

apple. But he quickly looked away. Not saying a word, he waited to
see what would happen next.

“You won’t get far here,” the young man continued. “You’re in the
echelon, but aren’t one of the highnesses. And you only got into
the echelon by performing an amazing service. There’s really no
need for you to have any fondness for a sect like this. I’m sure you
know who I am. I’m Huang Yikun from the Dark Serenity Sect. You
can address me as Eldest Brother.” As his words echoed about,
he seemed to be scrutinizing Xu Qing even more closely.

A bite mark appeared in the apple behind him, as though the

invisible person had been about to take another mouthful, but then
stopped in the middle. Apparently, this person wasn’t very happy
with what he’d just heard.
Xu Qing pretended to not see the apple. He knew exactly who this
visitor was. Though he had never laid eyes on him personally, the
sect’s files contained an image of him.

Huang Yikun put his gloved hand onto the table in front of him and
leaned forward slightly. Looking Xu Qing in the eyes, he slowly
said, “Xu Qing, I appreciate you for who you are. And I’d like to
give you a chance to leave this sect and join a greater sect. Of
course, the prerequisite is that you swear loyalty to me.”

Xu Qing frowned.

A chunk disappeared from the apple behind Huang Yikun, as the

person eating it started viciously chewing.

Huang Yikun noticed Xu Qing’s frown, but didn’t seem bothered by

it. “Xu Qing, you do know what a supervisory sect is, don’t you?
You cultivate an imperial-class technique called Golden Crow
Assimilates Myriad Spirits. Surely you’re aware that the president
of the Seven Sect Coalition also gained enlightenment of that very
same imperial-class technique. The venerable president gained a
very thorough enlightenment. Whatever destined opportunity you
ran across, it was obviously random chance, and there’s no way
you could compare with the president’s level of enlightenment. Am
I right?”

Xu Qing didn’t say anything.

“Therefore, if you join a supervisory sect, your Golden Crow
Assimilates Myriad Spirits will rise to an even higher level.
Remember, the president comes from the Dark Serenity Sect. And
the Dark Serenity Sect’s Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture was
actually modeled after Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits by
the president.”

An arrogant look appeared on Huang Yikun’s face as he tilted his

chin up and continued, “Furthermore... the Balefire Soulswallowing
Scripture cultivated by your subsidiary sect is a low-level version.”
As the words left his mouth, Huang Yikun lifted his right hand and
slowly removed his glove.

As he did, a shocking aura erupted from his hand. The five fingers
of his right hand were all violet, and looked like they were made
from raw crystal. They were marvelous in appearance and they
emanated shocking fluctuations. All the light in the area seemed to
dim, as though the five fingers were sucking it in.

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. He could sense how extraordinary

those fingers were, and he also sensed that they caused the
golden crow tattoo on his back to stir dramatically. At the same
time, the balefire within him seemed like it was being pulled toward
the fingers.

That said, in Xu Qing’s opinion, Huang Yikun... probably shouldn’t

be showing off his five fingers like this.
Behind Huang Yikun, the floating apple trembled, as though the
hand holding it were excited. At the same time, two shining eyes
were revealed, and they were fixed on Huang Yikun’s right hand.

Seeing Xu Qing’s odd expression caused Huang Yikun to feel very

pleased with himself. At the same time, he felt both disdain and
envy deep in his heart. The pleased feeling came from the fact
that he loved showing off the five fingers that he had created with
a lifetime of wealth and cultivation. People were always amazed to
see them. The disdain came because of the fact that Xu Qing was
still just a fish in a pond. Even if he got some destined opportunity,
he still didn’t know enough about the world to make it worth it. And
the envy came because of that destined opportunity.

That said, Huang Yikun kept his true feelings hidden. Moving his
dazzling fingers back and forth rhythmically in front of him, he said,
“See, Xu Qing? This is the result of my cultivation of an ancient
Dark Serenity technique. It’s called the Dark Serenity Fingers.

“Each of these five fingers was created with a combination of my

dark technique plus countless precious materials. All I have to do
is touch someone with one of these fingers, and I’ll be able to
influence their soul and control their very life or death. This is what
the Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture really looks like.

“If you swear loyalty to me, then when we get back to the sect, I’ll
personally help you request assistance from the patriarch. With his
help, you might be able to cultivate two fingers like this, maybe
even more! Combined with Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad
Spirits, this technique would be able to unleash true strength!”

Xu Qing looked long and hard at the five fingers. He also noticed
that no further bites had been taken from the apple. Whoever was
holding the apple was obviously completely focused on Huang
Yikun’s five fingers. Finally, Xu Qing looked at Huang Yikun.

Although the technique seemed useful, he didn’t see any need to

combine it with Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits.

The only reason Huang Yikun believed what he did was that the
president of the Seven Sect Coalition only received a scrap of
enlightenment of Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits.
Otherwise there would be no need to combine it with anything
else. Based on what Xu Qing knew, Golden Crow Assimilates
Myriad Spirits was about being utterly domineering. Combining it
with some other technique made it completely soulless.

Seeing that Xu Qing hadn’t said a single word, Huang Yikun

laughed coldly in his heart.

“You’re probably not convinced,” he said. “You probably think I’m

not worthy of your loyalty. Well, I don’t expect an answer from you
immediately. In a few days, I’m going to challenge all three
highnesses from the Seventh Peak.”

He stood, clasped his hands behind his back, and slowly walked
past Xu Qing as he continued, “Remember, Xu Qing, it will only be
a few more days before I issue that challenge. Once it’s over, and
you’ve seen me defeat all three highnesses, I’ll come back. Then
you can give me your answer. This is your destined opportunity.
You’re on your own now.”

Without sparing a backward glance, Huang Yikun left the Violent

Crimes Division and strolled off into the evening.

After he was gone, the Captain’s voice rang out, sounding very
happy. “Hahaha! Things are always the funnest around you, little
Ah Qing. When I saw that guy chortling around on his way here, I
had to come see the show. How could I ever have guessed that I
would get to see such a lovely treasure! This is the first time I’ve
ever run into anyone that likes to show off so brazenly.... What an
unexpected but pleasant surprise. I’m really not used to this. It
took a lot of effort not to break off one of those fingers right here
and now.”

“I think you mean it took a lot of effort not to bite one off, right?” Xu
Qing said calmly.

“Director Xu, as the grand highness of the Seventh Peak, I have to

give you some constructive criticism. Is that really the way to talk
to a grand highness?” Another bite disappeared from the apple.

Xu Qing looked down at the Captain’s shadow.

It revealed a limp, hobbling figure, with a somewhat swollen head.

It looked like the shadow of someone who had been beaten up
violently.

After a moment of silence, Xu Qing said, “Captain, did you get into
some trouble recently?”

The apple went still. “Are you kidding? No way! After I went
invisible that one time, I just got used to it. Well, I think we’re done
here. Huang Yikun is going to challenge the Seventh Peak, huh? I
need to go chat this over with Second Sib and Third Sib.”

As he spoke, the apple floated toward the exit. But then it stopped.
“Oh right, little Ah Qing. I actually came to tell you something. As
you know, the Seven Sect Coalition sent their chosen to challenge
all the mountain peaks in Seven Blood Eyes. Though it seems like
we’re on the losing side, which is a bit humiliating, everything is
going according to the old codgers’ plans.

“They want the ordinary disciples to feel animosity toward the

Seven Sect Coalition, and at the same time, weed out disciples
who aren’t loyal. So don’t even think of running off. Otherwise,
when the time comes for my big upcoming plan, I’d be forced to go
out looking for you, and that would be far too annoying.”

After the apple was a good distance away from the Violent Crimes
Division, a flicker of surprise could be seen on the Captain’s
bruised and swollen face.

Can he really see me? There’s no way. The old man gave me this
invisibility treasure, and throughout all the years, no one has ever
seen through it other than a few sect uncles and the patriarch. It’s
impossible to see through it. Totally impossible....

The Captain gritted his teeth in pain.

Sixth Sect Uncle is too vicious, that rotten fogey. All I did was bite
a statue! Does that really deserve a beating like this...? As soon as
I got back, the first thing he did was drag me over and thrash me.

Viciously taking a bite out of his apple, the Captain hurried on his
way.

Back in the Violent Crimes Division, Xu Qing was lost in thought.

What the Captain had just told him fell right in line with his
previous suppositions. Obviously, the sect was waiting for
something.

Are they just buying time? Eventually, he put such thoughts aside.
It wasn’t his place to worry about those things. Going back into the
cell block, he went back to work on his cultivation.

Days passed. After the big Night Dove crackdown, the rest of the
Night Dove forces in the city did their best to stay in hiding. At the
same time, the Violent Crimes Division prepared for an even
bigger crackdown. The purpose was to track down any Night Dove
operatives that had slipped through the cracks. However, there
were things that needed to happen first.

And one of them was a curfew!

“Seven Blood Eyes is instituting a curfew for one month. Any
suspicious people found lurking around at night will be arrested.

“At the same time, the Violent Crimes Divisions from all the
mountain peaks will raid any Night Dove safe houses in their
jurisdictions.

“The time has come to get justice for all of our fallen comrades.
Night Dove is going to be destroyed! Constables can keep any loot
they find. The divisions issue the order, the bureaus carry out the
commands, and the squads execute judgment. Let the final
operation against Night Dove begin!”

After Xu Qing issued the orders, all seven of the Violent Crimes
Divisions fell upon the capital city like fiends. Slaughter spread,
and blood sprayed left and right.

Violent Crimes constables were everywhere on the streets.

Following the orders from the division, they went to all Night Dove
safehouses and either killed or arrested the operatives there.
Miserable screams and agonized shrieks rang out. In some cases,
the Night Dove operatives ran out onto the street, only to be
chased down by Violent Crimes constables.

Occasionally, constables would shoot signal fireworks up into the

air to request backup. When that happened, the vice-directors
would answer the call. If they couldn’t handle the situation, their
commanding director would step in. If a director ran into trouble,
he would send a request to Xu Qing, who would assume
responsibility.

However, during the night the operation was carried out, Xu Qing
never had to step in. And that was because Yanyan had taken the
initiative to join the operation. She had a huge octopus to help her,
and it crushed anything in its path. Whenever a signal shot up into
the air, she and her octopus would race to the scene. When she
showed up, she would always offer the same explanation.

“There’s no need to bother Big Bro Xu Qing with something as

trivial as this. When you have a chance, let him know that I came
to help out.”

On one occasion in which she rescued the new vice-director from

the Seventh Peak, who was a one-flame cultivator, he clasped
hands to express his gratitude.

“Many thanks, Your Majesty Yanyan.”

Upon hearing that, Yanyan’s eyebrows shot up. “I’m your director’s
fiancée! Call me Sister-in-Law!”

The vice-director was absolutely stunned. Clasping hands

hesitantly, he said, “Many thanks, Sister-in-Law!”

Yanyan smiled happily, then tossed him a precious medicinal pill.

“Rest up. My husband is the director of the Violent Crimes

Division. Since I’m the lady of the house, it’s only natural that I
take care of the underlings. It was no trouble at all.” Just then,
Yanyan spotted another signal flare, and raced off in that direction.
[1]

1. The word for “husband” used by Yanyan is rather archaic. It’s

not used nowadays, and Madam Deathblade says she’s only ever
heard it in period drama TV shows. That said, there is no other
interpretation of the word other than “husband.” ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsMany thanks to gdp, cxwlin, and its.Jakers

for the reviews!

Many thanks to gdp, cxwlin, and its.Jakers for the reviews!

Chapter 235: Amazing Developments

The slaughter was carried out through the night. It was a war
between the Violent Crimes Division and Night Dove. All of the
visiting nonhumans and allies were watching very closely.

The reality was... because of the Violent Crimes Division’s curfew,

the slaughter was even more dramatic. Meanwhile, word about
‘Sister-in-Law Yanyan’ quickly spread through Violent Crimes.
Before long, everyone knew that if you simply addressed her as
Sister-in-Law, she would give you medicinal pills and sometimes
even spirit stones. Whenever true danger arose, she would be the
first to show up on her octopus. Not even a Gold Core cultivator
could stand up to her. Because of Yanyan helping, there were very
few casualties in the Violent Crimes Division.

The opposite was true for Night Dove. Their casualties were
shocking. Over 4,000 Night Dove operatives from all over South
Phoenix were snared in the crackdown, and virtually all of them
were either captured or had their heads hung on the city wall.

By dawn, the city was functioning as usual. However, there were

many locations where blood was still splattered on the streets.
Because of the slaughter, the Violent Crimes Division became the
talk of the sect.
Most Night Dove operatives were Qi Condensation cultivators, but
it was the same with Violent Crimes. However, to the visiting
nonhumans, though the Seven Blood Eyes disciples were mostly
low-level cultivators, they were also like venomous bugs in a jar,
and were brutal down to their core.

That brutality caused many of the nonhumans and allies to look

more highly on Seven Blood Eyes. That was especially true when
you considered that, if the low-level disciples like this climbed the
ranks, then the high-level disciples would be even more
impressive. After all, only the ultimate wolf could rise to the top of
the pack. At the same time, many onlookers were planning on
keeping a close eye on Xu Qing.

However, Xu Qing was simply too skilled at maintaining a low

profile. After his fight with Sima Ling, he never showed his face in
public, and rarely even left the Violent Crimes Division cell block.
Thus, people had a hard time observing him.

What was more, thanks to Yanyan taking part in the night

crackdown, Xu Qing didn’t need to lift a finger.

He wasn’t sure what to make of the situation with her. She had
come looking for him on numerous occasions recently, but he had
always refused to see her. Eventually, she’d given up, and he’d
assumed she wouldn’t bother him again. As such, it had been a
complete surprise to find out she was suddenly helping with the
fight against Night Dove. He obviously heard about what she was
telling everyone. But considering how much help she was
providing, he decided not to bicker over such things.

Right now, he was waiting for his final two dharma apertures to
open. Then he could ignite his third life flame. He also wanted to
see how powerful his next generation of black beetles were.

Furthermore, he wanted to wait for the Violent Crimes Division to

continue tightening the net on Night Dove, and eventually figure
out where their main headquarters was. When that happened, he
would finally take action.

Thus, Xu Qing remained out of sight, working on improving his

battle prowess and cultivation base.

It wasn’t possible to raid all of the Night Dove safe houses in a

single night. The process continued over multiple nights.

As that happened, the Seazombies finally paid their wartime

reparations!

Marquis An of the Seazombies, who had a Nascent Soul

cultivation base, arrived in the city, where he would remain for a
full sixty-year-cycle, with only one chance to ever go outside.
Along with him came the Gold Core boy Ying Ling, as well as...
Vastworld, who would serve as a royal hostage. [1]

Vastworld had no desire to come to Seven Blood Eyes, but he had

no choice, as only someone in the Seazombie echelon could
serve as a royal hostage. His heart overflowed with humiliation
and madness, but he had to endure it. At the same time, he hated
Xu Qing down to his bones, but couldn’t do anything about it.

The arrival of the Seazombies sent the sect’s celebration into a

fever pitch. Bells filled the air, and Sir Bloodsmelter’s face
appeared in the dome of heaven, looking down on everything
below.

The peaklords appeared, representing Seven Blood Eyes to

receive the Seazombie procession. Countless nonhumans and
Seven Blood Eyes disciples looked on as the humiliated
Seazombie Marquis An handed over the official documents of
surrender, as well as the reparations. He also provided a jade slip
with the dao oaths of the Seazombies in the Gold Core level and
higher.

Finally, the Seazombies in their ancestral land... began

preparations to send their zombie ancestor divine likenesses to
Seven Blood Eyes. There were still two peaklords stationed in the
Seazombie ancestral land, and they were taking the lead in the
process. The primary work involved moving the statues from their
original positions to a huge teleportation portal.

The entire purpose of that portal was to send the statues to Seven
Blood Eyes as battle trophies.
Although it was common knowledge that removing the divine
likenesses from Seazombie territory would cause them to lose
their special properties, they were still precious to the
Seazombies, and thus, it made sense that Seven Blood Eyes
wanted them. Anyone else in their position would do the same
thing.

Because of the great distance involved, and because Seven Blood

Eyes didn’t want to make an intermediary stop in the Merfolk Isles,
they were building a special teleportation portal to ensure that the
statues would go directly to South Phoenix. When the actual
teleportation itself occurred, it would happen quickly. According to
calculations made by various individuals, the statues would
arrive... right when the celebration was ending.

The event became a spectacle that everyone was paying attention

to. What was more, the challenges being issued by the Seven
Sect Coalition temporarily stopped.

Now that the Seazombies had paid their reparations, the wartime
rewards were finally being distributed. With that reward, and the
amount Xu Qing had received from Sima Ling, he was
unprecedentedly rich.

He felt much more happy than normal, and it wasn’t just him. All
the disciples who had taken part in the war got their rewards. As a
result, everyone was buying cultivation resources and supplies to
improve battle prowess.
However, that joy only lasted for a few days, until the Seven Sect
Coalition started issuing challenges again.

This time, the challenges didn’t just come from the chosen. With
the exception of Huang Yikun from the Dark Serenity Sect, all of
the other chosen had come with retinues that included dao
protectors and other outstanding individuals from their sects. Such
people weren’t as famous as the chosen, and thus, they started
issuing challenges to disciples who didn’t rank among the
highnesses. Though both sides had wins and losses, the Seven
Sect Coalition usually came out on top.

No one challenged Xu Qing.

Because of all the Night Dove safe houses that were being raided,
and how many operatives were being arrested, Xu Qing was
getting close to opening his 89th dharma aperture. After buying a
vast quantity of poisonous plants, he was starting to experiment
with reconcocting the taboo poison pill. At the same time, he had
successfully produced a third generation of black beetles. The
third generation only had six beetles in it. They were so few in
number it wasn’t possible to see them. The only reason Xu Qing
would sense them was the resonance between them and his
blood. Furthermore, the third generation were very faintly colored,
and were also much smaller than before. That said, the effects of
their poison was more dramatic, and they had also picked up
some of the characteristics of the taboo poison pill.
Treating the six beetles like precious treasures, Xu Qing carefully
inserted them into some Night Dove cultivators to feed. This time,
he changed his feeding method by infusing the Night Dove
operatives’ bodies with all sorts of medicinal and poison plants for
the benefit of the third generation. Xu Qing went about it all in a
very academic fashion. He observed things carefully and kept
careful notes. He was very pleased whenever he saw good
results.

That said, to the Night Dove cultivators in the cell block, life was
like a living hell. All of them had done cruel things in the past, but
as far as they were concerned, they couldn’t hold a candle to Xu
Qing. They had inflicted sadistic punishment on disobedient living
treasures, and had even toyed with them in various perverted
ways. Therefore what was happening... was just the cycle of
karma.

Bloodcurdling screams echoed out of the cell block, over and over
again. Although the Violent Crimes constables had grown used to
the situation, none of them dared to get too close.

Furthermore, because Xu Qing was in charge of this Night Dove

operation, and because of how he had crushed Sima Ling and set
up the curfew, things were different. It wasn’t like before, when the
other Violent Crimes Divisions wouldn’t give him prisoners after he
ran out. The other Violent Crimes Divisions sent him new
prisoners on a daily basis. Beyond all that, the capital city was
currently locked down, so the Night Dove operatives couldn’t flee.
They could only hide and wait to be arrested.

It was easy to imagine how stunning of a loss this was going to be

for Night Dove’s operations on South Phoenix.

Xu Qing’s research was bringing results. What was more, he

wasn’t wasting any of the Night Dove operatives’ souls. Though
the souls were weak, there were a lot of them, and he used every
single one to help with his dharma apertures.

Because of the screams coming out of the cell block, it wasn’t long
before people all through the city were talking about how vicious
he was.

***

Master Shengyun stood in the middle of a huge fighting arena on

the First Peak. Voice cool, he said, “You’re all weak. Too weak.”

He sounded disappointed. Shockingly, eight of the First Peak’s

highnesses were sprawled on the ground at his feet. Wu Jianwu
was one of them. All had pale faces, and were coughing up blood.
They looked shaken as they stared up at Master Shengyun, who
looked spectacular bathed in the moonlight.

His seven-colored umbrella seemed to block out the sky, and the
chanting of the wind echoed everywhere. Behind him was the
green-bodied red-tailed ravagemist bird, its head thrown back as it
let loose a piercing cry, dark winds sweeping left and right around
it.

Not too far away was the First Peak’s grand highness, who had
just emerged from seclusion. His face was pale, and there was
blood at the corners of his mouth. He had just broken through to
the Gold Core level, but before he had a chance to stabilize his
heavenly palace, he had to come out and fight. There was no
other option, as the stabilization process would take too long, and
he had no basis upon which to ask for more time.

The First Peak... had been routed by Master Shengyun.

The grand highness lost, but what was even more humiliating was
that Master Shengyun had demanded that all nine highnesses
fight him at once. They all lost. It was just too difficult of a fight.

“This place is boring,” Master Shengyun said, his face

expressionless. For a moment, he looked over at the Seventh
Peak, but then he shook his head. Turning, he flew off the First
Peak and headed in the direction of Forbidden by the Phoenix. His
three dao protectors followed him dutifully. “The little sparrow
knows not to stick his head out. He’s not stupid after all. Well, I just
hope he grows up soon. That way, he can make a delicious snack
sooner rather than later.”

As Master Shengyun disappeared over the horizon, the moon

shone down on the Seventh Peak, where Huang Yikun from the
Dark Serenity Sect walked haughtily up the stairs.

“Today, I, Huang Yikun, hereby challenge the Seventh Peak!”

1. Marquis An and Ying Ling last appeared in chapter 190.

Vastworld was introduced in 189, and was last mentioned in 194.
☜
Chapter 236: The Loving Seventh Peak

At long last, a chosen from the Seven Sect Coalition had come to
challenge the Seventh Peak, which up to this point, remained
unchallenged.

The person to do it was Huang Yikun from the Dark Serenity Sect!
He wore his violet robe inlaid with gold, and as the moonlight
shone on him, he looked unusually extravagant. His expression
was haughty as all four of his life flames burned brightly, as though
he had an entire world burning within him. Especially noteworthy
was his red glove, which bent light toward it, such that all the
moonlight in the area seemed to sweep toward his hand. All of it
made him seem like the most dignified and imposing thing on the
Seventh Peak.

“So this is the miserable Seventh Peak? Pitiful.”

He slowly walked up the stairs, looking like he was merely going

for a walk on a moonlit night. That said, he had an odd feeling.
The Seventh Peak seemed too quiet and peaceful. There were no
lamps lighting the path, and he didn’t detect any disciples about. It
was as if the entire mountain was empty.

It was very different from how the challenges had gone on other
mountain peaks. From what he had been told, there had always
been lots of disciples present to watch things play out. He had
sent a formal letter of challenge earlier, and had expected crowds
to show up to watch. But at the moment, not a single person could
be seen.

“They must be sore losers who can’t stand being beaten in public.”
Huang Yikun sneered as he reached the halfway point up the
mountain and slowly took off the glove. That was the location
where his first challenge was supposed to be met.

The Seventh Peak’s third highness.

Huang Yikun had planned things out carefully. He was going to

start with the third highness, then go to the second, and finally end
the night’s fighting with the grand highness.

And now, at long last, he saw someone.

It was a young man on a boulder, leaning up against the bosom of

a beautiful woman.

He wore a violet daoist robe, and had a tall white hat, upon which
was embroidered the character ‘forbidden.’ He looked unhealthily
skinny, as though he was drained from enjoying too much wine
and women. He was none other than Third Highness, surrounded
by a handful of nonhuman handmaidens who were all massaging
him, all the while giving him flirtatious looks and moaning softly....

Upon noticing Huang Yikun, Third Highness looked up; the dark
circles under his eyes were clearly visible as he smiled broadly.
“You’re finally here. I’ve been waiting for so long!”

Huang Yikun stopped walking and looked at him. Something really

seemed off here, and thus, a look of extreme caution appeared in
Huang Yikun’s eyes. He just now realized that he couldn’t assess
the third highness at all. The ‘forbidden’ character on his hat
seemed to be a sealing mark, and for some reason, it caused a
chill to run down Huang Yikun’s back. He felt like he was being
stared at by a viper. And that look imparted a sense of deadly
crisis. He usually only got that feeling from dharma protectors, and
it caused him to struggle to control his breathing. Then he glanced
at the handmaidens, and realized that he recognized the one upon
whose bosom the third highness lay.

His eyes widened. This girl... was a chosen cultivator from the
Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society! She was one of the three who
had come to visit Seven Blood Eyes recently, and she had a four-
flame cultivation base. However, she didn’t seem icily arrogant
when she looked at the third highness. Instead, she seemed cute
and even adoring. [1]

Huang Yikun inhaled sharply. He suddenly got the feeling that he

had been negligent in issuing his challenge. Taking a few steps
back, he chuckled dryly.

“I’m actually not fully prepared tonight. Let’s forgo the duel. I’ll take
my leave now.”
He turned to leave. But then, Third Highness suddenly vanished
from where he had been laying and appeared right in front of
Huang Yikun, whose arm he grabbed.

The speed with which he moved was so incredible that Huang

Yikun’s pupils constricted. And the fact that he had grabbed his
arm caused Huang Yikun’s face to fall. Most alarming of all was
that Huang Yikun was powerless to resist. He was a scrawny
chicken compared to this person! Beads of sweat broke out on his
forehead.

“What are you doing?” he said.

“Calm down,” Third Highness replied, smiling. “How much money

did you bring with you?”

Huang Yikun’s jaw dropped.

Third Highness looked back at him, eyebrows dancing. “You’re

quite the shifty character, aren’t you? Okay, fine. Let me explain. I
doubt you can beat me in a fight. But I know you’ve worked hard
over in the Dark Serenity Sect. Since we’re all on the same side,
we shouldn’t give each other a hard time. Therefore, let’s talk
business. I’m not going to try to scam you. The going rate is
10,000,000 spirit stones. Pay that, and I’ll admit defeat. Don’t
worry, I’ll make it look really good. You can go out and tell
everyone I lost to you. You can even record some images for
proof. Just like that, you’ll be free to go. Sound good?”
Huang Yikun’s eyes went wide, and without even thinking about it,
he shook his head.

Third Highness was smiling as though he were in the middle of a

business negotiation. Even upon seeing Huang Yikun shake his
head, he continued to smile. However, the words he spoke next
caused Huang Yikun to reel.

“You don’t agree? That’s fine, we can still negotiate. Those are
some nice-looking fingers you have. You can pay your debt with
one of those.”

Before Huang Yikun could even struggle, a cracking sound rang

out as Third Highness ripped off one of his fingers....

A miserable shriek rang out of Huang Yikun’s mouth. Then, Third

Highness waved his hand, and a massive force slammed into
Huang Yikun, sending him flying backward until he slammed down
onto the stairs. When he landed, blood sprayed out of his mouth,
and his ashen face filled with astonishment. Just when he was
about to look back over his shoulder, Third Highness’s chuckling
voice reached his ears.

“You win. Now, let me see you out.”

Shivering, Huang Yikun looked down at his dazzling hand. Instead

of five fingers, he now had four; intense humiliation swept through
him.
“This is outright robbery!!” he blurted. He was so furious that his
vision swam. And when he thought about how he had put a
lifetime of work and resources into those five fingers, only to have
lost one in an instant, his heart dripped with figurative blood. That
said... he didn’t dare demand it back. Third Highness was simply
too terrifying.

Boiling with rage, he was just about to fly off into the night when he
remembered that flying was prohibited on the mountain peaks in
Seven Blood Eyes. Feeling more forlorn than ever, he realized he
would have to walk all the way down. He had no desire to stay on
the Seventh Peak any longer....

However, along the way, he ran into someone.

Sitting cross-legged on a stone bench was a tall young woman.

She wasn’t just tall. She was so well-built that her muscles
seemed to ripple with explosive power. It was even possible to see
veins snaking across her skin. Stabbed into the ground next to her
was a gigantic greatsword that was terrifying to behold. It was
about three meters tall and a third of a meter wide. Pitch black, it
emanated a horrifyingly baleful aura. This was the second person
Huang Yikun had written a formal letter of challenge to. The
Seventh Peak’s second highness.

Seeing her sitting there, Huang Yikun’s heart skipped a beat and
he stopped walking. The moment he did, Second Highness
opened her eyes, looked at him coldly, and then erupted with a
towering power of energy and blood that formed a tempest around
her.

Her fleshly body is a half step into the Gold Core level!!! When the
wind brushed against him, his dharma apertures quivered. This
second highness seemed exceptionally vicious. Huang Yikun was
scared out of his mind. How could this be happening? Is she even
human? Is this some freaking nonhuman innate ability? Some
body cultivation thing? I didn’t even think you could reach this level
with the fleshly body. This isn’t the power of a life flame. She’s not
nourishing her fleshly body with her dharma apertures. This is
straight body refinement!! I’ve never even heard of someone in the
Seven Sect Coalition doing something like this!

Huang Yikun shivered as Second Highness approached,

surrounded by a tempest of energy and blood. Already, Huang
Yikun knew that there was no way he could beat her in a fight.

“Wait a second, I—”

Before he could finish speaking, she was upon him, her

greatsword swinging through the air.

Intense booms rang out. After the time it takes an incense stick to
burn, Huang Yikun slammed into the ground some distance away,
blood spraying from his mouth, his body covered with bruises.
Though rage filled him, he didn’t dare do anything but flee.
His right hand was missing another finger. Now he only had three
left.

***

At the summit of the Seventh Peak, inside a building, two figures

sat across from each other. It was Master Seventh and his
servant, both of whom were watching events unfold.

After a while, Master Seventh sighed. “As usual, Third Sib is just
trying to make some money. He’s willing to debase himself just to
get some stupid finger!

“And Second Sib. Well. All she knows how to do is be reckless...

Ai. At least she’s lucky. Last month she sent me a message. She
said she ran into one of the Pengbird people, a Gold Core expert
who specialized in fleshly body cultivation. He was just flying along
when Flame Phoenix happened to be passing by and ran into him.
The Pengbird fell out of the sky, dead. As a result, Second Sib just
so happened to get his gold core and consume it before it
exploded. Thus, she achieved a breakthrough.... She didn’t
suspect anything, but let me ask you. Do you?”

The servant was shocked inside, but didn’t say a word.

***

Huang Yikun raced urgently down the stairs, coughing up blood.

When he looked at his remaining three dazzling fingers, he wanted
to weep.

I shouldn’t have issued those challenges. These people are

vicious bullies! A fleshly body half a step into Gold Core? Even in
the freaking Seven Sect Coalition nobody would dare to challenge
someone like that. I admitted defeat, but she still beat me up!

These Seventh Peak highnesses are all villains. And they’re

profoundly deceptive. I couldn’t even assess that viper of a third
highness. If you said he was in Gold Core, I’d believe it. And that
second highness is just downright terrifying. Each one ripped off
one of my fingers!!!

Enraged, bruised, and humiliated, Huang Yikun finally reached the

foot of the mountain. He was just about to leave when he looked
up and saw a young man on the path in front of him.

The young man wore a gray robe and was eating an apple.
Waving, he smiled. “Yikun! What are you doing here? Oh, did
Second Sib beat you up?”

“Who are you?” Huang Yikun said, shivering as he realized that

this person in front of him seemed even more terrifying than the
third and second highnesses. In fact, when looking into his eyes,
he almost didn’t seem like a human, but rather, like a grue wearing
human skin as clothing.

The Captain looked in surprise at Huang Yikun. “You don’t

recognize me? I’m good friends with your older brother Huang
Lingfei. He never mentioned me?”

Seeing how nervous Huang Yikun was, the Captain sighed.

Putting an expression on his face that made it seem like he
wanted to join forces to fight a common enemy, he said, “Calm
down. You got beat up by both Second Sib and Third Sib, huh?
Those two are out of control.”

The Captain shook his head and took out a few medicinal pills.

Huang Yikun cautiously accepted them. He wanted to just keep

walking, but at the same time, he didn’t dare. He had already
guessed who this person was.

“Grand Highness?”

“You don’t have to call me that,” the Captain said with a brilliant
smile. “It’s too formal. Just call me Eldest Brother. You see, I’m
very different from Second Sib, Third Sib, and that other guy.”

“Eldest Brother...” Huang Yikun murmured hesitantly.

“That’s better! Now, don’t worry. I’ll escort you down the mountain.
Come on.”

Trembling, Huang Yikun said, “No, that’s okay. I can see myself—”

“Oh, sure thing. I won’t escort you down. But, one more thing.
Those medicinal pills I just gave you are expensive. I hate to be a
pain, Junior Brother, but can you give me one of your fingers to
compensate?”

The Captain licked his lips, and a blue light flashed in his eyes.
Within his pupils it was just barely possible to see an image of his
face, eyes closed, but expression incomparably hungry.

When Huang Yikun sensed the immense hunger coming from the
Captain, he was filled with the profound urge to flee. As the
Captain took a step forward, Huang Yikun took a step back. But
before he could even begin fleeing, his vision swam, and then he
heard a cracking sound. Now he had two fingers instead of three.

The Captain had bitten a finger off.

The pain prompted Huang Yikun to scream in agony and run for
his life.

Watching him go, the Captain chewed on the violet-gold finger.

Smiling faintly, he murmured, “That kid wasn’t fun at all. Definitely
not like our little Ah Qing.”

***

Atop the mountain peak, Master Seventh watched everything play

out, then nodded in satisfaction. “Of all my apprentices, Big Sib is
the most reasonable.”

The servant wasn’t sure what to say. How exactly had Grand
Highness been reasonable...?
“That said,” Master Seventh continued, “it’s not exactly fair. Big
Sib, Second Sib, and Third Sib all got fingers. But Fourth Sib didn’t
get anything.” He waved his hand.

As the terrified Huang Yikun raced away from the Captain in terror,
a wild wind suddenly swept him up. Scared witless, he could do
nothing as he was tossed in the direction of Harbor 176. A
moment later, he slammed onto the ground in front of the main
entrance of the Violent Crimes Division there. As his head spun
and his vision swam, and before he could even get his bearings,
he heard the crisp, clear voice of a young woman speaking
curiously.

“Who are you? Why’d you jump out in front of me? Are you trying
to ambush me? Hmph! People who sneak around are always up to
no good. Crush him, Stinker!”

All of a sudden, Huang Yikun was seeing things crystal clear, and
a sense of extremely disturbing danger filled his mind. However,
he had no time to flee.

A huge tentacle appeared, backed by Gold Core might that could

crush any obstacle. As the tentacle wrapped around him, the Gold
Core aura caused blood to spray out of his mouth, and then he
lapsed into unconsciousness.

In his last moments of lucidity, he heard the voice of that young girl
speaking into his ear.
“Not bad. Not bad at all. I’ll give this guy to Big Bro Xu Qing to
experiment on.”

1. The cultivators from the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society

showed up in chapter 226. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsThank you to KierenL for the review!

Thank you to KierenL for the review!

Chapter 237: Having Eyes for Someone

In the Violent Crimes Division cell block, Xu Qing was hunched

over a Night Dove cultivator, trying to figure out why a certain
poisonous plant had caused such a change in color to his black
beetles.

If I can figure out the reason, I should be able to counteract the

medicinal effect, and then use that to make the beetles a bit
tougher.

Bloodcurdling screams rang out constantly, but that didn’t

influence Xu Qing’s studying. He was completely focused. After
enough time passed for an incense stick to burn, he extracted the
dead cultivator’s soul. He looked like he might have some
inspiration, but only a moment later, he frowned and looked at the
door.

It opened, revealing the bashful face of a beautiful young woman.

She looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, and wore
a green jerkin. She had dimples when she smiled, and her fair
hands were as delicate as jade. Wrapped around her right forearm
was a little octopus. She was none other than Yanyan.

The octopus glared briefly at Xu Qing, then looked away, feigning

as if it hadn’t noticed him.
“Big Bro Xu Qing,” she said happily in greeting. Rushing in, she
glanced at the opened-up corpse, and her eyes lit up. “Big Bro Xu
Qing, I don’t want to interrupt. I’ll just watch from the side, okay?”

Xu Qing frowned again, and opened his mouth to say no.

Seeing that he was about to refuse her request, Yanyan quickly

said, “Big Bro Xu Qing, I just caught a criminal! I was hoping to
learn a thing or two from you. Or maybe we could have fun
together!”

At the same time, the octopus blew out a bubble, which floated off
to the side and rapidly expanded in size. Inside the bubble was
Huang Yikun. As soon as he appeared, countless tiny black
beetles began to quietly swarm around the bubble. It seemed as
though it would only take a word from Xu Qing, and they would
immediately start burrowing into Huang Yikun’s flesh.

Xu Qing recognized Huang Yikun and also noticed all of his fresh
wounds. Before, he had five dazzling fingers, but now only the
thumb and pinky finger remained. The other three were gone,
such that his hand now resembled the character 六.

An odd expression appeared on Xu Qing’s face. Then he noticed

the black beetles seemed to be behaving oddly. An unusual gleam
flickered in his eyes as he looked at Huang Yikun’s hair.

As for Huang Yikun, he was now regaining consciousness, and at

first he looked confused. But then he looked around and saw Xu
Qing. He didn’t say anything. He thought back to the things he’d
said to Xu Qing only a few days ago, and then everything he’d
experienced this night. He suddenly felt an unprecedented
sensation of grief and indignation. Of course, he wanted to
struggle free and escape, but there was no way for him to do so.
Huang Yikun had no desire to speak.

But Xu Qing did. “So, you went and challenged the Seventh
Peak?”

Huang Yikun shivered. He still didn’t want to say anything, but then
he looked around at the blood-soaked scene around him, and all
the corpses with grotesque anguish on their faces. The mere
thought of going through a night of torment caused his heart to
weaken, and terror filled his eyes as he looked at Xu Qing and
Yanyan.

It got worse when Yanyan started talking again.

“Big Bro Xu Qing, this is a really bad guy. He jumped out of midair
and tried to ambush me. Oh, right. Forget about him, Big Bro Xu
Qing. How come you never invited me here? I’ve been so bored
lately. Anyway, after watching you have so much fun, I came up
with some fun stuff of my own.”

Yanyan waved her hand, causing a large number of medicinal pill

bottles to appear in front of her, within which were all sorts of
poisons. Along with them was a huge wooden rack, which
thumped down onto the ground. Astonishingly, the rack was filled
with all sorts of bladed tools. Some were curved, some were
straight. Some were long, some were short, and some had
corkscrew shapes. There were dozens altogether, and they even
included some metal hooks and various sawed instruments.

Xu Qing looked at the collection.

“Look how prepared I am, Big Bro Xu Qing. Why don’t we apply
the poison first, then cut out his dharma apertures and see what
they look like? Also, how do we make his screams sound really
good? Like the last few hundred of your test subjects?”

Yanyan’s voice was so sweet and clear that one would expect her
words to be equally charming. Instead, it was the complete
opposite. What was more, her clear eyes, arching eyebrows, and
fluttering eyelashes made it seem like she was very, very happy.

When Huang Yikun took all of that in, his heart started pounding.
He looked at all the bladed instruments, then at Yanyan, and
finally at Xu Qing, who was standing there looking thoughtful, and
he suddenly wondered if he was in hell on earth.

“What do you think, Big Bro Xu Qing? It’s a good idea, right?”
Reaching over, Yanyan started picking through the bladed
instruments as if looking for the perfect one. At the same time, she
looked out of the corner of her eye and fawningly continued,
“Where do we start, Big Bro Xu Qing? What if we cut out his
tongue first? I’m thinking that might make his screams sound a bit
better.”

Huang Yikun was tightly restrained, yet he was still shaking

violently, and the terror in his eyes was so intense it had reached
the point of being in despair. He was absolutely convinced that
Yanyan was just outright insane, and that there were no limits to
what she would do. He suddenly looked at Xu Qing with an
ingratiating expression. As of now, he was convinced that this
place was far more horrifying than the Seventh Peak.

“Where do we start, Big Bro Xu Qing?”

Yanyan bit her bottom lip and stared at Xu Qing. Her fair skin was
a bit flushed, and her tender, rose petal lips were so delicate it
seemed like they might start bleeding at any moment.

Xu Qing looked at her placidly. When she had suddenly started

helping out the Violent Crimes Division, she had been
overstepping her bounds, but he had let it slide. As for how she’d
dragged Huang Yikun into the cell block, he was actually intrigued.
Huang Yikun clearly had wounds from a very big sword, and he
also had bite marks on his hand. That alone made it obvious he
had challenged the Seventh Peak. He had heard the loud thump
earlier, which seemed to indicate someone had thrown Huang
Yikun over to the Violent Crimes Division. There had to be a
reason that Huang Yikun had been able to leave the very
pragmatic Seventh Peak with two of his fingers.
Xu Qing had a guess as to why. For one thing, it didn’t seem likely
that the Captain and the others from the Seventh Peak would
throw a poisoned Huang Yikun to him. There was no need for that.
But Huang Yikun indeed had been poisoned. It was on his hair.

Xu Qing had seen this type of poison before. It was basically the
same kind that the young merfolk prince had used on him, except
this one was designed to attract other poisonous creatures.

Furthermore, this was a much higher level of poison. Anyone who

got within nine meters of him would be infected by it.

It was very hard to detect. In fact, it was only because of the

strange behavior of the beetles that Xu Qing noticed it. At the
moment, he couldn’t even be completely sure of the precise
effects of the poison. But based on his skill with plants and
vegetation, he was certain that the poison would make it possible
to track down and observe whoever had been infected by it.

Given all that, he now wanted to know who had put the poison on
Huang Yikun. Obviously, Yanyan was the biggest suspect.
Although Yanyan had seemingly surrendered, based on everything
she’d said, Xu Qing felt... that there was no way that the black-
garbed young woman who had attacked him so ruthlessly would
be cowed so easily. Therefore, he didn’t believe anything she said.

“Why aren’t you saying anything, Big Bro Xu Qing?” She was now
biting her lip so hard that blood seeped out, though that only made
her bewitching face even more beautiful.

Xu Qing’s expression remained the same as ever as his hand

suddenly shot out and latched onto her throat. The move was so
sudden, and so forceful, that bruises immediately appeared on her
fair skin.

Pulling her close to him, he slowly said, “The reason I didn’t kill
you isn’t because you have a nice grandma, but rather because
you haven’t crossed my bottom line. If you keep this up, you will.”

Yanyan shivered, and the little octopus looked like it was ready to
peel off her arm. Before it could, she quickly projected a message
to it with divine will. “Don’t do anything rash, Stinker.”

Though Xu Qing was holding her tightly by the throat, she

managed to force her head down, then stick out her tongue and
lick Xu Qing’s wrist.

Xu Qing frowned and threw her off to the side. She slammed into
the wall and fell to the ground, blood oozing out of the corners of
her mouth. And as she looked at him, it was impossible to read the
look in her eyes.

“Oooh, that’s right, Big Bro Xu Qing. This is the version of you I
like the most. You changed before, and I wasn’t happy about that.
And when I’m not happy with you, then I want to kill you. I knew
you’d notice that poison, and knew how you’d react. It’s exactly
what I wanted to see.”
Off to the side, Huang Yikun saw all this and started trembling
even harder.

Yanyan was definitely off in the head. That had become clearly
apparent to Xu Qing thanks to her glazed eyes and everything
else she’d done had made it all clear. Glaring coldly at Yanyan for
a moment, he then looked back at the trembling Huang Yikun and
his two remaining fingers.

Huang Yikun shivered in grief; he was certain he knew what was

going to happen next.

However, the person to take action wasn’t Xu Qing. It was actually

Yanyan. She flew across the room, and then two cracking sounds
rang out as she ripped off Huang Yikun’s thumb and pinky finger.
Then she offered them obsequiously to Xu Qing.

To Huang Yikun’s sorrow, he was actually getting used to this

process. It didn’t hurt as much this time.

Xu Qing took the fingers and looked coldly at Yanyan.

She could read the look in his eyes. Quickly backing up to put
distance between them, she put her finger into her mouth and bit
down hard, causing blood to flow. Trembling, she extended her
finger to Xu Qing, her eyes filled with anticipation.

“Have a taste, Big Bro Xu Qing.”

“Not interested,” he replied coolly. He waved his hand, causing
Huang Yikun to tumble into a nearby jail cell. At the same time, his
ring of holding flew into Xu Qing’s hands.

Sima Ling wasn’t imprisoned in this location, which meant that

Huang Yikun was the only chosen here. He had obviously been
sneaking around the sect, and the punishment for breaking curfew
was imprisonment.

Having accomplished these things, Xu Qing went back to his

beetle research. He really wanted to raise his current generation of
beetles to a higher level.

Meanwhile, Yanyan sat on the floor in a W position, sucking her

finger and watching Xu Qing. Slowly, a happy smile spread across
her face. [1]

***

Unbeknownst to them, up in the building on the summit of the

Seventh Peak, Master Seventh had been watching. He saw
everything Yanyan did, as well as Xu Qing’s reaction. Now, an
approving smile covered his face.

“Fourth Sib did great. I like his style. He reminds me of me, back in
the day.”

Upon hearing this, the servant bowed his head and said nothing.
Inside, he was musing that Master Seventh certainly didn’t seem
to be on par with the Kid in terms of style. After all, there were a lot
of female disciples who seemed to really like the Kid, whereas
Master Seventh.... Well, the patriarch’s daughter was a vice-
peaklord, and she had been back in the sect for days now, yet
hadn’t gone to see Master Seventh a single time. Deep conflict
between daoist partners wasn’t something that ‘style’ could
remedy.

1. W-sitting is the most common English term I could find to

convey what is called in Chinese “duck sitting.” It involves sitting
with knees bent, feet tucked under, bottom resting on the floor
between the legs, and legs out to either side. There is another
word to describe this sitting position, but I’m not sure if I would get
in trouble for using it, whether in the main text or in a footnote
(translators have caused problems in the past for posting things in
footnotes that could be considered “problematic.”) Anyway, here’s
a picture for reference. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsHey Fellow Daoists, Just a bit of a personal

update here. As of uploading this chapter, BattleBoy (formerly
Baby Deathblade) has been back in school for a day. Second
grade. Crazy how fast he's growing up. Anyway, the summer
vacation was brutal. Multiple instances of people in the family
getting sick. Surgeries for both me and MDB. A family vacation.
More sicknesses (both kids got Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease at
one point). Car situations. A big "storm" in Southern California that
got the first day of school cancelled. And so-on. I started the
summer with 40 chapters in my personal stockpile. As of this week
I have only 4.... My personal stockpile is different from my editing
queue. The editing queue has plenty of chapters in the process of
being checked, proofread, edited, etc. Even if I went into a coma,
the chapters would continue to be released for a while. But my
editing queue is there so that I can continue to get a paycheck
even if I get sick or go on vacation. So as of right now, I cannot
afford any emergencies. And I also can't really go on vacation. The
upside is that with both kids back to a normal school schedule, I
should be able to build my personal stockpile back up. It will take
me a matter of months, but I'll work hard to make it happen.We are
contemplating taking a trip back to China next summer for the first
time in about 5 years. If we do that, I'll basically be unable to
translate reliably for about a month. And that means I want to have
roughly a month of chapters stockpiled. Next summer is quite a
ways away, but at the same time, I know it will be here in a flash.
And who knows what emergencies will pop up between now and
then.Anyway, just a bit of behind-the-scenes and personal stuff.
Thanks to the Champions for their direct support, and thanks to
everyone for commenting, reading etc. There's still so much
amazing stuff to come in this novel!- Deathblade a.k.a. Jeremy

Hey Fellow Daoists,

Just a bit of a personal update here. As of uploading this chapter,

BattleBoy (formerly Baby Deathblade) has been back in school for
a day. Second grade. Crazy how fast he's growing up. Anyway, the
summer vacation was brutal. Multiple instances of people in the
family getting sick. Surgeries for both me and MDB. A family
vacation. More sicknesses (both kids got Hand, Foot, and Mouth
disease at one point). Car situations. A big "storm" in Southern
California that got the first day of school cancelled. And so-on. I
started the summer with 40 chapters in my personal stockpile. As
of this week I have only 4....

My personal stockpile is different from my editing queue. The

editing queue has plenty of chapters in the process of being
checked, proofread, edited, etc. Even if I went into a coma, the
chapters would continue to be released for a while. But my editing
queue is there so that I can continue to get a paycheck even if I
get sick or go on vacation. So as of right now, I cannot afford any
emergencies. And I also can't really go on vacation. The upside is
that with both kids back to a normal school schedule, I should be
able to build my personal stockpile back up. It will take me a
matter of months, but I'll work hard to make it happen.

We are contemplating taking a trip back to China next summer for

the first time in about 5 years. If we do that, I'll basically be unable
to translate reliably for about a month. And that means I want to
have roughly a month of chapters stockpiled. Next summer is quite
a ways away, but at the same time, I know it will be here in a flash.
And who knows what emergencies will pop up between now and
then.
Anyway, just a bit of behind-the-scenes and personal stuff. Thanks
to the Champions for their direct support, and thanks to everyone
for commenting, reading etc. There's still so much amazing stuff to
come in this novel!

- Deathblade a.k.a. Jeremy

Chapter 238: Life Flames Illuminate
Heavenly Palaces!

It was early morning. After a night of experimentation, Xu Qing

now had three bottles in front of him that he was very pleased
with.

He had done many, many tests to reach this point. It was the ninth
generation of beetles. At this point, they definitely weren’t black.
They were semitransparent. In terms of the comparative reduction
in size between the previous generation and this generation, it was
like the difference between an egg and a peanut. Considering that
the previous black beetles hadn’t been visible to the naked eye, it
made it even more clear how hard it would be to detect the new
versions. If it weren’t for the fact that Xu Qing’s blood was
connected to them, then even he would have a hard time spotting
them, let alone other people.

In addition to that, the beetles’ poison was vastly stronger than

before. That was the result of the immense amounts of money he
had spent to buy poisonous plants. When these beetles entered
the body of an enemy and started chewing away and releasing
poison, the damage would be many times greater than before.

It was the same with the mutagen. The beetles were very tough as
well, thanks to the repeated exposure to the poison pill. In fact,
that exposure ensured that the ninth generation of beetles had a
very strong life force. It was so strong that they could survive
inside of the taboo poison pill for several dozen breaths of time.

It’s too bad they’re not very intelligent. Otherwise, I might be able
to get them to feign death. That would be a really good ability.
They still haven’t reached the point I want them to reach.... I really
need them to be able to reproduce inside the poison pill. Until that
happens, I won’t be satisfied.

Sighing, Xu Qing quashed any feelings of satisfaction at his

current progress. That said, he felt like his goal was attainable.
After all, he had a lot of spirit stones, which meant he could still
buy all sorts of expensive and rare poisonous plants. He just
needed to keep doing more research.

Having reached this point in his train of thought, Xu Qing’s eyes

shone with anticipation. Next, he took out the two fingers and
examined them. Off to the side, Huang Yikun was unconscious
and sealed in a jail cell. He and Xu Qing were the only living
people in the cell block.

Yanyan had finally taken note of Xu Qing’s frown. And though she
seemed reluctant to part with him, she had eventually left quietly.
Once she was gone, Xu Qing had felt a lot more at ease. He didn’t
like strangers hovering around him.
Since Huang Yikun was unconscious, Xu Qing took out his identity
medallion and sent a voice message. Then he opened the door of
the cell block. The Mute was already outside and offered him a
respectful clasping of hands.

Xu Qing examined him briefly. The Mute’s cultivation base was

progressing quickly. He was already in the ninth level of Qi
Condensation, and would soon be in the tenth. Xu Qing tossed a
medicinal pill to him. Xu Qing had taken note of how sincere and
hard-working the Mute had been lately.

The Mute’s eyes glittered as he accepted the medicinal pill. Then

he looked at Xu Qing, awaiting orders.

Xu Qing pointed at Huang Yikun.

“Put twenty shackles on him and then toss him in with Sima Ling.”

The Mute nodded. Hurrying over, he grabbed Huang Yikun by the

neck then dragged him forcefully out of the cell block. Only when
he reached the main entrance did he handle him with some more
care.

Xu Qing then looked back at the two dazzling fingers. They both
emanated shocking fluctuations that caused his Balefire
Soulswallowing Scripture to stir.

I wonder how to use these things. I feel like I can’t use them to
open dharma apertures. They seem more appropriate for
advancing my techniques.

After mulling the matter over, he sent a voice message to the

Captain asking for advice.

It didn’t take long for the Captain to respond.

“Hahaha! Oh, little Ah Qing. So that idiot went over to you, huh?
Well, I figured that would happen, which is why I left two fingers for
you.

“Let me tell you, these Dark Serenity Fingers are amazing things.
Huang Yikun really was a chosen, and he had massive
perseverance and determination to form five of them.

“You see, the old man told me that they can totally transform our
techniques. I still haven’t figured out exactly how, but it shouldn’t
be long before I do. They’re going to be a transforming force for
our echelon techniques here on the Seventh Peak.”

Hearing that, Xu Qing decided not to worry about the fingers.

Instead, he took out Huang Yikun’s ring of holding.

Why do I get the feeling Huang Yikun is actually a bit poor?

Like Sima Ling’s ring of holding, this one was sealed. Unlike Sima
Ling’s ring, this one had no jewel on it. It seemed much more
standard.
The shadow didn’t need any instructions. It flew out, broke down
the sealing mark, and then sent some fawning emotions out.
Obviously it was still thinking about Xu Qing’s promise to give it
the fragmented piece of the taboo treasure if it behaved well.

Suddenly, for the first time ever, Xu Qing gave an approving look
to the shadow.

The shadow was stunned, and began to tremble in excitement,

causing splits and cracks to appear in it.

Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was not happy at all. His body of
lightning was also trembling, but in this case, it was because of a
sense of deep foreboding.

Intentionally or otherwise, Xu Qing happened to look at the black

iron skewer for a moment, then sent dharma force into Huang
Yikun’s ring of holding.

A moment later, an unsightly expression appeared on Xu Qing’s

face.

“Is this Huang Yikun a counterfeit chosen??” he murmured.

He glanced in the direction where the Mute had disappeared with

Huang Yikun, his expression one of displeasure. All Huang Yikun
had in his ring of holding were some random bottles, a few jade
slips, and spirit notes worth less than 100,000. He had no magical
devices, and nothing else similar to what Xu Qing had hoped to
see.

This level of poverty was incredible. Virtually any Foundation

Establishment cultivator in Seven Blood Eyes probably had more
money than Huang Yikun.

Then Xu Qing looked back at the two fingers, and realized he had
his answer.

Did he really spend his entire life savings just to cultivate those
five fingers...?

Xu Qing thought back to when he’d first met Huang Yikun, and
how proud he had been of those fingers. It seemed that, in all
likelihood, this was the explanation.

I almost feel sorry for the guy. He just had to go and show off his
fancy stuff in front of the Captain.

Xu Qing shook his head and then went through all the random
bottles in the ring of holding. After examining them, he looked a bit
more pleased.

Most of the medicinal pills were related to healing, but there was
one bottle that contained some pills Xu Qing recognized. They
were the same ones that Sima Ling had, designed to open dharma
apertures.
Without any hesitation, Xu Qing inspected them for safety, then
popped them into his mouth. He knew exactly how extraordinary
these pills were; based on how he’d found them, he could only
guess that these chosen kept them around to use in critical
moments. However, he figured it would be better to use them
immediately rather than save them for later.

The moment he swallowed the pills, rumbling filled his body, and
his 89th dharma aperture, which he had already been battering
away at with the souls he’d extracted recently, opened up. More
dharma force swept through him.

There was still more power left from the pills, so he sent it to his
90th dharma aperture. The aperture shivered, and then a crack
opened up on it. However, it was only about ten percent open.

As the medicinal strength continued to explode, the crack opened

wider. Twenty percent. Thirty percent. Forty percent....

Xu Qing took a deep breath and beat at the dharma aperture with
all of the force he could muster. Gradually, it was sixty percent
open. At that point, the force of the medicine waned. He barely
managed to reach seventy percent before the medicinal efficacy
faded away.

Xu Qing’s eyes were completely bloodshot. He could sense

astonishing dharma force within that 90th aperture. The 29.5
apertures that formed the group after his 60th were all burning like
stars. That fire wanted to form his third life flame, but the 90th
aperture wasn’t completely opened, and thus the process couldn’t
be completed. Xu Qing was already feeling very anxious. Being so
close to his third life flame only made him more anxious.

“I’m going to open it today!”

Gritting his teeth, he took out his identity medallion and issued
some orders.

“Bring all the Night Dove operatives we arrested to me!”

The constables of the Violent Crimes Division sprang into action,

and began delivering numerous Night Dove prisoners to Harbor
176. The cell block there became like a black hole, gobbling up
one Night Dove operative after another.

As evening came, brilliance spread out through the sky.

Eventually, Xu Qing’s eyes snapped open, and violet light glittered.
All of the dharma apertures from his 61st to his 90th were now
opened, and they burned like raging furnaces.

Over the course of an incense stick’s worth of time, his third life
flame took shape!

The moment it appeared, he felt like heavenly thunder was raging

within him, causing him to shake from head to toe. Terrifying flame
power swept out, incinerating the cell block around him, and
turning the walls into blackened crystal. Of course, he had already
put protective spell formations around, and the cell block had its
own spell formation, so none of the fluctuations went out into the
open.

As his third life flame burned, a heavenly palace started to become

visible. It was only about ten percent of its full form, but it still
looked magnificent, with dramatically beautiful architecture,
decorated with auspicious beasts, and was partly illusory and
partly corporeal.

Xu Qing’s guess was that heavenly palaces... had to do with Gold

Core!

‘Life flames ignite to illuminate heavenly palaces.’

Xu Qing didn’t know all of the details of what heavenly palaces

were, but he did know that ‘life flames ignite to illuminate heavenly
palaces’ was a description of the process of rising from
Foundation Establishment to Gold Core.

Three life flames....

As Xu Qing looked up, the golden crow danced in the air behind
him, crying out noiselessly, its flaming tail combining with his life
flames to cause a sea of flames to spread. Feather-shaped sparks
swirled around him. If a painter were to create an artistic depiction
of this moment, it would be immaculately beautiful.
And anyone present to observe would be completely shocked by
the fact that neither the flames nor the golden crow emitted any
pressure. And yet the golden crow’s mere gaze would be enough
to shake a Foundation Establishment cultivator to the core.

What was more, Xu Qing’s gaze was just as exceptional as that of

Master Shengyun!

He had three life flames, a life lamp, and an imperial-class

technique.

That was... five-flame battle prowess!

When adding in his poison, it was possible a six-flame cultivator

might fall to him. It was only natural that such power would be
considered exceptional.

Deathblade's ThoughtsThank you to lorrandavi for the review!

Thank you to lorrandavi for the review!

Chapter 239: Someone Comes from the
Grue Hunters

When the shadow saw how terrifying Xu Qing was, it trembled.

Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior in the skewer was trembling even
more.

“Incredible,” the patriarch said to the shadow. “If you live long
enough, you’ll see everything! The Fiendish Xu is definitely the
real deal. This is how novels are supposed to be written. With
exceptional talent like this, he’s got to be the true main character.
As for that Master Shengyun... he might also be. But probably
from another novel. Of the two novels, which MC will be stronger?”

“... scared, scared, scared...” the shadow replied frantically.

In rare form, the patriarch didn’t respond sarcastically. In his

opinion, the Fiendish Xu had only been making consistent
progress and becoming more terrifying since taking the patriarch
in. Hunh. Does that mean that I have the ability to propel people to
greatness? I mean, it was after he became my lord and master
that he really started his rise to prominence.

As the shadow and patriarch were marveling, they heard Xu Qing

pondering his situation.
“I’m still too weak.” His eyes narrowed to slits, cutting off the violet
glow within them. “I’m not at the same level as Master Shengyun,
who crushed the First Peak....” He shook his head at the
realization of how much he still needed to improve. “I have to take
advantage of the time I have to ignite my fourth life flame. Then
maybe I can see what’s beyond the level of 120 dharma
apertures.”

Xu Qing found it odd that the chosen from the Seven Sect
Coalition didn’t just advance to Gold Core after reaching 120
dharma apertures. In the jade slips he had read, there wasn’t
much information about 120 dharma apertures. But now he
realized that on the Revered Ancient mainland, it wasn’t that rare
for people to reach that level. Although they were all chosen from
top sects, the entire thing still seemed strange to him.

Furthermore, I still need my poison to be stronger. I need more

poisonous plants to feed to my beetles. I need them stronger, and
I need them to be able to survive long-term in the poison pill. And
then there’s my Supreme Vastness Solitary Saber... I can’t let that
destined opportunity slip through my fingers. I need to find another
Supreme Vastness daoist temple to seek enlightenment in.

“Given all that, I really am just too weak,” he murmured. Sighing,

he crushed any sense of pride at having reached the level of five-
flame battle prowess.
Off to the side, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was gaping. After
analyzing Xu Qing’s words, he came to the conclusion that Xu
Qing wasn’t being sarcastic. He was absolutely serious. The
patriarch felt dumbfounded.

This is too weak? This is freaking weak?? Then what’s strong?

Could it be that the Fiendish Xu doesn’t exactly understand the
meaning of the word weak?

The shadow was equally stupefied.

Xu Qing took a deep breath, and his eyes shone with

determination.

Since I’m not strong enough, I can’t put myself too much out in the
open.

After mulling the matter over some more, he looked over at the
stunned shadow and patriarch

“Shadow, cover my life lamp. Add another layer this time. After
that, cover up ten of my dharma apertures.” Looking around, he
waved his hand, causing the surrounding fire to whip toward him,
where it gathered into his palm.

There, it became a black fireball, emanating a terrifying level of

power.

Xu Qing closed his hand into a fist, and the fire entered him. The
surrounding cell block was no longer burning. There was nothing
left behind but ash.

Next, Xu Qing took out a number of spell formations from his bag
of holding, which he used to fortify the place again.

Given how many spirit stones he now had, he hadn’t been stingy
in purchasing supplies. Next, he issued another command.

“Keep bringing me Night Dove prisoners!”

Soon enough, the constables were yet again bringing prisoners to

him. When they saw the wreckage of the cell block, they were
shocked, but none of them dared to ask any questions.

Time passed. Three days went by.

The Seven Sect Coalition was still excitedly issuing challenges to

Seven Blood Eyes. But the chosen from the seven sects were
starting to get suspicious about something.

Huang Yikun was missing.

Before vanishing, he had told them two things. He’d said he was
going to handle Xu Qing, and had specifically told them to wait and
see how it played out. He’d said the same thing about going to
challenge the Seventh Peak. Now, days later, nothing had
happened on the Seventh Peak, and now Huang Yikun was
nowhere to be found.
It was a very unusual situation. And what was even more unusual
was that the Dark Serenity Sect didn’t seem to care about the
matter....

Now, the Seven Sect Coalition chosen kept glancing in the

direction of the Seventh Peak and Harbor 176, their eyes full of
misgivings. Oftentimes, when you don’t have enough information,
you can’t reach any conclusion at all. These chosen weren’t
stupid, and they realized that. They felt that what happened on the
Seventh Peak wasn’t their business. And Xu Qing wasn’t their
concern. None of them wanted to get dragged into whatever was
going on.

However, the dragon had nine sons and each was different from
the others. There were some people who, seeing what was
happening, simply couldn’t let the matter drop. It went against their
interests. After all, Xu Qing’s actions against Night Dove were
irritating to other chosen from the Seven Sect Coalition.

As it turned out, Sima Ling wasn’t the only person from the Seven
Sect Coalition who was involved in the trafficking of living
treasures.

Though those people weren’t happy that their interests were being
harmed, they also needed to wait to see what the House of Grue
Hunters planned to do. The House of Grue Hunters wasn’t the
most powerful sect in the coalition, but they were far more feared
than the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect. The House of Grue Hunters
was famous for two things: watching out for their own, and making
deals with grues. Because of that, few people would take the risk
of offending them. Besides, considering they were always working
with grues, most people thought of them as being lunatics.

The members of the Church of Departure were different types of

lunatics. The Church of Departure had idealistic reasons for being
so insane. But the House of Grue Hunters often behaved in a way
that other members of the Seven Sect Coalition didn’t understand.
And disciples from there often thought in strange ways.

Therefore, there was no way the House of Grue Hunters would

just let Sima Ling get crushed, and not do anything about it.

That was exactly how things played out. Five days later, a lone
ship appeared on the Forbidden Sea beyond the Seven Blood
Eyes port.

It was a bone ship, not very big, only about thirty meters long. It
was long and slender, and almost looked like the entire thing was
crafted from the arm bone of a gigantic beast. Despite it being the
middle of the day, it was possible to see numerous
semitransparent ghost arms sticking out of each side of the ship
and paddling the water like oars. There had to be thousands of
them, and they were in constant motion, sending the bone boat
drifting closer and closer to Seven Blood Eyes.
Unlike the other ships that had come from the Seven Sect
Coalition, the person piloting this boat was very polite, and
stopped outside of the port. Then she stepped out into the open.
She was a young woman in a long white gown. She looked young,
and was very beautiful. However, her face was unusually pale,
making a stark contrast with her black hair. It almost seemed like
she hadn’t been out in the sun in years.

She held an umbrella, and if one looked closely, they would see
that the umbrella had countless grue faces on it. Some cried,
some laughed, some bared their teeth. It was incomparably
vicious looking.

Anyone who looked at it would feel flustered. As the young woman

in white gently spun the umbrella, the faces on its surfaces
trembled in fear.

“I’m Sima Ru from the House of Grue Hunters,” she announced

softly, “here to visit Seven Blood Eyes.” Her voice was clear, like a
frigid winter wind. [1]

Almost instantly, the spell formation opened, and the bone boat
floated directly in and toward Harbor 176.

When it reached the shore, the young woman stepped lightly off
the boat and then strolled... directly toward the Violent Crimes
Division. Her hair was so long it brushed the ground behind her.
And it writhed as if it were alive. Wherever it passed, tiny black
balls with ghost faces on them would pop out. Bouncing along as if
they were dancing, they followed her and sang a bizarre nursery
rhyme.

“One, one, break your thumb and two, two, blind you with a screw.

“Three, three, crack your skull with glee and four, four, pour your
blood on the floor.

“Five, five, keep you alive to six, six, trample you with kicks.”

It sounded like a bunch of kids singing, but the words were sinister
to the extreme. As a result, as the young woman walked along,
everyone backed away from her.

And thus, she got closer and closer to the Violent Crimes Division.

As soon as she arrived, the chosen from the Seven Sect Coalition
were notified, and all of them exhaled sharply. Immediately, the
chosen started exchanging shocked voice messages.

“Sima Ru from the House of Grue Hunters is here! She’s Sima

Ling’s blood sister. And she was the chosen dao child from the
previous generation. I heard that after she reached Gold Core, she
went into seclusion to try to break through to her second heavenly
palace!”

“I can’t believe she’s here!”

“No, that’s not actually her. It’s her grue clone!”

“Oh, I heard about this clone. Back when Sima Ru was in
Foundation Establishment, she used one of her own bones to fuse
with a grue. Though it doesn’t have Gold Core battle prowess, it’s
supposedly capable of crushing four-flame power.”

“I doubt it’s at the five-flame level, though. It’s more like battle
prowess of four-and-a-half flames. But that extra half-flame of
power is enough to crush four-flames.”

None of them dared to get close to Sima Ru. They all thought of
the House of Grue Hunters as being full of lunatics. For all they
knew, she might crush Xu Qing and then go on to crush them.

Meanwhile, back on the street in Harbor 176, Sima Ru walked

along with the ghost face balls dancing behind her, singing their
sinister nursery rhyme. Eventually, she reached the entrance of
the Violent Crimes Division. Above her was a dark mist that took
the shape of a vicious ghost face that glared at the entrance.

No one was standing guard at the door. The door was open,
revealing the reception hall. Seated in the position of honor was a
good-looking young man who stared at her expressionlessly.

Looking back at him, she smiled faintly. She carried herself very
properly, making her seem like a girl from a wealthy, noble family.

“I’m here to take my brother home.”

1. Sima Ru. I already explained this surname. The Ru character
means “roots, vegetables.” Madam Deathblade says the name
'sounds nice'. Like I mentioned before, the Sima surname imparts
a sense of ancient royalty. ☜
Chapter 240: Nether-Sealing Blood

It was noon. Not a cloud could be seen in the dome of heaven, yet
Sima Ru had a dark cloud overhead, within which crackled bolts of
lightning. Her cloud resembled a vicious ghost face, bursting with
ferocity; it seemed like all it would take was a thought from Sima
Ru, and the evil ghost would rush into the Violent Crimes Division
and pounce on Xu Qing.

There usually weren’t many people on the street outside the

Violent Crimes Division. Right now, there were literally none.

As soon as Xu Qing got word that Sima Ru was coming, he’d sent
all the constables home. And thus, the inside of the Violent Crimes
Division was just as empty as the outside. Except for Xu Qing. He
sat in the reception hall in front of the painting of the evil ghosts
fighting for food. Upon hearing Sima Ru’s words, he looked up at
her standing outside the main entrance. He didn’t pay any
attention at all to the ghost face above her, nor the singing balls.
His eyes focused solely on Sima Ru, flashing as though they could
pierce into her and read her inner qualities.

A clone?

A thoughtful look appeared in his eyes as he fiddled with the jade

slip the Intelligence Division had sent him with information about
her. It had a lot of details about her and her background.
“The most orthodox cultivation method in the House of Grue
Hunters is tied to the blood. Cultivation techniques are only
supplementary. There are four main types of blood that disciples
can infuse into themselves. Each type has unique properties, and
a unique way of affecting grues. Opinions differ regarding the
origin of the bloodlines.

“The Sima family is associated with the Nether-Sealing Blood. It

provides shocking advantages when sealing grues. Of course,
none of these four bloodlines are on par with one of the most
mysterious and legendary species native to Revered Ancient, the
Gruewalkers.

“Sima Ru has exceptional talent. After accepting the Nether-

Sealing Blood, she stood head and shoulders above her fellows.
Years ago, she took a place among the echelon highnesses of the
House of Grue Hunters. Though she wasn’t rated number one, the
others above her were all in the Gold Core level. Later, after
dominating the members of the other bloodlines for years, she
eventually broke through to Gold Core herself.

“Since then, she’s been in seclusion. She herself has not come to
Seven Blood Eyes. Instead, she’s sent a peak Foundation
Establishment clone, formed via bone cultivation. There are
several grues sealed within the clone, and it has battle prowess
that surpasses the four-flame level but doesn’t reach the five-flame
level.”
While Xu Qing thought about everything he knew of Sima Ru, she
looked at him in the reception hall.

“My little brother is naughty and mischievous,” she said lightly. “I’m
sorry for any trouble he caused, and I apologize for whatever he
did wrong.”

Behind her, the bouncing balls started imitating her.

“Apologize, apologize.”

“Trouble he caused, trouble he caused.”

They sounded like a host of children clamoring for attention. If that

wasn’t bizarre enough, the faces on Sima Ru’s umbrella all started
crying and laughing at the same time.

The Seven Sect Coalition chosen who were watching from a

distance were all watching with bated breath. Truth be told, even in
the coalition, the House of Grue Hunters was considered
mysterious. Most of the time, the other sects tried to avoid them.

Xu Qing just looked at Sima Ru. Since this was his first time
dealing with her, he had no idea how she usually behaved. But
she had been very polite. She hadn’t charged in, hadn’t made
unreasonable demands, and had even apologized on behalf of her
brother. She hadn’t acted overbearing like Sima Ling. It was hard
to feel hostility toward someone like that, but Xu Qing wasn’t any
less on guard because of it.
“I’ll have to check with my superiors about it,” he said calmly. “Give
me a few days.”

Sima Ru nodded. Looking very poised, she softly said, “I can wait
a few days. But my little brother can’t. I’ll provide compensation on
his behalf. That said, there’s also the issue of you hitting him. How
do you plan to make amends? My little brother likes eyeballs.
Maybe you can give him one of yours as an apology.”

Sima Ru remained extremely polite in both her bearing and her

tone of voice. She didn’t seem angry at all, and seemed very
heartfelt.

Xu Qing didn’t say anything in response. At the same time, he

looked away from Sima Ru. As of this moment he dispelled any
thoughts of possibly freeing Sima Ling.

Meanwhile, Sima Ru drifted forward, through the main entrance of

the Violent Crimes Division and into the courtyard. Along with her
came the cloud, which roiled out to cover everything.

At the same time, the ghost-faced balls bounced along, clamoring

as before, and yet again copying Sima Ru’s words.

“Make amends, make amends.”

“Make amends, make... huh—?”

In the middle of chanting, one of the ghost-faced balls bounced

into a shady section, where it suddenly fell down, then
disappeared as if it had fallen into a chasm. Its voice ceased.

At the same time as the ball vanished, the Violent Crimes

Division’s spell formation activated, cutting off the outside world,
and sealing the place so that no one could see inside. There was
also a crushing force that weighed down.

But then Sima Ru reached into her robe and pulled out a white
identity medallion, whereupon the crushing weight disappeared.
Her identity medallion was obviously nothing to sneer at. It came
from a supervisory sect, and carried with it greater authority.

However, the function to seal off the entire division remained in

place. Only the crushing weight that would normally hinder
members of outside sects disappeared.

The grand spell formation that protected Seven Blood Eyes had its
crushing power negated by someone from an outside sect.
Imagine if some other person had the right to use your belongings
any time they wanted. Not just that, but they could take them away
at will, even if you were right there in front of them. And you
couldn’t say a thing. For all intents and purposes, those things
might as well belong to the other person.

Inside, Xu Qing sighed. Now more than ever, he understood why

the patriarch and the others were being so very secretive about
their true plan.
There was no person in existence who would want to permanently
be in such a passive position. Who would want someone else to
be in control of their own disciples, or be able to give out identity
medallions that would negate your greatest safeguards? In a
chaotic world filled with people who acted like tigers, leopards,
wolves, and jackals, who could possibly be willing to live in such
ignominy?

Xu Qing even had the suspicion that if the Seven Sect Coalition
leadership arrived, then the Seven Blood Eyes Formation... would
obey them to crush people from Seven Blood Eyes.

Continuing to float toward Xu Qing, Sima Ru softly said, “I guess

you used this spell formation to brush off my little brother’s dao
protector. Right?”

She was now right outside the reception hall. She didn’t stop
there. She floated inside. However, that was also when Xu Qing
started moving.

He stepped forward, putting himself right in front of Sima Ru.

Then, his face completely expressionless, he launched a punch at
her. It was a blow that caused wild winds to spring up, and shook
everything in the area. The explosive force was so intense that a
sound like thunder boomed out.

Simultaneously, numerous eyes opened up in the shadows of the

courtyard beyond. Then they turned into mouths that lunged
toward the ghost-faced balls. At the same time, a black lightning
bolt shot out from the periphery and headed straight toward the
cloud above. In the blink of an eye, deafening booms rang out left
and right.

In the face of Xu Qing’s attack, Sima Ru shot backward, flying out

of the reception hall and into the courtyard.

Now, a reaction could be seen on her previously expressionless

face. Also, the eyes on the numerous grue faces on her umbrella
opened. And they weren’t looking at Xu Qing, but rather, at the
ground of the courtyard.

The balls were nowhere to be seen. That caused Sima Ru’s eyes
to glitter with an unusual light. Then she looked back up at the
person walking out of the reception hall.

Along with him came burning flames that took the shape of a
golden crow. Within all the fire was Xu Qing, walking forward one
step at a time. The fiery golden crow made him seem like a lord of
flames. Its tail was like an imperial robe, surrounding him with
grandeur. And as his hair whipped about, a sea of flames became
his cloak. As he approached, the fiery cloak billowed, and the
golden crow settled onto his head like an imperial crown.
Combined with his stunning facial features, this version of Xu Qing
seemed to walk with the momentum and gait of an Ancient
Emperor strolling through the world of humans.
“Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits!” Sima Ru blurted. Then
she blurred into motion, appearing right in front of Xu Qing, where
she raised her right hand toward his eyes.

Xu Qing’s expression was the same as ever as he lowered his

head and head-butted her hand.

It was an attack method that Sima Ru was obviously not

expecting. A boom rang out, and her hand exploded. Expression
one of shock, she shot backward.

Xu Qing pressed the attack, moving with speed that surpassed

hers. Upon reaching her, he reached out, grabbed a handful of her
hair, and then slammed her down onto the ground. The ground
cracked and shattered.

As for Sima Ru, she collapsed into a mass of mist that swept away
from his hand. A shrill scream rang out as the mist then converged
into a gruish shape that lunged back toward Xu Qing.

At the same time, Sima Ru’s ghostly umbrella suddenly sent

crushing weight toward him.

But how could some puny umbrella match up to the golden crow?
The golden crow looked up, its eyes filled with disdain, then
lunged forward.

Deathblade's ThoughtsMany thanks to TendonitisSolution,

mandu77, W0lf, and Lilith Ninth Star for the reviews! Thanks!
Many thanks to TendonitisSolution, mandu77, W0lf, and Lilith
Ninth Star for the reviews! Thanks!
Chapter 241: The Deceptive Seventh Peak

The golden crow raged with a sea of flames, causing the countless
faces on the ghost umbrella to scream in high-pitched tones. They
tried to fight, but it was useless. In the blink of an eye, the golden
crow was in their midst. The shrieking became more shrill, and
then the entire umbrella burst into flames. The grue faces inside
fought among each other to flee, but were unable. In the blink of
an eye, they were incinerated by the golden crow.

At the same time, it looked like Sima Ru’s mist form was about to
be dispelled by the explosive fire. But Sima Ru was no ordinary
person. Despite being shocked at what was happening, she swept
toward Xu Qing from all directions, piercing through the fire and
transforming into a host of grue faces that snapped at him with
bared teeth. Sinister wind blew, hoping to extinguish his life
flames.

Eyebrows rising, Xu Qing let all his dharma apertures burn bright.
There didn’t seem any point in deception right now. It would be
hard to defeat Sima Ru using the battle prowess of four flames.
Therefore, 90 dharma apertures raged to life. Of course, Xu Qing’s
dharma apertures weren’t like those of ordinary people. Each one
contained a 1,500-meter spirit sea. Shocking spirit seas like that
would create a terrifying dharma force. And with that dharma force
under his control, his life flames would be incomparably
astonishing.

As for the sinister wind... it could eradicate countless life flames

that existed, but not Xu Qing’s. As his life flames burned in
shocking fashion, the incoming grue faces were rendered
powerless. That wasn’t to mention Xu Qing’s fleshly body power,
which, thanks to his cultivation of Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad
Spirits, had caught up to his cultivation progress.

His energy and blood surged, sending blood-colored light into the
sea of flames, which spread out. Agonized shrieks erupted as the
grue faces were wiped out of existence.

Every single one vanished, turning into a mist that spun backward,
where it converged into a ball. Then, a terrifying aura spread out
from it, along with a howl. Shockingly, the mist then transformed
into a three-headed beast. It looked like a tiger, with two heads in
the front and one where the tail would normally be. Wild, freezing
winds swept around the ghost tiger as it lunged toward Xu Qing.

It moved so quickly that, in the shortest of moments, it was closing

in on its target. What was more, hosts of souls spilled out of it,
which transformed into tiger-assisting ghosts that joined the
swirling whirlwind. [1]

Xu Qing’s eyes shone coldly as he took a step forward. Right in

front of the ghost tiger, he waved his right hand, causing balefire to
erupt out and cover his fist.

As rumbling sounds echoed out, the ghost tiger suddenly dodged

to the side, then lunged forward with its mouth open dramatically
wide, as if it could devour anything and everything.

Xu Qing placidly performed an incantation gesture with his right

hand, then extended his finger. Fire roiled out of him to form a
bluegreen dragon that was far larger than the ghost tiger. The
dragon opened its mouth, then viciously chomped down on the
tiger. A boom rang out as the tiger exploded with a scream.

But Sima Ru was no ordinary opponent. After being destroyed by

the bluegreen dragon, the tiger collapsed into a mist, which then
transformed into a third type of grue. It looked like a pitch-black
rakshasa with wings. After forming, it howled at Xu Qing and
rushed toward him.

However, a moment later a black lightning bolt suddenly shot out

from the cloud overhead. As it sped toward the rakshasa, a
shadow spread out over the ground.

Sima Ru in rakshasa form looked surprised. She managed to

dodge the iron skewer, and even avoid the shadow. But she
couldn’t get away from Xu Qing. Moving forward with unstoppable
momentum, he grabbed her rakshasa form by the neck and
slammed it viciously into the wall.
A boom rang out as the wall collapsed. As the rakshasa reeled,
massive amounts of balefire poured out of Xu Qing’s hands. He
was already starting to assimilate her! In fact, as he did, his 91st
dharma aperture started wriggling as though it might open soon.

As Sima Ru in rakshasa form struggled, Xu Qing slammed her into

the ground. The rakshasa collapsed.

As the mist spread out again, the golden crow let loose a cry and
shot toward it, hoping to devour it.

But that was when the mist converged, transforming into a fourth
state! It was a bloated giant fully 300 meters tall. It looked
massive, and incredibly heavy, as it tried to crush the golden crow
by sitting on it.

It didn’t qualify to succeed at such an effort. The golden crow’s

eyes shone as it started devouring it. At the same time, Xu Qing
strode forward, his eyes shining as he looked at Sima Ru’s fourth
state.

Even just absorbing a fraction of the rakshasa had almost opened

one of his dharma apertures, and therefore, Sima Ru was a
precious treasure as far as he was concerned. Upon nearing the
struggling giant, he erupted with balefire and immediately began
assimilating it.

Fear appeared in the eyes of Sima Ru’s struggling giant form.

As the golden crow absorbed it, the shadow shot forth, and the
iron skewer closed in excitedly.

A bewildered look appeared in Sima Ru’s eyes, and then, without

the slightest hesitation, she self-detonated. A massive boom
rattled out. A self-detonation backed by the power of four and a
half flames was immense as it swept everywhere.

As the giant exploded, a black arm bone appeared and shot

toward the exit of the Violent Crimes Division!

That bone was the nucleus of the clone Sima Ru had created.
Now that she knew how terrifying Xu Qing truly was, she had no
interest in continuing the fight. She only wanted to escape.

She had chosen the right moment to do it. The shocking power of
the explosion would make it difficult for anyone to pursue her.
Sadly for her, she completely underestimated Xu Qing’s abilities.

Xu Qing’s shadow shot under the explosion and closed in on her

with blinding speed.

In that last critical moment, Sima Ru’s black bone shone with dark
light. Realizing that she couldn’t escape, she spun in place and
sent her bone form shooting viciously toward Xu Qing’s head. As
she moved, the bizarre nursery rhyme echoed out around her.

“One, one, break your thumb and two, two, blind you with a screw.
“Three, three, crack your skull with glee and four, four, pour your
blood on the floor.

“Five, five, keep you alive to six, six, trample you with kicks.”

The incoming attack surpassed the level of four flames, and as it

neared, Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. Suppressing any thoughts of
revealing how many flames he actually had, he took out a jade
pendant. That jade pendant was the Nascent Soul defense shield
Master Sixth had given him. He had almost completely drained it
during the battle with the Seastars, making it much less effective
than then. There was no way it could stand up to a Nascent Soul
attack. But it was still mighty, and there was a bit of power left in it.

Sima Ru’s grue attack slammed into the shield, and it was like an
egg being thrown against a boulder. The arm bone cracked, and a
scream rang out from inside. Then Xu Qing reached out, grabbed
the arm, and sent balefire raging out to assimilate it.

Massive soul power surged out of the bone and into Xu Qing.
Without hesitation, he sent it rushing toward his 91st dharma
aperture, which instantly opened.

While Xu Qing was absorbing the bone, the golden crow was also
devouring it. The shadow helped itself, and the black iron skewer
also stabbed into it. Wild, piercing screams rang out. Then the
bone shattered and turned into ash. Before it did, Xu Qing
managed to open his 92nd dharma aperture!
Then he looked back at the spot where the bone had turned into
ash. The ash wasn’t moving, but there was a scrap of divine will
left in it. The divine will formed into a very faint, semitransparent
version of Sima Ru in her white gown. It looked like she would
flicker out of existence at any moment.

As she looked at Xu Qing, she was visibly surprised.

“Your Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits is superb. You’re not

at all like the description the sect provided me! You tricked all of
the cultivators who came here. And you don’t have two life flames.
You have three! Beyond that, your dharma apertures are
astonishing. They’re all 1,500 meters! That puts your battle
prowess, not at the four-flame level, but closer to five flames!

“If you ever ignite four life flames, you’ll be like a second Master
Shengyun, except that you don’t have a life lamp! You’re far too
deceptive! You’re... the number one chosen of this generation in
Seven Blood Eyes!”

Sima Ru had come here thinking she could crush Xu Qing, then
take her little brother away. How could she have imagined how
profoundly deceptive Xu Qing actually was? Obviously, if he had
used his true five-flame power, he could have crushed Sima Ling
in an instant. Instead, he drew out the fight to give people the
wrong impression.
Don’t tell me he was actually after me? Did he do all this on
purpose to lure me here? That caused Sima Ru to think back to
how he had instantly started absorbing her as soon as he laid
hands on her. It was the most humiliating thing she had ever
experienced, and it caused killing intent to burn in her eyes.

“Now I know how deceptive you really are. My true form will be out
of seclusion soon. Then I’ll come and crush—”

Xu Qing shoved his hand out, and Sima Ru’s divine will collapsed
into nothing before she could finish speaking.

Looking at the spot where she had disappeared, he thought,

You’re wrong. I’m not the number one chosen in Seven Blood
Eyes.

He couldn’t help but think back to the miserable state Huang Yikun
was in after going to the Seventh Peak. Forget people from
outside the sect. Even Xu Qing himself thought that people from
the Seventh Peak were just too skilled at being deceptive. Take
the Captain for instance. Though Xu Qing had his violet crystal
that gave him powers of regeneration, the Captain obviously had
some terrifying entity sealed within him.

***

Little did Xu Qing know that Master Seventh was atop the Seventh
Peak, looking down at the Violent Crimes Division in Harbor 176,
feeling very exhilarated. The Captain squatted behind him eating
apples whole, one at a time. Off to the side, Third Highness held a
fruit basket, and was giving one apple after another to the Captain.

“Hey, Third Sib,” the Captain said, “how did you manage to seduce
that girl from Supreme Arbiter? Give your Elder Brother some
tips!”

Third Highness grinned. “I didn’t do anything special. I’m just

dashing, that’s all.”

“Like hell! Even if you were more dashing than you already are,
you couldn’t measure up to little Ah Qing. Hey, I just remembered
something.” Grinning enigmatically, the Captain continued, “A
while back, the old man went to Revered Ancient. After he’d barely
been back a year, you stepped off of a ship onto a harbor here.
And you had a white identity medallion. You were only about
thirteen, but you were already at the one-flame level. And all you
wanted was revenge. Does that mean you originally come from
Revered Ancient? Did you cause some trouble in the Supreme
Arbiter Immortal Society back there...?”

Third Highness’ expression didn’t change. Smiling, he said,

“Seems it’s impossible to pull the wool over your eyes, Eldest
Brother. That said, I’m curious. Eldest Brother... how many times
have you restarted your cultivation?”

The Captain blinked a few times, then smiled. “Take a guess.”

Third Highness smiled. Not saying anything further, he offered
another apple to the Captain.

The Captain took it and looked in the direction of Harbor 176. He

sighed. “Little Ah Qing really is good at being deceptive. He
actually has three flames!! I think there’s more he’s being
deceptive about, though. I don’t even know if I could kill him if we
ended up fighting each other. But if the thing inside me actually
wakes up one day, then, oh Master, you can’t save Xu Qing but
ignore me! You need to treat everyone fairly! After all, I am your
most favorite and beloved apprentice!”

As for Second Highness, she wasn’t paying attention to what was

happening below, nor was she listening to her Elder Brother,
Junior Brother, or Master. She was focused on sending messages
through her identity medallion. She looked unusually bashful.

Master Seventh glanced at her. This girl! Fortune really does favor
the fool!

Then he looked at Big Sib and Third Sib. Though he tended to

scold them relentlessly, he was actually very proud of his
apprentices. After all, he had selected them after searching far and
wide for the very best candidates. Only after carefully observing
them, and weeding out any who weren’t the best of the best, did
he end up with the ultimate wolves among even the most ultimate
wolves.
Each and every one of his apprentices could surpass the
highnesses from the other mountains by a wide margin. His
apprentices could crush the others if they wanted, at any time.
That was how he searched for apprentices. He didn’t just want any
old chosen cultivator.

What made him even more proud was that his apprentices were
all worthy of carrying on his traditions. Like him, they all excelled at
deception. They would never reveal their secret weapons and big
secrets. And when other people thought they had them figured
out, the reality was that they were just falling for the deception.

This Fourth Sib is a natural-born deceiver. I didn’t have to teach

him a thing. He’s amazing. In a chaotic world with danger
everywhere, and the future uncertain, it’s only natural to be
deceptive!

Also... while chosen disciples weren’t common in the past, now

they’re being born all the time. And not just among us humans.
Among the countless nonhuman species as well. It just goes to
show that a great era is upon us. A great era. Great destined
opportunities. And of course. Great danger!

1. A tiger-assisting ghost is a specific kind of ghost from Chinese

mythology. It is “the ghost of a person who fell victim to a tiger, yet
helps the tiger to devour others.” ☜
Chapter 242: Killing on a Moonless Night

Everyone in the Seven Blood Eyes capital city had settled into
silence. They breathed. They waited. And their eyes glittered with
increasingly intense trepidation and alarm. Everyone was
wondering what exactly was happening in the Violent Crimes
Division in Harbor 176.

The Seven Blood Eyes Formation could not crush Sima Ru, but it
could keep making it impossible for anyone to see what was
happening inside the division.

Normally speaking, the only people who could see through the
formation were the high-ranking members of Seven Blood Eyes,
as well as the echelon highnesses. Except... Master Seventh
prevented them from doing so. The only people capable of
observing events inside the division were those from the Seventh
Peak.

Therefore, the only thing non-Seventh Peak cultivators could see

was Sima Ru entering. Then, not long later, the isolating barrier
faded away and everything went back to normal.

***

The next day....

In an unusual break from the norm, the chosen from the Seven
Sect Coalition stopped issuing challenges.

The Violent Crimes Division constables returned to their positions,

and operations began as usual. Just like always, they tracked
down Night Dove operatives and sent prisoners to Xu Qing.

Sima Ru was nowhere to be seen, and her little brother Sima Ling
was still imprisoned.

The bone ship in the harbor had lost whatever force was holding it
together, and it collapsed into nothing.

The chosen from the Seven Sect Coalition were shaken so deeply
that they lost any desire to challenge the other mountain peaks.
What was the point? No matter what other challenges they won,
the Violent Crimes Division in Harbor 176 was like a sharp spike
piercing toward their hearts.

Sima Ling had obviously been crushed by the Violent Crimes

Division. Huang Yikun from the Dark Serenity Sect had challenged
the Seventh Peak, only to go missing. And before going missing,
he had told everyone he was going to take care of Xu Qing.

All of these things... revolved around Xu Qing!

To the chosen from the Seven Sect Coalition, the Violent Crimes
Division in Harbor 176 was as dangerous as a dragon’s pool or a
tiger’s den. It was incomparably mysterious, and at the same time,
unimaginably perilous!

The Seven Sect Coalition had arranged for them to come here and
methodically issue challenges to crush the spirits of the Seven
Blood Eyes disciples. The goal was to make sure that all disciples
in Seven Blood Eyes felt fear and reverence for the coalition.

At first, the visiting chosen had done exactly that. Their constant
challenges left the Seven Blood Eyes disciples morose and
alarmed. In fact, some of the disciples had even started trying to
ingratiate themselves with the visiting chosen.

But now, even as those chosen tried to intimidate the local

disciples, they were being intimidated by the Violent Crimes
Division!

“Just what is Xu Qing’s real battle prowess level?”

“Sima Ru went in there and never came out. It wasn’t her true
form, but she still had four-flame battle prowess. She could crush
all of us as easily as turning over her hand. But she got crushed in
the Violent Crimes Division!”

“Is the Seventh Peak... the real nucleus of Seven Blood Eyes?”

“It’s too bad our Elder Brother Master Shengyun left....”

The Seven Sect Coalition chosen were shaking in their boots. At

the same time, the Seven Blood Eyes disciples were getting very
excited at how things were playing out. Xu Qing and the Seventh
Peak were really in a league of their own.

It was like a beam of light was suddenly shining down onto the
darkness that had enveloped the hearts of the disciples from the
various mountain peaks. Before, the mainland chosen had
seemed unstoppable. But now, things were different. At the same
time, the local disciples were feeling increasing reverence for both
the Seventh Peak and Master Seventh.

What was more, rumors were starting to circulate that Seven

Blood Eyes was undergoing a big transformation, and that soon,
there would be a sect leader in charge!

Right now, Seven Blood Eyes had peaklords, but not a sect leader.

The disciples of each mountain peak would follow the orders of

their peaklord, and didn’t ever pay much attention to the other
mountain peaks. Everyone was independent and only worked
together on special occasions.

But now... the Seven Sect Coalition’s visit had become like an iron
hammer, striking Seven Blood Eyes from all directions.
Furthermore, the visit made it seem like a storm of troubles was on
the way. The disciples felt immense pressure from the outside.
However, that pressure seemed to be forging Seven Blood Eyes
into something different, getting rid of the dregs that had built up
over years, and making the sect stronger.
The visiting nonhumans and the Seven Blood Eyes allies were
now able to see that with their own eyes, and were also seeing
how popular the Seven Blood Eyes’ patriarch was. He was
actually using the Seven Sect Coalition to refine and temper his
own sect.

The Seven Sect Coalition wasn’t blind to this fact either, and as a
result, they didn’t urge their visiting chosen to issue more
challenges. That said, a new series of instructions was sent by the
coalition.

According to the new instructions, adjustments needed to be made

to the peaklord arrangement, especially when it came to the
Seventh Peak. Furthermore, all of the highnesses of the various
mountain peaks, especially the Seventh Peak, were to be sent to
the Revered Ancient mainland for assigned duties.

Sir Bloodsmelter ensured that all the new instructions were

bogged up in formalities. However, the Seven Sect Coalition was
very insistent. They continued to send more messages, which
became increasingly threatening. Eventually, they outright stated
that if their new instructions were not obeyed, the Seven Sect
Coalition would enforce them with violence.

In fact, the patriarch of the strongest group in the coalition, the

Soaring Cloud Sword Sect, powered up his sect’s taboo magical
treasure in an awesome display of intimidating force.
When the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect powered up their taboo
magical treasure, some of the other sects followed suit. The
Second Peak’s supervisory sect, Spiritgloam Valley, and the Sixth
Peak’s supervisory sect, the Heavenmirror Treasure Sect, also did
the same.

In addition to all that, more orders came down, demanding that

Seven Blood Eyes send half of the Seazombie’s wartime
reparations to the Seven Sect Coalition, and set up Foreign Affairs
Ministries on all of the islands that had been taken in the war.

The department was called Foreign Affairs, but it might as well

have been called the Supervision and Investigation Ministry. At the
top level, it supervised the patriarch, and at the bottom level, it
investigated disciples. Overnight, Seven Blood Eyes suddenly
seemed extremely unstable.

Xu Qing wasn’t paying much attention to all that. For one thing, he
knew that the leadership of Seven Blood Eyes had all started out
like venomous bugs in a jar, and had carved out a bloody path to
the top. There was no way they would be unable to deal with a
crisis like this. In addition to that, he knew that when it came to
inter-sect relations, you couldn’t just look at the surface. There
was too much at stake to put much stock into whatever rumors
were floating around.

“The Seven Sect Coalition is also made up of disparate parts,” Xu

Qing murmured. His encounter with the House of Grue Hunters
had made that clear to him.

Xu Qing’s attention was focused mostly on his beetle research and

on tightening the net around Night Dove.

Thanks to the curfew and recent raids, Night Dove’s operations

were severely limited. The final big crackdown came a few days
later in the middle of the night.

Night Dove’s five main headquarters in Seven Blood Eyes had

been identified.

The most elite constables from all seven of the Violent Crimes
Divisions would join forces, becoming five sharp blades that
mercilessly attacked those five headquarters. At the same time,
even more Violent Crimes constables would spread out into the
capital city to enforce the curfew, and catch any Night Dove
operatives who fled from the headquarters.

As the night wind blew, Xu Qing emerged from the Violent Crimes
Division in Harbor 176, followed by the shadowy forms of several
thousand Seventh Peak constables. Then, Xu Qing issued his
orders.

“The Violent Crimes Division shall go to war tonight!” he said, his

voice ringing out, somber and desolate. “Afterward, there will be
no Night Dove in Seven Blood Eyes!”
“Yes, sir!” the thousands of constables shouted. With that, Xu
Qing’s deputy directors led their teams out into the night.

It was windy, and dark clouds made it a moonless night.

All the businesses near the Violent Crimes Division were closed,
even places like inns that were usually open at night. Everyone
huddled in alarm as they looked out at the shadowy forms of the
Violent Crimes constables racing through the night.

Xu Qing led the way, his hair streaming behind him as he raced
along. All of a sudden, he thought back to his second night in
Seven Blood Eyes, back when he had first joined the sect.

Back then, he had been carefully walking along when a group of

Violent Crimes constables raced by. He remembered how he had
been so on guard, but at the same time, envious of them. [1]

Now, he was leading thousands of constables on a nighttime raid.

Three years, he thought, speeding up.

The constables he led all looked at Xu Qing with zeal and fervor.
That was just how things worked in a chaotic world. The weak
venerated the strong.

At the same time... the things Xu Qing had done as he walked his
path gave them something to imitate. Three years ago, Xu Qing
had been just like them. An ordinary constable. Three years later,
he was now the director of the Seventh Peak’s Violent Crimes
Division!

The wind blew harder.

Before long, Xu Qing spotted a mansion off in the distance. It had

once been a business run by the Fourth Peak, but had later been
purchased by a private party and converted into a brothel. The
curfew had put it out of business, and now it looked dark and
empty.

“Attack!” Xu Qing said coolly. The thousands of constables behind

him rushed toward the mansion, bursting with killing intent.
Moments later, rumbling booms rang out as Night Dove operatives
fled in all directions, only to be surrounded and attacked by Violent
Crimes constables. In the blink of an eye, the sounds of slaughter
filled the night, accompanied by the stench of gore.

Xu Qing didn’t do anything. He simply hovered in midair and

watched coldly. At the same time, he kept an eye on the reports
coming in from the attacks on the other Night Dove headquarters.

“Director Xu, things went smoothly at the third headquarters.

We’re doing a final sweep right now!”

“Things went well at the second headquarters. We killed the

Foundation Establishment chief and are currently wiping out the
remaining operatives.”
“The fifth headquarters is secure!”

“We need backup! A cultivator from the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect
is present in the fourth headquarters, along with a three-flame
Night Dove operative!!”

Just as Xu Qing was reading that last message, he saw a distress

signal light up the sky in the distance. He burst into motion with
explosive speed, heading in the direction of the distress signal.
The golden crow manifested around him, its wings unfurling, and
its tail leaving behind clouds of sparks.

From a distance, it looked like Xu Qing was cloaked in flames as

he shot forward with unstoppable force!

1. He first encountered Violent Crimes constables in chapter 52. ☜

Chapter 243: A Saber Takes Heads in the
Night

Xu Qing moved with shocking momentum, accompanied by the

golden crow. He headed directly toward the distress signal,
peerless, bewitching, leaving behind flames in the sky. As he
closed in on his destination, incomparable fire burned in heaven
and earth, sending out intense waves of heat toward the fifth Night
Dove headquarters. Rumbling echoed out left and right as a sea of
flames covered everything. Fleeing Night Dove operatives
screamed in agony as they were reduced to ash. Crashing sounds
could be heard as entire buildings collapsed.

This area was in the district administered by the Fifth Peak. The
headquarters itself was a huge, three-story tower that supposedly
sold spell formations. Though it didn’t maintain any official ties to
the Fifth Peak, the reality was that it did have some business
connections with the disciples there.

Xu Qing wasn’t sure if the Fifth Peak knew that this place also had
ties to Night Dove. Nor did he care. After this night, the place
wouldn’t exist.

As he arrived, and the sea of flames he brought swept over

everything, the Violent Crimes constables who had the place
surrounded excitedly bowed in greeting.
Some distance away, the collapsing buildings revealed two
locations where fighting was playing out. In one of them, seven or
eight deputy directors had used the sect’s grand spell formation to
trap a Night Dove operative. The operative was an old man in a
fancy black robe with age spots all over his face. His eyes radiated
fury, and as he fought back, his three-flame power was clearly
extraordinary. Normally speaking, he could have easily
slaughtered the one-flame deputy directors. But thanks to using
the sect’s spell formation, they were able to stay alive and also
prevent him from fleeing.

Unfortunately, there weren’t many deputy directors to begin with,

and the power of the spell formation that they could summon
wasn’t enough to fully crush the Night Dove operative. All of the
deputy directors were injured. That said, Seven Blood Eyes
disciples were born of ferocity, and wouldn’t back down just
because of some simple injuries.

In the other location where fighting was playing out, a two-flame

Violent Crimes director, backed by the support of several hundred
constables and the Fifth Peak spell formation, had trapped a
single opponent. He wore a golden daoist robe, and looked to be
about eighteen or nineteen years old. He was handsome, with
eyes like stars and a very extraordinary disposition. Nine flying
swords swirled around him, sending pulses of sword energy in all
directions. Shockingly, he had the power of three life flames, and
he looked very angry as he battered at the spell formation trapping
him.

The Seven Blood Eyes Formation wouldn’t work on this person,

and thus the director had to rely on the Fifth Peak itself. With
hundreds of constables also helping to power the formation, they
were just able to contain the young swordsman. However, given
how pale they were in the face, it was obvious they wouldn’t be
able to sustain the effort much longer.

Xu Qing arrived like a lightning bolt from heaven. As the sea of

flames roiled around him, he looked over at the three-flame old
man in the black robe, as well as the disciple from the Soaring
Cloud Sword Sect.

The latter was stunned to see Xu Qing present, as he knew how

terrifying he was. And he grew more alarmed when he realized Xu
Qing was ignoring the Night Dove operative and heading in his
direction. The sword energy coming off of his flying swords
suddenly grew unstable.

“Xu Qing,” he blurted, “I was just passing through! Your

subordinates attacked Night Dove and then dragged me into this. I
have nothing to do with Night Dove!”

Meanwhile, the director of the Third Peak’s Violent Crimes Division

wiped blood from his mouth and said, “Director Xu, when we
showed up and surrounded the place, this guy was in the middle
of negotiating something with the Night Dove chief. I don’t know
what they were talking about, but he definitely wasn’t just passing
through!”

Xu Qing nodded and strode forward. He waved his hand, and the
Violent Crimes constables restraining the Soaring Cloud Sword
Sect disciple were pushed away by a gentle force. The spell
formation also ceased functioning.

The young man’s face flickered dramatically as he said, “Xu Qing,

my Elder Brother is Master Shengyun! If you hurt me, he’ll kill you!
I—”

Xu Qing’s face was completely expressionless as he arrived right

in front of the young man, ignoring the flying swords that swirled
around him. Xu Qing moved so quickly that the sword disciple
couldn’t track his movements or react. In the blink of an eye, Xu
Qing reached out, grabbed the young man’s throat, and smashed
him into the ground.

A boom echoed as cracks spread out on the ground. At the same

time, the young sword disciple bled profusely from the eyes, ears,
nose, and mouth. Two of his life flames instantly went out. In his
shock, he tried to control his flying swords and send them shooting
toward Xu Qing, but he was too slow.

Xu Qing lifted him up and threw him backward. Cracking sounds

rang out from inside the young man, and at the same time, he let
loose a miserable shriek. Numerous bones within him were now
shattered, and his final life flame went out. As he flopped on the
ground, coughing up blood, he was obviously seriously injured.

Xu Qing didn’t need to issue orders. The Violent Crimes

constables in the area immediately pounced on the young man
and placed shackles on him to seal his cultivation base.

Meanwhile, the old Night Dove operative surrounded by the

deputy directors suddenly used some sort of life-saving technique.
Booms rang out as a huge shockwave swept out, stunning
everyone around him. Then he threw out an identity medallion,
which shattered but somehow loosened the effects of the sect’s
grand spell formation.

Using that opportunity, the black-robed operative fled with terror in

his eyes. Strangely, the direction to which he fled was none other
than the sect’s mountain peaks.

Xu Qing turned and looked at him coldly. He had no idea who this
person was, but he could sense the fluctuations of a disguise.
What was more, he had obviously used an identity medallion to
negate some of the effects of the spell formation.

Though the formation was only being used by deputy directors,

who couldn’t unleash its full might, it was still something
formidable. Because of that, it seemed to indicate that this
person... was actually a Seven Blood Eyes disciple. There was no
way that Night Dove could operate in the Seven Blood Eyes
capital city without working with Seven Blood Eyes disciples. Xu
Qing was fully aware of that, but at the same time, wasn’t
interested in uncovering every detail. There wasn’t any point.

After noting the direction in which the ‘old man’ fled, Xu Qing
expressionlessly stepped up into mid-air. Then he lifted his right
hand over his head, whereupon the shadowy image of a heavenly
saber appeared. The saber was shockingly powerful, and as soon
as it appeared in the open, wild winds screamed, and a desolate
aura spread out everywhere. Everyone who could see it was
visibly shocked.

In fact, there were some Seven Sect Coalition disciples who

recognized what it was, and let loose exclamations of surprise.

“Supreme Vastness Solitary Saber!”

As those cries of shock rang out, Xu Qing sped up, heading

directly toward the three-flame ‘old man’ from Night Dove. Blinding
light erupted from the saber as it slashed down, moving with such
incredible speed it could slice stars and sever moons. From a
distance, the majestic might of that saber caused the dome of
heaven to change color, and filled the night with the radiance of
glittering heavenly bodies.

One solitary saber descended, shaking everything in all directions.

The fleeing ‘old man’ looked completely astonished as he tapped
into all of the power his life flames could muster. However, none of
that was enough for him to flee the saber. As the saber light
glittered, his eyes lit up with despair.

“I had no idea you knew the Supreme Vastness Solitary Saber....”

he murmured. A blood-red line appeared on his forehead, then
stretched down to his nose and his lips. It went through his chin,
down his chest, and then the rest of his body. Blood sprayed
everywhere as he was sliced completely in half. Then the two
halves of him flopped onto the ground, surrounded by gore.

Given the current level of Xu Qing’s cultivation base, his Supreme

Vastness Solitary Saber was even more deadly than before. One
strike was enough to kill a three-flame opponent. Everyone who
saw it was struck speechless.

Meanwhile, not far away, there was a team of Violent Crimes

constables stopping anyone on the street to make sure they
weren’t fleeing Night Dove operatives. Despite the curfew, there
were still some people who, for various reasons, needed to be out
and about.

At the moment, one such person was standing near the Violent
Crimes constables. He was a young man of about thirteen or
fourteen years of age, and he was so nervous he was trembling.
He had arrived in Seven Blood Eyes the day before, and had just
passed his assessment earlier that day and been assigned to the
Sixth Peak. He had his identity medallion in his hand, and it
indicated he was to check in for duty with the Sixth Peak’s Violent
Crimes Division.

On his way back from the assessment, he was stopped by some

Violent Crimes constables. And as they inspected his identity
medallion, he heard a scream and looked up to see that Night
Dove operative being cut in half by a saber!

He was shocked, but at the same time, the saber move filled him
with a deep longing and an indescribable reverence.

Seeing the look in his eye, one of the constables looked over his
shoulder and then said, “That’s Director Xu Qing from the Seventh
Peak’s Violent Crimes Division. He’s the top figure in all of Seven
Blood Eyes’ Violent Crimes Divisions.” Then he waved at the other
constables and continued, “This kid’s with us. Calm down, you’ll
scare him. We need to focus on catching the Night Dove fugitives.
The exalted Xu Qing’s orders are to wipe out every last Night
Dove operative before the sun rises! As for you, boy, hurry on your
way. It’s not safe out tonight.”

The other constables raced off excitedly into the night. Meanwhile,
the young man stood where he was, looking up at the heavenly
saber slowly fading out of existence.

I wonder when I’ll be like that, he thought. Then he hurried on his

way. A seed had been planted in his heart, a seed that would urge
him to become a powerful expert as well.

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Chapter 244: Dealing With Society

One saber slaughtered three flames!

Of course, any of the chosen from the seven sects could unleash
similar battle prowess. After all, the difference between three
flames and four was so far that the four-flame level could almost
be considered a higher cultivation realm altogether. As long as a
three-flame cultivator didn’t have an imperial-class technique or
life lamp, or some other technique that could span entire levels,
then the two levels were poles apart. That included both speed
and strength.

And yet, Xu Qing’s actions still caused waves of shock to fill the
hearts of the Seven Sect Coalition disciples.

For one thing, none of them had paid very close attention to him
early on, only to have him gradually turn into a massive threat. A
lot of that had to do with the way Sima Ru went missing. That
incident caused everyone to pay very close attention to Xu Qing.
In fact, though most of them were loath to admit it, his actions had,
beyond the shadow of a doubt, made him a consummate cultivator
second only to Master Shengyun.

Another reason they were so shocked was that his use of that
saber went to show how unbelievably deceptive Xu Qing was. It
was the Supreme Vastness Solitary Saber! Though it was only
considered an imperial-class technique after someone gained
enlightenment of a specific number of moves, no one had any way
of knowing exactly how many moves Xu Qing could unleash. Even
if it was only one, it was still enough to strike fear in their hearts.

After all, it was very difficult to force enlightenment of the Supreme

Vastness Solitary Saber. It came down to one’s perception and
comprehension, and that was the same no matter which sect you
came from. In fact, there were some sects in the Revered Ancient
mainland who specialized in saber arts, and they would use a
person’s ability to gain enlightenment of the Supreme Vastness
Solitary Saber as a basis to judge their cultivation aptitude. In
some ways, the Supreme Vastness Solitary Saber was a standard
used to define who was ‘chosen’ and who wasn’t. None of the
Seven Sect Coalition chosen could meet that standard other than
Master Shengyun. All of them had attempted enlightenment of that
saber technique in the past, but had failed.

Therefore, seeing Xu Qing unleash the Supreme Vastness Solitary

Saber to slaughter a three-flame Night Dove operative left them
with very mixed emotions.

As for the various visitors and allies present, they learned

something new about Xu Qing after seeing him use that saber.
They found out that he was both decisive and intelligent.

Night Dove had been present in Seven Blood Eyes for years, and
they were like wild grass that would be incinerated in a wildfire,
only to proliferate when spring came. But on this occasion, the fact
that the Violent Crimes Division spent two months focused
completely on exterminating Night Dove revealed... that something
different was happening. And it was no small thing.

There were obviously people in Seven Blood Eyes who offered

protection to Night Dove. After all, there were matters of profit to
be considered. The only real question was how many people in
Seven Blood Eyes were secretly helping Night Dove and making
money as a result. No one knew. When truly attacking Night Dove,
one had to have supreme confidence. The nonhuman cultivators
knew that, and were now very curious to see if the Violent Crimes
Division’s actions against Night Dove would harm the sect’s
financial interests and cause internal chaos.

Regardless, Xu Qing acted very decisively. He had obviously been

aware that the three-flame Night Dove operative was really a
disciple of Seven Blood Eyes. But instead of digging to find out
more details, he had simply killed him with a single saber strike.
He never gave him the chance to reveal who he was. And given
how badly mangled his corpse was, there was no way to deduce
his true identity.

That saber strike hadn’t just killed the disciple in question. It had
also served to sever his connection to whoever backed him.

Xu Qing used that saber strike to send a message to whoever was

still hiding in the shadows. And that message was: the Violent
Crimes Division isn’t going to dig further.

In an ordinary, flourishing world, that would be the wrong thing to

do. But in a chaotic world, it was the smart decision, and would
result in the least amount of negative repercussions. In fact, it was
essentially a favor to whoever remained in the shadows. Xu Qing
had handled the matter expertly.

Even Sir Bloodsmelter marveled in admiration. He wasn’t worried

about the sordid elements in the sect. He was fully aware that
there was good and bad in everything in the world. When the sun
shone the brightest, it cast the darkest shadow. And in many
things, there wasn’t just black and white, there was also gray.

Xu Qing had long since come to understand that. After arriving at

Seven Blood Eyes he had encountered many situations in which
ruthless characters hid behind gentle dispositions. And he had
also seen what happened when people didn’t realize that. As a
result, he had not wasted any time learning the proper way to act.

After this incident, none of the nonhuman species would ever

forget Xu Qing’s name. And though they were struck by fear, they
wouldn’t reveal how they truly felt about him. Now they all knew
that Xu Qing had impressive battle prowess, was ruthless, could
be extremely deceptive, and was also very intelligent. Unless you
struck like lightning to kill someone like that, you would fail, and
then suffer as a result. Unless there was some amazing profit to
be had, or some astounding enmity to address, no one would risk
attacking someone like him. In fact, it would make more sense to
make friends with him. Life was complicated in that way
sometimes.

It was also for this same reason that, after the night of activity,
when the net had been fully tightened on Night Dove and Xu Qing
got a name list, his request to the sect about what to do next was
approved.

That name list came in the form of an account book for the sales
of living treasures. Books like that were often the key to operations
such as this one. But they didn’t always serve as a way to keep
records. They could also be viewed as a system of checks and
balances. After all, they could be left out for others to find….

To some extent, a book like this was almost like a ‘taboo treasure.’

Xu Qing was fairly certain that it had been purposely left out for
him, as it contained detailed records of everyone from the Seven
Sect Coalition who had purchased living treasures. To Xu Qing’s
surprise, not every sect was on the list.

The sects that had never purchased any treasures were:

Spiritgloam Valley, the supervisory sect to the Second Peak; the
Heavenmirror Treasure Sect, supervisory sect to the Sixth Peak;
the Dark Serenity Sect, supervisory sect to the Seventh Peak; and
the Heaven-Fate Pavilion, supervisory sect to the Fifth Peak.
The sects which had made plenty of purchases were the Soaring
Cloud Sword Sect and House of Grue Hunters, as well as the
Fourth Peak’s supervisory sect, the Lunisolar Dao Palace.

Whatever chosen from the former two sects that remained in

Seven Blood Eyes had already been arrested, which left only the
chosen from the Lunisolar Dao Palace.

When Xu Qing thought about the wealth of resources he had

acquired from Sima Ling’s ring of holding, he felt the urge to
immediately go out and arrest the chosen from the Lunisolar Dao
Palace. But he didn’t want to act rashly, and therefore asked
permission from the sect first. Unless there was a potential for
incredible profit, he wasn’t the type of person who would overstep
his authority. He had no idea who this person was connected to, or
their role in the Seven Sect Coalition, so it seemed smarter to
deck himself out in a tiger skin before going to enforce the law.

When he sent his request to the sect, the answer that came back
was simple.

“Arrest him!”

Having received that answer, Xu Qing left the Violent Crimes

Division early in the morning.

The slaughter in the night had swept through the city like a fierce
wind, driving away the forces of evil.
In Seven Blood Eyes, there were laws in place to protect mortals.
Therefore, the Violent Crimes Division’s actions not only didn’t
harm the mortals, but actually helped them to feel safer.

As Xu Qing walked down the street, he caught sight of the cart he

used to frequent for breakfast. There, he got a bowl of soup and a
few pastries to eat. At the urging of the proprietor, he got three
eggs. Putting down a few spirit coins, he took his leave.

That particular cart had never been very popular. It was just one of
many places to eat breakfast in the city. But it had changed in the
past year. Violent Crimes Division constables on patrol often went
there, and as a result, business had been good. Perhaps because
of that, no one had ever dared to cause problems for the
proprietor.

The proprietor knew exactly why all of that was happening. After
clearing the table, he looked at Xu Qing walking away in the
distance, and sighed. He remembered the first time Xu Qing had
shown up three years ago, looking cautious and on guard. And the
proprietor remembered how satisfied Xu Qing had always looked
after having a bowl of soup.

It’s been three years, and the young man has grown up. Not only
that, he’s become someone very important.

Then he looked around at the other customers eating breakfast, all

of whom reeked of blood yet were staring in awe and reverence at
Xu Qing walking away. He smiled and shook his head.

Xu Qing made his way down the street, walking neither too fast
nor too slow. He had an extraordinary cultivation base, and much
authority in the sect, yet as always, he preferred sticking to the
side of the street in the shadows.

After enough time passed for an incense stick to burn, the sky was
bright and there were a lot of pedestrians on the street. That was
when Xu Qing arrived at a large, two-story mansion. All visiting
sects had been given special lodgings for their stay in Seven
Blood Eyes, and this was where the Lunisolar Dao Palace was
staying.

The place pulsed with the power of spell formations, and when Xu
Qing sensed them, he calmly said, “I hereby request that the
sect’s grand spell formation suppress this location.”

Given that Xu Qing was on an official law enforcement mission,

the sect’s grand formation instantly unleashed crushing power. As
it rumbled in the area, all the spell formations protecting the
Lunisolar Dao Palace’s mansion ceased functioning.

Cries of alarm rang out from inside.

Xu Qing’s expression was placid as he pushed the main door

open and saw dozens of alarmed people rushing in his direction.

Those in the lead were two men and a woman.

The woman wore a long white gown, cut in the style of palace
attire. However, it didn’t have any complicated designs on it. It was
dyed to look like the setting sun, and had clouds embroidered on
it. The woman emanated the aroma of medicine, and she had
elegant good looks. Though her eyes glittered, and though she
was moving with the crowd, she didn’t look the least bit alarmed.

Next to her was a young man in a yellow jerkin. He was good-

looking, with freckles, and bright, clear eyes that were currently
fixed on Xu Qing.

On the other side was another young man who wore a sky-blue
daoist robe with red cloud designs on it. From the way the clouds
seemed to float across the robe, it seemed to have a spell
formation in it. This young man looked pale in the face, and was
clearly alarmed. And when he noticed Xu Qing, he started
breathing heavily.

Behind this group of three were ordinary disciples from the

Lunisolar Dao Palace, and all of them seemed very nervous.

Further back, Xu Qing noticed three middle-aged cultivators.

Though they weren’t speaking, from the fluctuations they radiated,
they were Gold Core cultivators.

Xu Qing took the scene in, then looked at the young man in the
blue robe and said, “Are you Zhou Qifan from the Lunisolar Dao
Palace?” [1]
1. Zhou Qifan: Zhou is #10 on the list of 100 common Chinese
surnames. In this context, it’s just a surname; the character itself
has many, many meanings. Qi means “open, start, enlighten,
awaken” and Fan means “ordinary, mundane, mortal”. Madam
Deathblade says this name makes him sound like “an intelligent
person who can inspire others.” ☜
Chapter 245: Analyzing the Revered
Ancient Game Board

Struggling to control his breathing, the young man in the blue

daoist robe grimly said, “Xu Qing, this place is a mobile
headquarters of the Lunisolar Dao Palace. And that means you’re
on our home turf! What business do you have here?”

The truth was that ever since the destruction wreaked upon Night
Dove the previous night, plus Xu Qing’s slaying of the black-robed
man with a heavenly saber, and the way he crushed the disciple
from the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect, this young man had started
feeling very nervous. He knew full well that he was the only person
left who had done business with Night Dove. In his anxiety, he had
asked some fellow daoists from Spiritgloam Valley and the
Heavenmirror Treasure Sect to accompany him. Just in case.

Seeing Xu Qing show up, and also call him out by name, left Zhou
Qifan feeling very downcast.

Xu Qing had read Zhou Qifan’s file before leaving Violent Crimes
and knew that he liked to keep a low profile. In fact, other than
issuing a single challenge to the Fourth Peak, he hadn’t done
much. After hearing his identity confirmed, Xu Qing nodded.

“On the authority of the sect, I’m here to arrest Zhou Qifan for
consorting with Night Dove.” As the words left his mouth, Xu Qing
took a step forward with blinding speed and reached out to grab
Zhou Qifan.

Zhou Qifan’s eyes glittered coldly as a rumbling sound echoed out,

and the red clouds on his robe erupted, turning into numerous red
threads. Flying out, they made a spell formation that viciously
crushed down toward Xu Qing. At the same time, Zhou Qifan
backed up.

“Dharma Protector Zhang. Fellow Daoists! Please help!”

As Zhou Qifan yelled those things, Xu Qing’s right hand made

contact with the spell formation of red clouds. A boom rang out as
the golden crow appeared behind him and smashed into the spell
formation. It collapsed, and the golden crow gobbled up the red
clouds.

The dharma protector behind him hesitated briefly, then sighed

and started walking forward. But then Xu Qing waved his hand,
and the sect’s spell formation swept toward the man. He didn’t
resist at all, and thus, the formation shoved him a good distance
away. He didn’t want to end up like the dharma protector from the
House of Grue Hunters. What was happening was no surprise to
him. He knew that Seven Blood Eyes was out arresting people,
and obviously, fighting back wouldn’t do any good.

Although being driven away would involve a loss of face on his

part, he knew that Zhou Qifan would only be arrested, not hurt.
There just wasn’t any need to risk his life to prevent that from
happening. In reality, he was actually happy to let the spell
formation push him away.

Meanwhile, the two chosen from Spiritgloam Valley and the

Heavenmirror Treasure Sect took one look at Xu Qing and backed
away. None of them offered Zhou Qifan a bit of help. The reality
was that they hadn’t come here with the intention of backing him
up. The Seven Sect Coalition was an alliance, not a unified sect.
They knew why Xu Qing was here, and also knew that interfering
wouldn’t change the end result. So why do something to get on Xu
Qing’s bad side?

They had responded to Zhou Qifan’s invitation simply to give him

face. They had never had any intention of putting their lives on the
line. Xu Qing was a rising star right now. Besides, conflicts
between sects didn’t necessarily affect personal relationships. If
they had a chance to sow some good will with Xu Qing, it made
sense to take it. As they backed up, they clasped hands politely to
Xu Qing, making it obvious that they weren’t taking Zhou Qifan’s
side.

Seeing all this, Zhou Qifan’s face fell, but he didn’t say anything.
None of this was much of a surprise to him. Truth be told, if the
two people he’d invited did jump in to help him, he would have
been happy. But even if they didn’t, it still aligned with his overall
goal. After all, there would now be witnesses to spread word of his
arrest.
That way, once he was imprisoned, he wouldn’t have to worry that
his life was in danger. His sect would obviously lose face, and that
would anger the leadership and hopefully prompt them to interfere
sooner.

Everyone present had their own goals and strategies at work.

Xu Qing took a second step forward, his golden crow coalescing

behind him. As Zhou Qifan glared at him, Xu Qing lifted his right
hand and prepared to deliver a crushing blow.

“I’ll go with you!” Zhou Qifan said loudly. He figured things had
gone far enough. He didn’t want to get beaten into the ground and
then dragged away like a dead dog. That would have been far, far
too embarrassing. At the same time, he couldn’t simply give up
instantly.

Xu Qing’s eyebrows shot up.

Seeing that, Zhou Qifan’s spirits lifted a bit. Keeping the stubborn
angry look on his face, he took a deep breath and quickly said, “I
did buy some living treasures, Xu Qing. But not for myself. I don’t
do that type of thing. I purchased them for someone else in my
sect. In fact, I already made arrangements for the living treasures
to be integrated back into society. Furthermore, I created a name
list to make things easy for you. Considering the hour, I think the
delivery should be happening right now.”
An odd expression could be seen on Xu Qing’s face as his identity
medallion vibrated. Scanning it, he saw a new message from the
Violent Crimes Division.

“Director, someone representing Zhou Qifan from the Lunisolar

Dao Palace arrived with a name list of living treasure purchasers,
as well as a commendation medal to be awarded to the Violent
Crimes Division for taking care of Night Dove. In the
commendation medal are 2,000,000 spirit stones, as well as a
medicinal pill that we were told is an aperture-opening pill.”

Zhou Qifan sighed in relief as he watched Xu Qing checking his

message. However, he made sure to look as angry as possible.

Xu Qing looked up at Zhou Qifan for a long moment, then lowered

the hand he had raised moments before.

“Let’s go,” he said, then turned and walked away.

Snorting coldly, Zhou Qifan lifted his chin, looked around at the
other disciples present, then hurried after Xu Qing.

Eventually, they reached the cell block in the Violent Crimes

Division. When Zhou Qifan saw Sima Ling in one of the jail cells,
gasping for breath, he breathed a sigh of relief inside.

It’s a good thing I reacted quickly. Otherwise, things would have

turned ugly for me.
Then he noticed Huang Yikun in another cell, as well as Master
Shengyun’s Junior Brother. That caused his heart to pound. After
all, though he had assumed Huang Yikun’s disappearance had
something to do with Xu Qing, the miserable state he was in made
Zhou Qifan even more convinced that he had done the right thing.
Finally, he noticed that he himself was being restrained with
eighteen dharma shackles, whereas Sima Ling and Huang Yikun
both had twenty.

It seems this Xu Qing is actually pretty reasonable.

Zhou Qifan was feeling very pleased at how he had managed to

deescalate the situation. He had done everything he could, both
above board and otherwise, and in the end, he did manage to
save some face as a result. Unlike Sima Ling, he had come of his
own accord. He had cooperated. As a result, he didn’t lose much
personal face. His sect certainly lost face, but that was different.

What was more, his accommodations actually weren’t very bad. It

wasn’t lost on him that Sima Ling and Huang Yikun were staring
begrudgingly at the table, chair, and rug he had in his cell. He
actually felt a bit smug.

Meanwhile, Zhou Qifan’s arrest ensured that absolutely no

challenges were being issued anywhere in the sect. At the same
time, Seven Blood Eyes’ celebration at having won the war
continued.
As for Xu Qing, now that he had thoroughly taken care of Night
Dove, he was preparing to take a trip outside the sect.

His destination? Forbidden by the Phoenix.

He had purchased just about every type of poisonous plant and

poisonous medicine available in the sect, yet had still reached a
bottleneck in the evolution of his beetles. After the sixteenth
generation, they weren’t changing. And that affected his plan with
the taboo poison pill. His progress was at a standstill.

Based on his analysis, it was because the poisonous plants he

had access to were just too weak. He needed more dangerous
poisons for his beetles to absorb. That was the key to breaking
through that bottleneck.

And the most suitable place in the area to look for poisonous
plants and medicines was Forbidden by the Phoenix.

Besides, he remembered the Captain mentioning there being a

Supreme Vastness daoist temple somewhere in there, so he
planned to go check it out. Having settled on a plan, he spent a
few days doing research into Forbidden by the Phoenix.
Considering how close it was to the sect, and how the First Peak
used it as a training ground, it was obvious that the First Peak
knew more about it than anyone else. As a result, there was a lot
of information to be had.
That said, Xu Qing didn’t trust the people from the First Peak, and
felt it was better to buy multiple sets of information, then compare
them to each other. What was more, he could tap into sect files
and also reports from the Intelligence Division.

After getting about a hundred different sets of information, he felt

that he had a good overview.

He had already identified several locations where poisons were

common, as well as some places where poisonous items could be
purchased from grues.

Xu Qing went over the information a few times to make sure he

understood everything. Then he started getting together all of the
items he would need for his trip. In some cases, he purchased
things secretly. Also, he went to the Night Dove prisoners he had
locked up and extracted some heart-blood from all of them.
Considering that there were several thousand prisoners, that blood
ended up filling eleven bottles, which he then put into his bag of
holding.

Based on what he had read, there were gruish areas in Forbidden

by the Phoenix where heart-blood was used like currency.

As Xu Qing made his various preparations, visitors continued to

show up in Seven Blood Eyes.

People from different sects came and went, ensuring that the sect
was a very bustling place. In fact, a particularly powerful group of
people arrived that instantly became a subject of discussion
among the disciples. It was one of the big groups from the
Emperor-Receiving Prefecture in the Revered Ancient mainland. It
was... the Daoist Rite of Departure!

South Phoenix had the Church of Departure, but in reality they

were actually just a branch of the Daoist Rite of Departure from
the Emperor-Receiving Prefecture. Of course, the arrival of people
from the daoist rite was a very important thing for the Church of
Departure.

The group from the Daoist Rite of Departure consisted of five

people.

Xu Qing didn’t personally go see them, but after looking through

the file he saw that these five were all deacons in the Daoist Rite
of Departure, which meant that they were roughly like the echelon
highnesses.

What was more, when examining the images of the five deacons,
his hands suddenly trembled. Then, a strange look of
reminiscence appeared on his face.

Her older brother?

One of the five deacons from the Daoist Rite of Departure was a
person Xu Qing had seen in the scavenger basecamp. It was none
other than the older brother of that little girl with the scarred face.
[1]
I wonder how she’s doing nowadays.

He remembered the little girl, her face smudged and dirty, but
always smiling in the wind and snow. In fact, he remembered the
snowflakes drifting about when she handed him a piece of candy.

“Big Bro Kid, whenever I’m sad, my momma would always give me
some candy. I just had to eat it, and I’d feel better. This is the last
piece of candy and... I want you to have it. Feel better, Big Bro
Kid!”

Xu Qing sat there silently thinking about the last thing

Grandmaster Bai ever said to him.

“As long as we don’t die, we’ll meet again.”

A few more days passed during which he made a few more

preparations for Forbidden by the Phoenix. Then, late at night, Xu
Qing left Harbor 176, taking the path past the First Peak toward
Forbidden by the Phoenix!

***

As Xu Qing made his way out of the sect, the moon shone down
on a pavilion atop the Seventh Peak. There, a wrinkled old man
wearing a black robe, with strange light flowing in his eyes, sat
across from Master Seventh. The two of them were playing Go.

The old man was actually the patriarch of Seven Blood Eyes, Sir
Bloodsmelter. That glittering light in his eyes was actually evidence
of his immensely high cultivation level. He was in the first step of
the Void Returning level, which was called Space-Shattering 1,000
Daos.

Each stream of light flowing in his eyes was a great dao.

There was someone else in the pavilion other than the two men
playing Go. The third was a middle-aged woman dressed in
palace attire. She seemed unusually elegant, but her face was
expressionless as she served tea to the men. If Xu Qing was here,
he would recognize that woman. She was Ding Xue’s aunt. [2]

Sir Bloodsmelter lifted his cup and took a sip of tea, all while
looking at Master Seventh, who was staring thoughtfully at the
board, trying to decide what to do next. Sir Bloodsmelter smiled.

“Little Seventh, if we think of the situation with the Seven Sect

Coalition like a game of Go, then what’s their next move? They
made a big fuss that everyone could see. Their aggression toward
us couldn’t be more obvious. But what’s their real goal?”

Plastering a confused look onto his face, Master Seventh replied,

“I can tell you’re testing me, Patriarch. Unfortunately, your humble
son-in-law is a bit of a dunce. So I’m not sure how to answer.”

Sir Bloodsmelter smiled and shook his head. “Always the

deceptive one, aren’t you?”
Master Seventh also smiled. Apparently, he’d figured out the best
move, as he picked up a game piece and put it on the board.

“On the bottom half of the board,” Master Seventh said softly, “I
could take these seven pieces, but it wouldn’t do much overall. But
on the top half of the board, taking this one single piece would win
me control of this entire area. It’s similar to how the Seven Sect
Coalition is making such a fuss in the south. The truth is that their
real goal is in the north. For a long time now, the Seven Sect
Coalition has been coveting the Everlasting Immortal Profundity
River. If it weren’t for the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society
keeping the seven sects in check and thwarting their every move,
things wouldn’t have reached this point. Everything is about to
come to fruition. Pissing off Supreme Arbiter is going to make
things much easier.”

1. The scar-faced girl and her brother were previously “on-screen”

in chapter 29, though they have been mentioned in other chapters
since then. ☜

2. Ding Xue’s aunt last appeared in chapter 166. Although it

doesn’t specifically say so in the narrative, I imagine that she
would be serving tea in the manner of a Chinese tea ceremony,
which looks like this, and involves a lot of formalities. Again, there
is no direct indication in the original text that this is happening, but
culturally, I think it makes sense. If you want to see what the entire
ceremony looks like, here's a 7-minute YouTube video that shows
it. I can assure you that the video is very accurate. Whenever you
go into a tea shop in China, they will serve you tea in this way. If
you watch that whole video you'll understand why it would make
sense for two people playing a strategy game to have someone
serving them tea. The traditional tea method is complicated and
involves a lot of steps and formalities. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsThe

The
Chapter 246: The Ghost Wards of
Forbidden by the Phoenix (1)

There were many forbidden regions in the continent of South

Phoenix, but there was only one forbidden ground. And that was
Forbidden by the Phoenix. It covered more than half of South
Phoenix, and it was only because of the Mountains of Truth and
other special reasons that it didn’t cover even more of the
continent. Even still, it continued to expand year by year. In fact,
many portions of it had already overtaken the Mountains of Truth.
If things continued in this manner, then in a few thousand years, all
of South Phoenix would be Forbidden by the Phoenix.

One big difference between forbidden regions and forbidden

grounds were the inhabitants. Forbidden regions usually contained
beasts and grues. Sometimes they also had mysterious entities
sealed in them. But forbidden regions didn’t produce intelligent
species. Only forbidden grounds could do so.

One example of that was Forbidden by the Zombie in the

Forbidden Sea. That was where the Seazombies had come to be,
and it was why they lived so close to Forbidden by the Zombie.
Similarly, there were species associated with Forbidden by the
Phoenix. [1]
However, because Flame Phoenix was friendly with humans, the
species born within Forbidden by the Phoenix lived in harmony
with them.

At the same time, it wasn’t unheard of for humans to explore

Forbidden by the Phoenix, whether to acquire resources, hunt
beasts, or the like. Humans would usually leave the intelligent
species alone, but sometimes those species were willing to trade
with humans.

That was how the ghost wards came to be.

As the name suggested, ghost wards were walled cities where

ghosts and monsters would gather for commerce.

Truth be told, the inhabitants of the ghost wards weren’t unique to

Forbidden by the Phoenix. Many forbidden grounds had such
beings. From the outside, the ghost wards didn’t look much
different from regular cities. But inside, the inhabitants were
freakish and grotesque. And most of them were grues.

Normally speaking, they traded goods that humans rarely

encountered, and most of them were of the unhealthy yin variety.

Xu Qing’s first goal in Forbidden by the Phoenix was to find one of

the ghost wards.

Ghost wards don’t have fixed locations in Forbidden by the

Phoenix. They appear and disappear randomly. Finding one is
going to require a bit of luck....

Currently, Xu Qing was slipping through Forbidden by the Phoenix

like a specter, moving at top speed.

He would occasionally leap into the air and occasionally randomly

shift directions. Sometimes he would fly to the top of a tree and
take a look at his surroundings, and sometimes he would scatter
poison powder on himself.

If any disciples from the First Peak were here to observe Xu Qing,
they would be astounded at how he moved with such practiced
ease. The reason he would occasionally leap into the air was to
avoid beasts hiding on the ground. The reason he would change
directions randomly was to avoid dangers like spider webs or
beasts on the prowl. The reason he would fly to the treetops was
to scout the way ahead and make sure he didn’t get turned around
in the jungle. And the reason he wasn’t flying was that there was
no cover in the sky, and he had no idea what dangers might be
lurking unseen.

Even given Xu Qing’s current level of battle prowess, he was

being just as vigilant as he’d always been when traveling in
forbidden regions. That level of vigilance was part of his blood
now, and would never disappear.

It doesn’t matter what type of forbidden region you’re in, you

should never go around slaughtering things randomly. The scent
of blood will attract even bigger and fiercer beasts.

Eyes narrowing, Xu Qing suddenly shot his hand out and grabbed
a strange looking bug that had just flown out from the dirt. It was
about three inches long, and resembled a fish, except with a long
stinger tail. It had flown out upside down, and had been preparing
to use its stinger as a weapon to stab Xu Qing in the neck.

It’s a terrestrial stickleback.

Crushing the fish-like bug’s head, he tossed it into his bag of

holding. Randomly slaughtering things wasn’t a good idea, but
selectively killing and harvesting was different. The terrestrial
stickleback’s tail contained a powerful poison that could be very
dangerous to cultivators without life flames.

Even though this was Xu Qing’s first time in Forbidden by the

Phoenix, he was familiar with the various types of plants and
vegetation that could be found here. He had also done a lot of
research into the types of beasts present.

The first humans to find ghost wards had to rely completely on

luck. But after trade was established, the ghost wards started
giving out ghost flutes.

I need to find an empty area, then use three logs to create a

triangle design and set up three candles in the corners. Finally, if I
play the ghost flute at exactly fifteen minutes before midnight, a
ghost ward should appear.
He had read all about the process of finding ghost wards, and had
made sure to come equipped with candles. Thankfully, ghost flutes
could be purchased in the sect.

Looking up at the sky to check the time, he eventually came to rest

on a large tree. After looking around, he murmured, “This place
should work.”

Waving his hand, he sent the black iron skewer out. It zipped back
and forth like lightning to chop down three trees. Rumbling sounds
echoed out as they fell to the ground. The tree he’d been standing
on was one of them, and as it fell, he floated up into the air. Then
he waved his hand, causing the three resulting logs to form a
triangle.

Then the iron skewer flew back to him. Inside, Patriarch Golden
Vajra Warrior was looking around vigilantly. Obviously he was
working hard to demonstrate his loyalty.

After making some adjustments to the triangle, Xu Qing landed in

the middle. Taking out three white candles, he put them on the
logs, then waved his hand to produce a flute made from a bone.

With the flute in hand, he looked up to the sky and waited for the
right time.

Before long, it was fifteen minutes before midnight. Without any

hesitation, Xu Qing lifted the ghost flute to his lips and gently blew
on it.
An ear-piercing sound erupted from the instrument, almost like the
cry of an owl. As the sound filled heaven and earth, a sinister wind
picked up. The wind blew the three candles, causing them to
flicker, while simultaneously filling the area with frigid coldness.
Frost appeared on the ground, covering dirt and plants alike. The
candles’ flames turned green, and at the same time, a sound rose
up like faint whispering or muttering. It wasn’t possible to hear
words being spoken, but it was like countless individuals engaged
in a muffled conversation. As the sound entered Xu Qing’s mind,
his heart pounded and... a fog built up.

The fog came suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere, billowing

and roiling with such thickness that the trees in the surrounding
jungle quickly disappeared.

Shortly thereafter, a city appeared in the fog. The city walls were
gray, as were all the buildings inside. The architecture seemed
ancient, as if this city had been buried in the sands of time for
ages.

The city... was bustling. It was possible to see countless figures

floating about inside of it, packing the place. There were all types
of creatures. Some were headless, some had the bodies of
beasts, some were tall and burly, some were extremely thin, some
had mouths so huge they had to hold their own chins up, and
some seemed to pulse with evil. There were also countless shops
lining the streets, the proprietors of which were all vicious grues.
Any mortal who saw a place like this would be scared witless. It
was definitely a city of ghosts. Perhaps there were living beings
inside, but if so, they were hiding their auras and instead made
sure to pulse with mutagen.

That related to one of the rules for ghost wards. Though humans
were allowed to go inside for business purposes, they were
required to have very strong mutagen, to the point where they
were like a human on the verge of experiencing mutation. Another
rule was that the countless grues who filled this ghost city were
supposed to stay quiet. Talking wasn’t allowed.

The most unusual thing about the city was that, in the very center
of it, floating high overhead, was a gigantic head. It looked like the
head of a middle-aged man, except with no hair on it. In that
respect, it looked like the head of a monk. Its eyes were closed,
and it didn’t move at all. Surrounding it were countless chains that
seemed to be keeping it suppressed and sealed. Shockingly, a
close inspection of those chains would reveal that they were
actually made from skinless arms!

Furthermore, standing guard at each of the four city gates were

enormous, burly figures with heads the size of babies, naked to
the waist, with 15-meter-long ghostheaded greatsabers slung over
their shoulders. Two such guards stood at the gate in front of Xu
Qing. [2]
As Xu Qing took all of this in, he kept his expression neutral.
However, his heart was pounding. Although he had read about the
ghost wards of Forbidden by the Phoenix, this was his first time
seeing one in person, and it reminded him of the ghost cities he
had seen at the bottom of the Forbidden Sea. [3]

Well, this is obviously a ghost ward, right?

Instead of rushing inside, he took a minute to look around. Off to

the side, the candles were flickering wildly in the sinister wind.

Xu Qing wasn’t in a hurry. By the time he finished studying his

surroundings to his satisfaction, the candles were about to blow
out, and the city was starting to fade. At that point, he reached out
to his shadow and drew on its mutagen.

Instantly, mutagen filled him, causing his skin to turn black, and
becoming so strong it seemed like he might mutate at any point.
When he was virtually surrounded by a cloud of mutagen, he
started walking toward the ghost ward.

Each step took him some nine meters forward, and thus, within
only a few breaths of time, he reached the city gate.

When he arrived, the burly fellows with the sabers on their

shoulders looked down at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing didn’t stop walking. He just let them look at him as he

entered the city.
After he entered, they looked away. At the same time, the fog
surrounding the city grew even denser, to the point where it was
the only thing visible. Apparently, when outsiders came into the
city for business, the outside world was cut off. The only thing
visible was the moon, which was now an odd green color as it
shone down. All of that was in line with what Xu Qing had
expected. His expression was the same as ever as he started
walking down the street amidst the crowds of grues. He was
strolling along with ghosts.

Around then, the nose of the huge monk’s head twitched, as

though it were sniffing out a scent. It almost seemed like it was
about to open its eyes.

1. I want to clarify that “by the” is a deviation from the Chinese,

and is in there to make it pithy and work linguistically the way I
wanted it to. The name of these places in Chinese simply
combines “forbidden” with “phoenix/zombie,” that’s all. In other
words, the name basically means “zombie forbidden (ground)” and
“phoenix forbidden (ground).” It doesn’t necessarily mean that
those places are literally forbidden “by” some specific
entity/being/item/group etc. ☜

2. A ‘ghostheaded saber’ is a real type of Chinese weapon.

Basically it’s a saber with a hilt that has a ghost carved on it.
Here’s a picture. The type described here is presumably a much
larger fantasy version of that kind of weapon. ☜
3. Xu Qing ran into some ghost cities in chapter 179. ☜
Chapter 246: The Ghost Wards of
Forbidden by the Phoenix (2)

A moment later, the chains binding the huge monk’s head

glittered, and it went still.

Xu Qing looked up at it, his pupils constricted. Then he looked

away and studied his surroundings.

Grues and ghosts filled the streets. He saw one that looked like it
was made from paste, walking along and using a pen to apply
eyeliner to its face. He saw another that dripped slimy fluid as it
walked along accompanied by a group of six-eyed ghost bugs. He
saw what appeared to be a three-year-old child with bright red
eyes, long ears, and reddish-black skin, skipping along happily.

Lounging on a distant rooftop was a hairless cat licking a blood-

soaked, severed head that it held in its paws. The black mist that
surrounded it made it obvious it was a monster of some sort.

There were all sorts of headless, beastly forms, usually made of

either bones or mist. Some floated, some crawled, some sat on
other ghostly beings, some flew in the air, and some existed as
hosts of ghost faces, cackling noiselessly as they snapped at each
other and moved down the street. All of them exuded vicious and
baleful auras, as well as a sensation of deep hunger.
Xu Qing felt more on guard than ever being in circumstances like
this. As he moved along, he looked at the shops on either side of
the street, hoping to spot what he was looking for. The streets
were busy, and so were the shops, yet there was absolutely no
sound.

Xu Qing kept quiet as well as he floated along instead of walking.

Suddenly, his eyes flashed with cold light and he looked away
from the shops.

Up ahead of him was a ghost with a beastly face and a jaw so

huge it had to hold it up with its own hands. It was pitch black and
its skin looked like it was rotting. And it was walking right toward
Xu Qing.

It exuded a vicious, baleful energy, and from the way it was

moving, it seemed like it was going to run right into him.

Xu Qing didn’t have any reaction. His mutagen levels were so high
right now that it created a mist around him, within which was a
vicious ghost face that was currently grinning greedily.

The ghost face was a manifestation of Xu Qing’s shadow. Ever

since arriving, it had been hoping to devour something, but Xu
Qing hadn’t permitted that. It had been forced to restrain itself. But
now that there was a vicious ghost walking right toward Xu Qing,
the shadow looked delighted. Before Xu Qing could do a thing, the
ghost face stretched toward the beastly ghost, opened its mouth,
and devoured it. In the blink of an eye, the beastly ghost
disappeared. The ghost face retracted to its previous position. Xu
Qing looked at the shadow briefly, then ignored it and kept moving.
That scene didn’t cause any stir among the surrounding ghosts.
None reacted.

Xu Qing didn’t need to go much further before finding an

appropriate shop. This place sold all sorts of poisons crafted from
unhealthy yin ingredients. These poisons weren’t corporeal, but
instead, were misty and in some cases completely illusory. Each
type of poison was sealed inside of a green ghost head. There
were over a hundred ghost heads of all sizes, and every single
one of them was smiling.

As Xu Qing browsed, he felt very satisfied. This was exactly what

he had come here to shop for.

Because most of these poisons weren’t even corporeal, the

ingredients they were made from could only be harvested using
special techniques. That made them very hard to collect. In fact,
only grues could do so.

Xu Qing looked at the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper looked vaguely like a bear, plus he had cinnabar

red lips, eyes like mirrors, a long, thin face, and green wings that
would be more than three meters long when unfurled, and a tail
like a leopard. It was looking at Xu Qing, and when he met its
eyes, its mouth parted in what looked like a faint smile.

Face expressionless, Xu Qing waved his hand, causing thirteen of

the ghost heads to float out between him and the shopkeeper.
Then he took out a small bottle and pushed it forward.

The shopkeeper’s tail whizzed out, wrapped around the bottle, and
then quietly crushed it. The aroma of gore spread out as a clump
of blood appeared. This was the heart-blood Xu Qing had
harvested from the Night Dove operatives, and the bottle
contained about a hundred drops. The shopkeeper swept the
blood into its mouth and then started chewing in delight.

Xu Qing watched as, shockingly, the heart-blood then revealed

numerous soul shadows. They were all Night Dove operatives.

After chewing for a while, the shopkeeper nodded in satisfaction.

Without saying a word, Xu Qing collected the ghost heads, put

them in his bag of holding, then turned and left. With that, he made
his way down the street through the crowds of grues, occasionally
stopping at shops to buy things. The night passed quickly and Xu
Qing spent the entire time shopping. It took that long before he
found the final thing he was looking for.

The shop itself resembled an inn. Hanging from hooks on the walls
were all sorts of bodies, including those of humans, beasts,
nonhumans, and even noncorporeal beings. Unexpectedly, they
were still alive.

The bodies had candles burning beneath them, which unleashed a

mysterious power that caused them to emit emotional fluctuations.
Some seemed drunk, some seemed angry, some seemed
sorrowful, and some seemed rapturous. It was almost like they
were all in a dream world.

What attracted Xu Qing’s attention weren’t the bodies. Instead, it

was the candles. This shop specialized in selling these types of
candles. Back in Seven Blood Eyes, Xu Qing had read about
them, and knew that they were a type of poison. They had a very
nice-sounding name: drunk for three reincarnations. And they
were very expensive. [1]

These candles were one of the main reasons Xu Qing had come
here. Without any hesitation, he took out four bottles of heart-
blood and put them down in front of the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper looked like an ordinary old man wearing yellow

clothing. After looking down at the bottles, he shook his head. As
he did, his facial features changed. He transformed into a
handsome young man. But then, an instant later, he became a
wrinkled old woman. Then his face turned into that of a naughty
child. It was very strange.
Xu Qing frowned. He had only come with eleven bottles of heart-
blood, and had already spent five of them.

Based on the information he had read, four bottles should have

been enough to buy a candle of ‘drunk for three reincarnations.’

After considering the matter, he took out one more bottle and put it
down in front of the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper looked deeply at Xu Qing and shook his head

again.

Xu Qing’s face darkened within the cloud of mist that surrounded

him, but after more thinking, he took out his last bottle and put it
down with the rest.

And yet, the shopkeeper still shook his head. At this point, after
coming to realize that Xu Qing didn’t have any more bottles, his
face changed again. It turned completely blank. Then, he pointed
at Xu Qing’s face.

Xu Qing didn’t say anything. After calculating the time, Xu Qing

realized that it was close to dawn. What was more, in all his
wandering through the ghost ward, he had only found this one
shop that sold these candles. He took a step forward and entered
the profound radiance state. His life flames burned, and his life
lamps emitted radiant light, as if an entire world was burning within
him.
His terrifying aura spread out, joining the energy and blood of
Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits, creating pulses that rolled
in all directions.

The shopkeeper’s blank face changed, becoming an old man

again. And he looked shocked. Seeing that Xu Qing was about to
attack him, he quickly flicked his sleeve, causing seven candles to
fly out and hover in front of Xu Qing.

Then he stepped backward, an ingratiating look on his face.

Frowning, Xu Qing collected the candles, took back his six bottles,
then turned and left. As he moved, he kept his guard up, and also
paid attention to the sky. Based on the information he’d read back
in the sect, once you entered a ghost ward, you had to stay inside
for the entire night. It was only at dawn that you could blow the
ghost flute and leave.

Right now, it was close to dawn, so he kept moving down the

street as he waited.

Before long, the horizon started to turn bright. At that point, Xu

Qing noticed that all the bizarre beings around him, and the entire
city itself, were turning transparent.

At the same time, the enormous, chained monk’s head floating

above the middle of the city was opening its eyes. Those eyes
were as red as hell, and contained countless evil ghosts seething
within them and releasing noiseless screams. The head exuded a
sense of pure chaos, and from the expression on the face, it
seemed almost befuddled. The head twitched a bit as if it were
gaining lucidity, and as the sky grew bright, it started looking
around the ghost ward.

Within the city, there were a handful of figures that weren’t turning
transparent. All of them were cultivators who were waiting for
dawn. The monk’s eyes slid over them, and eventually landed on
Xu Qing. The head shivered, and the nose twitched as if it were
smelling for something. Then, all of a sudden, its eyes turned
bright.

When Xu Qing noticed that, his expression flickered. At the same

time, the monk’s mouth opened and it spoke in a voice that
boomed like heavenly thunder.

“Golden crow! A golden crow assimilated my species!! All golden

crows shall die!!!”

As the voice boomed out, and as the sky grew bright, the entire
ghost ward went still.

It was the first noise Xu Qing had heard throughout the entire
night. It contained some mysterious power that, when it entered
Xu Qing’s ears, caused his entire body to shiver. He felt like his
soul was going to collapse, but thankfully, the black umbrella from
his life lamp spread out to protect him. Without any hesitation, he
pulled out the ghost flute, put it to his lips, and blew. The piercing
noise echoed out, and then everything around Xu Qing
disappeared.

One breath of time passed, whereupon Xu Qing reappeared in the

jungle inside the triangle of logs. The ghost ward... was nowhere
to be seen.

Red light spread out from the horizon as the crimson sun rose into
the sky.

***

Meanwhile, in another location in the forbidden region, but very far

away from Xu Qing, were the ruins of a city.

This city was very different from a ghost ward. It was a real,
corporeal city, except that it had turned into ruins years in the past.
It was still dark here, making it difficult to see the crumbling walls
and dust-covered streets.

In the east part of the city, where the light of dawn was just
becoming visible, an old temple rose up from the darkness.

A few dozen cultivators sat cross-legged outside of the temple. All

of them wore different types of clothing, and they seemed wary of
each other, indicating that they came from different places. The
dawn light revealed that their eyes contained both fear and
reverence as they looked inside the temple.
Inside the temple was a statue holding a saber. In front of that
divine likeness was someone seated in meditation. He wore a
golden robe and had a crown inlaid with jade. He was
exceptionally good looking, but his expression was as cold as ice.

He was none other than Master Shengyun!

1. The ‘three reincarnations’ mentioned here (which could also be

rendered three lives or three births), refer to the past, present, and
future. ☜
Chapter 247: Getting Tangled Up with an
Evil Spirit

Somewhere in Forbidden by the Phoenix, Xu Qing stood in the

middle of the triangle of logs, looking at the spot where the ghost
ward had just disappeared. There was nothing left of the candles
which had been burning on the logs, other than some candle wax
which had seeped into the dry bark.

He sent some dharma force into his bag of holding, and sure
enough, the items he had purchased were still there.

Items purchased from ghost wards can’t be brought out into the
day. You can only use them at night.

That was something he had learned in his research of ghost

wards. Thinking back to everything that happened in the ghost
ward, he started to speculate about the giant monk’s head.

“It mentioned golden crows,” he murmured.

He could only guess that the monk’s head must be from some
nonhuman species that the golden crow assimilated in the past.
After thinking about it for a while, he stepped out of the triangle of
logs and started moving through the jungle.
As for the details of the ghost ward and that giant head... he could
always come back later to investigate further, when he was
stronger. Putting the matter aside, he accelerated through the
trees.

Finding a ghost ward was only one of the things he had come to
Forbidden by the Phoenix to accomplish. He was also hoping to
harvest some specific poisonous beasts, plants, and vegetation.

If everything goes smoothly, I might be able to get my beetles to

break through their bottleneck in development. And if they
experience some growth, it will help my plan of reconcocting that
taboo poison pill.

As he sped through the jungle, he kept an eye out for the

poisonous plants he needed.

Just like that, a day went by.

Forbidden by the Phoenix was a lot less dangerous during the day
than the night. Xu Qing made sure to stay near the periphery.
That, coupled with his battle prowess and cultivation base,
ensured that though he did encounter some beasts, he was able
to dispatch them easily.

He found some of the medicinal plants he was looking for. Despite

him staying in relatively safe surroundings, some of the plants he
encountered were dangerous. As evening fell, he spotted a
meadow full of bright red grass that filled him with a sense of
danger.

The red grass wiggled in gruish fashion, and as Xu Qing looked

closer, he noticed that each stalk of grass had an eye on it, all
staring at him maliciously.

Xu Qing shivered. It felt like his skin was crawling. Backing up

quickly, he lit his life flames and used his life lamp to block the
malicious intent.

After leaving that area, he looked down at himself and found that,
unbeknownst to him, an eye had started growing on his forearm.
Rather, it was half of an eye, as it hadn’t finished growing yet. And
it wasn’t open. However, the eyelids were clearly visible, as were
the eyelashes. And it looked exactly like the eyes on those red
blades of grass.

Unfortunately, not even balefire seemed enough to wipe the grue-

like eye out of existence. By using his shadow, Xu Qing could
remove the eye. But once his shadow went back to its normal
position, the eye would grow back.

It was still growing, and Xu Qing got the sense that it would only
take a few more days before the eye could open. He had no idea
what would happen when it did. After some consideration, he used
Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits on the eye, and managed
to assimilate it.
“Forbidden by the Phoenix really is a dangerous place,” he
murmured. After finishing with his arm, he closely inspected the
rest of himself and found a total of thirty eyes.

None of them were close to being completely grown. In fact, most

were little more than seeds. But what chilled Xu Qing to the bone
was that the eyes weren’t growing on his skin, but rather, in his
internal organs. If he hadn’t taken the time to inspect himself and
find them, and they finished growing and opening, the result would
surely have been horrific. Thankfully, he was able to expunge
them the same way as the first.

As evening fell and darkness spread, he grew more cautious.

Eventually, he found a tree hollow that he could burrow into for
safety.

I found most of the poisonous plants I wanted. Now I just need to

find the poisonous beasts....

He had no intention of being out in the open at night. After all, the
beasts he sought weren’t nocturnal.

While he waited for the midnight hour to come, he would feed

some of the unhealthy yin poisons he had harvested to his
beetles. At the same time, he set up some spell formations around
the tree, and also scattered poison powder everywhere. Feeling
secure, he closed his eyes to meditate. As the night grew dark,
and he heard strange cries out in the jungle, he thought back to
years ago when he had hid just like this in that ruined city.

I wonder when I’ll be strong enough... that I won’t need to fear

forbidden regions and forbidden grounds.

Time passed and the midnight hour grew near. Frigid energy
abounded in the area, and as Xu Qing exhaled, white steam
emerged from his mouth. It had been a long time since he felt cold
like this. Xu Qing had always hated the cold. Ever since reaching
Foundation Establishment, his cultivation base and battle prowess
were high enough that he rarely felt cold. But tonight... he
experienced that feeling once again.

Something’s off here. Xu Qing’s eyes glittered as he realized that

the temperatures in other parts of the forbidden ground weren’t as
low as right here.

He ignited his life flames and entered the profound radiance state,
then emerged from the hole in the tree to look around. Instantly,
his face fell.

Off in the distance in the jungle was a huge mass of fog, slowly
spreading out. The same ghost ward he had visited the previous
night was appearing right in front of him! Except, Xu Qing hadn’t
set up the logs or played the ghost flute. Without hesitation, he
started moving in the opposite direction.
However, as the ghost ward took shape, the giant monk’s head
appeared, bound by chains made of arms. Turning to look at him,
it again spoke in a voice that boomed like thunder.

“A golden crow assimilated my species! All golden crows shall

die!”

The head lunged upward, causing the arm chains to stretch longer
and longer. Yet they couldn’t hold the head back.

The head strained forward, flying out of the city and smashing into
the surrounding jungle, crushing trees as it started rolling toward
Xu Qing like a gigantic ball. It spun in a blur, smashing trees left
and right, and causing the arm chains to twist and distort. Behind
it, the entire ghost ward trembled and shook.

The sight of it caused Xu Qing’s pupils to constrict, and filled his

heart with a sense of impending crisis. With his life flames and life
lamps burning brightly, and the golden crow pushing him from
behind, he fled with lightning-like speed.

Behind him, the mountain-like head continued to roll in his

direction.

Meanwhile, a piercing cry rang out from the depths of the ghost
ward as countless ghost hands stretched out toward the head.

From a distance, it was possible to see Xu Qing fleeing, chased by

the giant head, with the chains stretching out taut, and the ghost
hands chasing the head.

“All golden crows....” the giant head howled furiously.

“Shall...”

“DIE!!!”

As it screamed the final words, it leaped into the air again, as if

hoping to smash down onto Xu Qing and crush him. However, at
this point, the chains couldn’t stretch any further, and finally, the
head slowed to a halt.

Just as the ghost arms were about to arrive and grab the huge
head, it let loose a monstrous cackle and then exploded. The blast
caused the huge head to transform into countless smaller heads,
which rained down onto the ground and started chasing Xu Qing.
Because the smaller heads weren’t being restrained by the chains,
they moved with incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, a few
dozen of them were rolling toward Xu Qing with their mouths wide
open.

Xu Qing spun in place, his eyes burning with killing intent. At the
same time, the golden crow behind him shot forward, and his iron
skewer sped toward the heads. The golden crow let out a piercing
cry and then viciously absorbed the heads, while the iron skewer
pierced through one after another, transforming them into ash.
However, nothing corporeal resulted. It was as if the heads were
mere illusions, and didn’t really exist. In fact, moments after
transforming into ash, the heads would form back together,
unharmed. One of them even appeared right beneath Xu Qing,
and before he could react, it bit deeply into his calf.

His life flame erupted, sending the head tumbling away from him,
but it wasn’t hurt. As it chewed, it said, “Yummy, yummy, yummy!
So weeaaaaaak!”

Xu Qing’s face was grim. He knew that the golden crow wasn’t
weak. Rather, his cultivation base wasn’t strong enough to release
the golden crow’s full potential.

Looking down at his calf, he saw the missing chunk of flesh the
head had bitten off.

He was used to devouring others; this was his first time being in
the reverse situation.

As for the head which had bitten him, it licked its lips and then
gave a bizarre grin. Then, just as it was about to rush back toward
him, one of the ghost arms grabbed it and dragged it back to the
ghost ward. Other heads were also being grabbed by ghost arms,
but some managed to lunge toward Xu Qing and snap at him.

Xu Qing’s expression was unsightly as he glared at the nearest

head. Though his life flame power couldn’t harm it, his eyes still
shone with cold light. The shadow seemed to realize what he was
thinking, and stretched out to absorb the mutagen from the head.
Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior, not wanting to be outdone,
stabbed right toward it. The head was so vicious that, without
hesitation, it started snapping at the shadow and the patriarch.

A moment later, the head collapsed, and beetles poured out of its
eyes. They were Xu Qing’s beetles, which he had released in the
chase earlier. However, they didn’t do any good.

When a head was destroyed, it would simply form back up again.

And there were lots of heads in the area.

Realizing that fighting wasn’t doing anything, Xu Qing frowned in

frustration and tapped into all the power of his cultivation base to
simply flee.

And thus, the night passed.

The chase went on during that time. He never gave the pursuing
heads a chance to surround him. And slowly but surely, the ghost
arms did their work.

As the light of dawn appeared on the horizon, Xu Qing exploded

one of the heads, and it turned out to be the last one. All the other
heads had been captured by the ghost arms. Then the sun came
up, and everything disappeared.

Xu Qing stood there in the jungle, his eyes gleaming with a vicious
light as he looked back in the direction where the ghost ward had
appeared. His clothes were in shreds, and though his flesh was
mostly healed, bite marks were still visible everywhere.

What is that giant monk head? Smashing the smaller heads didn’t
do any good. They just form back up again. Only the ghost arms
can control it. It’s like the ghost arms are its jailers, and the monk
head is a prisoner that broke out of jail to chase me.

Glancing down at the bite marks, the vicious look in his eye grew
more intense. I have to think of a way to kill it.

Off to the side, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior snorted coldly.

Biting me is one thing. But how dare that giant head bite the
Fiendish Xu! It’s done for!
Chapter 248: There’s Always a Reason a
Wolf Looks Back

As the sky grew bright, the jungle became normal again. Xu Qing
quickly found a tree which he ascended. There, he sat down
cross-legged to meditate and recuperate. It was late in the
morning when he finally opened his eyes and looked in the
direction where the ghost ward had appeared the previous night.
Eyes burning with animosity, he got to his feet and started moving
through the jungle.

He wasn’t searching for the animals he’d hoped to find. He was

looking for something else. Eventually, about an hour later, he
spotted a valley. Entering the profound radiance state, he
searched the place. From above, it was shaped like the character
凹, with only one way in and out.

After confirming that the area was unoccupied, Xu Qing looked at

the three sides of the valley, then launched a fist strike at a nearby
boulder. A boom rang out as the boulder exploded, leaving behind
a large cave.

Xu Qing looked around more, then did the same thing a few more
times. Shortly thereafter, he had excavated a few dozen caves in
the valley walls. Next, he did the same on the valley floor.
After calculating the time, he entered one of the caves, then took
out an iron box from his bag of holding. It was none other than the
wish box with the taboo poison pill in it. Opening the wish box, he
placed it down in the cave. Instantly, the aura of the poison pill
began to spread out. Flying back, Xu Qing then started piling
rubble from the destroyed boulders into the cave entrance,
creating a wall.

Although the rubble couldn’t completely seal the cave entrance,

based on what Xu Qing knew of the pill, as long as there was no
strong wind, the pill’s aura would remain inside the cave for at
least a day.

Eventually, when there was only a small portion of the wall left to
complete, Xu Qing waved his hand. The wish box flew out, and he
quickly sealed the cave, then moved on to the next cave. His plan
was to fill each cave with the aura of the taboo poison pill, and
thus, fill the entire valley. He continued working.

Off to the side, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior watched Xu Qing,

and his eyes slowly filled with a malicious glint. Inside, he mused
that it was bad enough to provoke people, but what was really a
bad idea was to provoke the Fiendish Xu....

In that manner, time passed.

Night fell, and it was around the time the midnight hour was
approaching that Xu Qing finished his work. He had dug out about
sixty caves, and now, all of them were filled with the aura of that
poison pill. By extension, the valley itself was fully infected.
Thankfully, Xu Qing had already built up some resistance to the
poison. Even still, he had been forced to leave the valley a few
times and let the violet crystal heal him.

Now that the work was done, he looked at the valley and felt
pleased.

Even after all the work, the resistance he had built up would only
sustain him for the time it took half an incense stick to burn. After
that, he had to rely on the regeneration properties of the violet
crystal. Anything else that got hit with that poison would be in very
bad shape.

Let’s see how long that big head can take it!

He left the valley and went some distance away, where he felled
three trees and put the resulting logs into a triangle shape. Then
he put three white candles on the logs. He was worried that the
giant head from the ghost ward wouldn’t come looking for him this
night, and thus, planned to bring it to him. All he had to do was
wait for the right time. However, events quickly proved that Xu
Qing had been overthinking things. Around fifteen minutes before
midnight, but before he could light the candles, a frigid white fog
started building up in the area.
“It’s here,” he murmured, narrowing his eyes as he looked off into
the distance.

As fog spread through the jungle, the familiar ghost ward started to
take shape. This time, there were a lot more chains binding the
monk head than before. The ghost ward was obviously keeping it
suppressed much more strongly. And yet, that didn’t stop the
ghost ward from appearing in the open due to the giant head.
Clearly, the extra attempt to suppress it wasn’t doing much good.

The moment it appeared, the monk’s eyes opened and locked

onto Xu Qing.

“All golden crows shall die!”

Just like the previous night, the giant head lunged forward in Xu
Qing’s direction, causing the arm chains to start stretching out.

A moment later, it smashed down into the jungle, felling trees and
causing cracks to spread out in the earth.

Xu Qing entered the profound radiance state and started fleeing,

making sure to plaster a terrified look onto his face. Although it
seemed unlikely the giant head could think clearly enough to
realize it was being tricked, Xu Qing wanted to make sure he had
really hooked the giant head, so he yelled, “Why won’t you just
die? What do you want??”
The giant head rolled toward him, laughing madly as it picked up
speed. The ghost ward trembled, and then a host of ghost hands
shot out in pursuit of the head.

Things were playing out very similarly to the previous night as Xu

Qing dashed into the valley. The giant head seemed supremely
confident in being able to get at Xu Qing now that he was in the
valley. Either that, or it just wasn’t thinking clearly. Without pausing
at all, it rolled right into the valley after him, howling along the way.

But as soon as it was inside, the howling ceased.

Rumbling sounds filled the valley as the rolling head spun off to
the side. Instead of the half-witted expression on its face, it now
looked terrified. Large portions of its skin were now rotting.
However, no blood seeped out. After all, the head didn’t have any
blood in it, but rather, some other special substance. That said, it
didn’t matter how special that substance was, it couldn’t stand up
to the aura of a poison pill from a previous epoch.

As the head tumbled to the side, Xu Qing’s hands flashed in a

double-handed incantation gesture, and then he shoved his hands
out. In response, a huge bluegreen dragon appeared behind him,
which smashed down onto the valley.

RUMBLE!

The valley collapsed, and the aura of the poison spill exploded out
in all directions.
The giant head simply couldn’t escape it. As it was infected, the
terror on its face grew more intense. Finally, a popping sound rang
out as the head exploded into numerous smaller heads which tried
to race away from the poison.

However, the power of that poison pill was terrifying. Just leaving
the area of effect didn’t mean that the poison would just go away.
Although the poison wasn’t necessarily very fast-acting, it was
clearly potent. And though the giant head was bizarre, it obviously
could be poisoned.

Killing intent burned in Xu Qing as he flew forth, lifting his right

hand to summon the heavenly saber, which he slashed down
toward the heads. Everything shook as the golden crow rose up as
well, surrounded by black flames that burned everything they
touched.

Neither the shadow nor Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior dared to do

anything. Both were too scared of the poison. The beetles, on the
other hand, were more used to the poison, and raced out to start
devouring the heads.

Xu Qing unleashed a second slash of his saber, causing intense

rumbling sounds to echo out. Meanwhile, the heads screamed
shrilly as they fled.

The monk’s head was really a strange thing, as the smaller

versions it had broken into could actually break into even tinier
versions, which was exactly what happened.

Seeing that, Xu Qing didn’t keep attacking. Instead, he took out a

magical device he had acquired from Sima Ling that specifically
targeted grues.

It was a beautiful crystal pagoda, and it was simple to operate. All

you had to do was pour dharma force into it. Xu Qing activated it,
then threw it toward one of the tiny heads. Having been split off
twice, this head was clearly weak. As soon as the crystal pagoda
reached it, the thing was sealed inside. Xu Qing waved his hand to
collect it, then turned and started moving in the opposite direction.

He knew that the poison pill was terrifying, but what he had used
just now was simply the aura of the pill, not the actual pill itself.
There was a big difference. As such, he wasn’t sure exactly how
strong it was.

However, considering that the monk head had split itself into even
smaller parts to flee, it seemed likely that it would survive.
Therefore, after successfully retaliating for the previous night, Xu
Qing chose to leave. Having acquired a specimen, he could study
it later and figure out a way to actually kill the monk’s head.

Maybe once I’m finally able to study the inside of the taboo poison
pill, I can use that to kill the thing!

Suppressing his killing intent, he made his way off into the
distance.
A few days passed.

He had no way of knowing how things ended up for that monk’s

head. But the ghost ward never appeared again. Nor did he use
the ghost flute to check on it. Until he was sure he could kill that
thing, he didn’t see the point. However, he did take out his bamboo
slip and carve ‘Monk’s Head’ on it.

At that point, he focused all of his energy on searching for the

poisonous beasts he needed. The search method was simple. He
had his shadow infect other beasts with shadow eyes, which
allowed him to widen his search perimeter. As time passed, his
search efforts yielded good results, and he found all of the
poisonous beasts he needed.

At the same time, he used the poisons he had bought, plus the
ones he was harvesting, to constantly transform his beetles.
Thanks to that, the beetles were getting stronger and stronger.
That said, each transformation took more time, so Xu Qing was
thinking of heading to the Supreme Vastness daoist temple in the
ruins, to hopefully gain more enlightenment of the Supreme
Vastness Solitary Saber.

Just as he was thinking that, his shadow sent him some joyful
emotional fluctuations.

“... idiot... close... please praise....”

“Idiot?” Xu Qing said, surprised.

“Milord, milord,” the patriarch said, coalescing in the open, “Little
Shadow is trying to say one of its shadow eyes spotted the idiot
from the First Peak somewhere close by. It looks like he’s up to
something.” The patriarch happened to leave out an explanation
for what the shadow meant by ‘please praise.’ [1]

You want Fiendish Xu to praise you? Oh, silly shadow. With me

here to translate for you, don’t even dream of it!

1. The idiot from the First Peak is Wu Jianwu, who last appeared
onscreen in chapter 197. He was also mentioned briefly in a
relevant way in chapter 235. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsThe title of the chapter is the first half of a

common saying. In Chinese it rhymes, but basically the saying is
“there’s always a reason a wolf looks back, if it’s not to repay a
kindness it’s to exact revenge.”

The title of the chapter is the first half of a common saying. In

Chinese it rhymes, but basically the saying is “there’s always a
reason a wolf looks back, if it’s not to repay a kindness it’s to exact
revenge.”
Chapter 249: Sorry to Disturb You

“Wu Jianwu?” Xu Qing said, as he squatted at the top of a tree.

His eyes glittered.

Wu Jianwu had provoked Xu Qing out of nowhere out on the

Forbidden Sea. Later, he had seemed absolutely terrified of Xu
Qing, and didn’t seem threatening at all. In fact, when Xu Qing
killed Wu Jianwu’s attendant, Wu Jianwu took the initiative to pay
the fine. [1]

After thinking about it, Xu Qing decided there was no need to go

see Wu Jianwu. Instead, he would go directly to the Supreme
Vastness daoist temple.

Except then he asked, “What’s he doing?”

The shadow stretched out into a number of different shapes.

Apparently, the scene visible to it through its shadow eye was too
complicated to convey easily, so finally it split itself apart into a
handful of different images. There were about a dozen of them,
and they all depicted beasts of some sort. Each beast was
different, but they all had one thing in common: they had swollen
bellies. Then the shadow created an image of Wu Jianwu, sitting
next to one of the beasts and rubbing its belly.
Xu Qing hadn’t been particularly curious about what Wu Jianwu
was up to, but upon seeing these images, he was completely
taken aback.

Off to the side, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior gasped and said,
“What’s this all about? What’s the idiot doing? And what’s going on
with those beasts’ bellies. Are they pregnant?” The patriarch’s soul
body shivered, and his expression was one of complete
incredulity. “Milord, should we go take a closer look? I have the
feeling that... the idiot is up to something big!!”

Xu Qing thought about it. He wasn’t an inherently curious person,

but the images were so bizarre that he couldn’t resist the urge to
see with his own eyes.

“Lead the way.”

The shadow excitedly pointed in the direction to go. Xu Qing

followed immediately, and they disappeared into the jungle.

Before long, Xu Qing found himself looking at a mountain. It was

actually part of one of the branches of the Mountains of Truth that
stretched into Forbidden by the Phoenix.

Xu Qing studied it, then sped up the mountain and over it to the
other side. There, hidden amidst lush plants and vegetation, was a
crevice.
It was only about three meters from top to bottom, and was
naturally formed. Based on its location, it wasn’t easy to spot. In
fact, without the shadow leading the way, Xu Qing would never
have found it.

As he stood in front of the crevice, an odd expression appeared on

his face. The fact that this place was so well-hidden went to show
how careful Wu Jianwu had been in selecting it. After considering
the matter further, Xu Qing cautiously entered the crevice, still
following the lead of his shadow. The crevice led deeper into the
mountain than he’d expected. As he got further in, the air turned
more humid, making it seem like it led to a river inside the
mountain. The path split numerous times, making the entire thing
like a huge labyrinth. Without his shadow, Xu Qing would have had
a very hard time finding his way.

Before long he reached the end of the path. Astonishingly, it

overlooked a huge cavern. Hanging from the ceiling just inside
was a bat, which was the creature that the shadow had been
viewing the area through.

As Xu Qing neared, he looked down into the cavern at an

incomparably bizarre scene.

There were over twenty beasts in the cavern. They included

wolves, tigers, and other strange creatures, and all of them had
been sealed in place. They lay there with their bellies swollen as if
they were pregnant.
A pond had been hewn out in the cave, within which was some
sort of liquid that let off a strong medicinal liquid aroma.

Wu Jianwu, his face battered and bruised, squatted next to the

pond, filling a stone bowl with liquid. Then he walked over to a
huge bear with a swollen belly, who he started to feed the liquid to.
The bear looked furious, and seemed to want to struggle free. But
it was sealed in place and couldn’t fight back. It couldn’t even get
to its feet.

Wu Jianwu’s expression was one of tender kindness as he fed the

bear and simultaneously rubbed its belly.

“It’s normal to have a bit of a reaction,” he said softly. “Just hold on

a bit longer. The rest of my life depends on you. The little ones will
be born soon. Once the littles ones are out, I’ll be a force to reckon
with. Then I’ll make sure Master Shengyun knows what a real
chosen is like! Who is the greatest chosen of all time? Only the
great and amazing Wu Jianwu!”

The way Wu Jianwu was grinding his teeth seemed to scare the
bear, and it started to struggle even harder to get free. Wu Jianwu
patted it softly.

“Be good now,” he said, making sure to keep his voice soothing.
“Don’t wriggle around. It’s not good for the little ones! Those little
ones need to be born without a hitch. If you serve me well, I’ll take
good care of you.”
Seeing all of this, Xu Qing’s eyes widened.

Off to the side, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was suddenly

struck with inspiration, and took out a jade slip to record what was
happening. Perhaps because he was so astonished by what he
was seeing, he made a noise.

That, in turn, caused Wu Jianwu to realize someone else was

present, and he spun around, a vicious look on his face.

“Heaven and earth are my bedside; I’m on to you, don’t think you
can hide!” Even as the words left his mouth, he saw Xu Qing
standing there with a look of shock on his face. “Xu Qing?”

Wu Jianwu was absolutely shaken, and couldn’t fathom how Xu

Qing had found him despite all the effort he had put into finding a
good hiding spot. Looking down at the animals with the swollen
bellies, and then at the expression on Xu Qing’s face, he gasped.

“You don’t understand, Xu Qing.”

“Sorry to disturb you,” Xu Qing said. Looking deeply at Wu Jianwu,

he turned and walked away. There was no question in his mind
that Wu Jianwu was off in the head.

Seeing that reaction, Wu Jianwu was suddenly so nervous and

scared that, completely forgetting to speak in poetry, he ran after
Xu Qing, shouting, “Xu Qing, it’s not what you think!”
Wu Jianwu felt both anxious and humiliated. Ever since he got that
bottle from the wish box, he had been depressed for a long time.
But he had never been able to make himself throw it away. [2]

After doing a lot of research, he had pieced together enough clues

to determine the identity of the almighty being that had put that
bottle in the wish box. It was a nonhuman cultivator who was a
follower of Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity.

When the First Peak suffered defeat at the hands of Master

Shengyun, Wu Jianwu had sworn an oath that he would teach
Master Shengyun a lesson. Therefore, he had come to Forbidden
by the Phoenix in the hopes of reestablishing a bloodline from a
previous epoch. The reason he didn’t want to do it in the sect was
because he needed to maintain face. And of course, he was
worried that people in the sect would get the wrong idea about
what was going on. He also had to guard against spying.
Therefore, he had come to this secret location, a place where he
could never possibly have expected Xu Qing to find him.

If Xu Qing went back to the sect and spread rumors about what
he’d seen, Wu Jianwu knew his reputation would be destroyed. He
could just imagine everyone in the sect staring at him. The thought
caused his scalp to tingle so hard it felt like it would explode.

Seeing that he couldn’t catch up to Xu Qing, he called, “I’ll pay

money, Xu Qing! Don’t tell anyone about this!”
“Everyone has their own way of living,” Xu Qing called back. “It’s
fine.”

“It’s really not like that!!” Wu Jianwu’s face was nearly purple as he
screamed, “I’ll give you 300,000 spirit stones! Xu Qing!!”

Xu Qing had just stepped out of the crevice and onto the mountain
when he heard that. He stopped in place.

A moment later, Wu Jianwu rushed out of the crevice and shoved

a pile of spirit notes in Xu Qing’s direction.

“Take them, Xu Qing. You have to take them. Otherwise I can

never rest at ease. It’s really not what you think. I... I... I....”

Xu Qing took the spirit notes and nodded earnestly. “I didn’t see
anything.”

Yet Wu Jianwu still seemed worried. “What are you doing in

Forbidden by the Phoenix, Xu Qing? If you need any help, just say
the word.”

“Looking for poisonous substances.”

Hearing that, Wu Jianwu blurted, “Poisonous substances? Hey, I

know this area like the back of my hand. I can help!”

“That won’t be necessary.” Xu Qing turned to leave.

“Don’t go, Xu Qing! Just wait here for a minute. This mountain has
a place with exactly the kind of poison you’re looking for. I’ll go
harvest it for you!!” With that, he rushed back into the crevice.

He really was going to harvest some poison for Xu Qing. Without

doing that, he wouldn’t be able to rest at ease. In fact, he didn’t
even wait for a response from Xu Qing. In his rush, he didn’t notice
that an eye was now attached to his shadow, and was watching
his every move.

Xu Qing looked down at his shadow, which quickly created an

image for him to look at. It depicted Wu Jianwu frantically rushing
back to the cavern. Then it revealed Wu Jianwu diving into the
pond there and swimming down into its depths to a tunnel. Into the
tunnel he went, and then he popped out in a large open area.
There was a huge lake there. However, the way the shadow
depicted the lake, it looked like a human face. And the way the
liquid moved, it seemed viscous.

After reaching the lake, Wu Jianwu dug something out, put it in a

stone bowl, and then turned around. The images portrayed by the
shadow weren’t very comprehensive, so Xu Qing wasn’t quite sure
what to make of them. Eventually, Wu Jianwu returned.

“Is this the kind of thing you’re looking for, Xu Qing?” Wu Jianwu
handed him the stone bowl.
Xu Qing looked at it, and his eyes narrowed. Inside of the bowl
was something that looked frozen. It seemed liquid, yet not liquid.
It was blue, and crystalline, and emitted a fragrant aroma.

“Immortal ice?” he murmured.

He had read about immortal ice in the medicinal codex from

Grandmaster Bai. It wasn’t a poison medicine, but rather, a very
rare substance usually used as a catalyst. Based on the
description written by Grandmaster Bai, Xu Qing was certain that
immortal ice was somehow connected to the ‘immortal energy’
mentioned in many ancient records.

“There’s a strange lake beneath this mountain,” Wu Jianwu

explained. “There’s a lot of this stuff in it. I took some of it away,
but it usually melts within an hour or two. There doesn’t seem to
be any way to preserve it, so I could never bring it back to the
sect. It’s harmless to humans, but one time when I gave it to a
beast, the thing rotted away and died instantly. That’s why I was
thinking it’s probably some kind of poison.”

“Take me to this lake,” Xu Qing said.

Wu Jianwu immediately led the way. Right now, he would agree to

anything that Xu Qing asked for. Normally speaking, he wouldn’t
ever tell people details of this secret area he’d found, but now he
wasn’t hesitating at all. Before long, the two of them reached the
lake.
1. The first encounter with Wu Jianwu began in chapter 143. The
incident with the attendant was in 197. ☜

2. Wish box reference: chapters 147-148. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsMany thanks to Badasze and kedom for

the reviews!

Many thanks to Badasze and kedom for the reviews!

Chapter 250: Big Changes to Emperor-
Receiving

A massive blue lake stretched out in front of Xu Qing. The water

was extremely clear, but close examination revealed that it was
actually frozen. A chaotic tangle of colorful plants grew on the lake
shore. Even the ceiling of the cave was covered in moss. There
was clearly a lot of moisture in the air.

Xu Qing looked around. Whether it was what he could see or what

he could sense, nothing about the area seemed dangerous.
However, he remained on guard as he carefully approached the
lake and looked down into it. When he saw what lay at the bottom
of the frozen water, he frowned slightly. The lake floor was covered
with an assortment of bones. There were bones of both men and
women, all humans, and they were scattered everywhere,
seemingly a reminder of some sort of tragic event.

“I found this place by accident,” Wu Jianwu said. Seemingly

worried Xu Qing might be getting the wrong idea about his
intentions, he continued, “I’ve been here a few times and never
ran into anything dangerous. The bones down there don’t have
any sort of mutagen in them.”

Xu Qing nodded. After looking more closely at the lake, Xu Qing

thought back to the description of immortal ice from Grandmaster
Bai’s medicinal codex and realized that the frozen substance here
differed slightly from the description he was familiar with.

It was more fragrant.

That fragrant aroma was stronger the closer you got to the edge of
the lake. It was sweet, even unctuous; the longer the aroma
stayed in your nostrils, the worse it smelled. That did not match
what he had read about immortal ice.

Xu Qing’s guess was that years ago, before changing into its
current form, this place had been a normal pond infused with
immortal energy. Most likely, this lake was indeed like the
description from the medicinal codex, in that it had been formed by
immortal energy. However, during the process of transforming into
immortal ice, something different happened. Perhaps this was a
mutated variety of immortal ice.

Xu Qing wasn’t sure of the exact details, but he was certain this
stuff was worthy of further research.

He was just about to start collecting some specimens when he

noticed something at the bottom of the lake and exhaled in
surprise. His life flames ignited, and his cultivation base erupted
with power, causing a sea of flames to spread out around him.

Wu Jianwu’s eyes widened, and he backed up a few steps, unsure

of what was going on. “What’s wrong?”
Meanwhile, Xu Qing focused the power of his life flames on his
eyes, causing them to glitter more brightly than stars as he stared
at the lake. Among the bones and rubble on the lake floor was a
stone that seemed very familiar to him.

Noticing Xu Qing’s gaze, Wu Jianwu quickly said, “What are you

looking at? Is there something good down there? It’s too bad this
lake is so bizarre. I wouldn’t dare go down inside. In the past I was
thinking of trying to fish out the bones, but I wasn’t—”

All of a sudden, the stone that Xu Qing found familiar wriggled,

then shot out of the lake as if it had been grabbed by an invisible
hand. Dripping water, it shot toward him and then hovered right in
front of him.

Wu Jianwu gasped.

After closely examining it, Xu Qing realized why it seemed familiar

to him. It had the aura of the Supreme Vastness Solitary Saber.

Astonishingly, this stone contained the divine resonance of the

Supreme Vastness Solitary Saber! Intrigued, Xu Qing took the
stone. Around the same time, his shadow returned to him. The
shadow was what he had used to take the stone from the lake.

Looking back into the lake, it was now possible to see that, buried
in the ground beneath the spot where the stone had previously
lain, was a stone stele. As the water rippled, the silt atop the stone
stele stirred, revealing some calligraphy and an image.
Xu Qing looked more closely.

“Immortal Bathing Cistern of the Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and

Cyan?” When Wu Jianwu read the calligraphy, he let loose a cry of
surprise.

Xu Qing was also stunned. Next, his gaze slid from the calligraphy
to the image, which was actually a map of the continent of South
Phoenix.

The Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan was identified. Of

course, that area was now called the Violet Lands. The map also
showed the location of the Immortal Bathing Cistern. And not too
far away from it was another location: Crown Prince’s Mansion.

That was the same location as the ruins of the Supreme Vastness
daoist temple that Xu Qing planned to go to next.

The history of this lake was now clear. And the name Sovereign
Kingdom of Violet and Cyan caused memories to stir in Xu Qing.
The first place he had heard about that kingdom was in the Violet
Lands, when Chen Feiyuan explained the details of the eight great
clans. That was when Xu Qing had learned the long history of the
place in South Phoenix, and how it had been ruled by a fantastic
bloodline. [1]

They can form symbiotic relationships with magical treasures....

It made him think of how Chen Feiyuan had seemed both strong
and weak at the same time.

At this point, Xu Qing harvested some of the mutated immortal ice.

Then, without any hesitation he left the cave.

Wu Jianwu escorted him back to the crevice. Once outside, Wu

Jianwu stood there looking at him, rubbing his hands together
anxiously. He looked like he wanted to stay something, but was
hesitating to open his mouth.

“I’m not going to tell anyone,” Xu Qing said. “Don’t worry.” Giving
Wu Jianwu a long look, he turned and became a bright beam of
light that shot off into the distance.

***

Wu Jianwu remained standing there alone, looking depressed and

wondering if he’d handled everything correctly.

After a long moment passed, he gritted his teeth.

Stop overthinking things. Xu Qing is overbearing, but I’m pretty

sure he’s the kind of person who keeps his word. Worst case
scenario... I’ll just stay away from the sect for a while. I’m not
going to give up until the little ones are born!

Wu Jianwu had clearly been deeply affected by the defeat at the

hands of Master Shengyun. Eyes bloodshot, he turned and went
back into the cave to take care of the beasts with the swollen
bellies.

***

It was late. The moon hung high over Forbidden by the Phoenix,
making the trees seem like evil ghosts. Strange howls mingled
with the shrieking of beasts.

Xu Qing sped through the pitch black jungle, leaping through the
trees at top speed. He had no intention of spreading rumors about
Wu Jianwu.

In this chaotic world, different people had their own way of living,
and though Wu Jianwu apparently had some very strange
hobbies, it wasn’t Xu Qing’s business. What was more, Wu Jianwu
had taken him to that immortal ice. There were all kinds of weird
things in the big, wide world.

Wu Jianwu is definitely up to something big, though. Shaking his

head, Xu Qing cleared his thoughts and eventually found a tree
hollow he could stay in for the night. After checking the area for
safety, he set up some defenses, then crawled inside.

Once secure, he took out the immortal ice he’d harvested.

Enough time had passed that much of the immortal ice had
melted. Based on what Wu Jianwu had said, it wouldn’t last much
more than about two hours.
Taking out a bottle, he opened it and released the beetles onto the
immortal ice. They immediately started feeding. As he observed
them eating, he didn’t see anything special happening. However,
he let the beetles devour all of it.

After it was gone, Xu Qing observed the beetles for a short time,
then put them back into the bottle, then put a special mark on the
bottle. Maybe after they had time to digest the immortal ice,
something would happen.

Having accomplished that, Xu Qing took out the stone he’d

acquired with the divine resonance of the Supreme Vastness
Solitary Saber. As he sought enlightenment from it, the image of a
slashing saber appeared to him.

A tremor passed through him and he closed his eyes.

And thus, the night passed.

The next morning at dawn, he opened his eyes. The first thing he
did was look down at the stone.

This stone gave me a much deeper understanding of the Supreme

Vastness Solitary Saber. Xu Qing was very pleased at how much
he’d benefitted. Next he checked on the beetles that had
consumed the immortal ice. Based on his blood connection to
them, he could sense that the beetles were in a state similar to
drunkenness. They weren’t moving around very much. However,
their auras were changing.
Xu Qing was excited about that. However, he couldn’t tell what
specifically about them was changing. For now, he didn’t want to
disturb them. Putting the bottle away, he made sure to take note of
the location of the lake, then crawled out of the tree hollow and
continued on his way.

His plan was to go to the ruins of the Supreme Vastness daoist

temple and see if he could find a destined opportunity to gain
enlightenment of a second saber move. If that didn’t work, he
would continue studying the stone he had found.

The edge of the stone is sharp, similar to a saber. It must be

connected to the Supreme Vastness daoist temple. Maybe it’s part
of a divine likeness!

Ten days passed.

Xu Qing kept traveling the entire time. Occasionally he would stop

to harvest poisonous plants or other items. He kept a close eye on
the beetles that had consumed the immortal ice. They still seemed
to be in a dormant state.

How long is it going to last? If he wasn’t able to sense that they

were alive, he probably would have assumed they were dead. I
guess I’ll just have to wait and see.

Further ahead, past a downward slope, he spotted some ruins. It

looked like an old city that had long since been sinking into
oblivion.
It was currently noon, and the bright sunlight shone through the
leafy canopy, creating a mottled atmosphere as Xu Qing sped
through the trees.

As he looked at the ruined city, the dappled sunlight made the

place look incredibly ancient. From his current position, he was
able to spot a magnificent temple in the middle of the city. He
could only make out the basic shape of the structure, but could
already tell that it was profoundly ancient.

“Finally here,” he murmured, then sped down toward the ruins.

After enough time passed for half an incense stick to burn, he was
in the ruins.

***

A vast distance away, near the Forbidden Sea on the Revered

Ancient mainland, a shocking event played out that shook heaven
and earth. It was something so dramatic it caused astonishment
among all of the powerful groups in the Emperor-Receiving
Prefecture.

For the first time in two hundred years, the Soaring Cloud Sword
Sect of the Seven Sect Coalition activated their taboo magical
treasure!

Apparently, they were planning to absolutely exterminate Seven

Blood Eyes!
Seven days previous, the Seven Sect Coalition yet again sent
orders to Seven Blood Eyes, only to have Sir Bloodsmelter drag
things out and not follow instructions.

One day previous, the highest authoritative body in the Seven

Sect Coalition, their senate, passed a measure to deal with the
situation. Then they sent an envoy to Seven Blood Eyes to
explain.

According to the measure, Sir Bloodsmelter and the seven

peaklords had one day to report to the coalition for punishment. If
they didn’t comply, then Seven Blood Eyes would be destroyed,
and all disciples from there would be executed.

All nonhumans and visitors to Seven Blood Eyes had three days to
leave, otherwise they would be punished along with the sect.

It caused a huge stir. Many nonhuman visitors packed up and left,

as did everyone who had come from the Seven Sect Coalition. As
for Seven Blood Eyes, everything suddenly seemed very unstable,
and everyone was trembling in anxiety.

The next day, when Sir Bloodsmelter still refused to follow orders...
the Seven Sect Coalition was enraged, and the Soaring Cloud
Sword Sect unleashed their taboo magical treasure.

A blood-red beam of light shot out of the Seven Sect Coalition,

rising into midair to create a blood-colored seed. Then... it shot to
the north!
Except, Seven Blood Eyes was to the south, not the north!

Within the Emperor-Receiving Prefecture, there was a mountain

range and a river that intersected to divide the prefecture into east,
west, south and north. The mountains were called the Supreme
Arbiter Salvation Mountains, and the river was the Everlasting
Immortal Profundity River.

The Supreme Arbiter Salvation Mountains connected the south

and the north, while the Everlasting Immortal Profundity River
connected east and west. In the middle, where they met, which
was also the very center of the Emperor-Receiving Prefecture,
there was a sect.

That sect was the Young Arbiter Sect. The Young Arbiter Sect
didn’t have many direct dealings with the Supreme Arbiter
Immortal Society. However, everyone knew that the Young Arbiter
Sect had been set up by the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society to
keep the Seven Sect Coalition in check, sort of like a henchman.

The sect headquarters of the Young Arbiter Sect was a huge dam
that impeded a tributary of the Everlasting Immortal Profundity
River that should have eventually reached the Seven Sect
Coalition’s port. That blockage caused problems for the Seven
Sect Coalition when it came to purging mutagen from spirit energy,
and had a big negative influence on the coalition.
To the Seven Sect Coalition, the Young Arbiter Sect was like a fish
bone stuck in the throat. They had repeatedly requested that the
dam be opened, but the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society always
intervened and made harsh demands.

The Seven Sect Coalition couldn’t target the Young Arbiter Sect
militarily unless they were confident they could defeat them
instantly. Otherwise, any such efforts would be foiled. Furthermore,
because of the delicate balance of power, it wasn’t possible to
power up a taboo magical treasure without everyone becoming
suspicious.

Other groups in the area were more than happy to see humans
fighting each other, and did everything they could to stir up trouble
in that regard. When the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect powered up
their taboo magical treasure, and used it to create a blood-colored
seed, they were actually targeting... the Young Arbiter Sect! The
blood-colored seed moved with incredible speed, piercing across a
vast distance to land right in the middle of the Young Arbiter Sect.

The Seven Sect Coalition had obviously been pretending to

advance along one path while secretly going along another.

Though it had seemed that tensions with Seven Blood Eyes had
been growing, the reality was that it was a smokescreen! They had
just needed an excuse to activate their taboo, and thus get rid of
that fish bone stuck in the throat!
As soon as the blood-colored seed landed, a massive gruish blood
tree sprouted up in the middle of the Young Arbiter Sect. The tree
pulsed, causing a vast number of cultivators in the Young Arbiter
Sect to die instantly. As their blood was sucked into the tree, the
survivors were seriously injured, and blood sprayed out of their
mouths. The tree pulsed again, sending out heaven-rending,
earth-crushing power, crushing the ground, and causing countless
structures to collapse. That included the dam.

Without the blockage of the dam, the waters of the Everlasting

Immortal Profundity River flowed through the Supreme Arbiter
Salvation Mountains without anything to stop them. The third pulse
of the tree caused flowers to bloom all over it. At the same time,
an ancient voice spoke from within.

“The Young Arbiter Sect killed disciples of our coalition. The

evidence is clear. The Young Arbiter Sect shall be wiped out of
existence!”

Blood-colored light rose into the dome of heaven, creating a spell

formation. Within it, over a hundred figures appeared, all of them
bursting with astonishing auras and towering killing intent!

All of it happened too quickly.

In order to intimidate Seven Blood Eyes earlier, the Seven Sect

Coalition had activated three of their sects’ taboo magical
treasures. At this moment, only the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect
activated their taboo magical treasures. But then, an instant later,
all six of the other sects also did the same. In the blink of an eye,
the sky above the Seven Sect Coalition completely transformed.

Everything under heaven shook violently!

1. The Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan was originally

described in chapters 207 and 210. ☜
Chapter 251: I’ll Beat Him to the Punch

As momentous events played out in Revered Ancient, Xu Qing

was making his way through the city ruins, with no idea about what
was happening so far away. He did notice that the sky seemed a
bit more red than normal, but other than that, it seemed like an
ordinary day. That redness was so faint it would be hard for
anyone to connect it with anything happening in Revered Ancient.
After merely glancing up, Xu Qing looked back at the ruined
buildings he was traveling through.

The architectural style of these buildings was different from any of

the other cities Xu Qing had been in. They were modular and
orderly, and from above, the layout of the building structures
generally resembled the character 井. There were big structures
and small ones, tall ones and short ones. But they were all very
neat and organized, making the entire place seem like it had been
planned out with much thought. Despite how the entire city had
apparently existed since ancient times, it still seemed like a
luxurious and fancy place. The tiles on the ground all had lavish
designs on them, and many buildings still had spirit stones set into
the walls. The streets were paved with white jade, and the canals
that existed in the city were lined with gold. That said, all of the
beauty of the city was now marred by encroaching mutagen, and
had lost much of its luster. Because of the erosion, there wasn’t
much value left. However, anyone who looked at it would be able
to imagine the city’s former grandeur. After all, with some
imagination one could ignore the animal droppings, the silt, the
creeping vermin, or the vicious-looking weeds everywhere.

But in the end, this city was a shell of its former self, with only bits
of evidence left to harken to its past. For instance, Xu Qing did see
some crumbling steles with the words Violet Cyan on them.

According to the map I found in the Immortal Bathing Cistern, this

place was once the mansion of the crown prince of the Sovereign
Kingdom of Violet and Cyan. That means the crown prince himself
lived here.

Xu Qing walked along through the silt, leaving footsteps behind in

the weeds, and keeping his eyes on everything around him.
Eventually he spotted cultivators in some of the buildings.

There weren’t many. But based on the information he’d read back
in the sect, this place was a common destination for cultivators
who were out exploring. They came from all over South Phoenix.
Some came from powerful sects, others were rogue cultivators.
There were immense riches to be found in Forbidden by the
Phoenix, and therefore, there were always people willing to brave
the dangers to find them.

In a chaotic world like this one, people fought over everything. And
that was especially true of people from small sects and
organizations, or rogue cultivators. The only way for them to
improve their cultivation bases and battle prowess was by means
of bloodshed. And to do that, they had to risk their lives.

Cultivators from big sects had a similarly bitter life. But it was
different for those in a weaker position.

These ruins had been here for so long that they were relatively
safe. And that was why it had become something of a rest stop for
cultivators hunting in Forbidden by the Phoenix.

Xu Qing attracted some attention when he arrived. However, most

people just glanced at him then looked away. Cultivators who
came to this place were a cautious lot, and kept their guard up
against others. That fit in line perfectly with Xu Qing’s personality.
As he walked along, he kept an eye out for dangers from all sides.
He also started moving faster and faster.

Before long, he saw a familiar-looking temple up ahead. The

architectural style was different from the other buildings. The
Supreme Vastness daoist temple was circular. In fact, looking at it
from directly above, it looked like a perfect circle in the middle of
the ruins. It had obviously been an amazing structure in the past.
[1]

Xu Qing looked at it closely as he approached. From a distance,

he could see a few dozen cultivators from various species
gathered outside of it. Some of them gathered in groups of two or
three. Others stuck to themselves. Though all were sitting cross-
legged outside of the temple, they were able to see inside.

Most of them were in the great circle of Qi Condensation, but a

few were Foundation Establishment cultivators with no life flame.
There were two old men who appeared to be in the one-flame
level. Despite their relatively high level, it made sense for them to
be here, as it was still possible that they could gain enlightenment
of the Supreme Vastness Solitary Saber. If they did, they would
reach heaven in a single bound and make amazing progress.

On the other hand, it seemed strange for people in the great circle
of Qi Condensation to be here.

However, after looking them over, Xu Qing realized the reality of

the situation. When he arrived, many in the crowd looked over at
him with greed and malevolence. However, after sensing his aura,
they looked away in alarm. At the same time, it was possible to
see rotting and shriveled remains in the surrounding underbrush.

This was a Supreme Vastness daoist temple, where one could

gain enlightenment of the Supreme Vastness Solitary Saber. But
this was also Forbidden by the Phoenix, where the weak were the
prey of the strong, and unscrupulous and vicious people
abounded.

Given how famous the Supreme Vastness daoist temples were, it

wasn’t uncommon for cultivators to come visit. If they were strong
enough, they would be fine. But if they weren’t, then they would
die here and lose everything. It didn’t matter how the people
outside the temple presented themselves, it was obvious to Xu
Qing that they were there for nefarious purposes.

Taking note of all that, he continued walking.

Many of the people outside the temple exchanged glances, but

none of them dared to make a move on him. People camping out
at a location like this would obviously come prepared, and all of
them could tell that Xu Qing wasn’t a person who should be trifled
with.

As Xu Qing neared the temple, he spotted statues inside that

seemed both familiar and strange.

Seated cross-legged in front of one of those divine likeness was

Master Shengyun. His golden robe was dazzlingly eye-catching,
as was the scintillating umbrella that floated over his head. His
eyes were closed, and he emanated a coldness that made it seem
like he felt all emotions to be superfluous.

Xu Qing stopped in place, and his guard went up even further. He

hadn’t paid very close attention to Master Shengyun back in the
sect, and was surprised to find him here seeking enlightenment.

Though Xu Qing’s cultivation base was high, he preferred to go

into conflicts knowing he could crush his opponent. Unless he was
sure of that, he would rather avoid fighting. Despite how enticing
Master Shengyun’s life lamp was, after some thought, Xu Qing
decided it wouldn’t be good to try to take it with force.
Furthermore, he decided that instead of going into the temple, he
would find a spot outside where he could see the statue, and try to
seek enlightenment from there.

Unfortunately, the tree may wish for quiet, but the wind will not
subside.

Master Shengyun noticed him.

He opened his eyes and stared emotionlessly at Xu Qing outside

of the temple, his gaze like two blades. Without saying a single
word he waved his right hand. Instantly, the air in front of him
rippled and distorted, sending out fluctuations in all directions. As
dust swirled up, a stone sword took shape in front of him. The
sword pulsed with astonishing energy, and spat out sparks of
sword energy that hissed as they landed on the ground and dug
out furrows.

Outside the temple, the two one-flame old men were visibly
shocked, and started backing away.

They knew full well that, given their own level of strength, there
was no way they could fight someone capable of forming a sword
out of nothing like that. A single blow would likely kill them. The
other cultivators in the area also backed away as fast as they
could.
At the same time, the sword in the temple swiveled until its tip
pointed at Xu Qing. Then it shot toward him. It pierced through the
air with a high-pitched whine, leaving behind a wake of fluctuations
as it headed in the direction of Xu Qing’s forehead.

Xu Qing’s expression turned grim as he reached out and flicked

the sword with his right index finger. A pop rang out, and the stone
sword collapsed, the pieces falling to the ground in front of him. A
shockwave blasted out, ripping up weeds and sending dirt flying
everywhere.

Thankfully for the other cultivators in the area, they had reacted
quickly enough that they managed to avoid being caught up in the
blast.

As dirt rained down everywhere, Xu Qing looked coldly into the

temple at Master Shengyun.

“What was that for?” Xu Qing said.

Master Shengyun’s expression was the same as ever, as if all of

this was going exactly as he wished. If he wanted to do something,
he would do it. If he wanted to kill someone, he would kill them. As
far as he was concerned, humans from South Phoenix weren’t
even worth thinking about.

Before, he hadn’t known anything about Xu Qing. But after Xu

Qing crushed Sima Ling, Master Shengyun took a slight interest in
him. That said, he didn’t know what he looked like, and had
planned to let him get a bit stronger until it was convenient to
make proper use of him. During the time in which he had been
seeking enlightenment, he got messages from other disciples in
the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect warning him about Xu Qing. That
was the first time he saw an image of what Xu Qing looked like.

His attack right now had been casual, yet it was still surprising to
him that it hadn’t hurt Xu Qing at all. All of a sudden, he was
thinking it might be a good idea to kill Xu Qing and absorb him.

Then he considered that doing it right now might not result in the
best flavor, and thus he said, “You’re the one who took advantage
of my absence to snatch my Junior Brother? Go back, kowtow to
him three times, and then set him free. Let me make it clear, Xu
Qing. For every hair on his head that you harm, I’ll cut off one of
your fingers. No exceptions.” [2]

Having said this, he ignored Xu Qing and went back to meditating.

Meanwhile, the crowd gathered outside the temple looked on with

bated breath as they watched Xu Qing and Master Shengyun. All
of them had long since identified who Master Shengyun was, and
had even experienced some of his domineering ways. And now
they knew how mighty he was when he took action. Thanks to
what Master Shengyun had just said, they now knew who Xu Qing
was.

“Xu Qing from the Seven Blood Eyes echelon?”

“He’s a chosen from Seven Blood Eyes....”

“So what if he is? Even he has to bow his head in the presence of
people from the Revered Ancient mainland.”

Xu Qing stood in the entrance of the temple studying Master

Shengyun’s throat, and then his life lamp. Cold light shone in Xu
Qing’s eyes, as well as killing intent.

Within the black iron skewer, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior felt
the urge to gasp repeatedly, but suppressed the feeling. More than
ever he felt like Master Shengyun was the real deal.

In the books I’ve read, what usually happens is that the enemy
bullies the main character into a corner. Finally, the main character
can’t take it anymore and has no choice but to fight back with
deadly force. Those scenes are awesome, though I admit they get
old after a while.

But the Fiendish Xu is different. With him, if an enemy simply

shows a teeny bit of killing intent, he’ll take it as a threat to his life.
The enemy doesn’t even have to attack him, and his own killing
intent will skyrocket.

Xu Qing had no way of knowing what the patriarch was thinking

about. But he did know that he and Master Shengyun weren’t on
the same level in terms of battle prowess. Because of that, he
didn’t do anything impulsive. Turning, he found an appropriate
position to sit down cross-legged, and without revealing what he
was doing, started lacing the area with poison.

He had already decided to kill Master Shengyun.

After all, when he arrested that Soaring Cloud Sword Sect disciple
at that Night Dove headquarters, he hadn’t just harmed some hairs
on his head. He had smashed him into the ground and broken
most of the bones in his body. Based on what Master Shengyun
had said just now, if a hair was worth a finger, then a bunch of
broken bones had to be worth a life.

In that case, I’ll kill you before you kill me! Xu Qing’s eyes
narrowed as his killing intent built. However, he didn’t reveal it in
his eyes. After putting down his poison, he looked around to see if
there were any dao protectors in the area.

Seeing what was happening, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior

thought, The Fiendish Xu is lacing the area with poison. That’s
what he usually does when he gets ready to beat the enemy to the
punch! This is going to be a battle between real deal main
characters from two different novels!

1. I’ve been to a lot of temples in China, and in my experience,

those with circular architecture are not very common. Probably the
most famous circular temple is the Temple of Heaven in Beijing
which looks like this. I have no idea if that’s what the author was
thinking of in this case, but it’s possible. ☜
2. Xu Qing arrested a disciple who claimed to be Master
Shengyun’s Junior Brother during the Night Dove crackdown. That
was in chapter 243. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsThank you to Flo for the review!

Thank you to Flo for the review!

Chapter 252: Blades Clash

Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior trembled, and not even he was

sure if it was from fear or excitement. All he knew was that if Xu
Qing was going to kill someone, then unless the opponent had
some sort of absolutely astonishing technique, Xu Qing wouldn’t
stop until they were dead. It was that way even with the strongest
enemies Xu Qing had fought in the past.

From within the iron skewer, the patriarch could sense how mighty
Master Shengyun was. What was more, he had overheard the
Violent Crimes Division constables talking about how amazing he
was. However, he wasn’t in the position to be contemplating such
things. There was only one thing that mattered to him....

Given the Fiendish Xu’s personality, if he died in this fight, he

would make sure to blow up the iron skewer before he went out.

Because of this Master Shengyun, the Fiendish Xu is in a killing

mood. Because of this Master Shengyun, the Fiendish Xu might
blow me up! Because of this Master Shengyun, my life is in
danger! It’s all because of Master Shengyun. Master Shengyun,
you’re going to get me killed!!

Having reached this point in his train of thought, the patriarch’s

eyes were bloodshot as he glared out of the skewer at Master
Shengyun.
The shadow could sense the fluctuations coming from Xu Qing
and the patriarch. It had recovered much of its intelligence
recently, and after sensing what was going on, was getting
nervous.

It was already evening, and Xu Qing had been surreptitiously

placing poison everywhere around him. It was odorless and
scentless, but it was still there, pulsing. The reality was that none
of the poison he was putting around was very dangerous.
However, by adding one specific primer, they would transform into
something incredibly dangerous.

Obviously, Xu Qing didn’t think that would be enough to wipe out

Master Shengyun. Back in Seven Blood Eyes, Master Shengyun
had unleashed six-flame battle prowess, which was so terrifying
he had been able to fight with the elders of the First Peak. Most
importantly, Xu Qing wasn’t sure if six-flame battle prowess was all
that Master Shengyun was capable of unleashing. What was
more, he still wasn’t sure where Master Shengyun’s dao protectors
were.

Given Master Shengyun’s personality, I doubt the dao protectors

are in hiding. The most likely possibility is that he sent them away.
They’re probably out in Forbidden by the Phoenix on some task.
But what?

After more thought, Xu Qing decided it would be better to be safe

than sorry. He would spend some more time assessing the
situation, and wouldn’t do anything rash. The best thing would be
to keep lacing the area with poison in the hopes of increasing his
ultimate chances of success.

At the same time, he released five bottles of his beetles.

However, what happened after that caused Xu Qing’s guard to go

up even further. The umbrella over Master Shengyun’s head had
defensive properties that the beetles were incapable of
penetrating. All they could do was gather around him.

My life lamp protects my soul... Does Master Shengyun’s life lamp

protect his fleshly body?

Time passed. Evening went and night came. The moon appeared
in the dome of heaven, casting moonlight down on the lands
below.

After checking the poisons in the area, Xu Qing was trying to

decide what other poisons to add when suddenly his expression
flickered.

The cultivators outside the temple were reacting to the fall of night.
Their expressions were more serious, but at the same time, some
of them seemed to be looking forward to something.

Wondering what was going on, Xu Qing looked over at one of the
one-flame old men.
When Xu Qing’s gaze fell on him, the old man shivered. After a
moment of hesitation, he stood, bowed to Xu Qing, then quietly
said, “Fellow Daoist Xu, would you be interested in knowing more
about the mysteries of the Supreme Vastness daoist temples?”

Hearing this, Xu Qing’s expression remained neutral. The

information back in the sect wasn’t very detailed regarding any so-
called mysteries. He nodded to the old man.

Without any hesitation, the old man went into a detailed

explanation. “Fellow Daoist Xu, for many years there wasn’t
anything special about this Supreme Vastness daoist temple. But
four years ago, it changed. That’s why there are more people here
than normal.

“What’s different is that, when night falls and the moonlight enters
the temple, the statues will perform a saber dance. Anybody can
watch it. But up to now, no one has gained any enlightenment from
it, with the exception of that one almighty person....” The old man’s
eyes flitted to Master Shengyun.

“Virtually every night so far, he’s benefited. The rest of us just fail
over and over again, but we all still hope that we might have some
success. Even a little bit would make people like us a lot stronger.”

Xu Qing looked thoughtfully into the temple. Moonlight fell down,

covering everything, and eventually reaching into the temple to
shine on the divine likenesses there. As Xu Qing watched, one of
the statues in the temple started moving.

It started slowly. Then the statue moved with more fluidity. As it

did, sabers appeared in the air around it, hardly discernible, as
though they were illusions. It only lasted for a brief moment, and
then everything in the temple went back to normal.

Surprised, Xu Qing focused more closely on the statue, and before

long, could see it moving again, and could sense the saber
projections around it. To most people, the saber projections would
be so blurry they couldn’t see them, except for brief moments
when they became clear.

But because of Xu Qing’s previous enlightenment of the Supreme

Vastness Solitary Saber, he could see them quite clearly.

The moment they became clear to him, an illusory heavenly saber

suddenly appeared over his head. It was none other than the
Supreme Vastness Solitary Saber he had gained enlightenment of.
As he watched the scene playing out in front of him, the heavenly
saber formed, and then glittered brightly as though it were
undergoing a transformation.

Specifically, it was growing more corporeal. The original heavenly

saber had been illusory, but now, starting with the hilt, it was
glittering brightly and turning more solid. As the effect spread, it
filled the body of the saber, and Xu Qing’s Supreme Vastness
Solitary Saber got closer to being true and real.

The onlookers were all visibly stunned. At the same time, Master
Shengyun, who sat cross-legged in the temple, also had a
heavenly saber above his head, similar to Xu Qing’s.

The only difference was that his was green and Xu Qing’s was
violet!

When the two heavenly sabers appeared, the onlookers let loose
shocked exclamations. Many of them started panting in
astonishment.

Truth be told, it had been the same with Master Shengyun every
day recently, and the onlookers had become used to it. But for the
same scene to repeat with Xu Qing was nothing short of
astonishing. Everyone knew what it meant; both of these people
had previously gained enlightenment of the Supreme Vastness
Solitary Saber. And even more spectacular, both were gaining
enlightenment of a second saber move.

“This Xu Qing... is just what you would expect of a chosen from

Seven Blood Eyes!”

“Both of them are gaining enlightenment. It looks like their sabers

are transforming from illusory to corporeal. The moment the
process completes, they’ll have full enlightenment.”
“I wonder who will succeed first. Whichever one does, then the
other, no matter how far along they are in the process, will lose
their chance to finish.”

After being here days observing, the people in the crowd knew a
bit about the Supreme Vastness daoist temple. Other than
whispering a bit among themselves, none dared to do anything
devious. Just because someone was gaining enlightenment of the
Supreme Vastness Solitary Saber didn’t mean that they had lost
their ability to stay on guard and kill enemies. Anyone who tried to
disturb such a person would likely end up dead.

The people outside the temple could tell that Master Shengyun’s
saber seemed more fully formed than Xu Qing’s. In fact, his was
about fifty percent complete.

Xu Qing had come later, and therefore hadn’t had enough time to
seek enlightenment. His was only at the ten percent level.

Xu Qing also could tell that difference, and realized that he needed
to speed up his enlightenment. That said, though he valued the
Supreme Vastness Solitary Saber, there were other temples.
Furthermore, you needed enlightenment of seven saber moves for
it to count as an imperial-class technique. In other words, if he
didn’t succeed here, it wouldn’t be too worrisome.

What he was more concerned about was figuring out the best way
to attack Master Shengyun while he was seeking enlightenment.
He has four life flames, and the battle prowess of six flames.
However... his biggest weakness is his 120th dharma aperture….

Xu Qing had been able to do some first-hand research into

dharma apertures during his clashes with the chosen from the
Seven Sect Coalition.

Ideally I should wait until I place even more poison in the area.
That way, when the poison finally takes effect, it’ll be even
stronger. Looking away from Master Shengyun, Xu Qing patiently
continued waiting. Obviously, the process of enlightenment wasn’t
going to be completed in only a few days. Also... his dao
protectors aren’t here. That means I have to watch out for attacks
from all directions.

With such thoughts on his mind, he stayed more on guard than

ever.

Meanwhile, Master Shengyun looked over at him from within the

temple. His face was expressionless as he noted the saber image
above Xu Qing’s head, but his eyes became as cold as if he was
looking at a dead person. How could a backyard chicken dare to
compare itself to a splendid phoenix!

He no longer intended to let Xu Qing get any stronger. Since Xu

Qing was competing with him for the same destined opportunity,
then he would kill him before continuing. It wouldn’t take that much
time.
Master Shengyun didn’t care at all that Xu Qing was in Seven
Blood Eyes’ echelon. He had also noticed the unusual redness in
the sky earlier, and given his general understanding of things, he
realized... that the coalition was making a move to the north.

In a moment of glory for the Seven Sect Coalition, there was no

way Seven Blood Eyes would complain about one member of their
echelon getting killed.

Master Shengyun was the kind of person who acted on his

impulses, so once his killing intent sparked to life, it was without
the slightest hesitation that he stood and started walking out of the
temple.

His 120 dharma apertures roared to life like furnaces, and his life
flames raged. A glittering, starlike umbrella appeared overhead,
sending seven-colored light out in all directions. And behind him, a
green-bodied red-tailed ravagemist bird appeared, letting loose a
piercing cry to heaven. Six-flame battle prowess raged in all
directions, causing wild winds to whip about, and resulting in loud
rumbling like heavenly thunder.

The onlookers didn’t qualify to even react to what was happening,

and couldn’t see the speed that resulted from six-flame power.

However, Xu Qing looked up. He also couldn’t see six-flame

speed; all in all, the difference between five and six flames was
just as massive as the difference between three and four.
However, Xu Qing was surrounded by poison. And Master
Shengyun was surrounded by beetles. Because of that, Xu Qing
could detect what was happening.
Chapter 253: The Weakness of Four Flames

Xu Qing had no experience clashing with the power of six flames.

But he had a good idea what it would be like. He knew that with
every additional flame in Foundation Establishment, one’s battle
prowess would experience heaven-shaking, earth-toppling
advances. In fact, in his experience, each additional flame was like
the difference between Qi Condensation and Foundation
Establishment, an entire cultivation realm.

Xu Qing wasn’t sure if there were other worlds beyond the starry
sky that he could see, and if there were, if the species there
practiced cultivation. If they did, was there still a Foundation
Establishment level that involved cultivating life flames? Was there
a monumental difference with each additional flame?

All he knew was that there were big differences between each
stage of Foundation Establishment here. For example, four-flame
power could crush three-flame power. Unless the latter had some
astonishing treasure, they would die for sure. It wasn’t even
possible to overwhelm a higher level of power by using numbers,
like it was with Qi Condensation.

Similarly, six-flame battle prowess could crush five-flame power.

Xu Qing knew that Master Shengyun was moving so quickly it

wasn’t even possible to see him clearly.
With his own three life flames burning, and his life lamp, plus the
blessing of the golden crow to his fleshly body, he was just barely
able to make out a string of afterimages. Then Master Shengyun
was right in front of him.

Next, a terrifying wave of force hit him, something he couldn’t

possibly block. A huge boom rang out, and Xu Qing tumbled
backward like a kite with its string cut, his face pale, blood
spraying out of his mouth. That said, he had no major injuries.

The moment Master Shengyun launched his attack, a field of light

appeared around Xu Qing, creating a defensive barrier that
blocked the power of the six-flame attack!

“So you have a Nascent Soul defensive item,” Master Shengyun

said coolly as he pulled his hand back. “I can tell it’s weak, though.
How much longer will it last?” [1]

A large furrow had been dug in the ground by Xu Qing as he flew

backward. Several dozen meters away, he finally stopped moving,
then looked up coldly at Master Shengyun. Now Xu Qing had
experienced how strong Master Shengyun was. It actually felt
similar to the Gold Core Seastar chieftain, before Bai Li had
revealed himself. [2]

It was the same level of speed, and the same type of explosive
power. No wonder the First Peak highnesses had been defeated
so easily. Obviously, if that fight had taken place outside of Seven
Blood Eyes, then those highnesses wouldn’t just have been
defeated. They would have been killed.

Xu Qing knew that his own five-flame battle prowess wasn’t going
to help. Once he lost the jade pendant given to him by Master
Sixth, he would die for sure. The violet crystal would never be able
to heal him fast enough.

It wasn’t just the six-flame power that was terrifying. Xu Qing’s

beetles were still unable to get through Master Shengyun’s life
lamp defenses to burrow into his body.

Does that mean that six-flame power... is basically the same as

Gold Core power? The same as a single heavenly palace? Xu
Qing thought back to the information about Sima Ru from the
House of Grue Hunters, and how it had mentioned heavenly
palaces. [3]

Right now, he didn’t know very much about the Gold Core level,
but he did know that it involved more than just one heavenly
palace. For example, Sima Ru was in seclusion trying to form a
second heavenly palace.

In the Gold Core level, one palace is equivalent to six flames?

If an observer could have been privy to Xu Qing’s thoughts, they

would be very surprised. Despite the circumstances, Xu Qing
didn’t seem worried at all, and was actually spending time thinking
about Gold Core and heavenly palaces.
“Very amusing. You’re thinking about something? Well, let’s see
how long your defenses will hold out.” Expression placid, Master
Shengyun strode forward, yet simultaneously moved with shocking
speed. He was nothing but a blur as he arrived in front of Xu Qing
and then thrust his palm out.

This time, Xu Qing prepared to fight back. The moment the palm
started moving, he tapped into all 92 of his dharma apertures,
causing radiant light to blaze. He also performed a double-handed
incantation gesture and then pushed his hands out. As he did, a
discarnate soul in one of his dharma apertures shot out in front of
him and turned into a weapon.

Rumbling sounds echoed. However, Master Shengyun was just

too fast. He suddenly appeared next to Xu Qing, then calmly
waved his hand. A tremor passed through Xu Qing, and the jade
pendant from Master Sixth vibrated. At the same time, he was
thrown backward again.

However, the discarnate soul he had released seemed to move on

instinct as it shot toward Master Shengyun with voracious
madness.

“Too weak,” Master Shengyun said, shaking his head. He waved

his hand again to wipe the discarnate soul out of existence.

However, as soon as his hand made contact with the discarnate

soul, the soul’s voraciousness skyrocketed and it burrowed into
the hand. That particular discarnate soul was the Gruegloom that
Xu Qing had been tormenting ever since capturing it. That
mysterious species had the ability to possess people. And Master
Shengyun’s life lamp was protecting his physical body, not his
soul. Because of that, the Gruegloom’s soul was able to burrow
right into him, where it then prepared to consume him.

“Well, isn’t this interesting.” Master Shengyun’s facial expression

still hadn’t changed. However, the ravagemist bird behind him
stretched its wings, looked scornfully at Master Shengyun, and
then suddenly pecked at him viciously!

Because it was illusory, that pecking attack went right into Master
Shengyun. And then an agonized shriek rang out as the
discarnate soul of the Gruegloom that Xu Qing had tormented for
so long was instantly swallowed up by the ravagemist bird! It was
now possible to see a black hole inside the bird, which sucked the
Gruegloom soul into it and trapped it there, all while it screamed
piteously.

During that entire time, Master Shengyun’s expression remained

completely neutral. It was as if the discarnate soul wasn’t worth
anything to him. Looking over at Xu Qing with blood dribbling
down the sides of his chin, Master Shengyun shook his head.

“Anything else you want to try? If not, then all we’re waiting for are
your defenses to fall. After that, you’re dead.”
“You talk a lot,” Xu Qing said, wiping the blood from his chin.

Master Shengyun didn’t respond. He lifted his right foot, then

brought it down.

However, right at that exact moment, a tremor passed through

him. For the first time, his facial expression changed, and looked
down to see that there was a dark shadow on the last of his 120
dharma apertures. The shadow seemed like it was alive. With
maddening speed, it spread out to completely cover his 120th
dharma aperture. And it succeeded!!

The moment that dharma aperture was covered, Master

Shengyun’s fourth life flame suddenly began to dim. At the same
time, the light surrounding him became a bit less bright. That
darkening effect wasn’t done. Over the space of three breaths of
time, his fourth life flame completely went out!! When it came to
the 120 dharma apertures, every set of 30 was used to light a life
flame. That was a standard law of magic in the Foundation
Establishment level. There were no exceptions. If you only had
119 dharma apertures, you couldn’t sustain four life flames!

This was the entire reason for Xu Qing’s confidence in not only
being able to face Master Shengyun, but also spending time
thinking about Gold Core and heavenly palaces.

After studying the four-flame chosen from the Seven Sect

Coalition for so long, he had come to the conclusion that this was
their biggest weakness! All you had to do was get rid of a single
dharma aperture, and their battle prowess would drop down by the
level of an entire life flame.

His shadow could extinguish life flames, so even if Master

Shengyun’s cultivation base had been higher, there was no
question as to whether it could extinguish one of his dharma
apertures.

This had been Xu Qing’s plan all along!

As the shadow stuck to the dharma aperture like glue, making

sure it was absolutely covered, Master Shengyun’s four life flames
became three.

His expression instantly turned grim. It didn’t matter if it was the

ravagemist bird, or his burning life lamps, he simply could not drive
away the shadowy grue. He already knew where the shadow
came from. It had been concealed in the discarnate soul. That was
how it entered him without him realizing it. And while the
ravagemist bird got rid of the discarnate soul, the shadow
remained.

“This trick...” Master Shengyun said, glaring at Xu Qing with killing

intent, “is supposed to be impressive or something? You’re weak!
And you’ll always be weak. Maybe I have one less flame, but
that’s still the power of five! And that’s enough to crush you!”
Master Shengyun’s five life flames burned hot as he shot toward
Xu Qing.

Now, however, Xu Qing didn’t bother to mask the killing intent in

his eyes. And that was because his opponent was now moving at
the same speed he was. All of a sudden, Xu Qing burst into
motion.

He moved like a bolt of lightning, piercing through the air in the

blink of an eye to slam into Master Shengyun.

Master Shengyun’s eyes narrowed in surprise at how fast Xu Qing

was. As his right palm descended, Xu Qing’s eyes turned cold and
he let loose a fist strike. As the two exchanged a blow, Master
Shengyun snorted coldly, performed a quick incantation gesture,
and then flicked his sleeve. Thrumming with strength, he shoved
his index finger toward Xu Qing’s eye.

Xu Qing’s left hand flashed in an incantation gesture, and a

dagger materialized in it, which he slashed toward Master
Shengyun’s throat.

Rumbling sounds rang out as the two fought.

Master Shengyun’s right foot swept through the air toward Xu

Qing, but Xu Qing evaded it, then bent his knee and launched it
toward Master Shengyun’s chest. At the same time, he waved
both hands in front of him, causing balefire to erupt out.
Eyes glinting sharply, Master Shengyun threw both of his hands
out in front of him and the two smashed into each other. Massive
booms rang out in all directions, causing heaven and earth to
shake violently!

None of the observers were able to see exactly what Xu Qing and
Master Shengyun were doing. All they could do was hear the
terrifying rumbling of the fight, and watch as numerous buildings in
the area were crushed into rubble. It was incomparably intense.

A moment later, Master Shengyun appeared in the air. Falling

back several dozen meters, he glared at Xu Qing with a suspicious
look in his eye.

“There’s something suspicious going on with you!”

1. Master Sixth gave Xu Qing a Nascent Soul defensive item in

chapter 214. ☜

2. Xu Qing fought the Seastar chieftain in chapter 217. Bai Li

revealed himself in the chapter after that, 218. ☜

3. The information about Sima Ru was in chapter 240. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsThank you to daltonico and

Archivist_nosleep for the reviews!!!

Thank you to daltonico and Archivist_nosleep for the reviews!!!

Chapter 254: Fighting Like the Son of a God

At almost the same time that Master Shengyun opened his mouth,
Xu Qing arrived with his fist flying. As rumbling sounds filled the
air, Master Shengyun threw his hand out to block the attack. Flying
backward, his eyes glowed even brighter.

“I want you to show me exactly what it is about you that’s so

suspicious!”

Xu Qing didn’t respond. Eyes burning with more killing intent than
ever, he once again closed in on Master Shengyun. The two
clashed, and a boom echoed out.

Using some unknown technique, Master Shengyun caused his

entire body to glow with brilliant golden light, forming a sea around
him that forced Xu Qing to back away. Within that sea of light were
numerous glittering magical symbols that formed an attack against
Xu Qing. The symbols alone were dangerous, but they linked
together to create a power of sealing, casting a glow on the dome
of heaven and making the lands shake. As the sea of light spread
out, a bit of excitement flickered in Master Shengyun’s eyes. He
already had a guess about what was going on with Xu Qing, he
just needed proof to confirm his theory.

He performed an incantation gesture with his left hand while taking

three steps forward, with each step making a different sign with his
fingers. With his first step, an immense sinister wind kicked up
around him, bringing frigid coldness with it. With his second step,
streams of green light formed out of nowhere, rapidly forming an
embryonic sword in front of him. With his third step, the embryonic
sword grew larger. From the size of a palm, it rapidly extended,
reaching a length of three meters, then 30 meters, and soon, 300
meters. It was completely green, partly illusory and partly invisible,
and radiated a stupefying energy that could shake one down to the
soul.

After those three steps were complete, Master Shengyun’s

dharma force was as deep and resounding as ever. His eyes
shone, and he raised his right hand and pointed at Xu Qing, while
speaking in a voice that merged with the surrounding sinister wind.

“Jade Emperor Beheads Souls!”

A sea of flames raged around Xu Qing, filled with massive waves

that shattered the magical symbols. But seeing the huge green
sword, his pupils constricted.

The sword started moving as quickly as lighting, slashing right

toward him.

He evaded, but the sword was locked onto his soul, making it
impossible to dodge. Xu Qing’s eyes glittered sharply as he
abandoned any attempt to evade. Hands flashing in a double-
handed incantation gesture, he tapped into the entire flaming
world inside him to send fire shooting upward.

The sword arrived. Completely bypassing his fleshly body, it shot

inside of him, shrinking down to a tiny size as it did. Then, it
became a soul-beheading force that swept right toward his soul.

At exactly the same moment, the life lamp inside Xu Qing created
a black umbrella that spread out protectively in front of his sea of
consciousness. Xu Qing didn’t bother to try to hide what was
happening. He knew that in an all-out fight with Master Shengyun,
there was no way he could deceive his opponent into thinking he
didn’t have a life lamp. Unusual levels of strength couldn’t come
out of nowhere, and also, his shadow was using all its strength to
keep Master Shengyun’s dharma aperture covered. Concealing
his life lamp was pointless. It made more sense to simply reveal it,
then think of a way to kill his opponent.

When the soul-beheading sword hit the black umbrella, the green
sword proved absolutely incapable of withstanding the force. It
shattered like an egg hitting a boulder, becoming innumerable
green sparks that showered down. Xu Qing forced them out of his
body.

From a distance, it looked like countless green dots of light

erupting from inside him, while at the same time, an umbrella
appeared over his head. The black canopy radiated a gruish aura
and was covered with black fire that was currently dripping green
at the edges. As Xu Qing hovered in the air in those
circumstances, his violet robe swaying, it was almost impossible
not to look at him.

All of the surrounding cultivators were astounded. It wasn’t just

Master Shengyun who was witnessing what was happening. The
other cultivators could see it very clearly.

“Life lamp!!!”

Master Shengyun’s eyes went wide, and waves of shock battered

his heart. His heart pounded harder than ever before in his life, as
he was overwhelmed with a sensation of wild ecstasy. He had
realized there was something suspicious going on with Xu Qing,
who clearly had three-flame battle prowess. But even with an
imperial-class technique, he shouldn’t have been able to stand up
to Master Shengyun. Now that the black umbrella was in the open
though, his suspicions were confirmed. Now he knew how Xu Qing
managed to crush Sima Ling, and what gave Xu Qing the
confidence to fight in this situation. He had his answer.

Xu Qing’s expression was the same as ever. He didn’t seem

flustered at all. Publicly revealing that he had a life lamp was a big
deal. But as far as he was concerned, it was trumped by the
possibility of taking Master Shengyun’s life lamp. If Xu Qing got
two life lamps, his battle prowess would reach the level of six life
flames.
Killing Master Shengyun will make it less likely to cause
repercussions. But if word still gets out, then worst case scenario, I
just leave Seven Blood Eyes, change my name, and fly off into the
sunset! I’ll lose out on the profit from my harbor investment, but an
extra life lamp will be worth even more than that!

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered with killing intent as he prepared to attack.

However, that was when Master Shengyun threw his head back
and laughed long and hard. Then he flicked his sleeve, sending
out over a hundred streams of sword energy. The sword energy
swept out over the surrounding lands. As for the cultivators outside
of the temple, they had no way to evade it, and in the blink of an
eye were stabbed through. Anguished screams rang out.
However, the sword energy didn’t disappear. It continued to sweep
through the ruins, slaughtering everything in its path!

Any cultivator who Master Shengyun thought had seen Xu Qing’s

life lamp were slaughtered. He didn’t want any witnesses around!
The existence of a new life lamp was simply too monumental.

Master Shengyun already thought of Xu Qing’s life lamp as his

own. Once he got it, he would have seven-flame battle prowess,
and that mere thought had him completely excited. As he well
knew, life lamps were incredibly useful when it came to the
heavenly palaces of Gold Core cultivators. One life lamp could be
used to create a heavenly palace hidden within the life mist! And
two lamps could create two such palaces!
That was also why he hadn’t called his dao protectors back. He
was worried that the three of them wouldn’t be able to keep their
greed in check. After all, his own life lamp was different from Xu
Qing’s. The reason he was so willing to reveal his own life lamp
was that few people in the Emperor-Receiving Prefecture could
take it from him. After all, his own lamp didn’t actually belong to
him. He was just being allowed to use it. But he could sense that...
Xu Qing’s was different!

It actually belongs to him!! How did he get it? The number one
chosen in Seven Blood Eyes is so deceptive!

The greed in Master Shengyun’s eyes grew deeper, and he

started laughing loudly.

“I never thought my destined opportunity would show up here. Xu

Qing, my personal life lamp is actually with you!”

As he spoke those words, golden light erupted from Master

Shengyun, and the ravagemist bird appeared behind him. It was
300 meters in size, with a green body and a red tail. It had a long
beak, a huge abdomen, and looked incomparably freakish and
ugly. The ravagemist bird threw its head back and let loose a
piercing cry, then looked at Xu Qing with vicious ferocity.

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed as black fire erupted behind him,

spreading out in all directions as the golden crow appeared, its tail
bursting with fire.
Eyes radiating killing intent, Xu Qing shot forward.

Master Shengyun’s expression was one of greed as he did the

same thing.

In the blink of an eye, Xu Qing and Master Shengyun slammed

into each other, this time with much more intensity than before. It
was a battle of raw speed, strength, and defensive capabilities.
They weren’t using many magical techniques, and even their
imperial-class techniques weren’t much help. For the moment,
they were just trying to assess their opponent’s weaknesses.
Then, as the fighting intensified, they focused solely on unleashing
killing moves.

Master Shengyun’s imperial technique was actually called

Ravagemist Bird Consumes Heaven. As a result, his vicious
ravagemist bird voraciously tried to consume the golden crow.

Of course, Xu Qing’s imperial technique was Golden Crow

Assimilates Myriad Spirits. As a result, his ferocious golden crow
viciously tried to assimilate the ravagemist bird.

From a distance, the ravagemist bird emanated golden light, while

the golden crow was wreathed in black fire. One was consuming,
one was assimilating. One was snatching, one was absorbing.
Energy surged and winds screamed!

It was the same with Xu Qing and Master Shengyun. The two
fought back and forth in midair. They matched each other move for
move. Occasionally, Xu Qing was sent slamming into the ground,
only to stand up in the rubble and start fighting again. Occasionally
Master Shengyun was knocked far into the distance, where he
would smash into a building that would collapse onto him. Then he
would burst back out into the action.

Their fight caused the air to ripple and distort. It shattered the land.
Neither opponent seemed capable of getting the upper hand, and
both had their life lamps on display in the form of projected
umbrellas.

Xu Qing’s was black, and the black flames covering it emanated a

terrifying might. Master Shengyun’s was seven-colored, and
pulsed with a mysterious power. The two umbrellas crushed down
on each other, causing a massive tempest. It was impossible to
determine which was superior.

Both combatants’ eyes were full of ferocity as they used their

imperial-class techniques and life lamps to viciously fight each
other. Soon, they backed away from each other, coughing up
blood. They were about 300 meters from each other in the air
above the daoist temple.

On one side was Master Shengyun, wearing a golden daoist robe,

surrounded by golden light that illuminated the land below. He had
a seven-colored umbrella overhead, also radiating dazzling light,
and a vicious ravagemist bird behind him, howling as it sought to
devour heaven. Combined with his unusual good looks, Master
Shengyun seemed like a young sovereign lord descended from
above. He seemed insufferably arrogant!

On the other side was Xu Qing, wearing a violet robe, surrounded

by a black sea of fire that burned the dome of heaven. He had a
black umbrella overhead that made him seem profoundly grue-
like, and a majestic golden crow with vicious eyes that longed to
assimilate the world. As the crow’s tail draped over Xu Qing, it
seemed like an imperial robe! Combined with Xu Qing’s
exceptionally attractive face, he seemed like an ancient emperor
strolling through the mortal world. He was like a masterpiece of the
ages!

Master Shengyun stared at Xu Qing, his eyes shining and full of

killing intent. At the same time, he was forced to admit that Xu
Qing was truly strong, so much so that it was appropriate to say he
could very well become an Ancient Emperor.

In fact, in the small worlds beyond the Revered Ancient mainland,

battle prowess like this would be similar to the Nascent Soul level.
Revered Ancient contained the most high-level cultivators
imaginable. According to the ancient records Master Shengyun
had read, before the arrival of the broken face of the god, there
were thousands of small worlds beyond the mainland.

And in those places, cultivators were so weak that even a single

life flame counted as the great circle of Foundation Establishment.
Places like that simply couldn’t compare at all to Revered Ancient.
Chapter 255: Sun and Moon Strive for
Dominance

Xu Qing looked at Master Shengyun. He knew he was dealing with

a strong opponent. In fact, during his entire journey of cultivation,
this was the strongest person he had ever fought. And that was
even after he had used his shadow to cover a single dharma
aperture and reduce his battle prowess by a life flame. Were it not
for that, Xu Qing knew he wouldn’t be a match for Master
Shengyun.

Even missing one of his life flames, Master Shengyun had too
many assets. He had his shocking imperial-class technique, a host
of divine abilities, and the defenses of his life lamp, which made
Xu Qing’s poisons almost useless.

If I can get his life lamp, then I would have the same defenses. I
would have a complete level of protection, both of my soul and my
body!

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed as he studied Master Shengyun’s throat,

as well as the life lamp umbrella over his head.

Master Shengyun was looking back and thinking that of all the
opponents he had fought in the Emperor-Receiving Prefecture in
recent years, Xu Qing definitely ranked in the top three. There was
no way Master Shengyun could ever have imagined that he would
encounter an opponent like this on the backwater continent of
South Phoenix.

Seems the patriarch was right. A great era is upon us. More
chosen are appearing than ever before, and freakish hellions are
gathering. But when great eras come, so do amazing destined
opportunities. For example, this Xu Qing.... If I can take his life
lamp and make it my own, then my Foundation Establishment
battle prowess will increase by the level of one life flame. But even
more relevant than that is how it will affect my heavenly palaces.

Life lamps aren’t just beneficial to Foundation Establishment.

They’re actually more important to the heavenly palaces of the
Gold Core level! With his life lamp, I’ll have a total of two. And then
when I break into the Gold Core level, those life lamps instantly
become heavenly palaces. I’ll have two heavenly palaces in the
life mist.

One palace is worth six flames. Therefore, once I go through core

formation, I’ll start out with at least twelve-flame power. After
consolidating my power and fully forming my first ordinary
heavenly palace, I’ll have a total of eighteen flames’ worth of
power!

That’s not to mention that he has an imperial-class technique.

After I kill him today, I’ll devour Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad
Spirits, and my ravagemist bird will have a much better chance of
reaching its second stage!
From ancient times until now, no one, not even the offspring of the
Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns, was able to push an
imperial-class technique to the second stage while in Foundation
Establishment. In fact, most people couldn’t even do it in the Gold
Core level. Advancing imperial-class techniques is just too difficult.
If I succeed, then my imperial-class technique won’t add the battle
prowess of a single life flame. Just like a heavenly palace, it will
have the power of six flames!

If I succeed, then once I reach Gold Core, I’ll have eighteen

flames’ worth of power. And it won’t be long after that before I
reach the level of twenty-four. With battle prowess like that, I’ll be
the number one chosen in all of Emperor-Receiving Prefecture.
Given my status, I’ll be able to join the ranks of the swordsages.
After that, I’ll skyrocket to the highest heights in all of Sea-Sealing
County.

As Master Shengyun and Xu Qing faced off in midair, they split the
sky in half. On Master Shengyun’s side, seven-colored light
radiated in heaven and earth. On Xu Qing’s side, black flames
cast darkness everywhere.

Rumbling sounds echoed out as the two of them glared at each

other with pulsing killing intent.

Then both of them moved. Even from a distance, it was a shocking

scene as the two different parts of the sky raced toward each
other. The ravagemist bird and the golden crow, both of them
divine birds of legend, let loose piercing cries as they tried to
devour each other. Two umbrellas shone with divine light. A young
sovereign lord and a young ancient emperor were fighting a battle
to the death.

The sound of the fighting echoed everywhere, stirring up wild

winds and shocking both heaven and earth! They matched each
other blow for blow as the fighting became increasingly intense. It
seemed like the dome of heaven itself might explode. As Xu Qing
and Master Shengyun attacked each other at full strength, both
were forced to keep their distance from each other.

Blast! If only I had my six-flame battle prowess! Master

Shengyun’s expression was grim as he sent internal flame toward
his 120th dharma aperture in the hopes of ridding it of the dark
shadow.

However, no matter how he battered it with flame, the shadow

relentlessly stayed in place, covering the volcanic power of the
dharma aperture. Because of that, there was no way for Master
Shengyun to reignite his fourth life flame.

The killing intent in Master Shengyun’s eyes grew more intense as

he looked at Xu Qing closing in on him with deadly force. Then
determination flickered in Master Shengyun’s eyes. Biting the tip of
his tongue, he spat out a mouthful of blood.

“Encompassing Ghost Garment; Seal Body and Soul!”

As his words rang out, the blood expanded. In an instant, it
reached a size of 300 meters, becoming a blood-colored garment
that swept toward Xu Qing.

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. The golden crow behind him erupted

with black fire that struck at the garment. And yet, the blood-
colored garment ignored the damage and forced its way closer to
Xu Qing. As it wrapped around him, sealing power surged out,
forcing Xu Qing to a standstill in midair. Xu Qing’s eyes flickered
with cold light as the golden crow cried out piercingly. His life lamp
burned overhead as it tried to dispel the power of sealing.

At that point, Master Shengyun’s gaze grew even sharper, and he

lifted his right hand over his head.

“Darkheaven Bloodfiend Sword!”

His right hand flickered in an incantation gesture, and his entire

right arm turned crimson. Energy and blood surged within him,
erupting in a golden beam out of the top of his head. As that beam
rose into the sky, close examination revealed that it contained a
flying sword!

The dome of heaven vibrated as a blood-colored canopy stretched

out, turning the entire sky crimson. Within that crimson sky, the tip
of a huge sword appeared, fully 300 meters long. And from the tip,
more of it became visible, until the entire majestic sword was
revealed. It was covered in masses of magical sealing marks, and
pulsed with the aura of endless severed arms and legs. As the
sword appeared, winds screamed in the sky, and the blood-
colored light became a rumbling sea of blood, like a massive,
spinning vortex. A terrifying power surged out as the tip of the
huge sword, rotated downward to point at Xu Qing! Then it started
moving with incredible speed. Xu Qing might have been able to
move out of the way, but he was bound by the blood-colored
garment. It was currently being burned away, but still had him
sealed!

A sense of profound crisis filled Xu Qing as he looked up at the

massive sword. Without the slightest hesitation, he utilized the
blessing of protection Master Sixth had given him. As the huge
sword was just about to stab into his head, Master Sixth’s
defensive pendant activated. A deafening boom rang out through
the sky.

A massive tremor ran through Xu Qing as the defensive shield

was rapidly depleted. At the same time, Xu Qing himself was
forced out of the air and onto the ground.

Cold light glittered through Master Shengyun’s eyes as he lifted

his right hand again, then waved it straight out in front of him.

“Soul-Sweeping Devil-Crushing Sword!”

A second beam of blood-colored light shot out of the top of his

head, forming another flying sword, which coalesced into the
shape of a second blood-colored sword!

It was exactly as big as the one which had fallen from the sky, and
looked the same in every other aspect. But instead of falling down
from above, this one appeared in front of Master Shengyun and
then swept horizontally toward Xu Qing! It moved with shocking
momentum, destroying all the buildings in its way, and creating
huge crevices in the ground from its immense pressure.

The massive force bearing down on Xu Qing caused his face to

fall. Before he could do anything, the sword smashed into his
defensive barrier.

He already had one huge sword pressing down on him from

above. Now the second sword hit him horizontally with terrifying
force. Despite the protection keeping him safe, he still coughed up
a mouthful of blood.

Yet Master Shengyun’s killing move wasn’t finished yet. At almost

the same moment that the Darkheaven Bloodfiend Sword and the
Soul-Sweeping Devil-Crushing Sword were unleashed, he threw
both hands out and put his palms together. Then, his expression
full of vicious killing intent, he shoved his finger in Xu Qing’s
direction.

“Northghost Heavenwondering Sword!”

As the words left his mouth, a group of eight ghosts appeared in

the blood-colored vortex up above. They were bizarre in
appearance; none of them had faces, and they all had swords
strapped to their backs. They pulsed with frigid coldness, as well
as powerful sword energy. And as they appeared, the spinning
vortex descended to surround Xu Qing.

There were eight of them, and their backs were to Xu Qing. But
then Master Shengyun let loose a shout, and all eight ghosts
moved in unison, drawing the swords from their backs, turning
around, and then slashing their blades toward Xu Qing! Sword
energy surged forth like the sea, unfolding on a magnificent scale
as eight swords slashed toward Xu Qing from eight directions! The
swords moved with incredible speed, appearing in a flash right in
front of Xu Qing’s defensive shield.

There were now ten swords at play, and Master Sixth’s defensive
gift had already been drained significantly during the battle at
Seastar Island. It held strong for a short time, but then ran out of
power and exploded.

During that time, the power of the ten swords was largely drained,
but there was still enough to send sword energy streaming into Xu
Qing toward his life flames.

Xu Qing looked grim as he borrowed power from the exploding

defenses to finally incinerate the last of the blood garment sealing
him. However, the sword energy still surged through him, filling
him with pain and causing blood to spray out of his mouth.
As Master Shengyun strode toward him, Xu Qing’s energy
teetered unstably. Without any hesitation, he turned and fled, his
life flames burning as they resisted the crushing sword energy.

All of this takes a bit of time to describe, but actually happened in

the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint. When Xu Qing
backed up, Master Shengyun shot toward him like lightning. In the
blink of an eye, he had caught up to Xu Qing.

However, that was when Xu Qing managed to rid himself of sword

energy, and he spun in place, a vicious look on his face. Reaching
his right hand out toward Master Shengyun, he dropped it
forcefully. A roar erupted from behind him as a bluegreen dragon
appeared, emanating heaven-shaking, earth-shattering force as it
lunged toward Master Shengyun.

Master Shengyun’s expression flickered as he performed a

double-handed incantation gesture. Instantly, his ravagemist bird
also lunged forward, while at the same time, his life lamp defenses
spread out in full effect.

The bluegreen dragon exploded, but it still forced Master

Shengyun backward, and ripples spread out over his life lamp
defenses. That said, Xu Qing’s counter attack wasn’t finished. Just
as the bluegreen dragon was destroyed...

His dharmaskiff appeared.

He didn’t utilize an attack of godliness; an unfocused release of
power like that wouldn’t help in the current situation. Instead, Xu
Qing sent the dharmaskiff racing directly toward Master Shengyun
with ferocious momentum, the power of self-detonation building
within it.

Master Shengyun had just obliterated Xu Qing’s bluegreen

dragon. Immediately after, he had a dharmaskiff to deal with.
There was no time to dodge out of the way, and thus the
dharmaskiff slammed into him and then self-detonated. A
deafening boom echoed out as the godliness in the dharmaskiff
added to the detonation. Terrifying shockwaves blasted out in all
directions.

Shaken, Master Shengyun had no choice but to fall back, his life
lamp defenses rippling even more dramatically.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing performed a double-handed incantation

gesture, causing a violet heavenly saber to form above him.
However, he knew that wasn’t enough. Finally, he activated all of
the poisons he had laced in the area, sending all of their corroding
effects right toward Master Shengyun’s life lamp defenses!

The reason Xu Qing had allowed Master Sixth’s defensive

talisman to be destroyed was because he wanted to buy time. He
needed to think of a way to get past Master Shengyun’s life lamp
defenses! With those defenses in place, it would be very difficult to
defeat his opponent. He had wanted more time to lace the area
with more poison, and also get the right mixture in place. And then
he had waited for just the right moment to activate them!

As the heavenly saber slashed downward, poison exploded!

Chapter 256: Fighting Back

The violet heavenly saber slashed down, hitting Master

Shengyun’s life lamp defenses, and sending out even more
intense ripples. Then, Master Shengyun’s heavenly saber also
slashed forth, and when it hit Xu Qing’s, they both shattered.

Master Shengyun was shoved backward by the force of the

collision.

But Xu Qing wasn’t done yet. Everything up to this point was

actually a smokescreen. Next, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior
unleashed his most powerful attack from within the iron skewer.
Sparks shot out from the shattered heavenly saber as the skewer
emerged with blinding speed. The patriarch was obviously in
control of the electricity dancing on the surface of the skewer as
he pushed it to its top speed.

The patriarch clearly knew how important his mission was.

Furthermore, having seen how the shadow had been so critical to
the fight so far, he was feeling very nervous. Fearful that he might
fail, he went mad in his efforts, detonating lightning symbols to get
a boost of speed and power. He became like a real bolt of
heavenly lightning that pierced right through the life lamp defenses
of the backpedaling Master Shengyun.
A boom could be heard. The life lamp defenses were shocking,
and thus they didn’t collapse. However, the iron skewer’s speed
and power allowed it to punch a tiny hole in them. Then the
skewer was rebuffed. Spinning off to the side, it looked less bright
than before, and agonized shrieking could be heard from the
patriarch inside. The backlash he had experienced was clearly
significant. As for the hole, it rapidly filled in, and a moment later,
the defenses were back to normal.

Sneering, Master Shengyun said, “You can’t get through my life

lamp defenses. Nothing you do will work.”

Despite his words, the attack had sent him staggering backward.
The whirlwind attacks from Xu Qing, one after another, were just
that effective. First was the bluegreen dragon, then the
dharmaskiff self-detonation, and after that the heavenly saber.
None broke through the life lamp defenses, but the fact that they
came one after another was astounding. However, with those
defenses in place, it wasn’t possible to truly harm Master
Shengyun, any more than his attacks had harmed Xu Qing. That
said, it was obvious that Master Shengyun currently had the upper
hand. He had more divine abilities to call on, and what was more,
the gleam in his eye indicated that he had identified Xu Qing’s
weakness.

“You don’t have enough magical techniques! And you lack divine
abilities that can unleash true might!”
Hearing Master Shengyun’s words, Xu Qing’s eyes turned cold.
He didn’t respond.

Master Shengyun laughed, then performed a double-handed

incantation gesture and prepared to target Xu Qing’s weakness.
However, just before he unleashed a new divine ability, his face
suddenly fell. His life lamp defenses had just faded slightly, and
ripples were flowing across them. Even more noteworthy was
Master Shengyun had just sensed the defenses corroding around
the spot where the iron skewer had poked a hole moments ago.

That was when Master Shengyun recalled a time earlier in Seven

Blood Eyes when someone mentioned Xu Qing using poison in his
fight with Sima Ling.

“Poison is nothing! It can never be a great dao!”

Master Shengyun snorted coldly. From when he was young, he

had always had a unique constitution that caused him to look
down on ordinary poisons. He waved his hand, and his life lamp
glittered. As its light spread out, the corrosion on the defenses
disappeared. Having accomplished that, he again prepared to
attack. But then his expression flickered even more dramatically
than before. An intense pain had suddenly started to spread
through his body, and greenish-black blotches had appeared on
his skin from mutagen. At the same time, his life flames were
flickering.
“What’s this??”

Gasping, Master Shengyun sensed the powerful poison inside of

him and realized it was spreading far too quickly. His vision
blurred, and all of a sudden, he was filled with a sense of deadly
crisis. The poison was, of course, the little beetles. They had been
sticking to his life lamp defenses this entire time, incapable of
getting inside. They had just been waiting for an opportunity.

When Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior poked a hole, that was all
they needed. In that instant, a host of beetles poured inside.

Master Shengyun was right. Xu Qing lacked a lot of powerful

divine abilities. However, Master Shengyun was also incorrect,
because though Xu Qing lacked amazing divine abilities, he did
have his poisons!

The moment the beetles attacked, Xu Qing’s eyes flickered with

killing intent, and he rushed forward. He had been waiting for this
moment for the entire fight. As Master Shengyun dealt with the
sudden poison flare-up, Xu Qing closed in with his hand clenched
in a fist.

The golden crow appeared behind him, bursting with flame. His life
lamp manifested overhead as a shocking black umbrella. And his
fist rocketed forward, backed by five-flame battle prowess.

In his poisoned state, Master Shengyun was incapable of evading

the blow. He tried to fall back, but Xu Qing just pressed the attack.
A boom rang out as the blow landed on the life lamp defenses. A
shockwave passed through Master Shengyun, and he was sent
spinning off to the side like a kite with its string cut. Xu Qing
followed up with another blow.

Master Shengyun gasped for breath, and his eyes were

completely bloodshot. Relying on his defenses to keep him safe,
he tapped into his imperial-class technique. The piercing cry of the
ravagemist bird rang out, sweeping through him to dispel the
poison. At the same time, the seven-colored umbrella above him
radiated dazzling light to the same effect. However, Xu Qing then
waved his hand, and his black umbrella spread out and put
crushing pressure down onto Master Shengyun. Intense rumbling
sounds echoed everywhere as blood sprayed from his mouth. The
sensation of crisis welled up stronger in him. There was no time to
deal with everything that was happening, and he felt more than
ever that this was a life-or-death moment. Then Xu Qing’s fist
arrived.

Master Shengyun backed up again, and Xu Qing shot forward like

lightning to keep up the attack. He threw out fist after fist, and
slashed down with the heavenly saber over and over again. The
golden crow used all its strength, and Patriarch Golden Vajra
Warrior once again went all-out to try to pierce through the
enemy’s defenses.

As for the shadow, it took advantage of this moment in which

Master Shengyun was forced to deal with the poisons. Stretching
out, it covered a second dharma aperture.

Xu Qing was going all out in every respect!

Master Shengyun continued to fall back, blood spraying out of his

mouth. Each mouthful of blood contained masses of poisons and
when it fell, it melted the ground it touched. And his life lamp
defenses glittered as Xu Qing shoved his hands against them.
Then, a shocking boom rang out as the defenses finally couldn’t
take it anymore and shattered. Poison rushed in and blood
sprayed out of Master Shengyun’s mouth. He tumbled backward,
his face filling with rage. And yet he couldn’t even fight back. He
just tried to get out of the ruins and into the forbidden region.

“What poison is this??” he howled. He refused to believe that this

was really happening. Before, he had six life flames, and should
have been able to crush this opponent easily. But because of that
shadow, his battle prowess had dropped, and then his opponent
used an incomparably terrifying poison on him. He felt madness
building within him. His hair was disheveled and he looked
completely bedraggled. His once-dazzling golden robe was now
pale and dull. Altogether, he looked to be in very bad shape.

If any disciple from the Seven Sect Coalition could see him now,
they would be completely flabbergasted. No one had ever
witnessed Master Shengyun in a state like this before.
Master Shengyun felt bitter and enraged. But Xu Qing’s killing
intent raged as he closed in again. Finally, Master Shengyun took
out a jade slip and quickly sent a voice message, calling back the
three dao protectors who he had sent out looking for various
specific items.

Unfortunately, his dao protectors had been away for quite a while,
and none of them had even considered that Master Shengyun
would face something truly dangerous. It was going to take time
for them to arrive, and time was something Master Shengyun
didn’t have a lot of right now. The poison inside of him was
erupting violently, and his battle prowess was dropping. In that
critical moment, Xu Qing was pressing the attack, leading with the
golden crow, which obviously wanted to assimilate Master
Shengyun alive.

As the ravagemist bird appeared, Xu Qing launched a fist strike.

Master Shengyun tried to defend, but blood sprayed out of his
mouth as a result. Expression vicious, Xu Qing head-butted
Master Shengyun in the face.

Master Shengyun grunted. His face was covered in blood, and his
eyes radiated madness. He wanted to extricate himself from this
fight, but black balefire spread out from Xu Qing, creating a gaping
maw that surged toward Master Shengyun. His eyes burned with
ferocity; he wanted to take Master Shengyun’s soul and use it to
open dharma apertures!
The madness in Master Shengyun’s eyes grew more intense.
Howling shrilly, he caused his golden daoist robe to suddenly
expand until it exploded.

The daoist robe was a treasure in its own right. Borrowing the
force of the explosion, Master Shengyun shot backward. It was at
that moment that his life lamp finally managed to expel all of the
poison from within him. His life flame flickered unstably, and he
could tell it wouldn’t stay strong for much longer. That, coupled
with how viciously aggressive Xu Qing was being, ensured that
Master Shengyun didn’t hesitate at all about what to do next. Now
that he wasn’t being constantly injured, he shouted loudly and
pulled something out from his ring of holding!

It was a dilapidated piece of wood that seemed to be a chunk

taken from something larger, and the moment he took it out, it
erupted with terrifying fluctuations.

Xu Qing’s expression flickered in response. He could sense that

his life flames were about to be extinguished, and his dharma
apertures vibrated so badly they seemed like they might pop out of
him.

The door even seemed to affect the dome of heaven, and the
surrounding lands. Plants and vegetation in all directions started
withering. Streams of life force began madly rushing toward the
piece of wood, causing it to quickly transform into a pitch-black
doorway covered with countless scratch marks from fingernails. A
sinister, gruish aura emanated from it, especially from the scratch
marks, which were ghastly, and seemed to be filled with dried
blood. The scratch marks were all of different lengths and depths,
which made it seem like different people at different times had
desperately tried to claw open the door. The sense of horror it
imparted filled the area.

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed and he backed up.

Meanwhile, madness filled Master Shengyun’s eyes as he pointed

at Xu Qing.

“Open!”

The pitch-black door creaked open in Xu Qing’s direction.

Deathblade's ThoughtsAs of me putting this message here, I've

added a final big Champion tier. I do not have any plans to add
another tier any time soon. Maybe in the distant future. Thank you,
Champions, for directly supporting the translation!I didn't plan
specifically to add this tier right now, but actually it's in a good
spot. Lots of great stuff in the next handful of chapters....

As of me putting this message here, I've added a final big

Champion tier. I do not have any plans to add another tier any time
soon. Maybe in the distant future. Thank you, Champions, for
directly supporting the translation!
I didn't plan specifically to add this tier right now, but actually it's in
a good spot. Lots of great stuff in the next handful of chapters....
Chapter 257: Profoundly Vicious and Cruel

The ancient door was covered with the evidence of ancient time. It
had obviously seen many, many things, like an old man who had
lived for countless years and as a result could see deeply into the
core of any person. The black color of the door also contained rot,
as if that same old man had grown numb due to the misery of the
world around him.

Stifling. Gruish. Sinister.

Those were the things Xu Qing felt when looking at the door.

As it opened, he also realized that everything around him was

suddenly very quiet. There was no sound at all. The wind went
still, and the clouds stopped moving. It even seemed like his own
heart had stopped beating. It was the same with everything, even
Master Shengyun, who currently stood atop the opening door.

It was as if the power of this door was too boundless. Too bizarre.
Neither the target nor the person using it was spared from its
effects. All lost the ability to move.

Xu Qing had experienced a sensation like this before. Four years

earlier in the forbidden region outside the scavenger basecamp,
he had encountered the Singing. On that occasion, he saw a pair
of women’s boots walking through a blood fog. The feelings were
the same. Back then as now, he felt immobile down to his soul, as
if even his thoughts were frozen in place by the opening of the
door. [1]

He wasn’t breathing. Frost formed on his eyebrows and hair.

Coldness built up within him. Everything in his field of vision
disappeared except for the door. The long, slow creaking pierced
into his ears.

Inside the door was pure darkness and frigid coldness. In fact,
steam was slowly rising from the edges of the door thanks to the
intense cold.

Atop the door, Master Shengyun had a ferocious facial expression,

and eyes pulsing with killing intent. This door was called the
Darkspirit Everwill Door, and Master Shengyun considered it a
precious treasure. He had only used it once since acquiring it. It
wasn’t something he was doing lightly, as he knew that the effects
would reach both his enemy and himself. Of even greater
significance was that opening the door required draining his own
soul.

It was an incomparably gruish door with a mysterious history. It

was impossible to say what would come out of the door once it
was opened, and thus, its killing power and effects varied from
person to person. This was information his grandfather had
explained to him. [2]
The last time he used the door, targeting himself, what had
emerged was a huge rotting tongue, which he had found very
unsettling. After all, his grandfather had explained that what came
out of the door was a materialization of what already existed in
one’s heart and mind. At the moment, Master Shengyun was very
curious to see what would come out of the door now that Xu Qing
was the target.

Hopefully it will be some sort of evil ghost. An evil ghost that rips
him limb from limb!!

Even as those thoughts ran through Master Shengyun’s mind,

from within the endless darkness in the black wooden door... a
beam of light appeared! It started out very weak, as little more
than a speck. But it rapidly grew larger and brighter, until it was an
immeasurably brilliant sea of light.

As the light emerged, it turned into numerous shafts of brightness

that spread out everywhere.

Outside of the door, the sky turned from dark to light. The lands
were illuminated, and all the plants and vegetation were bathed in
brightness. As for Xu Qing, he was right in the middle of it all, with
the light consuming even his shadow. Within that sea of light, Xu
Qing felt immeasurable pain. It was like he was being burned
alive, including his skin, muscles, blood, and his internal organs.
The light pierced his body, stabbing into his soul, penetrating
everything about him. Wherever it went, it brought pain. Green
smoke began to rise up from him, almost as if he were being
erased from existence. However, in addition to the pain, he found
that he could move again, and started backing away. He moved at
top speed, yet couldn’t stop the light from burning him. It was like
he was the night, and this light was dawn, bringing radiance and
light to wipe away the darkness. His skin was so badly burned it
was now black. His muscles and blood were shedding all
moisture. His hair had turned into ash. Not even his life lamp or his
imperial-class technique could resist this. He took out a jade slip
and, despite the hesitant look on his face, crushed it. It gave him a
boost of speed.

As he fell back, hardly looking human, Master Shengyun remained

atop the door. Seeing what was happening, there wasn’t an ounce
of satisfaction on his face. Instead, he looked incredulous. In fact,
it almost looked like he couldn’t believe what was happening.

Light? When the Darkspirit Everwill Door is opened on you, it

produces light?? That should be impossible! You’re just like me, a
ruthless killer! You’ve walked over countless bones to get where
you are. You’re a master of poison, a person who consumes souls
to further your cultivation. You’re surrounded by black flames! Your
soul fire is as dark as night. It’s no exaggeration at all to say that
you’re an outright monster. But how could the materialization of
your thoughts be... light?? Laughable. Outrageous! Ridiculous!!
You’re surrounded by darkness and gloom, but your heart is full of
radiance and light?

Master Shengyun’s eyes were bloodshot and his expression was

pure ferocity. Then he started laughing, almost like he’d lost his
mind. He simply couldn’t control himself after seeing light coming
out from this door.

That was because... he had always wanted this for himself!!

He was Master Shengyun! The characters ‘Sheng’ and ‘Yun’

represented radiance and light. Yet when this door was opened on
him, a revolting tongue emerged. All of it caused his killing intent
to tower to new heights. [3]

As Xu Qing backed up in the face of the brilliant light from the

door, Master Shengyun quickly performed an incantation gesture,
and the door slammed shut, then blurred momentarily as it shifted
directions. Now it wasn’t facing Xu Qing, it was facing Master
Shengyun.

He was still poisoned, and considering how critical of a moment

this was, he actually had more than one goal in using this door.
One was to kill Xu Qing, but the other was to remove the poison
from himself. The last time he’d used the door, he had been in
similar circumstances, and had used the door to remove a curse
on himself.
He gritted his teeth as the Darkspirit Everwill Door spun and
opened in his direction. As before, the interior was pitch black.
Then, a revolting tongue appeared, which shot out at top speed
and wrapped around Master Shengyun. He trembled and his face
contorted with pain. Being wrapped up by the tongue, his entire
body started to rot. His handsome features withered until he
looked like a corpse, and his hair all fell out. And a noxious odor
spread out from him.

However, he was more than pleased to pay that price, considering

the outcome. The dangerous poison in him was mostly extruded,
and the faint traces left behind seemed inactive. But what left
Master Shengyun completely overwhelmed with horror was that
the shadow covering his 120th dharma aperture was completely
unfazed.

Not only that, but an eye suddenly appeared in the shadow, which
cast him a contemptuous glance.

What is that thing??? There was no time for Master Shengyun to

think about the subject. With the poison in him suppressed, he put
away the door. He didn’t dare to continue to use it in this fight. He
also took out some healing pills that he popped into his mouth.
Then he charged back toward Xu Qing.

Some distance away, Xu Qing finally looked up. He was in a very

bedraggled state, but his killing intent was just as intense as ever.
Though he had been seriously injured just now, the violet crystal
was already healing him. During his retreat, he had also
consumed quite a few healing pills.

As Master Shengyun closed in, Xu Qing stamped his foot on the

ground, launching himself up into the air, where he met the attack.
Booms rang out everywhere, and plants everywhere were
shredded to nothing. Trees collapsed, and beasts in the area fled.
The fighting between Xu Qing and Master Shengyun caused
everything to shake violently.

Even a Gold Core cultivator who showed up right now would be

shocked. The two of them fought with incredible speed, launching
blows, moving about over the terrain, and leaving destruction
behind them wherever they went.

As they fought back and forth, Xu Qing suddenly produced a

crystal which he threw out. It exploded, releasing a cloud of black
fog, out of which charged a headless grue with the body of an ox.
It immediately attacked Master Shengyun. There was more. Xu
Qing threw out three more crystals, all of which exploded. Out flew
a ball of tangled black hair, a withered hand, and a white eyeball.
These deathly items were things Xu Qing had taken from Sima
Ling, the so-called god of wealth from Revered Ancient. Releasing
them all at the same time caused boundless mutagen to fill the
area. Then, Xu Qing gritted his teeth and tossed out a huge
quantity of black boluses. [4]
Popping sounds rang out as more mutagen filled the area, which
attracted the attention of other vile beings in the surrounding
forbidden region.

Master Shengyun’s face fell. Backing up, he waved his hand to try
to keep the mutagen away. As for the four grues, being in this
mutagen made them like fish in water. Without any hesitation, they
clumped together. The withered hand attached itself to the neck of
the headless ox, and the eyeball connected to the palm of the
hand. The hair attached itself to the ox as well. In the blink of an
eye, the new grue’s energy surged and it launched itself in Master
Shengyun’s direction.

Master Shengyun prepared to dodge out of the way.

However, that was when a decisive look flickered in Xu Qing’s

eyes, and he pulled out a bunch of Sima Ling’s grue-controlling
magical devices from his bag of holding. He threw them, and they
exploded, blocking Master Shengyun’s path of escape. The
charging grue slammed into him.

The ravagemist bird howled. Unfortunately, given Master

Shengyun’s current state, it was also damaged. Then the golden
crow glared at it and launched forth in attack. The two started
fighting fiercely.

Xu Qing also closed in, a dagger appearing in his hand. Taking

advantage of Master Shengyun’s exhaustion, he aimed the dagger
at his throat.

Master Shengyun threw his head back, and the dagger whizzed
right past him. Though he avoided being slashed, the balefire still
burned him. He was an extraordinary individual, and managed to
defend himself by calling on his life flames. But that couldn’t do
anything about Xu Qing’s wild style of fighting.

Xu Qing instantly launched into a head-butt.

Eyes bloodshot, Master Shengyun did the same.

A huge boom rang out as both of them staggered backward, stars

swimming in their vision.

Master Shengyun was really getting a taste of Xu Qing’s ferocity.

But that didn’t reduce his killing intent. In fact, he now wanted
more than ever to kill Xu Qing and take his life lamp.

As he backed away, Master Shengyun slapped his own forehead,

causing a tremor to pass through his own body. Then, using some
unknown secret magic, he shoved his hand into his forehead and
grabbed something inside. The next moment, he wrenched a
blood-soaked brush pen from inside himself! It started out small,
but rapidly became larger. Astonishingly, the tip of the brush was a
head that looked exactly like Master Shengyun in every way!

“I was sleeping, big brother. Why’d you wake me up? Is it time to

play?”
1. Xu Qing encountered the Singing in chapter 16. ☜

2. Specifically, the word here is for ‘paternal grandfather.’ ☜

3. By way of reminder, Master Shengyun’s real name is Chu

Shengyun. Because his daoist name uses his original given name,
I chose to transliterate it. Sheng means “holy, sacred, saint, sage”
and Yun is a fancy and sort of rare character that means
“sunlight.” If I didn’t transliterate his given name, then his daoist
name would be something like Master Holy Sunlight. ☜

4. Xu Qing looted the items from Sima Ling in chapter 232. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsThanks to PG. F-God for the review!

Thanks to PG. F-God for the review!

Chapter 258: Dharma Seas Crush an Evil
Pen

It was such a gruish pen that just looking at it caused Xu Qing’s

pupils to constrict!

It was as tall as an ordinary person; its shaft was made of a spine,

the tip from a head, and the brush hairs were the head’s hair.
There was still bloody flesh on the spine, and though the head still
had skin on it, that skin was green, making it look like an evil
ghost. When it spoke, its voice was profoundly sinister, causing Xu
Qing to frown.

Master Shengyun ignored the words, grabbed the pen, and drew a
red circle in the air. The instant the circle appeared, it became
corporeal, and it began expanding rapidly, like a rushing wind.

Xu Qing immediately fell back.

The composite grue was shaken. As the ox body fell back in

retreat, it shivered and then exploded into four parts. The four
parts then also exploded into bits.

Master Shengyun gripped the pen as he looked with bloodshot

eyes at Xu Qing.
Master Shengyun had been bizarre from birth; he had been born
with a conjoined twin attached to his waist. That wasn’t necessarily
a rarity on the Revered Ancient mainland. Truth be told, things like
that happened a lot because of the effects of mutagen, and how
the properties of life force changed with the arrival of the god
above. Even people who looked normal, and didn’t seem like they
had any mutagen in them... might have those changes built into
their blood. It was only a matter of finding out which generation it
would manifest in.

Despite all that, Master Shengyun had been unwilling to accept his
lot in life, and from the moment he realized how different he was
from everyone else, had wanted to kill his brother. His younger
brother had felt the same way. Eventually, Master Shengyun came
out on top. He suppressed his conjoined twin, assimilated him,
and turned him into this treasure. The patriarch of his clan knew
about it, as did many people in his sect. That didn’t matter. The
patriarch tacitly approved of the situation, as long as one of them
lived. Therefore, no one else had any say in the matter.

The pen in Master Shengyun’s hand looked at Xu Qing with a

serene look in his eyes. Then, a long tongue emerged from his
mouth. Licking his lips, the head said, “Is he the one you want
dead, big brother? He’s so pretty. After we get him, why don’t you
do the same thing to him that you did to me? Assimilate him, steal
his natural aptitude, and create a second pen brush?”
Master Shengyun snorted coldly. “That’s fine. Kill him, and I’ll
make it happen.”

The little brother’s eyes lit up, and he suddenly erupted with a
shocking level of mutagen. His eyes turned black, and his
expression became one of greed. Then Master Shengyun waved
his hand, and the gruish pen slashed left and right to create an X.

The X glittered with red light as it turned corporeal. The pen’s ink
was as red as blood, making the X seem like it was made from
flesh. You could even see veins on its surface, wriggling
horrifically.

The X of flesh and blood then shot toward Xu Qing. As it neared,

its gruish aura grew stronger, and winds screamed in the area.

Xu Qing’s expression turned grim as he pulled out a jade slip,

making sure Master Shengyun couldn’t see it clearly. It looked like
he was about to snap it, but in the end, decided not to.

A boom rang out as the X of flesh and blood arrived and slammed
into Xu Qing. Blood sprayed out of Xu Qing’s mouth as he
staggered backward. Gruish laughter rang out from the X as it
prepared to chase Xu Qing. However, Xu Qing was very quick,
and it couldn’t catch up easily.

At this point in the battle, both Xu Qing and Master Shengyun had
sustained serious injuries. Furthermore, Xu Qing’s weakness had
become very apparent. He lacked divine abilities and magical
techniques, especially when compared to Master Shengyun.

Truth be told, if his opponent was anyone other than Master

Shengyun, then his techniques could be considered satisfactory.
But Master Shengyun was a chosen from the Soaring Cloud
Sword Sect, who they hoped to groom into walking the path of the
Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns. It was only natural
that he would have a lot of techniques and magical devices.

I lack divine abilities and magical techniques. And my magical

devices aren’t as gruish as his. But as the saying goes...
overwhelming power can defeat someone even ten times as
skilled!

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered as the power of the violet crystal surged

within him. As this battle went on, it had become more and more
obvious how impressive the crystal was in its ability to heal him.

What was more, the 1,500-meter spirit seas in his dharma

apertures ensured that he could stay in the profound radiance
state for a very long time. In fact, his current plan was to rely on
that advantage to crush his opponent.

Therefore, as the X of flesh and blood closed in again, Xu Qing

suddenly shot up into the air, raised his right hand, and pointed to
the dome of heaven. Simultaneously, his 92 dharma apertures
erupted, causing intense heat to sweep upward. Next, a 1,500-
meter hand appeared above him in the sky! That hand was the
manifestation of only one of the spirit seas in one of his dharma
apertures. And thus, after the hand formed, a second one
appeared, which superimposed over the first one, doubling its
power. Things weren’t over. As Xu Qing tapped into his dharma
apertures, a third hand was added. Then a tenth. Then a
thirtieth.... One hand after another superimposed, creating
something almost impossible to describe. Intense winds swept
through the area, and immense pressure built.

Master Shengyun’s eyes went wide, and his heart pounded with
astonishment. The spirit seas in Xu Qing’s dharma apertures were
absolutely shocking. In fact, in Master Shengyun’s entire life, he
had never seen spirit seas so terrifying.

Even he only had spirit seas that were a bit over 600 meters!

“You....” he murmured, his face falling. He knew that the size of

one’s spirit seas correlated to the majesty of the dharma force one
commanded. At lower levels, that didn’t matter much. But as one’s
cultivation base got stronger, and one opened more and more
dharma apertures, then it could lead to a very big difference
between two people. And that’s what was happening right now.

In the shortest of moments, the hand above Xu Qing became a

composite of ninety-two!
From a distance, it was possible to see a giant, ninety-two level
hand hovering in the air. Wind whipped across the trembling lands,
and massive pressure weighed down. Lightning crackled across
the surface of the hand like dragons or snakes. A will surged that
could devour heaven and end the earth!

Even the X of flesh and blood quivered in midair as if from fear.

Xu Qing was not like Master Shengyun with his three peerless
swords and amazing gruish items. He couldn’t summon a black
door, did not have a special treasure that could become a brush
pen of flesh and blood.

But he did have ninety-two spirit seas, each of which were 1,500
meters in size!

Regardless of how gruish you were, regardless of what magical

techniques you had, and regardless of what special items you
possessed, he had the power to crush you!

Veins bulged on Xu Qing’s forehead as massive pressure weighed

down from the hand. Cracking sounds could be heard from within
him as the tendons in his arms grew tight. Then, he shoved his
hand in the direction of the X of flesh and blood... and Master
Shengyun!

The giant hand overhead, pulsing with might to crush mountains

and seas, smashed into the gruish X. Rumbling sounds echoed
into the sky as the X stood strong for five breaths of time. Then it
couldn’t take the force and exploded into bits.

More rumbling sounds echoed out as the hand crushed everything

in its path. Behind it, even Xu Qing had to work hard to stand up to
the pressure of all the spirit seas.

The ground quaked and trees crumbled into ash from the terrifying
power on display. A moment later, the hand was right in front of
the pale-faced and astonished Master Shengyun. In that critical
moment, his eyes flickered with determination. Howling, he thrust
his gruish pen out in front of him like a sword, stabbing it toward
the hand.

All of his dharma apertures erupted, imbuing the gruish pen with
dharma force. His brother’s face looked ferocious, but
simultaneously astonished. In fact, his expression made it seem
like, in his madness, he sought death!

Thunderous booms rang out one after another, shaking the

surrounding forbidden ground.

Xu Qing and Master Shengyun both coughed up blood, and both

fought with all their might against the power, their expressions
vicious.

Blinding light shot out of Master Shengyun’s gruish pen.

Shockwaves rolled out in all directions as, in the blink of an eye,
thirty-three of the layers of the composite hand were destroyed.
That was when the light from the pen began to fade. A howl
erupted from within as Master Shengyun’s younger brother fought
with madness. However, even if his madness were more intense, it
wasn’t enough. Forty-three more layers of the hand collapsed, and
then the pen began to shatter and collapse into ash.

The madness in the eyes of Master Shengyun’s brother changed.

He seemed to experience a sudden release, and a fierce smile
appeared on his face. With another surge of force, he destroyed
thirteen layers of Xu Qing’s composite hand. Then his head
collapsed. In the final moment before falling into ultimate
destruction, he spoke his final words, shrill and full of venom.

“Chu Shengyun, do you remember how I cursed you when you

assimilated me? I said that you would suffer the same fate as me.
You would be assimilated by someone else. You would also have
your life taken away. Maybe you erased the power of my curse
with the fragment of that taboo magical item, but it seems that the
curse is effective!”

His words turned into a stream of laughter as Xu Qing’s giant hand

crushed into the body of the pen, absolutely destroying it. Then,
with the final three that remained, the hand hit Master Shengyun.
Blood sprayed out of his mouth as his life flames flickered on the
verge of being extinguished. His hair was now completely
disheveled, and he was bedraggled from head to toe. However, as
he tumbled backward, the killing intent in his eyes flickered just as
strongly as before.
“Curse me however you want. Your death was worth it!” He
slammed both hands onto the ground in front of him and shouted,
“Flesh Curse: Myriad Blood Convergence!”

Xu Qing’s face fell.

Instantly, the shattered remnants of the gruish pen melded into the
mud on the ground. Then, numerous bloody arms stretched up
from the ground, thousands of them, all stretching with mad speed
toward Xu Qing.

At the same time, it was with bloodshot eyes that Master

Shengyun threw his head back, and in a bizarre, vile voice
shouted, “I hereby summon a projection of the Soaring Cloud
taboo treasure!”

Deathblade's ThoughtsIn the early parts of the chapter, there was

some odd composition in the original Chinese. I did some heavier
editing than usual to make it smooth in English.Also, the author
apparently made a math mistake in a later part, which I also fixed
(hopefully). The weird thing is that Chinese readers didn’t seem to
notice the math mistake (which makes me fearful that I’m actually
the one who made the math mistake). In any case, I re-read the
Chinese something like 10 times to make sure it was really an
author math mistake, and not my own mistake in interpretation.

In the early parts of the chapter, there was some odd composition
in the original Chinese. I did some heavier editing than usual to
make it smooth in English.

Also, the author apparently made a math mistake in a later part,

which I also fixed (hopefully). The weird thing is that Chinese
readers didn’t seem to notice the math mistake (which makes me
fearful that I’m actually the one who made the math mistake). In
any case, I re-read the Chinese something like 10 times to make
sure it was really an author math mistake, and not my own mistake
in interpretation.
Chapter 259: Stabbing into the Sea of
Consciousness

Taboo treasure!

After Xu Qing became part of the echelon, he earned the right to

summon a projection of the sect’s magical treasure. Some chosen
from the Seven Sect Coalition similarly had the ability to tap into
the reserve powers of their sects. That said, such authority was
only vested in a few people, and was usually given out as a
special reward, and to be used for defensive purposes only. After
all, the magical treasures of the Seven Sect Coalition were in the
‘taboo’ level. That meant they could only be used for short periods
of time. And if their effectiveness was to be maximized, they were
only supposed to be used at specific times.

Master Shengyun had plentiful battle experience, and thus, he

didn’t immediately resort to summoning that projection. Instead, he
made sure to create the perfect set of circumstances to unleash it.
He knew that it wasn’t going to be a simple matter to take Xu
Qing’s life lamp. For one thing, he would have to make sure Xu
Qing didn’t escape in a critical moment, for instance, by means of
a teleportation jade slip.

There had been two instances during the fight in which Xu Qing
took out a jade slip and seemed about to crush it. Though Master
Shengyun had pretended not to notice that, he had immediately
guessed at what Xu Qing was thinking of doing.

As far as he was concerned, this fight was like a fishing

expedition. He needed to wear out his opponent and make sure he
didn’t have any special moves left. He also needed him grievously
wounded. Only then could he be completely confident in
succeeding.

At this point, he was confident that it was time to actually make his
move. It had started with taking out his pen of flesh and blood.
Regardless of whether the pen injured Xu Qing or not, Master
Shengyun had planned to destroy it and use the curse power
within it to trap Xu Qing.

Then he would unleash the taboo treasure. By creating nets above

and snares below, he would make sure Xu Qing couldn’t escape,
and would then be able to take away his life lamp.

When Xu Qing heard his words, his expression flickered. The

bloody arms surrounding him were extremely tough, and had
latched onto him with such force that he couldn’t break free.
Seemingly without hesitation, he had prepared to crush the jade
slip he had been holding in his hand this whole time.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t time.

The sky above suddenly turned bright red, making it look

matchlessly bewitching and gruish. And that redness quickly
became an entire world of blood with Xu Qing right in the middle.
Spatial ripples flowed within it, ensuring that no teleportations were
possible in its bounds. And then it began to shrink. The sealing
power grew stronger, cutting off everything inside the world with
that outside.

Then, a red-colored seed appeared up in the dome of heaven. It

was different from the seed that the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect
had sent flying to the Young Arbiter Sect. It was illusory, not
corporeal. But it still emanated a shocking might as it dropped to
the ground and transformed into a huge, blood-colored tree.

A deadly tempest sprang up around the tree which slammed into

Xu Qing and sent blood spraying out of his mouth. It was like
some massive force trying to wipe him out of existence.

Master Shengyun threw his head back and laughed uproariously,

his eyes shining with greed. Tapping into the full extent of his
cultivation base, he shot toward Xu Qing.

The ravagemist bird cried out behind him, and his life lamp
umbrella radiated dazzling light above him. Now that he had
locked down the area to prevent Xu Qing from escaping, it was
time to go in for the kill and take his life lamp.

“This area is now sealed by the projection of my sect’s taboo

treasure. There are two of us inside, and only one will get out!”
Master Shengyun closed in with deadly force, and blood sprayed
out of Xu Qing’s mouth as he backed away. The pressure of the
sealing power was so immense that his own life flames seemed to
be on the verge of sputtering out.

Looking at the strange, gruish tree, Xu Qing’s eyes flickered with

cold light, and he growled, “I hereby summon a projection of
Seven Blood Eyes’ magical treasure!”

Seven Blood Eyes’ magical treasure was not at the taboo level,
and Xu Qing had never summoned its projection before.

The moment the words left his mouth, the surrounding world of
blood vibrated, and the sky shook. A massive power descended
that seemed capable of ripping the blood world apart, and then an
eye appeared in the sky. It seemed calm and peaceful, lacking any
hint of emotion as it stared down at the projection of the taboo
treasure.

In response, the taboo treasure trembled even harder. However,

there was clearly a disparity between the two treasures, as the
taboo projection didn’t collapse. Xu Qing was unable to escape.

That said, the eye was able to lock down the blood tree so it
couldn’t do anything. And thus, the pressure weighing down on Xu
Qing was slightly alleviated.

“A measly magical treasure from a subsidiary sect couldn’t

possibly do anything to my sect’s taboo treasure. This blood world
is going to be your grave!” Continuing to laugh, Master Shengyun
closed in on Xu Qing with another attack, his eyes gleaming with
greed.

Xu Qing’s expression darkened. Without a word, he sent the

golden crow forth, and summoned the black umbrella of his life
lamp. As black fire raged around him, he and Master Shengyun
started fighting back and forth within the world of blood.

Xu Qing was obviously weakened because of the pressure of the

blood world, and was soon on the defensive. Seeing that, Master
Shengyun started pressing the attack even harder.

Eventually, the blood world had shrunk down to a size of only 30

meters. The huge tree inside of it had also shrunk down. Rumbling
echoed out left and right as Xu Qing staggered back, blood spilling
from his mouth. Once again, he had a jade slip in his hand, and he
was looking around.

“Don’t bother!” Master Shengyun said. “You can’t escape. Not

even I can control the taboo treasure. I have to just wait until it
dissipates. The only reason I used it was to prevent you from
getting away. That teleportation talisman that you’ve been
hesitating about won’t work. I’ve blocked all your paths of escape!”

Master Shengyun surged with energy as he grinned and stalked

toward Xu Qing, looking at him as if he were already dead.
“You’re right, we’re sealed in here pretty tightly,” Xu Qing said
calmly. Having confirmed that what Master Shengyun said was
true, he tossed the jade slip aside and pulled out an iron box.
Opening it, he spilled out the contents.

The jade slip he had been holding was not a teleportation

talisman. It was just an ordinary slip with random information in it.

The iron box, however, was a wish box, and sealed within it was
the poison pill that not even that monk’s head had been able to
resist. The moment the pill appeared, its aura spread out.

Seeing this, Master Shengyun gaped, and his eyes narrowed. He

had no idea what this pill was, but he instinctively got a bad feeling
from it. He launched an attack to destroy it, but Xu Qing blocked
that attack, allowing the pill’s aura to spread. Because the area
was completely sealed, there was nowhere for the aura to go to. It
just gathered in the shrinking blood world, growing stronger and
stronger.

This had been Xu Qing’s plan all along. He didn’t know what trump
cards and secret weapons Master Shengyun would use, so he
couldn’t be on guard against them. He knew that the two of them
were evenly matched, and it wouldn’t be easy to kill him and take
his life lamp in a short time. What was more, Xu Qing knew that
his biggest disadvantage was that, if he was around when Master
Shengyun’s dao protector showed up, he would die. Therefore,
there seemed to be only one way to finish the battle quickly. And
that was to first trick Master Shengyun into thinking he was going
to teleport away, and goad him into doing something to prevent
that.

He was using Master Shengyun’s greed against him. If Master

Shengyun wanted his life lamp, he would have to make sure Xu
Qing couldn’t teleport away. And Xu Qing knew he could use that
as a way to control how the fight played out.

Step by step, he got Master Shengyun exactly where he wanted

him. Bit by bit he got Master Shengyun to think he was setting
things up perfectly for his own benefit, when in reality, he was
setting things up perfectly for Xu Qing.

And now, it came down to finding out one thing. Between Xu Qing
and Master Shengyun... who could survive longest when
surrounded by deadly poison?

Of course, Master Shengyun was an intelligent person. He had no

idea exactly how dangerous this poison pill was, but he could
guess. Eyes still flickering with killing intent, he took out a handful
of antidote pills, consumed them, and then prepared to continue
fighting.

But then his expression flickered as he suddenly noticed the skin

on his right hand rotting and decaying. It was a terrifying
sensation, as he hadn’t experienced any pain at all. He quickly
started checking the rest of his body. His pupils then constricted as
he found that, without him being aware of it at all, there were many
other areas where he was starting to rot! And his antidote pill
wasn’t doing anything to stop it!

“What poison is this?” he blurted. The skin on Xu Qing’s face was

also rotting, but the effects clearly weren’t as pronounced. Not
bothering to answer Master Shengyun’s question, he raced
forward and began his counter attack. He didn’t plan to give
Master Shengyun any chance at all to recover or fight back
against the poison.

For the first time, fear appeared in Master Shengyun’s eyes. He

wanted to try to take control of the taboo treasure projection, and
undo the seal. But as he himself had just mentioned, it wasn’t
possible. What was more, the taboo treasure was also being tied
up dealing with the projection of the Seven Blood Eyes magical
treasure. Because of those two obstacles, there was simply no
way he could do anything about the sealing. He could only wait
until it dissipated naturally, which he expected to take no longer
than two incense sticks’ worth of time. Yet Master Shengyun’s fear
grew more obvious as the decay and rot spread. Even worse, the
shadow covering his dharma apertures seemed to be twitching in
anticipation, as if it planned to spread out further within him.

Upon all that, Xu Qing attacked with brutal ferocity. He led with a
fist strike, then converted it into a head-butt that Master Shengyun
didn’t dare to meet directly.
Master Shengyun dodged to the side.

However, Xu Qing wasn’t holding anything back in terms of speed,

and boldly pressed the attack. The golden crow exploded with the
power of assimilation, and black flames spread out in all
directions. Xu Qing wasn’t targeting Master Shengyun’s throat. He
was targeting his abdomen. Hitting the throat would be lethal. But
the abdomen was where the life lamp was. Because Xu Qing had
a life lamp of his own, he knew exactly where it was.

Master Shengyun was in a frenzy. Howling shrilly, he consumed a

mass of medicinal pills designed to bolster life force. His eyes
were filled with terror and madness as a sensation of imminent
death filled him. He was now fully aware that this was a
competition of seeing who could stay alive for the longest.

There was no escaping, and thus, it was with bloodshot eyes that
he started fighting back. Booms rang out for a short time.

Xu Qing’s mouth was covered in blood, and his skin was rotting
off. But he kept launching blows at Master Shengyun’s abdomen.

As Master Shengyun defended himself, he was shoved backward,

all while his flesh rotted so badly it was dripping off of him in liquid
form.

Xu Qing’s ruthlessness was fully on display as he attacked again,

slamming his knee into Master Shengyun’s belly.
Master Shengyun howled hoarsely; his internal organs were
starting to rot, and it was all he could do to block the attacks.
Unfortunately, his arm had reached such a horrific state of rot that
it collapsed.

That said, Xu Qing’s knee was also rotting, and cracks spread out
across it after he landed the blow. He didn’t care. Opening his
mouth, he lunged forward, his teeth bared as he tried to bite
Master Shengyun’s throat.

The madness in Master Shengyun’s eyes had already been

replaced by pure terror. He flew backward, except that his right leg
was starting to melt, putting him off balance. Then Xu Qing lunged
forward again, and the two slammed into each other.

Because of the poison, both of them were very weak and were
almost at their limit. The battle was reaching a conclusion.

Master Shengyun truly deserved to be called chosen. With his

secret magics, his medicinal pills, and various other methods, he
had already lasted more than an incense stick’s worth of time. But
he couldn’t last much longer. Despair filled his eyes.

The ground was covered with rotting flesh and blood, but much of
it was Xu Qing’s; he was in such bad shape he hardly looked
human. Yet his eyes still shone with utter ruthlessness. Jumping
forward again, he saw the opening he had been looking for and
buried his teeth into Master Shengyun’s neck. Then he viciously
ripped out a chunk of flesh.

Blood sprayed out of Master Shengyun. His ravagemist bird tried

to defend him, but Xu Qing’s vicious attack affected it as well, and
the golden crow pounced. The ravagemist bird shrieked as the
golden crow started to assimilate it.

Things weren’t over yet. Xu Qing was gasping for breath, as the
rot had also reached his internal organs. But he was so close to
Master Shengyun that he was able to punch him hard in the
stomach.

Master Shengyun let loose a gurgle of pain, and tried to get away.
But Xu Qing viciously head-butted him, provoking another shriek.
Blood flowed down Xu Qing’s face, and he felt completely weak.
But, Master Shengyun was even weaker, and Xu Qing realized the
time had come to make his move.

Mustering all of his strength, he stabbed his hand into Master

Shengyun’s abdomen!

Shifting his hand about inside, he found a dharma aperture. Then

he started probing Master Shengyun’s sea of consciousness for a
lamp-shaped object. His eyes lit up. As Master Shengyun
screamed in agony, Xu Qing grabbed the life lamp... and
wrenched it out viciously!
It was the ultimate display of ruthlessness! Blood sprayed like a
fountain! Two of Xu Qing’s fingers had rotted away, but he still had
three left, and that was enough!

Seven-colored light spread out into the world of blood, illuminating

Xu Qing’s face. It was... a seven-colored ceramic lamp!! It almost
looked like crystal, and emanated a seven-colored glow. Within
that glow, it was just possible to see the faint image of a dazzling
seven-colored umbrella. It was covered in blood and also
emanated an ancient aura. Obviously, it had existed for countless
years and had seen many, many things. It was an exceptionally
unique item, covered with countless striations filled with the
magical laws of heaven and earth, all of which combined into the
image of a person. One look at it would cause anyone’s mind to
tremble. Any life lamp was an absolutely precious treasure!

“Xu Qing!!” Master Shengyun screamed shrilly, despite how his

throat was rotting away. The sensation of having his life lamp
ripped out from inside him was driving him into utter insanity.

However, that was when Xu Qing’s eyes flickered with cold light.
The five fingers on his left hand had rotted away so badly that only
bones were left behind. Without any hesitation, he stabbed those
sharp bones right into Master Shengyun’s throat!

And they came out the other side!

Deathblade's ThoughtsThank you to Antolduso,
Strawberrydragon, and LordOfLies for the reviews!Because of the
new Champion tier I just uploaded, it's going to be a few chapters
before new review shoutouts pop up again. For those following
daily releases, it will be more than a week. (I do the shoutouts with
my daily upload so that it's a routine)

Thank you to Antolduso, Strawberrydragon, and LordOfLies for the

reviews!

Because of the new Champion tier I just uploaded, it's going to be

a few chapters before new review shoutouts pop up again. For
those following daily releases, it will be more than a week. (I do
the shoutouts with my daily upload so that it's a routine)
Chapter 260: It Was Worth It!

Master Shengyun’s voice ceased as his life force faded.

However, Xu Qing wasn’t ready to rest at ease. Pulling his skeletal

hand back, he prepared to rip Master Shengyun’s throat fully
open. Then he would tear the rest of his body to shreds. The last
thing he wanted was his opponent using some mysterious
technique to resurrect himself. Before he could do anything else,
the seven-colored life lamp he was holding emitted a bright beam
of light. It happened with no warning whatsoever. Apparently, it
was powered by the same force behind the Soaring Cloud Sword
Sect’s taboo projection, which didn’t block it at all. Not even the
Seven Blood Eyes magical treasure eye could do anything to stop
it. It rose high into the dome of heaven, where it exploded like a
firework.

Then, it transformed into a massive blood-colored vortex. A

terrifying, hair-raising aura then erupted from the vortex, along with
an enraged shout.

“Who dares to harm my grandson??”

The Seven Blood Eyes magical treasure projection collapsed. The

projection of the taboo treasure also faded away, unsealing the
area and revealing Xu Qing.
Xu Qing’s expression flickered as he realized the life lamp was
struggling against him, trying to shoot up toward that vortex. He
tightened his grip on it. He had worked hard to get this treasure,
and now it was his!

He had lost a lot of fingers, though, so he quickly bit down onto the
lamp, his eyes bloodshot.

As the sound of the enraged voice continued to echo about, a

hand emerged from the vortex! It was a withered hand, covered
with wrinkles, pulsing with a sensation of decay and ancientness.
Furthermore, it was massive, blotting out the sky and causing all
heaven and earth to grow still. An immense mightiness came with
the hand, spreading out over everything.

Master Shengyun, who was hovering on death’s door, suddenly

vanished, then reappeared below the vortex. A moment later, he
disappeared into the vortex.

Thankfully, Xu Qing’s shadow was quick enough to get out of

Master Shengyun before he was gone.

The massive hand ignored all of that, and began to stretch down
toward Xu Qing.

Xu Qing quivered from head to toe. Blood dripped from his mouth
as he kept his teeth locked onto the life lamp. His vision swam.
Creaking sounds echoed out from within him, and more blood
sprayed from various wounds on him. He felt the shadow of death
covering him. There was no way to dodge this. No way to flee. The
massive hand brought destruction with it as it descended from the
vortex. No level of cultivation base, no special plan, no unique
preparations could do anything right now. The difference in
cultivation level left room for only despair.

But then....

Deep within Forbidden by the Phoenix, a cry rang out, piercing

through the clouds. It sounded like the song of a bird, or perhaps
the roar of a phoenix. Brightly colored light flashed in heaven and
earth as a huge rift opened up in the dome of heaven. A deafening
noise erupted from the rift, shredding the blood-colored vortex to
bits, and causing the enormous hand to shiver.

A voice filled with infinite majesty spoke from the very depths of
Forbidden by the Phoenix.

“I’m the emperor of this forbidden ground, and Void Returning isn’t
welcome here. Screw off!”

The vortex ripped apart, and a muffled grunt rang out. All of a
sudden, three fingers on that huge, ancient hand collapsed.

A tremor passed through Xu Qing as the intense sensation of

deadly crisis vanished. At the same time, the seven-colored
ceramic lamp between his teeth vibrated. The human-shaped
striations formed from magical laws of heaven and earth suddenly
grew blurry. Then, cracking sounds could be heard as the
striations were wiped out of existence. With the image gone, the
life lamp ceased struggling. Xu Qing could now sense that it was
masterless.

At the same time, a shout of rage came from the vortex. However,
the huge hand seemed unwilling to press the issue, and slowly
retracted. After it was gone, a voice echoed out.

“Dao protectors, you have failed and earned the death penalty. If
you kill this child and bring back the life lamp, I’ll pardon your error
and spare your life!”

Numerous rifts exploded across the sky, crisscrossing the

remaining bits of the vortex like blades. The vortex collapsed and
disappeared. Heaven and earth went back to normal.

Xu Qing stood there gasping for breath. Picking up the wish box,
he unhesitatingly turned and started fleeing as fast as he could.
He had no time to sit around coming up with a plan. The moment
that vortex collapsed, he had sensed three Gold Core auras
heading in his direction, pulsing with madness and fury. There was
no need to guess who those came from. Beyond the shadow of a
doubt, they were Master Shengyun’s dao protectors.

The terrifying entity in the vortex was most likely the patriarch of
the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect. Though he had been forced to
retreat by that voice from the depths of Forbidden by the Phoenix,
he had somehow managed to teleport the three dao protectors to
this location before leaving. The patriarch couldn’t be here
personally, but he still wanted Xu Qing dead because of the life
lamp.

There were other loose ends. Who was that voice from the depths
of Forbidden by the Phoenix? Was Master Shengyun alive or
dead? What was Xu Qing going to do next? There was no time to
consider those things.

As he fled, the violet crystal went to work, and he kept a tight grip
on the seven-colored ceramic lamp.

At the same time, a crazy look appeared in his eyes. He had put
everything on the line, and had very nearly died. It had come at
great cost. But it had brought great gain. The value of a life lamp
was simply beyond description!

“It was worth it!!” he murmured. Gritting his teeth, he started

absorbing the seven-colored ceramic lamp. He couldn’t wait until
later to do it, given the danger he was in. There were three Gold
Core enemies after him, and he would need every ounce of
strength possible, as well as every bit of recovery power available.

Without taking time to study the lamp, he decided to just risk it. He
lit his life flames.

As the light of his life flames raged around him, he put the seven-
colored lamp inside of himself. The lamp shone so brightly it was
nearly blinding. However, nothing stopped Xu Qing from placing
fire inside the lamp and then branding it to himself!

As the lamp burned, seven-colored light swirled around him, filling

all of his pores. There was no pain involved; in contrast, it felt
wonderful. Eventually, the light swirled into his dantian region, and
into his sea of consciousness there. As it converged, the image of
a seven-colored ceramic lamp became visible, filled with the
profound sensation of ancient time.

It didn’t look inferior in any way to the black life lamp.

Both were exquisite. Both had an ancient resonance. And as their

radiance combined, it turned into something even more dazzling.
The black light and the seven-colored light interacted, casting out
radiance that made Xu Qing’s heavenly palaces even more visible!

From a distance, it was possible to see Xu Qing fleeing through

the jungle, with seven-colored light surrounding him like a daoist
robe. At the same time, two umbrellas were visible over his head.
One was black, surrounded with endless flames that could protect
the soul. The other was seven-colored, and it spread out over his
entire person, protecting his fleshly body.

It was already as rare as phoenix feathers or qilin horns to have

one umbrella. Having two was the ultimate honor!

Xu Qing was in bad shape from the fight, but at the same time,
was clearly infinitely exceptional. As the life lamp became part of
him, Xu Qing put one of his life flames atop it. Instantly, the light of
his life lamp became even more astonishing.

Rumblings like heavenly thunder echoed in Xu Qing’s mind as his

cultivation base rose rapidly. With two life lamps in him, his life
flames were more amazing than ever. It no longer seemed like a
world was burning within him. Instead, it seemed like an entire
heaven and earth, burning like hell. With the addition of this life
lamp, Xu Qing instantly went from the five-flame level to the six-
flame level!

With battle prowess like that, he would stand at the peak of

Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Emperor-Receiving
Prefecture.

Master Shengyun had once been considered the strongest, but

now, that spot belonged to Xu Qing!

***

As Xu Qing fled through the forbidden ground from three Gold

Core experts, a shout of rage could be heard in the Revered
Ancient mainland, in the Seven Sect Coalition, specifically from
the headquarters of the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect.

“What peasant dared to steal my sect’s life lamp??”

The ancient voice belonged to none other than Patriarch Soaring

Cloud. At the same time, a beam of light shot up from the Soaring
Cloud Sword Sect, speeding out over the Forbidden Sea and
causing everything to shake violently. Within that beam of light
was an old man in a golden robe. He had white hair, and radiated
a sense of majesty and might. He was also furious. The wave of
his hand caused numerous streams of sword energy to shoot up
and accompany him as he shot out over the water in the direction
of South Phoenix and Seven Blood Eyes.

The water seethed beneath Patriarch Soaring Cloud, while at the

same time, flickering streams of light could be seen in his eyes.
Astonishingly, his cultivation level was the same as Sir
Bloodsmelter. He was in the first step of the Void Returning level.
His rage alone was enough to boil the sea, and he pulsed with a
boundless sword energy which caused countless sea beasts to
tremble, and struck fear into the hearts of numerous species. The
sky trembled, and space itself shattered as an almighty being went
out to sea!

***

Meanwhile, in Seven Blood Eyes, atop the Seventh Peak, Master

Seventh sat in a building playing Go with his servant. However, he
had been holding the same piece between his fingers for quite
some time now. If you calculated the exact time, he had been
holding the piece from the moment Xu Qing started fighting Master
Shengyun.

The servant wasn’t in a hurry, and just sat there waiting.

After some time passed, Master Seventh calmly got to his feet and
said, “I have to stop playing for now. I’ll go get Fourth Sib, and
make my move when I get back.”

With that, Master Seventh clasped his hands behind his back,
stepped out into midair, and headed toward Forbidden by the
Phoenix. His hair was white, and his eyes seemed to contain a
starry sky. His robe was violet, and he stood as straight as a
mountain peak. He was old, but he was hale and hearty, like an
old steed that can still gallop a thousand miles.
Chapter 261: He Arrives

Xu Qing sped through the jungle of Forbidden by the Phoenix. He

moved as quickly as he could, though it caused intense pain to fill
him from head to toe. The aura of decay from the taboo poison pill
was still eating away at him. Though his level of resistance was
much greater than when he first opened the wish box, he had
been stuck inside the blood world with the poison for too long.
That, plus all the other serious injuries he had sustained, left Xu
Qing feeling immeasurably weak, like a lantern sputtering out of
oil.

Thankfully, adding another life lamp gave him six-lamp power,

which made him capable of astonishing levels of speed. Despite
his injuries, he was still surrounded by fire, casting light all around
him. He looked like a living torch as he sped along.

Meanwhile, eyes suddenly appeared on his shadow, stretched out

in front of him. They seemed curious as they looked at Xu Qing.
Then a violet will erupted from Xu Qing, which violently
suppressed the shadow. The shadow screamed in agony, then
quickly tried to seem ingratiating.

“I might be hurt,” Xu Qing said grimly, “but I can still suppress you
to death if I have to. By the way... you should cherish the credit
you earned in the fight.”
The shadow quickly let loose fluctuations of subservience. Truth
be told, some malicious thoughts had occurred to it after seeing
Xu Qing hurt so badly. However, it was still afraid of him. That was
why, during the fight with Master Shengyun, the shadow hadn’t
dared to ignore the orders to cover the enemy’s dharma aperture,
nor had it considered trying to sabotage the battle. That wasn’t
how it normally operated given its personality. That was how it
acted out of fear of Xu Qing. Fear was the way Xu Qing controlled
the shadow, and within the curiosity it had just shown was a bit of
maliciousness. How could it have known that Xu Qing would
notice it?

In contrast, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior understood how things

worked. As he followed Xu Qing, he maintained a visage of
ultimate loyalty. Xu Qing noticed that and nodded. Next, he had
the shadow cover his two life lamps, while simultaneously
extinguishing the fire around him.

Xu Qing’s expression was gloomy. The three pursuers were still

locked onto him, and if it weren’t for his six-flame speed, they
would already have caught up.

If I was in top shape, I could think about fighting them!

Xu Qing stopped and looked down at himself. Waves of weakness

and dizziness swept through him. He bit the tip of his tongue,
using the burst of pain to clear his head. Then he started moving
again. He had used all of his poisons on Master Shengyun. He
hadn’t held anything back, not even his beetles. The only beetles
he had left were the ones that had gone dormant after devouring
that immortal ice.

It was still a long way from dawn. As Xu Qing sped along, he

continued to bite his tongue every so often.

I need to think of a way to shake these three dao protectors and

get out of Forbidden by the Phoenix.... I’m not sure what Seven
Blood Eyes is going to think of all this. I’ll need to take stock of the
situation before I decide what to do next. Maybe leaving Forbidden
by the Phoenix isn’t the best idea. Should I think about settling
down here?

Although doing that would come at a big cost, the fact that he had
acquired another life lamp made his eyes shine with
determination. In a brutal, chaotic world, one had to fight to
survive. Having reached the conclusion that this was definitely the
best idea, he shifted directions and started heading deeper into
Forbidden by the Phoenix. At the same time, he thought back to
that voice which had spoken out in the moment of ultimate crisis.

Was the branding mark on the seven-colored ceramic lamp wiped

out as a side-effect of that aura? Or did that voice do it on
purpose?

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed as he thought about it. For some reason,

he just couldn’t believe that it had been a complete coincidence.
No, it seemed intentional.

“But why?” he murmured. He had no idea. He just kept speeding

along, occasionally reaching out to grab various medicinal plants
that he would eat raw. Whenever he saw plants that could be
beneficial, he did that. Unfortunately, without preparing them
properly, the medicinal effects wouldn’t be very strong. But it was
better than nothing. Looking into his bag of holding, he realized he
had a few black boluses.

It’s best to use black boluses at night, when the mutagen is

strongest.

Despite the danger he was in, he took a deep breath to calm

himself down. After doing some calculations, he came to the
conclusion it would be about five days before he was fully
recovered.

Five days.... That said, the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect is definitely
going to do something. In fact, I probably don’t have more than
two days. I need to lose these three dao protectors before then.

He sped up to the top of a nearby tree and checked the wind.

My only option is to use the taboo poison pill!

After once again checking the state of his injuries, he sighed. At

the same time, his eyes glittered with ferocity as he took out the
wish box and prepared to open it and let the wind carry the aura.
***

Meanwhile, further back in the jungle, Master Shengyun’s three

dao protectors were speeding along with grim expressions on their
faces. All of them wanted to kill Xu Qing. After all, Patriarch
Soaring Cloud had made it clear that if they didn’t, all of them
would die.

They were all shaken to the core, and could hardly believe that
Master Shengyun had been defeated by Xu Qing, and his life lamp
taken away. Because of that, they were being cautious in their
pursuit. Furthermore, all of them had defensive magical devices at
the ready, and were using wind techniques to constantly sweep
the area around them. At a certain point, they ceased pursuit and
huddled to confer.

“This brat is good with poisons. We have to be careful!”

“That’s right. He definitely fights dirty, so we can’t be careless.”

They were no fools. Xu Qing might be injured, but he had nearly

killed Master Shengyun. Given that, they knew that they couldn’t
afford to make any mistakes.

***

Xu Qing sensed that they had suddenly stopped moving. He

breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, his eyes glittered.
If the three pursuers split up, then his plan was to try to ambush
one of them, and take them out, even if he got hurt in the process.
If they didn’t split up, then he would use the aura of the taboo
poison pill. Even if they used wind techniques to dispel the aura,
the slightest mistake on their part would yield him some results.
Either way, he was ready to act.

Looking down at his hands, he saw flesh slowly starting to cover

the bones. Bending into a crouch, he shot into motion.

***

Eventually, when the sky was just starting to turn bright, one of the
three pursuing Gold Core experts suddenly did a double take
when he noticed a patch of rotting flesh on one of his companion’s
faces.

“Your face!” he said, reflexively reaching up to his own face to

check it for evidence of poison. When he found none, he breathed
a sigh of relief.

“Dammit!” said the infected dao protector. Eyes flickering with cold
light, he quickly tried to suppress the poison, but it did no good.
Ultimately, he had to do the same thing as Master Shengyun, and
pull out some medicinal pills designed to bolster life force.

“I can’t believe this!” he said. “This is a very gruish poison. Hard to

suppress. We’ve been so careful, but we still fell for his tricks!”
The other two dao protectors’ eyes shone with determination.

“If we’re not careful, and he manages to keep poisoning us, we’ll
fail where failure is least expected!”

“We have to hit him fast and hard!”

After exchanging glances, they gritted their teeth and used various
methods to accelerate rapidly. Moving upwards of thirty percent
faster than before, they became three beams of light that shot
forward at top speed.

***

When Xu Qing sensed what was happening, his eyes flickered

coldly.

He still had one trump card left. He could stimulate the taboo
poison pill, unleashing it dramatically to kill everything around him.

It wouldn’t be easy to do that, and he wasn’t even sure he could.

But with Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits and his life
lamps, even if he couldn’t release the full potential of the pill, he
should be able to unleash enough of it to be inimitably terrifying. In
the destruction that would follow, he doubted the three pursuers
would survive.

Should I risk it...?

It was a trump card that would probably end up killing him, so he
couldn’t help but calculate the chances of making it out alive.

The odds aren’t in my favor.

He once again checked his injuries. His hands were close to being
whole again. Though they still looked bad, they were at least
usable.

“Gotta keep running!” He started moving. However, after only

taking a few steps, he slowed down and stopped. Pupils
constricting, he looked ahead of him in the jungle.

He saw a shadowy figure there.

An old man.

He wore a violet robe, and though he had wrinkles on his face, his
eyes shone brightly. He seemed scholarly and refined. As he
stood there in the jungle, he seemed out of harmony with the
surrounding shadows. In fact, ripples spread out from him that
seemed to draw the sunlight toward him.

Between his fingers was a black Go piece with which he fiddled.

Looking at Xu Qing, he took in all of his injuries, then said, “Put
away the poison.”

Xu Qing bowed his head and put away his poison. Though he was
on guard, he didn’t need to guess who this person was, and knew
he had no option other than to do as instructed.
This old man was none other than the seventh peaklord of the
Seven Blood Eyes. He was Master Seventh.

Despite having put away the wish box, Xu Qing kept a sliver of
dharma force on it, just in case he needed to open it suddenly.

When Xu Qing put away the poison, Master Seventh blurred, then
reappeared right behind Xu Qing, between him and the
approaching Gold Core experts.

As they burst onto the scene, their expressions flickered, and they
stopped in place, panting for breath. All of a sudden, they seemed
nervous, and they even edged backward. If they were in Seven
Blood Eyes, they wouldn’t have acted like this. They knew that
Seven Blood Eyes wouldn’t dare to act against them publicly. But
they were in a forbidden ground now, and none of them dared to
take any risks.

After a moment of hesitation, the Gold Core expert in the middle

clasped hands, bowed, and said, “Well met, Seventh Peaklord.
This child instigated a huge calamity. He injured a chosen from our
Soaring Cloud Sword Sect and stole our sect’s life lamp. On
orders from Patriarch Soaring Cloud himself, we’re to arrest him.
Please forgive us for any inconvenience, Master Seventh.”

Master Seventh looked at the three of them, then waved his hand.
In the blink of an eye, a shocking force swept out of nowhere,
becoming a huge mouth that bore down on the three dao
protectors. As their faces fell, the mouth chomped down on them
and consumed them!

Brutal crunching sounds then echoed out into the silence of the
forest.

Xu Qing shivered and looked at Master Seventh. He opened his

mouth to speak, except he couldn’t think of what to say. Master
Seventh clasped his hands behind his back and started walking.

“What are you staring at? Let’s get moving. I have a Go game to
finish.”
Chapter 262: Violet-Cyan History

Xu Qing was somewhat in a daze as he walked with Master

Seventh through the jungle.

Even though Master Seventh said he had a Go game to finish, he

didn’t seem to be in a hurry as he led the way. Quite the opposite.
That said, every step he took propelled him a vast distance. Of
course, he pulled Xu Qing with him as he proceeded.

As Xu Qing followed, he kept replaying the scene of Master

Seventh waving his hand and killing three Gold Core experts from
the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect. It almost didn’t seem real. He
maintained silence.

A short time later, Master Seventh said, “You did a good job
handling the situation with Grandmaster Bai.”

“I just did what I had to do,” Xu Qing replied softly.

“You also performed well in that Seazombie incident.”

“The Cap— er.” Xu Qing hesitated slightly. “Grand Highness did all
that.”

“The Night Dove matter went well.”

Xu Qing bowed his head. “I did my best, that’s all.”

“But you were really reckless in dealing with Master Shengyun.”
As the words left Master Seventh’s mouth, they stepped out into a
section of city ruins. It was none other than the spot where Xu
Qing had fought Master Shengyun.

Xu Qing didn’t respond.

“What you should have done,” Master Seventh continued,

sounding less than pleased, “was ask for help from Big Sib,
Second Sib, and Third Sib. If the four of you killed him together,
you wouldn’t have ended up so badly injured.”

Xu Qing thought about it and came to the conclusion that what he

said made sense. He nodded.

Master Seventh seemed to approve of Xu Qing’s pleasant attitude.

He turned, and his expression overflowed with praise. “Step
closer. I thought you weren’t afraid of anything in heaven or earth.
Why are you standing so far away?”

Xu Qing hesitantly took a few steps closer to Master Seventh.

Master Seventh looked him up and down, and there was a gleam
of reminiscence in his eyes as he thought back to the scavenger
basecamp, and how Xu Qing had changed clothes to make sure
they didn’t get dirty. He chuckled. [1]

“You’re taller than back then.”

Xu Qing looked up at him, trying to figure out exactly what was
going on.

Master Seventh didn’t continue the conversation, though. He led

the way further into the ruins, and Xu Qing followed without a
word.

From a distance, it was possible to see an old man and a young

man, walking through the desolate ruins as the evening sun shone
down on them. It seemed almost like they were strolling through
ancient times.

“This place is both a testament to the past, and also a place where
a lot of history is buried.” As Master Seventh’s voice echoed
through the ruins of the old city, it seemed to drift like the song of a
distant flute.

Xu Qing looked at him and waited for him to continue.

“This city was once home to a person of legend. An outstanding

figure who was said to be the most outstanding human to live after
the broken face of the god arrived. He was the crown prince of the
Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan.

“Supposedly, that crown prince had exceptional aptitude. He had a

bloodline legacy from the Ancient Emperors and Imperial
Sovereigns, and dominated an entire generation.
“Some people claim that he was born bearing the destiny aura of
the human species, and that auspicious heavenly signs appeared
on the day he was born, specifically, nine golden dragons that
accompanied him throughout his life. Others say that the world
itself gathered all its resources so that he could be born, and that
as a result, he saved the world.

“According to the history books, when he was born, a howl of grief

echoed out of all the forbidden grounds in Revered Ancient, and
mutated blood flowed from within them. Yet others claim that the
eyes of the god gazed down on him five times during his life, yet
he never died. Thus, he acquired the blessing of the god.

“Even the holy lands were shocked by him, and tried to recruit him,
though he refused their offers.

“Unfortunately, that most peerless of humans eventually died in

battle in the territory of the Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and Cyan.
Reportedly, countless species joined forces and sent their most
powerful representatives to cut him down.”

Xu Qing was deeply moved by all of this information. It was a bit

different from his previous understanding of the Sovereign
Kingdom of Violet and Cyan. The story he’d heard was that eight
clans rebelled and stripped away the bloodline power of the royal
clan. After, there was no more Violet and Cyan. Instead, there
were the eight clans of the Violet Lands. [2]
Seeing Xu Qing’s facial expression caused Master Seventh to
grin.

“I’m not talking about the Violet and Cyan from South Phoenix,” he
said. “I’m talking about the real Sovereign Kingdom of Violet and
Cyan, which existed after Dark Serenity, and most likely
conquered all of Revered Ancient. Unfortunately, it would be
easier to find a phoenix feather or a qilin horn than to find people
who know about such history. Whether intentionally or not, all the
species in the world, including humans, have erased that history
from their records.

“As for the eight clans of the Violet Lands, what they overthrew
was nothing more than an enfeebled remnant of Violet and Cyan,
which by that time was a tiny kingdom of little note.”

Xu Qing took a deep breath.

“That said,” Master Seventh continued, “it was an interesting

coincidence that the spectacular crown prince of the Sovereign
Kingdom of Violet and Cyan actually did die in battle on the
continent of South Phoenix. Eventually, a city was built on the spot
where he died. However, ten years ago when the god’s eyes
opened, that city vanished.

“Some people claim the place was cursed by the crown prince.
That said, there’s another story about this crown prince of Violet
and Cyan. Supposedly, he had a cold personality, and could even
be described as evil!”

Xu Qing looked at nothing and didn't speak. Eventually, they

reached the daoist temple. The entire area was devastated thanks
to the fighting that had taken place. Xu Qing looked over at Master
Seventh.

“Didn’t someone mention that you lack divine abilities and magical
techniques?” Master Seventh said. He smacked Xu Qing gently on
the head. “Go seek enlightenment. And hurry up, I still have a
game of Go to play.”

Xu Qing’s heart thumped. The ‘someone’ Master Seventh had just

mentioned was obviously Master Shengyun. Nodding, Xu Qing
walked into the daoist temple and sat down cross-legged in front
of the statue there. He stared at it for a while, then stood up and
looked back at Master Seventh.

“What’s wrong?” Master Seventh asked.

Xu Qing hesitated for a moment, then said, “You can’t get

enlightenment during the day. You need moonlight.”

Master Seventh muttered something that Xu Qing couldn’t quite

make out, then waved his hand. Instantly, dark clouds spread out
over the sky above the temple, blocking out the sunlight, and
casting the temple and everything around it into utter darkness.
Then, a rotating mirror appeared in the dark clouds above.
Unexpectedly, moonlight spilled out of the mirror, falling down from
the sky and onto the divine likeness in the temple. Almost
immediately, the image of a saber appeared.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing’s thoughts were in chaos because of what

Master Seventh had just done. He had seen Master Sixth in
action, and hadn’t got the sense that he could simply wave his
hand to transpose the sun and moon. And that got Xu Qing
thinking about the traditions of the Seventh Peak.

I bet Master Seventh is above the Nascent Soul level!

However, Xu Qing knew time was of the essence, so he stowed

such thoughts and concentrated on the image of the saber. As he
did, a violet heavenly saber took form above his own head. He
began seeking enlightenment.

As he did, Master Seventh stood outside looking at the

surrounding wreckage.

He really does lack divine abilities and magical techniques.... And

he’s got a lot of really random assets. He has a lot to learn about
the art of fighting, but given how young he is, he’s not bad at all.

In that manner, time passed.

***

Out on the Forbidden Sea, sword light filled the sky.

Numerous streams of sword energy sped toward Seven Blood
Eyes, and in the middle of them all was the enraged Patriarch
Soaring Cloud. Behind him were numerous disciples from the
Soaring Cloud Sword Sect, and all of them pulsed with killing
intent.

***

In Forbidden by the Phoenix, things were quiet and peaceful.

Night had come.

Xu Qing was focused on seeking enlightenment. The moonlight

Master Seventh had provided became even more brilliant at
nighttime, and that made the image of the sword even clearer.

Xu Qing’s speed of enlightenment was astonishing, and the violet

saber above his head grew solid faster and faster. It had
previously been only ten percent corporeal, but soon that number
climbed to fifty percent. Then sixty percent. Then seventy....

The night passed and dawn neared. Just as sunlight drove away
the darkness, a tremor passed through Xu Qing, and an incisive
aura spread out from him in all directions. The violet saber above
his head was now completely solid. No longer was it illusory. It
was a true heavenly saber, radiating a terrifying sharpness.

What was more, the extended period of rest, as well as the

moonlight provided by Master Seventh, ensured that Xu Qing’s
wounds had all healed up. His missing fingers had grown back,
and his aura was now at an all-time peak. As he stood, six-flame
battle prowess surged around him, causing winds to scream into a
vortex.

Master Seventh looked at him with approval in his eyes. “Even

outsiders know the truth. You don’t have to be deceptive around
me.”

Without a word, Xu Qing allowed two halos of light to appear

above his head. One was made of black fire, the other radiated
seven colors. Two umbrellas cast radiant light in all directions.
Dawn had brought light, but Xu Qing was even brighter.

“Let’s go,” Master Seventh said. “Given the time, I’d say we can
expect some visitors soon.” He flicked his sleeve, and the space
around them transformed. It was like thick mists had suddenly
sprang up around them, swirling about and causing everything
around them to sway.

Yet again, Xu Qing was struck by the level of Master Seventh’s

cultivation base. Only a moment later, everything around them
went back to normal. Now, they weren’t in Forbidden by the
Phoenix anymore, but instead, were in a building at the summit of
the Seventh Peak.

The sea breeze blew, bringing with it a familiar humidity. The

clamor of the capital city drifted up with the breeze, the sound of
innumerable people talking, shouting, engaged in business, all of it
mixing together into a faint thrum. Feeling a bit dazzled, Xu Qing
looked around. In addition to Master Seventh, there was another
familiar face present.

It was a middle-aged man in a gray robe, with a smile on his face.

He had a Go piece held between his fingers. Xu Qing knew this
man. He was the very same person who had given him that
identity medallion back in the scavenger basecamp. [3]

“Master Seventh,” the servant said, clasping hands respectfully in

greeting. Then he looked at Xu Qing and nodded.

“Are the visitors here yet?” Master Seventh asked, looking down at
the Go board. He placed the piece onto the board.

“They’ll arrive soon,” the servant responded.

“Alright. Take the Kid to be bathed. He went and got himself all
dirty.” Master Seventh flicked his sleeve and walked out.

When Xu Qing heard Master Seventh call him ‘the Kid,’ it further
confirmed his theories and speculations.

“Kid, come with me,” the servant said. “Let’s get you cleaned up.
Today’s a big day for you, but it’s also a big day for Master
Seventh and Seven Blood Eyes.” With that, the servant offered Xu
Qing a jade slip. “After you bathe, you’ll step out of the grand hall
and walk up the stairs. As you do, look at the images in that jade
slip.”

Xu Qing took the jade slip, then clasped hands respectfully and
followed the servant. After thoroughly bathing, he put on a new
daoist robe. That was when the handmaidens arrived with special
incense.

Xu Qing wasn’t used to this sort of thing, but he didn’t send them
away.

As a couple of the handmaidens stepped behind him and bound

his hair into a topknot, the Captain peeked through the doorway
and winked at Xu Qing. Next, the chamberlain arrived, carrying a
violet daoist crown in both hands. The crown radiated light, and
looked absolutely exquisite. It exuded terrifying pressure, and
featured the image of a mutant beast. Looking closely, it was a
nine-headed snake, the same type of fantastic creature that had
appeared toward the end of the fighting with the Merfolk. If you
looked at the image for long enough, you would be able to hear
that fantastic creature howling! [4] [5]

The Captain’s eyes glittered as he watched the chamberlain put

the crown on Xu Qing’s head. “Well, shoot. It’s the Violet-Heaven
Supreme-Limitless Crown, with half the soul of a Nascent Soul
beast sealed inside. The old man is really being prejudiced here!
I’ve asked for that thing a bunch of times and he never once gave
it to me!"
Xu Qing now wore a violet daoist robe embroidered with gold. He
had the Violet-Heaven Supreme-Limitless Crown on his head, and
the faint image of an umbrella stretched above him. All of that,
coupled with his incredible good looks, made him seem absolutely
extraordinary, and beyond anything you would expect to see in the
mortal world.

The handmaidens all looked at him with glittering eyes.

Just as the Captain was about to say something, a stern voice

spoke from outside.

“The dao is void, shapeless and nameless; without scriptures, one

cannot grasp the dao; the dao exists in scripture, serene and
hidden, subtle and delicate. Without a teacher, one cannot
understand its truths.

“Today, a child from the Seventh Peak named Xu Qing will be

taught of the dao, and pay formal respects to his sect ancestor!”

The voice echoed from the Seventh Peak to fill the heavens.

1. Master Seventh noted Xu Qing changing clothes way back in

chapter 10. ☜

2. Xu Qing heard the story of the Violet Lands history in chapter

210. ☜

3. The servant gave him the medallion in chapter 30. ☜

4. The daoist crown would normally be put over the topknot and
then secured with a hairpin. Here is a cool picture of a real-life
daoist crown. ☜

5. The nine-headed snakes appeared in chapter 127. ☜

Chapter 263: Apprenticeship Ceremony

The voice was consummately solemn and respectful, and

contained wording not commonly encountered in everyday
speech. It was like an ode, uttered loudly in all heaven and earth!
The words carried a sense of antiquity and beauty. For instance,
the term ‘pay formal respects.’ It was like a rite, in which formal
respects were paid to the terrestrial and the celestial!

Even the Captain suddenly looked unprecedentedly serious. On

this day, he didn’t wear his usual gray daoist robe. Instead, he had
the same type of robe Xu Qing wore, violet, with golden
embroidery. At a glance, it was obvious that the robes were those
of the Seventh Peak, but at the same time, they were nothing like
the ordinary robes.

As the Captain stood in the doorway looking at Xu Qing, he said,

“Xu Qing, as the grand highness, it is my pleasure and honor to
serve as your chief attendant today. Come with me.”

The Captain never talked like this; the words he spoke matched
his serious expression. Clasping his hands one atop the other, he
bowed deeply at the waist in a very formal dao prostration.

Xu Qing could sense the solemnity, and knew something very

important was about to happen. Straightening his garments, he
returned the Captain’s bow and then walked to the door. It only
took three steps to walk outside, and once he was there, his heart
skipped a beat. The grand hall he had been in was at the very
summit of the Seventh Peak. Astonishingly, a huge octagonal
daoist altar spread out in front of him. Crafted from green slate
tiles, it pulsed with a godly resonance, and featured a statue at the
far end.

That statue depicted a middle-aged man with his hands clasped

behind his back, staring off into the distance. His face wasn’t
visible, but he wore an imperial robe embroidered with an
ancestral dragon, and his hair was bound with an azure imperial
crown. Nine imperial umbrellas hovered over his head, he pulsed
with draconic energy, and was like a general who could topple all
under heaven and consume mountains and rivers.

The fact that a mere statue contained such a heaven-shaking,

earth-shattering energy caused Xu Qing’s pupils to constrict.
However, he quickly settled his thoughts and looked around.

There were over a thousand Seven Blood Eyes disciples gathered

around the daoist altar. There were men and women, young and
old. Though all wore the same type of violet daoist robe, few
seemed accustomed to such finery. All were very solemn and
respectful.

Leading up from the daoist altar was a staircase of white stone

with a dragon motif and ninety steps. At its top was a grand hall
that glowed with violet light. It was... the highest location on the
Seventh Peak.

Clouds swirled above in the dome of heaven, and within them was
the dreadnaught dracolizard. It caused the clouds to seethe and
sent bolts of lightning crashing left and right. It was possible to see
six figures within those clouds, almost like statues. Among them
were men and women, and it only took a moment for Xu Qing to
realize that they were the peaklords. Master Sixth was in their
number. All of them were looking down at Xu Qing. As for Master
Sixth, he had an encouraging look in his eyes.

After seeing all this, Xu Qing started to feel a bit nervous. Then he
looked a bit further up and saw that, above the clouds was a
blood-colored figure that seemed almost like a deity. It was the
patriarch of Seven Blood Eyes, Sir Bloodsmelter.

All of these people were here to observe the ceremony!

The Captain stood next to Xu Qing, staring straight ahead at the

statue. Raising his voice, he spoke in a very solemn tone as he
announced, “Seventh Peak disciple Xu Qing, this statue depicts
the source of the Seventh Peak’s core teachings and doctrines. It
is Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity. He was the last human emperor
to conquer the Revered Ancient. Now, you will pay him your
respects! Let the ceremony begin!”
Xu Qing ducked his head, clasped hands, and bowed very deeply
to the statue of the Ancient Emperor. Off to the side, the Captain,
as well as all of the Seventh Peak disciples who had come to
observe the statue, also clasped hands and bowed.

Their unified action created a profound and moving scene.

After the bowing, the atmosphere seemed even more dramatic. Xu

Qing, his expression more serious than ever, followed the Captain
across the daoist altar to the staircase.

Stopping there, the Captain spoke in a voice that was almost like a
chant, “We who practice cultivation follow a path that defies
heaven. We gaze upon the ancient world and observe the nine
heavens and ten earths. Thus, our Seventh Peak has crafted
these ninety stairs of white stone. Climb the stairs to offer proof to
the nine heavens. Reach the summit to swear your oath to the ten
earths! Xu Qing, begin your ascent!”

With utmost solemnity, Xu Qing walked forward and put his foot on
the first step. The moment it touched the white stone, bells tolled
in the Seventh Peak.

BOOM!

The sound of it caused wild colors to flash in heaven and earth.

At the same time, a jade slip flew out of Xu Qing’s garment. It was
the slip the servant had given him. As it floated in front of him, it
radiated dazzling light, as if it were lighting his path. Within that
glowing light were images that shone directly into Xu Qing’s mind.

He saw the beast arena in the scavenger basecamp, and the dirty
young man in the animal skin jerkin dragging a huge snake away.
Sitting off to the side were two people that no one could see. One
was Master Seventh, the other was the servant. They were
watching Xu Qing. Then Master Seventh spoke in a somewhat
excited voice.

“What an interesting young man.”

Xu Qing’s eyes widened. That young man in the beast arena was
him. And at long last, he understood why he ended up in Seven
Blood Eyes. He was so shaken that he didn’t even notice that he
had already ascended eight steps. When he reached the ninth, the
Seventh Peak bells tolled deafeningly again a second time.

Meanwhile, the dazzling light in the jade slip sent a second image
into Xu Qing’s mind.

He saw a young man squatting in a dark alley. Then, a skinny

scavenger walked past. The young man jumped out, clamped his
hand over the scavenger’s mouth, and slit his throat. Also within
that image was Master Seventh on a nearby rooftop, a look of
admiration on his face.

“An interesting young man indeed.”

Xu Qing breathed deeply as he finally came to understand
everything. The bells tolled a third, fourth, fifth, and sixth time. With
each tolling of the bells, he walked up nine steps. By the sixth bell
toll, he was at the fifty-fourth step. Each toll of the bells was louder
than the previous, and with each one came a new image.

In the third image, Master Seventh wondered why he had changed

out of his new clothing. The fourth image showed him killing
Fatmountain, then stumbling away in the moonlight, wracked with
poison. On the rooftop, Master Seventh smiled. Grandmaster Bai
appeared in the fifth image. Master Seventh was walking out of
Grandmaster Bai’s tent when he stopped and looked back.

“Grandmaster Bai, if you really think the boy has potential, then
teach him some more. Give him a chance. Maybe he can get to
Seven Blood Eyes as an academic with a cultivation base.”

The sixth image was after Sergeant Thunder, Grandmaster Bai,

and the little girl had left. Xu Qing was alone in the darkness of his
room, and Master Seventh was outside.

“Give him the identity medallion.”

Xu Qing was trembling. He had long speculated about these

things, and now he knew all the details. Looking up toward the top
of the mountain peak, he walked past the sixty-third step. The bell
tolled a seventh time. Then an eighth and a ninth. As the sound of
the bells rang, Xu Qing saw a seventh image.
It was back when he first arrived at Seven Blood Eyes. Sitting on
his dharmaboat one night as it bobbed in the harbor, he took out a
jug of alcohol and drank to his parents, to Sergeant Thunder, and
to his birthday. The eighth image depicted him being chased by
Seazombies. The ninth was his fight with Master Shengyun at the
daoist temple.

Emotions swept through Xu Qing as the light of the jade slip faded.
He put the jade slip back in his robe as he reached the ninetieth
and final step. In front of him was a spectacular hall glowing with
violet light. Seated inside was Master Seventh, who was looking at
him.

Next to Master Seventh were Second Highness and Third

Highness.

Master Seventh was dressed far more formally than usual. He

wore a violet robe with swirling clouds on it. His hair was bound in
a daoist crown decorated with nine four-clawed dragons that were
as blue as the sky. His eyes glittered like lightning, and even just
sitting there, he was boundlessly majestic.

“Xu Qing.”

The person to speak wasn’t Master Seventh, but instead, the

Captain, who was still by Xu Qing’s side.

“You have proven yourself to the nine heavens and sworn your
oath to the ten earths, thus showing your respect to the world.
Now, the time has come to turn and pay respects thrice! Let the
ceremony continue!”

As the Captain’s words continued to echo, Xu Qing turned atop

the ninetieth stair and bowed three times to heaven and earth!

After he straightened up, the Captain and all the surrounding

disciples also bowed thrice to heaven and earth!

There was deep meaning in everything that was happening. Every

part of the ceremony had significance. It was a chaotic world, and
cultivators usually lived simple lives. They put themselves first. But
there were two things in which there had to be a level of
ceremony: ancestral sacrifices and apprenticeship formalities.

The Captain continued to speak in a voice that echoed through

heaven and shook the earth. “The dao is void; without scriptures,
one cannot grasp the dao; the dao exists in scripture. Without a
teacher, one cannot understand its truths.

“Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity is the great founder. All humans

owe him a single bow of respect.

“Heaven, earth, celestial, terrestrial. They bear the weight of all. All
humans owe them three bows of respect.

“And yet, however amazing the Ancient Emperor was, he did not
show you favor. Heaven and earth, and all other living beings in
this sea of suffering, have done nothing to save you. Only Master
will ascend to heaven and descend to hell for you. Only he will
show you favor. Only he will save you. Only he will expend all
effort so that you can walk a great dao. Therefore, you owe him
nine bows of respect!”

Turning, Xu Qing bowed to Master Seventh nine times! One bow

for the Ancient Emperor. Three bows for heaven and earth. Nine
bows for the Master. As for the nine bows, only the Captain and
Xu Qing participated. The host of other disciples simply averted
their gazes. They didn’t qualify to join. After the nine bows, the
Captain produced a violet tea cup that he offered to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing took it and walked into the violet hall.

“Offer the tea of gratitude!”

Bowing his head, Xu Qing took three steps forward and held up
the cup of tea with both hands.

At almost exactly the same moment as he did that, a wind kicked

up in the dome of heaven. Off in the distance, a towering sword
energy pierced through the sky, bringing with it a blood-colored
light that seemed like a giant hand rushing toward Seven Blood
Eyes. The Soaring Cloud Sword Sect had come to inflict violent
punishment! A voice spoke from within that sea of blood and
sword energy. Thrumming with killing intent, it filled all of Seven
Blood Eyes.
“Sir Bloodsmelter, hand that cretin Xu Qing over to me this
instant!”

Deathblade's ThoughtsI didn’t want to clutter the chapter with a

million footnotes, so instead, here is a roundup of all the key
references in this chapter:Master Seventh in the beast arena.
Chapter 7. Slitting Horsefour’s throat. Chapter 9.Killing
Fatmountain. Chapter 10. Master Seventh talking to Grandmaster
Bai. Chapter 23.Xu Qing drinking alone in scavenger basecamp.
Chapter 29.Xu Qing drinking on his birthday. Chapter 58.Being
chased by Seazombies… I’m not 100% which part this is referring
to. I think it’s the part where he fled after the nose explosion
incident, which is roughly around chapter 191.The Master
Shengyun fight was obviously just a few chapters ago, so no link
to that.

I didn’t want to clutter the chapter with a million footnotes, so

instead, here is a roundup of all the key references in this chapter:

Master Seventh in the beast arena. Chapter 7.

Slitting Horsefour’s throat. Chapter 9.

Killing Fatmountain. Chapter 10.

Master Seventh talking to Grandmaster Bai. Chapter 23.

Xu Qing drinking alone in scavenger basecamp. Chapter 29.

Xu Qing drinking on his birthday. Chapter 58.

Being chased by Seazombies… I’m not 100% which part this is
referring to. I think it’s the part where he fled after the nose
explosion incident, which is roughly around chapter 191.

The Master Shengyun fight was obviously just a few chapters ago,
so no link to that.
Chapter 264: If You Don’t Leave Me, I Won’t
Forsake You

Outside Seven Blood Eyes, killing intent roiled high into the sky.

Inside Seven Blood Eyes the attitude was somber and respectful.
Up above, the various peaklords all had tranquil expressions on
their faces.

Xu Qing heard the enraged shout from beyond the spell formation,
but he didn’t look over his shoulder. He kept his head bowed and
held the cup of tea up in front of him.

Master Seventh also ignored what was happening outside. It was

as if he didn’t care at all, and was only concerned about his new
apprentice, who was still in the middle of the apprenticeship
ceremony. He waved his hand, and the teacup in Xu Qing’s hands
flew over to him. However, Master Seventh didn’t drink. He simply
put it on the table next to him. It was the ‘tea of gratitude,’ which
was not to be consumed.

Meanwhile, Second Highness and Third Highness stood off to the

side, looking very respectful. However, at one point, Third
Highness caught Xu Qing’s eye and winked.

“Offer the tea of the past!” the Captain said. He handed Xu Qing a
second cup of tea, and Xu Qing took three steps forward and held
it up in front of him. At the same time, shouting could be heard
outside the sect.

As the furious cultivators from the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect

arrived, they didn’t slow down at all. Instead, they unleashed
raging sword energy, creating dazzling beams of blinding light that
shot right toward Seven Blood Eyes.

The Seven Blood Eyes Formation activated and blocked the

millions upon millions of streams of sword energy, and massive
booms rang out, shaking the seven mountain peaks. Apparently,
something about the spell formation was different than before. It
seemed to be rejecting the authority of the Seven Sect Coalition,
and treating the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect as an enemy.

The peaklords ignored what was happening, and thanks to their

placid expressions, the disciples from the other peaks remained
calm, and focused on the ceremony taking place on the Seventh
Peak.

Within the violet temple, Master Seventh continued to ignore what

was happening outside. Waving his hand, he took the second cup
of tea from Xu Qing. This was called the ‘tea of the past,’ and by
taking a sip, it would indicate that the Master was willing to accept
a new apprentice. Master Seventh held it up, put it to his lips and
drank, then set it down on the table.
“Offer the tea of faith!” the Captain said, and he gave Xu Qing a
third cup.

Taking a deep breath, Xu Qing took three steps forward, knelt, and
held the cup up.

Intense booms rang out from the formation, like heavenly thunder.
A 30,000-meter blood-colored stream of sword energy slammed
into the Seven Blood Eyes Formation. At this point, the formation
couldn’t stand up to the force, and it shattered.

Then the sword energy turned into an old man in a golden robe.
As he appeared above Seven Blood Eyes, the countless streams
of sword light behind him resolved into the forms of Soaring Cloud
Sword Sect disciples. Every single one pulsed with killing intent.
Every single one seemed arrogant and domineering.

“Sir Bloodsmelter, you....” The old man who had smashed the
formation was none other than Patriarch Soaring Cloud. As he
spoke, he sent his divine will streaming through the sect, which
was when he caught sight of Xu Qing offering a cup of tea to
Master Seventh atop the summit of the Seventh Peak. His words
trailed off. He had lived for many years, and was the patriarch of
an entire sect. He knew exactly what he was looking at.

“You’re accepting an apprentice?” The killing intent in his eyes was

as cold as ice, as though everyone he was looking at was already
dead. “You injured my grandson, stole my sect’s life lamp, and
now you’re holding an apprenticeship ceremony! Sir Bloodsmelter.
I am very, very curious what gives you the courage to do
something like this!”

Smiling enigmatically, Sir Bloodsmelter replied, “If there’s

something you’d like to talk about, Soaring Cloud, please wait until
after my son-in-law finishes accepting his new apprentice.”

The six peaklords in the clouds didn’t look alarmed at all by what
was happening.

Seeing that, Patriarch Soaring Cloud’s pupils constricted, and his

heart sank. The feeling he was getting from Seven Blood Eyes
was completely different than anything in the past!

Inside the violet hall, Master Seventh wasn’t paying attention to

the drama outside.

Xu Qing knelt and offered the third cup of tea. All eyes in the sect
were on him.

As the killing intent raged outside, Master Seventh calmly said,

“Let’s forget about the ceremony for a moment, Kid. I want to ask
you a simple question, and I’d like your sincere answer. Deep in
your heart, do you really want to be my apprentice?”

Xu Qing looked up into Master Seventh’s eyes, and quietly

answered, “Yes, Master.”
Master Seventh smiled broadly. “Good, my apprentice. If you don’t
leave me, I won’t forsake you!”

With that, he put his index finger and thumb into the tea, then
flicked his fingers. As the tea sprayed out, the ceremony of
apprenticeship was completed! Bells tolled inside Seven Blood
Eyes. But this time, the bells weren’t just those from the Seventh
Peak. The bells on all seven of the mountain peaks tolled, shaking
everything.

“As of today, we have a Fourth Sib,” Master Seventh said. “It’s

truly a happy occasion. Now, let’s go outside and see what that
clamoring is about. Apparently, someone has the gall to talk about
taking away my apprentice.”

In response to those words, Patriarch Soaring Cloud let loose an

enraged laugh. As he did, a middle-aged cultivator next to him
stepped forward, his expression very unsightly. In appearance, he
looked very much like Master Shengyun. Turning into a blood-
colored sword, he shot with incredible speed toward the violet hall
on the Seventh Peak. As he moved, he pulsed with the
fluctuations of a Nascent Soul cultivation base. Though those
fluctuations surpassed those of an ordinary Nascent Soul
cultivator, they obviously weren’t at the peak of that level.

In the blink of an eye, that blood sword reached the violet hall, and
was about to pierce inside of it. However, that was when Master
Seventh chuckled and stood. Taking a single step, he emerged
from the hall, then casually waved his hand in the direction of the
sword.

The blood sword instantly shattered, and a bloodcurdling shriek

echoed out from within. The middle-aged Nascent Soul cultivator
was sent spinning off to the side like a kite with its string cut.
Virtually every part of his body then exploded, turning into chunky,
bloody mist that spread out into the air.

Only his nascent soul survived. Flying out in alarm, he looked in

terror at the violet hall, where Xu Qing, the Captain, Second
Highness, and Third Highness... walked out into the open with
Master Seventh.

The Nascent Soul cultivator that Master Seventh had so casually

shredded to pieces had a very high rank in the Soaring Cloud
Sword Sect. In fact, he was one of their grand elders. He was also
the only son of Patriarch Soaring Cloud, and Master Shengyun’s
father. That was why he had charged in with such rage. But now
he was in an incredibly pitiful state. In fact, his nascent soul was
dull and dark, as though it might collapse at any moment. He was
astonished down to the core of his being. He knew without a doubt
what kind of cultivation base was required to shatter his body with
the wave of a hand. What was more... it obviously hadn’t been a
killing blow, otherwise it wouldn’t have been so easy for him to
escape in nascent soul form.
“You’re not in Nascent Soul, you’re in Spirit Trove!!” blurted Master
Shengyun’s father. As he backed away, the disciples of the
Soaring Cloud Sword Sect were visibly shaken.

Only Patriarch Soaring Cloud didn’t have a physical reaction.

Looking closely at Master Seventh, he said, “How very deceptive
of you. Not even I noticed. And you’re no ordinary Spirit Trove
cultivator. You already have three secret troves! Even still, that’s
not enough. What else do you have, Sir Bloodsmelter? Put it all
out in the open.”

Master Seventh said nothing. Smiling, he stood outside of the

violet hall and looked up at Sir Bloodsmelter.

Sir Bloodsmelter looked back down, his eyes full of praise. Then
he looked at Patriarch Soaring Cloud, and his eyes glittered with
malice. “Let’s fight a bit before I do that!”

All of a sudden, Sir Bloodsmelter’s gaze turned into a host of

blood-red lines that shot toward Patriarch Soaring Cloud.

Patriarch Soaring Cloud snorted coldly and waved his hand,

sending sword energy raging toward Sir Bloodsmelter. When they
clashed, wild colors flashed, and rifts spread out in the sky. As
they rose higher and higher, booms rang out like heavenly
thunder. At the same time, the dracolizard in the clouds roared at
the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect disciples, and the six peaklords
released the fluctuations of their cultivation bases, causing
everything to shake violently.

That, coupled with the image of Master Seventh standing with his
hands clasped behind his back atop the Seventh Peak, took a lot
of air out of these disciples who had supposedly come to inflict
violent punishment on Seven Blood Eyes. Among the group were
some Nascent Soul cultivators, except now their skin was crawling
as they looked fearfully at Master Seventh.

The difference between Nascent Soul and Spirit Trove was like the
difference between one-flame power and six-flame power. If
Master Seventh wanted to, he could wipe them out of existence,
and none of them would even have a chance to flee. That
difference made all the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect disciples
nervous. After all, though the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect did have
a Spirit Trove cultivator, it was their sect leader. And since the
patriarch had led this expedition, the sect leader had remained
behind to watch over the sect.

Never could any of them have guessed that Seven Blood Eyes
wouldn’t just have a Void Returning patriarch. They also had
someone stronger than the Nascent Soul. A Spirit Trove expert!

It wasn’t just the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect disciples who were
shaken. The disciples of Seven Blood Eyes were also astonished.
That said, when they thought about the traditions of the Seventh
Peak, they realized that this development wasn’t that unusual after
all. The peaklords had known all along, so they weren’t surprised.
As for the disciples gathered on the daoist altar, including Xu Qing
and the other apprentices, they exchanged awkward glances.

“I have the feeling the old man is still being deceptive about
something,” Third Elder Brother murmured.

The Captain chuckled. “He is, Third Sib. Believe it!”

Xu Qing looked at the Captain and then Third Elder Brother. Off to
the side, Second Elder Sister had a jade slip that she was using to
send voice messages to someone, excitedly explaining what was
happening. [1]

Grinning, Third Elder Brother looked at Xu Qing and said, “What

did I tell you, little Junior Brother? The first time I laid eyes on you I
knew we were connected by destiny. And wouldn’t you know it, I
barely had time to snap my fingers, and here you are my Junior
Brother. Although, I do admit I’m surprised you took down Master
Shengyun. When the Seven Sect Coalition started throwing
challenges around, the grand highnesses from the other peaks
threw most of their matches. The only exception was the First
Peak.”

1. Now that Xu Qing’s status has changed, Third Highness and

Second Highness will be referred to as Third Elder Brother and
Second Elder Sister. ☜
Chapter 265: The Birth of a Taboo!

Smiling, Third Elder Brother continued, “That’s another reason

why I sent my beloved mermaid girlfriend to her ancestors right in
front of you.”

Off to the side, the Captain smiled enigmatically. He knew that

Third Sib wasn’t the kind of person who wasted words. The reason
he was saying all this was in the hopes of warming Xu Qing up to
him.

Xu Qing looked at Third Elder Brother and thought back to that

time in the harbor when he gently crushed the mermaid’s head.
Back then, he’d been struck with how dangerous Third Elder
Brother seemed. Even now, that sense of danger still remained. [1]

But if I had to fight him to the death, I’d probably survive. With
those thoughts on his mind, he clasped hands and bowed.

Still smiling, Third Elder Brother took out a stack of spirit notes and
offered them to Xu Qing. “Here, take this. A gift to mark this day.
Back at Sealizard Island, you weren’t my Junior Brother, so I
messed with you a bit. I hope you don’t mind. I guess I owe you for
that.”

Xu Qing glanced at Third Elder Brother. He clearly remembered

how there had been an aura that locked onto him when he fled
Sealizard Island. He had never identified who it was that was
chasing him, but later on he’d suspected it had something to do
with Third Elder Brother. [2]

He was actually surprised that Third Elder Brother had just

admitted the truth so casually. He looked down at the spirit notes
and realized that they were worth 500,000 spirit stones. That was
certainly appropriate for a show of good faith. Nodding, he
accepted them.

Third Elder Brother breathed a sigh of relief when Xu Qing

accepted the spirit notes. He enjoyed how things were on the
Seventh Peak, and wanted to keep things as they were. What was
more, he got the feeling that this new Junior Brother Xu Qing was
the kind of person who would hold a grudge for life, and wouldn’t
rest until his enemies were dead. That was not the kind of person
Third Elder Brother wanted to provoke. He was about to say
something further when a roar of rage echoed through the sky, so
loud that even the deaf could hear it. Lands shook and mountains
rocked as shockwaves rolled out in all directions.

“Are you looking to die, Sir Bloodsmelter?”

Everyone looked up.

Sword energy swept through the sky as if to slice apart the dome
of heaven. Numerous sword projections flew about with
destructive force. Just looking at it all, Xu Qing’s eyes stung. What
was more, he also saw a very familiar withered hand appear. It
was like the hand of a deity, filled with terrifying godliness, sending
out fluctuations that transformed magical laws. As a result,
numerous indistinct figures appeared around the hand, as if
generations of sages and saints had been summoned to bless it. It
seemed capable of plucking stars out of the sky, of destroying
heaven and earth. Energy surged into the clouds as the hand
stretched out.

The air shattered, turning into a raging sea of blood, and the
indistinct figures around the hand started chanting. Immense
pressure began to build up.

Xu Qing’s pupils constricted.

Meanwhile, the blood-red streams that Sir Bloodsmelter had

produced were equally shocking. Each was like an undying devil.
As the sages and saints descended and the sea of swords
weighed down, those ferocious devils stood strong. Cackling
laughter rang out as the blood-red streams swept about viciously,
like snakes of blood. Wherever they passed, sword energy
collapsed, and sword projections shattered. Finally, they
transformed into the vicious head of a draconic snake that
attacked the withered hand.

Heaven and earth trembled, and thunderous booms rang out as

the hand collapsed. Patriarch Soaring Cloud shot backward in the
face of the gigantic blood-colored snake head. Then, that head
transformed back into Sir Bloodsmelter, his eyes burning with
killing intent. Laughing, he said, “Fellow Daoist Soaring Cloud,
you’re only a thousand years older than me.”

“You’re from a subsidiary sect, and you will be crushed, Sir

Bloodsmelter! This is your last chance. Hand over Xu Qing and
return our life lamp. Follow the orders from the Seven Sect
Coalition. If you do, then things can go back to normal, and Seven
Blood Eyes can manage your own affairs without much
interference from the coalition!”

Patriarch Soaring Cloud’s eyes shone with cold light as he

performed a right-handed incantation gesture then pointed out in
front of him. Instantly, a sea of blood trembled in the sky, and it
was barely possible to see the image of a huge blood tree inside
of it.

This was the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect’s taboo treasure. Though
it wasn’t the real thing, only a projection, it was still incredibly
powerful.

“Without much interference?” Sir Bloodsmelter said. He laughed.

“For thousands of years, my sect has paid a sixty percent yearly
tithe to the coalition. You conscript all of our top chosen disciples.
You force them to either surrender and pay allegiance, or be sent
on dangerous missions that lead to certain death.
“Our sect techniques are throwaways from the coalition, and they
all contain fatal flaws. If we somehow acquire new techniques, you
take them away!

“You can override our sect’s grand spell formation any time you
wish. If our peaklords do something you don’t like, you force them
to accept assignments on the mainland, where they disappear,
perhaps into death.”

As Sir Bloodsmelter spoke, the disciples of the seven mountain

peaks listened anxiously, their gazes growing sharper and sharper.

As for Patriarch Soaring Cloud, he frowned in response. “When

drinking water, don’t forget who dug the well! Seven Blood Eyes
was founded by coalition disciples and coalition funds. That’s the
only reason your sect was able to grow. What, now you want to
just be free? Now you want to forget favors and violate justice?”

Hearing this, Sir Bloodsmelter smiled broadly, though it was a

smile that contained incredulity.

“Favors? Let’s talk about favors. 3,000 years ago, the battle in
Forbidden by the Zombie. 2,700 years ago, the War of
Soulstream. 2,000 years ago, the battle with the Cloudpeople.
1,700 years ago, the big war with the Heartsouls.... To this day,
Seven Blood Eyes has fought more than six hundred battles and
wars for your Seven Sect Coalition!
“There have been countless deaths. Our bones litter the lands! We
give the wounded disciples medicinal pills, and the dead disciples
burials. But have we ever asked compensation from the Seven
Sect Coalition for that? Every time our sect is about to prosper,
war comes, and we decline. And whatever gains made from the
war are meager!

“Over the past several thousand years, this sect has been brought
to the brink of destruction seventy-nine times. Did your Seven Sect
Coalition ever help us out on such occasions? Successive
generations of patriarchs have requested aid. In fact, our third
generation patriarch literally kowtowed to you and pleaded for
help. Did you ever once pay attention?

“Every single time, the patriarchs of Seven Blood Eyes have to be

cautious and conscientious. They lick their wounds and work hard
to recover from the losses of war. Then, once things are starting to
go well again, your coalition starts conscripting our best disciples
again!

“Don’t tell me that the lives of Seven Blood Eyes aren’t worth
anything! Do they exist just to die for you while you sit back and
relax, Soaring Cloud? I, Sir Bloodsmelter, am asking this question
to the Seven Sect Coalition. And I’m asking it of all heaven and
earth!

“Has Seven Blood Eyes repaid you well enough for these ‘favors’?
“Has Seven Blood Eyes wiped out the debt incurred by these
‘favors’?

“You bleed us dry, always citing the ‘favor’ of how you helped us
get started, and then telling us we have to abide by things
because we owe you. You sit there, high and mighty, and say that
if we in Seven Blood Eyes don’t die for you, that we’re ‘forgetting
favors.’ You say that if we don’t pay our dues to you, that we’re
‘violating justice.’

“Could it be that your ‘favors’ boil down to Seven Blood Eyes being
enslaved to you for generation after generation? Will it just keep
going like that until the epoch ends and the apocalypse comes!?”

Sir Bloodsmelter’s words rang out loud and clear, shaking all
seven of the mountain peaks in Seven Blood Eyes.

Patriarch Soaring Cloud’s expression was grim. He was fully

aware of the situation with Seven Blood Eyes. But in the end, profit
determined one’s position in life.

“There’s no need for speeches. People who forget favors always

come up with plenty of excuses.”

Sir Bloodsmelter laughed. “Ah, what an impressive supervisory

sect. How amazing you are to use ‘favors’ to enhance your own
prestige and power. As it turns out, you are the ones who drink
water, and forget who dug the well. Well, in that case, starting
today... Seven Blood Eyes is going to become a supervisory sect!”
Patriarch Soaring Cloud’s eyes turned incredibly sharp. “Your sect
isn’t worthy.”

“See what happens next before you decide.” Sir Bloodsmelter

waved his right hand and pointed to the sky. “Open the portal to
the Seazombie ancestral land!”

As the words left his mouth, winds swept through the sky, and
heaven and earth shook. At the same time, beyond Seastar
Island, the Merfolk Isles, and the various Seazombie fortified
islands, was the Seazombie ancestral land, which also trembled.

Half of those ancestral lands had been ceded to Seven Blood

Eyes. That was where the Seven Blood Eyes army still was,
having not yet returned to the sect. That was where Seven Blood
Eyes had built a huge teleportation portal to transport the zombie
ancestor statues. In fact, those two statues had already been
moved to the teleportation portal, and stood there tall and
imposing. Now, the teleportation portal suddenly glowed with
immense light. The clouds parted as if being dragged apart by
invisible hands.

As the light of teleportation glittered, intense rumbling sounds

rolled out everywhere. The rumbling sounds didn’t come from the
two zombie ancestor statues by the teleportation portal. Instead...
they came from the sky as something was teleported in.

Five beams of light became visible.

They were so dazzling they were difficult to see. As they closed in,
they attracted the attention of all the cultivators in the Seazombie
ancestral land. All of them were shaken, and looks of disbelief
could be seen everywhere.

And that was because, inside of those beams of light,

astonishingly, were... five unfamiliar zombie ancestor statues!
They were not from the nine statues that had originally existed
with the Seazombies. They were different statues! The statues
seemed incredibly ancient, as if they had seen many things from
ancient times until now. They were covered with cracks, yet were
obviously not made from ordinary stone. And it was only when in
the Seazombie lands that they would emit dazzling light. That was
one of the marvelous properties of the Seazombie divine
likenesses. They were only powerful in one specific location.

When the five statues arrived, they slammed down, causing the
earth to quake violently, and filling the Seazombie lands with
intense rumbling sounds.

Now, it was possible to see that there were a total of fourteen

zombie ancestor statues in the Seazombie ancestral land. Seven
were located in various parts of the ancestral land, while the other
seven were arrayed by the teleportation portal leading to Seven
Blood Eyes.

As the teleportation portal thrummed, the seven statues glowed

brightly, then sent out powerful fluctuations. It was like they were
seven massive power sources! At the same time, above each of
the seven statues... seven blood-colored vortexes appeared. They
were seven eyes! They were all closed, but as they appeared,
they caused a violent tsunami to sweep out across the sea. All
nonhumans, all sea beasts, and everything else trembled in
absolute astonishment. And that was because... this was not the
aura of an ordinary magical treasure. This was something
approaching the level of a taboo treasure!

As the matchlessly fierce aura became more intense, the air

screamed above the closed eyes as something else appeared. It
was an ancient bronze mirror, fully 30,000 meters in size! [3]

It hovered vertically in the air, rotating slowly in a circle. It could

face north to the Emperor-Receiving Prefecture, south to Seven
Blood Eyes, east to Forbidden by the Zombie, and west to the Sea
of Endlessness. Everything was within its range!

And wherever it pointed, people would feel struck down to their

soul, and would shiver in terror! As the power sources that were
the seven zombie ancestor statues fed into the mirror, it pulsed
with a taboo aura. Seven Blood Eyes’ taboo treasure had formed!

1. The incident with the mermaid and Third Elder Brother was in
chapter 98. ☜

2. There were clues in chapters 98 and 99 that pointed to Third

Elder Brother being the person who chased Xu Qing after the
Sealizard Island incident. The actual chase part happened in
chapter 93. ☜

3. Being a fantasy world, the mirror is likely very fancy and cool-
looking. However, it’s based on ancient Chinese bronze/copper
mirrors, which were generally circular (but not always a perfect
circle), with ornate designs on the back, with a highly polished
metallic surface on the other side that served as the reflective part.
This is the same style of mirror as the special mirror Meng Hao
uses in ISSTH. That said, there is no indication these mirrors are
supposed to be connected, other than the fact that they are both
mirrors and both made of bronze/copper. Here is a photo gallery
with a few examples of what ancient Chinese mirrors looked like.
☜
Chapter 266: The Truth Revealed

In the blink of an eye, the Forbidden Sea was thrown into chaos.
Everyone from the Emperor-Receiving Prefecture was visibly
stunned.

The first to react was the group closest to the Seazombies, and
that was the Seven Sect Coalition. Almost instantly, six immense
figures appeared, projected above their headquarters. They
included both men and women, and their faces were obscured.
Only their eyes were visible, bright and radiant.

“Seven Blood Eyes....”

“They actually managed to create a taboo treasure.”

“Sir Bloodsmelter really is a man of rigorous schemes and deep

foresight. He’s not to be underestimated!”

These six figures were patriarchs and matriarchs who were on the
senate of the Seven Sect Coalition. As they communicated with
divine will, they rose high into the air. Then they began moving,
taking steps forward before vanishing in the direction of the
Seazombies. They appeared in the air over the Seazombie
ancestral land only a moment later. As the immense bronze mirror
rotated, the terrifying power of a taboo treasure struck them to the
core. When a magical treasure became a taboo treasure, it
involved very unusual transformations. Gruish abilities would
manifest, which would then determine the full extent and
capabilities of the taboo treasure.

“Punishment.... I can’t believe it! This thing has the power of

capital punishment!”

“The Seven Blood Eyes taboo treasure doesn’t have the power to
destroy a sect. Instead, it can do something even more unique. It
can destroy an individual! Based on what I can sense, it has a
destructive power that is… absolutely terrifying!

“Once it locks onto someone, it has a ten percent chance of

instantly detonating them! And because of the nature of that
mirror, it can target people from a great distance!”

“Even though the success rate is only ten percent, that’s only for a
single eye. This thing has seven eyes! For all intents and
purposes, that means it has a seventy percent chance of
succeeding. Who would dare to take a chance against something
like that?”

“Sir Bloodsmelter is in the first stage of Void Returning. With this

taboo treasure and its ability to inflict capital punishment, he could
definitely target someone in second stage Void Returning!”

“Second stage... that’s the level the president of the Seven Sect
Coalition is in.”
The patriarchs and matriarchs of the Seven Sect Coalition fell into
silence. Each had their own thoughts on the matter.

A taboo treasure was the greatest threat a sect could unleash, and
it wasn’t something that just any sect could unleash. Of the 136
sects that made up the coalition, there were only seven that had
taboo treasures. What was more, taboo treasures were things that
other people couldn’t just take away. They had spirit automatons,
and could defend themselves. For example, if anyone attempted
to take Seven Blood Eyes’ taboo treasure, it was entirely possible
that the treasure could be unleashed against them.

Seven Blood Eyes’ taboo treasure had other unique aspects. It

was powered by seven zombie ancestor statues. Therefore, when
any of its seven eyes opened, it would unleash terrifying power.

After assessing the situation, the patriarchs and matriarchs of the

coalition exchanged glances, then performed incantation gestures
that instigated a long-distance teleportation. Then they vanished in
the direction of Seven Blood Eyes.

In a matter of moments, all of the various factions in the Emperor-

Receiving Prefecture on the Revered Ancient mainland were using
their own methods to observe what was happening above Seven
Blood Eyes. And all of them realized... that the structure of the
Seven Sect Coalition was going to change. By extension, that
meant that the structure of the Emperor-Receiving Prefecture was
also going to change.
Storm clouds were on the horizon.

All of the Seazombies in the Seazombie ancestral land were

trembling in despair. In contrast, the Seven Blood Eyes disciples
who were stationed there all seemed incredibly excited.

Of course, most astonished of all was the person currently having

trouble breathing steadily, and that was... Patriarch Soaring Cloud,
who hovered in the air above Seven Blood Eyes. Sweat had
broken out on his forehead, and his eyes were narrowed. It was
impossible for him to prevent his shock from showing on his face
as he stared in the direction of the Seazombie ancestral land.

Although he couldn’t actually see what was happening there, he

could sense that something had locked onto him, and he knew
that with a mere thought, Sir Bloodsmelter could bring deadly
catastrophe to him. From the mere sensation of that force locking
onto him, it was obvious that he was in an absolute crisis.

Capital punishment... seven shots at capital punishment!

Breathing unsteadily, he looked at Sir Bloodsmelter with bloodshot

eyes.

“Now do you think Seven Blood Eyes is worthy to be a supervisory

sect?” Sir Bloodsmelter asked coolly.

Patriarch Soaring Cloud opened his mouth to speak, but then

realized he didn’t know what to say. All of a sudden, it occurred to
him that everything Seven Blood Eyes had done was part of one
unified strategy.

It had only seemed that Seven Blood Eyes was targeting the
Seazombies to absolutely destroy them. In reality, that wasn’t their
plan at all.

Seven Blood Eyes actually had two goals.

The first had been to create a path to the Revered Ancient

mainland. Patriarch Soaring Cloud could envision that path in his
mind. The starting point was Seven Blood Eyes. Second came the
Merfolk Isles, third were the Seazombie fortified islands, and fourth
was the Seazombie ancestral land. The fourth location on the path
was very close to the Seven Sect Coalition on the mainland. That
path was essentially a straight line from Seven Blood Eyes to the
Seven Sect Coalition.

However, Seven Blood Eyes' strategy was complex. They had

attacked the Merfolk during the Seventh Peak’s Grand
Competition, all in order to draw out the Seazombies. Sir
Bloodsmelter chose that moment for his breakthrough, in order to
attack and injure the Seazombie patriarch.

That was the main reason why the Seazombies were ultimately
defeated.

The next logical step was for them to attack the Seazombies, and
slowly conquer their fortified islands before moving onto their
ancestral land. It was a clean operation, and during the entire time,
Seven Blood Eyes didn’t give any indication that they had the
power to do anything beyond achieve this first goal of theirs.

Of course, the Seven Sect Coalition had quickly realized what that
first goal was.

That was why they stepped in to prevent Seven Blood Eyes from
taking over the Seazombie ancestral land. The Seven Sect
Coalition had taken advantage of the moment to destroy the
Young Arbiter Sect and restore the flow of the Everlasting Immortal
Profundity River. But that didn’t mean they weren’t paying close
attention to Seven Blood Eyes. Their action had been an act of
shaking the mountain to frighten the tiger. In this case, the
mountain was the Young Arbiter Sect and the tiger was Seven
Blood Eyes. In that manner, they won a victory without expending
much effort, and made sure that Seven Blood Eyes was put into
place.

However, no one in the Seven Sect Coalition had even considered

that Seven Blood Eyes actually had a second goal. And that
second goal was cloaked in profound deception. In fact, it had
been hidden so perfectly that, right now, Patriarch Soaring Cloud’s
scalp tingled when he thought about it. Now he realized that
Seven Blood Eyes had intentionally made their first goal obvious.
And the reason was to prevent anyone from realizing what their
second goal was.
This was not Sir Bloodsmelter’s usual style.

The second goal was to acquire the zombie ancestor divine

likenesses, and then use them as a power source. By doing so,
they could upgrade their sect’s magical treasure to the point of
becoming a taboo treasure.

The success of the operation hinged on two premises. First, they

needed a way to use the zombie ancestor statues as power
sources. Second, they needed to locate several zombie ancestor
statues that were floating around outside of the Seazombie
ancestral land.

Clearly, Seven Blood Eyes had fulfilled both premises.

Seven Blood Eyes had even calculated that the Seven Sect
Coalition would interfere with their operation, and force them to
end the war. All of their previous anger and defiance, as well as all
their haggling, had been for a purpose. And that was... to make
sure they could get the final two zombie ancestor statues they
needed.

Even after the negotiations were complete, Seven Blood Eyes still
showed restraint. Despite how the Seven Sect Coalition’s chosen
came and issued dueling challenges, causing Seven Blood Eyes
to lose a lot of face, they kept quiet and just waited for the spell
formation construction to be completed. Supposedly, that spell
formation had been built to transport war reparations. It seemed
like something any conquering force would do. But the reality was
that it wasn’t built to transport two statues to Seven Blood Eyes. It
was built to transport five statues from Seven Blood Eyes.

With that one teleportation, the number of statues around the

formation reached a total of seven. What was more, upon being
returned to the Seazombie ancestral land, they awoke from their
state of slumber.

Gritting his teeth, Patriarch Soaring Cloud growled, “So when our
coalition disciples issued challenges to your disciples, you
intentionally put on a weak front? All to trick us? In that case,
what’s your ultimate goal? You want to be an independent force on
Revered Ancient?”

Sir Bloodsmelter didn’t answer the first question, as it wasn’t

important. He just smiled and said, “I’m old. I want to enjoy a life of
retirement on the mainland. But at the same time, I hope to see a
new seat added to the Seven Sect Coalition’s senate.”

Patriarch Soaring Cloud didn’t respond. He was incredibly

frustrated and annoyed. His sect’s life lamp had been taken, and
his grandson had been seriously injured. However, those things
were secondary to Seven Blood Eyes’ sudden show of
decisiveness and ambition.

Seven Blood Eyes was very still and quiet. The ordinary disciples
didn’t know exactly what was going on, but they could sense that
the atmosphere had changed. And when they heard their
patriarch’s words, their hearts started racing. They could guess
what was coming.

Xu Qing looked out at the sea. A moment ago, he had sensed

something happening out there, and he could speculate about
what it was.

“So, that’s what’s going on here,” the Captain said quietly, but loud
enough for his fellow apprentices to hear. “The old man really is a
cunning old fox. Now I get what the secret weapon is.”

Xu Qing looked over at him. So did Third Elder Brother. Second

Elder Sister, on the other hand, was still sending voice messages.

“You really know what’s going on, Eldest Brother?” asked Third
Elder Brother. “Is it a taboo treasure? Does Seven Blood Eyes
finally have a taboo treasure?” Third Eldest Brother seemed
hesitant about that assessment.

As for Xu Qing, he kept his eyes on the Captain. He was also

hesitant.

The Captain sighed deeply. “Something like this is worth about

1,000 spirit stones. Whoever wants to know, just pay up, and I’ll
tell you.”

“You don’t know squat!” Master Seventh said.

Looking embarrassed, the Captain cleared his throat.

“I worked a hundred years to plan this thing for the patriarch,”
Master Seventh continued. “Step by step, we’ve carried out the
operation to this point.

“There’s no need for you four to speculate about the details. I’ll tell
you. Out in the Seazombie ancestral land, we created a taboo
treasure that belongs to Seven Blood Eyes. It will be the eighth
taboo treasure to exist in the Seven Sect Coalition. With it, we can
control everything around us, and also ensure safe passage to the
Revered Ancient mainland.

“After this, the Seven Sect Coalition is going to have to change its
name.” Looking back at his four apprentices, Master Seventh
smiled. “What do you think? Does ‘Eight Sect Coalition’ sound
good? I think it does.”

As the words left Master Seventh’s mouth, the sky above

shimmered as powerful auras suddenly spread out everywhere.
Six god-like beings appeared in the dome of heaven around Sir
Bloodsmelter and Patriarch Soaring Cloud.

These were the patriarchs and matriarchs from the senate of the
Seven Sect Coalition.

In almost the exact same instant that they arrived, an old woman
walked out of Seven Blood Eyes and flew up into the air. Arriving
next to Sir Bloodsmelter, she looked at the people from the Seven
Sect Coalition and smiled.
“Hey everyone. Long time no see. I was napping earlier when I
heard someone mention handing over Xu Qing. My granddaughter
really likes that kid, and I’m thinking of marrying them. If you kill
him, my granddaughter wouldn’t be very happy. And that means I
wouldn’t be happy either. I don’t have much in my old age, but I do
have my granddaughter. Therefore, if I’m not happy, I’ll make sure
the lot of you are very unhappy!”
Chapter 267: Eight Sect Coalition

The words spoken by Yanyan’s grandmother echoed to fill the

entire sect.

Xu Qing didn’t say anything. The Captain and Third Elder Brother
both looked at him. Second Elder Sister even stopped sending
voice messages to do the same.

Master Seventh looked over his shoulder at Xu Qing, a look of

praise on his face. “Well done. You’re just like me back in the day.”

Then he looked at his other three apprentices, frowning in

frustration at how they continuously failed to live up to his
expectations. That said, his gaze quickly omitted Second Sib, and
focused mainly on Big Sib and Third Sib. After thinking about Third
Sib for a moment, he ignored him and stared straight at the
Captain.

“You could learn a thing or two from your Junior Brother!”

“If I looked like him, I’d be doing fine!” the Captain said gloomily.
“Not even magical techniques can replicate little Ah Qing’s face!”

Far gloomier than the Captain, however, was Patriarch Soaring

Cloud. As he hovered in the air above the sect, he glared at Guru
Eastnether, his expression immeasurably unsightly. It was bad
enough that Sir Bloodsmelter was protecting the scum who had
harmed the interests of his sect. But it was completely unthinkable
that Guru Eastnether, who had long ignored the outside world and
never made alliances, was also doing the same thing.

Patriarch Soaring Cloud thought about how his grandson was

injured, and might not even survive. He thought about the stolen
life lamp, and he thought about how everything had gone wrong
lately. Seven Blood Eyes now qualified to be a supervisory sect,
and was clearly no weaker than any of the other top seven sects.
All of it caused his eyes to become completely bloodshot. He knew
that he couldn’t stop Seven Blood Eyes from becoming a
supervisory sect.

After all, the Seven Sect Coalition was not run by any one
particular sect. There were eight people on the senate: the
president plus seven patriarchs and matriarchs. Although they had
common interests, there was also friction between various
members. Seven Blood Eyes was powerful, and now they had a
taboo treasure. They didn’t just qualify to join the coalition, they
would obviously be a force to be reckoned with.

Patriarch Soaring Cloud knew that the other members of the

senate would approve of the change. In fact, thinking about
everything Seven Blood Eyes had done to reach this point, he was
convinced that they must have already made contact with people
in the coalition, and earned their secret support.
Grinding his teeth, he said, “If you give us back our life lamp, then
the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect will support you joining the
coalition! If you don’t, then you’re responsible for the
consequences! You have the power, Sir Bloodsmelter. You decide
whether you’re our enemy or our friend!”

Patriarch Soaring Cloud raised his hand and pointed toward the
sky. The sea of blood in the dome of heaven rumbled as it began
to form a blood tree that could descend on Seven Blood Eyes in
an instant. Great pressure suddenly weighed down on Seven
Blood Eyes.

Sir Bloodsmelter chuckled darkly. “How amusing, Soaring Cloud.

And how very sinister of you. You think I’m going to sacrifice one
of my disciples’ interests to join the Seven Sect Coalition? If I did
that, what would the other disciples think?

“Might they not wonder if I would sacrifice them later on, just to get
ahead? And what would allies think? Might they not wonder if I
would sacrifice them to get ahead? How much face would I lose by
doing that?

“Soaring Cloud, you vermin, such words are deplorable even for
you. It seems to me you don’t believe that I really have a taboo
treasure.”

Eyes hardening, Sir Bloodsmelter shoved out his right hand. As

heaven and earth trembled, the patriarchs and matriarchs from the
Seven Sect Coalition watched closely. In the Seazombie ancestral
land, the huge bronze mirror rotated until it was facing Seven
Blood Eyes. As it completely locked down onto Patriarch Soaring
Cloud, one of the seven eyes hovering above the seven zombie
ancestor statues snapped open.

The blood-red eye had no pupil. As soon as it opened, a sinister

wind sprang up that seemed cold enough to freeze the nine
heavens. As it enveloped Seven Blood Eyes, an image of
Patriarch Soaring Cloud appeared within the mirror.

Patriarch Soaring Cloud’s face fell as an intense sensation of

deadly crisis overwhelmed him. It had been many years since he
had experienced any feeling like this. His flesh and blood
quivered, his mind shook, and his life force screamed. It was like
he was facing a deadly predator who held his life in its hand, and
could easily rip out his soul. Sensing that death was coming for
him, Patriarch Soaring Cloud unleashed the power of his
cultivation base to fight back.

Simultaneously, a cold voice rang out from the bronze mirror.

“Capital punishment!”

In the mirror, the image of Patriarch Soaring Cloud twisted and

distorted. A vicious expression appeared on his face, as though
the image itself were a unique entity, and not the patriarch himself.
A moment later it exploded.
The eye closed.

Meanwhile, back in Seven Blood Eyes, blood sprayed out of

Patriarch Soaring Cloud’s mouth. He shook violently, and his facial
expression matched the image of himself in the mist. Then he
exploded in a cloud of blood.

Some distance away, he formed back again. This time, his face
was pale, and his eyes seemed dull. His expression was one of
complete disbelief.

The cold voice from the mirror echoed out again.

“Capital punishment failed. Initiating second capital punishment.”

Sir Bloodsmelter snarled and was about to make a move when the
other six patriarchs and matriarchs from the Seven Sect Coalition
moved to interfere. Before they could, Sir Bloodsmelter grinned
viciously and shouted, “Taboo activate!”

Instantly, the seven zombie ancestor statues beneath the bronze

mirror unleashed unrivaled energy and blood, causing the six eyes
that had not yet opened, as well as the seventh eye that had just
closed... to all open!!

The seven eyes released seven gazes that crossed the Forbidden
Sea, entered Seven Blood Eyes, and locked onto the seven
patriarchs and matriarchs! All of them trembled, and their faces
fell.
All of a sudden, they realized that Seven Blood Eyes taboo
treasure was a lot more gruish than they’d realized. It wasn’t the
case that each eye could unleash capital punishment. Even if one
of the eyes’ capital punishment failed, it would unleash another
attack immediately. Clearly, the attacks could build on each other.
In other words, even if someone got incredibly lucky and survived
seven capital punishments, they would end up so injured they
would be hovering on the brink of death. Even more relevant was
that Seven Blood Eyes’ taboo treasure had ample power, such
that no one knew how many times it could be used. It was a
terrifying thing considering that the other sects’ taboo items could
only be used once in a specified period of time. Although it was
likely that Seven Blood Eyes’ taboo treasure also had some sort of
cooldown period, none of them wanted to take a risk considering
they didn’t know for sure.

All of these patriarchs and matriarchs had a sense of propriety,

and thus, in that moment, the representatives from Spiritgloam
Valley and the Heavenmirror Treasure Sect spoke.

“We propose to let Seven Blood Eyes join the coalition!”

“We second the motion!”

Although it seemed like their decision was made in the heat of the
moment, Patriarch Soaring Cloud wasn’t convinced that was the
case. He was thinking about back when he had activated his own
taboo treasure to destroy the Young Arbiter Sect and intimidate
Seven Blood Eyes.

During the middle of that event, Spiritgloam Valley and the

Heavenmirror Treasure Sect had also activated their taboo
treasures. After the event was over, he’d come to the conclusion it
made sense given the circumstances. But now he realized that
those two sects must have activated their taboo treasures just in
case he didn’t follow the plan, and actually attacked Seven Blood
Eyes. [1]

They’ve been working together all along! Patriarch Soaring Cloud

thought, his face turned even paler.

The action taken by Spiritgloam Valley and the Heavenmirror

Treasure Sect seemed to sway the other four.

Seeing that, Patriarch Soaring Cloud’s heart filled with grief. He

wanted to do something, but the sensation of imminent death that
filled him prevented him. Right now, maintaining face was more
important than a life lamp. As the saying goes, if you ride a tiger,
it’s hard to get off.

Around this time, a calm, ancient voice suddenly spoke from the
dome of heaven.

“We’re all on the same side here. There’s no point in making such
a big fuss over a simple misunderstanding.
“Fellow Daoist Soaring Cloud, please return to headquarters. And
the rest of you Fellow Daoists do the same. Fellow Daoist
Bloodsmelter, we welcome you to join the senate, and we are
pleased to have Seven Blood Eyes as part of the coalition. Please
come so that we can discuss the particulars of transporting your
sect here.

“I hereby swear an oath, witnessed by all Revered Ancient, that

the Seven Sect Coalition will be renamed the Eight Sect Coalition.
What do you think, Fellow Daoist Bloodsmelter?”

High in the dome of heaven a face appeared, pulsing with

spectacular energy, and causing crushing pressure to weigh down
on the nine of the first stage Void Returning patriarchs. It didn’t
affect any of the Seven Blood Eyes disciples. The face belonged
to that of a middle-aged cultivator. He seemed scholarly, and
lacked any sort of perverse energy. As he looked down at Sir
Bloodsmelter, a second, slightly larger version of his face
appeared and superimposed upon the first. Then a third, a fourth,
and a fifth face appeared. Each one was larger than the one
before it. More and more appeared, until they were impossible to
count, and seemed to fill the entire sky above the continent of
South Phoenix.

“Well met, President!”

“Well met, President!” All of the Seven Sect Coalition patriarchs

and matriarchs looked sober as they clasped hands respectfully.
Xu Qing struggled to control his breathing, while the Captain stood
next to him, his eyes shining. Further ahead, Master Seventh
looked up and murmured, “This is the second stage of Void
Returning. Transform 10,000 Veracities....”

Xu Qing gazed into the dome of heaven, his heart pounding, his
eyes burning with a thirst to become stronger.

Meanwhile, Sir Bloodsmelter took a deep breath and clasped

hands respectfully to show his agreement.

A moment later, the faces in the sky vanished. Looking very

frustrated, Patriarch Soaring Cloud flicked his sleeve, picking up
all of the trembling disciples of his sect, then becoming a bright
beam of light that shot off into the distance.

The other sect patriarchs and matriarchs clasped hands to Sir

Bloodsmelter and Guru Eastnether, and then some of them
departed. One of them, a woman from the Dark Serenity Sect
whose face it wasn’t possible to see clearly, smiled faintly as she
looked down at the summit of the Seventh Peak. Then she left.

The matriarch and patriarch from Spiritgloam Valley and the

Heavenmirror Treasure Sect chose not to leave. She was tender
and delicate, he was burly with a big beard. Whether in terms of
appearance or aura, both surpassed anything ordinary. Their eyes
glittered, and they smiled as they looked at Sir Bloodsmelter and
Guru Eastnether. Apparently, all of them were well-acquainted with
each other. Now that everything had played out, there was no
need for any of them to maintain appearances.

“We’ll be waiting for you in the coalition.”

“Welcome to the coalition, Bloodsmelter, old pal!”

Sir Bloodsmelter laughed heartily, and Guru Eastnether gave a

faint smile. After reminiscing for a short time, the coalition
representatives said their farewells and headed back to the
mainland.

The outsiders were gone. Master Seventh had accepted a new

apprentice. And now, Sir Bloodsmelter publicly announced the
result of everything that had happened. Seven Blood Eyes was to
join the Seven Sect Coalition, which would become the Eight Sect
Coalition. They would move to the mainland in a matter of days.

All Seven Blood Eyes disciples were filled with excitement. And
that excitement lasted for the seven or eight days that came after.
The entire sect was bubbling with joy, and everyone was talking
about things to come.

As for Xu Qing, things quickly calmed down. Though he was now

the fourth highness from the Seventh Peak, he still had work to do
acclimating to his second life lamp. The sect did not officially ask
him any questions about that second lamp.
A few more days went by, and then another announcement was
made.

In three days, a delegation led by Sir Bloodsmelter and Master

Seventh would go to the Seven Sect Coalition in the Revered
Ancient mainland. There, they would negotiate details about the
upcoming move.

Moving an entire sect was no small affair, and would require a lot
of give and take on both sides. Though Xu Qing wouldn’t
participate in the actual negotiations, he was going to be part of
the delegation. Also coming along were the Captain and Third
Elder Brother. There were also highnesses from the other
mountain peaks. The Seven Sect Coalition wasn’t going to act
arrogant and overbearing. They would treat Seven Blood Eyes as
equals, and would follow all of the prescribed formalities to
welcome them.

***

In the last few years, Xu Qing hadn’t dreamed very much, but the
day before leaving, he did.

He dreamed of being a child, back with his mother and father in

the city where he was born. Back then, he wasn’t a street urchin.
Back then, he had a happy family life. Back then, he had no idea
how evil the world really was. In the dream, his parents’ faces
were blurry. He tried hard to remember what they looked like, but
their faces seemed lost in time. It had nothing to do with his
cultivation base. It was just how life worked. That said, his older
brother’s face was very clear.

He did have a brother. In the dream, he and his brother got along
well. They grew older together, playing in the dirt, giggling and
laughing, going to school together, and whispering to each other
after lights out. However, in the dream, his brother’s face suddenly
split apart in a very gruish fashion, revealing another face
underneath. It was a cold face, with nefarious, evil eyes.

1. Spiritgloam Valley and the Heavenmirror Treasure Sect

activated their taboo treasures in chapter 242. ☜

Deathblade's ThoughtsThis is the end of Volume 3: Small Grain.

Here’s the solar terms references link.

This is the end of Volume 3: Small Grain. Here’s the solar terms
references link.