Chapter 103: Back from Death’s Door
Xu Qing was not in the habit of paying attention to his enemies’ dying words. Nor was he interested in having a servant. Besides, human hearts were hard to judge, and it was always possible a servant could turn traitor later on. It seemed much better to just kill an enemy and be done with it.
When it came to enemies, he had one philosophy: a dead enemy was the safest. And the sooner you killed them, the safer you were.
Besides, though he was new to the Crimson Wilds, and had only spent a month acclimating, he had learned enough to know that because of the impoverished conditions and horrible environment, the Church of Departure didn’t come often to proselytize. The scavenger basecamp was 50 kilometers away, plus there was a snowstorm. It seemed unlikely anyone knew about what was going on at the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect.
Because of the talisman treasure, he looked completely different. Furthermore, his dharmaboat had always been disguised, and the only person who knew what it really looked like was Zhang San.
Xu Qing had done all he could in the short time available. Things hadn’t played out perfectly, and there were some flaws, but overall, he felt that things had gone very smoothly.
Of course, the main reason for it all was that Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior had misjudged when he would come. He had also underestimated how quickly Xu Qing would advance in his cultivation. Most importantly, there was no way he could have predicted that Xu Qing would come prepared with an attack of godliness, something that could be dangerous to even Foundation Establishment cultivators!
Godly entities were very rare, and materials related to them were astonishingly expensive. But Xu Qing had sacrificed a godly lizard skin, as well as well over 10,000 spirit stones, to have his dharmaboat crafted in this way.
How could things not have gone smoothly?
The wind howled, spreading snow in all directions.
The dharmaboat’s power of godliness converged, and when Xu Qing’s right hand dropped, it shot out of the horn at the prow of the ship, becoming a blinding mass of golden light.
Looking at the scene from below on the ground, one would see the snowflakes covering everything, except for that impossibly holy beam of golden light.
It was pure and god-like in a way that could crush all souls and vanquish all living beings. Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior trembled visibly, the terror in his eyes so intense it almost became corporeal.
The godliness swept toward him with the power to kill him in body and soul. And seeing that Xu Qing wasn’t listening to him, the patriarch’s eyes flashed with determination. Howling, he did something that Xu Qing could never have imagined that he would do.
He actually... killed himself before the godliness hit him!
As Xu Qing watched, he struck himself on the forehead with his own hand.
A boom rang out, and his Foundation Establishment cultivation base erupted with power as his palm struck his own head. And then, seemingly worried that he might not successfully kill himself with that one blow, he pulled out a knife and stabbed himself in the heart. The force of the blow caused the blade to explode, whereupon countless bits of metal shrapnel, backed by the power of Foundation Establishment, ripped through his body. At the same time, his head literally exploded.
All of it happened in the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint. Then the patriarch’s headless, shredded corpse tumbled to the ground....
Xu Qing stared in shock. Wait, is he a nonhuman that doesn’t need a head to live? Or is he trying to fake his own death?
Studying the corpse below, he confirmed that there were absolutely no signs of life in it. He had never heard of any human being able to fake their death after losing their head, and at the same time, he didn’t get any sense that the patriarch wasn’t human.
For the first time in the process of killing someone, Xu Qing hesitated, as he wondered if he should waste some of his precious godliness on what was obviously a corpse....
He had killed a lot of people over the years, but had never seen anything like this. The dharmaboat godliness attack wavered as Xu Qing started to rein it in.
Then, he waved his hand, and the countless water droplets in the area stabbed down into the mangled corpse.
Booms rang out as the corpse was chopped into pieces.
However, that was when a soul shadow appeared, wriggling out from the gore. It was somewhat indistinct, and trembling in the wind, like it might fade from existence at any moment.
Despite the indistinct nature of the soul shadow, it clearly bore the visage of Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior. However, it had not yet become a deceased soul, but instead, seemed to waver between clarity and blurriness. Yet Xu Qing could clearly see the signs of life in it.
Xu Qing’s gaze sharpened, filling with killing intent again. Before he could do anything, the patriarch’s soul shadow suddenly shot at top speed... toward the black iron skewer laying on the ground a short distance away. In the blink of an eye, he was next to the iron skewer, his expression one of anxiety, as though he were fleeing for his life, fearful that if he didn’t get close enough to the skewer, he would be wiped out of existence by Xu Qing. Without any hesitation, the soul shadow merged into the iron skewer. The skewer trembled, and then the black glow that emanated from it suddenly seemed much colder.
From the way it pulsed it had obviously transformed into something precious!!
For the second time ever during the process of a battle, Xu Qing stared in open shock.
He was a member of Seven Blood Eyes now, and was not ignorant to the ways of cultivation, like he had been before. All it took was a single glance at the iron skewer, and he knew exactly what he was looking at.
It has a spirit automaton now?
There were many differences between prized treasures and magical treasures. But the biggest difference... was that prized treasure did not have spirits, and magical treasures did. Adding a spirit to a prized treasure didn’t automatically make it a magical treasure, but with a spirit automaton, it would have the potential to become one!
After thinking for a moment, Xu Qing made a grasping gesture with his right hand, and the black iron skewer shot toward him. Grabbing it out of the air, he looked at it coldly and squeezed it hard. He then relaxed his hand before squeezing hard again. After doing that a few times, he considered the situation further.
He could tell that his iron skewer did indeed have a spirit automaton now. And that spirit automaton... was Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior.
Xu Qing had no idea how the patriarch did it, but it was obvious that, fearing death, he transformed his soul into a spirit automaton and then inserted himself into the iron skewer.
“Get the hell out of there!” Xu Qing growled anxiously.
The iron skewer trembled, and then the patriarch’s face appeared on its surface. Seeing Xu Qing’s expression, he shivered and smiled obsequiously.
“Milord, what matter can your humble servant handle for you?”
He spoke smoothly, with a touch of flattery, in a way that didn’t seem forced at all. It almost seemed like he had practiced speaking in this way. And the truth was that… he had. Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was a very cautious person, and always preferred to play things safe. He loved reading ancient records, preferred to do things differently than the average person, and was quite talkative.
That said, he didn’t think of himself that way. Given the chaotic state of the world, he felt that his own cultivation base level, and his inability to enter the profound radiance state, made him worthless. Furthermore, his sect was tiny. Therefore, based on the ancient records he had read, he knew that he would make the perfect grindstone for one of those legendary people with unbeatably strong destiny.
The patriarch had read about such ‘grindstones’ many times in the ancient records. They always died horrible deaths, and not one of them ever survived. That had left him feeling terrified about his future prospects.
He could have simply given up and retired into seclusion, but he couldn’t bear to do that.
Years in the past, when it had seemed unlikely he would end up so unlucky, he had decided to put in place some failsafes. And thus, he took an ancient magical technique he had found in some ruins, and secretly started cultivating it.
That ancient technique was something ordinary people wouldn’t cultivate, as it had only one purpose: it allowed you to sacrifice yourself to become a spirit automaton. Furthermore, there was a high failure rate, and failure led to the destruction of one’s spiritual and physical souls.
But the patriarch felt that the ancient technique was very important, and viewed it as a way of having a second life. Therefore, he had continued to cultivate it every so often. And you could say he had some natural gifts in that regard....
He had always felt that, it was highly possible that if he reached the point in which someone was about to kill him, and calling them ‘milord’ and even swearing a dao oath of service didn’t convince them to spare him. Then not even using some sort of death-faking talisman would be truly reliable. The most reliable thing would be to turn himself into the spirit automaton of a weapon. After all, the vast majority of cultivators thought of spirit automatons as being very useful.
The more the patriarch read the ancient records, the more he became convinced that his plan was a good one....
And it was on this very day that the technique he had cultivated for his whole life finally became useful. He had been in a position in which death was certain, but now he had a chance to keep living.
Even as the patriarch smiled flatteringly, Xu Qing stood there feeling nervous. This was his first time being in a situation in which he was hesitating about killing an enemy. It was just that spirit automatons were so incredibly precious....
“How did you turn into a spirit automaton?” he asked coldly.
With an ingratiating smile, the patriarch loudly said, “Years ago, your humble servant had a dream. In the dream, I traveled to the future and met a Lord of Destiny who would baptize this cruel and cold world, and give it warmth and kindness. I was so moved that I swore an oath to follow him. When I woke up, I spent all my savings to purchase an ancient magical technique that can be used to turn oneself into a spirit automaton. You see, I’ve been preparing for this very moment for years!”
“You sound like a lunatic,” Xu Qing said coldly, and his killing intent started bubbling.
Seeing this, the patriarch shivered, and mused that it had been a wise choice to kill himself when dealing with a person like this, who sought revenge over the smallest grievance. Only by transforming himself into a spirit automaton had he come back from death’s door.
There really had been no other options. This wolf cub would never have accepted a servant, and had been dead set on killing. The patriarch knew that if he had acted even a bit slower, then he would really be dead now. It had been an exhausting ordeal, and he couldn’t help but grumble to himself about how much effort it had taken.
With such thoughts in his mind, he lowered his voice and told the truth, and even revealed his life essence spirit to Xu Qing.
As Xu Qing listened to the story, inspected the life essence spirit, and looked at the iron skewer, the killing intent in his eyes waxed and waned. Seeing that, the anxious patriarch said, “Milord, my poor little life is worthless. But I’m a spirit automaton now, which means I can make your weapon more effective, and provide it with endless opportunities for future growth. I might only be a Foundation Establishment spirit automaton, but with my augmentation, a prized treasure will be considered rarer and more dangerous. In the future, there are many other ways I can be of use. But of course, milord, you can exterminate me with a mere thought.
“Milord, don’t hurry to get rid of me. On my corpse you’ll find a medicinal pill that’s almost complete, and that thing can really boost your cultivation base.
“Also, milord, there’s a treasure storehouse in my sect, and inside is a formation crossbow designed to be used on a Seventh Peak dharmaboat. I don’t have a dharmaboat, so I could never use it. I planned to give it away as a gift....
“Oh, right. Milord, we should get out of here. A few days ago I invited a Fellow Daoist to come visit, and he should arrive sometime tomorrow. Also, the Church of Departure is supposed to send an emissary here soon.”
Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior knew that, since he’d made the choice to submit, he needed to submit thoroughly and completely. That was the only way he could stay alive.
Xu Qing’s face remained completely expressionless. After putting away the patriarch’s life essence spirit, he made a grasping gesture to pull the bag of holding from the corpse. Then he made to destroy the corpse itself, except the patriarch quickly interfered.
“Milord, milord, uh... that bag of holding is just for show. It’s not even real. There’s another holding device on my corpse. It’s hidden in a talisman treasure.”
Xu Qing looked deeply at the patriarch.