As Xu Qing spoke, a somber and desolate will erupted from him. It was as if a winter wind was sweeping through the arena, filling everyone with ice.
The immortal adepts, regardless of who they backed, now had Yue Dong as their leader. Therefore, it was only natural that they would close ranks to face a common enemy. Thus, they glared menacingly at Xu Qing.
Young Lord Yun’s heart filled also with killing intent; he was not going to allow anybody to harm Yue Dong.
The Imperial Sovereign mountain emissaries had all heard about the enmity between Sir Blood Dust and Yue Dong, but they had no reason to interfere. Besides, none of them thought that the two would actually try to kill each other right here. At the most, they might have a bit of a fight. And even if things did get deadly, it wasn’t their concern.
Therefore, after hearing what was said, the old man from the first Imperial Sovereign mountain turned to leave, his face grim. One by one, the other emissaries also left. One of the last to go was Lin Kun from the fifth mountain. Just before walking out, he looked at Xu Qing. Xu Qing gave him a nod. Lin Kun smiled back and was gone.
That left only one Imperial Sovereign mountain emissary, and it was Xu Qing, who stood facing the immortal adepts and Young Lord Yun, his face completely expressionless.
Yue Dong’s eyes glittered coldly. “Everyone out. Unless I give the order, no one is allowed to enter.”
The immortal adepts ducked their heads. Each had their own thoughts and perspectives, but in the end, Yue Dong had issued orders and they had to follow them.
However, Young Lord Yun didn’t leave. In fact, he walked over to Yue Dong as if he planned to stand with her against Xu Qing.
Truth be told, Erniu was getting a bit frustrated with this guy. Young Lord Yun... had really been a bit too helpful. No matter how coldly Erniu treated him, he would give anything and do anything that was asked of him.“This is a private matter between Sir Blood Dust and myself,” Erniu said coldly.
Young Lord Yun stopped in place. Seeing how determined Yue Dong was, he took a deep breath and chose to abide by her wishes. “Fine. I’ll wait outside. Dong— um, just call for me and I’ll come back in.”
Casting a malevolent glare at Xu Qing, he left reluctantly.
Xu Qing wasn’t really sure what to make of it. Once Young Lord Yun was gone, he looked over as Yue Dong waved a hand to seal the area with warding spells.... Only then did Xu Qing let an odd expression appear on his face.
“What are you looking at me like that for, little Ah Qing?” Erniu said, a glare in his eyes but embarrassment in his heart.
Xu Qing shook his head. “Nothing, Eldest Brother. Congratulations on becoming the grand immortal adept of the eastern Devilbirds’ Immortal Skills Hall!”
He clasped hands and bowed.
Given Xu Qing’s wording, Erniu decided not to bicker about his facial expression from moments ago. Feeling very pleased with himself, he stuck his chin up. “Your Eldest Brother has only just shown the tip of the iceberg when it comes to true skill. The truth is that I couldn't care less about being some pitiful grand immortal adept.”
Despite his words, his expression and the way his chin was stuck up gave a clear message to Xu Qing. He was saying... hurry up and praise me! Lay it on thick!
Xu Qing knew Erniu very well. Glancing at Erniu’s forehead, he thought for a moment, then softly said, “There are countless individuals among the eastern Devilbirds who long to be the grand immortal adept, but have no way of achieving that goal. That just goes to show how outstanding you are, Eldest Brother. In fact, I don’t think there’s anyone in the Devilbird holy land that can compare to you.”
Such praise caused Erniu to burst with joy.
Xu Qing again looked at Erniu’s forehead. “After all, that grand elder was a Smoldering God. And that power of wind, rain, thunder, lightning, and fire was very impressive....”
Xu Qing intentionally stopped talking for a moment and looked at Erniu.
Erniu disdainfully said, “That was nothing. I brought things to the table that were a hell of a lot more impressive than that damn old codger’s wind, rain, thunder, lightning, and fire. I used metal, wood, water, fire, and earth! Every single one of the five elements is a precious treasure!”
Xu Qing thought for a moment, then, without revealing even a hint that he wasn’t sincere, said, “I think I get it, Eldest Brother. You must have used the ‘wood’ from the five elements at a key moment in the refining and fusing process.”
Erniu sneered superciliously. “You clearly don’t get it. Wood couldn’t possibly work. It was all about metal!”
“Metal?” Xu Qing shook his head as if he was very confused.
Seeing that, Erniu couldn’t help but continue, “You’re so naive sometimes, little Ah Qing. Look, I didn’t just use some random metal. I used metal from back when you blew yourself up— er, I mean….” Erniu suddenly stopped talking. Looking as if he’d accidentally revealed something he shouldn’t have, he quickly changed the topic. “So, after announcing my identity, um... er....”
As beads of sweat popped out on Erniu’s forehead, Xu Qing looked at him with glittering eyes. Seeing that Erniu was having trouble coming up with a cover story, he said, “Eldest Brother, what were you saying about me blowing myself up?”
Smiling woodenly, Erniu took a few steps back.
Xu Qing, meanwhile, stepped forward so quickly it was almost like a teleportation as he appeared right in front of Erniu. He stared at his forehead. “Eldest Brother, you have something hidden in your forehead, and it feels like it's connected to me. Is that the metal you’re talking about?”
Erniu was now sweating even more. Realizing that he couldn’t hide the truth any longer, he rolled his eyes and began to speak in a very formal manner. “Since you’ve finally uncovered the truth, I can now breathe a sigh of relief. You see, back when you blew yourself up in the imperial capital, your body was mostly turned into ash. The only exception was a tiny fragment of bone. Acting on your behalf, I went through untold hardships to track it down. My plan was originally to return it to you.
“But then I started worrying that it would bring back bad memories. In order to avoid bringing you any mental hardship, I decided to keep it as a souvenir….” Suddenly brimming with conviction, he said, “Is there something so wrong with keeping a souvenir??”
Xu Qing looked at Erniu silently for a long moment. Then, he scowled and shook his head. “Eldest Brother, that cauldron is made from one of your past lives, isn’t it? No wonder you were killed back then. You took all the loot, didn’t you?”
Erniu guiltily opened his mouth to speak.
However, that was when the warding spells protecting the arena suddenly trembled. It was Young Lord Yun, who was so worried he was trying to find out what was going on inside. Erniu quickly sent a message outside to placate him. The trembling stopped.
Xu Qing looked at the spot where Young Lord Yun had left the arena, then thought about everything he had observed regarding his Eldest Brother. “Eldest Brother,” he said sincerely, “you should really... cherish that guy.”
Erniu had very thick skin. Pretending he didn’t get what Xu Qing meant, he waved his hand dismissively. “That’s not important for now. Little Ah Qing, it’s only a few more days until Grand Emperor Netherflame’s secluded meditation facilities will be opened. That... person you went to the western Devilbirds with.... How do you say? Is it that person?”
Xu Qing nodded.
Erniu inhaled sharply. “I was right! So, this is a situation of hogging the loot. Well, in any case, little Ah Qing, when you and that person went to the western Devilbirds, you had a really good opportunity on your hands. Did you really just go to issue a few challenges and get famous?” Erniu looked suspiciously at Xu Qing. “That’s not our style. Over the years, we’ve always taken advantage of opportunities to earn some profit, right?”
Xu Qing blinked a few times. “I took a trip to the Immortal Skills Hall there.”
The Captain’s eyes lit up. “And then what?”
“And then I got a sealing mark.” Xu Qing opened his hand, and the Five Dogs Cleave Immortals symbol appeared on his palm.
Erniu’s eyes went wide as he stared at the symbol. “Hahaha! Just what I would expect of my little Junior Brother. We do have the same style. It’s like I said, only a fool would neglect to take advantage of opportunities. That symbol... is nothing short of a treasure!”
Xu Qing shook his head. “Sadly, based on my study of Five Dogs Cleave Immortals, I can tell you that this symbol can only be acquired by means of a special ceremony and a legacy transfer. I only have this one symbol, and not even I can use it under normal circumstances.”
“Oh? Let me have a try.” He reached toward the symbol on Xu Qing’s palm as if he were unleashing an immortal skill. The three projections behind him also reached out. Grabbing the symbol, he pulled it back and pushed it onto his forehead.
As Xu Qing looked on, Erniu and the projections behind him all closed their eyes. They were obviously immersing themselves in this weakened version of Five Dogs Cleave Immortals.
Sometime later, Erniu opened his eyes, and they glittered with lingering fear. He gave the symbol back to Xu Qing.
“Incredible! But you’re right. Without that special legacy and ceremony, you can only sense it, not use it....” Erniu frowned. “You just said you can’t use it under normal circumstances. Does that mean... that you can use it under abnormal circumstances?”
Xu Qing’s eyes flashed as he looked at the symbol on his palm. “After I got back here to the east, I tried to use my daybreak light to copy it. It didn’t work. However, it gave me an idea. I decided to use the weakened version of the immortal skill on myself over and over, to build my tolerance and eventually become immune to it.
“The way immunity works is that your body gains an increasingly deep understanding of invading forces. Over time, the immunity builds. On the one hand, I lack the legacy and the ceremony, so I can’t take the initiative to study the immortal skill.
“However, I can use the symbol to unleash the immortal skill on myself, and become increasingly immune to it. After a certain point, my immunity will be complete. And at that point, I’ll have memorized the immortal skill and will be able to use it instinctively.
“By building immunity and instinctively memorizing the immortal skill, I’ll eventually learn how to control it, and bypass its inherent restrictions. At that point, I’ll be able to unleash it on my own, and will thus be able to use daybreak light to copy it.
“My daybreak light copies will have the full might of the immortal skill, as the copies are internally the same as the real thing.” Xu Qing looked at Erniu.
Erniu’s eyes were very wide, and he almost looked like he was in a daze. A long moment passed in which he realized that Xu Qing’s idea was a very sound one. “A fantastic idea. Almost preposterous. But it seems to me... like it will work!”
Xu Qing nodded and looked at the warding spells protecting the arena. “Of course, it’s all built on the premise that I can keep myself safe while constantly using the immortal skill on myself. It might be a weakened version of Five Dogs Cleave Immortals, but it’s still very gruish. Therefore, Eldest Brother, I have a request to make. I need you to stand as dharma protector for me. If things go bad, then you’ll need to combine our Six Thieves authority to pull me out of the Five Dogs immortal skill.”
Erniu nodded gravely. They discussed some more details, then Xu Qing made a show of leaving. Erniu gave some orders, then went into seclusion. Later that night, Xu Qing returned. And thus, the two of them started doing research and study into the immortal skills. Time passed. Five days.
Everyone in the Devilbird holy land was paying close attention to what was happening. Grand Emperor Devilbird came with his retainers. As the Imperial Sovereigns of the eastern Devilbirds watched closely, he and Lu Lingzi... got to work. The day had come to open Grand Emperor Netherflame’s secluded meditation facilities!