Chapter 115: Destination, Foundation Establishment Tower
Joine Island wasn’t huge. It only had three cities, plus a number of village-like camps. Xu Qing’s destination was Joine City, which was one of those three main urban areas. He had selected his debarkation point with that in mind. As such, it was no surprise that the fish skeleton city ahead was his target destination.
“Joine City...” he murmured, his eyes shining.
The city was in chaos, with many sections crumbling or in ruins. That was thanks to Master Seventh and the dharmaskiffs of the Foundation Establishment disciples and Gold Core cultivators. Smoke rose up everywhere, and there was chaotic fighting left and right.
Xu Qing kept his eyes on the city as he sped toward it. Although it seemed close, the truth was that even at the speed he was moving, it would take him an hour to reach it. The closer he got, the more of the astonishingly large fish skeleton he could see. He could only imagine how amazing that fish must have been when it swam the waters of the Forbidden Sea. Even dead, it still radiated a mighty pressure.
That pressure was no threat to the Merfolk, presumably because of the characteristics of their species. But it was different for non-Merfolk. The immense pressure would cause the heart and mind to reel, and it would suppress the cultivation base to a certain extent. Of course, thanks to the violet sea of light that covered everything, the pressure put out by the fish skeleton was reduced by more than half.
What remained wasn’t enough to significantly affect the cultivation bases of the Seven Blood Eyes disciples.
As he neared, Xu Qing heard the sounds of fighting, and he could sense the fluctuations put out by magical techniques. Obviously there were a lot of disciples already in the city. Upon reaching the borders of the city, he sped inside.
The architecture in Joine City was unique. Some structures were constructed in the style of human buildings. Others had a bizarre honeycomb structure, while others looked like they were giant poisonous mushrooms. There were even some buildings that resembled shipwrecks or seashells. The human structures were made from brick and tile, and looked exactly like the architecture in Seven Blood Eyes. Obviously, those were places that Seven Blood Eyes had built.
Xu Qing didn’t spend time sightseeing. He simply ran toward the city center, and his ultimate destination, the Foundation Establishment Tower. According to the clues provided by Huang Yan, that was where the Spirit Breath Lamp was, normally guarded by top experts from the Merfolk.
I need to figure out a way to get it. And if I can’t, then I’ll head to the pill storehouses to look for Foundation Establishment Pills. He knew time was of the essence, and therefore, he accelerated even more as he headed toward the tower.
That said, he didn’t use a flight talisman, as it would attract too much attention. Although the Merfolk cultivators had their cultivation bases suppressed, Xu Qing didn’t think it would be an advantage to paint himself with a target. As he moved along, he saw a lot of Seven Blood Eyes disciples. Most of them kept to the shadows and side streets as they looked for loot. Though some of them fought and killed enemies, most were just looking for profit.
Almost no one was specifically focused on slaughter. In some cases, disputes arose among disciples over who had the right to take what. Usually, one side would back down. After all, the city was large, so there was no need to get into conflicts over every little thing.
Occasionally, Xu Qing saw monuments dedicated to the alliance between Seven Blood Eyes and the Merfolk. One of them was a large stone stele, upon which were written a host of names. Glancing at the names, he realized that they were Seven Blood Eyes disciples who had died helping the Merfolk in past crises. And the monument contained their remains.
The stele looked immaculate, as though it had been regularly cleaned and maintained. However, because of the power of the spell formation covering the island, it was possible to see that the stone stele had previously been protected with an illusion spell. Now that the spell wasn’t effective, it was obvious that the remains from inside were no longer there. Someone had dug them out....
Xu Qing looked at the stone stele, then looked up at the Onpeak cultivators in the sky. Now he realized why the Seven Blood Eyes leadership was so furious about this situation. Xu Qing had only been in Seven Blood Eyes for a short time, and was mostly concerned about his own interests. That said, he instinctively loathed the concept of forgetting favors and violating justice.
Suddenly, he waved his hand, causing numerous water droplets to appear and form a defensive shield, which blocked a dozen bubbles that had just shot out of the stone stele. When the bubbles hit the water, they collapsed, sending out powerful ripples. At the same time, five Merfolk cultivators sprang out, vicious expressions on their faces as they charged toward Xu Qing.
Eyes cold, Xu Qing waved his hand, causing the water shield to collapse and transform into a collection of water arrows.
As the arrows shot toward the Merfolk, Xu Qing sped onward. A second later, the five Merfolk became pincushions, and as they toppled over dead, the droplets of water took their sacks toward Xu Qing. Putting them into his collection, he sped onward to the Foundation Establishment Tower.
Xu Qing handled all conflicts like that. He wasn’t interested in fighting and killing, just reaching his destination. But if there were fools that wanted to bring a fight to him, he would kill them and take their belongings.
About an hour later, Xu Qing saw the city center up ahead, as well as the Foundation Establishment Tower. It wasn’t an ordinary tower. Just like the description in the jade slip, it actually resembled the Merfolk’s god Joine.
The tower looked like an old woman in a long robe. She had countless tentacles snaking out from her, each one covered with eyes. And if viewed from the correct angle, it was possible to see a ghost face on her back, its long tongue draping down her side and onto the ground, like her shadow.
The top of the tower was Joine’s head, and it was built with an open framework that made it possible to see a lamp inside.
Given the distance, Xu Qing couldn’t make out all the details, but it seemed like there was a person sitting there cross-legged, possibly in the middle of a breakthrough. There were also a lot of guards around the tower. Whoever that person was making the breakthrough, they certainly had bad luck. If they were in the middle of Hundred Suns Foundation Establishment, then given the circumstances, it seemed highly unlikely they would be able to see it through to the end.
Right when Xu Qing caught sight of the Foundation Establishment Tower, he suddenly sensed explosive killing intent from off to the side. Then he saw a green hand holding a sharp seashell, speeding noiselessly toward his throat.
Eyebrows raised, he unleashed the power of his cultivation base, causing the spectral drought demon to appear behind him and send intense flames out everywhere. The shell collapsed, and the hand holding it pulled back. Then, ripples and distortions revealed a partially visible figure backing away from him.
Eyes burning with killing intent, Xu Qing looked at the disappearing figure, clenched his hand into a fist, and launched a punch.
Rumbling sounds filled the air as the spectral drought demon joined in the attack. Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator in the profound radiance state would be shaken by this attack. The partially visible figure was clearly shocked, and had no way to evade.
In that moment of deadly crisis, a blue glow sprang up from a talisman treasure to protect the partially invisible cultivator. A boom rang out as the blue light collapsed, and the talisman treasure tumbled off to the side. However, as Xu Qing lunged forward, he found that the cultivator was gone.
He can turn invisible?
After looking around suspiciously, he turned and walked toward the Foundation Establishment Tower, making it seem like he was giving up on finding his opponent. However, after taking only seven steps, he suddenly lunged backward.
As he slammed into the cultivator behind him, a dagger appeared in his right hand, and he started stabbing his enemy over and over again.
The cultivator struck him back, but Xu Qing’s fleshly body power was so strong that he could shrug off the blows. And even if he did sustain some injuries, they wouldn’t count for much.
Spinning, he reached out and grabbed the partially invisible outline in front of him. He had already stabbed this person dozens of times, and had also thrown out some deadly poisons. At this point, the person’s true form was revealed.
He was a middle-aged merman with green eyes, a body covered with scales, and prominent gills. His cultivation base was in the great circle of Qi Condensation. If an ordinary Seven Blood Eyes disciple in the great circle faced this opponent, they would die.
Because of his ability to resist Xu Qing’s poison, and also because of his strange abilities, it was obvious that this person’s true cultivation base wasn’t actually in the Qi Condensation level.
This merman was a Foundation Establishment cultivator! It was only because of the spell formation that his overall realm had fallen into Qi Condensation. Eyes full of disbelief, he bit down on the tip of his tongue to release a counter attack. However, that was when a black streak shot forth, and Xu Qing’s iron skewer pierced his forehead and shot out the other side.
As it passed through his head, the skewer released the fluctuations of Foundation Establishment, which inundated the merman, bursting all of his internal organs.
After confirming the man was dead, Xu Qing stepped over to get his iron skewer, then took a bag from the cultivator. It wasn’t an ordinary sack, it was a bag of holding!
Xu Qing’s heart raced, but he didn’t open it. Putting it away for the time being, he started moving toward the Foundation Establishment Tower again.
***
High in the sky above, Master Seventh looked off into the distance, his hands clasped behind his back. Behind him were thirteen elders and a hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators. None of them spoke.
On either side of Master Seventh were two huge spheres of water. Sealed in one was the cultivator who looked like a corpse, and in the other was the Merfolk patriarch.
Looking down at the islands below, the Merfolk cultivator chuckled and said, “Do you actually believe you’re going to win this, Zheng Kaiyi?”
At almost the exact same time that the words left his mouth, rumbling sounds erupted from the four islands below. Then, black light shot out from the sea, spreading toward the islands. It was a huge spell formation, like a black cover that spread out of all the islands.
The black light rippled and distorted as if it were trying to fight the power of the Seven Blood Eyes formation. Of course, if the Seven Blood Eyes formation collapsed, all of the Merfolk Foundation Establishment cultivators would recover their true strength. And if that happened, the Grand Competition would turn into a slaughter!
“The Seazombies are on their way, Zheng Kaiyi! And when your sect’s spell formation falls, those disciples of yours will be sacrificed to my people!”
Suddenly, black light shone on the horizon as a huge vortex appeared in the air. It erupted with an aura of death, and an intense, frigid coldness that turned the seawater into ice.
As that aura spread, a 3,000-meter half-decomposed crocodile crawled out of the vortex.
It had cold, yellow eyes, and its body seemed to pulse with the power of countless resentful souls. As the vicious, rotting crocodile crawled out, it was possible to see a host of figures on its head. All of them had shocking auras, and behind them... was an entire army of cultivators!
These people were none other than... the Seazombies!
“They’re finally here,” Master Seventh said, a faint smile on his face.