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. ☜