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. ☜