Chapter 146: Xu Qing’s Dao Protector
Xu Qing recognized that Seazombie as the same one First Peaklord had slashed with his sword. This was apparently the second grievous injury he had sustained. Though it wasn’t possible to tell if he was alive or dead, if he wasn’t dead, he would be soon. Looking at the spot where he had fallen, Xu Qing’s eyes lit up in the same way the Captain’s eyes had lit up upon seeing Joine’s flesh.
The First Peak disciple was also looking at the same thing, although he seemed hesitant.
Xu Qing thought about it for a moment, and then a look of determination appeared on his face. Beneath his dharmaskiff, his snakeneck dragon suddenly shot down toward the sinking remains of the Seazombie cultivator.
The body was in bad shape. Its lower half was gone, as was its head, leaving behind only the torso. Vast quantities of black blood spewed out of it into the surrounding water. The Seazombie’s chest was still; it really seemed as if he was dead.
As his snakeneck dragon reached the torso and prepared to bite it, the torso suddenly twitched and its arm lifted. Its hand touched the snakeneck dragon, whose entire body collapsed. The only thing left behind was the armored mackerel’s core. However, the dragon quickly reformed back around that.
Meanwhile, the Seazombie cultivator seemed to have drained the last of his strength. His hand dropped, and his aura seemed incredibly weak. In fact, the mere act of moving his arm had made many of his chest wounds worse.
Eyes narrowing, Xu Qing performed a double-handed incantation gesture, sending his snakeneck dragon back in for another bite. This time, the Seazombie twitched again, severely damaging the dragon, but at the same time, the dragon managed to bite off some flesh. In this case, it was a finger.
Xu Qing wasn’t going to go down himself, and instead reformed the snakeneck dragon. He wasn’t hiding what he was doing, so off to the side, the First Peak disciple saw everything.
At first he seemed suspicious, but when he realized what Xu Qing was doing, his eyes lit up. Looking at Xu Qing, then looking down into the water, he watched as the snakeneck dragon made a second attempt.
Rumbling sounds echoed out as the Seazombie’s arm exploded, causing the snakeneck dragon to collapse. Seeing that, Xu Qing shot to his feet.
However, that was when the First Peak disciple laughed heartily, and before Xu Qing could do anything else, dove into the water and went down toward the sinking Seazombie.
Xu Qing dove into the water right behind him, and pretended to try to catch up, though he intentionally hung back a bit. He had never planned to be the first into the water. Despite the tests with his snakeneck dragon, he was still leery. After all, this was a cultivator on the same level as one of the sect elders. Even in the dilapidated state he was in, it was still possible he had lifesaving items on him. That wasn’t even to mention the bizarre recovery capabilities of the Seazombies, which Xu Qing himself had personally witnessed. Therefore, he would rather have someone else go ahead of him to check out the situation.
As for whether this disciple from the First Peak would end up dead... Xu Qing doubted it. The disciple obviously had more lifesaving items hidden away on him. And if he really got into a deadly situation, Xu Qing was fairly confident he could save him using his shadow. Having reached the conclusion that this was definitely the best idea, Xu Qing kept his distance and watched as the First Peak disciple got close to the Seazombie cultivator.
As the First Peak disciple neared, he performed a double-handed incantation gesture, summoning a host of swords that he sent flying down. He wasn’t stupid. Although he had beat Xu Qing into the water, he was worried the whole thing might be a trick. However, the temptation was too great for him to resist, so he had gone ahead. That said, he was still going to do some of his own testing.
Just as his swords were about to reach their target, the Seazombie cultivator’s chest suddenly opened up, and a glob of black blood appeared, which transformed into a vicious ghost. Roaring, it flew toward the First Peak disciple.
That roar contained shockingly violent power, which smashed all of the incoming swords and caused blood to ooze out of the First Peak disciple’s eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Pulling out a jade pendant, he crushed it, causing a defensive barrier to appear while he fell back, terror written on his face.
However, at the same time, Xu Qing rushed past him, heading at top speed toward the Seazombie cultivator.
Again, the ghost on the Seazombie’s chest roared. As it did, Xu Qing’s eyes glittered coldly, and a black umbrella appeared, opening up and bearing the brunt of the attack as the sound once again rumbled out. Xu Qing trembled violently, and blood oozed out of him. But at the same time, a dagger of black flame appeared in his right hand, and he thrust it out viciously toward the ghost.
The ghost writhed as black flames swept out over it. Then, a second ghost appeared on the Seazombie’s chest, and it also unleashed a roar.
Xu Qing was shoved backward by about thirty meters. Meanwhile, the Seazombie cultivator took advantage of the moment to accelerate downward into the water. He was trying to flee.
Xu Qing’s eyes flickered coldly. In the brief contact he had made with the Seazombie, he could sense a scrap of its discarnate soul. That alone was tempting, but more than that, he had noticed a bag of holding on the Seazombie. [1]
There was no way he would let this opportunity slip through his fingers. It wasn’t often that you would run into a dying cultivator on the level of a sect elder. And even if you did, it wouldn’t necessarily be possible to take their belongings.
His mind made up, Xu Qing shot toward the rapidly sinking Seazombie corpse. His snakeneck dragon swirled down to surround him, helping him pick up speed. And his dharmaskiff also sank under the surface of the water, glittering as it prepared an attack of godliness.
Meanwhile, the First Peak disciple watched with wide eyes as Xu Qing shot down. Although he was tempted by the possibilities of this situation, he didn’t feel like it was worth risking his life over. After all, he was the ninth highness of the First Peak. He didn’t mind taking some risks, but putting his life on the line blithely wasn’t an option. He had a bright future ahead of him. But... Xu Qing was going for it. And he was connected to Xu Qing with a lifelink talisman. If Xu Qing died, he would die as well, and vice versa. While only moments ago, he had felt very pleased because of that, now he was feeling very nervous. He was also starting to think that his Master might not be the amazing genius he’d thought.... After vaccilating for a moment, he gritted his teeth, uttered a curse in his heart, and followed after Xu Qing.
In order to pick up speed, he bit his tongue, spitting out some blood to use his secret magic and turn into a blood sword. After all, he was worried this Seventh Peak lunatic would get himself killed if he didn’t hurry up. As he neared, he took out a lifesaving jade amulet and, despite how much it pained him, tossed it to Xu Qing. Xu Qing grabbed it.
When the First Peak disciple saw that, he sighed deeply, and mused that he really shouldn’t have tried to steal this person’s sea beast. Instead of feeling free from worry thanks to the lifelink talisman, he felt more like he’d become a dao protector.
Feeling very frustrated, he watched as Xu Qing head-butted the Seazombie corpse. Picking up some speed, he hurried to help, keeping an eye out for his own safety, but simultaneously making sure Xu Qing was safe as well.
And thus, the two of them engaged in a bitter fight with a Seazombie under the surface of the water. The Seazombie only had a discarnate soul left in him, but the ghost projections he could create were still formidable. Both Xu Qing and the First Peak disciple took significant damage.
The way Xu Qing seemed to disregard his own life made the First Peak disciple very frustrated. So, he kept giving him lifesaving items, while also using his own trump cards in the hope of ending the battle sooner.
Eventually, Xu Qing completely stopped defending himself. His hands flashed in a double-handed incantation gesture, black flames erupted and he started extracting the soul power while the First Peak disciple protected him. Anyone who saw how this was playing out would be deeply stunned. Finally, the First Peak disciple gritted his teeth and backed away, convinced that Xu Qing wasn’t actually suicidal, and that he would take over defending himself.
Xu Qing just looked at him coldly, then ignored him and kept up the assault on the Seazombie. The First Peak disciple watched in shock. When he saw Xu Qing nearly die a few times, he howled inwardly and threw out some more defensive jade talismans. A bitter look on his face, he also joined in on the attack.
He put all of his frustration into his attacks. The battle lasted all day. Eventually, Xu Qing had extracted all of the Seazombie’s discarnate soul, and had also taken his bag of holding. At that point, both he and the First Peak disciple were completely exhausted.
Back on the dharmaskiff, the First Peak disciple whipped out a sword and held it up to his own throat. Gasping for breath, and his eyes filled with incomparable determination, he gritted his teeth and said, “During Tomb-Sweeping, two incense sticks are burning; heartbreak is avoided when splitting the earnings!”
“I don’t understand,” Xu Qing replied coolly, putting the bag of holding away.
The First Peak disciple’s eyes were completely bloodshot as he stared at Xu Qing. After some struggling, he forced himself to speak like a normal person for the second time.
“We split the loot! If you don’t, I’ll kill myself right in front of you!!”
Xu Qing looked at him and saw the determination in his eyes. And as he thought about it, he realized the young man had been a big help. He had worked hard keeping Xu Qing safe, to the point where he actually seemed superior to an ordinary dao protector.
Opening the bag of holding, he dumped it out between the two of them. A mass of items fell out into a huge pile, including a stack of spirit notes, a vast assortment of spirit notes and jade slips, some medicinal pill bottles, various crafting ingredients, and the like.
There were two particular jade slips that emanated powerful fluctuations. Xu Qing had seen jade slips like this before. They were like the lifesaving items the First Peak disciple had used. Given the fluctuations, they were obviously very impressive. Xu Qing had also seen things like them in shops in the Port District, and knew that they hadn’t been created by Foundation Establishment cultivators. Instead, they had been made by Gold Core cultivators. Of course, mere jade couldn’t contain the full might of a Gold Core cultivator, so such jade slips usually contained only a bit of Gold Core power.
These two slips seemed recently crafted, and weren’t something this Seazombie would have needed. In all likelihood, they had been intended as gifts for someone else. There was also a piece of jade carved into the shape of a feather. When Xu Qing and the First Peak disciple saw it, both of their eyes glittered.
A magical device! Xu Qing thought. The Spirit Breath Lamp was a magical device, and his iron skewer was, in some ways at least, similar to a magical device.
Magical devices existed between talisman treasures and magical treasures, and were items that had been created by a cultivator. However, they were not as powerful as the legendary magical treasures. And they were categorized into the tiers of lesser, greater, and superior.
Few cultivators would ever have the opportunity to get a magical treasure, and magical devices were similarly rare. Xu Qing didn’t hesitate for a moment to reach out and grab the jade feather. The First Peak disciple also reached out at the same time, but he didn’t reach for the feather. Instead, he picked up something that didn’t look very impressive at all.
It was an iron box.
1. I’m going to continue to use “discarnate soul” to maintain continuity with my other translations. Essentially it means a broken, damaged, and/or incomplete soul. ☜