Chapter 147: Wish Box
When Xu Qing noticed the box, his pupils constricted. He had seen two other boxes like this.
The first had been in the possession of Horsefour back in the scavenger basecamp. The second had been with the young merman. To this day, Xu Qing still had no idea what they were. And in all of the shops he had visited in the capital city, he never saw anything like them. [1]
Today, he saw a third one. However, exactly as he laid eyes on it, the First Peak disciple snatched it and put it into his robe. Looking vigilantly at Xu Qing, he, “A hundred mouthfuls of blood were coughed up today; splitting the earnings is what true heroes do.”
“Talk like a normal person,” Xu Qing said coldly, then he waved his hand, activating the dharmaskiff’s defenses and making it impossible for the First Peak disciple to leave.
Seeing this, the First Peak disciple sighed. Then he punched himself in the gut, causing himself to cough up a mouthful of black blood. After confirming that he had been poisoned, he used his secret magic to suppress it, then looked helplessly at Xu Qing. All the while, he mused that people from the Seventh Peak really lacked good character. This guy put poison on his own dharmaskiff? Was he trying to kill himself?
A long moment passed in which Xu Qing just stared.
Finally, the First Peak disciple sighed and said, “We said we’d split the loot, right? I just want this. You can have everything else.”
Without a word, Xu Qing collected all the other items together. As he did, he happened to notice a seven-colored medallion. It had been crafted of wood, and appeared to be an identity medallion. It looked quite well-worn. From the patina on the surface of the wood, it seemed like it had been handled frequently by someone. Xu Qing studied at it, then looked up at the First Peak disciple.
“In the vast wilds, people flock to the—” Before he could finish with his poem, he noticed Xu Qing frowning, and stopped talking. Worried that if he didn’t make himself clear, Xu Qing might not cooperate, he again forced himself to talk like a normal person. “It’s an identity medallion from the Seven Sect Coalition. Since we got it from a Seazombie, it probably means that, in life, he was a Seven Sect Coalition cultivator.”
“What’s that other thing you picked up?” Xu Qing asked.
The First Peak disciple hesitated. Obviously, this Seventh Peak disciple didn’t know what a wish box was. Originally, he’d intended to not explain. But then he decided that might not be a good idea. If the Seventh Peak disciple thought he was trying to keep some astounding treasure, it could lead to a very dangerous situation.
Shaking his head helplessly, he said, “It’s a wish box. Wish boxes contain gifts from cultivators from a previous epoch, placed inside specifically to be received by other cultivators in subsequent epochs.
“After the broken face of the god arrived, this tradition began as a way to mark the ending of epochs in the Revered Ancient mainland. In the last days of an epoch, wish boxes will be created using special materials. A lot of them have been created over the years.” At first, the First Peak disciple had found it difficult to speak without poetry, but the more he talked, the easier it became. In fact, it actually felt somewhat comfortable.
“Wish boxes are specially made to be able to survive the ending of an epoch. I’ve heard that some people have found wish boxes that look like coffins, and contain dead cultivators. Other people find wish boxes that are empty. There’s no way to know what’s inside before you open it.
“Each box contains items sealed inside by a different powerful expert. In other words, that person is the only one who could know what the box contains.
“I’ve heard of people finding magical treasures. Techniques. Things like that. Sometimes a wish box will contain nothing more than some leaves or other random things. In some cases, it can be completely worthless. In the final analysis, it all comes down to how lucky you are.
“I’ve already opened three wish boxes, and none of them had anything spectacular in them. But I have the feeling this is the time I’m going to get lucky. They’re easy to open. You just concentrate your dharma force on the box and it’ll open, though it’s usually a slow process. The reason I want this one is that you can tell the dharma force concentration has already reached the point where it will open soon.”
Apparently, once the First Peak disciple started talking, he would keep going without giving any opportunities for interruption. After he finished speaking, he backed up a few steps and looked vigilantly at Xu Qing.
“If you don’t agree, then I’ll give you the wish box in exchange for that magical device and those two jade talisman treasures.”
After mulling the matter over, Xu Qing opened his dharmaskiff’s defenses. From that, the First Peak disciple realized that Xu Qing was allowing him to leave. He quickly flew off the boat and landed on his sword.
Xu Qing looked away from him, sat down cross-legged, and sent his dharmaskiff back in the direction of Seven Blood Eyes. He wanted to get rid of the lifelink talisman as quickly as possible. Although his shadow was eating away at the mark, the process was too slow, and felt like a waste of time.
As he sat there, he started going through the items he’d acquired. The bag of holding had belonged to a Gold Core cultivator, and it contained some astonishing things. The spirit notes alone were worth more than 200,000 spirit stones. Granted, they weren’t Seven Blood Eyes spirit notes, but he could exchange them in the sect for a small fee.
Xu Qing estimated that he could sell the random items in the bag for a few hundred thousand spirit stones. As for the two jade talismans, they were probably worth a few tens of thousands of spirit stones.
What was worth the most was the magical device shaped like a feather. It was a shocking haul.
However, Xu Qing had the feeling that a Gold Core cultivator should have a lot more belongings. This was probably only a small portion of his true savings. After all, most people didn’t just have one bag of holding.
What a pity. I guess whoever injured him must have taken his other things. Either that, or he kept them somewhere else. Sighing, he focused inwardly on the discarnate soul that was just now beginning to burn as kindling. Let’s see what an elder-level discarnate soul can do. And the Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture supposedly works great on Seazombies. I wonder how many dharma apertures I can open!
He checked his dharmaskiff defenses, then looked at the First Peak disciple, who seemed very much on guard. Then he closed his eyes and focused on the black flames within him. All 13 of his dharma apertures raged with balefire, burning the Seazombie discarnate soul. Then he sent the resulting soul force toward his 14th dharma aperture. The dharma aperture trembled and then opened. But the process didn’t stop there. Under Xu Qing’s control, the power of the burning discarnate soul continued to his 15th dharma aperture, which also opened! Then his 16th and 17th. It was only after the 20th opened that the discarnate soul finally faded away.
I opened 7 dharma apertures!
Although he had anticipated something like this might happen, it was still surprising, and his eyes shone brightly as a result. The more dharma apertures you opened, the harder it became to open new ones. And once he had gone past 10, he had increasingly sensed that the soul power he needed was reaching ridiculous levels. Despite that, this discarnate soul had allowed him to open seven in a row, which suddenly made him wish he could find more such souls.
Sadly, it’s too hard.
Xu Qing knew full well that he had only succeeded with the help of the young man from the First Peak. Without all the lifesaving items he’d given, it would never have worked.
I made out quite well. Now I just need to get back to the sect, remove the lifelink talisman, then come out to sea again. Before long, I should be able to form my life flame!
At this point, Xu Qing focused on gathering dharma force in his dharma apertures. At the same time, he took out the feather-shaped magical device. After inspecting it closely, he sent some dharma force into it.
Gradually, three days passed.
While Xu Qing focused on his dharma apertures and the magical device, the First Peak disciple worked on the wish box. When it finally reached the point where he knew he could open it, he looked over to confirm that Xu Qing was working on his cultivation. Then he slowed down a bit to put some distance between himself and the dharmaskiff. Finally, he waved his hand to summon a defensive barrier that would give him some privacy.
As he held the iron box in his hands, his eyes shone with excitement. He had not been lying to Xu Qing. He really had opened three wish boxes in the past. However, what he hadn’t revealed was that the first one he opened contained an ancient jade slip. Although the slip itself wasn’t valuable, it had contained information about the Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns. Information like that was worth a lot.
Specifically, that ancient jade slip told the life story of three specific Ancient Emperors. The First Peak disciple had become fascinated with those stories, especially the detail about how Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity loved hiding profound truths in poetry. That had been very inspiring.
Taking a deep, excited breath, the First Peak disciple again made sure that Xu Qing wasn’t looking at him. Rubbing his hands in anticipation, he hit himself on the forehead, and then landed a blow on the pit of his stomach. Then he went into a ritualistic prayer with his eyes closed.
After enough time passed for half an incense stick to burn, his eyes opened, and he reached down and put his hands on the box. A cracking sound rang out. There had been no visible cracks on the box before. It had seemed like a pure lump of metal.
But now, it opened exactly like a box to reveal a finger-sized jade bottle. It already had dark spots on it, making it look very old. And it seemed to contain a medicinal liquid of some sort. Next to it was an ancient jade slip. The First Peak disciple’s heart started pounding.
The first wish box he had opened had contained something interesting, but the other two had been completely worthless. Therefore, seeing that this box not only had an ancient jade slip, but also a bottle with medicinal liquid in it, he couldn’t help but be excited.
“I struck pay dirt!” he murmured. Suddenly realizing that he was getting too used to speaking normally, he cleared his throat. “All the misery at sea was not in vain; prosperity surges to amazing heights.”
Feeling a bit better, he picked up the bottle, studied it for a bit, and then opened it. Almost immediately, a very unusual odor wafted out. The First Peak disciple had no idea what was in the bottle, but the odor stimulated his psyche, giving him the feeling that the liquid was still effective.
Chuckling, he murmured, “Jade dragons and heavenly spirits give good fortune; yet only I shall benefit from it.”
That said, he didn’t dare to consume the liquid. After taking another whiff, he closed the bottle and looked at the ancient jade slip.
The moment he inspected it, a message from inside rang into his mind.
“Greetings and best wishes, oh ye destined one.
“I wast born in the Dark Serenity epoch, and blessed with the dao by an Ancient Emperor. I knoweth not whether the god Ru Cang existeth in thy time. This wish didst containeth the treasure of a foolish friend, but in mine disdain, I didst discard it as refuse and replace it with mine precious gift.
“That gift beeth mine bloodline. If thou beeth of the fairer sex, then bear thee mine descendants.
“Thank me not, oh ye destined one. Fare thee well.”
1. The first iron box was mentioned in chapter 10, then again in chapter 11. The second mention was in chapter 76. The item was also referenced by name in chapter 77. ☜