Chapter 148: What Did You Get?
The First Peak disciple stared in shock. He believed himself to be very skilled in literary and academic arts. After all, he normally spoke in poetry. But the contents of this jade slip were bewildering, to the point where he needed to analyze everything bit by bit. Even after that, he still didn’t feel that he understood completely, and could only stare blankly at the jade slip.
Mine descendents? Wait… ‘mine descendents.’ What descendents? And what does he mean by ‘fairer sex.’ Isn’t the term ‘fairer sex’ used to describe women?
Then he looked at the bottle, and his eyes went wide.
There’s no way…. Then he thought back to how he’d smelled the contents of the bottle, and suddenly felt a bit queasy.
“This is ridiculous!!” He almost threw everything into the water, but couldn’t quite bear to. After all, he basically had half of the bloodline of an Ancient Emperor. But why did it have to be the male side?
Around this time, Xu Qing opened his eyes and looked over from his dharmaskiff. Guessing that the First Peak disciple had opened the box, and curious about the results, he said, “What did you get?”
The defensive barrier around the sword faded away, and the First Peak disciple sat there, an unsightly expression on his face as he breathed heavily through his nose. It almost seemed like he was trying to purge it of something. He even brought dharma force through his nose until, eventually, his expression returned to normal. Looking up at the sky, he put the wish box away without saying a word.
Xu Qing felt even more curious now, but he looked away.
Time passed as the two of them got closer and closer to Seven Blood Eyes. Along the way, Xu Qing got more familiar with the feather-shaped magical device, which he came to realize augmented speed. When activated, it gave one explosive quickness that surpassed one’s ordinary limit by many times over. However, it drew deeply on the fleshly body.
Because he wasn’t alone, he didn’t want to test it out. But he could imagine what shocking levels of speed he could achieve if he did.
I need to find a place to test it out and get familiar with how to actually use it. Around that time, he spotted a Seventh Peak dharmaboat off in the distance.
The First Peak disciple had seemed overwhelmed with boredom ever since opening the wish box. When he spotted the distant dharmaboat, he took out a new daoist robe and put it on. He seemed so familiar with the process that it was a habit for him. Then his expression turned as cold as ice. Sword energy swirled out to surround him, making him look extremely vigilant. And as the sword energy swirled, it lifted his hair around him, such that any casual observer would think he was a very extraordinary person.
However, it was apparently all an act. After the Seventh Peak dharmaboat passed by them, he slumped back down dejectedly. That, coupled with the rapid manner in which he changed clothes, was very strange to Xu Qing.
As time passed, they encountered more and more disciples from Seven Blood Eyes. The same thing happened each time. Xu Qing got used to it. Eventually, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior took advantage of the situation to quietly say, “Milord, this brat obviously cares a lot about outward appearances. Given he’s that kind of person, maybe we don’t need to kill him after all. People like that can sometimes be useful.
“When the moment is right, say a few flattering words to him. Based on the ancient records your humble servant has read, this is the kind of person who will shed blood for the sake of face.
“Furthermore, because your humble servant realized that he cares so much about face, I used a special technique to record images of this brat in his bedraggled state. I also recorded him speaking like a normal person. I’m not sure it will come in handy later, but at the very least, we have some things we can use against him.
“If you find the right opportunities, Milord, you should create some situations in which he’ll lose a lot of face. For example, make him beg you for help, make him fall into some filth, that sort of thing. I’ll make sure to get a recording of it, and then we’ll have even more ammunition for when the time comes.” The patriarch spoke at a very rapid rate, and though he didn’t emphasize his own role, it was obvious he was trying to prove his worth.
“Also, Milord, I beg you to punish me for not thinking of this sooner. It took a lot of thought on the part of your humble servant, and I know I spent too much time coming up with the idea. Please, punish me, Milord. Please. I’m such a fool! Milord, your talents and mine are poles apart.
“If you just give me a chance, Milord, I’ll work very hard. Please, in the future, let me handle small tasks like this. The grunt work. The dirty work. Just entrust those things to me. Master Freespirit will work himself to the bone to do everything you ask me to do.” [1]
Looking at the iron skewer, Xu Qing quietly said, “You have three more months, but for your sake I’ll add an extra month. The shadow gets the same advantage.”
The patriarch was very excited, and pretended to glance casually at the shadow. As for the shadow, it trembled, then stretched down into the sea water and started absorbing mutagen.
Xu Qing ignored them, closed his eyes, and started cultivating the Life Nurturing Incantation.
As time passed, they got closer to the Seven Blood Eyes port. As ships and boats became more prevalent, the First Peak disciple eventually put aside whatever was bothering him, and stood in place looking determined and extraordinary.
As Xu Qing coldly sized him up, he noticed that he didn’t seem as depressed as before.
In fact, after glancing at Xu Qing a few times, the First Peak disciple calmly said, “In front of Chenghuang Temple grew a flower; cultivators who passed it died more quickly.”
Hearing this, Xu Qing reached down and rubbed his iron skewer. Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior discreetly released a ferocious aura that settled on the First Peak disciple.
The First Peak disciple cleared his throat. He could obviously tell that Xu Qing didn’t understand his poetry, but also wasn’t inclined to explain what he meant out loud. Taking out a jade slip, he imprinted it with some information and tossed it to Xu Qing.
Xu Qing frowned and caught it. Looking inside, he saw the message.
“Brother, I think the two of us are connected by destiny. I’m the ninth highness of the First Peak, Wu Jianwu. You know the old saying: from an exchange of blows, friendship grows. You have a strong baleful aura, but we’re members of the same sect, and there’s no need for us to be mortal enemies.
“Be careful about showing too much of a baleful aura outside the sect. I heard that, years ago, the conclave disciple Elder Brother Chen from the Third Peak had a strong baleful aura, and ended up going missing. Even years later, his killer has never been found.
“Furthermore, the only son of the Sixth Peaklord also had a strong baleful aura, and he went missing too.
“Anyway, I urge you to handle matters judiciously.” [2]
As Wu Jianwu stood atop his sword, he looked at Xu Qing examining the jade slip. Then, he shot up into the sky in a blood-red streak, where he transformed into a huge sword. He looked extremely impressive.
In the blink of an eye, he was a huge distance away from Xu Qing and his dharmaskiff. Just before he screamed through the sky toward the First Peak, he uttered one final poem.
“Surpass mortal life and be refined; I’ll become an immortal and surpass mankind.”
As his words echoed out in all directions, quite a few people looked over in amazement. To them, this chosen disciple from the First Peak in his crimson robe, his hair swirling around him, really did seem like an immortal.
Xu Qing watched coldly as he left. He wasn’t bothered by Wu Jianwu’s little act. And the closer they got to the sect, the less likely Xu Qing was to react violently to his annoying behavior.
Looking away, Xu Qing piloted his dharmaskiff into port. Once he was inside, the lifelink talisman mark glittered with soft light, then faded into nothing. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
Glancing at Wu Jianwu, who was still flying toward the First Peak, Xu Qing put away his dharmaskiff, then ascended into the air and flew toward his mansion grotto on the Seventh Peak. Landing outside, he checked the area to make sure all of the poison he’d placed in the area was still in place. Then he opened the door, entered, and sealed himself inside.
Now that I’m back, I need to go see how many spirit stones it will take to develop my own harbor. Living here on the peak is just too inconvenient. I’d rather just stay in my dharmaskiff.
After some thought, he looked at his violet daoist robe, and then thought back to how the Captain and Zhang San both wore their gray robes. A gray robe did seem like the best decision.
Next, he looked at the jade disc in the middle of the grotto, which pulsed softly with glowing light. That jade disc was the heart of the mansion grotto’s spell formation, and made the formation function without needing to add spirit stones into it. It also served as a recording device, and would keep track of the details of everyone who had sent messages to see if he was able to accept visitors. He saw one request from Huang Yan, one from Zhou Qingpeng, three from Ding Xue, and two from Gu Muqing. There were two people who had made far more requests than the others. One was from the director of the Violent Crimes Division, who had sent twenty-three requests.
And the other was from a Unit Six constable. The Mute. He had sent forty-one requests. In fact, it seemed that he had sent such requests on a daily basis. Xu Qing thought back to the day when he found the Mute on death’s door, and had spent a few moments to save him. Clearly, the Mute was strong, and had survived the incident.
Even as Xu Qing was examining the jade disc, it shimmered with light as another request from the Mute came in. Outsiders needed permission to visit Onpeak cultivators, and that applied to Offpeak disciples as well. After thinking about it for a moment, Xu Qing approved the request. Before long, an emaciated figure appeared cautiously outside of Xu Qing’s mansion grotto.
Opening the door, Xu Qing stepped out. “What do you want?”
The Mute stood about nine meters away, and obviously didn’t want to get any closer. He was dressed the same as before, and all his wounds were healed. However, he seemed grimmer than before. Having returned from death’s door, he seemed to have grown a lot.
Xu Qing’s gaze caused the Mute to shiver slightly. Taking out a medallion, he respectfully placed it off to the side, then backed up a few paces. Looking at Xu Qing, he then dropped to his knees and kowtowed, banging his head onto the ground so hard his forehead started bleeding. Then he stood and raced down the peak.
Xu Qing watched him go. Then he made a grasping gesture with his right hand, and the medallion flew over to him. Examining it, he realized it wasn’t an identity medallion, but rather, an authentication device linked to a warehouse.
Being familiar with the port district, Xu Qing knew exactly what it was. The port district was generally divided into two halves. One was used by Seventh Peak disciples, and the other was for public use. All sorts of ships and boats would come in and out of it, sometimes even pirate vessels.
Non-sect watercraft couldn’t be put into bottles like Seven Blood Eyes dharmaboats and dharmaskiffs, so they needed to either lay anchor or be stored in dry dock. And to access such watercraft, one would need to use an authentication device.
In Seven Blood Eyes, the only way to lay claim to a watercraft was to have an authentication device.
Xu Qing realized what was going on. After his gift of a dead criminal was rejected, the Mute came to believe that Xu Qing didn’t like criminals. So he was offering an authentication device instead. This time, Xu Qing accepted the gift.
1. As a reminder, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior’s original daoist name was Master Freespirit, which was revealed in chapter 71. ☜
2. Wu Jianwu: Wu is listed #9 on the list of the 100 most common Chinese surnames. It doesn't really mean anything by itself, other than being a surname. It’s also the name of a number of different ancient Chinese dynasties. Jian means “sword.” Wu means “witch/wizard/shaman.” Madam Deathblade says this sounds like a dramatic, edgelord style name. ☜