Chapter 151: Declaration of War
The news was like a tempest that rapidly spread throughout all of Seven Blood Eyes. Both Onpeak and Offpeak cultivators were deeply interested in the subject.
In a war, high-level cultivators would make up the backbone of the fighting force. However, there were still many things that higher-level Qi Condensation cultivators could do, whether it was as foot soldiers, handling logistics and transportation, or many other things. Besides, there were Qi Condensation level Seazombies as well. In other words, the Offpeak disciples could also participate in the fighting.
As the news spread, a buzz filled the city.
However, Xu Qing wasn’t paying attention to all that. For one thing, he had personally witnessed the peaklords and elders fighting the Seazombie experts. Also, Huang Yan had already mentioned war twice to him, and then there was Zhang San and his whole business plan. Because of all that, Xu Qing had long known that war was coming.
Xu Qing had never thought much about war. Earlier, Zhang Yunshi had told him that Foundation Establishment cultivators weren't obligated to join the fighting, and that the main reason they would go was for profit.
But after Xu Qing started cultivating the Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture, he'd changed his mind. And the truth was that all Foundation Establishment cultivators who practiced that technique thought of a war as very important. After all, it was an easy thing to get souls when fighting in a war. All you had to do was stay alive, and you could open multiple dharma apertures.
That was even more the case considering that Seazombie souls were especially effective for use with the Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture. That was what got Xu Qing excited, especially the thought of how useful Seazombie souls were....
He currently had 20 dharma apertures open. That meant he had only 10 to go before he could form his first life flame.
If he had ghostlonging horseshoe crabs and chrysanthemum mollusk to attract sea beasts, then considering the diminishing returns as he opened more apertures, he had the feeling it would take about two years, even if he did occasionally run into a Foundation Establishment beast.
Of course, that method was also dangerous, and that wasn’t even taking into consideration travel time, plus the question of whether or not he could get enough ghostlonging horseshoe crabs.
Taking those factors into consideration, three years was a more reasonable estimate.
Going for that long on the open sea without being able to enter the profound radiance state seemed extremely dangerous. When a powerful expert ran into a Qi Condensation cultivator out at sea, it wouldn’t be worth it to kill them. But it was a different story when running into Foundation Establishment cultivators.
War would be dangerous, but in terms of the potential benefits, it was vastly superior.
As the news spread about war, Zhang San was working hard on the combined harbor project. He had spent a lot of spirit stones already. Having identified the harbors to develop, he had hired thousands of Sixth Peak disciples, as well as tens of thousands of ordinary construction workers. The work had already begun.
With so many people working day and night to develop a new harbor, the place changed on a daily basis.
And there were already new businesses planning to open there. Because Zhang San was a deputy bureau chief in the Transportation Division, it was within the scope of his authority to establish a new bureau to service his harbor.
The Captain had similar authority. Though he was away from the sect, he arranged for the Celestial Bureau to move to the new harbor to serve as a new branch of the Violent Crimes Division.
Somehow, Huang Yan learned that Xu Qing was one of the investors in the new harbor, and made the arrangements for the Pilot Assistance Division to set up a branch operation there.
As news spread, Gu Muqing quietly made arrangements to open a very large medicine shop there as well.
The Sixth Peak shopkeeper who had once tried to blackmail Xu Qing, perhaps at the behest of his backer, was one of the first to arrive and buy a storefront. Apparently, it was a show of goodwill.
As more and more people showed up at the new harbor, things got more and more lively. Other than the upcoming war, it was the biggest topic of conversation in the sect.
When Ding Xue heard about what was going on, she wanted to show her support, and thus purchased three storefronts that formed a triangle surrounding Gu Muqing’s shop. Ding Xue didn’t really know what she was going to do with them, but seemed very enthusiastic about the prospects. She even contacted all of her best friends and asked them to also come support the new harbor project.
The day after Ding Xue bought her storefronts, Zhao Zhongheng hurriedly made arrangements for the Dispatch Division to open a branch there as well....
Zhang San was very pleased with all of this. Of course, he had been the one to spread word about Xu Qing’s involvement, at the Captain’s behest. As the Captain had said, good-looking people often came in very handy.
Zhang San also tapped into his own network, and before long, people from the Third, Fourth and Fifth Peaks were coming to purchase storefronts. Just about anything you could possibly need for cultivation was available there.
Considering that this new harbor was basically being run by the Violent Crimes Division, it was no surprise that gambling halls and brothels started popping up there immediately. In fact, they made up the majority of the new arrivals.
Storefronts were selling out fast.
Another half-month went by, and the ghostlonging horseshoe crabs Xu Qing had ordered from the Hundred Plants Workshop came in.
That was when, with great fanfare, the new harbor officially opened for business. They went to the Seventh Peak to officially apply for a harbor number, and were assigned 176.
The day it opened, Xu Qing moved off of the mountain peak and found an out-of-the-way berth in Harbor 176, which was where he would call home going forward. As he walked along the new harbor, which was already bustling, Xu Qing mused that Zhang San really had gone all-out to get the place done in time to start earning money from the sect. When Xu Qing sat on his dharmaskiff, listening to the sound of the waves and feeling his boat sway in the water, it made him think back to his Qi Condensation days. Right now, he was simply meditating. For the time being, he was delaying his plan to go out to sea.
As Harbor 176 was being constructed, more and more rumors about war spread. And just about every day, it was possible to see beams of light shooting through the air as cultivators returned to the seven peaks. That was what gave Xu Qing the indication that the war was getting close.
Another half month passed.
One morning, when Xu Qing had just used the Life Nurturing Incantation to open his 21st dharma aperture, the sound of bells rang out from the seven mountain peaks. It was very rare to hear bells like this. Their loud tolling filled all of Seven Blood Eyes, attracting the notice of both Onpeak and Offpeak cultivators.
Many disciples stepped out onto their dharmaboats to look at the seven mountain peaks. Many such disciples were actually Foundation Establishment cultivators. Similar things happened throughout the capital city. There were also Foundation Establishment cultivators who lived on the peaks, and they emerged from their mansion grottos, their gazes sharp.
Shortly after the bells rang, the voice of an old man echoed out, suppressing the sound of the bells as it filled Seven Blood Eyes.
“Disciples of Seven Blood Eyes, I am Sir Bloodsmelter, whom you may address as Patriarch. Today, I have an important matter to share with you. War has come.
“Our sect is formally declaring war on the Seazombies. They have accumulated wealth worth over a hundred billion spirit stones, and I intend for at least half of that to go to you as a reward!”
As his ancient voice echoed out, countless streams of blood emerged from the seven peaks, like writhing eels that shot up into the dome of heaven and became a massive cloud hanging overhead. As the countless threads of blood that made up the cloud merged together, they eventually formed the huge face of an old man. The ghastly looking face sent rumbling sounds throughout the sect, and caused everything to look like it was the color of blood.
Looking at it, Xu Qing was reminded of the time he had spotted Flame Phoenix. From a distance, it seemed like the entire area had been turned into a land of devils.
Meanwhile, a torrent of sword energy erupted from the huge eye on the First Peak. As it shot out, it turned into a blood-colored sword, formed from countless bolts of crimson lightning. It was a shocking sight, as even one of those lightning bolts was strong enough to crush a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Standing on that sword was a crimson-faced old man who was none other than the peaklord of the First Peak. He pulsed with a shocking and deadly aura that made it seem like he could slaughter gods.
“Your orders shall be followed, Patriarch!”
Almost as soon as the peaklord from the First Peak appeared, rumbling echoed out from the Second Peak as a massive pill furnace rose up from it. Sitting cross-legged atop it was a graceful middle-aged woman who was surrounded by a medicinal pill aura so powerful it glowed. Even more astonishing was that, within the pill furnace she sat atop was a medicinal pill that shone like the sun, and emanated terrifying fluctuations.
“Your orders shall be followed, Patriarch!”
From the Third Peak came a scholarly middle-aged man who stood on a yellow cloud. That cloud was filled with a shocking, grue-like aura, and surrounding the man were countless ghost projections. Stunned, Xu Qing realized the ghosts reminded him of the faceless woman in white that he'd seen back in the slums of the city he once lived in. They were all grues! [1]
“Your orders shall be followed, Patriarch!” the middle-aged scholar said.
After him came someone from the Fourth Peak. He was a burly man with a chain wrapped around him. The front end of the chain was a huge eyeball which he held in his hand. As soon as the eyeball appeared, a god-like, holy aura erupted out, which Xu Qing realized came from a godly entity, although one not quite on the level as Joine.
No one came out of the Fifth or Sixth Peak!
Finally came the Seventh Peak. Rumbling sounds echoed out as Master Seventh appeared, striding out into midair. He seemed ordinary in nature, and compared to the other peaklords, didn’t look very impressive. He almost seemed mortal, as he didn’t emit any fluctuations. And yet, with the exception of First Peaklord, all the other peaklords bowed their heads in deference.
“Your orders shall be followed, Patriarch!” Master Seventh said, clasping hands and bowing.
When the patriarch Sir Bloodsmelter looked down at Master Seventh, he seemed surprised, and even laughed. “Little Seventh, you’ve improved your dao resonance and didn’t say anything. You’re getting close to a breakthrough. Congratulations!”
1. The faceless woman in white was introduced in chapter 42 and the details of the ghost faces were in chapter 44. ☜