Chapter 155: Opening Apertures Like Mad
The fluctuations coming from the portal were so strong that Xu Qing’s pupils constricted, and he suddenly felt physically jumpy. His shadow also transmitted alarmed emotions to him.
At the same time, a figure rapidly became visible in the portal. He saw a tall, burly fellow that was clearly in the Foundation Establishment level, but also pulsed with the fluctuations of a life flame. Obviously, this Seazombie cultivator, knowing he was teleporting into enemy territory, had activated his profound radiance state before teleporting, just in case he ended up in a dangerous situation.
Without hesitating for a moment, Xu Qing thrust out his right hand, and before the figure could fully coalesce, he activated a detonator among the items he had set up around the portal. A thump rang out as the portal collapsed. As for the figure that had been teleporting in, he let out a defiant howl that slowly faded into nothing.
Face expressionless, Xu Qing gathered up the items he had placed in the area and moved on to look for another portal. Four days later, he found one. This time, he didn’t have to wait long before two Seazombie cultivators teleported in.
They were also Foundation Establishment cultivators, but after Xu Qing confirmed they weren’t in the profound radiance state, he had his shadow check their mutagen levels. The shadow, knowing that this was as much of a benefit to it as Xu Qing, earnestly did so. These two Seazombies were exceptional; however, they definitely couldn’t enter the profound radiance state. Therefore, as soon as they materialized, fierce fighting began.
After previous encounters, Xu Qing had made adjustments to his poisons. This time, he employed it in a much more efficient manner. And the plan of attack was for the shadow to move first, followed by Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior, with Xu Qing following up as the third wave.
His dharmaskiff would be his trump card, used only as a last resort. Enough time passed for two incense sticks to burn, during which time booms and shrieks rang out. They faded away when Xu Qing successfully slaughtered the second of the two Seazombies.
After absorbing their souls and immolating them, they provided enough force to open his 22nd dharma aperture! Xu Qing was quite excited, and now understood that the talk of Seazombie souls being effective were no exaggerations.
I only need 8 more dharma apertures before I can form my first life flame! Once I do, and I put it on the life lamp, then my battle prowess will increase dramatically!
He was about to destroy the teleportation portal, when suddenly he sensed another aura teleporting in.
It was ordinary, without any trace of the profound radiance state. However, his shadow urgently informed him that this aura was actually exactly the same as the Seazombie they’d encountered who did have the profound radiance state. Apparently, this Seazombie had learned from his previous mistake by not entering the profound radiance state before the teleportation. Sadly for him, he had the bad luck to run right back into Xu Qing.
Even as his form began to take shape, Xu Qing viciously struck the spell formation, destroying it. The figure struggled as if he thought he could make it through just in time, but failed, and could only let loose another defiant howl.
I have the feeling this method of mine isn’t going to work for much longer. The Seazombies are going to figure out what’s going on.
This mission really couldn’t be more perfect for him, but it wouldn’t last forever. He had the feeling that if he wanted to reach the profound radiance state, he was eventually going to have to go out to the battlefield.
I’ll try a few more times.
As he continued his search, days passed. There weren’t very many teleportation portals underneath Meegah Island. Probably no more than a dozen.
Xu Qing had already personally destroyed eight of them. He encountered two more Foundation Establishment Seazombies. One of them he killed quickly. But the other had many lifesaving magical devices, and was very close to forming a life flame. It took Xu Qing a lot of effort, and about two hours, before finally being able to kill him.
That gave him a very good sense of how powerful Foundation Establishment Seazombies were. Thanks to those two, he was able to open three dharma apertures, leaving him with a total of 25. However, he wasn’t done yet. He found three more teleportation portals, but didn’t encounter anyone coming through them, so he just destroyed them.
Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior sighed in disappointment at that, and the shadow seemed bored stiff.
Having destroyed all of the teleportation portals, Xu Qing had no choice but to head back to the surface of the island. Just when he was about to turn the mission back in and consider going to the battlefield, his identity medallion vibrated as a text message came in.
“This is Elder Ouyang Ling from the Third Peak. Based on your identity information, your name is Xu Qing, right?”
Xu Qing looked suspiciously at the message and didn’t respond.
Then a second message came in. This time, it wasn’t a text message, but rather, a voice message, and the voice was so powerful it caused Xu Qing’s mind to spin and his 25 dharma apertures to tremble.
“Don’t overthink why I’m messaging you. I’m the one in charge of the teleportation portal mission. Unfortunately, things aren’t going as quickly on the other three islands. I don’t care how you finished your mission so quickly. That’s personal and it doesn’t matter. I’m wondering if you would consider going to Joine Island and the other two islands to do the same thing you did here. What do you think?”
Eyes narrowing, Xu Qing responded with a voice message. “I accept the mission, Elder.”
The Third Peak elder seemed satisfied with Xu Qing’s answer. He quickly adjusted Xu Qing’s mission, so that it wasn’t just to scour Meegah Island, but all the islands. His spirit stone reward for the original mission also came through. When Xu Qing saw the number, he felt even more anticipation than before.
110,000 spirit stones!
He had destroyed eleven portals, and was rewarded 10,000 for each one. As for the four Foundation Establishment Seazombies he’d killed, he didn’t get a spirit stone reward for them, but they were added to his kill count.
Xu Qing looked at the reward and the kill count, and sighed regretfully. Of those four Foundation Establishment cultivators, only two of them, the first and the last, had magical devices.
That said, my goal is to open dharma apertures!
Looking in the direction of the other three islands, he decided to head to Emiche first.
Given that Joine Island had that huge eye on it which resembled the giant eyes back in the sect, he had the feeling the teleportation portals there would be easier to find for the disciples on the quest. And if he was wrong, it didn’t really matter.
Flying out over the water, he headed to Emiche Island, which was where the sect had hewn out a lake of swords. And that lake had been imbued with some power that made the swords in it incredibly sharp. From a distance, the lake was covered with water vapor, but inside, it was possible to see countless flying swords floating about. There were also many smaller sword lakes set up around the larger one.
As Xu Qing got closer, he sensed a very dangerous aura from within the sword lake, and it was focused on him.
Apparently, it was scanning him. A moment later, it vanished, and he stepped onto what had once been the home of the royal Merfolk clan, Emiche Island. Xu Qing didn’t pause for a moment. Using the information from Huang Yan’s jade slip, he immediately went toward the nearest tunnel going to the underwater world.
When he reached the underwater world of Emiche, he was met with a sight that was far more entrancing than the islands of Joine or Meegah. There were countless palaces here, and even though most were in ruins, it was still possible to see how glorious they had been. This place had once been the Merfolk’s royal palace complex.
After gaining his bearings, Xu Qing started looking for teleportation portals. It seemed a given that other disciples had already searched the surrounding buildings, and sure enough, his shadow quickly led him away from the palace complex.
About half a day later, in a place full of coral, he found the first portal. Eyes glittering, he set things up around the portal and waited. This time, luck was with him. After only a few days, the portal glittered, and an aura seeped out. Xu Qing confirmed that the cultivation base level was appropriate, then attacked. It didn’t take long. After killing the new arrival, Xu Qing destroyed the portal and continued his search.
In that manner, time passed. Over the course of a month, Xu Qing went all over the underwater world on Emiche Island, searching for teleportation portals and destroying them. Along the way, he reached 28 dharma apertures.
Only two more until I can start my life flame!
Full of anticipation, he headed toward Nethervault Island.
As Xu Qing went about his mission, the war between Seven Blood Eyes and the Seazombies became more intense. The fighting had been going on for nearly two months, and the Seazombies had already launched five full-scale assaults in the hopes of forcing Seven Blood Eyes out of the Merfolk Isles.
Each of those five assaults was bigger than the last. However, thanks to Seven Blood Eyes’ tight defenses, the sect’s forces held strong. What was more, they took the initiative to launch their own counter-offensives into the Forbidden Sea.
At the same time, more and more Seven Blood Eyes disciples were arriving to join the fighting force. There were also nonhuman allies of Seven Blood Eyes who bolstered their forces. Because of that, other nonhumans were a common sight in the Merfolk Isles.
Of course, the Seazombies had other nonhumans working with them as well. The scale of the war just kept getting bigger and bigger.
None of that had anything to do with Xu Qing. Right now, he was speeding along in the underwater world of Nethervault Island, following the direction of his shadow to the next teleportation portal.
If I’m lucky, I should be able to open the last two dharma apertures in less than half a month!
Scanning his identity medallion, he saw that he had a bit over 300,000 spirit stones. But the idea of starting his life flame was far more exciting than that.
I wonder how I’ll measure up to the Captain after I ignite my first life flame and add the life lamp to it.
Inside the black iron skewer, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was equally excited, as he could sense that he was also getting close to a breakthrough. Once I break through, I’ll be even more useful. Then I won’t need to worry about the Fiendish Xu getting rid of me!
The shadow was in a similar state. Its mutagen continued to grow stronger. Of course, that made Xu Qing consider deeply whether or not to start suppressing it even more often. Sensing what Xu Qing was thinking, the shadow trembled and tried to act as ingratiating as possible.
But Xu Qing’s eyes were firm with determination. There was something very strange going on with his shadow. After consuming a Seazombie, it gained a Seazombie aura, and that alone put Xu Qing on guard. Even if he prevented it from breaking through, he felt like he still needed to be very careful.
Just when he was tapping into the violet crystal to suppress his shadow, his expression flickered, and he turned to look off into the distance. About five kilometers away, he saw very clear teleportation fluctuations. Considering how powerful they were, it wasn’t a single person teleporting in. It was a large group!