Chapter 176: Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits
The spreading of wings was the imparting of a legacy. And then, shortly thereafter as Xu Qing was still reeling, the golden crow’s wings flapped again. This time, it released a terrifying shockwave that caused all light to dim, and sent wild winds screaming everywhere.
Though Xu Qing didn’t notice, blood was flowing out of his nose, and the recording bottle was weakening. At the same time, the giant stirred, as though slowly leaving its state of absent-mindedness.
Next, Xu Qing watched as the golden crow climbed higher. Then, the crow’s wings spread again. This was the third time! This time, every feather radiated dazzling golden light. Along with the spreading of the wings, the sky seemed about to split open, and terrifying ripples spread out in all directions.
Then the sky did split open as a huge crevice opened up above, revealing another world. Xu Qing saw countless species of living beings, all of them strange-looking, and all of them howling. As they howled, the golden crow’s mouth opened, and an echoing sound erupted into that world.
To Xu Qing’s shock, black flames enveloped that world, assimilating everything in an instant. Countless drops of blood rose up into the air, converging into a golden liquid that shot into the golden crow’s mouth. From a distance, it almost looked like the crow was drinking water.
Next, Xu Qing was shaken to the core as the golden crow suddenly looked around. Those bright, glittering eyes seemed capable of piercing through the River of Time. And they surpassed even the great dao of space.
From the most ancient time, and from the most boundless space, that gaze came to rest on Xu Qing. His mind vibrated as a gentle voice spoke to him.
“This is the life essence technique of an emperor. Of me. Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits.”
Terrifying levels of information poured into Xu Qing, making him feel like he was a little rowboat floating on the sea during a violent storm. Blood oozed out of the corners of his mouth, out of his eyes, out of his nose, and out of his ears. As that happened, Xu Qing’s vision slowly collapsed, and he reverted to his normal state.
At the same time, he heard Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior wailing.
“Wake up, milord! The giant’s rousing! We’re finished! Oh, milord. Hurry and wake up!”
The recording bottle had ceased emitting any sound, and as the giant looked at it, it started to collapse. Emotions seemed to be stirring in the giant. Its chest heaved as though it wanted to breathe, and then the tentacles covering it started to sway. Its breathing contained unspeakable power that shoved the water away from it. And the astonishing tentacles were writhing.
It seemed that the sounds from the recording bottle had stirred the giant’s memories, causing it to weep. And then it threw its hands wide, resulting in a tsunami on the surface of the sea. Waves surged out in all directions, some hundreds of meters tall, some thousands. From a distance, it looked like ripples spreading out on a pond, except vastly more terrifying. Then the giant started to turn around to look at the dragon chariot.
As it turned, breathing, the water around it boiled and evaporated, leaving the surrounding area empty. Xu Qing’s eyes snapped open, and he heard the wailing of Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior. Then he saw the black, empty eye sockets of the massive giant. As the giant’s face turned directly toward him, its breath swept over him.
The dragon chariot was made from special materials that wouldn’t be affected by the giant’s mere breathing. But Xu Qing was not. His flesh and blood immediately exploded with intense pain. His face, chest, and abdomen were ripped into bloody shreds. The front of his arms and legs suffered similarly. The mere breathing of the giant was ripping him apart.
During that moment of crisis, a black umbrella appeared in front of him, blocking the giant’s breath. As the umbrella trembled, Xu Qing reached up with a hand that was mostly bloody flesh and bone. Producing an entropic teleportation talisman, he crushed it!
Instantly, the glittering light of the teleportation talisman surrounded him and the umbrella. Then, rumbling sounds could be heard as he vanished.
***
After Xu Qing and the umbrella were gone, there was nothing to block the giant’s breath, and it swept over the dragon chariot. When it passed, the giant looked mutely at the empty dragon chariot, then once again began to weep in grief. It didn’t care whether or not Xu Qing escaped. It looked at the chariot, its emotions clearly having been provoked by the recording bottle, causing it to think of its master from the past. Weeping echoed out into heaven and earth.
Eventually, the giant squatted down in front of the dragon chariot. The weeping grew louder, as though the giant were defiantly trying to summon something. But in the end, there was no response. Its emotions began to die down, and it again returned to its previous state of blankness. Acting on instinct alone, it started slowly dragging the dragon chariot across the seafloor. The legacy had been passed on, and the giant would now go into a deep sleep from which it couldn’t be awakened. A hundred years later, it would return.
However, the sea did not calm down. The tsunami that had been kicked up, as well as the winds, continued to sweep out.
***
At a location a few thousand kilometers away that was still not affected by the storm, Xu Qing appeared in a glow of teleportation light. After materializing, he fell down onto the water. As soon as the mutagen-filled seawater touched his wounds, more pain pierced into him. He could hardly see, but he waved his hand to summon his dharmaskiff, climbed on board, and then activated the defenses.
There he lay on the deck, trembling from head to toe, bleeding profusely.
The flesh had been shredded off of most of the front half of his body, leaving behind little but shattered bone. He looked extremely ghastly. In fact, if there were someone present to look at him, they wouldn’t have been able to recognize who he was.
Vision swimming, he shakily produced massive amounts of medicinal pills that he began to consume. He also pushed the violet crystal to heal him. As the violet light spread out, he endured the pain. At the same time, his eyes shone with cold light as he looked at his shadow.
As the sunlight shone down, the shadow shivered obsequiously. It was very afraid. It had been there when Xu Qing got the life lamp, and had seen him injured. But that was nothing like this. So, not only was it afraid because of how Xu Qing had suppressed it in the past, but now it could see what indescribably crazy things Xu Qing was capable of doing. If he could treat himself this viciously, then it was only possible to imagine how viciously he could treat others.
Therefore, the shadow didn’t dare to even think about trying to cause problems. It tried to send out fawning emotions, and even attempted to stretch out in a way that would block the sun from hitting Xu Qing.
Meanwhile, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior couldn’t stop himself from shaking. Face pale and eyes wide with terror, he thought, Never in all my freaking years have I seen someone act so suicidal. Back in that unfathomable world we entered in the Merfolk Isles, I felt terror. But this was even worse than that!
The Fiendish Xu really is crazy. In fact, if he keeps this up, the day is going to come when he ends up killing himself. If he dies, then I’m going to die.... But if he keeps doing this and surviving, he’s going to get more and more precious treasures. And if that happens, then it’s entirely possible he might think I’m not useful anymore, and kill me.
What am I supposed to do?
The more the patriarch thought about it, the more scared he got. In fact, he was so scared that he uncharacteristically wasn’t even paying attention to how the shadow was ingratiating itself to Xu Qing. The only solution he could think of was to work even harder to make sure the Fiendish Xu did well.
That caused the patriarch’s eyes to turn bloodshot. He wasn’t the type of person who liked taking risks. But as he thought about it, he realized that if he didn’t put his life on the line, then his poor little life would end up lost.
However, there was something else that made him feel like he was in more danger than ever. Based on the ancient records and stories he had read, if someone learned too many secrets about another person, they almost always ended up dying horrible deaths.
That thought caused him to shiver even more. It was around then that he noticed the fawning shadow, so he quickly sent the iron skewer swirling around Xu Qing. Trying to look so protective that he would risk his life to keep his lord and master safe, he said, “Milord, I’ll keep you safe while you recover. Leave everything to me!”
With that, he glared at the shadow. After all, he knew that the shadow was probably the biggest danger right now. Xu Qing took note of the shadow’s fawning behavior, and the patriarch’s efforts to watch over him. After casting a placid glance at the shadow, he looked at the patriarch.
The patriarch saw the expression of approval and very nearly started weeping out of excitement. In fact, all of his fears about death vanished, and he felt profoundly moved.
Trembling, he did something he rarely did and started talking without planning out his words first. “Milord!! Going forward, as long as I don’t get killed, I’ll always keep you safe. Your humble servant is even ready to self-detonate if necessary!”
Xu Qing nodded, then focused on his injuries. The truth was that he was actually trying to distract the patriarch and the shadow, just in case they were thinking of attacking him in his moment of weakness. He was ready to suppress the shadow or crush the patriarch’s life essence spirit at a moment’s notice.
He had been injured so badly that he had basically lost half a life. However, that also meant he still had half a life left. After his experience with the life lamp, and having witnessed the Captain’s craziness, Xu Qing wasn’t too worried about his current state. Although he hurt from head to toe, and his aura was weak, his eyes still glittered with craziness and excitement.
It was worth it!
Struggling to the side where he could lean against the rail of the dharmaskiff, he ignored his injuries and started thinking about what he had risked his life to acquire. He knew that he had only been inside the dragon chariot for a few breaths of time. But he also knew that his life lamp now had the image of a golden crow attached to it. It wasn’t just a mere outline. It was completely lifelike. Even on the Revered Ancient mainland, this was something precious.
An imperial-class legacy technique. Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits!