Chapter 180: The Golden Crow Cometh
The moment the black pearl shot down from the warship, Xu Qing had sensed unique mutagen fluctuations that led him to the conclusion the operators of the ship were most likely Seazombies. He didn’t have even the slightest favorable impression of such creatures. He had killed too many.
What had just happened was definitely an unexpected disaster. Although that black pearl hadn’t been capable of truly hurting him, it did contain extraordinary levels of power. In fact, the attack was comparable to one from a cultivator with a life flame!
And the magical symbol it contained was profoundly mysterious.
Thinking back, Xu Qing remembered seeing the magical symbol flash, and then the pearl had moved so quickly it was like a teleportation. In fact, it was so fast that he hadn’t been able to react in time to avoid it.
With that ability, that pearl is on the level of two or even three flames. That thing... is a real treasure!
Xu Qing’s eyes turned cold.
A cultivator who could casually toss out items like that either had an extraordinary cultivation base or an extraordinary background. In this case, he had the feeling it was the latter.
And that means they probably have a dao protector.
As he sped along in his sealizard dharmaskiff, he kept his eyes glued to the three black ships flying along overhead. Given that he wasn’t sure if there was a high-level expert on those ships, he wasn’t going to casually launch an attack.
As was his practice, he would follow and observe, like a hunter searching for weak prey to pounce on.
***
On the lead warship, the white-robed Seazombie sighed. As he stood looking down at the sea below, he felt very annoyed. And that was because he could sense that there was an aura locked onto the three warships. And that aura... was very familiar.
“Don’t be upset, Big Bro Xu Qing,” Third Princesss said. “I’m already being low-key. I was going to throw out three of those divine lightning pearls, but instead, I just threw out one....” She glanced at the white-robed Seazombie, but seeing that he was ignoring her, she stepped over and shook his arm gently. “Alright, fine. I won’t throw out any more pearls. Don’t be mad, Big Bro Xu Qing. Why are you frowning so hard? What are you thinking about?”
When the white-robed Seazombie heard her call him Xu Qing, he sighed again, then turned to look at her. “I’m trying to figure out a way to make sure he doesn’t kill you, and at the same time, prevent him from realizing what I did. If he does, he might really flip out.”
“I’m not really sure what you mean, Big Bro Xu Qing....” Third Princess smiled sweetly, but seemed genuinely confused by his words.
The white-robed Seazombie waved his hand dismissively. Inside, he was bemoaning the fact that, because Seazombie merit points were so hard to acquire, he had accepted this mission to find Third Princess. Not only had he successfully found her, but he had also won her affections.
Now all he had to do was get back to Seazombie territory, turn in his merit points to acquire a high-level zombie heart, and then use the trust he had earned from Third Princess to get into the Seazombie ancestral sanctuary. Then he could wrap up his second major escapade.
He was almost done with the first part of this plan, and was now only about a month away from Seazombie territory. Unfortunately... this Seazombie princess just had to go throwing those lightning pearls around.
Just as the white-robed Seazombie was about to sigh again, he looked down at the water and made an expression of surprise. Xu Qing’s aura, which had been locked onto the ships, had vanished. Apparently, he wasn’t following them anymore.
What’s going on? Don’t tell me the brat has changed his ways. Or did something else come up that he needed to handle?
The white-robed Seazombie kept his eyes on the sea as the warships continued on their way. Another three days passed, at which point he was convinced Xu Qing wasn’t following them.
Weird.
He was curious what happened, but at the same time, breathed a sigh of relief. Truth be told, he wasn’t worried about Xu Qing learning of his plan with the Seazombies. Instead, he felt a bit guilty at having used Xu Qing’s name.
Ah, it doesn’t matter. I’m just doing this to make sure he finds a daoist partner. Besides, it’s simply the right thing to do. As his superior, I need to care about his personal life. In fact, he should be thankful that I’m personally trying to make sure he gets a girl.
As he continued to convince himself that he was right, the white-robed Seazombie sent orders to speed up.
***
Xu Qing’s sealizard dharmaskiff... was still there under the surface of the water! However, it was now covered over by his shadow.
Three days ago, he’d come to realize that someone was observing him. Therefore, he pretended to leave, then disguised his dharmaskiff with his shadow, using it to make his aura seem just like Forbidden Sea mutagen.
Then he followed and observed. This time, no one noticed him, which meant he was truly hidden from them.
Furthermore, it also gave him some important information. For instance… he now knew that there were no Gold Core cultivators on those three warships. And it was most likely that there were no three-flame cultivators either. If there were, they would be able to detect his aura, and would likely have long since dropped down to deal with him. He had learned other things during the past three days. For instance, he had figured out a way to pierce through the warship’s external disguise if he needed to. And he also determined how fast they could go.
With all the things he had learned, he was convinced that the three warships did not contain any truly dangerous experts.
In that case....
Killing intent swirled in Xu Qing’s eyes. For one thing, he was angry about that black pearl. Also, he needed more fuel for his dharma apertures, and didn’t see any reason to let these Seazombies get away. Another reason... was that his progress with Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits had been interrupted by these Seazombies. And therefore, they were going to become nutrients to help him complete it. That was only fair.
On the evening of the third day, when the night was dark and the moon wasn’t shining very brightly, Xu Qing stood on the deck of his dharmaskiff and began a double-handed incantation gesture.
His dharmaskiff rumbled as wings stretched out from its sealizard form, and it shot up out of the water. As it flew up into the air, its sealizard mouth opened wide, and a golden convergence of light appeared, then became a beam that shot out at top speed.
That golden light was, of course, the attack of godliness that Xu Qing’s dharmaskiff was capable of. The instant it appeared, wild colors flashed in heaven and earth, and the wind screamed. The light stabbed through the darkness of night, moving at a shocking speed as it carried holy might... right into the second of the three black warships. It smashed through the warship’s defenses as if they didn’t exist, and in the blink of an eye, hit the ship itself. As the warship trembled, and even started to bend, the sea beneath it exploded as a 900-meter-long bluegreen dragon shot up, roaring, to attack the lead warship.
Meanwhile, Xu Qing himself flew off of his dharmaskiff, his life lamp erupting volcanically, sending flames all around him as he shot with incredible speed toward the final warship! Without any hesitation, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior sped toward the second warship, which was sustaining the attack of godliness.
All of this takes a bit of time to describe, but actually happened in the time it takes a spark to fly off of a piece of flint!
As rumbling sounds echoed out in the sky, Xu Qing arrived at the third warship. Without pausing for a moment, he unleashed all the power of his fleshly body power to slam into the ship’s defenses. Cracking sounds erupted out as the shield began to crumble. A moment later, it exploded, and Xu Qing stepped onto the ship.
There were over thirty Seazombies aboard, but other than a single early Foundation Establishment cultivator with one life flame, they were all in the Qi Condensation level. All of them looked shocked, and yet to Xu Qing, they were moving in slow motion. Even the Foundation Establishment Seazombie was slow to ignite his life flame.
Xu Qing glanced them over coldly, then unhesitatingly stepped toward the Foundation Establishment Seazombie.
Terror and despair filled the Seazombie’s eyes as Xu Qing reached out and put his palm on the Seazombie’s forehead.
Rumbling filled the air as the Balefire Soulswallowing Scripture went to work! At the same time, the totem tattoo on his back transformed into countless feathers that enveloped the Seazombie. In the blink of an eye, both techniques were used, turning the Seazombie into a desiccated corpse. His soul had been extracted, and his fleshly body was drained of blood. The wings consumed the sphere of blue blood, whereupon the totem tattoo surged with heat and power.
Earlier, Xu Qing had been just on the verge of completing the second phase of the legacy seed activation. With that Seazombie’s blood, Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits... was complete!
A cry rang out to the highest heavens from behind Xu Qing. Then the feathers around him ignited with black flame. The countless feathers of black fire converged behind him, becoming like a sea of flames that was fully thirty meters from end to end, and cast darkness all around him.
Another cry rang out, this time more clearly. And it came from the black sea of flames. The moment the cry could be heard... the sea of flames rose towering into the sky, where it took the shape of a divine bird wreathed in darkness!! It was as if it had been born in the flames, as if it had taken shape in the ancient past. It made it seem like the dark night around it was boiling!
From a distance, that divine bird had a head like a crow, a body like a crane, a tail like a phoenix, and three long legs with claws on the ends! [1]
As it flew up into the sky, black fire flowed over it, converging on its tail, where it fanned out into a spectacular circular tail of flame! It was very beautiful, but even more than that, profound and mysterious.
It circled overhead, then dove toward Xu Qing. As it neared him, it seemed to view him as a familiar friend, spinning around him almost as if it were dancing. It spread fire wherever it flew, surrounding Xu Qing with fiery brightness.
At that moment, just about all of the Seazombies on the three warships looked over at him, and their eyes stung. It was almost as if, in this moment, Xu Qing, with the golden crow circling around him, had become an entity no one dared to look at!
1. The description of the bird essentially corresponds to the classic description of the three-legged golden crow from Chinese mythology. Here’s one . ☜