Chapter 231: Xu Qing’s Name
The moment the voice rang out, an indescribable force swept down from the spell formation, creating a massive, invisible hand that shot toward Sima Ling’s shocked dao protector. As rumbling sounds echoed out, the dao protector, who had moments ago been insufferably arrogant, was shoved by the hand right onto the ground. Given that he had a Gold Core cultivation base, he struggled mightily, but it was to no avail. As he was crushed into the ground, he howled, “Is this a rebellion, Seven Blood Eyes? How dare—”
“Pipe down!” Xu Qing said coolly. Next, the spell formation rumbled again, releasing not crushing might, but a force of expulsion.
The old dao protector couldn’t stand up to the force battering him. His heavenly palaces trembled, and his expression became one of humiliation. He, a mighty Gold Core cultivator, was being crushed and expelled. It was infuriating, but he could do nothing as he was thrown outside of the sect.
Ignoring the dao protector, Xu Qing shot toward the fleeing Sima Ling. Unleashing a palm strike, he sent Sima Ling screaming through the air until he slammed into a nearby building. As he did, one of his four life flames went out.
“Xu Qing!!” Sima Ling howled, his hair disheveled, and his entire person radiating madness. Thanks to the poison throwing his grues into chaos, he was, for the first time ever, starting to wonder if he was going to die.
That said, Sima Ling was a ruthless person; as madness filled his eyes, he bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood at Xu Qing. In midair, the blood transformed into a host of imps, all of them radiating a vicious, gruish aura. Shrieking, they shot toward Xu Qing. As they moved through the air, they became a diamond-shape mark that pulsed with sealing power.
“Nether-Sealing Dao!” Sima Ling screamed viciously. His hands flashed in a double-handed incantation gesture, causing the imps to accelerate. Even if Xu Qing suddenly fell back, there was no way he could avoid them. And so, the sealing mark surrounded him, and in the blink of an eye, duplicated itself over and over again, making a diamond-shaped shell around him.
With Xu Qing inside, Sima Ling raised both of his hands and shouted, “Detonate!”
The shell started to collapse, but only by about thirty percent. Then Xu Qing’s hand stretched out and stopped the process. Eyes cold, he looked down at the raving Sima Ling, then flew down. Before Sima Ling could react, Xu Qing reached out and grabbed him by the neck, hoisted him up, then slammed him ruthlessly into the ground.
The ground quaked, and cracks appeared. Sima Ling shivered, and blood oozed out of the corners of his mouth. The rest of his life flames went out, and he went unconscious. The grues within him suddenly went out of control, and it looked like they were about to devour his body. But then a soft light radiated out from him, and they were quelled.
Looking over Sima Ling coldly, Xu Qing said, “Put twenty dharma shackles on him and lock him up.”
“Yes sir!”
The surrounding Violent Crimes constables were clearly enlivened by what they had seen. Even the constables from the other peaks were looking at Xu Qing with utmost respect and admiration. The directors from the First and Third Peaks both breathed sighs of relief and bowed to Xu Qing.
As a group of constables put shackles on Sima Ling, Xu Qing looked around and said, “Arrest all Night Dove operatives here. If anyone resists, kill them.”
The constables spread out, and soon screams and shrieks filled the night.
Xu Qing didn’t participate in what happened next. As long as none of the Seven Sect Coalition’s chosen appeared, he didn’t need to. The Violent Crimes Division was accustomed to dealing with Night Dove. It took them half the night to wrap everything up.
The operation ended up spreading through the entire capital city. A vast number of Night Dove operatives were arrested, although many of them resisted and died fighting. By the time dawn came, Xu Qing was back in his dharmaskiff resting. At that time, he sent out a message to the Violent Crimes Division.
“Hang the heads of all slain Night Dove operatives on the city walls.”
That was how the Night Dove operation had ended back when he first joined the Violent Crimes Division. Now that he was a director, he felt like it was a good tradition to maintain.
By the time it was light outside, the city wall had about a thousand Night Dove operative heads hanging from it. Everyone who saw the appalling sight was shaken. There was no hiding what happened the previous night. The story was already spreading through Seven Blood Eyes. All visiting species, all allies, all Seven Blood Eyes disciples, and everyone from the Seven Sect Coalition was filled with astonishment when they heard.
Of course, what surprised them wasn’t that the Violent Crimes Division had taken action against Night Dove, and hung over a thousand heads from the city wall. Rather, the shocking news was that... Sima Ling from the House of Grue Hunters had also been arrested and locked up.
Not even his dao protector had been able to save him from that fate. The director of the Seventh Peak’s Violent Crimes Division had used the Seven Blood Eyes Formation to drive the dao protector away.
The challenge that had been issued to the Third Peak was dropped. After all, Sima Ling couldn’t show up to fight. It was a huge deal. After all, the Seven Sect Coalition’s challenges to Seven Blood Eyes had earned them massive prestige. The matter was like a massive slap to the face.
The first thing that happened was that Xu Qing’s information was instantly compiled and sent to all of the chosen from the Seven Sect Coalition. All of them wanted to know what this ‘envoy disciple’ from Seven Blood Eyes was like. He was the director of the Seventh Peak’s Violent Crimes Division, had been placed in the echelon but not appointed to the position of highness, and had somehow defeated Sima Ling, who was in the great circle and had four life flames.
Actually, they weren’t the only ones. Many Seven Blood Eyes disciples, and especially the highnesses from the various mountain peaks, were all astonished. Although Xu Qing had done some amazing things, they were all relatively minor when considering the overall state of affairs. But this time, he had done something absolutely sensational.
And thus, everyone was scrambling to learn more about Xu Qing.
The afternoon after the conflict between Xu Qing and Sima Ling played out at Harbor 79, a person arrived to examine the aftermath.
He wore a fancy golden garment, and had a silk belt with a spider motif. A seven-colored umbrella floated above his head, casting brilliant light around him, making him seem like the child of a god.
He was none other than the person who had defeated the First Peak’s second highness with a single blow, and had stood toe-to-toe with a Gold Core elder. He was the number one chosen in the Seven Sect Coalition, Master Shengyun from the Soaring Cloud Sword Sect.
After arriving at Harbor 79, he stood on the shore, closed his eyes, and cast his senses out. He stood in the sea breeze like a beautiful statue, radiating an extraordinary aura and scintillating light.
Behind him stood three old men, all of whom were Gold Core experts that Patriarch Soaring Cloud had assigned as his dao protectors. They were delighted to have such an assignment, and were actually honored to accompany him as he grew into his own. All of them had respectful expressions on their faces, and they kept their heads bowed.
Eventually, Master Shengyun opened his eyes. “Two life flames. Imperial-class technique. A poison that can threaten Gold Core cultivators with heavenly palaces. A magical device with a spirit automaton.... Interesting. With strength like that, it’s no wonder he sent Sima Ling tumbling. Also, his imperial-class technique seems somehow familiar....”
After sensing his surroundings briefly, he had described the fight almost as if he had witnessed it personally. There was no way that he had some ability to look back in time. It was just that... his intuition and senses were so advanced that all he needed were tiny clues to come to correct conclusions. It was a terrifying level of skill.
Behind him, a strange cry rang out as a green-bodied red-tailed bird appeared. As it cried out, a greedy look appeared in its eyes as it inhaled deeply as though it was looking for some aura in particular.
“Golden crow?” Master Shengyun turned to look in the direction of Harbor 176, his eyes gleaming.
“So, someone relatively interesting does exist in Seven Blood Eyes. Sadly, he’s too weak. Don’t be anxious, my little ravagemist bird. Let that golden crow grow up a little, and then you can eat it to grow stronger. It’ll be yours sooner or later.” [1]
Turning, Master Shengyun left the area.
Throughout the afternoon, a lot of people came to Harbor 79. By evening, numerous people had investigated the area, hoping to dig up as much information about Xu Qing as they could.
“He joined Seven Blood Eyes three years ago, and existed like a venomous bug in a jar. In the Qi Condensation level, he slaughtered all of the cultivators on an entire island. It was a bloodbath!”
“During the war between Seven Blood Eyes and the Seazombies, he completed a lot of missions. He slaughtered numerous Qi Condensation Seazombies, assimilated their souls, and opened lots of dharma apertures. He’s now at the two-flame level, and apparently, he cultivates Golden Crow Assimilates Myriad Spirits! Also, he has some shocking poisons!!”
“The Seazombie dao child Vastworld put out a bounty for him.... However, Vastworld never responded to any messages people sent him about that. People have their speculations, but most people don’t think Xu Qing could beat Vastworld. That said, it seems Vastworld was hit by Xu Qing’s poison and his golden crow technique!”
“This Xu Qing... is probably one of the top disciples in Seven Blood Eyes. That said, he’s not one of their highnesses, just an echelon cultivator!”
“The most important thing is that, before that incident with the zombie ancestor statue, no one had even heard of him. That includes most of the people in his sect. This guy really is a master of deception!!”
The more information people dug up about Xu Qing, the more shaken they were. Almost overnight, Xu Qing’s name spread like wildfire, both among the visiting nonhuman species, and all of the disciples from the various mountain peaks.
Eventually, as the Seven Blood Eyes disciples realized that Xu Qing was from the Seventh Peak, they felt it made sense. Cultivators from the Seventh Peak were known for being deceptive. That was just how they operated....
You just never know what freaks might be hiding out among the Seventh Peak disciples.
1. The “ravagemist bird” is from the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Transliterated into pinyin it’s “miemeng.” This is not a very common bird, and though there is at least one other existing translation of the name… I don’t really like it. Considering few people have ever heard of that translation, I’m going with my own version. The physical description of the bird in the Classic of Mountains and Seas is similar to the one in the story here; it has a green body and a red tail. Later in the story, further descriptions imply that it’s very ugly. of the bird from the Baidu wiki article about it. ☜