Chapter 40: Growing Up
Eventually, the candy melted in his mouth. Sunlight streamed down through the treetops, lingering on his face for a time until it, too, melted down into his soul. As if to assuage his grief.
Eventually, Xu Qing opened his eyes and looked up at the sun in the sky. Then he looked down at Sergeant Thunder’s gravestone. He sighed.
“Sarge, have a safe journey….”
Clasping hands, he bowed deeply, then turned and walked away. As he did, he took all his feelings of weakness and buried them in his heart. As for his youthfulness and immaturity, they were buried in the ground with Sergeant Thunder, never to be seen again.
Fate had given Xu Qing a bit of warmth, but then the world cruelly stole it away. That was just life. He had no choice but to continue walking the path in front of him. Gradually, his gaze again became as sharp as a blade, but at the same time, there was something deeper in his eyes.
Moving quickly, he headed toward the edge of the jungle. As he slipped through the mottled sunlight, there was still a bleakness in him that the brightness couldn’t dispel. As it built, it turned into loneliness.
Deeper and deeper.
Colder and colder.
He was like a wolf pup that had grown up alone in a brutal jungle, and was getting closer and closer to being a true lone wolf.
A day went by during which he didn’t rest at all. Eventually, he was out of the forbidden region. The area he stepped out into wasn’t connected to the basecamp. He had no plans to go back there. There would definitely be consequences for killing Sergeant Thunder’s nemesis. That man had worked for an organization that operated throughout the continent of South Phoenix. Even though he wasn’t a very important person, they would surely investigate his death. Xu Qing wasn’t going to gamble on it either way.
But most important was that he’d killed the camp owner. Xu Qing had heard Sergeant Thunder talk about the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect. Night Dove was powerful, but could only be considered an outside force, while the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect was the strongest force in the region. They had connections to dozens of cities and scavenger basecamps, and directly ran many of them.
What was more, the sect’s patriarch was a Foundation Establishment expert. To the people who lived around here, including the scavengers, Foundation Establishment experts were like immortals. Although few had ever seen one, the awe and might they commanded was enough to strike reverence into the hearts of all. Because of that, Xu Qing knew that since he had killed two of their elders, the sect was going to be enraged at him specifically. There was one simple way to deal with the problem.
He needed to join an organization that could strike fear into the hearts of the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect, and ensure that they wouldn’t do anything to him.
That organization was none other than Seven Blood Eyes. To the local cities and basecamps, the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect was a colossal monster of a group. But to the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect, the same could be said about Seven Blood Eyes. Even if the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect was a hundred times more courageous, it wouldn’t dare to provoke Seven Blood Eyes. The best way to resolve this crisis, at least for the moment, was for him to become a disciple of Seven Blood Eyes.
Therefore, as soon as he was out of the forbidden region, he patted the Seven Blood Eyes identity medallion in his sack, and then looked around with shining eyes.
He was going to take a trip to Seven Blood Eyes!
It was located so far away that an ordinary person would waste years of their life walking there. Not only would they have to cross entire mountain ranges, but also, they would face numerous dangers.
But the identity medallion was going to make things a lot easier. On the back was a map which showed cities controlled by Seven Blood Eyes. All he had to do was take his medallion there, and he would get a one-time free teleportation to the sect headquarters.
Right now, the nearest city to Xu Qing was Antlerville, which was in the opposite direction as Laughing Pines. Unlike Laughing Pines, you couldn’t just buy a residence permit to live in Antlerville. Instead, you needed a recommendation letter from a Seven Blood Eyes disciple. That was why Sergeant Thunder hadn’t been able to settle down there.
When that thought crossed his mind, Xu Qing turned to look back at the forbidden region. Then, as the evening stretched out, he headed toward Antlerville.
It should only take me about three days to get there.
He had never been to Antlerville, but he was familiar with the name, as it wasn’t very far from the city where he had once lived for six years.
Two days passed by.
***
Xu Qing’s decision to avoid the basecamp had been the right one.
There were now dozens of Golden Vajra Warrior Sect disciples there keeping an eye on things. And there were seven or eight who were in the jungle searching for clues. The reason for this was that there were all sorts of people among the scavengers, all with their own goals and ideas. The only way to keep events in the camp a secret would have been to wipe them all out. But news traveled fast, and when the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect heard what happened, they were furious. To them, losing two elders was a big matter, especially in terms of face. In essence, it was a provocation, and therefore, they had to resolve the issue as quickly as possible to maintain their prestige.
Even after two days of waiting, though, Xu Qing never showed up. Of course, the forbidden region was huge, and they had no idea if he actually went inside. And the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect didn’t have enough people to thoroughly search the wilderness.
It was impossible to stop the spread of rumors, and soon, all of the cities and camps in the area knew about what happened. The fact that the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect’s search for the culprit wasn’t going anywhere made every member of the sect even angrier.
At the moment, an angry roar could be heard coming from the middle of the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect. The sect headquarters wasn’t very far from Laughing Pines. It was a very expensive and beautiful complex of buildings built on a mountain, filled with hundreds of disciples and quite a few top experts. As for the angry roar, it came from the grand hall on the very top of the mountain.
“You haven’t found him?”
Sitting on a throne at the end of the hall was a middle-aged man dressed in a golden robe. He was imposing, and his eyes flashed with anger. Given his rage, it was no surprise his spirit power fluctuations weighed down heavily on the others present.
Currently, there were two people standing in front of him. Both were middle-aged, and wore the same type of golden robe. Their spirit power fluctuations were intense, surpassing that of the camp owner, and they were both frowning.
“Sect Leader,” one of them said, “the wilderness is too big. Why not have the camp guards and scavengers organize a search? If we do that, it shouldn’t take more than three days to find the culprit.”
“What are you, a comedian?” the sect leader shouted. “Some boy kills two of our elders, drenches our basecamp in blood, and you want to ask help from the guards and scavengers? The Golden Vajra Warrior Sect would lose all face!!”
The other two men held their tongues and said nothing further.
A moment later, the sect leader took a deep breath and, eyes glittering with killing intent, pointed at his two subordinates.
“Grand Elder Li. Grand Elder Chen. You’re both at the peak of the ninth level of Qi Condensation. Either of you could kill this ‘Kid’ without expending any effort.
“I already sent a message to the patriarch asking for instructions. I requested two of his search talismans for you, so once we get formal permission, you will go out and do whatever you have to do to resolve the issue. I want the Kid’s head brought back to me in twenty-four hours or less!”
The two grand elders accepted the orders with very serious looks on their faces.
Meanwhile, the sect leader’s eyes shone with cold light as he gave them each a jade slip. Then, just as they were about to go ask permission from the patriarch, the sound of a cold harrumph echoed out in the hall like thunder. The sound was so powerful it caused the two elders’ minds to reel. Even the sect leader reacted visibly. Then he stood and walked away from the throne as, at the other end of the hall, an old man appeared, wearing a gold robe with a primarily red color scheme.
The old man was tall and burly, and his face was ruddy. His long, white hair was disheveled, and his eyes crackled as if with lightning. As he entered, spirit power fluctuations rolled out that completely surpassed the Qi Condensation level. Wherever he walked, the ground split and cracked beneath him. Furthermore, his aura was so impressive that it created something like a tempest around him. In fact, if one looked closely, they would see that his feet weren’t even touching the ground. He was actually walking on thin air.
This was not some trick using a wind cultivation technique; he was really walking on air!
Behind him, it was possible to see the illusory image of an angry vajra warrior, pulsing with so much power that, if it attacked, the entire surrounding hall would be destroyed.
As soon as this man arrived, the three people in the hall dropped to their knees and kowtowed.
“Our respects, Patriarch!”
Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior said nothing, but instead strode to the throne and sat down. Then he looked coldly at his three subordinates for a moment before his lightning-like gaze came to rest on the sect leader.
“Yunwen, did you forget the sect mandate of our Golden Vajra Warrior Sect?”
Sweat broke out on the sect leader’s forehead as he immediately replied,
“Patriarch, sir, I haven’t forgotten. The Golden Vajra Warrior Sect’s mandate states that we try not to take action unless necessary. But when we do take action, we use the sharp energy of the golden to strike like a vajra warrior. That’s why I already arranged for these two grand elders to go out and handle the matter.”
“You numbskull!” the patriarch raged. “I just looked into the Kid’s background. He rose to prominence out of nowhere recently. As a new member of Squad Thunderbolt, he slaughtered a whole host of enemies on his first run into the forbidden region there. Despite being weaker than Squad Bloodshadow, he wiped them out. And he saved a lot of scavengers!
“He’s proficient in the dao of poison, and even though he’s only in the sixth level of Qi Condensation, he slaughtered two of our elders and numerous disciples. Then he got away completely unscathed. Now, you can’t even find him.
“Despite how many people live in that scavenger camp, there have been only two people willing to give information about him. Obviously, people like him!
“Based on accounts I’ve read in the ancient records throughout the years, when dealing with a person like this, you either work things out with them, or you go all out to kill them.
“And now you’re planning to send out only two people to get him? A person who’s proficient at winning from a position of weakness? You might as well be sending them to their deaths!”
By the time he finished speaking, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior seemed completely infuriated. The three subordinates couldn’t do anything but tremble and bow their heads.
Snorting coldly, the patriarch continued, “I can tell that if you two go out and run into him, he’ll end up killing you both.” Looking at the sect leader, he said, “Then you’d get pissed off and go chasing after him, and he’d kill you too. Finally, I would show up, but by that time he’d be long gone. Then, years later, he’d come back and slap me to death with a single blow.”
The sect leader was stunned to hear this analysis, and was sweating now more than before. Of course, he didn’t actually think that events would play out like that, but he also didn’t dare to argue with the patriarch. Keeping his head bowed, he simply said, “What should we do, Patriarch?”
Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior looked out at the wilderness for a long moment. Then he said, “Send the disciples out to search the area. Have everyone in the cities and scavenger basecamps keep an eye out as well. I’ll give these two elders flight talismans in addition to the search talismans. They can each cover one half of our territory. I’ll join the search too. If anyone finds him, they’re to notify me first. That is the way we can strike like a vajra warrior. It is also the only surefire way to ensure our sect’s prestige is not damaged!”
Shortly thereafter, bells rang in the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect.
Disciples poured out of the main gates, while at the same time, the patriarch took the grand elders up into the sky.
In front of him were three glittering paper talismans that indicated a direction to follow. The three symbols turned into three beams of light that shot in different directions. From that point, the patriarch and the grand elders split up.