Chapter 437: Bluegreen Dragon Becomes Heavenly Dao!
Having reached the conclusion that this was definitely the best idea, it was without any hesitation that Xu Qing once again entered the minor world and found a volcano in East District 13.
After sitting down cross-legged, he looked up into the sky, then closed his eyes and sensed his life essence bluegreen dragon. Drawn out by the energy fluctuations, the bluegreen dragon appeared in his mind, looking at him.
Xu Qing had formed this life essence bluegreen dragon back when he was in the eighth level of Qi Condensation. Originally it was called a Forbidden Sea dragonwhale. But later, as he gained further understanding of the living things in the Forbidden Sea, its form had changed. In the end, it came to look like a bluegreen dragon. [1]
When in Foundation Establishment, the dragon became part of his dharma apertures. Later when forming heavenly palaces, he had pushed off using the bluegreen dragon in favor of the taboo poison pill, the violet moon, and then his imperial-class technique.
But today....
I guess my life essence bluegreen dragon is going to bear the weight of the dao-severing magical laws!
Expression shining with determination, he waved his hand, causing a distant mountain to rumble as a nonhuman was ripped out into the open. This was the very last inmate he had acquired in trade from one of the other jailers. Furthermore... the other jailers had indicated they didn’t want to do any more trading.
“Should be enough,” he murmured.
The trembling inmate looked at Xu Qing with eyes full of terror. Knowing the fate that was coming, he said, “Exalted one, I can willingly face that saber of heavenly tribulation. Given my crimes, I know that I’ll never be set free. I just hope that, once you finish, exalted one, you wipe me out of existence. I don’t want to experience utter loss of memory.”
Xu Qing said nothing as he put the inmate down and tossed him some medicinal pills.
The inmate gritted his teeth, took the medicinal pills, and then flew a short distance away. Eyes shining with determination, he swallowed the pills, tapped into his cultivation base, and started the breakthrough process.
A moment later, rumbling filled the sky and clouds gathered. Lightning converged, and soon enough countless lightning bolts had formed a dao-severing heavenly saber of magical laws. All of it was plainly visible to Xu Qing. Saber light glittered, shining into Xu Qing’s mind. Expression somber, he began the process of imprinting it onto himself.
This time, he didn’t plan to put the image of the saber into his sea of consciousness. Instead, he planned to put it into his life essence bluegreen dragon. A moment later, a roar echoed out from inside of him, then the bluegreen dragon suddenly appeared outside of his body.
Remaining completely focused, he lifted his right hand and started painting.
Using the bluegreen dragon as the canvas, his memories as the paint, and his senses as the paint brush, he began to draw the dao-severing saber onto the bluegreen dragon, stroke by stroke.
As time passed, the saber fell from the sky. The nonhuman inmate laughed bitterly as his cultivation base exploded, and he was flung to the ground panting for breath.
Xu Qing didn’t stop drawing. He wasn’t finished yet. However... the canvas that was his bluegreen dragon was having trouble sustaining all the magical laws, and was starting to tremble on the verge of collapse. Cracks spread out across it, to the point where it looked like it might fall apart at any moment.
A mournful wail drifted out of the dragon’s mouth. Xu Qing frowned and looked at it. Clearly the problem was that the bluegreen dragon’s level was too low. And yet, nothing else would work for Xu Qing’s purposes. After some thought, he sent out his two life lamp umbrellas and sent them crushing down onto the dragon. The dragon shivered, but with the life lamps protecting it, it seemed more stable. Yet that still wasn’t enough.
After more thought, Xu Qing tapped into his third heavenly palace. Mutagen erupted from his taboo poison core, entering the bluegreen dragon and bolstering it. Because of Xu Qing controlling it properly, the mutagen didn’t fully invade the bluegreen dragon.
A day passed. Two days. Three days....
Xu Qing was fully immersed in the process, to the point where he had almost forgotten himself. His attention was completely focused on the dao-severing saber. Two thousand breaths of time had long since passed, but he wasn’t paying attention to that.
Yet at the same time, the weight of the natural and magical laws wasn’t crushing him out of existence. And that was because... as Xu Qing continued painting, the magical and natural laws continued to be branded onto his bluegreen dragon. The bluegreen dragon was bearing the burden.
Now, those two months of consistent failures were actually bringing some benefits. They were like nutrients that made the branding process smoother. Whenever it seemed like the bluegreen dragon was about to collapse, Xu Qing would bless it with his imperial-class techniques.
Seven days. Ten days....
The bluegreen dragon trembled and howled. Every brush stroke made it turn blurry, but at the same time, bolstered it. It was now at its limit.
Xu Qing knew that if he allowed the life essence bluegreen dragon to be destroyed, the harm would extend to him as well. But Xu Qing was a vicious person in general. Eyes shining, he tapped into his fourth heavenly palace, and the power of the violet moon emerged. This time, he was adding godly power into the bluegreen dragon. The dragon shivered, and Xu Qing made another brush stroke.
Eventually, half a month had passed. The bluegreen dragon had really reached its limit. But that was when Xu Qing finished with the final brush stroke.
The moment he finished, he spat out a huge mouthful of blood onto the bluegreen dragon. It was just like the idiom bringing a painted dragon to life by adding the eyes. A tremor passed through the dragon, and then it glowed with the color of blood, as if it had been enchanted.
Xu Qing immediately sagged in place, looking very weak. The half month had been unprecedentedly draining to Xu Qing. However, his eyes were shining brightly.
The dragon had changed quite a bit. It now had countless glittering designs running up and down its body like threads. And the way they glittered made it seem like they contained natural laws. With every breath it took, those countless threads would glitter. In addition, it had a host of magical symbols branded onto it, which emanated ancient auras. There were big ones and small ones, bright ones and dark ones. They were all different.
Because of all that, the bluegreen dragon... now emanated the same type of aura as the four heavenly daos outside the minor world. Though it was only a bit, anyone who sensed it would be absolutely shocked.
Finally got it to work!
Xu Qing took a deep breath. There were simply too many magical laws packed into that dao-severing saber. Even though he had astonishing powers of understanding, the reality was his cultivation base was still too low. As a result, he could only brand about ten percent of the saber.
But even that ten percent vastly surpassed any of his other divine abilities and magical techniques. After all, it was made from magical laws.
This is my third Supreme Vastness saber move. And it’s also my heavenly dao saber. Supporting himself on a boulder, he pushed himself into a standing position and then pointed at his life essence bluegreen dragon.
The bluegreen dragon threw its head back and roared, then shot up into the sky. As it undulated overhead, its mere passing caused countless lightning bolts to form around it, making its magical laws very evident. Transformations to heaven and earth were also visible, as a sun and moon appeared overhead.
The four heavenly daos outside the minor world were looking on. And they were looking at the bluegreen dragon. They were almost like elderly folk looking at a baby.
The dragon could sense it. Looking up, it let loose another roar.
The world trembled. Auspicious clouds appeared in the sky as evening sunlight spread out. Those things happening in the sky attracted the attention of the other jailers in the minor world, as well as many inmates.
“An auspicious omen!”
“The natural laws are changing!”
“What exactly happened?”
Nearby Xu Qing was that nonhuman inmate who had lost his cultivation base. He had stayed the entire time, watching the astonishing events play out in almost complete disbelief. He looked at the dragon, then at Xu Qing, and he felt like he was being struck by heavenly lightning bolts.
A Gold Core cultivation base... can create an embryonic heavenly dao?? It’s only a bit, but it’s still there! A heavenly dao!!
He wasn’t the only one to react in such a way. The other jailers were being battered by waves of shock, and many of them rushed over to see what was happening.
Outside of the minor world on Level 90 of the Corrections Division, Ghost Hand sat in his spot drinking alcohol. Just when he was about to take a swig, his eyes opened wide and he looked over at the minor world.
“What’s going on?”
I told him to go to East District 13 because a saber of heavenly tribulation was about to appear there. I thought he might gain a bit of enlightenment, and thus understand how to use a heavenly saber to sever body and soul. But he... he....
Ghost Hand looked shaken to the core, to the point where alcohol was spilling out of his flagon and onto the ground.
He actually created an embryonic heavenly dao?? How is that even possible? How can someone with a Gold Core cultivation base make an embryonic heavenly dao? And what the hell is that bluegreen dragon??
Back in the minor world, people were gathering in East District 13 because of the auspicious clouds in the sky. Looking around vigilantly, Xu Qing waved his hand and withdrew his bluegreen dragon. Once it was gone, everything went back to normal.
Xu Qing then looked at the inmate nearby, who was looking at him with pleading eyes. Of course, he wasn’t pleading to be spared, but rather, to be killed.
Xu Qing nodded. Waving his hand, he used the natural laws to wipe the inmate out of existence. Then he flew over to where the Nightshades were imprisoned. Taking away the shadow eyes and jade slips, he flew up into the sky, left the minor world, and went back to the Corrections Division.
As soon as he was out on Level 90, he saw Ghost Hand.
Ghost Hand was no longer in his rocking chair. Instead he was right in front of the mural, and was now peering at Xu Qing.
“What happened in there?” Ghost Hand asked with a smile, forcing his astonishment down into his heart.
Xu Qing blinked a few times. There was probably no need to hide the truth. However, there were also never any absolutes. Therefore... even though it was likely people would be able to guess what happened, he still felt the need for caution.
Plastering a confused look onto his face, he shook his head.
Ghost Hand looked at him, smiled enigmatically, then said, “Not bad, ya little punk. It’s good to be so vigilant.”
Ghost Hand lifted his flagon and took a big drink. Humming a little tune, he went back to his rocking chair and sat down. Obviously he was in a good mood. “But you’re being too obvious. If something like this happens again in the future, you can’t just outright deny that something happened. You have to give some sort of explanation. For example, you could claim that you gained enlightenment of a saber move that can sever body from soul.”
Xu Qing thought about it and realized that what Ghost Hand said made sense. He committed the advice to heart, then clasped hands respectfully and left.
As he was leaving the Corrections Division, he sent a voice message to the Captain.
“Eldest Brother, I have some images of the Nightshades. By the way, I have some free time now... when are we going to set out?”
The Captain’s response started with a resentful sigh. “So you’re finally getting back to me. Little Ah Qing, it’s been two months! What happened to my Taotao?”
“Taotao?” Xu Qing said, surprised.
“Yeah. Weren’t you going to introduce me to Li Taotao?”
Xu Qing didn’t respond at first. What was more, her name was Li Shitao....
The Captain again sighed bitterly. “You’ve really picked up some bad habits. You went and made a huge deal about this, then made me stew for two months!”
Hearing the Captain’s bitterness reminded Xu Qing of the matter of making that introduction. He’d completely forgotten about it. “I’ve been busy....”
“Little Ah Qing, all the happiness in your Eldest Brother’s life is now in your hands. I managed to infiltrate the Administration Palace recently to sneak a peek at my Taotao. Ahem. Not bad at all.” The Captain cleared his throat.
Xu Qing took the words to heart. “Alright. Once we’re done with our big job, I’ll make the introduction. Eldest Brother, you can come over and get the Nightshade recordings whenever you want.”
Having acquired that promise from Xu Qing, the Captain was already shivering with anticipation. However, he knew that their big job was more important. So on that very night, he hurried over to get the recordings. Before leaving, he said one thing.
“Get ready, little Ah Qing. This is the only missing piece. In three days, I’ll come get you and explain the whole plan!”
1. He formed the Forbidden Sea dragonwhale in chapter 77. It changed into the bluegreen dragon form in chapter 179. Incidentally, quick reminder that “bluegreen” is a pretty direct translation of the characters in this dragon’s name. Its name is the same as a “mosasaurs.” ☜