Chapter 580: The Consequences of Attempted Lasciviousness and Robbery (part 1)
Xu Qing wasn’t exactly sure how to become part of the Moonrebel Congregation. Duanmu Zang hadn’t provided any details about that. He had only explained where to find it.
The greater part of a year had passed since then. Surrounded by the endless green desert sand, Xu Qing looked at the Bitter Life Mountains off in the distance and thought back to what he had learned of this area, thanks to the intelligence reports he’d purchased. Unlike the Unfinished Mountains, the Bitter Life Mountains had no plant life. Endless sandy winds whimpered through the mountains, leading to a very desolate and oppressive sensation.
Xu Qing tightened his clothing a bit. He could feel Ling’er nestling against his neck, leading him to feel warmth at heart. Walking through the wind, he entered the Bitter Life Mountains and began looking for clues leading to the Moonrebel Congregation.
Ten days later, Xu Qing found himself on a towering peak in the Bitter Life Mountains, frowning as he studied his surroundings.
During the days that had passed, he had searched the mountains but hadn’t found any clues pointing him toward the Moonrebel Congregation. One thing he had come to realize was that a lot of people lived in these mountains. There were all sorts of species, most of them congregating in mudbrick cities. Mortals were rare. Most local denizens had cultivation bases, although there were some exceptions. On a few occasions, Xu Qing sensed from afar the hostility in the gazes of the cultivators in the cities.
Duanmu Zang said that the way to join the Moonrebel Congregation is to come to the Bitter Life Mountains... In the distance was one of the tallest peaks in the Bitter Life Mountains, and it pulsed with fluctuations from Red Moon Cathedral warding spells.
The Red Moon Cathedral doesn’t just randomly set up church temples. But there’s one there.... It goes to show that this place is unique, probably because of being linked to the Moonrebel Congregation. But it's strange. If it’s fairly common knowledge that the Bitter Life Mountains are key to joining the Moonrebel Congregation, then why wouldn’t the Red Moon Cathedral seal this place, or at least prevent people from coming in and out?
Xu Qing looked down the mountain, his expression thoughtful.
From his vantage point, the green desert and the endless gritty winds made it seem like the entire world was covered in green fog.
Maybe sealings or lockdowns won’t work here for some reason.
He was about to continue his search when he heard a cry carried to him through the wind, along with the fluctuations of magical techniques.
At first he planned to simply ignore them. He had encountered similar situations elsewhere in the Bitter Life Mountains, as there were always local cultivators fighting and killing each other. However, most such situations involved Foundation Establishment cultivators, and maybe a few in Gold Core. But after taking only a few steps, Xu Qing stopped in place and looked in the direction the fluctuations were coming from.
Nascent Soul fluctuations? And they're strong. Seems like the two- or three-tribulation level.
It was the first time Xu Qing had encountered any Nascent Soul fighting. And since he hadn’t made much headway in joining the Moonrebel Congregation, maybe it warranted an adjustment in his search methods.
Wrapping himself up in concealing invisibility, he became one with the wind as he headed toward the fighting.
Before long, he found the field of battle. There was a ravine, through which swept the green desert wind. Two cultivators hovered in mid-air exchanging attacks with all sorts of magical techniques and weapons. Their clashes caused shockwaves to roll out in every direction.
Both of the combatants were middle-aged, and wore clothing similar to Xu Qing’s. Being completely wrapped up, the only thing visible about them were their eyes. They both attacked with ruthless ferocity, and were just as willing to sustain injuries as they were to inflict them. One of them had suffered some severe injuries already. He had a huge gash in his abdomen, and one of his arms flopped uselessly at his side. His opponent had been blinded in one eye. Blood flowed out of the ruined eye socket, while the other eye glittered with ruthlessness.
The fight hadn’t just started. It seemed that there had actually been a chase that led to this spot.
When Xu Qing arrived, he saw one of the cultivators exhale a black mist. His opponent was so weak and injured that he couldn't dodge out of the way, and was hit in the face by the mist. He screamed shrilly as he backed away. However, he didn’t move fast enough. The one-eyed cultivator laughed maniacally as he lunged forward and shoved his hands into his opponent’s torso, crushing his five yin organs and shattering his six yang organs.
It was hard to say what technique he was using, but it resulted in his opponent rapidly withering into a desiccated corpse.
Xu Qing watched as that cultivator’s nascent souls tried to escape, but failed, as they were now sealed inside the desiccated corpse.
Having accomplished that, the one-eyed cultivator collected the corpse, then spun to look at Xu Qing. Shockingly, a sealing mark flickered in his pupil, which imparted a very gruish feeling. Grinning, he said, “Another one? You think you’re going to rob me, fool?”
He was looking right at Xu Qing, despite his cloak of invisibility.
Xu Qing had not put on a mask of concealment. But his concealment abilities were extraordinary to begin with. Only someone with special abilities would be able to see him, and apparently, this cultivator was just such a person. After some thought, Xu Qing emerged from his concealment of invisibility. After taking a few steps back to indicate that he had no hostile intentions, he spoke in a very sincere manner.
“Fellow Daoist, I have nothing to do with the person you just killed. I just noticed the fluctuations of the magical techniques and followed them here. A friend of mine went missing in these mountains about a month ago, and I'm looking for him. Is there any chance you saw—”
The cultivator interrupted with a cold laugh. Backing away in the opposite direction, he said, “A lot of people go missing here. I haven’t seen any damned friend of yours.”
The one-eyed cultivator then turned and sped off into the distance.
Xu Qing watched him go. He had been hoping to use his cover story to get some information from this cultivator. Sadly, the cultivator was too wary.
It wasn’t a big deal to Xu Qing. Turning, he started moving in a different direction. However, before he got more than a few paces, his eyes glittered coldly as he realized the wind was bringing poison with it. It was cleverly concealed, odorless, and colorless. And considering it was being carried on the wind, most people would fall victim to it before even noticing it.
The ingredients are mixed clumsily. There’s blurry strawgrass, hundred-leaf deadwood, ninemerit slag... and also some corpseblooms. It’s a catalytic poison, so it needs another poison to become active.
After his initial analysis, he kept moving. Enough time had passed for an incense stick to burn, whereupon he heard a whistling sound behind him, and turned to look expressionlessly over his shoulder.
The one-eyed cultivator was back. He was about thirty meters back, an expression of surprise on his face as he looked Xu Qing up and down. Then he sniffed the air.
“Something’s strange about you. You smell good.” The one-eyed cultivator's gaze then stopped at Xu Qing’s neck. Eyes glittering, he pointed. “That thing you have there looks delicious. Give it to me, and I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
Ling’er shivered. The cultivator had just pointed directly at her.
When Xu Qing felt Ling’er shivering, his eyes turned cold. He had noticed that when the one-eyed cultivator pointed at him the poison around him grew more intense, as if it was about to detonate. He looked calmly at the one-eyed cultivator.
Meanwhile, the one-eyed cultivator's heart sank. The poison in the area was his, and after sensing something on this person’s neck, he had come to the conclusion it was some sort of treasure. Because he feared his battle prowess, he had resorted to using poisons. Upon returning to the scene, he had found that the poison was in place and ready to activate. However, even after using the activation item, nothing happened.
The one-eyed cultivator was getting the feeling something about the situation was off. Eyes darting back and forth to study his surroundings, he backed up and said, “Given your reaction, I can only guess that the thing around your neck is important to you. In that case, forget about it. I’ve never been in the practice of taking things that people love. However, if you want answers to your questions, you’re going to have to pay.”
Xu Qing nodded and took a step forward. As he did, his cultivation base erupted with power. Thirteen two-tribulation nascent souls surged with a total of thirty-nine-soul battle prowess. Even Nascent Soul cultivators who had six heavenly palaces with nascent souls in them, and had passed five heavenfate tribulations, still couldn’t match up to something like that. Their mere existence caused a terrifying tempest to spring up in the area.
The one-eyed cultivator’s mind spun and he began to breathe heavily.
“Y-y-you! What kind of battle prowess is that??”
He could sense that Xu Qing was in the two-tribulation level, and that he had a number of nascent souls. However, being in the three-tribulation level, he hadn’t felt completely terrified of Xu Qing. When his poison was defeated, he started getting a bit worried. And then Xu Qing’s cultivation base erupted like a slap to the face. Now he was shivering, and his eyes shone with utter incredulity. In fact, he almost felt like he might pass out at any moment. As a rogue cultivator, he had never encountered a two-tribulation opponent who was as terrifying as this.
There’s no way this freak is in the two-tribulation level. He’s on a fishing expedition!!
The one-eyed cultivator trembled as he backed up, his mind spinning as he tried to come up with a plan to get out of this situation alive. Waving his hand, he used a magical technique to summon a host of brown worms with wings. There were roughly 10,000 of them, filling both land and sky. And all of them spat out strands of silk that combined into a large net that spread out over Xu Qing. Magical devices flew out as well, sending defensive fluctuations out to surround the one-eyed cultivator. There were also flying swords, a variety of pill bottles, and spears.
There were a lot of things, but they didn’t seem to conform to any specific collection or package. They had obviously been taken as loot from different opponents. And though they looked impressive on the surface, they actually weren’t as mighty as they seemed.
When he tossed out the medicinal pill bottles, they exploded, causing a corrosive poison powder to spread out and block Xu Qing’s path.
As the cultivator shot backward across the ground, a vortex sprang into being, out of which emerged a host of brown vines that sought to constrain Xu Qing. All of these things together were indeed extraordinary. But they weren’t enough.
Xu Qing was like a shocking beast who commanded a never-ending tempest that could shred everything in its path. The vines couldn’t even get close to Xu Qing before they collapsed into pieces. The mere fluctuations coming off of him were too powerful for it. The same thing happened with the worms and the net. Xu Qing’s aura formed an image of a golden crow and raging flames. The fire immediately swept over the worms. The worms screeched as they collapsed, becoming a rain of fire that landed on the ground below.
The one-eyed cultivator was coughing up blood like mad, and his expression was one of pure terror.
“Forgive me, Senior! I'm at fault!”
As he fell back, he howled in grief as he realized how perilous of a situation he was in. Never in his wildest dreams could he have guessed that a simple outing like this would result in him encountering a terrifying monster like this. What was even more unbelievable was that someone so strong would have been so courteous earlier. The fact that he had been keeping his cultivation base hidden left the one-eyed cultivator feeling full of despair.
As he fell back, the magical devices he had thrown out all exploded and scattered more poison powder....