Chapter 76: Drought Demons can Scorch all Living Things
The early morning breeze drifted through the port, causing the boats to sway in the water. A few wisps of wind, not content to just make the boats sway, tried to kick up some waves. However, the waters of the sea were too deep, and if the wind wasn’t careful, it would end up consumed by the waves. In that respect, it would be like a fish that overestimated its strength, and provoked something it shouldn’t have.
The light of dawn was quieter than the wind, and seemed content to simply illuminate the boats on the water. Eventually, it shone on Xu Qing, who was still on his way back.
To him, there was no difference between killing people and killing fish. As long as someone looked at him with killing intent, the end result was determined. He wanted to stay alive, and therefore, anyone who threatened his life had crossed the line.
Some people had it better in life than others. One of the scholar teachers back in the slums had once joked about that. He said that in a rich and flourishing world, those in power would fix such problems with a simple bandage. However, in a chaotic world, there was no way to cover up the truth.
In Xu Qing’s journey of life, he had come to understand that there was one thing in life that was fair. And that was: death wiped away everything. It didn’t matter if someone died alone in an alley, or if they died surrounded by treasure and fine wine. Both were dead.
Second Highness was right. He did smell like rotten fish.
Once in his dharmaboat, he washed himself until the noxious odor was gone. Only then did he relax. He was off duty today, so there was no need to go in for roll call. And feeling like there was one less thorn in his side, he was ready to get some good sleep.
But first, he settled into a cross-legged position and took out a bamboo slip, upon which was carved ‘young merman.’ He scratched the name out. He looked at the first name on the list, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior, and his eyes glittered with killing intent.
“Soon...” he murmured. Then he took a look at the bag of holding that the young merman had failed to open. He was curious to see what was inside. After examining it briefly, he sent some spirit power inside. To his surprise, it wasn’t as difficult to open as he’d suspected. After someone died, the branding mark on the bag of holding would vanish.
After sending his spirit power inside the bag, he saw a few items. He subconsciously gasped softly.
He was this rich?
There were only 100 spirit stones. However, there were also 20 spirit notes from the Sixth Peak, each of which was worth 100 spirit stones. That level of wealth got Xu Qing’s heart pounding. After all, he’d never had this much money on hand. Of course, he knew that he would need to wait for some time to pass before he tried to exchange the notes.
There were some other things in the bag of holding. There were four or five prized treasures, as well as two talisman treasures.
One of the talismans was yellow, the other was blue.
Seeing them caused Xu Qing no small amount of shock; the markings on the talismans were about eighty to ninety percent complete, indicating they hadn’t been used much.
After some examination, he concluded that the blue talisman was defensive, while the yellow one could be used offensively.
If that fish had managed to get into his bag of holding.... Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed as he contemplated how the fight might have turned out. He probably would have been able to kill his opponent in the end, but it would have taken a lot longer, and would have been much more draining.
My shadow is proving more and more useful. He glanced down at his shadow, and thought back to how it had wrapped around the young merman. It had almost seemed like his shadow was alive.
Was I seeing things?
Looking at his shadow, he rubbed his chest where the violet crystal was. Eyes glittering, he thought again about how the crystal seemed to help him exercise restraint and control over his shadow.
Whether or not his shadow was alive, he had the feeling he should do some more tests.
With that, he sent some of his spirit power into the violet crystal, though it took several tries to do successfully. Once he did succeed, his entire body shone with violet light, which became a force of suppression that weighed down on the shadow. The shadow twisted and distorted while simultaneously growing a bit fainter. Xu Qing looked closely at the shadow and felt satisfied.
He didn’t want to waste mental energy trying to figure out if his shadow was somehow alive. The worst case scenario would be that the shadow had no way to become alive, and he would waste some spirit power figuring out how to suppress it. After a few more attempts, he went through the process of suppressing the shadow, then moved on to other things.
Putting the two talisman treasures away, he looked at the remaining items in the bag of holding. There were two things of note. One was a sea chart covered with meticulous notations. It was much more detailed than the sea charts kept by disciples from the Seventh Peak.
It even noted the location of the Merfolk Isles. After examining it, Xu Qing came to the conclusion that it was far more valuable than either of the talisman treasures. After all, to disciples who needed the sea to further their cultivation, a detailed sea chart would make sea travel much safer, and would make it a lot easier to collect resources. Information was often far more precious than spirit stones.
The last item was also far more valuable than the talisman treasures. And that was because... he had seen an item like this before, albeit only once. It was a palm-sized piece of iron that resembled a box, yet wasn’t a box. After looking at its metal surface, Xu Qing took out a similar piece of metal from his bag of holding. He had acquired this from Horsefour in the scavenger basecamp. The man’s partner Fatmountain had coveted that piece of iron so much that he intentionally let Xu Qing attack him. [1]
Putting the two pieces of iron next to each other, Xu Qing studied them, which was when he realized that they looked exactly the same.
What’s going on here? Xu Qing felt more curious than ever.
He had been in many of the shops in the Port District, but had never seen anything like these pieces of iron for sale. Yet whether it was Fatmountain’s greed to acquire it, or the fact that it was hidden in the young merman’s bag of holding, there was obviously something very unusual about this type of metal.
I need to figure out a way to get some more information.
After some thought, Xu Qing put everything away, looked out at the sky, then lay down on his wooden cot and closed his eyes. He didn’t rest for long. About four hours later, when it was after noon, he opened his eyes and stretched. He actually felt great. Best of all, he felt a lot more relaxed after the previous night’s events. And he also sensed that his Sea and Mountain Incantation... was very close to the breakthrough point.
The seventh level was the great circle for me. So what will happen when I reach the eighth level....? I wonder if I’ll have enough battle prowess to kill Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior. Actually, he felt like he had spent too much time in the seventh level.
But during that time, the Sea and Mountain Incantation had been preparing for some sort of transformation, and now he could sense the time had come. Sitting down cross-legged, he activated the spirit convergence formation, fed it a spirit stone, then closed his eyes and started cultivating.
Time passed. Afternoon faded into evening, and then night fell. As Xu Qing sat there cross-legged, he suddenly shivered, and his flesh and blood became taut. His bones started to creak, and his blood vessels bulged, becoming like vicious snakes spreading across his skin. It was a shocking sight, but at the same time, the power of his energy and blood surged with every beat of his heart.
As the power of energy and blood swirled around him, the spectral hobgoblin appeared, roaring noiselessly to the sky. As it did, its expression twisted and distorted as if some immense force was forcing it to transform!
When an ordinary person cultivated the Sea and Mountain Incantation to the great circle, the result was an adult spectral hobgoblin. But with Xu Qing, the spectral hobgoblin appeared in the seventh level. He had no idea what would happen after that.
The truth was that not even the person who invented the Sea and Mountain Incantation could ever have guessed that someone like Xu Qing would come along and reach the great circle early.
After all, the Sea and Mountain Incantation was a low-level technique that was usually cultivated while simultaneously having to deal with mutagen. Never before had someone done what Xu Qing had done, in other words, cultivate it while completely free of mutagen.
As time passed, the veins on Xu Qing bulged out even more, until it looked like his skin was covered with countless cracks. Blood started oozing out all over him, and his energy and blood seemed like they might make him explode. It was like Xu Qing’s body was a clay pot, and his energy and blood were trying to explode out from inside.
However, that was when a violet light spilled out from his chest, covering him, repairing all the damage. His physical form became more refined, while at the same time, intense pain filled him. His bones cracked. His flesh and blood shattered. It was like he couldn’t keep control of his physical body. However, the light of the violet crystal repaired everything.
It became a cycle, over and over again. His energy and blood grew stronger, to the point where the dharmaboat’s spell formation couldn’t contain the fluctuations. From a distance, it looked like his boat was bathed in a blood-colored glow.
As the power flowed out, it attracted the attention of other disciples in Harbor 79. As they looked over in astonishment, Xu Qing opened his eyes, and they were crimson. A massive rumbling sound echoed out, filled with the resonance of a single character. It filled his mind with heaven-rending, earth-crushing booms, and caused him to shake from head to toe. Meanwhile, the spectral hobgoblin’s noiseless howl grew more intense as it began to split apart and... reveal a new body!
It was completely green, and seemed to burst with berserk madness. There was also something very gruish about it; its cracked and wizened skin resembled the ground during a deep drought. Its hair was long and messy as it hung over its shoulders, and its eyes were crimson. It had vicious fangs, as well as a long, black horn that crackled with lightning. As it howled noiselessly to the sky, it seemed ready to rip apart the dome of heaven. What was more, it seemed to be surrounded, not with water vapor, but with black flames that scorched everything around it. Strictly speaking, they weren’t flames, but rather, a natural result of all the water vapor in the area being sucked up.
“Drought demon!” Xu Qing murmured. That was the specific character that had filled his mind. It was also the next iteration of the energy and blood projection of the Sea and Mountain Incantation. [2]
It was even stronger than the hobgoblin!
Goblins can move mountains, hobgoblins can transport seas, and drought demons can scorch all living things!
The moment Xu Qing opened his mouth to mutter ‘drought demon,’ a power more vigorous than anything before erupted from within him. Xu Qing shot to his feet, bursting with fleshly body power that broke through all previous shackles. He was now in a higher level of Qi Condensation!
His dharmaboat defenses couldn’t withstand the force and shattered, and even the boat itself sustained some damage.
Meanwhile, the disciples in Harbor 79 looked on with wide eyes and hearts filled with shock.
Not even Xu Qing could have guessed that his Sea and Mountain Incantation breakthrough would cause such a commotion. Furthermore... he could tell, because of the explosive results from the Sea and Mountain Incantation, his Seaforming Scripture was now stirring on the verge of a breakthrough.
As Xu Qing stood there silently, the surrounding disciples clasped hands and called out respectfully to him.
“Congratulations, Elder Brother Xu Qing!”
“Congratulations, Elder Brother!”
They showed respect to strength. That was also why they called him Elder Brother.
They could easily imagine the incredible strength required to cause a commotion this way during cultivation, and also shatter the defenses of a class six dharmaboat. What was more, the pressure emanating off of Xu Qing caused all of them to tremble violently.
This was... the pressure of a truly powerful expert!
1. Xu Qing acquired the first piece of iron in chapter 10. ☜
2. In Chinese, this upgrade is only one Chinese character, as opposed to the two words it takes to convey in English. ☜