Chapter 88: Xu Qing’s Rules
Xu Qing’s eyes glittered with enigmatic light. He wasn’t unfamiliar with the Sea Ghosts. Back in Seven Blood Eyes, when he was low on spirit stones, he had collected bounties on a handful of criminals, and one of them was Sun Dewang from the Sea Ghosts. [1]
The man ended up getting cleaned out in a gambling hall owned by Zhao Zhongheng, and when he left, Xu Qing took his head. Other than the bounty itself, he hadn’t earned much from that incident.
Back during that time, Xu Qing had learned that most pirate organizations in the Forbidden Sea were made up of outcasts from various sects, islands, and clans. They were usually people who had nowhere else to go, and thus joined a pirate organization. There were a few large-scale pirate groups, and one of them was the Sea Ghosts.
All of these newcomers had cultivation base fluctuations that surpassed Sun Dewang. And there were four who were at the top of the pack. From what Xu Qing could tell, they were all in the great circle of Qi Condensation. These were people who lived on the edge of a blade, and from their strong, baleful aura, Xu Qing could tell that they surpassed anyone that he had encountered in the scavenger basecamp.
Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the sixteen Sea Ghosts. After flying up to the ridge surrounding the basin, the other cultivators present bristled with an aggressive aura.
Obviously the Sea Ghosts had a reputation such that, wherever they went, people disliked them. The Sea Ghost cultivators didn’t seem to care. They all had cold, detached expressions, while some even smirked coldly as they looked around. Their attitude was just as cold when they looked at Xu Qing and the innkeeper. It was as if no one present was worth their attention. However, they didn’t take any action. They found an empty spot and sat down cross-legged.
As they looked around coldly, one of them said, “Everyone here can get lost. Or not. But if you stay, all you can do is look at the sealizard skins. If you try to take them from us... you’ll die.”
The voice pulsed with killing intent as if it reached the ears of all present. No one said anything in response.
Xu Qing sat there thinking about what to do. Based on how hesitant everyone else seemed, he could only guess that the Sea Ghosts had come to Sealizard Island because of some special reason.
Should I just leave?
After taking a moment to examine the fluctuations of his cultivation base, his eyes filled with determination, and he turned and left. He moved with such speed that, only a moment later, he was off in the distance.
All of the other cultivators present were visibly surprised, including the innkeeper, who thought, Is the brat really leaving?
A few of the Sea Ghosts glanced at him leaving, but quickly looked away.
And thus, Xu Qing moved at top speed through the jungle and down the mountain, not stopping for anything. About an hour later, he was back at the beach. Looking as calm as ever, he tossed his dharmaboat out onto the water and jumped on board.
The first thing he did was activate the defenses. As they whirred into place, he performed a double-handed incantation gesture, and the water around the boat roiled as a snakeneck dragon appeared. It began to swim circles in the water below as it kept an eye on the surroundings.
Having accomplished these things, Xu Qing looked back at Sealizard Island, his eyes shining.
His smooth victories on the island, and his increase in cultivation base, had not caused him to become less vigilant and alert. His temperament was the same as before. Therefore, because he was just on the verge of a cultivation base breakthrough, he decided not to arrogantly stay on the island. It would likely have been safe, especially considering how strong he already was, and the fact that he had enough poison to kill anyone who got too close to him. But all that wasn’t necessary.
He had been like this even in his days in the slums. All it took was a bit of arrogance or carelessness, and you could give someone an opportunity to do something to you. Considering that he made it a practice of exterminating any threats to his safety, it didn’t make sense for him to put himself in a position to be targeted by others. It was a simple rule for survival in a chaotic world.
Some people would forget that as they got stronger and stronger. But Xu Qing would never forget the hard lessons he had learned growing up. They were engraved onto his very bones.
Now that he was in a safe location, he closed his eyes. Almost immediately, his cultivation base rumbled as he began the breakthrough.
Meanwhile, back at the basin on Sealizard Island, the poison in the area was already starting to fade away. Many of the cultivators present were breathing sighs of relief. That said, the Sea Ghosts posed a big threat, and therefore, the rogue cultivators were feeling more pressure than ever. Of course, all of them were hesitant to leave. As time passed, some finally made the decision not to stay.
Before long, evening was approaching.
As the evening sun dropped past the horizon, a fog appeared on the water. It spread out in all directions, almost as if some invisible god were in the middle of breathing exercises, and its aura were spreading across the Forbidden Sea.
Fog wasn’t exactly a rarity on the Forbidden Sea. Therefore, even if it appeared, people wouldn’t be surprised. However, when an incredible shockwave rolled from the shore out to the open water, quite a few cultivators looked over.
All of them saw intense spirit power fluctuations in that direction. Seemingly endless amounts of spirit power were rushing toward a dharmaboat on the water. The size of the disturbance reached over 180 meters, but kept growing rapidly, until it was 267 meters.
That wasn’t the end of the matter. As the spirit power continued to rush in, the area around Xu Qing’s dharmaboat became like a huge whirlpool.
As it rumbled, water sprayed everywhere, and like a torch on a dark night, it captured the attention of many of the people on Sealizard Island. Numerous gazes shifted to observe what was happening, and up in the mountains, gasps could be heard.
“I can’t believe someone is breaking through!”
“This breakthrough feels... so strong!”
The people by the basin were shocked, including rogue cultivators and Sea Ghosts alike. All of them looked at the whirlpool with expressions of shock.
“That’s the disciple from Seven Blood Eyes who left earlier!”
“He’s actually going for a cultivation base breakthrough!”
Xu Qing couldn’t hear any of the reactions. He was on his dharmaboat in the middle of the whirlpool, trembling as his spirit sea grew along with the whirlpool outside.
It was almost like there was another world within him, superimposed with the world outside.
As those two worlds overlapped, Xu Qing trembled even more violently, while simultaneously emitting bright violet light. He began to breathe more heavily as his cultivation base operated. Then his spirit sea pushed past that final distance to reach 270 meters, while in the outside world, the whirlpool also became the same size.
His inner sea and the outer sea had reached the same point, and it caused rumbling like thunder to explode in Xu Qing’s mind.
RUUUUUUUMMMMBLE!
He had broken through from the eighth level of the Seaforming Scripture and into the ninth!
But the process wasn’t over yet!
The whirlpool and the spirit sea kept growing. 273 meters. 276 meters. 279 meters….
The whirlpool in the outside world seemed to stimulate his spirit sea, and together they increased in size.
Xu Qing had never experienced anything like this before because he had never achieved a breakthrough while out in the Forbidden Sea. The spirit power was much stronger than in the harbor. The growth continued.
282 meters. 285 meters. 288 meters.
When the whirlpool reached the 291-meter mark, it was the same with his spirit sea. That was when the fluctuations of the ninth level of Qi Condensation erupted from within him.
Meanwhile, the water in the 291-meter area around him erupted, shooting water high into the air.
That was when Xu Qing’s eyes snapped open. Violet light shone from his eyes for several breaths of time before fading away. Then, even stronger fluctuations rolled out. The spectral drought demon appeared behind him, as berserk and vicious as an evil ghost as it howled to the sky. As a result, the water for nearly 300 meters around the boat seemed like it burst into flames. In other words, it became a sea of fire. The howling spectral drought demon then inhaled deeply, and the 291-meter sea of flames rushed into its mouth. Upon swallowing all of it, the drought demon shivered, and the cracks covering its skin glowed with red light. The light grew brighter and more intense, until it looked almost like lava.
Finally, dazzling light filled the area, while something like the power of fire shot out from within Xu Qing!
It wasn’t a case of water somehow transforming into fire. Instead, it was a gruish mixture of the two. And because of the fire, the aura of the Forbidden Sea became like a flow of water. It was also the sign that Xu Qing’s breakthrough was complete.
The violet light disappeared, and he slowly stood. As his aura swept out from the dharmaboat, all of the top experts on Sealizard Island were shocked to their cores.
That was especially true of the cultivators by the basin. All of them struggled to keep their breathing calm as they realized a huge enemy was going to be coming their way.
Xu Qing really had experienced a shocking breakthrough. And the people who knew that the most clearly were those who had clashed with him previously. All of them were flabbergasted.
Xu Qing had been dangerous before, but now that he had broken through, they could only imagine how much more dangerous it would be to fight him.
The innkeeper from Plankspring Way looked stunned as he spoke quietly to the anaconda.
“Maybe you should go try to seduce him? There’s more to this little punk than meets the eye. He’s in the ninth level of Qi Condensation, but to me, he feels more like someone in Foundation Establishment!”
Of course, the biggest reason why everyone was feeling nervous was that... Xu Qing jumped back onto the shore and started racing back up to the basin! After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, his wild aura was once again spreading out atop the mountain.
Ignoring everyone else, he went back to his same spot on top of the tree, where he sat down cross-legged and started meditating.
This time, the Sea Ghosts were obviously taking him very seriously. And some of them even looked afraid.
Making a show of strength came with upsides and downsides. And in this environment, the upsides seemed to outweigh the downsides.
Xu Qing had used his breakthrough to tell the Sea Ghosts: don’t mess with me.
As for their demand for others to not touch the sealizard skins, he was responding with: your demands... don’t apply to me.
1. The fight with Sun Dewang was in chapters 64 and 65. ☜