Chapter 93: Like a Phoenix. Like a Hawk.
It was amidst pouring rain that Xu Qing appeared on the beach again. Walking past the bones and corpses half-buried in the sand, he eventually reached the water. The storm had kicked up large waves which obviously contained hidden dangers.
Xu Qing suddenly recalled that the Church of Departure had come on a ship, but he didn’t see it anywhere.
Although there were no Foundation Establishment cultivators on this island, he didn’t dare to stick around the area, even in the water near the island. If there was a Foundation Establishment cultivator nearby who had it out for him, they wouldn’t be far away. That was where they would be waiting for their Qi Condensation cultivators to return successfully with lizard skins.
Xu Qing obviously couldn’t be certain that the Church of Departure or Sea Ghosts had sent Foundation Establishment cultivators along on the trip. But if they were out there, it was highly likely they had already been notified about the big fight that broke out. There was no way that Xu Qing could personally prevent all communications from leaving the island.
After some thought, he decided not to leave immediately. Instead, he sat down cross-legged and meditated a bit to stabilize his cultivation base and recover a bit. A short time later, he opened his eyes and looked out at the open sea, his eyes flashing coldly.
If there’s a Foundation Establishment cultivator out there....
After pondering the matter further, he suppressed any killing intent within him. Having no idea how many of them might be, he didn’t want to get involved in another dangerous fight.
After more thought, he took out his dharmaboat. Then he waved his hand, and cracking sounds rang out as a small flying boat emerged from the bottom. Zhang San had installed the flying boat as an emergency contingency in case the dharmaboat was destroyed and he needed to escape. The flying boat wasn’t built according to the dharmaboat specifications laid forth by the sect. In fact, the smaller boat couldn’t compare to a real boat in terms of defensive or offensive capabilities. However, Zhang San had given it a huge boost to speed, ensuring that it could move at more than double the top speed of the dharmaboat.
Of course, using it for long-term travel on the open sea would be dangerous.
After thinking about it some more, Xu Qing’s eyes filled with determination. After taking out the jade slip with the detailed instructions for the dharmaboat, he set it to auto-pilot, put it on the same course he’d followed when coming to the island, then activated the defenses and started it moving.
As he watched it speed off, he suppressed the regret of losing his dharmaboat, and then stepped into the flying boat.
Just as he was about to leave, he turned back and looked at the island. Rain obscured most of it, and as the wind made its way through the plants and trees, it sounded almost like whispered conversation, perhaps gossip about the recent bloody battle.
It was a dark and stormy night, and the mountains were quiet.
Xu Qing looked at it all, then clasped hands and bowed deeply at the waist.
“Sorry for disturbing you, Senior.”
Having said that, he turned and sent the flying boat off the beach and under the surface of the water. As the boat sped along underwater, Xu Qing retracted his aura. His dragonwhale was also there to mask its presence.
This was Xu Qing’s plan to get away safely from the island. One boat was a distraction, the other was hidden. And they were going in different directions. Hopefully, this would help him avoid any Foundation Establishment cultivators out there.
After he was off in the distance, the rain-soaked island suddenly trembled, and then slowly sank beneath the surface.... Seawater surged across the island as that happened, washing away whatever traces of blood the rain had been unable to remove. Shortly after, the island floated back up. This time, it was free of any bloodstains. Strangely, all of the fallen trees and shattered boulders had returned to their previous state. Even more strange, while the island was under the water, a pair of huge eyes opened, looked indifferently at the flying boat off in the distance... and then closed again.
***
An hour later....
As the flying boat moved at an astonishing speed underwater, Xu Qing sat cross-legged, stabilizing his cultivation base. At a certain point, his eyes snapped open, and he took out the jade slip from the dharmaboat. It crumbled into ash, indicating that the dharmaboat had been destroyed.
So, there was a Foundation Establishment cultivator out there. Should I go deeper underwater to avoid detection, and wait for the Foundation Establishment cultivator to leave? Or should I pick up speed?
After some thought, he chose the latter option.
He didn’t want to just sit around and wait to die. After all, there were terrifying things underwater as well. And if this enemy stuck around for a long time, he could be in trouble.
He didn’t want his own life to depend on whether this opponent stayed around or left.
As the flying boat picked up speed, he worked even harder to keep his aura reined in. Thankfully, the water itself would ensure his aura didn’t spread very far. What was more, because he didn’t need to worry about mutagen, he could stay deeper underwater.
The only question was how the flying boat would fare.
That said, it wasn’t a question he could sit around pondering in the moment. Under his control, the flying boat shot along under the water. Sometime later, his pupils constricted as a sense of deadly crisis filled him. Someone out there was searching for him.
Trying to stay absolutely quiet, he dropped deeper while simultaneously moving forward.
The feeling of crisis didn’t go away. What was more, the flying boat was suffering from the effects of the water pressure and the encroaching mutagen. Going on in this way wasn’t an option. Frowning, he put away the flying boat and proceeded with only his dragonwhale around him.
Time passed. Soon, it was the next day.
The sense of crisis slowly faded. However, it didn’t disappear completely. Somehow, this enemy had locked onto Xu Qing in a way he couldn’t discern.
Xu Qing knew he couldn’t afford to be careless. Gritting his teeth, he prepared to go even deeper into the water to try to escape whatever was locked onto him. However, that was when his mind spun as an immense pressure suddenly weighed down from the dome of heaven.
Being under the water, Xu Qing couldn’t see what was going on above him on the surface, but he could definitely sense the terrifying pressure.
This wasn’t something from Foundation Establishment, but rather, a colossally monstrous aura from the sky. Because of that pressure, whatever force was locked onto him retreated in alarm.
Shaken, Xu Qing took advantage of the moment to continue on with greater speed. Some distance away, after confirming that he was free of whatever had been locked onto him, he continued on his way.
However, he knew that he could only travel this way temporarily. Though he hadn’t run into any underwater danger so far, the longer he stayed below the surface, the more likely he would encounter something deadly.
After continuing for some time, he triple checked that there was no danger on the surface, then carefully went up. Poking his eyes above the surface of the water, he looked around. Almost immediately, his attention was drawn to the sky. It should have been dawn right now, but the sky was pitch black. And that was because there was a thick cover of black clouds overhead. They stretched for what had to be hundreds of kilometers, blocking out everything beyond.
And Xu Qing was right in the middle of it all.
The wind screamed and thunder rumbled. Lighting crackled across the dark clouds, causing heaven and earth to shake violently. The sea seethed, as though it were kowtowing to whatever entity was above!
If that were all there was to the situation, it might not have been a big deal. But as Xu Qing looked up, he realized to his shock that there was some entity within those clouds that defied imagination. It was as if this being existed on a different level of life, exuding so much pressure that Xu Qing couldn’t move his muscles. Even his soul felt like it was vibrating, and his mind went blank.
He could do nothing but move his eyes, and as he did, he caught a glimpse of the terrifying entity above.
It was a massive creature covered in black flame that resembled both a phoenix and a hawk!
It had the head of a phoenix, a neck like a snake, a beak like a swallow, a curved back like a turtle, and a tail like a fish! Beneath the black flames, the entity’s body was five-colored and dazzling in a way that defied description. As it soared within the black clouds, it seemed immensely holy. [1]
In fact, it even seemed to contain some of the same godly resonance that existed in the god’s face above.
It was obviously this being that had driven away the unknown cultivator that wished to do harm to Xu Qing.
Rumbling sounds filled heaven and earth as the black clouds eventually rolled off into the distance, leaving behind the clear, bright sky behind it. When it was off in the distance, and Xu Qing regained his senses, he breathed a sigh of relief.
However, just as the breath left his mouth, that terrifying being in the black clouds turned and looked back at the surface of the water.
As it did, the water a few dozen kilometers from Xu Qing exploded, sending out massive waves in all directions, along with whipping winds. At the same time, the mutagen became vastly more intense as if it were converging on that spot.
Even though Xu Qing was a good distance away, he could see it very clearly, and not only was he physically shaking, but also, his mind reeled. The hawk-like phoenix retracted its gaze and disappeared back into the clouds. Thunder rumbled as the clouds disappeared over the horizon.
Eventually, the waves died down, and Xu Qing let loose a long sigh of relief. His face was pale as he looked off into the distance, still feeling shaken. The feelings he had experienced because of that god-like bird were unlike anything else he had experienced while traveling the open sea. Not even the giant dragging the bronze dragon chariot came close.
What was it? It was flying in the direction of South Phoenix....
Suddenly, he thought of something.
South Phoenix. Phoenix...?
Xu Qing had perused many of the ancient records in the Violent Crimes Division back in Seven Blood Eyes, and he remembered reading that on the other side of the Mountains of Truth was a huge forbidden region that made up seventy percent of the continent.
The biggest forbidden region on the continent of South Phoenix is called Forbidden by the Phoenix....
Xu Qing’s mind reeled as he speculated what it might mean. After a short time, he took a deep breath and stopped speculating. The best he could do was ask around when he got back, and do some more research.
With such thoughts on his mind, Xu Qing sank back down into the water, then kept moving as before. A few hours later, after determining that he really wasn’t being followed, he broke the surface, got on his flying boat and started moving at top speed.
Three days passed during which he traveled very carefully to make sure no one had locked onto his position. He still suspected that the appearance of the phoenix had inadvertently shaken his pursuers, ensuring that it couldn’t track him properly. However, that didn’t mean he would let his guard down. Though he didn’t go underwater again, he didn’t spare any spirit stones to make sure the flying boat moved at top speed.
During the three days that passed, most of his injuries healed. However, he was still very pale, and was also exhausted from all the fighting.
When he thought back to the slaughter, he realized that despite his extraordinary cultivation base and battle prowess, he had never been this tired in his entire life. Thankfully, the benefits had been astounding, and thus, he was pleased with how it all turned out.
Not only did he have three godly lizard skins, but also, he had ten skins from ninth-level lizards, and even more skins from lower-level lizards. What was more, he had acquired numerous prized treasures, and even three talisman treasures. Though the calligraphy on them was fading, meaning they could only be used a few times, they were still worth a lot. In terms of spirit stones.... according to his calculations, he had over four thousand.
Most rogue cultivators weren’t very rich, so that large amount came mostly because of the Sea Ghosts he had killed. The people from the Church of Departure all seemed destitute, much to his disappointment.
Given how much he had benefited overall, he decided not to worry about the Church of Departure’s lack of wealth.
Forgetting the godly lizard skins, I have a total of about 20,000 spirit stones. After tallying everything up, he pushed the flying boat toward Seven Blood Eyes as fast as it could go.
His increase in cultivation base, and the wealth he had acquired, ensured that he didn’t care at all about the spirit stones he needed to feed into the flying boat to keep it going. All of the days he had spent traveling had given him a deep reverence of the sea. His bags were full, and now all he wanted to do was get back.
By using the spirit stones to push the flying boat to its limit, he knew he would reach the sect in only three more days.
On the way back, he kept close to the coast, and thus avoided any unusually dangerous circumstances. It was about half a day out from the Seven Blood Eyes port that he finally ran into another watercraft from the sect.
It was a battleship, heading toward him at high speed.
Although it appeared to be a Seventh Peak Coastguard Division ship, Xu Qing kept his guard up. He made sure his snakeneck dragon was just below the surface of the water at fighting readiness. At the same time, he took note that there were five dragonwhales under the Coastguard Division battleship. One of them looked like a giantfang shark.
Xu Qing shivered inwardly, and maintained full vigilance.
Before long, the battleship neared, water spraying around it. The ship was covered with terrifying spell formations, and it had over eighty magical spikes that could release terrifying power. What was more, Xu Qing saw over thirty Seventh Peak disciples on the main deck.
With all of that, the battleship obviously was at peak readiness for combat. As the battleship neared, a voice echoed out from it, harsh and authoritative.
“Seven Blood Eyes Coastguard Division here. Unknown craft, identify yourself.”
“I’m Xu Qing from the Seventh Peak Violent Crimes Division,” he replied calmly.
The thirty cultivators on the battleship were clearly clustered around one young man in particular. He had a gray daoist robe that swayed in the wind, and lightning-like eyes that radiated immense pressure. From the fluctuations that rolled off of him, he seemed to be in the great circle of Qi Condensation. As he stood there, he looked sharply at Xu Qing.
“Xu Qing?” a familiar voice said from within the thirty cultivators on the deck of the Coastguard Division ship. A moment later, Zhou Qingpeng emerged from the crowd. Looking surprised, he waved in greeting to Xu Qing, then turned respectfully to the young man in the great circle of Qi Condensation and said a few things.
The young man nodded curtly.
Zhou Qingpeng clasped hands, then leaped off the battleship and landed on Xu Qing’s flying boat.
Smiling, he said, “Xu Qing! I can’t believe we’re meeting here on the open sea. Are you coming back from a sea voyage?”
“I’ve been out for a while, and I’m on my way back to the sect.” Xu Qing looked over at the young man standing on the deck of the battleship.
“That’s my boss,” Zhou Qingpeng explained proudly. “He’s Ding Xiaohai from the Coastguard Division.” He looked at Xu Qing’s flying boat. “What happened? Your boat is in such bad shape.... The Coastguard Division has the authority to search all watercraft, but I don’t think we’ll need to look at yours.” [2]
The two of them chatted for a bit, until Zhou Qingpeng finally clasped hands in farewell. Before leaving, he recalled something and leaned over to Xu Qing.
“By the way,” he said quietly, “once you’re back at the sect, don’t go out to the open sea again for a while. The Coastguard Division was informed that some unusual things have been happening on the seafloor. In fact, my boss said that some very terrifying beings have been seen.”
Zhou Qingpeng looked frightened to report this information. After giving some more advice, he jumped back onto the battleship.
Terrifying beings? Xu Qing thought as he clasped hands and bowed to Zhou Qingpeng on the battleship.
The battleship turned, then headed off in another direction.
On the battleship, Ding Xiaohai looked at Xu Qing and his flying boat, as well as the snakeneck dragon under the surface of the water. Turning to Zhou Qingpeng, he said, “Zhou Qingpeng, that friend of yours is no ordinary person.”
Zhou Qingpeng looked surprised for a moment, then lowered his voice and said, “Elder Brother Ding, a while back the Violent Crimes Division sprung a trap on Night Dove. There was a story about someone who wasn’t a captain, but managed to kill one of the hideout chiefs—”
“It was him.” A thoughtful look could be seen in Ding Xiaohai’s eyes.
Hearing Ding Xiaohai’s words, Zhou Qingpeng looked off in the direction of Xu Qing’s flying boat, a bit in a daze.
Meanwhile, Xu Qing stood on his boat, seemingly unaffected by the waves rolling across the surface of the water.
1. The description of this creature is taken almost verbatim from a description of a Chinese phoenix (fenghuang) in the Erya, which is the first surviving Chinese dictionary, generally accepted to date to the 3rd century BC. ☜
2. You might remember that in chapter 68, Zhou Qingpeng mentioned he hoped to get a recommendation to work with Ding Xiaohai and by chapter 77 had been promoted. ☜