Chapter 162: Hair Like Black Snow
The valley wasn’t very big, and was filled with the fluctuations of teleportation. There were over a hundred Second Peak disciples, most of them disassembling pill furnaces and other magical devices that Xu Qing didn’t recognize. Behind them was a mid-sized teleportation portal. Next to the portal were a handful of Fifth Peak disciples in green daoist robes, attempting to make adjustments to the formation. Every so often, the portal would emit fluctuations and glitter with light, then go dark.
There was fighting at the entrance of the valley. About thirty cultivators from various peaks were engaged in fierce combat with a swarm of Seazombies. The ground beneath their feet was littered with corpses, severed limbs, and the like. It was a shocking and ghastly sight. The fighting was primarily between Foundation Establishment cultivators, and the shockwaves from the combat rolled out far in all directions.
Meanwhile, further in the distance were two cultivators who surpassed the others. Shockingly, they were both in the profound radiance state.
The Seazombie had been an old human man in life. He wore an extremely tattered gray robe, the extraordinary fluctuation of which pegged it as a magical device.
The Seven Blood Eyes cultivator was a tall young woman. [1]
She wore the orange daoist robe of the Second Peak, and though her beauty carried with it an air of maturity, she moved with incredible speed. Unfortunately, Second Peak disciples weren’t known for their fighting ability. Therefore, despite the fact that she and her opponent were both in the profound radiance state, she was clearly at a disadvantage. Blood oozed out of the corners of her mouth, and she didn’t have time to wipe it away.
The profound radiance state made cultivators capable of incredible speeds. However, the slightest misstep could be fatal, and therefore, she couldn’t afford to get distracted.
Right when Xu Qing appeared, the young woman from the Second Peak ran out of dharma force, and her life flame started flickering out. Her speed suffered as well, and the Seazombie took advantage of the opportunity to land a vicious blow to her chest.
The young woman’s garments were shredded open, revealing flesh beneath. At the same time, blood sprayed out of her mouth as she flew backward and slammed into a nearby boulder. The boulder cracked in half and sent chunks of small rock flying out in all directions. The young woman struggled to get back to her feet, but her life flame was already out. Once again, she coughed up blood, causing her face to turn even more ashen than before.
Seeing that, the Seazombie snorted coldly, then ignored the young woman as he turned toward the teleportation portal in the valley. Before he could move toward it, his expression became one of shock as he looked over his shoulder.
“The power of two life flames!” he blurted. From his perspective, everything in the valley was moving in slow motion. However, off in the distance, he saw a shocking figure blurring toward him at incredible speed.
The contrast between the slow motion and the incredible speed prompted the Seazombie to immediately turn tail to flee.
Given that he only had one life flame, he knew full well that he was as different from someone with two flames as a regular Foundation Establishment cultivator with no profound radiance state was different from him.
Dammit, there’s a two-flame cultivator here. That’s mid-Foundation Establishment! Only a fellow Seazombie who also has two flames could fight him! The intelligence reports were wrong!!
Though the Seazombie tried to flee, he was too late.
Xu Qing had already spotted him! And now, this Seazombie with only one life flame was his prey.
Right now, Xu Qing needed souls to open dharma apertures, and ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators weren’t enough to open them. In fact, even the two Seazombie cultivators he had just killed weren’t enough to open his 41st dharma aperture.
But assimilating a Seazombie with a life flame would be totally different. Even just one would be enough to open a dharma aperture.
As soon as the Seazombie started fleeing, Xu Qing changed directions. Instead of heading toward the portal in the valley, he shot right toward the Seazombie. He was moving so quickly that it only took three breaths of time before he was right in front of his target.
Clenching his right hand into a fist, he unleashed a blow backed by the terrifying power of his life lamp.
The Seazombie could only attempt to avoid the blow. He was in the profound radiance state, but was so far below Xu Qing that he couldn’t compare to him in terms of speed. Therefore, he failed, and Xu Qing’s fist slammed into his chest. A boom rang out, like heavenly thunder, crashing out in all directions.
Blood sprayed out of the Seazombie’s mouth, and his body was ravaged as he was sent spinning off to the side, where he slammed into a boulder. In fact, he hit the boulder so hard he couldn’t extricate himself. He was clearly grievously wounded. It was only due to the fact that he had released the power of the magical device that was his robe, and simultaneously overdrawn on his dharma apertures, that he wasn’t killed in one blow.
Even still, he was so badly injured that he clearly wouldn’t recover anytime soon. Despair filled his eyes.
And that was because, from his perspective, Xu Qing had just vanished.
A moment later, black flame filled the Seazombie’s field of vision. It was Xu Qing’s hand, reaching out toward his forehead.
As rumbling sounds filled the Seazombie’s mind, Xu Qing’s shadow went crazy, lunging forward to corrode the Seazombie’s fleshly body. The iron skewer also stabbed into the daoist robe, and began to absorb the magical device.
Because of those three assaults, the Seazombie let loose a bloodcurdling scream. However, it didn’t last long, as he transformed into nothing but ashes a moment later. The only things left behind were his daoist robe and bag of holding, which Xu Qing took, then hovered in midair looking down at the fighting in the valley.
More black ‘snow’ fell, intermixed with crimson droplets of lava that looked like phoenix feathers.
The red light from the lava shone on Xu Qing’s stern face, creating a stark contrast to the coldness of his eyes. It was an image like something from an ethereal scroll painting, filled with both beauty and somberness.
The battlefield had gone still. All eyes were fixed on Xu Qing, and they seemed as dazed as if they were gazing at the child of a god. As the cultivators who had come here for the same mission as Xu Qing arrived, they also saw him, and felt shaken to the core, their hearts filling with reverence as they saluted him formally.
It was the same with the Second Peak disciples, as well as the Fifth Peak cultivators who were trying to fix the teleportation portal. All of them looked at him with deep respect.
Gu Muqing was in the crowd, and when she looked up at Xu Qing hovering amidst the black snow and falling crimson sparks, she seemed lost in a daze. It was a profoundly moving visual image that she would never be able to forget. [2]
As for the Seazombies trying to invade the valley, they were all trembling. And though it was hard to say which one was first, they began to flee in terror.
Unfortunately for them, a black iron skewer was waiting for them, as well as a shadow that, because evening was falling, was hard to see, yet was very interested in competing with Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior.
Just outside the valley was the Second Peak young woman who had finally struggled to her feet. With a strange look in her eyes, she said, “Well met, Elder Brother! Many thanks for the kindness of saving my life!”
After she spoke, everyone said similar things.
“Well met, Elder Brother!”
“Well met, Elder Brother!!”
The wind blew, causing the black ‘snow’ to swirl along with Xu Qing’s long hair. Then he looked up, and his eyes glittered like stars.
As the disciples offered greetings, screams could be heard in the distance as Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior and the shadow unleashed a whirlwind of death. To the shadow, any Seazombie could be considered food, and though they didn’t taste very good, the shadow wasn’t picky. Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior specifically needed magical devices. However, he felt like he didn’t quite match up to the shadow in terms of strength, so he made a big show of the fighting. The reality was that he hoped to arouse the shadow’s fighting spirit. The faster the shadow absorbed enemies, the sooner the patriarch would be able to find the magical devices. Given that, the circumstances actually ensured that they were working well together.
That said, compared to the wily old fox that the patriarch was, the shadow was actually a bit immature. As a result, the shadow never realized what was going on, and continued to fight harder and harder, even occasionally looking a bit contemptuous of the patriarch. The patriarch, in turn, egged on the shadow by pretending to look annoyed.
The screams of the Seazombies created a stark contrast to the Seven Blood Eyes disciples in the valley offering respectful greetings to Xu Qing
After looking over the group, Xu Qing turned his attention to the Second Peak young woman, who was in a very weak state. Nodding to her, he exited the profound radiance state.
He had a lot of dharma force, but could only support the sustained use of his life lamp for about six hours. Therefore, he wanted to conserve dharma force as much as possible. Of course, most two-flame cultivators who knew about that would be shocked, as they would only be able to remain in the profound radiance state for about an hour, perhaps a bit more. Because of all the work Xu Qing had done in Qi Condensation to prepare for his breakthrough, that was how different he was from the crowd.
Xu Qing moved down into the valley.
Now that he had extinguished his life flame, it was much easier for the other disciples to make out his features. Before, they had only been able to catch a glimpse of his face, but now they could clearly see his spectacularly good-looking, nearly bewitching, features.
All the disciples who looked at them, be they male or female, felt dazed. Of course, the female disciples seemed to remain in a daze for longer than the male disciples. Much of that had to do with the dazzling display they had seen moments ago.
Regardless, Xu Qing’s features, plus the power of his cultivation base, combined with his violet robe and long, flowing hair, made everyone feel like they were looking at an immortal.
As he walked through the valley, the Second Peak disciples all treated him with great respect, and the female cultivators’ eyes glistened as they secretly studied him from head to toe.
When Xu Qing spotted Gu Muqing in the crowd, he gave her a slight nod. Because of that, many of the surrounding Second Peak disciples glanced in her direction. She blushed a bit, and was thinking of saying something, but Xu Qing just walked past to the teleportation portal.
“When can we teleport out of here?” Xu Qing asked quietly.
The Fifth Peak disciples greeted him respectfully. Then one of them, a Foundation Establishment cultivator with no life flame, said, “Elder Brother, the formation is mostly ready. Once the sect’s tideflow power arrives, I think we should be able to open the portal.”
1. There are different words in Chinese that can be translated as ‘young woman.’ The word I normally translate that way (and the word most commonly used by the author, at least in this novel) implies a young woman in her mid to late teens. The term used here specifically means “young (married) woman” and refers to a woman in her mid twenties to early thirties. ☜
2. Gu Muqing was introduced by name in chapter 94. She was mentioned briefly in both chapter 148 and 151. ☜