The top fifty cultivators in Seven Blood Eyes’ battle rankings would get the right to summon a projection of the sect’s magical treasure. The thought excited Xu Qing. He had never even seen a magical treasure before, but had heard astonishing stories about them. After all, in the entire Seven Blood Eyes sect, there was only one magical treasure. Xu Qing was curious why there were so many rumors about magical treasures, and also wanted to know what the Seven Blood Eyes’ magical treasure looked like, and what it did.
That said, right now, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior and the shadow both were about to reach breakthroughs. He didn’t want simple curiosity to interfere with that. He knew without any doubt which of the two was most important.
Even if magical treasures were incredibly powerful, the prize was a single use of the projection of that magical treasure. In contrast, upgrading the shadow and the patriarch would permanently boost his battle prowess.
Therefore, Xu Qing unhesitatingly dropped the mission he had been considering, and used the dharmic decree from Ding Xue’s aunt. Even as Seven Blood Eyes seemed to be making a lot of headway in the fighting, he chose to leave the battlefield.
I need to find some safe, remote island somewhere. A place where the patriarch and the shadow can break through without worrying about being interrupted.
Of great concern was the fact that Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior mentioned dealing with tribulation lightning.
After some thought, he used a teleportation portal to head in the opposite direction of the fighting. Specifically, he teleported to a location very far away, where a nonhuman species called the Hornsanders lived.
The Hornsanders were allies of Seven Blood Eyes. They were generally kind and peaceful, and had benefited from the protection of the sect for over a hundred years thanks to a crafting ingredient they produced called seaglitter, and also their skill in puppet creation.
The Hornsanders were a strange people; they looked exactly the same as humans, except they were about as tall as an average person’s hand. To them, humans were like giants. Their ancestral land was a lilliputian kingdom. However, to make it easier to welcome friends from other species, they had built an ordinary-sized city not far from their teleportation portal.
By the time Xu Qing materialized on the Hornsander’s teleportation portal, it was already dusk. The afterglow of the setting sun cast burning red light through the sky, while the black water had a violet hue to it. Everything seemed mysterious and profound. It was rare to find harmonious and peaceful places like this on the Forbidden Sea. And considering that Xu Qing had just come from a war zone, and pulsed with a baleful aura, he didn’t seem to fit in.
Looking up, he saw numerous small cities off in the distance. Within them, countless Hornsanders bustled about, sometimes singing as they went about their tasks. He even saw some very tiny children playing in the sand. That said, he also detected the auras of quite a few powerful experts.
Hornsanders were very small, but that didn’t mean Xu Qing looked down on them. He had read the file about them back in the Violent Crimes Division, and knew that though they were normally peaceful, when they did fight, they revealed astonishing fighting prowess. What was more, they were experts in the dao of puppetry.
Stepping off of the teleportation portal and looking around, he saw that there were a total of eight puppets seated cross-legged in the area. The puppets were human-sized, and were made of a combination of metal and wood. Their faces were pitch black, and they had gemstones for eyes. They didn’t emanate any spirit power fluctuations, making them seem like they were dead.
As he looked them over, one of the puppet’s gemstone eyes lit up. Then clicking sounds filled the air as the puppet got to its feet, clasped hands and bowed.
“Welcome to Hornsander territory, esteemed guest from Seven Blood Eyes. How can we help you?”
Xu Qing looked more closely at the puppet. Despite the fact that it had just spoken, he still didn’t sense any spirit power fluctuations coming off of it. He was very curious about that, but at the same time, didn’t feel it was appropriate to pry.
“I’m just passing through,” he said gruffly. “I’m heading to a sea district not far from here. Do you have sea charts for sale?”
“Why would an esteemed guest from Seven Blood Eyes need to spend money on something like that?” The puppet extended its right hand, and a grain of sand appeared there. It waved its hand, and the sand shot toward Xu Qing.
He caught it, whereupon his expression flickered with surprise. The tiny grain of sand was actually just like a jade slip filled with information. Sending some dharma force into it, he saw a very detailed sea chart.
After offering his thanks, he took a final glance at the peaceful Hornsanders, then flew up into the air and headed out over the Forbidden Sea.
Moving at top speed, he disappeared within moments. After he was gone, the other seven puppets looked up in the direction he’d left. Then they began to project messages to each other.
“Seven Blood Eyes is at war with the seazombies. This person’s cultivation base is profound, and he exerts immense pressure. He also has scraps of battlefield aura on him. Why did he pass through our lands?”
“I also sensed his cultivation base fluctuations. Although it’s hard to say for sure, given the fact that I have a single life flame, and his presence caused my dharma apertures and dharma force to turn sluggish, I’d guess he’s in mid-Foundation Establishment.”
“That said, he didn’t seem to have any ill intentions.”
After they were certain that he was gone, they relaxed, bowed their heads again, and then remained in place unmoving.
The night passed. The next day at dawn, the light of day spread through the dome of heaven.
Xu Qing could be seen, speeding along under the burning sun, not having slowed down a bit.
He chose not to use his dharmaskiff, as it would attract more attention. As he sped along, he searched for his destination as described on the sea chart, which was an abandoned mining island.
According to the sea chart, a vein of spirit ore had been discovered there a hundred years ago, and thus the island became very important to the Hornsanders. However, after mining it for a full sixty-year-cycle, the mine went dry, and the island was abandoned. The spirit power wasn’t very strong there, while the mutagen was. Though there were some plants and vegetation growing, most of them were aggressive in nature. Given that there was nothing of value inside or outside of the island, few people ever went there. There were many islands like this on the Forbidden Sea.
Upon finding it, Xu Qing examined it from the air. After determining that it was a suitable location for the shadow and the patriarch to break through, he landed on the island. The first thing he did was wave his hand to send poison powder drifting out everywhere. Instantly, all the plants and vegetation that had been stirring in his direction to attack him withered and died. Ignoring them, he headed toward the actual mine, which took a bit of time to find. 𝘰𝑣𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
Despite the fact that the morning sun was bright outside, the interior of the mine was pitch black. Furthermore, it was filled with strong mutagen and a frigid energy. Black ice surrounded the exterior of the mine, and there were no plants anywhere. Apparently the black ice was poisonous.
To most cultivators, this would not be a suitable location to practice cultivation. But as far as Xu Qing’s shadow was concerned, it was more than satisfactory. In fact, as the sun cast his shadow down, it seemed to have a hard time not stretching forward into the mine.
After checking around again to make sure there were no dangers, he broke off a piece of black ice to examine.
It had an astonishing frigid energy, as well as strong mutagen. In fact, as soon as he touched it, that mutagen poured into Xu Qing, only to be immediately absorbed by his shadow.
“Well isn’t this stuff interesting,” he murmured. Squatting down, he tried to collect some of the ice. Unfortunately, as soon as he broke off a piece, it would release all its mutagen and become useless. Shrugging, he entered the mine.
“Be careful, milord,” the patriarch said. “As the saying goes, a wealthy person should never sit under the eaves, lest a falling tile crack him on the head. You really need to be cautious about your own safety. Allow me to scout ahead.” With that, he took control of the iron skewer and flew into the mine. A short time later, he reported, “Milord, there’s nothing out of the ordinary here.”
The shadow, who had been focused on absorbing the black ice, shivered and stretched out into the mine, then sent out fluctuations to similarly indicate that it was safe to proceed.
Xu Qing was actually pleased to see the patriarch and the shadow contending with each other, but kept his expression neutral. After lacing the entrance with poison, he entered the mine. The mutagen inside was clearly stronger, and the frigid energy more intense. Everything was completely dark, so he sent more dharma force into his eyes to see more clearly. There was a huge tunnel leading deeper into the mine, and the walls were covered with the signs of excavation. Without any hesitation, Xu Qing ignited his life lamp.
In the blink of an eye, brilliant flames exploded out all over him. The indistinct shape of a black umbrella became visible, protecting his soul, while volcanic fluctuations rolled out within him. Xu Qing blurred into motion as he started checking the entire mine for danger. Although he felt generally safe, until he explored every corner of the place, he couldn’t rest at ease. Thus, the flames of his profound radiance state swept through the mine.
There were a lot of passages, but he moved so quickly that it only took a single incense stick’s worth of time for him to cover everything. Other than some bats, he didn’t see anything. The place was indeed safe.
Finally, he settled down cross-legged in the depths of the mine, and softly said, “Shadow, you can break through now.”
Instantly, the shadow stretched out. Although it was still connected to Xu Qing, ninety-nine percent of it went off into the distance. There, where no one could see what it was doing, though Xu Qing could sense it, it started sucking in mutagen like mad. The mutagen became like a vortex, sweeping in from all corners of the mine. As it spun, it became a huge, rotating circle thirty meters across.
Within that circle, the shadow’s ‘body’ melted, becoming a black, viscous substance upon whose surface bubbles constantly formed and popped. Each time a bubble burst, it would emit a hair-raising howl, as if to give evidence that some dramatic evolution was occurring.
Xu Qing’s eyes shone with anticipation, but he kept his guard fully up. After all, his shadow had always been secretly sinister, and it was impossible to say whether or not it would rebel against him after it broke through. In fact, Xu Qing actually kept dharma force flowing into his violet crystal, just in case he needed to suppress the shadow.
Meanwhile, off to the side, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior saw the shadow getting to work. And he noticed the Fiendish Xu’s look of anticipation, as well as the way he almost seemed to be acting as a dharma protector. All of a sudden, a stabbing sensation of crisis and anxiety filled the patriarch.
He’s acting as a dharma protector? The Fiendish Xu is obviously favoring the shadow now! Logically speaking, if the shadow breaks through, then I’m going to be at a big disadvantage. Even if I do break through later, I’ll still be trailing behind. In the stories I’ve read, people who fall behind never catch up. Eventually, they hit rock bottom. I can’t let that happen!
The patriarch shivered inwardly at that thought. To protect my position, and to make sure I don’t become cannon fodder, I have to break through before the shadow. It’s time to fight!
Having reached this point in his train of thought, the patriarch’s eyes turned bloodshot, and with an incredibly serious voice, he said, “Milord, I beg thee to let me break through!”