These words were like thunder that echoed in Xu Qing’s ears, causing his mind and heart to fluctuate slightly. However, Xu Qing’s expression didn’t change much, nor did he think too much about it. He lowered his head and respectfully spoke.
“Yes.”
There was no need to hide this matter. Although the merfolk race’s Spirit Breath Lantern was very valuable, it wasn’t like no one had obtained it before. Xu Qing’s actions back then seemed to be secretive but in reality, if someone really wanted to investigate, they could still find many clues.
Xu Qing felt that there was no need to lie about this as it would give off the feeling that he was trying to hide something.
“How do you plan to deal with it?” Third Elder looked at Xu Qing and calmly asked.
“Sell it.”
Xu Qing spoke without hesitation and lifted his head to look at Third Elder.
At that moment, the aura emitted by Third Elder, who was sitting upright, distorted the surroundings, causing the entire hall to be filled with oppression. As his words echoed, the oppression became even more intense.
In fact, that piercing feeling appeared once again. However, Xu Qing felt that it was still much better than last time.
The previous time, it was difficult for him to even lift his head. Just looking at the elder caused his eyes to feel intense pain.
When Third Elder heard this, a smile appeared on his face. He seemed satisfied that Xu Qing was frank and straightforward.
“Xu Qing, I have to say that I think very highly of you. Since you obtained the Spirit Breath Lantern yourself, I won’t ask for it. I don’t fancy that lantern.”
“However, let me remind you that if you want to sell it, do it as soon as possible. Otherwise, there will be people who will covet it. This old man can know that you obtained it. It won’t be difficult for others to know as well.”
“Now, give me your identity token.”
Xu Qing’s gaze was reserved as he took out his identity token.
Third Elder waved his right hand and the token flew into his hand. He patted it lightly and the token immediately trembled and emitted a light. After the information inside was quickly adjusted, an array formation’s energy arrived, as though it was imprinting.
A moment later, the light from the token dissipated and returned to normal. Third Elder waved his hand and the token headed straight for Xu Qing.
Xu Qing raised his hand and took it. He was prepared to withstand a great force. After all, he had experienced something similar when he met the director of the Homicide Department back then.
However, as he caught the token, there was actually no force emitted. It was as though all the force had perfectly dissipated the moment he touched it.
This scene caused Xu Qing’s eyes to narrow. He could sense the difference between the two sides.
It was easy to release it, but it was difficult to perfectly control it to the point that the token had no force left in it.
“You can leave now.” Third Elder closed his eyes.
Xu Qing cupped his fists respectfully and left. Just as he was about to walk out of the hall, Third Elder’s voice rang out again.
“Zhongheng’s nature isn’t bad.”
“Disciple understands.” Xu Qing turned and bowed before walking out of the hall. He was aware that the other party didn’t say this when he arrived that day. Instead, Deacon Li spoke because his status wasn’t high enough.
However, it was different now.
As Xu Qing walked out, Deacon Li nodded at him and closed his eyes in silence. Xu Qing looked at Zhang Yunshi in the distance as he walked over.
Zhang Yunshi smiled and brought Xu Qing to get the Daoist robe. At the same time, Xu Qing also chose a cave abode. However, most of the good cave abodes had been chosen. The place he chose was a little remote.
However, Xu Qing felt that it wasn’t bad. As for the price, it wasn’t as expensive as he imagined.
Finally, under Zhang Yunshi’s introduction and guidance, Xu Qing went to the Scripture Hall and exchanged for Foundation Building cultivation arts. Other than that, he also purchased some body-refining arts.
After doing all this, it was already dusk. Zhang Yunshi led Xu Qing to the cave abode he had chosen before he cupped his fists and left. Before he left, he smiled and spoke.
“Junior Brother Xu, the reason why I accompanied you so long today is partly because I feel that I have some fate with you and partly because I accepted the mission for receiving disciples ascending the mountain this month. I will obtain the sect’s reward because of this.”
“So, you don’t have to worry about why I’m being so hospitable. However, in the end, you and I can be considered to have affinity. If we meet on the sea in the future, I hope we can take care of each other.”
“Lastly, Junior Brother Xu Qing, let me remind you out of friendship. Once us cultivators step into Foundation Building, we have to open 30 magic apertures as quickly as possible. From there, we can form a life fire and possess the Mystic Brilliance Form.”
“You have to know that cultivators with the Mystic Brilliance Form and without are two completely different concepts. We’ve put so much effort into advancing to the Foundation Building realm. If we don’t form our life fire as soon as possible, we’ll be at a disadvantage. Many Foundation Building cultivators who died are those who have not formed a life fire.”
“A Foundation Building cultivator who doesn’t have the Mystic Brilliance Form can only bully Qi Condensation cultivators,” Zhang Yunshi said. After he finished speaking, he glanced at Xu Qing’s right hand and discovered that he couldn’t detect any habitual flaws. He smiled and left.
Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed. Regardless of his understanding or the other party’s explanation at this moment, it made him understand the importance of life fire to Foundation Building cultivators.
He cupped his fists and bowed slightly, watching as Zhang Yunshi’s figure disappeared.
At the same time, he retracted the vigilance against the other party and turned to look at his cave abode.
The place he chose was against a cliff. The greenish-black stone door of the cave abode was closed and there were weeds everywhere. The door was also covered in moss and humidity permeated the air.
After checking this place, Xu Qing walked closer to the stone door and took out the jade slip that controlled the cave abode. Immediately, the stone door of the cave abode shone with runes. Xu Qing followed the method recorded in the jade slip and placed his hand on the runes.
It was like imprinting a mark. As the runes shone, the cave abode collected his imprint. The gate slowly opened, revealing the space inside.
This cave abode wasn’t big and only had two rooms. There was a pearl on the ceiling of the above that emitted a gentle glow. Only it hadn’t been used for a long time and was covered in dust.
Xu Qing waved his hand and wind appeared to clean up the place. After that, he carefully checked to ensure that there was nothing wrong before walking out again and arranging poison powder outside the cave abode.
This time, he put a lot of poison traps. After he finished dealing with the outside and returned to the cave abode, he continued to sprinkle a lot. Finally, he took out the protective array formations he had bought and activated them.
As the cave abode’s door closed and the cave abode’s array formation was activated, Xu Qing finally heaved a long sigh of relief.
He recalled what he had seen and heard today, and vaguely got the feeling of when he had joined the Seven Blood Eyes for the first time. However, at that time, he was at the Qi Condensation Realm, and now, he was already at the Foundation Building Realm.
“I’ve finally reached the Foundation Building realm…” Xu Qing mumbled. After recalling the various rights of the Foundation Building cultivators in the Seven Blood Eyes, he changed into the purple Daoist robe. He looked at the robe, and a hint of brilliance appeared in Xu Qing’s eyes.
There was an array formation on this Daoist robe that provided a certain level of protection. If it was placed outside or at the foot of the mountain, many disciples would fight over it if the color was changed.
Xu Qing touched the robe and sat down before taking out a jade slip.
This jade slip was one of the Seventh Peak’s Foundation Building cultivation arts he had exchanged from the Scripture Hall.
Xu Qing infused his spirit energy into the jade slip to read it.
After reaching the Foundation Building realm, he understood that he had to cultivate the Foundation Building cultivation art as soon as possible. Only then could he continue to progress like before.
As he read, time slowly flowed by. Very soon, the moonlight spread outside and drifted onto the stone door of Xu Qing’s cave abode. From afar, it looked like the bright moon was scattering its light1.
The stone door emitted a hint of antiquity in the moonlight.
In the cave abode, a sharp glint appeared in Xu Qing’s eyes as he finished reading the jade slip.
“Fiendish Fire Soul Devouring Art…”
The Foundation Building cultivation art of the Seventh Peak of the Seven Blood Eyes was this Fiendish Fire Soul Devouring Art. The name itself revealed a deep killing intent. One could imagine that this cultivation art was definitely inclined toward evil.
However, this was also in line with Xu Qing’s judgment. After all, the sect’s name was the Seven Blood Eyes.
Fiendish Fire Soul Devouring Art had no levels. Its main focus was on opening the magic apertures as fast as possible. It first cultivated a flame called fiendish fire in the magic aperture.
This flame was a strange fire that could fuse with the aura of the Forbidden Sea. Moreover, the more it was cultivated, the more intense the fiendish fire became.
This fiendish fire could be used as an attack method, and there was also the core of this art… Soul Devour!
The enemy’s soul was extracted and used as fuel to create a powerful impact force in the body to open the magic apertures. This method was extremely cruel and direct.
According to the cultivation art’s description, the soul of a Foundation Building cultivator who hadn’t formed a life fire was enough for a disciple who cultivated the Fiendish Fire Soul Devouring Art to open a magic aperture. If the souls were of the Qi Condensation cultivators, there would need to be a hundred or more of them to barely achieve a similar effect. Moreover, the further the cultivator progressed in this art, the greater the demand.
“Regardless of whether it’s sea beasts or nonhuman races, they can all be used as fuel for the Fiendish Fire Soul Devouring Art. Among them, the nonhuman races have the best effect. Especially the Sea Corpse Race, because their formation is related to souls, their effects are extremely astonishing…” The sentence on the cultivation art jade slip revealed a strong sense of bloodlust.
This cultivation art was simple and direct. There was nothing fancy about it but it was extremely violent.
When this Fiendish Fire Soul Devouring Art was cultivated to the end, the fiendish fire would reach its ultimate state where it was stored in every magic aperture in the body. At that time, the cultivator would no longer need souls to break open the magic apertures. Instead, they could suppress the enemies’ souls in their magic apertures.
Burning the souls to strengthen their magic power.
It could be said that any disciple who cultivated the Fiendish Fire Soul Devouring Art was a killing god.
However… not all disciples cultivated this technique. There were three types of Foundation Building cultivation arts on the Seventh Peak, and one was called the Sea King’s Book.
This cultivation art was relatively gentle. It mainly absorbed sea beasts and used a special method to nurture them in the magic apertures. It was divided into ten levels. Every time one cultivated, they could instantly open seven to eight magic apertures.
The main focus of this art was to constantly capture sea beasts and refine them.
The sea beasts in their magic apertures would strengthen their magic power.
The first cultivation art, Fiendish Fire Soul Devouring Art, was savage and its cultivation speed was very fast. However, it demanded a lot of killing and if one was careless, they would die.
As for the second type, Sea King’s Book, it was mainly refining sea beasts. As their magic power became denser, their ability to protect themselves would increase. However, their combat strength was much weaker in comparison.
As for the third type, it was called Life Art.
This technique was even gentler. It didn’t require external forces to break through and only required one to constantly cultivate. Hence, most of the time, the disciples who cultivated this art would be in closed-door cultivation. Their cultivation speed was incomparably slow but the benefits were also great. They would rarely be killed outside.
This was because they almost didn’t go out. When they attacked, they would usually cooperate with others or play the role of support.
Everyone’s choices were different based on their personalities.
After Xu Qing pondered over this, he couldn’t tell which was better. However, he immediately rejected the mediocre Sea King’s Book. As for the Fiendish Fire Soul Devouring Art and the Life Art, these two were opposite extremes.
While Xu Qing was considering his cultivation art, on the Endless Sea outside the Seven Blood Eyes, the great wing in the sky roared. Old Master Seventh, who was standing in the pavilion on the great wing’s body, was looking in the direction of the Seven Blood Eyes.
The great wing under him was like a divine creature. Wherever it passed, the sea would rumble and surge.
“Old Master Seventh, the kid has reached the Foundation Building realm.” Beside Old Master Seventh stood the middle-aged servant who had given Xu Qing the token back then. At this moment, he took out a jade slip and looked at it before reporting to Old Master Seventh in a low voice.
“Should I go back and arrange a summons?” The servant looked at Old Master Seventh.
Old Master Seventh shook his head.
“There’s no need.”
“The war is about to begin. We’ll talk about this after the battle. Among the 100 tokens issued, although he was the first to walk out, there will definitely be others in the future. We need to compare them.”
“Also, the current him… is still far from becoming the fourth.