228 Crazily Opening the Apertures
The energy fluctuation was very strong. The instant it spread out, Xu Qing felt a faint sense of fear and trepidation. The shadow also rapidly transmitted emotions of danger.
The other party’s figure quickly appeared.
He was a very tall and burly man. Although he was still at the Foundation Building realm, the light of the ball of life fire in his body clearly spread out in the teleportation array.
Clearly, this Sea Corpse Race cultivator had activated his Mystic Brilliance Form when he teleported into the enemy’s territory to face the dangers that might appear on the other side of the teleportation array.
Xu Qing didn’t hesitate at all. He grabbed at the air. The instant the figure became clearer and met Xu Qing’s gaze, Xu Qing directly crushed one of the arrangements on the teleportation array.
With a boom, the teleportation array collapsed and the figure that was about to be teleported over instantly blurred. Only an unwilling roar could be heard faintly.
Xu Qing was expressionless. He stood up and put away the arrangements he made, searching for the next location.
Four days later, he found another place and waited silently. Finally, he saw a second cultivator from the Sea Corpse Race.
The other party was also at the Foundation Building realm. When Xu Qing confirmed that the other party wasn’t in the Mystic Brilliance Form, he instructed the shadow to investigate. The shadow’s sensitivity to anomalous substances caused it to be very outstanding in detecting the cultivation of the Sea Corpse Race’s cultivators.
For the sake of mutual benefit, the shadow was very serious. After confirming that the person’s cultivation wasn’t in the Mystic Brilliance Form, the slaughter started immediately.
This time, Xu Qing had learned from last time and adjusted his poison, making it even more invasive. At the same time, Xu Qing arranged for the ambush on the shadow’s side to be the first wave of attacks.
The Diamond Sect’s ancestor was the second wave and he was the last wave.
The magic ship was his final trump card.
Just like that, after the time it took for two incense sticks to burn, the rumbling gradually dissipated. Amidst the continued weakness of the mournful cries, Xu Qing killed the second Sea Corpse cultivator.
His soul was absorbed and burned continuously in his body, transforming into an impact that opened the 22nd magic aperture!
This made Xu Qing very excited. He had a deeper understanding of the saying that the souls of the Sea Corpse Race had miraculous effects.
“If this continues, I’ll be able to form my life fire in about eight more times!”
“Once the life fire is formed and placed on the life lantern, my combat strength will instantly advance by leaps and bounds…” Xu Qing’s heart was filled with anticipation. Just as he was about to destroy this teleportation array, an aura spread out once again.
The feeling this aura gave off was not of the Mystic Brilliance Form but very ordinary. However, the shadow instantly emitted fluctuations. Xu Qing immediately recognized that this aura was the same as the previous Sea Corpse Race cultivator in Mystic Brilliance Form.
This person had learned from his previous mistake and restrained his Mystic Brilliance Form when he teleported again. However, he was unlucky to encounter Xu Qing.
At that moment, his figure had almost taken shape when Xu Qing raised his right hand and ruthlessly slapped it. The teleportation array collapsed immediately. The figure in the array struggled intensely and wanted to rush out, but it was too late. It could only dissipate with an even more unwilling roar.
“I can only do this a few more times. The Sea Corpse Race will definitely sense it.” Xu Qing mumbled, feeling a little regretful. This mission was really suitable for him.
If he could not continue this, then he would have to go to the battlefield to get souls to form his life fire.
“Let’s continue searching.” Xu Qing pondered for a moment and made a decision. He then continued searching. Just like that, days passed. There weren’t many Sea Corpse Race’s teleportation arrays in the underwater world of Mire Island, only a dozen or so.
Among them, Xu Qing had destroyed a total of eight. As for the Foundation Building cultivators, he encountered two more later. He quickly killed one of them while it was quite difficult to kill the other one. The second one had a lot of life-saving magic artifacts and seemed to be close to forming a life fire. This caused Xu Qing to spend more than two hours to kill him.
This made him deeply realize how powerful the Sea Corpse Race’s Foundation Building cultivators were. Moreover, the number of magic apertures opened by these two Foundation Building cultivators’ souls was three, reaching 25.
However, this was the end. Xu Qing found three more teleportation arrays but didn’t encounter anyone again. He could only destroy them regretfully.
The Diamond Sect’s ancestor was also regretful, while the shadow was no more energetic.
The teleportation arrays on Mire Island were completely cleared. Xu Qing helplessly returned to the island. Just as he handed in the mission and was pondering if he should accept the war mission, a message came from his identity token.
“I’m the Third Peak’s elder, Ouyang Ling. I have seen your identity information. Your name is Xu Qing, right?”
When Xu Qing saw this message, he immediately became vigilant and didn’t respond.
“You don’t have to think too much. This clearing mission was given by this old man but the completion rate of the other three islands is average. This old man doesn’t care why you can be so fast. This is your private matter. However, I want you to continue searching the other two islands other than Mire and Binding Island. Are you willing to accept it?”
This time around, what came out of the jade slip wasn’t a message but a dignified voice that directly entered Xu Qing’s mind, causing the 25 magic apertures in his body to tremble.
Xu Qing narrowed his eyes and slowly spoke after a moment of silence.
“I respect the elder’s decree.”
When the Third Peak elder heard Xu Qing’s answer, he was very satisfied. At the next instant, he adjusted Xu Qing’s mission from searching for Mire Island to searching for all the islands.
The corresponding spirit stone reward was also recorded on Xu Qing’s identity token.
Xu Qing looked at the numbers on it and felt even more anticipation for the war rewards this time.
110,000 spirit stones!
With 10,000 spirit stones for destroying a teleportation array, this was the reward for destroying 11 arrays. Among them, the four Foundation Building Sea Corpse Race cultivators weren’t calculated in the spirit stone reward, but the number of kills were recorded.
Xu Qing looked at the number and felt some regret. Among the four Foundation Building cultivators he killed, other than the first one who had a magic artifact, the last one had a magic artifact as well.
“However, the main focus now is to open the magic apertures!” Xu Qing looked at the other three islands in the distance. He rose into the air and headed straight for Image Island.
As for why he did not have to go to Binding Island, Xu Qing felt that it was related to that huge blood-colored eye that was planted on the island. This eye that was like the huge eye of the Seven Blood Eyes Sect would definitely be able to search for the teleportation arrays under the island.
Whether this was the case or not, Xu Qing didn’t care. He crossed the large sea and got closer and closer to Image.
The entire land of Image was filled with sword pools.
It was unknown what kind of power was in the sword pools, but it could make the flying swords inside even sharper. From afar, the sword pool in the center was the most majestic. It was filled with dense fog and one could vaguely see flying swords swimming inside.
Countless small sword pools were built in the surroundings.
When Xu Qing got close, he could clearly sense strands of dangerous auras emitted by those sword pools locking onto him.
It was as though he was being screened, but these auras quickly dissipated. Xu Qing safely stepped onto Image Island, the former merfolk race’s royal family’s territory.
He didn’t stop here. According to the jade slip information Huang Yan had given him, he found the entrance to the underwater world.
After he quickly stepped in, Xu Qing saw a gorgeous scene that surpassed the underwater world of Binding and Mire.
Many palaces were built in the entire underwater world. Although many of them were destroyed now, one could still see their former glory.
These… were the former royal palaces of the merfolk race.
Xu Qing looked around but didn’t search for a teleportation array here.
Such an obvious building complex must be the focus of others’ search. At that moment, the shadow transmitted fluctuations, guiding Xu Qing away from the palace area.
Half a day later, at a place filled with corals, Xu Qing sensed the teleportation array.
Xu Qing’s eyes lit up. He quickly arrived to take a look and made some arrangements before waiting.
This time around, his luck wasn’t bad. A few days later, the teleportation array here shone weakly and an aura spread out. As the illusory figure inside gradually became clearer, Xu Qing probed the other party’s cultivation and attacked.
The entire process didn’t last long. Xu Qing killed the cultivator who arrived and destroyed the teleportation array before continuing to search.
Just like that, time flowed by and very soon, a month passed. Xu Qing’s figure appeared in all the areas in the underwater world. As he continued to search and destroy the teleportation arrays, his magic aperture slowly opened to the 28th.
“Two more to go!” The anticipation in Xu Qing’s heart grew increasingly intense as he headed to Hidden Island.
While he was carrying out this mission, the war between the Sea Corpse Race and the Seven Blood Eyes became increasingly intense.
In the past two months, the Sea Corpse Race had launched a total of five large-scale campaigns. Their goal was to force the Seven Blood Eyes back from the merfolk islands.
The scale of these five wars grew larger each time. However, under the tight defense of the Seven Blood Eyes, not only did they defend successfully, but they also took the initiative to attack many times. They exchanged blows with the Sea Corpse Race on the Forbidden Sea.
More Seven Blood Eyes disciples had teleported over and joined the war.
There were even many nonhuman allies of the Seven Blood Eyes who participated in the war one after another.
This caused various nonhuman races to be seen on the merfolk islands.
The Sea Corpse Race also had nonhuman races joining them. This caused the scale of the war between the two sides to continue to grow larger.
However, this had nothing to do with Xu Qing. At the moment, he was speeding through the underwater world under the Hidden Island, approaching another teleportation array that the shadow had discovered.
“If I’m lucky, I should be able to break through the last two magic apertures in half a month!”
Xu Qing glanced at the spirit stones in his identity token. The amount inside had already accumulated to more than 300,000 spirit stones, and the fact that his life fire was about to be formed made him even more excited.
“I wonder if I, who lit the life lantern after the life fire was formed, will have the strength to beat up the captain…”
Xu Qing was filled with anticipation. The black iron stick that had followed him all the way was also trembling at this moment. The Diamond Sect’s ancestor was equally excited. He could sense that he wasn’t far from breaking through.
‘Once I break through, I’ll be even more useful. I won’t have to worry too much about being abandoned by Demon Xu for the time being!’
It was the same for the shadow. Its anomalous substances became increasingly dense, causing Xu Qing to have to consider whether he should suppress it a few more times.
As though he had guessed Xu Qing’s thoughts, the shadow instantly trembled. When it instinctively expressed fawning emotions, determination appeared in Xu Qing’s eyes.
He felt that the shadow was too strange. After devouring the Sea Corpse Race, it could actually emit the aura of the Sea Corpse Race. This made Xu Qing vigilant. Hence, even though it was given a time limit to break through, he still felt that he had to intimidate it.
Just as he was about to circulate the purple crystal in his body to suppress it, Xu Qing’s expression suddenly froze. He lifted his head and looked into the distance.
Five kilometers ahead, the teleportation array fluctuations spread out very clearly!
There were various energy fluctuations. It wasn’t just one person, but many!