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Because of that, he was very familiar with the bounty list. And though the list was updated frequently, he was still able to keep all the details fresh in mind. Spirit stones were spirit stones, and if you got lucky, there might be good loot to be had in a criminal’s bag of holding. As such, he immediately recognized this dead criminal. He was a member of some pirate organization, and his head was worth fifteen spirit stones.

Nowadays, that wasn’t many spirit stones as far as Xu Qing was concerned. But he could only imagine that, to the Mute, it was a fortune. And the Mute had simply handed the body over....

Xu Qing’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the spot where the Mute had disappeared. It was obvious the young man had been waiting here on purpose... to deliver a wanted criminal to Xu Qing as a gift.

Is it a trap? Ignoring the corpse, he continued on his way down the street, eventually disappearing around a street corner.

Meanwhile, the passersby had noticed the corpse on the street. Most were avoiding it, but a few disciples were looking at it with glittering eyes, as if they were considering taking it.

However, before any of the disciples could get near, an emaciated figure lunged out of the alley like a wild dog. Squatting above the corpse, he looked around with glaring eyes at anyone who got close, like he was guarding over food. He had sharp teeth, almost as if they had been filed into points, and looked so wild that even the nearby disciples stopped before getting too close. Then they noticed the bite marks all over the corpse, and decided just to back up and leave.

The Mute just squatted by the corpse, his expression one of confusion and even disappointment. Time passed. When dusk neared, the Mute dragged the corpse into the alley. Eventually, he reached a small hut.

This was where he lived. Not on a dharmaboat. A hut was a lot cheaper than a berth. Upon nearing, he didn’t immediately enter. Instead, he went around the back, where he pushed open some bricks to reveal a hole in the wall. Squeezing through the hole, he entered the hut. Once inside, he breathed a sigh of relief. From this position, he could see both the window and the door. After a moment, he looked down at the corpse, and his expression once again became one of dismay. After some more hesitation, he patted down the corpse. Apparently, he hadn’t searched it before. This time, he found the criminal’s sack, opened it, and to his surprise, found three spirit stones.

Gripping them tightly, he looked around with vigilance, then put them away. To date, he had managed to save up 77 spirit stones.

After counting them, he looked just as dismayed as before. Some time passed, then he pulled out a rough stone that he used to file his teeth into even sharper points.

Right now, he was only in the third level of Qi Condensation, so he had no way of detecting Xu Qing standing outside the small hut, coldly assessing his every action.

Xu Qing was cautious by nature, so despite having a higher cultivation base than the Mute, he was still being very careful. Based on what Xu Qing was seeing, he’d come to the conclusion that the Mute really had been waiting there in the alley to give him a gift. However, there was something else going on. In the brutal and chaotic world they lived in, anything could happen. So instead of just accepting the gift, he had secretly followed the Mute to try to decide what to do next.

Is he trying to curry favor after being so terrified of me the day we met? Narrowing his eyes, he pushed open the door and walked into the hut.

The instant he entered, the Mute bared his teeth and bristled as if he might explode into action. But then he saw Xu Qing, and he trembled, his eyes filling with terror as he remained rooted in place.

“What do you see?” Xu Qing asked, tossing a jade slip to the Mute.

The Mute caught it, trembling.

Because of the moonlight, Xu Qing’s shadow stretched into the hut, coming very close to the Mute’s position.

The Captain had asked the same thing, but the Mute seemed to prefer death rather than answering. Right now, though, it was without the slightest hesitation that he imprinted some words on the jade slip and cautiously handed it back to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing took it and sent some spirit power inside to check the contents. When he did, his expression flickered. Eyes shining coldly, he looked at the Mute, then took out eight spirit stones and handed them over. Turning, he left.

Seventy-seven spirits stones, plus fifteen, plus eight equaled one hundred. And that was exactly enough to buy a dharmaboat.

Xu Qing walked back to his berth, the jade slip gripped tightly in his hand the entire way. Once on his dharmaboat, he crushed the jade slip, turning it into ashes. Then he entered the cabin, closed his eyes, and started working on his cultivation.

The night passed.

The next morning at dawn, Xu Qing went to find Zhang San. It wasn’t hard for Zhang San to install the formation crossbow. It would now be Xu Qing’s second most powerful trump card, just after the godliness attack.

“The crossbow is a real beauty,” Zhang San said. “Xu Qing, once you get a Foundation Establishment power source, we can upgrade your dharmaboat to a dharmaskiff. Say, are you going to the Grand Tournament? It’s only a few days away. I’m thinking of giving it a shot. If you’re going, maybe we can team up.”

“I’m going,” Xu Qing replied with a curt nod.

Zhang San laughed heartily, but didn’t say anything further.

Xu Qing clasped hands and left. On the way back to the port, he noticed that the shops were packed with Seventh Peak disciples buying all sorts of things. It was a lot more crowded than usual. There were more dharmaboats in the harbor compared to usual, and Xu Qing saw many unfamiliar faces on the street. He also detected quite a few people who were clearly in the eighth or ninth level of Qi Condensation. He even noticed some people in the great circle....

These were Seven Blood Eyes disciples who normally spent time either in secluded cultivation or out at sea. But now they were back for the Grand Competition.

All of them had chilling, murderous auras that emanated from the depth of their being.

Xu Qing had heard a rumor that the Northspirits from the Westcoral Archipelago were in a state of frenzy. Not only were they pleading for help from other nonhumans, but also, they had dispatched ambassadors to negotiate with Seven Blood Eyes.

This made Xu Qing think back to the Captain’s speculations.

Could it be that the real target is the Merfolk?

Later that night, a familiar guest arrived at his berth in the harbor.

“Xu Qing. Xu Qing! You came back but didn’t message me? I thought we were bros!” Standing on the shore was Huang Yan, and he didn’t look very happy.

Hearing his voice, Xu Qing stepped out onto the deck and smiled. He had met a lot of people in Seven Blood Eyes, but few came across as honest and straightforward as Huang Yan.

“I had a few things to take care of after I got back,” Xu Qing said.

Huang Yan seemed to accept his explanation immediately. Laughing, he sat down on the shore, just like last time.

“I learned a big secret today, Xu Qing,” he said. As soon as Xu Qing heard ‘secret’ his guard went up, and he thought about the secret the Captain had told him that ended up costing 100 spirit stones.

Before Xu Qing could say a word, Huang Yan launched into a boastful, rapid-fire explanation.

“Haven’t you got the feeling that something weird is going on with the Grand Competition? Sure, they usually announce the location where it’s being held. But it just seems too specific. Given how the Seventh Peak operates... I bet that the real location of the Grand Competition actually isn’t the Northspirit islands. In fact, after looking into it and asking around, I’m convinced that the real target is the Merfolk!”

Xu Qing looked over at Huang Yan and noted his facial expression. Without any prompting, Xu Qing plastered a look of surprise onto his face. Seeing that, Huang Yan nodded in satisfaction.

“Hahaha! Actually, I have to admit I’m exaggerating a bit. My Elder Sister told me all this. Nowadays, she and I don’t keep any secrets from each other.” Tossing a jade slip to Xu Qing, he lowered his voice and continued, “After I found out the news, I started looking through the intelligence reports about the Merfolk Isles. Once I found out you were back, I figured I’d share. What do you think? Am I a total bro, or what?

“Even I was surprised by what I learned. The Merfolk are just ridiculously rich. They have four islands, which are known as Emiche Island, Nethervault Island, Joine Island, and Meegah Island. Every island is bursting with treasure, but thanks to my research, I’ve figured out the best treasures in each place. Few people know all the details, but I’ve put them on that jade slip.” [1]

Xu Qing sent some spirit power into the jade slip to examine it. As he did, Huang Yan started explaining the details, almost as if he had memorized them.

“Remember, it took a lot of hard work for me to get this information. Now, listen up. On Meegah Island there’s a suit of armor called Meegah’s Plate Armor, and it’s hidden somewhere in the Meegah Volcanoes. It’s the result of a thousand years of Merfolk craftsmanship, and is considered a magical treasure. Of course, it’s incredibly valuable, and there’s no way we could ever get our hands on it.

“Next is Emiche Island, which is known for the Tears of the Merfolk. The Tears of the Merfolk are similar to spirit pills. However, the most valuable of them all is the Tear of Emiche. Emiche is the name of the very first merman, and that tear was shed by him in the moment before he died. Then it was set into a crown.”

At this point, Huang Yan took out two eggs, one of which he tossed to Xu Qing. Poking a finger in his egg, he took a sip and kept on talking.

“Nethervault Island is like a huge graveyard, and there are countless treasures among the funerary objects. Probably the most interesting of them all is a feather. And you know who that feather comes from? It comes from Flame Phoenix! You know about Flame Phoenix, right? Flame Phoenix rules the forbidden region to the west of the Mountains of Truth, and is like the king of South Phoenix. In fact, the name of the continent comes from Flame Phoenix. You probably know that already.

“Next is Joine Island, which is a very astonishing place. Reportedly, there are tons of pill storehouses there, and within them, numerous Foundation Establishment Pills. That’s where my Elder Sister got her Foundation Establishment Pills, although I have the feeling it was only after a deadly fight.

“Anyway, everything I’ve described so far is like nothing compared to a treasure from Joine Island that’s worth about 500,000 spirit stones. It’s called the Spirit Breath Lamp.

“The Spirit Breath Lamp is one of the Merfolk’s Foundation Establishment holy items, and it’s kept in Foundation Establishment Tower in the capital city of Joine Island.

“That’s where Merfolk cultivators go to reach Foundation Establishment, similar to the places here in Seven Blood Eyes where disciples can rent space for 100 spirit stones an hour. The difference is that our space relies on godly blood, while the Merfolk’s relies on that lamp.

“All great sects and species have items that can keep disciples safe during Foundation Establishment breakthroughs. And truth be told, the Merfolk’s lamp isn’t that amazing overall. Thus, the great sects and species don’t really care much about it.

“The reason I say it’s worth 500,000 spirit stones is that when my Elder Sister seized it by force and tried to sell it back to the Merfolk for 2,000,000 spirit stones, they only took it after negotiating her down to 500,000.

“Oh, by the way, I heard that the Spirit Breath Lamp holds clues to some sort of godly temple, but even after all these years, no one has figured out the details. My Elder Sister only sold it back to the Merfolk after she failed to extract the clues. The details are all in that jade slip, you can go over them later.”

After hearing all this, Xu Qing didn’t have much to say. But it really put things into perspective to compare the tens of thousands of spirits stones he was worried about to the millions that Huang Yan had just mentioned. It wasn’t a great feeling. He poked a hole in his egg and took a sip, but was unable to stop thinking about everything.

Huang Yan had finished with his monologue about the Merfolk, and had now started chattering idly about his Elder Sister.

For the most part, Huang Yan talked and Xu Qing listened. It was an odd way to have a conversation, but Huang Yan seemed to be having a great time.

When it started to get dark, Huang Yan finished the last bit of his egg, patted his stomach, and prepared to leave. Letting loose a burp, he lowered his voice and said, “Xu Qing, I probably don’t need to tell you this, but... don’t be foolish and try to take first place. Becoming a conclave disciple isn’t important. The point of the Grand Tournament is to get resources. You’ll understand more of what I mean when you actually get there.

“As a matter of fact, hardly anybody cares about the final rankings. The point is just to get rich. Also, keep all of this a secret. It’s just supposed to be between you and me. We’re bros, so I don’t mind sharing, but don’t spread the information. When we get there and figure out what island we’re on, then we’ll take what we can get and come out wealthy!”

Xu Qing nodded.

Patting his belly contentedly, Huang Yan turned and left. A short distance away, he took out his identity medallion to start sending sweet messages to his Elder Sister.

After he left, Xu Qing sat on the prow of his boat looking out at the Forbidden Sea. The waves came in slowly, causing the boat to bob up and down. In the moonlight, he could see his shadow on the deck in front of him, stretching out past the edge of the boat and into the black water. His eyes glittered coldly as he recalled the sentence written by the Mute in the jade slip.

“It’s sleeping....”

Time passed. Six hours later, disciples from the Seventh Peak felt their identity medallions buzzing as a voice message came in.

“All disciples participating in the Grand Competition have a quarter hour to gather at the central altar. The Seventh Peak’s Grand Competition is about to begin!”

1. The names of three of these islands are intended to sound like transliterations of foreign-sounding names. You can pronounce them however you want. The way I envision them being pronounced is uh-MEESH, joe-EE-nee, and MEE-guh. In the case of the third name, the characters that make it up give off a sort of bizarre/sinister vibe in Chinese, which is why I interpreted the name the way I did (I briefly considered using Mia, because that\'s the name of my daughter\'s best friend lol. But that doesn\'t fit). ☜