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All of the hustle and bustle of Harbor 176 faded away. All Xu Qing could hear was silence. The sensation of unreality grew stronger, until he wondered if this was all some kind of joke. He saw people walking in the distance. Birds flying in the air. Waves crashing against the boats and ships. But it all seemed disconnected.

It was as if there were two worlds. In one of them, everything else existed. In the other... there was only him.

This was too sudden.

When news like this came, most people wouldn’t be able to accept it. Most people would be unable to react.

Xu Qing staggered back further until he reached the dharmaskiff railing. He grabbed it tightly. The wind blew at his hair, but it couldn’t dispel the heaviness in his chest. He wanted to yell. To scream. To howl.

Xu Qing was the kind of person who cared deeply about kindness shown to him by others.

Will we actually meet again...?

He thought about life in the scavenger basecamp, and about the lifespan flower. He thought about that tent. About Grandmaster Bai looking deeply at him. He thought about showing up with random medicinal plants, and about guiltily eavesdropping. And finally, he thought about watching the caravan leave, and Grandmaster Bai sitting on the cart, a smile on his old face as he nodded at Xu Qing.

Now all of that was gone forever.

Sergeant Thunder felt like family to Xu Qing. Grandmaster Bai had shown immense kindness to him. After the god’s eyes opened, creating a blood rain that turned Xu Qing’s world into hell, those two old men had been the ones to bring him back into the world of the living.

But now, heaven and earth seemed heartless again. The chaotic world was full of brutality. In this world, life wasn’t worth much.

After joining Seven Blood Eyes, he had seen a lot. None of it had been like the constant misery of the scavenger basecamp. Things had changed. But that didn’t mean the reality of the outside world had changed.

People went hungry and died from starvation. People brutally slaughtered each other. In the world that the broken god face had brought about, such things happened all the time.

Killing intent burned in Xu Qing’s heart, like a sharp blade that sought to burst out of him and slash heaven and earth to bits. He was shaking. However, after a very long time passed, he managed to take a deep breath and look up at the Captain, who seemed very worried. When Xu Qing spoke, his voice was hoarse and very quiet.

“I’m fine.”

Lifting the red jade slip up again, he forced himself to seem calm as he examined the rest of the message. Master Seventh had a vast network of contacts, and thus, the jade slip didn’t just explain that Grandmaster Bai had been killed. It also contained clues that had already been dug up by the investigation in the Violet Lands.

The cause of death was unknown. However, the jade slip did explain that after Grandmaster Bai died, nothing had been taken from his body or his residence. Except for one thing. It was the second half of a pill formula for something called a supreme yin chosen assimilation pill. It was an item that had been found in a wish box many years ago. It came from a different epoch, and was inscribed on animal hide. As for the pill description, it was utterly heartless and completely evil.

Chosen cultivators were the primary ingredient for supreme yin chosen assimilation pills. It took three chosen to make one packet of ingredients, and it took six packets to create one of the pills. Whoever consumed that pill would undergo a heaven-defying transformation and turn into a chosen cultivator.

Upon encountering the second half of the formula, Grandmaster Bai had decided it was too evil to exist, and wanted to destroy it. However, part of him also realized that it could contain important medicinal theories, so he hid it and kept it a secret.

The mastermind had not yet been identified, so Master Seventh didn’t have much information in that regard. However, his network of informants in the Violet Lands had dug up some clues. The killer wasn’t human. They were from a very rare species of grue from the Forbidden Sea called the Grueglooms. They were known as ‘the species that can’t die,’ although the name was a bit of an exaggeration. Such grues had a special ability that made it very difficult for others to capture or kill them. Specifically, they could target another living creature, and upon dying, would be resurrected inside of that being. Every time they came back to life in such a way, they ended up weaker than before, and needed time to get stronger again.

The fact that the killer was a Gruegloom made things difficult for the Violet Lands. Furthermore... things were generally complicated there. There were various clans there that were always fighting against each other for supremacy.

Grandmaster Bai had been an important person who helped a lot of people. However, he wasn’t a cultivator. He was a mortal human, and had been an old man nearing death already. To the people of the Violet Lands, especially to the royals, it didn’t matter how important a mortal was, they were still lower class.

Tools to be used.

Therefore, though many people in the Violet Lands were angry about Grandmaster Bai’s death, and though they did investigate the matter, they didn’t put forth much effort. In fact, even many of the people Grandmaster Bai had helped didn’t do much.

As the saying goes, the tea gets cold when people leave. Now that Grandmaster Bai was gone, few people cared about him. That was just how things worked in this brutal world.

That said, the teleportation portals in the Violet Lands had been temporarily locked down, and notices had been sent to the Church of Departure, Words of Truth, and Seven Blood Eyes, who all did the same.

What seemed most important to the Violet Lands was the pill formula that had been taken from Grandmaster Bai. Even the Bai Clan was split on the matter. Some factions in the clan wanted revenge, others were interested in the pill formula.

That was how the Violet Lands worked.

The reason for this was that the Violet Lands were the remnants of the true original inhabitants of the continent of South Phoenix. But because of their deep-rooted obstinacy and isolationism, they were only one of a handful of powerful organizations.

Master Seventh couldn’t look into the matter himself, so he had delegated authority to the Captain. After all, in all of South Phoenix, nobody knew the Forbidden Sea better than the Seventh Peak. There was no better choice when it came to tracking down a nonhuman from the sea.

“Usually,” the Captain said softly, “assassinations like this aren’t carried out by large groups. Given how Grueglooms usually operate, there’s probably only one killer. I doubt they have a Gold Core cultivation base.

“The Violet Lands’ grand spell formation restricts and suppresses outside Gold Core cultivators. And they’ve prohibited Gold Core cultivators from going to investigate this matter. However, the formation doesn’t pay close attention to Foundation Establishment. If I were to go, I would start by searching for mutagen with the aura of the Forbidden Sea. Combine that with the use of special magical devices, it should only take a bit of time to find the killer. That said, there’s no telling how long the Violet Lands will stay under lockdown.

“After all... there are a lot of clans there, and the Bai Clan is only one of them.”

“I’ll go,” Xu Qing said quietly.

His voice didn’t contain even the slightest hint of emotion. However, the Captain could sense that there was something explosive brewing in him.

“Xu Qing, I have a teleportation portal set up over there that you can use to get back here easily. Find the killer and bring him back. Remember, people hire assassins because....” He trailed off. “The point is we need to find out who the real culprit is!”

Xu Qing rose up into the air, collected up his dharmaskiff, then flew toward the sect’s teleportation portals. The teleportation portals were about to be locked down, but with the jade slip from Master Seventh, he would be able to leave the sect.

His heart was filled with both anxiety and killing intent, and they merged together into something extremely heavy. That, in turn, caused him to move with all haste. Anyone in the Seven Blood Eyes capital city who saw him speeding along felt alarm in their heart. He soon arrived, and without any hesitation, stepped onto one of the teleportation portals.

“Violet Lands capital city,” he said, his face completely expressionless.

When the disciples in charge of the portal realized who he was, they made the adjustments to the formation. Then, after only three breaths of time had passed, Xu Qing was surrounded by glittering light, and then faded from view.

As the fluctuations of the teleportation rolled out, the Captain arrived. Standing there looking at the light fade away, he sighed.

After becoming the director of the Intelligence Division, he had read Xu Qing’s file, and knew about his relationship with Grandmaster Bai. And it was also obvious the old man had suggested to give Xu Qing the mission for that very reason. After all, Grandmaster Bai had uncharacteristically approved of Xu Qing.

Because of that, the Captain knew that he needed to stand aside and let Xu Qing handle the matter. Xu Qing wouldn’t want others involved.

Something like this happened to me years ago. And when it did... I also wanted to handle it alone. Thinking about that event, the Captain suddenly felt sorrow in his heart. A moment later, he shoved such feelings away.

Looking around, he grinned and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, the Intelligence Division is commandeering this portal.”

A buzz of activity resulted as agents from the Intelligence Division arrived to take over the portal. Meanwhile, the Captain looked up into the sky.

“As the third-ranking echelon cultivator in Seven Blood Eyes, as the highest-ranking apprentice of the Seventh Peak, and as the director of the Seven Blood Eyes’ Intelligence Division, I hereby request that the grand spell formation lock down all teleportations in Seven Blood Eyes. I also request that the port be locked down. No nonhuman watercraft shall be permitted to enter or exit the port.”

In response to his words, the Seven Blood Eyes Formation rumbled to life. A moment later, a stream of divine will reached the Captain from the Sixth Peak.

Turning to the Sixth Peak, the Captain clasped hands and bowed. “Sect Uncle Sixth, I have certain evidence and speculations that might solve Elder Brother Chen’s murder. I hereby request that you allow me to lock down the sect!”

The Sixth Peak suddenly erupted with loud rumbling noises, causing wild colors to flash in heaven and earth. Then, a moment later, a deep voice rang out from the peak.

“Request granted!”

The Captain clasped hands and bowed deeply.

I’ve done all that I can do, little Ah Qing. I hope you can get to the bottom of things quickly. I’m getting the feeling... that this is not a simple matter. Supreme yin chosen assimilation pill? A lot of chosen have gone missing at sea over the years.... Quite a lot.... [1]

The Captain narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

1. This is not the first time we’ve heard about chosen disciples going missing. It was brought up in chapter 148 and of course 201. From the latter reference you can, by inference, guess about the meaning of some of the things said in the ☜