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In the past, he didn’t really understand. In fact, the reason he originally wanted to join the swordsages had nothing to do with some grand aspiration to defending humankind. There was no way someone with a childhood as bitter as his could naturally develop patriotic feelings for humanity.

Xu Qing’s main goals in life were: to try to stay alive; to improve his life a bit if possible; to live long enough to kill the crow and the eagle.

And there were three reasons why he had become a swordsage: because the Captain wanted to be a swordsage; because becoming a swordsage would provide him with a measure of safety; because his authority as a swordsage would aid in his search for the crow. Most important was how his status as a swordsage became a weapon in his toolbox against the crow.

All of those reasons were ultimately selfish in nature. That said, it wasn’t as if Xu Qing was the only person with such motives. In reality, new swordsages from prefectures far and wide generally started out thinking that way. Other than people who were raised in the Swordsage Palace hearing stories about the swordsages and their mission, there were very few cultivators in the outside prefectures who cared at all about the goal of defending humankind.

For Xu Qing, the ceremony in Emperor-Receiving Prefecture, including the assessment of the heart by the Grand Emperor, had changed things. That change had been almost imperceptible. But it made it so that Xu Qing understood the swordsage way of thinking.

Then he arrived at the county capital and encountered people who were different from those he had known before. For instance, Kong Xianglong. He had met chosen cultivators who were a bit hostile but not malicious. And the palace lord, who was strict, but only because he wanted to safeguard the ideals of the swordsages.

Then Xu Qing had participated in the swearing of the oath, and had also learned of the history of humankind. It would be impossible for all of those things to have no effect on him. The influence, small at first, slowly sank into his mind and heart.

And now he had witnessed something else that left him deeply shaken.

A young human with 120 dharma apertures who had long dreamed of becoming a swordsage ended up tortured to death by the Holytides. Yet he hadn’t revealed even a bit of information to them. When he recited the swordsage oath with them, he smiled and closed his eyes. Then he disappeared in the exploding spell formation.

Xu Qing had never met that young man before. What was more, he had seen a lot of death in his life. Perhaps too much. So what shook him to the core wasn’t the young man’s death. Rather, it was his dream and his decision. He obviously had a bright future ahead of him, yet he decided to walk a path that ended in death.

It was somewhat confusing to Xu Qing, but deep down, he understood. Because Xu Qing kept his heart closed tight, it wasn’t easy for him to accept strangers or new organizations. It was even harder for him to truly approve of them, or make them a part of himself. That was the case even now.

Despite that, he was coming to realize that, without him even noticing, his feelings for the swordsages seemed different from before. He felt more respect. Though he did not yet have a sense of belonging, he respected Kong Xianglong’s sincerity, the palace lord’s strictness, and the oath of the swordsage. What was more, he respected this young man who had just met his death.

Therefore, Xu Qing clasped hands and bowed deeply to the spot where he had died.

The wind blew, scattering the dust and rubble, and dispersing the young man’s ashes. It also carried the aura from inside the wish box all the way to the gathered swordsages. It was a very unique aura, mixed with the aroma of osmanthus flowers.

Kong Xianglong’s expression was one of grief and indignation as he strode forward, gathered what remained of the young man’s ashes, and put them into a bottle. Then he picked up the opened wish box.

“This mission is over,” he said softly, his back to them as he held the wish box.

Xu Qing said nothing. Neither did any of the other swordsages.

The extraction mission was a failure. However, they did acquire the delivery container for the intelligence report. Whether that aspect of the mission would be considered a success or a failure wasn’t certain.

“Kid, head back to the county capital and deliver this to the Field Operations Office.” Kong Xianglong waved his hand, sending the wish box flying over to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing caught it, and the fragrance of osmanthus grew stronger.

Without turning around, Kong Xianglong calmly said, “The rest of you go back with Kid. I’m in a bad mood now. I’m going to travel a bit to clear my head.”

“Sure thing, Dragonbro,” Sir Mountain-River said, clasping hands. Veins bulged on his face as he continued, “You head off on your own. Kid, take the others back. I have a personal matter to attend to, so I can’t come along.”

“What a coincidence,” Wang Chen said grimly. “Me too. I need to pay a visit to my hometown, so I can’t go back either.” As the words left his mouth, he looked off to the distant horizon.

“I’ll go with Dragonbro,” Duskspirit said firmly.

Xu Qing looked at them for a moment. Then he handed the wish box to one of the swordsages from the Field Operations Office. The swordsage took it, and it looked like he wanted to say something, but instead held back.

“I also have a personal matter to deal with,” Xu Qing said. “You head back without me.”

His words caused Sir Mountain-River, Wang Chen, and Duskspirit to look at him with expressions of masked surprise.

Kong Xianglong finally turned around. Looking at Xu Qing, he said, “You don’t have to do this, Kid.”

“I need to pay someone back for a gift they gave,” Xu Qing said, sounding very serious.

Kong Xianglong simply stood there for a long moment. Then he nodded, turned, and flew off into the distance. Sir Mountain-River, Duskspirit, and Wang Chen followed. They were heading toward the border of Sea-Sealing County. Holytide territory.

Xu Qing took a step forward, then shot after them like an arrow loosed from a bow. He knew exactly what they were going to do. It wasn’t an unusual thing for Kong Xianglong to ignore mission protocol. Considering he had personally seen how the Black Guard had brutally tortured that young man, given his personality, there was no way he could simply stand by and do nothing in response. Besides, even Xu Qing could still hear the message left by that Black Guard cultivator ringing in his mind.

Since the Black Guard had made a point about giving a gift to the swordsages, it was only natural that they return the favor.

As the five of them flew away, the remaining swordsages from the Field Operations Office watched them go. They seemed slightly envious, but in the end, they clasped hands in salute and then turned to start the return journey to the county capital. Not all swordsages were so willing to disrespect mission protocol.

What was more, they had a more important task at hand. They needed to get the intelligence report safely back to the county capital. That was the true heart of the mission.

They disappeared into the darkness.

***

It was a cold night, and the wind was like an ambassador of death itself, wielding a sickle to harvest the lives of mortal beings. Xu Qing and the others sped through that wind, their garments fluttering, their hair streaming behind them. And yet, when the coldness touched their skin and sank into their hearts, it couldn’t possibly compare to the desolate iciness that already existed within them.

Killing intent was already bubbling inside them. The faster they flew, the more intense it became. Given the lack of moonlight and the strong wind, it was a good night for killing.

They were already moving as fast as they could. They were holding nothing back. Ever since Xu Qing made his comment about paying back a gift, Sir Mountain-River, Wang Chen, and Duskspirit all looked at him differently. Their approval deepened.

Sir Mountain-River exuded a blood mist that surrounded him and made him seem like a blood shade from the Yellow Springs. Duskspirit had once again demonized herself. Instead of the green-skinned evil ghost, she was now a death bird made of pure bone, covered with flames. Wang Chen had put away his Smokewight doppelgänger. Now, his doppelgänger was a dwarf wearing luxurious robes. He flashed a smile at Xu Qing and then licked his lips. The intense coldness surrounding him caused the ground below to ice up. Kong Xianglong had a golden dragon circulating around him, causing him to pulse with terrifying fluctuations as he sped along.

Given the circumstances, Xu Qing felt no need to let them outdo him. His shadow covered him, causing him to pulse with seven-palace fleshly body power. He shot through the night with lightning-like speed, like a disturbing spirit.

The five of them were like vicious rakshasas out to take lives, and with every moment that passed, they got closer and closer to the Holytide Black Guard cultivators, who were still not yet out of Tidefall Prefecture.

As they flew, they communicated with each other, devising a simple battle plan. Although they didn’t know how many enemies they would be facing, based on experience and intuition, they could come up with a general strategy.

Eventually, just before the break of dawn when the night was deepest, and when they were only about an incense stick’s worth of time from the border, they saw a group of few dozen figures speeding along ahead of them. All of them wore black robes, and there were over sixty in total! They weren’t moving very fast. Clearly, they were in a great mood after their mission, and were even chatting and laughing amongst themselves.

That said, they hadn’t let their guard down, so as soon as Xu Qing and the others closed in, the Black Guard cultivators noticed them. Turning, their expressions flickered. Noticing their pursuers did them no good.

Kong Xianglong was in the lead, and he howled a battle cry as he smashed into the enemy forces.

Xu Qing came second, like a black lightning bolt that slammed into a five-palace Black Guard cultivator. The Black Guard cultivator screamed briefly, until his entire body collapsed into a haze of blood, and his cry was cut short.

Blood was already spraying by the time Sir Mountain-River, Wang Chen, and Duskspirit arrived.

Slaughter erupted.

The Black Guard cultivators howled furiously as they fought back. Considering that they had infiltrated Sea-Sealing County, it went without saying that they had immense battle prowess and extensive experience. Forty of them had five-palace battle prowess, and there were twelve at the seven-palace level. The seven-palace members all had special Black Guard imperial-class techniques. There were two with eight-palace strength. Those two had not illuminated heavenly palaces with five life flames. They had used four flames to illuminate seven palaces. But thanks to their imperial-class techniques, they had extraordinary eight-palace battle prowess. In addition to them, there were three officers leading the group. All were halfway into the Nascent Soul level.

A group this powerful could be the core of a sect. But to the Holytide people, who controlled the entire Holytide region, it was only a small squad. And when you added this group together with the group that had ambushed Xu Qing and the others earlier, it made it clear that ‘small squads’ from the Holytides would still be rather large, and would contain extremely powerful experts.

After all... the Holytides were the sovereigns of the Holytide region. And any species that controlled an entire region would have to have many powerful experts in reserve. Comparatively speaking, the reserve powers of a single county couldn’t possibly compare.

That said, the swordsage squad they were facing was very different from anything they had encountered before!

When the two sides clashed, fierce fighting instantly broke out. The three half-Nascent Soul experts all shot toward Kong Xianglong. The two eight-palace cultivators tried to join them, except a coffin dropped down out of nowhere and blocked their path. The dwarf-form Wang Chen grinned viciously, and at the same time, his Smokewight doppelgänger appeared next to him. Duskspirit was off to the side, and Sir Mountain-River was there as well. The three of them faced off against the two eight-palace cultivators, buying time for both Kong Xianglong and Xu Qing.

The former was fighting the strongest opponents, the three half Nascent Soul experts. The latter was taking care of everyone else. That was the plan they had settled on along the way. It had been decided when Xu Qing said one simple thing.

“I’m good at fighting large groups.”

Right now, Xu Qing hefted his dagger and tapped into his taboo poison core in his third heavenly palace. As the poison spread out, countless beetles swarmed out from him as well, becoming a black cloud pulsing with terrifying energy and fatal poison. As screams rang out from the Black Guard cultivators, Xu Qing remained expressionless, and he charged into the thick of the fighting.

Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior sent the black iron skewer shooting out in the form of a red lightning bolt. And Xu Qing’s shadow stretched out from the eye on his forehead, piercing into the shadows of the Black Guard cultivators and devouring them.

As of this moment...

A nightmare had arrived.