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His cultivation base was in the great circle of Qi Condensation, but he had not yet healed from his wounds. Therefore, he remained as much on guard now as he had been when he first arrived at Seven Blood Eyes.

Considering he had a life lamp on him now, he was in a state of complete readiness. His right hand swayed at his side in a seemingly natural motion, but the truth was that at the slightest provocation, he could use it to pull out his black iron skewer. He had learned this behavior here in Seven Blood Eyes. The best way to survive was to be a needle concealed in silk. Unless there was an urgent need, it was better to hide your advantages.

Another skill he had picked up in Seven Blood Eyes was the ability to be even more relaxed the more his guard went up.

Back in the slums and the scavenger basecamp, he had been wound up too tight. He had walked around looking like he was ready to fight at a moment’s notice. But the truth was that being that anxious all the time made him slower. The ideal method was to remain relaxed, but ready to take action. That way, enemies wouldn’t realize he was in a state of readiness.

Many of his habits and attitudes had changed subconsciously thanks to picking up these new abilities. That said, Xu Qing was still young, and hadn’t reached the same level as the Captain, whose mastery over his facial expression had reached the level of perfection.

Xu Qing wasn’t trying to imitate the Captain. Everything he did was based on instinct. It was in that manner that he hurried through the city toward Zhang San and the Transportation Division.

However, as he walked along, he stopped upon passing a certain alley. Looking over his shoulder, his eyes turned cold. Slowly emerging around the corner was an emaciated figure. The Mute.

The Mute’s daoist robe was voluminous, but he was still wearing a dog skin jerkin underneath it, making it look bulky. One difference from his appearance before was that he had a Violent Crimes Division badge on his robe. He was now a formal member of the division. Seeing that Xu Qing had noticed him, he squatted down onto his haunches to make it clear he wasn’t planning to do anything hostile. Instead, it seemed more like he was following Xu Qing, perhaps watching over him protectively.

Xu Qing eyed the Mute, including his daoist robe and badge. He had read the Mute’s file, and thus knew that he had originally been assigned to the Violent Crimes Division as an intern. Obviously now he was a full-fledged member.

“I don’t like people following me.”

The Mute looked at him for a moment, then backed away and disappeared into the night.

Xu Qing looked away. At the moment, he wasn’t in the mood to try to figure out if the Mute’s intentions were good or malicious. But Xu Qing would kill him if he ignored the warning and kept following him.

He continued on his way, and before long, reached the Transportation Division. Zhang San was there, organizing the items he’d acquired in the Grand Competition.

Zhang San saw him coming and waved. After doing a last bit of organizing, he pulled out his pipe and started smoking. “Junior Brother Xu Qing! We just got back. Shouldn’t you be resting? What are you doing here?”

Xu Qing didn’t ask Zhang San why he hadn’t put his loot into a bag of holding. Instead, he took out his dharmaboat. It thumped down onto the ground with a bang, and sent damaged parts scattering every which way.

“I need my dharmaboat fixed,” Xu Qing said calmly.

Zhang San’s eyes seemed like they might pop out, and he stood there with his pipe just held in his hand, staring at the partially familiar, partially unfamiliar half of a dharmaboat. After a moment passed, he said, “Hold on, we did meet during the Grand Competition, right? You, I, and the Captain went into a temple complex. And we came back together. Right?”

“That’s right,” Xu Qing said, looking a bit confused.

“Okay, so I wasn’t hallucinating. It really was you that I ran into during the Grand Competition. In that case, do you mind telling me how the hell your dharmaboat got into this shape? My god! This was my finest work! I-I-I mean... even a freaking Foundation Establishment cultivator shouldn’t have been able to damage your dharmaboat this badly!! How exactly did you manage to destroy half of it? Did you pull it out and use it as a shield?”

From the way he spoke, it seemed Zhang San was more upset about the damage to the dharmaboat than Xu Qing was. He clearly remembered Xu Qing using the dharmaboat in the fight against the giant composite zombie, and at that time, it was in one piece. It seemed inconceivable that it could have been damaged so badly after that. Unless Xu Qing did something as crazy as the Captain had done....

Zhang San’s heart suddenly skipped a beat when he thought back to their flight from Joine Island, and how bedraggled and weak Xu Qing had seemed. He inhaled sharply. “Did you really do something as crazy as the Captain?”

Xu Qing shook his head no. “How long will it take you to fix it, Elder Brother Zhang San?”

Zhang San walked around the entire dharmaboat to inspect it, then sighed in resignation. “Alright, fine. Last time all you brought back was the flying boat, so compared to that, this actually isn’t that bad. At least you have half a dharmaboat this time.

“That said, I can’t fix it anytime soon. Tomorrow, the Captain and I are going out for a while. He needs me to carry him to some place where he can heal himself. He also said it would be a good place for my Foundation Establishment breakthrough.

“If you’re not in a rush, then I’ll wait until after I’m in Foundation Establishment. That way, I could do an even better job. Plus, the Captain got some flesh that would serve as an excellent power source.”

Xu Qing thought about it, then nodded. He didn’t ask Zhang San any questions about his plans for Foundation Establishment. It didn’t matter how close you were to someone, asking questions like that would be suspicious.

Clasping hands, he took his leave.

This late at night, the Seven Blood Eyes teleportation portals were never activated unless it was an emergency. And Xu Qing didn’t want to stay at an inn. Instead, he headed to the Violent Crimes Division. Now that he was a deputy captain, he had his own office in the Celestial Bureau. He rarely used it, but considering he had nowhere else to stay, he decided to spend the night there. After all, the Violent Crimes Division was a lot safer compared to the inns.

The bureau was empty this late at night, so Xu Qing went into his office, activated one of the defensive spell formations he’d bought, and sat down to meditate.

The night passed.

The following morning when the sun rose, he opened his eyes, quickly put away the spell formation, and left the Violent Crimes Division. He headed straight toward the teleportation portals in the city center. He moved quickly, and arrived at his destination in only an hour.

There weren’t many people in line. But there were two individuals who stood out in the crowd. One was Zhang San, and the other was on his back. The Captain. Given their conversation yesterday, Xu Qing wasn’t surprised.

The Captain noticed Xu Qing right away. Taking a bite of an apple, he waved.

As Xu Qing approached, Zhang San said hello, and the Captain smiled at him enigmatically.

“You don’t want to break through in the sect, so you’re going out. Am I right? Want some suggestions on where to go?”

Zhang San’s eyes gleamed when he heard the Captain’s questions, as if he was pleased to see his investment paying off.

Glancing at the line leading to the teleportation portal, Xu Qing calmly said, “No, I just have some business outside the sect.”

“Deputy Captain Xu, your expression is waaay too fake. Okay, let me give you a quick lesson. When you lie, you need to look the other party in the eye. That way, you come across as being sincere. Considering how evasive you’re being, I can only come to the conclusion that you must have encountered something amazing on the island. Come, come. Bring it out and let me see. I want to know if it’s worth as much as this apple.”

Finishing his current apple, he produced the large apple Xu Qing had given him on Joine Island and took a bite.

Looking back from the teleportation portal, Xu Qing nodded. “Sure. So, where are you going, Captain?”

“Me? I’m going to heal up and come back even stronger than before. When I’m back, you little punk, you’d better pay me the 10,000 spirit stones you owe. If not, I’ll crush you mercilessly.”

Eyes narrowing, the Captain slowly looked down at Xu Qing’s bag, then looked back up and took a huge bite of his apple.

“I hope you recover quickly, Captain,” Xu Qing said, looking the Captain directly in the eyes.

The Captain’s eyes went wide as he returned Xu Qing’s gaze, and recalled what he had just said moments ago about sincerity.

Zhang San sighed. He was starting to wonder if the freaks that were the Captain and Xu Qing would always start chatting like this when they ran into each other. He was about to interrupt when, all of a sudden, the sky above Seven Blood Eyes started turning dark. And then, a mighty pressure descended that caused the entire capital city to tremble, and even the seven peaks! Everyone in the city, from cultivators to mortals, was shaken to the core, and looked up at the dome of heaven. Huge waves surged through the entire port area, almost like it was high tide.

As for Xu Qing, his expression flickered as he looked at the source of the darkness.

It was a majestic and seemingly never-ending layer of black clouds coming from the direction of Forbidden by the Phoenix. As it passed over Seven Blood Eyes, it blocked out the sun, and turned everything below it dark. The black clouds were filled with endless lightning that crashed down to the lands below it. And the clouds emanated a threatening air that affected all living beings. Anyone who saw it would feel an instinctual sense of deadly crisis rising up within them.

Within those black clouds, it was just barely possible to see something like a god that resembled both a phoenix and a hawk. It was brown like a rock, with feathers that burned like fire. It seemed to be moving with rage and anger toward the Forbidden Sea, and as it moved out over the water, it whipped the waves into a fury.

Based on the sensation alone, this level of might vastly surpassed that of Joine.

As Xu Qing stared at the clouds, a splitting pain filled his head. It was the same with everyone else, and many people even bled from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

To Xu Qing’s shock, he knew who this being was. He had encountered these black clouds on his first trip out to sea. This was none other than the emperor of the number one forbidden region on South Phoenix. It was Flame Phoenix! Back on that occasion, Flame Phoenix had seemed calm, and thus, Xu Qing had not experienced any pain. But now Flame Phoenix was obviously furious, and those emotions affected everything around it. [1]

“If Flame Phoenix is going out to sea, something big must be going on,” the Captain said quietly. “I wonder if the emperor of Forbidden by the Zombie has left the forbidden ground?”

The black clouds passed over Seven Blood Eyes and then disappeared into the distance. The sun once again shone down on the city, but everyone remained shaken.

After returning from sea, Xu Qing had asked Zhang San about Flame Phoenix, and had a general idea of the phoenix’s identity and terrifying nature. He also knew that though it was generally asleep, it did wake up occasionally. It treated humans and nonhumans equally, and acted as something of a protector to the living beings on the continent of South Phoenix. In fact, that was one reason why humans continued to live on South Phoenix.

With Flame Phoenix gone, things in Seven Blood Eyes gradually started returning to normal. As for Xu Qing, he looked away from the disappearing clouds, walked up to the teleportation portal, and vanished.

“The little punk doesn’t trust me,” the Captain said. “He must have got something really good. But I doubt it could be as impressive as some of Joine’s flesh.” Grinning, he slapped Zhang San on the top of the head. “Let’s go, Zhang San. Big Bro’s going to treat you to some delicious meat!”

Zhang San sighed and thought, Xu Qing doesn’t trust you? Well neither do I! But considering how much I’ve invested in you, I don’t really have any choice, do I? All I can do is follow orders.

“Investments of mine aren’t big bros. They’re big grandpas!” Shaking his head, Zhang San carried the Captain into the teleportation portal.

After Xu Qing, Zhang San, and the Captain left, Seven Blood Eyes gradually returned to normal. However, the skies seemed a bit overcast. A big storm was coming.

1. Xu Qing encountered Flame Phoenix in chapter 93. ☜