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It was impossible to know what that umbrella-shaped life lamp had gone through during its existence, but it had an intense, murderous aura.

According to the information from the Captain, this lamp had to come from the time before the broken face of the god arrived, and was linked to the bloodline of one of the Ancient Emperors or Imperial Sovereigns. And it must have been created using an imperial-class technique.

Even in that past era, people like that were as rare as phoenix feathers or qilin horns. Any such individual could dominate everything around them. And the only cultivators who could fight them were also from a bloodline of one of the Ancient Emperors or Imperial Sovereigns, and also possessed life lamps.

After the broken face of the god arrived, the Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns left. Because of that, life lamps were exceedingly rare in the world. Only the trusted scions of powerful sects and organizations would be lucky enough to get them.

I wonder which of the Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns this lamp comes from. Xu Qing took out an ordinary set of clothing and put it on. He looked at the black umbrella above, formed from steam and mist, then opened his mouth and inhaled. Instantly, all of the mist from the 9,000-meter area of flame rushed toward him.

Xu Qing became the center of a vortex as the intensely hot mist rushed into his nose and mouth. As the mist vanished, his eyes shone brightly, glittering as if they had stars in them, their light thrumming with the dharma force of Foundation Establishment, which could shake one down to the soul. Apparently, he was so full of dharma force that he was instinctively releasing it.

Xu Qing’s expression was the same as ever as this happened. He knew that, because he had just stepped into Foundation Establishment, he simply wasn’t accustomed to the terrifying nature of dharma force.

Ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators form one life flame per 30 dharma apertures. As a result, they usually form three before stepping into a new cultivation realm. But my current dharma apertures already have the potential to eventually form a total of four life flames.

Looking down at the umbrella-shaped life lamp within him, his eyes shone with keen anticipation.

According to the Captain’s speculations, even back in the era before the broken face of the god came, the scions of the Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns generally only formed one life lamp.

Back then, only those truly chosen by heaven and thought to have the potential to become Ancient Emperors or Imperial Sovereigns, would form multiple life lamps. And for them, the number of life lamps they could form was equal to the number of life flames they had.

I’m happy to just have one. Now I really need to open 30 dharma apertures!

Xu Qing took a moment to inspect himself thoroughly. Because of the black umbrella covering him, his cultivation base fluctuations weren’t very obvious.

Looking down at his shadow, he sent his thoughts out to control it. In response, the shadow sent a sliver of itself inside Xu Qing to cover over the life lamp. As the shadow neared the lamp, it shivered as though it was being shoved away. However, Xu Qing calmly forced the shadow to continue, and it didn’t dare to resist. Under Xu Qing’s control, the shadow formed a cover that went completely over the lamp.

Xu Qing’s entire person seemed to go dark at that moment. He still pulsed with Foundation Establishment fluctuations, but the life lamp wasn’t visible.

It’s too bad my Sea and Mountain Incantation is at such a low level. Or maybe it’s because the technique really has reached its final limit. Either way, it doesn’t seem like I can push it any higher than it is.

The Sea and Mountain Incantation had been immensely helpful to him, and he had pushed it far past its original limit. Now, it seemed impossible to improve it any further. But Xu Qing couldn’t help feeling that he was missing something.

I need to try to figure out a way to push the Sea and Mountain Incantation to a higher level. And now that my cultivation base is stabilizing, I need to hurry back to Seven Blood Eyes, register my cultivation base on the Seventh Peak, and get a new Foundation Establishment technique.

Because he didn’t have a Foundation Establishment technique, he couldn’t open any new dharma apertures. Therefore, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and focused on recovery cultivation.

A month passed slowly but surely.

He had now been away from the sect for about three months. With his fluctuations held back, and his shadow covering the life lamp, he seemed like an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator in all respects.

During the month that had just passed, he significantly improved his understanding and control of the life lamp.

When he opened his eyes, something like lightning flickered in their depths. Calmly performing an incantation gesture, he pointed his finger toward the dome of heaven.

Igniting his 2 dharma apertures, he sent their shocking power through his finger and shooting high up into the sky.

Up above, a semitransparent entity became visible, spiraling in the air as it turned into a snakeneck dragon. Throwing its head back, it roared to heaven as its semitransparent form grew more and more visible.

A wild aura built up within it, stronger and stronger. Eventually, it looked like a real, living creature, with absolutely no differences from a real snakeneck dragon. What was more, it pulsed with the fluctuations of Foundation Establishment. It seemed savage and wild, pitch black in color, with a long neck and a crest of vicious spikes. And its burning eyes seemed completely lifelike. In fact, if you put it in the Forbidden Sea, then unless it actually started fighting, it would be difficult for anyone to tell that it was the result of a magical technique.

Its back was almost like a turtle shell, providing powerful defenses. Its mouth was full of sharp teeth that made it look even more ferocious. And its four draconic flippers were so impressive they would obviously make it capable of attaining incredible speed in the water. As the 900-meter snakeneck dragon hovered in the air, Xu Qing stood and walked toward it. Now, he didn’t need a flight talisman to walk through the air.

Step by step he ascended, walking toward the dragon.

At first, the sensation was unsettling. But after seven or eight steps, he acclimated, and walked up into the air toward the snakeneck dragon.

The dragon lowered its head, and he stepped onto it. When he turned around to face forward, the dragon howled, flapped its four flippers, and shot up into the sky.

The speed it could attain was shocking.

Mortals wouldn’t be able to see the snakeneck dragon. And even Qi Condensation cultivators would see little more than a vague blur, unless they focused their spirit power on their eyes. Otherwise, they would only see Xu Qing standing in midair, his hands clasped behind his back as he moved forward!

This was Foundation Establishment.

It was just like how, back when Xu Qing had fled from Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior through the slums into the depths of the forbidden region, the patriarch had moved along while perched on his golden vajra warrior projection. [1]

That said, the patriarch’s golden vajra couldn’t compare to Xu Qing’s snakeneck dragon, whether it was in terms of its level of corporeality, or its aura.

The two were in the same cultivation realm, but they were still poles apart.

Xu Qing looked calmly down from the snakeneck dragon’s head as he sent it toward the nearest city with a teleportation portal. As he flew along through the wilderness, he noticed how the rugged environment was filled with countless bones. Mortals in this world lived very difficult lives.

Although it seemed like cultivators had better opportunities than mortals, the truth was that because of the dangers of mutagen, and how expensive cultivation resources were, most cultivators had no hope of advancing far.

The only way to get stronger was to fight, and fighting could always lead to dying. In reality, cultivators had very few options to pick from.

It was for that reason that people like Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior, who had experienced some level of glory, eventually decided that, after struggling so hard, it was better to settle down and eke out a living as a local tyrant, and just enjoy life as best they could in the chaotic world they lived in. It was a decision that had benefits and drawbacks.

Xu Qing might have done that as well, except he had the feeling that you could only last for so long living in such a way. Eventually, someone would come along out of nowhere and crush you out of existence. Therefore, the only way to be truly safe, and the only way to stay alive, was to get stronger and stronger.

I just want to stay alive in this chaotic world, and maybe improve my quality of life.

Xu Qing’s thoughts were focused inward as the snakeneck dragon picked up speed. Eventually, as the wind buffeted his face, he caught sight of a city in the distance. It was not the city he had come from. Despite being a Foundation Establishment cultivator now, Xu Qing was just as cautious as when he was in the Qi Condensation level.

As he neared, he dispelled the snakeneck dragon and dropped to the ground.

There, he adjusted his clothing and changed his physical appearance so that he looked like a sallow-faced, middle-aged man. Then he started walking. The city ahead was not run solely by Seven Blood Eyes.

It was a place similar to the city he’d passed through in the Crimson Wilds. Here, Seven Blood Eyes, the Violet Lands, and the Church of Departure cooperated to maintain a spot with a teleportation portal. Places like this were common throughout South Phoenix. There were many locations on the continent that were occupied by humans, but not considered to be the territory of any one specific organization. In some cases, shared cities were located on the borders. In other cases, they were in places with no resources, and were generally considered unimportant. However, in order to facilitate travel, multiple groups would create places that were relatively safe havens around the teleportation portals.

Xu Qing’s arrival caused an alarmed buzz of activity among the city guards. Despite having hidden his life lamp, and dispelling his snakeneck dragon, he was still a Foundation Establishment cultivator. And his arrival in the city was noticed.

Unless a Foundation Establishment cultivator worked hard to conceal their fluctuations, then they would automatically release some of their aura, and that would cause alarm for any Qi Condensation cultivators who sensed it.

It was the same for Xu Qing when he was a Qi Condensation cultivator. He remembered the first time he saw Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior. Even from a distance, it had left him feeling shaken.

And the patriarch didn’t even have a life flame, and could not enter the profound radiance state.

The lower one’s cultivation base, the stronger the effect would be. Only someone in the eighth level of Qi Condensation could stand up to a Foundation Establishment cultivator. And even then, it was only true because most Foundation Establishment cultivators from small sects couldn’t even open 30 dharma apertures.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator from a big sect who had a life flame and could enter the profound radiance state would be someone that even the most amazing Qi Condensation cultivator couldn’t deal with. They were just on completely different levels. Back in the incident outside the Pilot Assistance Division, Honor Guard Li had shown up and spoken a single sentence that left Xu Qing shaken to the core. The cultivators in this city reacted similarly to Xu Qing’s arrival.

1. The patriarch moved along atop the vajra warrior projection in chapter 42. ☜