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An odd expression appeared on the old man’s face as he continued, “Their actions really drove Nethersprite crazy. Based on that, I get the feeling Nethersprite hates them more than anyone else in existence.”

The middle-aged man nodded. “There’s no rush. Let’s do the testing as normal. If we can’t destabilize Nethersprite’s mind on our own and perform the soulsearch, then we can consider using the three of them to rile her up. This Xu Qing isn’t bad at all. He has a good temperament. He’ll have good potential if he becomes a swordsage. Our county superiors are getting ready to open the ancient Forbidden by the Immortal, presumably because of the awakenings that are occurring in all the prefectures. This time, our recruitment test needs to be a bit bloodier. We’re in a different era now. We need wolf pups, not pet dogs.” [2]

When the old man heard the words Forbidden by the Immortal, his expression flickered. “They’re opening Forbidden by the Immortal? Isn’t there supposed to be some unknown god sleeping in there?”

“Exactly. Most people think that the catastrophe which befell the Revered Ancient mainland was solely due to the broken face of the god that we see in the sky. What they don’t know is that… historical records indicate the Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns weren’t forced to leave solely because the broken face showed up. There are other gods. Hidden. We don’t know what thēy’re waiting for. Presumably, our county superiors have their own orders to open the place and investigate.”

The middle-aged cultivator turned and left.

The old man stayed in place, a complicated expression on his face. Finally, he sighed, then faded from view.

***

Seven days passed. During that time, Xu Qing went back to his previous routine. He would go to the daoist altar to listen to the old man’s lecture and learn more about plants and vegetation. No one sent him any dueling challenges. As a result, Xu Qing became the second person that no one dared to fight.

Also during those seven days, the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society’s dao child returned. He attracted a lot of attention; apparently he had just made advancement with one of his magical techniques, and wasn’t able to keep it hidden. Xu Qing joined the crowds in looking up into the sky at him.

Xu Qing could sense an immense pressure in the scintillating light that radiated off of the dao child.

The dao child’s return didn’t change anything in the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society. He didn’t do anything because of Li Ziliang’s death. To him, Li Ziliang was irrelevant.

Was it him? Xu Qing thought. There was no way to be sure if he was the one Li Ziliang had been working for. Either way, he didn’t drop his guard in the least.

Another important thing that happened during those seven days was that Xu Qing’s dao of alchemy improved significantly.

It was a concept the old man mentioned, something that related to assessing unknown medicinal plants. He said it wasn’t a fully fleshed-out method, just something that could be used as a supplementary aid.

By studying the vascular system of the plant, you could determine its basic category. If you knew its basic category, you could determine its characteristics. If you knew its characteristics, you could determine its medicinal properties. And if you knew its medicinal properties, you could understand it as a whole. It was an identification method that opened a whole realm of possibilities to Xu Qing.

Given his current mastery of plants and vegetation, he felt that though this new identification method wasn’t one hundred percent accurate, it was at least eighty percent accurate. In the dao of alchemy that was a gap in difference similar to that between heaven and earth. However, to alchemy cultivators, even a slight advantage in being able to identify new plants could make a big difference.

In addition, Xu Qing learned a new term from the old lecturer: ‘godly plants and vegetation’. He felt both familiar and unfamiliar with such plants. The reason he felt unfamiliar was that Grandmaster Bai’s medicinal codex did not mention that specific term. The reason he felt familiar was that, though he didn’t know the term, he had actually learned about such plants from the very beginning. In fact, he had long been searching for one.

From the time Sergeant Thunder passed away until now, he had never encountered it. It was a plant that could change one’s fate for a lifetime.

“Lifespan flower,” the old man said, “also known as life-extending flame and god-spirit weed, is a mutated variety of a god-type vegetation known as regeneration tree. There are actually seventy-three known mutations, but only the first type can be used in medicines. They grow randomly in forbidden regions, without any specific habitat pattern. They’re extremely rare. They can be used to regrow severed limbs, reinvigorate life force, and treat any injury other than those inflicted by the god above.” [3]

There were only seven or eight people gathered to listen to his lecture.

To this old man, knowledge about the dao of alchemy, and plants and vegetation, belonged to everyone. It didn’t matter if he had a big audience or a small one. He would still share his knowledge.

Years ago, he had taken to wandering the lands and finding places where humans gathered. There, he would share what he knew. But as the man grew older, and his lifespan grew shorter, he found himself growing weaker and unable to travel. Now he was here beneath the Swordsage Court, sharing his knowledge of plants and vegetation with rogue cultivators. He’d had many students over the years. Therefore, he didn’t pay much attention to the cultivators who came and went.

“So-called godly plants and vegetation are, at their root, things that can change one’s life level. It’s a subject I’ve been researching for years now. Specifically, I want to know why these plants seem so much better able to adapt to the arrival of the god than flesh-and-blood creatures. It’s also led me to wondering if godly plants and vegetation are being used by other species to research gods.”

When Xu Qing heard that, he suddenly thought about Torchlight and Bai Li. Bai Li had used a spirit plant, and had even fused with it to release godly fluctuations. Then Xu Qing thought about Master Shengyun. He wasn’t sure if the experimental god body in that battle in the Young Arbiter Sect had started out as some sort of spirit plant. But now he wanted to ask his Master about it. After all, the experimental god body was now in Seven Blood Eyes, where his Master was studying it. [4]

With such thoughts on his mind, he continued listening to the old man’s lecture. Occasionally, the old man would describe something particularly profound. Given that there was no question-and-answer option in the lecture, Xu Qing would take out his medicinal codex and take some notes for future reference. Most of the other cultivators present did the same. In that manner, another half a month went by.

Xu Qing was immersed in study. Eventually, the old man finished sharing everything he knew. That evening, he looked up at the handful of cultivators sitting around him, including Xu Qing.

“That concludes my lecture series, so don’t come back expecting to hear more. When your dao of alchemy breaks through to greater heights, come back and I’ll give you more advanced instruction. By the way, I don’t accept apprentices. I don’t keep anything secret, therefore, among those who listen to my lectures, there’s no difference between apprentice or not. Furthermore, we aren’t connected by karma, and I prefer to keep it that way.”

The old man didn’t appear to be interested in any of the other cultivators. However, he seemed to be eying Xu Qing’s medicinal codex.

Everyone present got to their feet and bowed respectfully to the old man. Although they weren’t truly apprentices, they were all deeply grateful for what they had learned over the past weeks.

There were three cultivators who looked regretful. Clearly, they had hoped that their earnest attitudes would win them the opportunity to become apprentices to the old man. Everyone who had listened to his entire lecture series was obviously a serious student of plants and vegetation. All of them could tell that this old man had reached the absolute pinnacle in knowledge of plants, vegetation, and alchemy. And considering that the old man was a swordsage, he obviously was a very extraordinary individual. This wasn’t just the case at this particular daoist altar. In the other altars throughout the city, whether the lectures were on magical techniques, cultivation methods, equipment forging, or anything else, those who listened to the lectures were all similar. But now these cultivators realized that their hopes were unfounded.

“Many thanks, Senior.”

Everyone said the same thing, bowed three times, then departed.

Xu Qing also bowed three times and left.

***

When everyone was gone, the air next to the old man rippled, and a swordsage stepped out. He had an extraordinary cultivation base that thrummed with Nascent Soul fluctuations. His expression was reverential as he bowed to the old man.

“Exalted one, I’m here to escort you back.”

The old man nodded and stood. Then, just before leaving, he looked in the direction where Xu Qing had disappeared. Thinking back to the medicinal codex he’d held, he pointed in that direction.

“Where is that kid from?”

The swordsage looked surprised. Taking out a jade slip, he looked up the information.

“His name is Xu Qing,” he said quietly. “He’s from Seven Blood Eyes in the Eight Sect Coalition, their quasi-dao child. He’s the one who killed the chosen from the Supreme Arbiter Immortal Society outside the city.”

A look of reminiscence appeared in the old man’s eyes. “Seven Blood Eyes? That’s a small sect originally from the continent of South Phoenix, right?”

“Yes, South Phoenix,” the swordsage replied respectfully.

“South Phoenix, huh? No wonder he has that specific medicinal codex.”

He didn’t know Xu Qing, but he knew that medicinal codex. Years ago, this old man had traveled to the continent of South Phoenix to teach about plants and vegetation. In the Violet Lands, he had met a young man. The young man was a fast learner, and was immensely talented, to the point where the old man had been tempted to take him as an apprentice. But when he asked the young man if he was willing to leave his home, the young man refused. He said he wanted to stay in the Violet Lands. He hadn’t forced the young man to become an apprentice. Instead, he rewarded him with a medicinal codex. A sixty-year-cycle had passed since then. But seeing that medicinal codex in Xu Qing’s hand brought up old memories of the past.

The old man felt a bit of sorrow, but had no intention of asking Xu Qing about the matter. The past was the past. Shaking his head, he headed back to the Swordsage Court.

***

Xu Qing returned to the garrison to review all the new information about the dao of alchemy, and make sure he had it all committed to memory. At dawn, he opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the Supreme Beginning Netherflight Pillar.

“Time to try climbing.”

During the past month, he had learned a bit about the qualifications for the upcoming test, as well as how the test worked. For instance, there were many ways to earn bonus points for the first phase of the test. Among them were gaining enlightenment of battle spirit symbols or climbing to a certain height on the pillar.

Xu Qing had found markets where you could buy septenary goldmetal energy, but the prices were ridiculous, and he couldn’t bring himself to pay that much. As a result, he had plenty of reasons to try climbing the pillar. With the exception of the Captain, all of the coalition disciples had made attempts.

Where did the Captain disappear to this time?

Leaving the garrison, he headed toward the pillar. It had been quite a while since he had seen any trace of the Captain. Since the Captain wasn’t showing his face, Xu Qing decided to give up on the idea of tracking him down. Eventually, he reached the pillar.

His arrival attracted a lot of attention.

“It’s Xu Qing!”

“He finally showed up!”

“I wonder how high Xu Qing will make it?”

As people discussed the matter, they cleared a path for him, and he calmly walked up to the pillar. Compared to the massive pillar, the surrounding cultivators were as insignificant as ants.

Xu Qing looked up and thought about the rules related to climbing the pillar. There were two main things for climbing cultivators to consider.

The first was the rancorous will attacks. The Supreme Beginning Netherflight Pillar was a weapon that the Ghost Emperor had used to kill countless living beings. Because of that, it contained the rancorous energy of countless dead beings. The battle spirit of the pillar suppressed the rancorous energy. However, when you touched the pillar, you could suffer rancorous will attacks. The higher you got, the more intense those rancorous will attacks became.

When they got strong enough, they turned into the rancorous soul of one of the ancient cultivators that the Ghost Emperor had killed, which would assail a cultivator’s sea of consciousness. That was the second thing to consider.

A cultivator had to drive such attacks out of their sea of consciousness before they could continue climbing. If they failed, they would be possessed, and would be removed from the pillar, thus ending their climbing effort. The higher one got, the more threatening those rancorous souls became. What was more, they were essentially born from the Supreme Beginning Netherflight Pillar itself. Being part of it, they were said to be indestructible. Cultivators who wasted too much time dealing with them would inevitably fail in their effort.

With that information in mind, Xu Qing looked up at the Supreme Beginning Netherflight Pillar and took a deep breath. He could clearly sense the immense pressure weighing down on him from the pillar. As it did, the Ghost Emperor mountain in his sea of consciousness began to glitter.

A moment later, Xu Qing’s eyes shone as, under the eyes of all present, he started running up the pillar. His first step took him 30 meters up. He immediately sensed an attack of rancorous will, but it was so weak that it wasn’t worth worrying about. He didn’t stop.

120 meters. 240 meters. 390 meters.

In only four or five breaths of time, Xu Qing had already surpassed the 600-meter level. That was where he paused.

His mind had already filled with rancorous will from the pillar, and it was coalescing into a shadowy figure in his mind. An ancient, mad, and voracious energy caused a terrifying howl to echo in his sea of consciousness.

The shadowy figure was just about to finish forming.

A moment later... the Ghost Emperor mountain in Xu Qing’s sea of consciousness vibrated. In response, the shadow figure shivered and then collapsed. A miserable shriek echoed out as the rancorous soul was wiped out before it could even form.

“Ghost Emperor??”

1. Qing Qiu: Qing does not appear on the list of the 100 most common Chinese surnames. It means “green, blue, cyan, black.” It’s the same Qing from Xu Qing. Qiu means “autumn.” Qing is pronounced “cheeng.” Qiu rhymes with “glow” and basically starts with a CH sound, followed by a Y sound. To hear it pronounced by google, go here and click the listen button. Madam Deathblade says, “This sounds like the name of a cold beauty. Someone beautiful but distant.” ☜

2. A quick reminder of what I previously mentioned about the naming structure of the forbidden grounds. In Chinese, there is no “by the.” I added that for stylistic and linguistic convenience. Point being, it doesn’t inherently imply that the forbidden grounds are forbidden “by” some entity/group/etc. ☜

3. The lifespan flower was mentioned many times. In the early chapters it came up a lot, including chapters 18, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 28. It was mentioned a few other times, later, including chapters 174, 206, and 222. ☜

4. Xu Qing fought Bai Li starting in chapter 218. The final fight with Master Shengyun started in chapter 322. ☜