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With the kill done, Xu Qing looked coldly at Qing Qiu as she rushed up. He still didn’t have a good impression of her, but considering this was her mission, he coldly said, “I’m not trying to take your military credits.”

Then he turned to leave. Before he could, Qing Qiu spoke in a voice as cold as ice.

“Who cares about military credits??”

Striding forward, she completely ignored Xu Qing and stopped to loom over the black-garbed man. She didn’t take his bag of holding. Instead, she stomped her foot down onto his head. The bamboo skewer had already stabbed through it, yet she stomped down with such force that the head exploded with a pop.

When the sound reached Xu Qing’s ears, he stopped and looked back.

Qing Qiu clearly wasn’t satiated, as she kept stomping down on the corpse, grinding the entire thing into a paste. The brutality of it was a surprise even to Xu Qing, and he could only speculate that this person had deeply offended Qing Qiu in some way. Looking away, he continued on his way back to his sword pavilion.

During the entire time, Qing Qiu didn’t even look at Xu Qing. After she stomped the black-garbed man to a pulp, she finally pulled his bag of holding out of the gore. Then she glanced down in disgust at the pulverized flesh.

You think you deserve to be called the Kid? You besmirch the name! Thus, I kill you and don’t even leave a corpse behind!

She hadn’t been on a mission to track down this criminal. Instead, she had simply noticed that there was someone called the Kid on the bounty list. That had been more than enough to make her want to kill him. In Qing Qiu’s heart, the term ‘Kid’ was unsurpassably holy. To her, it represented beauty and happiness. She couldn’t ever let anyone sully that specific name.

After the evil ghost was absolutely sure Xu Qing was gone, he shouted into Qing Qiu’s mind, “Yeah! Oh yeah! Kill him! End things in mutual destruction!!”

“Enough,” Qing Qiu replied coldly. “Did you find out the details of that matter I asked you to look into?”

The evil ghost immediately responded, “Absolutely. In four months, the Holytides will be here to purchase cloudmother stones. Chances are, the caravan will go through Skymoon Ravine on their way back to their people. However, that’s not an ideal location for an ambush. Are you really sure you want to take the risk?” [2]

Qing Qiu didn’t say anything. She just turned and walked away under the moonlight.

Sounding a bit hesitant, the evil ghost continued, “If you’re dead set on doing this, then I think we really need to be prepared to end things in mutual destruction with them. Although I’ve personally been waiting a long time for that day to come, I think you should give it some serious thought.”

“I need more military credits if I want more time off from my post,” Qing Qiu said. “I have to steal those resources to get military credits!”

“Is it really worth it? We’re talking about three years, that’s not so long is it? It’s already been half a year!” The evil ghost sighed. It wanted to end things in mutual destruction with an enemy, but not some random, meaningless enemy. “Actually, the one most worthy of an end in mutual destruction is Mad Dog....”

Qing Qiu ignored the evil ghost and continued, “I can’t wait three years. I need to get back to South Phoenix as quickly as possible.”

“Maybe you should stop worrying about it. Three years isn’t a big deal. Considering how much time has already passed, who cares if another three years go by?”

“Absolutely not! Don’t you realize how I’m constantly worrying about this? Big Bro Kid could be in grave danger back in South Phoenix. I can’t wait any longer. Now that I’m strong enough to protect him, I absolutely have to go find him. I owe him my life!”

As she walked through the night, she rubbed the tiny crystal she kept under her garment. Her eyes gleamed with determination.

***

Xu Qing was already back in his sword pavilion.

After sitting down cross-legged, he started carefully studying the jade slip from the lieutenant governor. Time passed. Just as the light of dawn was starting to spread through the sky, Xu Qing looked up, and his eyes flickered thoughtfully.

Immortal puppets are made from living subjects. And they have to be willing participants....

He had already gone through all of the information several times over, and now felt that he knew quite a bit about how the Demi-Immortals created their immortal puppets. Unfortunately, the creation process was considered top secret by the Demi-Immortals, so there was no way that even the lieutenant governor could uncover the most profound aspects. That said, the information in the jade slip was good enough for Xu Qing.

Whether it’s a secret magic or some transformation technique, or the ‘Demi-Immortal Nine Refinements’ it mentions... none of that is really important. The important thing is that they require willing participants from their own species.

Eyes narrowing, Xu Qing thought back to the Demi-Immortals he’d seen in the prison world.

Is it possible that the Demi-Immortals have an ulterior motive for wanting that ten-year imprisonment clause in the three-species treaty? For example… what if the inmates get turned into immortal puppets after they’re released?

Normally speaking, the inmates in the prison world end up dying over and over again until their memories are wiped out. Maybe that’s part of what makes the subjects willing to become immortal puppets.

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered as he thought about what Ghost Hand mentioned about the governor’s order from three hundred years ago.

Senior Ghost Hand said that, in the interests of continuing our friendship with the Demi-Immortals, the governor issued orders prohibiting us from tampering with Demi-Immortal memories. This whole thing....

Although it seemed like it was the governor showing mercy, if Xu Qing’s speculation was right, then it meant that the governor likely knew how immortal puppets were created. That seemed like the more likely reason for him to issue such orders. Because he had publicly said it was for the sake of friendship with the Demi-Immortals, they couldn’t protest openly.

You can never judge a situation based on external factors.

That was something he had learned in Seven Blood Eyes, and had learned even more in the Eight Sect Coalition. Now that he was in the county capital, it was even more relevant.

If all of this is true, then what if I figure out a way to plant something onto the Demi-Immortal inmates? Something that will stay on them after they’re released...?

He continued to think about how he might do that until the sun rose. Eyes glittering, he went to the Corrections Division. However, he didn’t go to D-132 or Unit C. Instead he went to Level 9.

Given his authority as a Unit C jailer, he could now browse the information for all the Unit D inmates. He was hoping doing that might give him some more clues to work with. After all, not all Demi-Immortal inmates were in Unit C. In fact, there were about three hundred Demi-Immortals locked up in Unit D. Of that group, about seventeen were reaching the end of their ten-year sentence, meaning they would soon be returned to their people.

Some of that group of forty I saw in Unit C must also be nearing the end of their sentence.

Supposedly the minimum cultivation base for making an immortal puppet is Nascent Soul. That means the ones locked up in Unit D aren’t strong enough. In turn, it’s really hard to say what will happen to them after they’re released.

After browsing the inmate files, Xu Qing left and went to D-027. He offered greetings to the jailer on duty, then asked if he could do some interrogations. Whether it was his status as a Unit C jailer, or the reputation he had earned in Unit D, it resulted in immediate agreement from the jailer. Moments later, the jailer led him into the cell block to the Demi-Immortal imprisoned inside.

The Demi-Immortal was middle-aged and pure white from head to toe. Despite being imprisoned, he seemed incredibly holy as he sat there cross-legged in meditation. Upon sensing that there were jailers nearing, his face remained expressionless, and he exuded a haughtiness that seemed to come from deep in his bones.

This jailer had been there to witness the bloodbath in D-001, so he said, “He’s yours, Xu Qing. Just make sure not to kill him....”

Xu Qing nodded and clasped hands thankfully.

“Have fun.” With a grin and a return salute, the jailer turned and left.

Xu Qing opened the cell door and stepped inside. The Demi-Immortal looked up, his eyes full of scorn.

“You—”

Before the Demi-Immortal could say anything else, Xu Qing stepped over and clamped his hand down onto the Demi-Immortal’s head. Then he unleashed the power of his cultivation base, causing blood to spray out of the Demi-Immortal’s face. He collapsed, unconscious.

Xu Qing didn’t like to waste words, and wasn’t interested in talking with this Demi-Immortal. Therefore he had just knocked him out.

With that, Xu Qing crouched and started studying the Demi-Immortal’s body structure. Soon, a thoughtful look appeared in his eyes as he contemplated exactly how to do what he wanted to do. At the same time, he occasionally used a scalpel to slice open the Demi-Immortal’s flesh.

Eventually, as Xu Qing was still studying the Demi-Immortal, it shivered as the pain began to drag it back to consciousness. Just before it opened its eyes, though, Xu Qing quietly said, “The person you killed was a good friend of mine!”

He slapped the Demi-Immortal unconscious again. A thump rang out as the Demi-Immortal, who had been just about to open its eyes, went out cold.

Time passed in that manner. On about twelve occasions the Demi-Immortal nearly regained consciousness, but every single time, Xu Qing would knock it out again. The Demi-Immortal’s fury built until Xu Qing was finally done with his research. When it was over, the Demi-Immortal was covered with cuts and bruises.

I think the best strategy will be to put some of my mutagen in him. I doubt it will be discovered. My beetles... nah, forget about that. I can’t afford to underestimate the Demi-Immortals. Mutagen will work perfectly, and probably won’t attract any attention.

Having reached that decision, Xu Qing waved his hand, causing a concealing mist to build in the area. Then he tapped into his third heavenly palace and released, not poison, but a tiny scrap of his personal mutagen. That mutagen could invade any living thing, with Xu Qing as its source.

He very carefully sent the mutagen into the Demi-Immortal’s body, hiding it in a location inside his kidney. He chose not to put in a heart. Demi-Immortals had five hearts, plus a very powerful regeneration ability that ensured you couldn’t kill them even by destroying four of their hearts. As Ghost Hand had mentioned in his lecture, the kidneys were the Demi-Immortals’ weak spot. [3]

After concealing the mutagen in the Demi-Immortal’s kidney, Xu Qing dispersed the concealing mist around him, then left to find the second Demi-Immortal he wanted to study.

After he was gone, the battered and wounded Demi-Immortal woke up. His eyes burned with fury as he examined himself. After making sure his injuries were all superficial, he gritted his teeth. Thinking back to what the jailer said, he came to the conclusion this had been a bit of personal reprisal.

I’ve killed a lot of people, how am I supposed to know which one was your friend? I guess it’s not important. I’m going to be released soon. Once I’m free, I’ll make sure to revisit this torment back on you many times over!

As that initial Demi-Immortal’s fury simmered, Xu Qing spent time in the following days doing the same thing with all of the Demi-Immortals in Unit D who were on the verge of being released.

He made sure to change his appearance each time, and also come up with a cover story suited to each inmate’s specific crimes. Everything was done in a way to make sure the Demi-Immortals didn’t realize what he was actually doing. Given that the inmates didn’t have any access to outside information, he wanted them to think that they were just the victims of revenge.

After he was done, he left Unit D and went to Unit C.

There were two Demi-Immortals here that met his needs. However, though he could sustain the laws of the minor world for a short time, it was difficult. Doing so left him very limited, and there was a time limit involved.

For the time being, those two Demi-Immortals were going to get off.

That meant that the best thing to do was focus his attention on getting used to the natural and magical laws. Every time he entered the minor world, he would take time to acclimate to the intense pain. He couldn’t last more than about three hundred breaths of time, which definitely wasn’t long enough to insert some mutagen into those Demi-Immortals.

I would need to be able to last for 2,000 breaths of time to do that.

All he could do was work harder.

Every time he visited, he would bring a flagon of alcohol for Ghost Hand, since he knew the jailer liked to drink.

After having done that several times, he took advantage of a moment in which Ghost Hand was drinking to ask if there was some trick to being able to stand up to the laws of the minor worlds. He figured there must be something like that. At first, Ghost Hand didn’t even answer the question. But after Xu Qing had plied him with alcohol so many times, causing his approval of him to deepen, he finally revealed the secret.

Xu Qing listened carefully. After that, he did more tests in the minor world. More training. He started making better progress after that. The amount of time he could stand up to the laws was increased. A month later, he went from three hundred breaths of time to a thousand.

During that time, something big happened in Sea-Sealing County.

Nightshade cultivators were spotted in the county. The Swordsage Palace dispatched some top experts who tracked down the Nightshades and arrested them, then brought them back to Unit C for questioning. The matter was kept top secret from the public. However, being a Unit C jailer, Xu Qing learned about it.

The day the Nightshades were brought in, he was reporting in for his shift. He had just arrived at Level 90 when he saw Ghost Hand and a group of other World 1 jailers handling the prisoner transfer.

That was Xu Qing’s first time seeing Nightshades.

If there was one moment in time that could be pointed to as the moment when humanity began to decline, it was the war with the Firemoon Darkheaven people. However, the Nightshades were the vicious killers who took advantage of humanity’s moment of weakness to brutally cut them down further. [4]

It was around that same time that the Holytide people chose to join forces with the Nightshades. From a historical standpoint, the betrayal of Grand Duke Holytide was a shocking twist. However, perspectives change with the passing of time. Nowadays, few people knew the truth of what happened.

Xu Qing didn’t know very much about those matters. But he had learned a bit about history during his swordsage training, and the lesson had been taught by the lieutenant governor. He knew that the Nightshades didn’t like sunlight. Because of that, they destroyed the sun which shone over their lands, causing it to perish.

After that, the Nightshade people only had a moon overhead.

1. Peerless City was mentioned back in chapter 380. Clearly, the story Xu Qing told in that chapter had some grounded basis. ☜

2. The Chinese characters that make up ‘cloudmother stones’ are also used to describe muscovite, also known as common mica, isinglass, or potash mica, which is a hydrated phyllosilicate mineral of aluminum and potassium with formula KAl2(AlSi3O10)(F,OH)2, or (KF)2(Al2O3)3(SiO2)6(H2O). I think ‘cloudmother stones’ sounds a lot more appropriate for a xianxia setting. ☜

3. Ghost Hand mentioned the five hearts and the kidney weakness in chapter 401. ☜

4. The war with the Firemoon Darkheaven people was mentioned in the big history lecture in chapter 401. ☜