Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Jade-like Appearance

Deep in the forests atop the mountain, the howling of wolves echoed in the night.

However, these howls only rang out for a short moment before gradually dissipating. It seemed that there was an existence even more terrifying than the wolves walking alone through the forest.

As he walked silently in the darkness, Xu Qing couldn’t bury the sense of loss in his heart. Having grown up in the slums, he was used to parting ways, but this time the loss was exceptionally deep.

This feeling of emptiness in his heart caused his mood to sink. Amid the silence, his figure became bleak and desolate.

When dawn arrived, after walking all night, he finally saw the camp.

A few lights were glowing in some houses around the camp.

Xu Qing thought back to the past. Back then, no matter how late he was in returning from the forbidden area, there was always one residence whose lights were waiting for him.

But from now on, those lights would forever be missing.

Xu Qing’s loneliness grew even heavier as he walked silently into the camp. He walked to his unlit residence and opened the gate to the courtyard. There were more than a dozen wild dogs in the courtyard, all looking at him quietly.

Looking up, there were three separate houses, and all of them were dark.

No people, no lights, no life.

The previous day’s dinner still sat in the kitchen.

Xu Qing walked in and looked at the three sets of tableware at the table. After staring in a daze for a long time, he sat down silently, bowing his head as he ate the now-cold meal.

One mouthful, chew, swallow. Another, chew, swallow. After slowly finishing the meal, he washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. Taking a deep breath, he returned to his room.

He closed his eyes and began to cultivate.

At that moment, the purple-robed old man and his servant were standing outside the courtyard. Their eyes seemed to be able to see through everything, staring directly at Xu Qing inside his room.

They watched in silence, and after a while, the purple-robed old man sighed softly.

“He is a very loyal child.”

"Seventh Master, should we give him a token?" The servant looked at the purple-robed old man.

“Let’s go to the forbidden area and get the Cloudy Dream Flower that Grandmaster Bai wants.” After speaking, the body of the purple-robed old man slowly vanished. The servant beside him nodded and also vanished.

…

Just like that, the night passed.

When Xu Qing walked out of his room the next morning, he subconsciously looked at Captain Thunder’s residence. However, he quickly withdrew his gaze. He went to Grandmaster Bai’s class in silence, and he returned to the residence in silence.

He cooked a meal by himself. Just like before, he put three sets of tableware on the table before eating in silence.

From time to time, he looked up at the seat where Captain Thunder used to sit. Now… it was missing one person, and missing the sound of his words.

The whole meal was very quiet. A feeling of loneliness filled Xu Qing’s heart once more, but he forcibly suppressed it.

After eating alone and clearing away the dishes, he took out the wild dogs’ food and threw it out into the courtyard.

Seeing it be devoured by the wild dogs, Xu Qing returned to his room and continued to cultivate.

Several days passed by just like this, and soon, it was the sixth day since Captain Thunder’s departure.

Xu Qing had already buried his sadness deep in his heart, recovering his previous indifference, but if one looked carefully, they would find that his indifferent face had become even colder.

Aside from when he was attending Grandmaster Bai’s classes, Xu Qing always had his guard up. He was no stranger to this state of constant vigilance, because over the past six years, this… was his default state.

He was just like a lone wolf.

Xu Qing cultivated even more diligently than before. It seemed like this was his only way to rediscover that familiar solitude as soon as possible. On the seventh night since Captain Thunder left, Xu Qing’s cultivation base broke through.

He reached the fifth level of the Sea and Mountain Art.

Thumping sounds echoed out from his body, and the wild dogs outside trembled and retreated. It was as if they sensed the aura of some terrifying beast coming from Xu Qing’s room.

This time, the thumping sounds in Xu Qing’s body lasted for a very long time.

Just looking at the time, they lasted far longer than the previous breakthroughs.

An hour later, when the impurities seeping out from Xu Qing’s pores reached their peak, his eyes suddenly opened.

A flash of purple light filled the entire room.

As he opened his eyes, crackling sounds rang out through Xu Qing’s body, as if his bones were growing and his flesh and blood were stretching. He even felt like he was being torn apart.

But to Xu Qing, all of this pain was still tolerable.

He waited calmly as another hour passed. Finally, as all of this slowly came to an end, Xu Qing stood up. Unexpectedly, the clothes on his body were a bit short.

Although it wasn’t completely accurate to say his body had been completely reborn, it wasn’t too off, either. His previously thin body had become even tougher and more refined than before.

His body also lacked heterogeneity, so his appearance was very pure.

Thanks to that, his underlying beauty was more obvious, and combined with his indifferent expression, he had a strange charm that not even the dirt on his face could conceal.

But Xu Qing didn’t care about any of this. He walked out of the house, and after testing his speed, he punched out into the air. This punch seemed to ring out with the sound of muffled thunder, and its power was more than double that of when he was still in the fourth level!

Even more astonishingly, when his fist fell, his spiritual energy fluctuated intensely, and an Imp Shadow faintly appeared. This Imp Shadow was baring its fangs, appearing like an evil spirit!

“This is the power of one Imp?” Xu Qing glanced at his fist and muttered as the wild dogs in the courtyard cowered and trembled.

The Sea and Mountain Art said that each level added the strength of one tiger. Five tigers were equal to one Imp and two Imps were a Chief.

But after thinking about it, Xu Qing felt that his own situation didn’t fit the description in the Sea and Mountain Art.

His strength had probably reached the level of seven or eight tigers already, and it was the same for his speed. He even had a certain degree of confidence that when his Sea and Mountain Art broke through to the sixth level, he would already have the strength of two Imps.

“It should be because of the purple crystal. It might also be because I copied the blade strike from the temple.”

Xu Qing muttered inwardly and looked at his right hand, slowly raising it after a long silence. The image of that statue’s blade strike appeared in his mind, and the air around him seemed to be converging on his hand.

After a while, Xu Qing didn’t continue, just lowering his right hand normally.

“Just a little more.”

Xu Qing could tell that his imitation wasn’t good enough. He took a deep breath and was about to return to his room, but when he turned around, he lowered his head and saw his shadow under the moonlight.

When he broke through earlier, all the heterogeneity had gone into the shadow as usual. Because of that, his whole body was pure from inside out, completely void of heterogeneity.

Staring at his shadow, Xu Qing suddenly had an idea.

“I wonder if this shadow can be controlled..”

Once this thought appeared in his mind, it entrenched itself deeper and deeper. Xu Qing stared at his shadow unblinkingly, trying to make the shadow move its hand, but after trying for a long time, he still didn’t succeed.

This made Xu Qing sigh. He felt that he was being too greedy and was about to give up, but just then… the shadow’s hand suddenly twitched!

Xu Qing’s eyes suddenly widened, and his breathing hastened slightly.

He was certain that he wasn’t seeing things, and he definitely hadn’t moved his own hand just now, so he redoubled his efforts and tried again.

After a while, his shadow’s hand… moved slightly!

An instant later, Xu Qing felt as if his head was about to explode, and his mind blanked out.

It took a long time for him to recover from the headache, and he panted, out of breath. However, his eyes showed a strong light.

"It can be controlled!" Xu Qing lowered his head and took a deep look at the shadow.

He knew that it was extremely difficult for his current self to control the shadow. His mind blanking and the headache just now told him that doing this was extremely taxing.

However, he believed that as he became more proficient and his cultivation improved, sooner or later, he would be able to freely control his shadow.

And when that day arrived, the shadow… would become his secret weapon!

"I hope that day will come soon." Xu Qing took a deep breath and rubbed his throbbing temples. He returned to his room and sat down cross-legged in meditation.

When morning came, he had only recovered halfway, and his expression was still a bit dull.

He forcibly roused himself, changing into a set of bigger clothes and hurrying over to Grandmaster Bai’s tent.

Chen Feiyuan wasn’t there, and Grandmaster Bai also hadn’t arrived. Only Tingyu was there, poring through the medicine books. When she saw Xu Qing coming, she casually nodded her head in greeting and continued to study.

This had been the norm recently. Xu Qing had heard from Tingyu that there were some of Chen Feiyuan’s friends among those haughty youngsters from the convoy some time ago. Thus, Chen Feiyuan would often ask for leave from class so he could go have fun.

As for Grandmaster Bai, Xu Qing didn’t know what he was busy with recently, but he would come late every day and leave soon after the class ended.

After Xu Qing nodded to return the greeting, he sat to the side and took out his own bamboo slip, silently reviewing the previous day’s lesson. Tingyu, who had lowered her head after greeting Xu Qing, suddenly raised her head again and looked at Xu Qing suspiciously.

“Why do I feel like you changed a little?”

Xu Qing didn't look up and continued to look through his notes.

Tingyu stared with bright eyes as she carefully inspected him.

Soon, Grandmaster Bai arrived, so she had no choice but to give up. However, during that day’s class, she glanced over at Xu Qing many times.

In the past, Grandmaster Bai would have reprimanded her harshly, but he seemed to have something on his mind today. After a few light admonishments, he ignored her inattention.

After the lecture finished and he explained the content of tomorrow’s quiz, Grandmaster Bai left in a hurry.

Xu Qing got up and was also about to leave when Tingyu suddenly jumped over and blocked off the door.

Xu Qing frowned slightly and looked at Tingyu.

Not to be outdone, Tingyu raised her head and stared at Xu Qing with wide, starry eyes. Her beautiful eyes swept across his body and face, and she spoke a little dazedly.

"I see, you grew taller."

“Yeah.” Xu Qing nodded and sidestepped Tingyu, but when he tried to leave again, Tingyu moved her body in front of him again with some curiosity in her starry eyes.

“Kid, your face is always dirty, so I don’t know what you really look like. Today, you’ve changed again. No, I’m going to wipe your face for you. I have to see what you look like.”

After saying this, Tingyu took out her handkerchief and reached out towards Xu Qing’s face.

Xu Qing flinched and was about to step back when Tingyu snorted.

“Kid, I helped you ask for leave. I did you a favor!”

Xu Qing paused, and Tingyu’s hand arrived in an instant. She moistened the handkerchief in her hand with spiritual energy and lightly wiped Xu Qing’s face.

His wiped cheeks instantly revealed fair white skin. Xu Qing grew impatient and was about to forcefully leave.

"Kid, I'm your senior sister!" Tingyu yelled again. The words ‘senior sister’ obviously carried a heavy weight, and Xu Qing’s body stiffened involuntarily.

Tingyu’s eyes curved like crescent moons, hiding a hint of mischief. This time, she was very fast, quickly wiping Xu Qing’s entire face with her handkerchief.

Although Xu Qing really wanted to avoid this, the words ‘senior sister’ made him force himself to stay still.

Just like that, when Tingyu finished wiping, Xu Qing’s face was fully revealed.

Tingyu’s movements gradually slowed down, and her eyes widened even more as she stared blankly at Xu Qing’s face. For some reason, her mind seemed to fill with sunlight.

This was the first time in six years that Xu Qing’s face was clean, and it made him extremely uncomfortable. Taking advantage of Tingyu’s daze, he immediately walked around her and quickly left the tent.

With the sunlight shining down on his face, Xu Qing became even more uncomfortable, as if he was walking around naked.

So he bent over and picked up some mud from the ground, smearing it over his face. Feeling much more comfortable, he breathed a sigh of relief. He recovered his indifferent expression and walked towards the forbidden area.

After he left, Tingyu, who was still in the tent, let out a long breath and muttered.

“Well, he looks pretty good.”

As she spoke, she subconsciously opened the tent flap and looked at Xu Qing’s receding back.

“He’s much better looking than Chen Feiyuan. No, Chen Feiyuan can’t compare with him at all.”

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