Chapter 111

Chapter 111: Contents of the Jade Slip

When it came to cultivation, Xu Qing was never stingy with his spirit stones. However, besides that, he always lived frugally.

Even when he came back with a huge haul, he just ate a couple more eggs for breakfast.

Furthermore, he knew the details of almost every wanted criminal in the main city. Although the bounty jade slip updated frequently, he would carefully memorize it every night.

After all, one more spirit stone was one more spirit stone. If he was lucky, he could even find valuable items in the criminal’s storage bag.

Thus, he immediately recognized the identity of the corpse in front of him. This person was a criminal from a certain pirate association out at sea and was worth fifteen spirit stones.

To the current Xu Qing, fifteen spirit stones wasn’t much. However, for the mute youth who had only recently arrived at Seven Blood Pupils, it was likely to be a huge sum.

And the mute youth actually gave it away so easily…

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes and glanced in the direction that the mute youth had left in.

He sensed that the mute youth seemed to have been specifically waiting for him. The reason… was to give him this wanted criminal?

“A trap?” Xu Qing muttered. He ignored the wanted criminal at his feet and resumed walking, his figure soon disappearing into the crowds.

After he left, the corpse of the wanted criminal attracted some attention, but most passersby averted their gazes walked around it. However, there were a few disciples whose eyes flickered with greed when they saw the corpse and seemed to be about to approach.

But as soon as they neared it, a skinny figure would instantly rush over from an alley and crouch over the corpse, like a wild dog protecting its food, glaring viciously at anyone who wanted to approach.

His teeth seemed to have been sharpened on a whetstone, and as he bared them, he exuded a savage killing intent that made the disciples walking toward him freeze.

After facing off for a moment, the disciples glanced at the corpse, which had clearly been bitten to death, and chose to retreat one by one. In the end, there was only the mute youth squatting down beside the corpse. His expression seemed to be somewhat frustrated.

Just like that, time passed, and soon, dusk arrived. The mute youth continued to guard the corpse all the way until night fell. Then he silently grabbed it and dragged it back into the alley, returning to his residence.

He didn’t live in a magic boat, but a simple, shabby hut.

The monthly fee for this place was much lower than that for a berth. After approaching with utmost vigilance, rather than enter through the door, the mute youth circled around and pushed aside a brick from the back wall, heading in that way.

Once inside the hut, the mute youth breathed a sigh of relief, sitting down silently in the dark. After spacing out for a while, he looked down at the corpse of the wanted criminal next to him. His expression grew even more frustrated.

After hesitating for a while, he began to rifle through the corpse’s pockets.

Before now, he apparently hadn’t even checked the criminal’s leather bag. Now that he opened it, his eyes lit up with pleasant surprise as he took out three spirit stones.

He immediately clutched the spirit stones tightly and looked around with vigilance. After confirming that everything was all right, he put them away and counted his total savings. He now had a total of 77 spirit stones.

After taking inventory, the mute youth sat for a while before his expression became frustrated again. In the end, he took out a rough stone and began to grind his teeth against it.

The mute youth’s cultivation was only at the third level of Qi Condensation, so he had no idea… that Xu Qing was standing just outside his hut, coldly watching the mute youth’s every move.

Xu Qing’s personality was extremely cautious. Even if his enemy’s cultivation base was far weaker than his own, he still wouldn’t let down his guard.

In regard to what happened during the day, there were only two possible reasons for the mute youth to present him that corpse. Either it was really a gift… or he had some ulterior motive.

In this cruel and chaotic world, anything could happen. Thus, Xu Qing didn’t accept the gift and left, secretly shadowing the mute youth to decide on his next move.

“When we met a few days ago, he was utterly terrified for some reason… does he want to curry favor?” Xu Qing narrowed his eyes. He glanced at the youth inside the hut again, then pushed open the door and walked in.

As soon as Xu Qing stepped inside, the mute youth immediately bared his teeth and seemed about to burst out. However, when he saw that it was Xu Qing, his whole body trembled violently and he didn’t dare to move as sheer terror filled his eyes.

“Tell me what you saw.” Xu Qing tossed over a jade slip.

Standing in the doorway, the moonlight scattering down cast his shadow deep into the hut, almost touching the mute youth.

The little mute pressed himself tightly against the wall and accepted the jade slip.

Back when the captain had asked him the same thing, he had put on an attitude of never answering even if it meant death, but now that Xu Qing asked, he immediately imprinted everything he wanted to say into the jade slip and carefully held it out.

Xu Qing accepted the jade slip and quickly poured in spiritual energy to check it. His expression suddenly changed.

A cold light appeared in his eyes. After giving the little mute a meaningful look, he tossed over eight spirit stones, then turned and left.

Seventy-seven plus fifteen from the bounty plus eight now equaled one hundred, precisely enough to buy a magic boat.

Even after he had walked far away, Xu Qing’s right hand still tightly grasped the jade slip. When he returned to his berth, the second he stepped on to his magic boat, he tightly clenched his right hand and instantly turned the jade slip into dust.

Then he entered the cabin with an expressionless face, closed his eyes, and began to cultivate.

The night passed.

The next day, Xu Qing went over to Zhang San’s place to add the array crossbow he got from the Vajra Sect to his magic boat. With Zhang San’s excellent skill, the crossbow swiftly became one of the magic boat’s greatest killing moves, second only to the divinity-powered blow.

“This thing’s a real treasure. Xu Qing, as long as you can get a Foundation Establishment-level power supply, your magic boat will be upgraded to a magic ship.” Zhang San smiled. After that, he glanced left and right before quickly whispering to Xu Qing in a hushed tone.

“Xu Qing, are you going to the great competition? It should be happening any day now. I’m gonna do something big. If you’re also going, we can join forces.”

“I’m going.” Xu Qing nodded.

Zhang San grinned and didn't say anything more.

Cupping his fists, Xu Qing turned and left. As he walked through the port area, he noticed that the shops were all filled with Seventh Peak disciples purchasing wares. Even the number of people out and about on the streets was much higher than usual.

Furthermore, more and more magic boats were returning to port. Even on the streets, he saw several unfamiliar faces, all of whom were giving off cultivation fluctuations at at least the eighth or ninth level of Qi Condensation.

There were even a few who were at the peak of the realm, just like himself...

Obviously, these disciples had either been in secluded cultivation until now, or they had been sailing the Forbidden Sea. Now that the great competition was coming, they all came rushing back.

Xu Qing could sense an astonishing baleful aura coming from their bodies that seemed to originate from their very bones.

At the same time, he heard rumors about the Western Reef Archipelago’s spiritnorth race, who seemed to be extremely anxious recently. Apparently, aside from begging other alien races for help, they also repeatedly sent envoys for peace negotiations with Seven Blood Pupils.

This reminded Xu Qing of the captain’s words, as well as his own conjectures.

“So… is the real target the merfolk race after all?” Xu Qing muttered.

That night, a familiar figure appeared outside his boat.

“Xu Qing, Xu Qing, you actually didn’t contact me when you got back. Could it be that you don’t treat me, Huang Yan, as your brother anymore?” Outside the magic boat, Huang Yan called out loudly. He seemed to be somewhat displeased.

Xu Qing walked out of his cabin and looked over to the shore. When he saw Huang Yan, a smile appeared on his face.

He had met many people in Seven Blood Pupils so far, but only a few treated him genuinely. Huang Yan was one of them.

“I was dealing with some trivial matters after coming back.” Xu Qing explained.

Huang Yan didn’t mind it and sat down on the shore with a laugh. Just like last time, he didn’t try to board Xu Qing’s boat. After sitting down, he opened his mouth with a conspiratorial light in his eyes.

“Xu Qing, want to hear a huge secret?”

Upon hearing the word “secret”, Xu Qing immediately became wary. He remembered the last time someone told him a secret, it was the captain making him owe a hundred spirit stones.

But before Xu Qing could say anything, Huang Yan quickly spoke with a pompous expression.

“Have you noticed that something seems off about the announcement this time? Although the destination was also announced in advance for previous competitions, I feel like this time’s announcement was too deliberate. According to my understanding of the Seventh Peak… I think that the great competition this time definitely won’t be at Spiritnorth Island. I investigated carefully and came to the conclusion that the target this time should be the merfolk race!”

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes and glanced at Huang Yan. This time, he didn’t need the other party’s prompting and revealed a surprised expression on his face.

Seeing Xu Qing’s expression, Huang Yan immediately became extremely smug.

“Haha, no need to be so impressed. Actually, my senior sister’s the one who told me all of this. Between me and her... heh, we don’t keep secrets from each other at this point.”

“I started investigating Merfolk Island after hearing about this, and once I heard you came back, I immediately came over to share it with you. How about it, I’m a good brother, right?” Huang Yan threw a jade slip over to Xu Qing and resumed speaking in a hushed voice.

“After I investigated, I was shocked! The merfolk race is really too rich. There are four islands – Image, Serenity Island, Juying Island, and Mer Island. Each island is full of treasure. The most precious treasures that few people know about are all recorded in that jade slip.”

Xu Qing caught the jade slip and poured his spiritual energy in to check it. Huang Yan seemed to have already memorized it, as he shook his head and continued to speak.

“I put a lot of effort into finding all this out. Did you know that on Mer Island, there’s a suit of armor called the Armor of Mer? It’s hidden in the Mer Volcano. It’s a magic treasure that the merfolk race has been refining for thousands of years and has unimaginable value. Too bad, though, we won’t be able to grab it.”

“On Image, there are a lot of merfolk tears, which can be used as panaceas. But the most valuable thing on Imechi isn’t those; it’s the Image’s Tear. Image is the name of the merfolk race’s ancestor, and the Image’s Tear is the last tear he cried just before his death. It’s inlaid in the merfolk king’s crown.”

After speaking to this point, Huang Yan took out two eggs. He threw one to Xu Qing and drank from the other before continuing to speak.

“As for Serenity Island… it’s a cemetery. There are countless treasures buried inside, but the most valuable one is a feather. Can you guess who the feather belongs to? Flame Phoenix Yanhuang. You know who that is? That’s the lord of the forbidden area west of the Truth Mountain Range, and it’s also the lord of all of South Phoenix. You do know why this continent is called South Phoenix, right?”

“Anyway, the last one is Juying Island. That island isn’t inferior to the others. I heard that there were tons of pills there, and it even has quite a few Foundation Establishment Pills. It’s where my senior sister snatched her Foundation Establishment Pills during the last competition. There’ll probably be fierce fighting over there this time.”

“But those pills are nothing. Actually, the real treasure of Juying Island is a lamp worth 500,000 spirit stones. It’s called the Spiritual Breath Lamp!”

“This Spiritual Breath Lamp is a sacred object that the merfolk race uses for achieving Foundation Establishment. It’s placed in the Foundation Establishment Tower inside Juying Island’s main city.”

“It’s similar to our Seven Blood Pupils’ Foundation Establishment site, the one you have to pay a hundred spirit stones an hour to rent. But rumors say that our sect relies on divine blood to protect our disciples when they establish their foundations, while the merfolk race just has that lamp.”

“Actually, the magic tools for protecting disciples when they establish their foundations are different for every major force. The merfolk race’s Spiritual Breath Lamp apparently is nothing much, so the major forces don’t really care about it.”

“But it’s still worth 500,000 spirit stones. Do you know why? Last time, my senior sister snatched it from Juying Island and ransomed it for 2 million spirit stones. Later, the merfolk race managed to bargain it down to 500,000 spirit stones and bought it back.”

“Rumors say that there are clues to some temple hidden in the Spiritual Breath Lamp, but after so many years, nobody has found anything. Back then, Senior Sister tried to find it but couldn’t figure anything out, so she just sold it back. The specifics are all in the jade slip.”

Xu Qing fell silent as he listened. He was still worrying over tens of thousands of spirit stones, but the other party was talking on and on about sums of millions of spirit stones.

This gave him a dissonant sort of feeling. After poking the egg open and taking a sip, he couldn’t suppress his thoughts and his heart pounded heavily.

After Huang Yan finished talking about the merfolk, he began to talk about his senior sister.

In the end, Huang Yan talked while Xu Qing just listened. Although this couldn’t really be called a conversation, Huang Yan was perfectly satisfied to get along with Xu Qing in this way.

Finally, when it was very late, Huang Yan patted his stomach and stood up to leave. Before leaving, he burped and spoke again in a hushed voice.

“Xu Qing, I know you probably won’t do this, but I still want to remind you. This time, don’t be so stupid as to fight for first place. The status of a core disciple isn’t really that important. Snatching more resources is the real point of the great competition.”

“Actually, not many people care about the rankings. They all just want to get rich. Oh yeah, you’re the only one I’ve told about this. I’m trusting you as a brother, so don’t go around leaking information, alright? When the time comes, whichever island you want to go to, we’ll sweep it clean!”

Xu Qing nodded.

Huang Yan patted his stomach in satisfaction and left. As he walked, he took out a jade slip to whisper sweet nothings to his senior sister.

After watching Huang Yan’s figure fade into the distance, Xu Qing sat down on the deck of his magic boat and turned his head, looking out at the Forbidden Sea.

Gentle waves rolled, causing the boat to rock ever so slightly.

Under the moonlight, Xu Qing’s shadow fell onto the deck, and part of it spilled over into the sea, fusing with the black seawater.

Xu Qing retracted his gaze and looked at his shadow. A cold light flickered in his eyes as the words recorded in the mute youth’s jade slip appeared in his mind.

“It’s hibernating…”

Time passed. Three days later, the identity tokens of every Seventh Peak disciple in Seven Blood Pupils vibrated simultaneously, and a dignified voice reverberated in the minds of all the disciples.

“All participants in the great competition, gather at the central altar within a quarter hour. The Seventh Peak’s great competition will be starting promptly!”

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