Chapter 88

Chapter 88: Xu Qing’s Principle

A gloomy light appeared in Xu Qing’s eyes.

He was no stranger to this Sea Ghost Association.

Back when he was still in the Seven Blood Pupils main city, he killed many wanted criminals for their bounties. One of them was Sun Dewang, who was from the Sea Ghost Association.

Sun Dewang had already lost all his money to Zhao Zhongheng’s gambling den, so Xu Qing didn’t get anything out of the fight besides the bounty.

But that was when Xu Qing learned that there were many pirate organizations on the Forbidden Sea, and the members of these pirate organizations were often people who had been expelled from various sects, islands, and races.

Most of them joined pirate organizations after being driven into a dead end and spent their days plundering on the Forbidden Sea.

Several pirate organizations were a cut above the others, including Sea Ghost.

Among the dozen or so figures climbing up from the foot of the mountain, none of them were weaker than Sun Dewang, and four were clearly much stronger.

Xu Qing sensed that they were at the peak of Qi Condensation.

Moreover, these were all people who survived on a knife’s edge, so their baleful auras were very strong. Those desperate scavengers in the scavenger camp were all inferior on this point.

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes as he watched the sixteen Sea Ghost Association members rapidly climb the mountain. Once they reached the basin, the surrounding cultivators all released hostile auras.

Clearly, the infamy of the Sea Ghost Association made everyone here instinctively feel a sense of rejection.

But the Sea Ghost Association cultivators didn’t seem to care at all about the rest of the cultivators around the basin. Their expression were ice cold, and some of them didn’t even bother hiding their malicious intentions as they sneered.

Even when they swept their gazes across Xu Qing and the old man from Banquan Road, their cold attitude was the same.

It was as if no one there was worthy of their attention.

But they didn’t make a move right away. Instead, they first found a resting area and sat down one after another. One of them looked up and scanned the surroundings with a cold gaze before slowly opening his mouth.

“You all can scram. If you don’t then in the future, you will only be able to look at but not touch the sea lizard skins. If you try to touch them… you will die.”

This person’s voice carried intense killing intent that chilled the surroundings. Everyone fell silent.

Watching this scene, Xu Qing fell into deep thought. He’d already made some guesses based off the previous actions of the others, and now that the Sea Ghost Association had arrived, he concluded that something special was most likely about to happen on Sea Lizard Island.

“Should I leave first?”

Xu Qing pondered. After sensing the fluctuation of his cultivation base, he made his decision. Standing up without hesitation, he turned and left.

He was extremely fast, and mere moments later, he disappeared into the distance.

All the cultivators around the basin cast a sidelong glance at the direction of his departure. In particular, the old man from Banquan Road was stunned.

“That kid really left?”

Many people from the Sea Ghost Association’s group also glanced in the direction of Xu Qing’s departure, but they didn’t pay him any more attention.

Just like that, Xu Qing descended the mountain at full speed and entered the jungle without hesitation. An hour later, his figure reappeared at the shore.

Xu Qing’s expression was serene. He summoned the magic boat with a wave of his hand and jumped on.

As soon as he landed on the magic boat, Xu Qing took a deep breath and sat down cross-legged, forming a hand seal that caused the boat’s barrier to buzz to life. Waves churned on the surface of the sea as his plesiosaur-shaped dragonwhale swam around in the depths, guarding carefully against all directions.

After making his preparations, Xu Qing raised his head and glanced at Sea Lizard Island. A sharp light flashed through his eyes.

Neither the smooth harvest on the island nor the improvement of his cultivation base had made him lower his guard in the slightest. He was still the same cautious person as before.

Thus, now that a breakthrough was imminent, he wasn’t so arrogant as to remain on the island to break through.

In fact, breaking through on the island wasn’t extremely risky. With all his poison powder as well as the strength he displayed, it was unlikely that he would be unable to handle anyone who tried to sneak attack him.

But it was unnecessary.

He had seen similar things happen in the slums. There were far too many examples of people being momentarily caught up in their arrogance and providing opportunities for others to make a move.

So, just like he absolutely had to eliminate anything that threatened his life, Xu Qing also absolutely wouldn’t allow for that sort of opportunity to attack him to appear.

These were the basic rules of survival in this chaotic world.

Some people might gradually forget them as they grew stronger, but for Xu Qing, these rules were engraved into his bones ever since his childhood.

Now that he was in a safe environment, Xu Qing closed his eyes and circulated his cultivation base to begin breaking through.

At the same time, with Xu Qing’s departure, the poison at the top of that mountain gradually dissipated, making many cultivators breathe sighs of relief.

But the words of the Sea Ghost Association represented a powerful threat that weighed down heavily on all the loose cultivators here. However, they were unwilling to just leave like that and hesitated to make a decision.

After thinking it over, some indeed chose to leave, but others chose to stay.

Soon, dusk fell.

As the afterglow of the sunset scattered down on the island, a hazy fog slowly appeared on the horizon.

This fog spread in all directions like an invisible god exhaling. It quickly spread across the Forbidden Sea, rolling and churning with the waves.

Fog wasn’t uncommon on the Forbidden Sea, so even if someone noticed, they originally wouldn’t have paid it any attention. However, astonishing spiritual energy fluctuations suddenly spread over from the sea, causing many cultivators around the basin to look up.

As soon as they looked up, the spiritual energy fluctuations past the coast grew more and more intense.

Inexhaustible spiritual energy surged from all directions toward a certain magic boat just off the coast of Sea Lizard Island.

All the spiritual energy within 60 meters was sucked over in the blink of an eye, and the range of suction continued to expand.

Because of the sudden influx of spiritual energy, a huge vortex 89 meters wide appeared in the sea with Xu Qing’s magic boat at the center.

The rumbling vortex was like a torch in the dark night, instantly attracting the attention of everyone on Sea Lizard Island.

Gazes swept over one after another, and gasps rang out from every mountain on the island.

“Someone’s breaking through?”

“This breakthrough… seems a bit powerful!”

As for the cultivators around the basin at the top of the tallest mountain, whether it was the loose cultivators or the Sea Ghost Association’s group, all of them stared at the vortex with astonishment in their eyes.

“It’s that Seven Blood Pupils disciple who left earlier!”

“He’s actually breaking through!”

Xu Qing couldn’t hear the voices of the surprised cultivators. At that moment, in the center of the vortex, his entire body was trembling. The spiritual sea in his body was exactly the same as the vortex outside, 89 feet wide.

It was as if there was another world inside his body that was overlapping with the world outside.

As the two worlds overlapped, Xu Qing’s body trembled even more violently. A dazzling purple light radiated from his whole being and his breathing sped up. As his cultivation base circulated rapidly, the spiritual sea in his body broke through the last meter, reaching the width of 90 meters. At the exact same time, the vortex outside instantly swelled up to 90 meters as well.

The inner sea and outer sea synchronized, turning into a thunderous roar that echoed in Xu Qing’s mind.

Boom boom boom!

He broke out of the eighth level of the Sea Transforming Scripture and stepped into the ninth level!

It wasn’t over yet!

With a rumble, the vortex around him continued to expand. 91 meters, 92 meters, 93 meters…

The expansion of the vortex in the outside world affected the spiritual sea in his body, forcing it to expand as well.

This scene was something that Xu Qing had never experienced before. It was because this was the Forbidden Sea. Compared to the berth where he usually broke through, the spiritual energy here was far more abundant.

The vortex continued to expand.

94 meters, 95 meters, 96 meters…

When the vortex in the outside world reached 97 meters, the spiritual sea in Xu Qing’s body erupted and also reached 97 meters wide. Instantly, the fluctuations of the ninth level of Qi Condensation erupted from his body.

In turn, the sea within a range of 97 meters also churned, setting off high waves.

It was a shocking sight.

Xu Qing’s eyes also flew open at that moment.

Purple light shone in his pupils for a few breaths, but just as it was about to dim, an even stronger fluctuation erupted from Xu Qing’s body.

The Droughtdemon Shadow appeared behind him, roaring up at the sky like a malicious ghost, full of savagery and madness. In an instant, the churning sea within a nearly 100 meter radius around him showed signs of burning.

It turned into a sea of flames.

As its roar echoed in all directions, the Droughtdemon Shadow behind Xu Qing inhaled forcefully, and the 97-meter-wide sea of flames charged towards its mouth.

The Droughtdemon Shadow swallowed the sea of flames in an instant.

As it swallowed, its body trembled violently, and a deep red glow appeared beneath its dry and cracked skin. It was as if its body was full of magma.

Finally, the red glow erupted outwards, forming a dazzling light that spread in all directions. At the same time, a dense power of fire suddenly appeared from Xu Qing’s body!

This wasn’t a strange transformation of water into fire; it was the bizarre fusion of water with fire. Within this fire, there was also a stream of water formed by the aura of the Forbidden Sea!

Now, Xu Qing’s breakthrough was truly complete.

The purple light in his eyes dissipated, and he slowly stood up from his cross-legged position. His powerful aura and sharp gaze caused the hearts of those who saw it from Sea Lizard Island to tremble fiercely.

This was even more so for the cultivators around the basin at the tallest peak of the island. Their breathing hastened one by one as if they were facing an extremely powerful enemy.

The process of Xu Qing’s breakthrough was truly astonishing, causing them to feel a heavy sense of pressure. Those cultivators who had seen Xu Qing make a move before were even more astonished than the others.

Xu Qing was already very powerful in the first place. Now that he had broken through, his presence meant that they would probably not be able to gain much this time around.

The old man from Banquan Road opened his eyes wide. Dazed, he suddenly whispered to the big snake beside him.

“Why don’t you go seduce this kid? He isn’t simple. How could a ninth-level Qi Condensation cultivator give me the feeling that he’s even stronger than a Foundation Establishment expert?!”

As everyone stared, their hearts suddenly skipped a beat in unison. A moment ago, Xu Qing was on his magic boat offshore, but now… he stepped back onto the island, turning into a ray of light!

In less than an incense stick’s worth of time, Xu Qing reappeared outside the basin, bursting with a violent aura.

He ignored everyone else and returned to his previous treetop expressionlessly, sitting down cross-legged just like before.

But this time, his figure attracted the attention of the group of cultivators from the Sea Ghost Association. Their expressions were extremely solemn, and there was even a hint of dread in their eyes.

Abandoning a low profile and displaying your strength had both advantages and disadvantages, but in this case, the advantages far outweighed the disadvantages.

Xu Qing used his actions to warn the Sea Ghost Association: Don’t mess with me.

What you said earlier about forbidding others from snatching the sea lizard skins… doesn’t apply to me.

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