Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Secret Worth a Hundred Spirit Stones

In an instant, the two figures clashed outside the gambling den. Xu Qing’s Sea Transforming Scripture and Sea and Mountain Art circulated simultaneously in his body. He wanted to finish the fight quickly, so he struck out a punch with all his strength.

A boom rang out, and the fatty’s body shook. His expression changed drastically, and he clearly realized that he’d underestimated his opponent’s strength. The moment his fist came into contact with Xu Qing’s, he immediately felt Xu Qing’s terrifyingly powerful physical strength.

The fatty instantly backed up, but he was still too slow compared to Xu Qing. In the blink of an eye, Xu Qing’s fist made contact with the fatty’s stomach.

With a bang, the fatty’s body trembled again, but he wasn’t knocked back. Instead, his body suddenly turned into a hollow piece of skin that jumped to cover Xu Qing.

The fatty’s skin was like a curtain that seemed to cover the sky as it was about to wrap around Xu Qing.

Xu Qing frowned slightly, and a large number of water droplets instantly appeared outside his body. The water droplets quickly transformed into tiny diamond shapes that shot forth like arrows and penetrated the skin with a puff.

A hideous figure immediately jumped out from the broken skin.

It was a humanoid figure covered in mucus. It had green hair and its body was covered in scales. Its eyes were vicious and a forked tongue slithered out between its sharp, jagged teeth.

The figure took a deep look at Xu Qing, but it didn’t continue attacking. Instead, it turned to flee.

Xu Qing’s expression was cold as he raised his right hand. With a wave of his hand, a curtain of water appeared in front of the alien cultivator, blocking its body and forcing it to to take a step back. The alien cultivator’s eyes immediately filled with savage killing intent.

“You’re courting death!”

As it spoke, the alien cultivator charged straight towards Xu Qing. With a wave of its hands, a large amount of black gas appeared. The black gas quickly morphed into resentful spirits that shrieked mournfully as they rushed towards Xu Qing.

Xu Qing’s expression didn’t change. The qi and blood in his body surged forth, and those resentful spirits instantly wailed, dissipating in Xu Qing’s vigorous energy. With a single step, Xu Qing arrived right in front of the alien cultivator and stretched out his right hand.

The alien cultivator’s expression instantly changed drastically, and madness appeared on its face.

At the critical moment, all the scales on the alien cultivator’s body peeled off and shot towards Xu Qing like a storm of sharp daggers.

After shooting its scales, the alien cultivator didn’t continue trying to run. Instead, killing intent burst out as it stabbed the sharp nails of its right hand directly at Xu Qing’s neck.

“Die!”

But a moment later, the alien cultivator’s pupils suddenly contracted, and its eyes revealed horror and disbelief.

Xu Qing didn’t care about the scale storm at all. No matter how many scales shot at him, they couldn’t stop his powerful momentum. At that moment, he penetrated the storm of scales and tightly grasped the alien cultivator’s hand.

With a crack, Xu Qing thrust his hand upwards and ruthlessly snapped the alien cultivator’s wrist.

Taking advantage of his momentum, he closed in and fiercely struck the alien cultivato’s head with his own. Screaming, the alien cultivator tried to back away, but Xu Qing quickly grabbed its other hand.

The alien cultivator’s breathing hastened and its face revealed terror. It felt like it was being clamped by iron pincers, unable to break free.

"Fellow Daoist, I am…"

Before it could finish speaking, Xu Qing calmly snapped the alien cultivator’s other hand and stabbed its own sharp fingers directly into its forehead.

Splutch! The area between the alien cultivator’s eyebrows was penetrated, and it let out a scream of despair. The scream sounded extremely miserable, and the alien cultivator’s eyes showed extreme fear.

However, its body structure was different from that of a human, so being penetrated through the eyebrows wasn’t a fatal wound.

But it was still a sever injury. At that moment, blood flowed out of its forehead, and its aura weakened rapidly. Xu Qing squeezed its neck and the alien cultivator instantly passed out. After that, Xu Qing quickly dragged away its unconscious body that was already like a corpse.

Inside and outside of the gambling den, everything was silent, and the gamblers and guards alike were all trembling fiercely. Just now, the loud clash between Xu Qing and Sun Dewang had attracted their attention, but Xu Qing’s attacks were too fierce and the battle ended too quickly.

In particular, when they recognized Sun Dewang’s identity, they became even more terrified of Xu Qing’s strength.

No one dared to speak, and a suffocating atmosphere descended on the area. Xu Qing, who was about to leave into the distance with Sun Dewang, suddenly stopped in his footsteps and looked up.

In the distance, a person suddenly appeared on a dark and desolate street.

As this person approached, stepping into the area illuminated by the gambling den’s lights, his appearance became clear. A light purple Daoist robe gradually entered Xu Qing’s vision.

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes.

The newcomer was a young man with long black hair, a handsome face, and a slender body. The arrogance in his expression, along with the light purple Daoist robe, clearly revealed his noble status.

In addition, the spiritual energy fluctuations rolling off of him indicated that he’d cultivated the Sea Transforming Scripture to the eighth level of Qi Condensation. A large number of water droplets manifested around him, locking on to Xu Qing with a fierce presence.

"Which division of the Homicide Department are you from? Let him go right now, and I can pretend that I didn’t see this?”

The newcomer’s voice was cold and brooked no argument.

Xu Qing remained silent. He had seen this young man in front of him before. Back when the captain brought him around for patrol, they had come across the scene of this young man walking among the crowd like a son of god descended from the heavens.

He knew that this person was a core disciple of the Seventh Peak.

Xu Qing frowned slightly. Although he had made some arrangements in case an accident happened, his arrangements wouldn’t necessarily help him in the face of a core disciple. In addition, Xu Qing felt that it wasn’t worth it to get into a fight with a core disciple over Sun Dewang’s bounty of 40 spirit stones.

But just then, a cold voice came from behind the young man in the light purple robe.

“Wow, Mr. Core Disciple is so incredible. You actually want to interfere with our Homicide Department’s law enforcement.”

As the voice rang out, the young man in the light purple robe abruptly turned around. Xu Qing also looked over to see a figure leisurely walking towards them from a distance. This figure was eating an apple as he walked. It was the captain of Team Six.

The light-purple-robed young man’s eyes narrowed, and Xu Qing’s eyes showed a hint of surprise. He wasn’t surprised by the captain’s arrival, but rather that he chose to appear at this timing.

Previously, Xu Qing didn’t fully trust in the old innkeeper’s clues. In this sinister and cruel Seven Blood Pupils main city, it was completely possible that the old innkeeper deliberately gave him clues to troublesome matters that could get him killed.

Moreover, for something like a gambling den to be opened in the main city, it definitely had to have some sort of background. Thus, on the way here, Xu Qing had sent a voice transmission to the captain, promising to hand over half of the profits as long as the captain came forward when needed to resolve any issues.

Regardless of if an issue happened or not, he would still get the spirit stones.

The clue to the first wanted criminal led nowhere, so the captain didn’t need to appear. Now, the second clue had led to a conflict with a core disciple, so Xu Qing hadn’t expected the captain to still show up.

Noticing the surprise in Xu Qing’s expression, the captain took a bite of the apple and winked at Xu Qing. Then he looked over at the light-purple-robed youtng man, who had an ugly expression on his face at that moment.

“According to the third rule of the Homicide Department, those who obstruct law enforcement will be severely punished.”

“That is a wanted criminal, and we’re enforcing the law. This is official business.”

“Are you trying to obstruct us?” The captain looked at the light-purple-robed young man with a smile.

In Xu Qing’s vision, the captain was clearly wearing a gray Daoist robe, but his domineering words and the light-purple-robed young man’s ugly expression made Xu Qing wonder who the real core disciple here was.

This thought made him extremely surprised.

As for the young man in the light purple robe, after hearing the captain’s words, his breathing hastened slightly, and his mind churned. In fact, Sun Dewang usually paid him a good amount in bribes, and this casino belonged to him as well. Thus, from the very beginning, he was determined to firmly put his foot down.

However, he was a little apprehensive of this Team Six captain in front of him. In fact, the young man in the light purple robe had heard a number of rumors about this person. He remembered that about two years ago, this person had a conflict with a core disciple, and not long after that… that core disciple disappeared.

Just this matter alone would make him extremely vigilant. What was even more shocking was that the big shots up on the mountain didn’t look into it at all. In addition, those who heard about the matter all kept their mouths shut, so most mountain-foot disciples had never heard about it.

In fact, the disappearance of a core disciple was normally a huge matter in Seven Blood Pupils. However, for that particular case… nothing came of it.

After a moment of silence, the young man in the light purple robe snorted coldly and flicked his sleeves before leaving without a word.

Seeing this scene, Xu Qing’s heart pounded. When he looked back at the captain, he suddenly had many questions and speculations.

"My spirit stones." The captain looked at Xu Qing and smiled.

Xu Qing immediately handed over 20 spirit stones.

After taking the spirit stones, the captain showed a satisfied expression and glanced at the departing figure of that core disciple.

“That guy’s called Zhao Zhongheng. He’s a useless idiot. If his grandfather wasn’t an elder of the Seventh Peak, he’d definitely have gotten himself killed a long time ago, never mind becoming a core disciple.”

“However, I heard that his grandfather arranged for him to come down from the mountain and take up a temporary position as a captain in the Dispatch Department. He probably wants him to gain some worldly experience.”

After speaking, the captain walked forward. Xu Qing followed silently, and they both returned to the Homicide Department together.

On the way there, Xu Qing glanced at the captain many times. When they were almost at the Homicide Department, the captain gave Xu Qing a sidelong galnce and spoke with a surprised voice.

“Brat, you can really bear it. Why don’t you ask me why I’m so amazing and how I made a core disciple retreat?”

"Why?" Xu Qing asked.

The captain looked at Xu Qing and felt his interest drain away.

“How boring… Forget it, since you’re a member of my team, I’ll tell you. In fact, I offended a core disciple two years ago, and I was planning to escape from Seven Blood Pupils at that time. But guess what happened? Hahaha.”

“That core disciple went out to sea and unluckily died in an accident. After the sect investigated, it was confirmed to be a real accident, so the matter was left at that. Somehow, rumors spread around, and… some core disciples on the mountain felt that I was quite mysterious.”

“So now, when they see me, they mostly avoid me.” The captain waved his hand dismissively and looked at Xu Qing with a smile.

Xu Qing nodded.

"You really believe it?" The captain seemed surprised.

"No." Xu Qing shook his head.

"Then why’d you nod..."

Xu Qing was silent.

The captain sighed and seemed to become bored again. A while later, when the gates of the Homicide Department appeared in the distance, his expression was obscured by the shadows, and he spoke up again softly.

"The truth is, I killed him. Xu Qing, this is my secret. This secret is worth… uh, one hundred spirit stones!"

After the captain finished speaking, he winked at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing couldn’t take out a hundred spirit stones.

The captain sighed and muttered a few words under his breath. After making Xu Qing personally admit to owing a hundred spirit stones, he stretched lazily and entered the Black Division of the Homicide Department.

Xu Qing rubbed his brow as he looked at the departing figure of the captain. Regarding the hundred spirit stones he now inexplicably owed for no reason, he didn’t feel any helplessness, instead heaving a sigh of relief.

The reason why he didn’t ask any questions on the way was because he keenly detected killing intent coming from the captain. Furthermore, Xu Qing had previously judged that the captain’s cultivation was at the ninth or tenth level of Qi Condensation, but now, sensing that the captain was hiding something, Xu Qing estimated that his true battle prowess was far stronger than that.

However, the captain never acted on his killing intent, and it quickly dissipated after Xu Qing acknowledged the debt.

As Xu Qing relaxed, he turned his head and looked in the direction of Banquan Road. A cold light flashed through his eyes.

Soon, he looked away and stepped into the Homicide Department, handing over Sun Dewang to the collection office and accepting the bounty.

Before leaving, he gave some spirit coins to the person in charge of collecting wanted criminals and politely asked about Zhao Zhongheng.

The disciple in charge of collecting wanted criminals received the spirit coins with a smile on his face and gave Xu Qing an overview.

The disciple’s introduction was roughly the same but not as detailed as what the captain had said. After gaining a thorough understanding of Zhao Zhongheng, Xu Qing thanked the disciple and left.

On the way back to his berth, Xu Qing’s eyes showed thoughtfulness as he recalled everything that had happened.

“The captain is extremely strong and very strange. He also seems to treat me a little differently… what’s his motive?”

While thinking, Xu Qing returned to his berth. Feeling incredibly wary, he pulled out a bamboo slip from his leather bag. This slip was very old, and it had clearly been used for a long time.

There were dense rows of crossed out names on it, as well as one name that wasn’t crossed out – the Vajra Sect ancestor.

Xu Qing picked up the iron skewer and began to engrave new words on the bamboo slip. First, he wrote down “Banquan Road’s Old Man”.

After that, he wrote down the word “captain”. After thinking about it, he also added a question mark.

He wrote it down because of the captain’s previous killing intent, and he added a question mark because the killing intent had been resolved with a hundred spirit stones.

After writing it down, Xu Qing set aside the matter of the captain. He wasn’t interested in exploring the captain’s secrets, so he took out Sun Dewang’s leather bag.

Falling silent, he recalled the words Sun Dewang had spoken as he was leaving the gambling den.

As expected, there was nothing valuable left in the leather bag. Xu Qing frowned and tossed the leather bag to the side before sitting down cross-legged to cultivate.

Just like that, time passed day by day. After Xu Qing made 20 spirit stones from splitting Sun Dewang’s bounty, he didn’t go back to Banquan Road. He suspected the old innkeeper of trying to kill him with a borrowed knife, so Xu Qing was already planning how to kill the old man quietly.

Unfortunately, this matter was a bit difficult. Xu Qing didn’t dare to startle him before his plan was certain.

During this time, besides cultivation, Xu Qing spent most of his time using his spirit stones to purchase expensive materials for upgrading his magic boat.

The Level Two magic boat had already been upgraded to Level Four, and he focused his upgrades on improving its sturdiness.

At that moment, the magic boat’s appearance had already changed drastically. Not only was it much longer and wider than before, most importantly, its body was now covered in real scales rather than scale totems.

With the whole magic boat covered in a dense layer of scales, it didn’t look much different from a real crocodile floating on the surface of the sea. Its savage aura had become even more brutal, and the crocodile head at the bow seemed to have a touch of spirituality in its eyes.

That was because Xu Qing had purchased two pieces of plate rock to improve the boat’s defensive capabilities.

The original dark awning had also turned into a true cabin. With the boat and the cabin, Xu Qing felt even safer.

Not everyone in the port area had a Level Four boat like this. Although the materials Xu Qing had bought were all low-grade, it still attracted quite a bit of attention in Dock 79.

There was nothing that could be done about this. Although he had asked to shopkeeper to hide the matter of upgrading his boat, it still couldn’t be kept secret in the end. Xu Qing could only increase his vigilance.

Fortunately, after so many years, vigilance had already become part of him.

At the same time, with the rapid improvements to his magic boat, his plan to head out to sea was also brought forward.

All of this made Xu Qing look at the magic boat with even more fondness. Although it was ridiculously expensive, it was worth it.

As for Zhao Zhongheng, nothing had happened these days. Most probably, he had been scared off by the captain.

At the same time, recently, the Homicide Department had stopped its frantic search for Night Dove. However, the atmosphere in the department was clearly tense, and Xu Qing felt that the time to pull in the net was coming soon.

Two days later, Xu Qing received a notice right before leaving the Homicide Department for patrol. Nobody was allowed to leave the Homicide Department today, and they were to join up with their respective teams and await orders.

They were also restricted from sending voice transmissions.

Xu Qing understood that it was finally time to close the net.

Indeed, two hours later, when dusk arrived, the captain came over to Team Six.

“The department has decided that today is the day we’ll close the net on Night Dove in all seven districts. Here in the port area, we’ve confirmed a total of 17 Night Dove strongholds, and all teams from the Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow Divisions will be dispatched together.”

“Xu Qing, the location you provided was correct. This time, our team is working together with the Earth Division’s Team Three, and our target is precisely that stronghold.” The captain smiled at Xu Qing before looking at the rest of the team members solemnly.

“Inside this stronghold, there are two people at the peak of Qi Condensation, four people at the ninth level, seven people at the eighth, and several more below that. In total, it’s twenty-five enemy cultivators!”

“And the department attaches great importance to this operation. In each stronghold, if a team kills the enemy chief together, every team member gets 10 spirit stones. If you kill the enemy chief alone, you get 80 spirit stones!”

“In addition, every single head is worth 10 spirit stones. Brothers, it’s time to make money!”

Xu Qing’s pupils contracted. If he wanted to upgrade his Level Four magic boat to Level Six, he would need to shell out for materials. Low-grade materials would cost him about a dozen spirit stones, but if he wanted middle-grade materials, he would need 80 spirit stones in total. As for high-level materials, Xu Qing didn’t even dream about it. They were ridiculously expensive.

Recently, he had just been wondering how to get more spirit stones. Now, hearing the captain’s words, Xu Qing’s eyes showed a bright light.

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