Chapter 54

Chapter 54: Butterfly Leaving the Chrysalis

By the time the night was half over, Xu Qing had cultivated the Sea Transforming Scripture all the way to the fourth level.

His abnormal speed made the nearby Seventh Peak disciples feel shock. However, most Seventh Peak disciples were good at suppressing their emotions.

They quickly noticed that Xu Qing’s boat was brand new. Realizing that he was a newbie disciple, most of them returned to their own boats. However, although they had stopped paying attention on the surface, they actually started to investigate in secret.

Finally, when dawn arrived and the rays of sunlight reflecting off the sea created a dazzling glow that spread in all directions, Xu Qing opened his eyes inside the dark awning boat.

The purple light in his eyes lasted for over a dozen breaths of time before slowly fading, revealing the astonishment within.

During the second half of the night, his cultivation speed had slowed down a lot, and he only broke through from the fourth to the fifth level of the Sea Transforming Scripture.

However, this still far surpassed Xu Qing’s expectations, especially since he only cultivated for a single night.

“The Sea and Mountain Art and the Sea Transforming Scripture complement each other…” Xu Qing felt somewhat incredulous.

As he sat there, there was a different air about him. His original sharp edges had become a little softer.

There was even a faint otherworldly temperament slowly developing.

This was the special aura of a cultivator of the Sea Transforming Scripture.

Taking a deep breath, Xu Qing sensed the spiritual sea inside his body, which was already more than fifty meters wide, and recalled what the Sea and Mountain Art’s bamboo slip had said.

An Imp can move a mountain, and a Chief can move the sea.

But after careful analysis, he felt that although the Sea and Mountain Art may have helped, a bigger reason for his rapid advancement was because the meridians in his body were pure and free from heterogeneity.

His body was like an extremely sturdy container. It was completely incomparable to the body of someone who had just started cultivating.

That was why he could accommodate such a large influx of spiritual energy while rushing through the early stages, and also why his cultivation speed slowed down in the second half of the night.

After all, his capacity wasn’t unlimited.

“But judging from the breakthrough into the fifth level, although my cultivation speed has slowed down a little, I can still improve rapidly.”

Xu Qing’s eyes flashed brightly as he thought it over. And it wasn’t only his Sea Transforming Scripture that had improved that night; his Sea and Mountain Art was closing in on the eighth level.

But most importantly, each level of the Sea Transforming Scripture granted access to spells. At this moment, Xu Qing looked down at his right hand.

His mind moved, and a drop of seawater rapidly formed in his palm. Instantly, it grew into a ball of water the size of a human head. The water ball changed shape constantly, sometimes forming a knife, sometimes turning into a small shield, and sometimes changing into the shape of a bird.

The water ball in his palm constantly changed form. Depending on the distribution of sea water, each of the transformations emphasized different areas. Obviously, they had differences in might as well.

And there were no less than a hundred such transformations recorded in the Sea Transforming Scripture jade slip, from the first level to the tenth level.

The seawater emitted an icy chill, carrying the aura of the Forbidden Sea. This Forbidden Sea aura could deliver a shock to the enemy’s mind in battle. At the same time… Xu Qing vaguely sensed the water ball’s power.

The explosive power in this ball of water was enough to wipe the floor with any fifth-level Qi Condensation cultivator Xu Qing had ever seen in the scavenger camp.

Xu Qing measured this power against his former self from before he came to Seven Blood Pupils. In his final analysis, he concluded that with 40 of these water balls, he could kill quickly and easily kill his former self.

But as he sensed the spiritual sea over 50 meters wide inside his body, he realized that he could release about 50 of these water balls. If he became more skilled at transformation, then even if his former self was extremely careful, he would only be able to last a little bit longer.

And his power among body refiners was already abnormal. Xu Qing seemed to be in the seventh level of the Sea and Mountain Art, but compared to others cultivating the same technique, his Chief Shadow put him on par with someone at the tenth level.

In other words, a normal cultivator at the tenth level of the Sea and Mountain Art could only barely avoid being instantly killed by a Seventh Peak disciple at the fifth floor of the Sea Transforming Scripture.

Xu Qing’s understanding of Seven Blood Pupils improved once again, and he was able to make a better judgment of the strength and abilities of Seventh Peak disciples.

"The gap between a loose cultivator and a sect disciple is too great."

“Along with my power from body refining, I would definitely be able to kill my past self within an incense stick’s worth of time.” Xu Qing whispered. His gaze slowly revealed a brilliant light.

Although his cultivation base hadn’t increased too much, his improved battle prowess made him feel certain that he was headed in the right direction.

Right now, the sun was rising into the sky, and sunlight poured down on the boat’s dark awning. Xu Qing looked down at his shadow that appeared on the deck of the boat.

All the heterogeneity that he had absorbed last night entered the shadow, making it even darker than before. It was so dark that gazing into it felt like gazing into the abyss.

Xu Qing looked at the shadow, and it suddenly started to move. It swayed from side to side, stretched out its hands, formed a fist, and spread out its five fingers. It repeated these actions over and over, and its speed got faster and faster.

It even rapidly stretched and shrank repeatedly, which looked extremely bizarre.

A long while later, a trace of exhaustion appeared in Xu Qing’s eyes and the shadow instantly turned back to normal and stopped moving.

“After that second test and reaching the fifth level of the Sea Transforming Scripture, my control over the shadow has also improved by leaps and bounds.” Xu Qing raised his head and looked at the sun outside.

After a while, he slowly stood up and arranged his belongings. Taking out the gray Taoist robe, he put it on the table and stroked it softly.

With a wave of his right hand, he summoned a drop of seawater. The drop rapidly expanded into a ball, then flattened, turning into a water mirror that reflected Xu Qing’s appearance.

The face in the water mirror had a hint of immaturity and was indescribably delicate, containing a unique charm. Although it was full of dirt, its bright eyes were dazzling like stars.

Looking at his reflection in the water mirror, Xu Qing remained silent for a moment before revealing a decisive expression. He took the scavenger clothing off his body, revealing the refined muscles and perfectly proportioned body granted to him by the Sea and Mountain Art.

He raised his left hand and grasped towards the water mirror, causing it to fly straight over. When it neared Xu Qing, it turned into a cloud of water vapor that directly covered his body. Under the cleansing of the water, a smelly black substance washed down Xu Qing’s slender body, pooling under his feet.

Xu Qing stood there in silence. This was the first time in seven years that he’d washed his body so thoroughly.

This was because he knew that his environment had changed. Back in the slum and scavenger camp, everyone else was covered in dirt, so he also covered himself in dirt in order to not stand out.

But here, if he stayed the same as before, it would attract unnecessary attention. Although the scavenger clothing made him appear poor, the fact that he owned a magic boat couldn’t be kept secret. Anyone who cared to know would know, so it didn’t make much sense to continue pretending to be poor.

Thus, his expression didn’t change at all. As the water vapor faded away, it gradually revealed his fair skin, clean face, and neat hair.

A moment later, when the last trace of dirt was washed away from his body, Xu Qing opened his eyes.

Rays of sunlight streamed into the area under the dark awning, falling on his black hair and illuminating his face. The sunlight seemed reluctant to leave, as if it wanted to light up his whole body. Xu Qing felt a little uncomfortable and took a few steps backwards into the shadows.

The figure hiding in the shadows had a head of straight black hair.

He appeared sixteen or seventeen years old, with straight, sword-like eyebrows and sharp black eyes. His lips were thin and slightly pursed, and with his sharp profile and slender figure, he looked like a young eagle in the dark night, about to spread its wings.

His demeanor was cold and aloof, but also somewhat desolate. Combined with the remnant immaturity on his face, it made him exude incredible charm.

Xu Qing lowered his head and looked down at his hands before taking out the gray robe’s inner wear and putting it on.

Finally, after putting on the sect-issued shoes and donning the gray Taoist robe, he waved his hand to summon the water ball again, washing away the bloodstains left on the deck last night. When Xu Qing walked out of the boat, he glowed with an indescribable radiance under the sun.

He was like a dusty gemstone that had been wiped clean, revealing a dazzling light.

Many of the guards patrolling the shore glanced over.

Standing on the boat, Xu Qing squinted his eyes as if trying to block out the gazes of the outside world. The sunlight falling directly on his skin made him a little uncomfortable, but he knew that he had to get used to it. Slowly, Xu Qing opened his eyes, forcing himself to adapt to the feeling of sunlight on his skin.

After a while, he took a deep breath. Turning around, Xu Qing stepped off the boat.

With a wave of his hand he returned the boat to the bottle and slowly walked away under the watchful eyes of the patrolling guards.

Today was the day for him to check in at the Homicide Department.

At the same time, he also planned to go to a pharmacy and buy some medicinal herbs in order to refine White Pills and poison powder. Right now, he no longer had any pills on his person.

The port was very lively in the early morning.

Foreign merchant ships and Seventh Peak disciples streamed in and out of over a hundred docks, making the port crowded and bustling. Many shops also opened, and the pedestrians on the streets had already started their busy day.

Xu Qing’s arrival attracted some attention due to his appearance, but physical appearance was all superficial to cultivators anyway, so most of them only glanced over before retracting their gazes.

Xu Qing was gradually getting used to it, but he still walked in the shadows on the side of the street. On the way to the Homicide Department, Xu Qing noticed that other than a pharmacy, there was also a smithy and array engraving shop in the port.

Thanks to the magic boat’s jade slip, Xu Qing knew that not every disciple could rely on themselves to improve their magic boats. In fact, the vast majority of disciples would send the magic boat along with upgrading materials to the smithy opened by Sixth Peak disciples or the array engraving shop operated by Fifth Peak disciples to be upgraded.

After noting down these shops, Xu Qing quickly inquired about the location of the Seventh Peak’s Homicide Department and headed over.

Soon, a magnificent building appeared in front of Xu Qing.

The gate of this building was very similar to that of the city lord’s mansion in the city ruins, but the area inside was much larger. Dozens of small buildings dotted the premises like a forest, radiating waves of pressure that shocked all directions.

Moreover, there were two pitch-black stone statues in front of the gate. The statues looked like hideous crosses between humans and beasts. The sight of the demon-like statues was shocking.

The area in front of the gate was cold and deserted. Pedestrians would often take long detours to avoid the area, not daring to approach.

There were two young cultivators in gray Taoist robes in front of the gate. They were a man and a woman, both in their twenties, and their appearances were rather ordinary. At that moment, they were lazily leaning on the gateposts, breathing evenly as if they were asleep. However, as soon as Xu Qing approached, they immediately raised their heads and two lightning-like gazes honed in on Xu Qing.

Xu Qing’s expression was calm as he walked over under their gazes. Without getting too close, he paused at a spot not too far from the gate and clasped his fists before bowing.

“Disciple Xu Qing of the Seventh Peak, reporting for duty.”

“Newbie?” There was a glimmer of light in the young man’s eyes as he looked Xu Qing up and down. Soon, his pupils contracted slightly, as if he could sense Xu Qing’s extraordinary power. He was about to speak, but his female companion suddenly pushed him aside and walked up to Xu Qing. Looking at Xu Qing’s face, she showed a soft smile.

“Little Junior Brother, what are you here for?”

“He already said he’s here to report, why are you still asking?” The young man grinned.

The female cultivator ignored him and continued to look at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing instinctively took a few steps back. He didn’t like being so close to people. At that moment, he was also observing the two cultivators and instinctively glanced at their necks.

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