Chapter 97

Chapter 97: Meeting The Killer At Last

The wind blowing through the dark night was strong. As it swept over Xu Qing’s magic boat in Dock 79, the protective barrier gleamed to block it.

If only the wind could pass through the barrier and blow into the cabin of the magic boat, it would find that… there was no one there.

A distance away from the magic boat, Xu Qing was leaning against a wall in a dark corner. His arms were folded as he stared coldly at his magic boat.

His eyes closed for a moment before reopening, filled with a sharp light.

“Will anyone come?” Xu Qing looked up at the dark sky.

“Tonight is a good night to kill.”

Xu Qing softly muttered these words, but his mind was thinking of something else. He kept remembering that vast black cloud he saw when he was returning from sea, as well as the phoenix-like existence within.

He had asked Zhang San about it before he left after retrieving his magic boat. Zhang San didn’t know much, but he told Xu Qing that that existence was related to the largest forbidden area in South Phoenix, Phoenix Forbidden.

It was the sovereign of that forbidden area, the Flame Phoenix Yanhuang!

The forbidden area was called Phoenix Forbidden precisely because it housed Yanhuang.

Yanhuang was a supreme existence not only in its forbidden area, but also across the whole continent of South Phoenix. In fact, even the name South Phoenix Continent was derived from it!

South Phoenix, South Phoenix… South of the Ancient Hope Mainland, there was a divine phoenix[1] that could dance in the highest heavens. Its might darkened the sky, and all living things had no choice but to revere it. It was called Yanhuang, the Flame Phoenix, and it lived on an island that came to be known as South Phoenix.

As for the exact details, Zhang San didn’t know much either.

“Yanhuang…” Xu Qing muttered internally. As his cultivation rose and he came into contact with many things, he gradually gained a wider understanding of this world.

At that moment, the sea breeze suddenly brought the sounds of rustling clothes to Xu Qing’s ears, instantly pulling him out of his thoughts. Coldness appeared in his eyes as Xu Qing stopped thinking about the matter of Yanhuang and looked into the distance.

Soon, five figures appeared in Xu Qing’s eyes.

Three men and two women.

And Xu Qing was no stranger to the two women in front. Whether it was the fishy smell carried on the wind or their general silhouettes, Xu Qing was able to immediately recognize the two as the merfolk youth’s elder sisters.

Their cultivation bases weren’t ordinary, either. One was at the ninth level of Qi Condensation and the other was at the peak.

As for the three followers behind them, they were also merfolk race cultivators, although only at the eight level of Qi Condensation. Moonlight shone on their faces, revealing vicious expressions filled with killing intent.

Xu Qing stared at the coldly and narrowed his eyes. However, he didn’t make a move immediately, instead glancing at the darkness behind them.

“Why aren’t the Foundation Establishment Dao Protectors here?”

Xu Qing fell into deep thought. Soon, the five figures eluded the patrolling disciples and approached Xu Qing’s magic boat.

Perhaps it was because she felt that she had the third highness backing her, or perhaps it was just the innate arrogance of the merfolk race, but when the younger of the two sisters approached Xu Qing’s magic boat, she suddenly increased her speed, as if she was about to directly rush over.

However, the elder sister next to her held her back. She was obviously much calmer than her younger sister and didn’t act rashly, instead lifting her hand and taking out a talisman treasure.

This talisman treasure didn’t seem to be an offensive one. Instead, it appeared to have an investigative function.

After a few breaths, the two merfolk women realized that there was no one on the boat. They quickly backed away, about to leave.

The coldness in Xu Qing’s eyes faded. The reason why he had left the boat was because he didn’t want to kill anyone inside his magic boat. Once he did, there would be too many traces and it could easily cause trouble in the future.

Of course, if the merfolk group really tried to break in to his magic boat, Xu Qing still had a backup plan. But at that moment, he just stared at the five merfolk cultivators, waiting for them to leave. He would follow them in secret and assassinate them one by one without leaving any traces.

But just as the five were about to leave and Xu Qing was about to take a step, the elder sister’s expression changed and she suddenly looked right at Xu Qing’s hiding spot.

“Fluctuations of brother’s bloodline curse!”

As soon as the woman spoke, the younger sister next to her also looked over. Her green eyes were filled with killing intent and she rushed straight over to Xu Qing’s location. The three followers also sped over with intense killing intent in their expressions.

“They found me?” Xu Qing frowned slightly. The two women could be considered the third highness’ people, and if he was caught in a fight here, it would easily attract attention. Moreover, he still had to worry about them sending voice transmissions for reinforcements.

So as soon as they rushed over, Xu Qing quickly retreated and restrained his aura to a great degree. He put on a panicked expression in order to make his enemies overconfident so that they wouldn’t send messages out immediately.

Xu Qing didn’t want to drag things out. He planned to find a remote place to finish them all off.

At that moment, the five merfolk cultivators were hurriedly pursuing him.

The one in the front was the younger of the two sisters. There was a fierce look in her eyes, and clusters of black bubbles appeared around her. Her expression was full of killing intent as she waved her hand viciously, causing the bubbles to shoot towards Xu Qing’s hurriedly fleeing figure.

The bubbles quickly approached. While releasing the spiritual energy fluctuations of a spell, they also caused heterogeneity to spread over, as if trying to invade Xu Qing’s body.

“So you were the one who killed my brother. Death is too good for you!”

As she spoke, the three merfolk followers behind her each took out their weapons with sinister expressions.

One of them held a bone sword, another had the scales on their hands turn into venomous spikes, and the last had sarcomas growing on his back that tore through his clothes and burst, releasing a toxic gas that turned into a ghostly form and chased after Xu Qing.

The elder of the two sisters was in the rear of the group. She had a cautious nature and didn’t chase too closely, even taking out a talisman treasure to protect herself.

Xu Qing didn’t look back even as spells closed in from behind him. Instead, he increased his speed and continued to run.

By the time those spells approached him, the group was already in a remote place. Xu Qing suddenly stopped running and turned around, eyes filled with killing intent. He exploded with speed several times faster than before and rushed towards the merfolk behind him.

He arrived in front of the younger merfolk sister in the blink of an eye. Before her expression could change at all, he directly ignored her bubble spell and slammed into her chest.

Although this woman was at the ninth level of Qi Condensation and had the innate talents of the merfolk race, in front of Xu Qing’s powerful spiritual energy and his physical strength that surpassed Qi Condensation, her body was no different from paper. As soon as Xu Qing touched her…

Bang. The woman’s eyes widened, and her body immediately exploded before she could even scream.

Blood and flesh splattered everywhere, and her entire body shattered into pieces. Only the head remained intact as it flew up and was surrounded by a cloud of blue light. It seemed to retain some life as it quickly fled.

Xu Qing glanced at the head and swung his hand, causing the black skewer to shoot out. Meanwhile, he didn’t pause at all and instantly appeared in front of the merfolk cultivator who was holding a bone sword.

Just as that cultivator’s expression changed drastically, Xu Qing had already raised his right hand a grabbed onto the bone sword.

With a crack, the bone sword split in two.

Xu Qing flipped the broken end of the blade and slashed the cultivator’s neck.

This eighth-level Qi Condensation merfolk cultivator immediately died with blood spurting out of his neck.

But it wasn’t over yet. With another step, Xu Qing appeared in front of the merfolk cultivator with the sarcomas on his back that emitted toxic gas.

This cultivator was already retreating rapidly with ragged breathing, but before he could take more than a few steps back, his body trembled. His whole body instantly turned black, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. He died of poison.

Compared with Xu Qing’s poison, his own poison was insignificant.

At the same time, the third follower’s mind rumbled, and his body trembled violently in horror. Just as he was about to scream, countless water droplets suddenly appeared all around him and enveloped his body, crushing him into a bloody mist.

The black skewer also caught up with the head of the merfolk sister that was enveloped in blue light at that moment, stabbing towards her.

However, the talisman treasure that produced the blue light was clearly extraordinary. It flickered rapidly, but it was actually able to block the iron skewer in the end. However, the impact of the collision still caused half the head to explode.

Nevertheless, the merfolk woman wasn’t a human in the end and actually didn’t die immediately. Instead, she screamed and used the force of the impact to fly over to her sister.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye. Xu Qing’s attacks were extremely decisive. After killing three people in a row, he pulled out the dagger and flung it towards the elder merfolk sister in the distance with a sharp whistling sound.

It closed in on her in an instant.

The elder merfolk sister’s complexion changed drastically, and her expression instantly became unprecedentedly horrified. The sudden deaths of her companions even felt a little unreal.

However, her innate caution and the protection of her talisman treasure, coupled with her peak Qi Condensation cultivation, allowed her to avoid being poisoned, and although the dagger flew over with great strength, it couldn’t immediately break through her talisman treasure.

As the dagger collided with the barrier with a boom, the elder merfolk sister’s body trembled.

She never imagined that such a terrifying existence would be hidden in this seemingly ordinary Dock 79. In her perception, this sort of battle prowess was already no different from Foundation Establishment.

Realizing that she had actually brought a group to pick a fight with this person… the merfolk sister’s scalp began to tingle, and she even cursed her dead brother in her heart.

“It’s fine if you die, but why did you have to provoke such a monster!!”

At this critical moment, she took out a second talisman treasure without hesitation and flung it outwards. A rumbling sound immediately echoed as the talisman treasure transformed into a huge fish tail that fiercely slapped towards Xu Qing.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the elder merfolk sister grabbed the younger sister’s half-head that was already showing signs of poison. She exploded out with all her cultivation and quickly fled without looking back.

Her terror had already turned into a massive wave that drowned her mind. There was only a single thought remaining in her head – run away!

Run away until the merfolk race’s Dao Protectors arrived.

According to the plan, the Dao Protectors should have arrived already. The elder merfolk sister quickly took out a voice transmission jade slip and sent out a hurried message.

However, she didn’t have time to wait for their reply. At that moment, she was already burning her cultivation base to increase her speed to its maximum extent. She even took out a third talisman treasure and used it to break through Xu Qing’s rain curtain before continuing to flee crazily.

Loud booms rang out.

If it was in the port, they would definitely already have been noticed, but this was a remote area that had been blocked off by Xu Qing’s rain curtain. Moreover, the battle was over extremely quickly, so no sound was able to spread out.

Soon, Xu Qing stepped out from behind the huge fish tail formed by the talisman treasure.

There was a gloomy expression on his face as he looked at the fleeing merfolk woman in the distance. Stomping his foot on the ground, he shot forward in pursuit.

He burst out with full speed and even took out a flight talisman, causing him to shoot forward like a bolt of lightning.

[1] – The term ‘phoenix’ right here (and in this sentence only) is 凤(feng), rather than 凰(huang).

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