Chapter 147: Xu Qing

Xu Qing recognized that this falling Sea Corpse clansman was the very cultivator whose body had been cleaved in half by a single sword strike from the First Peak Master. The opponent had already been severely wounded at that time, and it was clear that in the subsequent battle, they had suffered further grievous injuries and been struck down.

Although it did not look like they were necessarily dead, one could assume that even if they were still alive, they must have been wounded to the extreme.

At this moment, Xu Qing stared at the sea surface where the opponent was falling, a glimmer of light dancing in his eyes similar to the one the Captain had once worn when looking at the flesh and blood of the Ju Ying. The First Peak youth outside his magic ship looked over as well, his expression somewhat hesitant.

Xu Qing pondered for a few breaths, his expression turning resolute. The Forbidden Sea dragon-whale beneath his magic ship lurched suddenly, and under Xu Qing's control, it dove straight toward the seabed, quickly spotting the falling Sea Corpse cultivator.

This person was in a miserable state; the lower half of their body and their head were both gone, leaving only the upper torso. As they emitted a large amount of black blood that merged into the seawater, their chest remained motionless, appearing completely devoid of life.

Thus, the next instant, the Forbidden Sea plesiosaur lunged out, biting down directly. But at that very moment, the half-body of the Sea Corpse clansman moved abruptly, their right hand lifting to press directly against the approaching plesiosaur.

Under this press, the entire plesiosaur roared and collapsed, leaving only the iron-armored fish core inside. As it flew back rapidly, a new plesiosaur quickly manifested once more.

At the same time, the Sea Corpse cultivator seemed to have exhausted their remaining strength; their right hand dropped, the aura they emitted grew even weaker, and due to the exertion just now, the wounds on their severed body split open even further.

Seeing this, Xu Qing narrowed his eyes and his hands moved rapidly to form seals. Immediately, the newly formed plesiosaur on the seabed approached again, biting down fiercely. This time, although it still collapsed under the movements of the half-corpse, it managed to bite off one of their fingers.

Yet, Xu Qing still did not go over personally, continuing to control the reformation of the plesiosaur. Furthermore, he made no attempt to conceal his fluctuations, so the First Peak youth to the side perceived all of this clearly.

The First Peak youth had originally been hesitant, but after seeing this, his eyes began to glow. He scanned Xu Qing, then looked down into the sea. As his eyes flickered, Xu Qing controlled the plesiosaur to strike again.

Amidst a roar, this time one of the Sea Corpse corpse's arms collapsed, causing the plesiosaur to be torn to pieces. Seeing this, Xu Qing's body stood up abruptly, ready to charge out.

The First Peak youth laughed aloud and, beating Xu Qing to it, dove into the sea, heading straight for the half-corpse of the Sea Corpse clansman.

On the magic ship at the surface, Xu Qing did not stop his pace, stepping into the sea as well. Though he appeared to be at full speed, he held something back, coldly watching the back of the First Peak youth ahead.

Xu Qing had no intention of going first. Even though the plesiosaur had tested the target many times, he remained cautious. He felt that a cultivator of the same level as an Elder, even in such a state, likely still had means to preserve their life.

Especially since they were the eerie Sea Corpse clan; Xu Qing had already witnessed their terrifying regenerative abilities.

Therefore, if someone else could go to investigate first, that was naturally for the best.

As for whether this First Peak prodigy would be killed... Xu Qing didn't think so.

The opponent clearly still had hidden life-saving measures. And if they really did die, Xu Qing felt that by using the shadow's concealment—though he wasn't entirely certain—he would have no choice but to try if it came to that.

Thinking of this, Xu Qing maintained a certain distance from the other person under the sea. Seeing the distance to the Sea Corpse cultivator closing, the First Peak prodigy ahead suddenly formed seals with his hands, and immediately, large swords formed, heading straight for the corpse.

He was not stupid. Although he had rushed ahead and Xu Qing was also chasing rapidly, he still felt there was a trap. However, the temptation was too great, so he was unwilling to give up. Now, having approached, he prepared to strike to test the waters.

Following his hand seals, the dozen or so large swords broke through the seawater and charged toward the corpse. Just as they were about to cut into it, the Sea Corpse cultivator's chest suddenly split open, releasing a mass of black blood that transformed into a ferocious ghost shadow, roaring at the First Peak youth.

This roar instantly unleashed a violent force, causing the dozen large swords to collapse and shatter into pieces. At the same time, blood spilled from the First Peak youth's seven orifices. A jade pendant he had been holding shattered, forming a barrier to resist, and his body retreated rapidly.

With a look of terror on his face, he dodged the impact. Behind him, Xu Qing whistled out, heading straight for the Sea Corpse cultivator with such speed that he arrived in an instant.

The ghost shadow emerging from the Sea Corpse cultivator's chest roared again.

A cold glint flashed in Xu Qing's eyes. The black umbrella concealed within his body opened slightly, and he met the attack head-on, a muffled sound echoing under the sea.

Xu Qing's entire body shook violently. As blood spilled out, he fiercely threw the dagger formed by black fire, stabbing it into the ghost shadow.

With a boom, the ghost shadow swayed. As black flames permeated its entire body, a second ghost shadow suddenly crawled out from the cultivator's chest, letting out another low growl.

Xu Qing's body shook wildly, forced back dozens of feet, while the Sea Corpse cultivator took this opportunity to accelerate their descent, attempting to escape.

A cold glint flashed in Xu Qing's eyes. From the previous contact, he had sensed a trace of a remnant soul in the opponent. This remnant soul was a huge temptation for him, and at the same time, he faintly saw that the opponent also had a storage bag.

Such an opportunity, Xu Qing did not intend to let go.

After all, it was extremely rare to encounter a situation where an Elder-level existence was on the verge of death, and even if one did, there would surely be many people fighting for it.

Xu Qing had made his decision. Watching the Sea Corpse corpse sinking rapidly to the seabed, his body lurched and he charged forward.

The plesiosaur also arrived quickly to envelop him, making Xu Qing's speed even faster. At the same time, the magic ship dove into the sea, golden light shining upon it as a divine-natured strike began to prepare.

As for the First Peak youth, he stared with wide eyes at Xu Qing's figure in pursuit, his heart suddenly in chaos. In his view, although such a thing was tempting, risking his life for it was completely unworthy.

After all, as the Ninth Prince of the First Peak, taking appropriate risks was fine, but throwing his life away was not an option. After all, as long as he followed the path, his future was bright.

But... Xu Qing had gone.

He and Xu Qing shared a Life-Link Talisman. The restriction of this talisman was mutual; if he died, Xu Qing's soul would scatter, and likewise, if Xu Qing died, he would also have his soul scattered.

This made him, who had felt comfortable just a moment ago, feel incomparably anxious in his heart.

He suddenly felt that his Master was not as wise and martial as he thought... Thus, he was incredibly conflicted, and finally, gritting his teeth and cursing inwardly, he had no choice but to rush over.

And he did so at even greater speed, biting through the tip of his tongue—which was already nearly gone—to unleash a secret technique that transformed into a blood sword, terrified that if he arrived late, this lunatic from the Seventh Peak would throw his life away.

Furthermore, after catching up to Xu Qing, the First Peak youth, feeling incredibly aggrieved, threw a precious life-saving jade talisman of his own to Xu Qing...

Watching Xu Qing's practiced movement in catching the talisman, the First Peak youth wailed in his heart. He felt that this time out at sea, he should never, ever have tried to snatch the other's sea beast.

Now, under the Life-Link Talisman, not only did he not feel comfortable, but he had to become the other's guardian, accompanying him to risk his life, terrified that the other would die.

This sense of grievance exploded to the extreme when he saw Xu Qing slam headlong into the Sea Corpse corpse. He accelerated frantically, forced to strike alongside Xu Qing, having to consider protecting himself while also having to protect Xu Qing.

Just like that, the two of them engaged in a fierce battle in the sea against the remnant body of the Sea Corpse clansman. Although the opponent only had a remnant soul left, the ghost shadow it transformed into was quite formidable, and both of them were severely wounded multiple times.

And Xu Qing seemed not to care for his life, which made the youth feel even more miserable. He kept giving Xu Qing life-saving talismans, and he himself unleashed his trump cards, attempting to end this battle as quickly as possible.

Until the end, Xu Qing simply stopped defending. His hands formed seals, black flames were released continuously, striking again and again, absorbing a trace of the opponent's soul power again and again, and again and again, under the sonic waves of the ghost shadow, he was desperately protected by the First Peak youth.

The intensity of this protection, if seen by an outsider, would surely be moving.

So much so that in the end, the First Peak youth was in despair. He gritted his teeth and retreated, simply stopping the protection; he did not believe the other would really go and seek death.

Xu Qing glanced coldly at the youth, ignored him, and continued to strike.

Until a moment later, the First Peak youth was frightened. He saw Xu Qing nearly get killed multiple times, so his heart trembled. With a wail in his heart, he hurriedly waved his hand to throw out a protective jade talisman to shield him, then, with a bitter face, quickly joined the battle to fight the Sea Corpse clansman.

He poured all his inner frustration into his attacks. Thus, after this battle had lasted for a full day, and both Xu Qing and the Ninth Prince of the First Peak were exhausted, the Sea Corpse clansman's remnant soul finally could not hold on and dissipated. After Xu Qing absorbed the majority of it, the opponent's storage bag was also taken by Xu Qing.

However, upon returning to the magic ship, the Ninth Prince of the First Peak directly took out a sword, placed it against his own neck, and while panting, a look of extreme determination appeared in his eyes as he gritted his teeth and spoke.

"A stick of incense for two graves in the clear light, uneven division of spoils breaks one's heart!"

"Don't understand," Xu Qing said calmly, putting the storage bag into his bosom.

The Ninth Prince of the First Peak's eyes were blood-red, staring fixedly at Xu Qing. After being suppressed to the extreme, he spoke the second human sentence of this voyage.

"Split it with me! Otherwise, I'll die for you to see!"

」

Xu Qing looked at the youth calmly. He saw the determination in the other's eyes, so he pondered for a moment. Thinking that the other had indeed helped a great deal during the previous strikes and had been incredibly diligent in protecting him—several times acting more like a guardian than a guardian—

He opened the storage bag and poured it out directly in front of the other.

Immediately, a large amount of items fell out. Inside were a bundle of spirit notes, a large amount of scattered spirit stones, jade slips, elixir bottles, and so on, and even many refining materials, piling up into a small hill.

Especially among them were two jade talismans emitting fluctuations. Xu Qing had seen such talismans before; they were similar to the First Peak Ninth Prince's life-saving items, but these two clearly had much stronger fluctuations, exceeding them by a great deal.

This type of item, Xu Qing had seen in the shops at the port; these were also talisman treasures, but they were not made by Foundation Establishment cultivators, but by Core Formation cultivators.

Because Core Formation is too strong, no jade can fully contain the power of a single strike, so most only possess a small amount of Core Formation methods. These two seemed to have been made not long ago; clearly, they were not for the Sea Corpse clansman's own use—he had no need for that.

In all likelihood, they were probably intended as gifts.

Besides this, a feather carved from jade was extremely conspicuous among the items, shining with a dazzling light. After this item was seen by Xu Qing and the Ninth Prince, both of their eyes narrowed.

"Magic tool!" Xu Qing was somewhat moved. His Spirit-Breath Lamp was a magic tool, and the black iron sliver could also be called a magic tool to a certain extent.

Magic tools are between talisman treasures and magic treasures, belonging to man-made magic treasures, only their power is vastly different from the legendary true magic treasures, divided into low, middle, and high grades.

But for a cultivator, in the absence of an opportunity to obtain a magic treasure, a magic tool is already excellent.

Xu Qing did not hesitate at all and grabbed the jade feather. The First Peak Ninth Prince also raised his hand, but what he grabbed was not the feather, but a very inconspicuous object in the pile of items.

That was an iron block that looked like a box.

At this moment, his brain was still a bit dazed. What happened last night? Why am I so tired...

I'm going to wash up...