Chapter 169: The Ancestor is Anxious

Upon hearing this, Ding Xue immediately took out a jade slip and looked at Xu Qing.

She intended to send a voice transmission to call for help as soon as Xu Qing gave the signal.

Xu Qing did not speak; he listened carefully, waiting for a long while until the exact same voice from the secret passage repeated itself a second time.

"Daddy, come home quickly..."

The voice was still filled with deep longing, an emotion so intense that although it seemed to come from the secret passage, it felt as if it were calling right by his ear, easily conjuring images in one's mind.

Xu Qing's eyes showed contemplation; he had not detected any dangerous fluctuations in the secret passage, nor did his senses pick up any eerie chill, but he still instantly ignited his life fire and activated the Profound Brilliance State.

In this nearly one month of time, this was the first time Xu Qing had activated the Profound Brilliance State in front of Ding Xue; the dangers he had encountered before could be resolved by him in his normal state.

At this moment, as his aura erupted with a boom, both Ding Xue and Zhao Zhao Zhongheng gasped, instinctively stepping back, their eyes instantly stinging, not daring to look directly at him.

Ding Xue was fine; although she could not open her eyes, the surprise in her heart outweighed the shock, but Zhao Zhao Zhongheng's expression shifted, his internal mental construction nearly collapsing again.

"Who says only those standing in the light are heroes? My sincerity is different from the rest!" Zhao Zhao Zhongheng's breathing was rapid as he growled encouragement to himself in his heart.

Xu Qing did not know the internal thoughts of Ding Xue and Zhao Zhao Zhongheng, nor did he care about them; now, with the Profound Brilliance State activated, he did not hesitate in the slightest, his body lunging forward as he stepped directly into the secret passage.

Upon entering, Xu Qing's speed was astonishing, whistling deep into the passage; wherever he passed, he kicked up a series of sonic booms, creating a chain of echoes within the narrow tunnel.

At the same time, he also noticed that the activity of the corpse poison within the strange substances here was rapidly dissipating, as if evaporating after death.

Xu Qing was thoughtful; in an instant, he reached the end of the secret passage, his gaze like lightning as he rapidly observed his surroundings.

This place looked like a simple hiding spot.

In the corner was the figure of a Sea Corpse clansman, appearing as an elderly human, now huddled in the corner, already dead.

There were several shocking wounds on the corpse, especially at the dantian, which was a bloody mess; the injury there was the most fatal, nearly pierced through, and this corpse was the very source of the strange substances and corpse poison.

Even though he was dead, the lingering fluctuations on his body were still strong; Xu Qing's gaze swept over him, judging that this person was at least at the level of one life fire while alive.

This Sea Corpse clansman had clearly suffered a life-extinguishing injury on the Mermaid clan island, persisted in hiding here, was unable to escape, and even less able to recover, eventually dying silently in this place.

He could not have been dead for very long, which was why strange substances had leaked out when the secret passage was opened earlier.

His expression was also somewhat different from the Sea Corpse clansmen Xu Qing had seen; although he was gradually rotting, one could still faintly see the confusion he had felt before death.

Especially since he was still tightly clutching a small bronze bottle in his hand.

It was as if this were his most precious item before death.

This small bottle was very worn and had already been opened, with the voice Xu Qing had just heard emanating from within.

"Daddy, come home quickly..."

The voice was very faint, carrying a deep sense of longing.

And the elderly Sea Corpse clansman seemed to have opened the bottle before death, listening to this voice over and over again as he gradually died.

As if this were the voice of his closest kin.

Xu Qing's gaze swept from the bottle and observed the surroundings again; confirming there was no danger here, footsteps sounded behind him.

The arrivals were Zhao Zhao Zhongheng and Ding Xue; after Xu Qing entered the passage, they waited for a while and noticed no movement, so Ding Xue grew anxious and ran in quickly, and Zhao Zhao Zhongheng had no choice but to follow.

Noticing that Xu Qing was unharmed, Ding Xue breathed a sigh of relief; only then did she observe the surroundings, and upon seeing everything in this place, she gasped when she looked at the bottle in the Sea Corpse clansman's hand.

"Sound-Catching Bottle!"

Ding Xue, with her astonishing background, clearly possessed knowledge beyond that of ordinary cultivators; recognizing the origin of the small bronze bottle at a glance, she hurriedly informed Xu Qing after noticing his gaze sweep over.

"The Sound-Catching Bottle is an ancient object, very rare; its value is priceless to some, but worthless to most, because its function is very singular: to capture sound, and once covered, one can open it at any time to hear the captured sound."

"The sound is extremely realistic, one could even say it is the original sound; that is its strange and precious aspect, but it cannot last long. After being open for a long time, the sound will slowly dissipate, and it needs to be captured again."

Speaking to this point, Ding Xue looked at the Sea Corpse clansman, then at the Sound-Catching Bottle he held tightly as if it were a treasure, and seemed to understand something.

"Sea Corpse clansmen are all clansmen of various tribes who are resurrected through unique methods after death, and once they become Sea Corpse clansmen, they can only retain the residual memories from their lives."

"But these memories have no use, because the nature of Sea Corpse clansmen is cruel; the moment of resurrection is equivalent to severing ties with their past life, and few retain items of attachment from their former lives."

"If this bottle is his, then this Sea Corpse clansman is truly unusual; he actually retained an item from his past life. The bottle must be his object of attachment, and also his obsession."

"As for the voice in the bottle, perhaps it was his child from when he was alive? But regardless of how he was in life, he is already a Sea Corpse clansman."

Ding Xue's tone carried some uncertainty; clearly, she herself was not sure if the truth was as she had judged, and after finishing, she looked at Xu Qing.

"It doesn't matter." Xu Qing shook his head, his right hand lifting to grab, and the small bronze bottle immediately flew into his hand.

At this moment, the voice inside the bottle also grew completely faint, and after emitting one last call, it vanished entirely.

Ding Xue glanced at Zhao Zhao Zhongheng; if this look had been directed at someone else, it might have been hard to understand the meaning, but Zhao Zhao Zhongheng understood immediately and, without any hesitation, stepped forward to search the Sea Corpse clansman's body.

Soon, they found a storage bag, and the three of them left the secret passage.

The Sound-Catching Bottle was covered and put away by Xu Qing.

Ding Xue reported the discovery here to the sect, which counted as completing the mission; as for the items in the storage bag, there were not many, mostly miscellaneous items, with no magic tools or jade talismans, clearly all exhausted.

There were a few hundred spirit stones and three or five spirit notes; it was unclear if he was poor to begin with, or if he had another place where he hid his belongings.

Xu Qing glanced at them; he took the Sound-Catching Bottle and did not ask for the rest.

Xu Qing did not know what use this bottle would have in the future, but the object itself was very strange, and Xu Qing felt it still possessed some value.

Zhao Zhao Zhongheng and Ding Xue were both from wealthy backgrounds and did not care for the things in the storage bag, but they still divided them up; after all, it was still a harvest of sorts.

Just like that, as the matter of the secret room was reported by Ding Xue, this incident came to an end, and other sect disciples would come to handle the follow-up matters.

Time passed rapidly, and amidst Ding Xue's growing depression over Zhao Zhao Zhongheng's presence, the one-month mission deadline arrived; as Xu Qing bid farewell to leave, Ding Xue felt immense regret and chased after him to show concern.

"Senior Brother Xu, the front line is dangerous, you must be careful; your own safety is the most important thing."

"My cultivation is weak, and I don't have anything worth offering, but I will ask my aunt to take extra care of you. If you encounter anything you cannot solve here, you can go directly to her."

"Also, Senior Brother Xu, thank you for your help during this time. I will definitely study herbs more diligently, striving to join the Seven Sects Alliance as soon as possible; when that time comes, I will be able to help you with herbs, Senior Brother."

Ding Xue's expression was serious, and then she added another sentence as if casually.

"As for the herb path of the Second Peak of Seven Blood Eyes, it is actually quite poor; I will definitely be better than the disciples of the Second Peak in the future."

"Many thanks, you take care of yourself too, keep it up." Xu Qing felt some emotion upon hearing this; he could hear the sincerity in Ding Xue's words and felt in his heart that although Ding Xue had some small schemes this month, she was overall a decent person and was very diligent and eager to learn—the latter point, Xu Qing highly approved of.

As for her saying the Second Peak's herb path was poor, Xu Qing did not have much contact with the Second Peak and could not judge, so he cupped his fists toward Ding Xue, turned, and left.

Ding Xue watched Xu Qing's back disappear from her sight with reluctance, then turned back to glare fiercely at Zhao Zhao Zhongheng, snorted coldly, and chose to leave Mermaid Island.

She knew very well that the front line was dangerous and her cultivation was not suitable for staying here any longer.

As for Zhao Zhao Zhongheng, he watched Ding Xue's graceful back, his gaze incomparably firm; he felt his judgment was correct.

"Cultivation is not important in this matter; my sincerity and honesty can surpass everything! That Xu Qing's cultivation is indeed stronger than mine, but he leaves as soon as he says he will, whereas I am not like that; I will always accompany my Senior Sister."

Thinking of this, Zhao Zhao Zhongheng took a deep breath and hurriedly followed, returning together amidst Ding Xue's annoyance.

As for Xu Qing, he did not leave the Mermaid clan island.

After completing the mission of guarding Ding Xue, what he gained was not only three unordered teleportation talismans, but also a decree given to him separately by the Vice Peak Master.

With this decree, he could interrupt his participation in the front line on his own without applying, even while on a mission.

Because of this, he effectively had the right to return to the Seven Blood Eyes mountain gate at any time, while his obligation to participate in the war remained, only changed from the front line to the rear.

In this way, his battle achievements and subsequent war rewards would not be reduced.

This gave him a strong sense of autonomy.

Such a decree was difficult for even a Golden Core Elder to issue; only high-level figures at the Peak Master level had this qualification, so its value was immense.

Xu Qing knew very well that the Vice Peak Master had given this to him because of Ding Xue.

"This is a favor; I will need to repay Ding Xue in the future." Xu Qing noted this in his heart and took out his identity token to check the missions inside.

He did not intend to leave immediately; although the mission to guard Ding Xue had taken a month and his war ranking had dropped back to the seventies, Xu Qing felt it would not be difficult to raise it back up.

He wanted to enter the top fifty to obtain the right to use a magic treasure projection once.

So in the time that followed, Xu Qing immersed himself back into the state of accepting missions, busy every day with one mission after another, killing Sea Corpse clansmen, refining Sea Corpse souls, and occasionally brushing up the shadow.

Gradually, his ranking reached the fifties, and when he was not far from obtaining the magic treasure projection, on this day... Xu Qing, who had just turned in a mission and was about to accept the next one, suddenly had his expression shift and looked down at his feet.

Then, a strange light appeared in his eyes; his body flickered and disappeared from where he stood, and after arriving at a secluded corner, Xu Qing spoke calmly.

"What do you want to say?" A moment ago, the shadow had transmitted some emotional fluctuations to him.

"Ascension... quiet... safe... breakthrough..." the shadow tried hard to express.

Xu Qing's pupils constricted.

In this war against the Sea Corpse clan, the shadow's help had been great; now, after devouring so many Sea Corpse clansmen, it was finally going to break through, which filled Xu Qing's heart with anticipation.

It was just that after he ignited his life fire, the shadow and the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor clearly could not keep up with his pace; however, Xu Qing still held wariness in his heart toward the shadow and the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor, especially the former.

And at this moment, as the shadow transmitted the message that it was about to break through, the black iron skewer at the side trembled slightly, and the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor within it also rapidly transmitted a divine sense.

"Master, I was just about to report to you; I... am also able to break through now, and I also need a quiet and safe environment, because... the artifact spirit technique I cultivate is different from other messy things breaking through; it will attract heavenly thunder to cleanse the soul!!"

"Once I break through, I can erupt with combat power and effects similar to the Profound Brilliance State, invincible!"

The Jin Gang Sect Ancestor's words were decisive, but his heart was filled with anxiety.

In reality, he was still a bit short of breaking through, but he could not wait now; he felt that if the shadow broke through first and he remained as he was, his status being lost was secondary—the important thing was that he might very well be considered useless.

Once considered useless, he felt that in all likelihood, he would be thrown out as cannon fodder at some point...

So, he prepared to take a gamble.

Xu Qing swept a glance at the black iron skewer, then looked at the shadow, his decision already made in his heart.