Chapter 34: Eternal Black

The Haishan Technique was originally a very ordinary cultivation method, and its degree of separation of foreign matter was also very average.

Cultivation methods like this were common in the Eastern Wanggu Continent, mostly practiced by small families and small forces.

Even if practiced to great perfection, the combat power was not very high, and the content often contained exaggerations in its description.

For example, the statement that a Xiao could move mountains and a Kui could move seas was a typical exaggeration.

But in Xu Qing's case, this Haishan Technique had erupted with power never seen before. I'm afraid even the creator of this cultivation method had never reached such a level.

His Xiao shadow at the fifth layer was already comparable to the sixth or seventh layer of others practicing the Haishan Technique, and the sixth layer now had directly formed a Kui shadow.

Although it was only a rudimentary Kui, its power had already far surpassed the Xiao.

It could be imagined that when Xu Qing's Haishan Technique reached the seventh layer, I'm afraid this Kui shadow would completely transform.

By that time, for all practitioners, the Haishan Technique would have already reached its end.

But in his case, there was still a path to walk.

"In the description of the Haishan Technique, only upon reaching the tenth layer can a Kui shadow be formed, and after great perfection, the Kui shadow transforms into an adult body."

Xu Qing sat in the pharmacy, a strange light appearing in his eyes.

"And according to my development, the seventh layer should be able to transform into an adult body. Then what about the eighth layer? What about the ninth, tenth, and even great perfection?"

Xu Qing's heart was filled with strong anticipation. He lowered his head to look at his own body.

This time, he didn't need to test his speed and strength; he already felt very clearly that within his own body now, there was an aura far surpassing the fifth layer before, brewing.

The strength of this power surprised even himself.

And speed was the same. Xu Qing had a feeling that if he were to sprint with all his might now, the wind would become the only obstacle.

He didn't know what level he was considered in the camp now.

But he was very clear that for a seventh-layer Qi Condensation spell-type practitioner like the black-clothed old man from a few days ago, even if two came together now, he could kill them.

Half a moment later, Xu Qing took a deep breath and lowered his head to look at the ground around him.

At this moment, it was dark night outside, and the room was pitch black, but he could still faintly feel the existence of the shadow.

His breakthrough seemed to have also affected the shadow, causing it to absorb more foreign matter, and its connection with him had become even closer and more subtle.

In silence, Xu Qing gazed at the ground. Time passed slowly, and the sky outside grew brighter. Following the sunlight spilling in, in this simple pharmacy, beside Xu Qing, the shadow emerged from the blur, becoming increasingly clear.

The instant it emerged, Xu Qing's eyes tightened abruptly.

This was the moment he had been waiting for. Following the transmission of his thought, he clearly saw his own shadow distort slightly.

Gradually, the shadow's right hand raised slowly.

Xu Qing's breathing became heavier. He stared at the shadow, controlling its hand to move on the ground. When it spread to the dark place, the shadow merged into the darkness and became invisible. But Xu Qing's expression was calm; he could feel that the shadow still existed.

Until he controlled the shadow's hand to reach the small compartment, it crawled over slowly and grabbed a medicinal herb.

The moment the shadow grabbed the herb, the foreign matter in this herb instantly became dense, turning directly green-black.

And Xu Qing's control reached its limit at this moment. Following the roar in his head, the part of the shadow that had spread out retracted instantly, returning to its original state.

After a long while, Xu Qing raised his head, his eyes filled with bloodshot veins, and his head was splitting with pain. He closed his eyes immediately to adjust his breath.

Until an hour later, Xu Qing opened his eyes, and the swelling pain in his head recovered.

"Still can't control it flexibly."

Xu Qing looked deeply at the shadow and withdrew his mind.

He wasn't in a hurry. According to this development, there would be a day when he could control it completely.

By that time, the shadow... would become his most hidden trump card.

At this moment, resting slightly, Xu Qing grabbed with his hand, and instantly that mutated herb flew over. After it landed in his hand, Xu Qing lowered his head to observe carefully.

"It is exactly the same as the medicinal herbs invaded in the pharmacy when the god opened its eyes."

"So, the shadow's ability is to invade the touched object with foreign matter?" Xu Qing muttered, attempting to manipulate the shadow again.

Just like this, time passed. Two hours later, Xu Qing

had a rough understanding of the shadow's ability.

The other party didn't emit foreign matter to invade the covering object at any time; only under his control would the touched object be alienated.

This characteristic, when caught off guard, had astonishing lethality, but Xu Qing always had precautions against the shadow in his heart.

At this moment, he looked at the place where the purple crystal was buried in his chest. Xu Qing could feel that this purple crystal could form a confinement and suppression on the shadow.

For a long time, Xu Qing withdrew his gaze, put down the medicinal herb in his hand, and looked at the small compartments all around. The medicinal herbs inside were now less than one in ten, and all of this was now piled up in that stone basin.

Sweeping his eyes over the stone basin, Xu Qing sighed.

Throwing it away was somewhat reluctant. After contemplation, he felt that this kind of black medicinal liquid, if used well, was also a type of weapon.

Thus, after thinking about it, he kneaded the medicinal liquid in the stone basin into pills one by one, and coated the exterior with a layer of Seven-Leaf Grass juice to form a membrane.

Finally, he produced dozens of pills that were pitch black inside and green outside.

"Let's call them Black Elixirs." Xu Qing put them away and walked out of the pharmacy. He prepared to go out to collect some more medicinal herbs, and at the same time, he had to find a way to catch a black-scaled wolf.

During this period of time, using the black-scaled wolf as a test-medicine beast, Xu Qing had used it very smoothly. At this moment, after leaving the canyon, he headed straight for the temple complex, arrived soon but didn't stop, and sped toward the depths of the forbidden zone.

The herbs in the depths were more numerous than those outside.

And regarding the depths, Xu Qing had also explored not once or twice. Although the range wasn't very large, every harvest was not small.

At the same time, not long after Xu Qing stepped into the depths of the forbidden zone, in the area at the edge of the forbidden zone behind him, a group of people was slowly exploring and moving forward.

This group of people numbered over a hundred, including men and women, and was surrounded by a large number of guards, and there were even five or six middle-aged men with very strong auras, vigilantly watching the surroundings.

Protected by them were precisely those young boys and girls who had been stationed outside the camp. Their arrival was like an outing; they couldn't see any tension in their expressions at all, and laughter drifted out continuously.

And their guide was Old Stone, but at this moment, he was full of helplessness, occasionally sweeping over those young boys and girls, looking at their leisurely appearance, and sighing in his heart.

"This is the forbidden zone..." Old Stone wanted to say something but stopped. He knew that no one would listen to what he said. These people who had always lived in the city thought they knew the dangers of the forbidden zone, but in reality, they were far less knowledgeable about the horror of the forbidden zone than scavengers.

The former knew it from books and conversations, while the latter experienced it personally.

"I hope the journey goes smoothly and no changes occur. Once this mission is done, I will go retire and not come to the forbidden zone." Old Stone muttered in his heart, moving forward with trepidation and vigilance.

No one noticed that among this group of young boys and girls, there was a beautiful girl wearing a green long skirt with long black hair. While chatting and laughing with the blue-shirted youth beside her who was trying to please her, she scattered some medicine powder with her right hand without leaving a trace.

As the wind blew, these medicine powders were colorless and odorless, dissipating, as if some kind of initiator, gradually causing some changes in the depths of the forbidden zone.

Xu Qing soon felt this change.

At this moment, moving carefully in the depths of the forbidden zone, he clearly felt that there were many fewer exotic beasts in the forbidden zone today.

He even saw a lizard with an aura comparable to the sixth or seventh layer of Qi Condensation, which was extremely aggressive on weekdays, currently hiding in the silt. Even when Xu Qing approached, it didn't launch an attack, as if it were wary of the outside world.

This made Xu Qing extremely vigilant, and he looked at the forbidden zone jungle all around.

A sense of unease rose in his heart, so after picking some medicinal herbs, Xu Qing prepared to withdraw.

But the instant he was about to withdraw, an icy aura erupted from the deeper part of the jungle in the distance. This aura spread instantly, causing the trees in the surroundings to be frozen.

Xu Qing's eyes shrank. After avoiding it abruptly, he looked up and immediately saw translucent jellyfish flying out from the depths of the forbidden zone.

Among these jellyfish, there were six huge ones, followed by hundreds of small jellyfish, whistling toward the direction of the temple complex in the air in a mighty force.

It was as if there was something in that direction strongly attracting them.

The instant he saw these jellyfish, Xu Qing's existence also attracted the attention of the jellyfish group in the sky.

One of the large jellyfish paused in mid-air. When it turned around to face Xu Qing, more than half of the densely packed eyes on all its tentacles opened abruptly.

Crisis erupted from Xu Qing's heart at this instant. He felt all the flesh and blood in his body vibrating, and behind him, at this moment, the Kui shadow materialized abruptly, emitting a silent roar toward the jellyfish in the sky.

Xu Qing narrowed his eyes. At this moment, he was no longer the third-layer Qi Condensation person he had been back then. Facing the pressure of this jellyfish, he had no power to resist.

At this moment, as the blood and energy in his body expanded, following the roar of the Kui shadow behind him, that jellyfish looking at him seemed somewhat hesitant.

Perhaps the attraction from the direction of the temple complex was greater, or perhaps it felt that Xu Qing's place was dangerous, so after hesitating for a moment, it turned around and drifted away.

Until the jellyfish drifted far away, Xu Qing also breathed a sigh of relief.

Looking around the forbidden zone, he felt increasingly that this place today was too bizarre, so his body swayed, and he left rapidly.

"The place they are going to is the temple complex? Or further away outside the temple complex? I hope it's not the temple complex and they are just passing by. Otherwise, I will have to take a detour..."

On the road, a look of contemplation appeared in Xu Qing's eyes, but his speed didn't decrease, turning into a long trail and shuttling through this jungle.

Time passed bit by bit. An hour later, following the roar drifting from the distance, Xu Qing's body leaped up and landed on the tree crown, gazing at the temple complex in the distance.

It was still half an hour's journey from the temple complex here, so he could see the general outline of the temple complex from afar.

And the instant he looked, Xu Qing's expression turned gloomy. The scene he was worried about had appeared.

That group of jellyfish was currently in the air above the temple complex, and it seemed faintly that someone was fighting them, with the roar drifting in and out.

The distance was too far, and Xu Qing couldn't see the appearance of the people fighting, so after contemplation, he approached cautiously.

At the same time, inside this temple complex, Old Stone's body trembled, his lips quivered, and he looked at the surroundings in despair.

Around him were a large number of corpses, all of whom were the attendants and guards brought by those young boys and girls.

As for those young boys and girls, they no longer had their previous leisure; each one was pale and had injuries, looking disheveled and carrying terror.

The remaining guards and attendants were protecting them, moving outward while fighting a bloody battle.

The ones launching the crazy attack on them were precisely those hundreds of small jellyfish, and in the sky, those fighting the five or six large jellyfish were the five middle-aged cultivators with strong auras brought by those young boys and girls.

"How could it be like this, how could it be like this... It was clearly fine before..."

Old Stone trembled as he moved in panic following those young boys and girls, but he was old, and after walking a few steps, a small jellyfish passed through the guards and pounced toward him abruptly.

Too late to dodge, the next instant... this jellyfish drifted past Old Stone, took his heart into its mouth, and headed straight for those young boys and girls.

Old Stone's body fell down, twitching uncontrollably.

Blood flowed down his chest, permeating Old Stone's surroundings, and blood also spilled from his mouth uncontrollably. As if sand covering everything about him, in his heart, he muttered the last sentence of his life.

"The qualification to enter the city... I couldn't buy it..."

Old Stone opened his eyes, his aura dissipated, and he didn't move. Everything before his eyes turned into eternal pitch black.

Happy weekend, everyone~ Another two chapters of seven thousand words~ ===== CHAPTER 35 =====