Chapter 405: So Close Yet So Far, Not Recognizing the Monarch

Xu Qing took a deep breath and silently sensed the Emperor Sword within his sea of consciousness. He had a feeling that at this moment, the Emperor Sword had completely merged with himself.

It had become an inseparable part.

This kind of connection makes one's soul feel a sense of power.

This is the blessing brought by the Imperial-level cultivation technique. There is also a familiarity regarding the sword that also surfaced in Xu Qing's heart; this is also the change brought by gaining insight into the Emperor Sword.

He was familiar with every part of the sword's structure, familiar with every inch of the blade's sharpness, and familiar with every glimmer of light on the sword marks.

But this familiarity was ultimately somewhat illusory, like flowers in a mirror or the moon in water; it still needed constant pondering and realization until finally turning it from virtual to real, making the moon in the water come true, turning it into an instinct carved into his own soul.

"Only in this way can I be promoted to the second stage, thereby blessing me with the full combat power of one palace," Xu Qing muttered.

After a long time, he looked down at the palm of his right hand. Following a thought, in an instant, a dazzling light radiated from his palm prints, rapidly gathering, circling on his palm, and finally weaving into a sword shadow.

It contained a sense of sharpness, as if wanting to slaughter all things and living beings.

It even had vast might, as if wanting to crush the universe's gods and demons.

Xu Qing felt it. The Imperial-level cultivation technique of the Human Race Sword Holders, from its essence, was not for protection, but for slaughter; its malevolent qi was extremely heavy.

This was a sword that completed protection through slaughter.

Xu Qing realized this, his eyes revealing a sharp light, echoing with the sword light on his palm, merging together.

Vaguely, he seemed to hear the sound of sword ringing. In that sound, it contained intimacy and contained recognition.

Vaguely, he seemed to see the countless figures from when he gained insight before. Those figures, one by one, held the Emperor Sword, smiling at him, witnessing a latecomer walking on the same Great Dao as them.

Xu Qing raised his head, stood up, and bowed to the void.

Bowing to this sword, bowing to those of the same path.

From this moment on, he finally possessed two types of Imperial-level cultivation techniques.

The Golden Crow Refines Ten Thousand Spirits, capable of swallowing all things in heaven and earth.

The Human Race wields the Emperor Sword, capable of slaughtering all living beings below the Emperor.

Although the latter still needs years of nourishment to erupt with power surpassing his own, the sword seed has already been formed, and everything is just around the corner.

Looking at the Emperor Sword formed by sword qi, Xu Qing suppressed the ripples in his heart. After a long moment, he finally calmed his mood, his eyes revealing deep thought.

"The Emperor Sword technique is very difficult for me to nourish for many years, so for me, turning it into one of my trump cards for every battle is the key. Therefore, I must turn the familiarity with the sword from virtual to real as soon as possible, raise it to the second stage, and increase my combat power by one palace."

"To increase familiarity, I need a sword..." Xu Qing suddenly had some realization and lowered his head to take out the Sword Holder's command sword.

Looking at this sword, he was somewhat dazed, finally understanding another function of this command sword.

Besides being needed for the daily life of a Sword Holder and for building Sword Pavilions, this sword also had a hidden function, which was to allow those who had successfully gained insight into the Emperor Sword to increase their familiarity with the sword.

Because its appearance was... exactly the same as the Emperor Sword.

"It is worthy of being the Sword Department that the Human Race has inherited to this day; every link within it contains deep meaning and foundation," Xu Qing sighed in his heart.

"With such a foundation, I imagine that for the Sword Department over countless years, a large number of Sword Holders have gained insight into the Emperor Sword. Even if there are none who succeeded in one go, those who succeeded in two should not be a strange matter."

Xu Qing reminded himself not to be complacent because of succeeding in two times. After all, Kong Xianglong also succeeded in two times.

Thinking of this, Xu Qing took a deep breath and walked outward.

But he didn't know that the moment he successfully gained insight, on the eighty-ninth floor of the Prison Division on the ground, the Palace Master, who was sitting cross-legged in meditation, slowly opened his eyes.

The huge vertical eye behind him also opened abruptly at this moment.

"There is one more person who has successfully gained insight into the Emperor Sword twice; his name is Xu Qing."

A deep voice echoed, stirring up a storm on this eighty-ninth floor.

This voice was exactly the voice of the conversation with the Palace Master after Xu Qing left here that day.

The Palace Master was lost in thought, and after a moment, he spoke indifferently.

"How is Ding-One-Three-Two?"

"That place is special. Although I am the artifact spirit of the Prison Division, I have no right to look. However, Xu Qing already has bad luck entangled on him. Additionally, the secret of Ding-One-Three-Two is only known to you; you can directly tell him, and I am also curious about how many secrets are there." The voice within the storm turned into a booming sound, spreading in all directions.

"Ding-One-Three-Two..." The Palace Master's eyes revealed reminiscence.

"The secrets there are not just one."

"But I never practice favoritism; everything depends on opportunity. If he still has bad luck on him after seven days, you go and clear his name as the overseer of Ding-One-Three-Two and change him to any other prison cell. This will mean he has no fate for this fortuitous encounter."

The Palace Master spoke calmly and closed his eyes.

At the same time, inside the Jiangong, Xu Qing was walking out.

"Since I've come here, I'll go to a pharmacy in the capital to purchase some poisonous herbs. Research on the poison path cannot be abandoned. Additionally, I also need to buy some Su Elixirs to study."

Xu Qing's body flickered and soared into the air, heading straight for the capital.

It was already late at night, black clouds permeated the firmament, booming thunder echoed, and heavy rain was about to come.

But whether it was day or night in the capital, most shops were open for business. After all, the main customers were cultivators, and purchasing items did not distinguish between times.

But just as Xu Qing soared outside the Jiangong and was about to step into the capital, thunder boomed in the firmament, and a bolt of lightning fell abruptly from the clouds, heading straight for Xu Qing in mid-air in an instant.

The appearance of this lightning was like a tree branch, splitting into countless pieces as it fell, shocking to the eye.

The speed was extremely fast, and the power was even more astonishing. The sound was earth-shattering, as if a heavenly tribulation had descended.

Although it was abrupt, Xu Qing had already branded vigilance into his soul. Almost the moment the lightning arrived, his body retreated fiercely, avoiding it abruptly.

Watching the lightning streak past in front of him and head straight for the ground, Xu Qing's expression was ugly as he looked at the firmament.

Being in mid-air, his eyes were reflected by the light of the lightning in the firmament, reflecting a sharp light.

Dark clouds permeated the firmament, thunder echoed, and everything seemed to have nothing too abnormal. Only the lightning wandered, and everything seemed to be just a coincidence.

"Something is wrong!"

Xu Qing's expression was gloomy. Whether it was the scattering of the Sword Holder's sword light before or this heavenly thunder falling, it was all too coincidental.

This made him instinctively think of District Ding-One-Three-Two, and also remember the words that the middle-aged guard Old Li had said.

"Its successive overseers have mostly died inexplicably outside."

Xu Qing's expression was gloomy. He took a step down and arrived at the edge of the capital city. He withdrew his gaze from the firmament and looked down at the ground below.

Although it was a dark night and clouds permeated, with the help of the dazzling light of the lightning streaking across the sky and his own cultivation base, Xu Qing could still see the Prison Division on the ground clearly.

Two coincidences made him fall into deep thought.

In this thinking, Xu Qing walked into the capital, his perception spreading to the surroundings.

"Not all overseers of Ding-One-Three-Two died inexplicably."

"Only a portion died accidentally."

"The Palace Master should know the secret inside."

"Then why did he arrange for me to be there... is it a test, or something else?"

Questions surfaced in Xu Qing's mind as he walked toward the capital's pharmacy.

Thunder boomed continuously in the sky, and the rain seemed to be accumulating the power to descend. There were very few commoners on the street, and most of those appearing in the middle of the night were cultivators.

Until half an hour later, Xu Qing saw a pharmacy. His body flickered and approached rapidly. When he stepped inside, Xu Qing frowned.

There were seven or eight cultivators in the pharmacy, purchasing medicinal herbs and elixirs. Among them was a woman wearing a Sword Holder's Dao robe, whom Xu Qing recognized.

It was exactly Qingqiu, who carried a ghost-evil scythe.

As an inspector, Qingqiu was preparing to return to her Sword Pavilion after going off duty today, and she also intended to buy some elixirs here. At this moment, noticing Xu Qing, her beautiful eyebrows under the mask frowned slightly, and the sound of a ghost-evil inhaling echoed in her mind.

"This Xu Qing is like a lingering ghost. I feel he is following us. We won't walk this road after going off duty in the future. I feel this Xu Qing is too dangerous. We must avoid him, otherwise, I'm afraid you won't be able to resist perishing together with him!"

"Perishing together with him isn't worth it. Our method of perishing together is better used on others, for example, the Mad Dog."

Xu Qing's gaze swept over Qingqiu. He didn't pay attention and walked straight toward the counter when the voice of the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor came into his mind.

"Master, I have a matter... I wanted to report to you before."

Xu Qing's expression remained as usual. After telling the pharmacy shopkeeper the herbs he wanted to buy, he spoke indifferently in his heart.

"Speak."

"Master, that red woman's scythe has an artifact spirit."

"This artifact spirit didn't perceive me, so every time it sees you, Master, it is cursing. It thinks you can't hear it, but it doesn't know that as a high-rank thunder soul, I can perceive it."

The Jin Gang Sect Ancestor had actually heard the ghost-evil's divine sense beside the red woman a long time ago, but he hadn't said anything. He originally intended to find a critical moment to reveal it as a performance of merit.

But he had performed poorly in the prison cell before, and he felt uneasy in his heart, worried about being considered useless, so he hurriedly said this matter.

"I overheard that little ghost's words; it seems they have a method to perish together with others. Master, you must be careful when you destroy this red woman in the future."

Xu Qing was lost in thought and glanced at Qingqiu's scythe.

"He is looking at me! His gaze is wrong, very wrong!" In Qingqiu's mind, the ghost-evil let out a scream.

"Let's go quickly, I have a bad premonition. This Xu Qing seems to have perceived something. After all, he was personally appointed by the Great Emperor, and now he is the Palace Master's accompanying scribe. We can't afford to offend him, and I feel there is something wrong with him; the feeling he gives me is very bad."

As the ghost-evil screamed, Xu Qing's mind echoed the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor's voice again.

"Master is mighty. With that one glance, the other party's tiny artifact spirit was immediately afraid. Master, rest assured, in the future, I will help you keep an eye on this little ghost. Hmph, daring to have evil thoughts toward You Lingzi's master, this little ghost is courting death. With me here, no evil spirit can harm my benefactor; they must pass me first!"

"Additionally, Master, I feel that you can actually occasionally display your kingly and domineering aura. Uh, that's what the storybooks say. The king of kings, the domineering of domineering. I feel you also possess this ability, Master, and can make this little ghost artifact spirit terrified."

"Then I will find an opportunity to turn it against them. In that case, our killing of the red woman will definitely have no twists and turns."

The Jin Gang Sect Ancestor spoke rapidly, displaying his own value.

Xu Qing was lost in thought.

At this moment, the shopkeeper had already taken out the herbs he needed. When settling the bill, Xu Qing thought of the Su Elixir and asked a question.

"Do you have Su Elixirs?"

The shopkeeper smiled and nodded, took out an elixir bottle from under the counter, and placed it in front of Xu Qing.

"One spirit coin for ten Su Elixirs."

Xu Qing was somewhat surprised. This price was already low to the extreme. One must know that in Yinghuang Continent, White Elixirs were already above this price.

"The County Chancellor is virtuous and kind, researching this elixir of immeasurable merit to allow all the commoners in the capital to be free from the invasion of alien quality. Therefore, this price is basically just the most basic cost required for each pharmacy to preserve the elixirs, not much different from giving them away for free."

Xu Qing felt admiration in his heart, gave the spirit coin, and put away the elixir bottle. He planned to go back and study it, learning the County Chancellor's elixir refining method from within.

After buying them, Xu Qing turned and walked out of the pharmacy.

And Qingqiu, who was on the side, watching the scene of Xu Qing buying elixirs, some past events in her memory couldn't help but rise. She thought of the scavenger camp in Nanhuang Continent.

She thought of the scene where she was a clerk in a grocery store in that camp, and a thin, small figure with a dirty face and wearing a big fur coat, carrying caution and alienation from all outsiders, walked in front of her to buy White Elixirs.

Qingqiu frowned.

She didn't quite understand why, watching that disgusting Ghost Hand buying elixirs, memories would actually bring up the little brother who represented beauty in her life.

In her view, this was a desecration.

Thus, she looked at Xu Qing's back with even more disgust, picked up the elixirs she bought here, and left, flying out of the capital and heading toward the ground.

She didn't live in the Litu Sect's branch in the capital, and she didn't have any good feelings for the Litu Sect either, so by comparison, she preferred the Sword Pavilion.

But just as she was about to approach the Sword Pavilion, in mid-air, she frowned again.

"It's the Ghost Hand again, like a lingering ghost. Could it be that he is coming to harm us!" In her mind came the scream of the fierce ghost, carrying terror in its voice.

"I know, he looked at me just now, he discovered me, he is coming to perish together with us!"

"Shut up!" Qing Qiu gritted his teeth, his heart filled with irritation. He turned his head, his eyes filled with malice as he looked at Xu Qing, who was flying in from afar.