Chapter 409: A Thousand Forests of Mist and Frost Shake the Water and Wind

Kong Xianglong worked in the Field Office, specifically responsible for chasing down murderers.

Today, he was also sending a captured wanted criminal here. When Xu Qing saw him, he was chatting and laughing with several familiar prison guards on the ninth floor, and beside him lay a Twin-Faced Clan member who was on the verge of death.

This Twin-Faced Clan member had decent cultivation. Although he was lying there severely injured, the fluctuation of seven Heavenly Palaces of Golden Core was still very intense. Clearly, he was also an extraordinary person in his clan. Otherwise, it would be impossible to possess seven Heavenly Palaces.

It was just that he was miserable now, his whole body covered in scars, as if tortured, and he had lost a leg. Looking at the wound, it seemed to have been torn off alive.

And Kong Xianglong also had injuries, but he didn't care at all. After noticing Xu Qing, his eyes lit up, and he spoke with a smile.

"Xu Qing!"

"Brother Kong."

Xu Qing returned the greeting, and the surrounding prison guards also greeted Xu Qing with smiles. During this period, Xu Qing successfully oversaw District Ding-One-Three-Two, never changing prison cells from beginning to end, which made many prison guards hear of it.

Especially since he went out every day when going off duty, yet never had any accidental death, which won him even more admiration.

At this moment, looking at Kong Xianglong, Xu Qing also revealed a smile, his gaze falling on the wounds on the other party's body.

"It's nothing, minor injuries. Xu Qing, have you become a guard? Haha, just as I expected."

Kong Xianglong swept over the black dark fire pattern on Xu Qing's Dao robe and also noticed the expressions of the surrounding prison guards. He blinked his eyes, and for Xu Qing becoming a guard, he didn't seem to have too much surprise.

"Actually, I heard before that you went to be the Palace Master's accompanying scribe, so I guessed..."

"What did you guess?" Kong Xianglong's words hadn't finished when an icy voice carrying majesty came from the stairs on the ninth floor.

As the words echoed, the Palace Master's cold figure appeared there, step by step, carrying pressure, walking toward the crowd.

All the prison guards instantly became solemn and bowed in unison.

"Greetings, Palace Master."

Xu Qing was the same, and Kong Xianglong's body even trembled, hurriedly lowering his head to bow.

Xu Qing noticed that Kong Xianglong seemed to be incomparably fearful, and even his forehead was sweating.

And the Palace Master carried great pressure. As he approached, a sense of oppression permeated the entire ninth floor.

When the surroundings were silent, the Palace Master's figure walked in front of the crowd.

He glanced at the Twin-Faced Clan wanted criminal lying on the ground, then his gaze fell on Kong Xianglong, and he spoke coldly.

"With your cultivation base, you could clearly capture and suppress this cultivator with one sword, why did you use two? Just because you were boasted about as the Human Race genius of this generation by outsiders, you became complacent? You didn't learn anything else, but you learned pride very quickly."

After speaking, he looked at Xu Qing, also coldly.

"And you, you're off duty, yet instead of going back to cultivate, you're here causing a scene. Are you satisfied just because you suppressed Ding Yisaner? Besides, did you really suppress them? If you have the ability, go suppress Ding Yi and get promoted to the C-District!"

Xu Qing's eyes contracted. The Palace Master's words made him fall into deep thought.

As for the Palace Master's temper, Xu Qing already knew it. During this period, as he gradually became familiar with other prison guards, he had heard people talk about this Palace Master of the Jiangong being strict with people.

Combined with the first time they met, when the other party scolded him, Xu Qing knew that saying anything now would be useless.

As for Kong Xianglong, he also lowered his head and didn't speak at this moment.

"Why don't you speak? I'm asking you!" The Palace Master's gaze swept over Xu Qing and Kong Xianglong, finally looking at Kong Xianglong.

Kong Xianglong hesitated and spoke in a low voice.

"At that time, beside that Twin-Faced Clan cultivator, there were several close servants. They were pitiful people. I was afraid that the power of my strike would be too great and hurt the innocent, so..."

Close servants, not of one race; they were born of the Human Race and alien races, and their fate was sometimes even more miserable.

The Palace Master was silent. After a long moment, words came out.

"Even so, how could you be injured when killing a seven-palace Golden Core? What private business did you do again!"

Kong Xianglong's forehead was sweating, but being stared at by the Palace Master, he had to speak, so he bit the bullet and spoke.

"That wanted criminal had some accomplices. They ran away. Although they were not on the wanted list, I couldn't help but see the things they did that were against heaven and reason, so I chased them and killed them all. Later, a tough guy came, and I killed him too, so I got injured."

The Palace Master looked at Kong Xianglong coldly, turned, and walked toward the stairs, but an icy voice echoed.

"Understandable, but you didn't follow the rules of the Sword Holder's mission and caused extra trouble. I punish you to be imprisoned for seven days. Take him down!"

After speaking, the Palace Master went far away.

Xu Qing looked at Kong Xianglong with sympathy.

He felt that this matter of the Palace Master was too rigid and not close to human feelings.

Kong Xianglong sighed, glanced at Xu Qing, and smiled bitterly.

"If I had known this, I would have left as soon as I sent the person here. I was a step late. Bad luck."

During the conversation, the prison guards walked over solemnly, bound the Twin-Faced Clan criminal on the ground, and then walked to Kong Xianglong and put shackles on him, taking him away directly.

Before leaving, he even turned his head and waved at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing watched this scene silently until Kong Xianglong's figure disappeared, and then he left the Prison Division and returned to the Sword Pavilion.

Xu Qing watched this scene silently. It was only after Kong Xianglong's figure disappeared that he left the Prison Department and returned to the Sword Pavilion.

Through this matter, he could clearly feel the Palace Master's observance and strictness regarding the rules. Just like the scolding he received, it was the same for a genius like Kong Xianglong.

"Such a Jiangong..." Xu Qing's gaze traveled through the dark night.

He suddenly felt it was quite good. The rules here were simpler. Although everything was also about strength, merit and rules were equally important.

"So when Brother Chen told me before that Zhang Siyun's grandmaster was one of the four great executives, he said the other party was not someone who practiced favoritism. With such a Palace Master, if someone really practiced favoritism, I imagine he wouldn't allow it."

"So when Brother Chen told me that Zhang Siyun's grandmaster was one of the four deacons, he said the other party was not a person who would engage in favoritism or malpractice. Such a Palace Master, if someone were truly engaging in favoritism or malpractice, I imagine he would not allow it."

At the same time, he thought of the Danqing old man's words.

"Deep in the Prison Division, a god's clone is imprisoned!"

Xu Qing shook his head. He felt that knowing this was enough; it was not something he could investigate and verify.

Thus, he buried this matter in his heart, closed his eyes, and sensed his fifth Tiangong.

His fifth Tiangong was about to take shape. According to Xu Qing's judgment, it would complete materialization in about five or six days.

"The further back, the slower the materialization."

So Xu Qing had been pondering recently whether to put in his natal Cang Dragon...

He felt that his first four Heavenly Palaces were all quite good. Compared to them, the Cang Dragon was somewhat ordinary.

And the formation of the Tiangong Golden Core, besides the integration of external objects, could also be formed by one's own cultivation technique, so Xu Qing was also pondering what would happen if he integrated it with his Imperial-level cultivation technique.

Theoretically, this was possible, but Xu Qing lacked some information, so after thinking about it, he bit the bullet and took out the voice transmission jade slip, sending a message to the Zixuan Immortal.

"Senior, are you there?"

"No." The Zixuan Immortal's voice came from the jade slip almost instantly.

Xu Qing was silent, and there was no second sentence in the jade slip.

He heard that the Zixuan Immortal's tone was wrong and felt somewhat blank in his heart, not knowing when he had provoked the other party, so he sent a message to Fifth Uncle to ask about the integration of Imperial-level cultivation techniques into the Tiangong.

"Ah? Didn't the Zixuan Immortal tell you? Before we came to the capital, your Master specifically communicated with her regarding your Imperial-level cultivation technique integration into the Golden Core."

"A few days ago, I also saw Senior Zixuan invite some of her friends to the sect and also asked about similar matters. After all, every Imperial-level cultivation technique is different, and the integration method also has its own particularities. She even specifically visited the three major sects and paid some price to check their Scripture Pavilion."

"If integrated randomly, although it would be harmless, it wouldn't succeed."

Xu Qing was silent. He didn't know that Zixuan had done so much for him, and ripples rose in his heart, so he picked up the jade slip and sent a message to Zixuan.

"Senior..."

"En, who is this?" The Zixuan Immortal's voice came from the jade slip.

"I am Xu Qing..."

"Oh, is that the Xu Qing who chose to live in the Sword Pavilion and never returned to avoid me?"

Xu Qing didn't know how to reply and could only speak softly.

"I heard from Fifth Uncle... Thank you, Senior!"

A soft snort came from the jade slip.

"Your fifth Tiangong is about to take shape, right? Come see me when it takes shape. By the way, I like to eat the osmanthus cake from the south of the city."

"Good." Xu Qing felt relieved in his heart and hurriedly put away the jade slip, remembering the osmanthus cake matter in his heart.

"I must find an opportunity to repay the Zixuan Immortal in the future." Xu Qing was not good at expressing his inner emotions, so he took out a bamboo slip and carved Zixuan's name on the other side. The records there were all of people who had been kind to him.

"Additionally, I must hurry up with the military merit here." Thinking of military merit, Xu Qing frowned slightly.

After becoming a guard, he had a clearer understanding of obtaining military merit. Normally, as a guard, he had fixed military merit every month.

It was not much, and it was too far from his goal. To obtain more, he had to go out to complete missions.

But even for missions, the rewards were not much. Those missions with many rewards were often team actions or at the Nascent Soul level.

However, ultimately, after accumulation, there would be a day when he reached the quantity, so Xu Qing planned that in the coming days, besides going to work, he would complete various missions near the capital.

With this decision, Xu Qing closed his eyes and began to meditate.

Time passed. Just as it was about to dawn, Xu Qing suddenly opened his eyes.

"I seem to have forgotten something..." Xu Qing frowned and pondered. After a moment, his eyes contracted.

"Today, the Palace Master questioned me whether I really suppressed District Ding-One-Three-Two."

Xu Qing muttered. He felt that this sentence was a bit wrong, and what was most wrong was that he felt his memory was so poor that he almost forgot after returning.

"Wrong!" Xu Qing raised his head abruptly. He was very confident in his memory; this kind of thing shouldn't have been forgotten.

"Since when did my memory become poor?" Xu Qing's eyes revealed deep thought. After recalling his experiences, his eyes gradually contracted.

"I only forget memories related to Ding-One-Three-Two, but not other things."

"And this situation also started from when I became the overseer of Ding-One-Three-Two!"

Xu Qing's heart and mind shook.

He suddenly thought of the previous overseer, that knife-sharpening old man, who had once said a sentence to him that day.

"When you think you have discovered everything, in reality, there is more waiting for you."

Xu Qing was silent. After a long time, his gaze was icy, and he whispered in a low voice.

"I have been affected by Ding-One-Three-Two."

At this moment, the sky outside was bright.

But there was not much bright sunlight. The firmament was gray, and rain was falling.

This was the rainy season of the capital, which would last for several months.

Xu Qing stood up, cold intent brewing in his eyes. He pushed open the door of the Sword Pavilion, walked into the wind and rain, and walked toward the Prison Division.

The moment he stepped into the Prison Division, he transmitted a thought to the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor and the shadow at the same time in his heart.

"From this moment on, you use the recording jade slip to record all my experiences that follow, without interruption."

The Jin Gang Sect Ancestor and the shadow were both stunned and hurriedly obeyed.

"Master, what happened?" The Jin Gang Sect Ancestor asked cautiously.

"I suspect that some kind of power has interfered with my cognition, diluting my memory of some things."

Xu Qing's eyes became increasingly icy. He walked into the Prison Division, walked into the fifty-seventh floor, and walked into... District Ding-One-Three-Two!

I don't know since when, District Ding-One-Three-Two became not so pitch black and cold.

I don't know since when, the head didn't talk so much, the Cloud Beast stopped eating its tentacles, the millstone's rotation became jerky, but the Danqing Race old man appeared frequently.

Perhaps the shadow and the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor had merit in this aspect.

After Xu Qing walked into District Ding-One-Three-Two and felt everything here, this thought rose in his heart.

The little boy also appeared, standing not far from him. Seeing this, Xu Qing felt a sinking feeling in his heart, then remained calm, walking along the corridor as usual, passing in front of each cage where prisoners were imprisoned.

When he walked to the millstone, he saw that god-talking head, which was rarely not rolling on the ground, but appeared on the millstone, staring at Xu Qing, a strange expression on its face.

It looked at Xu Qing, and Xu Qing also looked at it.

It didn't speak.

"Why so quiet today." Xu Qing spoke calmly.

"I don't want to be stepped on, and have you ever seen anyone talk to a dead person?" The head smiled, smiling very eerily.

"I have." Xu Qing answered.

The head was stunned.

"Not only have I seen it, I have also said it." Xu Qing said seriously.

The head's expression revealed strangeness, then it shook left and right, turning the back of its head toward Xu Qing.

Xu Qing walked forward until he reached the cage where the Danqing Race was located. Looking at the neat old man inside, he suddenly spoke.

"Repeat every sentence you said to me before. If one word is wrong, I will kill you."

The old man was stunned.

The elder was stunned.

The Danqing old man hurriedly spoke. His memory was very good, and he said all the words he had spoken here since Xu Qing became the overseer.

Xu Qing listened and nodded, turned around, returned to the prison gate, and closed his eyes to meditate.

A day passed. Nothing happened this day, no different from usual, until it was time to go off duty, and Xu Qing walked out of Ding-One-Three-Two.

He didn't have any pauses all the way and returned to the Sword Pavilion.

The moment he sat cross-legged, Xu Qing spoke.

"Youlingzi, you go first."

The black iron slip flew out, and the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor manifested rapidly inside. His expression was incomparably solemn, and with a wave of his hand, a recording jade slip appeared, with images floating on it.

The one inside was exactly Xu Qing.

It recorded his entire experience of this day from the moment he stepped into the Prison Division until he entered District Ding-One-Three-Two and finally left. It was very detailed and clear, without any omissions.

Especially the Danqing Race old man's words, they were all recorded.

Xu Qing watched for a long time, but he didn't see any abnormalities from within, so he transmitted a divine sense to the shadow, and soon the shadow also released the images it recorded.

Comparing the two, everything was as usual.

Xu Qing's eyes revealed deep thought, and a thought rose uncontrollably in his mind.

"Could it be that I thought too much?"

Xu Qing pondered. After suppressing this thought, he continued to check the jade slip recording. Finally, his eyes contracted abruptly, falling on the Danqing Race old man inside the jade slip.

The other party's voice came from this jade slip recording.

"Overseer Master... how many prisoners are imprisoned in our Ding-One-Three-Two?"

"In your memory, exactly... how many prisoners are in this place?"

"Master, I also had no choice but to talk nonsense. Just now, the black shadow was about to eat me. I had no choice but to do this to buy myself a little time, otherwise, I would be gone. Master, you are generous, forgive me once, just once!"

Xu Qing stared at the jade slip, listening to the Danqing old man's words over and over again. Finally, he formed seals, looped the sentence where the Danqing old man begged for forgiveness in the recording, and spoke softly.

"Youlingzi, Little Shadow, listen to this sentence. Is this Danqing old man... talking to me?"

Yesterday, I saw a reader say that I was trying a new writing style. It is like this: I am indeed trying a new creative approach.

Making a cake requires eggs, milk, white sugar, cream, flour, etc. I try to bury these materials in all the chapters, or bury them in some events, and finally piece them together to present a cake for everyone.

I try hard to make the process not boring.

Friendly reminder: Those who like to skip-read, resulting in not seeing the clues within, and finally having a poor reading experience and not understanding, then coming to scold me, I am also helpless. ===== CHAPTER 410 =====

Friendly reminder: I am helpless if you like to skip-read, end up missing clues, and then come to scold me because you didn't understand the final reading experience.