Chapter 59

At this moment, the night wind blew, the seawater flowed, gently patting around the small boat, squeezing out quite a few gray-black water bubbles along the hull.

It also caused the small boat to sway slightly, making a creaking sound.

Inside the boat, Xu Qing refined elixirs seriously.

As one medicinal herb after another was taken out by him, whether it was picking leaves, squeezing juice, or taking the core, he was very skilled, and gradually, in the stone bowl, there was more and more medicinal liquid.

After checking the ratio and adjusting and correcting it, Xu Qing began to put in the seven-leaf grass. Just like that, when midnight arrived, as Xu Qing carefully dripped the juice of the spirit-condensing leaves into the black medicinal liquid.

Bursts of hissing sounds came out harshly, and there was even blue smoke emitted, which was dispersed by Xu Qing with a wave of his sleeve. The medicinal liquid in the stone bowl directly turned into a white semi-solid, and there was even a faint glimmer of light inside.

Success in one go.

After checking carefully, Xu Qing took out these medicinal liquids, kneaded them one by one into elixirs, and placed them on the side to dry in the shade. Looking at these elixirs, satisfaction appeared in his eyes.

"Finally refined the white elixir!"

Xu Qing murmured, and the scenes of learning from Master Bai appeared in his mind, and the images of the scavenger camp also appeared in his heart.

All of this made the young man's heart somewhat restless on this special day.

After a long while, Xu Qing sighed softly and looked outside the boat; it was pitch black.

Only the bright moon hanging high was reflected on the sea, sparkling.

It was quiet all around, the sea breeze blew, and the dampness carried a hint of chill, causing his hair to drift.

"Master Bai should have returned to the Purple Earth long ago."

"I don't know how Mingnan Heir and Luanya are doing now..."

"And I wonder if there are weeds in front of Lei Dui's grave..." Xu Qing whispered softly.

"And I, I still haven't found the Heavenly Destiny Flower."

Even if he was used to loneliness, even if he had adapted to the new environment, Xu Qing was ultimately just a teenager. He sat there silently, his memory returning to his residence in the scavenger camp, eating snake meat with a familiar old man.

Listening to the trivial matters in the scavenger camp that the other party said, watching the other party smoke a pipe and drink wine.

The memory images were very clear.

Xu Qing's eyelids drooped slightly.

"The teacher in the slum said that when a person begins to recall the past, it means his age is growing..." Xu Qing murmured, taking out a pot of wine from his leather bag.

This was bought when he was patrolling during the day.

Holding the wine pot, Xu Qing looked up at the bright moon in the sky, slowly raised it after a long time, paid a slight tribute to this bright moon, and drank it in one gulp.

Looking from afar, the teenager on the boat toasted the bright moon with one cup and drank alone.

The wine in the main city was fiercer than in the scavenger camp. It was hot and spicy when it entered his mouth, and it merged into his abdomen like a flame, burning his whole body, causing Xu Qing's breathing to become slightly rapid. After a long while, he drank another big gulp.

"Wishing Lei Dui, may your spirit in heaven have a safe journey."

"Wishing Master Bai, good health and a long life."

"And wishing myself... happy birthday."

Xu Qing murmured as he drank again.

Today was a special day; it was his birthday.

Xu Qing, who looked sixteen or seventeen, was actually just fifteen at this moment, but compared to other peers who grew up safely, his experiences forced him to be mature.

And today, just like every year for many years, he silently blessed himself alone.

Only this year, there was wine.

So, after drinking a pot, Xu Qing thought of his relatives.

The memories of them, even if he tried very hard to recall, were still blurred. This blur made Xu Qing very uncomfortable. He didn't want to be blurred, but... some things were uncontrollable.

A long time, a long time.

"Are you... okay..." Xu Qing lowered his head and whispered.

The sea breeze blew, lifting his hair, blowing it on his face, blowing everything away. That hint of chill also gradually pulled Xu Qing back from his memories, making his eyes sharp again and the expression on his face cold once more.

"Live on."

"If I can live a little better, if I still have the chance to see my parents... it would be even better."

"So, I must become stronger!" Xu Qing slowly raised his head, the teenager's figure under the moonlight, like a lone wolf, gazing into the distance.

After a long while, he turned and walked back to the cabin, sat cross-legged, and began to cultivate.

Time passed.

After his birthday, Xu Qing's life got on the right track. In the following days, every day besides patrolling, he was refining elixirs and cultivating.

The cultivation of the Sea Transformation Sutra, although supplemented by spirit stones, gradually slowed down, and now it had just broken through from the Sixth Layer to the Seventh Layer.

The further he went, the slower the cultivation, but this was only relative. In fact, compared to others, Xu Qing's cultivation speed was already extremely astonishing.

At the same time, after the Sea Transformation Sutra reached the Seventh Layer, Xu Qing could clearly feel that his combat power was almost a world of difference from before. Now he had full confidence that facing the self who hadn't come to the Seven Blood Eyes, he could kill him directly within thirty breaths.

Although there was still a gap compared to the Jin Gang Sect ancestor, Xu Qing also had the confidence to deal with him head-on for a while.

"Wait until I am stronger, then I will go and kill the Jin Gang Sect ancestor." Not killing the Jin Gang Sect ancestor, Xu Qing had a thorn in his heart, always uneasy. He felt that although the other party was restricted by the Seven Blood Eyes rules and could not personally take action against him, borrowing a knife to kill was inevitable, so he must hurry to improve his cultivation to eliminate this threat.

In addition, Xu Qing's research on the magic boat was also extremely thorough. After analyzing the content of the jade slip very comprehensively and knowing it by heart, his control of the magic boat also reached an extremely flexible degree.

As for the direction, he also had a decision, choosing sturdiness!

He wanted to start with sturdiness and protection to upgrade the magic boat's level. The reason for this was that the improvement of sturdiness and protection was not easy to wear out, and not wearing out meant no need for repair, reducing the cost.

On the other hand, in this crisis-ridden Seven Blood Eyes main city, the magic boat was Xu Qing's only relatively safe place. He needed such a place to cultivate, rest, and refine elixirs.

So, such a place must also have sufficient protection.

At the same time, in terms of elixirs, Xu Qing had also refined quite a few in these days, both white and black elixirs.

He followed his former method, not only refining black elixirs but also refining many poison powders he had used before.

And every time he refined elixirs, Xu Qing was extremely focused. Herbal medicine was a survival skill he had learned very seriously, and he cherished his learning very much, having already engraved it in his bones.

As for the remaining medicinal herbs after each refining, they were also carefully categorized and placed in the cabin by him, which made his boat filled with dense grids, piled with all kinds of medicinal herbs.

Among them, poison elixirs and poison powders, because there were many people in the main city, it was inconvenient for him to try to introduce new ones, so Xu Qing hadn't refined new poisons, but the materials had accumulated quite a bit.

He planned to find an opportunity to go out and find a secret place to refine them together.

And the work of the Criminal Investigation Department, with Xu Qing's continuous attendance for several days, gradually became familiar. In these few days, the entire Criminal Investigation Department was still searching for the Night Owl's strongholds, and a large number of clues were reported by people every day.

Xu Qing could feel that the department was not far from closing the net.

And today, it was not his night shift, but Xu Qing chose to take the initiative to apply and replace someone.

The duties of the Criminal Investigation Department included night patrols, which every disciple would encounter, but whenever it was a night shift, everyone would be vigilant to the extreme.

So, as the sky outside gradually darkened, Xu Qing tidied his clothes, put the poison powder in his sleeve pocket, placed the dagger and iron skewer, and walked out of the magic boat.

Outside, the sunset had already fallen, dusk was about to dissipate, the sky was dark, and the earth had lost its light. Drops of rain slowly sprinkled on the main city.

Xu Qing's figure walked in the dark, and in this rain, the whole person seemed to melt into the night, galloping forward.

At this moment, the wind blew, falling on Xu Qing's long robe, rustling. This wind carried a chill, and taking a breath made one feel very refreshed.

It also drove away the damp heat in the city, but it couldn't disperse some special smells in the air.

As he galloped, his clean boots stepped on the bluestone slabs sprinkled with rain, making a series of rapid tapping sounds. Looking from afar, it seemed that every step he took, the water stains on the ground would ripple like flowers, as if every step gave birth to a lotus.

Soon the sky was completely dark, the rain was heavier, and Xu Qing's figure swept rapidly through alleys, past closed shops, avoiding some killing scenes, until midnight, when he arrived at Banquan Road.

Looking at the open inn in the distance, in the rain, Xu Qing stood in a corner under the eaves, waiting silently.

A few days ago, his informant had mentioned a wanted criminal named Qing Qing Yunzi.

The wanted jade slip noted that this person came from the Qingyun Sect, which was attached to the Purple Earth, was at the Ninth Layer of Qi Condensation, was cruel and merciless, and was addicted to lust. In his sect, he abused and killed several female fellow disciples, and while being hunted all the way, he slaughtered many villages, raping and plundering.

But Xu Qing didn't choose to capture him because there was no enmity between them.

In this cruel chaotic world, everyone has their own way of living, and Xu Qing couldn't manage so much.

But the other party did one thing wrong.

Xu Qing's informant should have appeared two days ago at the busy market where they met for the second time to find him for the antidote, but until today, she hadn't shown up.

So Xu Qing went to look for her during the day.

Although the wind was strong, it couldn't disperse the unique smell of the poison powder on the spirit coins, so Xu Qing easily found the woman's residence and also saw the traces of fighting inside. Following the traces of the poison powder, he found this inn.

After waiting for an afternoon, he saw a person stained with the rich smell of poison powder enter the inn.

The other party's appearance was consistent with the wanted jade slip; it was Qing Qing Yunzi.

So, today Xu Qing swapped shifts with someone and came here, waiting silently.

His own informant, naturally, had to be managed by himself.