Chapter 59: A Birthday for One

At this moment, the night wind blew, and the seawater flowed, gently lapping against the sides of the small black-awning boat, squeezing out a fair amount of gray-black foam along the hull.

This also caused the small boat to sway slightly, emitting a creaking sound.

Inside the black awning, Xu Qing was diligently refining elixirs.

As he took out one herb after another—some to pluck leaves, some to squeeze juice, some to extract cores—with practiced ease, the medicinal liquid in the stone bowl gradually increased.

After checking the proportions and making some adjustments, Xu Qing began to add the Seven-Leaf Grass. Just like that, when midnight arrived, Xu Qing carefully dripped the juice of the Spirit-Condensing Leaf into the black medicinal liquid.

A series of harsh hissing sounds erupted, followed by green smoke, which Xu Qing dispersed with a wave of his sleeve. The medicinal liquid in the stone bowl instantly transformed into a white semi-solid, with a faint, flowing luster visible within it.

A success on the first try.

After a careful inspection, Xu Qing took out the medicinal liquid, rolled each portion into an elixir, and placed them aside to air-dry in the shade. Looking at these elixirs, satisfaction appeared in his eyes.

"Finally, I've refined the White Pill!"

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

All of this made the young man's heart feel 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 hung high, reflected on the sea surface, shimmering with ripples.

The surroundings were silent, and the sea breeze blew in, carrying a hint of chill within the dampness, causing his hair to flutter.

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

"I wonder how Shizi and Luanya are doing now..."

"And at the grave of the Thunder Squad, I wonder if weeds have grown..." Xu Qing whispered softly.

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

Even if he was accustomed to loneliness, even if he had adapted to the new environment, Xu Qing was, after all, just a young man. He sat there silently, his memory returning to the dwelling in the scavenger camp, eating snake meat with a familiar old man.

Listening to the trivial matters of the scavenger camp that the other person spoke of, watching him smoke from a pipe and drink wine.

The images in his memory were very clear.

Xu Qing lowered his eyelids slightly.

"The teacher in the slums once said that when a person begins to reminisce about the past, it means their age is growing..." Xu Qing murmured, taking a flask of wine from his leather bag.

He had bought this during his patrol earlier that day.

Holding the wine flask, Xu Qing looked up at the bright moon in the sky. After a long while, he slowly raised it, offered a slight toast to the bright moon, and drank a mouthful.

Seen from afar, the young man on the boat toasted the bright moon with one cup and drank alone.

The wine from the main city was stronger than that of the scavenger camp; it felt fiery as it entered his mouth, and upon reaching his belly, it felt like a flame burning through his entire body, causing Xu Qing's breathing to quicken slightly. After a moment, he took another large gulp.

"To the Thunder Squad, may your spirit in heaven rest in peace."

"To Master Bai, may you be healthy and live a long life."

"And to myself... happy birthday."

As Xu Qing murmured, he drank again.

Today was a special day; it was his birthday.

Although Xu Qing looked sixteen or seventeen, he had actually just turned fifteen. But compared to his peers who had grown up safely, his experiences forced him to be mature.

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

Only this year, there was wine.

Thus, after finishing the flask, Xu Qing thought of his family.

Even though he tried very hard to recall them, their images in his memory had blurred. This blurring made Xu Qing feel very uncomfortable; he did not want them to blur, but... some things were beyond his control.

For a long, long time.

"Are you all... doing well?" Xu Qing lowered his head and whispered.

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

"Survive."

"If I can live a little better, and if I still have a chance to see my father and mother... that would be even better."

"Therefore, I must become stronger!" Xu Qing slowly raised his head. The young man's figure under the moonlight, like a lone wolf, gazed into the distance.

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

Time passed.

After his birthday, Xu Qing's life entered a steady rhythm. In the following days, apart from patrolling, he spent his time refining elixirs and cultivating.

Although he used spirit stones to assist in the cultivation of the Sea-Transforming Scripture, his progress had gradually slowed down; he had only just broken through from the sixth layer to the seventh.

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

At the same time, after reaching the seventh layer of the Sea-Transforming Scripture, Xu Qing could clearly feel that his combat power was like heaven and earth compared to before. Now, he was fully confident that if he faced his former self—the one who hadn't yet come to Seven Blood Eyes—he could kill him directly within thirty breaths.

Although there was still a gap compared to the ancestor of the Vajra Sect, Xu Qing was confident he could hold his own against him for a while.

"Once I am stronger, I will go and kill the Vajra Sect ancestor." If he didn't kill the Vajra Sect ancestor, Xu Qing would have a thorn in his heart and would never be at ease. He felt that although the other party was constrained by the rules of Seven Blood Eyes and could not personally attack him, borrowing a knife to kill was inevitable, so he had to hurry and improve his cultivation to eliminate this threat.

Additionally, Xu Qing had researched the magic boat thoroughly. Having analyzed the contents of the jade slip comprehensively and fully mastered it, his control over the magic boat had reached an extremely flexible level.

As for the direction of his upgrades, he had made a decision: he chose durability!

He wanted to start with durability and protection to raise the level of the magic boat. The reason for this was, on one hand, that improvements in durability and protection were less prone to wear and tear, and no wear meant no need for repairs, reducing expenses.

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

Therefore, such a place must have sufficient protection.

Meanwhile, regarding elixirs, Xu Qing had refined quite a few in these days; this was true for both the White Pills and the black ones.

Following his previous methods, he not only refined black pills but also many of the toxic powders he had used before.

Every time he refined elixirs, Xu Qing was extremely focused. Herbal pharmacology was a survival skill he had learned with great effort, and he cherished his knowledge, having long since carved it into his bones.

As for the herbs left over after each refinement, he carefully sorted and stored them in the cabin, which resulted in his small black-awning boat being filled with dense rows of compartments, piled high with various herbs.

Among them, the toxic pills and powders could not be experimented with or innovated upon because of the many prying eyes in the main city, so Xu Qing hadn't refined any new poisons, but he had accumulated quite a lot of materials.

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

As for his work at the Homicide Department, as Xu Qing went there for several consecutive days, he gradually became familiar with it. These past few days, the entire Homicide Department was still searching for the strongholds of the Night Dove, and a large amount of clues were reported every day.

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

Today was not originally his night shift, but Xu Qing chose to apply for it voluntarily and swapped with someone else.

The duties of the Homicide Department included night patrols, which every disciple would take turns doing, but whenever they were on night duty, everyone would be alert to the extreme.

Thus, as the sky outside grew dark, Xu Qing tidied his robes, placed the toxic powder in his sleeve pocket, secured his dagger and iron skewers, and walked out of the magic boat.

Outside, the sunset had already fallen, and the dusk was about to dissipate. As the sky darkened, the earth lost its luster, and drops of rain slowly sprinkled over the main city.

Xu Qing's figure moved in the shadows. In the rain, he seemed to merge with the night, speeding forward.

At this moment, the wind blew, rustling against Xu Qing's long robes. The wind was icy, and taking a breath felt very refreshing.

It also dispelled the damp heat in the city, but it could not dispel some of the peculiar scents in the air.

As he sped along, his clean boots stepped on the bluestone slabs wet with rain, emitting a series of rapid tapping sounds. Seen from afar, it seemed that with every step he took, the water on the ground rippled like flowers, as if lotuses were blooming with every step.

Soon, the sky turned completely black, and the rain grew heavier. Xu Qing's figure flashed rapidly past alleys and closed shops, avoiding scenes of slaughter, until at midnight, he arrived at Banquan Road.

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

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

The wanted jade slip noted that this person came from the Qingyun Sect, a small sect attached to the Purple Earth. He was at the ninth layer of Qi Condensation, cruel and ruthless, and obsessed with lust. In his own sect, he had tortured and killed several female fellow disciples, and while being hunted, he had slaughtered several villages, committing rape and pillage.

But Xu Qing did not choose to capture him, because he had no grudge against him.

In this cruel and chaotic world, everyone had their own way of living; Xu Qing could not manage so much.

But the other party had done one thing wrong.

Xu Qing's informant should have appeared two days ago at the busy market where they had met for the second time to seek his help for detoxification, but she had not shown up even today.

So Xu Qing had gone to look for her during the day.

Although the wind was strong, it could not disperse the unique scent of the toxic powder on the spirit coins. Thus, Xu Qing easily found the woman's residence and saw signs of a struggle inside. Following the trail of the toxic powder, he found this inn.

After waiting for an afternoon, he saw a person stained with the strong scent of the toxic powder enter the inn.

The person's appearance matched the wanted jade slip; it was Qing Yunzi.

Therefore, Xu Qing had swapped his night shift today and came here to wait silently.

His own informant, naturally, had to be taken care of by himself.