Chapter 61: Do Not Enter Without Invitation

Heavenly thunder exploded!

The rumbling sound echoed through heaven and earth; the clouds in the firmament were layered and heavy, as if beings from outer space were constantly bombarding one another.

Sometimes a muffled roll of thunder, sometimes a continuous series of deafening roars, caused all the residents of the main city to wake from their sleep one after another.

Bolts of lightning tore through the vast sky, ripping apart the dark night in a shocking display; the sun, hidden by the clouds, seemed to have a moment of respite at this instant, straining to pour its light, accompanied by rain, down upon the human world.

Early morning, the rain grew heavier.

On the streets amidst the curtain of rain, the figure moving forward under a black paper umbrella gradually blurred.

One could only see the rain pouring down outside the umbrella, while the portion hitting the paper canopy, as it made a pattering sound, seemed to have failed its mission; unwilling to be blocked, it flowed along the edge of the umbrella, turning into lines of rain.

They fell in a scramble, reuniting with their companions on the earth.

The ripples formed by their reunion completely washed away the blood from the ground last night, yet they could not wash away the sins of human nature in this cruel world.

"Everyone has evil locked away in their hearts; it’s just that chaotic times make this lock very easy to open." This sentence was something the Captain of the Thunder Squad had said with deep emotion while eating once.

Xu Qing felt there was some truth to it.

The rain grew more ferocious, the heavenly thunder roared more loudly, and Xu Qing’s state of mind slowly calmed down amidst the roar of the thunder and wind.

Without realizing it, he returned to the Seventy-Nine Port. On the violently churning sea, he habitually checked his surroundings and lowered his magic boat.

Stepping inside, as the protective barrier rose, Xu Qing sat cross-legged in the reed canopy amidst the boat’s heavy swaying.

The activation of the barrier prevented the rain from entering, and for Xu Qing, who had already adapted to all of this, the swaying hull caused no discomfort.

On the contrary, amidst this swaying, under the roaring outside, and within the wind and rain filling the sky, his heart grew even calmer; he lowered his head and began to refine elixirs.

During this period, Xu Qing had gone to the apothecary many times to buy herbs, and the number of White Pills he refined grew ever larger; not only that, but the quantity of Black Pills and poison powders increased as well.

The small compartments inside his reed cabin also grew in number, and one could see them densely packed with a large amount of Yang-aligned and Yin-evil herbs.

"I need to find a time to go out and find a place to refine poison." Xu Qing scanned those small compartments, his right hand lifted and grabbed, and herbs flew over; amidst the wind and rain outside, he continued to refine medicine.

Time passed slowly like this; the rain grew heavier throughout the entire day, as if it were about to turn into a storm, whipping up astonishing, roaring giant waves.

Countless waves slapped against the port’s shore, causing a large number of boats to sway violently. Fortunately, the boats in the port were all of the magic boat variety; once their barriers were activated, they could resist, though looking from afar, they appeared like fallen leaves on the sea, drifting and swaying incessantly.

Also because the wind and rain were too strong, there were no incoming boats at the port, and even fewer going out; thus, most of the departments ceased operations, and the disciples rarely ventured out of their respective residences.

The entire Seven Blood Eyes port area stopped functioning amidst this increasingly astonishing wind and rain.

Only the slaughter... was still ongoing.

When the night of the second day descended, when the wind and rain outside grew even stronger, and when the heavenly thunder completely merged into the wind, its frantic roar spreading throughout the entire port, Xu Qing suddenly opened his eyes from within the violently swaying cabin of his magic boat.

A sense of crisis emerged within his mind.

This crisis did not come from the weather outside, but from the shore outside the magic boat.

Although the wind and rain were violent, blowing away much of the poison powder Xu Qing had set up in the surroundings, there were always some traces of poison powder that could persist longer in the wind and rain; this was the first layer of warning Xu Qing had prepared for himself.

Once someone approached and became contaminated with the scent of his poison powder, if they stepped onto his magic boat, it would fuse with several other types of poison gas Xu Qing had arranged inside the boat, turning into a lethal toxin.

Besides this, the growth in spiritual power he had obtained during the entrance test, as well as the continuous leaps in the Sea-Transforming Scripture during this period, made his perception far exceed that of his peers, rendering him even more sensitive.

Thus, under this dual warning, Xu Qing knew that outside... someone was approaching, and this person was right outside the magic boat.

The cold glint in Xu Qing’s eyes was restrained; he did not wait inside the boat but walked directly out of the cabin, stood on the deck, and looked toward the outside from within the barrier.

Outside, the wind and rain were pervasive, and lightning flashed; on the shore by his berth stood a figure wearing a straw raincoat, holding a wine jug in their hand.

He looked at Xu Qing, and Xu Qing looked at him.

After a long while, the figure in the straw raincoat slightly lifted their bamboo hat, revealing a middle-aged face, and smiled at Xu Qing.

"Junior Brother Xu, no need to be so alert. It’s me. I was out buying wine and happened to pass by here. I wanted to ask if you’d like to have a drink together? In this damn weather, wouldn't it be better to have a drink together?"

This person was indeed a disciple of the Homicide Department, in the same team as Xu Qing, and was the person who had once invited Xu Qing to drink.

Xu Qing did not speak, looking coldly at this middle-aged cultivator.

Seeing Xu Qing like this, the middle-aged cultivator smiled helplessly.

"Fine then. The environment of this ghost sect makes it hard for people to trust one another, but I have no ill intentions. Junior Brother Xu, I just wanted to make a friend. Many people in the team have drunk my wine; since you don't like it, I shall take my leave."

The middle-aged cultivator shook his head and turned to leave.

But just at this moment, Xu Qing suddenly spoke.

"Fine, come aboard."

The middle-aged cultivator’s footsteps paused; he looked at Xu Qing with some surprise, then looked at his boat. A flicker of dark light flashed deep in his eyes, and then he shook his head again.

"Forget it, I won't force others."

As he spoke, his footsteps quickened slightly, but just after taking five or six steps, a sharp whistling sound suddenly came, and a dagger broke through the wind and rain at an astonishing speed, heading straight for him.

In an instant, the middle-aged cultivator moved his body to dodge, his expression changing as he was about to turn back, but in the next instant, Xu Qing’s figure had already rushed out directly from the magic boat, black iron skewer in hand, charging through the wind and rain.

"Junior Brother Xu, what are you doing?"

The middle-aged cultivator’s eyes constricted, his body retreating rapidly; he formed a seal with one hand, and suddenly the surrounding rain paused in unison, whistling toward Xu Qing. But before it could get close, with a wave of Xu Qing’s hand, those rain droplets approaching him trembled for an instant and were actually controlled by Xu Qing, changing direction and shooting toward the middle-aged cultivator.

This scene caused the middle-aged cultivator’s mind to shake, and he felt a strong sense of crisis. He hurriedly bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, forming a blood mist that expanded to resist the incoming rain arrows, his body retreating violently as he prepared to flee.

But it was too late; he had misjudged Xu Qing’s cultivation base. In an instant, Xu Qing’s figure was like a hot knife through butter, closing in directly. The iron skewer in his hand brightened as lightning flashed, and it struck directly toward the middle-aged man’s forehead with a cold glint.

The chill was bone-piercing.

The middle-aged cultivator’s eyes turned blood-red, and he let out a roar, his cultivation base erupting completely. Several layers of protective light shields immediately appeared outside his body, and from his chest, a vertical, ferocious, fleshy mouth rapidly emerged, tearing through his clothes and emitting a sharp, roaring shockwave toward Xu Qing.

Amidst the rumbling, the several layers of light shields all collapsed, but the black iron skewer was slightly delayed by the sonic impact from the ferocious mouth on the opponent’s chest.

Taking advantage of this time, the middle-aged cultivator waved his right hand, and the wine jug in his hand flew straight toward Xu Qing, while his body erupted with full force, accelerating as he shot backward to flee.

Once the wine jug was out, it shattered in mid-air. What was inside was not wine, but dense, toxic liquid; as it exploded and spread in all directions, it carried a strong corrosive power, appearing as if even the magic boat’s protective shield could be instantly dissolved by it.

A cold glint flashed in Xu Qing’s eyes. He had sensed something was wrong earlier but wasn't sure. However, on this night of wind and rain, the opponent’s arrival was already suspicious, so out of caution, Xu Qing simply struck first.

At this moment, killing intent flashed in his eyes. He looked up at the fleeing middle-aged cultivator, did not pursue, but lifted his right hand and grabbed fiercely at the air toward him.

The Sea-Transforming Scripture within his body erupted with a roar.

Immediately, the rain in the surroundings trembled, crazily gathering toward the middle-aged cultivator from all directions, faintly forming a giant hand made of rainwater. No matter how the middle-aged cultivator struggled or panicked, it was to no avail; the hand grabbed down fiercely.

With a boom.

The middle-aged man’s body was frozen in mid-air by the giant hand. His face was pale, and his eyes revealed terror. He was just about to speak, but Xu Qing’s figure had already whistled over, closing in instantly, and the dagger in his right hand slashed fiercely across the middle-aged cultivator’s neck.

The force was so great that the head flew off.

As blood splattered everywhere, the mouth on the middle-aged cultivator’s chest suddenly bulged significantly and bit fiercely toward Xu Qing’s right hand.

Xu Qing’s Sea-Mountain Art operated suddenly, the phantom shadow manifesting on his arm, silently roaring at the big mouth, directly resisting it, while the giant hand formed by the surrounding rain also pressed down with sudden force.

Amidst a loud noise, the middle-aged cultivator’s headless corpse collapsed, turning into flesh and blood, and the mouth on his chest was also torn to pieces. Only Xu Qing stood in place, his chest rising and falling slightly.

This battle seemed quick, but in reality, this middle-aged man’s cultivation was not low, and his own combat power was quite astonishing, enough to be comparable to the strength Xu Qing had before entering the sect.

Even Qing Yunzi, who was killed by Xu Qing yesterday, was far from being this person’s match; after all, practitioners of the Seven Blood Eyes’ Sea-Transforming Scripture had combat power that far exceeded that of other small sect forces.

At this moment, Xu Qing scanned the surroundings rapidly, looking for whether the opponent had any accomplices. In the wind and rain, the entire port was pitch black, save for the violence of the wind and the light from the flashing lightning.

I had a dream last night; in the dream, I actually arrived in Xu Qing’s world... I transmigrated and became the ancestor of the Diamond Sect. I’m a bit anxious and don’t know what to do. Waiting online...