Chapter 64: Diligent Xu Qing

Cultivation requires resources.

Especially with the arrival of the God's Remnant Face, all things are invaded by strange substances, making the acquisition of resources extremely difficult and mostly accompanied by blood.

Xu Qing's eyes revealed a look of contemplation. The quantity of spirit stones and materials he needed was huge, and the harvest from Bai Dan refining was far from enough.

"The Murder Investigation Department gives three spirit stones a month, and the White Pills here... if I work hard, I should be able to earn twenty spirit stones a month. Calculating it this way, that's twenty-three spirit stones a month."

Xu Qing's brows furrowed.

The cost of his cultivation now was too high. To maintain the previous speed, he needed one spirit stone every day, and the berth fee would also need to be paid soon.

"As for the refining of the magic boat, the price is even more expensive." Xu Qing sighed in his heart, somewhat regretting that he had been too decisive in killing before, missing the opportunity to obtain the opponent's items and contributions.

Thus, he pondered that he should find a way to catch more wanted criminals, or go to a forbidden zone, otherwise, if things continued like this, resources would be scarce if he wanted to upgrade his magic boat.

"So the fastest way is still to kill wanted criminals, or plunder fellow disciples, in order to upgrade the magic boat and cultivation base as soon as possible. Then I can go out to sea to hunt, thereby making everything like a snowball, increasingly unstoppable!"

Xu Qing's eyes revealed a cold glint. Compared to plundering fellow disciples who hadn't provoked him, he felt that killing wanted criminals was more suitable.

Having made a decision, Xu Qing sat cross-legged in his Level 2 magic boat, added a spirit stone to the Spirit Gathering Array, and began to cultivate.

But he hadn't cultivated for long before Xu Qing opened his eyes and took out his identity token in doubt, on which a voice message appeared.

"Junior Brother Xu Qing, I am Zhou Qingpeng. Was it you I saw at the apothecary last time? You've changed so much; I thought for a long time before I figured it should be you. I saw that you seemed very interested in that Ghost Desire Horseshoe Crab. I recognize this thing; my family runs a medicinal herb business. If you need it, I can entrust someone to help you get it, it's just that the price is slightly expensive."

After reading it, Xu Qing was thoughtful, seeing that Zhou Qingpeng wanted to earn some spirit stones from him, and he indeed very much wanted a Ghost Desire Horseshoe Crab to study its poison, so he agreed.

Time passed, and soon six days went by.

During these six days, every time Xu Qing went to the Murder Investigation Department to check in, he was paying attention to the list of wanted criminals, and under his request, his informants were paying more attention to this aspect.

It's just that... in the Murder Investigation Department, there were many people who used this to make money, and this type of information was mostly kept confidential by each person. So, when Xu Qing occasionally obtained it and went there, he often found nothing.

This forced Xu Qing to change his method.

At the same time, in the Murder Investigation Department, new people had come after Xu Qing during these few days.

But this newcomer clearly had a background and was not in the same department as Xu Qing. After coming, he wasn't a team member but was directly appointed as the captain of the Third Team of the Earth Department.

And this person seemed to have some means; within two days of taking office, all twenty-plus team members under his command were obedient.

However, the four departments of the Murder Investigation Department, because the department heads above were different, mostly acted independently besides large-scale tasks, and sometimes even friction occurred.

So, the other departments just listened to the news of the Third Team of the Earth Department changing its new captain, and originally wouldn't care much. Only the taking office of this newcomer caused some waves.

Because... this new captain of the Third Team of the Earth Department was not human.

Xu Qing had seen him from afar once and immediately recognized that this newly promoted captain of the Third Team of the Earth Department was exactly the alien youth who had stood behind the Third Prince when he returned many days ago.

On that day, when the alien youth saw the Third Prince holding his two fellow clan sisters, he had shown disdain in his eyes, which Xu Qing had noted.

And his identity was soon dug out by the various concerned people in the Murder Investigation Department. Xu Qing had heard the team members of Team 6 talk about it and knew that the other party was of the Merfolk race.

Although the Merfolk race was an alien race, they were allies of the Seven Blood Eyes, and there were many trade exchanges between them. And this one was said to be of noble status within the Merfolk race.

After being brought back by the Third Prince, because he intended to enter the Seven Blood Eyes, he came to the Murder Investigation Department under the Third Prince's arrangement.

As for the Third Prince's identity, Xu Qing had guesses and also asked others, confirming his thoughts.

The Peak Master of the Seventh Peak of the Seven Blood Eyes had three direct disciples, two men and one woman.

These three people were each figures like crown princes and princesses within the Seventh Peak, and a single word from them could make countless disciples of the Seventh Peak bow their heads, and even in the entire Seven Blood Eyes, it was the same.

They belonged to the direct sequence of the Seven Blood Eyes.

And because the Peak Master of the Seventh Peak himself had astonishing talent, his fame spread throughout the entire Nanhuang Continent, his combat power was heaven-shaking, and his power was also the same. So, as his direct disciples, their sequence within the Seven Blood Eyes was also extremely high.

Among them, the Eldest Prince had been in seclusion for many years to break through the bottleneck and hadn't been seen by anyone for many years. But when Xu Qing heard his teammates discussing it, they said this Eldest Prince was extremely mysterious, and his combat power was even more terrifying.

He had once had a bloody combat record of slaying multiple people of the same realm during the Foundation Establishment stage and slaughtering several small alien tribes. Looking at the entire Seven Blood Eyes, the Eldest Prince's sequence among the direct disciples of each peak ranked second.

During the discussion, the captain of Team 6, who was eating an apple at the side, hit the nail on the head with a sentence.

"Generally speaking, such people are mostly not bloodthirsty, but have extreme aspects to their personalities. If their reverse scales are touched, naturally they must kill."

Xu Qing felt deeply that this sentence was true.

As for the Second Senior Sister, when the teammates talked about her, each one had some fear in their expression. Compared to the mysterious Eldest Prince who few people had seen in these years, too many people had seen the Second Prince.

She would stroll around the harbor on normal days, her personality was very strong, and her actions were decisive. She was known for being overbearing, yet she possessed strange strength. Once she was furious, even the elders of the Seventh Peak would have a headache.

"She has a sickness, it needs to be cured." The captain at the side said in a low voice.

And among the Peak Master's disciples, the most popular one was the Third Prince.

Besides being lecherous, the Third Prince had almost no shortcomings. On normal days, he had a smile on his face, had no airs toward the disciples, and was extremely generous.

For the disciples' requests for help, he also tried his best to solve them, especially his relationship with those alien races on the sea, which was even more familiar. He was even called the diplomatic ambassador of the Seventh Peak by many disciples.

And his romantic affairs were also hotly discussed by the disciples.

The captain of Team 6 was eating an apple and seemed to want to comment, but after thinking of something, he finally didn't speak, just ate two more bites of the apple in his hand, looking at everyone with a smile.

Although Xu Qing listened carefully to the discussions of the team members, he didn't pay too much attention. Whether it was the Merfolk youth or these three Seventh Peak princes, they had nothing to do with him.

The focus of Xu Qing during this period was wanted criminals. As for the method of finding them, he had also found a direction for change.

That was to wait for the rabbit to hit the tree stump.

On this night, it was Xu Qing's turn to be on night duty.

The night was dark and the wind was high, the moonlight was thin, and the sea breeze carried dampness, permeating every corner of the city, as if it wanted to witness the various darknesses occurring in the city at night.

Gambling dens and brothels also opened busily at night, with people coming and going endlessly. Occasionally, one could see figures in night-traveling clothes flying over eaves and walking on walls on various buildings.

In the alleys, spiritual energy fluctuations would occasionally come out, as if with the moonlight, various demons and ghosts were slowly descending into the human world.

It's just that all this noise became somewhat quiet with the passing of a figure.

Until the figure left, everything returned to normal.

This figure was Xu Qing.

Ever since he dragged Qing Yunzi's corpse and walked through half the city last time, every time he was on night duty, it was like this.

There were no secrets in the main city. Being able to capture the Ninth Layer Qi Condensation Qing Yunzi alive—even if the other party was just a Qi Condensation of a small sect—and making him unable to escape and be incomparably miserable, was enough to represent strength.

And being able to confront the shopkeeper outside the Banquan Road inn and leave safely—all this was enough to show that this newcomer to the Murder Investigation Department could not be easily provoked.

This was one of the reasons why Xu Qing hadn't encountered other wanted criminals afterward.

But it didn't matter. Xu Qing felt he had found a new method. At this moment, he walked in the darkness of the city and arrived at Banquan Road, looking at the inn that was open not far away, standing in the corner under the eaves without moving.

His body seemed to have merged with the dark night, waiting silently.

Since he couldn't find clues or wanted criminals, it was better to wait for the rabbit to hit the tree stump and just wait.

Patience was something Xu Qing possessed completely. As for offending the old man at the inn by waiting for the rabbit to hit the tree stump here, Xu Qing had also considered it, but spirit stones were more important, and Xu Qing felt that his current combat power was not something that couldn't be fought.

Just like this, time passed, and two hours later... before dawn broke, a figure galloped over silently from afar, the target being the inn.

This person was a thin, dry middle-aged man with small eyes and a long beard, which made his already pointed chin look even stranger, looking like a mouse.

At this moment, his small eyes carried vigilance. Seeing that the distance to the inn gate was getting closer and closer, his heart relaxed, and his expression carried emotion as he approached the inn quickly.

"The main city of the Seven Blood Eyes is truly wonderful, especially these inns that open at night. They follow the rules and provide shelter; this point is very perfect, it's just that it's damn too expensive."

"Eighty for the first day, one hundred and sixty for the second day, doubling every day... It seems I'll have to find a small city to do a job in a few days. It's a pity that the ordinary people in those small cities, besides screaming miserably, have no savings." This thin, dry middle-aged man muttered. He was two zhang away from the inn. With a leap, he was about to cross over.

But just at this moment, a cool breeze blew from behind him, and a cold voice entered his ears.

"Mouse Daoist?"

The thin, dry middle-aged man's eyes contracted, and all the hair on his body exploded at this moment. Without any hesitation, his right hand waved fiercely backward, as if powder had scattered, and his body erupted instantly, galloping forward.

But it was too late. Almost the instant his right hand lifted, a dagger appeared before his neck and slashed fiercely!

The next instant, as fresh blood erupted, the thin, dry middle-aged man's whole body trembled, his limbs twitched, and a hoarse sound came from his mouth, but he couldn't speak. Struggling to turn around, he saw the expressionless Xu Qing behind him.

Those powders were of no use to Xu Qing.

"Mouse Cultivator, from the Litu Sect, specializes in bewitching medicine, has a twisted personality, enjoys slaughtering ordinary people for fun, was wanted by Purple Earth for fifteen spirit stones half a year ago, announced throughout the entire Nanhuang Continent."

Xu Qing didn't look at the Mouse Daoist who had lost his breath, but looked up at the gloomy-faced old man in the inn at the side, reciting the contents of the wanted jade slip.

"No need to recite, I know he is a wanted criminal." The old man said gloomily.

Xu Qing was silent, cut off the Mouse Daoist's head with one knife, took away his leather pouch, and kicked the corpse with his foot.

With a bang, the corpse landed at the inn gate.

"He didn't enter the inn, I didn't break your rules, you don't need to spend money to buy the corpse, I'll give it to you."

Saying this, Xu Qing retreated a few steps until he reached a safe distance, then carried the Mouse Daoist's head and left quickly.

"This month, still short forty-five spirit stones..."

Two chapters together, over 8,000 words updated~~~

Also, seeing that there seems to be a fan fiction competition in the book review area, winning the title of "Light Outside"? It seems that Qidian only gives a few dozen title quotas?

That, can I participate too? I'm a bit tired of the "Clear Wind Youth" title, I want to change it. After all, writing fan fiction for "Light Outside" is what I'm best at... ===== CHAPTER 65 =====

"This month, I'm still short forty-five spirit stones..."

Two chapters combined for over eight thousand words of updates~~~

Also, I see that the book review section seems to be holding a fan fiction contest, to win the title of 'Beyond the Light of Time'? It seems that the Qidian platform has only given out a few dozen title slots so far?

Um, can I participate too? I'm a bit tired of using 'Youth of the Clear Wind', I want to change my title. After all, when it comes to writing fan fiction for 'Beyond the Light of Time', I am the most skilled...