Chapter 82: A Fair Price

The light of dawn illuminated the ocean, brightening everything, and fell upon Xu Qing’s solemn figure.

After a long while, Xu Qing let out a long breath; that terrifying existence on the seabed had now completely vanished from his sight as the day brightened.

Xu Qing did not know what that giant was, nor did he know whose royal carriage the dragon chariot belonged to, and the Sea Records had never mentioned it either. Yet, just by glancing at that giant from afar, he had felt a powerful sense of awe; one could imagine that this massive existence on the seabed must be terrifyingly shocking.

And to be able to have such a powerful existence pull its carriage, Xu Qing could hardly imagine how glorious the owner of that dragon chariot must have once been.

Fortunately, this giant seemed to have no malice, or perhaps, in the eyes of such an existence, Xu Qing did not seem to constitute any significant malice.

"Forbidden Sea..." Xu Qing muttered, his eyes revealing deep vigilance.

He knew and had personally experienced that this Forbidden Sea was filled with infinite danger, so in the subsequent voyage, he was even more cautious, strictly following the sea chart to sail, ensuring the route did not deviate in the slightest.

A few days passed in a flash.

In these few days, Xu Qing did not see many people, but he became increasingly familiar with the Forbidden Sea; he encountered more sea beasts and had also taken action several times.

Each time he took action, he obtained some biological materials from the Forbidden Sea. In this, his Forbidden Sea Dragon Whale had contributed greatly, and the multiple strikes also made Xu Qing increasingly adept at fighting on the ocean.

As for terrifying existences like the giant, Xu Qing did not encounter any again.

Until this day, when the midday sun was scorching and the sea breeze carried high heat, Xu Qing, who had finished his cultivation, opened his eyes, looked into the distance through the protective barrier, and frowned slightly.

His destination was the direction of the Xishan Archipelago, and Lizard Island was just behind the archipelago. According to the guidance of the sea chart, he would reach it in seven days.

As for the area he was currently in, it was recorded in the sea chart as a relatively safe route to the Xishan Archipelago, but now, as he approached, Xu Qing felt some doubt.

In the sea area ahead of him, there were a large number of vines spreading out of the water; the further away, the more vines there were, and at the end, there seemed to be some boats trapped.

But the distance was too great to see clearly.

As for the edges of this sea area, the vines were relatively fewer.

It seemed they had been attracted by something from the seabed earlier and were now slowly retracting, as if they would sink back down before long.

But the arrival of Xu Qing’s boat made these slowly sinking vines seem to have found a new target, and they visibly moved rapidly toward Xu Qing’s boat.

All of this caused Xu Qing’s vigilance to rise. Standing at the bow, he formed seals with both hands, maneuvering the magic boat to reverse, attempting to avoid the approaching vines.

But the speed of the vines was very fast. Although Xu Qing did not go deep and did not waste time avoiding them, a few of them still approached during their spread and wound around the hull.

These vines were pitch-black in color, as thick as an arm, and covered in sharp thorns, looking very ferocious. The most alarming thing was that these thorns contained a certain suction force; as they coiled, they caused the magic boat’s consumption to intensify instantly.

Fortunately, the number of vines was not large, and their coiling could not affect the speed of the magic boat for the moment, but Xu Qing still clearly perceived that this consumption was, to a certain extent, more like spiritual energy being sucked away.

A cold glint flashed in Xu Qing’s eyes. He waved his right hand, a dagger appeared, and his body leaped up in an instant. Amidst the flashing cold light, those vines were severed one after another, and with the pulling power of the magic boat, he gradually broke free from this area.

Until he was far away, Xu Qing looked at the distant sea area and then lowered his gaze to the deck.

There lay a few vines he had severed, twisting like sea snakes. Green liquid flowed from the cuts, carrying strong corrosion, and as it dripped onto the deck, it made a sizzling sound.

Looking at these, Xu Qing’s expression was somewhat ugly. During the cutting just now, he felt that the vines were extremely tough; even with his physical strength, he had to use his full power.

After pondering for a moment, Xu Qing suddenly formed a seal with his right hand, and the array patterns beneath his feet flashed, revealing the core of the Spirit Gathering Array.

Xu Qing scanned it and found that three of the spirit stones on it appeared dim, as if they had been drained in an instant.

"It really does absorb spiritual energy." Xu Qing felt a pang of heartache.

There were over a hundred types of vines recorded in the Sea Records, and most of them looked similar, so it was difficult for Xu Qing to accurately judge them immediately.

Especially in this sea area, neither the sect’s sea chart nor the one he obtained from the merman youth had marked the vines.

"If they weren't there originally, then they must be migratory vines. Among such vines that also love spiritual energy, only the Spirit-Devouring Vine fits." Xu Qing recalled the contents of the Sea Records and whispered with a frown.

"Spirit-Devouring Vine, loves spiritual energy, cannot be harmed by spells, can only be severed by brute force. Can devour the power of magic boats and the spiritual energy of cultivators themselves. If entangled, the death is extremely miserable. This object is sensitive to foreign substances and wanders the Forbidden Sea; the places it inhabits are often areas where foreign substances are relatively scarce."

Xu Qing pondered and looked up into the distance.

This was the shortest path to the Xishan Archipelago; if he were to go around, the time consumed would increase significantly.

Especially since he did not know the specific range of these vines, and according to the description in the Sea Records, these Spirit-Devouring Vines often drifted in groups when they appeared, covering a vast range.

"The time required to detour is too long; it is not an option unless absolutely necessary. And these Spirit-Devouring Vines are not impossible to resolve."

Xu Qing thought for a moment, his eyes narrowed, and his right hand brushed over his storage bag. The next instant, a black elixir appeared in his hand.

This elixir was precisely the black elixir containing dense foreign substances.

Holding the black elixir, Xu Qing stood at the bow and maneuvered the magic boat to approach the vine area once again.

Soon the sea surface churned, and a large number of vines broke out of the sea, carrying intense greed, and flew rapidly toward Xu Qing’s magic boat.

But the moment they approached, Xu Qing calmly threw the black elixir in his hand toward the sea surface in front. As the black elixir fell into the sea and melted, the foreign substances suddenly became dense.

In an instant, the vines spreading from all around trembled in unison, as if they had encountered something extremely repulsive, and they instantly recoiled, avoiding him from afar, allowing Xu Qing’s magic boat to pass through unimpeded.

Xu Qing’s expression softened slightly, and he maneuvered the magic boat to move at full speed. Although the places he passed through were in the vine area, as he threw one black elixir after another, all the vines that tried to coil around showed strong repulsion and avoided him one after another.

Just like this, Xu Qing’s magic boat moved forward all the way. As he threw more black elixirs, a relatively denser concentration of foreign substances permeated around his boat, so much so that gradually he didn't even need to keep throwing black elixirs; the surrounding vines would instinctively avoid him.

Thus, in this forward movement, Xu Qing’s magic boat got closer and closer to those boats trapped by the vines in the distance, and the sea breeze also carried the voices of the people there over.

Although faint, for a cultivator, it could still be heard quite clearly.

"Zhao Zhongheng, what kind of path are you leading us on!"

"

"Senior Sister Ding, please calm your anger... There were no vines in this area before; they must have migrated here in the last few days, and there is nothing I can do about it. However, I have already asked my grandfather for help, and I believe someone will come to help us break free very soon..."

The person speaking was none other than Zhao Zhongheng. At this moment, his Phoenix Bird was completely trapped here, and with a large number of vines coiling around, the boat could only move forward with difficulty.

While the speed was slow, the followers who had traveled with him also had their boats trapped. Each of them looked anxious, but they had no choice and could only try their best to continuously cut the vines.

Zhao Zhongheng was also annoyed; the vines in this area were truly beyond his expectations. At this moment, while maneuvering the Phoenix Bird with all his might to try and break out, facing the dissatisfied expression of the Senior Sister beside him, he could only apologize. On one hand, he was pursuing her, and on the other, it was because this Senior Sister Ding had an extraordinary background.

So he hurriedly took a jade box from his person and sent it over.

"Senior Sister Ding, don't be angry. Believe me, it's no problem. I will definitely be able to take you to the Xishan Archipelago. This Clarity Elixir is a rare medicine that can nourish the soul and is of great value. It was given to me by my grandfather, and I give it to you as an apology."

The beautiful woman in the pale purple Daoist robe beside him seemed to have had her patience worn thin. At this moment, she frowned, glanced at the jade box in Zhao Zhongheng’s hand, took it, and forced herself to be a bit calmer, just about to speak.

But at this moment, the whistling sound of a magic boat came from afar. She instinctively looked over and saw at a glance a magic boat in the distance, riding the wind and breaking the waves, coming at high speed.

On the magic boat stood a person like a green pine, a gray Daoist robe fluttering in the wind. As his long hair swayed, the sunlight fell through the strands, forming colorful halos.

And beneath that halo was a cold, perfect face that could make the opposite sex’s heart flutter. Even the vines seemed to be shaken by it, as if, because of this person’s handsomeness, they had become sensitive plants, avoiding and recoiling around him on their own.

This scene made light shimmer in the woman’s eyes, and a sweet smile appeared on her face as she called out toward Xu Qing.

"This Junior Brother, what method did you use to make the vines avoid you? Could you help me?"

Her smile was sweet, her voice sugary, and she seemed to have turned into a piece of candy, which made Zhao Zhongheng, who also saw Xu Qing, feel very uncomfortable in his heart.

He had shown countless courtesies along the way, yet he had never seen her smile and speak like that...

This discomfort made Zhao Zhongheng’s expression unpleasant, and with some hostility in his heart, he looked at Xu Qing.

At a glance, he felt he looked familiar, and the next instant he immediately recognized him.

"It’s you!" Zhao Zhongheng recognized Xu Qing. If it had been someone else, perhaps he would have forgotten long ago, but Xu Qing’s face was one that few people would forget after seeing it.

And now, after recognizing Xu Qing, Zhao Zhongheng immediately felt the spiritual energy fluctuations on the other party, which seemed much stronger than when they last met. But to him, as a core disciple, his noble status allowed him to ignore the vast majority of mountain-base disciples.

So after a cold glance, Zhao Zhongheng said indifferently.

"You, come over and use your method to clear a path for us."

In his daily life, he was always this bossy toward the gray-robed disciples of the mountain base, and he was the same now. In his perception, the gray-robed disciples of the mountain base would all be respectful and obedient when they saw him.

Xu Qing had noticed the Phoenix Bird not far away earlier and had also seen the two core disciples in pale purple Daoist robes on it. At this moment, he ignored them, his magic boat’s speed unchanged, and he whistled past them not far away.

"Eh? Are you deaf? Didn't you hear me talking!" Zhao Zhongheng’s expression was gloomy. With a wave of his hand, a large number of water droplets appeared in front of him, forming a water sword that headed straight for Xu Qing’s magic boat.

But the moment it approached, a curtain of water appeared out of thin air, directly blocking it.

Amidst the roaring sound, the water sword collapsed.

Xu Qing’s magic boat suddenly stopped. He turned around and looked coldly at Zhao Zhongheng, who had attacked him. In the distance, the ocean waves rolled, and the sea surface suddenly exploded. A huge Forbidden Sea Dragon Whale leaped out from within, revealing a small part of its body in mid-air, dazzling under the sunlight.

It let out a roar that shook the soul and then slapped heavily onto the sea, sinking back down, but its violent aura spread out at this moment.

This scene immediately caused Zhao Zhongheng’s expression to change drastically. The followers beside him also had their eyes widened, their hearts stirred with giant waves, and that Senior Sister also had her expression change in an instant.

"Forbidden Sea Dragon Whale!"

Zhao Zhongheng took a breath. When he looked at Xu Qing, his expression revealed disbelief. Although he was a core disciple and had a crushing advantage in status over the mountain-base disciples, but... this was not absolute.

Among the mountain-base disciples, if one could cultivate a Forbidden Sea Dragon Whale within the eighth level of the Sea Transformation Sutra, it represented astonishing talent, and there was a great possibility of advancing to Foundation Establishment in the future.

Such a person, even a core disciple, would not want to provoke them too much and would often treat them as peers. After all, once the other party advanced to Foundation Establishment, their status and position would immediately leap up, and even if they saw them, they would have to pay respectful homage.

Xu Qing looked coldly at the changing expression of Zhao Zhongheng and spoke slowly.

"One ship, twenty spirit stones; as for yours, it will be one hundred."