Chapter 98

The black night, the wind was not small. It fell upon Xu Qing's magic boat at the 79th Port, dissipating against the barrier, unable to penetrate it.

If it could pierce the barrier and blow into the cabin, it would find that there... was no one there.

In the distance from the magic boat, in a dark corner under some houses, Xu Qing leaned silently against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, coldly gazing at his own magic boat in the dark night.

Hidden within the opening and closing of his eyes was a sharp, biting glint.

"Tonight, will someone come?" Xu Qing raised his head, looking at the pitch-black sky.

"It is a night for killing."

Xu Qing whispered softly, yet his mind conjured the vast black cloud he saw when he returned from the sea, and the phoenix-hawk-like existence revealed within that cloud.

Earlier, when he retrieved the magic boat from Zhang San, he asked about this matter before leaving. Zhang San only had a partial understanding and told Xu Qing that this existence was related to the largest forbidden zone in the Eastern Wanggu—the Phoenix Forbidden.

It was the emperor of that forbidden zone, named the Flame Phoenix!

The origin of the term "Phoenix Forbidden" also arose from this.

Its existence was supreme; it suppressed not only that forbidden zone but the entire Eastern Wanggu. Even the name "Eastern Wanggu" arose because of it!

Eastern Wanggu, Eastern Wanggu; south of the Wanggu Continent, above the Forbidden Sea, a divine creature danced in the nine heavens. Its might caused the sky to dim and all things to revere it. It was honorifically called the Flame Phoenix, residing on the island continent, thus the place where it rested was named Eastern Wanggu.

As for the specifics, Zhang San did not know much.

"Flame Phoenix." Xu Qing whispered in his heart. With his cultivation, with his exposure, and with his understanding, he had gained more knowledge about this world.

At this moment, the sea breeze blew. The sound of the wind was mixed with the rustling of clothes, which reached Xu Qing's ears, instantly pulling his thoughts back. As a coldness appeared in his eyes, Xu Qing stopped pondering the Flame Phoenix and looked toward the distant port.

Soon, five figures entered Xu Qing's sight.

Three men and two women.

Xu Qing was no stranger to the two women in front. Whether it was the fishy smell carried by the wind or their figures, Xu Qing recognized at first glance that these two were indeed the elder sisters of the mermaid youth.

Their cultivation was not bad: one was at the ninth layer of Qi Condensation, the other at the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation.

As for the three attendants behind them, they were also mermaid cultivators, mostly at the eighth layer of Qi Condensation. The expressions revealed in the moonlight were ferocious and filled with murderous intent.

Xu Qing looked at them coldly, his eyes slowly narrowing, but he did not strike immediately, instead looking behind them.

"Those Foundation Establishment protectors—why haven't they appeared?"

Xu Qing pondered. Soon, the five figures avoided the patrolling disciples and approached Xu Qing's magic boat in the moonlight.

Perhaps relying on the backing of the Third Prince, or perhaps due to the arrogance of the mermaid race, the moment they neared Xu Qing's magic boat, the younger of the two mermaid women suddenly increased her speed, about to charge in.

But she was stopped by her elder sister. This sister was clearly much more rational and did not act rashly; instead, she raised her right hand and took out a talisman treasure.

The function of this talisman treasure did not seem to be for killing, but for investigation.

After a few breaths, under Xu Qing's gaze, the two mermaid women realized there was no one inside the boat, so they retreated rapidly, appearing to want to leave.

A coldness dissipated in Xu Qing's eyes. The reason he left the boat was that he didn't want to commit murder there; once he killed on his own magic boat, it would be too conspicuous and have many future troubles.

Of course, if these few really broke in, Xu Qing had a way to respond. At this moment, he watched the five merfolk, waiting for them to leave. His plan was to follow them secretly and assassinate them one by one on their way back, destroying the bodies and erasing the traces.

But just as the five were about to leave and Xu Qing was about to step out from the shadows, the elder of the two mermaid women suddenly changed her expression and abruptly looked toward where Xu Qing was hiding.

"The bloodline curse fluctuation of our younger brother's death is there!"

As soon as the woman spoke, the younger sister beside her also looked over abruptly. Murderous intent filled her green eyes, and with a roar, she rushed straight toward where Xu Qing was. The three attendants around her also had intense murderous intent and sped toward him.

"Discovered me?" Xu Qing frowned slightly. The other party were people of the Third Prince; killing them here would attract attention. Additionally, Xu Qing had to consider the possibility of them transmitting a message to the outside world.

Therefore, the moment they charged over, Xu Qing's body retreated rapidly, his aura significantly restrained, putting on a panicked appearance to paralyze the other party, making them confident in their victory so they wouldn't transmit a message to the outside world immediately.

At the same time, Xu Qing did not intend to drag it out too long; he planned to find a secluded place to take action.

At this moment, the five mermaid cultivators were in hot pursuit behind him.

The younger sister was in the lead, her eyes revealing ferocity. With a wave of her hand, clusters of black bubbles appeared around her, carrying intense murderous intent, and she suddenly flung them toward the panicked Xu Qing fleeing in front.

These bubbles approached rapidly, and while emitting magical fluctuations, they were also filled with heterogenous matter, appearing as if they wanted to contaminate Xu Qing.

"So it was you who killed my younger brother. Today I have finally found you. I will make you wish you were dead!"

As she spoke, the three mermaid attendants behind her each took out heavy treasures with ferocious expressions.

One held a bone sword, one had hands wrapped in scales that turned into poisonous barbs, and another had tumors growing on his back that tore through his clothes, emitting thick poisonous mist and turning into the shadow of a fierce ghost as they pursued Xu Qing.

The elder sister was in the rear. She was cautious by nature; even while pursuing, she didn't get close and habitually took out a talisman treasure for full protection.

Regarding the techniques behind him, Xu Qing did not look back and increased his speed.

Until those techniques were about to reach him, he had already arrived at a secluded corner. Only then did his body pause, and he stopped moving forward. He turned around abruptly, his eyes baring murderous intent, and his speed exploded in an instant, several times faster than before, as he crashed directly into those behind him.

His figure was so fast that in the blink of an eye, he was at the mermaid younger sister, who was full of anger. Ignoring the heterogenous matter of her technique bubbles, and before her expression could change, Xu Qing's body slammed fiercely into her chest.

Even though this woman was at the ninth layer of Qi Condensation and possessed mermaid race talents, facing Xu Qing's physical strength—which surpassed Qi Condensation—and his formidable spiritual energy, her body was like paper. The moment she was touched by Xu Qing...

With a boom, the woman's eyes widened. Before she could even let out a scream, her body collapsed abruptly.

Flesh and blood splattered everywhere; the entire person was smashed to pieces. Only her head flew up, shrouded in a blue light, appearing to retain its vitality as it retreated rapidly.

Xu Qing took a glance, and with a wave of his hand, the black iron spike flew out, heading straight for the head. His figure did not pause in the slightest, appearing before the mermaid attendant holding the bone sword.

While the cultivator's expression changed drastically, Xu Qing's right hand had already raised, grabbing his bone sword and snapping it fiercely.

With a crack, the bone sword broke.

Xu Qing flipped the blade and stabbed it into the cultivator's neck, piercing through, and then slashed it open violently.

The blood sprayed from the neck of this eighth-layer Qi Condensation attendant, and he died instantly.

It wasn't over. Xu Qing's body stepped out, arriving beside another attendant whose back was covered in tumors and emitting poisonous gas.

This attendant's breathing was rapid, and his body retreated quickly, but before he could take a few steps, his body trembled, his whole body turned blue-black in an instant, he spat out blood, and died from the poison.

His poison was insignificant compared to Xu Qing's.

At the same time, the third attendant's mind was also roaring. In his horror, his body trembled violently. Just as he was about to scream, he was directly enveloped by countless water droplets that suddenly appeared around him, and with a fierce squeeze, he turned into a mist of blood with a bang.

At this moment, the black iron spike also caught up to the head of the mermaid younger sister shrouded in blue light, stabbing into it with a boom.

But this blue light talisman treasure was astonishing; it flashed rapidly and actually resisted the power of the iron spike. However, the impact contained within it still caused the head to collapse by another small portion.

Yet, due to her alien race talent, this mermaid woman did not die immediately. Amidst her screams, she used the force of the impact to fly toward where her elder sister was.

All of this happened in a flash. Xu Qing's strike was extremely ruthless. While killing three people in succession, he also had a dagger carrying a cold glint, emitting a sharp, whistling sound as it broke through the air, heading straight for the mermaid elder sister in the distance.

It approached abruptly.

The mermaid sister's expression changed completely. Her face was filled with unprecedented terror and horror; even the death of her companions made her feel it was unreal.

But her cautious nature and habit of using talisman treasure protection, combined with her Great Perfection of Qi Condensation cultivation, meant she showed no signs of being poisoned. Although the impact of the dagger's arrival was great, it still couldn't instantly break through her talisman treasure protection.

Amidst the rumbling, the mermaid sister's body trembled under the protection of her talisman treasure.

Her face was full of horror. She truly couldn't imagine that in this seemingly ordinary 79th Port, such a terrifying existence was hidden. In her perception, this kind of combat power was no different from Foundation Establishment.

Thinking that she had actually brought people to trouble this person... the mermaid sister's scalp began to tingle, and she even cursed her dead younger brother in her heart.

"If you're dead, you're dead—why provoke such a fiend!

"

At the critical moment, she didn't hesitate at all. She immediately took out a second talisman treasure and flung it forward at any cost. Instantly, a rumbling sound echoed; the talisman treasure turned into a giant fish tail and lashed out fiercely at the pursuing Xu Qing.

Taking this opportunity, the mermaid sister grabbed the head of her younger sister, who was on the verge of death and showing signs of poisoning, unleashed all the cultivation in her body, and fled rapidly without looking back.

The fear in her expression had long since turned into a giant wave, drowning her mind. At this moment, there was only one thought in her head: escape!

Escape until the protectors within the race arrived.

And according to the agreement, the protectors should have arrived by now. So, she quickly took out a sound-transmission jade slip to send a message to the race's protectors.

It was just that she had no time to check if the other party had replied. Now, the cultivation in her body was burning, and her entire speed had exploded to the limit. She even took out a third talisman treasure at any cost to break through Xu Qing's rain curtain blockade and fled frantically.

The rumbling echoed.

If this had happened in the port, it would definitely have been noticed, but this place was secluded and blocked by Xu Qing's rain curtain, and the fight was extremely fast, so the sound did not spread out.

Soon, behind the giant fish tail transformed by the talisman treasure, Xu Qing's body stepped out.

His expression was cold and gloomy. He gazed at the fleeing mermaid woman in the distance and stepped out, pursuing her abruptly.

His speed exploded fully, and he even took out flying talismans, making him like a bolt of lightning as he vanished in an instant.