Chapter 98: Finally Seeing the Rakshasa

The black night, with its strong winds, fell upon Xu Qing’s magic boat at the 79th Port, dispersing against the protective barrier and unable to penetrate it.

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

Far from the magic boat, in a dark corner beneath a row of houses, Xu Qing leaned silently against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, coldly gazing at his own magic boat in the black night.

Between the opening and closing of his eyes, a sharp, piercing light was hidden.

"Will someone come tonight?" Xu Qing looked up at the pitch-black firmament.

"It is a night for killing."

Xu Qing whispered softly, yet his mind conjured the vast black cloud he had seen upon returning from the sea, as well as the existence within that cloud that resembled a Phoenix Eagle.

Previously, when he retrieved his magic boat from Zhang San, he had asked about this matter; Zhang San only had a partial understanding and merely informed Xu Qing that this existence was related to the largest forbidden zone in the Nanhuangzhou—the Phoenix Prohibition.

It was the sovereign of that forbidden zone, known as the Flame Phoenix!

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

Its existence was supreme, suppressing not only that forbidden zone but the entire Nanhuangzhou; even the name of the Nanhuangzhou itself originated from it!

Nanhuang, Nanhuang; south of the Vast Antiquity Continent, above the Forbidden Sea, a divine creature dances in the nine heavens, its might dimming the firmament and causing all things to revere it. It is honored as the Flame Phoenix and dwells upon the island-continent, hence the place of its habitation was named Nanhuang.

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

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

At this moment, the sea breeze blew, and the sound of rustling robes mixed into the wind reached Xu Qing’s ears, instantly pulling back his thoughts. With coldness emerging 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 the front; whether it was the fishy smell carried by the wind or their figures, Xu Qing recognized at first glance that these two were the older sisters of the mermaid youth.

Their cultivation bases were not bad: one at the ninth level 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 level of Qi Condensation, their expressions in the moonlight revealing ferocity and murderous intent.

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

"Why haven't those Foundation Establishment guardians 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 surged in speed, about to charge in.

But she was stopped by her older sister, who was clearly much more rational and did not act rashly, instead raising her right hand to take out a talisman treasure.

The function of this talisman treasure did not seem to be for lethality, but for detection.

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.

The cold intent in Xu Qing’s eyes dispersed; the reason he had left the boat was that he did not want to commit murder there. Once a killing occurred on his magic boat, it would be too conspicuous and lead to many future troubles.

Of course, if these people had truly broken in, Xu Qing had a contingency plan. 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 these five were about to leave and Xu Qing was about to step out from the shadows, the older of the two mermaid women suddenly changed her expression and looked sharply toward where Xu Qing was hiding.

"There is the fluctuation of the bloodline curse from my younger brother's death there!"

As soon as this woman spoke, the younger sister beside her also looked over abruptly, murderous intent filling her green eyes. With a roar, she rushed directly toward where Xu Qing was, and the three attendants behind her also surged with intense killing intent, speeding closer.

"They found me?" Xu Qing frowned slightly. The other party was from the Third Prince; killing here would attract attention, and Xu Qing also had to consider the possibility of them sending a message to the outside world.

Therefore, the moment they charged over, Xu Qing retreated rapidly, greatly restraining his aura and putting on a panicked appearance to paralyze them, making them confident in their victory so they would not immediately send a message to the outside.

At the same time, Xu Qing did not intend to drag it out too long, planning to find a remote place to take action.

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

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

These bubbles approached rapidly, and while emitting magical fluctuations, they also permeated with foreign substances, appearing to want to contaminate Xu Qing.

"So it was you who killed my clansman! Today I have finally found you; I will make you wish for death but be unable to die!"

While 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 transformed into poison barbs, and another had tumors growing on his back that tore through his clothes, emitting thick poisonous mist and transforming into the shadow of a fierce ghost as they pursued Xu Qing.

The older sister remained at the back; she was cautious by nature, so she did not move to the front during the pursuit, even habitually taking 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 arrived at a remote corner. Only then did his body pause, and he stopped fleeing. He turned abruptly, his murderous intent fully exposed, and his speed exploded in an instant, several times faster than before, as he crashed backward.

His figure was so fast that he reached the furious mermaid younger sister in the blink of an eye. Ignoring the foreign substances in her technique bubbles, and before she could show any other change in expression, Xu Qing’s body slammed fiercely into her chest.

Even though this woman was at the ninth level of Qi Condensation and possessed the mermaid race's innate talent, facing Xu Qing’s physical strength that surpassed Qi Condensation, as well as his formidable spiritual power, her body was like paper; the moment Xu Qing touched her...

With a boom, the woman’s eyes widened, and before she could even scream, her body suddenly collapsed.

Flesh and blood splattered everywhere, and her entire person was smashed to pieces, with only her head flying up, shrouded in a blue light, appearing to retain a spark of life as it retreated rapidly.

Xu Qing glanced at it and waved his hand; the black iron spike flew out, heading straight for the head, while his figure did not pause in the slightest, appearing before the mermaid attendant holding the bone sword.

As the cultivator’s expression changed drastically, Xu Qing’s right hand had already lifted, grabbing the bone sword and snapping it fiercely.

With a crack, the bone sword broke.

Xu Qing flipped the blade end and stabbed it into the cultivator’s neck, piercing through before giving it a violent wrench.

This eighth-level Qi Condensation attendant’s neck sprayed blood, and he died instantly.

It was not over; Xu Qing stepped forward, arriving beside another attendant whose back was covered in tumors emitting poison gas.

This attendant’s breathing was rapid, and his body retreated quickly, but before he could take a few steps back, his body trembled, his entire frame turned blue-black in an instant, and he vomited blood, dying from the poison.

His poison was insignificant compared to Xu Qing’s.

At the same time, the third attendant’s mind roared; in his terror, 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, which was shrouded in blue light, and stabbed into it with a boom.

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

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

All of this happened in a flash of lightning. Xu Qing’s strikes were extremely ruthless; while killing three people at once, he also sent a dagger with a cold glint, emitting a sharp, piercing whistle as it tore through the air, straight toward the mermaid older sister in the distance.

It approached abruptly.

The mermaid sister’s expression changed completely, filled with unprecedented terror and shock; even the death of her companions made her feel as if it were 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 poisoning. Although the impact of the incoming dagger was great, it still could not instantly break through her talisman treasure’s protection.

Amidst the roaring sound, the mermaid sister’s body trembled under the talisman treasure’s protection.

Her face was full of horror; she truly could not imagine that in this seemingly ordinary 79th Port, such a terrifying existence was hidden. In her perception, this level of combat power was no different from a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

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.

"Dead is dead, why provoke such a star of disaster!"

"

At the critical moment, she did not hesitate at all, immediately taking out a second talisman treasure and throwing it forward regardless of the cost. Suddenly, a roaring sound echoed, and the talisman treasure transformed into a giant fish tail, lashing out fiercely toward the pursuing Xu Qing.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the mermaid sister grabbed the head of her younger sister, who was on the verge of death and showing signs of poisoning, and with all her cultivation erupting, she 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, and that was to escape!

Escape until the clan’s guardians arrived.

And according to the agreement, the guardians should have arrived by now, so she quickly took out a sound-transmission jade slip to send a message to the clan’s guardians.

But she had no time to check if they replied; now her cultivation was burning, her speed had erupted to the extreme, and she even took out a third talisman treasure regardless of the cost to break through Xu Qing’s rain curtain blockade, speeding away madly.

The roaring echoed.

If this were at the port, it would certainly have been noticed, but here it was remote 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 conjured by the talisman treasure, Xu Qing’s body stepped out.

His expression was cold, gazing at the fleeing mermaid woman in the distance, and he stepped forward in pursuit.

His speed erupted fully, and he also took out flight talismans, making his entire person like a bolt of lightning, departing in an instant.