Chapter 304: A Good Technique for Learning

Chapter 304: A Good Art for Learning

The influx of fifty-nine strands of soul force instantly caused Xu Qing's entire body to roar, his fifty-nine dharma apertures erupting, continuously suppressing these souls.

Because there were so many at once, refining them would take some time, so Xu Qing immediately sat cross-legged, focusing all his energy on absorbing.

Meanwhile, Seventh Lord swept his gaze around, curling his lip.

"Just these small fry, a bit dull."

With that, he flicked his sleeve, and a seemingly ordinary dharma boat appeared in midair. The boat resembled Xu Qing's vessel but looked slightly more dilapidated.

Yet divinity flowed upon it, thick and rich.

At the same time, Ding Xue was lying on the deck of the dharma boat, clearly having been taken away by Seventh Lord while Xu Qing rushed out to fight the old man.

Just waking up, Ding Xue's face still held confusion. Looking down and seeing Seventh Lord outside the boat, she was startled.

"Auntie's husband?" Then she saw Xu Qing sitting cross-legged beside Seventh Lord, noticed the sweat on his forehead, and the formless fire rising and soaring from his body. Her expression wavered.

"Auntie's husband, what happened? You... why are you here too? And what's wrong with Brother Xu Qing?" Ding Xue blinked. She had a bad guess in her heart, a guess that made her face instantly redden.

"No way, has Auntie's husband been following us all along? Then all my previous actions must have been seen..." Ding Xue's face grew redder. The feeling of a parent witnessing her coquettish behavior filled her with embarrassment.

Seeing Ding Xue like this, Seventh Lord laughed heartily. He had indeed seen everything clearly.

Hearing his laughter, Ding Xue stomped her foot, blushing, and pouted.

"Auntie's husband!"

"Saw nothing, I saw nothing at all." Seventh Lord coughed. Without children of his own, he doted on this niece.

Amid his laughter, Seventh Lord flicked his sleeve, sweeping Xu Qing directly onto the dharma boat, tossing him casually aside. Raising his right hand, he produced a soul bead, and was about to speak when he noticed Ding Xue looking at Xu Qing with concern.

The expression on her face was clearly one of pity for Xu Qing being thrown so carelessly.

"He's tough, no harm done." Seventh Lord felt a bit frustrated inside.

"Auntie's husband, Brother Xu Qing is still young and growing. Next time, can you be gentler with him? Please? When I get back, I'll put in a good word for you with Auntie." Ding Xue ran to Seventh Lord's side, tugging at his arm, coaxing.

Seventh Lord looked at Ding Xue, then at Xu Qing, who was still unaware and absorbed in refining the souls. He sighed deeply. He vaguely felt the daily life of his own eldest disciple.

Shaking his head helplessly now, he pressed the soul bead in his hand onto Ding Xue's forehead with a gentle tap.

"Alright, alright, go cultivate. This soul bead will help you open a fire as quickly as possible."

"Thank you, Auntie's husband." Ding Xue cheered up, found a spot close to Xu Qing, sat cross-legged, closed her eyes, and began to cultivate, her heart full of joy.

Seventh Lord turned back to look at the two sitting cross-legged there, his heart filled with emotion and sighing. After a long moment, he turned around, clasped his hands behind his back, stood at the bow, gazing into the distance while sweeping his gaze across the surroundings, gave a cold snort, and manipulated the dharma boat forward with a roar.

Only after the dharma boat had receded into the distance did the void here twist, and two figures in golden robes blurred into view. Sword energy emanated from their bodies, sharp and fierce, but their expressions were steeped in bitterness.

"This sect master of Seven Blood Eyes..."

"With him here, we cannot contend. He did not attack us this time, probably out of consideration for the alliance, but also to have us report this scene back—this is his warning."

These two came from the Lingyun Sword Sect.

"This Xu Qing is already extraordinary, and with such backing... he will only become harder to deal with, especially after this incident. You can never know whether, when he is alone in the future, someone so powerful might still be hiding behind him."

The two exchanged glances, shook their heads, and departed.

After they left, several other auras spread through the void nearby, coalescing into figures. They too remained silent, wary of each other as they sighed.

Unlike the two before, these were not alliance cultivators but rogue cultivators from the Crown of Arrival prefecture. They had received word that Xu Qing, who possessed two life lamps from the Eight Sect Alliance, had gone out, and came to see if they had a chance to plunder.

But they knew Xu Qing's background, so after arriving, they merely watched without rash action. Then the ensuing scene thoroughly frightened them. Their thoughts mirrored those of the two Lingyun Sword Sect cultivators.

"This is the stance of Seven Blood Eyes..."

"A warning to all who covet."

"Also, the alliance protection the Eight Sect Alliance announced earlier—killing this Xu Qing would cost too much."

"Life lamps may be fine, but life itself is only once."

Each person's thoughts churned, and soon they dispersed one after another. As they left, the rumors of this matter gradually spread.

This was the protection Seventh Lord gave to Xu Qing, and also a warning to others.

Thus time passed. Seven days later, at dusk, Xu Qing, sitting cross-legged on the dharma boat, opened his eyes.

The moment his eyes opened and closed, his sixty dharma apertures erupted with sky-burning fire, and thunderous roars echoed in his mind.

Now half of his one hundred and twenty dharma apertures had suppressed souls. Under this constant suppression, his cultivation had clearly advanced somewhat, and even the fire had changed—within the baleful fire, a note of tragic savagery had emerged, the intense resentment produced as souls were continuously burned.

This was the fire of gloom souls.

The power of this fire contained emotion. Once it burned an enemy, it could influence them—at light, causing violent emotional turmoil; at heavy, wounding the soul until it shattered and collapsed.

"How do you feel?" Seventh Lord, standing at the bow, turned to glance at Xu Qing and spoke flatly.

"Thank you, Master!" Xu Qing rose, clasping his hands in a bow.

"From now on, your travels outside will be much safer. Next, your master will take you to do a second thing, the main reason for this trip."

"I will teach you... the golden elixir art."

Xu Qing's eyes sharpened at this.

"But one thing is still missing. You need not rush—I must first ponder this art." Having said that, Seventh Lord glanced at Ding Xue, who was still cultivating, raised his right hand and waved it, adding a layer of protection around her, then stepped off the dharma boat.

"Follow me."

Xu Qing immediately followed, leaving the dharma boat with Seventh Lord and heading toward the mountain ranges below.

Though this was not Mount Taishidu'e, it was still a landscape thick with forests and mountains. Dark peaks loomed in the dusk, exuding an eerie air.

From above, one could see between the peaks below a sect nestled.

This sect was not small, its mountain gate covering three peaks. Many disciples could even be seen moving among the mountain bodies.

"This is the Heavenly Spirit Sect, not affiliated with the Alliance—just a medium or small sect, average in strength. But it possesses one art that is somewhat wondrous." As Seventh Lord spoke, he led Xu Qing directly toward the sect.

The next moment, Xu Qing's expression was strange. He saw that his master, leading him, seemed to ignore the sect's protective array and walked straight into the mountain gate. As they advanced, every disciple they encountered acted as if they did not see them, as if invisible.

Seventh Lord swept his gaze, then took Xu Qing directly to the sect's scripture repository. The two golden core elders guarding there noticed nothing, allowing Xu Qing and Seventh Lord to walk past them, enter the hall, and ascend to the highest floor, where ordinary disciples could not tread.

All the prohibitions and traps here lost their effect before Seventh Lord, as if they could not detect him at all. He naturally grabbed jade slips floating in midair, examining them one by one as if in his own study.

Xu Qing glanced at Seventh Lord but said nothing.

"What are you staring for? Study earnestly. Back in the day, your master learned by finding ways to acquire this art specifically for learning." Seventh Lord glared at Xu Qing, admonishing him.

Xu Qing nodded seriously, raised his right hand, grabbed a jade slip, and focused on reading.

Thus, the master and disciple, in the top tier of the Heavenly Spirit Sect's scripture repository, immersed themselves fully in study. Seventh Lord was serious, and Xu Qing even more so. Particularly after he found several jade slips recording the flora of the Crown of Arrival prefecture, he became even more absorbed.

Several days later, Seventh Lord had read all the jade slips here and sighed deeply.

"Not bad, not bad. This Heavenly Spirit Sect indeed has its subtleties in mana control, but unfortunately, they fall short in other aspects."

Xu Qing nodded, still unsatisfied. Though the knowledge of plants recorded here was considerable, the descriptions lacked incisiveness. Still, he benefited greatly, gaining a deeper grasp of more botanical transformations.

"It's the same with the pharmacopoeia here. This sect must have had a medicine path cultivator many years ago, but few studied it later, so later annotations and supplements to those botanical classics are sparse." Xu Qing sighed.

Seventh Lord nodded, his eyes showing approval.

"Loving to learn—that's a good habit." With that, he clasped his hands behind his back and led Xu Qing out of the scripture repository.

The path, Xu Qing hesitated for a moment.

"Master, I am eager to study the ways of knowledge. Might the master impart to me those techniques specially tailored for learning…?"

Seven Grandmaster cast a glance at Xu Qing, his eyes brimming with admiration, and gave a satisfied nod.

"You are not yet capable of mastering them. Once you have cultivated your embryonic soul, I shall transmit this method of learning to you."

"Let us go; we must visit other sects. For your master has long been pondering how to forge a unique core-forming technique. This time, several sects have been selected to study their techniques, thereby refining and adjusting the method."

"So you must strive to be worthy!" he said, then departed from this sect.

Xu Qing bowed deeply, following close behind, stepping into the void with Seven Grandmaster, returning to the magical ship.

Upon the magical ship, Seven Grandmaster addressed Xu Qing.

"I am a cultivator who studies and does not forget gratitude. Remember this point. Come, let us pay respects to this sect, as a token of returning a favor. In the future, should hostility arise, we may then act with clarity." With that, he raised his fists in salute toward the sect below.

Xu Qing bowed reverently, feeling the master’s demeanor was indeed proper. Thus, he memorized the gesture, bowing his fists toward the sect below.

Thereafter, they departed.

Neither incoming nor outgoing, no one noticed.

In swift succession, the magical ship traversed the sky, vanishing toward the horizon. After several days, it hovered beyond another sect, Seven Grandmaster and Xu Qing, their hearts burning with zeal for learning, alighted from the ship to venture into this sect, into its Scripture Hall.

Thus they continued their studies.

Time flowed on, the magical ship journeyed westward, crossing the Taisi Du Chi’an range.

At times halting, one sect after another…

" The sea of learning has no bounds. You, Fourth, are quite capable. Initially, I took you and Third Master, who knew nothing of study, had similar experiences. Yet neither took a liking to learning, nor did Great Master, who always lingered, eyeing the treasures of each sect."

"Still, it is you, Fourth, who resembles me most!" Seven Grandmaster, at the Scripture Hall of the forty-seventh sect they visited, admired Xu Qing’s focused reading.

Xu Qing remained unassuming.

Hearing the master’s words, he set down the jade slip, reflected, then spoke softly,

"Master, might there be sects within the Huangzhou region centered on the Way of Poison? I would wish to study there as well."