Inside the temporary cave abode.
“Ugh…”
Fang Qing clutched his forehead and jolted awake, panting violently.
He touched his nose and found two streams of blood had flowed down from it. He could not help but smile wryly. “This is… excessive consumption of divine sense? Fortunately, I have a first-tier high-grade body-refinement foundation. Otherwise, I’m afraid I would have fallen seriously ill and suffered a major loss of vitality.”
With the Dao-Birth Pearl’s support, and in an environment as clear in heavenly secrets as Jasper Island, the pleasure of divination was simply unparalleled.
After Fang Qing calculated the matter of the second-tier horned serpent, he saw the karmic connections and could not resist calculating Flying Fish Island as well.
After calculating Hua Lian’s situation, he saw matters related to Cha Zhu, and could not resist deducing that too…
The result was that he sank deeper and deeper, almost exhausting his mind and spirit without realizing it!
“Sigh… Is this a kind of backlash from heavenly secrets, in a sense? A happy trouble, I suppose. If only it could be like this over in Ancient Shu.”
The heavenly secrets in Ancient Shu were still a cesspit. Even with the Dao-Birth Pearl’s support, Fang Qing could only barely divine his own fortune and misfortune.
As for the matter of Li Rulong, it was an even greater chaos. The only thing he had calculated was that if he participated… there would be great calamity!
‘What a rotten place… I can get a hint or two even when deducing a Core Formation Ancestor, yet I end up so miserable when encountering a Purple Mansion cultivator…’
‘Forget it. Best to go there less in the future.’
Fang Qing swallowed a healing pill, and a little color returned to his face as he pondered to himself: ‘According to my previous deduction, that peak second-tier horned serpent’s advancement will happen soon. Perhaps there will be a spectacle to watch.’
‘No, since I’ve confirmed that the Bihai Sect isn’t in too much danger, I should return to the sect first and establish myself as a loyal and devoted disciple… Otherwise, if I wait until the great disaster passes before returning to the sect, I might end up being placed on some separate blacklist.’
……
Bihai Sect.
The azure-green Seven Profound Azure Wave Grand Formation, shaped like a giant bowl, firmly protected the sect within.
As another flying boat descended, many wounded cultivators walked out.
Most of them were pale and had lost too much blood. Some were even missing arms or legs, their faces ashen, clearly aware that their Dao path had been severed.
And with their arrival, an unsettling piece of news spread as well:
“Our side suffered a crushing defeat in the Kui Ri Sea Region! Even three Five-Tusk Great Warships were sunk!”
“Among the rogue cultivator formations hired by the Zhong family, not only did many rogue cultivators skilled in magical combat appear, even puppet beasts showed up… Clearly, they’re people from Tianxin Linked Islands, just wearing a layer of rogue cultivator skin before attacking us!”
“Little Wave Reef has fallen… The Zhong family army can land on Jasper Island at any time!”
“And on Jasper Island, the Zhong family’s elite cultivators are wreaking havoc everywhere… It’s said that an inner sect elder already fell into a trap and unfortunately perished, body and Dao extinguished…”
All the Qi Refining cultivators were panic-stricken. Many of the wounded who had returned felt even more uneasy: ‘If I’d known… I would have found a chance to run away on the road…’
“Mm?”
When Fang Qing arrived, stepping on the Mystic Ice Wheel, this was the scene he saw.
“Stop! Who goes there?”
Above the harbor, seeing Fang Qing arrive alone, a squad of law-enforcement cultivators looked wary.
“A disciple of this sect—Fang Qing! I previously accepted the mission to guard the Red-Scale Fishery!”
Fang Qing formed a hand seal with one hand, and a streak of spiritual light wrapped around his disciple token, flying into the hands of the law-enforcement cultivators’ captain.
The captain received it and struck it with an incantation to verify its authenticity. “It is indeed a disciple of this sect… But I remember the Red-Scale Fishery was conquered long ago…”
“Precisely! I was pursued by a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator and seriously wounded. By luck, I used the terrain to take his head, but my injuries were too severe, and I could hardly move… That is why my return was delayed until today.”
Fang Qing’s expression did not change as he took out Zhong Wufu’s Zhong family identity token.
No matter how long he had been “recovering,” he had returned after killing a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator. Surely he would not be held guilty for that, right?
The law-enforcement captain hesitated for a moment. “Wait here first. I’ll report to Elder Tianxing…”
Fang Qing naturally had no objection. Under the strange gazes of the other disciples, he arrived at the Hall of Punishing Evil.
After waiting at the entrance for a long time, he suddenly sensed a strand of divine sense sweep over him. His heart stirred slightly, but his face remained as if nothing had happened.
“Fang Qing, inner sect disciple of Pill Island… The elder summons you!”
Before long, a disciple of the Hall of Punishing Evil walked out and glanced at Fang Qing.
Fang Qing nodded and strode inside.
Before long, he saw Elder Tianxing, dressed in a blue robe, with a fierce-looking face.
Elder Tianxing was holding a dossier in his hand. “Fang Qing… inner sect disciple, accepted the mission to guard the Red-Scale Fishery… Tell me the process again.”
“Yes!”
Before coming to the sect, Fang Qing had already made a calculation. He recounted one by one how he had guarded the place, encountered Zhong family cultivators, and luckily killed Zhong Wufu.
Aside from the earlier parts, where there were many witnesses and loose tongues, he reported everything truthfully. He only slightly altered the part where he killed Zhong Wufu.
“So that’s why you were able to kill Zhong Wufu. It turns out you’ve already advanced to the late stage of Qi Refining, and you also possess a bit of body-refinement cultivation.”
Elder Tianxing nodded slightly, believing that his previous divine sense scan had already seen through everything, including Fang Qing’s “hidden” cultivation level.
In reality, if Fang Qing had not refrained from using the Dao-Birth Pearl to conceal it, the elder would never have been able to see through him even if he stared until his eyes went blind.
Breaking through to the late stage of Qi Refining!
This was a flaw Fang Qing had deliberately revealed in advance!
After all, it would be somewhat shocking for a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator to kill a late-stage one.
But if he had usually hidden his cultivation, then suddenly erupted in strength and, after a bitter battle, killed a late-stage cultivator while paying the price of serious injuries himself, that would be much more reasonable.
‘If I hadn’t used the Dao-Birth Pearl to convert most of the cultivation from the Horse-Head Vajra Guardian Divine Art, and you saw that I now had first-tier high-grade body refinement, wouldn’t you be even more astonished?’
‘Still, a middle-grade body-refinement cultivation level is already pretty good.’
There was another reason Fang Qing revealed his late-stage cultivation: the sect was currently in need of manpower!
Late-stage Qi Refining disciples were not cabbages. Even within the sect, they were considered elite.
As long as they still intended to use him, they would not punish him heavily.
‘And I calculated in advance that the horned serpent will form its core and undergo tribulation tomorrow… No matter what dangerous mission they give me, I’ll just accept it… In any case, once tomorrow passes, none of it will count.’
As he was secretly grumbling to himself, he heard Elder Tianxing say, “You slew a powerful enemy. You have merit, not fault. It is just… why did you return to the sect at this time? While outside, you should have known that the sect’s situation is not very good.”
Fang Qing immediately put on a look of righteous indignation. “I was born to a fishing family, and it was the sect that nurtured me… Now that the sect is in danger, how could I abandon it? Elder… I returned precisely to contribute my meager strength to the sect. If there is any mission, please command me as you see fit!”
This impassioned, martyr-like stance instead left Elder Tianxing at a loss. “Enough… It is rare for you to return to the sect. Rest for one night first. If there are any missions, go to the Affairs Hall on Wanbao Island yourself to receive one…”
“This disciple takes his leave!”
After Fang Qing bid farewell, Elder Tianxing watched his departing figure, somewhat uncertain and astonished. “Is this true sincerity, or is he as cunning as a fox?”
“Hehe… Tianxing, what are you looking at?”
Blue light flashed, and a Foundation Establishment cultivator in a blue robe, with a thin and refined face, appeared. It was Sect Master Linghu of the Bihai Sect.
Elder Tianxing immediately told him about Fang Qing.
When Sect Master Linghu heard it, he laughed. “This child is rather lucky. That matter will be decided tomorrow.”
“What?”
This news was clearly top secret. Even Tianxing had only just learned it, and he could not help being startled. “It’s… tomorrow?”
“That is precisely the effect we want. Within the sect, only the Ancestor and I know the exact date of the tribulation. Now, there are also you and Wanbao and a few others… Remember to adjust the formation and protect several important locations.”
After Sect Master Linghu finished instructing him on the most important matter, he finally had the leisure to chat. “A middle-grade water spiritual root, yet he broke through to the late stage of Qi Refining after only a little over ten years since entering the sect. It is somewhat fast… But among our sect’s true disciples, which one doesn’t have a few small fortuitous encounters? As long as the sect is strong, they can only add bricks and tiles to the sect. Opportunities, fortune, cultivation methods… They all gather into this sect like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea. Only because the sea does not reject any water can it become so deep…”
“Indeed!”
At the mention of this, even Elder Tianxing’s face gained a somewhat ruddy glow. “As long as the spirit beast successfully crosses its tribulation tomorrow, our Bihai Sect can destroy the Zhong family and Tianxin Linked Islands. From then on, we will unify the cultivation world of the Little Huan Sea… No so-called favored child of heaven will be able to escape the palm of our sect’s hand!”
……
“I didn’t expect… to pass so easily?”
Pill Island.
Cold Spring Peak was quiet and deserted.
Fang Qing swept his gaze around, then returned to his own cave abode.
The Lesser Bewildering Formation was still operating normally. That spiritual pool was shrouded in mist, carrying a trace of water vapor.
He sat cross-legged on the prayer mat and exhaled a long breath. “As expected… the folk customs here on Jasper Island are still simple and honest…”
After sighing with emotion, Fang Qing took out another alchemy scripture and began reading it carefully.
After reaching the seventh level of Qi Refining, the effect of the Canlü Spiritual Water was no longer very good during his cultivation.
If he wanted to continue advancing vigorously, he still had to take pills!
As it happened, his divine sense had achieved success, allowing him to quickly master first-tier high-grade pill formulas.
At this moment, he was studying a kind of Qi-Refining Powder. It was said to have an extremely obvious effect in increasing the cultivation of late-stage Qi Refining cultivators.
“Mm… I’ve more or less thoroughly understood these alchemy techniques. They aren’t that difficult, are they?”
With the help of divine sense, Fang Qing could not help smiling when he thought of how utterly baffled he had been when facing pill formulas back then. “I’ve also collected most of the main ingredients. For this first furnace opening, I have a seventy percent chance of success!”
Even so, he still did not immediately take action. Instead, he lay down and went to sleep, preparing to watch a good show tomorrow.
What a joke!
Tomorrow was the time when the horned serpent would undergo its tribulation. If he refined pills then, not only might he miss the spectacle, but what if the aftershocks rippled out and caused his pill refinement to fail?
Although he had divined that his own safety should be fine, a slight oversight during alchemy could lead to failure. It was better not to gamble.