Chapter 1105: The Darkness Was Like an Old Friend

In the south, my rank is #1145....

Xu Qing was currently speeding through the sky underneath the aurora. His expression was one of pure vigilance. In no way had he relaxed after killing that city magistrate. In contrast, his guard was up more than ever.

Now that he had activated the permission medallion, which involved absorbing it into himself, he was officially part of the Immortal Capital’s Trial of the Hunt.

He could already feel danger looming. And that was because the range at which he could sense other medallions had increased. One unique function of the Immortal Capital permission medallions was that they couldn’t sense other medallions unless you activated them first. You could be literally standing right next to someone else with a medallion and your divine will wouldn’t be able to detect their medallion.

The only way to sense other medallions was to activate and absorb your medallion. The medallions qualified you to join the competition, but at the same time, served a specific function.

Xu Qing had absorbed his medallion before killing the city magistrate, and at that time, the range of his own medallion was 50,000 kilometers. That meant that he would instantly sense any other medallions that were within that range.

He had previously assumed everyone else could do the exact same thing. However... after killing that city magistrate, who had also possessed a medallion, Xu Qing realized that, not only had his ranking climbed, but also, his medallion had changed. It was as if the medallion had upgraded from a basic state to a second, more advanced state.

The most obvious change was that the range in which he could sense other medallions had increased by tenfold. He could now sense anything within 500,000 kilometers.

That was the reason for his grave attitude.

I only got one additional medallion, but my range increased by a huge amount. Logically speaking, I can expect the range to increase even more as I get more medallions. In that case, everyone else....

Xu Qing’s pupils constricted. This was not a good situation for him. The more people you killed, and the more medallions you accumulated, the greater the range of your own senses.

And of course, that meant that there were going to be people with clear advantages and clear disadvantages. The strong people would have the advantage. The weak people would have a disadvantage.

It was easy to imagine a scenario in which there were enemies who could sense him, but were too far away for he himself to sense. A situation like that could prove fatal in a hunting event like this.

The more medallions you got, the higher your rank would be, and the bigger advantage you would have. As time passed, and more people got an advantage, the range in which they could sense other medallions would become completely terrifying. It would eventually be impossible to flee from such people.

No wonder my rank jumped up so much by just killing one other competitor. Now that the second round has begun, I bet similar things are happening throughout the south. So, this is the second round. No wonder this thing is called the Trial of the Hunt.

By merely having the range of his permission medallion increased, Xu Qing was able to deduce how deadly and brutal this event was. And it just went to confirm further that the Immortal Capital was trying to raise venomous bugs in a jar. The Immortal Capital recruited people for the event because they weren’t interested in greenhouse flowers. They wanted apex predators. They wanted true chosen who had climbed mountains of corpses and swam through seas of blood.

The details of how the medallion range worked might be somewhat unfair. But if you looked at it from a different angle, it was very fair. Everyone started out exactly the same. How far you proceeded would depend on your own skill and ability. Either you lived or you died.

Xu Qing licked his lips, and a cold light flickered in his eyes. Now that he thought about it, this system actually made things interesting. At the very least, it made him feel a lot of pressure.

This was not the Revered Ancient mainland. His Master was not here to save him. He couldn’t get help from Empress Summer Departure. His Eldest Brother wasn’t here to provide backup. Though he had the clay fox around, the Fifth Star Ring repelled gods, so the fox was dormant.

I have to rely on myself and myself alone. I will have to face all the consequences of my decisions.

His vigilance had reached the highest level possible. Narrowing his eyes, he cleared his thoughts and proceeded forward at top speed.

At the same time, he took some time to assess and organize everything he had acquired thanks to the fight from earlier.

For instance, there was the authority that came from the extreme five elements.

In reality, my authority isn’t limited to the five elements. I also have space and time. However, I need more insight and practice with the latter two. Then there’s my authority of erasure, plus the dao lineament from Six Thieves Deceive Life.

If you tally everything precisely, I actually have nine types of authority. Going forward, I need to focus my cultivation on the five elements authority, while also contemplating space and time. Plus I need to work on producing my eighth extreme.

In terms of other ways he had benefited from the fight, the augmentation to his medallion counted as the second.

As for the third... it was the ring of holding. Now that the primary owner was dead, the branding mark on the ring was gone. As Xu Qing scanned the ring with divine will, he was able to see the contents very clearly. It went without saying that anyone who could become an Imperial Sovereign in the Fifth Star Ring would have ample resources.

The spirit mine guardian he had killed had been stationed at that mine for a long time, and thus kept his possessions with him. As for this second individual Xu Qing had killed....

Anyone who had intentionally activated and absorbed a permission medallion would be fully aware of the bloodshed they were in for. Such people would either be extremely confident, or they were the type who had no choice other than to throw caution to the wind. As for the former, it would be difficult to predict what they would carry around with them. But the latter would definitely keep all their most valuable things with them at all times.

That was exactly the case with this ring of holding.

It contained masses of spirit stones and immortal jade. However, there was only one treasure inside. It was a geomantic compass that was in really bad shape. It had clearly been severely damaged and not yet repaired.

There were some medicinal pills, though. Obviously this city magistrate had focused a lot on stockpiling pills. There were many, many types.

When Xu Qing attacked he had used his authority to lock down space. Plus, the fight had been very fast-paced. Because of that, though the man had managed to take out a few pills and use them, none of them had played a significant role in the battle.

Xu Qing scanned the pills to identify them, then put the ring away and shot through the sky as fast as possible.

In that manner, time passed. Five vortex-days went by.

Perhaps because he was in such a remote place in the south, or perhaps because of the speed he maintained, he didn’t run into any dangerous situations. In fact, he didn’t encounter any people at all. The sense of impending danger he had felt earlier had eased a bit.

Eventually, as night was about to fall, and a new vortex was about to form in the aurora, he stopped on a remote mountain to quickly hew out a cave. Once inside, he settled down cross-legged.

Darkness fell outside, and it was pitch black inside the cave. There he sat in the darkness, surrounded by silence.

As he became part of the gloom, he hid his aura and worked on cultivation. He was seeking enlightenment of his dao, and probing his path forward.

Darkness came and went outside. Vortexes appeared one after another in the aurora. Seven vortex-days passed.

Xu Qing opened his eyes within the gloom of the cave. It was as quiet as ever. The darkness was like an old friend.

It’s like... back when I was a kid.

[1]

Xu Qing looked around and sighed softly. Truth be told, Xu Qing knew exactly what it was like to be completely alone and surrounded by danger. Back when he was young, he had lived every day with that feeling.

From the time he left Peerless City until he became an apprentice of Master Seventh, he had licked blood from his blade like an assassin, and had always preferred to stay out of sight. Back then, he would always walk in the shadows when possible. The shadows offered protection. When he was part of them, he became darkness and gloom, and he could stay hidden. It was the same now.[2]

Eventually, Sergeant Thunder became part of his life, giving him the familial love he had missed for so long. His Eldest Brother had brought brightness to his life. Master Seventh took him as an apprentice and protected him, helping him to understand what it meant to have an elder watching out for you. Ling’er had helped him to feel relaxed inside. With Plumdark around, he had been stricken with feelings he couldn’t identify, perhaps nervousness, perhaps something else.

In Sea-Sealing County, Palace Lord Kong taught him what it meant to be a swordsage. The empress showed him that even gods could have human nature. And Grand Emperor Swordsage showed him that it was possible for a person to live a life that would always be remembered.

That had all been part of the process of growing up for him. He had experienced many things and had truly lived life to the full. Those things were part of him. They couldn’t be taken away. They had made him who he was now. After all those experiences, now here he was, in the unfamiliar Fifth Star Ring, all alone, surrounded by danger.

This is just another of my experiences.

He found himself subconsciously patting his clothing to try to find his iron skewer. It wasn’t there.

Little Shadow seemed to sense his emotions, and sent out some fluctuations to remind him it was there. The god vine sent a little branch snaking out to caress his face. The trip through the Primeval Sea had severely damaged the pagoda, and the god vine as well. It hadn’t fully recovered yet. The actions of the shadow and the vine brought a smile to Xu Qing’s face. And with that, he closed his eyes and prepared to continue working on his cultivation.

But then his eyes snapped open, and he turned to look toward the south. His expression was one of complete vigilance. He had just sensed another medallion within the range of his senses, located roughly in the same direction he was looking.

At first, it had seemed that the person was just passing by. But then he sensed them change direction and start moving toward him.

This person has the same range as me!

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered with cold light. Many thoughts were running through his head.

I can’t run. If I do, they’ll realize I noticed them and have the same range. If I did that, I would be making a gamble. I’d be gambling on whether or not they chased me. And if they did chase me, it would mean that we would have to fight eventually.

Doing that... would be too passive! Instead, I’ll pretend that I don’t notice them. In the time it takes them to get here, I’ll make preparations. That way, I can create the most ideal field of battle for myself. That’s definitely the best option!

Heart filling with determination, Xu Qing waved his hand to produce 49 Taboo Formations, which he had acquired from Ling Feng, the spirit mine guardian. He had already studied them a bit and knew how to use them.

In addition, he had Little Shadow spread out into the area and go into hiding.

Next, he made certain other preparations. He enhanced the power of the land, and made sure there was plenty of vegetation in the area. He also took out a stick of incense, put it in front of him, and lit it.

Finally, after making all of his preparations, he put the crystalline treasure tree in front of him and activated it so that its aura began to spread out. Before long, an exact copy of Xu Qing appeared in the crystalline treasure tree. Even its aura was exactly like his own.

“Sit down cross-legged,” Xu Qing said calmly. The figure nodded and sat down cross-legged.

Then Xu Qing sank down into the ground, making sure to stay fairly close to the figure in the tree. That way, anyone following the location of his medallion would come right to this spot, and his real aura would overlap with that of the figure in the tree. Having accomplished all those things, Xu Qing sat waiting, killing intent building in his eyes.

1. I’m not 100% sure what the author intended this line to mean, but it makes me think back to

chapter 1

and the subsequent couple chapters in which Xu Qing was living in a small cave, and he had to stay inside during the night to stay alive. ☜

2. Here are a couple early chapters that mentioned how Xu Qing liked to stick to the shadows:

chapter 10

,

54

,

56

. There are more than that, of course, those are just the ones I pulled up first. ☜