Chapter 1240: Side Hustle

The same mysterious light glittered in the eyes of Xu Qing and all the ascendees. They had not done well in this, their first time clearing a battlefield. After they handed in their Corpsedrainer quota, they would hardly have any ringsource left for cultivation purposes.

Everyone slowly looked over at Xu Qing. They were waiting for his final decision.

He scanned the empty battlefield, and then the distant starry sky. Finally, he said, “Entering the field of battle early is definitely an option. But we need to find the right opportunity. And we need to make sure we have a clear assessment of the battle prowess of both sides. Things can change very quickly on the battlefield, and if our timing is wrong, we could end up in a deadly situation. After all, we're not strong enough yet to be able to crush all opposition.”

Xu Qing suppressed the urge to be impulsive. He knew that this was a situation in which hasty decisions weren’t a good idea.

The glow in the eyes of the other ascendees began to fade.

However, that was when Sir Vilespirit licked his lips and said, “Captain... the truth is we’re better at dealing with living gods than dead ones! You can harvest more ringsource from the live ones....”

The glow returned to the eyes of the ascendees. They understood what Sir Vilespirit was getting at. He was suggesting they start hunting gods. They were also thinking about the god prisons they had been to.

When Xu Qing heard someone calling him ‘Captain,’ it left him feeling a bit dazed. It was actually the first time anyone had addressed him that way so far.

I wonder what Eldest Brother is up to right now...

Meanwhile, Sir Star Ring said, “You can’t accomplish anything without rules. We’re not Acquisitioners anymore. We’re Corpsedrainers.”

Sir Vilespirit’s eyes glittered as he coldly replied, “And can you really do better than those other Corpsedrainers? They got sixty percent of the corpses! Sir Star Ring, your ‘order’ isn’t going to help at all when it comes to draining corpses!”

Sir Star Ring glared back coldly at Sir Vilespirit. Sir Vilespirit wasn’t about to shrink in the face of that, so he pulsed with a baleful aura and faint Quasi-Immortal fluctuations. Everyone had improved to certain degrees recently. As for Sir Vilespirit, he had broken through into the Quasi-Immortal level. As the two ascendees glared at each other, Xu Qing looked at Zhou Zhengli.

Zhou Zhengli cleared his throat, stepped forward to stand between Sir Star Ring and Sir Vilespirit, and then bowed to Xu Qing.

“Your Majesty, we know your primary concern is keeping us alive. But we’ve made it all the way here to the battlefield. We’ve gone through a lot, and we know that rewards come only with risk. As long as the potential gains are worth it, we don’t mind taking risks. In fact, that’s the best way to get what we need.

“Therefore, what Fellow Daoist Vilespirit just said about targeting the living is true. But so is what Fellow Daoist Star Ring said about rules. I think we could probably find a compromise here.”

Zhou Zhengli licked his lips and continued, “We’re Corpsedrainers, sure. But if we hunted down some gods and turned them into dead bodies,

then

collected them, well... that wouldn’t be a conflict, would it? We don’t have to look for a battlefield, we can make one. We don’t have to look for corpses, we can make them.”

With that, Zhou Zhengli bowed again to Xu Qing. Sir Vilespirit's eyes glittered as he also bowed. The other ascendees said nothing, but their eyes glittered as they, too, bowed. Sir Star Ring thought about it for a moment, then nodded and looked at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing looked around at them. He knew that everyone present had their own goals and motives. What was more, they were not greenhouse flowers. They had been born amidst foul winds and raining blood. They were running out of ringsource and were getting antsy to devour gods. Given all that....

Xu Qing’s eyes flashed with determination, and he nodded. In response, the other ascendees smiled like wolves that had been let out of their cages. Zhou Zhengli made some final arrangements, and then they scattered. They would use their own various talents to try to find targets, and would send information back for Zhou Zhengli and Sir Star Ring to consider.

As for Xu Qing, he sat down cross-legged on an asteroid to wait.

Half a month passed by. Information continued to pour in from the various ascendees. All of it related to the activities of various gods. However, the vast majority of situations didn’t seem suitable to Xu Qing. Either there were too many gods present, or the scenarios were just too risky.

Roughly a week passed. That was when one of the ascendees named Daoist Bloodcloud sent information about a situation that seemed promising. Sir Star Ring and Zhou Zhengli studied the message to confirm its authenticity, then forwarded the information to Xu Qing.

“Captain, I found a team of scouts about thirty in number. The most powerful is a mid Altar God. Thēy’re definitely Godfolk. I’ve been secretly following thēm for about two days. Thēy come in all shapes and sizes, and thēy seem perfect for our purposes!”

Xu Qing considered it. Then his baleful aura surged as he sent out orders. After that, he stepped out into the void and disappeared. The other ascendees in different areas got the orders, whereupon their eyes glittered. And then, like a pack of vicious wolves, they raced toward the location.

A few days later, near a planet called Graytomb, Xu Qing and the ascendees met up. Daoist Bloodcloud had been waiting for them there. As Xu Qing arrived, flanked by Sir Star Ring and Zhou Zhengli, Daoist Bloodcloud bowed.

“Captain, this group of gods is well-hidden. However, I happen to have a special magic that lets me sense thēm. I followed thēm here, and this is where thēy’ve been for the past few days. In order to avoid detection, I didn’t go onto the planet. But I'm certain that’s where thēy are.”

Sir Star Ring nodded. “I can sense great chaos in the area.”

Zhou Zhengli licked his lips and smiled. “Your Majesty, my canon is informing me that thēy’re still there.”

If the information had been coming from Daoist Bloodcloud alone, Xu Qing would have wanted further proof. But since Sir Star Ring and Zhou Zhengli were corroborating the details, it seemed much more likely to be accurate. As Xu Qing looked at the planet, his immortal embryo stirred, and his canon of space-time spread out. In that way, he was able to confirm the situation on his own as well.

“We strike quickly,” he said in a cold voice. “Collect the ringsource as fast as possible. Everybody... let’s go!”

The ascendees surged with baleful auras as they rushed toward the planet. Over a dozen beams of light shot through the clouds and headed toward the gods at top speed. Xu Qing was among them, and he was going all out to approach the target destination.

There were over thirty gods present, including the Altar God. And upon nearing, the ascendees were able to see what thēy were doing. Thēy were performing some sort of ceremony around an octagonal altar.

Astonishingly, there was a black bowl in the middle of the table. Inside the bowl was blood, and it was bubbling as if boiling. The boiling blood was causing an intense mutagen to form. And it seemed to be building up toward some sort of detonation point.

When Xu Qing and the ascendees arrived, the gods looked up in surprise.

The Altar God’s pupils constricted. “The god altar isn’t complete. The ceremony hasn’t started. The mutagen hasn’t erupted. The foundation is still forming. How could cultivators have shown up already??”

The Altar God was surprised, but acted decisively. Godly authority flared, causing the unfinished altar to burst into flames early. The black bowl of blood suddenly shattered. Massive amounts of mutagen spilled out like roiling black smoke. It was supposed to infect everything in the area. Unfortunately, it wasn’t strong enough, so the effect wasn’t as good as it should have been, making it unclear whether or not a new battlefield could form here.... However, hē had no other options.

At almost the exact same instant that the god aura surged out, the ascendees, who had been holding their longing in check for quite a while now, unleashed everything at their disposal. Down they descended like razor-sharp blades.

Xu Qing extended his hand, and his immortal embryo emerged, blocking out everything as its palm dropped. Its aura shook all of the gods to the core, and immediately covered the effects of the bowl of blood. The black mutagen fell under its power and was crushed. A cracking sound rang out as the mutagen smoke seemed to solidify and then break!

At the same time, the crimson eye manifestation of Zhou Zhengli’s canon opened. Yuanshan Su’s heavy mountains descended. Sir Vilespirit cackled as he rushed forth with killing intent and devilishness. Li Mengtu’s poison swirled while Hordeslayer and Rampart shone with astonishing sword light.

The slaughter was commencing!

***

In the starry sky some distance away from Planet Graytomb, a group of army cultivators were on patrol. They were one of the nine great army corps in the eastern theater’s front lines. They were the Longscale Regiment, who served as vanguard troops when assigned to battle. During peaceful times, they would go on patrol to look for gods in hiding, and to clear areas of mutagen.

There were a bit over a thousand members, organized into battalions of roughly a hundred. Currently, the battalions were seated cross-legged atop enormous green flying ships. The ten flying ships flew the banners of the Longscale Regiment as they sailed majestically through the starry sky.

When the black bowl of blood shattered at Planet Graytomb, the sound of drums suddenly echoed out from the lead ship. The sudden, deafening noise shook the starry sky, and caused all of the cultivators on the ships to open their eyes.

A solemn voice then echoed out. “Gods are erecting an altar to serve as a foundation for a mutagen assault. That is why the god-crushing drums have sounded. Profound. Overlook. Ink. Spirit. Wing. You five battalions will follow the direction of the drums to inspect the area ahead. Find the altar and destroy everything there!”

Five of the flying ships shifted directions and then flew off in the direction indicated.

“Yes, sir!”