Chapter 33: Eternal Darkness

The Sea and Mountain Incantation was an ordinary technique, and the way it separated mutagen from spirit power wasn’t anything special. There were many such techniques throughout the continent of South Phoenix, most of them cultivated by small clans or minor organizations. Even cultivating it to the peak didn’t provide any amazing level of battle prowess. After all, the parts of the technique description that made it sound amazing were mostly exaggerations.

The saying about goblins can move mountains, hobgoblins can transport seas was a perfect example.

However, Xu Qing was unleashing power that had never before been seen in the Sea and Mountain Incantation. In fact, not even the person who created it had ever done something like this.

His fifth-level spectral goblin was actually as strong as what would normally appear in the sixth or seventh level. And today, his sixth-level goblin had already advanced to the form of a spectral hobgoblin. Though it was a young hobgoblin, its power vastly surpassed that of a goblin.

One could only imagine what Xu Qing’s Sea and Mountain Incantation would be like when he reached the seventh level. Most likely, that hobgoblin would completely transform.

For most cultivators, the hobgoblin was the end of the line for the Sea and Mountain Incantation. But Xu Qing still had further to go.

He currently sat in his laboratory, a curious expression on his face. According to the technique description, the hobgoblin isn’t supposed to appear until the tenth level. And it won’t turn into an adult until reaching the peak level. Given my progress, it’s going to reach adulthood in the seventh level. So what will happen in the eighth? And what about the ninth and tenth, and then the peak level of the technique?

Feeling full of anticipation, Xu Qing looked down at himself.

This time, he didn’t do any tests of speed and strength. He could already tell that he was vastly stronger than he’d been in the fifth level. In fact, it was a level of strength that he already found astonishing. It was the same with his speed. From what Xu Qing could tell, he could now move so fast that wind resistance was the only thing he needed to worry about.

He had to wonder where he stacked up to the strongest people in the scavenger basecamp. One thing he was certain of: even if he had to fight two people who were like that black-garbed old man, both of whom could unleash magical techniques from the seventh level of Qi Condensation, he could still slaughter them. A moment later, he took a deep breath and looked around.

It was nighttime, and the laboratory was dark. However, he could still sense the presence of his shadow.

His breakthrough had affected his shadow too, allowing it to absorb even more mutagen. Furthermore, their connection was stronger and more complex.

Xu Qing looked thoughtfully at the ground as time slipped by. Eventually, the sky grew light, and sunlight filtered down into the laboratory. At that point, Xu Qing was able to make out the shape of his shadow. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed.

The moment he had been waiting for had arrived, as he had just seen his shadow ripple and distort. Then the shadow’s right hand slowly raised.

Xu Qing took in a deep breath and kept his eyes focused on the shadow. Under his control, the shadow stretched across the floor toward a dark spot across the room. There, the shadow merged into the darkness and then disappeared. Xu Qing’s expression remained placid, yet he could still sense his connection to the shadow.

Next, he sent the shadowy hand toward one of the cabinets, where it grabbed a medicinal plant. As the shadowy hand touched the plant, the mutagen within it grew more concentrated, and the plant turned greenish-black. That was when Xu Qing reached the limit of what he could do. His head felt like it was about to explode as he released control, and his shadow snapped back to its original shape.

A moment later, he looked up. His eyes were bloodshot and his head hurt so badly that he simply closed his eyes and tried to steady his breathing.

Two hours later, he opened his eyes. His headache was gone.

I can’t really control it very well, he thought, staring at the shadow for a bit.

He wasn’t in a rush. He knew that sooner or later he would be able to have full control over his shadow. And when that happened, his shadow… would be his most secret trump card.

After taking some time to rest, he reached out, causing the mutated medicinal plant to fly toward him. Once it was in his hand, he studied it closely.

This plant mutated just as if the eyes of the god above had opened. Does that mean my shadow can send mutagen into anything it touches?

Once again, he began to experiment with his shadow. Four hours later, Xu Qing had a much deeper understanding of his shadow. It couldn’t send out mutagen into external objects at any time. It was only when Xu Qing had control of it.

By using that ability at an unexpected moment, he could definitely kill someone if he caught them off guard. At the same time, he felt just the same as ever that he needed to be wary of his shadow.

He glanced down at his chest to the spot where the violet crystal lay hidden inside. From what he could sense, it was only the violet crystal that allowed him to keep the shadow in check.

Finally, he put down the medicinal plant he’d been studying and looked around at all the little cabinets on the wall. He’d eventually tossed everything into that stone basin, and therefore, his collection was almost completely depleted now.

Looking at the basin, he sighed.

On the one hand, he regretted wasting so much of his collection. On the other hand, that black medicinal liquid had some good uses, and could even be considered a weapon.

After some more thought, he took the remaining medicinal liquid and rolled it into pills that he covered with a seven-leaf clover membrane. In the end, he had ten pitch-black pills that were slightly green on the outside.

“I’ll call them black boluses,” he murmured. Putting the pills away, he left his laboratory and prepared to go harvest some plants and think of a way to capture another black-scaled wolf. After all, it had worked well to have a wolf as a test animal.

Leaving the canyon, he headed to the temple complex. However, he didn’t stop when he reached it. Instead, he ran through and continued deeper into the forbidden region. There were a lot more medicinal plants in that area.

Though he hadn’t gone very far into this area, he had explored it on a number of occasions, and had reaped quite a harvest each time.

Not long after Xu Qing made his way into the depths of the forbidden region, a group of people slowly made their way into the jungle in the periphery behind him.

There were over a hundred in the group, including both men and women. There were also bodyguards, including five or six men who emanated unusually powerful auras.

The people being guarded were the very same young men and women who had set up their tents outside of the scavenger basecamp. Apparently, they’d come out into the jungle for sightseeing purposes, and they didn’t seem the least bit anxious. In fact, the sound of chatting and laughter could be heard from them.

Their guide was Ol’ Stony, who didn’t have much choice in how the party proceeded. As he led the way, he glanced at the carefree young men and women, and grumbled in his heart.

This is a forbidden region!

He wanted to speak up, but knew that they wouldn’t listen to him. City people like this thought they understood the dangers of forbidden regions, but the truth was that they had no idea of the terrors there that scavengers knew.

The city dwellers had learned things in books, or by hearing stories. But the scavengers had experienced things firsthand.

I just hope everything goes smoothly, and I can finish this mission and finally retire. Then I’ll never come to a forbidden region ever again.

Nervous, but on guard, Ol’ Stony continued to lead the group forward.

Unbeknownst to anyone present, something was happening in the middle of the group. One of the young women, a true beauty with long black hair, clad in a cyan gown, was talking with a fawning young man in a blue jerkin. But at the same time, that young woman was casually scattering some medicinal powder.

As the wind blew, the powder drifted about, odorless and invisible. That powder was apparently a catalyst of some sort, and it soon provoked a reaction deep in the forbidden region.

Xu Qing noticed.

As he was moving along carefully, he suddenly realized that there were a lot less mutant beasts than usual.

He even spotted an aggressive lizard that was on the same level of strength as the sixth or seventh level of Qi Condensation. Normally, that lizard would have attacked him, but now, it lay concealed in a mud pit. Even when Xu Qing got close to it, it didn’t do anything. It almost seemed afraid.

Xu Qing was on even higher alert than normal as he looked around. Feeling very uneasy, he harvested a medicinal plant then prepared to leave. But before he could, a frigid aura erupted from even deeper in the jungle, spreading out so rapidly the trees started freezing up.

Xu Qing’s pupils constricted. Looking up, he saw numerous transparent jellyfish floating out from the depths of the forbidden region. Six of the jellyfish were gigantic, and they were surrounded by hundreds of smaller jellyfish. All of them floated in the general direction of the temple complex. It was almost as if something there was attracting them. As the group flew over, they noticed Xu Qing below.

One of the large jellyfish turned in his direction, its mass of eye-covered tentacles writhing. Most of those eyes were open.

A sensation of crisis exploded within Xu Qing. At the same time, his flesh and blood vibrated as, behind him, the spectral hobgoblin appeared, then looked up and howled noiselessly at the jellyfish.

Xu Qing looked on, his eyes narrowed. He was no longer the same person he was back in the third level of Qi Condensation, when he first felt the might of a jellyfish like this. Back then, he had been incapable of standing up to it.

As for the jellyfish, when it saw the howling hobgoblin, it seemed to hesitate.

Whether it was because of the force of attraction in the temple complex, or the fact that Xu Qing posed a threat, the jellyfish turned and floated away.

Xu Qing breathed a sigh of relief.

Looking around, he thought about how strange this part of the jungle was today, and decided to leave.

Are they actually going to the temple complex? Or are they going somewhere else? I hope it’s the latter. Otherwise, I’m going to have to go the long way around….

Looking thoughtful, he proceeded at top speed, becoming a streak of light that pierced through the jungle.

About two hours later, Xu Qing heard rumbling sounds in the distance as he perched atop a tree looking at the distant temple complex. He was only about an hour from the complex, and was close enough that he could just barely see the outline of the buildings there.

Unfortunately, the circumstance he had been worried about had arisen.

The group of jellyfish was hovering in the air above the temple complex, where they seemed to be fighting a group of people.

It was too far to make out any details of who was involved in the fight. After mulling the matter over, he headed carefully toward the complex.

Meanwhile, in the temple complex itself, Ol’ Stony trembled, his lips quivering as he looked around in despair.

Bodies littered the ground around him, all of them servants and bodyguards of the group of young men and women.

Before, the young men and women had been carefree and relaxed. But not now. Their faces were pale, and all of them were injured. In their bedraggled state, they looked terrified.

The surviving bodyguards and servants surrounded them protectively as they desperately tried to fight their way out of the complex.

They were being constantly attacked by the hundreds of small jellyfish, while further up, the five or six huge jellyfish fought the five middle-aged cultivators who were part of the group.

Ol’ Stony was in the group trying to break free. Why is this happening? Why is this happening…? Everything was going fine….

Unfortunately, he was old, and he couldn’t move as fast as the others. After only taking a few steps, a jellyfish broke through the bodyguards and rushed toward him. He wasn’t quick enough to evade. A moment later… the jellyfish swept past Ol’ Stony, leaving behind a gaping hole where his heart had been. Then it attacked the young men and women.

Ol’ Stony fell onto the ground, twitching.

Blood poured out of his chest, pooling up around him. Blood also filled his mouth and throat, making it impossible for him to say a word.

I guess… I won’t get that city residence permit….

Ol’ Stony closed his eyes, and his energy dissipated. Then, his view of the world became eternal darkness.