Chapter 417: A Show of Force From a Generation’s Strongest

Noticing the three swordsages approaching from behind, Xu Qing decided he should finish this fight quickly.

The three swordsages following him all had five heavenly palaces, and of course had their various techniques and abilities. However, this Holytide Black Guard cultivator had seven-palace battle prowess, and as such, they weren’t a match for him. They took note of the Black Guard cultivator emerging from the shadows, and their expressions turned very serious. Because of the honor and code of the swordsages, they didn’t turn tail and run. In fact, they closed in, their cultivation bases at the ready.

“Kid, let’s work together to hold this guy up for a bit.”

“You can’t,” said the Holytide Black Guard cultivator, his expression one of disdain and brutality. Then, just as he was about to launch an attack, Xu Qing’s eyes gleamed with ferocity.

“The shadow bans, the ghost commands; the immortal declines, the world is mine.”

Xu Qing had tasked Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior with creating that code phrase so that he could use Shadow Fusion Secret Magic without his enemies realizing the truth about what he was doing. [1]

As the words left his mouth, he exercised a thought, and his shadow sprang from the dagger in his hand, formed a coffin, and then closed around Xu Qing. Instantly, Xu Qing became covered in shadow and began to pulse with mutagen. Although it was the middle of the night, there was faint illumination from the lightning above, and that made it possible to see the air around Xu Qing distorting.

A sense of terror rose up in the hearts of everyone present, as if their very life level was being shaken.

However, because of the code phrase Xu Qing had used, everyone assumed that it was just some unusual technique. That belief was further reinforced because of the mutagen, which all cultivators were leery of.

As the three swordsages’ hearts pounded with fear, Xu Qing looked up, and explosive fleshly body power erupted from within him. The Shadow Fusion Secret Magic required sacrificing magical techniques and cultivation base power in exchange for an apex level of fleshly body might.

Even when Xu Qing only had four heavenly palaces, he could use that secret magic to unleash six-palace fleshly body power. But now that he had five heavenly palaces, he could use it to reach seven-palace fleshly body battle prowess. That level of fleshly body battle prowess was actually superior to magical techniques of the same level, and could be astonishingly deadly. As soon as he unleashed the secret magic, his aura skyrocketed, causing a wild wind to kick up in the area. Invisible shockwaves rolled out, causing the three shocked swordsages from the Field Operations Office to back away, their faces filled with astonishment.

Even the Holytide cultivator looked surprised.

Before anything else could happen, Xu Qing took action. He struck like lightning, moving so fast it was hard to track his movement. Intense rumbling echoed out as Xu Qing appeared right in front of the seven-palace Black Guard cultivator, where he launched a fist strike. His first blow contained the convergence of all his fleshly body power.

The Holytide cultivator’s pupils constricted. The change to this human cultivator was beyond dramatic, especially considering the overflowing mutagen. Heart sinking, the Holytide cultivator activated his external defenses and pulled out a magical device to fight back.

In the blink of an eye, the two of them clashed. Shocking rumbling echoed out as a tremor passed through the Holytide cultivator. Feeling like his internal organs were shaking violently, he staggered backward.

Xu Qing didn’t stop. Striding forward, he unleashed more fist strikes.

Two blows. Three.

Not daring to be careless, the Holytide cultivator performed another incantation gesture. Instantly, the monstrous black hand behind him thrust forward, pulsing with terrifying fluctuations as it met Xu Qing’s attack.

Xu Qing didn’t shirk away, he just kept going with full force.

Four fist strikes. Five. Six.

Booms rang out as the Holytide cultivator staggered backward repeatedly, his face turning ashen. His external defenses were crumbling, and the huge black hand simply couldn’t do anything about Xu Qing’s onslaught.

Xu Qing accelerated, launching a seventh fist strike. Then an eighth. And finally, he unleashed a ninth fist strike.

A huge cracking sound rang out. Blood sprayed out of the mouth of the Holytide cultivator as one of his dharma apertures exploded, and one of his heavenly palaces collapsed. As he tumbled backward, his face was a mask of terror.

“What technique is that?” he shrieked.

It was none other than Within the Nine Springs. Although it seemed like a magical technique, the reality was that it relied on fleshly body secrets! In Foundation Establishment, it could destroy dharma apertures. In Gold Core it could destroy heavenly palaces!

When his heavenly palace collapsed, the Holytide cultivator finally started to realize how terrifying Xu Qing was. As an intense sensation of deadly crisis swept through him, he decided to flee. His mission had been to prevent any swordsages from passing this point, or at the very least, to delay them. But no mission was more important than life itself.

He was now fleeing, except... he made that decision too late. Even as he backed away, a group of countless beetles that had filled his body without him even being aware... exploded into action, devouring him from the inside out. His face fell, and he screamed. Black blood sprayed out of his mouth, and his face turned greenish-black. Terror overwhelmed him.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing approached like a soldier from hell. He didn’t hold back from inflicting mortal blows in the hopes of taking his opponent’s gold core. That wasn’t his style. Without a moment of hesitation, he thrust his dagger right toward the Holytide cultivator’s chest.

However, Holytide Black Guard cultivators were extraordinary. He managed to throw himself backward while simultaneously performing a double-handed incantation gesture and produced a magical treasure fragment, which created a defensive barrier around him like a turtle’s shell. At the same time, the black mark on his forehead erupted with black threads that shot toward Xu Qing like needles.

Xu Qing’s opponent evaded too quickly. As a result, Xu Qing lost his momentum and couldn’t attack with his dagger again. However, he reacted quickly to the counterattack, flipping forward and then launching himself up with his hands to kick toward the Black Guard cultivator’s chest.

The turtle shell defense glittered brightly and held strong, bending under the force, and even cracking a bit, but not breaking. However, because of the force behind Xu Qing’s kick, the Black Guard cultivator was launched into the air, and the black threads coming from his forehead were thrown into chaos.

Xu Qing took advantage of the moment to leap up, closing the distance between them and once again stabbed with his dagger, this time toward the weakened part of the turtle shell defenses. Coupled with the shroud’s ability to bypass defenses, the dagger pierced right through.

The Black Guard cultivator screamed shrilly, wishing he could escape, but being incapable of doing so. Xu Qing’s dagger stabbed upward. It hit the Holytide cultivator right into his abdomen, then up past his neck to his jaw, and finally, out through his forehead! Blood erupted as the seven-palace cultivator was slashed in two!

All of the attacks, and the ruthless speed Xu Qing was capable of, made it clear what his fighting style was like.

Xu Qing looked at the corpse and his expression flickered. There was an aura inside the Holytide’s corpse that seemed familiar. It was something that caused the violet moon in his fifth heavenly palace to shiver.

The aura of that red moon?

A curious expression appeared in his eyes momentarily, but he quickly dispelled it. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about such things. Taking the Black Guard cultivator’s bag of holding and the turtle shell fragment, he checked the corpse’s fading heavenly palaces.

Because I was using the Shadow Fusion Secret Magic, I couldn’t use the Gruegloom Daoseizing Art. After a cultivator dies, their sea of consciousness collapses, their heavenly palaces crumble, their gold cores fade into nothing. None of them can be used.

Xu Qing felt a bit disappointed. If there hadn’t been anyone else present, and he wasn’t on a mission, then he could have used his taboo poison as well as other methods to drag the fight out a bit longer and create an opportunity to rip out those gold cores.

Except, he had three other swordsages to think about. If he had wasted time trying to get those gold cores, it was entirely possible other Black guard cultivators would have arrived to provide backup. Not only would the swordsages have been in danger, but Xu Qing himself might have been in trouble. All things considered, it made more sense to end the fight quickly. There would always be other chances to get more gold cores.

The shadow on Xu Qing converged onto his forehead, becoming an eye. Then he glanced at the shaken swordsages, nodded, and disappeared into the darkness.

The three swordsages looked at the dead Holytide cultivator, then the direction in which Xu Qing had disappeared. Finally, they exchanged glances. They were all top chosen from their respective prefectures. However, after coming to the county capital, they had discovered that there are always people more important than you, and there is always a heaven beyond heaven. There were definitely people stronger and better equipped than they were.

Whether it was Kong Xianglong, Sir Mountain-River, Duskspirit, or Wang Chen, and now this Xu Qing, these three were left sighing inwardly.

“Everybody’s been talking about how this new group of swordsages is different from anything before. They say they’re a bunch of freakish hellions, and that’s no exaggeration!”

That said, these realizations didn’t make them lose confidence. Instead, their eyes gleamed with fierce light as they pressed on. That said, instead of following Xu Qing, they went in a different direction.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing had raced to the middle of the fort. The fighting there was equally intense.

The Holytide Black Guards had set up a sizable ambush, and right now Riverbed, who was of course Sir Mountain-River, had unleashed an astonishing wave of blood energy, along with a frigid aura. The results were deadly. The more he slaughtered, the more the will of blood intensified, and the higher his battle prowess. This was a secret magic from the Blood Chill Society that involved cultivating killing energy. As long as that energy wasn’t released, the more one killed, the stronger it got.

Sir Mountain-River laughed maniacally as he fought, making him very different from his usual gloomy self.

Demongirl was Duskspirit, and she was also extraordinary. Being from the Supreme Void Demonization Sect, she had transformed into a nine-meter-tall, green-skinned demon surrounded by a green-colored mist. Her body was actually partially transparent, allowing her to pass through just about any physical matter. Her fighting style was brutal, as she would take the hearts and heads of enemies. The special technique she employed allowed her to ignore physical attacks and attack with extreme brutality. She would occasionally swallow enemies whole. Any opponent who fought her would end up covered with melon seeds made of flesh.

Sunspirit was the code name for Wang Chen, and he was just as fierce. He never came out of his coffin, but instead controlled a Smokewight doppelgänger. Smokewights were natural-born assassins, as they could merge with any type of energy, allowing them to appear and disappear unpredictably. Occasionally, Wang Chen’s Smokewight doppelgänger would disappear, materialize inside an enemy’s body, then rip them apart from within. After shedding the resulting blood, the doppelgänger would then proceed to its next victim. In addition to that, occasional bolts of lightning would fall from above. Because Wang Chen was from the Supreme Ancient Lightning Order, lightning made him about thirty percent stronger than normal.

When Xu Qing saw the three of them fighting, he could immediately sense how strong they were.

Around the same time, the three of them noticed Xu Qing arriving. When they saw the gruish eye on his forehead, and the fact that he emanated fleshly body fluctuations of the seven-palace level, they were all astonished.

What shocked Xu Qing most of all was Kong Xianglong, fighting high up above.

Despite being surrounded by four Holytide Black Guard cultivators with eight-palace battle prowess, plus imperial-class techniques and magical treasure fragments, Kong Xianglong didn’t seem to be in a bad position at all. In fact, when he saw his companions unleashing all sorts of deadly moves, he felt like he was losing a bit of face. Glaring, he let loose a mighty cry. As a result, his ten heavenly palaces erupted, and the cry of a golden dragon pierced the dome of heaven, causing the clouds to part. Kong Xianglong slapped his forehead, and an illusory blood-colored garment flew out of the top of his head, then draped over his shoulders. With that blood robe on him, a blood mist erupted around him, turning the pitch-black night into a blood-red night. Kong Xianglong’s battle prowess instantly skyrocketed, and an intense baleful aura erupted from him.

The four Black Guard cultivators coughed up blood, and the monstrous hands from their imperial-class technique collapsed. Their magical treasure fragments were knocked to the side, and one by one, they backed away.

Unfortunately for them, they fled too late. Kong Xianglong blurred into motion, appearing in front of one of them. Expression ferocious, he slammed his palm into their head, and a boom rang out as the cultivator exploded from the top of their head to their waist.

Kong Xianglong blurred into motion again, appearing in front of the second Black Guard cultivator. Before his shocked opponent could react, Kong Xianglong plunged both of his hands into the cultivator’s chest. As the Black Guard cultivator screamed, Kong Xianglong literally ripped him in two. The other two Black Guard cultivators had no hope of getting away. One was gobbled up by the golden dragon, and the other was surrounded by the blood mist. As he screamed, he was melted into blood that became part of the blood mist.

Seeing that, Xu Qing recalled the Captain mentioning how brutal Kong Xianglong was in dealing with nonhumans. As for his blood robe, Xu Qing could sense the fluctuations of the Garmentfolk coming from it.

Wang Chen’s Smokewight doppelgänger looked over at Xu Qing, his eyes glittering with mysterious light. “That’s Dragonbro’s taboo treasure fragment, which has a fivefold ensorcelling. Kid, that fleshly body trick of yours... is strong! If we have time later on, can you give me some tips?”

“You should probably stay a bit further away from me,” Xu Qing said calmly.

“And if I don’t?” Wang Chen said, raising his eyebrows.

“Then I won’t be able to control my poison, and you might need to get a new doppelgänger.”

Wang Chen vanished, reappearing a short distance away. Looking at Xu Qing, he cleared his throat awkwardly.

Around then, Kong Xianglong dropped down and landed on the ground with a thud. Looking around, he saw that the other swordsages from the Field Operations Office were all present. Though some were injured, none had died.

He nodded at Xu Qing, then turned his attention to Wang Chen.

“Sunspirit!” he yelled. “So, you think you’re hot stuff because you can make a Smokewight doppelgänger? You might not have learned anything else, but at least you learned how to be arrogant. Maybe you should try fighting me and see how tough you are, what do you think?”

“My apologies, Dragonbro,” Wang Chen said.

“Hurry up and fix the spell formation!”

“Yes, sir.” Wang Chen hurried over and started working on the spell formation.

Seeing that, Xu Qing was suddenly struck by how much Kong Xianglong was acting like the palace lord had when he criticized the two of them.

1. The patriarch made up the code phrase in chapter 347. ☜