Chapter 96 - A Person's Birthday
Chapter 96: A Person’s Birthday
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
At that moment, the night wind blew and the seawater flowed gently, patting the surroundings of the small boat and squeezing out a lot of grayish-black water foam.
It also caused the small boat to sway slightly and emit creaking sounds.
In the black tent, Xu Qing was seriously refining pills.
As he took out the medicinal herbs one by one, he either plucked the leaves, squeezed the juice, or extracted the stamens. He cooked them skillfully and gradually and there was more and more medicinal liquid in the stone bowl.
After checking the ratio and adjusting it, Xu Qing began to put in the seven-leaf grass. Just like that, when midnight arrived, Xu Qing carefully dripped the juice of the spirit condensation leaf into the black medicinal liquid.
Waves of ear-piercing sounds rang out as green smoke spread out. Xu Qing waved his sleeve and dispersed it. The medicinal liquid in the stone bowl directly turned into a white semi-solid state and there was a faint stream of light within.
It was a one-time success.
After a careful inspection, Xu Qing took out these medicinal liquids and kneaded them one by one, turning them into medicinal pills. He then placed them at the side and dried them. Looking at these medicinal pills, his eyes revealed satisfaction.
“I’ve finally refined a white pill!”
Xu Qing mumbled as scenes of him learning from Grandmaster Bai appeared in his mind. The scene of the scavenger campsite was also reflected in his heart.
All of this caused the youth’s heart to slowly become restless on this special day.
After a long time, Xu Qing sighed softly and looked out of the ship. It was pitch-black.
Only the bright moon hanging high above the sea shone brightly.
The surroundings were silent. The sea breeze blew over and there was a hint of shade in the humidity, causing his hair to flutter.
“Grandmaster Bai should have returned to Purple Earth long ago.”
“Cross and Luan Tooth, I wonder how they are now…”
“Also, could there be weeds at Captain Lei’s grave…” Xu Qing whispered softly.
“As for me, I haven’t found the heavenfate flower yet.”
Even though he was used to being alone and had adapted to his new environment, Xu Qing was still a youth after all. He sat there silently and in his memory, he returned to the residence of the scavenger camp and ate snake meat with a familiar old man.
He listened to the other party talk about the trivial matters in the scavenger campsite and watched as the other party smoked a pipe and drank wine.
The image of the memory was very clear.
Xu Qing’s eyelids drooped.
“The teacher in the slums said that when a person starts to recall the past, it means that his age is growing…” Xu Qing muttered and took out a flask of wine from his leather pouch.
He had bought this during his patrol during the day.
Holding the wine pot, Xu Qing raised his head and looked at the bright moon in the sky. After a long time, he slowly raised it and toasted the bright moon before drinking it in one gulp.
From afar, the youth on the boat drank one cup to the bright moon and the other cup to himself.
The wine in the main city was even stronger than the scavenger campsite. When it entered his mouth, it was extremely hot. When it fused into his stomach, it was as though there was a flame burning his entire body, causing Xu Qing’s breathing to become slightly hurried. After a long time, he drank another large mouthful.
“I wish Captain Lei a safe journey in heaven.”
“I wish Grandmaster Bai good health and longevity.”
“I wish myself… Happy birthday.”
Xu Qing mumbled and drank it again.
Today was a special day. It was his birthday.
Xu Qing, who looked to be 16 or 17 years old, had actually just turned 15. However, compared to his peers who had grown up safely, his experiences forced him to mature.
Today, just like every other day for many years, he silently blessed himself.
However, this year, there was more alcohol.
Hence, after drinking the entire pot, Xu Qing thought of his family.
With his memories, even though he tried his best to recall them, they were still blurry. This blurriness made Xu Qing feel very uncomfortable. He didn’t want it to be blurry but… there were some things that couldn’t be controlled.
A long, long time passed.
“Are you guys alright…” Xu Qing lowered his head and asked.
The sea breeze blew over, lifting his hair and blowing it on his face, scattering everything. That trace of shade also gradually pulled Xu Qing back from his memories, causing his eyes to become sharp again and the expression on his face to become cold again.
“Live.”
“If I can live a little better and have the chance to see my parents… that would be even better.”
“Therefore, I have to become stronger!” Xu Qing slowly lifted his head. The figure of the youth under the moonlight was like a lone wolf as he stared into the distance.
After a long time, he turned and walked back to the cabin. He sat cross-legged and began to cultivate.
Time passed.
After his birthday, Xu Qing’s life was on the right track. In the next few days, other than patrolling, he spent his time refining pills and cultivating.
Although the cultivation of the Sea Transformation Art was enhanced by spirit stones, his cultivation still gradually slowed down. Now, he had just broken through from the sixth level to the seventh level.
The further he went, the slower his cultivation became. However, this was only in comparison. In reality, compared to others, Xu Qing’s cultivation speed was already extremely astonishing.
At the same time, after reaching the seventh level of the Sea Transformation Art, Xu Qing could clearly sense that his combat strength was almost the difference between heaven and earth. Now, he was 100% confident that he could kill him within thirty breaths of time before he came to Seven Blood Eyes.
Although there was still a gap between him and the Diamond Sect’s ancestor, Xu Qing was confident that he could deal with him head-on.
“When I’m stronger, I’ll go and kill the Diamond Sect’s ancestor.” If he didn’t kill the Diamond Sect’s ancestor, Xu Qing would have a thorn in his heart and would always feel uneasy. He felt that although the other party couldn’t personally deal with him because of the Seven Blood Eyes’ rules, it was inevitable that he would use others to kill him. Hence, he had to hurry up and increase his cultivation to eliminate this threat.
In addition, Xu Qing’s research on the magic boat was also extremely thorough. He analyzed the contents of the jade slip very thoroughly. After he completely understood it, his control over the magic boat also reached an extremely agile level.
As for the direction, he also made a decision and chose Fortitude!
He wanted to start with sturdiness and defense to increase the level of the magic boat. The reason for this was on one hand, it was to increase sturdiness and defense so that it wouldn’t be easily depleted. If it wasn’t depleted, it meant that there was no need to repair it and the expenditure would be reduced.
On the other hand, in this Seven Blood Eyes main city that was filled with danger, the magic boat was Xu Qing’s only relatively safe place. He needed such a place to cultivate, rest, and refine pills.
Therefore, such a place had to have sufficient protection.
At the same time, Xu Qing had also refined quite a number of medicinal pills these few days. This was the case for white pills and black pills.
According to his previous method, not only did he refine black pills but he also refined a lot of poison powder that he had used before.
Every time he refined pills, Xu Qing would be extremely focused. Herbs and medicine were survival skills that he had learned very seriously back then. He cherished what he had learned and had long engraved it into his bones.
As for the remaining medicinal herbs after each refinement, he carefully sorted them out and placed them in the cabin. This caused his small boat to be densely packed with various medicinal herbs.
Among them, because there were too many people in the main city, it wasn’t convenient for him to try to innovate. Hence, Xu Qing didn’t refine a new poison but he had accumulated a lot of materials.
He planned to find an opportunity to go out and find a secret place to refine it together.
As for the work of the Homicide Department, as Xu Qing continued to head there for a few days, he gradually became familiar with it. Over the past few days, the entire Homicide Department was still searching for Night Dove’s stronghold. Every day, a large number of clues would be reported.
Xu Qing could sense that the department wasn’t far from closing the net.
Today wasn’t supposed to be his night shift but Xu Qing chose to take the initiative to apply and swap places with someone else.
The duty of the Homicide Department included patrolling at night. Every disciple would have their turn. However, every time they were on duty at night, everyone would be extremely vigilant.
Hence, when the sky gradually darkened in the outside world, Xu Qing tidied his clothes and placed the poison powder in his sleeve pocket. He then placed the dagger and iron stick down and walked out of the magic boat.
Outside, the sun had already set and dusk was about to disperse. The sky was dark and the ground had also lost its light. Drops of rain slowly sprinkled down on the main city.
Xu Qing’s figure moved in the darkness. In the rain, his entire person seemed to have fused with the night as he sped forward.
At that moment, the wind blew over and landed on Xu Qing’s long robe, causing it to rustle. This wind was cold and when one took a breath, it would make one feel very refreshed.
It also dispersed the heat in the city but it couldn’t disperse some special smells in the air.
As he sped along, his clean boots stepped on the bluestone tiles that were sprinkled with rain, producing a series of hurried tata sounds. From afar, it seemed that with every step he took, the water stains on the ground would ripple like flowers, as though lotuses would bloom with every step he took.
Very soon, the sky turned completely dark and the rain became even heavier. Xu Qing’s figure quickly passed through various alleys and closed shops, avoiding some killing scenes. He arrived at Panquan Road at midnight.
Looking at the inn in the distance, Xu Qing stood in a corner under the eaves in the rain and waited silently.
Many days ago, his informant had mentioned a wanted criminal named Qing Yunzi.
The wanted jade slip stated that this person came from a small sect called the Azure Cloud Sect. He was at the ninth level of Qi Condensation and was ruthless and lascivious. In the sect he was from, he killed several female fellow disciples and was chased all the way. He even slaughtered many villages and raped and plundered.
However, Xu Qing didn’t choose to capture him because he had no feud with him.
In this cruel chaotic world, everyone had their own way of living. Xu Qing couldn’t care less.
However, the other party had done something wrong.
Xu Qing’s informant should have appeared two days ago at the bustling city where the two of them had met for the second time, looking for him to detoxify the poison. However, she hadn’t appeared.
Hence, Xu Qing went to search during the day.
Although the wind was strong, it couldn’t disperse the unique smell of the poison powder on the spirit coins. Hence, Xu Qing easily found the woman’s residence and also saw the traces of fighting inside. Following the traces of the poison powder, he found this inn.
After waiting for an entire afternoon, he saw someone who was tainted by the strong smell of poison powder enter the inn.
The other party’s appearance was identical to the wanted jade slip. It was Qing Yunzi.
Hence, Xu Qing swapped the night shift with someone else and came here to wait silently.
He naturally had to take care of his informant.