Chapter 178: Crazy Plan

Seeing flames erupt within Xu Qing, the captain's expression changed, and he quickly spoke.

"Don't kill her yet, she's very useful to me!"

Almost the instant he spoke, Xu Qing moved. He was so fast that in a flash, he appeared before the Third Princess, who was still feigning confusion. As her breath caught, Xu Qing raised his right hand and slapped her face.

With a loud bang, the Third Princess spat out blood, her body flying like a broken kite into the ship's wall. As the wall shattered, she was propelled outwards.

However, the next moment, a black chain shot out from the Golden Crow's tail behind Xu Qing, instantly wrapping around her. With a pull, she was dragged back onto the ship and tossed in front of the captain. Xu Qing had not killed her; otherwise, that single blow would have completely annihilated her. But he did take her storage bag.

When she landed, the Third Princess spat out more blood, most of her bones shattered. Yet, there was no fear in her eyes, only confusion. Spitting blood, she asked curiously,

"He used your name to do many things. You don't mind? You don't go after him, so why hit me?"

"Because this is an affair between us brothers, it has nothing to do with outsiders. You're an outsider trying to stir up trouble here. Who else would I hit if not you? If it were me, I'd beat you too."

The captain sighed, squatted in front of the Third Princess, lifted one of her hands, then let it drop, watching it lie there like it had no bones. He shook his head.

"All shattered, but thankfully she's still breathing. As long as she's breathing, it's fine."

The Third Princess still didn't understand; she felt things shouldn't be this way. Just as she was about to speak, the captain's palm struck, knocking her unconscious. He then waved her into a special storage bag before looking up at Xu Qing.

"Swore by my name?" With no outsiders present, Xu Qing stared at the captain and spoke slowly.

"Just kidding, just kidding! Oh, Xu Qing, you dropped your spirit ticket!" The captain's expression remained calm. He blinked, then exclaimed, fumbled on the ground, and produced a hundred-value spirit ticket from his hand. He handed it to Xu Qing with an expression of immense pain. Xu Qing took it expressionlessly, still staring at the captain. "Struck by five bolts of lightning?"

"Haha, how could that be? Junior Brother, you heard wrong! I must scold you, how can you believe what outsiders say? As your senior brother, as your superior, there's absolutely no way I'd do such a thing. It's just like how you never owe me spirit stones."

The captain spoke earnestly.

"Male concubine?" Xu Qing continued. The captain sighed. Xu Qing stared at the captain.

After a while, the captain slapped his forehead and suddenly spoke mysteriously.

"Xu Qing, let's not talk about that for now. I have something good here. My disguise as a Sea Corpse clan member this time is to obtain a high-grade corpse heart."

"But that's just my first objective. I have an even more important one. Originally, I thought it was a bit risky and I might not succeed, but if we work together, it'll definitely be fine."

"Do you know, the Sea Corpse clan has many treasures and important secret locations. The destruction of any one of them would affect the battlefield, though that's not relevant to us. My target this time is the Sea Corpse clan's core sacred artifact: the Nine Ancestral Corpse Statues!"

"Legend has it that the Sea Corpse clan's formation originated from these nine statues. The material of these nine statues is exceptionally unique, unparalleled in the world."

"Furthermore, the Sea Corpse clan's transformation of its members is accomplished through these nine statues. They are scattered throughout the Sea Corpse clan's territory, serving as the source of Sea Corpse transformation and also as a sacred healing ground for the clan."

"And most importantly, the Sea Corpse clan's main army and strong cultivators are currently on the outer battlefield, so their internal defenses are generally weak. Although there are some emergency arrangements and contingencies, that girl you nearly beat to death has an extraordinary identity: she's the Third Princess of the Sea Corpse clan. If she takes us, the Sea Corpse clan won't immediately suspect anything. By the time they realize the problem, we'll already be long gone." As the captain spoke, his eyebrows danced, and his eyes revealed the reckless madness Xu Qing had previously witnessed on Mermaid Island.

The captain's words made Xu Qing's eyes narrow. He knew very well that going to the Sea Corpse clan's territory was something only extremely bold individuals could attempt.

And once inside their territory, to target the Sea Corpse clan's core sacred artifacts... that was beyond merely bold. Even with the Sea Corpse clan's internal defenses currently hollowed out, only the truly insane would entertain such an audacious idea.

Xu Qing gave the captain a deep look. He felt the captain's madness had not subsided; only a lunatic would attempt such a thing. He was about to refuse when,

The captain enthusiastically continued.

"Each of those Nine Ancestral Corpse Statues contains astonishing power and immensely rich divinity. They're not only useful to the Sea Corpse clan but also immensely beneficial for us human cultivators! They can significantly open Dharma Apertures. I've heard that after absorbing them, opening dozens of apertures is nothing!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Qing swallowed the refusal he was about to utter, his heart suddenly stirred.

He had already opened forty-nine Dharma Apertures, and his fiftieth also had many cracks, indicating it wasn't far from opening. However, at this point, he again felt the difficulty.

A cultivator's Dharma Apertures are typically grouped into tiers of ten. To successfully open apertures from forty to fifty, one must kill a Life Flame.

This was already very fast, in fact. Without the Evilfire Soul-Devouring Scripture and without this war, it would have been impossible for Xu Qing to open so many apertures.

Normally, a Foundation Establishment cultivator often takes ten years to form their first Life Flame, and to reach the second Life Flame, relying purely on daily cultivation would take at least thirty years or more.

Moreover, throughout this process, there's a constant risk of falling, and the accumulation of impurities also requires time to resolve. This is why there aren't many Two-Flame cultivators. As for reaching Three Flames, the time required would be even longer.

"The soul power needed for fifty to sixty will definitely be immense."

Xu Qing pondered inwardly, feeling his cultivation was still a bit slow. At this moment, he was greatly moved by the captain's mention of the Ancestral Corpse Statues. After a moment of thought, Xu Qing glanced at the storage bag where the captain had placed the Third Princess.

"I don't believe she'll help us."

"Don't worry, I can persuade her. You don't know, this Third Princess is also a pitiful person. I'm confident!" The captain patted his chest.

Xu Qing shook his head. The key to the success of this matter depended entirely on the Third Princess. Only with her sincere assistance could they smoothly enter the Sea Corpse clan's territory.

And only if the Third Princess genuinely tried to conceal them could they bypass countless defenses and inspections and enter the heavily guarded location of the statues.

If even one mistake occurred during this process, it was imaginable that eternal damnation awaited them.

"This is easy enough!" The captain blinked, scrutinized Xu Qing from head to toe, and chuckled.

"I have a way: I'll disguise you as the Third Princess! That should work, right? Besides, I've become quite familiar with the Third Princess during this time, and with some previous intelligence, I wouldn't say I know her like the back of my hand, but I know her mannerisms and speech. While it might be hard to fool them for long, as long as we're fast enough, there won't be any problems."

"If you know her so well, why don't you disguise yourself?" Xu Qing raised an eyebrow, looking at the captain.

"Deputy Captain Xu, I am your superior!" the captain said sternly.

"Male concubine?" Xu Qing retorted.

The captain immediately sagged, letting out a sigh.

"Let's make a bet. Whoever loses gets to disguise themselves!" Saying this, the captain glanced left and right, then suddenly looked at the sea. There was a sea snake, swiftly swimming, seemingly unintelligent, raising its head to stare savagely at their ship with full hostility.

"That's it! Whoever kills it first wins!" The captain had barely finished speaking when he suddenly made his move. His Life Flame ignited, and an astonishing burst of cold energy erupted, freezing the surroundings while also engulfing Xu Qing. With a flicker, he instantly darted towards the sea surface.

Simultaneously, a giant hand formed on the sea, grabbing fiercely at the sea snake.

Xu Qing's eyes narrowed. Behind him, the Golden Crow let out a cry, and flames erupted, ignoring the captain's cold energy as they too surged forth. With a wave of his hand, another large hand formed on the sea, targeting not the sea snake, but the captain's divine technique.

Amidst the roar, the two large hands collided. Xu Qing's figure in mid-air directly met the captain's. As a deafening sound echoed in all directions, the black iron skewer where the Vajra Sect Ancestor resided swiftly shot out, about to reach the sea snake.

But the next instant, as it burst with lightning, the void around it suddenly surged with cold energy. With crackling sounds, ice instantly formed, directly sealing the black iron skewer within. The Vajra Sect Ancestor's expression changed, and he was momentarily unable to struggle.

Around the sea snake, ice also appeared, seemingly about to seal it. But the next instant, the Golden Crow shrieked, a sea of fire surged, and with a single charge from the Golden Crow, the ice melted.

As for Xu Qing, he now swung his hand, and the Heavenly Saber descended. With the volcanic eruption within him, and his physical body empowered by the Golden Crow Refining All Spirits, his speed was faster than ever before. He delivered a punch.

This punch generated earth-shattering power, directly creating a swirling vortex in the void before Xu Qing. While devouring everything, it also released a wisp of corpse poison!

The captain's eyes narrowed. He formed a hand seal to block, and as an explosive sound erupted, the captain stumbled back a few steps. Xu Qing, without slowing down, surged forward.

"How long has it been? How can there be such a huge change again? His physical strength has reached this level, combined with his Mysterious Brilliance state, it's comparable to a Three-Flame cultivator! And what's with this corpse poison? He looks more like a Sea Corpse clan member than I do! Imperial-grade cultivation techniques are really unfair."

A hint of madness appeared in the captain's eyes. To make Xu Qing transform into the Third Princess and to preserve his own dignity as a superior, his eyes suddenly emitted a golden light.

Beneath this light, a diamond-shaped golden rune could be seen flashing in his eyes. An aura surpassing that of a Two-Flame cultivator suddenly erupted from his body, surging skyward!