Chapter 279: Main... I'm Good...

A cold gleam flashed in Xu Qing's eyes. His body instantly shot out in pursuit, and his shadow, moreover, spread invisibly. It opened a massive mouth unseen by others, filled with an unprecedented desire and madness, and fiercely swallowed the fleeing alien.

The alien was about to counterattack, but the vast cultivation gap between them made him utterly unable to resist. In a blink of an eye, Xu Qing caught up and grabbed his neck.

No matter how he struggled, it was useless. He only felt endless flames surge wildly into his body through Xu Qing's hand. At the same time, Xu Qing's shadow, filled with endless ferocity and craving, directly enveloped the alien's shadow.

A roar, inaudible to outsiders, suddenly erupted from within the shadow.

"Kill everyone here, then return to the ship and wait for me," Xu Qing commanded. Holding the alien in his hand, he shot straight towards the grotto-heaven above. Amidst the solemn assent of the Seven Blood Eyes disciples, he vanished from the area in an instant.

It was already night outside. Xu Qing, holding the alien, moved with astonishing speed. He reached a distant mountaintop, scanned the surroundings, then looked down. He coldly stared at the alien's shadow in the moonlight, the alien trembling all over and showing despair in its eyes.

The alien's shadow writhed and struggled incessantly. In Xu Qing's sight, his own shadow was also within it. The two were constantly devouring and tearing at each other, like mortal enemies.

A wave of evil and madness emanated from the alien's shadow. This feeling was identical to when Xu Qing first saw Little Shadow in the scavenger camp jungle.

It was full of savage and ferocious intent.

It was only after Little Shadow was repeatedly suppressed and tamed by Xu Qing that this wildness dissipated, replaced by obedience. Yet, Xu Qing knew the inherent rebellious spirit remained deep within it.

"Indeed, such bizarre entities as shadows, though extremely rare, are not nonexistent in this world," Xu Qing murmured to himself. His gaze shifted from the shadow to the alien cultivator.

The other party, like him, must have been invaded by a shadow at some point. The difference was that Xu Qing was the master, while the alien was the slave.

"If it weren't for the purple crystal, I might have ceased to be myself the moment I encountered the shadow in the scavenger camp jungle," Xu Qing murmured inwardly. This was because he saw that the alien's body contained foreign substances, no different from other cultivators.

Unlike himself, who had no foreign substances.

This was clearly one of the distinctions between master and slave.

Unable to suppress the shadow, one could only be controlled by it. Like its true body, it could inhabit it whenever it wished.

At this moment, Xu Qing glanced at his own shadow, which was still entangled in battle, tearing and biting, and was in a dominant position. A purple light flashed within him, and a suppressive force instantly blasted forth.

This time, it wasn't Little Shadow that was blasted, but the alien's shadow.

The purple crystal clearly possessed a powerful suppressive force against entities like shadows. Amidst the roar, the alien's shadow directly emitted a scream that only Xu Qing and the alien could hear.

Little Shadow immediately cheered up and jubilated. The alien's shadow, however, was filled with mad ferocity and instantly lunged towards Xu Qing, attempting to devour him.

Xu Qing's expression was cold; with a wave of his hand, purple light shone, suppressing it again. He suppressed it seventeen times in a row.

Each time, the alien's shadow shrieked miserably. Eventually, terror became evident, and it rapidly retreated in weakness. But before it could retreat far, purple light rapidly gathered in Xu Qing's chest, and he suppressed it again.

This suppression did not immediately dissipate. Instead, Xu Qing controlled it to pin the alien's shadow to the ground, preventing its escape. It screamed in struggle, and a plea for mercy emanated from it.

Little Shadow, observing from the side, clearly saw its own past misery inflicted upon another for the first time. This seemed to give it a peculiar feeling. It inexplicably sent fawning emotional waves towards Xu Qing.

Xu Qing squatted down and carefully examined the suppressed alien shadow in the moonlight. Its shape was identical to his own shadow, currently transformed into a tree-like form, covered with eyes. Each of these eyes now radiated fear.

Xu Qing pondered, weighing whether to seal the alien's shadow within the purple crystal, just as he had done with Little Shadow. But he couldn't. So he reached out his hand, extending it deep into the alien's shadow. While feeling its coldness, he tried to activate the crystal, but still failed.

After some thought, Xu Qing waved his hand, and the black iron stick shot out. It pierced the alien's skull in an instant, causing the alien to die immediately.

Xu Qing recalled that it was only after the Black-Scaled Wolf died that its shadow counterattacked. Now that he had killed the alien, he tried to subdue its shadow again, but still couldn't.

But Little Shadow didn't know this, and seemed to have reacted to Xu Qing's intentions. It immediately trembled, emitting clear, anxious emotional waves.

"Master... I'll be good..."

The Vajra Sect Patriarch, inside the iron stick, watched this scene. He resisted the urge to translate.

Xu Qing turned to glance at Little Shadow, then, after a moment of contemplation, spoke calmly.

"Given your past contributions, I won't seal it to replace you today. Remember, your previous merits have been nullified. Next time, if you don't earn any more, I will replace you." Xu Qing's voice was calm, but to Little Shadow, it trembled all over, shaking its head frantically while shivering.

The Vajra Sect Patriarch inside the black iron stick, watching this scene, was overjoyed, feeling an indescribable sense of satisfaction, and his eyes gleamed.

Xu Qing frowned.

Little Shadow reacted, blinking rapidly, then both nodding and shaking its head. Clearly, in its extreme nervousness, the instinctive reactions regarding right and wrong, instilled by the Vajra Sect Patriarch, were dictating its behavior.

Fortunately, it still had emotional fluctuations.

It began to make frantic assurances.

Only then did Xu Qing nod and slowly speak.

"Devour it," Xu Qing said, standing up. But the suppression remained. So, amidst the alien shadow's continuous screams, Little Shadow opened its large mouth and frantically devoured it.

The entire process lasted for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. The alien's shadow was completely devoured by Xu Qing's shadow. Afterwards, it let out a burp and sent fawning intentions to Xu Qing.

And clearly, its own fluctuations were far more powerful than before. Not only did more eyes appear, still unopened but showing slits, but some flower buds also bloomed within this tree-like shadow.

"Time... absorption... strong..."

Noticing Xu Qing was looking at it, Little Shadow quickly sent out spiritual fluctuations.

Xu Qing withdrew his gaze and looked towards the distant Mount Sanling. He found this recent gain satisfactory. With a flash, he transformed into a long rainbow and sped into the distance.

Before long, Xu Qing arrived at the Immortal River of Myriad Ages. He returned to the large ship and saw the Captain.

The ruler of that small kingdom was no longer on the ship. The disciples who had accompanied Xu Qing had also long since returned.

"Done?" the Captain asked with a half-smile, glancing at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing nodded.

"That's good," the Captain replied, not pressing further. He stretched, then lay on the deck with his hands behind his head, gazing at the night sky.

Xu Qing sat cross-legged, closing his eyes to meditate.

The night wind blew, lifting their hair. As the ship moved forward, the swaying hair and the sound of the river, like nature's symphony, wrapped around them, drifting further and further away with the wind.

Time flowed by; over a month passed in a flash. The Security and Special Affairs Department's large ship had completed half of its river patrol duties. The reason for such speed was that the Alliance's vessels were themselves extraordinary, possessing not only offensive and defensive capabilities but also impressive speed.

Furthermore, small sects and kingdoms truly daring enough to divert the river were few. And this wasn't the Alliance's first patrol, so everything remained relatively peaceful, naturally increasing their speed.

Xu Qing's cultivation also progressed similarly. On this day, he finally opened his 102nd Dharma Aperture, further increasing his magical power.

As for the Captain, ever since he ate some spiritual fish half a month ago, he had fallen in love with them. He ate various kinds of fish in different ways every day. Xu Qing tried them a few times and found the taste indeed good.

Consequently, the entire fleet began fishing for food.

At this moment, the Captain sat beside Xu Qing, winking suggestively.

"Little A'Qing..."

Xu Qing helplessly opened his eyes. With a wave of his hand, a ball of malevolent spiritual flame scattered. The Captain quickly placed the fish on it, skillfully flipping and roasting it, his mouth letting out excited sounds.

"My cultivation technique isn't related to fire, so even if I could generate fire, it wouldn't taste nearly as good for roasting fish. Your malevolent spiritual flame, Little A'Qing, makes this spiritual fish taste uniquely delicious."

Xu Qing ignored him, about to close his eyes and continue meditating. But suddenly, his expression shifted, and the Captain also abruptly looked up; both simultaneously gazed at the sky.

In the distant sky, two long rainbows, one following the other, were chasing at high speed.

The person in front was an old man with red hair. His chest was bloody and mangled, clearly injured.

He had a black face, full of wrinkles. Due to his skin color and the ferocity in his eyes, he looked very ferocious. As he fled, two black heavenly palaces above his head emanated an earth-shattering aura, truly astonishing.

Below him, where he passed, was a small alien kingdom. With a swift raise of his right hand, nearly ten thousand aliens flew out from the kingdom. Each of them bled from their seven orifices in despair, their blood surging upwards to form a river of blood that shot towards the sky. When it reached the red-haired, black-faced old man's hand, it transformed into a blood pill, which he swallowed in one gulp. His chest wound visibly recovered somewhat.

Just as he was about to continue, a surging sword qi arrived from behind him. This caused the old devil to let out a low roar and, forced to give up, accelerate his escape.

And those aliens from whom most of their blood had been extracted fell to the ground, some dead, some injured.

The one who unleashed the sword qi was a young man. He wore a white robe, and twenty-seven great swords circled behind him, constantly rotating, emitting streams of sword qi that bombarded the old devil in front.

The young man himself had a handsome appearance, with eyebrows sharp as sword edges and eyes like stars. As he strode, his long hair flowed freely. What was most striking about him was the totem embroidered on his robe.

This totem was a Bauhinia flower!

"A Bauhinia flower! That's a Sword Bearer!" the Captain exclaimed, greatly excited at the sight.