Chapter 59: Diligent Xu Qing

Cultivation requires resources. Especially with the arrival of the remnant of a deity, everything has been infiltrated by alien substances, making resource acquisition exceedingly difficult and often violent.

Xu Qing's eyes showed contemplation. He needed a vast amount of spiritual stones and materials, and the income from refining white pills was far from enough.

"The Demon Hunting Division provides three spiritual stones a month. As for the white pills… if I work hard, I should also be able to earn twenty spiritual stones a month. That totals twenty-three spiritual stones per month."

Xu Qing frowned. To maintain his current cultivation speed, he needed to consume one spiritual stone daily. Furthermore, the refining materials he had seen at the Sixth Peak disciples' shop all cost at least dozens of spiritual stones.

"My monthly berth fee is thirty spiritual stones, so I need an income of at least sixty spiritual stones per month just to barely sustain my cultivation. Crafting a magic boat would require even more." Thinking this, Xu Qing opened his storage bag and checked its contents. Inside, there were currently twenty spiritual stones, which were the reward given by the Demon Hunting Division after he killed Qing Yunzi.

"To earn more, there are three methods: hunting in forbidden zones, eliminating wanted criminals, or venturing out to sea to acquire materials using my own capabilities."

Xu Qing considered his options. For the first method, hunting in forbidden zones, he would need to use the First Peak's path. Entering and exiting the forbidden zone next to the sect required a pass from the First Peak, and disciples from other peaks had to pay a fee to go there. As for the third method, sea hunting was naturally the most suitable. However, it not only had cultivation requirements but also demanded a certain standard for the magic boat. If his boat wasn't strong enough, he feared he might never return.

Xu Qing believed his cultivation was sufficient, but his magic boat was too low-grade. Upgrading the magic boat required spiritual stones and materials, which created a vicious cycle.

"Therefore, the fastest way is to eliminate wanted criminals, or perhaps plunder fellow disciples, to quickly improve my magic boat and cultivation. Then I can go sea hunting, allowing everything to snowball and become unstoppable!"

Xu Qing's eyes gleamed with a cold light. Compared to plundering fellow disciples who hadn't provoked him, he felt that eliminating wanted criminals was a more suitable approach.

Having made a decision, Xu Qing sat cross-legged in his Tier 2 magic boat, added a spiritual stone to the spirit gathering array, and began cultivating. He hadn't cultivated for long when Xu Qing opened his eyes, perplexed, and took out his identity token. A voice message appeared on it.

"Junior Brother Xu Qing, this is Zhou Qingpeng. Was that you I saw at the pharmacy last time? You've changed so much! It took me a while to figure out it must have been you. I noticed you seemed very interested in that Ghost-Desire Horseshoe Crab. I'm familiar with it; my family runs a medicinal herbs business. If you need one, I can have someone get it for you, but the price is a bit high."

After reading the message, Xu Qing thoughtfully realized Zhou Qingpeng was trying to earn some spiritual stones from him. However, since he genuinely wanted a Ghost-Desire Horseshoe Crab to study its poison, he agreed.

Time passed quickly, and soon six days had gone by. During these six days, whenever Xu Qing reported for duty at the Demon Hunting Division, he paid attention to the wanted criminals list. His informants also focused more on this aspect at his request. However, many people in the Demon Hunting Division made money this way, and this type of information was mostly kept secret. Consequently, even when Xu Qing occasionally received leads, he often found nothing upon arrival. This forced Xu Qing to change his approach.

At the same time, new recruits had arrived at the Demon Hunting Division in the past few days, following Xu Qing's arrival. However, this newcomer clearly had a background and wasn't assigned to Xu Qing's department. Upon arrival, he wasn't a team member but was directly appointed captain of the Earth Department's Third Team. Moreover, this person seemed to possess certain methods; in less than two days after taking office, his more than twenty team members were all obedient.

However, the four departments of the Demon Hunting Division, due to having different directors, mostly operated independently on a daily basis, sometimes even having conflicts, apart from collaborating on major missions. So, the news that the Earth Department's Third Team had a new captain was merely something the other departments would hear about and generally not care much about. However, this newcomer's appointment did cause some ripples. This was because the newly appointed captain of the Earth Department's Third Team was not human.

Xu Qing had seen him once from a distance and immediately recognized the newly appointed captain of the Earth Department's Third Team. He was the foreign youth who had returned with the Third Prince days ago, standing in the back. That day, Xu Qing had noticed the foreign youth showing disdain in his eyes when he saw the Third Prince embracing his two elder sisters from the same race. His identity was quickly uncovered by those in the Demon Hunting Division who paid attention. Xu Qing had heard from members of the Sixth Team that the person was from the Mermaid race.

Although the Mermaid race was foreign, they were allies with the Seven Blood Eyes, maintaining extensive trade relations. This individual was also said to have a noble status within the Mermaid race. After being brought back by the Third Prince, and because he intended to join the Seven Blood Eyes, he was arranged by the Third Prince to join the Demon Hunting Division.

As for the Third Prince's identity, Xu Qing had a guess and confirmed his suspicions by asking others. The Peak Lord of the Seven Blood Eyes' Seventh Peak had three direct disciples: two males and one female. Each of these three was like a crown prince or princess within the Seventh Peak; a single word from them could make countless Seventh Peak disciples bow their heads, and this was true even within the entire Seven Blood Eyes sect. They belonged to the direct disciple lineage of the Seven Blood Eyes. Furthermore, because the Peak Lord of the Seventh Peak possessed astonishing talent, his reputation spread throughout the Southern Phoenix Continent, his combat power was immense, and his authority was equally vast. Therefore, as his direct disciples, their standing within the Seven Blood Eyes was also extremely high.

Among them, the Eldest Prince often secluded himself to break through bottlenecks and hadn't been seen by anyone for many years. However, Xu Qing heard his teammates discussing that this Eldest Prince was extremely mysterious and possessed terrifying combat power. In the Foundation Establishment stage, he had killed multiple people at the same cultivation level and had a bloody record of slaughtering several minor foreign tribes. Among all direct disciples across the entire Seven Blood Eyes, the Eldest Prince ranked second. During the discussion, the captain of the Sixth Team, who was eating an apple nearby, made a pointed remark.

"Generally speaking, such people are not bloodthirsty," he said, "but have extreme aspects to their personality. If their reverse scale is touched, they will naturally kill."

Xu Qing heard this and deeply agreed.

As for the Second Senior Sister, when teammates mentioned her, their expressions showed a hint of fear. Compared to the mysterious Eldest Prince, whom few had seen in recent years, far too many people had seen the Second Princess. She would usually wander around the port. Her personality was very strong, her actions decisive, and she was known for her domineering conduct. Moreover, she possessed immense strength, and when she got angry, even the Seventh Peak's elders would get headaches.

"She has a sickness; it needs to be cured," the captain nearby whispered.

Among the Peak Lord's disciples, the most popular was the Third Prince. Aside from being lustful, the Third Prince had almost no flaws. He usually wore a smile, had no airs with the disciples, and was extremely generous. He also tried his best to resolve disciples' requests for help, especially with his familiar relations with the foreign races at sea. He was even called the Seventh Peak's diplomatic ambassador by many disciples. His romantic escapades were also widely discussed among the disciples.

The Sixth Team captain, eating an apple, seemed to want to comment as well, but perhaps thinking of something, he ultimately remained silent. He simply took two more bites of his apple and smiled at everyone.

Although Xu Qing listened carefully to his teammates' discussion, he didn't pay too much attention. Neither the Mermaid youth nor the three "princes" of the Seventh Peak had anything to do with him. Xu Qing's focus during this period was on wanted criminals. As for finding them, he had also found a new direction for his approach: that was to stake out a spot.

That night, it was Xu Qing's turn for night duty. The night was dark and windy, with a thin crescent moon. The sea breeze carried dampness, permeating every corner of the city, as if to witness the various shadows and dark deeds occurring within the city at night. Gambling houses and pleasure dens also opened lively at night, with people coming and going endlessly. Occasionally, figures in night-clothes could be seen scaling buildings. In the alleys, spiritual energy fluctuations occasionally emanated, as if, with the moonlight, all sorts of demons and monsters were slowly descending upon the human world.

However, all this clamor quieted down as a figure walked by. Only after the figure left did everything return to normal. This figure was Xu Qing.

Since he last dragged Qing Yunzi's corpse through half the city, every time he was on night duty, the same phenomenon occurred. There were no secrets in the main city. To be able to capture Qing Yunzi, a ninth-level Qi Condensation cultivator — even if he was from a minor sect — make him unable to escape, and render him utterly miserable, still demonstrated Xu Qing's strength. Furthermore, being able to safely leave after a confrontation with the innkeeper outside the Banquan Road Inn was enough to show that this newcomer to the Demon Hunting Division was not to be easily provoked. This was also one of the reasons Xu Qing hadn't encountered other wanted criminals afterward.

But it didn't matter; Xu Qing felt he had found a new method. At this moment, he walked through the city's dark corners, arriving at Banquan Road. He stood motionless in a corner under the eaves, watching the open inn nearby. His body seemed to merge with the darkness as he waited silently. Since he couldn't find clues or wanted criminals, it was better to stake out a spot and just wait. Xu Qing possessed complete patience. He had considered that staking out the place might offend the innkeeper, but spiritual stones were more important, and Xu Qing felt his current combat strength was formidable enough.

Just like that, time passed. Two hours later, just before dawn, a figure silently sped from the distance, heading directly for the inn. The person was a gaunt middle-aged man with small eyes and a long beard, which made his already pointed chin appear even more peculiar, making him look like a rat. Vigilance was apparent in his small eyes. As he saw the inn's door getting closer, he felt a sense of relief and quickly approached, a look of emotion on his face.

"The main city of Seven Blood Eyes is truly wonderful," he muttered. "Especially these inns open at night; they abide by rules and provide shelter, which is perfect. It's just damn too expensive. Eighty for the first day, one hundred sixty for the second, doubling every day… Looks like I'll have to find a small town for another job in a few days. Too bad the ordinary people in those small towns have no savings, apart from their pitiful screams." He was two *zhang* from the inn and was about to leap forward.

But just then, a cold wind suddenly blew from behind him, and a frigid voice entered his ears.

"Rat Daoist?"

The gaunt middle-aged man's eyes narrowed, and the hairs on his body stood on end at that moment. Without hesitation, he fiercely swung his right hand backward, as if scattering powder, and his body instantly exploded forward, speeding away. But it was still too late. Almost the instant he raised his right hand, a dagger appeared before his neck and slashed fiercely!

The next instant, as blood spurted, the gaunt middle-aged man trembled all over, his limbs twitching. He made gurgling sounds but couldn't speak. He struggled to turn around and saw the expressionless Xu Qing behind him. The powder had no effect on Xu Qing.

"Rat Daoist, from the Litou Sect, skilled in hallucinogenic drugs," Xu Qing recited. "Twisted in mind, enjoys slaughtering mortals for pleasure. Half a year ago, the Purple Earth offered a fifteen spiritual stone reward for his capture, announced throughout the Southern Phoenix Continent."

"No need to recite it, I know he's a wanted criminal," the old man said grimly.

Xu Qing remained silent. He severed the Rat Daoist's head with a single slash, took his leather pouch, and then kicked the corpse. With a thud, the corpse landed right at the inn's entrance.

"He didn't enter the inn, so I haven't broken your rules," Xu Qing said. "You don't need to buy the corpse; it's a gift for you."

As he spoke, Xu Qing retreated a few steps until he reached a safe distance. He then carried the Rat Daoist's head and quickly left.

"This month, I still need forty-five spiritual stones…"

***

A two-chapter update, totaling over eight thousand words~~~

Also, I saw that the review section seems to be holding a fan-fiction competition, with the prize being a title related to "Beyond the Flow of Time"? It seems Qidian only allocated dozens of title slots for now? Well, can I participate too? The title "Breezy Youth" is getting a bit old for me; I want to change it. After all, writing fan-fiction for "Beyond the Flow of Time" is what I do best…