Chapter 628: Morning Glow Reflects on the Heavenly Gate

Seeing the captain's excitement, Xu Qing nodded.

"I'm off. I've prepared a lot for this big undertaking, but it was mostly research. Now I'm not lacking much; just wait for my good news!"

The captain, filled with excitement, was preparing to leave the back room where Xu Qing was, to have an in-depth discussion with the Adamantine Sect Patriarch.

Before leaving, Xu Qing called out to him and asked for a piece of the captain's skin.

The captain didn't care and casually threw a piece over. It seemed that for him, at this moment, he had plenty of skin to spare.

"Is that enough? If not, I have more!"

The captain looked generously at Xu Qing.

"That's enough..." Xu Qing glanced at the piece of skin in front of him and noticed it even had a navel, his expression turning strange.

The captain smiled proudly and swaggered away.

Watching the captain's retreating figure, Xu Qing felt a wave of emotion.

This wasn't the first time he had heard the phrase "big undertaking" from the captain.

Logically, Xu Qing felt he should have gotten used to it by now, but after the captain left, as he sat cross-legged there, he still felt a ripple of emotion.

The truth was... every time the captain undertook a "big event," it was extremely thrilling, and as his cultivation grew, the level of thrill also continuously increased.

Many times Xu Qing didn't quite understand why the captain was so crazily enthusiastic about risking his life.

"It's as if he always wants to play himself to death..." Xu Qing sighed, as the two words "divine abomination" that Grandfather Eight had uttered when he first saw the captain, surfaced in his mind.

"Could it be that Senior Brother was truly a divine abomination once?"

Xu Qing pondered, recalling the things he and his senior brother had done.

Whether it was stealing from the Sea Corpse Clan, or stealing from the Nether-Essence, or something similar to stealing from the Ten-Gut Tree...

Basically, if it wasn't stealing, it was eating.

Xu Qing mused.

A while later, he looked up in the direction of the captain's residence, from which the trembling emotional fluctuations of the Adamantine Sect Patriarch could be felt.

"According to what the captain said, this time he's going to act, so it shouldn't be about stealing, right?"

As he murmured, Xu Qing instinctively opened his storage bag, checked his teleportation items, and confirmed there were enough of them. Only then did his heart feel a little more at ease.

"When I go, I'll have to take the parrot too."

Xu Qing made a decision, no longer pondering the captain's "big undertaking," and immersed himself in his research of the Morning Glow.

In fact, by the third day, he could already, through the changes in the seven colors contained within the Morning Glow, adjust it to produce some of the images he envisioned.

Unfortunately, these images could only remain in Xu Qing's mind. He could imagine them and try to use the Morning Glow to transform them, but the resulting scenes were vastly different from what he envisioned.

Light was still just light, unable to form an image.

Thus, in the following few days, he used the recording jade slip as a medium to research the imaging principles between light and recording.

This principle wasn't difficult, especially after personally witnessing the captain use skin and light refraction to imprint fingerprints. Xu Qing already had some direction regarding the methods of light transformation.

"Light forms images because of refraction. My previous method of dispersing the Morning Glow wasn't wrong, but it was merely for sweeping myriad techniques."

"Therefore, what I need to do is focus the Morning Glow. Because of its inherent peculiarity, it can not only illuminate objects but also illuminate enemy magical techniques!"

"And thus generate some refractions that I cannot see..."

"At this point, what I need to do is make those invisible refractions form an image!"

Xu Qing murmured inwardly, a sharp gleam appearing in his eyes as he picked up a recording jade slip.

"The difference between a normal jade slip and a recording jade slip is that the former is sensitive to divine sense, so it can imprint spiritual thoughts, while the latter is sensitive to light, so it can record images."

"So whether it's a recording jade slip or the captain's skin, they are actually both extremely light-sensitive objects."

Xu Qing put down the recording jade slip in his hand, picked up the captain's skin, and after some research, confirmed the results of his studies over the past few days.

"Especially the captain's skin, which is an extraordinary item. Not only is it incredibly tough, but if you look closely, its internal patterns give me a feeling of rune imprints."

"This should be the captain's unique characteristic, and due to my cultivation and ordinariness, I cannot achieve it."

"But I can use other methods to make parts of my skin extremely sensitive to light... thereby stimulating my extraordinary divine body."

"This way, with the Morning Glow focused and refracted, the images I cannot see, I can perceive with my skin and then instinctively materialize them!"

Xu Qing's thoughts churned. He lowered his head, raised his right palm, and gazed at its center.

There were many ways to make oneself sensitive to light, but Xu Qing felt what he was best at was relying on botanical arts.

"Many herbs and poisons can make skin sensitive. While this is a kind of harm, when used correctly, it becomes an aid to divine abilities."

"Many of the poisons in my storage bag currently possess such medicinal effects."

"Princess Mingmei was right, imagination is one of the key reasons that limit the strength of divine abilities."

Xu Qing took a deep breath. After carefully analyzing it, he decided this method was feasible, so he opened his storage bag, took out the poisons with skin-sensitizing effects, and prepared to refine his right hand.

He was going to poison his right hand to make it incredibly sensitive to light.

"Once successful, this hand of mine can be called the Hand of Myriad Techniques!"

Xu Qing's heart pounded, and he began refining.

Just like that, time flew by. Seven days passed, and a total of half a month had now passed since Xu Qing began researching the Morning Glow.

As for Princess Mingmei, she was actually already satisfied by the third day.

She perceived the method of transformation formed within the Morning Glow that Xu Qing displayed. Although Xu Qing couldn't see it with his naked eye and believed it couldn't form an image, in the eyes of the Crown Prince and her, it was incredibly clear.

At that moment, the Crown Prince's heart was greatly stirred.

Princess Mingmei also nodded.

She felt it was enough; it was already very impressive that Xu Qing could achieve this much, counting as over-fulfilling the task.

In her view, with Xu Qing's cultivation and comprehension, it was currently impossible to truly use the Morning Glow to create myriad transformations, and she had never seen anyone walk this path before.

"However, this idea is very good. If he continues down this path, someday in the future, he might truly be able to achieve his dream."

"Young people should dare to dream, and then dare to try!"

Princess Mingmei smiled, preparing to wait for Xu Qing to give up and come out to continue guiding him.

However... subsequently, she found Xu Qing frowning and looking dissatisfied. In the days that followed, she saw Xu Qing studying recording jade slips, studying the captain's skin, and... poisoning his own hand.

This scene made Princess Mingmei hesitate, and she calmly looked at the Crown Prince beside her.

The Crown Prince remained silent. After a long while, he spoke with a wry smile.

"Third Sister, this kid's most monstrous aspect isn't his cultivation aptitude, but his comprehension."

"What you told him earlier, that imagination limits the power of divine abilities — that sentence must have greatly stimulated this kid, as if it opened a cage."

"So I think he might possibly... truly have figured out a way to make his Morning Glow form images."

Hearing this, Mingmei fell silent.

Old Eight, who was nearby, looked at the Crown Prince, then at Third Sister.

Over the past half month, he had also noticed Third Sister and Big Brother's areas of focus and secretly paid attention. Now witnessing all of this, he suddenly felt an urge to try it himself.

"I also guided many younger prodigies back then. Since this Xu Qing is valued so highly by Big Brother and Third Sister, I'll find an opportunity to try it too someday."

With this thought, Old Eight felt anticipation in his heart.

As for their Fifth Sister, during the half month Xu Qing had been cultivating, she had spent most of her time in the backyard taking care of the little chicks, raising every single one of them plump.

The number of chicks also increased at a much faster rate than before, with new ones appearing almost every day.

Especially a few days ago, when dozens more suddenly appeared, Ling'er, who occasionally came to help on weekdays, clicked her tongue in amazement upon seeing them.

"Grandma Five, there are even more chicks today!"

At this moment, in the backyard, Ling'er was helping to scatter worms. Watching the chicks madly rush to eat, she spoke to Grandma Five, who was nearby, in a clear voice.

Grandma Five sat there smiling and nodded.

"When they get a bit fatter, I'll slaughter them for you and your Brother Xu Qing to nourish your bodies."

As soon as she spoke, all the chicks, who were eating with indignant sorrow, trembled all over, and each one showed intense fear.

Especially the dozens that had appeared a few days ago, they felt utter despair, letting out clucking sounds.

They were not cultivators from the Küsheng Mountain Range, but from the Yin-Yang Flower Inter-Sect. They had come here after investigating and discovering the traces of the culprit who had caused chaos in the Heavenly Ox Mountain Range.

Upon arriving here, they did not act rashly and went to the Red Moon Temple to pay respects to the Divine Envoy. But the moment they stepped into the Red Moon Temple, before even seeing the Divine Envoy, they felt the world spin.

The next clear moment, they were already here, having become chicks.

And just as these chicks were in desperate fear, a roar resounded from the back room of the pharmacy, spreading in all directions, and a burst of seven-colored light shot out from there, illuminating all directions.

This light instantly enveloped the entire pharmacy, covering everyone and also falling upon the chicks. As it continuously erupted, it surprisingly formed a sea of light.

This sea churned, causing the sky to ripple at that very instant.

As the wind and clouds surged, this sea of light suddenly rose into the air. Above the firmament, it continuously gathered and changed, vaguely appearing as if a nail was forming within it!

As soon as this nail appeared, it seemed to trigger some meteorological phenomena, and the color of heaven and earth changed.

Ling'er gasped, Ning Yan's eyes widened, Wu Jianwu was dumbfounded, and Li Youfei was horrified.

The captain was moved, Nether-Essence was solemn, and Old Ancestor Mogui's eyes flashed with brilliance.

Some of them had seen this nail before, so they were shocked. Others had not seen this nail, but felt the aura it drew, and were equally astonished.

Only the Crown Prince, Third Sister, Fifth Sister, and Old Eight, as they gazed at the nail forming in the sky, had the most calm expressions. However, if one looked closely, one could see a fleeting glint of wonder in their eyes.

Especially the Crown Prince and Third Sister, beneath their calm exteriors, their hearts were greatly stirred, and they turned to look at the back room.

That place was the source of this burst of seven-colored light.

"He succeeded..."

"That kid is simulating Father's nail from back then!"