Chapter 163: Finally Meeting the Murderer

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

The night wind was strong. It landed on Xu Qing’s magic boat at Port 79 and spread out on the protective barrier, but was unable to pass through.

If it could penetrate the protective barrier and blow into the cabin of the magic boat, it would discover that… there was no one there.

Far away from the magic boat, in a dark corner under a house, Xu Qing silently leaned against the wall. He crossed his arms and stared coldly at his magic boat.

When he closed his eyes and opened them again, a sharpness filled them.

“Will someone come tonight?” Xu Qing lifted his head and looked at the pitch-black sky.

“It is a night of killing.”

Xu Qing mumbled softly. However, he kept recalling the image of the vast black cloud and the phoenix eagle in it.

When he had gone to retrieve the magic boat, he had asked Zhang San about this. Zhang San didn’t know much about it and only told him that this existence was related to the largest forbidden zone in the Nanhuang Continent, the Phoenix Forbidden Zone.

It was the emperor of that forbidden zone, named Flame Phoenix!

The origin of the term Phoenix Forbidden was also because of it.

Its existence was supreme. Not only did it suppress that forbidden zone, but it also suppressed the entire Nanhuang Continent. In fact, the name of the Nanhuang¹ Continent was also because of it!

Located south of the Wanggu Continent, on the Forbidden Sea, there was a divine creature whose might caused the sky to darken and all living beings to revere it. It was known as the Flame Phoenix and lived on an island. Hence, it was named the Nanhuang¹.

As for the details, Zhang San didn’t know much either.

“Flame Phoenix.” Xu Qing mumbled inwardly. As he cultivated and came into contact with many things, he gained a greater understanding of this world.

The sea breeze blew over. Amidst the wind, there was the sound of clothes fluttering. When it entered Xu Qing’s ears, it instantly pulled him back from his reverie. Xu Qing stopped thinking about the Flame Phoenix and looked at the harbor in the distance.

Very soon, five figures entered Xu Qing’s vision.

There were three men and two women.

Xu Qing wasn’t unfamiliar with the two women in front. Regardless of whether it was the fishy smell from the wind or their figures, Xu Qing recognized them at a glance. These two were the elder sisters of the merfolk youth.

Their cultivation was extraordinary. One was at the ninth level of Qi Condensation and the other was at the Perfected Qi Condensation Realm.

As for the three followers at the back, they were also merfolk cultivators. They looked to be the eighth level of Qi Condensation. The moonlight revealed their faces which were filled with malevolence and killing intent.

Xu Qing coldly looked at them and slowly narrowed his eyes. However, he didn’t attack immediately. Instead, he looked behind them.

“Why didn’t those Foundation Building Dao Protectors appear?”

Xu Qing fell silent. Very soon, the five figures avoided the patrolling disciples and approached Xu Qing’s magic boat.

Perhaps it was because they felt that they had the backing of the third highness, or perhaps it was because of the arrogance of the merfolk race, the moment they got close to Xu Qing’s magic boat, the speed of the younger sister of the two merfolk women suddenly increased as she tried to rush over.

However, she was stopped by her big sister. The elder sister was clearly much more rational and didn’t act rashly. She took out a talisman.

The talisman’s effect seemed to be probing and not offensive.

A few breaths later, the two merfolk women sensed that there was no one on the boat and turned back, looking like they were about to leave.

The coldness in Xu Qing’s eyes dissipated. The reason why he left the boat was because he didn’t want to kill in his boat. Once he killed in his magic boat, the traces would be too obvious and there would be many future troubles.

Naturally, if these few people really barged in, Xu Qing would adapt to it. He stared at the five merfolk and waited for them to leave. His plan was to secretly follow them and assassinate them one by one and destroy their corpses.

However, just as the five of them were about to leave and Xu Qing was about to take a step in the dark, the expression of the older sister of the two merfolk women changed. She abruptly looked at Xu Qing’s hiding place.

“There’s the bloodline curse fluctuation of brother’s death there!”

As soon as the woman spoke, her younger sister also looked over. Her green eyes were filled with killing intent as she charged toward Xu Qing. The three followers in the surroundings also showed intense killing intent as they sped over.

“I was discovered?” Xu Qing frowned slightly. The other party was the third highness’ men. If he started a fight here, it would attract attention. In addition, he also had to consider these merfolk people sending messages to others.

Hence, the instant the other party rushed over, Xu Qing rapidly retreated while restraining his aura. He put on a panicked expression to numb the other party and let them be certain of their victory so that they wouldn’t transmit messages to others immediately.

Xu Qing didn’t plan to delay for too long. He was going to find a remote place before he made a move.

The five merfolk cultivators chased after him at high speed.

The younger sister was at the front with a ferocious glint in her eyes. With a wave of her hand, black bubbles appeared beside her. She threw them toward Xu Qing, who was fleeing in panic, with killing intent.

These bubbles that emitted fluctuations of spells and anomalous substances rapidly approached Xu Qing, as though they wanted to taint Xu Qing.

“So it is you who killed my clan’s younger brother. I’ll make you wish you were dead!”

As she spoke, the three merfolk followers behind her each took out their weapons with sinister expressions.

One held a bone sword, one’s hands were covered in scales that transformed into poisonous spikes, and the other had sarcomas growing on his back that tore his clothes apart, emitting a dense poisonous fog that transformed into the shadow of a malicious ghost which chased after Xu Qing.

The elder sister was at the back. She was cautious by nature, so she didn’t chase too closely. She even habitually took out her talisman to protect herself.

Xu Qing ignored the spells behind him and sped up.

When those spells were about to reach him, he had already arrived at a remote corner. Only then did he stop moving forward. He suddenly turned around and his eyes revealed killing intent. His speed instantly erupted, several times faster than before as he directly slammed behind him.

His figure was so fast that he arrived in front of the furious merfolk sister in the blink of an eye. He ignored the anomalous substances in the bubbles and before the other party’s expression could change, Xu Qing ruthlessly slammed into the woman’s chest.

Even though this woman was at the ninth level of Qi Condensation and had the talent of the merfolk race, in the face of Xu Qing’s physical strength that surpassed Qi Condensation and his powerful spirit energy, her body was like paper. The instant Xu Qing touched her…

the woman’s eyes widened. Before she could even let out a scream, her body collapsed.

Flesh and blood splattered everywhere as her entire body was smashed into pieces. Only her head flew up and was enveloped by a ball of blue light. It seemed to have retained her life force and was retreating rapidly.

Xu Qing took a look and with a wave of his hand, the black iron stick flew out, heading straight for the head. He didn’t stop at all as he appeared in front of the follower who was holding the bone sword.

At the same time that the follower’s expression changed, Xu Qing had already grabbed his bone sword and broke it.

Xu Qing flipped the broken end of the sword blade and stabbed it into the follower’s neck, slashing it open.

This follower at the eighth level of Qi Condensation died instantly with blood spurting out of his neck.

This wasn’t the end. Xu Qing took a step forward and arrived beside another follower whose sarcomas were emitting poisonous gas.

This follower was already retreating with panicked breathing. However, after taking a few steps back, his body trembled and his entire body turned greenish-black. He spat out a mouthful of blood and died from the poison.

Compared to Xu Qing’s poison, his poison was insignificant.

At the same time, the last follower’s mind also rumbled with shock. His body trembled intensely in fright. Just as he was about to let out a scream, countless water droplets suddenly appeared in the surroundings and enveloped his entire body. They then pressed him from all sides, turning him into a blood mist.

The black iron stick also caught up to the younger merfolk sister’s head that was enveloped by the blue light and stabbed it.

However, this blue light runic treasure was astonishing. It flickered rapidly and actually resisted the power of the iron stick. However, the impact still caused half of the head to collapse.

However, because of her nonhuman innate talent, this merfolk woman didn’t die immediately. She let out a blood-curdling cry and borrowed the force of the impact to fly toward her big sister.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye. Xu Qing’s attacks were extremely ruthless and decisive. As he killed three people in a row, there was also a dagger that emitted a cold light that whistled through the air, heading straight for the elder merfolk sister in the distance.

It was already near her.

The expression of this elder merfolk sister completely changed to that of unprecedented horror that she even felt the deaths of her companions earlier were not real.

However, she was cautious by nature and had the habit of using talismans to protect herself. Coupled with her cultivation at the Perfected Qi Condensation Realm, she showed no signs of being poisoned. Although the force of the dagger was great, it still couldn’t instantly break through her talisman’s defense.

Amidst the rumbling, the body of the elder merfolk sister under the protection of the talisman trembled.

She really couldn’t imagine that such a terrifying existence was hiding in this seemingly ordinary Port 79. In her perception, such combat strength was no different from a Foundation Building cultivator.

At the thought that she had actually brought people to find trouble with this person, her scalp started to turn numb. She even cursed her dead clan brother in her heart.

“So be it if you died, why did you have to provoke such a malignant star!!”

At this critical moment, she didn’t hesitate at all. She immediately took out another talisman and threw it forward. Immediately, a rumbling sound echoed as the talisman transformed into a huge fishtail that swung fiercely at Xu Qing.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the merfolk woman grabbed her younger sister’s head that showed signs of being poisoned and was on the verge of death. Her cultivation base rotated madly as she fled.

Her fear had long transformed into a huge wave that drowned her mind. There was only one thought in her mind now, and that was to escape!

Flee till the Dao Protectors arrived.

According to the agreement, the Dao Protectors should have arrived by now. She quickly took out the voice transmission jade slip and sent a message to the Dao Protectors.

However, she didn’t have the time to check if the other party had received her message. Right now, she was burning her cultivation base to increase her speed to the extreme. She did not even hesitate to take out another talisman to break through Xu Qing’s rain barrier.

There were loud explosions.

If they were at the port, they would definitely be discovered. However, this place was remote and was blocked by Xu Qing’s rain. Moreover, the fight was extremely fast, so no sound was spread.

Very soon, Xu Qing stepped out from behind the huge fishtail.

His expression was cold as he looked at the fleeing merfolk woman in the distance and chased after her.

His speed erupted completely and he also took out his flight talisman, causing his speed to be like a bolt of lightning.