Chapter 23 That One Blade

He saw a golden light! It came from the blurred figures on the walls of the temple. Each of them was a small source of light, and at this moment, their brilliance converged, making the whole temple incredibly bright, but the greatest source of light was not them. It was... the main statue enshrined in the temple, the stone sculpture holding a stone knife! Xu Qing's heart trembled in this golden light. He also saw a figure of black mist standing at the entrance of the temple, its appearance indistinct, only a vague humanoid shape twisting in the golden light. Behind it, outside the temple, there were hundreds of black mist figures resembling that indistinct humanoid, some in human form, others in beast form. At this moment, all of them emanated an astonishing chill, converging into a monstrous coldness, as if connecting invisibly with the black mist that had entered the temple. This unique shadow that had entered the temple slowly raised its head under the illumination of the golden light, letting out a roar that seemed capable of shaking the soul, stepping forward once again. This step seemed to have offended something, as if it had touched a taboo! In that instant, Xu Qing was horrified to see the radiant stone statue with the knife, as if it had come to life, stepping down from its place. Carrying supreme majesty and indescribable holiness, it resembled a heavenly deity descending, striding forward, the ground rumbling as it approached the shadow. With a swift motion, the knife fell. This strike was plain and simple, yet somehow contained a sense of profound Dao rhythm, shaking the heavens and the earth. An ear-piercing sound that could not be heard by the ears but could be sensed by the soul suddenly emanated from that shadow. The mist evaporated in an instant, revealing a decayed body clad in tattered clothing. It could be seen that it was an old man, with empty eye sockets. In the next moment, his body directly crumbled, evaporating like the mist. The black shadows outside were also affected, their outer black mist becoming indistinct, allowing Xu Qing to see among those figures a familiar face. That was... Captain Blood Shadow! At this moment, he was among that group of black shadows, his gaunt face devoid of any expression. As the golden light spread, his entire body seemed to be purified and began to dissipate. After a while, in the outer darkness, those unvanished figures slowly retreated, ultimately disappearing completely. The golden light inside the temple also gradually diminished, and the astonishing figure of divine martiality turned around, returning to its original position. As the radiance on its body completely dissipated, it seemed to revert to a stone statue, standing there, gazing toward the direction of the entrance, as if waiting, as if guarding, utterly motionless. After a long time, everything returned to normal, and only Xu Qing, who had witnessed all this from the crevice in the stone, was left gasping for breath, his eyes showing disbelief. Clearly, the Captain Blood Shadow had died in the singing mist, and he had personally witnessed him turn to dust, yet he still existed. Clearly, it was just an ordinary temple, yet it was filled with golden light at night. Clearly, the stone statue remained motionless, yet it had walked down as if a heavenly deity had descended, that strike was unparalleled and magnificent. At this moment, the sky outside had brightened, and a new day had come. Xu Qing took a long time to calm the tremors in his heart and silently crawled out from the crevice in the stone. He looked at the light outside, then at the figures on the surrounding walls, and ultimately his gaze fell upon the stone statue holding the knife. He did not know what kind of existence it was, whether it was alive or dead. Nor did he know how long ago this temple had existed or what kind of glory it once had. However, everything that had happened last night had left him profoundly shaken. Especially the overwhelming momentum contained in that unparalleled strike had deeply impressed Xu Qing, as if it were etched into his soul, impossible to forget. He could not imagine that in this area filled with dangers and crises, there was still such a region of darkness that could not be stepped upon. And this matter had not been mentioned to him by Team Lei; perhaps... even Team Lei was unaware of it. Obviously, the scene from last night was not very frequent, and there was no one in the camp who could stay in the forbidden area as long as he did. Therefore, even if someone had seen it, it would be extremely rare; more people had gradually turned this matter into an unverified legend. Xu Qing fell silent, deeply bowing to the stone statue holding the knife and the surrounding figures. After thinking for a moment, he took a piece of candle from his bag, placed it in front of the stone sculpture, lit it, and then bowed once more. He turned and left the temple. Until he walked out of the temple complex, he still turned back from time to time, seemingly wanting to engrave this place firmly in his heart, while the image of that strike kept surfacing in his mind. This image was so vivid in his mind that even after leaving the temple complex and walking in the jungle, Xu Qing instinctively raised his right hand, wanting to imitate it. And each time he did so, he felt deeply moved. If the training of the Hai Shan Jue was to visualize and imitate the Xiao Tu, then at this moment, Xu Qing was replacing the Xiao Tu with the image of that strike in his mind. In this imitation, his cultivation unknowingly broke through, and the Hai Shan Jue ascended to the fourth layer! Perhaps due to the imitation of that strike, this improvement not only doubled his strength and speed but also brought about some breakthroughs in a seemingly spiritual aspect. This breakthrough made Xu Qing's thoughts sharper, and at the same time, as he raised and lowered his right hand, he faintly began to carry a trace of the flavor of the divine statue's knife strike. This delighted Xu Qing immensely. Gradually, two days passed. Perhaps due to being on the outskirts, or perhaps due to the shock of the temple that night, he did not encounter any more strange footsteps on his way back. However, he did encounter some exotic beasts. But with his improved cultivation, his ability to preserve his life increased, and being cautious, he managed quite smoothly. Although he did not find the Tian Ming and the Qu Ba stone, he had quite a few gains from the Seven Leaf Grass, which could be sold for a good amount of spirit coins. As dusk approached, Xu Qing also saw the outside world beyond the jungle. Just as he was about to step out, his pace suddenly halted. He looked down at a grass beside him. This grass bore some resemblance to Tian Ming, but even with his meager knowledge of plants, he could tell that this was not Tian Ming. However, after hesitating for a while, feeling somewhat guilty, he looked around and ultimately decided to pick it and put it in his bag. He ran swiftly, exited the jungle, and returned to the camp at night. At this moment, it was not deep night; the camp was still lively, especially in the area with feathers on the tents, where playful laughter was mixed with bursts of reckless panting. Xu Qing did not pay attention to all this; when he returned to his dwelling, just as he opened the courtyard door, he saw the figure of Team Lei walking out from the house. Noticing that Xu Qing looked messy but nothing seemed wrong, Team Lei felt relieved. "Why did you take so long?" "I went to the temple." Under the reflection of the moonlight and the lights from the house, Xu Qing saw the red bloodshot in Team Lei's eyes and the weariness on his face. Clearly, he had not rested well during this period, and he realized the reason, which warmed his heart. "The temple?" Team Lei was somewhat surprised, not expecting Xu Qing to run such a distance. At this moment, he invited him into the kitchen, rolled up his sleeves, and while Xu Qing waited, he brought out the already prepared food. The meal was still hot, showing no signs of having been untouched, which stunned Xu Qing. He knew very well that Team Lei had no idea when he would return, so the fact that there was hot food right when he got back could only mean one thing. The other party... had prepared meals every day, waiting for him. Xu Qing silently stood up to take the bowl and chopsticks, three sets as usual, and set them side by side before sitting down to eat. It was fragrant, a kind of special taste that could not be perceived by the taste buds, only felt by the heart. Team Lei ate very little, most of the time either drinking or watching Xu Qing with a smile on his face. "Eat more, you are still growing; if you don't eat more, you might not grow taller later." This statement made Xu Qing lower his head, and after a while, he murmured an agreement, obediently eating more. Then he began to tell Team Lei about what he had experienced in the temple. Team Lei had originally been drinking, but soon became absorbed in Xu Qing's account. After Xu Qing finished, he took a deep breath and slowly spoke. "I have heard about this matter before, but that was a long time ago. Some people seemed to have seen a similar scene, but like the singing, in the end, they all became legends." "Now that I think about it, it seems to have happened shortly after the singing appeared," Team Lei mused, suddenly recalling something, his eyes slowly filled with sorrow. Seeing Team Lei like this, Xu Qing understood what he was thinking and suddenly felt a bit guilty, thinking he should not have brought it up, thus falling silent. After a while, Team Lei regained his composure and seemed to understand the reason for Xu Qing's silence, smiling slightly. "You are too sensitive, my boy; I am not as fragile as you imagine." As Team Lei spoke, he took a large gulp of wine, changed the topic, and began talking to Xu Qing about the interesting happenings in the camp recently. While he drank, Xu Qing listened while eating. It felt as if they were... family. Late at night, sitting there drinking, watching Xu Qing clean up the bowls and chopsticks, Team Lei smiled, got up, and returned to his room. Xu Qing also returned to his own room; upon entering, he saw that the bedding had been replaced with new ones, neatly laid out from the previously rolled state, and it still carried the scent of being sun-dried. Xu Qing looked up at Team Lei's room next door, and after a while, walked over, wanting to sit on it. However, looking down at the stains on his clothes and hands, he rolled up the bedding again, sitting on the bed board instead, closing his eyes to meditate. In the morning, Xu Qing opened his eyes. Just as he was about to leave the room, he thought for a moment and went to the washroom, forcing himself to wash his hands despite the discomfort. After making his hands clean and white, he took a deep breath and left the room, heading straight for the tent where the caravan doctor was located. He knew he couldn't go too early, nor did he want to go too late. The former meant Master Bai hadn't started class yet, while the latter... he was worried about missing the earlier content. Thus, under Xu Qing's calculations, when he arrived outside Master Bai's tent, it coincided with the moment the assessment voice came from inside. Xu Qing felt very happy in his heart, quietly standing there, paying attention to listen. "Qing He Lu, also known as Qing Lian Lu, is the bud of the water lily plant from the Nymphaeaceae family, obtained through a special method with gentle fire, it functions to clear the lungs and treat blood coughing caused by fire..." The girl's voice inside the tent was as usual, and Xu Qing listened with growing fascination, losing track of time. Soon over an hour had passed, until the tent suddenly opened, and Master Bai stood there, looking at him. "What is it?" Master Bai's gaze was not sharp, but it carried authority. Xu Qing felt nervous, mustering his courage to take out the herbs he had picked on the way back from his bag, lowering his head to speak softly. "Master Bai, I... I want to ask if this herb is Tian Ming." As soon as these words came out, Master Bai was momentarily taken aback. He scanned his gaze, revealing a strange expression, then glanced at the boy's hands, which were much cleaner than before. After a moment, as Xu Qing became increasingly nervous, he slowly spoke. "This herb is not." Xu Qing hurriedly bowed and quickly left, breathing a sigh of relief on the way, but still feeling a bit uneasy in his heart. He turned to look at the tent and found Master Bai was still standing there. Noticing the boy's gaze, Master Bai nodded. Seeing this scene, Xu Qing paused his steps, bowed deeply once more, and then left. Watching Xu Qing's figure disappear, Master Bai turned and walked into the tent. At this moment, the guards and the young man and woman inside the tent seemed to have turned into stone, utterly motionless. In the position where Master Bai had previously sat, a table had been placed at some unknown time, adorned with some delicacies and fine wine. Beside it stood an old man in purple robes, with a gray-clad servant behind him. Seeing Master Bai enter, the old man in purple robes laughed heartily. "Master Bai, how is it?" "How is what?" Master Bai appeared unperturbed by the sudden appearance of the old man in purple robes, nor was he worried about the stillness of everyone around, as he sat down opposite the purple-robed old man and took a sip from the wine jug. "I mean, how is that boy? I told you last time, while waiting for you, I found a good seedling." The old man in purple robes spoke with a smile. "Good seedling? This kid came to eavesdrop for the first time, and now to eavesdrop again, he randomly picked an herb to ask if it was Tian Ming. At this rate, I reckon he will ask about herbs every day as an excuse to eavesdrop. If it weren't for what you told me about him, I would have kicked him out long ago." Master Bai glared, snorting at the purple-robed old man. The old man in purple robes laughed heartily. "You are all bark and no bite; with your bad temper, if you didn't genuinely think he was a promising material, it wouldn't matter who came to say hello." Master Bai coldly huffed, not bothering to argue, but instead asked, "Are you planning to take him back to the Seven Blood Eyes? Your place is a den of smoke and dust, wasting a scholar's potential!" "Waste? What use is a scholar? In this world, strength is the only truth!" The old man in purple robes raised his eyebrows in response. "A scholar has no use? Then why are you waiting here for me, a mundane person, pleading me repeatedly to go to your Seven Blood Eyes?" Master Bai angrily retorted. "You are different..." The old man in purple robes forced a smile. "What do you mean I am different!" Master Bai glared angrily at the purple-robed old man. The old man in purple robes, helpless, slapped his forehead. "Ah, I just remembered something I haven't done. Master Bai, I have to leave first, I'll come find you to drink tomorrow," he said, getting up to leave. But before he left, he turned back to look at Master Bai and seriously said something. "Master Bai, if you truly think that boy is promising, then teach him some knowledge, give him a chance to become a scholar with cultivation in the Seven Blood Eyes." After saying this, the old man in purple robes took his servant and left. Once he was gone, everything inside the tent returned to normal, but no one noticed their earlier abnormality. The guards continued to stand watch, the boy remained frustrated, and the girl still looked smug. Only Master Bai raised his head to look in the direction Xu Qing had left, lost in thought.