Face expressionless, Xu Qing made a grasping gesture with his right hand, causing one of the Smokewights to fly over to him. As soon as it was in his hand, he sent a stream of frigid energy out, which surrounded the Smokewight and solidified into an ice cube around it.

Xu Qing waved his hand, and one of Yanyan’s needles flew over to him. Bolstering the needle with his cultivation base, he stabbed it through the ice into the struggling Smokewight. An agonized shriek rang out from the ice cube. Next, a flying dagger sliced into the Smokewight through the ice. Because of being frozen, the Smokewight couldn’t form anew. Before long, it had been sliced into a dozen pieces which Xu Qing lay out on the ground in front of him so that none were touching.

It was clear that the sensation of being chopped apart but unable to form anew brought extreme mental anguish. The screams grew more intense.

Meanwhile, Yanyan’s eyes shone brightly, and she was breathing heavily. She was shivering, and seemed to be getting excited once again.

Throwing the pieces of ice to Yanyan, he made another grasping gesture, causing a second Smokewight to fly over to him. This time, he didn’t use ice. He used poison. When the poisons spread into the Smokewight, it started corroding, not just its body of smoke, but its soul. Howls of grief filled the dharmaship.

Yanyan was getting even more excited; apparently the howls of agony were like soothing sounds of nature.

However, Xu Qing wasn’t done yet.

“Rip off some cloth from your garment,” he said coldly.

Looking very obedient, Yanyan immediately ripped off a section of her garment, which revealed more scarred flesh beneath.

She didn’t even notice that. Crawling over to Xu Qing almost like a puppy, she handed him the cloth.

Xu Qing took it, then waved his hand, which soaked the fabric and added a sealing power to it. Next, Xu Qing put the third Smokewight onto the cloth. The cloth turned dark as the Smokewight was sucked into the fabric.

Xu Qing tossed the fabric to Yanyan.

“That way it has no freedom, either of body or soul,” Xu Qing said calmly. “Pursuing physical cruelty, whether towards others or towards oneself, is a means to an end. Not the end itself. And when you use it, the results are childish. Mental torment is something much different.”

Yanyan shivered. The more Xu Qing berated her, the happier she felt. Eyes burning with infatuation, she put her finger into her mouth, bit it, and then offered it to Xu Qing.

His eyes turned cold.

Bowing her head, she pulled her hand back and sucked it in her mouth. The strange energy in her sea of consciousness was dissipating, and her cultivation base fluctuations were growing stronger. Apparently, her first heavenly palace was almost materialized. It wasn’t quite there yet, though.

Seeing that, Xu Qing sighed and lifted his index finger.

The moment he did, Yanyan crawled over, bit his finger, and sucked deeply. Her eyes narrowed as if in ecstasy, and she looked more content than she had ever looked before. She had been waiting for this day for a long time. In that moment, her heavenly palace materialized! Her mind then started spinning so dramatically she passed out.

After that, Guru Eastnether sighed from outside the dharmaship. “Many thanks.”

Yanyan vanished, having been taken away by Guru Eastnether.

The ship was silent.

Shortly after, Ling’er poked her head out and looked at Xu Qing, then the spot where Yanyan had disappeared. Xu Qing looked a bit embarrassed, and was about to offer an explanation when Ling’er suddenly inhaled sharply.

“She’s a monster, Big Bro Xu Qing! She’s even worse than the one before. I can’t believe she actually bit your finger! You really have to be careful around her!”

Before Xu Qing could respond, gentle laughter echoed in the dharmaship.

“What a cute young lady.”

When Xu Qing heard that voice, he went stiff.

When Ding Xue showed up, he could brush her off. When Yanyan showed up, he could put her in her place. But there was one woman in the Eight Sect Coalition who Xu Qing had always felt flustered around. Whether it was their first meeting when she lifted his chin, or her changeable personality when they traveled up the river, or the times their gazes met in the county capital, or that time he took his robe off in front of her…. 1

She understands more than you. And there are things she understands that you’re clueless about. She’s seen everything you’ve seen, and many other things you’ve never seen. She knows what you’re thinking, and even knows some things you don’t understand how to think about. She’s impeccable.

As her voice reached Xu Qing, and he felt himself unable to move, a consummate beauty stepped out of thin air.

She wore a white dress embroidered with lavender-colored roses. Her belt matched the flowers, and was decorated with moons. Her black hair was rolled into a bun and bound with a pearl hairpin with tassels that hung down the front. 2 𝘳.𝑐ℴ

Her beautiful face had eyebrows like something from a painting, and her eyes glittered like stars. The faint smile on her face was the type that could tug at the hearts of anyone who saw it, but at the same time, she seemed elegant and refined, like a hibiscus flower floating on the water, free from all impurities. There was also something enigmatic about the way she smiled at Xu Qing, as if her smile contained hidden bitterness as well as a bit of sorrow.

She was, of course, the unmatched and peerless Arch-Immortal Plumdark.

Ling’er’s eyes went wide, and she instinctively shrank back into hiding.

Inhaling deeply, Xu Qing got to his feet and bowed. “Greetings, Arch-Immortal.”

Plumdark smiled as she walked up to him. Reaching out, she brushed some dust off his shoulder, as if to ensure that there was nothing present to contaminate him. She smoothed out some of the wrinkles in his garment. Then she looked deeply into his eyes.

“As long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters,” she said simply. Her words contained concern, caring, worry, thoughtfulness, and all of those things came across in the words she spoke.

Warmth filled Xu Qing, and he shivered as it spread through him, softening his heart. He no longer felt rigid, but instead, relaxed. He let Arch-Immortal Plumdark take his hand as she sat next to him. He could smell her familiar perfume, and noted how the tassel of her hairpin swayed as she sat. The mere sight seemed enough to sway one’s thoughts.

Xu Qing felt a bit dazed, and thus, a bit cautious.

As Plumdark gazed at him, she said, “I know what you want to do, and where you want to go. I won’t stop you. But I want to tell you something. If I had known what was going on, I would have stood with you. As you know, I don’t tell lies. I’m a decisive person, and when I make a decision about something, I don’t change my mind. It doesn’t matter who tries to change my mind, I won’t do it, not even if heaven falls and the earth is crushed.”

Plumdark’s voice caused ripples of emotion to spread through Xu Qing’s heart.

He understood. He didn’t remember everything he’d seen in that temple in Forbidden by the Immortal. But he remembered the lamp. And he remembered that person who looked exactly like Plumdark. Now, as Plumdark spoke, he suddenly felt an image rising up in his mind. Though he couldn’t make out the details of it, it brought with it a familiar feeling. She was right. She was the type of person who wouldn’t change her mind no matter what anyone said.

A long moment passed, and then Xu Qing quietly said, “I know.”

Her smile grew more radiant. “Your Master invited me to bring the Dark Serenity Sect to the county capital along with a portion of Seven Blood Eyes. He suggested that we combine the sects and form a new sect. I agreed. He said I should pick the new name for the sect. That’s why I’m here. What would you think if we called it the Green Dark Sect?” 3

Xu Qing hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Her tender gaze dropped from his face to his sleeve. She laughed softly. Then she went on to talk a bit about what the future would hold for the Green Dark Sect. She kept the conversation on official business, but her voice was so lovely that it was easy to lose track of time just listening to her speak.

Xu Qing gradually grew even more relaxed.

It was late in the night when Plumdark said, “There’s another reason I came. I want to paint a defensive totem on you. Remove your robe.”

Xu Qing suddenly went from being relaxed to being as stiff as a board again. Plumdark laughed. Eyes glittering playfully, she stood and left. As she walked out, she said, “See you back in the county capital, Ah Qing.”

The ship went quiet again.

After a long moment, Xu Qing exhaled, and instinctively looked down at his sleeve. Ling’er poked her head out and looked at him anxiously.

“Big Bro Xu Qing! She was the most dangerous of all! She’s a devil queen!! That was so scary! Big Bro Xu Qing, all the others before are just on a totally different level than the devil queen!”

Xu Qing cleared his throat and went on to placate Ling’er. She wasn’t completely convinced.

A few days passed.

Yanyan was in seclusion. Plumdark didn’t show up again. But Ding Xue came back. That said, she wasn’t able to follow through with her plan.

And that was because Zhao Zhongheng showed up as well. Although he was very nervous around Xu Qing, he gritted his teeth and followed Ding Xue around with a determined look in his eyes. When Xu Qing saw how determined Zhao Zhongheng was to win over Ding Xue, he sighed inwardly.

Because Xu Qing had been gone for two years, there was a lot of business to take care of. That was especially true considering how much his status had changed. What was more, sects from throughout Emperor-Receiving Prefecture were sending people to offer formal greetings to Master Seventh. And Master Seventh would often ask Xu Qing to be present. 𝘳.𝑐ℴ

Ten days later, much to Ding Xue’s frustration, Xu Qing decided to leave the sect.

He planned to go to South Phoenix and pay respects at Sergeant Thunder’s grave.

Before he left, Master Seventh gave him a jade box. “This is the fish bone from that god. I’ve crafted it into a divine weapon. You can try it out while you’re traveling. It’s pretty incredible, and you can consider it a major line of defense for you. What’s more, it’s from the same source as your body, so it’s particularly suitable for you specifically.”

Inside the jade box was a black spike, about as thick as a finger. It was covered with natural striations, and emanated a terrifying aura, as well as powerful fluctuations of godliness. Although it wasn’t alive, when Xu Qing looked at it, he got the sensation it was breathing in unison with him. It felt like it was actually part of him. As Xu Qing sensed how terrifying the spike was, and the feeling of lingering fear that came with it, Master Seventh spoke again.

“In the eyes of gods, things from the mortal world are incomparably weak. But this weapon… could harm a god. It has the godly authority of misfortune in it. Therefore, I picked a specific name for it. It’s the Spike of Misfortune.”

1. Plumdark references: lifting his chin was in chapters 278–279; traveling the river was in chapters 297–299; gazes meeting in the county capital… if I recall there were a couple times this happened, the one I found most readily was in chapter 475; he took his robe off in front of her in chapter 439. ?

2. There is a specific type of rose here. The word is not the generic and common word most often seen for ‘rose’ in Chinese. Instead, it’s the word for Rosa chinensis, also called Chinese rose, China rose, or Bengal rose. As for the hairdo, it’s specifically called a “princess bun,” in Chinese. This is not a specific hairstyle, but rather, is supposed to look like the type of hairstyle you’ll see the women wear in those palace drama TV shows. Given the part about the tassel, I think it’s probably supposed to look something like this. ?

3. The sect name combines one character from each of their names. The Qing from Xu Qing=Green. I’m translating the character instead of transliterating because I feel that calling it the Qing Dark Sect would be too on the nose. It’s not that on the nose in Chinese. ?

This content is taken from 𝘪𝘳.𝘤𝑜