The Heir Apparent sighed and left the back room. He needed some time to get used to Xu Qing’s freakishly unimaginable powers of understanding.

After Xu Qing regained his senses, the thunder in the dusky sky over the Bitter Life Mountains faded away, and the pressure disappeared. The entire thing had attracted a lot of attention in the area, and many people were speculating about what was going on. But other than the people in the Green Spirit Pharmacy, no one had any idea that it was all because of Xu Qing.

When Xu Qing found out everything that happened while he was focused on enlightenment, he felt lingering fear, and at the same time, even deeper respect for the Heir Apparent.

All it took was one bit of advice and I gained all of that enlightenment. I guess Smoldering Gods are Smoldering Gods, after all….

In the following days, he focused on recovering. At the same time, he went out a few times to do some experimentation with his golden crow trump card.

And thus, half a month went by.

***

One afternoon, Xu Qing went out and found a valley a short distance away from the mudbrick city. After entering the valley, he checked it carefully to make sure it was safe. Whenever he went out to experiment with the golden crow trump card, he went to a different location.

This new trump card was spectacularly mighty. What was more, any loss of control resulted in it raging out of control like a bucking bronco. In turn, that would cause the golden crow to grow dim. Every time it happened, the golden crow got very close to withering up and collapsing. Because of that, Xu Qing observed it carefully every time he experimented with it. By locking down to a certain range, he could make sure the power was something that the golden crow could sustain.

With a few dozen more adjustments, I should get it right.

He doffed his tattered garments, leaving him wearing only a pair of undershorts. Looking down at his near-naked body, he grimaced helplessly.

It’s like this every time. I have to get it under control….

Gathering his thoughts, he closed his eyes for a moment and reviewed what he had learned. Sometime later, his eyes opened, and they shone brightly. He quickly performed a right-handed incantation gesture, whereupon a shocking aura erupted from him.

The golden crow tattoo appeared on his back, swirling in movement. It now covered most of Xu Qing’s torso. The golden crow as depicted in the totem tattoo was intelligent, and it sent out pulses of a terrifying aura. That aura became a tempest and swept in all directions, withering the ground and melting boulders for thousands of meters in all directions. A sea of flames came to exist in that area, something that the wind couldn’t touch. It was as if those flames existed outside of the natural and magical laws of heaven and earth.

Xu Qing stood in the center of the sea of flames, trembling, his attention focused as he controlled the transforming totem tattoo that represented his golden crow nascent soul. This was the method of control he had been working with. If the shape transformed externally, he couldn’t control its power. But if the transformation occurred on his own body, then the results were a lot better.

As he exercised control, the totem tattoo moved about with increasing speed. Eventually, it wasn’t possible to see its shape clearly. All that was visible was something that looked like a dark spear. It wasn’t very easy to see any details, the moment that black spear formed, it caused a terrifying aura to surge off Xu Qing.

As of this moment, Xu Qing wasn’t using any of the external power of the golden crow. All of it was formed by the golden crow nascent soul, and its terrifying will surpassed the combined power previously revealed by all thirteen of his nascent souls. Suffice it to say, even a dao begetting expert would be astonished by this. From that it was possible to see how immeasurably shocking the golden crow nascent soul trump card was. And that was when he only released a scrap of the power of the golden crow taboo. It was also his current limit. Thus, it was easy to imagine how much more he would be able to utilize later on when his cultivation base improved.

With such thoughts on his mind, he looked up and put his right hand on his chest where the shaft of the illusory black spear was. Gripping hard, he pulled!

A blurry black spear slowly emerged from Xu Qing’s tattoo.

The moment it was out in the open, wild colors flashed in heaven and earth. Thunder rumbled. Xu Qing ignored it all. In his hand was a black spear that looked like a dragon that could destroy the world. He began swinging it.

The ground quaked. Boulders shattered. The valley trembled.

The black spear looked like a spear, but also like a golden crow. It was surrounded by flames, and what was more, at its tip there was a second gleam of sharpness. It was The Emperor’s Sword! The same Emperor’s Sword the golden crow had consumed! Thanks to Xu Qing’s adjustments, it was now part of the trump card. 1

The rumbling caused ripples to spread out in all directions. Xu Qing inhaled sharply, and staggered in place slightly. However, his mind was clear. After checking to make sure the golden crow could sustain all of this, his eyes gleamed with excitement. With that, he prepared to leave.

However, that was when a calm voice spoke from overhead.

“Not bad at all!”

As the words rang out, the Heir Apparent drifted through the ripples being sent out by the black spear. As he neared, the ripples faded away until no one would even notice they were there.

“Senior!” Xu Qing said respectfully, clasping hands and bowing. He was happy to accept any guidance from the Heir Apparent. Whether it was the third tribulation early on, or the growth to his soul after the deadly fighting in the church temple, or the help with the substructure of the imperial-class technique that was the golden crow, it all went to show that the tempering provided by the Heir Apparent was extremely effective.

In only a few months, Xu Qing had shed his body and exchanged his bones. And of course, his battle prowess was vastly superior to before.

“It looks like you’ve mostly recovered from your injuries. Therefore, the time has come to proceed to the next step!” The Heir Apparent approached Xu Qing and measured him up, eyes sharp but heart full of admiration. Inside, he was musing that this boy had some of the most advanced powers of understanding he had ever seen.

And he was very interested in honing this unpolished gem. Considering his one casual statement had led to some serious complications, he had decided that in the future, he would be more careful about what he said. That said, he had finally gotten over his astonishment from before, and was actually feeling proud.

Giving advice to this kid must be a big headache for his Master. Of course, that’s because of his low level. I’m different. Only I’m capable of truly guiding an apprentice like this. His Master’s not really up to the task.

Looking at Xu Qing, the Heir Apparent coolly said, “Xu Qing, you did a good job gaining enlightenment thanks to my advice. You didn’t give up. Good job. We cultivators need to face difficulties head-on. We need to persist no matter what. Only then can we cultivate a truly domineering spirit. Only then can we have the vigor necessary to defy heaven and earth!

“Now then, since you have a trump card for your golden crow nascent soul, the next thing we need to do is look more deeply into your taboo poison nascent soul!”

Xu Qing’s eyes shone. Truth be told, he didn’t need the Heir Apparent to tell him to start looking into his other nascent souls. After what happened with the golden crow, he’d already planned to do that. Unfortunately, each of his nascent souls were independent entities, and each was different from the others. It wasn’t necessarily possible to apply what he had learned from the golden crow to the others.

Therefore, after hearing the Heir Apparent’s words, Xu Qing respectfully said, “Please, give me your advice, Senior!”

Eyes shining with anticipation, he looked at the Heir Apparent.

Seeing that gaze, the Heir Apparent smiled. “Xu Qing, I can sense the power of a god in your poison.”

Xu Qing nodded.

“A shocking poison like that definitely has incomparable potential. Considering it didn’t exist in my time, it was probably created while I was sealed away. That’s why I’m not familiar with it.” The Heir Apparent’s gaze turned profound when he looked at Xu Qing. “However, I have seen taboo poisons that are even more poisonous than yours. In fact, you could say that I’ve seen the strongest poison to ever exist in the Revered Ancient mainland! I suppose you could also conclude… that you have too!”

There was obviously deep meaning in the Heir Apparent’s words. Hearing them, Xu Qing shivered, and suddenly started trying to figure out what he meant. However, the answer seemed to be obscured from him, making it impossible for him to grasp it.

When the Heir Apparent sensed that Xu Qing was having trouble, he felt very proud at heart.

“Xu Qing,” he said coolly, “look up into the sky. Look beyond the dusky sky at something that hangs there eternally. Look at… the broken face of the god!”

Reeling, Xu Qing looked up at the canopy of heaven. Although the sky over the Moonrite Region was dark, which was unlike the sky in other regions, it was still possible to make out the enormous outline of the broken face of the god.

“Look at that broken face. Why is it that, whenever hē opens his eyes, all living beings howl in grief? Why do the places hē looks at turn into forbidden regions? It’s because that gaze is poisonous! And therefore, why not imitate that?

“Why only release a simple version of your taboo poison? Why spread it with the power of the wind? Why combine it with your other methods? All of those are mortal actions, not the actions of a god! Using the thoughts of a mortal to unleash the poison of a god? Naturally, that won’t do.

“Learn from hīm. Place your poison into your gaze. If you can do that, even just to a small degree, then the power of your taboo poison, similar to the golden crow, will undergo a heaven-shaking, earth-toppling upgrade!”

Xu Qing struggled to breathe steadily. The Heir Apparent’s words were just too astonishing, and had opened his mind. They were like a lightning bolt to the brain that ripped open all of his previous ways of thinking.

That’s right! When the broken face’s eyes open, the mutagen levels there become stronger. And substructurally speaking… my poison is the same! If I could do that….

Xu Qing’s heart was racing as that line of thought expanded rapidly. Shortly after, he looked at the Heir Apparent, his eyes shining with matchless reverence. The Heir Apparent’s way of setting things up, and his manner of analyzing things, helped him see things differently. In the past, Xu Qing had never been able to do this. Not even help from Master Seventh had helped him reach such a high level.

“Many thanks, Senior!” Xu Qing said excitedly, bowing at the waist.

Seeing Xu Qing’s expression, and understanding the emotions behind it, caused the Heir Apparent to smile. Once again he felt very proud. Yep, my assessment of his Master was spot-on. Only I am capable of educating an unpolished gem like this!

“In that case, you take it from here. Seek enlightenment of what I just mentioned. This isn’t a bad location. Work here for three days. If you can’t make any progress, come find me.”

The Heir Apparent set up some warding spells that would last for three days. Clasping his hands behind his back, he left proudly.

Xu Qing stood in place for a long time before finally sitting down cross-legged and closing his eyes.

But how do I get the power of the taboo poison into my gaze…?

Releasing the power of the taboo poison, he sent it flowing into his eyes.

1. Xu Qing gained initial enlightenment of The Emperor’s Sword in chapter 375. ☜

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