In the swirling smoke, Zhang San saw that young man from the past. Xu Qing saw mountains of corpses and seas of blood. The smoke slowly dissipated, and the two of them looked at each other.

Xu Qing grinned. Zhang San grinned back, tapping his pipe onto the ground to clear the ash from inside.

“What am I going to make for you this time?” Zhang San asked.

Xu Qing waved his hand, causing his dharmaship bottle to appear. He put it down in front of Zhang San. He hadn’t used his dharmaship much in recent years. Given how high his cultivation base had climbed, dharmaships weren’t of much use. That said, he didn’t want to abandon it. Thus, he had come to Zhang San, not just to catch up on old times, but also to ask for his help in making a significant change to the dharmaship.

Zhang San looked at the dharmaship and didn’t need any explanation from Xu Qing. Just looking at the dharmaship, he could tell it hadn’t been used much. His eyes glittered. f𝐫eewenove𝗹.𝗰o𝚖

“Dreadnaught?”

Xu Qing nodded.

Zhang San rubbed his hands together excitedly. “I won’t be able to do it myself. I’ll need help from the Sixth Peak experts. Except not even that will be enough. I’ll need spell formations…. Xu Qing, making a dreadnaught for you is probably going to require the cooperation of all of Seven Blood Eyes!

“For most people, that would be a difficult thing. But all you need to do is say the word. The most critical aspect of a dreadnaught is its power source. Using a magical treasure will do. But if you have some flesh from a godly entity, that would be perfect.”

As Zhang San puffed on his pipe, Xu Qing took out a feather and put it down in front of Zhang San. The feather caused a wave of majestic godly might to explode out in all directions. Thankfully, Xu Qing was prepared, and made sure that little happened other than some ripples.

Zhang San’s eyes went wide, and the smoke from his pipe spilled out of his mouth. He even dropped his pipe, which hit the ground and clattered to the side. He looked like his head was about to explode, and to him, it felt like his heart was being struck by 1,000,000 bolts of lightning. He had seen flesh from godly entities before on more than one occasion. For instance, there was Joine’s flesh from years ago. But this feather was so terrifying that he knew he had never encountered anything like it. In fact, everything else he had seen in the past was now like trash compared to this feather.

“Th-that… that….” Zhang San shivered a few times before clearing his throat. He could hardly look away from the feather.

“It’s the flesh of a god,” Xu Qing said calmly.

Zhang San’s expression became completely blank. A long moment passed, and he picked up his pipe and puffed it so hard that sparks tumbled down onto him. His face was turning red, and his eyes were completely bloodshot. After a long moment, he spoke in a hoarse voice.

“That’ll do! Xu Qing, I can make you a dreadnaught the likes of which no one has ever seen before. With that feather as the power source, trust me, your dreadnaught will definitely—”

“Elder Brother Zhang San,” Xu Qing interrupted, “what I actually want is for you to design the dreadnaught based on the feather’s aura. As for the power source… it’s not the feather.”

Stunned, Zhang San looked at Xu Qing, then the feather. Then he thought about how the Captain usually operated… and he understood. That understanding left him rooted in place, so still he looked like he’d been petrified. He didn’t recover until after Xu Qing was gone. Inhaling deeply, he thought about the conclusions he had reached, and he shivered.

He thinks the feather won’t make a good power source. That seems to indicate he has more of those feathers. There are a lot of ways to get a little bit of a god’s flesh. But to get a stockpile…. Could it be that they actually killed a god?

A wave of excitement swept through Zhang San, but he immediately suppressed it. As he well knew, there were some things that were fine to know about, but there were other things that he definitely shouldn’t know about!

After leaving Zhang San that evening, Xu Qing strolled through the county capital. He didn’t conceal his aura. However, the fluctuations coming off of him ensured that mortals couldn’t see him. As he walked through the bustling crowds, he became calm. He saw cultivators, swordsages, and mortals.

And at one point, he saw Yanyan stalking down the street angrily. She didn’t notice him. Wrapped up in thoughts of death, she walked right past him. Xu Qing followed her for a short time, then turned and left.

After he walked off, Yanyan stopped walking, turned around… and then quietly bowed her head.

It was night, and the crowds were thinning. As Xu Qing continued on his way toward the Governor’s Mansion, he stopped in place and looked over his shoulder.

Some 300 meters away, a person squatted in the street. From the way he carried himself, he almost looked like a dog. He had stopped in place the moment Xu Qing stopped walking. He seemed suspicious as he looked in Xu Qing’s direction. He actually couldn’t see Xu Qing. But he could sense his aura. That was an innate ability of his. Though he couldn’t see Xu Qing, he could follow him. However, only a moment later, the aura he had sensed vanished. It caused his mood to sink as he squatted in the street feeling abandoned.

Little did he know that Xu Qing was actually standing right next to him, looking at him.

This person was the Mute.

Xu Qing had long since sensed him, and could tell that his cultivation base had reached the level of three life flames. He had opened a lot of dharma apertures and was only two away from his fourth flame. Given his qualifications, he would be considered a top chosen in most sects. Considering the scars that crisscrossed him, he had obviously done a lot of fighting and killing. Add in his innate ability that allowed him to sense things that others couldn’t, it ensured that the Mute had a promising future.

“You can form heavenly palaces at any time,” Xu Qing said calmly.

When the Mute heard those words on the seemingly empty street, he shivered and kowtowed, knocking his forehead onto the ground with significant force.

However, a gentle force lifted him up. He could sense Xu Qing now, and his eyes filled with reverence. Lifting his hands, he extended all five fingers.

Xu Qing understood immediately.

The Mute was saying that he wanted to ignite five life flames. He wanted to follow in Xu Qing’s footsteps.

Xu Qing nodded. He was more than willing to have someone from Seven Blood Eyes follow in his footsteps. It would be an extremely difficult path to follow. After considering the matter briefly, he turned and left.

As he did, a jade pendant appeared in the air in front of the Mute. At the same time, Xu Qing’s voice echoed into the Mute’s mind.

“When it comes time to open your final dharma aperture, take this jade pendant to the Seazombie lands to seek the spot between life and death. If you succeed in igniting your fifth life flame, and then forming a heavenly palace, go to the Corrections Division to become a jailer.”

A tremor passed through the Mute as he took the jade pendant. Gripping it tightly, he looked off into the distance, his eyes gleaming with determination. He had long worshiped Xu Qing, and still did, which was why he wanted to walk the same path. It was also why he sought Xu Qing’s approval. He wanted to walk by his side. That was especially true considering that the terrifying entity in Xu Qing’s shadow that he had sensed in the very beginning, though still terrifying, was not as terrifying as before. And that was because that entity now looked at Xu Qing with reverence. It even seemed pleading.

Xu Qing returned to the Governor’s Mansion. Sitting down in one of the buildings there, he looked out at the night sky. Everything was peaceful, and the wind stirred his ponytail. His heart also stirred.

I don’t have as many old friends as I imagined. So many have continued on their way in life.

He closed his eyes. He had seen Zhang San and the Mute today. And also Yanyan.

Yanyan was a swordsage now. Xu Qing had not interacted with her. But he had seen the source of her illness. From the very beginning, Xu Qing had witnessed her cruel personality. She treated herself cruelly, and her enemies even more cruelly. She wasn’t just sadistic, she was masochistic. That seemed to be the only way for her to be happy.

In the past, Yanyan’s grandmother, Guru Eastnether, had told Xu Qing that Yanyan was ill. Back then, Xu Qing wasn’t sure of the reason. But now he knew. In all the years that had passed, Yanyan was the only person Xu Qing had ever encountered that had absolutely no mutagen in them. If there were people who lacked mutagen, it was because they had purged it all. But that was only temporary. The mutagen always came back. That wasn’t the case with Yanyan.1

Yanyan’s body had never had any mutagen in it. That was because with Yanyan, the mutagen went straight into her soul, invading it, infecting it, and turning her mad. She became twisted and masochistic. It was easy to imagine that, as time passed and she grew up, she would become more and more demented. That was why her grandmother doted on her. She knew that her granddaughter wasn’t going to live for very long.

However, after everything Xu Qing experienced in the Moonrite Region, he could see that Yanyan’s infected soul actually had scraps of godly characteristics. And that was why, though he hadn’t interacted with Yanyan, he had carefully inserted one of Crimson Mother’s feathers into her soul. After he walked off, he had left her with a few words to encourage her to cultivate the power of the feather.

“You would make a good god cultivator.”

Xu Qing opened his eyes and looked off in the direction of the Ghost Emperor mountain in Emperor-Receiving Prefecture.

Master Seventh had left three days ago in that direction. Third Sib was there working on his cultivation, along with that gruish boy.

As the wind blew, Xu Qing’s thoughts wandered. He recalled old times and thought about old friends. For instance, Qing Qiu, who was currently in Emperor-Receiving Prefecture.

Finally, Xu Qing looked toward the continent of South Phoenix. At that point, the wind died down. Xu Qing settled his thoughts.

“You’ve been begging me constantly since I got Crimson Mother’s flesh,” he said coolly. “And ever since my Master took Master Freespirit away, your eyes have been shining. So… are you hungry?”

In the moonlight, Xu Qing’s shadow twitched, then spread out to form a black coffin. A host of eyes stared out from within. Every single one of them radiated reverence and even pleading. And then the emotional fluctuations reached Xu Qing.

“Milord… obedient… me…. Eat, eat… strong… I… offer sacrifice…. Godfire….”

1. Xu Qing noticed Yanyan’s lack of mutagen when they first met in chapter 200. ☜