The mute youth shivered and the captain looked curious.
Xu Qing narrowed his eyes, but didn't speak. However, he noticed that the thing that caused the other party to be horrified was the shadow under him.
As he fell under Xu Qing's gaze, the mute youth's body trembled even more. He clenched his fists tightly and sweat soaked his entire body. Anyone here could hear the cracking sounds coming from his legs.
It was the sound of bones and muscles clashing.
It was as though his instincts were fighting intensely with his mind.
If this continued, the passing of every second would be an unimaginable torture for him.
Xu Qing retracted his gaze. He stood up and cupped his fists toward the captain before turning to walk to the door.
As he got closer, the fear in the mute youth's eyes grew even more. However, he didn't seem to dare to retreat. It was similar to Xu Qing's state when he had seen the bizarre entity in the forbidden zone in the past.
When Xu Qing walked to his side, the terror rose to the extreme in the mute youth's mind. His mind seemed to have been taxed to the extreme as his body twitched violently and he started foaming.
Xu Qing frowned. He didn't release any pressure or reveal any killing intent. After casting a meaningful glance at the youth, he walked out of the room and left.
As he left, the mute youth's fear dissipated like the falling tide. Very soon, his body stopped trembling and his expression mostly recovered. However, the lingering fear in his eyes still made him not dare to turn his head to look at Xu Qing's departing back.
When the captain saw this scene, his eyes revealed a strange glint. He bit the apple and walked to the mute youth's side. He walked around him while holding the apple and spoke in surprise.
"You know him?"
The mute youth shook his head.
"You don't know him? Then why are you afraid of him?"
The captain became even more curious. It had been half a month since this mute youth joined the Homicide Department. In this half a month, he was just like Xu Qing back then, killing many wanted criminals.
Moreover, he was like a wolfhound; he was savage, and looked at everyone with hostility and vigilance.
Today was the first time the captain saw this mute youth so frightened.
The mute youth heard the captain's words but he kept his mouth tightly shut.
The more he didn't speak, the more the captain wanted to know. He even forgot to eat the apple. After taking a few glances at the mute youth, his eyes suddenly flashed and a terrifying baleful aura instantly erupted from his body.
It didn't spread out but locked onto the mute youth.
This baleful aura caused the mute youth's entire body to be extremely tense. His face was pale and his body was trembling. However… there was no fear in his eyes like before, only unyielding intent.
Very soon, the captain retracted his killing intent and sighed.
"Tell me why you're so afraid of him. How about I get the director to promote you?"
The mute youth still didn't say a word.
"I forgot that you can't speak. Then write it down."
The mute youth shook his head with determination. It was as though he wouldn't dare to say it even if he died.
The captain was helpless and could only wave his hand to let the mute youth leave. He sat on the chair and ate an apple as he started pondering.
At the same time, Xu Qing, who had walked out of the Homicide Department, turned his head and glanced in the direction of the Black Division. He then lowered his head and glanced at his shadow.
What he felt earlier, what the mute youth was afraid of, was the shadow.
"He can sense my shadow?" Xu Qing mumbled, his gaze cold.
He retracted his gaze and thought about what the captain had said about him still owing him spirit stones. He took out the bamboo slip and crossed out the question mark behind the captain's name.
On the bamboo slip, the Diamond Sect's ancestor had already been crossed out and the merfolk youth had also been crossed out. The old man from the inn was still there, but behind the word captain, there were several question marks that had been crossed out.
Looking at the question marks on the bamboo slip that had been carved and crossed out, Xu Qing fell silent. After that, he added the third highness in the list and put a question mark beside the name.
A moment later, he stored the bamboo slip and went to a medical shop in the city.
It wasn't the one he used to frequent but an even larger shop. Here, he saw the Foundation Building Pill.
The price was so exaggerated that even Xu Qing, who was considered wealthy now, took a deep breath.
"100,000 spirit stones…" Xu Qing silently returned to his berth.
Although his cultivation and combat strength had reached an astonishing level, Xu Qing's vigilance didn't decrease at all. Before he took out the magic boat, he checked his surroundings as usual.
After confirming that there were no problems, he released the magic boat and quickly stepped in. As the protective barrier was activated, Xu Qing walked into the medicinal herb room. The moment he sat down, a purple light shone on his chest.
He drew out the suppressive power of the purple crystal and suppressed the shadow that looked normal.
Xu Qing only stopped after suppressing it three times in a row. This was his usual habit.
Xu Qing didn't know what this shadow was but this wasn't important. He just had to suppress it regularly.
After doing this, Xu Qing began to refine poison.
"The Seventh Peak's competition…" As he refined poison, Xu Qing pondered over the competition.
His cultivation had reached the Perfected Qi Condensation Realm. Although he felt that his spirit sea could still continue to expand, Xu Qing understood that he had to prepare the items he needed to reach the Foundation Building Realm as soon as possible.
He didn't know much about Foundation Building. He only knew that he needed the Foundation Building Pills to increase the success rate of breaking through, and just one pill wasn't enough insurance.
As for the principles of Foundation Building, the sect withheld this knowledge. It required an extremely exaggerated amount of contribution points to check it.
If one didn't want to spend contribution points, they could also buy it from others.
After some thought, Xu Qing decided to find a time to awaken the Diamond Sect's ancestor.
"The Foundation Building Pill is too expensive and I can't afford it. In that case, I can only participate in the competition to snatch it." Xu Qing's gaze was reserved and decisive. As dusk approached, his poison refinement came to an end and he began to cultivate.
The setting sun outside shone on the harbor, like spreading a layer of orange gauze over the entire harbor. All the buildings seemed to be dyed red by it. Even the clouds in the sky were red.
In this sunset, a beautiful woman wearing a light purple Daoist robe and carrying an ancient bronze sword on her back was walking toward Port 79.
She was tall and had a beautiful appearance. With her ponytail and the ancient sword on her back, she looked valiant and heroic. Coupled with her identity as a core disciple, she gave off a unique charm.
On the way, all the disciples who saw her lowered their heads and greeted. Many disciples even had a strange feeling in their hearts.
She seemed to be in a very good mood as she nodded toward the disciples she met on the way. It was only when she entered Port 79 that she stopped in her tracks. Her pretty face was slightly red and her heartbeat seemed to be a little faster.
She stood there and took a few deep breaths before taking another step forward, heading straight for… Xu Qing's berth.
Very soon, she arrived in front of the berth. She looked at the somewhat familiar magic boat and her expression was filled with happy memories as she spoke loudly.
"Junior Brother Xu Qing, are you there?"
Although Port 79 wasn't too lively usually, there were many people coming and going. Hence, her light purple Daoist robe was conspicuous here. Almost the instant this woman entered, she attracted the attention of many people.
When the disciples saw her calling Xu Qing's name, their eyes widened.
Under the setting sun, the black hair of the woman standing on the shore fluttered in the wind. Her Daoist robe was blown back by the wind, outlining the very moving graceful curves of her body.
As the light landed on her beautiful and flawless face, it was unknown if it was because she was blushing or if it was dyed by the sunset, but she looked rosy. Even her eyes seemed to be glowing.
"It's the core disciple, Senior Sister Ding Xue!"
"Why is she looking for Senior Brother Xu Qing? Sigh, if only she came to look for me."
As everyone in the surroundings more or less felt a little sour, Xu Qing, who was cultivating in the magic boat, frowned slightly when he heard the voice. He stood up and walked out, looking at the woman on the shore.
"Senior Sister Ding." Xu Qing calmly spoke. He didn't like it when others disturbed his cultivation.
"Junior Brother Xu Qing, I returned some time ago, but you weren't around when I came before. I know this is a little abrupt, but I have a lot of questions about vegetation, so I want to ask Junior Brother to clear my doubts."
Ding Xue looked at Xu Qing and hurriedly spoke. As she spoke, she lifted her right hand and a spirit ticket instantly appeared in her hand.
"Sorry for having to trouble you."
Xu Qing originally wanted to refuse, but after seeing the spirit ticket, he pondered for a moment. Although he had enough now, there were many things needed for Foundation Building and they were all very expensive. Moreover, 100 spirit stones wasn't a small sum.
He nodded and took a few steps back, opening the protective barrier.
Xu Qing would not be able to relax outside the magic boat. His magic boat, with the enhancement of divinity and the complex poison, was the safest for him.
Seeing that Xu Qing had opened the magic boat's protective barrier, Ding Xue was very happy. She gracefully leaped up and landed on the magic boat, standing in front of Xu Qing.
"Junior Brother Xu, where were you before? I heard that you returned long ago." Ding Xue looked at Xu Qing and smiled.
"Senior Sister Ding, if you have any questions about plants and herbs, please speak." Xu Qing didn't answer her question. He didn't hate Ding Xue. After all, she was very diligent and eager to learn. However, he still instinctively kept a certain distance from Ding Xue and spoke in a heavy voice.
Senior Sister Ding didn't mind Xu Qing's wariness. She hurriedly asked the questions she had prepared about herbs.
When Xu Qing heard her questions, he pondered and replied seriously.
He felt that 100 spirit stones was worth it for him to explain in detail.
At that moment, the sea breeze blew over. The rouge-like sunset light and the wind permeated the magic boat, causing the man and woman inside to seem to be bathing in the sunset light, giving off a magical charm.
This scene caused the other disciples in the surroundings and the patrolling cultivators on the shore to feel even more sour in their hearts.
At the same time, on the streets of the main city, a youth in a light purple Daoist robe didn't care about his image as a core disciple and was running frantically toward Port 79 with an anxious expression.
"Senior Sister, how can you be so muddle-headed? We were fine a few days ago. You, you, you… Why did you go look for him again?"
This person was Zhao Zhongheng.
He was extremely anxious. This was especially so when he thought of the way his senior sister looked at Xu Qing back on the sea and Xu Qing not taking money at the end.
This was clearly the rhythm of romantic feelings, causing him to be incomparably flustered.
"No, I have to go over quickly!!"
