The instant they stepped onto the magic warship, Xu Qing and the captain worked together to control the magic warship to speed into the distance.
The two of them felt their hearts race as they glanced behind at the forbidden region from time to time.
They could see the giant struggling intensely in the forbidden region. The black clouds churned and lightning bolts swam in it. However, no matter how much the giant struggled and roared, the large net spreading from the forbidden region restricted it tightly.
Xu Qing still felt lingering fear when he saw this.
The captain exhaled and sighed with emotion.
"It is just like I guessed, the Sword Forbidden Region is a place of imprisonment. This forbidden region was once known as Spirit Sound. Later on, after it was suppressed by all the races in Fenghai County, Spirit Sound became Imprisonment."
Xu Qing fell into deep thought. He had previously felt that it was strange because Old Master Seventh had said that this forbidden region was called Spirit Sound, but the captain said Sword Forbidden.
As the magic warship whistled, Yanyan looked at the disheveled Xu Qing and the captain and hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"Brother Xu Qing, didn't you go to recover your vitality?"
"Also, Eldest Senior Brother, didn't you go to protect Brother Xu Qing?"
"How… did you cause such a huge commotion?" Yanyan's heart was also palpitating. Previously, when she saw the giant appear from afar, her mind and even her body were shocked by the pressure brought about by the terrifying giant.
When Xu Qing heard this, he looked at the captain expressionlessly. His gaze mostly landed on the captain's nose.
The captain blinked but didn't feel awkward at all. Instead, he waved his hand and threw a fruit that he had eaten more than half of to Xu Qing.
"Junior Brother, Senior Brother left this for you. I forcefully endured it and didn't eat it all. Sigh, I'm just like this. The first thing I think of when I encounter good things is you, Junior Brother."
Xu Qing took it. Just as he held it in his hand, his expression changed. He lowered his head and looked over.
He could sense that this fruit contained a very peculiar aura.
This aura didn't affect his body much but after taking a sniff, Xu Qing felt his spirits lift. He immediately understood that this item had a considerable nourishing effect on the soul.
"I don't know what this thing is either. I've never seen it before. I just saw a group of silly creatures worshiping it, so I snatched it and took a bite. I discovered that it's very helpful to the soul." Thinking of the stimulation and harvest this time, the captain was beaming with joy.
Xu Qing didn't mind that the captain had taken a few bites of this fruit and directly put it into his mouth and swallowed it. To him, who had grown up in the slums, he had even snatched the food a dog ate.
After swallowing it, a wisp of coolness quickly flowed through his entire body. Finally, it fused into his sea of consciousness, causing it to shake. It vaguely seemed to have been strengthened by a lot and expanded a little.
All of this was a manifestation of the strengthening of his soul. Hence, Xu Qing licked his lips and looked at the captain, wanting to ask some questions about the giants.
"Captain…"
"No more left!" Before Xu Qing could finish speaking, the captain immediately became vigilant. After he finished speaking, he seemed to sense that his reaction was a little too much. He blinked and coughed.
"Little Qing, let's go to the Sword Holding Court next. Let me tell you, the Sword Holding Court is a good place."
Xu Qing was puzzled and carefully sized up the captain.
Xu Qing felt that there was a problem with the other party's previous words. Hence, his gaze narrowed slightly as he spoke softly.
"Eldest Senior Brother, actually, if I didn't give you the 30% blood, my advancement this time might have been safer. However, you're my Eldest Senior Brother…"
The captain let out a long sigh and waved his hand, sending another fruit flying toward Xu Qing.
After Xu Qing caught it, he spoke softly.
"Life is hard."
"Eldest Senior Brother, the world is unpredictable. Perhaps one day, you might not have a Junior Brother like me. If I can't travel with you in this world, I hope that the moment you stand at the peak of the sky, you can take a look at this world for me."
The captain was depressed and muttered a few words, thinking to himself that this Little Qing learned so quickly. He sighed again and took out a tree branch from his storage bag, tossing it to Xu Qing.
On the tree branch, there were eight to nine fruits.
Xu Qing took a deep breath. He originally thought that the captain would at most have six to seven fruits, but he didn't expect this fellow to casually give him a tree branch.
"Eldest Senior Brother, don't tell me you dug up the whole fruit tree and moved it away?"
The captain coughed and hurriedly shook his head to indicate that he didn't.
Yanyan blinked and suddenly spoke.
"Life is difficult…"
"Stop, stop, stop!" The captain had a helpless expression on his face. He took out three more fruits and handed them to Yanyan.
Yanyan beamed with joy and quickly arrived beside Xu Qing, handing the fruits to him.
"Brother Xu Qing, this is for you."
This scene stunned the captain for a moment and he became even more depressed.
Xu Qing didn't want Yanyan's fruits.
As for how many more the captain had, Xu Qing didn't care. After he ate these eight fruits, he could already sense a huge change in his sea of consciousness. It was becoming more tenacious and at the same time, his soul was twice as strong as before.
A feeling of bloatedness surfaced in his mind.
Xu Qing understood that this was the limit of his soul at this stage. Hence, on the way, Xu Qing sat down cross-legged and began to stabilize his breakthrough.
Just like that, time flowed by. Very soon, half a month passed. The sound of river water flowing could be heard from below the magic warship. Looking over, it was the intersection of the vast Immortal Enrichment River's mainstream and the Grand Affairs Misfortune Passing Mountain.
The river section here was surging like an ocean, traversing through the canyon of Grand Affairs Misfortune Passing Mountain, dividing this mountain range into two. There were also many waterfalls that looked like paintings.
This was the first time Yanyan had seen this vast painting and she was immediately attracted by it.
Xu Qing had been here before when he was on the river patrol mission with the captain. Hence, he retracted his gaze after taking a look and took out the shroud cloth that was filled with immortal Qi.
This was a fragment of a Taboo magic treasure, and looking at it, the complete Taboo magic treasure should be an entire shroud.
The gray cloth was stained with black blood, causing it to be filled with an ominous feeling. However, the immortal Qi was extremely dense. After Xu Qing checked, he once again felt as though his palm had been pierced.
A strange glint appeared in Xu Qing's eyes. There were all kinds of uses of Taboo fragments. Perhaps it was because they were broken pieces, it was very difficult to detect them through divine sense and had to be tested to know of their peculiarities.
Among them, for example, the black wooden block and the small mirror had more obvious uses, so it was very easy to sense them. However, the ability of this cloth strip was a little complicated.
After Xu Qing studied it, he suddenly activated the protection of his Infinite Crown. When he touched the cloth again, he discovered that the invisible thorns of this item ignored the protection and still pierced into his palm.
"Ignoring the protection?" Xu Qing's mind stirred as he thought of the red woman's evil ghost scythe.
A long time later, Xu Qing took out the dagger embryo the captain had given him. This black weapon embryo emitted a sharp light and the eye formed by the patterns on it emitted a strange aura.
Originally, Xu Qing planned to return to the sect and find something suitable to use as a dagger handle. However, now that he looked at the cloth strip, he had a new idea.
After some thought, Xu Qing felt that he could give it a try.
Hence, he wrapped the cloth around the end of the dagger again and again, forming a simple handle.
After doing this, Xu Qing held it in his hand. The piercing pain was still intense but Xu Qing's recovery was very fast and he was good at enduring pain. Hence, his expression was as calm as ever.
His right hand that was holding the dagger was as firm as iron pincers.
He then gently felt the blade of the dagger with his left hand. The feeling of being pierced surfaced once again, as though the ability of the cloth had been transmitted to the dagger.
"As expected!" Xu Qing suddenly spoke.
"Yanyan, activate your protection."
Yanyan had been paying attention to Xu Qing. After hearing Xu Qing's words, she didn't hesitate at all. She immediately activated the protective jade slip her grandmother had given her. The instant it formed a layer of defense, Xu Qing moved.
The dagger in his hand instantly got close. The moment it came into contact with the Yanyan protective barrier, the dagger actually ignored the protective barrier and directly pierced through, landing on Yanyan's neck.
Yanyan didn't dodge at all. She trusted Xu Qing extremely.
At the next instant, Xu Qing retracted his right hand. Just as he was feeling satisfied, the captain saw everything and spoke in surprise.
"This cloth strip is extraordinary."
Xu Qing nodded and continued to study it. After confirming that the might of these two items would increase greatly when combined, he looked at his shadow.
Xu Qing felt that there would definitely be a day when his shadow would be exposed. Since that was the case, he had to make preparations first.
Hence, under Xu Qing's divine sense, a wisp of shadow spread out without leaving a trace and gathered on the eye of the dagger.
As it fused into it, the eye looked normal at first glance but upon closer inspection, it seemed to be alive.
If you stared at it, you would feel that it was staring at you too.
'I need to think of a mnemonic chant that can be used as a prelude when the shadow fusion secret technique is displayed.'
Thinking of the chant, Xu Qing felt that he wasn't good at it. Hence, he sent a divine sense thought to the Diamond Sect's ancestor.
Very soon, the Diamond Sect's ancestor, who was familiar with books, thought of a paragraph.
"Shadow Prisoner's Restriction, Devil's Decree."
"Immortal art breaks the spirit, heaven and earth is my fate."
Xu Qing mumbled inwardly. He kept feeling that these four phrases were a little strange but he couldn't think of anything better for now. Hence, he didn't use them immediately. This made the Diamond Sect's ancestor feel some regret.
These four phrases contained some of his little schemes.
'Little Shadow, Little Shadow, who asked you to fight with me? Hmph, did I study for nothing all these years? I'll let you see my methods later.'
When the magic warship left the main river section of the Immortal Enrichment River and headed north at full speed, the color of the ground gradually changed. It was no longer black but white snow.
The temperature here plummeted. In fact, several days later, they encountered a blizzard.
Large snowflakes fell and covered the ground. At the same time, some snow also piled up on the magic warships in the sky, as though they were covering the magic warships with white clothes.
The world ahead was a blur due to the wind and snow. This sudden snow grew larger and larger until it became a blizzard.
The whimpering sound of the wind echoed in all directions, and the coldness filled the world with the snowflakes.
Xu Qing wasn't unfamiliar with snow.
In the early winters, the wind and snow were a test of his life. However, it was rare for him to see such heavy snow.
"We've finally arrived at the northern icy plains. At this speed, we'll be able to reach the end of the Yinghuang Province in two months at most, which is where the Absolute Beginning Separation Pillar is located."
"That place is also where the Yinghuang Province's Sword Holding Court is located." The captain's gaze was filled with anticipation as his voice echoed amidst the whimpering of the wind and snow.
