Xu Qing still gave the captain the antidotes, allowing him to successfully neutralize the poison.
The captain happily ate a peach and patted Xu Qing's shoulder.
"We don't have to worry about this. Master is more knowledgeable than us and has a better grasp on things. We just have to wait to obtain benefits."
"By the way, Little Qing, help me talk to Old Kong. I'm bringing a good friend to his place today."
"You are going to see Brother Kong, but you want me to greet him? Who are you bringing?" Xu Qing glanced at the peach in the captain's mouth and fell into deep thought.
The captain coughed. After looking around, he spoke in a low voice.
"I went yesterday… That Old Kong is too petty. To think that I helped him carry Shan He back then. Hmph, he must be jealous that I'm your Eldest Senior Brother, so he doesn't like me. Sigh, I feel aggrieved too. If he has the ability, go find our master and acknowledge him as his master."
"As for who I'm bringing, who else could it be? Of course, it's my beloved Taotao[1]." The captain put on a calm expression, but his face was filled with smugness.
"You guys met?" Xu Qing glanced at the captain.
"Of course, after I accidentally saw Taotao outside the Yao Residence a few days ago, I noticed that part of her was really big… ahem, that expression was filled with depression and unhappiness was written all over her face. Little Qing, my heart ached at that time, so I went up to comfort her and told her that I had a way to bring her to meet the Yao family."
After the captain finished speaking, he looked at Xu Qing eagerly and took a bite of the peach.
"Junior Brother, I've bragged too much… This is a major turning point for me."
Xu Qing fell silent. He took out his command sword and transmitted his voice to Kong Xianglong. After that, he nodded expressionlessly at the captain.
The captain laughed happily before leaving impatiently.
Watching the captain's figure gradually disappear in the distance, Xu Qing felt that the emotions accumulated in his heart due to various experiences on the battlefield had eased a lot compared to usual.
"Eldest Senior Brother said that making yourself stronger is the foundation."
Xu Qing mumbled and closed his eyes. When he opened them a moment later, the light in his eyes had become as calm as before. He walked out of the Sword Pavilion and went to the Sword Holding Palace.
He was prepared to exchange his merits for a life lantern.
To him, the fastest way to increase his cultivation and combat strength was the life lantern.
"Among the ten Heavenly Palaces I have now, seven of them are cultivated and three are formed by life lanterns."
"To Heavenly Palace cultivators, the number of life lanterns they can use are based on the number of their life fires. I had five balls of life fire, so I can fuse five life lanterns at most."
Amidst his contemplation, Xu Qing arrived at the Treasure Hall of the Sword Holding Palace.
This hall was specially in charge of exchanging items for military contributions. Due to the distribution of contributions from the war previously, most of the surviving Sword Holders came here to exchange for the items they needed. When Xu Qing arrived, he saw a few familiar faces.
There were also some soldiers from the Grand Imperial Capital Region. Although they weren't Sword Holders, they were still qualified to exchange for the items in the three palaces. However, their proportion was slightly reduced compared to the county Sword Holders.
This detail was part of the proposal put forward by the Deputy Palace Master and others to the Seventh Prince, and it eventually became the implemented plan.
The Treasure Hall was not only in charge of exchanging contributions but it was also in charge of collecting various items. All Sword Holders could send their spoils of war over in exchange for military contributions.
This formed a cycle. Not only were there some mysterious incomplete scrolls, but there were also high-level cultivation arts and powerful magic artifacts in the Treasure Hall. They even had two life lanterns!
There was no difference between the ranks of these two life lanterns. It was just that the power they possessed was different. One of them had been exchanged and there was only one left.
Not only did the exchange require military contributions, but it also required grade two battle merits. With Xu Qing's current contribution points, he could only exchange for one.
Xu Qing observed it for a long time before exchanging it. He was cautious all the way until he returned to the Sword Pavilion. He didn't encounter any accidents on the way and wasn't surprised.
This reminded him of what Kong Xianglong had told him a few days ago. The Seventh Prince was enforcing military discipline strictly.
In reality, whether it was the exchange of Dao Fruits for military merits upon their return or other matters related to personal interests, be it Xu Qing or Kong Xianglong, all the former Sword Holders of Fenghai County were not deliberately subjected to difficulties or malicious plundering.
No matter what they exchanged for or sold, it was a personal matter. The Sword Holding Palace didn't covet it in the past and wouldn't do so in the future.
Especially those who exchanged for the items in the Treasure Hall. Every one of them had battle merits that they had risked their lives to exchange for the cultivation items they needed. If they were to be targeted and their hard-earned rewards taken away, it would be a situation of shedding blood and tears, which was absolutely unacceptable. This was what the Seventh Prince had said.
"Using kindness and might at the same time. This Seventh Prince is quite amazing. He doesn't fancy such a small benefit at all. His ambition isn't here."
Back then, when Kong Xianglong had said these words with a complicated expression.
Xu Qing recalled everything that had happened after the Seventh Prince arrived and sighed with emotion.
From a personal perspective, he didn't like this prince. However, from the perspective of the race, the final outcome of what the other party did was beneficial to the race.
Right and wrong, merits and demerits, were subjective.
Xu Qing shook his head and put away these thoughts. He then took out the life lantern he had exchanged.
It was a broken black sword.
It emitted a sharp aura that contained astonishing baleful aura. Clearly, the bloodline that formed this life lantern came from an extremely murderous being. That was why the life lantern formed by the bloodline contained such killing intent. Moreover, its appearance was different from other life lanterns.
[1] Tao means peach, he says Big Peach here, referring to her large breasts.
