Chapter 32: Dire News
Inside the seclusion chamber.
With a thought, Fang Qing converted all of his newly advanced Qi Refining Seventh Layer Black-Water True Power into [Ji Water] True Power.
Gurgle, gurgle!
Clear springs bubbled, gentle winds stirred.
Faint ripples of water shimmered around his body.
A pitch-black gleam flashed within his eyes as he muttered, “Qi Ingestion Sixth Layer… as expected, I still failed to break through the Seventh Layer bottleneck…”
Fang Qing was not surprised.
Judging from the quality of True Power alone, Observing Black Ridge had always surpassed Commentary on the Water Classic.
He converted again, discovering that his Black-Water True Power had once more become noticeably denser and more refined.
“The realm is already in place. True Power can be cultivated back up very quickly. Refining it once more is actually a good thing.” Fang Qing nodded in satisfaction and took out Five Dragons Pill Scripture.
After pondering it for a while, he felt that the pill scripture was written rather ordinarily, with many omissions scattered throughout.
“With my current level, refining low-grade first-tier pills… at most I would fail two or three times before entering the door for sure…”
“What kind of pill-refining talent is this? If I were willing to spend the effort, talisman drawing and artifact refinement likely wouldn’t pose much of a problem either… No wonder as long as Foundation Establishment cultivators are willing to put in the work, most of them can master at least one second-tier skill.”
He tossed aside Five Dragons Pill Scripture and took out Observing Black Ridge to study.
“I observe Black Ridge—there is a spring, Ji Water flowing gently…”
“This book… carries Dao resonance…”
After a long while, Fang Qing exhaled deeply, swallowed a Fasting Pill, sat down to regulate his breathing, and then attempted the Horse-Headed Vajra Guardian Divine Art.
This time, just as his Divine Sense stirred, the visualized Horse-Headed Vajra seemed to come alive.
The Vajra pestle clutched in its ferocious palm suddenly became solid and real.
“Hm?”
“Using Divine Sense in tandem with visualization diagrams seems to condense the demon-subduing Vajra pestle into a secret art… This is… a Divine Sense attack technique?”
Joy surged in Fang Qing’s heart.
“As expected, there are still many secrets hidden within this technique.”
After further study of the art, he began reading other miscellaneous books, among which Plum Blossom Divination was the top priority.
“Among the hundred arts of cultivation passed down on Jade Island, there’s no divination lineage… Does the Qi Refining path lack such a tradition? There’s only some astrology and physiognomy, which seem somewhat related…”
As he studied Plum Blossom Divination, insights gradually emerged.
“This Plum Blossom Divination is indeed closely tied to the Dao of numbers—Pre-Heaven Eight Trigrams, Six-Line hexagram images…”
…
Several days later.
At the moment the sun first rose.
Facing the morning sun, Fang Qing breathed in that faint strand of purple radiance.
As the Qi-Gathering Essentials circulated, the final trace of Great Sun Purple Qi took shape and was guided into a jade bottle.
Inside the jade bottle, a complete strand of [Great Sun Purple Qi] was clearly visible.
“Ninth-tier top-grade, Eastern Extreme Jade Clarity… it’s done!”
“It’s just a pity… I still can’t find a Great Sun cultivation method…”
Fang Qing sighed softly.
For the sake of this single strand of Great Sun Purple Qi, he had devoted several bitter years of effort.
Although it only required sitting in meditation briefly at sunrise each day, it demanded unwavering persistence.
“This portion of spiritual resources, over in the World of Ancient Shu… I wonder what kind of storm it would stir up?”
With thoughts churning, Fang Qing immediately cast a hexagram, using his newly initiated Plum Blossom Divination.
Naturally, he calculated nothing at all.
“This… isn’t because my cultivation is shallow, but because the Heavenly Secrets don’t align… So-called divination and deduction are essentially ‘questioning the Heavenly Secrets.’ Heaven knows, Earth knows—but what I’m calculating is the ‘Heaven’ of another world.
To this world’s Heavenly Secrets, it’s as if it doesn’t exist at all.
Naturally, there’s no hexagram image…”
“Even so, even in Ancient Shu, I probably wouldn’t be able to calculate such massive karma. My realm is still too low.”
After some thought, Fang Qing stored away the jade bottle of Great Sun Purple Qi and then calculated his own fortune.
“Minor misfortune? …I’ll have a bit of bad luck coming up?”
Examining the hexagram image, Fang Qing frowned.
“Within the sect, what bad luck could there be? This Plum Blossom Divination is also rather ordinary—there’s only a hexagram image, and it still requires personal interpretation… And what I can interpret is extremely vague.”
With Plum Blossom Divination only just initiated, not only were many matters involving profound karma difficult to divine, but even when results appeared, they were scarce—only categories like great misfortune, minor misfortune, neutral, minor fortune, or great fortune.
A thought stirred in his mind, and Fang Qing went to Ten Thousand Treasures Island.
“Hm?”
The moment he entered the Administrative Affairs Hall, Fang Qing sensed something was wrong.
Teams of law-enforcement cultivators guarded every area, their expressions solemn, completely different from their usual lazy demeanor.
“Junior Brother, what happened?”
He casually grabbed a disciple at the Qi Refining Fourth or Fifth Layer and asked.
The disciple originally looked impatient, but upon sensing Fang Qing’s concealed Qi Refining Sixth Layer aura, he immediately dared not neglect him.
“Reporting to Senior Brother… the Zhong Family of Taibai Island has gone to war with our Azure Sea Sect! It’s said they’ve already begun attacking ships across various sea regions. Our sect’s disciples who went out to sea… have suffered heavy casualties!”
“Hm?”
Fang Qing’s heart jolted violently.
The Zhong Family of Taibai Island! One of the three Core Formation powers of the Small Huan Sea Cultivation World, standing alongside the Azure Sea Sect and Heavenly Heart Linked Islands, famed for their ice-based techniques.
“No wonder my fortune was poor. Individual luck is bound to be affected by the overall situation… With two major powers at war, it’ll already be good if I’m not forcibly conscripted.”
Fang Qing sighed inwardly.
Rumble!
At that moment, a sensation of earth-shaking tremors spread.
He hurried out of the Administrative Affairs Hall, mounted the Green-Leaf Flying Vessel, and flew up.
He saw shimmering azure waves of light spreading from the Seven Islands in the lake, forming a continuous curtain of light, like an inverted giant bowl, protecting the entire Azure Sea Sect within.
“The sect’s protective grand formation—the Seven Profound Azure Wave Array—has been fully activated?”
Beside him, an Array Island disciple exclaimed in shock.
“All disciples of the Azure Sea Sect, heed the command! The Administrative Affairs Hall will temporarily suspend mission issuance. Return to your cave dwellings and await further orders…”
Several streaks of light flew out from Ten Thousand Treasures Island.
At their head was none other than Elder Wanbao, his voice solemn.
“Elder… my brother still hasn’t returned!”
“Reporting to Elder, my family members are still outside…”
The disciples descended into chaos.
“Enough! The sect has opened the harbor, allowing disciples outside the formation to enter, but they must all undergo inspection!”
Several law-enforcement team members flew out to explain.
Hearing this, countless streaks of light immediately flew toward the passageway in the formation.
Arriving at the docks, Fang Qing saw flying vessels descending from the sky like refugees, docking at the harbor.
However, at this moment, the docks and the interior of the sect were still separated by a barrier of light.
Law-enforcement disciples, faces icy, held artifacts and inspected identity tokens, wary of enemy infiltrators.
The later the flying vessels arrived, the more battered their exteriors appeared, clearly having endured fierce battles.
Some Azure Sea Sect disciples who disembarked sighed in relief; others looked grave; some even had tear-streaked faces, filled with the look of survivors of catastrophe…
“So… it really is going to war?”
Fang Qing exhaled deeply and suddenly thought of Zha Zhu and the others who had gone out to sea.
“If it were me, even without any special advantage, I’d definitely flee straight into the deep sea, find some random island to hide on for a year or two, and see how the situation developed first…”
As he pondered his own response, he saw a three-tusked sea ship descend from the sky.
This type of ship was primarily built to combat sea demonic beasts.
Its flight capability was extremely weak and consumed vast amounts of spirit stones, so it was rarely activated under normal circumstances.
Now that it was in use, it was naturally for escaping with one’s life.
The deck was mottled with bloodstains, clearly bearing the marks of a brutal battle.
Once the three-tusked great ship docked, several cultivators immediately flew down.
Fang Qing looked closely and saw only Hua Lian and Li Yusu among the scant few disciples.
Huo Tianhuo, Mingling Zhen, and even Zha Zhu… were nowhere to be seen.
“Impossible…”
A thought stirred in his mind, and he cast a hexagram for Zha Zhu.
“Great misfortune—master departed… This is… dead?”
Fang Qing fell silent, as if returning once more to many years ago, seeing that little girl in a red padded jacket, holding a blue-patterned large sea bowl.
“This cultivation path… is truly lonely.”
His expression dimmed.
After waiting a moment, he saw Li Yusu.
Li Yusu was covered in bloodstains, missing his right arm.
Upon seeing Fang Qing, his expression was utterly desolate.
“Where’s Zha Zhu? And Senior Brother Ming and the others—how are they?”
Although he already knew the answer, Fang Qing still asked.
“They’re dead… all dead.”
Li Yusu’s voice was hoarse.
“The Zhong Family of Taibai Island! It was people from the Zhong Family of Taibai Island! Wuwuwu… Senior Sister Zha…”
Fang Qing bit his lip, then looked to the side at Hua Lian, who had just passed inspection.
Hua Lian’s face was pale, clearly having expended excessive True Power, damaging the origin of his True Power.
Seeing Fang Qing, he forced a bleak smile.
“It’s over… all of it is over.”
Fang Qing swept a glance around and asked, “What about Junior Sister Yu Taohua?”
“She covered my retreat and was struck by an enemy’s Ice Spike Technique. She died on the spot…”
Hua Lian’s voice was low.
“My condolences…”
Fang Qing offered a few words of comfort and directly took his leave.
Having learned the fate of Hua Lian and the others, he needed to find Xu Wusu and the rest of the Five Dragons Society to discuss their next plans.
Yet after departing, it felt as though a massive stone weighed on his heart, impossible to dispel.
“Hua Lian… and Li Yusu as well?”
Fang Qing was not one to bottle things up.
He directly cast hexagrams for both of them.
“Hua Lian is great misfortune to me?”
“Li Yusu… neutral?”
“Why is this?”
Fang Qing immediately fell into deep thought, resentment quietly rising.
“Plum Blossom Divination is too low-tier, and I’ve only just entered the door. I can barely divine hexagram images and can’t reveal more clues… But it seems that Zha Zhu and the others’ deaths can’t be separated from Hua Lian? Could it be that this man has long been nurturing credit and trust?”
Recalling how Hua Lian’s fleet had always achieved great harvests with minimal casualties, earning a strong reputation, Fang Qing suddenly felt that this man harbored dangerous depths within his chest.
“However… he’s already been subjected to dimensional reduction by my divination.”
“Should I report him to the sect?”
“But he has Flying Fish Island backing him. Without concrete proof, speaking out might instead invite disaster.”
Fang Qing’s expression turned somber.
“Wait… this sudden attack by the Zhong Family of Taibai Island—could Flying Fish Island have cooperated from within? Could this Foundation Establishment power, originally under the Azure Sea Sect, have defected to the enemy?”