Xu Qing took a deep breath and silently felt the Emperor Sword in his sea of consciousness. He had a feeling that the Emperor Sword had completely merged with his body.
They had become an inseparable part of each other.
This feeling would make one's soul feel powerful.
This was the support brought about by the Emperor-level cultivation technique. There was also a familiarity with the sword that appeared in Xu Qing's heart. This was also a change brought about by comprehending the Emperor Sword.
He was familiar with every part of the sword's structure.
He was familiar with every inch of the sword's edge, and he was familiar with every ray of light in the sword mark.
However, this familiarity was still somewhat illusory, like the moon in the water. He still had to constantly ponder and experience it until it became real, and it became an instinct that was engraved into his soul.
"In this way, it can be promoted to rank two, and I will have a complete palace of fighting power," Xu Qing muttered.
After a long time, he lowered his head and looked at his right palm. With a thought, a dazzling light spread out from the lines on his palm. It gathered quickly and coiled around his palm. In the end, it formed a sword shadow.
It contained a sharp intent that seemed to want to kill all living things.
It also had a vast power that seemed to want to crush the gods and demons of the universe.
Xu Qing felt that the Emperor-level cultivation technique of the Human Clan Sword Wielder was not meant to protect, but to kill. It had a strong murderous aura.
This was a sword that was used to complete the task of protecting others through slaughter.
Xu Qing understood, and a sharp light appeared in his eyes. It resonated with the sword light in his palm and blended together.
Vaguely, he seemed to hear the sound of a sword. The sound contained familiarity and acknowledgment.
Vaguely, he seemed to see the countless figures that he had comprehended before. Those figures were all holding Emperor Swords and smiling at him. They were witnessing the latecomers walking on the same path as them.
Xu Qing raised his head, stood up, and bowed to the void.
He bowed to the sword and bowed to the same path.
From this moment onwards, he finally possessed two Emperor-level cultivation techniques.
The Golden Crow could refine all living things and swallow all living things.
The Human Clan Sword Wielder could kill all living things below the Emperor Level.
Although the latter still needed time to unleash power that exceeded one's own, the sword seed had been formed, and everything was just around the corner.
Looking at the Emperor Sword formed by the sword aura, Xu Qing suppressed the waves in his heart. After a long while, he finally calmed down and pondered.
"It is very difficult for me to nurture the Emperor Sword Principle for many years. Therefore, to turn it into one of my trump cards in every battle is the key. Therefore, I have to quickly familiarize myself with the sword and turn it into reality. I have to raise it to rank two and increase my fighting power by one palace."
"To increase the sense of familiarity, I'll need a sword …" Xu Qing suddenly came to a realization. He lowered his head and took out the Sword Wielder's command sword.
Looking at this sword, he was a little dazed. He finally understood the other use of this command sword.
Other than the sword wielder's daily needs and the construction of the Sword Pavilion, this sword also had a hidden use. It was to allow the person who had successfully comprehended the Emperor Sword to become more familiar with the sword.
Because its appearance … was exactly the same as the Emperor's Sword.
"As expected of the Sword-Holding Department of the Human Clan. Every part of it contains profound meaning and foundation." Xu Qing sighed inwardly.
"With such foundation, the Sword-Holding Department must have had a large number of Sword Wielder comprehending the Emperor Sword over the countless years. Even if there weren't any who succeeded on the first try, it shouldn't be strange for them to succeed on the second try."
Xu Qing reminded himself that he couldn't be complacent just because he succeeded on the second try. After all, Kong Xianglong had also succeeded on the second try.
Thinking of this, Xu Qing took a deep breath and walked out.
However, he didn't know that the moment he succeeded in comprehending the Emperor Sword, the Palace Master, who was sitting cross-legged on the 89th floor of the Punishment Prison Department, slowly opened his eyes.
The huge vertical eye behind him suddenly opened.
"There is another person who succeeded on the second try. His name is Xu Qing."
A deep voice reverberated and set off a storm on the 89th floor.
This voice was the one that Xu Qing had spoken to the Palace Master after he left that day.
"How is Ding San'er?"
"That place is special. Although I am the weapon spirit of the Punishment Prison Department, I have no right to see it. However, Xu Qing is already surrounded by misfortune. Also, only you know the secret of Ding San'er. You can tell him directly. I am also curious how many secrets there are." The voice in the storm turned into a roar and spread in all directions.
"Ding San'er …" There was a look of reminiscence in the Palace Master's eyes.
"There is more than one secret there."
"However, I never show favoritism. Everything depends on fate. If he still has misfortune on him after seven days, you can remove his name as Defender Ding San'er and change to another cell. This means that he is not fated to have this good fortune."
The Palace Master said calmly and closed his eyes.
At the same time, Xu Qing walked out from the Sword Holding Palace.
"Since I am here, I will go to the medicine shop in the county capital to buy some poisonous herbs. The research of the Way of Poison cannot be neglected. Also, I need to buy some medicinal pills to study."
Xu Qing soared into the air and headed straight for the county capital.
It was already late at night. Dark clouds filled the sky and thunder reverberated. A heavy rain was coming.
However, regardless of whether it was day or night, most of the shops in the county capital were open. After all, the main customers were cultivators, and they didn't care about the time of day when they bought things.
However, just as Xu Qing soared into the air outside the Sword Holding Palace and was about to step into the county capital, thunder rumbled in the sky. A bolt of lightning suddenly fell from the clouds and headed straight for Xu Qing who was in midair.
The bolt of lightning looked like a tree branch. As it fell, it split into countless pieces. It was a shocking sight.
It was incredibly fast and shockingly powerful. The rumbling filled the air, as if Heavenly Tribulation was descending.
Although it was sudden, Xu Qing had already branded vigilance into his soul. Almost as soon as the bolt of lightning descended, he suddenly retreated and dodged.
Seeing the bolt of lightning streaking past him and heading straight for the ground, Xu Qing's expression was unsightly as he looked up into the sky.
As he hovered in midair, the lightning in the sky illuminated his eyes, causing them to shine with a sharp light.
Dark clouds filled the sky and thunder rumbled. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary. Only the lightning danced about, as if everything was just a coincidence.
"Something's not right!"
Xu Qing's expression was grim. Whether it was the scattering of the sword light from the Sword Holding Palace or the descent of the lightning, they were all too coincidental.
This caused him to instinctively think of Precinct Ding San'er, as well as the words of the middle-aged jailer, Old Li.
"More than half of its previous Defenders have mysteriously died outside."
Xu Qing's expression was grim. With a single step, he arrived at the edge of the county capital. He retracted his gaze from the sky and looked down at the ground below.
Although it was night and clouds filled the sky, with the help of the light from the lightning and his own cultivation, Xu Qing could still clearly see the Disciplinary Officer on the ground.
…
These two coincidences made him fall into deep thought.
As he pondered, Xu Qing walked into the county capital and spread out his perception.
"Not all of Precinct Ding San'er died mysteriously."
"Only some of them died accidentally."
"The Palace Lord should know about the secret inside."
"Then why did he arrange for me to be there … Is it a test or something else?"
Xu Qing wondered as he walked towards the medicine shop in the county capital.
Thunder rumbled continuously in the sky and rain seemed to be accumulating power. There were very few civilians on the streets. Most of the people who appeared in the night were cultivators.
An hour later, Xu Qing saw a medicine shop. With a flash, he flew over. When he stepped in, Xu Qing frowned.
There were seven to eight cultivators in the medicine shop who were buying herbs and elixirs. Xu Qing recognized one of them, a woman in a Sword Holding Palace Daoist robe.
It was Qing Qiu, who was carrying the evil ghost scythe.
As an inspector, Qing Qiu was preparing to return to Sword Pavilion after her shift today. She also planned to buy some elixirs here. When she noticed Xu Qing, she frowned under her mask and the sound of evil ghosts sucking in air echoed in her mind.
"This Xu Qing is haunting us. I feel like he's following us. It's not worth it for us to take this path next time. Xu Qing is too dangerous. We have to avoid him. Otherwise, I'm afraid you won't be able to resist taking him down with you!"
"It's not worth it to take him down with us. Our method of taking him down with us is better used on others, such as Mad Dog."
Xu Qing glanced at Qing Qiu and ignored her. As he walked towards the counter, the voice of the Vajra Sect's patriarch sounded in his mind.
"Master, I have a matter to discuss with you.
... I wanted to report to you earlier. "
Xu Qing's expression was normal. After telling the shopkeeper about the herbs he wanted to buy, he spoke in his mind.
"Speak."
"Master, Red Maiden's scythe has an artifact spirit."
"This artifact spirit didn't notice me, so every time it sees you, Master, it's cursing. It thinks you can't hear it, but it doesn't know that I have a high-grade Thunder Soul. I can sense it."
The Vajra Sect's patriarch had actually heard the evil ghost's divine will long ago, but he hadn't said anything. He had planned to reveal it at a critical moment and perform a meritorious service.
But he had failed to make a move in the prison cell and was worried that he would be deemed useless, so he hurriedly revealed this matter.
"I overheard that brat's words. It seems like they have a way to take others down with them. Master, you have to be careful when you kill Red Maiden in the future."
Xu Qing looked pensively at Qing Qiu's scythe.
"He's looking at me!
His gaze is wrong, very wrong! "the evil ghost shrieked in Qing Qiu's mind.
"Let's go. I have a bad feeling that Xu Qing seems to have noticed something. After all, he was personally appointed by the Great Emperor and is now the palace lord's personal envoy.
We can't afford to offend him. Also, I feel that there's something wrong with him. He gives me a very bad feeling. "
As the evil ghost shrieked, the Vajra Sect's patriarch's voice echoed in Xu Qing's mind.
"Master is mighty. With just one look, the little artifact spirit immediately became afraid. Master, don't worry. I will help you keep an eye on this brat. Hmph, he dares to have evil thoughts about You Lingzi's master. This brat is courting death. With me around, no evil spirit can harm my benefactor. He will have to get through me first!"
"Also, Master, I think you can show off your domineering aura from time to time. Uh, that's what the books say. The domineering aura of a king. I think Master also has this ability. You can make this brat's artifact spirit fearful."
"Then, I will find an opportunity to instigate a rebellion. This way, we will have no trouble killing Red Maiden."
The Vajra Sect's patriarch spoke quickly to show his value.
Xu Qing pondered.
At this moment, the shopkeeper had taken out the herbs he needed. When he was paying, Xu Qing thought of the Essence Pill and asked.
"Do you have the Essence Pill?"
The shopkeeper smiled and nodded. He took out a pill bottle from under the counter and placed it in front of Xu Qing.
"One spirit coin. It's a Essence Pill."
Xu Qing was a little surprised. This price was already extremely low. One had to know that in the Royal Welcome Continent, even white pills were worth more than this price.
"The Prefectural Lord is wise and virtuous. He created this Immeasurable Virtue Pill so that all the commoners in the Prefectural Capital would be safe from the invasion of foreign substances. Therefore, this price is basically the most basic cost for the various medicine shops to preserve the elixirs. It's not much different from giving them away for free."
Xu Qing was full of admiration. He paid the spirit coin and kept the pill bottle. He planned to go back and study it. He wanted to learn the Prefectural Lord's method of refining elixirs.
After buying the elixirs, Xu Qing turned and walked out of the medicine shop.
When Qingqiu saw the scene of Xu Qing buying the elixirs, she couldn't help but recall some past events. She thought of the scavenger camp in the Southern Phoenix Continent.
She thought of the time when she was working as a shop assistant in that camp. A skinny figure with a dirty face and wearing a large coat walked up to her to buy white pills with caution and alienation.
Qingqiu frowned.
She didn't understand why when she saw the disgusting Ghostly Hand buying the elixirs, she would think of her brother, who represented everything good in her life.
In her opinion, this was a kind of blasphemy.
Therefore, she looked at Xu Qing's back with even more disgust. She took the elixirs she bought and flew out of the Prefectural Capital.
She didn't live in the Departing Sect's branch in the Prefectural Capital. She didn't have a good impression of the Departing Sect. Therefore, she preferred the Sword Pavilion.
However, before she could get close to the Sword Pavilion, she frowned again in mid-air.
"It's Ghostly Hand again. He's haunting us. Is he here to harm us?!" The shriek of a malicious spirit sounded in her mind. There was fear in his voice.
"I know. He looked at me just now. He noticed me. He's here to perish together with us!"
"Shut up!" Qingqiu gritted her teeth. She was frustrated. She turned her head and looked at Xu Qing who was flying over from afar.