Volume 1 Volume 7 Chapter 8

Volume 7 Chapter 8: Thirty Years (Part 2)

After receiving Xu Qingfan’s confirmation, Dongfang Qingling sighed and turned to leave, while Xu Qingfan remained by the sea, watching the waves come toward him, as if the endless disasters from the world thirty thousand miles away were approaching.

Xu Qingfan furrowed his brow, carefully thinking about the plan he had made. Although this plan was created ten years ago, over the years, whenever he had some free time, Xu Qingfan would review it to see where there were flaws and where his opponent might find a way to counter him, and how he should respond at that time.

"In comparison, the first move is the easiest and has the fewest variables, but afterward, it feels like walking a tightrope on a cliff; a small mistake can lead to irreparable consequences. What is the difference between a player and a pawn? Ultimately, in the face of the world, Zhang Xusheng, the Righteous Alliance, the Zhong family, and the Shura Clan are just larger pawns."

"Moreover… the cards in my hand are still too few. Even though I have tried all ways to find help, my strength is still the weakest among various powers. Perhaps after the first move is successful, things will be much better… I wonder if Wang Zegang has found that Liu Ziqing. Although it might face backlash, once used properly, this person can be very helpful."

Xu Qingfan was thinking to himself when suddenly, his body shook slightly. He felt a rush of chaotic Spirit Qi within him, his face turned slightly red, and his chest began to rise and fall rapidly. Then came a series of coughs, and with them, he spat out a large mouthful of blood, which mixed into the tide. A wave of red slowly spread and blended into the sea until it disappeared.

After spitting out the blood, the Spirit Qi within Xu Qingfan finally calmed a bit. Breathing heavily, he watched as his blood gradually dissolved in the seawater. A strange look flickered in his eyes—maybe worry, maybe determination.

Within the Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands, Spirit Qi was abundant, far surpassing that of the Shenzhou Continent. Plus, Xu Qingfan often taught his disciples, so in these thirty years, except for Ting’er, who lost her intelligence and couldn’t cultivate, each of the others—Bai Qingfu, Wang Zegang, Dongfang Qingling, as well as Zhang Ningmei, Bai Yu, Tian Zhenxian, and Tian Zhenling—made remarkable progress.

Especially Wang Zegang, who turned out to be a wise person. Although he did not seem as exceptional as Jin Qinghan or Feng Qingtian, his speed of improvement only increased over time. Once, he used a second-rate cultivation method with pure yin attributes to boost his level to the peak of the Real Golden Core Stage. Later, with Xu Qingfan’s help, he obtained a yang attribute cultivation method. With the balance of yin and yang, he rose to the middle stage of the Golden Core Stage. Over the past ten years, Wang Zegang and Xu Qingfan often discussed the compatibility and transformation of yin and yang, greatly benefiting from it. In just thirty years, he managed to break through from the middle stage to the peak of the Golden Core Stage.

It is known that for cultivators, improving their level becomes more difficult as they progress.

Additionally, during a period of closed-door meditation, Dongfang Qingling took advantage of the extremely rich Spirit Qi of Tianji Island and reached the Golden Core Stage. Bai Yu and Zhang Ningmei both reached the initial stage of the Real Golden Core Stage, while Tian Zhenxian and Tian Zhenling reached the late stage of the Fake Golden Core Stage. All of them improved by two small levels.

The only exception was Bai Qingfu. In terms of levels, he was the fastest to improve. After being imprisoned for two hundred years, he arrived in a place filled with Spirit Qi, and his cultivation surged like a wild horse set free. Now, he had reached the late stage of the Real Golden Core Stage, an improvement of three small levels.

The rapid improvement of everyone’s cultivation was not only due to the abundant Spirit Qi of Rainbow Spirit Island and Xu Qingfan’s tailored teachings, but also because of their own hard work and talent.

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However, compared to everyone else’s improved abilities, Xu Qingfan’s situation was not so good.

In these years, without being busy with the Righteous Alliance, Xu Qingfan finally had time to refine the magical item "Dragon Summoning Order." However, he did not use the "Dragon Summoning Order" just as a regular magical item; instead, he practiced the "Spirit Purging Sutra" to integrate the "Dragon Summoning Order" into his body, giving Xu Qingfan some dragon-like qualities.

Next, to strengthen the power of "Flourish Qi," Xu Qingfan fused these dragon-like qualities with the "Flourish Qi," and then merged the Phoenix Spirit Qi in his body with the "Qi of Demonic Death." Although he had previously merged the "Demonic Pearl" and the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic," half of their powers still remained hidden in Xu Qingfan’s body, not completely absorbed or refined. After thirty years of effort, Xu Qingfan finally combined the dragon energy, Phoenix Spirit Qi, Holy Spirit Qi, demonic energy, and the life-and-death qi system into one. He no longer had the complicated situation of the past, where he had thick Spirit Qi but could only use one or two types at a time, which greatly limited his power.

Thanks to this fusion, Xu Qingfan’s "Formula of Life and Death" reached its peak level, and compared to the original "Formula of Life and Death" that Xu Qingfan created, it not only added the majestic pressure of dragon energy and Buddhist powers to "Flourish Qi," but also increased the fierce and destructive power of "Withered Qi" with demonic energy and Phoenix Spirit Qi, greatly enhancing its strength. Most importantly, through this fusion, Xu Qingfan created a new move even more powerful than "Way of Life and Death" — "Life and Death Dragon and Phoenix Calling"!

In addition, Xu Qingfan’s "Indefinite Sutra" also reached the late stage of Nascent Soul, and the "Substitute for Heaven," based on the "Indefinite Sutra," also made some progress, allowing him to control the changes in the world within three hundred yards. He also refined his two avatars, Xu Ying and Xu Zhiyuan, and elevated their strength to the level of a typical Astral Projection Stage master.

This was good news, but things were far from simple.

Years ago, the Demon Ancestor warned Xu Qingfan that after merging with the "Demonic Pearl," even with the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" as a buffer, the consequences were far from what Xu Qingfan imagined, and over these thirty years, he truly felt the meaning of those words.

When Xu Qingfan merged the "Demonic Pearl" and the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic," the powers of righteousness and evil were at a standstill and then refined and merged by Xu Qingfan’s life-and-death qi to be under his control. At that time, he thought it was all finished, but he overlooked that while the strength of the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" and demonic energy might be equal in level, the power of the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" lacked one crucial characteristic compared to demonic energy.

Magic transformation!

Because the "Magic Pearl" took longer to change Xu Qingfan’s body, he now has more magical properties. One could say that Xu Qingfan’s body has been transformed by the "Magic Pearl." Because of this, Xu Qingfan’s body is constantly creating demonic energy, and as Xu Qingfan produces more demonic energy, the amount of energy inside him keeps growing.

Because of this, even though Xu Qingfan has absorbed and refined all the energy from the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" and the "Magic Pearl," the demonic energy continues to be endless, constantly being generated to try to control Xu Qingfan again. In desperation, Xu Qingfan has to absorb and refine it once more with the "Qi of Demonic Death."

However, "Formula of Life and Death" was created solely by Xu Qingfan, and it has only been around for about a hundred years, so it is far from perfect. Reaching the Astral Projection Stage is its peak. Though Xu Qingfan has been thinking of ways to advance for many years, he still hasn’t found a way to continue growing, especially with "Flourish Qi," which seems to have hit a barrier. After absorbing the Dragon Qi and remaining Holy Spirit Qi, it has reached its ultimate limit and cannot break through again.

At the same time, as he keeps absorbing the demonic energy in his body, the "Qi of Demonic Death" grows stronger, and at this point, it is clearly more powerful than "Flourish Qi." In the battle between good and evil inside Xu Qingfan, the demonic energy seems to be winning. If this continues, it won’t be long before it completely takes over. And as the composition of demonic energy in the "Qi of Demonic Death" increases, its characteristics become stronger, making it almost as effective as being controlled by demonic energy itself.

Originally, when Xu Qingfan discovered this thirty years ago, he thought this process would take about three hundred years. However, he overlooked one point: the Spirit Qi in the "Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands" is more than ten times stronger than in ordinary places, so the speed at which Xu Qingfan’s body produces demonic energy is also ten times faster. As a result, in just thirty years, the situation has become uncontrollable.

In desperation, over the past thirty years, Xu Qingfan has been training madly with the "Indefinite Sutra" and "Substitute for Heaven," on one hand converting the Spirit Qi absorbed by his body into "Formless Spirit Qi" to reduce the amount turned into demonic energy, while on the other hand combining "Formless Spirit Qi" and "Flourish Qi" to fight against the control of his body by "Qi of Demonic Death."

However, the aggression of the "demonic energy" is too strong, and as "Formless Spirit Qi" and "Flourish Qi" clash with it, they inevitably cause damage to his body. Just as Wang Zegang said, the stronger Xu Qingfan becomes, the worse his body gets.

At least in the past ten years, Xu Qingfan has grown used to suddenly coughing up blood.

However, over these years, apart from his gradually worsening body and the threat of the "Qi of Demonic Death," Xu Qingfan’s own skills have truly improved remarkably. Although he is currently at the peak of the Out-of-Body stage, he has a decent chance of escaping even against powerful experts like Immortal Zizhen, Mr. Liu, and Zhang Xusheng.

Right now, Xu Qingfan is waiting for the moment when the energy of the "Divine Plate of Inheritance" is fully charged. At that time, he will take Bai Yu back to Jiazi Cave, using the power of the "Divine Plate of Inheritance" to further enhance his inner dragon and phoenix attributes, strengthening the combined life and death energies and gaining the understanding of the Heavenly Way from the dragon and phoenix clans.

At that moment, he will truly have the power to confront Zhang Xusheng, Zizhen, Zhang Hualing, and the top experts of the Shura Clan.

Reflecting on the dangers and hardships of these thirty years of training, Xu Qingfan silently sighed and after checking his body, turned around and left.

"It has been a year; Wang Zegang should have returned with those people by now, right?"

On his way back to his room, Xu Qingfan thought to himself.

At the same time, a soft white cloud, moving slowly yet quickly, was floating above the East Sea, rapidly heading towards the location of the Rainbow Spirit Seven Islands.