Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 53: Sea Cultivation

The moon shone, cloaking the giant crocodile in its light. From a distance, it almost looked like the boat was alive and doing breathing exercises, absorbing the quintessence of the moon. At the same time, the moonlight seemed to grow more intense as it flowed into the boat, then streamed out into the area.

Xu Qing just looked at it for a while.

Whether it was his time in the slums or his life in the scavenger basecamp, he had always had simple accommodations. The only exception was the house Sergeant Thunder had given him. As for this little canopy boat that looked like a crocodile, as it sparkled in the moonlight, it looked so impressive that Xu Qing couldn’t help but kneel down and put his hand on it. It was cold, but clearly made of quality materials.

Most importantly...

“It’s mine,” he murmured. Then he prepared to step aboard, until a cold flicker ran through his eyes, and he stopped. He had suddenly sensed evil eyes gazing at him. Whoever it was, they were well hidden, and Xu Qing had no way of identifying their location. Remaining calm, he casually looked down at his hemp sandals.

They were old and tattered, caked with both mud and dried blood. Through the gaps in the material, he could see his dirty toes.

After some thought, he removed his sandals and stepped into the sea water, washing his feet until his fair skin was clearly visible. During the entire process, he remained completely calm. However, he was also observing his surroundings, and waiting for whoever was watching him to step out into the open. The person seemed cautious, though, and remained hidden even when Xu Qing pretended to be lazy and off-guard.

Expression the same as ever, Xu Qing finally stepped into the boat and looked at the area under the canopy.

It wasn’t very large. And it was simply furnished. There was a bed, a woven rush mat, and a washbasin. The area inside wasn’t very tall. In fact, an average person wouldn’t be able to stand up inside. But it was more than adequate for sitting.

Xu Qing examined the interior, but didn’t go inside. Instead, he sat on the deck looking out at the waves, and feeling the sensation of the boat bobbing up and down. It was peaceful, and eventually, his eyes seemed to lose focus, as though his thoughts were drifting.

As he sat there, he recalled his struggle to survive in the slums. He thought about the little bedroom he holed up in, and how cold it was at night. In fact, during winter, the wind was so cold he’d often wondered if he would wake up the next day. It wasn’t uncommon back then for people to freeze to death during the nights. That was why he feared the cold. Or maybe it wasn’t that he feared the cold, just his memories of it.

As he sat quietly on the deck, he looked at the moon, and thought back to the first person he’d ever killed, years ago.

That person had been starving, and wanted to kill Xu Qing and eat him. A fight broke out, and though it was a huge struggle, Xu Qing managed to kill him first. Then he cut his head off and put it outside the door to his room. From then on, people looked at him differently.

As his boat bobbed up and down in the water, Xu Qing recalled that event, and thought, Should I do the same thing again?

He suddenly leaned backward, and a cold stream of light shot right in front of him.

Upon dodging the light, the faraway look in his eyes vanished. It had been an act the entire time, and now, the true coldness within him stabbed out.

“You finally showed yourself!” he growled. The water next to the boat erupted as a man shot out, heading directly toward Xu Qing, cold light glittering in his right hand.

It was a dagger, and even in the moonlight, it was possible to see that it was covered in poison.

Xu Qing quickly assessed his assailant. It was a fellow disciple in a gray daoist robe. He wore no face covering, so it was possible to see that he was about thirty years old. Though he was only in the fifth level of Qi Condensation, Xu Qing could sense that he was dangerous. The disciple had a vicious expression, and his eyes abounded with killing intent. He moved with incredible speed; in the blink of an eye, his dagger was closing in on Xu Qing’s chest.

Xu Qing’s eyes glittered coldly as he ignored the dagger and instead thrust out his right hand to grab the man’s arm. Unleashing the power of his body cultivation, he lifted the man bodily into the air.

The man’s eyes went wide with disbelief as Xu Qing then slammed him onto the deck of the boat.

A muffled thud rang out. At the same time, blood showered left and right as a gory tentacle erupted from the man’s torso, splashing slime as it whipped toward Xu Qing. Shockingly, the tentacle’s aura surpassed the fifth level of Qi Condensation, and was in the sixth.

Xu Qing’s face remained expressionless as the spectral hobgoblin appeared behind him and crushed the tentacle.

Another boom rang out as the tentacle exploded.

Upon losing the tentacle, the cultivator coughed up a heap of blood, and his face turned ashen. He tried to struggle, but Xu Qing used his free hand to relieve the man of his dagger, then shove the weapon up to his throat. The cold dagger pierced the skin a bit; with only minimal effort, Xu Qing could slice the man’s throat open.

The cultivator shivered, looking at Xu Qing with terror in his eyes.

“How did you hide yourself so well?” Xu Qing asked coldly. “And what was that tentacle?”

“It was an octopus arm I transplanted onto myself. It boosts battle prowess and covers my aura when I’m in the water. Lots of people in the sect graft mutant beast parts onto themselves. Look, Junior Brother, I can make all of this up to you. I don’t have a lot of merit points, but I can take a mission tomorrow and—“

Xu Qing slashed him through the throat with the dagger.

The man’s eyes went wide, but before he could scream, Xu Qing clamped his hand over his mouth. Meanwhile, blood poured out onto the deck of the dharmaboat.

After a few breaths of time, the man went still.

Xu Qing looked at the mess on the deck and frowned. Taking out some Corpse-Ravaging Powder, he sprinkled it on the corpse to dissolve it. During the entire time, no other disciples showed their faces in the area. Perhaps things like this were so common that nobody cared.

As the sea breeze caused the smell of salt and blood to fill the area, Xu Qing looked through the man’s sack. It was completely empty.

He was after my dharmaboat.

Xu Qing suddenly thought back to how the round-faced cultivator had mentioned disciples mysteriously going missing all the time. Patting his iron skewer, he looked around with cold eyes, then took out the brocade box and pulled out the jade slip with the description of the boat. After studying it, he looked at the boat, his eyes glittering.

This boat... is spectacular. Extending his right hand, he smacked the deck and, following the instructions in the jade slip, sent spirit power pouring out. By doing so, he created a sealing mark which settled onto the deck.

The boat shuddered as though powering up.

Xu Qing then bit his finger and extracted a drop of blood, which he used to draw a simple magical symbol on the deck. As he did, the boat trembled, and at the same time, he felt his mind bonding with the boat. As the jade slip described, that was the boat acknowledging a new owner. Now, Xu Qing would be able to operate the boat by merely thinking about it, as if it were an extension of his body. He issued another thought, and a glowing defensive shield appeared, covering the craft from one end to the other. Only at that point did Xu Qing finally feel safe.

Looking back down at the jade slip, he reviewed all the information about the boat and committed it to memory.

Seven Blood Eyes dharmaboats really did have the capacity to grow with their owners.

Disciples could customize their speed, defenses, attack capabilities, and special functions. Those four things could be upgraded one at a time, or simultaneously. It depended on the whims and resources of the owner. The speed, defenses, and attack capabilities were easy to understand. As for the special functions, they referred to general magical techniques, as well as the ability of the boat to go underwater, to fly in the air, or change the form and appearance of the boat. In terms of the special functions, or the other three categories, the biggest determining factor in dealing with them was the material used for the upgrades.

In most cases, Seventh Peak disciples had two options when it came to the structure of their boat. The first was man-made materials.

By upgrading materials and to allow for higher-level spell formations, it was possible to make the boat tougher and more durable. Doing that required working with disciples from the Sixth Peak. Furthermore, developing the boat in that way often required dealing with limitations in human ingenuity. Still, it was an option many disciples picked.

It was also a relatively safe method. All one had to do was follow the general pattern that had been laid forth.

As for the second method.... You can use mutated organisms to alter the structure of the boat. Then you don’t need spell formations created by people.

As the jade slip explained, mutated organisms had natural spell formations built into them.

Such spell formations with extraordinary natural functions were referred to as forbidden arrays. Mutant beasts were all built differently. They all had different forms, and different powers.

Both methods will require a lot of effort and resources.

As he reviewed the jade slip, Xu Qing had to admit that Seven Blood Eyes was a terrifying organization. After all, as a brand new disciple, all he had been able to purchase was a class-one boat.

The watercraft of the Seventh Peak were classified as either boats, skiffs, ships, or cruisers. Furthermore, each of those four types was divided into ten classes. The jade slip also indicated that there was something else beyond the cruiser-level.

It was called a dreadnaught.

Each level upgrade costs a lot of resources....

Xu Qing wasn’t able to calculate the details, but based on what he could tell, it was a shocking level of wealth.

Putting down the jade slip, he sat there in a daze for a short time. Then he looked down at his sack and bag of holding. Unfortunately, he just didn’t have enough in either of them.

I need to figure out a way to make money. I have one month before I have to pay rent on my berth. With that, he took out another jade slip and began to study it.

This slip contained information about the Seventh Peak technique, which he was forbidden from sharing with outsiders. It was called the Seaforming Scripture.

As an apex power in South Phoenix, Seven Blood Eyes had techniques that were very impressive in both their ability to extrude mutagen, and in how strong they made the practitioner. The techniques of other smaller groups and clans simply couldn’t compare. In fact, two people with the same cultivation base, but with different techniques, could be as different as a firefly and a burning torch.

After studying it, Xu Qing inhaled deeply. Now he knew why the Seven Blood Eyes disciples he encountered seemed so dangerous despite having low cultivation bases.

The type of technique was everything.

For instance, the Seaforming Scripture had ten levels that corresponded to the ten levels of Qi Condensation. In order to cultivate the technique, one had to be near the sea. In fact, being out at sea was even better.

Each level involved absorbing the aura of the sea, then using it to cultivate a 30-meter-wide spirit sea. At the tenth level, which was the great circle, the spirit sea would reach 300 meters in size.

Disciples who cultivated the Seaforming Scripture would have spirit power that surpassed other cultivators by many times over. That, in turn, would allow them to utilize many more magical techniques in battle, and would naturally provide a huge boost to battle prowess. Even more miraculous, their spirit sea would have the aura of the Forbidden Sea in it. Thus, when they fought an opponent, they would naturally exude an intense mental pressure that would weaken the enemy.

In fact, in the Qi Condensation level, someone with the aura of the Forbidden Sea in their spirit sea would surpass anyone else in the same level.

The Sea and Mountain Incantation is a body cultivation technique. My spectral hobgoblin is already at the level of the great circle, making me like someone in the great circle of Qi Condensation. That said, when stacked up against other high-level techniques, that ‘great circle’ is actually rather weak.

On the other hand, because I have no mutagen in me, and because of the blessing of the violet crystal, my version of the seventh level of the Sea and Mountain Incantation is already able to unleash the spectral hobgoblin, which normally comes with the great circle. In other words I already have battle prowess as strong as the great circle.

In the final analysis, the Sea and Mountain Incantation can’t compare at all to the Seaforming Scripture. One is body cultivation, the other is cultivation magic.

Yet again, Xu Qing thought back to what the round-faced cultivator had told him

A moment later, a look of determination appeared in Xu Qing’s eyes. Furthermore, he noticed that the description of the Seaforming Scripture indicated that there wasn’t an upper limit to the final size of the spirit sea.

People had different constitutions, and also, their levels of mutagen would be different.

The less mutagen one had, the larger the spirit sea could grow. According to the records kept by Seven Blood Eyes, the highest level ever attained by someone in the great circle of Qi Condensation was a fully sixty-year-cycle in the past, when someone had a spirit sea that was 810 meters. That person was none other than the current peaklord of the Seventh Peak.

Seeing that, Xu Qing’s eyes hardened as he thought about the fact that he had no mutagen in him....

If I cultivate the Seaforming Scripture to the great circle, how big will my spirit sea become?

Intense anticipation built within Xu Qing. If mutagen continued to be no problem for him, then his upper limit would be determined by what his body could handle. And because he had terrifying powers of recovery, his endurance was naturally immense.

Xu Qing’s eyes shone with unprecedented brightness.

Furthermore, it wasn’t lost on him that the Seaforming Scripture wasn’t about body refinement. His fight with the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect had left him with a deep understanding of the inherent flaws in pure body cultivation. Therefore, it was without the slightest hesitation that he committed all the details of the technique to memory, then closed his eyes and started cultivating it.

As he did, a wind kicked up around his boat, and the water rippled as spirit power infused with the aura of the Forbidden Sea, as well as mutagen, rushed in his direction. The defensive shield around his boat would block magical techniques, but it didn’t stop pure spirit power. It poured in, entering his body through the pores in countless fine threads.

Because he didn’t have any mutagen in him, the spirit power rushed through his meridians without any obstacles. He was like a dried-up sea sponge absorbing water; the spirit power simply poured inside, heading to his dantian region, where it slowly built up.

As he continued with his cultivation, he sensed that the Sea and Mountain Incantation was being stirred into action by the Seaforming Scripture. However, the meridians used by the two techniques were different, so he suppressed the Sea and Mountain Incantation.

However, the Sea and Mountain Incantation seemed to tremble with desire, so eventually he stopped suppressing it. Instantly, the Sea and Mountain Incantation surged into operation, causing the spirit power influx to dramatically increase.

As it converged in his dantian region, the spirit sea there began to expand.

That came as a big surprise to Xu Qing.

The two techniques seemed to be working together. The Sea and Mountain Incantation wasn’t competing with the Seaforming Scripture, but rather, was helping it. Seeing no reason not to, Xu Qing let his energy and blood swell, causing the spectral hobgoblin to appear. The hobgoblin threw its head back and roared noiselessly, lifting its hands as if it were transporting a sea. As a result, the spirit power of the Forbidden Sea flowed with even more force.

To Xu Qing’s shock, the spirit sea in his dantian region was already 30 meters from side to side.

He had already completed the first level of the Seaforming Scripture.

Then a tremor passed through him as, before he even realized what was going on, he moved to the second level. And then, the second level reached its own great circle.

This fast? Without the slightest hesitation, he moved on to the third level.

Inside of him, the spirit sea grew and grew. 63 meters. 66 meters. 69 meters....

As he continued, the spirit power outside his boat created a vortex. The wind whipped, and the waves grew so large that the guards on the shore looked over. They looked surprised.

“Which freakish disciple is working on their cultivation?”

“They’re absorbing spirit power at such a rapid rate....”

As they watched in shock, the vortex spun larger and larger, causing the surface of the bay to ripple even more wildly. Many of the boats were rocking up and down so much that the disciples inside looked out with cold frowns. However, their expressions quickly turned into those of surprise.

“What’s going on?”

The vortex kept growing!

Inside his boat, Xu Qing trembled as his spirit sea pushed past the 90-meter mark and reached 111.

And it kept going.

114. 117. 120!

Xu Qing opened his eyes, and they glittered with brilliant violet light.

“Seaforming Scripture. Fourth level!”

Deathblade's Thoughts

Okay, this chapter is actually on the long end, and I considered splitting it. But… nah, screw it. No split chapters until later on!