It was a metal plate the size of a palm. It looked like a box but wasn't one.
Looking at the metal plate in front of him, Xu Qing opened his storage bag and took out one as well.
He had obtained the metal plate from the scavenger campsite's Horse-Four. Later on, Fat Mountain was also greedy for this item and intentionally gave Xu Qing a chance to make a move. However, he died with resentment.
After placing the two pieces of metal together, Xu Qing observed them carefully and discovered that no matter how he looked at them, they were exactly the same.
"What exactly is this?" Xu Qing was very curious, and his eyes slowly narrowed.
During this period of time, he had been to most of the shops at the port, but he hadn't seen such an item. However, be it Fat Mountain's greed back then or the storage bag of the young merfolk now, it showed that this metal piece wasn't as ordinary as it looked.
"I have to find an opportunity to find out what this item is used for." Xu Qing muttered to himself, then he put everything away and looked at the sky outside. He then lay on the small bed and rested.
He didn't rest for too long. Four hours later, when it was noon outside, Xu Qing opened his eyes and stretched his body. He was in good spirits and his body was in a rather full state.
Most importantly, after the fight last night and today's relaxation, he had a strong feeling that his Mountains and Seas Art was very close to breaking through.
"I'm already at the perfected seventh level. What will happen after I reach the eighth level... I wonder if I'll have the combat strength to kill the Diamond Sect's ancestor then." Xu Qing's eyes revealed anticipation. He felt that it had taken an extremely long time for his Mountains and Seas Art to go from the seventh level to the eighth level.
It was as though the Mountains and Seas Art had been brewing some sort of transformation. It was only today that he sensed the aura of a breakthrough.
Xu Qing sat down cross-legged and opened the spirit-gathering array on the magic boat. After he replaced the spirit stone, he closed his eyes and began to cultivate.
Time flowed by. As he immersed himself in cultivation, the afternoon slowly passed. When night fell, Xu Qing, who was meditating, suddenly felt his body tremble. At this moment, all the flesh and blood in his body suddenly tensed up as though they were contracting.
The cracking sounds of the bones growing rang out in his body, and blood vessels bulged out throughout his refined body. They were like numerous ferocious pythons spreading out. It was a shocking sight, but at the same time, there was a majestic power of qi and blood in his body that continued to flourish with each heartbeat.
With every beat, his qi and blood grew stronger by a notch. As the power of qi and blood grew denser and denser, Kui shadow manifested above Xu Qing's head. It faced the sky and let out a soundless roar. Its expression was distorted as though it was enduring a tremendous tempering and was going through a transformation!
When an ordinary person cultivated the Mountains and Seas Art to the great circle of perfection in body refinement, Kui shadow would be completely matured. However, Xu Qing's Mountains and Seas Art had already reached the great circle of perfection in advance when he was at the seventh level. After that, he cultivated according to the cultivation art, but he didn't know what would happen, nor did he know what would happen after he broke through to the eighth level of Mountains and Seas Art.
However, he could sense that during this period of time when he was in the Seven Blood Eyes, as he cultivated the Mountains and Seas Art, his physical strength was increasing. Therefore, he also wanted to see what would happen when it grew to the extreme.
After all, the cultivation of body refinement was the accumulation of strength, speed, and recovery.
In reality, even the creator of the Mountains and Seas Art had probably never thought that there would be someone like Xu Qing, achieving perfection in advance, so even he would not know.
After all, a low-level cultivation art like the Mountains and Seas Art was prepared for people with anomalous substances in their bodies. No one had ever cultivated the Mountains and Seas Art without any anomalous substances in their bodies like Xu Qing.
As time flowed by, the veins on Xu Qing's body bulged more and more, and cracks seemed to appear on his skin inch by inch. A large amount of blood flowed out, and the qi and blood became even denser, as though they wanted to burst his body!
It was as though Xu Qing's body had turned into a ceramic pot at this moment. The qi and blood in it erupted, and it looked like it was about to shatter.
However, at this moment, for the first time, a purple light bloomed in advance. It spread out from his chest and filled his entire body. As it rapidly repaired the wound, it was also doing its best to compress it.
This caused his body to be even more refined. At the same time, an intense pain that couldn't be described with words spread out in Xu Qing's body and mind.
His bones were shattering, his flesh and blood were crumbling, and his entire body seemed like it couldn't hold on any longer. However, the light from the purple crystal continued to repair him.
As the cycle repeated, the qi and blood became even stronger. Even the array in the cabin couldn't conceal it, causing quite a bit of it to spread out. From afar, the magic boat Xu Qing was on seemed to have been dyed red.
As the dense blood and qi spread out in all directions, it also attracted the attention of the Port 79's disciples. Amidst their astonishment, Xu Qing abruptly opened his bloodshot eyes on the magic boat.
The instant he opened his eyes, a heaven-shaking boom that contained a syllable of a character exploded in Xu Qing's mind like thunder. This earth-shattering sound caused Xu Qing's entire body to tremble violently. The Kui shadow above his head let out an even more intense roar at this moment. Its illusory body then directly tore apart, revealing... a newborn body!
Its tall body was completely green and exuded a sense of violence, as well as an incomparably strange feeling. All of its visible skin was dry and cracked, and there were clear cracks that looked like dry land. It had a head of disheveled dry hair that draped over its shoulders, and its pair of crimson eyes were filled with madness.
Its mouth was filled with fangs, and the black horn on its head was coiled with lightning. Everything revealed its savageness and cruelty. As it roared at the sky, it seemed as though it wanted to tear apart the sky that enveloped all living beings.
It was as though the two poles had reversed. What appeared around it was no longer water vapor but a black flame that burned in all directions, as though it could burn everything.
To be precise, it wasn't fire, but a state where everything dried up after the moisture was absorbed to the extreme.
"Ba!" Xu Qing's eyes gleamed as he mumbled. This word was the syllable that echoed in his mind earlier. It was also the qi and blood shadow that appeared on its own after the Mountains and Seas Art broke through its original level!
It had surpassed Kui!
Xiao could move mountains, Kui could overturn seas, and Ba could burn all lives.
As Xu Qing spoke, a surge of energy that was much more exuberant than before erupted in his body and spread through his entire body.
Xu Qing lifted his head and abruptly stood up. The refined physical strength contained in his slender body broke through the shackles and reached a realm that surpassed the Qi Condensation Realm!
At this moment, the magic boat's protective barrier couldn't hold on any longer and shattered. Even the hold of the ship was in a similar state, with many pieces of it shattered.
This caused the expressions of the disciples in Port 79 who were paying attention to this to change completely. Their eyes widened and their hearts pounded in fear. A rumbling sound rang out in their minds as they all looked toward Xu Qing.
Xu Qing fell silent. He didn't expect that his breakthrough in the Mountains and Seas Art would cause such a commotion. Also, he could sense that his Sea Transformation Art was circulating in his body with the eruption of the Mountains and Seas Art. It seemed like it was about to break through as well.
"Congratulations, Senior Brother Xu Qing!"
"Congratulations, Senior Brother!"
Under Xu Qing's silence, the surrounding disciples on the magic boats breathed heavily and cupped their fists respectfully at Xu Qing.
Respect was due to one's strength.
It was the same for the title of Senior Brother.
To be able to cause such a commotion during cultivation and even cause the defense of the level-six magic boat to collapse, one could imagine how powerful Xu Qing was. This was especially so for Xu Qing at this moment. In the disciples' eyes, the pressure he emitted was so intense that it caused their bodies and minds to tremble intensely!
That was a kind of pressure that came from an expert!