The little boy's body was very dirty. Its body was blurry and at the same time, it revealed an unprecedented weakness.
Its condition wasn't good. It seemed to be in great pain and its body continued to tremble.
Upon noticing Xu Qing walking over, it slowly lifted its head. Its expression was extremely dispirited and it almost couldn't open its eyes. However, it still revealed a smile to Xu Qing and tried its best to stand up to follow and continue protecting him.
However, it couldn't do it anymore. In the end, it could only look at Xu Qing helplessly. It opened its mouth as though it wanted to say something but couldn't.
Compared to its usual liveliness, the little boy at this moment made one instinctively feel pity.
Xu Qing's expression changed. He sat down and observed the little boy carefully.
He gradually realized that the source of the other party's agony was a swirling wisp of black gas writhing within its body.
This black gas was affecting and changing the little boy.
The shadow and the Diamond Sect's ancestor also appeared. The former sized up the little boy curiously while the latter revealed a solemn expression.
"Master, according to the books I read, I can roughly guess its situation."
The Diamond Sect's ancestor spoke in a low voice.
"It has been tainted. It must have encountered some unclean things somewhere."
When the little boy heard this, it nodded weakly.
Seeing that his guess was true, the Diamond Sect's ancestor knew that it was time for him to perform. Hence, his expression was solemn as he bowed to Xu Qing.
"Master, according to my experience, lightning can suppress all unclean evil things. If Master allows it, I can try to use my heavenly tribulation's lightning to purify its pollution."
Xu Qing fell silent. He didn't understand luck and didn't know what to do to help the little boy relieve its pain. However, he thought of the Palace Master.
"Does the Palace Master know of your existence?" Xu Qing asked softly.
The little boy nodded.
"Does he know your current state?" Xu Qing asked.
The little boy weakly raised his hand and gestured. Xu Qing frowned. He couldn't understand.
The shadow suddenly spoke.
"It seems… saying that the Palace Master… helped it to ease… recover quickly…"
The shadow clearly had similar experiences in this aspect, so it vaguely understood some of it.
The little boy nodded lightly. Its body seemed to have become even weaker and its eyes were slowly closing.
Xu Qing fell silent and looked at the distressed little boy. He allowed the Diamond Sect's ancestor to give it a try.
Upon getting the approval, the Diamond Sect's ancestor immediately raised his hand. Red lightning appeared in his palm, and he released a trace of it on the little boy.
As the lightning fused into it, the little boy's body trembled. A trace of black gas was destroyed.
Seeing that it was effective, the Diamond Sect's ancestor used more lightning. Very soon, the black gas in the little boy's body continued to decrease and its sense of weakness slowly dissipated, beginning to recover.
This method couldn't remove the root cause. There was still a wisp of black gas in the little boy's body that couldn't be dispersed and was still spreading out more.
This still alleviated its pain. Hence, very soon, the little boy stood up happily and circled around Xu Qing.
Looking at the trace of black gas in the little boy's body, Xu Qing felt that this matter wasn't that simple.
However, since the Palace Master had already sensed it, this matter wasn't something he could handle.
In reality, that was indeed the case. When Xu Qing arrived at D132 again the next day, the little boy had completely recovered. The black gas in its body was completely gone and it was in its usual cheerful self.
Everything returned to normal. Xu Qing also began his daily routine of working during the day and earning military contributions at night.
Despite his consistent efforts to earn military contributions, he remained far from reaching his goal. However, one night as he was preparing to set out for more contributions, he received a voice transmission from Kong Xianglong.
"Xu Qing, are you in the Sword Pavilion? If you're there, I'll look for you. The military contributions from the previous mission have been released."
Xu Qing's spirits were lifted.
Very soon, he saw Kong Xianglong flying over from the Sword Holding Palace.
Upon seeing Xu Qing, Kong Xianglong laughed and threw a storage bag at Xu Qing.
"There are two items inside. One is the military contributions certificate. I've already helped you record and verify it. You only need to fuse it into your command sword to add the corresponding military contributions."
"The other is the gift I promised you. Also, I've been pondering over your offensive methods during this period of time. I think that if you incorporate the anomalous substances into your bizarre nether hand, its might will be even greater. Moreover, the bizarre nether hand's origin is nonhuman race to begin with, so if you do this, you need to balance the anomalous substances in your body. This is my suggestion. You can give it a try later."
"Let's not talk about it. I have something to do and have to make a trip to the Prison Department. Sigh, the Palace Master has summoned me, so I have no choice but to go." Kong Xianglong sighed. After cupping his fists at Xu Qing, he hurriedly left without waiting for Xu Qing to say anything.
Looking at Kong Xianglong's back view, Xu Qing thanked him inwardly. He then cupped his fists and bowed.
After returning to the Sword Pavilion, he opened the storage bag. There were indeed two items inside. Other than the military contributions certificate, there was also a blue ice cube.
There was a heart sealed inside!
This heart was translucent. If one didn't observe carefully, it would be very difficult to notice it. Moreover, it wasn't dead and had a hint of vitality.
Xu Qing's eyes narrowed. He recognized that this was the heart of the Bizarre Fiend Race.
Xu Qing wasn't unfamiliar with the Bizarre Fiend Race. Back then, he had captured one alive and refined it.
In reality, it was also this matter that gave Old Master Seventh inspiration for the Bizarre Nether Dao Snatching Art.
This refinement also allowed Xu Qing's body to possess the foundation to cultivate the Bizarre Nether Dao Snatching Art.