Chapter 54: A Person's Birthday

The night wind blew, and the flowing seawater gently lapped against the covered boat, forcing out a good deal of grayish-black foam along its hull. This caused the small boat to sway slightly, emitting creaking sounds.

Inside the covered boat, Xu Qing was diligently refining pills. With practiced ease, he took out medicinal herbs one by one, either plucking their leaves, extracting their juice, or removing their stamens. Gradually, the liquid medicine in the stone bowl grew in volume.

After checking the proportions and making adjustments, Xu Qing began adding the Seven-Leaf Grass. As midnight arrived, he carefully dripped the essence of the Spirit Condensing Leaf into the black medicinal liquid.

Piercing sizzling sounds emanated, and blue smoke wafted out, which Xu Qing dispersed with a wave of his sleeve. The liquid in the stone bowl immediately transformed into a white semi-solid, with a faint shimmer of light visible within it. It was a success on the first try.

After careful inspection, Xu Qing took out the medicinal mixture and kneaded it into individual pills. He set them aside to air dry. As he looked at the pills, satisfaction filled his eyes.

"I've finally refined White Pills!" Xu Qing murmured, as scenes of learning with Master Bai flashed through his mind, and images of the Scavenger Camp appeared in his thoughts. All of this made the young man's heart feel a little restless on this special day.

After a while, Xu Qing sighed softly and looked out of the boat into the complete darkness. Only the high-hanging bright moon reflected on the sea surface, creating shimmering ripples.

All around was silent. The sea wind blew, carrying a hint of coolness within its dampness, stirring his hair.

"Master Bai must have returned to Zitu long ago."

"I wonder how Shizi and Luanya are doing now..."

"And Captain Lei's grave," Xu Qing whispered softly, "I wonder if weeds have grown over it..."

"As for me, I still haven't found the Heavenly Mandate Flower."

Even though he was accustomed to solitude and had adapted to his new environment, Xu Qing was, after all, still just a young man. He sat there silently, his memory drifting back to his dwelling in the Scavenger Camp, eating snake meat with a familiar old man. He listened to the old man speak of trivial matters in the Scavenger Camp, watching him smoke his pipe and drink his wine. The images in his memory were very clear.

Xu Qing's eyelids drooped slightly.

"The scholar in the slums once said that when a person starts reminiscing about the past, it means they are growing older..." Xu Qing murmured, taking a flask of wine from his leather pouch. He had bought it during his patrol earlier that day.

Holding the flask, Xu Qing looked up at the bright moon in the sky. After a long moment, he slowly raised it, offered a slight salute to the radiant moon, and took a drink. From a distance, the young man on the boat toasted the bright moon with one cup, and drank alone with another.

The wine from the main city was stronger than that from the Scavenger Camp. It was fiery on his tongue and felt like a flame burning throughout his body as it entered his stomach. This made Xu Qing's breathing slightly ragged. After a moment, he took another large gulp.

"May Captain Lei's soul rest in peace."

"To Master Bai, I wish you good health and a long life."

"And to myself... Happy Birthday."

Xu Qing murmured, taking another drink. Today was a special day; it was his birthday. Xu Qing, who appeared sixteen or seventeen, was actually only just fifteen. But compared to peers who had grown up in safety, his experiences had forced him to mature. And today, just like this day every year for many years, he quietly wished himself well, alone. Only this year, there was wine.

So, after drinking a whole flask, Xu Qing thought of his family. Their images in his memory, even if he tried hard to recall them, remained blurry. This blurriness pained Xu Qing; he didn't want them to fade, but... some things were beyond his control.

For a long, long time.

"Are you doing well...?" Xu Qing murmured, head bowed.

The sea wind blew, lifting his hair and brushing his face, scattering all his thoughts. The lingering coolness gradually pulled Xu Qing back from his memories, his eyes regaining their sharp intensity and his expression becoming cold once more.

"Survive."

"If I can live a better life, and if I can still have a chance to see my parents... that would be even better."

"Therefore, I must become stronger!" Xu Qing slowly raised his head. The young man's silhouette under the moonlight, like a lone wolf, gazed into the distance.

After a while, he turned and walked back into the boat cabin, sat down cross-legged, and began to cultivate.

Time passed.

After his birthday, Xu Qing's life returned to its normal routine. In the following days, he spent every day refining pills and cultivating, in addition to his patrols. The cultivation of the Sea Transformation Scripture, although enhanced by spirit stones, had gradually slowed down. He had only recently broken through from the sixth to the seventh level. The further he progressed, the slower his cultivation became, but this was only relative. In reality, compared to others, Xu Qing's cultivation speed was already astonishing.

Furthermore, after reaching the seventh level of the Sea Transformation Scripture, Xu Qing could clearly feel a vast difference in his combat power compared to before. He was now completely confident that he could directly kill his former self (before coming to Seven Blood Eyes) within thirty breaths. Although there was still a gap compared to the Adamantine Sect Patriarch, Xu Qing was confident he could contend with him head-on for a bit.

"Once I'm stronger, I'll go kill the Adamantine Sect Patriarch." As long as the Adamantine Sect Patriarch was alive, Xu Qing felt a thorn in his heart, constantly uneasy. He believed that although the patriarch couldn't personally act against him due to the Seven Blood Eyes' rules, it was inevitable he would try to kill him through others. Therefore, he had to quickly increase his cultivation to eliminate this threat.

In addition, Xu Qing's research on the Dharma Boat was extremely thorough. He had analyzed the contents of the jade slip comprehensively, and after fully understanding them, his control over the Dharma Boat reached an extremely flexible level. As for its direction, he also made a decision: he chose sturdiness! He aimed to upgrade the Dharma Boat's level by focusing on sturdiness and protection. The reason for this was that increased sturdiness and protection meant less wear and tear, and less wear meant less need for repairs, thus reducing costs. On the other hand, in the perilous main city of Seven Blood Eyes, the Dharma Boat was Xu Qing's only relatively safe place. He needed such a place to cultivate, rest, and refine pills. Therefore, such a place also needed sufficient protection.

At the same time, Xu Qing had refined quite a few pills recently, both White Pills and Black Pills. Following his past methods, he not only refined Black Pills but also many of the poison powders he used to use. And every time he refined pills, Xu Qing was extremely focused. Herbal pharmacology was a survival skill he had learned very seriously in the past. He cherished what he had learned and had long ingrained it deeply. As for the herbs remaining after each refinement, he carefully categorized and stored them in the boat cabin. This resulted in his covered boat's compartments being densely packed and filled with various herbs. Among these, because of the crowds and watchful eyes in the main city, it was inconvenient for him to experiment with new recipes for poison pills and powders, so Xu Qing hadn't refined new poisons. However, he had accumulated a good amount of materials. He planned to find an opportunity to go out and find a secluded spot to refine them.

As for the work at the Criminal Pursuit Department, Xu Qing gradually became familiar with it after going for several consecutive days. These past few days, the entire department was still searching for Night Raven's hideouts, and a large number of clues were reported daily. Xu Qing could feel that the department was not far from closing in.

Today was not originally his night duty day, but Xu Qing proactively applied to swap shifts with someone. The responsibilities of the Criminal Pursuit Department included night patrols, and every disciple would get a turn. However, whenever it was night duty, everyone would be on extreme alert.

So, as dusk settled outside, Xu Qing tidied his clothes, placed poison powder in his sleeve pocket, arranged his dagger and iron skewers, and stepped out of the Dharma Boat. Outside, the sun had already set and twilight was fading. The sky darkened, the earth lost its light, and raindrops slowly began to fall upon the main city. Xu Qing moved in the shadows; in the rain, his entire being seemed to merge with the night as he sped forward. At this moment, the wind blew, rustling Xu Qing's long robe. The wind was icy, and a breath of it felt very refreshing. It also dispersed the humid heat within the city, but it couldn't dissipate some unique smells in the air.

As he sped along, his clean boots stepped on the rain-drenched bluestones, emitting a series of rapid tapping sounds. From afar, it seemed that with every step he took, the water on the ground rippled like blossoming flowers, as if he was treading on lotuses. Soon, the sky was completely dark and the rain intensified. Xu Qing's figure swiftly moved through alleyways and past closed shops, avoiding several murder scenes. Until midnight, he arrived at Banquan Road.

Gazing at the open inn in the distance, Xu Qing stood in a corner under an eave in the rain, waiting silently. Days ago, his informant had mentioned a wanted criminal named Qingyunzi. The wanted jade slip stated that this person, Qingyunzi, came from the Azure Cloud Sect, a minor sect affiliated with Zitu. He was a ninth-level Qi Condensation cultivator, ruthless and excessively lecherous. Within his sect, he had brutally murdered several female fellow disciples, and while being pursued, he had further massacred multiple villages, committing rape and plunder.

But Xu Qing had not chosen to apprehend him, because he had no grudge against him. In this cruel, chaotic world, everyone had their own way of life, and Xu Qing couldn't manage so many things. But the other party had done one thing wrong. Xu Qing's informant should have appeared two days ago in the bustling market where they met for the second time, to seek him for detoxification. But as of today, she had not shown up. So Xu Qing went looking for her during the day.

Although the wind was strong, it couldn't disperse the unique smell of the poison powder on the spirit coins. So Xu Qing easily found the woman's residence and saw signs of a struggle inside. Following the traces of the poison powder, he found this inn. After waiting an afternoon, he saw a person carrying a strong scent of poison powder enter the inn. The person's appearance matched the description on the wanted jade slip; it was Qingyunzi.

Therefore, today Xu Qing swapped night shifts with someone and came here to wait silently. He naturally had to take care of his own informant.