Chapter 546: Daofate Heavenfiend; Thirteenth Nascent Soul! (part 1)

Chapter 546: Daofate Heavenfiend; Thirteenth Nascent Soul! (part 1)

Xu Qing had always been indifferent toward enemies.

Chen Feiyuan nodded. Looking at Xu Qing, he sighed inwardly. After his Teacher passed away, Chen Feiyuan had lost any measure of protection he had. To survive the clan infighting that was typical in the Violet Lands, he had mastered the ability to be ruthless and unfeeling.

But Xu Qing had already mastered that when he was a kid. It’s an instinct by now.

Chen Feiyuan had only come to understand that part of Xu Qing when he himself became embroiled in clan power struggles. Chen Feiyuan’s understanding of Xu Qing was informed by many things, such as his actions as the Kid in the scavenger basecamp, the bloodbath with the camp owner, or how Xu Qing slaughtered his way through Seven Blood Eyes. Chen Feiyuan had observed how Xu Qing handled himself, and had been determined to learn from him.

There wasn’t any need for further discussion. Chen Feiyuan took out a transmission jade slip and gave the orders to slaughter the prisoners.

Xu Qing didn’t pay attention to the details. He didn’t stay for long in the Violet Lands. He spent three days catching up with Chen Feiyuan and Tingyu. Then the eight clans gathered again to see him off.

When it came time to part, Tingyu wept. Her frailty had become much more apparent after their Teacher’s death, and that was especially true when it came time to part with people she cared about. The pain she felt was obvious.

Xu Qing could tell that she was no longer the curious and exuberant girl she’d been when they were kids. But as she grew, the camaraderie they’d experienced as fellow disciples was a source of warmth inside of her, which insulated her against the coldness of the Violet Lands, and the dog-eat-dog world she was forced to live in. That’s just how life is sometimes. White hair eventually covers the past. The colder the world is, the more likely that emotions other than love will build up in the heart. And sometimes, those emotions don’t need long periods of time to develop.

With some struggle, Tingyu managed to control herself. She didn’t cry in front of Xu Qing. It was only after he was gone that she fell onto Chen Feiyuan’s shoulder and wept.

Chen Feiyuan looked at the Elder Sister he had grown up with. He could feel her heartache. “Elder Sister,” he said softly, “do you remember what Teacher told us? The world is a tavern for living beings. And the timescape is an old guest....”

Tingyu looked up and softly continued, “As long as we don't die, we’ll meet again.”

The exact same words could be heard on the dreadnaught as Xu Qing murmured them. The wind stirred his clothes and lifted his hair as the dreadnaught started moving. He was thinking about what Grandmaster Bai looked like when he uttered those words. [1]

On his final day in the Violet Lands, he had asked Chen Feiyuan and Tingyu for all the details of what happened before Grandmaster Bai died. For example, he’d asked if Grandmaster Bai had any other friends similar to Master Seventh. He’d inquired about any unusual circumstances leading up to the murder, and whether or not Grandmaster Bai said anything noteworthy.

Chen Feiyuan had little to add. But Tingyu had a good memory, and was able to describe that time period in detail. However, she didn’t mention anything that Xu Qing found relevant. Except... she mentioned that their Teacher had the habit of looking into the sky. It wasn’t something he had always done. He only developed the habit in the year before his murder.

Xu Qing looked up quietly into the sky.

“Beyond Revered Ancient....”

He thought about it for a moment. In the end, he couldn’t come up with an answer to what happened to Grandmaster Bai. He could only bury the matter in his heart.

After leaving the Violet Lands, Xu Qing took a trip to Forbidden by the Phoenix. He wanted to determine once and for all who Huang Yan really was. Upon arriving at the fog-filled Forbidden by the Phoenix, Qingqin let loose a loud caw. However, Flame Phoenix didn’t react.

Normally speaking, the first heavenly tribulation wasn’t unusually powerful. But every tribulation after that became increasingly terrifying. It was said that the fourth tribulation was one of complete extermination, and it wasn’t uncommon for people to fail that tribulation. People who had life lamps had a bit of an advantage. If they failed that tribulation, they wouldn’t lose the nascent souls in the lamps. But they would lose the life lamps.

Ordinary nascent souls would be severely damaged, and the cultivator would have to pay a huge price to fix them. In some cases, the nascent soul would even be destroyed permanently. Because of all that, there were many people who didn’t dare to face the tribulations of the Nascent Soul level. They were willing to just stop at that point.

Though it seemed like Spirit Trove cultivators weren’t very rare, one reason for that was the vast size of the Revered Ancient mainland, and its immense population. Every single one of those Spirit Trove cultivators had experienced the life-or-death test of heavenly tribulations.

Of course, it went without saying that immense amounts of research had been done regarding the Nascent Soul ‘heavenfate tribulation.’ And there were obviously sundry methods used to pass them. Some were very effective, but also extremely expensive. Others were less ideal, had harsh requirements, and were essentially theories.

The best chance to pass tribulations was to use one of the secret methods kept by the major sects, or to cultivate an imperial-class technique. Not only would that enable a person to have a much higher chance of success, but also, it would allow them to get more heavenfate.

Of course, many species had even more precious techniques for tribulations. Such techniques would enable the user to pass the tribulation unharmed. However, they had very strict cultivation requirements, and couldn’t be cultivated without the use of various precious materials of heaven and earth. Techniques like that were not widespread.

What was more, since most species had hierarchical societies, those techniques were usually reserved for the nobility.

Regardless, cultivators needed to actually form their nascent souls before thinking about the tribulations. Whether they formed nascent souls from the spirit power of heaven and earth, by devouring the nascent souls of other people, or by consuming precious materials and medicinal pills, the ultimate goal was to have nascent souls that could pass the tribulations and absorb a lot of heavenfate. In addition to that, special techniques were required.

The Daofate Heavenfiend Art that Master Seventh had designed for Xu Qing was a domineering technique that conformed to the traditions and style of the Seventh Peak.

It was essentially a continuation of the Gruegloom Daosiezing Art, as it focused on devouring. Of course, it didn’t devour gold cores from heavenly palaces, but rather, heavenfate from nascent souls! With it, Xu Qing could take the heavenfate that other people had accumulated after passing their tribulations, and make it his own.

Heavenfate was the best nourishment a nascent soul could get, and thus, this technique didn’t require precious materials. It just required slaughter! It was because the technique focused on heavenfate that it had Daofate in the name.

An odd expression could be seen on Xu Qing’s face when he saw the name. As best he could tell, Master Seventh had added ‘dao’ to the name just to make it sound good. It probably would have been better to call it the Plunderfate technique. [2]

The Heavenfiend part of the name was also important. There was a second aspect to the technique; the person who cultivated it could break down the nascent souls they devoured. Some of the heavenfate that resulted would be turned into nourishment. But some of it could be used to create an illusory clone called a heavenfiend clone.

Heavenfiend clones looked like ordinary doppelg?ngers, but weren’t. For one, they could be produced en masse. They would adhere to the original form like souls, and could be sent into battle to protect their true form.

However, the best use of the heavenfiend clones was to pass tribulations! Because heavenly tribulations just got more and more terrifying, and the price to pay for failing was the loss of nascent souls. Meanwhile, the main goal was to gather heavenfate. Therefore... passing such tribulations was essentially a formality. Having a heavenfiend clone pass the tribulation instead was the same thing. If a heavenfiend clone was destroyed, there would be a second to take its place. Then a third.... As long as one of them succeeded, then the heavenfate power could be gathered using the Daofate aspect of the technique.

That was how the Seventh Peak operated, and that was how Master Seventh operated.

Eyes shining, Xu Qing took out three medicinal pill bottles.

1. Grandmaster Bai uttered those words in chapter 29. ?

2. There’s some word play in Chinese that doesn’t exactly translate well, as the character "dao” has the exact same pronunciation as another character which basically means “steal.” There’s an additional line clarifying the use of the “steal” character. Depending on what other characters you add to “steal,” it can have different meanings. It could mean to pilfer, in other words, to secretly steal something. Or it could mean to plunder, in other words, to rob with force. So in Chinese, he clarifies that the “steal” character, as applicable to this passage, is the one from plunder, not pilfer. ?