<h4>Chapter 483: Lonely One Step, Fiendish the Next (part 2)</h4>


    It was that moment right before the break of dawn. The sky was dark, though the moon still hung high. That said, the moonlight couldn’t pierce the mist and fog covering Daybreak Prefecture. And thus, the entire Abyssal Sea was dark. There was only one spot in which it was possible to see the moon, and that was at the summit of tall mountains in the Abyssal Sea. However, not all the mountains towered high above the mist and cloud. The brightest of them all was Mount Daybreak.


    Xu Qing still stood there on the third floor of the Archives Pavilion. As he looked out the window, the breeze swept past, stirring his hair. Moonlight glittered in his eyes.


    <i>I need more clues. However, tracking them down by myself is going to take a really long time</i>.


    His frown deepened. He couldn’t exin the matter to anyone else. Even if he told other swordsages, he would need to be very careful about who he trusted. If the pce lord was correct, and the person responsible for the governor’s death was a traitor, then they would definitely be a very powerful person. Therefore... he didn’t dare to casually put his trust in swordsages.


    After all, if he made a mistake in whom he trusted, he could end up in a deadly crisis.


    He put some more thought into the matter, then went through the files one more time. Finally, he left the Archives Pavilion, taking advantage of the concealment effect to make his way through the Swordsage Court.


    Dawn neared, and the moonlight faded, causing everything to turn even darker. At the same time, the wind grew even colder than before. As it blew on Xu Qing, it caused his daoist robe to sway. He walked quietly through Mount Daybreak, intending to find his parents’ grave to pay his respects. He had been waiting for this day for a very long time.


    His mood was unstable. His thoughts created ripples in his emotions, ripples that prated to his very core. He couldn’t suppress those emotions or get rid of them. Eventually, they became so intense he began to tremble physically. It was something that rarely happened. He didn’t attempt to control them. He just closed his eyes, sent his senses out, and followed the tug of his bloodline.


    He passed a residence that tugged him toward it.


    He passed some boulders that tugged him toward them.


    He passed a pagoda that tugged him toward it.


    He walked for a long time, going through many areas. Wherever he went, he felt that tug, yet it didn’t lead him anywhere specific. Eventually, he had traversed the greater part of Mount Daybreak.


    Finally, he came to a stop at the very summit of the mountain. The wind was very strong here. As the sun rose, the dark sky turned crimson, like fire. It pierced through the clouds,nding on the waters of the Abyssal Sea, and illuminating all the mountains. Of course, it shone directly onto Mount Daybreak. Seven-colored light shone off of every rock and pebble that covered Mount Daybreak. Mixing with the daylight, it formed something incredibly beautiful, making the ce more eye-catching than anything else.


    From a distance, that seven-colored mountain rose high above the ck water, bing a dazzling source of light that seemed almost as majestic as the sun itself. As the light shone everywhere, the sky grew brighter, and the sun climbed higher. All the while, Mount Daybreak cast seven-colored light on everything around it. It was spectacrly beautiful.


    Xu Qing opened his eyes and looked down the mountain. He understood. He knew why all the ces he had passed tugged at his blood. He realized why he had felt as if the graves he were looking for were at his side, yet couldn’t be seen.


    <i>“I buried Dad and Mom at Mount Daybreak.”</i> That was what the Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan had said to Xu Qing. [1]


    As of this moment, Xu Qing knew why.


    <i>Mom and Dad’s grave is Mount Daybreak itself.... They’re buried in the heart of the mountain, which is why I felt the tug wherever I went.</i>


    He looked down at Mount Daybreak beneath his feet. He wanted to enter the interior of the mountain, but it was unique. Given the level of his cultivation base, he couldn’t do that.


    Time passed.


    Xu Qing quietly dropped to his knees and put his hand on a boulder in front of him. He bowed his head. No one knew he was here, so of course, no one saw the tears dripping off his nose and sttering onto the boulder like drops of ink.


    The seven-colored lighting off of Mount Daybreak spread out like a gentle hand that closed around him. Xu Qing trembled as he wept silently. A very long time passed. He put his forehead onto the boulder.


    “Dad... Mom, rest in peace....” His voice was so low that not even he could hear it.


    Finally, he looked up, and there were no tears in his eyes. As he got to his feet, he looked incredibly bleak. He started down the mountain.


    The sky was now bright. Boundless sunlight shone onto him, and onto the mountain. The dawn light was spectacr, creating the most gorgeous scenery imaginable.


    Xu Qing left. He hadn’t wanted much. He just hoped toe to Mount Daybreak and pay respects in front of his parents’ graves. Once he was at the bottom, he looked back at the seven-colored mountain.


    <i>Later on, when I have no more regrets in life, I’lle back here and settle down.</i>


    He closed his eyes.


    After a few breaths of time passed, he opened them. His mind and heart were in order, and his eyes were once again cold and harsh. Turning, he walked off with a determined step.


    His destination was an underwater valley some distance away from Mount Daybreak. ording to the records, that was thest location where daybreak light had been seen. He wanted to investigate the area to see if there were any clues to be found. Under the surface of the water, it seemed like a different world. The mist above blocked the sunlight, as well as the warmth.


    Xu Qing shot away from Mount Daybreak and into that darkness, picking up speed until he was a blur of afterimages that headed down and down. The mutagen here was strong, and full of unhealthy yin energy. He asionally saw green ghost fire, dancing about in the silence.


    <i>After the sun perished, mutagen flourished....</i> Keeping his guard up, he kept moving. He knew full well that the mutagenced depths of the massive Abyssal Sea would be full of danger. There would be ferocious and vile beings that lived there. That was one of the main reasons Daybreak Prefecture cultivators didn’t travel underwater. It was simr to the Forbidden Sea. Everyone knew that there were terrifying entities beneath the waters in the Daybreak Prefecture. Anyone who stayed under the water for long enough would eventually run into incredibly dangerous situations.


    Xu Qing made sure to strengthen the concealing magic, making him like a specter that headed toward that specific underwater valley. Four hourster, when Xu Qing was far from Mount Daybreak’s spell formation, he reached his destination.


    The so-called valley was actually a deep crevice that ran along theke bed. It was fully 300 meters across, and ran for a length of several thousand meters. ck mist floated up from inside the crevice and drifted around everywhere.


    Xu Qing observed it from a distance. He was tempted to rush right in, but instead, squatted in ce and hid behind a rock formation. There were some very familiar fluctuations in that ck mist.


    <i>“Delicious... smoke....”</i> the shadow projected via divine will. At the same time, it finally released the stone lion and the head, who emerged trembling. The two of them didn’t move a muscle. Being entrapped by the shadow had made them feel like they were going to be devoured, and they were still a bit traumatized.


    Xu Qing ignored them. After confirming that there were indeed Smokewights in the ck mist, he gave the shadow orders to go scout the area.


    The shadow immediately stretched out. However, it didn’t go into the crevice. A short timeter, it returned looking very excited. Apparently, it had seen something, but was acting so twitchy it was impossible to understand. Even Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior looked confused.


    Frowning, Xu Qing took the head off the stone lion and tossed it to the shadow.


    “Take it with you.”


    The head was terrified as the shadow swallowed it in a single gulp, then raced toward the crevice. It returned a short timeter.


    “Exalted one, I saw everything,” the head gushed. “There are Smokewights there. A few hundred of them. And quite a few are in Nascent Soul! They’re building some sort of magical treasure. From what I could see, and also based on my vast experience, I recognized it instantly. It’s a disposable taboo treasure!”


    Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior frowned as he looked at the head. More than ever, he was feeling a sense of impending crisis.


    Meanwhile, Xu Qing looked in the direction of the crevice, his eyes shining coldly. The fact that the Smokewights were constructing a magical treasure so close to Mount Daybreak made it fairly obvious what they were up to. Obviously, they were targeting Mount Daybreak or something connected to it. Although he couldn’t be absolutely certain of that, it seemed the most likely exnation.


    However... whether he was right or not didn’t really matter. He didn’t like Smokewights to begin with. What was more, Mount Daybreak meant something different to him now.


    He was going to destroy this valley of Smokewights.


    <i>If there are Nascent Soul Smokewights there, I can’t just stroll in and kill everyone</i>. He waved his hand, causing his third heavenly pce to tremble. The power of taboo poison streamed out in all directions.


    Next, he sensed which way the current was running, and carefully applied more poison into it.


    And thus, he spent about an hourcing the entire area with taboo poison power. Then, when he was sure everything was ready, his eyes glittered with killing intent as he waved his finger. Instantly, poison billowed into the crevice, taking with it countless little beetles.


    It took only a short moment for the poison to fill the crevice. Then anguished screams rang out from inside.


    ***


    Some distance away in the depths of the water, a 300-meter-long finger was speeding along right out in the open. Whatever living beings it encountered were quickly bound and strung up behind it.


    From a distance, it looked like there were several hundred cultivators, all of them unable to escape, their eyes full of despair.


    1. The Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan said that to Xu Qing in <u>chapter 315</u>. ?