Chapter 136: Expert Control
Fortunately, this city was indeed free of any shitty adventures. It wasn’t as if the city had a highly developed infrastructure, but at the very least, it was livable.
The most important thing was that there were many guards! The city was well-guarded.
“Damn it! Couldn’t they have done this with all the cities? The Dynasty has a pond of cultivators, but they leave them in the capital! Tsk, soulless!”
Of course, one could complain endlessly, but Xie Qing was not here for that.
After asking several locals, he finally reached the teleportation formation. And…
“Oh fuck…” he cursed under his breath, looking at the sight in front of him.
A crowd! More than a hundred people were lined up here. The end of the line was almost a hundred meters away from the formation itself!
“A line… how I hate lines…”
If these were ordinary people, it would have been possible to use a temporary false identity certificate, but the problem was that there were also representatives of other sects here.
There was an option to reveal himself, but then the journey would have turned into hell. He wouldn’t even be able to catch his breath!
So, all he could do was stand in line. Hours passed…
“Ah, what beautiful birdsong… oh, what a beautiful sunset!” thought Xie Qing, and he twisted the corners of his mouth: “Indeed! Sunset! Damn, I hate lines!”
***
“Is everything all right with you?”
The cultivators in charge of teleportation looked puzzled at Xie Qing, who looked as if he had come from the battlefield.
Under his mask, he had a haggard face, he was all sweaty and felt exhausted and irritated. So, in response to the cultivator’s question, he simply waved his hand.
After a brief check of the token and payment, he was finally teleported.
“Finally… the Southern Continent… Now I want to study teleportation formations, so I can travel directly from home…”
Formations were very complex, especially the teleportation formation… so one could only wish him luck.
***
“Nauseous…”
Teleportation formations were expensive and just as uncomfortable. After this, no matter how strong you were, you would feel nauseous.
You could get used to it, but even so, there would still be obvious discomfort. Nevertheless, Xie Qing did not linger and yielded his place to other people who were waiting for teleportation.
Nanmei City – a city on the Southern Continent. It was home to the most luxurious beach, and thanks to its access to the sea, seafood was abundant.
The air here was slightly salty – if it could be described that way. The humidity was also higher.
It was currently the rainy season, and in a month or two, it would be the dry season, which would bring unbearable heat.
“Hahaha!”
“Stop running, Liupiao, I’ll catch up with you!”
“No, you won’t! Hahaha!”
“Little rascal, heh…”
Xie Qing narrowed his eyes. His hair was blowing in the wind, and the hem of his hanfu was swaying due to the gust of wind.
He looked at the laughing children, at the adults conversing. It was a warm feeling.
“Oh…”
He was a cultivator. And they were mortals. They did not have a long life, they were limited in their desires, and they often died without fulfilling their dreams and goals.
“Being mortals… I suppose their lives will be more interesting than mine,” thought Xie Qing, sitting on a free bench.
He was in the main square. In the center stood a fountain. High jets of water created the illusion that they would reach the heavens at any moment.
Even though the city was simple… Xie Qing felt an extraordinary comfort. But he also felt discomfort.
“But… this will disappear one day.”
A subtle sense of melancholy made him sigh. All these children, who now looked so innocent and laughed so happily, would one day grow up.
“And, growing old, they will die… leaving behind a cold corpse.”
A hundred years for a cultivator of his level was the same as a month. So, he could not be satisfied with such a short lifespan.
Xie Qing looked at the children and adults who were smiling brightly.
“Although I surpass them in strength… they surpass me in their inner world,” he thought and narrowed his eyes: “I wonder if, on the threshold of old age, I will also be able to smile, knowing that I will soon cease to exist?”
His eyes narrowed even more. He knew the answer to this question.
“No. I would never come to terms with it. I would do everything to live longer. Because I don’t want to die. I want to become a true immortal. To look down upon the world of mortals, to hold hundreds of thousands of worlds in my palm, and to control the life and death of all beings.”
He had unmistakable ambitions. As a cultivator, he also wanted to attain immortality. After all, it was for this that he became a cultivator.
Life is beautiful. Even if there is reincarnation, what is the point of living again without memories? And how long can he exist like that?
The day will come when he will tire of everything. And then only boredom will come. The world will lose its colors.
“Funny… I can’t surpass mortals. How funny. And how did I plan to become immortal with such a mindset?” he smiled at himself. In this solitary journey, he learned a lot: “Fear of wolves – don’t go into the forest. So should one fear Death?”
Xie Qing could not answer this question.
“Death is the end of everything or the beginning? Then is life the beginning of everything or the end? Then should one fear Death or Life? After all, in the end, they are somewhat similar to each other… then which Dao is correct? The Dao of Life or the Dao of Death?”
“Heh, it’s not in my spirit to think about such things…”
Xie Qing smiled and looked up at the bright sky.
“Hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years will pass. But the Heavens will remain unchanged… the only correct Dao is the Dao of Heavens.”
His eyes sparkled, and threatening Qi began to emanate from him. However, the young man managed to restrain its influence in time.
But when he blinked and looked forward, he saw that many of the residents had knelt and were trembling with fear, worshiping him.
“W-welcome, Immortal!”
“Hm…”
Xie Qing twisted the corners of his mouth. For the first time in so long, he was disheartened by the breakthrough.
And before he could relax, the guards rushed up to him. The strongest of them was at the peak of the Soul Nascent stage.
They looked at him with obvious hostility and pointed the spear tip directly at Xie Qing.
“Violator! You have violated the city’s law by using Qi! For this, you must go to prison for two years!”
“Pfft!”
Xie Qing snorted with obvious displeasure and stood up from his place. He narrowed his eyes and felt a strange sensation.
And in the same second…
“Kh-kh-kh…”
The strongest of the guards clutched his throat as an illusory hand appeared behind him and squeezed his throat, lifting him into the air.
“This is…”
Ding!
[A new technique has been learned…]
Ding!
[Expert Control] | [Rank: Elite] | [Description: A basic Dao technique that allows you to use Qi to control objects and even people. Under control means that you use the gravitational field to your advantage and move objects through space. The larger the object, the greater the consumption of Qi. And what the hell, you, freak, mastered it at the Soul Nascent stage? Abnormal!]
“Expert Control? So that’s what it was… this technique saw my thoughts and gently strangled this guard?” the young man was surprised, and then he smiled: “System, how I love to shock you.”
However, there was no time to admire. The other cultivators also began to rush over and interfere in the situation.
So, he snorted and retracted the technique. With a crash, the guard fell to the ground, clutching his throat. His face turned blue.
“So that you don’t behave arrogantly in my presence anymore. Understood?”
“Y-yes…” the guard barely croaked.
Xie Qing narrowed his eyes and walked past. No one dared to stop him, so he was able to continue on his way without any problems.
Everyone looked around. Expert Control was not an unfamiliar technique, and it was even widespread, but…
This technique could only be used by cultivators at the Spiritual Ascension stage. There were no exceptions.
And that was why everyone thought that Xie Qing was a cultivator at the Spiritual Ascension stage. And it was never wise to offend them.
***
“An amusing sight…”
Xie Qing looked curiously at the stone floating in the air and could not help but be surprised.
“Expert Control… this is damn convenient. In a battle with a crowd, I can simply sweep them aside. If I had unlocked this technique earlier, I would have shoved that beam up the Three-Legged Crow’s ass as quickly as possible.”
However, it was a sin to complain. He had already gained a good technique that could help him in the future.
Boom.
The stone fell to the ground, and Xie Qing’s breathing became heavy. He shook his head.
“I can’t control it for a long time. Well, no wonder it’s only mastered at the Spiritual Ascension stage. It requires too much Qi to control.”
To keep the stone in the air, Xie Qing had to drain 25% of his Qi. And on that guard, he spent almost all his Qi. Only a little was left.
So, if there was a battle, it would not have been easy for him.
“Ah! Bluffing is our everything… I need to use this technique more often in difficult situations.”
…although, knowing you, you will just use this technique to show off in front of women.
