Chapter 249: Place of the second altar [II]
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Capital City. Xie Qing couldn't even imagine how to describe this place. Perhaps it was a developed city where evil spirits were used as food, and the local residents prospered?
Unfortunately…
All these assumptions were far from reality. Entering the capital city for the first time after a rigorous inspection, Xie Qing encountered a gloomy atmosphere and the sullen faces of the local residents.
A thick Negative Karma hung in the air. Xie Qing furrowed his brows in confusion. Why did all these people have expressions as if a disaster had struck?
When he asked one of the residents, the person looked at him strangely and shook their head in confusion.
"Is this your first time in the capital? Life here is so bad that people barely survive. Leaving the city is impossible. Once you're born here, you'll live here until the end of your life…"
"Is it that strict?" Xie Qing was puzzled.
Was there really a need to make life so difficult for their own residents? The passerby shook their head and returned to their work. Xie Qing did not bother them further.
Besides him, there were other tourists. This was evident from their expressions, which clearly stood out in contrast to the faces of the local residents.
Xie Qing continued to stroll through the city and visited its establishments to conduct a small investigation and understand the structure of the capital. To his great surprise, this place turned out to be much more mysterious.
"Formation? And such a strong one… wow…" Xie Qing was genuinely impressed.
From the perspective of formations, the one who built it was definitely an extraordinary person.
"Although… the formation itself is terrible," he thought, scratching his beard… ah, yes, now he looked like a bearded middle-aged man.
The purpose of the formation was to monitor the life of each resident and block their exit from the city. Such methods were too suspicious.
"I didn't see anything suspicious in the city residents… hmm?"
Xie Qing was lost in thought when he suddenly froze, feeling his blood boil. His black, obsidian-like eyes turned golden.
"This is… holy shi-"
Dragon Qi! Indeed, Xie Qing discovered that this energy flowed beneath the entire city!
"How did I not detect it?" Xie Qing wondered and looked at the formation. It had glimmers: "This… it absorbs Dragon Qi? Could it be…"
Xie Qing's eyes flashed with understanding. So, this formation automatically sustained itself. That's how it worked…
He crouched down. Around him appeared a simple but extremely effective formation, blocking curious gazes. He placed his hand on the ground, and his eyes sparkled.
Bvu-u-u…
A strange vibrating sound appeared, and the Dragon Qi first stopped, then began to flow into his hand. When the young man felt the powerful Qi flowing through his spiritual channels directly to his dantian, he couldn't help but smile.
"Hahaha! What luck! What a damn luck!"
***
"Hmm?"
Imperial Castle. Hao Shen sat on the throne. He suddenly felt a slight sensation, as if something was brewing.
The man's appearance was more human-like. He looked like an ordinary middle-aged man with white hair and red eyes.
His eyes flashed, and his Superior Spiritual Consciousness scanned the city. Not even an ant escaped his gaze. However, he still could not find the cause of this sensation.
"Did I imagine it? But how could that be?" Hao Shen wondered.
Recently, he had a lot on his plate. Considering the condition of Ma Lu, who was currently in a deep sleep and recovering, he had to take care of four forces – two sects and two dynasties.
Despite his subordinates helping him, it did not reduce the pressure. Hao Shen snorted.
While the man was lost in thought, someone entered the throne room.
"Your Majesty."
"Hmm?"
Hao Shen raised an eyebrow. The only one who could enter the throne room without permission was his assistant.
"Xiao He. What happened?" Hao Shen asked curiously.
Usually, this quiet-looking assistant never bothered him unless something serious was happening.
"The Sect of Bone Circle requests access to the altar, as their altar is currently… inoperative," Xiao He murmured.
"Huh? What the hell are you talking about?"
Although his assistant spoke in a rather quiet voice, Hao Shen heard him clearly, and his first reaction was annoyance.
"Seriously? Those bastards are so shameless that they dare to look at my altar? Pfft, they couldn't even protect their own altar. Why should I help them?" Hao Shen snorted in annoyance.
"…"
Assistant Xiao He, naturally, did not respond. He was just a servant and could not interfere in the affairs of the powerful. Hao Shen clicked his tongue.
"How annoying. Those bastards should just be incinerated. They can't do anything. And I told that bastard Ma Lu to clean up and make the sect more disciplined. But no, he didn't listen to my words and decided to do it his way – he ignored everything. Now there's a problem when only one altar is left…"
Hao Shen could barely contain his anger. Although he understood that in the end, he would still have to allow these people to use the altar, the situation itself angered him.
Building the altar had required so many resources that it was maddening. Building a second one was impossible. There were no more materials.
"What do you think, can we open the altar?" Hao Shen asked, narrowing his eyes.
"From a security standpoint, considering the recent incident, it is not impossible that there are spies among the disciples of the Bone Circle. Allowing them access to the altar would be dangerous.
However, refusing them directly is not an option, as it would only create internal conflict, which the enemy could exploit," Xiao He calmly replied and continued, not hearing anything from Hao Shen: "Following these facts, we need to postpone any use of the altar for about a year. This time should be enough for us to create a formation.
And using mysterious energy to power it, we can be sure that the chances of the altar being destroyed will be zero… but this is just an approximate estimate."
Despite his long and somewhat gloomy speech, Xiao He still expressed his concerns and proposed a good solution. Hao Shen's eyes flashed as he considered what his subordinate had said.
"You're right. Do you think you can build a good formation that can withstand the attack of a cultivator at the peak of Divine Transformation?" Hao Shen asked and smiled.
Xiao He bowed, then calmly said,
"Of course."
***
Xie Qing contentedly rubbed his belly, although it was somewhat out of place. He had finished absorbing Dragon Qi. If he could purify it, he would likely make another breakthrough.
All the Dragon Qi in this area had been depleted. Xie Qing tried to make his actions less obvious. His knowledge of formations, which he had studied in his free time, helped him in this.
"I wonder if there is Dragon Qi in other places as well?" Xie Qing licked his lips.
If he could absorb it all… that would be wonderful. It would help him remove the effects of the formation and make a series of breakthroughs at the same time.
"But…" Xie Qing licked his dry lips and shook his head: "I shouldn't be greedy. The sudden disappearance of Dragon Qi would arouse Hao Shen's suspicions. With his sharp senses, he would easily notice it. And I don't need that right now."
Currently, Xie Qing's primary task was to find a place to spend the night. He did not stay in the city and went beyond its limits. Only then could he breathe a sigh of relief.
Setting up camp ten miles from the city, the young man began to cultivate. As expected, the Dragon Qi had a much stronger effect than Superior Qi and was the most suitable for him.
Inside his dantian, there were two energies: Superior Qi and Dragon Qi. One was trying to absorb the other, so they swirled around each other. But… there were no results yet.
The reason was simple. Xie Qing's cultivation technique was suppressing them, forcing the two incompatible energies to restrain each other. Of course, there would come a time when Dragon Qi would replace Superior Qi.
But that time was still far off. Xie Qing understood that his cultivation level was not quite up to this task.
After two weeks, Xie Qing opened his eyes, which gleamed with a golden light and then dimmed in the same instant. Standing up, the young man rubbed his neck.
"Sixth stage of Spiritual Ascension…" he said in a calm voice, as if it were something ordinary.
Although in reality, he could barely contain his happiness. Xie Qing couldn't help but smile.
"This is a damn gold mine."