A dark glint appeared in Xu Qing's eyes.
He wasn't unfamiliar with this Sea Ghost Organization.
When he was in the Seven Blood Eyes, he lacked spirit stones and had killed many wanted criminals. Among them was Sun Dewang from the Sea Ghost Organization.
The other party had lost completely in Zhao Zhongheng's gambling den, causing Xu Qing to have no gains other than the bounty on his head after killing him.
It was also at that time that Xu Qing knew that there were a large number of pirate organizations on the Forbidden Sea. They were mostly made up of people who were expelled from the various sects, islands, and races.
Most of them had no choice but to join the pirate organizations and were active on the Forbidden Sea.
There were many large pirate organizations, and one of them was Sea Ghost.
The dozen or so figures walking over from the foot of the mountain emitted the same cultivation fluctuations as Sun Dewang. There were even four among them who clearly emitted stronger fluctuations.
The feeling Xu Qing got was that they were at the Perfected Qi Condensation Realm.
Moreover, since they were all people who lived on the edge of a knife, their murderous aura was very intense, much more intense than the people Xu Qing had seen in the scavenger campsite.
Xu Qing stared at the 16 figures of the Sea Ghost Organization. He watched as they rapidly approached. When they reached the basin, a sense of intimidation spread out from all the surrounding cultivators.
Clearly, the reputation and strength of the Sea Ghost Organization caused everyone to instinctively feel a sense of rejection.
However, these cultivators from the Sea Ghost Organization didn't seem to care about the cultivators here at all. Most of their expressions were cold and sinister, and there were even some who couldn't be bothered to hide their malice.
They even swept their gazes over Xu Qing and the old man from Panquan Road coldly.
It was as though no one here was worthy of their attention.
However, they didn't attack immediately. Instead, they found an area and sat down. One of them raised his head and coldly looked around before speaking slowly.
"You guys can scram now. If you don't, then from now on, you can only watch and not fight for the sea lizard skins. Otherwise… you'll die."
His voice was filled with dense killing intent that spread in all directions. Everyone fell silent.
This scene caused Xu Qing to fall into deep thought. He had already made some guesses from the behaviors of the others. Now that he combined it with the Sea Ghost that had arrived, he realized that something special was going to happen on Sea Lizard Island.
"Should I leave first?"
Xu Qing fell silent. After sensing the cultivation fluctuations in his body, he made the decision. He directly stood up and left.
His speed was so fast that he almost instantly arrived in the distance.
His departure caused the surrounding cultivators to cast sidelong glances at him. The old man from Panquan Road was even more surprised.
"Did this kid really leave?"
Many cultivators from the Sea Ghost Organization also glanced at Xu Qing's back but didn't mind.
Just like that, Xu Qing descended the mountain at full speed and stepped into the jungle without stopping at all. An hour later, his figure appeared on the beach.
With a wave of his hand, the magic boat appeared and fell into the sea. He leaped up and stepped on the magic boat.
The instant he landed on the magic boat, Xu Qing took a deep breath and sat down cross-legged. His hands formed a seal and the magic boat's protective barrier was activated. As the sea surface churned, the plesiosaur formed by his spell also swam at the bottom of the sea and was on guard.
Xu Qing then glanced at the Sea Lizard Island. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes.
His vigilance and wit didn't decrease because of the smooth harvest on the island, nor did it weaken because of the increase in his cultivation base and strength. His personality was as usual.
Therefore, when he was about to break through, he didn't arrogantly choose to stay on the island to advance.
There was a high chance that it was safe to do that and he had a lot of poison powder that could give a miserable death to those who got close to him. Moreover, he himself was very strong.
However, there was no need for that.
He had seen some similar things in the slums. There were too many examples of people giving opportunities to their enemies because of their momentary arrogance and negligence.
Similar to how he wanted to destroy everything that threatened his life, Xu Qing wouldn't create an opportunity for others to attack him.
This was the law of survival in this chaotic world.
Some people would slowly forget this point because of their strength. However, Xu Qing's experiences since he was young were engraved in his bones, so he wouldn't.
Now that he was in a safe environment, Xu Qing closed his eyes and his cultivation base erupted as he began to break through.
At the same time, beside the basin at the top of the mountain on Sea Lizard Island, as Xu Qing left, the poison here decreased a little. This caused many cultivators to heave a sigh of relief in their hearts.
However, the words of the Sea Ghost Organization when they arrived became a strong threat, causing all the rogue cultivators here to feel stifled. However, they didn't seem to be willing to leave and were hesitating to make a choice.
There were also some who chose to leave after some hesitation.
Very soon, dusk arrived.
The instant the sunset descended, fog slowly appeared between the sea and the sky in the distance.
This fog was thin and permeated the surroundings. It was as though an invisible god was breathing. It lingered above the Forbidden Sea and rolled in all directions.
Fog wasn't rare in the Forbidden Sea, so even if someone saw it, they wouldn't pay too much attention to it. It was only when an astonishing fluctuation suddenly spread out from the surface of the sea in the direction of the shore that many cultivators quickly looked over.
The instant they looked into the distance, the spirit energy on the shore emitted even stronger fluctuations.
Endless spirit energy churned in all directions at this instant and surged toward a magic boat on the surface of the sea.
The range was so large that it covered a total of 600 feet in the blink of an eye. Moreover, it continued to expand and instantly reached 890 feet.
This wasn't the end. Due to the sudden influx of spirit energy, a huge vortex formed on the sea with Xu Qing's magic boat as the center.
The vortex rumbled and the seawater churned like a lantern in the dark night, attracting the attention of everyone on the many mountain peaks on Sea Lizard Island.
Numerous gazes gathered over, and the sound of sharp inhaling could be heard from every mountain.
"Someone actually broke through here?"
"The feeling of breaking through… is a little strong!"
As for the cultivators at the basin, regardless of whether they were rogue cultivators or the Sea Ghost members, they were all shocked at this moment. They stared at the vortex on the distant sea and their hearts trembled.
"It's that Seven Blood Eyes' disciple who left earlier!"
"He actually broke through!"
Xu Qing couldn't hear the discussions of the cultivators. At that moment, his entire body was shaking. The spirit sea in his body was the same as the vortex outside, 890 feet high.
It was as though there was another world in his body that overlapped with the world outside his body.
Under the overlapping, Xu Qing's body trembled even more intensely. His entire body emitted a piercing purple light and his breathing became hurried. As his cultivation base circulated, the instant the spirit sea in his body broke through the last ten feet and reached 900 feet, the vortex in the outside world also expanded abruptly to 900 feet.
At this moment, the inner and outer seas synchronized and transformed into rumbling thunder that continuously erupted in Xu Qing's mind.
He broke through to the eighth level of the Sea Transformation Art and stepped into the ninth level!
Under this eruption, the spirit sea vortex in his surroundings expanded again. 910 feet, 920 feet, 930 feet…
The expansion of the spirit sea vortex outside guided the spirit sea in his body to expand as well.
This scene was something Xu Qing hadn't encountered when he was cultivating previously. This was because his current breakthrough was in the Forbidden Sea. It was different from when he cultivated on land before. The spirit energy here was even denser.
The range was still expanding.
940 feet, 950 feet, 960 feet…
When the vortex in the outside world reached a range of 970 feet, the spirit sea in Xu Qing's body also erupted and synchronized to a range of 970 feet. In an instant, the fluctuations of the ninth level of Qi Condensation completely erupted from his body.
The surface of the sea within 970 feet of him was affected and instantly churned, rising high into the air.
It was a shocking sight.
Xu Qing's eyes suddenly opened.
The purple light continued to linger in his pupils for a few breaths. Just when it was about to dim, an even stronger fluctuation emitted from Xu Qing's body once again.
The shadow of the Ba appeared behind him, and it roared at the sky like a malicious ghost with violence and cruelty, causing the nearly 1000-foot-long surface of the sea that was churning intensely to show signs of burning.
It turned into a sea of fire.
When this roar spread in all directions, the Ba shadow behind Xu Qing sucked forcefully like a whale swallowing. Immediately, the 970-foot-long vortex of fire headed straight for the Ba shadow's mouth.
It instantly swallowed them all.
As it swallowed the vortex of fire, the Ba shadow trembled intensely. Under its dry and cracked skin, a red glow flickered and continued to deepen. It was as though it was filled with magma.
Finally, the light spread out, forming a dazzling light that enveloped the surroundings. At the same time, a dense fire power also rose from Xu Qing's body!
This wasn't a strange transformation of water into fire. This was a bizarre fusion of water and fire because within the flames, there was also a stream of water formed by the aura of the Forbidden Sea!
It was only at this moment that Xu Qing's breakthrough was truly completed.
The purple light in his eyes disappeared and he slowly stood up, standing on the magic boat. The strength of his aura and the sharpness of his gaze caused the hearts of everyone who saw it to tremble fiercely.
This was especially so for the cultivators around the mountain peak basin. All of them were panting as though they were facing a great enemy.
Xu Qing's breakthrough was too astonishing and this gave them immense pressure. The shock was even greater for those cultivators who had seen Xu Qing make a move earlier.
One had to know that Xu Qing was already very powerful to begin with. Now that he had broken through, they could imagine that with such an existence, everyone's harvest this time around would probably be very little.
The old man from Panquan Road also widened his eyes. He was stunned for a moment before he suddenly whispered to the large snake beside him.
"Why don't you go and seduce this kid? I think this kid isn't simple. Why does the ninth level of Qi Condensation give me the feeling that he's even more ferocious than a Foundation Building cultivator!"
These cultivators' breathing suddenly paused. This was because… they saw Xu Qing step onto the island again. His speed was faster than before and he transformed into a ray of light, returning once again!
Xu Qing had once again appeared outside the basin, carrying with him a fiery aura.
He ignored everyone and expressionlessly returned to the tree crown. Just like before, he sat cross-legged.
However, this time, his figure attracted the attention of all the cultivators of the Sea Ghost Organization. Their expressions were solemn and there was faint fear in their eyes.
Although the manifestation of strength had pros and cons, in the current environment, the pros clearly outweighed the cons.
Xu Qing was using his actions to tell the Sea Ghost not to provoke him.
Your words about forbidding others from snatching the sea lizard's skin… are ineffective against me.