Chapter 88: Jade Plaque Rain

Li Yuanling furrowed her brow, glancing at Li Muxian with doubt.

“If we don’t fight them, what other way is there to seize the jade plaques?”

At these words, Li Muxian spread his hands.

“Of course, this is the way.”

As he spoke, the wooden boat they were on suddenly accelerated toward the lake’s center.

Simultaneously, sharp whistling sounds erupted across the dark underground lake.

Then Li Yuanling’s eyes widened as slender afterimages shot toward them from the surrounding darkness.

When those afterimages reached the airspace above their boat, they lost all momentum and plummeted straight down.

They became a rain of jade plaques, clattering onto the boat with a steady “clink-clink” sound.

Instantly, Li Yuanling froze in place—until jade plaques kept striking her head, jolting her back to reality:

“This is a fortune from heaven!”

She leapt up from the cushioned seat and hurriedly bent to gather the jade plaques on the boat.

As more and more plaques piled into her arms, her pretty face flushed with excitement, like a greedy little treasure hunter.

Meanwhile, around the underground lake, every other wooden boat erupted in a chorus of startled cries.

“My jade plaque!”

“My jade plaque is gone…”

“What’s happening? Why did my jade plaque suddenly fly away?”

…

The middle-aged man in green robes, who had already been urged by his young master to use martial qi to steer his boat away from Li Muxian’s, finally relaxed once he’d put sufficient distance between them.

He bowed to the young master before him.

“Young Master, please remain here. I’ll go seize more jade plaques.”

Hearing this, Song Zimo nodded slightly, then frowned and added:

“Next time, use some sense—just take the jade plaques. Don’t keep blowing out other boats’ candles. I don’t want to be scared half to death again.”

The green-robed man’s eyelid twitched, but he immediately nodded in agreement.

Though it was clearly his own master who had ordered him to extinguish others’ candles, he would never dare contradict him.

At that moment, the green-robed man’s expression suddenly changed.

Three jade plaques he had tucked into his robe shot out violently, then flew toward the darkness.

Seeing this, he reacted instantly, channeling martial qi into his palm and lunging to snatch them.

But the plaques moved too fast—he didn’t even brush their afterimages before they vanished into the endless dark.

…

On a nearby boat, the sword-wielding middle-aged man and the martial giant had just repelled attackers trying to steal jade plaques.

Now they prepared to steer their boat away from Li Muxian and Li Yuanling.

But before they could move, the jade plaque belonging to the sword-wielding man, and the one the giant had just taken from an attacker, suddenly flew from their hands.

Despite their martial cultivation, neither reacted in time—they only felt an invisible force yank the plaques away.

The force was too strong, too swift; the plaques slipped from their grip in an instant and disappeared into the black night.

“What just happened?”

The sword-wielding man and the giant stared at each other, bewildered—until cries of alarm erupted from surrounding boats.

Only then did they realize this wasn’t happening to them alone.

After a moment of silence, the sword-wielding man suddenly turned his gaze, almost unconsciously, toward Li Muxian’s boat.

He knew the man was no ordinary cultivator—he wanted to see if the same thing had happened to him.

The next moment, he froze in place, utterly stunned, speechless on the boat.

What had he seen?

On Li Muxian’s boat, the candle burned with a dim yellow glow—but through its light, the sword-wielding man could scarcely believe his eyes: a “rain of jade plaques” was falling.

One by one, jade plaques kept falling softly, seemingly endless—as if every jade plaque on every boat in the underground lake had gathered above them.

“What’s wrong with you? Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”

The martial giant noticed the sword-wielding man’s expression and was puzzled.

He followed the man’s gaze—and froze in place, blurting out involuntarily:

“This is fucking terrifying…”

…

Meanwhile, Li Yuanling, who had been ecstatic while gathering jade plaques, now hugged a pile of them and looked up, shouting:

“Stop it, stop it—I can’t pick up any more!”

Li Muxian glanced at her and the growing pile of plaques on the boat, then nodded slightly.

The next instant, the whistling sounds around the boat vanished, and the jade plaques falling from above ceased.

Li Yuanling sat down on the cushioned seat, clutching the jade plaques, grinning broadly.

As she laughed, silence slowly settled over the air.

Soon after, she slowly lifted her head and looked at Li Muxian.

Her smile had vanished; her gaze rested quietly on him as she whispered:

“I never thought you were this powerful.”

She reached out a hand holding jade plaques, wiped her suddenly reddened eyes, and forced a small smile:

“If Lady Yi knew you were this strong, she’d be so happy.”

Then she lowered her head, staring blankly at the plaques in her hands.

Li Muxian said nothing.

After a while, he slowly shook his head.

“Little sister, you’ve already gathered so many plaques—this isn’t the time for sadness. You need to pull yourself together.”

Li Yuanling pouted, wiped her eyes twice more, and slowly smiled again.

“You’re right.”

She gathered all the jade plaques on the boat into a pile, then nodded in satisfaction:

“If we’re not first, then this floating city is rigged.”

Li Muxian nodded lightly and spoke plainly:

“I’m after that divine artifact. I hope this floating city doesn’t make me waste my trip.”

“Wait—you just said one thing, and all the jade plaques flew over? How powerful must your martial cultivation be to do that?”

Li Yuanling waved her hand toward the sky, mimicking jade plaques falling, looking puzzled:

“If you’re already this strong, why do you even need the divine artifact to improve your cultivation?”

(End of Chapter)