Chapter 77

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Protagonist:

Shen Yao

Shen Yao had basically never heard much about the Fu Family's situation from Fu Hengyan's mouth.

Therefore, when Fu Hengyan said this, she could understand — after all, the Shen Yao of the previous life had made her way out of the Imperial Palace; the deep palace inner courtyards and the high gates of mansions were all the same cutthroat scheming.

Smiling, she took hold of Fu Hengyan's wrist and lightly pointed at Fu Zeyu, whose mouth corners were twitching, "Yu'er is more active than Ze'er, and has more little movements day to day; who knows how lively it'll get here once they can walk and jump."

Right now they're well-behaved, but that's only because their infant bodies can do nothing but lie temporarily on the wooden bed and let people handle them.

If they were changed into children who could take simple care of themselves, and moreover possessed cultivation and boundless energy, Shen Yao didn't dare imagine how explosive that scene would be.

After all, back then Shen Yao had raised the young Xiao Jin and the others; no matter how obedient their natures, they couldn't hold back a child's innate heart that loves to play and make trouble.

At that time, Xiao Jin and the others had baskets of palace servants attending them, yet they still wore Shen Yao out with a sore waist and aching back, going to sleep late and rising early, exhausted to death every day.

Only when they grew older and understood a few things did Shen Yao finally relax.

Fu Zexuan and Fu Zeyu — Shen Yao turned her head and leaned against Fu Hengyan's shoulder, acting coquettish, "When the time comes, I'm afraid it'll be even more hard work for you, Cheng Qi; you're the children's father, and your cultivation is high, so you'll surely be able to discipline them properly."

As for her, a mother whose cultivation is at most Qi Refining, she can only offer some verbal support.

Fu Hengyan: ……

Fu Hengyan dotingly patted Shen Yao's shoulder, "Xuan'er and Yu'er are very well-behaved."

Shen Yao merely smiled without speaking, thinking to herself: you think they're well-behaved now, but wait until they grow up — it won't be that simple.

Relying on Shen Yao's once incomparably rich child-rearing experience, the more obedient and adorable a child is when young, the bolder their ability to cause trouble when they grow up.

Fu Hengyan doesn't believe it now; he'll suffer the consequences later — but they're all his own flesh and blood, and a bit of roughhousing is what constantly deepens their bond.

Cultivators' concept of blood ties is relatively weak; since there's an opportunity to deepen their bond, Shen Yao is still very happy to see it happen.

……

The days on the flying boat were novel at first, but as time went on they became extremely boring.

The ones coming to attack the flying boat were basically all Golden Core stage demon beasts; occasionally a few Nascent Soul stage ones would come to join the fun, but they were all driven off by Fu Hengyan and Zhao Shichao joining forces.

A sword cultivator paired with their natal flying sword can fight across levels; unless some Nascent Soul great demons have exceptionally strong physical bodies, Luochen Zhenjun wouldn't make a move — at other times, Luochen is just a mascot's existence, placed there to be seen but not used.

"Cheng Qi, how much longer do we have?"

Shen Yao came out from the flying boat and walked to the ship's deck to gaze into the distant mountain ranges.

She thought crossing the Demon Beast Mountain Range would be much better; who knew that on this route from Beizhou to Dongzhou, besides mountain ranges there were still mountain ranges underneath.

Occasionally there were some swamps and lakes, but more were continuous stretches of mountain ranges that couldn't be seen to an end.

Layer upon layer, luxuriant green, no head in sight, no tail in view.

"The flying boat has been traveling for nearly two months; in another two months we'll be able to see the Dongzhou boundary.

The Tianjian Sect is located in the central heartland of Dongzhou; if we want to arrive smoothly, it'll still take several months."

Fu Hengyan didn't state a specific time, because Dongzhou is more prosperous than Beizhou.

To give an analogy: Beizhou counts as a remote small city, while Dongzhou is the capital where the four seas come to pay court.

The Tianjian Sect's prestige in Dongzhou is illustrious, but the other six sects aren't mere decorations either.

Dongzhou is divided into sixty-four commanderies; each commandery is one-fifth the size of Beizhou.

Among the sixty-four commanderies, the Tianjian Sect exclusively occupies ten, together with the Xuandao Sect — leader of the Mysterious Dao — monopolizing the top position.

The two characters 'Xuantian' in the Xuantian Continent are the exclusive characters of these two sects.

As for the other five sects, from eight commanderies down to five, they collectively occupy thirty commanderies.

The remaining fourteen commanderies are jointly administered by the other sects of Dongzhou.

There have even been cases in Dongzhou where a single commandery was divided among multiple small sects.

This is also unavoidable; the path of cultivation is inherently cruel — otherwise where would the talk of defying heaven and changing fate come from?

Compared to the Beizhou where Shen Yao is, the competition is intense by not just half a point.

Whether it's a major sect or a minor sect, as long as one takes a slightly wrong step, the resources in one's hands will directly change owners.

Fu Hengyan initially thought Luochen Zhenjun bringing the entire Lingyun Peak lineage to Yunwu City was overly solemn, precisely because although Dongzhou is peaceful overall, the various struggles inside never cease.

Lingyun Peak is one of the Tianjian Sect's main combat forces; these people also grew rapidly in constant struggle — coming alone to Yunwu City for several months would affect their cultivation.

Hearing it would still take several months, Shen Yao couldn't help feeling heartsick and sighing, "So far."

The cultivation world really is big — and this is the result of piloting the flying boat at full speed.

If a person were thrown into those towering mountains and steep ridges below, they'd likely never walk to Dongzhou in this lifetime.

Can this limited life of mine really properly tour the Xuantian Continent?

Shen Yao had a moment of lacking confidence, but she quickly withdrew the thought.

What's there to fear? Even if in the end I can't finish touring the Xuantian Continent, I'll first set a small goal: the ten commanderies under the Dongzhou Tianjian Sect — simply touring a round shouldn't be hard, right?

Several months' time is hard to endure, but if I go into closed-door cultivation it passes very well.

Whenever looking after the two children got a bit annoying, Shen Yao would hand the children to Fu Hengyan and turn around to enter a short seclusion.

At minimum a few days, at most half a month.

Occasionally, if there was something she didn't understand in cultivation, she could also consult a few seniors with profound cultivation.

Even when Sun Ruoxue wasn't busy making medicine and refining pills, she would still chat some gossip with Sun Ruoxue.

Just like that, before long, two months later, the flying boat smoothly returned to Dongzhou.

Between Dongzhou and Beizhou, there separates a transparent water curtain as high as the sky.

The water curtain wasn't easily noticed; it was only when the flying boat drew near and made contact with it, and the water-silk ripples from the collision of the two sides spread open, that its true form was revealed.

"This is..." Shen Yao frowned, having never heard of it.

Fu Hengyan said, "It's a Boundary Wall, though now only a ruined version remains. At the boundary where the Xuantian Continent connects to Xuanwei Heaven, and where the Cultivation World connects to the Mortal Realm, such transparent Boundary Walls appear."

It is a checkpoint; only those who can pass may enter, otherwise they can only stop.

It's just that the lands of the several continents of the Xuantian Continent were long ago opened up by the seniors.

Nowadays, this Boundary Water Curtain serves more to distinguish between continents.

After all, the division of continents is more about control over resources.

Once the boundaries between continents are unclear, wars are easily triggered.

War is a direct means of plundering resources; in earlier years, the Xuantian Continent was not as clearly divided as it is today.

All were results of fighting; the lands of the five continents—southeast, northwest, and center—are merely the fruits of causes from early years.

After explaining to Shen Yao, this transparent water curtain was right before their eyes.

In the blink of an eye, Shen Yao passed through the water curtain, stepping from Beizhou into Dongzhou.

Turning around to look at the Boundary Wall that had already disappeared behind her, Shen Yao felt that indeed there was no sensation.

Not even a feeling of discomfort, as if she had simply taken a very easy step across.

While Shen Yao was in a daze, two streaks of bright light suddenly flew toward them from ahead.

To call them bright lights was more that the flying magic artifacts were moving too fast, causing them to emit lights of different colors, related to their own spiritual root attributes.

"Junior greets Fu Zhenren."

The two who arrived were young Taoists dressed in Daoist Robes, with Foundation Establishment cultivation, looking respectfully at Fu Hengyan.

Fu Hengyan nodded slightly, "We have returned from Yunwu City in Beizhou and are returning to our sect."

The slightly younger-looking of the two Taoists casually took out a Jade Slip.

The Jade Slip lit up for an instant and then quickly faded, and the faces of the two Taoists also turned tense.

"Juniors did not know Luochen Zhenjun was also present; please forgive our rudeness, True Monarch."

"It's nothing."

Luochen Zhenjun's concise words came from inside the Flying Boat.

"Fu Zhenren, the relevant information has been verified. Please take your time, True Person; juniors take our leave."

After speaking, the two Taoists flew away quickly, as if someone were chasing them away.

Shen Yao watched the whole process, and the Flying Boat beneath her continued forward.

"Enforcers at the Boundary Wall?" Judging by the method, entering and exiting continents requires reporting.

Fu Hengyan made an affirmative sound, "They are disciples of the Seven Great Sects responsible for it; the people of the Tianjian Sect are all on the south side."

Oh, I see.

Shen Yao raised her eyebrows, feeling that some of the handling methods of the Cultivation World were not much different from the Mortal World.

The only extra variable was that one side had Spiritual Energy to cultivate and lived longer; the other could not cultivate and had a lifespan of a hundred years, coming and going in a hurry.

After the Flying Boat entered Dongzhou, Shen Yao saw more scenes.

Like when they encountered some large cities, Luochen Zhenjun would have Fu Hengyan take Shen Yao out for a walk.

Shen Yao:... Seriously suspecting that Luochen Shifu just wanted to monopolize the two children, so he sent their biological parents away with an excuse.

But this was also fine; bringing children was fun, but, emmm, Shen Yao had raised too many children; even if they possessed Spiritual Roots and cultivation, they were still children who couldn't speak and only cried and fussed based on their moods.

Even because of their cultivation, Fu Zexuan and Fu Zeyu's destructive power was unexpectedly strong.

Even the wooden beds they slept on could be crushed by the Golden Spirit Power unintentionally released.

Shen Yao was forced to ruin several sets of clothes, and Fu Hengyan was even more miserable; even his Natal Flying Sword did not escape the fate of being taken as a toy.

Now that Luochen Zhenjun wanted to take the children alone to enjoy himself, Shen Yao naturally agreed wholeheartedly.

Pulling Fu Hengyan away in a puff of smoke until they were out of sight, Shen Yao was in high spirits on the road, not minding even if the time spent queuing to enter the city was a bit too long.

The city they came to this time was called Floating Light City, located within Floating Brocade Commandery, and along with Si Jin City, they were the two facades of Floating Brocade Commandery.

As the name suggested, the buildings inside and outside Floating Light City were all gorgeous and beautiful.

Even the cultivators and mortals passing by on both sides of the street were all dressed in Feather Clothing.

It was like some large clothing exhibition; Shen Yao only looked a few times and was already very tempted.

A light magic technique fell on Shen Yao's head, making her feel cool and refreshed for a while.

With her gaze returning to normal, Shen Yao looked up at Fu Hengyan, who was smiling beside her, "Was that an Illusion Technique just now?"

She actually felt a bit bewitched; fortunately, a Clear Spirit Technique let her return to normal.

Fu Hengyan nodded, pulling Shen Yao into an old-fashioned Tea House, "It's the Illusion Array of Floating Light City; everyone entering the city is affected to varying degrees."

Waving his hand to call Little Two for tea, Fu Hengyan set up a Soundproof Barrier, "Those clothes are a specialty product of Floating Light City and have the effect of resisting the Illusion Array."

Shen Yao thought of her inexplicable desire for clothes, "Need to buy?"

Fu Hengyan handed her the tea, "Depends on your intent;" if not buying, he also had ways to avoid the Illusion Array.

The Illusion Array of Floating Light City had existed since ancient times and had already been restricted quite a lot; now only someone like Shen Yao, who was entering Floating Light City for the first time and had no guard against it, would be affected.

Shen Yao made the decision, "Then buy some;" not to mention the clothes' inherent effects, purely speaking of their gorgeousness, it suited her aesthetic very well.

Seeing this, Fu Hengyan raised his eyebrows and said nothing, just carefully refilling the tea cup that Shen Yao had already drunk more than half of.

"... Hey, did you hear? The Young Valley Master of Cold wind Valley and Immortal Maiden Ya Ning of Ziyun Sect have separated."

"Separated? Weren't they said to be holding a Dao Companion Ceremony? I was planning to go join the liveliness."

"Zheng Xiong, you actually have connections to go join the liveliness at Cold wind Valley; I admire you."

"Tsk, just luckily got a blank Invitation, can only watch from outside; can't compare to those great clans and major sects."

"I heard that this time the various Immortal Maidens of Ziyun Sect and Hunyun Sect will all be present, especially Immortal Maiden Rou Xue of Hunyun Sect, truly rare to see."

"Who says otherwise; Immortal Maiden Rou Xue, since her Promotion to Golden Core, no longer easily shows her face."

"I truly wish to witness Immortal Maiden Rou Xue's peerless beauty; it would make this life not lived in vain."

"Hush, silence. How could Immortal Maiden Rou Xue be someone you can wildly fantasize about..."

"Why not? Immortal Maiden Rou Xue doesn't have a Dao Companion; everyone has a chance..."

Shen Yao raised her head, single hand supporting chin, gaze playful as she looked toward the few people not far away who were about to come to blows.

Hmph, so the cultivation world also has this kind of jealous rivalry over affection.

An eye-opener, an eye-opener. Hunyun Sect is precisely Ziyun Sect's backing, and also one of the Seven Great Sects of Dongzhou; the sect's female cultivators are the majority, its force spread across the whole of Dongzhou.

Turning her head, gaze somewhat narrow as she looked at the silently unresponsive Fu Hengyan, "Cheng Qi, does Tianjian Sect also have female cultivators from Hunyun Sect and Ziyun Sect?"

Fu Hengyan nodded, "There are some, not many; they are all Outer Disciples. Inner Sect and Personal Disciples prefer to keep company with the sword."

Tianjian Sect's ability to dominate Dongzhou relies on its own combat power.

In reality, Tianjian Sect's people are not many, but sword cultivators are all fierce figures who can fight a hundred alone.

Sometimes, having more people does not represent being able to occupy absolute advantage.

Shen Yao laughed lightly, "I thought there would be quite a few." After all, Hunyun Sect and Ziyun Sect can be called the best Dao Companion training bases.

Fu Hengyan left spirit stones to settle the bill, stood up and led Shen Yao directly out the door, "Sword cultivators who start a family are few; if not for meeting you, I might also have been one of them."

Fu Hengyan truly had no thoughts in this regard; one can only say Shen Yao happened to be at the right place at the right time, and that incense pill also played a pushing role.

Nowadays the two people have even given birth to a child; Fu Hengyan even plans to return and hold a Dao Companion Ceremony; speaking of these things now is a bit untimely.

"Perhaps my appearance brought a certain degree of trouble to Cheng Qi."

After all, it required changing his own plans, letting a clear-as-day future undergo change.

Fu Hengyan smiled, his expression full of tenderness, "This kind of trouble, I like very much."

Compared to changing plans, he is more fortunate that back then he chose to keep Shen Yao.