Chapter 41

Li Youyi looked back worriedly and, confirming that Li Ling hadn't followed, relaxed slightly.

The bronze ship, the Golden Crow remains, and the black dragon remains were all treasures; if she found out, she might move the entire Cang Li tribe and all the experts of the Nine Li Tribe over.

But he was also secretly puzzled and vigilant: why didn't Li Ling dare to chase after him?

A place as terrifying as the Passing Spirit Mist Domain, she dared to traverse back and forth; one absolutely couldn't judge her by the standards of a normal teenage girl.

"Only forward, no retreat; why think so much? In this coffin sea, I haven't encountered any danger."

Li Youyi jumped off the plank road and rushed into the endless floating coffin "land."

The bloody and decaying smell became even stronger.

The location where he had landed was different from the coffin dock, and he could only find the general direction of the bronze ship now. At the same time, he didn't have Li Ling's fear, feeling that the Blood Sea Coffin Dock only looked gloomy and terrifying, but was actually very calm and peaceful.

Therefore, after rushing out for dozens of miles, he shouted the names "Zhao Meng" or "Old Liu" (Liu Bing) into the mist.

He kept changing directions and positions, continuing to shout.

Half a day later.

Li Youyi didn't know how far he had left the shore; every shout received no response, and he felt less and less confident, very worried that the bronze ship had already set sail again and gone to a more distant place.

If that were really the case, what would the scientific expedition team members on the ship, who lacked food and water, do?

What would his senior brother do?

Another half day passed, and Li Youyi had probably left the shore by nearly two hundred miles.

Floating coffins were endless, and the gloomy mist was thick.

He felt the whole world was lifeless; there were no living things except himself, and he felt unprecedented panic, with messy thoughts and no idea what to do. The bronze ship might... really have sailed far away.

From the gloomy mist in the distance came a familiar voice: "Youyi, is that you?"

"Brother Youyi, it's me, Qin Ke."

Li Youyi, who was resting temporarily on a four-meter-long jade coffin, was greatly encouraged and rushed toward the direction of the voice at the fastest speed.

Before long, the floating coffin shook violently on the water, and a huge figure appeared in the mist.

That figure was two stories tall, with a head as big as a water vat, a mouth as big as a plate, and legs thicker than Li Youyi's body, full of explosive power.

He had a full beard and wore only a pair of patched shorts, walking with great momentum.

In his left hand, he held a white underworld banner, which, when shaken, caused scriptures to float and light to scatter for dozens of zhang. In the palm of his right hand, he held an old blue-and-white jar, like an urn.

"Haha!"

The meeting of the senior and junior brothers was naturally joyful, and the two stopped a zhang apart.

Zhao Meng's laughter was like thunder, his voice extremely loud.

Li Youyi was dumbfounded, having to lift his head high to see Zhao Meng's face, both happy and incredulous: "Senior brother... what's the situation? How did you grow so tall?"

"This is nothing; who knows how much I'll grow in the future. I'm on a path of continuously swallowing the blood of ancient immortal beasts; my constitution is very unusual, oh."

Zhao Meng was six meters tall, his skin close to gold, his arms covered with some black dragon scales, and he carried many bottles and jars on his back.

The underworld banner in his hand was over three meters long, with nine skulls with red gems embedded in their eyes at the top, each skull spitting out a white banner filled with scriptures that couldn't be understood.

Li Youyi had seen this underworld banner in the tomb sea stele forest on the bronze ship, stuck on top of a grave.

How did his senior brother manage to activate it?

"Senior brother, did you cultivate magic power... that is, open the spring eyes?" Li Youyi had told Zhao Meng how he opened the springs on the bronze ship, and Zhao Meng had also practiced the Jade Void Breathing Method for many years; it wasn't strange that he could open the spring eyes in a short time.

"Opening the springs isn't that easy; do you think everyone has your talent? Master said my talent only reaches your knees."

Zhao Meng glanced at the underworld banner in his hand, saw the doubt in Li Youyi's heart, and explained: "It glowing has nothing to do with me. Did you find land? Where is Gao Huan?"

"Of course I found it, but that's a long story..."

Hearing the movement, Li Youyi cast his gaze behind Zhao Meng.

Qin Ke, holding a foot-high spirit tablet in both hands, and Old Liu and Old Guan, carrying a stone coffin, walked out of the mist one after another.

Old Liu and Old Guan were members of the engineering and technical group, but Li Youyi couldn't recognize them at all. One had drunk Golden Crow blood and grown a huge bird head. The other had drunk black dragon blood and grown a dragon head covered in black scales.

Two mutants!

Li Youyi didn't see anyone else coming and asked puzzledly: "Where are the others?"

"They are all on the ship and have already left."

Zhao Meng's expression was very relaxed, not worried about their safety at all, and he sat down, telling Li Youyi in detail about what had happened on the bronze ship over the past two days.

Li Youyi listened intently, with many curiosities in his heart, and interrupted halfway to ask: "Did the owner of the bronze ship appear?"

"Not exactly; anyway, I didn't see His true body. After the Golden Crow blood and black dragon blood were baptized by the immortal radiance energy, everyone could drink them. Drinking one drop meant not being hungry for days, and physical strength would increase. The scientific expedition team members won't starve to death; they follow the owner of the bronze ship and might become extraordinary existences in the future."

"He," representing mystery, awe, and the unknown.

Zhao Meng's eyes suddenly became serious: "But it's not all good news! He issued a decree, letting the owner of the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish... well, that is you, reach the Longevity Realm as soon as possible. There is one thing you must do; His time is already very tight."

Li Youyi was stunned, then couldn't help but laugh: "What do you mean?"

Zhao Meng said: "It seems our sect promised Him something, planting a cause and effect that needs the owner of the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish to undertake and fulfill. I don't know the specifics, but anyway, when your cultivation reaches the Longevity Realm, He will come to find you, and you'll know then. If all else fails, we senior and junior brothers will carry it together."

"I don't even know what the Longevity Realm is yet," Li Youyi laughed.

An old, hoarse voice sounded: "Spring-Gushing Realm, Five Seas Realm, Dao Seed Realm. The fourth major realm that follows is the Longevity Realm. Little boy, you should rejoice; being able to form a cause and effect with the owner of the bronze ship, being able to do things for Him, and having Him send the three of us to be your guides—you don't know how many people would envy this opportunity and treatment."

Zhao Meng had learned the language and characters of this world from the senior sister and was more familiar with them than Li Youyi, so he could understand what the old voice meant. He nodded desperately; even he felt that the owner of the bronze ship was a person of great power, and doing things for Him was equivalent to having a backer in this foreign land.

Even if this backer had just awakened, seemed to have very important things to do now, and seemed to look down on their insignificant selves, there was just a feeling of having a big tree supporting them overhead.

Li Youyi searched for a long while and found that the old voice was actually coming from the urn in Zhao Meng's hand.

Looking at Zhao Meng, he whispered: "Another evil entity?"

"Ordered by the owner of the bronze ship, I will be your guide on this magic-martial path from now on." The lid of the urn jumped, and the voice sounded accordingly.

In the spirit tablet in Qin Ke's hand, a middle-aged woman's voice sounded: "I am your guide on the Spirit Mind cultivation path."

In the stone coffin carried by Old Liu and Old Guan, a low, restrained voice said: "I am more miscellaneous; I know a little bit of everything, and I am responsible for planning your cultivation path. Two years for Spring-Gushing, three years for Five Seas, five years for Dao Seed; you must reach Longevity within ten years. Ten years, you only have ten years!"

"You can take it as the decree of the owner of the bronze ship, or as a transaction, but don't ignore it. Because, ten years later... or a little longer, the things that will happen will also affect you and those around you."

Li Youyi touched the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish with his finger, instantly thinking of many things, his expression gradually becoming serious, realizing that his senior brother, the owner of the bronze ship, and these three evil entities didn't seem to be joking.

And it seemed there was no possibility of shirking or refusing.

He was indeed still ignorant and vague about cultivation, with too many unknown things.

If he had a famous teacher to guide him, he would naturally be begging for it.

But...

He had too many questions in his heart.

Li Youyi cupped his hands and asked: "May I ask how the three seniors should be addressed?"

The old man in the jar said: "The three of us were once famous figures on this land, but now I only have a jar of ashes, they are a couple—one only has a remnant soul residing in the spirit tablet, the other only has a remnant corpse. If it weren't for the owner of the bronze ship, we wouldn't even be able to retain this last bit of remnant soul consciousness. So, in this down-and-out state, let's not mention the past."

The middle-aged woman in the spirit tablet said: "Agreed."

"Agreed," the voice in the stone coffin also said.

The old man in the jar added: "Just call me Senior Jar."

"Senior Spirit Tablet."

"Senior Coffin."

All three reported their names.

Were they this easygoing and down-to-earth?

They were completely different from Chan Hai Guan Wu and Yu Tuonan.

Perhaps it was the will of the owner of the bronze ship.

Li Youyi's gaze swept over the urn, the spirit tablet, and the stone coffin one by one, and he asked directly: "Do the three seniors know what the cause and effect between the Chan Gate and the owner of the bronze ship is? Why must I reach the Longevity Realm as soon as possible? And why is there only ten years? I heard that ten years is only enough for a cultivator with top-tier talent to open four springs."

"Then how many springs have you opened now?" Senior Jar asked.

"Three springs."

"How long did it take?"

Li Youyi said: "Less than half a month!"

"There you go; what top-tier talent, what bottom-tier talent? You are different; you are the person the owner of the bronze ship has taken a fancy to," Senior Jar said.

Senior Coffin in the stone coffin had a voice that was always unhurried: "No, my view is different from his. Li Youyi, you are not the person the owner of the bronze ship has taken a fancy to; you can only be yourself. Only when a cultivator understands what they want and what they seek can they gradually forge an unwavering Dao heart in the long cultivation ahead. So, what the cause and effect is doesn't actually matter to you right now."

Li Youyi pondered deeply.

Senior Coffin continued: "I'll just ask you two questions: what are you pursuing at this stage? What do you want? Don't rush to answer; let's return to the Lingxiao Living Realm first."

Li Youyi's lips moved, but he didn't answer immediately, wanting to think it through first.

The group walked toward the shore.

Zhao Meng was also pondering these two questions, but his mood was very relaxed: "Anyway, at this stage, I just want to find the senior sister; she must be a person from this world."

Half an hour later, Li Youyi recovered from his thoughts, thinking of Li Ling who might still be at the coffin dock, and thinking of Shi Jiuzhai and his disciples who might be blocking the Dragon-Slaying Mouth.

"Since the three seniors know the Lingxiao Living Realm, I assume you were all people from here before you died. Do you know if there is any other way to go back besides the Passing Spirit Mist Domain at the coffin dock?" Li Youyi said.

Senior Jar was very active and laughed: "You asked the right person! No one knows the Blood Sea Coffin Dock and the Passing Spirit Mist Domain better than Senior Coffin; he is the Nine Li..."

"Shut up."

The voice in the stone coffin sounded: "Is there any danger at the coffin dock?"

"Danger is hard to say, but I want to avoid it as much as possible," Li Youyi said.

The voice in the stone coffin: "There is another way, but it's a bit of a detour. Next, I will borrow the Nine Emperor Banner to identify the direction and lead the way. The one holding the banner, walk in front!"

The Nine Emperor Banner was the white underworld banner in Zhao Meng's hand; the red gems in the eyes of the nine skulls could provide it with secret energy similar to magic power. The scriptures and light emitted from the banner pointed out the direction for everyone.

They were too far from the shore, and they had been walking very fast, but when the sky turned completely dark, they still hadn't reached land.

Finding a floating coffin area blocked from the cold wind by a giant coffin with stable ground, they prepared to rest for the night first.

Following Senior Coffin's guidance, Zhao Meng stuck the white underworld banner in his hand into the gap between two coffins. This banner could suppress souls, and the area covered by its light was safe from passing spirits; it was a treasure from Senior Coffin's lifetime.

Li Youyi took food from the Evil Camel Bell and distributed it to everyone.

Just after eating.

"Bang! Bang..."

The blue-and-white urn jumped out from the corner: "It's time to cultivate! Everyone together. You, Li Youyi, stop thinking about Old Coffin's broken questions; you're just thinking about profound, ethereal things. Realistic things are the most important. You must open the fourth spring eye as soon as possible. All of us are counting on you for protection now; don't let just any five-spring or six-spring expert come along and wipe us all out, let alone talk about the Longevity Realm."

Li Youyi said: "Senior, opening a spring eye shouldn't be something you can just do; it has to be done step by step."

"Bullshit! With the vigorous blood energy of Golden Crow blood, with your Chan Gate supreme breathing method, and with my guidance, there is no danger in the first four springs; with your bloodline and talent, you can break through easily. However, there is a certain danger in the fifth spring, and you have to go to a giant city in the prefecture to get a spring-opening needle to open it quickly."

Senior Jar was impatient and started to act, directly beginning to guide Li Youyi to force open the fourth spring in the center of his left palm.

(End of chapter)