Chapter 46

Over the next few days, while Li Youyi and Zhao Meng cultivated, they also diligently studied the language and script of this world, wanting to master them completely as soon as possible.

As they drew closer to Licheng, the Suihe River grew wider, resembling a calm lake, with passenger tower ships, painted pleasure boats, and massive warships passing by like a thousand sails crossing a border.

After nightfall, every ship hung bone lanterns or lanterns painted with images of court ladies; the lights reflected on the water, the sky was filled with twinkling stars, and the water surface was alive with song and dance—a scene of prosperity and peace.

The entire Suihe River runs through the north and south of the Lingxiao Habitat, its main channel flowing through the lands of seven provinces. Because of its numerous tributaries and lakes, it is rich in aquatic resources and convenient for transport, with an influence reaching over a dozen provinces.

Thus, the behemoth known as the Sui Sect came into being. It clears the Suihe basin of dangerous entities like baleful demons, departed spirits, and river bandits, making navigation smoother and more developed, while also controlling the discourse on waterborne transport and trade, earning vast amounts of silver.

Centuries have passed, and the Sui Sect has leapt from being a mere trade and transport assistant under the banner of the Li Zu to becoming a giant, major sect of the Lingxiao Habitat, its power and prestige even faintly suppressing the Li Zu.

At this moment, Li Youyi and Zhao Meng stood by the railing on the bow deck, looking out; many of the ships' wind flags bore the character "Sui." The passenger tower ship they were on was no exception.

Li Youyi asked, "What are you thinking about, Senior Brother?"

"The great river flows east, washing away the ages; the romantic figures of history are all to be seen in the present," Zhao Meng said with great passion.

Li Youyi smiled, "Is that a poem?"

"That's about the gist of it! Youyi, as men, we must get ahead. In this world, we have to accomplish something great. How about we build up the Chan Gate to be even bigger than the Sui Sect? When the time comes, if the Eldest Senior Sister hears the name of the Chan Gate, who knows, she might even come looking for us herself," Zhao Meng said.

Li Youyi said, "That makes sense, but we must first gain a firm foothold in this world."

"Rumble!"

"Splash!"

The wide river surface began to churn violently, waves surging.

A baleful demon, resembling a giant python or perhaps a green dragon, swam rapidly on the river surface, occasionally surfacing or lashing its tail. Its body was locked in dense iron chains, with scriptures flickering upon them; the other end was connected to a brightly lit, luxuriously decorated warship.

Before long, it caught up, sailing side-by-side with the passenger tower ship Li Youyi and the others were on, just two or three zhang away.

Observing closely at short range, the python-like, dragon-like baleful demon in the water was over twenty meters long, as thick as a water barrel, with a broad green fin on its back and a powerful aura. On the ship opposite, there were crowds of attendants and servants, and the maids wore brightly colored clothes with intricate embroidery.

"Is this a dragon?" Zhao Meng’s eyes held no fear, but rather a look of great interest.

He was in dire need of dragon blood.

"It is a Green Chi; the dragon blood in its body is very thin."

Li Ling walked over along the corridor. Her injuries were mostly healed, and she had changed into new clothes, wearing a jade hairpin. In the eyes of the passengers on the ship, she looked like a fairy descended to earth, and they all watched from afar.

On the luxurious ship three zhang away, a man and a woman walked onto the deck and waved at her.

"Sister Li Ling... it’s me, Yang Yun!"

"Whoosh!"

Magic Qi surged from the young man’s body, and with a leap, he stepped through the void, crossing the distance of three zhang and landing steadily on the ship where Li Youyi and the others were.

Yang Yun was only a year older than Li Ling, wearing brocade robes that looked frighteningly expensive, but he was by no means a fop; the Magic Qi he had just released was far more formidable than that of Yan Qingqing or Fang Tong.

His face was full of joy, making no effort to hide the happiness in his heart, and he said excitedly, "When Qingxi and I heard in Yao Guan that you were injured, we drove the Green Chi day and night to catch up, and we finally did. Thank heaven and earth, seeing your good complexion now, I assume your injuries are no longer a major concern."

Li Youyi ignored the pleasantries and the reunion, his gaze drawn to the woman on the opposite ship who possessed a pure immortal body.

She was a bit older than Yang Yun and Li Ling, and taller, lacking the childishness of a boy or girl. Her clothing was exquisitely embroidered and woven, imprinted with scriptures, with a water-blue ru skirt draped over a light green inner garment.

Of course, what attracted Li Youyi was not her beauty or temperament, but her unfathomable cultivation base.

Just watch.

With a flick of her finger, strands of white Magic Qi clouds built a cloud bridge between the two ships. Then, amidst the river breeze, she crossed the bridge lightly, slowly, and gracefully, stunning countless people on the surrounding ships; surely they would all have a good dream tonight.

Yang Qingxi walked up to Li Ling, and her eternal, iceberg-like beautiful face finally melted, saying, "You’re already injured, why are you still out here blowing in the cold wind? How do the servants in your family look after their master?"

Her gaze fell somewhat sternly on Zhao Meng and Li Youyi.

Although Zhao Meng was huge, in this world full of deformed human species, there were all kinds of creatures, and the Yang siblings did not show the slightest surprise because of this.

Just like that twenty-meter-long Green Chi, it was only fit to pull their ship.

Li Youyi did not want to explain too much and was about to leave with Zhao Meng. But Yang Yun was too enthusiastic; hearing that they were Li Ling’s servants, he immediately took out Spring-Gushing Coins and gave one to each of them.

This was equivalent to ten thousand copper coins!

With such generosity, the two naturally found it hard to refuse, and after accepting, they thanked him repeatedly.

"What is there to thank for? It’s just two Spring-Gushing Coins. Some time ago, when I broke through the eighth spring, the Fengfu, the rewards from the sect, the family, and the provincial governor's office added up to fifty thousand silver coins. Although it’s a little less, it’s a free gift, so why not take it?" Yang Yun laughed.

"That is the logic."

Li Youyi and Zhao Meng naturally agreed repeatedly, quickly stowing away the Spring-Gushing Coins in their hands, and then left the deck quickly.

In the corridor, they met Zhao Zhizhuo.

"Why are you two so happy?" Zhao Zhizhuo asked curiously.

"Hurry up and go pay your respects to your Fourth Young Lady; I guarantee you will be very happy too."

Having said that, the two laughed and walked away.

After laughing, they soon fell into silence, no longer having their previous high spirits.

Instead, they felt that they were the most ridiculous ones.

A mere sixteen or seventeen-year-old youth had already opened eight springs, his cultivation far above theirs. In this world, there are too many geniuses and too many experts; it’s no wonder others treat them as household servants.

Perhaps other people's servants are even stronger than them.

So-called superior talent might just be the threshold for cultivating law and martial arts.

Zhao Meng said, "I hope that one day, we can also use Spring-Gushing Coins to reward servants at will. Only then can it be considered that we truly have status and dignity."

On the bow deck, Li Ling smiled, "Your Sui Sect is really well-informed. I only appeared briefly in Yao Guan, and you already knew my exact whereabouts."

Yang Yun said, "Sister Ling is injured; what a major event this is. Of course, the people below have to report it to us."

Yang Qingxi knew that Li Ling had more to say and did not want to continue talking about this matter, so she asked, "I heard that you encountered an attack by the Buddha-Crossing Thieves during your coffin-salvaging trip this time. Was your brother injured?"

"If Sister Qingxi wants to be my sister-in-law, you’ll have to put in more effort recently; it seems my brother has someone he likes," Li Ling blinked her eyes and smiled.

They didn't stay together for long before Yang Qingxi and Yang Yun said their goodbyes and returned to the Green Chi ship.

Yang Yun originally didn't want to leave and wanted to travel with Li Ling, but was forcibly taken away by Yang Qingxi.

The next morning.

Just as Li Youyi got up, Zhao Zhizhuo came to visit and told him that they would arrive at Licheng by noon at the latest.

Standing by the railing and looking out, on the riverbank, a mountain range always stretched across the west bank of the Suihe River, with peaks standing like a forest, covered in clouds and mist, like a thousand-mile wall supporting heaven and earth.

When the river channel was close to the mountain range, it was pitch black, as if it were about to collapse over them.

When the river channel was far from the mountain range, one could see the peaks layered one upon another, very steep and deep.

Zhao Zhizhuo said, "The Mangshan mountain range is the western boundary of Lizhou. It is said that in the mountain range, every peak is the tomb of an ancient emperor. The saying of the Mangshan Imperial Tomb Group comes from this."

"Crossing the Mangshan mountain range is the endless Realm of the Dead; that is a forbidden zone for life... at least for humans."

Li Youyi had some understanding of the Realm of the Dead; it was said that the realm had no boundaries, so vast that even experts in the Longevity Realm could not reach the end.

"Doesn't that mean Licheng and the Realm of the Dead are only separated by a Mangshan mountain range?" Li Youyi found it hard to understand why Licheng was built in such a dangerous place.

"It wasn't like this before! A thousand years ago, the Li Zu ruled over the nine provinces, and the entire Lingxiao Habitat was as vast as three hundred provinces. The number one person in Lingxiao, Chan Hai Guan Wu, was an existence that could deter the Realm of the Dead. It was that world-destroying catastrophe that caused ninety percent of the Lingxiao Habitat's land to be swallowed by the Realm of the Dead, and now only twenty-eight provinces remain," Zhao Zhizhuo sighed and was unwilling to say more.

Returning to the cabin, Li Youyi asked about the remains in the stone coffin and the senior of the spirit tablet.

After hearing this, both fell into a long silence.

They also didn't know the reason; when they left, the Lingxiao Habitat was still fine. Clearly, they had not expected the current situation either.

Before the passenger ship reached the pier, Wu Xiu riding exotic beasts or flying birds would come to investigate from time to time on the shore and in the sky, coming and going constantly.

Cang Li was already waiting at the pier.

Most of the young talents who accompanied him were children of powerful families, outstanding students of Daoist academies, and proud daughters of sects, all driving exotic beast treasure carts, looking to Cang Li as their leader.

The first genius of the Cang Li tribe in a thousand years was definitely not an undeserved reputation. Breaking through nine springs with a pure immortal body and entering the Five Seas Realm, such talent and such cultivation speed, if placed in those ten-million-strong families or sects, would definitely be the "First Successor" or "Second Successor" representing the family or sect in the world.

Such a young, influential figure naturally had countless followers in Licheng.

The so-called ten-million-strong families and sects refer to those that have been passed down for at least a thousand years, possess at least ten thousand Fa-Wu Xiu with superior talent, and must also possess ten million people who can be directly influenced; all three conditions must be met.

(End of chapter)