Chapter 299: Missed Target, Board the Ship

Hongshi City!

On the broad street north of the City Lord's mansion, a massive carriage came to a stop.

Two people stepped down from the carriage.

One was tall and burly, with black hair but snow-white temples.

The other was a woman dressed in red.

This white-templed cultivator was naturally Long Yuan Dao Ren of the Qi Kingdom's royal family.

"Master, it should be here…"

The red-clad woman pointed to a shop sign by the roadside; the sign bore five characters: Grand Void Alchemy Shop.

"Hehehe… Grand Void Alchemy Shop—this is definitely it!"

Long Yuan Dao Ren nodded, then said: "Let's go… take a look inside!"

The Qi royal family had been hunting the Great Destiny-Bearing Ones, yet both suspected individuals had escaped capture.

One was Wang Dun, the other He Pingsheng.

Wang Dun had seen nine dragons—this had become an established conclusion within the royal family; as for He Pingsheng, after the Divine General Mountain incident, the royal family launched a series of investigations and ultimately confirmed He Pingsheng as the one who had taken the Spear Intent Crystal and the Tian Que Divine Spear from Divine General Mountain.

So Wang Dun was unquestionably a Great Destiny-Bearer.

Whether He Pingsheng was or not was unknown—but regardless, you took our royal family's Divine Spear, and this matter cannot go unaddressed.

"Welcome, guest…"

The one guarding the alchemy shop was Cheng Dao Cai.

Cheng Dao Cai greeted them with a respectful, beaming smile: "Honored guests, what would you like?"

Long Yuan's gaze swept through the shop, and he smiled faintly: "Your elixirs are quite well-made."

"Shopkeeper, is your owner named He Pingsheng?"

"He Pingsheng?" Cheng Dao Cai heard the name for the first time; he shook his head: "No, I don't know who you mean."

The white-templed cultivator smiled: "Let me rephrase—your owner, is he named Xu Kunlun?"

"Yes!" This time Cheng Dao Cai nodded: "Our Young Master is indeed Xu Kunlun. May I ask what favor you seek?"

Cheng Dao Cai could not sense the man's cultivation level, so he respectfully addressed him as "Senior."

He figured, whether or not the man was truly a senior, calling him so could never be wrong.

"Hmm…" The white-templed cultivator nodded: "Good… please inform him his old friend has come—ask him to step out and meet me."

Meanwhile, the white-templed cultivator extended his spiritual sense, scanning the surroundings.

He saw the small courtyard behind, but did not probe into the house within.

Cheng Dao Cai said: "Oh… what bad luck—our Young Master left a few days ago and is currently away."

"If you'd come a few days earlier, you'd have seen him!"

"Away?" The white-templed cultivator frowned slightly.

"Zheng…" At that moment, the red-clad woman suddenly flicked her hand, summoning a green flying sword; the blade extended three feet, its tip pressing against Old Cheng's throat.

Old Cheng trembled violently: "What are you doing… what are you doing?"

"I've never done anything wicked in my life—what are you trying to do?"

Cheng Dao Cai had never faced such a violent scene before; his heart raced in panic.

The red-clad woman said: "Call your Young Master out—or I'll cut your head off with this sword!"

"He's not here!" Old Cheng nearly wept: "Our Young Master really isn't home!"

"Enough!" The white-templed cultivator's spiritual sense swept the area, then retracted: "Hong Lian, stop—don't scare him."

"He's probably truly not here."

"Hmph…" Hong Lian snorted and sheathed her sword.

"Shopkeeper," the white-templed cultivator asked Cheng Dao Cai: "The Five Dragon Gorge Realm is about to open, correct? Your Young Master is at Foundation Establishment Level Eleven—logically, he should participate in the Five Dragon Gorge Realm, yes?"

Long Yuan was from the Qi Kingdom, yet he knew the local intelligence inside and out.

Cheng Dao Cai shook his head: "I… I don't know."

He truly didn't know.

He had no knowledge of how He Pingsheng had been targeted by Jingxin, or how he'd later gone to Tiannan City.

"Forget it."

Seeing he would get nothing more, the white-templed cultivator leisurely departed.

Hong Lian followed him out of the alchemy shop.

"Master… why not capture this shopkeeper and interrogate him?" Hong Lian said. "Wouldn't that be better?"

"No!" the white-templed cultivator said. "This isn't the Qi Kingdom, and even if we interrogated him, we might learn nothing."

This shopkeeper clearly knows nothing of the world—cowardly as a mouse—he's unlikely to be He Pingsheng's confidant, and he knows little of anything."

"But it doesn't matter."

"He Pingsheng is at Foundation Establishment Level Eleven—he's likely hit a bottleneck. Given his nature, he has no choice."

"So he will definitely participate in the Five Dragon Gorge Realm of Xishu Commandery."

"We don't need to search extensively—just wait at the entrance to the Five Dragon Gorge Realm in Xishu Commandery."

"Once we're there, he won't escape."

…

Meanwhile, in Tiannan City!

Half a month after He Pingsheng obtained the qualification token, the great ship bound for Xishu Commandery was ready to depart.

He carried the token to the Immortal Sword Plaza in Tiannan City.

On the plaza stood a massive immortal vessel.

The ship was entirely red, two hundred zhang long and eighty zhang wide.

Above it rose a towering structure, its rooms packed like a beehive, dense and countless.

Thousands of rooms in total.

This was the vessel transporting cultivators from Tiannan City to Xishu Commandery.

Each token allowed two people to board.

Of course, this was only for boarding.

Once in Xishu Commandery, only those with tokens could enter the realm.

Without a token, one could only wait outside.

"Ten spirit stones, please…" A dedicated staff member at the ship's base collected payment: "Ten spirit stones cover round-trip fees—five for going, five for returning!"

"After the realm ends, don't forget to wait at the same spot!"

The collector was a female cultivator, sweet-faced and with a pleasant voice.

He Pingsheng fished out a mid-grade spirit stone and handed it over, then took a payment tag and boarded the ship.

The tag bore a room number; he followed it to his room.

The room was small, but one zhang square.

Empty.

He Pingsheng had no interest in setting up arrays here; he simply laid out a meditation cushion on the floor, sat cross-legged, and waited for the ship to depart.

About half a day later, the ship rumbled upward, heading westward.

Xishu Commandery was still far from Nanlong Commandery, separated by six or seven major commanderies.

Thus, this journey was longer—four full days passed before they reached their destination.

Four days later, the ship slowed, drifting gently downward, finally landing on a vast plaza.