Chapter 411: Boating on Billowing Sky River on a Rainy Night

Su Yi glanced at the exuberant Qing Ya, but in the end, he still refused and led Yuan Heng away.

This left Qing Ya momentarily stunned.

It was only after watching Su Yi and Yuan Heng fade into the distance that the pretty young woman returned to her senses. She slumped in dejection and muttered, “Master, do they dislike us?”

Ling Yunhe instantly felt sorry for her, and he hurriedly tried to comfort her. “How could they? It seems to me that the yao cultivator’s master still has a grudge against us, and he’s displeased about our earlier misunderstanding. Furthermore, we just happened to bump into each other. We’re neither friends nor acquaintances. It’s perfectly normal for him to refuse to travel with us.”

“Oh,” said Qing Ya. She thought for a moment, then said, “So that’s it! Argh, and here I thought pursuing the Dao meant I didn’t have to learn the ways of the world. Who would have thought that relationships between cultivators were this complicated too?”

Ling Yunhe couldn’t help but smile bitterly.?You call this ‘complicated’? Girl, it’s your first time leaving the mountain. You’re just too naive.

He took a plump, ripe Fire Peach from his sleeves and passed it to her. “Here, eat something.”

Qing Ya whooped, then grabbed the peach and dug in. Her pretty face filled with exultation and pleasure.

“There’s no problem a peach can’t solve,” she said with her mouth full. “If one peach won’t fix it….”

“Eat another one,” said Ling Yunhe seriously.

“Right!” Qing Ya smiled, her eyes like twin crescent moons.

Ling Yunhe smiled too, and his expression filled with doting and affection.

.

When it came to cultivation, his disciple was extraordinarily talented. She was a little monster, the kind you only saw once in a thousand years.

She was unequaled throughout the Great Qi’s younger generation, and none in the sect’s eight hundred years of history could compare with her.

The only thing that worried him was that Qing Ya’s temperament was too simple and pure. She wasn’t completely guileless, but she didn’t understand worldly affairs or the darkness of the human heart. Now that she’d left the sect to temper herself, this made her vulnerable.

She was now headed to the Great Xia, but Ling Yunhe couldn’t rest assured about sending her on her own. Thus, he decided to accompany her himself.

“Master, was that yao cultivator’s master really that amazing?” chirped Qing Ya.

“Yes,” said Ling Yunhe after a moment’s thought. “Or at least, the refinement of his soul power far surpasses his cultivation.”

As he said that last part, his expression was somewhat grave. “Just now, for instance, not even I could sense him drawing near.”

Qing Ya batted her eyes and exclaimed, “That’s really incredible!”

“Haha, when we arrive in the Great Xia, you’ll realize how many amazing people there are in the world. There’s no shortage of experts more impressive than that yao cultivator’s master,” laughed Ling Yunhe.

“Really? Then let’s get going! I’ve been looking forward to the Orchid Terrace Dharma Assembly for ages!” Qing Ya’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.

Master and apprentice immediately set off.

…..

The next morning, after sunrise.

Grassy Creek Village.

When little Cao An awoke from her slumber, she felt comfortable and full of energy. She climbed out of bed and walked through the door.

Her big brother, Cao Ping, was standing not far away, looking up at the doorway in a bit of a daze.

Cao An looked up and saw red paper hanging over the doorway. There were four characters written on it.

“Big Brother, what does that say?” she asked curiously.

She was young, and had never attended school, so she didn’t recognize the characters.

“Peace is a blessing,” murmured Cao Ping. “That immortal-like expert left it for us. I only just finished pasting it over the doorway. The more I look at it, the better I feel. Like I’m enlightened, somehow, and full of energy.”

“Peace is a blessing….” Cao An repeated the four words, then suddenly realized something. She beamed and said, “Big Brother, you’re Cao Ping, and I’m Cao An. Together, ‘Ping’ and ‘An’ mean peace. Immortal Big Brother is wishing us peace and safety!”

“Mm!” Cao Ping was happy too.

Before long, some of the older villagers passed by their simple, crude courtyard, and their gazes were unwittingly drawn to the words written on the red paper hanging above the doorway.

“Who wrote that? I feel comfortable just looking at it!” One of the village elders sighed with appreciation.

Quite a few others nodded. At a glance, there was nothing special about those four characters, but looking at them was calming and joyful.

“Cao Ping, how about you sell that calligraphy to me? I’ll trade you a pig for it,” said the village butcher with a grin. He spent his days slaughtering livestock, giving him a baleful aura. Over time, his temperament had become increasingly ferocious, too.

However, when he first saw those characters from afar, he felt a rare, unprecedented sense of tranquility, and he felt comfortable all over.

“Immortal Big Brother gave that to us! There’s no way we’ll sell it!” shouted Cao An.

The crowd couldn’t help but laugh; they obviously saw her words as nothing but a child’s joke. Before long, the group dispersed.

They lived in a remote mountain village. No matter how much they liked that line of text, they were more concerned about firewood, salt, and other daily necessities.

None of them could have guessed that on that day, the destinies of the impoverished orphan siblings, Cao Ping and Cao An, would quietly start to change.

…..

Seven days passed in a flash.

The Great Chu, Billowing Sky River.

It was late at night and raining continuously.

A black boat floated on the vast surface of the river, the raindrops splashing against its awning.

Su Yi casually sprawled out in his wicker chair. The little clay stove beside him was heating a jar of wine.

The rain poured down, pitter-pattering against the surface of the river, and the faint aroma of wine permeated the cabin. It was refreshing and soothing.

“The ‘Xuanwu Overlord Seal’ only has nine moves, but each contains enough profound subtlety to last you a lifetime,” said Su Yi languidly as he admired the overcast river scenery.

“Earlier, I described the subtleties of the Overturning Mountains Seal, the Treading Oceans Seal, and the Height of Summer Seal, one by one. For the rest, you’ll have to rely on your own hard work.”

“With your foundations, if you can fully process these three moves’ secrets and practice them until you can use them naturally, you’ll be strong enough to contend with that Gathering Stars cultivator, Ling Yunhe, even if you’re still only in the Grain Avoidance Realm.”

He then removed the heated wine jar from the stove, filled his cup, and drained it.

Yuan Heng was so excited that his hands trembled.

After they left Floating Immortal Ridge, Su Yi started instructing him in the Xuanwu Overlord Seal. He’d already introduced the first three moves in thorough detail.

With Yuan Heng’s perceptiveness, he could naturally tell how terrifying these techniques would be in battle. They were far from ordinary.

“Thank you for your guidance, Master!” Yuan Heng knelt and kowtowed in gratitude.

“Get up,” said Su Yi. His eyes suddenly narrowed, and he gazed toward the distant surface of the river.

A massive treasure ship floated into view. It was illuminated with colorful lanterns, its radiant light dispersing the darkness of the night sky.

It was several hundred feet high, with grand towers and numerous figures on deck. It seemed they were having a banquet; the sound of laughter and conversation emanated from afar.

From time to time, they heard pipa, zither, and flute music, which seemed intended to boost the banquet’s atmosphere.

“Master, I can sense a lot of cultivators on board!” exclaimed Yuan Heng.

As a golden softshell turtle, his senses were particularly clear here on the water. He could immediately sense that numerous cultivators were clustered on board, so many that they produced radiant phenomenon in the skies surrounding the massive ship.

“That treasure ship is an Origin Dao treasure, and the strongest aura on board should belong to a Gathering Stars Realm cultivator.” How mighty was Su Yi’s divine sense? He’d naturally long since noticed the ship too. He could even discern that there was a Gathering Stars expert on board.

“The Great Chu really isn’t simple. No wonder it's one of the top five strongest nations on the Azure Continent,” sighed Yuan Heng.

Su Yi nodded. The Great Chu’s cultivation world was indeed exceptional.

After arriving within the Great Chu’s borders, he did some investigating, and he acquired quite a bit of useful information.

There were a full thirteen factions of cultivators in the Great Chu!

Furthermore, while the exact numbers varied, all of them had Gathering Star Realm cultivators to hold down the fort!

The strongest cultivators in the Great Zhou, Great Wei, and Great Qin were only in the Origin Palace Realm.

It was only after leaving the Great Zhou that Su Yi learned that, by the standards of the Azure Continent, only those nations that were home to Gathering Stars Realm experts considered big countries.

Those nations without Gathering Stars Realm cultivators were considered tiny and remote.

There were over a hundred countries in the Azure Continent, but the Great Chu’s cultivators were so strong and abundant that it was the fourth strongest nation in the world!

From this, it was clear how mighty the Great Chu’s cultivation factions were.

Those ranked above the Great Chu were, in descending order of strength, the Great Xia, the Great Han, and the Great Qi.

“Master, someone on that treasure ship just scanned us with their divine sense,” Yuan Heng suddenly said gravely.

“You can ignore them.” Su Yi picked up on this divine sense too, but he thought nothing of it.

When their little covered boat passed the well-lit treasure ship, they saw an indistinct figure leaning over the railing and staring down at them.

She was a lavishly-dressed, charming woman with her thick hair worn up. Her eyes were as bright as twin stars.

Yuan Heng’s gaze flickered with cold light. That divine sense had just swept over them once more, but this time, it landed on him.

It obviously belonged to the lavishly-dressed woman.

“Fellow Daoists, you’re both unfamiliar faces. I can guess you’re not from the Great Chu. Since we were fated to meet here on Billowing Sky River, why not come on board for a chat?”

The lavishly-dressed woman’s raspy, cloying voice was clearly audible even within the black awning boat.

Yuan Heng glanced at Su Yi, who shook his head. Yuan Heng then said, “Many thanks for the invitation, but my master and I had best hurry on our way. We won’t disturb your festivities.”

The lavishly-dressed woman smiled but said no more. She just silently watched their little boat disappear into the curtain of rain.

“That woman was really strange. Just now, she looked at me as if she’d spotted prey. And here I thought there was some ulterior motive behind her sudden invitation. Who’d have thought that in the end, she’d do nothing at all?” Yuan Heng furrowed his brow.

“She’s lucky she didn’t try anything,” said Su Yi calmly.

As soon as he said this, the Soul-Nurturing Gourd hanging from his waist trembled slightly.