Chapter 178: Within the Borders of Frost Water.

Several days later.

Zhao Yan ultimately chose not to stay in the Fang Manor. He followed Fang Chen and Xu Ge back to the capital city.

Upon reaching the capital, they met up with Li Daoye, Xia Yu, Liu Suifeng, and Zhantai Qingxuan.

Li Daoye looked puzzled, pointing at Xu Ge and Zhao Yan. "Are you... taking these two with us?"

Xia Yu and the others also expressed some disapproval, considering the potential dangers they might face on this trip. Bringing martial artists along might be more of a burden than a help.

Fang Chen smiled. "They're just tagging along to the Frost Water Empire."

Li Daoye understood. "Oh!"

Xia Yu hesitated for a moment, then said, "Senior Brother Fang, the Frost Water Empire’s most powerful martial artist is at the peak of the Earth Profound Stage..."

"Xu Ge is at the Qi Manipulation Stage, and he’s about to advance to the Core Qi Stage. This journey is a good chance for him to gain some experience. As for Zhao Yan..." Fang Chen showed a smile, “you don’t need to worry about him, he's already at the peak of the Earth Profound Stage."

Xia Yu was surprised. "Peak of the Earth Profound Stage?"

Ever since Xia Yu became a cultivator, he’d come to realize that the peak of the Earth Profound Stage was roughly equivalent to the eighth level of the Qi Refining Realm. It was just that, because internal qi was inherently weaker than spiritual energy, martial artists appeared somewhat weak compared to cultivators, but that wasn't to say that martial cultivation was easy, at all!

That was why everyone couldn’t help but suspect that Zhao Yan had come from an eighth-tier empire. They just couldn’t understand how Fang Chen had managed to find such a high-level expert.

Li Daoye chuckled. "Interesting. I've never had the chance to spar with someone at the peak of the Earth Profound Stage."

Boom!

With just a light lift of his hand, Zhao Yan pressed Li Daoye to the ground with an endless stream of internal qi. If it weren't for the spiritual energy that had wrapped itself around him, he would’ve probably had his bones shattered to bits.

Xu Ge was quite the one to take pleasure in the misfortune of others, and he couldn’t help but gloat, "I told you not to talk too much. Brother Zhao is the second most talented martial artist in Grand Xia, second only to the lord. No one in Grand Xia can compare to him."

Zhao Yan withdrew his internal energy with a smile. It was only now that Li Daoye was able to crawl back up. His face was full of reluctance. "You ambushed me! if I had had enough time to prepare, I wouldn’t—"

"—you wouldn't win against him. Even going for a draw will be very difficult for you." Fang Chen laughed. "Your cultivation is too low. If you raise it by a level or two, you might have a chance against him."

Li Daoye closed his mouth sullenly. "Forget it."

"It's getting late; let's set off," mouthed Xia Yu softly.

Liu Suifeng and Zhantai Qingxuan also nodded. They wanted to get there early and find out what was going on.

It was then that Fang Chen asked, "Do you guys know the Sword Manipulation Technique?"

"..."

The three looked at each other, shook their heads silently, then looked at Fang Chen. They were surprised; did Fang Chen know the Sword Manipulation Technique?

Fang Chen’s lips rose to a slight curve. "Well, I don't know it either."

***

Half an hour later, they left the capital on their horses toward the Frost Water Empire.

With the boost of spiritual energy, even ordinary horses could travel thousands of miles a day, and they didn't even need to sleep at night. Of course, it would consume a lot of spiritual energy.

Xia Yu and the others discovered that Fang Chen could not only enhance his horse with spiritual energy, but he could also do the same to the horses of Xu Ge and Zhao Yan.

In the end, it was Li Daoye who was the source of the headache throughout their journey. He frequently found himself out of spiritual energy, forcing everyone to stop and rest so he could recover.

Several days later.

Xia Yu took out the map, glanced at the surrounding scenery, and nodded. “We’ve finally inside the borders of the Frost Water Empire, brothers."

"How far are we from our destination, Senior Brother Xia?" asked Liu Suifeng.

"Let me see..." Xia Yu carefully examined the map and tried to gauge the distance left. He was surprised to notice that their destination wasn’t far from the capital city of the Frost Water Empire.

Xia Yu was somewhat suspicious. "Could it be... that the Frost Water Empire has produced cultivators before?"

"That’s hard to say." Zhantai Qingxuan revealed a strange look. "Now that I think about it, a Spiritual Marrow appeared in Grand Xia, so it could be possible that the Frost Water Empire has produced cultivators before since it isn't too far off from Grand Xia."

"In that case, several empires surrounding the Grand Xia may also have produced cultivators, perhaps even Spiritual Marrows..." said Liu Suifeng.

Their eyes lit up the next second. They decided that they would explore the other empires when they had time on their hands. They might be able to gain a lot of benefits from it.

However, Fang Chen’s next words seemed to have dumped a bunch of cold water over them. "There were quite a few cultivators in Dragon Ridge. I'm afraid anything valuable has long been taken away by them."

"Oh..."

The three of them were somewhat disappointed. Dragon Ridge was a gathering place for wandering cultivators, who were more than eager to obtain cultivation resources. It's likely that they had already taken everything in these countries that could enhance the cultivation.

While chatting, the group slowed down as more people appeared in the surroundings. They could no longer go as fast as before.

When they passed through a small town, they saw a group of Nightmare Knights rushing at them. The people in the town were avoiding them, seemingly afraid of offending these noble knights.

The average Nightmare Knight had a cultivation at the Qi Manipulation Stage, and with the Nightmare Warhorses, their combat power was considered top-notch in Grand Xia, and not too weak even in the Frost Water Empire.

This group of Nightmare Knights had about thirty people, so when the local martial artists in the Frost Water Empire saw them, they wisely avoided them, not daring to collide with them.

After all, the Nightmare Knights represented either the Ji family or the royal family of the Frost Water Empire, and both sides were powerful figures that ordinary people couldn't afford to provoke.

On the other hand, Xia Yu and the others were cultivators, so, to them, the Nightmare Knights were at most ants. They continued riding past the group of Nightmare Knights without sparing them a glance.

Suddenly, a Nightmare Knight shouted, "Stop."

Seeing that Xia Yu and the others showed no intention of stopping, he ordered the rest of the Knights to surround them.

Xu Ge was the first to react. He smiled, his hands folded together. "What business do you have with us?"

"You don't look like you're from around here. Where are you from?" asked the Knight in a deep voice.

"Oh, we came from Longdu," answered Xu Ge.

Xia Yu and the others exchanged glances. They couldn’t help but feel that Xu Ge’s actions were completely unnecessary, but since he was Fang Chen's subordinate, they didn't dare voice their displeasure.

"Longdu?" The Knight appeared skeptical as he examined them from top to bottom. He waved his hands eventually. "Since you aren’t locals, you’d better not cause trouble around here. There's a demon that appeared in the area. Remember to turn back if you spot it,” warned the Knight before he spurred his horse to turn back and left.

With them gone, Xu Ge looked at Fang Chen and suddenly said, "No wonder there are Nightmare Knights close to the borders, Young Lord. It seems that the martial arts scene in the Frost Water Empire is not very peaceful."

Fang Chen smiled and shook his head. "Is there even a peaceful martial scene anywhere?"

The group continued on their way.

After a short while, they came across a rolling river. It seemed to be a port, with many people busy loading and unloading goods.

Xia Yu glanced at the map one more time, then said to the others, "We can board a ship and travel by the river. The journey will be much faster this way. After all, we won’t have to travel across several mountain ranges to reach our destination.”

“Go and see if there are any ships we can board, Ol’ Xu," said Fang Chen.

Xu Ge nodded and ran into the crowd. Before long, he hurriedly returned and said to Fang Chen, "I've inquired, my lord. There's only one ship heading in the direction of the capital; however...." He seemed hesitant to say it.

"What is it?"

"It’s a cargo ship. A bit dirty, too. And it seems to be transporting a batch of slaves."

Fang Chen smiled. "That’s fine."

Along with the others, they rode their horses to the front of the cargo ship.

There seemed to be quite a few people boarding the ship. In addition to some simple-dressed commoners, there were also some merchants, martial artists, and scholars.