Chapter 747: A Night Outing by Candlelight

Chapter 747: A Night Outing by Candlelight

Cheng Zhaolu and Yao Xiaoyan cleaned up the stew pot and bowls and chopsticks. One genuinely enjoyed such household chores, while the other, though young, had already set her heart on becoming a virtuous wife and loving mother who would assist her husband and raise their children. As for practicing the sword, for these sword immortal seeds of the Sword Qi Great Wall, it was as ordinary as eating, drinking, and relieving oneself. No one would slack off. It was much like scholars below the mountain in the Haoran World who aspired to pass the imperial examinations—a matter of course.

Chen Ping'an stood up, handed his bowl and chopsticks to Cheng Zhaolu, then looked up. It was indeed a cross-continent ferry headed for Tongye Continent. The building boat's form and style were ethereal and immortal-like, with spiritual qi swirling around the ferry. It was as if colorful women from murals were floating in the sea of clouds, their robes and sashes fluttering. Chen Ping'an concentrated his gaze and looked more closely. Sure enough, on the ferry's wall surface, using the immortal method of cinnabar writing, there were painted flying dragon maidens, water immortals, and lightning mothers—all depicted as women, vivid and lifelike. Having learned his lesson in the Creation Cave, Chen Ping'an immediately averted his gaze. Indeed, one of the mural dragon maidens seemed to sense a distant observer. In an instant, her gaze shifted, but she couldn't follow the faint trace to find the talisman boat far out at sea. After a moment, she withdrew the light from her eyes, returned to normal, and became still again, her colorful ribbons still drifting, trailing a hundred zhang.

Chen Ping'an adjusted his bamboo hat and then rubbed his chin. This ferry's highly sophisticated landscape and water formation could help it travel through areas with sparse spiritual qi or through thunderclouds and rainstorms without too much jostling. It looked beautiful, very immortal-like, and practical, naturally suppressing wind, rain, thunder, and lightning.

Did the ferry belong to a sect with a majority of female cultivators? Otherwise, deities like the Rain Master, Thunder Lord, and Cloud Elder wouldn't need those few strokes; they should all be painted on the wall surface for even better effect.

Logically, the Rain Dragon Sect had already been reduced to ruins, its cultivators completely wiped out. Could it be that Yun Qian, the master of the Water Crystal Palace at Inverted Mountain that year, hadn't taken root in the three continents to establish her own faction? Instead, she had brought those cultivators back to the sect and begun rebuilding the Rain Dragon Sect. Had Elder Yun Qing acquired this ferry by chance, or bought it? Or did this ferry come from Southern Prabhasa Continent or even farther, Fuyao Continent, thus passing through this area? Chen Ping'an rapidly calculated the sects and immortals in the Prabhasa and Fuyao continents. He was actually quite familiar with the cross-continent ferries of those two continents. Back in the early days at Chunfan Studio, he had dealt face-to-face with quite a few ferry stewards.

Chen Ping'an hesitated, wondering whether to steer the talisman boat closer to that cross-continent ferry, which wasn't moving very fast. His main concern was that these children from the Sword Qi Great Wall, who had little worldly experience, might have an accident on the ferry, getting into disputes with the immortal masters. Chen Ping'an wasn't afraid of causing trouble—he was afraid... that he might not be able to control himself, that he might go too far.

What could make an apex pure martial artist at the ninth-level peak and the bottleneck of the mountain summit accidentally go too far? When it came down to it, it would still be because he couldn't restrain his mind.

Chen Ping'an could let an alien cultivator who had come to the city wall to provoke him return safely to his southern homeland, because that creature had no enmity with the Haoran World. Whether it came to the city wall to seek amusement or to seek death, Chen Ping'an just used it to relieve his boredom. But now, he might not be able to tolerate a few unpleasant words from "people of his homeland" or one or two troublesome deeds done by them.

He Gu saw that Master Cao was staring blankly and asked, "What are you thinking? Saw a pretty woman and can't look away? Lost your soul?"

Yu Xiehui added, "If I were a bit older, I'd probably be tempted too. It's only human nature. Can't blame Master Cao for staring a few times. Anyway, no harm in looking. He didn't even touch that big sister."

Chen Ping'an laughed and said, "Thousands upon thousands of beautiful women, all viewed as white bones."

The little girl Nalan Yudie actually took out brush and paper, breathed on the paper, and wrote down this sentence. Then, with a flick of her wrist, it all disappeared.

Chen Ping'an was a bit surprised. So this little girl had some family wealth? She even had a spatial storage item on her?

Nalan Yudie. Surname, Nalan. This confirmed a small guess in his heart. Chen Ping'an couldn't help but let his thoughts fly a thousand miles away in an instant. The only thing that the river of time couldn't constrain was perhaps the mind.

The female immortal who had arrived as a rainbow earlier was likely responsible for patrolling the waters of the Rain Dragon Sect. Chen Ping'an had actually guessed her identity just from the shimmering sachet ornament at her waist and her red-yellow aura like the sunrise. She was from Liuxia Continent and was the master of Song'ai Paradise, the female immortal Cong Qian. She specialized in refining the various clouds and mists of heaven and earth. It was said she was a good friend of Li Yu, the Tai Xia Yuan Jun of the Padi Peak lineage in Northern Julu Continent.

Was the world at peace? It seemed so.

This was what Cui Chan had said earlier, and what Chen Ping'an was thinking now.

Chen Ping'an had long noticed his own state of mind—he was habitually overthinking. On the city wall, alone, surrounded on all sides, with the world as his enemy. As the one still bearing the burden of the Hidden Official, he couldn't help but think too much. If he thought too little, he would fall into a trap, and one misstep could lead to complete defeat. Besides his own death and the destruction of his Dao, it would also affect the overall situation of the Haoran World, shifting it slightly toward the Barren Barbarian World. Besides, as long as he could avoid death, how could Chen Ping'an bear to die? There were so many people he still wanted to see, scattered across the four corners of the world, waiting for him to reunite with them one by one.

Chen Ping'an asked, "Do you want to take the cross-continent ferry?"

Of the nine children, except for three who hardly spoke at all—He Xiangting, Yu Qingzhang, and Sun Chunwang—the rest were overjoyed and wanted to see what it was like, not even considering the Hidden Official's purse.

Chen Ping'an reminded them, "Besides the two points I mentioned earlier, once you're on the ferry, remember to hide your sword cultivator identities. As long as you don't actively cause trouble, there's nothing to worry about. If you want to practice the sword, do it quietly in your room. If you want to enjoy the scenery, go out and enjoy it. There are no prohibitions."

Chen Ping'an steered the talisman boat, shooting it toward the cross-continent ferry like a flash of lightning. In an instant, it covered over a hundred li and caught up to the ferry with its drifting ribbons. The two boats were a little over a hundred zhang apart. Chen Ping'an called out in the Great Elegance language of the Central Earth Continent, "Can we board?"

The cross-continent ferry wasn't completely unresponsive. The few mountain-refining masters who had come out to enjoy the scenery quickly returned to their quarters without waiting for the ferry to respond.

Then, all around the ferry's railing, water mist rose to a height of over a zhang. When the mist dispersed, dozens of talisman swords emerged. They were made of green bamboo, verdant and dripping, with a clear green luster. The sword bodies were inscribed with cinnabar talismanic script, belonging to the complexity-ridden talisman Dao—one branch specializing in slaying demons. The crucial point was that the material for these thousands of talisman swords was green bamboo produced by the Bamboo Sea Cave Heaven, imbued with Dao meaning and naturally suppressing mountain ghosts, lake goblins, and the like. Though not from the ten ancestral bamboo stalks of Green God Mountain, such a quantity of green bamboo talisman swords would definitely cost a fortune—absolutely not something any cross-continent ferry could afford to purchase and refine into such rare talisman swords. Moreover, the Bamboo Sea Cave Heaven had always rarely sold green bamboo to outsiders, letting crop after crop rot year after year, turning into green mud, yet never using it to make money.

That left only one possibility: the Mistress of Green God Mountain, who had never stepped out of the cave heaven or appeared in the Haoran World, had actively sold a massive amount of green bamboo at a low price, perhaps even directly gifted it to the Confucian Temple in the Central Earth Continent.

So, if he ever had the chance, he absolutely had to travel to the Bamboo Sea Cave Heaven.

A cross-continent ferry, with a forest of sword qi and a world of desolate killing intent.

Back in the day, the stewards of the cross-continent ferries heading to Inverted Mountain were mostly Nascent Soul Earth Immortals with strong killing methods. There might even be Upper Fifth Realm cultivators, either hidden or in plain sight, helping to escort cargo just in case.

The colorful women painted on the ferry's outer wall appeared one by one, their figures graceful, ranging from three to four zhang in height. Each held a talisman sword made of green bamboo, refined to a higher grade. Their sword tips pointed at the middle-aged man in a martial artist's attire on the talisman boat. He wore a bamboo hat, a blue shirt, and a narrow saber and a flask hung at his waist.

On the cross-continent ferry, the ferry cultivators and most of the passengers were sizing up the unexpected talisman boat. A bunch of little kids weren't much to look at, so more attention fell on the man.

Chen Ping'an raised one hand and said with a smile, "I can let the green bamboo talisman sword cut my palm to verify my identity before boarding."

He Gu sighed and said, "Not domineering at all."

Yu Xiehui nodded and added, "Very pathetic."

A ferry steward in a dark-colored dharma robe stood at the bow, holding a pair of iron maces. He had a large beard but a small face, giving him a somewhat scholarly air, but his words were bold and concise: "Get lost."

Chen Ping'an raised his hand high, a Grain Rain coin pinched between his fingers, and returned three words: "Not short on money!"

The steward said, "One sword to your palm, one sword to your glabella. You willing?"

Chen Ping'an nodded. "No problem, no problem. I just respectfully ask the ferry to be careful with the force—don't pierce through."

Chen Ping'an added with a chuckle, "Better to kill the wrong person than let them go—that kind of business hurts one's yin virtue too much. We're all proper registered immortal masters, don't act like wild cultivators."

That painted dragon maiden seemed to have received the ferry steward's mental command. She indeed delivered two sword strikes. The sword light suddenly cut through the night, then abruptly retracted. After she withdrew her sword, she looked down. At the tip of her sword were two beads of congealed blood. The sword tip trembled slightly. The two drops of blood from the man in the bamboo hat—one from his palm, one from his brow—burst with a bang. Another female figure, with the appearance of a water immortal and the aura of an earth deity, used a secret technique to re-congeal the blood. She apparently sensed no anomaly. Together with the dragon maiden, they held their bamboo swords reversed, perhaps a gesture of goodwill toward the man in the bamboo hat. After all, his action of handing over his blood for the refining master to verify his identity was far more significant than simply presenting a travel pass.

Chen Ping'an waved his hand and drew the two drops of blood back into his palm.

The steward's expression softened a bit. "Where did you come from?"

Chen Ping'an chose to reply with his mind, "Having heard that Senior Cong Qian of Liuxia Continent has boundless Dao skills and has already killed all the rampaging alien creatures, the Rain Dragon Sect territory is now peaceful and clear of hidden dangers, I took my sect's younger generation on a sea voyage, visited Reed Flower Island, and hoped to encounter some opportunities along the way. As for my sect, it's not worth mentioning. Those who left have gone to the Fifth Continent. Of those who stayed, not many old-timers remain."

The steward's heart tightened. Good heavens, this guy was a Core Formation cultivator pretending to be a pure martial artist! A bastard! Most likely a Tongye Continent cultivator for sure. Either a military cultivator or... a sword cultivator. Otherwise, his physique wouldn't be as tough as a martial arts grandmaster's.

The other party's mental voice was extremely clear, indicating that the ferry's two-layer landscape prohibition had little effect on his cultivation. If a Golden Core Earth Immortal used mental voice to transmit to the ferry for him to hear clearly, it wouldn't be too difficult, but the sound certainly wouldn't be this clear.

Chen Ping'an lightly patted his blue shirt. A dharma robe created ripples, emitting a burst of verdant mist. He actively broke some of the concealment methods, revealing the bamboo silk material of the robe, which came from Green God Mountain.

Back when Liu Youzhou took the Osmanthus Island ferry to Yuanrou Prefecture, the young man was wearing a bamboo silk robe.

Such dharma robes also had the reputations of "cool retreat" and "summer resort."

Especially for qi refiners who practiced wood and water methods, their fondness for Green God Mountain bamboo silk robes was no less than the world's cultivators' pursuit of spatial storage and small-space items.

No alien cultivator would wear a Green God Mountain bamboo silk robe on their person.
Unless it was a high-level Great Demon at the Immortal realm. However, with the Celestial Mirror hanging in the sky now, Upper Fifth Realm alien cultivators, especially Immortal realm ones, once they left the seabed, couldn't hide their aura.

The great mirror hanging high was a legendary "Dressing Mirror."
If it were a Flying Ascension realm Great Demon more adept at hiding aura. This "Colorful Dress" ferry would consider itself unlucky and accept its fate. At worst, they would die fighting. But once the Great Demon revealed its trace, it would undoubtedly die.

There would be stationed cultivators at the old Rain Dragon Sect site to help them take revenge.
Besides Liuxia Continent Immortal Cong Qian, there was also the female sword immortal Song Pin of Gold Armor Continent, and a Flying Ascension realm cultivator from Central Earth Continent personally guarding the Jiaolong Gully territory.

The steward clasped his fists. "Offense intended. Please board."

Chen Ping'an returned the salute with a smile. "The wind is strong on the mountain. A cautious journey brings ten thousand years of safe sailing."

If Chen Ping'an had first shown the blue-shirt bamboo robe, he probably wouldn't have been able to board the ferry tonight. That's just human nature.

The steward smiled. This one knew how to talk.

Chen Ping'an asked the ferry for three rooms: one for himself, one for the girls, and one for the boys.

He had only one request: the rooms had to be adjacent. As for immortal money, name any price. If the Colorful Dress ferry needed to discuss with other guests and vacate one or two rooms, Chen Ping'an would pay extra to compensate the immortal masters. He wouldn't make things difficult for the ferry by making them relocate people for nothing.

There were more people surnamed "Money" in the world than anything else.

Everything went very smoothly. First, because immortal money had become increasingly precious and valuable these days. Second, because the Colorful Dress ferry was also willing to yield a bit. When doing business on the mountain, "a cautious journey brings ten thousand years of safe sailing" was true, but "the wind is strong on the mountain" was even more of an ultimate truth.

Chen Ping'an formed a sword technique with two fingers and simultaneously activated his metal element natal object, drawing a golden sword pond around each of the two rooms. This was to prevent the children's casual conversations from being secretly spied on by busybodies on the ferry using their techniques.

Chen Ping'an thought about taking out a few more talismans to paste on the windows and doors, but after thinking it over, he decided not to, lest the children feel too constrained.

This ferry's stop was at the southernmost immortal ferry port of Tongye Continent, not too far from the Jade Gui Sect.

Chen Ping'an returned to his own room. He ordered a pot of the Colorful Dress ferry's unique immortal wine, drank half the pot, and used his finger dipped in wine to write a line on the table: "The river is clear and the sea is calm, the seasons are harmonious and the harvest is abundant."

The last time he went to Tongye Continent, the cross-continent ferry was a "Swallowing Treasure Whale" with several secret realms.

Now Inverted Mountain was gone. Lu Tai didn't know where he was now.

On the Sword Qi Great Wall, if Lu Tai had appeared as "Liu Cai," it would have only worsened Chen Ping'an's state of mind. But now that he had returned home, Chen Ping'an wouldn't be so timid.

Chen Ping'an habitually pasted a Removing Filth Talisman on the window and began walking the stake. He needed to quickly familiarize himself with this world's Dao restrictions.

This was the aftereffect of merging with the Dao of the Sword Qi Great Wall. On the Barren Barbarian World, he would be suppressed. On the Haoran World, it was the same.

For a pure martial artist, this was a great blessing. Not just walking the stake or sparring with others—even every breath was practicing fists.

But for a cultivator, the situation was awkward. If Chen Ping'an didn't have that martial arts foundation and relied solely on his sword cultivator identity, he would probably be crawling on the ground by now. However, once he familiarized himself with the operation of the Haoran World's Great Dao, the impact would become smaller and smaller. But if he were fighting for his life, there would still be many unexpected issues. In short, Chen Ping'an was now equivalent to half an alien cultivator, situated within the Haoran World's Sage's Small World.

Chen Ping'an closed his eyes, half-asleep, and slowly walked the stake. During these years of guarding the city wall on the Sword Qi Great Wall, relying on patient effort, he had practiced over three million punches.

Before returning to Fallen Mountain, he planned to practice another half-million punches.

So the dream of punching ten million times, which he never dared to think much about, was now very promising.

The children in the two rooms on either side hadn't come out yet, so Chen Ping'an continued to walk the stake in peace.

At dawn, the Colorful Dress ferry slowly came to a halt. It was said they were passing by the largest pearl-hunting field on Reed Flower Island. They would stop for an hour so passengers could buy various pearls from the Reed Flower Island cultivators.

Passengers on the ferry could fly to the temporary immortal ferry port at the pearl field as long as they held a green bamboo talisman sword. However, the ferry would have a leader, and no one was allowed to leave the group and travel alone. If they liked to wander around, they could just wander alone to Tongye Continent.

Chen Ping'an walked out of his room and went to the bow. He had no intention of going to the pearl field. He just stood at the bow, wanting to eavesdrop on some cultivators' idle chatter.

He had tried to buy a few copies of the landscape gazette earlier, but the ferry's answer was very blunt: they didn't have any. If he had too much money, the ferry steward wrote a very beautiful "hairpin flower" small regular script and could write him a temporary one. Not expensive—just one immortal coin, a Grain Rain coin.

This was clearly bullying a cultivator from Tongye Continent.

Among the Nine Continents of Haoran, the reputation of Tongye Continent cultivators had probably hit rock bottom.

Even if he didn't go to the pearl field to spend immortal money, there was one pleasant mountain activity to do on the Colorful Dress ferry.

The ferry's mooring position was very deliberate. Deep below, there was a vein of sea water passing through, where li liquor fish could be found. One could fish. With luck, one might even encounter some rare water creatures.

But to enjoy this fisherman's pleasure, one had to pay extra—rent a specially made green bamboo fishing rod from the ferry for one Small Summer coin per half-hour.

Chen Ping'an saw a few fishermen already scattered along the railing, so he spent one Small Summer coin, sat on the railing, and cast his line into the sea. The fishing line was extremely long. A small porcelain jar of bait was free, otherwise, the ferry's business ledger would be too black-hearted.

Chen Ping'an sighed. In the past, Cui Dongshan often babbled nonsense beside him, saying that black words on white paper held great depth, and every character was a shadow.

So many years had passed, and until now, Chen Ping'an still hadn't figured it out. He just felt that this statement was indeed profound.

Chen Ping'an looked up at the night sky. The wind and snow grew heavier.

The distance from the earth to the sky was unknown, millions of miles. The sun and moon hung in the void, and their distance from the earth was also unknown, millions of miles.

Chen Ping'an suddenly wanted to go see the sky canopy. He could ride the wind or fly on his sword, or steer a talisman boat or ferry.

But as soon as he thought of the children still on the boat, he temporarily dismissed the idea.

While fishing, Chen Ping'an's mind was more on the conversations of the cultivators, but there was nothing worth chewing on—just trivial matters, nothing about the state of the world.

Chen Ping'an's biggest concern now was whether he was in the fourth dream.

Could it be the means of the Paper Paradise?

The Paper Paradise carefully crafted by the family's greatest mystery was that the sentient beings within the paradise, though paper puppets, truly had spirit. They could think and act according to complex patterns, no different from real people. The only difference was that the paper people in the paradise, even those who were cultivators, had no awareness of the passage of the river of time.

So, of course, Chen Ping'an was worried. From the first step he took out of the Creation Cave on Reed Flower Island, everyone he saw from then on might be made of paper, or even be a single person's transformation. Every scene he saw might be the legendary "a leaf before the eye."

The vast world, with him in it, was like a heavy drinker who had gotten half-drunk—not dead drunk, but not truly sober either. Then someone seemed to be beside him, smiling and asking, "Are you drunk? Can you drink more?" How could this not make a person feel lost and desolate?

Such a thing, Senior Fellow Apprentice Cui Chan was capable of. Moreover, the Grand Advisor of Great Li, one of the Three Splendors of Haoran, could indeed do it.

What Cui Chan and Cui Dongshan were best at was gathering and dispersing their thoughts. Their thoughts could scatter into thousands; when gathered, just a few remained. Chen Ping'an was afraid that everyone around him would suddenly converge into one person at some moment, turning into a blue-robed Confucian scholar with snow-white sideburns. He would acknowledge him as senior fellow apprentice, but he couldn't beat him, didn't dare to curse him, and if he complained silently in his heart, he would be seen through. Would that be surprising or annoying?

A cultivator laughed out loud, suddenly pulled up his rod, and successfully caught a li liquor fish. It was fish in name only, actually looking like a red big softshell turtle, the size of a water basin, with four eyes and six feet, and pearls attached to its feet. The man stripped off six pearls and casually threw the li liquor fish back into the sea. Soon, a female cultivator of the ferry in a Xiang River skirt came to buy the pearls. The cultivator got one Small Summer coin and was beaming with joy. He high-fived a friend beside him, who said that starting off with great luck meant he would have unexpected joy on this trip to Tongye Continent.

Chen Ping'an caught nothing and didn't care at all. If his luck was too good, he would feel more uneasy.

Someone else caught an older li liquor fish. This time, the female cultivator of the Colorful Dress ferry bought the whole fish from him, spending three Small Summer coins.

Chen Ping'an turned his head and saw the ferry steward standing not far behind him. He wore a tall hat and dark clothes, with a very ancient style.

The steward introduced himself: "Huang Lin, secondary guest elder of Wusun Lan."

Chen Ping'an asked doubtfully, "Wusun Lan of Gold Armor Continent? When did they start having male guest elders?"

Wusun Lan produced more than a dozen types of immortal family color letter paper, famous among the immortal mansions and aristocratic families of Central Earth Continent, generating rivers of wealth. Especially the Spring Tree paper and the Cluster Flower paper. Even Inverted Mountain had sold them back in the day.

Much like the "Dragon Maiden's immortal robe, Xiang River skirt, holding a pearl in the palm, playing with the bright moon"—as long as something could become a beloved treasure of female immortal masters and noble ladies, there was no fear of not making money. And men, even if they saw a coin as big as a millstone, would still spend a fortune for their beloved woman. It seemed that his own Fallen Mountain was somewhat lacking in these exquisite and lovely items.

Huang Lin said, "Too many people died."

Chen Ping'an was startled for a moment, then turned and clasped his hands.

Huang Lin suddenly laughed. "A qi refiner who dares to take nine children on a long sea voyage—even if he's afraid of death, there's a limit. I was rude in blocking you from boarding earlier. It was my duty. Please forgive me. Later, I'll cover from my own pocket and have a few pots of wine sent to you as an apology."

Chen Ping'an nodded. "Elder Huang, you have good style."

Huang Lin smiled lightly and took his leave.

When the time came, Chen Ping'an returned the fishing rod and went back to his room to continue walking the stake.

Half a month later, the ferry was filled with clamor. Chen Ping'an pushed open the window and found they had encountered a mirage.

It seemed a giant mirage beast at the bottom of the sea had breathed out a vast stretch of immortal palaces. They stood one after another in the sea of clouds, varying in height, glittering with golden light, like an ancient immortal realm, with dwellings of gods everywhere. On the cloud roads connecting the immortal palaces and pavilions, carriages and horses with their canopies flowed endlessly. The men and women all had ancient appearances. The drivers were mostly tall and sturdy golden-armored warriors. Among them, the most majestic palace had dozens of yellow cranes circling above it without stopping.

Chen Ping'an couldn't help but sigh, "As people say, divine things grow more spiritual as they age."

Ordinary mirages were mostly unobstructed illusions. But this mirage was clearly different. Spiritual qi flowed, and the illusion was nearly indistinguishable from reality. The Colorful Dress ferry seemed to have encountered this mirage before and unhesitatingly chose to detour. But after detouring over a hundred li, the mirage scene always blocked their path. An Earth Immortal cultivator, unaware of the seriousness, wanted to go investigate. He was dissuaded by Steward Huang Lin, who said that this dying mirage beast was hiding very deep. Even Immortal Cong Qian had pursued it for months without finding its trace. Moreover, this demon creature was now in a state of "Dao dispersion," similar to a Jade Pure realm cultivator's soul scattering. It could no longer suppress its own Dao qi from leaking out. For those caught in the mirage, ordinary Breaking Barrier Talismans were useless. Furthermore, the great demon's actions today were likely due to its ferocious nature being fully exposed. It intended to fight to the death with the ferry before its Dao collapsed.

The painted women on the ferry's outer wall appeared one by one. The green bamboo sword formation was also activated, flying swords raining like a storm, breaking through the miasma manifested by the mirage beast's breath. The ferry itself was like a miniature sword boat.

In front of the ferry, a palace made of dense cloud qi materialized out of thin air, and a white rainbow hung over it.

This made Huang Lin's expression change drastically. In the mortal world, a white rainbow might not be considered strange, but here, a white rainbow signified martial qi.

The great mirage beast was finally no longer hiding its tracks and was about to strike.

But he didn't know if their ferry could hold out until Immortal Cong Qian arrived to save them.

Chen Ping'an frowned slightly. According to the sages' method of interpreting characters, the character for rainbow was interpreted as two flood dragons, hence the insect radical.

Chen Ping'an gazed intently. That white rainbow indeed had a main and a secondary one, separating into male and female rainbows. The ancients regarded rainbows as the wanton qi of heaven and earth, like the ancient moon palace toad, which was a kind of refined essence of the moon's soul.

Huang Lin stood at the bow, manifesting a hundred-zhang-tall dharma image in Confucian robes. Huang Lin's true form used his finger as a knife, cutting his palm open, using his own blood as the cinnabar material for a talisman. As Huang Lin wrote on his palm, the dharma image raised a hand, and a golden talisman appeared on its palm. Huang Lin, while concentrating his qi and writing the talisman, said loudly, "Immortal official commands the Six Ding, water ministers, flood dragons and mirages, be summoned!"

On the hundred-zhang dharma image's palm, the ten talisman characters were spoken into existence. Golden light flowed, illuminating all directions. The miasma and fog, like snow under a blazing sun, instantly melted away over an area of several li.

Huang Lin cut his palm again and said solemnly, "Far holding the Son of Heaven's command, water creatures shall imprison themselves!"

Around the dharma image's palm, layers of solar halos formed. Golden light burst forth, pouring down a torrential rain, like a pot of boiling water poured into wind and snow.

Within the mirage, a market suddenly collapsed. A huge figure that had been lurking beneath flashed and was gone.

A passenger on a cross-continent journey, who turned out to be a Golden Core bottleneck sword cultivator in hiding, laughed loudly. "Let me assist Elder Huang in slaying the demon!"

But this sword cultivator's sword practice method was quite strange. On an observation deck, he stamped his feet in the Gang Step pattern, formed hand seals, then gently exhaled. From his mouth emerged a shining sword pellet, which flew extremely fast. After leaving the ferry by a hundred zhang, the sword pellet, originally no longer than three inches, suddenly transformed into a huge black sword inscribed with immortal talismans. The Golden Core sword cultivator continued his Gang Step pattern without pause, finally stepping out a Big Dipper talisman array beneath his feet. A blue fish surfaced from the water. The sword cultivator stepped onto the blue fish's back. As he completed his sword technique, he muttered, "Mountain man rides a fish from the sky, the wise cherish it, the foolish guess. In hand, the lightning-striking heaven-leaning sword, straight cuts the long whale, splitting the sea open."

His natal flying sword, heading for the palace and the white rainbow, shimmered with flowing colors. It dragged behind it a golden-armored divine general, holding a giant ink-black sword, interwoven with electric light. The divine spirit and the flying sword struck directly, attempting to cut through the white rainbow and the mirage palace together.

After the strike, there was a sound like thunder. The wind and clouds surged, and qi stirred violently. Even the ferry shook and trembled.

The Golden Core sword cultivator spat out a mouthful of blood, reached out to support the railing, and quickly tried to retrieve his flying sword with his mind. Unexpectedly, a monstrous miasma surged out, wrapping around the natal flying sword, cutting off the connection between the sword cultivator and his natal object, as if heaven and earth had been separated. The sword cultivator's face turned deathly pale, his mind trembling. Huang Lin immediately deployed his magic to help the sword cultivator find his vanished flying sword.

Chen Ping'an had already lightly increased the force on his feet, stabilizing the two adjacent rooms so they wouldn't be affected by the disturbance.

But unlike the other cultivators on the ferry, Chen Ping'an's gaze didn't follow the huge illusory figure. Instead, it locked onto a corner of the sky in the southeast of the mirage.

Chen Ping'an raised his left hand, activating the Water Character Seal, gathering five thunders together, creating in his palm. Chen Ping'an didn't directly unleash the complete thunder technique. Instead, he chose one of its water method heavenly thunders, mainly used to command thunder and bring rain, to suppress all the rampaging great flood dragons, poisonous snakes, evil mirages, and other water creatures, to move clouds and spread rain, raise wind and stir waves, to take charge of the Water Mansion.

With a sudden twist of his wrist, Chen Ping'an shot out the thunder condensed into the size of a pearl. It flew extremely fast, surpassing even the Golden Core bottleneck Earth Immortal's natal flying sword, so much so that no cultivator on the Colorful Dress ferry noticed this anomaly. So when the water thunder, from nondescript to a straight line, then to a rumbling roar like a heavenly thunderclap, visited a great calamity, the ferry's crowd mistakenly thought it was the warden Huang Lin's magic.

At the same time, Chen Ping'an formed another thunder bureau with his left hand, condensed qi into a sword with his right, and combined them into a "Rainbow-Slaying Talisman."

The earlier water thunder had hit the great mirage beast's hiding place. It wasn't meant to seriously injure it, just a gesture of knocking on the door.

But this subsequent "Rainbow-Slaying Talisman"—first courtesy then force—was shockingly powerful. The Golden Core sword cultivator's full-strength strike earlier had only made the white rainbow hanging over the palace shake a little. When the Rainbow-Slaying Sword Talisman, enhanced with the heavenly power of the thunder bureau, appeared, within the mirage, a slender sword light emerged, as if tearing open a small world. It slashed down, cutting the martial qi white rainbow and the immortal palace in two. Then the thunder bureau blossomed, shattering both objects on the spot.

The person hadn't gone.

The thunder bureau and sword talisman had already achieved their goal.

Heaven and earth were clear, the atmosphere renewed. There was no more mirage blocking the way.

The great mirage dove deep into the sea. On the surface, huge waves rose and fell, churned by chaotic qi. Even with the landscape formation, the Colorful Dress ferry still rocked violently.

The Golden Core sword cultivator was overjoyed. In a patch of thinning mist, he sensed a glimmer of sword light. He quickly used his mind to steer his natal flying sword back to his aperture for nurturing.

Chen Ping'an hesitated for a moment, then gently clenched his fist, retracting a new sword technique. He gave up on the idea of pursuing and killing the great mirage, because Immortal Cong Qian was definitely already on her way.

The Golden Core sword cultivator clasped his fists and said loudly, "Gold Armor Continent sword cultivator Gao Yunshu, thanks to the sword immortal senior for saving me!"

Silence. No response.

Gao Yunshu assumed that the sword immortal didn't like formalities and was tired of these tedious protocols, and admired him all the more.

He thought that since the sword immortal, who showed only a glimpse, was taking this Wusun Lan ferry, he must be a senior from his own Gold Armor Continent.

Chen Ping'an closed the window and continued walking the stake and practicing his fists in the room.

On the Colorful Dress ferry, a young female cultivator delivered several pots of fine immortal wine. When she knocked on his door, her expression was strange.

She clearly couldn't understand why Guest Elder Huang Lin showed such courtesy to this cowardly Tongye Continent cultivator.

Chen Ping'an thanked her, accepted the wine without ceremony, and then asked curiously, "May I ask the young lady, what's the market price for a pot of this wine?"

The warden Huang Lin should have noticed something but chose not to expose it.

The female cultivator seemed quite annoyed, forced a smile, and asked back, "Guest, do you think the Colorful Dress ferry buys its own wine?"

Chen Ping'an placed those few pots of immortal wine on the table. Unlike the wine he had bought earlier, these pots were labeled with Wusun Lan's secret color letter paper. If he tore them off and sold them to someone else, they would probably be worth more than the wine itself.

Chen Ping'an finished his stake walking. His steps were very light, his punches extremely slow. Unbeknownst to him, a day and a night had passed. Chen Ping'an opened his eyes, spoke to the two groups of children with his mind, then went to open the door. Soon, all nine children came to this room one after another.

Yu Qingzhang held a book in his hand.

He Xiangting stood shoulder to shoulder with Yu Qingzhang.

Sun Chunwang seemed somewhat unsociable, standing at a slight distance from everyone else.

These three children had not yet spoken a single word in Chen Ping'an's presence. In private, they were also taciturn.

Chen Ping'an could roughly guess the reasons and didn't want to pry.

On the Sword Qi Great Wall, not everyone had good feelings toward the Hidden Official, and each had their own reasons.

Chen Ping'an said, "You each have your own sword Dao inheritance. I am only a nominal protector; there is no master-disciple relationship. But I have browsed many secrets of sword techniques in the Summer Pavilion. I can help you fill in gaps. So if you have any doubts about sword practice in the future, you can all ask me."

Out of the corner of his eye, Chen Ping'an noticed that when he said this, especially when he mentioned the "Summer Pavilion," two of the children showed some gloom in their expressions. Chen Ping'an pretended not to notice.

He Gu whispered, "Master Cao, earlier when we passed through the mirage, that extremely sharp sword light—was it? Or wasn't it?"

He Gu. The tallest child. At his waist was a well-made short sword called "Reading Maid." It probably wasn't forged in a sword workshop but was a family heirloom or a master's gift. And the person who passed this sword down to He Gu must have had a great resentment toward the Haoran World.

Yu Xiehui rarely said something nice: "Thrilling and soul-stirring, heart-shaking and gut-wrenching."

Chen Ping'an said bluntly, "It wasn't."

With talismanic script and divine generals, he didn't dare claim credit.

Yao Xiaoyan was a bit regretful.

Chen Ping'an said, "Once we reach Tongye Continent and disembark, if I think there's an unexpected trouble that's too tricky, you must immediately enter the Small Cave Heaven, without any hesitation."

Cheng Zhaolu suddenly asked timidly, "Can I learn fists from Master Cao? I promise it won't delay sword practice!"

Bai Xuan, hands behind his back, rolled his eyes and muttered, "What a little sycophant. Whatever Master Cao knows, you just follow along and learn."

This child, when they were in the White Jade Hairpin Small Cave Heaven, liked to call himself "Little Hidden Official."

Hidden Official Chen Ping'an. Little Hidden Official Chen Li. So he had to be the Minuscule Hidden Official.

But after coming out and meeting the real Hidden Official, Bai Xuan didn't mention this anymore.

Chen Ping'an smiled and nodded at the little fatty Cheng Zhaolu. "Of course you can. Fist principles and sword principles are interconnected. Practicing fists and practicing swords do have boundaries, but it's not like mountains facing distant mountains, never meeting. It's more like high mountains and distant waters—once the two principles connect, it becomes a great pattern of mountains and waters depending on each other, mutually beneficial, tempering both the flesh and the soul."

Having said this, Chen Ping'an stopped and said to the others, "Go back and practice swords. If anyone wants to hear some idle talk about fist techniques, you can stay."

In the end, only Cheng Zhaolu stayed.

Chen Ping'an let the little fatty sit down and lit a lamp on the table. Cheng Zhaolu whispered, "Master Cao, actually He Xiangting wants to learn fists more than I do. He just can't bring himself to say it..."

Chen Ping'an waved his hand, not letting Cheng Zhaolu talk about this. He continued his earlier words: "Throwing fists at heaven and earth is going outward; nurturing fist intent in the body is going inward. Both are indispensable."

A little girl hurriedly came and knocked on the door again. Cheng Zhaolu quickly ran to open it. It was Nalan Yudie. She elbowed the little fatty aside, closed the door herself, then sat down to one side, taking out her brush and paper again. She sat up straight and looked at the Hidden Official, signaling for him to continue. Chen Ping'an smiled. "Spatial storage items are very precious. It's best to carry them on your person."

The little girl immediately copied this down.

Chen Ping'an was a bit helpless but didn't bother with her. He said, "If you only practice fists with sinews, bones, blood, and flesh, and don't refine the spirit and intent to temper the physique, it's only a lower-grade method that scrapes away a person's essence, qi, and spirit. The higher the realm, the heavier the punch. Each time, it damages the martial artist's soul and vital essence. It's very easy to leave problems. Accumulate too many hidden dangers, and attacking the enemy with a thousand self-inflicted eight hundred loses every time—how can that last? Especially those vicious fist techniques that always kill the enemy at all costs. Once a martial artist fails to get the method right, it's like inviting evil spirits onto the body, beyond the gods' help. Learning fists to kill people, in the end, inexplicably beats yourself to death."

So in my hometown, there are two sayings: 'When passing on fists, first pass on medicine; if there's no formula, it's not a true discipleship,' and 'The poor learn martial arts, the rich practice martial arts; one person's practice drains three generations' wealth.' These are old sayings widely circulated in the martial world below the mountain, and of course, they have their logic.

"Cheng Zhaolu, if you really want to learn fists, that's fine. But you have to start with walking the stake and standing the stake. It's quite boring and tedious. If one day you feel that practicing fists has no energy, don't force yourself, and don't worry about me scolding you. Just focus on the sword."

Cheng Zhaolu's eyes lit up, his face flushed red, and he said excitedly, "Master Cao, I will definitely train hard. As long as I can achieve half of Master Cao's fist technique ability, I'll be more than satisfied."

Nalan Yudie shook her head and muttered to herself, "Difficult."

Chen Ping'an smiled. "Like."

The little girl was very clever and immediately added, "Ascending."

The little fatty wailed, "Heaven."

Chen Ping'an couldn't help but laugh.

The rest of the journey was uneventful and calm. The Colorful Dress ferry flew over thousands of waters and ten thousand mountains on the land. But even when looking down from the ferry for a long time, there was still little smoke from human cooking fires. Only the green mountains had not aged, the green waters flowed on, and the birds and white clouds lingered with the guests.

Finally, one night, the ferry landed at the southernmost tip of Tongye Continent, at that immortal ferry port rebuilt from ruins, once the old Yuzhou territory of a broken dynasty.

The old nation's mountains and rivers, the city walls overgrown with spring grass.

As an ancient sage said, "Thinking of you without seeing you, descending Yuzhou."

Chen Ping'an sat back at the table from the window, staring blankly at the lamp on the table.

Mortals don't have immortality—thirty-six thousand days, every night should be a candlelit outing.

A knock on the door. The little girl outside was a bit excited, saying Master Cao, we've arrived, we can get off the boat now.

Chen Ping'an answered, stood up, let the lamp continue to burn, raised his hand, used a technique, and put a bamboo hat on his head.

He opened the door and led the children off the ferry. Looking back, Huang Lin seemed to have been waiting for this moment to turn around. He immediately smiled and clasped his hands in farewell. Chen Ping'an turned and returned the gesture.

After walking a stretch, Chen Ping'an suddenly crouched down, reached out and pressed the ground, then gently scooped up a handful of soil into his sleeve. He would take it home.