Countless cultivators are heading to the North Sea, does that mean they all have to travel together?
What kind of logic is that?
Ji Yutang glanced at Li Jingyu without responding.
Having someone to look out for each other is indeed nice, but when that person is a “fiancée,” it’s different.
Ever since leaving Dragon Mansion, her life had clearly gone off track, and seeing an opportunity to get back on course, she wouldn’t let it continue to deviate.
Ji Yutang’s resistance was obvious, and Li Jingyu noticed it all.
In the following days, even when they met, she no longer mentioned traveling together, as if the previous suggestion had never happened.
In the Confucian Sect academy, all true disciples from past generations need to pass a graduation exam before they can freely travel, but those who come to study, like Ji Yutang and Li Jingyu, can be considered as unrestricted students.
After the blood curse mark on them was removed, they bid farewell and left.
Ji Yutang thought Li Jingyu would follow, but after leaving the academy, she chose a different path.
Initially surprised, then relieved, but recalling Li Jingyu’s indifferent departure, Ji Yutang felt a bit uneasy.
This feeling persisted until she was about to leave.
Haicheng Guxin Island is a small island in the sea, located east of the Spring and Autumn Heaven Palace.
A long bridge stretches between the island and the mainland, with cultivators occasionally flying back and forth.
The journey from the Spring and Autumn Heaven Palace to the North Sea spans tens of thousands of miles, and traveling by land would consume an unknown amount of magic power and time, so cultivators choose the sea route, and Ji Yutang is no exception.
Shen Zao introduced her to a family engaged in maritime business, stationed on Guxin Island for generations.
Their Wave-Cutting Dragon Boat is one of the few vessels capable of crossing the “Xuanming Yin Region” directly to the North Sea.
The head of the family, surnamed Zhou, upon hearing that Ji Yutang came with a recommendation letter from the Spring and Autumn Heaven Palace, dared not neglect her and sent his eldest daughter, Zhou Zhi, to receive her, presenting a design of the sea vessel for Ji Yutang to view.
“Are you looking to commission a new sea vessel?
Here are the designs.
Although there are many sea monsters, our Zhou Family’s large boats are quite sturdy and not easily damaged.
However, building a new one might take half a year.”
Ji Yutang frowned slightly.
Building a sea vessel is akin to refining a magical artifact, allowing her to control it herself.
But half a year is indeed too long, and she doesn’t want to delay her cultivation here.
After pondering for a moment, she asked, “Does the Zhou Family have a team going to sea?”
Zhou Zhi raised an eyebrow, thinking Ji Yutang was a true disciple of the Spring and Autumn Heaven Palace.
Based on past experience, disciples of the Eight Great Immortal Sects prefer to build and steer their own sea vessels rather than travel with others.
However, since she asked, Zhou Zhi felt obliged to answer.
Steadying herself, she replied, “Yes.
Our Zhou Family sends a sea vessel to the North Sea every month.”
With that, things became easier.
Ji Yutang’s eyes lit up, and she softly said, “Then I’ll take that sea vessel to the sea.”
Zhou Zhi looked at Ji Yutang in surprise and gently said, “Each trip has fifty sea passengers.”
Ji Yutang waved her hand with a slight smile, “No problem.”
She didn’t stay long on Guxin Island, and after confirming the departure time, she turned and left.
Five days later, she headed to Fengling Rock on Guxin Island.
Her gaze swept over the majestic sea vessels, quickly finding a Wave-Cutting Dragon Boat—about thirty zhang long, with sails already raised, depicting a fierce White Dragon, the Zhou Family’s emblem for their sea voyages.
The sea is a complex web of forces, but those daring to travel it usually have their own power and trump cards, and ordinary cultivators won’t easily provoke them.
Even if something happens, the boat’s captain has Golden Core cultivation, and the vessel itself is sturdier than land-faring flying boats, capable of withstanding heavy attacks.
Ji Yutang boarded the sea vessel and went straight into a small cabin, setting up a formation to begin her cultivation, ignoring the outside world.
Two days later, the vessel reached a reef-filled sea area, a chaotic place without major powers.
The vessel’s manager, out of caution, raised several flags, silently warning those nearby.
The sea was calm.
But not far away, a young girl in a yellow dress stood on the waves, hands behind her back, looking at the burly male cultivator ahead with cold eyes.
“Why didn’t you call your senior brother when going to the North Sea, junior sister?
We of the Demon Sect are like branches of the same tree, traveling together would be a help.”
The male cultivator spoke cheerfully, and before Li Jingyu could respond, he slapped his forehead, “I almost forgot, junior sister is acting under the Ran Family’s identity, inconvenient to meet with us from the Demon Sect.
But no worries, senior brother can follow you secretly, as long as you—” His voice abruptly stopped, a sinister look flashing in his eyes.
“Did Gao Cang tell you my whereabouts?”
Li Jingyu looked at the person ahead with indifference.
This man was a cultivator from the Tianhai Demon Sect, named Zhao Yannan, who often mingled with the sisters of Huoxin Palace.
Li Jingyu didn’t usually meddle in others’ affairs, but Zhao Yannan frequently mentioned her, even wanting to form a dual cultivation partnership, which was disgusting.
In the Demon Sect, true feelings are rare, and “backstabbing” is common.
His interest in her was merely because of her Taiyin Physique.
After all, the ancient demonic art he practiced, the “Golden Crow Fire Bath Technique,” was pure yang, requiring the balance of Taiyin energy.
Zhao Yannan laughed loudly, “That’s not important.”
His eyes were fixed on Li Jingyu, full of greed.
If she were in Huoxin Palace, he would have no way, but now, traveling outside, even at sea, everything was easier.
“Junior sister, will you come with senior brother willingly, or should senior brother help you?”
As he spoke, his magic power surged, and scorching flames appeared around him.
“No need to trouble senior brother.”
Li Jingyu chuckled, summoning the Jewel of the Rising Tides.
The treasure floated in mid-air, emitting a faint glow, and the water beneath her feet responded, rumbling loudly.
If Ji Yue didn’t resist at all, Zhao Yannan would be surprised.
He stared at the Jewel of the Rising Tides, laughing loudly, “So this is junior sister’s Life-Bound Artifact?
Tides rise and fall, complementing the moon phases, it can complete my Golden Crow!”
He shouted, grabbing a long spear and channeling his magic power towards Li Jingyu.
“Junior sister, you’re no match for me, why not surrender?
After all, we’re family, and senior brother doesn’t want you hurt.”
Zhao Yannan’s voice echoed like rolling waves, his gaze fiery, as if merging with the blazing sun beside him.
Li Jingyu looked at Zhao Yannan calmly, chuckling.
She pointed, and the Jewel of the Rising Tides split into nine, carrying immense power towards Zhao Yannan.
This artifact not only controlled the tides but also gathered the power of the flood.
On land, she might not guarantee victory over Zhao Yannan, but at sea—with endless water at her command.
The long spear clashed with a Jewel of the Rising Tides, and Zhao Yannan’s hand went numb.
He looked at Li Jingyu warily, shocked.
“Junior sister, have you already built your foundation?”
Seeing Li Jingyu silent, he laughed loudly, “Good, good, foundation building is even better!”
He no longer held back, his attacks becoming more vicious.
The long spear danced, drawing a dazzling red light, but Li Jingyu paid little attention to the weapon, focusing instead on the floating flames.
This was the Golden Crow fire Zhao Yannan had refined, his true weapon.
At a certain level, the Golden Crow fire could boil the seas, but now, in the foundation-building stage, it lacked such power.
Li Jingyu’s mind turned, and the sea beneath her surged, as if reaching for the sky.
Waves rolled in, like an army charging, with great momentum.
“How could there be a tidal wave?”
On the Wave-Cutting Dragon Boat, the passengers were all alarmed.
Ji Yutang also opened a small window to take a look.
The sea was surging, with a red light like a blazing sun in the distance, was someone fighting?
Her heart suddenly tightened.
Author’s Note: Recommending a friend’s work “The First Slant of Spring in the Human World” by Instant Noodles.
On the eve of Qin Ruyi’s wedding, her fiancé fled due to her background, and for mutual benefit, the families decided to have the fiancé’s sister marry in his place.
The sister-in-law, Su Beigu, eighteen years old, was sent to a Taoist temple for her weak constitution, living in seclusion.
Qin Ruyi thought her sister-in-law would be aloof, detached, and indifferent to the mundane world, but on the wedding night, the sister-in-law took out a list to sell: “Need formations?
I have light-gathering, preservation, calming formations…”
Qin Ruyi: “?”
* Su Beigu is the direct disciple of a grandmaster formation master in the cultivation world.
After a failed tribulation, her soul scattered, leaving only a wisp of her spirit to cross into a world with thin spiritual energy, reincarnating as the Su family’s daughter.
Due to her illness, she was sent to a Taoist temple by her family, ostensibly to recuperate, but in reality, abandoned.
Until she was eighteen, a family letter called her back to marry in her brother’s place…
Su Beigu always thought her new sister-in-law was a pitiful person abandoned by her husband, until one night she discovered that the weakness, pity, and helplessness were all fake.
When you pretend for long enough, it becomes real.
Su Beigu thought she was on the path of cultivation, but unexpectedly, she accidentally achieved fame and became the most renowned agronomist in the area.
Years later, when others asked her how she embarked on this path, she pondered for a long time and said, “It all started when I used a synthesis array to turn cow dung and other manure into fertilizer…”
The world: “?”
A reserved array master X a scheming coffin painter.
