Li Weiyi looked back with worry and once he was sure that Li Ling was not following him, he relaxed slightly. The bronze ship, the Golden Crow Corpse, and the Black Flood Dragon Corpse were all treasures. If she knew about them, who knew?
She might even call over every expert from the Cang Li Tribe, from the entire Nine Li Tribe. Yet Li Weiyi also wondered and remained cautious: why wasn’t Li Ling daring to catch up? Even when it came to the fearsome Departing Spirit Fog Domain, she crossed back and forth without hesitation.
One must not judge her by the standards of an ordinary teenage girl.
“I can only move forward; there’s no turning back. Why think so much? In this vast Coffin Sea, I haven’t run into any real danger yet.”
Without further hesitation, Li Weiyi leapt off the plankway and dashed into the endless “land” of floating coffins. The stench of blood and decay grew ever stronger. The place where he had come ashore was different from the Coffin Dock.
Now he could only guess the direction of the bronze ship. Unlike Li Ling, he did not feel fear; he thought that although the Blood Sea Coffin Dock looked eerie and sinister, it was in reality calm and peaceful.
After racing for several dozen miles, he shouted out the name “Zhao Meng” or “Liu Bing” (as Old Liu was also known) into the thick fog. He continuously changed his direction and position, calling out repeatedly. Half a day later, Li Weiyi had lost track of how far he had gotten from the shore.
Every time he called out, there was no response. His heart sank more and more. He was deeply worried that the bronze ship might have already set sail again, headed for even more distant places.
If that were the case, what would happen to the research team on board who were low on food and water? What about his fellow senior apprentices? After yet another half day, Li Weiyi estimated that he must be almost two hundred miles away from the shore now.
The floating coffins spread endlessly, and the oppressive fog was thick. He felt as if the entire world was lifeless; aside from himself, no other creature stirred. Panic unlike any before gripped him, and thoughts jumbled in his mind.
The bronze ship might really have sailed far away. Then, from somewhere deep in the fog, a familiar voice reached him: “Weiyi, is that you?”
“Brother Weiyi, it’s Qin Ke,” came the reply.
Hearing that, Li Weiyi, who had been resting on a four-meter-long jade coffin, felt his spirit lift. He set off rapidly toward the direction of the voice. Not long after, the floating coffins on the water started shaking violently.
Out of the mist emerged a massive figure. That figure was as tall as two stories. His head was as large as a water jar, his mouth as wide as a plate, and his legs were thicker than Li Weiyi’s whole body, exuding explosive power.
He had a thick beard and wore nothing but a pair of patched oversized shorts. Every step he took carried a dominating presence. In his left hand he held a long white yin banner, which swung back and forth as scriptures floated across its surface, radiating brilliant light for dozens of feet.
In his right hand, he cradled an old blue-and-white porcelain jar, similar to an urn for ashes.
“Ha ha!”
Zhao Meng boomed with laughter as he came to a halt about a meter away from Li Weiyi. Li Weiyi stared dumbfounded; he had to look up to see Zhao Meng’s face. With both joy and disbelief he cried, “Senior Brother… what’s going on?
How did you grow so tall?”
“Not much to it really. Who knows? I might grow even taller yet. I’m following a path where I continuously devour the blood of ancient immortal beasts. My constitution isn’t ordinary, you know.”
Zhao Meng now stood six meters tall. His skin almost glowed with a golden hue. Parts of black Flood Dragon scales adorned his long arms, and he had many bottles and jars hanging from his back.
In his hand, the long yin banner measured over three meters, and at its tip was a skull with nine eyes inlaid with red rubies. From each skull’s mouth came a white ribbon inscribed with indescribable scriptures.
Li Weiyi had seen that very yin banner before in the Grave Sea Stone Forest of the bronze ship; it had been planted on top of a grave mound. How had his senior brother activated it?
“Senior Brother, have you unleashed your magical power… as if you have opened a spring?”
Li Weiyi remarked, describing his own method of unleashing his spring while aboard the bronze ship. Zhao Meng, who had long practiced the Jade Void Breathing Technique and could open a spring briefly at any time, merely grinned.
“Opening a spring isn’t that simple. Do you really think everyone has the same talents as you? Master said that my genetic potential tops out only at your knees.”
Zhao Meng glanced at his yin banner, reading Li Weiyi’s confusion, and continued, “Its glow has nothing to do with me. Have you found the land yet? And what about Gao Huan?”
“Of course I found it; but that’s a long story…”
Li Weiyi trailed off. Hearing movement behind him, Li Weiyi turned his gaze past Zhao Meng. There, carrying a tall spirit tablet about a foot high in both hands, came Qin Ke, followed by Old Liu and Old Guan lugging a stone coffin.
Both Old Liu and Old Guan belonged to the engineering team, but Li Weiyi could hardly recognize them now. One had drunk Golden Crow blood and grown a huge bird-like head; the other had consumed Black Flood Dragon blood and ended up with a draconic head covered in black scales. Two bizarre, malformed men!
Seeing no one else approach, Li Weiyi curiously asked, “Where is everyone else?”
“They’re all on board the ship already. We have left,” Zhao Meng replied nonchalantly.
With a hearty thump, he sat down and began to tell Li Weiyi in detail all that had transpired on the bronze ship over the past few days. Li Weiyi listened intently, his curiosity growing. Midway he asked, “So the owner of the bronze ship has made an appearance?”
“Not exactly. At least, I haven’t seen His true form. After being bathed in immortal radiance, Golden Crow blood and Black Flood Dragon blood can be drunk by anyone. Just one drop will keep one from hunger for days and even increase one’s physical strength. The research team won’t starve. They follow the ship’s owner, and someday they might become extraordinary beings.”
He uttered “He” with the weight of mystery, reverence, and the unknown. Zhao Meng’s expression suddenly turned grave.
“But not all is good news! He has issued an edict, requiring the owner of the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish—in other words, you—to swiftly reach the Immortal Longevity Realm. There is something you must do, and His time is very tight.”
Li Weiyi was stunned; then he burst out laughing in disbelief.
“What do you mean?”
Zhao Meng explained, “It seems that our sect had made some kind of promise, planting a cause and effect that only the owner of the Dao Ancestor Taiji Fish can now carry out and accept. I don’t know the specifics, but once your cultivation reaches the Immortal Longevity Realm, He will come for you. At that time, you’ll understand.
If needed, we senior apprentices will shoulder it together.”
“I don’t even know what the Immortal Longevity Realm is,” Li Weiyi laughed uncertainly.
Then a hoarse, aged voice rang out: “Spring Surge Realm, Five Seas Realm, Dao Seed Realm… The next grand realm, the fourth one, is the Immortal Longevity Realm. Kid, count yourself lucky that you have created a karmic bond with the owner of the bronze ship.
To work for Him, and to have us three sent as your guides—surely many would be envious of your fate and rewards.” Zhao Meng, having studied the language and texts of this world alongside the senior sister, was more familiar with them than Li Weiyi.
He nodded vigorously in agreement, feeling that the owner of the bronze ship was an immensely powerful being. Working for Him would be like having a strong backing in this strange, foreign world. Even if that backing had only just awakened, it appeared there was something crucial to be done.
It felt as if a great tree were sheltering him overhead. After a moment, Li Weiyi noticed that the ancient voice was coming from the porcelain urn in Zhao Meng’s hand. Looking at Zhao Meng, he heard him softly say, “Call me Senior Guan.”
Within the spirit tablet Qin Ke held, a middle-aged woman’s voice then spoke: “Call me Senior Lingwei.” And from the stone coffin carried by Old Liu and Old Guan came another voice, calm and measured: “Call me Senior Guan in the coffin.” The three of them introduced themselves so simply and down-to-earth.
It was nothing like the lofty manner of Chan Hai Guanwu or Yu Tuo Nan. Perhaps it was the will of the owner of the bronze ship.
Li Weiyi’s eyes swept over the urn, the spirit tablet, and the stone coffin as he directly asked, “Do any of you know what the karmic bond between the Chan Sect and the owner of the bronze ship is? Why must I quickly reach the Immortal Longevity Realm? And why is there only ten years’ time?
I’ve heard that ten years is barely enough for a cultivator of top talent to open four spring eyes.” Senior Guan in the urn asked, “So how many spring eyes have you opened so far?”
“Three,” Li Weiyi answered.
“And how long did that take?”
“Less than half a month!”
Li Weiyi replied.
“Then that’s it. Forget about what constitutes top or lower talent—you’re different. You are the one favored by the owner of the bronze ship,” said Senior Guan from the urn.
However, the voice from within the stone coffin stated at a steady pace, “No, I don’t share his view. Li Weiyi, you are not the one favored by the owner of the bronze ship. You can only be yourself.
A cultivator must come to understand what he truly desires and seeks, so that throughout the long road of cultivation, he can eventually forge an unwavering heart for the Way. Therefore, the karmic bond is not really important to you at this point.” Li Weiyi pondered deeply.
Senior Guan in the coffin continued, “I will ask you two questions. What are you pursuing at this stage? What do you desire?
You need not answer immediately; let’s first return to the Ling Xiao Sheng Realm.” Li Weiyi’s lips twitched, but he did not reply immediately. He wanted to think it over more clearly.
The group then set off in the direction of the shore. Zhao Meng also mulled over those two questions, though his tone was relaxed.
“At this stage, all I really want is to find our senior sister. She must be a native of this world.”
After about half an hour, Li Weiyi snapped out of his reverie. He recalled that Li Ling might still be at the Coffin Dock’s ferry, and that Shi Jiuzhai and his disciples might be blocked at the Dragon Slaying Pass.
“Since you three seniors know about the Ling Xiao Sheng Realm, you were likely once from here, weren’t you? Tell me, apart from the Coffin Dock of the Departing Spirit Fog Domain, is there any other path back?”
Li Weiyi asked. Senior Guan in the urn, ever eager, laughed and said, “You’ve asked the right person! No one knows about the Blood Sea Coffin Dock and the Departing Spirit Fog Domain better than I do.
After all, I am of the Nine Li…”
“Shut up,” came the voice from the stone coffin.
“Is there something dangerous on that side of the Coffin Dock ferry?”
“Danger is hard to say, but it’s best to avoid it if possible,” Li Weiyi replied.
Then the voice from the stone coffin said, “There is another route, though it is a bit longer. Next, I will have the Nine Emperor Banner point out the direction. Whoever holds the banner, lead the way!”
The Nine Emperor Banner was none other than the white yin banner in Zhao Meng’s hand. The nine skulls with ruby eyes on it provided a kind of mystical energy similar to magical power. The scriptures and light emanating from it served to show the direction for everyone.
The shore was still far away; they hurried onward. Yet even as the skies darkened completely, they had yet to reach land. At length, they found an area of floating coffins where giant caskets blocked the biting wind and the ground was firm enough.
They decided to rest there for the night. Following the directions of Senior Guan in the coffin, Zhao Meng planted his white yin banner into the gap between two coffins. That banner could calm wandering souls; within the area bathed in its light, even departed spirits dared not come close.
It had been a treasure of Senior Guan’s in his previous life. Li Weiyi took out food from the Evil Camel Bell and distributed it among the group. They had just finished eating when suddenly a series of thuds and bangs echoed— “Bang!
Bang!”
The blue-and-white porcelain urn leapt out from a corner and declared, “It’s time for cultivation! All together now—you, Li Weiyi, stop pondering those pesky issues about the coffin. Focus on the mysterious, profound, and elusive matters.
What is real is the most important. You must open your fourth spring eye as soon as possible. We all now depend on you for protection.
Don’t go around recklessly opening five or six spring eyes and end us all before even reaching the Immortal Longevity Realm.” Li Weiyi protested, “Senior, opening a spring eye isn’t something you just decide to do, right? It has to be done step by step.”
“Bullshit! With the vigorous blood qi from Golden Crow blood, your supreme Chan Sect’s highest breathing technique, and my guidance, there’s nothing dangerous about opening the first four spring eyes. With your bloodline and talent, you can break through easily. But once you get to the fifth spring eye, things become more dangerous. You’ll need to head to the metropolis of the prefecture to get an opening needle to quickly break through.”
Senior Guan in the urn was impatient; he was the type to act immediately. Without further ado, he began instructing Li Weiyi as he forced open the fourth spring eye with his left palm.
(End of Chapter)