Chapter 184 - Set Out to the Sea

At Ma Wendi’s shout, the huge chariot began to move slowly, heading toward the sea. The water stretched as far as the eye could see, with many hoverchariots scattered above it, all of which were venturing out to hunt.

“Please come inside, everyone is waiting for us!”

While smiling, Ma Wendi brought both of them into the cabin of the Tigerking chariot, where they were instantly greeted by several sharp gazes.

The interior of the cabin was spacious and luxuriously decorated. The floor was covered with a large skin of an unknown sea beast, which felt soft and comfortable to step on. In the center of the cabin was a large round table, on top of which were placed many delicate dishes, including spirit fruits that emanated faint waves of Spirit Qi. Several people sat around the table, and their eyes rested on the three latecomers.

“Old Freak Duan, I thought you were swallowed by a sea monster.” A skinny old man said expressionlessly. He had a strange hairstyle and was smoking from a long-stemmed pipe.

“Haha!” Duan Yue laughed. “Old Freak Coldcrow, who is the one swallowed by an Iron Frog when he was hunting it? I thought you had been digested and excreted! Hahaha!” He swaggered over and pulled out two chairs before sitting down on one himself and signaling Yunxiao to sit on the other one.

His gesture immediately caught everyone’s attention, and they all studied the latter with surprised glances. When they found that he was only a fifteen-year old one-star Great Martial Master, they did not pay him too much attention, even though they were shocked by his extraordinary gift, and they guessed he was just Duan Yue’s disciple.

“Old Freak Duan, you’re looking for death!” Lord Coldcrow’s eyes gleamed coldly, his hand clutched tightly at his pipe as rings of Primordial Qi spread out with the smoke. After he was swallowed by the Iron Frog, which was a sixth-tier sea monster, he had almost become a laughingstock for everyone. However, as people were afraid of his prowess, no one dared to laugh in his face. Nonetheless, the incident was a thorn in his heart.

Duan Yue was not afraid of him, so he naturally did not have the taboo. “We know each other like the back of our hands,” he sneered. “You can’t beat me, and I can’t beat you either, so stop putting on airs in front of me.”

That gave Lord Coldcrow a pause. Knowing that he had asked for the snub himself, he stopped saying anything and just smoked his pipe, blowing rings of smoke into the air.

Yunxiao’s nose twitched slightly, and then a smile brushed his lips. He knew the old man was not smoking ordinary tobacco, but a very precious spirit herb that was of great benefit to body and cultivation base.

“Let me introduce you. These are all prominent figures in Qinghai, and they are all Martial Grandmasters.”

Duan Yue began to introduce each of these people to Yunxiao. Knowing their relationship, Ma Wendi smiled and did not say a word, but moved himself a chair and sat to the side.

The old man who smoked was Lord Coldcrow. He liked to be called Venerable Master Coldcrow, but everyone called him Old Freak Coldcrow behind his back. The middle-aged man sitting beside him, who was dressed like a scholar with a headscarf, was Shi Hongcai of the Foursquare Library. As a sect specialized in cultivating righteous energy of Confucianism, Foursquare Library’s disciples all dressed like scholars. The young man whose body was flashing with a red glow was Yan Feiyue from the Tiger Slayer Sect. His strange skin color was caused by the cultivation technique he practiced.

There was also a couple who looked to be in their twenties: The man was clad in a white brocade robe, looking fresh and elegant, while the woman was dressed in a gold-threaded gauze dress, looking petite, lovely, and charming. They were Situ Xing and his wife, Tang Qiaoqiao. Both of them were well-known Martial Grandmasters in Qinghai who had been famous for a long time. They liked to dress up in their twenties, but in fact, they were old freaks in their eighties or nineties. Martial Grandmasters’ lifespans were far greater than that of common people, and it was very normal for them to live up to three hundred years. Those who were in their eighties or nineties were considered young among Martial Grandmasters.

“Greetings, everyone! I’ve heard a lot about you!” Yunxiao greeted them courteously. Apart from Lord Coldcrow, who snorted coldly, the rest of them returned the greetings. After all, he was Old Freak Duan’s disciple, so it was not appropriate for them to just brush him off.

Duan Yue laughed in his heart as he watched Yunxiao talking nonsense with a serious face. He was sure that the latter had never heard of any of their names. At that moment, his childishness came back to him, and he mocked, trying to make things difficult for him, “Oh? You’ve heard a lot about them? Can you tell me something about this Shi Hongcai from the Foursquare Library?”

At that question, everyone looked at Yunxiao curiously.

Yunxiao was slightly taken aback. He did not expect Duan Yue would make things difficult for him like this. He cursed him in his heart, but on the outside, he smiled and said, “Rumor has it that Lord Shi is not only gentle and knowledgeable, but also has cultivated his Righteous Technique to the seventh tier, which, when aided by his metal-element martial techniques, makes him almost invincible in the South Sea.”

His words were very tactful and applicable to anyone. As for the seventh-tier Righteous Technique and the metal-element martial techniques, he judged that from Shi Hongcai’s Primordial Qi fluctuation and the faint layer of golden glow on the skin of his hands.

That stunned Duan Yue instantly. Shi Hongcai did cultivate metal-element martial techniques, and he should have cultivated his Righteous Technique to the seventh tier as well, judging from the shocked look on his face.

‘F*ck! How did this lad know about that? Had he really heard their names before? No, how’s that possible? Even I don’t know to what tier Shi Hongcai’s Righteous Technique has reached!’ After all, Confucianism cultivation techniques were rare, and there were only a few who cultivated them. And he did not know that Yunxiao had once absorbed a large amount of righteous energy, which allowed him to have a certain understanding of the technique. Under his powerful divine sense, he immediately found out the guy’s cultivation base.

Even Shi Hongcai froze for a moment, and then he said incredulously, “May I know who told you that, little brother? My Righteous Technique had just broken through to the seventh tier last month, and I’ve not used it to fight anyone after that…” He would never have thought that Yunxiao found that out himself.

Yunxiao smiled and said, “Qinghai is packed with experts. Perhaps some seniors or experts found that by accident and told others.”

Shi Hongcai frowned at that. The explanation, although somewhat far-fetched, seemed to be the only possible one. There were too few people cultivating the Righteous Technique, so those who could tell his cultivation base were by no means ordinary people. Perhaps it was really some experts who accidentally discovered it and told others.

For a moment, the people in the cabin all fell silent. Although they were mighty Martial Grandmasters, they were still extremely fearful in the face of some higher figures. The stronger they became, the more they found themselves insignificant and felt the endlessness and unfathomable of martial arts.

Among them, the most depressed person was Duan Yue. He wanted to give Yunxiao a hard time, but he did not expect the latter to solve it just like that. “Let’s drop that subject. Ma Wendi, where is the Purple Nine Neonate Flood Dragon? Show us on the marine map.”

Only then did Ma Wendi take out a large marine map and spread it out on the round table. Pointing at a red marking, he said, “There it is, about two thousand and seven hundred miles from Qinghai, at about thirty degrees.”

Duan Yue’s heart raced, and his pupils constricted. It was in the same direction as the rainbow fog, and the distance between the two places was within a hundred miles. ‘Not good! What if they find the rainbow fog as well?!’ He raised his eyes slightly and gave Yunxiao a serious look, but he only saw a calm, expressionless face.

‘I can’t believe this lad can hide his thought so well!’ He cursed in his heart and pretended to be normal as he tried to calm himself down.

But, his shocked look was already seen by someone. With suspicion in his eyes, Lord Coldcrow said coldly, “Is there something wrong with this place, Old Freak Duan?”

‘F*ck! How did he notice my inner emotion? This old freak really has a woman’s mind! Damnit! But, I can only blame myself for not able to hide my thoughts as good as a boy. Damnit! Is this lad really just a boy?’

After cursing in his heart, Duan Yue put on a puzzled look as he frowned and said, “What do you mean by that, Old Freak Coldcrow?”

“Stop pretending, you old codger!” Lord Coldcrow stared coldly at him with an extremely dissatisfied expression and mocked, “When Ma Wendi pointed at the red marking, I clearly saw your face fall, and then it returned to normal immediately. We are on the same boat now, and our lives are interconnected. If you don’t share with us what you know about the place…hmph, I think this operation will be very dangerous.”

Upon hearing that, everyone stared at Duan Yue with nervous and shocked eyes.

They all earned their living at the sea and naturally knew that there were puzzling dangers besides sea monsters in many places. Even Martial Emperors and Martial Supremes would not dare to visit these places at will, because it was simply looking for death. Therefore, with every additional piece of information, the chances for them to survive would be higher. Since Lord Coldcrow said so, at least Duan Yue must know about the place.

Ma Wendi frowned and said suspiciously, “Do you know this place, Senior Duan? Is there something wrong with it? Senior Coldcrow is right, we are on the same boat now, so it is best you can be honest with us if there is danger at this place.”

Beads of sweat oozed from Duan Yue’s forehead. How was he supposed to answer? Each one of the people present was an old freak as smart and sly as a fox, and a random made-up story could never deceive them.

“Sir Duan, is this where you found a bloodfish ganoderma last time?” Yunxiao suddenly said with a shocked look.

“A bloodfish ganoderma!” Everyone’s face flickered while Lord Coldcrow’s eyes lit up and he cried out, “A bloodfish ganoderma? Is it the legendary precious plant that can be swallowed directly to enhance the strength?”

The bloodfish ganoderma was a kind of very special precious plant. Its shape resembled a small fish covered in blood, but it was a spirit herb produced by heaven and earth. If one swallowed it directly, one could completely absorb the power within it. A one-hundred-year-old bloodfish ganoderma could increase the strength of even a Martial Grandmaster by one star.

At the level of Martial Grandmaster, it was very difficult to advance even just one star. Therefore, a spirit herb like this was a huge temptation to any warrior.