Half an hour later.

With a soft click, the cabin door opened.

Li Meng and Yuan Baobao emerged, one after the other. Yuan Baobao’s cheeks were flushed a rosy pink, a hint of newfound allure flickering in her eyes. Li Meng’s face, on the other hand, bore traces of weariness.

The two made their way along the corridor toward the foredeck.

“Senior Brother, walk faster!” Yuan Baobao urged, tugging Li Meng along until they reached the open deck.

“Junior Sister, slow down, slow down!” Li Meng protested. His old bones couldn’t match Yuan Baobao’s youthful liveliness and lightness. Walking just a bit faster made his legs tremble. In many ways, mortals and those who dwelled on the mountain were not so different after all.

“Senior Brother Xuan is over there!”

Yuan Baobao scanned the deck and spotted her Dao Companion by the ship’s railing. She pulled Li Meng over, only releasing his arm once they stood beside Xuan Hao. She leaned eagerly against the railing, her face alight as she gazed at the beautiful lake scenery.

“Senior Brother Li!” Xuan Hao greeted Li Meng with a respectful bow.

Li Meng responded with a hearty chuckle and a bow of his own.

The three of them stood side by side at the railing, appreciating the stunning view of Mute Lake. Li Meng stole a glance at Junior Sister Yuan’s smiling, lovely face. The world of cultivation was one of survival of the fittest, its atmosphere often heavy and oppressive. Even among fellow sect members, schemes and deceptions were commonplace. While his relationship with Junior Sister Yuan was purely transactional, Li Meng could tell she was a woman without too many complicated thoughts or hidden agendas.

“Look! It’s Qingxu Sect’s flying sword!”

A sudden exclamation rose from the deck. Pairs of Outer Disciples turned to look in the same direction.

To the north of the Heaven-Piercing Spirit Vessel, an enormous flying sword came soaring through the sky from afar, traveling parallel to their own vessel dozens of miles away. The giant sword was about two hundred zhang long and packed with Qingxu Sect’s Outer Disciples. At its forefront stood a middle-aged Daoist in gray robes. A mere glance at him made one’s eyes sting with a sharp, piercing sensation—that was Sword Intent. He was a Sword Cultivator.

“Look over there! What a huge gourd!” Another cry rang out from the deck.

In the northwestern sky appeared an immense purple gourd, so large it seemed to blot out the sun and sky, even bigger than Qingxu Sect’s flying sword. Numerous cultivators were visible upon its surface.

“That’s a Nurturing Sword Gourd,” Xuan Hao’s voice sounded beside Li Meng’s ear. “It can temper a Sword Cultivator’s Lifebound Flying Sword. It’s a supreme treasure for them.”

Li Meng squinted at the gourd traveling alongside their Spirit Vessel not far away.

“Senior Brother, that must be Senior Ge Yue from Giant Sword Mountain on it, right?” Yuan Baobao asked.

Upon the gourd stood an elderly man with hair as white as snow. From a distance, he looked like an immortal descended from Heaven. The Sword Intent emanating from him wasn’t as sharp and aggressive as that of the Qingxu Sect Sword Cultivator; instead, it felt elusive and unfathomable.

“Mmm,” Xuan Hao confirmed. “In all of Giant Sword Mountain, only Senior Ge Yue possesses a Nurturing Sword Gourd.”

“Senior Brother, look! The monks from Jinshan Temple have arrived too!” Yuan Baobao’s eyes brightened as she caught sight of something else.

A massive golden alms bowl came flying through the distant sky. The inverted bowl was crowded with monks in saffron robes.

Xuan Hao looked in another direction. “Thousand Crane Valley is here as well!”

A gigantic puppet crane appeared in the distant sky. Its enormous wingspan trailed long streams of spiritual light. With a single flap of its wings, it caught up to the procession.

A thousand meters above Mute Lake, the five great sects of the State of Zhao had gathered together, all advancing toward the same destination.

“Senior Brother Li,” Xuan Hao said in a low voice, “once we enter the Scarlet Forbidden Ground, be especially wary of disciples from Thousand Crane Valley. Their puppet arts require a cultivator’s soul to drive their puppets. They extract souls, erase consciousness, and bind them to puppets for control.”

Li Meng narrowed his eyes at the distant puppet crane. If the Joyous Union Sect leaned toward neutrality, then Thousand Crane Valley leaned toward demonic paths. However, because their puppet arts required cultivator souls as a medium and they did not use mortal blood sacrifices or cultivate other heaven-defying techniques that harmed natural harmony, Thousand Crane Valley was grudgingly classified among the righteous sects.

“This Senior Brother understands,” Li Meng replied.

Their destination soon came into view: a small island in Mute Lake. The island held nothing but a massive teleportation formation.

Above the formation, streaks of light flashed suddenly. Five figures materialized out of thin air in the sky—this was Teleportation, an ability only those at the Nascent Soul stage could possess.

“So it’s Junior Sister Nangong Wan! It is truly rare to see you!”

Thousand Crane Valley’s Yun Miao Zhenren chuckled jovially as he looked at Nangong Wan, his gaze openly appraising her graceful figure.

Among the five figures, Nangong Wan was the only female cultivator. She wore elegant purple palace robes and a veil over her face. The alluring curves of her body were subtly hinted at beneath her garments. Her long hair cascaded down to her hips, swaying gently behind her shoulders in the breeze.

Jinshan Temple’s Wu Ming cast a brief glance at Nangong Wan before clasping his hands together. “Amitabha.”

Qingxu Sect’s Jian Chen and Giant Sword Mountain’s Ge Yue simply looked down at the teleportation formation below.

Ignoring Yun Miao Zhenren entirely, Nangong Wan extended her slender jade-like hand. “Everyone,” her cool voice echoed between Heaven and Earth, “let us begin.”

In the next moment, water-blue Spiritual Power erupted from her form, coalescing into a pillar of light that slammed into one node of the teleportation formation below.

“Amitabha!”

A solemn Buddhist chant resonated powerfully. Golden spiritual light burst forth from Wu Ming’s body as well, forming another radiant pillar that struck another node on the formation below.

The other three also released their respective elemental spiritual lights—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth—completing all Five Elements.

The teleportation formation below activated. The five elemental lights converged.

Suddenly, a brilliant five-colored pillar shot up from the formation straight into the heavens. A thick layer of white clouds in its path was instantly scattered by this dazzling column of light.

Aboard Joyous Union Sect’s Spirit Vessel…

A streak of water-blue light shot out from an upper-floor pavilion. It materialized into an elegant figure hovering above the deck.

“The Scarlet Forbidden Ground is now open! All disciples are to depart immediately!”

“Yes, Grandmaster!”

Streaks of light were a Core Formation cultivator’s ability. All Outer Disciples on deck bowed respectfully in unison.

Then they took to the air one after another, flying off toward that distant five-colored pillar. Similarly, Outer Disciples from the other four great sects also soared into flight toward that same radiant beacon. Countless figures plunged headlong into that five-colored light beam. They transformed into streaks of multicolored radiance shooting skyward before vanishing without a trace.

“Junior Sister… Senior Brother… The teleportation is random upon entry… Take care.”

On deck now stood only three people who bowed solemnly to each other.

Xuan Hao looked at his Junior Sister. “Junior Sister… let us go.”

Yuan Baobao gave a slight nod.

Xuan Hao reached out and took Junior Sister Yuan’s hand in his own before pulling her along as they flew off from the deck together toward that distant beacon high above Mute Lake’s waters below them.

She turned back once more, looking toward Senior Brother Li, still standing there watching them leave. She saw him smile warmly and nod back at her. Her eyes curved into playful crescents as she winked flirtatiously back at Senior Brother Li one last time before turning away again, facing forward where destiny awaited both inside the Scarlet Forbidden Ground ahead.

On deck, Li Meng watched them fly away for a moment longer before he too finally took flight, following after them.

Ahead, Yuan Baobao and Xuan Hao plunged into that brilliant five-colored pillar, vanishing instantly from sight, swallowed whole by its radiant embrace.