Chapter 46: Traveling Together, Debate on the Deck

Less than half a day after the message was sent, Meng Han made his appearance.

He was vastly different from before, wearing a golden crown and brocade boots, dressed in a black robe with dark patterns. He looked spirited and high-spirited, though his dark complexion prevented him from appearing particularly elegant or dashing.

"I have yet to congratulate Senior Brother Meng on his great joy!"

Zhao Chun emerged from the Three-Part Stone Forest and first arrived at Wangduan Cliff. She had heard from Xu Feng that Meng Han had already passed the Great Examination. Furthermore, having built his foundation with Rock Jade Stone Roots, his foundation was more solid than most; he had been ranked as "Grade A-Lower," which was still considered superior among inner sect disciples.

Meng Han had rushed out from a banquet immediately upon receiving the transmission talisman, still wearing his formal attire. Having achieved Grade A status, he had suddenly become quite popular among the disciples; those who used to call him "Black Barbarian" now had to cup their hands and address him as "Senior Brother." Various banquet invitations had piled up halfway through his cave dwelling, causing him much trouble for many days.

The one who had invited him today was a prominent senior within the inner sect, possessing a cultivation at the late stage of Foundation Establishment and being a direct disciple of an Elder—someone who could not be easily offended.

"What is there to celebrate? Foundation Establishment is even more troublesome than Qi Refinement. If it weren't for Junior Sister, I would still be stuck there for several more hours today," Meng Han said, removing his crown and holding it in his hand with an air of indifference. "By the way, the one hosting the banquet is named Du Fanzhi. Technically, he is your direct senior brother. I heard he is under Elder Li's tutelage, which is why he let me out."

Zhao Chun had heard of this person. Among Li Shu's nineteen disciples, he was the third, and the youngest among the three late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators. He came from a cultivation clan with multiple Foundation Establishment cultivators, making his influence quite significant.

That level of disciple would give Zhao Chun face, but even if he used Li Shu's name, she did not quite believe it.

Instead, Meng Han rubbed his nose and said, "There were many Foundation Establishment disciples at the banquet; they weren't lacking one more like me." Only then did Zhao Chun realize that the banquet was not set exclusively for Meng Han, but was a gathering of many elites to which Meng Han had been invited.

"Human relations and social etiquette are the same whether in the immortal or mortal realms."

Meng Han nodded vigorously in agreement with this sentiment.

Zhao Chun invited him into her room, and the two sat comfortably. Meng Han said, "You are fast as well. A few months ago, I heard you were still at the fifth level of Qi Refinement, and now you have already broken through."

"I made a few trips to the Three-Part Stone Forest and luckily achieved a breakthrough."

"That is indeed a good place for tempering," Meng Han added. He had also been there, but since he focused on the path of body tempering, the Stone Forest did not suit him, so he had stopped going.

After some pleasantries, Meng Han spoke of the matter regarding the old sect ruins: "Senior Brother Xu and I traveled east, and just as we were approaching the Eastern Region, we discovered such a place. It was likely a small sect from several thousand years ago that was destroyed by evil cultivators. Refusing to let the sect's accumulated wealth be plundered, they used a secret method to seal the sect underground. It was unearthed by rogue cultivators a hundred years ago, which is how it became known to the surrounding area...

"In the past hundred years, many cultivators have entered the earth to explore. Most of the rare treasures have been taken, but my Rock Jade Stone Root was only obtained because the quantity was scarce and it was hidden within a crevice. However, the surrounding cultivators understand the principle of 'not fishing with a net that drains the pond'; they allow things like spiritual herbs and trees to continue growing for those with destiny to find. It is considered a form of good karma...

"Furthermore, this sect is named Fengyan, and they specialized in the path of weapon forging. I have also heard that some cultivators obtained weapon-forging inheritances from there, so I thought I'd suggest Junior Sister give it a try! Even if you don't find anything, it's no matter. There are several types of body-tempering spiritual herbs in the ruins' medicinal gardens that are perfect for us. If we can harvest them, it will have been a worthwhile trip."

As he spoke, Zhao Chun nodded, asking when they would depart. Meng Han stood up with a "whoosh" and said, "Let's leave immediately! It's the perfect excuse to escape a few more banquets!"

Zhao Chun chuckled. She had nothing to do on her end, and her belongings were all ready, so there was no need for further packing. After a brief discussion, they decided to set off immediately.

The ruins were located at the junction of the Southeast and East Regions, a very long journey. If they traveled by smoke boat, they would likely exhaust many talismans, and the speed would be slow, causing significant delays.

In the Hengyun World, long-distance travel was often done via massive Nine-Sail Beast-Head ships that traversed the sea of clouds, traveling a thousand miles a day.

The cost of these ships was extremely high, and boarding was not cheap. One had to pay one hundred Essence Stones to enter the lower cabins, two hundred for the middle cabins, and five hundred for the upper cabins. If one was truly short on funds, there were cargo holds to reside in for only thirty Essence Stones, though the environment there was a matter of personal perspective.

By the time Zhao Chun and Meng Han arrived, the lower cabins were fully booked, so they each chose a middle cabin. Since they both had ample funds, they would not wrong themselves by staying in a cargo hold, and as Meng Han had already reached Foundation Establishment, he needed to maintain his dignity while traveling.

This cost them two hundred. Combined with her expenses in the Three-Part Stone Forest, Zhao Chun had spent nearly eight thousand in less than three months, which was truly extravagant. She currently had thirty-three spirit jade pieces and over one thousand four hundred Essence Stones remaining. To other Qi Refinement cultivators, this was a fortune, but to Zhao Chun, it was hardly enough to cover much.

Greed, anger, and delusion were indeed the three impurities of humanity; with greed being the foremost, the more Zhao Chun realized the usefulness of money, the more she felt the tightness in her purse.

The journey to the old sect ruins would involve six days on the ship, followed by two days of maneuvering a smoke boat after disembarking at Mount Fangjing. The journey was long. Aside from her cultivation, Zhao Chun spent her time sitting on the deck, watching the changes in the sea of clouds, finding it quite interesting.

In her past life, she had never experienced extreme sports, living only by the principle of preserving her life, and had only seen the sea of clouds through a plane window. Now, she finally understood the feeling of "Since ancient times, the sea of clouds has been vast; where can one find the celestial mountains and crimson palaces?" Watching the shifting clouds, she would smile and think that the celestial mountains and crimson palaces were within her reach.

Zhao Chun closed her eyes slightly, sighing inwardly, when a commotion broke out behind her.

"You sect disciples certainly carry yourselves with great arrogance, daring to falsely accuse others of theft with nothing but empty words. Do you have any evidence to present?" It was a slightly raspy male voice, speaking with rhythm and conviction.

The voice responding to him was also male, though somewhat more youthful. He replied, "There were only you and I on this deck earlier; if not you, then who else could it be?"

The words were biased, causing Zhao Chun to frown slightly.

As expected, the other party caught the flaw and sneered, "Two people, yet not the two of us? There are three or five people on your side; why don't you suspect your own people of theft?"

The youthful male voice was incensed and continued to argue. The voices were not small, attracting many curious onlookers, and the deck was suddenly crowded.

Zhao Chun turned her head and clearly saw the two groups. Several older men were dressed as rogue cultivators, some with beards or bare chests, looking unruly and uninhibited. On the other side were both men and women, all neatly dressed and adorned with jade pendants, none of whom were very old, likely around fifteen to seventeen.

The rogue cultivators' arguments were quite logical, with every sentence attempting to link the matter back to the other party's sect, causing the disciples to inadvertently reveal their identities during the argument.

They claimed to be disciples of the Fenyu Sect. Zhao Chun had never heard of this sect, but seeing that the lead disciple was at the fifth level of Qi Refinement and looked young, they could be considered geniuses if they were from a small sect.

Zhao Chun sat with her knees pulled to her chest by a wooden crate on the deck. She had been well-hidden, allowing her to watch this drama, but when she turned her head, half of her face was exposed. A few rogue cultivators caught sight of her and said in strange tones, "Didn't you just say there were only two parties on this deck? It turns out there's a young girl here too. Why do you only blame us and not others? Do you look down on rogue cultivators like us?"

Zhao Chun sighed. One sits on a boat, yet a pot falls from the sky. Seeing everyone's gaze shift toward her, she had no choice but to stand up from the ground, curl her lips slightly, and ask, "Is there something the matter?"