Materials for Creating Red Lotus

He Jiaqing followed Old Train out of the city and arrived beside the railway tracks.

The surrounding scenery was a wash of grayish white. Only the two tracks gleamed silver-bright as new, almost painfully dazzling.

After waiting a moment, a whistle sounded, and a train came rumbling in from afar.

Old Train leaped onto the carriage roof, and He Jiaqing hurriedly followed.

The two crouched atop the train. Before they had gone far, Old Train said to He Jiaqing, "See that bridge ahead? The moment the carriage gets onto it, jump. Don't use any techniques.

"At this train's speed, by the time you land beneath the bridge, you'll be in the middle of the river. Drift downstream with the current, and you'll reach the exit. Remember all that?"

He Jiaqing nodded.

Old Train asked again, "I told you before: the goods are to be split three ways. You can't swallow them all for yourself. Do you remember that too?"

"I remember."

"Get ready to jump."

He Jiaqing hated being ordered around, but he knew far too little about Dream Tether Tower. A few days of experience could never compare with Old Train's, so whatever Old Train said, he had to heed.

At the bridgehead, He Jiaqing jumped from the train and fell into the middle of the river. The water had no buoyancy at all. It clung wetly and stickily to him. Before he had drifted far, He Jiaqing sank into the riverbed.

With his cultivation, there was naturally no need to panic over such a situation. Yet when he crawled out of the riverbed, the train was gone, the bridge was gone, and even the river had vanished.

He Jiaqing had crawled out of a swamp. Looking around, he recognized the place. It was Red Mud Ridge.

Red Mud