A towering pleasure boat lay moored in the harbor, its surface covered in gold foil and inlaid with pearls and jade. Rare flowers and exotic plants bloomed everywhere, and at night, it blazed with lights, illuminating the surroundings as bright as day.
This style had nothing to do with mystical arts or Daoist techniques. Just hearing it described could easily make one think of a nouveau riche's gaudy taste, but anyone who saw it in person would feel the intense, dazzling beauty of it. It made them fall in love with life all over again, longing to savor and relive the experience. No amount of Daoist techniques or Mysterious Skills and Strange Techniques could pile up anything quite like it.
At some point, passersby began whispering among themselves, spreading word of the mysterious pleasure boat until all of Ten Absolutes Island was abuzz with rumors.
This was the world-famous Night Emperor Ship, the vessel that carried beauty and hope!
If fate brought you aboard, and the Night Emperor invited you onto his ship, you might transcend the mundane and begin a brand-new, brilliant life.
Among the Dharma Body Masters—the Four Oddities, Three Demons, Five Elders and Immortals—none was more beloved and eagerly anticipated by ordinary people, ordinary Sea Guests, and ordinary martial artists than the Night Emperor. He was unrestrained and extravagant, loved granting other people's wishes, and was practically synonymous with "chance encounters."
The Night Emperor Ship's arrival had drawn many people to the harbor to linger and wait for their chance. Yet from the day it arrived, not a single person had come ashore. The Night Emperor remained deep within the ship and never showed himself. Had people not occasionally seen beautiful maids and handsome, strapping servants walking the deck, they might have taken the vessel for a