Several days later, the flying boat had finally left the Songhe Gate's territory far behind.
As dawn gave way to dusk and back again, Li Bufan sat cross-legged at the bow, his robes snapping in the fierce winds high above the ground. He gazed into the distance, watching the scenery between heaven and earth change slowly but unmistakably.
The land below was no longer the endless wooded hills and river valleys of the Songhe Gate's territory. It gradually grew flatter and more open, the terrain gentler, while the air carried the salty dampness of a sea breeze.
Li Bufan looked toward the vast expanse of water spreading out ahead. In the distance, scattered island silhouettes were already visible, appearing and disappearing where sky met sea.
"We've reached the Lingshui Pavilion's territory," he said softly.
The Lingshui Pavilion lay in the western part of the Eastern Domain, its territory bordering the Endless Sea. Rather than a single continuous stretch of mainland, its domain consisted of countless islands of varying sizes and stretches of coastal land.
Those islands dotted the sea, some only a few miles apart, others separated by a hundred miles. Boats and ships maintained the connections between them.
The coastal lands were long, narrow, and winding, with complex terrain, interspersed bays and headlands, and dense networks of rivers.
Compared with the dry, mountainous inland landscape of the Songhe Gate's territory, the Lingshui Pavilion's domain was entirely different in both climate and geography.
Li Bufan drew a deep breath, feeling the salty, damp sea breeze fill his lungs. The tension that had gripped his heart for days finally eased a little.
Sitting cross-legged aboard the flying boat, he watched the mist-shrouded green islands below glimmer in the morning light and silently calculated the distance he had traveled.
He had flown