Ten Thousand Miles Cloud Travel

Yun Jian Workshop.

The oldest incense shop in Qingxu County.

Someone had come to buy incense.

Before Hong Yuan had even stepped into the shop, he was already calling loudly from the doorway, "Shopkeeper Yun, bring out the best incense recipe in your shop—the one called 'Ten Thousand Miles Cloud Travel.' I'll take as much as you have."

After leaving Flagstone Alley, Hong Yuan had originally planned to depart Qingxu County's city proper, but then he suddenly remembered the censer of incense he had smelled in the "Jade Wutong Immortal Realm," which at the time had made even his spirit clear.

Earlier, Hong Yuan had already realized that relying on his own training alone would only make the rate at which his innate constitution and perception improved slower and slower, so he had settled on a plan of adding technology and harsh work.

Facts proved that harsh work really did work. Killing Pier Yan San, Huang Guiling, Huang Shaotang, and the others had increased his innate constitution and perception by a thread and a wisp respectively.

Harsh work was useful, then what about technology?

If he burned a censer of fine incense while meditating and entering stillness, would it also help his perception grow a little?

He did not know the name of the incense recipe from the "Jade Wutong Immortal Realm," but Yun Jian Workshop had a high-grade incense recipe, "Ten Thousand Miles Cloud Travel." Though it could not compare to the rich, clear fragrance of the former, it was worth a try for the time being.

When the two shop assistants inside the incense shop, who had been sweeping and dusting, heard the call, they hurried forward to greet him. Shopkeeper Yun behind the counter lifted his head and sized up Hong Yuan as he entered, rubbed the corner of his eye, and looked hesitant.

Back when Hong Yuan had still been an academy student, his family's finances had been fairly comfortable, and he had often come to buy incense. After going back and forth a few times, he had become fairly familiar with this old shopkeeper.

Only, Shopkeeper Yun was advanced in years, his hair already white, and his eyesight had long since grown poor. On top of that, Hong Yuan's physique and bearing had changed greatly now. Though he vaguely felt a sense of familiarity, he did not dare recognize him.

Pressing down a few doubts, Shopkeeper Yun put on a smile. "Honored guest, greetings. This humble shop does indeed have the incense recipe 'Ten Thousand Miles Cloud Travel,' only this incense is quite costly to make. May I ask, honored guest..."

Hong Yuan took out a hundred-tael silver note from "Baoji Zhenji" and slapped it onto the counter with a pa.

Shopkeeper Yun narrowed his old eyes and glanced at it. Without even touching it with his hand, he merely waved and smiled. "Honored guest, please don't jest with this little old man. The denomination of this silver note is too large. My little shop can't break it. Please exchange it for ready silver and come again."

"Could Shopkeeper Yun be afraid I'm using a fake silver note to fool you?"

Hong Yuan chuckled lightly.

Shopkeeper Yun shook his head repeatedly. "Where is this honored guest saying such a thing? This little old man would not dare think that."

"Enough!" Hong Yuan stopped teasing the little old man. He put the silver note back into his robe, then took several ingots of ready silver that he had prepared long ago from his sleeve and lined them up across the counter, seven ingots in total.

"Silver I just exchanged. Ten taels per ingot. Is that enough?"

"Enough, enough, more than enough. Please wait a moment, guest. This little old man will go fetch the incense box at once." As Shopkeeper Yun spoke again and again, he turned, lifted the small door curtain at one side of the counter, and went into the inner room.

After a short while, Shopkeeper Yun carefully carried out a redwood box. It was only about the size of a palm. He placed it on the counter as if it were a treasure of great weight and smiled. "This object weighs six taels, among which there are four taels of 'Ten Thousand Miles Cloud Travel Incense.' Each tael of incense costs nine taels of silver. The wooden box weighs two taels and is not charged. The total is thirty-six taels."

With a smile piled on his face, Shopkeeper Yun raised a hand toward Hong Yuan. "Would the honored guest like to inspect it and weigh it?"

Hong Yuan raised his brows.

One tael of incense, nine taels of silver!

This thing was absurdly expensive, practically equivalent to gold.

It was only because he had now received the sponsorship of kindhearted people and become rich overnight that he could buy it without furrowing his brow.

No wonder that back then, after he and this old shopkeeper had become familiar, only after all manner of coaxing and pleading had the other party been willing to burn a pinch of incense powder the size of a fingernail, and even then with a face full of aching flesh.

Because what was being burned really was silver.

After a faint sigh, Hong Yuan smiled and said, "No need. I trust Yun Jian Workshop's reputation. But with such a large shop as Yun Jian Workshop, you only have this one box of incense?"

"There is something the honored guest does not know. Not all incense grows more mellow the longer it is stored. This 'Ten Thousand Miles Cloud Travel' is extremely precious. Once it is made, if there is the slightest oversight in storage, the fragrance will fade. This shop is small, and we only dare make one box at a time."

Shopkeeper Yun said with a beaming smile.

"So that's how it is." Hong Yuan gave a hehe laugh and did not believe the old man's nonsense at all. He estimated there were at least one or two more boxes in stock.

After all, there were always wealthy households in Qingxu County who would take some for use, keeping it on hand for any need.

Too lazy to haggle with him, Hong Yuan took back three ingots of silver, grabbed the redwood box in his palm, and turned to leave.

"Honored guest, wait a moment. I still need to give you four taels of silver in change..." Shopkeeper Yun hurriedly called out.

"No need for change." Without looking back, Hong Yuan waved a hand behind him and strode away.

The old shopkeeper opened his mouth and stared at Hong Yuan's gradually receding figure, feeling that he was somewhat familiar. He muttered under his breath, but after a long while still could not recall who he was. He then threw it to the back of his mind, happily took the four ingots of silver, and began humming a little tune.

After making a round of purchases in the city, Hong Yuan finally carried a large bundle and bought a black-awning boat from the fishing firm. By the time all that was done, swaying and drifting along, it was already afternoon.

The daylight gradually dimmed, and the sun hid itself among the clouds.

The autumn wind blew across the Yudai River, and withered yellow leaves along the riverbank fluttered in the wind.

The black-awning boat rocked on the surface of the river, drifting with the current, yet there was no one aboard. After a long while.

Suddenly, a surge of water rose up. A head emerged from within the water, as swift as a swimming fish, caught up to the drifting black-awning boat, then reached out and climbed aboard.

Hong Yuan wore only a pair of shorts, his upper body bare. Standing on the side of the boat as the shivering cold wind blew over him from head to toe, he nevertheless revealed a smile.

This time, he had entered the water not only to observe the whirlpools and hidden currents below, drawing insight from them for "Spiral Force," but also because he wanted to test the limits of his underwater swimming.

Compared to other martial artists, Hong Yuan's most significant advantage was that he could continuously improve his innate constitution and perception.

After his perception had increased by six wisps, that profound and mysterious sense for danger had grown increasingly keen.

Although it was still far from the realm of foreknowing with utter sincerity, sensing danger and avoiding it without seeing or hearing, if someone wanted to ambush him, or launch a hidden arrow from behind with a bow or crossbow, he might be able to detect it before stepping into the trap, as well as have some sense of it when the other party aimed a crossbow bolt at him.

Five threads and five wisps was a threshold.

Hong Yuan estimated that if his innate foundation improved by even a hair more, his physical constitution would probably undergo a comprehensive leap as well.

Even now, the advantages of Hong Yuan's all-around improved physique had already become apparent.

Leaving aside how effortless he found the path of martial arts, how quickly he picked up all kinds of techniques and how easily he cultivated them, just his earlier dive alone showed how outrageously long his breath channels were.

In the water, Hong Yuan had resisted the undercurrents while swimming underwater, holding out for at least more than half an hour.

In his previous life, the record for holding one's breath had also been around half an hour, but that was static breath-holding. If it was underwater swimming, it would only be a few minutes.

In this world, those force-entering martial artists could naturally swim underwater for longer, but not by too much.

Because although their sinews and bones were strong, and they could control their own vital energy and blood, compared to the human body as a whole, that was merely an extremely small part of "evolution."

If one truly separated and refined the attributes of the human body, there might be hundreds or thousands of them, perhaps even more. Force-entering martial artists had at most only "evolved" a few or a few dozen attributes.

But for Hong Yuan, adding to his innate foundation meant all attributes advanced in sync.

After drying the water droplets from his body, Hong Yuan put on his robes and lay comfortably in the cabin, crossing one leg over the other as he watched the clouds shift above the vault of heaven. With a reach of his hand, he took an oil-paper package from his large bundle.

With another reach, a jug of wine landed in his palm.

Inside the oil-paper package was a roast chicken, something Hong Yuan had packed away from a county-city restaurant. By now it had gone completely cold, but he did not mind. He tore off a drumstick and took a bite.

The texture was somewhat woody, cold, and hard, but to have wine and meat at this moment was already an extremely comfortable enjoyment.

One mouthful of meat with one mouthful of wine, Hong Yuan let his thoughts wander. If enemies surrounded him now with dozens of light boats, every boat packed with archers, he would simply jump straight into the river. Those people would glare with wide eyes, draw their bows and nock their arrows, patrol the lake surface, and wait for him to show his head so that a thousand arrows could loose at once!

But he would have already swum a dozen li away in one breath, and after taking a breather, he could even swim another dozen li!

"Water escape—this is my escape route!"

County Magistrate Zhang should have already figured out Hong Yuan's identity by now. He had not concealed himself when buying the boat either. If the man intended revenge, then at this moment he should be mobilizing several hundred men to encircle him from both upstream and downstream.

Thinking of this, Hong Yuan still could not bring himself to worry.

After eating and drinking his fill, Hong Yuan washed up briefly, took out the small wooden box, and opened it. Inside were molded incense cakes stamped into the shape of the character "cloud," nearly twenty of them in total.

Strands of faint, delicate fragrance immediately seeped out, lingering within the cabin.

Hong Yuan took one in his hand and brought it close for a sniff. The scent was even richer, and carried an indescribable clarity.

He gently weighed it in his palm. It was as light as nothing. He could not help sighing. Just this little thing cost two-tenths of a tael of silver each. Never mind ordinary people—even average wealthy households could not afford to use it.

With several thousand taels in banknotes tucked in his robes, he had originally thought it was a huge sum. Now it seemed it might not necessarily be enough.

Fortunately, there were plenty of kindhearted people in this world. If he did not have enough silver to spend, he could go ask for sponsorship at any time. In any case, Hong Yuan had never considered amassing wealth by doing business.

After eight hundred years of Great Yin, what business had not been occupied by powerful clans and noble houses, gentry and wealthy families? Where was there room for an outsider to stick his hand in?

After placing one "Ten Thousand Miles Cloud Travel" into the little incense burner and lighting it, a wave of fragrance spread out. Hong Yuan immediately felt a fresh sensation well up, drifting and swaying like white clouds, like a clear breeze!

His brows rose. It could not compare to the mind-lifting effect of the incense formula from Jade Wutong Immortal Realm, but it did indeed have some tricks to it.

He did not delay. At once, he gathered his spirit and focused on meditation.

In a haze and blur.

Hong Yuan's mind and spirit settled into peace. Using the meditation method to observe, he guided the movement of vital energy and blood within his body.

In the martial arts of this world, grasping vital energy and blood was key. Even after entering force, meditative guidance could not be abandoned; it had to be cultivated constantly.

Otherwise, although it would not be to the extent of one day without practice leaving ten days empty, or a hundred days without practice leaving everything empty, when it truly came to a life-and-death fight, one would always be lacking a little.

And even the slightest deviation was enough to cost one's life!

Time passed.

Hong Yuan abruptly opened his eyes. By now, that piece of incense cake inside the burner had long since burned to ash, and even the burner had gone cold. Outside, the sky had turned dark, a heavy black curtain shrouding the whole world. Only far away on the river surface, a few points of fishermen's firelight swayed!

At the very least, more than two hours had passed, yet with the river wind blowing over him, Hong Yuan took a deep sniff and could still smell a wisp of clear, quiet, elegant fragrance.

A trace of joy also appeared on his face.

It worked!

Although there was no floating text prompt, that was because the minimum increase to innate foundation and comprehension was only by threads and strands.

Whether there was any benefit, he could sense for himself. The meditation method could promote the improvement of comprehension, and after using this "Ten Thousand Miles Cloud Travel," that efficiency had increased slightly.

Grain by grain, a mountain was built; what it saved was time.

Besides, if an incense formula was useful, then naturally other methods could be tried as well.

Hong Yuan picked up several more cloud-character incense cakes and tossed them into the burner to light them. As strands of fragrance spread, he once again entered the practice of the meditation method.

Two days later.

After using up all of the "Ten Thousand Miles Cloud Travel incense," Hong Yuan finally went ashore.

In truth, he had not spent all of these two days drifting on the river. He still had to go search for food, after all. Now, after abandoning the black-awning boat, he was once again without possessions, carrying only a saber as he entered the nearest county city.

Hong Yuan's destination on this trip was naturally Lanyue Garden, to kill Wei Zhenzhu—both to vent his anger and to eliminate a hidden danger.

But there was no need to be that anxious.

After all, according to the information he had forced out of Scarface, the heroes' arena at Lanyue Garden would continue for a month. It might only have just begun now.

Right now was precisely when the defenses would be tightest. There was no need to charge over in a frantic rush. He could absolutely improve himself a little more first.

Once they got there, they could not simply attack straight away. They would first have to spend a few days probing the situation, then act as circumstances dictated.

Besides, it was not as if they absolutely had to charge in and kill people. They could just wait until after the so-called Heroes' Ring, when all parties dispersed, and set an ambush on the road!

There was still plenty of time.

Linjiang Prefecture was only two or three hundred li from where Hong Yuan was now, and Lanyue Garden lay in the eastern outskirts of Linjiang Prefecture. It was a vast estate, and with so many powerful clans and numerous martial artists gathered there, it would not be troublesome to find.

Hong Yuan was currently in Wushan County.

After entering the city, Hong Yuan first went looking for incense shops. But after searching around, he was rather disappointed. There was not a single incense that could compare to Yun Jian Workshop's "Ten Thousand Miles Cloud Travel"; there was not even one a tier below it.

Hong Yuan naturally would not use this kind of mixed and impure incense.

Thinking of how Shopkeeper Yun had boasted that "Ten Thousand Miles Cloud Travel" was a rare first-grade incense formula, a scarce thing even within a provincial capital, Hong Yuan could not help but agree now.

Having failed to find incense, Hong Yuan turned to the major medicine shops.

The martial arts of the Tiger-Subduing Sect naturally had matching secret medicines as well. As Yang Erhu's personally taught disciple, Hong Yuan had long since obtained the secret medicine formulas.

There were three kinds of secret medicines in total.

Compared with Yangquan County and Qingxu County, Wushan County counted as rather old and run-down, and the market town was much smaller in scale. But because it backed onto great mountains, all kinds of mountain goods and rare treasures were more abundant instead.

Hong Yuan visited several medicine shops, and in less than half an hour, he had gathered all the medicinal ingredients for "Tiger Bone Meridian-Clearing Paste." As for the remaining secret medicine called "Iron Lung Nourishing Powder," most of its ingredients were also available, and the remaining smaller portion could be mobilized by that afternoon.

Only a few ingredients in the third formula, "Tiger-Subduing Force Wine," were rather rare and difficult to complete.

After wandering to the county city's most prosperous commercial district, Hong Yuan went up to the liveliest restaurant, ordered a table of fine wine and dishes, and slowly ate and drank.

Since he had to wait for all the medicinal ingredients to arrive, he was not in the least bit anxious.

Restaurants were places where all three religions and nine streams gathered, and as Hong Yuan sat there, he heard a piece of news.

Recently, a fierce dragon crossing the river had come to Wushan County. His kung fu was extremely formidable, and in barely half a month, he had overturned the masters of two martial arts schools in Wushan County.

After this man became famous in one stroke, he began gathering many "good men" under his command. This soon drew dissatisfaction from Wushan County's local-snake forces. Two gangs joined hands to make trouble for him, but in the end, he secretly slipped into one of them and took the boss's head in the night.

With this, his name shook the county city even more.

Hm?

As Hong Yuan listened to this news, his heart suddenly stirred.