Ning Province

After returning to his compartment on the Cloud Ship, Liang Zhaohuang drew the great demon he had seen earlier, then took the drawing to the patriarch's compartment on the other side and asked whether the patriarch recognized it.

Unfortunately, the patriarch did not recognize the great demon either. He could only judge from its shape that it might be a kind of Snake Demon.

After all, the Liang Family was only a Humble Gate that did not even rank among the ninth grade. They were basically trapped within a single county, and their accumulation of experience and knowledge was far too limited.

After that, the Cloud Ship skirted the outer edge of Cloud Dream Marsh, and no further accidents occurred. However, the journey that had originally been expected to take twenty days to reach Jing Province City was extended by two days because of this. It took twenty-two days before the Cloud Ship finally arrived at Jing Province City and landed outside the city.

Likewise, the Cloud Ship would stop here for five days to unload cargo, load cargo, let passengers disembark, and take on new passengers.

To avoid stirring up unnecessary trouble, although Liang Zhaohuang and his companion were rather curious about Jing Province City, they did not leave the Cloud Ship. For all five days, they remained aboard and cultivated in quiet seclusion.

During those five days, Liang Zhaohuang focused entirely on chanting and upholding the Peacock King Mantra. Within the five-colored Halo behind his soul's head, several hundred more strands of Five-Colored Buddha Light appeared.

Five days later, the Cloud Ship took off once more, setting out toward its next destination, Yi Province.

Along this route, there were no more great perilous lands like Cloud Dream Marsh. Only at the border between Jing Province and Yi Province was there a stretch of mountains and rivers called Wu Mountain and the Min River. There were indeed some great demons and bandit cultivators entrenched there, but the danger was far, far below that of Cloud Dream Marsh.

The Cloud Ship directly crossed over Wu Mountain and flew past the Min River without encountering any trouble.

After passing this stretch of mountains and waters, the Cloud Ship entered Yi Province.

Yi Province's terrain was a vast basin encircled by mountains and winding waters. Whether in climate or terrain, it was highly suited for planting and habitation, a land of fish and rice no inferior to Yang Province.

The resources here were abundant, the population flourishing, and the Human Way prosperous. Among the Great Jin Nineteen Provinces, it was a thriving province that could rank near the front.

The Cloud Ship flew all the way without encountering any trouble, and after a dozen or so days, it landed outside Yi Province City.

There was another round of busy loading and unloading. Most of the passengers disembarked here; Yi Province was prosperous and flourishing, and cultivators often came here to travel and make their fortunes.

By contrast, not many passengers boarded here, only a dozen or so.

The next stop after Yi Province was Ning Province. Though it was called Ning Province, it was not peaceful, and few people were willing to go there.

The Cloud Ship stopped at Yi Province City for five days. Liang Zhaohuang still stayed aboard and chanted the Peacock King Mantra, adding several hundred more strands of Five-Colored Buddha Light to the five-colored Halo.

Five days later, the Cloud Ship set out again, crossing Yi Province, flying over the Ba Man Mountain Range, and entering a stretch of plateau land—this was Ning Province.

Ning Province was located on a plateau and had originally been a territory of the Demon Country, home to numerous members of the Demon Race. Two thousand years ago, when the Great Jin Immortal Dynasty expanded its borders, it seized this territory from the Demon Country and named it Ning Province, hoping that this land might gain peace.

But worldly affairs rarely went as one wished. Ning Province bordered the Demon Country to the south. Not only did the Demon Race invade the border year-round, with battles never ceasing, even within Ning Province itself, members of the Demon Race often infiltrated, creating slaughter and destruction.

For two thousand years, Ning Province had never gained peace.

However, as far as Liang Zhaohuang knew, Ning Province could still be considered relatively good. The Great Jin Immortal Dynasty had another province, Jiao Province, which thrust deep into the Demon Country's territory and was surrounded by the Demon Country on three sides. That was the true battleground where the human race and the Demon Race clashed, with great wars raging year after year without end.

After entering Ning Province, the Cloud Ship's defensive layers were clearly raised again. Three layers of protective light barriers opened around it, and on the outermost barrier, lightning and fire even flashed. An announcement was also made, warning passengers not to recklessly go up onto the Cloud Ship's deck, lest they suffer an attack.

The degree of vigilance was even greater than when they had just flown over the Ba Man Mountain Range.

Before Liang Zhaohuang and his companion came to Ning Province, they had done some investigation into the place. They knew that the Demon Country from which Ning Province had been seized was a Demon Country controlled by Winged Demons, where all kinds of avian members of the Demon Race were most numerous.

Therefore, among the Demon Race that infiltrated Ning Province, there were likewise many Winged Demons.

When the Cloud Ship flew through the sky, it was often easy for it to suffer attacks from these Winged Demons.

The Changfeng Liu Clan's Cloud Ships flew between the various provinces year-round and understood the situation in each province quite well. As soon as they entered Ning Province, they knew to defend against attacks from Winged Demons in the air.

Perhaps the Cloud Ship's defenses were effective, and that lightning and fire frightened away the Winged Demons; or perhaps their luck was good.

Several days later, the Cloud Ship smoothly landed outside Ning Province City and did not encounter any Winged Demon attacks, nor any other mishaps.

Liang Zhaohuang and his companion got off the Cloud Ship and followed the flow of merchants into Ning Province City.

When entering the city, he saw a precious mirror hanging high above the gate tower, shining upon everyone and all goods entering the city.

That was a Demon-Slaying Mirror. Because members of the Demon Race often infiltrated, such Demon-Slaying Mirrors were hung above the gate towers of cities throughout Ning Province to prevent the Demon Race from mixing into the cities and causing slaughter and destruction.

However, such methods could only guard against them in a broad sense.

Over so many years, the Demon Race had also devised many countermeasures against Demon-Slaying Mirrors. There would always be fish that slipped through the net, sneaking into the cities to create destruction and slaughter.

A large part of Ning Province's "lack of peace" over the years was caused by this.

Liang Zhaohuang and his companion smoothly entered Ning Province City. They first found the market district in the city and bought a map of Ning Province.

The market district was easy to find. A large portion of the merchant caravans that had unloaded from the Flying Boat went directly to the market district, so the two of them only needed to follow the caravan.

The map obtained from the Wood Lotus was from who knew how many years ago, and it differed somewhat from Ning Province's current terrain. After buying a map of Ning Province and comparing the two, the pair soon determined the location of the Cave Mansion.

"Judging by the terrain manifested by the Wood Lotus and comparing it with this Ning Province map, the Cave Mansion should be in Yongchang Commandery."

The patriarch, Liang Xuelin, reached this conclusion, but his brows were tightly furrowed.

Yongchang Commandery was located in the southwest of Ning Province, already rather close to the border between Ning Province and the Demon Country. Without a doubt, it was even more dangerous.

But for the Foundation Establishment Five Elements Cultivation Method, and for the family's future, no matter how dangerous it was, they still had to make the attempt.

After resting for one night in Ning Province City, Liang Zhaohuang and his companion set out again the next day.

This time, they did not look for a merchant caravan to travel with.

In a place like Ning Province, members of the Demon Race infiltrated year-round. Unless people were very familiar with one another, they would not travel together. Between strangers, there would only be suspicion and vigilance, and they would not travel together at all.

If they looked for a merchant caravan to travel with, the caravan would not trust them, and they would not trust the caravan either.

Therefore, they might as well set out alone.

Traveling by day and lodging by night, holding to the attitude of not causing trouble and avoiding trouble, Liang Zhaohuang and his companion advanced cautiously the whole way. In the end, they did not encounter any trouble and smoothly entered Yongchang Commandery.

The moment they entered Yongchang Commandery, the two of them saw familiar terrain.

"That mountain range..." Liang Zhaohuang pointed toward the west of Yongchang Commandery, where a stretch of mountains rose, and said in a low voice, "The Cave Mansion should be beneath those mountains. There should also be a river running below them."

"According to the map manifested in the Wood Lotus, the Cave Mansion should be where the mountains and river meet."

Clan Chief Liang Xuelin also saw the mountain range to the west of Yongchang Commandery at this moment. A smile could not help appearing on his face as he nodded and said, "We've finally found the place."