Nine-Story Pavilion

Whoosh—

Xu Yan's Taiji Fish Daoist Robe snapped in the wind as he rode Primordial Mystic Qi eastward, the mountains racing backward around him.

The vast mountain range stretched to the edge of the earth.

Along the way, many Daoists retreated with pale faces and panicked expressions, as though something terrible had happened ahead.

After flying for the time it took half an incense stick to burn, he heard a tremendous boom in the distance.

The sound carried for a thousand li, shaking the ancient treetops like an earthquake. Green leaves came fluttering down.

A vast, domineering wave of Mystic Qi rippled outward.

The gale howled like wailing ghosts and wolves. Xu Yan's eyes widened as his Daoist crown was blown clean off, his black hair whipping wildly!

"What happened?!"

Xu Yan was about to stop a cultivator and ask.

"Get lost!"

The cultivator cursed impatiently and shot away without looking back, becoming a streak of light.

Could something have happened to the Sky Boat?

His thoughts raced.

Xu Yan frowned and gripped his Green Pattern Dharma Sword. Using the Miaoyuan Edict, he sent out his divine sense and discovered that the energies of heaven and earth ahead were in chaos, mingled with a sinister aura that made his hair stand on end.

Xu Yan seemed to reach a conclusion. He rode his Mystic Qi onward instead of retreating.

About half an hour later, high above the mountains, Xu Yan finally saw the Mystic Gate Sky Boat.

It was enormous!

Roughly a thousand zhang long and three or four hundred zhang wide, it stretched across the sky like an ancient demon circling overhead. Its oppressive presence made his chest tighten.

Most striking of all was the nine-story pavilion at its center.

Every floor was lavishly adorned with carved dragons and painted phoenixes.

The Mystic Gate Sky Boat looked as though it had traveled here from the Primordial Era, steeped in a vast, ancient aura. From time to time it rumbled like an angry whale as it moved slowly over the mountains.

Xu Yan could make out countless tiny black specks there. They were cultivators, some scattering in panic like ants on a hot pan.

Others advanced instead of retreating, flying straight into the Sky Boat.

Xu Yan drew a deep breath, his gaze darkening.

He flew onward for another incense stick's time until he was less than a hundred zhang from the Sky Boat. Rather than approach rashly, he landed on a mountaintop and studied it with caution.

[Mystic Gate Sky Boat: A ceremonial vessel built by the Gongsun Clan in the Late Ancient Era. It can cross to distant continents, and its hull bears formations of the Purple Mansion Path. It spans the sky and is extremely difficult to breach.]

As soon as he landed, the Miaoyuan Edict in his palm grew faintly hot.

He sensed that the Sky Boat itself was not the only cause. There were treasures inside it too.

With their abilities, there was naturally no way they could control the Mystic Gate Sky Boat.

After watching for barely half an incense stick's time, he looked around and saw that only a few hundred people remained. These disciples were all capable; even the weakest had reached the fifth level of Pulse Opening.

"What happened inside the Sky Boat to frighten so many people away?"

Xu Yan raised an eyebrow, puzzled.

He had sensed a sinister aura. Could there be something ghostly aboard the Sky Boat?

His Spirit Eye swept the area. One figure after another either entered the Sky Boat or turned back. Before long, no cultivators remained around him.

He also spotted numerous corpses in the mountains below the Sky Boat. Their injuries did not look as though people had inflicted them; they seemed to have been killed by formation restrictions.

After considering for several breaths, Xu Yan stepped forward and rode his Mystic Qi into the wind.

The enormous Sky Boat loomed before him. The sky abruptly darkened as ripples of magical power spread ceaselessly from the nine-story pavilion.

Thud!

Xu Yan landed steadily on the Sky Boat's broad deck.

At a glance, he saw several hundred Daoists standing still, all eyes fixed on the Nine-Story Pavilion, their expressions varied.

Xu Yan scanned the crowd, then his gaze sharpened.

He saw Qin Yiren.

He also saw Murong Yan.

Murong Yan stood with more than twenty disciples of Nine Star Kui Island.

Xu Yan immediately brought out his Green Pattern Sword and walked toward Qin Yiren. She caught sight of him from the corner of her eye and turned in surprise. "Xu Yan, what brought you here?"

They met up.

Xu Yan briefly explained. Qin Yiren glanced toward the Nine Star Kui Island group and said coldly, "Don't worry. They have no attention to spare for you right now, Brother Xu. The restrictions on the Nine-Story Pavilion are about to open, and they have treasures on their minds."

"The Great Teleportation Token?" Xu Yan asked.

"Not just that."

Qin Yiren shook her head and told Xu Yan what had happened since the Sky Boat appeared.

At noon, the Mystic Gate Sky Boat had broken through the clouds from beyond the heavens.

It had arrived bearing a lethal formation of restrictions, which had killed many Daoists whose Dao Attainment was lacking. From time to time, vast ripples of magical power also pressed out from within, carrying a ghostly aura.

Most people knew their own limits. They had only come to see the spectacle, not to leave their lives here, so many had retreated.

Those who remained naturally wanted to fight for the treasures in the Nine-Story Pavilion.

The Great Teleportation Token was only one of them. Rumor had it that the pavilion also held the unfinished vessel of a Spirit-Born Artifact!

"The Sky Boat first appeared ten days ago. With each passing day, its lethal formations and restrictions rise another level." Qin Yiren had gathered quite a bit of information. Her voice turned grave. "The sun has already set. We have an hour at most. If we can't get the Great Teleportation Token, we must leave quickly, or the Sky Boat will carry us away!"

Just yesterday, cultivators had been carried beyond the heavens by the Sky Boat, leaving neither bones nor a trace aboard. Heaven knew where those disciples had gone, or whether they were alive or dead.

"The cultivators from the Blood-Listening Tower aren't here, are they?" Xu Yan asked through divine sense as he looked around.

"Probably not."

That had come as a relief to Qin Yiren.

It would be troublesome if the cultivators pursuing her had come here too. No one had attacked her since the Sky Boat appeared, and when Xu Yan sent out his divine sense, he detected none of that cold, uncanny aura.

The two spoke quietly.

Not far away, Murong Yan and the other Nine Star Kui Island disciples noticed them.

"Isn't that Half-Immortal Xu?" Murong Yan looked over, his eyes darkening. A slight smile played on his lips, but his sunken eyes were unnervingly deep. "Xu Yan, you killed disciples of my clan. Blood must be repaid with blood!"

The Nine Star Kui Island disciples all looked toward Xu Yan.

Some, like Murong Yan, were brimming with killing intent.

Others merely studied Xu Yan with calm curiosity.

Nine Star Kui Island had sent two direct-line disciples into the Immortal Treasury: Huangfu Ziyang and Murong Ziyao. Many of the disciples aboard the Sky Boat had been sent in to escort Murong Ziyao and had never seen Xu Yan before.

But the proud, heaven-favored daughter of the Murong Clan had ventured alone into the latter half of the Immortal Treasury.

Xu Yan narrowed his eyes and raised an eyebrow. "Fellow Daoist Murong, you know better than anyone whether I killed Young Master Huangfu. Don't dump that chamber pot of filth on my head."

"We saw it with our own eyes! How could it be false?" Murong Yan shouted. "Young Master Huangfu wasn't the only one. Many other disciples of my clan fell to your hand. No matter what, you deserve to die!"

As they argued, a piercing ghostly shriek suddenly rang out from the Nine-Story Pavilion. Many of the Daoists present shuddered, their scalps prickling.