On the Qinhuai River, a large ship from the Eastern Sea was unloading cargo: three-foot-tall coral, tortoiseshell jewelry of every color, and pearls the size of a child's fist.
These treasures sat on trays of uniform size, each engraved with intricate talismans. They were clearly mass-produced magical artifacts.
Cultivators carefully carried the goods off the ship with their powers, while armed guards received them on the other side.
A cultivator in brocade stood by the rail, holding a jade tablet in his left hand. Each time an item was unloaded, he marked the tablet with his divine sense.
The space between those aboard and those below marked the divide between immortal and mortal.
The ship was roughly a hundred zhang long and green from end to end. Had Su Che been there to see it, he would have recognized that its hull was made of Thunderstruck Wood. It had five masts, each bearing a great sail painted with a single large character.
Together, they spelled "Heaven-Born Rakshasa Sea."
"Jiankang City looks the same no matter when we come."
A cultivator dressed as a mendicant monk sat cross-legged beside the man keeping accounts, a man-tall bone saber in his grip.
"I hear an Ancient Immortal Abode has appeared in Great Liang. Say, why don't we take a short leave and see if there's anything in it for us?"
"Thirteen. One hundred and fifty-two."
The man keeping accounts slowly recited the numbers, then glanced at him and said no more.
"What's one hundred and fifty-two? The number of piglets we sold to the Eastern Sea last time?"
The monk-dressed cultivator grunted in displeasure.
"Senior brother, you know I'm not too bright. Don't make me guess."
Seeing his junior brother grow annoyed, the brocade-robed cultivator spoke.
"Thirteen was the number of Eastern Sea