Volume Two: Naked Primitive Accumulation of Capital - The Turtle and Snake Dance (Part One)

The thick fog was not without light; it simply could not travel far. As soon as Luo Qian entered, he saw pinpricks of color—red, green, blue, purple... Every stretch of the journey brought strange new light sources into view. Some were blue glows from seaweed floating on the surface. Others were balls of light suspended in midair, their contents impossible to make out. Still others were luminous, bizarre fish swimming just below the water.

Luo Qian did not dare provoke the floating lights or the fish beneath the surface. The blue seaweed, though, looked like an easy target. Since he had come all the way to the Carefree Cloud Sea, he had to take home a souvenir. Calling him the sort to pluck a feather from every passing goose might have been an exaggeration, but if he returned empty-handed, he would hardly be Shopkeeper Luo, the man who prized money over his life.

The waters of the Carefree Cloud Sea shimmered a mesmerizing blue-black, deep and mysterious. Stare at them long enough, and it was like gazing into a lover's eyes. The little Torch Dragon Boat was still near the edge of the sea. There were no fierce beasts here, and the Chaotic Five-Phase Astral Wind was not yet so strong. These days were, without question, the honeymoon phase of his expedition.

The boat cut through the water as a patch of blue light slipped past its side. Luo Qian had learned how to steer it: by linking his mind to the Torch Dragon Boat, he could direct it with his thoughts. At the same time, every change in the boat's condition registered in his mind at once. If its energy ran low, for example, the cabin he had filled with High-Grade Immortal Jade would come into play.

With a