After leaving the sect and passing beyond the Grand Formation, Jiang Yang checked his bearings, then rode the wind north.
Although he did not know the precise location of the Towering Mine Vein, he had a Jade Slip containing a map. According to its directions, he only needed to keep heading north, and he would reach the edge of the Heavy Mountains in seven days at most.
Reaching the edge of the Heavy Mountains meant he would not be far from Cuiwei, which lay at the junction of Zheng, Wu, and the Heavy Mountains.
Half a day later, Jiang Yang had already left the region surrounding Rain Xiang Mountain. Although he was still within the Zheng Kingdom, once he drew away from the spirit vein, the surrounding spirit vigor plummeted to less than half its former level.
After flying at full speed for so long, Jiang Yang did not stop. Instead, he slowed slightly, drifting leisurely through the air and counting that as rest, while looking down at the ground with interest.
Away from Rain Xiang Mountain's spirit vein, signs of human habitation grew unexpectedly more plentiful.
Dense forests, rivers, cities, villages—great numbers of mortals lived and multiplied here, reminding Jiang Yang of Weiyang Prefecture, where he had come from.
Along the way, every place where the spirit vigor was even slightly richer either housed a cultivators' market or had been monopolized by some small aristocratic clan.
Quite a few cultivators occasionally hurried past at lower altitudes, and inconsequential bloody clashes broke out from time to time. Jiang Yang paid them no attention, much less bothered to intervene.
Jiang Yang flew so high that there was almost no chance of encountering them. Whoever was right or wrong in their disputes had no need of an outsider's meddling; killing and fighting