Yun Chao had only recently left his master's tutelage. He had barely experienced the world's treachery and still retained something of a boy's disposition. Thinking of what had happened before he left, he pressed his lips together.
Once his injuries had healed, the Seventh Elder had told him it was time to go out and gain experience.
Having just lost half his life in the Trial Grounds, Yun Chao had been utterly bewildered.
Then he learned why. Su Jiu's bone age was only a little over twenty, yet she had already reached the early Golden Core stage. Even while passing through the final trial formation, she had been able to divide her attention, extinguishing the red light on the Red Lotus with spiritual qi while using Void Talisman Drawing to save him. That alone showed that she possessed not only abundant spiritual qi, but also powerful divine sense.
Even as a sword cultivator, he was absolutely no match for a freak like her.
The Seventh Elder had told him that the Azure Tide Sect might have some unique way of teaching its disciples and instructed him to visit and learn from them on behalf of the Yun Household. Before he left, the elder had also given him a mirror. Once he activated it with spiritual qi, those back at the Yun Household would be able to see their situation.
And so Yun Chao had been sent packing.
They could originally have taken a formation that would teleport them directly to the Azure Mist Continent, but Yun Huanling had loudly insisted that he had never traveled by ship and wanted to try it.
Everyone else had said they did not mind, and that settled their itinerary.
This ship was relatively small, holding only a little over a hundred people, but it