After leaving Red Moon Island, Lu Shang did not return directly to the Nameless Island to enter secluded cultivation. Instead, he headed toward Tianxing City once more.
"Forming a nascent soul is certainly my most pressing concern, but there's another matter I can't overlook."
With determination in his eyes, Lu Shang sped toward Tianxing City.
"It's been a long time since what happened on Kuixing Island. Things should have more or less settled down."
"The other elders of the Star Palace have probably heard about Kuixing Island by now. Before I break through, I'd better avoid drawing too much attention."
Upon reaching the outskirts of Tianxing City, Lu Shang suppressed his cultivation to the false core stage and boarded an enormous ship.
Yet almost as soon as he boarded, Lu Shang discovered that there were actually demon beasts in the sea.
This was the very heart of the Inner Sea, where the Star Palace's main city stood.
If demon beasts were roaming even here, one could only imagine how much trouble the Kuixing Island incident had caused that year.
Without the Thunder Roc to supply spiritual power to the formation, the barrier there was difficult to maintain and repair, allowing demon beasts from the Outer Sea to swim through the breach in droves.
"Once the Star Palace elders find out, they'll probably send people to clear out the demon beasts in the Inner Sea before long. But for now, this sea route to Tianxing City may not be entirely safe."
Lu Shang slowly made his way aboard the enormous ship and stood to one side.
"It'll take quite a while to get to Tianxing City from here. In the meantime, I can try my luck and see whether I might happen to meet my old friend's daughter here."
Lu Shang had no other purpose in coming to Tianxing City this time. He merely feared that his appearance might have altered Wen Siyue's path.
If he failed to locate his old friend's daughter with his divine sense before reaching Tianxing City, he would have to pay the Miaoyin Sect a visit.
Then he would make a deal with Zi Ling, who was still quite young.
But Lu Shang actually faced another problem now.
He had never laid eyes on Wen Siyue.
Lu Shang could only pray that Wen Siyue's aura resembled Wen Qiang's.
If their auras had not even a trace of similarity, he would have to leave everything to Zi Ling.
Over the next few days, Lu Shang kept his divine sense fully extended, but never found a likely candidate.
Lu Shang was rather disappointed.
He did notice, however, that the demon beasts below had become more active. A few even dared to surface and peer toward the ship.
Yet they never attacked, as though they were wary of something and possessed a measure of intelligence.
Taking advantage of a moment when no one was watching, Lu Shang also examined the waters below, but found little sign of high-rank demon beasts.
"Perhaps it's only a false alarm. Even if demon beasts have made it in, the people of the Star Palace should be able to deal with them with little effort."
Lu Shang returned to the railing, closing his eyes to rest as the sea breeze swept past him.
We're almost at Tianxing City... Lu Shang thought helplessly.
At that moment, Lu Shang opened his eyes, golden patterns appearing in both pupils.
"Why have the demon beasts in the sea become so restless?"
A moment later, although not a single demon beast leaped out, the surface of the sea began to churn.
The others took it for ordinary swells and noticed nothing unusual.
During these past few days, Lu Shang had spent most of his time in his cabin, only occasionally coming out to enjoy the sea breeze.
His divine sense was so powerful that he could thoroughly inspect every passing ship.
With the Inner Sea stretching into the distance and countless islands scattered across it, Lu Shang himself felt that trying to find Wen Siyue through divine sense alone was nothing more than a fool's dream.
Lu Shang knew only that Wen Siyue would come to Tianxing City. He knew absolutely nothing about her appearance or aura.
If he reached Tianxing City without finding any clues, he intended to head straight for the Miaoyin Sect.
Lu Shang walked from the stern to the bow and gazed toward Tianxing City.
Beside him stood a young girl in plain clothes, her back to him as she recorded something.
After standing there for a while, Lu Shang began to feel a little bored.
Then he noticed the young girl leaning over the railing and writing things down.
Dressed in plain clothes, the girl did not seem to be the child of some prominent family. Yet Lu Shang had a faint, inexplicable feeling that she was no ordinary person.
Her aura was extremely weak, suggesting that she had barely begun cultivating, yet there was something subtly different about her compared with others at the same level.
And so Lu Shang watched from behind her.
He swept his gaze over what she was writing.
"So she's recording Tianxing City's layout. I thought it might be something else," Lu Shang said, rather disappointed once he saw it clearly.
She was so absorbed, yet all she was doing was recording something like this.
Just then, the girl before him stopped and turned around.
Though dressed in plain clothes, the girl had rosy cheeks and large, bright eyes.
That turn brought her face-to-face with Lu Shang, who had been peeping over her shoulder, and the two stared at each other.
"Ah!" The girl was startled to find someone suddenly standing behind her.
In her panic, she lurched backward against the wooden railing and nearly lost her balance.
Lu Shang immediately reached out and caught one of her wildly flailing arms.
With a single tug, he pulled her back, bringing her to his right side.
The girl hurriedly stepped back.
Once she steadied herself, she quickly bowed with cupped hands and thanked Lu Shang. "Th-thank you for saving me, Senior."
"I was the one who carelessly startled you in the first place. There's no need to call it saving you."
"N-no, it happened because I panicked," the girl hastily insisted.
Her words made it clear that she was afraid of angering Lu Shang.
In her eyes, Lu Shang's white robes and the unusual patterns adorning them proclaimed his extraordinary status, while his bearing was markedly different from that of everyone around him.
Everything suggested that he was someone of unusual standing; even among members of great families, he must have had a powerful clan behind him.
Lu Shang paid none of this any mind and instead asked, "Unless I'm mistaken, you're recording the divisions of Tianxing City, aren't you? What use do you have for that?"
The girl froze awkwardly at his question, as though considering something.
After a moment, she blushed and answered, "I... I wanted to record Tianxing City's layout, draw a map of it, and sell it..."
Her voice grew softer and softer toward the end, as though she were revealing something she ought not to mention.
This led Lu Shang to believe that she was simply timid by nature.
"Draw a map and sell it?" Lu Shang asked in puzzlement.
"Y-yes!" As she spoke, she realized that she was doing something perfectly legitimate and had no reason to act this way, so she raised her voice.
"Do you know what sort of people go to Tianxing City?"
"What do you mean?" The girl looked at Lu Shang in confusion, completely failing to grasp his point.
"Tianxing City is the greatest gathering place in the Chaotic Star Sea. Those who come and go are mostly merchants or cultivators."
After hearing Lu Shang's oddly half-archaic wording, the girl still failed to understand and continued to look at him in confusion.
"Do you think cultivators wouldn't learn about Tianxing City beforehand, or that merchants wouldn't know its layout?"
Lu Shang continued, "Even a cultivator visiting Tianxing City for the first time might not buy your map. For just a few spirit stones, they can find plenty of people in Tianxing City to guide them, which is much more convenient than a map. Even if you offered to guide them yourself, who do you think I'd trust more if I came from another island-you or a local?"
Lu Shang's words struck the girl like a blow to the head.
She suddenly saw the light. Selling maps really did seem to be an unsuitable business.
An inexplicable trace of disappointment rose within her, but a moment later she recovered.
"Thank you for the reminder, Senior. But would you like me to show you around Tianxing City? I, Wen Siyue, know Tianxing City very well. You saw what I wrote, didn't you? It covers everything inside and outside Heavenly Star Island!" Wen Siyue lifted her chin slightly in pride as she introduced herself to Lu Shang.
At those words, Lu Shang's brows furrowed, and he began to scrutinize the plainly dressed girl before him.
Before you continue