Invitation

"Silence!"

An icy voice came from the upper decks of the ship. Then another figure shot into the sky, flew straight toward the two men opposite, and intercepted them in midair. It was Elder Feng.

The three confronted one another in the air and began talking.

Overclocking.

Wang Yu silently invoked it, magnifying his five senses countless times. Everything around him became extraordinarily slow. As he focused all his attention on the three men high above, their words gradually reached his ears with perfect clarity.

"...No. Since they bought tickets and have already boarded, they are guests of our Hundred Treasures Pavilion. We absolutely cannot allow outsiders to board and search at will," Elder Feng said sternly.

"Fellow Daoist, will you truly give our Huang Household no face? Once we apprehend the person we seek, we will leave immediately. We certainly won't disturb anyone else." The middle-aged man opposite him, who wore a suit of half armor, spoke with deeply furrowed brows, clearly wary of Elder Feng.

"Heh, if this were merely a private matter, why would I refuse to give the Huang Household face? But I am this ship's guardian. If I let you break the rules, wouldn't that tarnish the Hundred Treasures Pavilion's reputation? That is far too great a responsibility for this old man to bear." Elder Feng chuckled and answered unyieldingly.

"Powerful as your Hundred Treasures Pavilion may be, this place still falls under Yellowstone City's jurisdiction. Don't you think you're going too far?" The younger man opposite him, dressed in a white scholar's robe, could not resist interjecting.

"What? The Hundred Treasures Pavilion has always operated this way. Has your Huang Household only just learned that? If you're unwilling to deal with us, I can report it to my superiors and have our Yellowstone City branch withdrawn. Our magical ships will stop calling here as well," Elder Feng snorted, making no attempt at courtesy.

At those words, the two men's faces turned extremely ugly. After a whispered discussion, they could only flick their sleeves and leave in frustration, turning to fly back toward the docks.

Wang Yu, who had been eavesdropping on their entire conversation, finally relaxed again, inwardly exclaiming, What a lucky escape.

Although he still could not be certain whether those two Immortal Cultivators from the Huang Household had come for him, nothing could be better than their being unable to board at all.

The exorbitant fare of seven spirit stones had certainly not been wasted!

Elder Feng flew back to the ship's top deck, while the enormous vessel sped along the river into the distance, soon leaving the docks completely out of sight.

Wang Yu ended his Overclocking synchronization, left the deck, and followed the passage back toward his private cabin.

Over the next seven or eight days, Wang Yu stayed dutifully in his room and cultivated. Without spirit stones to assist him, however, and relying solely on the small amount of Yin Spirit energy in that one bottle, his efficiency at absorbing spiritual energy naturally plummeted. He could only focus on practicing the four forms of the Wolf-Running Diagram and learning his new spell.

Compared with his slow progress in the Yin Water Art, he could clearly feel that his body still had room to grow stronger. After each practice session, he even began to sense faint stirrings in his bloodline. They seemed very similar to the signs Daoist Chongyun had described as preceding a bloodline's complete awakening, making Wang Yu devote himself even more earnestly to this body-tempering art.

His progress in comprehending the new spell, Water Gathering, was about the same as with Firefly, but condensing its spell mark proved far more difficult. After seven or eight days, he had not succeeded even once.

This left Wang Yu somewhat frustrated. That day, he finally opened his door, intending to get some fresh air on deck.

But just as he opened it, a door across the corridor happened to open with a creak.

A Green-Clad Girl skipped out. She looked thirteen or fourteen, with a round face and large eyes. Holding a handful of nut-like snacks, she kept stuffing them into her mouth, her cheeks bulging like a squirrel's.

The girl looked up and saw Wang Yu. As though she had seen a ghost, she cried, "Big brother!" She tossed away her snacks, turned, and dashed back through the doorway behind her.

"Mother, hurry... come out! I saw big brother... really, he's right outside..."

The girl's voice drifted faintly through the door. Outside, Wang Yu was lost in a fog, with no idea what was happening.

"Qin'er, how could your big brother possibly be outside? Are your eyes playing tricks on you?" A woman's soft, sweet voice came from the opposite room. A beautiful woman of thirty-five or thirty-six then followed the Green-Clad Girl outside.

The instant she saw Wang Yu, her lovely eyes widened, but she immediately noticed something else, and a faint, wry smile appeared on her face.

"You silly girl, this young gentleman merely bears some resemblance to your big brother. How could he be your brother? Apologize at once. You probably startled him just now." After scolding her daughter, the beautiful woman addressed Wang Yu apologetically.

"Look at his nose, his mouth, and his eyes. They're practically identical to big brother's! It's not just a slight resemblance—they're at least seventy or eighty percent alike. He's only a little taller. Otherwise, how could I have mistaken him?" The Green-Clad Girl had realized her mistake by then, but she still sounded unconvinced and kept stealing glances at Wang Yu.

"So this young lady mistook me for someone else. That's quite all right. I have something to attend to, so I'll take my leave." Wang Yu finally understood what had happened, but he did not wish to say much. He nodded to them both and turned away, though the woman's scolding still followed him.

"When will you stop making your mother worry? You're already this grown, yet you're still so careless and headlong. Ah, what will you do once you're married?"

"Mother, I'm not getting married. I want to..."

Once Wang Yu rounded a corner, he could no longer hear the mother and daughter. He did not take the little incident to heart and went out onto the deck.

Aside from several busy crewmen, a few passengers were also on deck, taking walks and enjoying the fresh air.

Among them was a young married couple, both lavishly dressed. The man had thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a sturdy build, with a longsword hanging at his waist. The woman wore her hair and clothes in a married woman's style, with delicate features and fair, tender skin. They kept speaking to each other in low voices.

Near the young couple stood another young man of twenty-seven or twenty-eight, tall and slender, holding a long, narrow bundle in one hand. A black mask covered half his face. He seemed to be leaning against the ship's rail and gazing at the rolling river, but from the corner of his eye, he kept casting cold looks at the pretty young wife.

The young couple had clearly noticed his behavior as well. The husband's face was full of anger, and he pressed a hand against the longsword at his waist. His pretty wife, however, looked panicked and clung tightly to his arm, refusing to let him leave her side.

The young man carrying the bundle stared at the wife with even less restraint.

Those three knew one another. There was probably some grudge between them.

That was Wang Yu's immediate assessment upon seeing the scene. Ignoring the three, he walked to an unoccupied stretch of railing on the other side and looked toward the distant riverbank.

This stretch of the Redwater River was a full three or four li wide. He could just make out the desolate wilderness along the banks, with not a trace of human habitation. Occasionally, he could see great herds of unknown beasts, resembling both horses and cattle, drinking at the water's edge.

Here, the river was turbid and crimson, its waters surging fiercely. Whirlpools of varying sizes emerged from time to time.

When the Iron Arrow encountered small whirlpools, it relied on its enormous bulk to plow straight through them without a care. When it encountered larger ones, it steered well clear, keeping the towering ship steady throughout its journey.

As Wang Yu watched, absorbed in the sight, water suddenly splashed from the river a short distance away. Several dark shapes poked out, then vanished beneath the surface again.

Wang Yu paused, then hurriedly widened his eyes for a closer look.

The river's surface stirred, and dark shapes emerged one after another. They were black fish half a zhang long, each with a mouth full of fangs and a single spiraling horn of varying size on its head.

The moment these strange fish surfaced, they swarmed toward the enormous vessel. Before they could draw close, however, a clatter of wooden clappers suddenly sounded from below.

A dense volley of crossbow bolts shot from the ship's protruding sections, killing more than half the strange fish in moments. Those that slipped through the net plunged back underwater, leaving only churning bloody water and fish corpses floating belly-up on the surface.

So these were the fish beasts of the Redwater River? There really didn't seem to be anything frightening about them.

Watching the scene before him, Wang Yu inwardly marveled that his horizons had been broadened.

"These hornfish are merely the most common fish beasts in the Redwater River. Apart from their numbers and their habit of ramming prey with the horns on their heads, there is nothing unusual about them."

A man's hoarse voice suddenly sounded behind him.

Wang Yu hurriedly turned around, only to discover that a gaunt man had appeared behind him at some point. He was in his forties, dressed in gray, and looking at Wang Yu with a smile.

"And you are?"

The fact that the man had approached so closely without being noticed put Wang Yu somewhat on his guard, and he asked slowly.

"Young master, you are an immortal master, correct? My name is Gao Qi. My master, Yu Bintian, comes from a prominent household in Tongzhou and is also an immortal master. Throughout his life, he has always enjoyed befriending talented young people in the cultivation world. If you would do us the honor, might you join us for dinner in Hall A-3 aboard the ship? Several other immortal masters will also be present. My master has reserved the room." The gaunt man introduced himself and smoothly handed over an invitation.

Wasn't Tongzhou in the Wu Kingdom, where this ship was headed?

Puzzled, Wang Yu accepted the invitation and examined it. Its surface was covered in gold leaf. One side bore the character "Yu" in silver, while the other had "A-3" written in black ink that looked freshly applied.

Could this be one of the rogue cultivator gatherings mentioned in Daoist Chongyun's notes?

"Since a fellow cultivator has invited me, I will attend." Holding the invitation, Wang Yu seemed to recall something and nodded without revealing his thoughts.

Seeing that Wang Yu had accepted the invitation, the gaunt man exchanged a few more pleasantries before leaving.

Wang Yu no longer felt like staying and prepared to return to his room. Before leaving the deck, however, he saw that the young couple and the slender young man carrying the long bundle were still locked in their standoff.

Back in his private cabin, Wang Yu practiced the four forms of the Wolf-Running Diagram. Only when evening arrived did he leave his room again and make his way to Hall A-3 on the ship's highest level.

Two men in close-fitting martial attire stood guard outside the hall. Seeing Wang Yu approach with the invitation in hand, they immediately bowed and pulled the door open.

Wang Yu slowly walked inside.