Before long, the moon rose above the branches, and billowing sails drove the great ship slowly along the coastline.
Several tables had been set out on deck. Hua Junchen, Cao Aning, the Black Bureau Six Fiends, and the others who had come along were all up there exchanging toasts, celebrating the momentous changing of the guard in the martial world.
The ship's cabins were likewise brightly lit. The many women sat in the dining room, exchanging toasts and playing drinking games, secretly discussing what reward would show proper sincerity now that their husband had taken the crown.
After the affairs in Guancheng were settled, Xue Baijin had also come aboard. The Empress had invited her to the banquet too, but her temperament was quiet, and boisterous occasions did not suit her, so she had stayed at the rear of the cabins under the pretext of looking after Ye Jingtang.
Although Ye Jingtang had not fought to the death today, that single move had nearly drained all his essence, energy, and spirit. He had lain down to recuperate as soon as he returned to the ship, without even having time to celebrate.
At that moment, outside the spacious room at the very rear of the cabins, Xue Baijin stood by the window, gazing at Guancheng as it gradually receded.
Now that Fengguancheng had left, Guancheng had lost its central figure. It would surely no longer inspire the same yearning in martial artists as it had in previous years.
But Yang Mountain and the dozen or so disciples Fengguancheng had trained remained. Their quality far surpassed that of ordinary sects, and with an overbearing founding patriarch to boot, they might eventually develop into the "Yang Mountain Sect," becoming a foremost great lineage passed down for a thousand years.
But Xue Baijin had