Flying Boat

In the courtyard.

Qin Lian circulated the Rising Sun One-Qi Formula as he contemplated the sun rising in the east. The Blazing Sun Treasure Jade he wore kept releasing waves of special energy, which merged with the true qi in his body, each enhancing the other, making the pure yang and rising sun energies within his true qi ever richer.

A long while passed. Only when his meridians began to ache faintly did Qin Lian stop refining qi.

He focused his attention and looked...

[Rising Sun One-Qi Formula (Major accomplishment 95/100)]

"My progress increases by three to four points every day. Another day or two, and the Rising Sun One-Qi Formula should reach perfection."

He sensed the Blazing Sun Treasure Jade Peak Master Yuan had given him twenty days earlier, its radiance now gradually dimming...

He reckoned that once his Rising Sun One-Qi Formula reached perfection, this treasure would have fulfilled its purpose and retired.

Still...

Once the formula reached perfection...

He would join the ranks of those with a Dao Body and truly be able to set foot on the path of Spirit Refining.

Even spending a Blazing Sun Treasure Jade would be worth it.

"A Spirit-Refining True Person lives a full hundred years, a Yang Spirit True Lord reaches two hundred, and there are still higher existences..."

Severing rivers with a sword was all well and good, but how could it compare to enduring life and everlasting vision?

Especially since he possessed something supernatural...

If he did not strive to attain the Dao and ascend to immortality, would he not have lived this life in vain?

After resting for a while, Qin Lian rose and headed into the Library Pavilion.

The Library Pavilion housed many sword arts, cultivation methods, and classic texts, along with the cultivation insights and handwritten accounts of numerous predecessors. Quite a few disciples came to consult them regularly, so it could hardly be called deserted.

Qin Lian made his familiar way to the third floor, found the first volume of the Purple Cloud Art, covering everything before the Divine Intent realm, and took it with him as he headed back to the courtyard.

However, as he went downstairs, he noticed quite a few disciples seeming to steal glances at him, and there seemed to be whispering as well.

As he descended, he directed qi into his ears and listened intently...

"Is Grandmaster Qin really not going to respond? They've already delivered the challenge to our sect."

"That Gao Qianchi is seven years older than Grandmaster Qin. He's picking on someone younger, and he still has the nerve to issue a challenge? If he's so capable, let the Overlord Blade send a grandmaster under thirty-five! Doesn't the Overlord Blade have someone called Han Feishuang? Let him come."

"That's true, but Grandmaster Qin is on the Grandmaster Heaven Ranking, while Gao Qianchi hasn't made the list. Someone outside the Grandmaster Heaven Ranking is challenging Grandmaster Qin, yet Grandmaster Qin refuses to fight... I'm afraid it'll affect his reputation..."

"The sect master already said Grandmaster Qin is at the critical stage of breaking through to Divine Intent. Once he reaches Second Grade, Gao Qianchi's so-called challenge at our gates will be nothing but a clown's antics. Why should he disregard his own future for a little empty gain?"

All manner of discussion circulated among the disciples.

Some naturally felt that Qin Lian need not bother with Gao Qianchi's provocation and should simply concentrate on cultivating.

As long as he truly reached Second Grade within the next year or two, all the rumors would collapse without a fight.

But some...

Still felt that when someone had delivered a challenge right to their mountain gates, his complete lack of response showed too little of a grandmaster's spirit, and personally found it infuriating.

After listening for a while, Qin Lian shook his head.

If someone challenged him, did he have to accept, or else damage his own prestige?

Would that not keep him busy to death? Where would he find time to cultivate?

With that, he left the Library Pavilion and returned to the courtyard.

But when he reached the courtyard, he saw several people approaching from nearby.

Sect Master Li Wangxu, Forget-the-World Peak's Peak Master Ning Qing, and that "why" student of his were among them.

Accompanying them was a woman who appeared to be in her thirties, dressed entirely in white, with an air of being detached from the mortal world.

Upon seeing Qin Lian, Tang Yao said something to the woman.

The group immediately stopped.

Tang Yao herself walked straight up to Qin Lian and bowed with utmost respect. "Teacher, my family has arrived. I came here today specifically to bid you farewell."

"Your family is here?"

Qin Lian was not surprised to hear it.

He had long known that Tang Yao was only staying at the Pure Yang Sword Sect for a few months, and that sooner or later her relatives would come to take her away.

"Since your family is here, go with them."

Naturally, a little girl ought to be reunited with her family.

Even if Tang Yao's maturity in dealing with people and situations was unlike that of a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old girl who was only in middle school.

"Over these past two months, I've been fortunate to receive your guidance, Teacher, and have come to understand the essence of heaven and earth and the ultimate principles of all things..."

"There's no need for that."

Qin Lian waved a hand. "I only gave you some introductory knowledge. I didn't teach you much. Your ability to understand it was your own."

"Going from one to a hundred is easy; going from zero to one is hard. The introductory knowledge you gave me was that step from zero to one. You broadened my horizons and let me view all things in heaven and earth from an entirely new perspective. I will always keep those teachings in my heart."

Tang Yao bowed again.

"I know your aptitude must be extraordinary. Your talent is so great that you can even influence others' emotions with your every movement. I hope you achieve something in your cultivation after you leave. If so, perhaps we will have a chance to meet again."

Moved to reflect, Qin Lian added a few words.

"If I achieve something in my cultivation, I will certainly return to pay my respects, Teacher."

As Tang Yao spoke, she bowed once more.

"Go on, go on."

Qin Lian waved his hand.

Only after bidding Qin Lian farewell did Tang Yao rejoin the woman with the calm expression.

Li Wangxu watched the entire exchange with a smile, showing the woman ample respect in both words and manner.

Yet the woman remained indifferent throughout, offering only sporadic, perfunctory replies.

As soon as Tang Yao returned, she swept her hand through the air. A little green boat actually swelled in the wind, transforming in moments into a Flying Boat several meters long.

Even Qin Lian's gaze was drawn to this ability to change its size at will.

Tang Yao followed the woman aboard the Flying Boat and once more cupped her hands toward Qin Lian from afar...

The next moment, the Flying Boat slowly rose into the air. Before the astonished eyes of Li Wangxu, Ning Qing, Qin Lian, and the others, it shot through the sky and vanished beyond the horizon.

"It... flew away!?"

The sight shook Qin Lian.

This was the first time in the more than half a year since he had transmigrated that he had seen something beyond his understanding.

"A True Person's methods truly are beyond our reach."

Li Wangxu, too, sighed with heartfelt feeling.

"A True Person?"

Hearing that stirred Qin Lian as well.

No wonder a True Person's status was even more exalted than that of a First Grade practitioner, enough to converse and laugh freely with a Nation-Guarding Martial Saint at a banquet.

Such methods...

Were simply inconceivable.

"A True Person cannot do that alone."

Ning Qing spoke.

There was unconcealable envy in her eyes as well. "That Flying Boat... is probably a Treasure Artifact. Only by piloting a Treasure Artifact Flying Boat can a True Person roam the Great Void and cross ten thousand miles of mountains and rivers... I truly wonder just what sort of background that little girl Tang Yao has..."

"A Treasure Artifact!?"

Qin Lian had read quite a few texts on the path of Spirit Refining lately...

Treasure Artifacts stood above Magical Artifacts.

They were precious treasures that only a Yang Spirit True Lord could refine through immense time and effort, each possessing incredible abilities.

Yet the Pure Yang Sword Sect, never mind Treasure Artifacts, had only a scant three to five Magical Artifacts.

"To be able to produce a Treasure Artifact, that Fairy Yunshang must be the inheritor of a True Lord's legacy. Sadly, we have no Dao Bodies and cannot look upon the scenery of that world."

Li Wangxu spoke.

"Even with a Dao Body, how many can cultivate to become True Persons...?"

Ning Qing muttered quietly.

The Pure Yang Sword Sect had a five-hundred-year legacy. While Patriarch Chunyang was still alive, it had indeed flourished, but over the past two hundred years, the Spirit Refining experts who had become True Persons could be counted on one hand.

Even an organization as powerful as the Three Pure Ones Temple, gathering Dao Bodies from across the land and looking down upon the world from its transcendent position, had only a limited number who attained the rank of True Person.

Taking those words to heart, Li Wangxu could not help letting go still further of his extravagant hope of becoming a True Person.

He explained what had happened to Qin Lian. "An hour ago, Fairy Yunshang descended from the sky to take Tang Yao away, but the girl insisted on bidding you farewell before she would leave. That was why we came straight to your residence."

At the end, he added, "It's a pity you have no Dao Body. Otherwise, with the good fortune of meeting such a True Person, you might have been able to ask for an opportunity."

"A Dao Body..."

Qin Lian sensed the progress of his Rising Sun One-Qi Formula...

Soon.

He would have one very soon.