Qi Yan stood frozen on the lifeboat, turning to survey the boundless ocean, his heart even more lost than the sea.
The upheaval had come too quickly and ended too quickly, like a sudden dream. From beginning to end, there had been no time to think at all. He could only act on instinct, his mind numb.
Now it was even more numb. They had just dumped him out at sea... Watching the airship recede, he felt exactly like that guy running after a car, shouting, "Yanzi!"
They had only been at sea for three days! This hardly even counted as the open ocean. Heaven knew how long it would take to reach Heavenly Prefecture Continent.
Even if he really did know a little about seafaring, he didn't even have a nautical chart. How the hell was he supposed to navigate?
And besides, food... Oh, there was some.
There was actually quite a lot of food and fresh water in the cabin... Qi Yan frowned as he looked it over, his numb brain beginning to stir. Judging by how everything had been prepared, perhaps this hadn't been an unexpected attack. They had been ready.
So this sort of risk wasn't commonplace whenever one sailed? This incident had been a long-prepared hunt, not a sudden attack?
But Yun Ranyi clearly had no cultivation. The way she had been tossed about as the ship shook absolutely hadn't been an act. What was the Yun Clan thinking, bringing a helpless woman who couldn't even truss a chicken along as bait?
Besides food, the lifeboat had also been modified with immortal mechanical arts and formation techniques. It had a protective barrier and equipment resembling artillery... There was even something like an autopilot setting.
After inspecting it for a while, Qi Yan suddenly felt that continuing on his own might not be impossible.
He had no nautical chart, but the other sailors did.
Qi Yan hurriedly steered toward a distant lifeboat that was heading back. "Brother, do you have a nautical chart for Heavenly Prefecture Continent? I'll buy a copy."
The sailors aboard, still shaken from their narrow escape, stared at Qi Yan in disbelief. "Have you had enough of living? You're really going out to the open ocean alone?"
Qi Yan asked, "Have you ever run into anything like this on your previous voyages?"
A middle-aged man who seemed to be in charge said, "Never anything like this. We've seen demonic rogue cultivators plundering ships before, but they were after resources. Nothing like this time-they were clearly out to kill! Terrifying!"
Qi Yan had a clearer idea now. "What else? Strange beasts? Like that peculiar black mist dragon this time?"
"Normally, strange beasts all have their own territories. Our routes have been explored over many years, and they avoid those areas. We've sailed so many times and never run into crap like this!"
"So you're saying your previous voyages were very safe?"
"Not exactly. Accidents always happen. Besides the plundering I mentioned, who would dare claim they can completely predict and avoid sudden storms and waves? Who doesn't sail the open ocean with their head hanging from their belt...? Listen, young man, you really shouldn't go alone."
"Thank you, sir." Qi Yan smiled. "I'll think about it. Hmm... Buying a nautical chart first can't hurt. Better prepared than sorry."
The sailor could tell Qi Yan didn't mean it and couldn't be bothered to keep persuading him. Kind words could hardly turn back a ghost bent on dying. He sold Qi Yan the chart, and they went their separate ways.
Qi Yan studied the route in his hands thoughtfully... According to the chart, the shortest voyage to Heavenly Prefecture Continent would take only about twenty days, considerably shorter than he had expected.
According to the sailors, the danger really wasn't as great as he had imagined. They were all mortals, and they had sailed so many times without anything happening... It was just that pressing onward after witnessing such a terrifying battle truly required twice the courage.
On one side lay a voyage into unknown danger: twenty days. On the other lay a return trip with practically no danger: three days.
Ahead lay an endlessly vast future. Going back... would pretty much mean shamelessly seeking Luo Chaoge's protection.
Qi Yan considered for only three seconds before putting away the chart and steering toward the open ocean.
Up in the clouds, Jiang Jinyue watched with interest. Only now did she finally give him a thumbs-up.
By her judgment as a cultivator, if Qi Yan had turned back just now, she could essentially have concluded that he had little future. The immortal path required caution, certainly, but too many people now had nothing left but caution, having lost their drive to advance and their courage to take risks. They huddled in their comfort zones day after day, unable to step out, until all that remained was a life frittered away.
She hadn't expected Qi Yan to hesitate for so briefly before resolutely sailing onward.
This Qi Yan... She had a feeling he would get along quite well with her master. The Heavenly Evolution Sect really did like people like him. Not to mention that the very goal he was striving so hard toward was reaching the Heavenly Evolution Sect. This was simply...
If Jiang Jinyue had been in charge of the entrance assessment, she could practically have declared that Qi Yan had passed.
Originally, Jiang Jinyue had been gloating, all but wishing she could watch Qi Yan swim there. Now she silently accompanied him from above as he sailed onward, and the meaning of her presence had become protection.
Ahead stretched an endless expanse of blue waves. The young man rode the wind and cleaved the waves, steadfastly sailing onward.
Jiang Jinyue watched at leisure and, for the first time, thought Qi Yan was rather good-looking.
Sunlight shone upon the sea. The young man stood tall and straight as jade, his features handsome, his eyes like bright stars-a sight worthy of a painting. Having just been through that upheaval, his hair was slightly disheveled, streaming freely in the sea breeze and lending him a few more touches of unbridled grace.
As Jiang Jinyue watched, she suddenly felt that following him in secret like this was rather boring. What was she sneaking around for, anyway?
With a slight shift of thought, she floated down beside Qi Yan.
Qi Yan: "?"
Things had only just settled down, and he had been about to take out the jade pendant to contact Little Crybaby. Luckily, he hadn't.
Wait, what are you here for?
Jiang Jinyue leaned against the gunwale with a grin, finding Qi Yan's stunned expression incredibly amusing.
Qi Yan said speechlessly, "Where did you pop out from?"
"I was there when you called yourself Yue Jinjiang."
That single sentence shoved the bellyful of complaints Qi Yan had straight back down. For once, his shameless face grew a little hot.
She'd caught even that! This is killing me... She isn't going to get the wrong idea, is she...?
But I really didn't mean anything like that...
Jiang Jinyue tilted her head and propped it on her hand. A trace of embarrassed annoyance actually lurked in her lovely eyes, though her face remained all smiles. "What, gone mute? Aren't you always such a smooth talker?"
Qi Yan chose not to argue with her on this point. The best defense was a good offense. "So what were you planning, secretly following me around?"
The implication was: if using her name meant he had a little something going on, didn't her following him mean the same?
Jiang Jinyue glared, and Qi Yan glared back.
"Tch. Conceited narcissist." Jiang Jinyue sneered. "My lead on the person I'm looking for still rests with you. You think your paltry abilities and petty tricks could get you out of the palm of my hand?"
"Fine, fine, fine. Keep looking." Qi Yan simply stopped looking at her, concentrating on steering as he asked casually, "So you were watching that whole battle?"
Jiang Jinyue didn't even notice that the matter of the name had been seamlessly steered away. She answered just as casually, "Yes. What, do you blame me for not saving you?"
"No. You had no obligation to." Qi Yan hesitated. "I wanted to ask whether you noticed anything wrong with Yun Ranyi. I've been thinking about it and wondering if something was off. Since you were watching from the sidelines, you should have some insight."
"..." Jiang Jinyue felt a little embarrassed. She, too, suspected something was wrong with Yun Ranyi, but since the battle had involved Spirit Transformation cultivators, she hadn't dared get involved recklessly and naturally hadn't been able to observe Yun Ranyi's situation closely. Thinking it through, what she had actually been most concerned about at the time was Qi Yan's safety, pondering whether she could rescue him and leave...
Now that Qi Yan had asked, she couldn't answer anything. She could only try to salvage things from another angle. "That black dragon was wreathed in demonic qi. It had clearly been invaded by the aura of the Demon Realm. Judging solely by their hunting of the demonic dragon, while I can't say whether they're good people, the likelihood of their colluding with the Demon Realm is at least relatively low."
Qi Yan let out a soft breath.
Jiang Jinyue looked at him sidelong, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "Oh, knowing that the little beauty you hugged and held isn't a demonic cultivator makes you so happy..."
Qi Yan kept his gaze straight ahead. "What are you talking about?"
Jiang Jinyue sneered. "I only said the likelihood was relatively low, not that it was impossible. It could also be infighting within the Demon Realm. Don't celebrate too soon."
Qi Yan said expressionlessly, "What does that have to do with someone at the second layer of Qi Refining like me?"
"Tch."
"Miss Jiang, Lady Jiang, I don't know whether I need to remind you, but she doesn't even know my real name. How are you forcing things in that direction?"
Jiang Jinyue said, "Since you brought that up, are you planning to keep talking about what was going on with Yue Jinjiang?"
Qi Yan: "..."
They stared at each other for a while before Qi Yan finally changed the subject, somewhat flustered. "What exactly is this Demon Realm? I've never heard of it."
Jiang Jinyue scoffed. "With your limited knowledge, how much could you possibly have heard of?"
Qi Yan said, "You could tell me."
"What does that have to do with someone at the second layer of Qi Refining like you?"
His own words came flying back like a boomerang, battering Qi Yan's head full of lumps. Both annoyed and amused, he finally couldn't help saying, "Are you planning to follow me all the way to Heavenly Prefecture Continent like this?"
Jiang Jinyue blinked. "Can't I?"
"And follow me to the Heavenly Evolution Sect?"
"Can't I?"
"I'm going there to seek a master. I have to go up the mountain and take their assessment. How can someone as strong as you follow me in?"
Jiang Jinyue laughed. "I'll wait at the foot of the mountain. You probably won't pass anyway, and they'll send you back down."
Qi Yan really wasn't confident he could pass. Her words struck at the worry in his heart, making him considerably more subdued. "Lady Jiang, you've seen much of the world. Could you offer some guidance? For instance, what do these major sects mainly test?"
"Asking won't help. Every major sect worries about cheating, so their assessments are rarely fixed. Most are decided on the spot. Besides, you wouldn't be taking a collective assessment. You'd be coming to their gates individually to seek admission, so there are even fewer fixed rules. What the person presiding over it thinks at the time matters a great deal."
Qi Yan grew increasingly worried as he listened, and Jiang Jinyue was even more amused. "Hey, do you really want to go to the Heavenly Evolution Sect that badly?"
"Yes."
"Can I ask why? The Heavenly Evolution Sect isn't the strongest sect in the world, and Perfected Mu isn't necessarily the strongest cultivator in the world either. Where does this obsession of yours come from?"
Naturally, Qi Yan wasn't about to go around blabbing that it was because he wanted a beautiful master. In truth, that reason had only ever accounted for part of it anyway.
He gazed at the distant meeting of sea and sky and thought for a long while before saying softly, "I don't know either. I always have this mysterious feeling that there's something there I absolutely cannot miss... As though, in the unseen workings of fate, I have a covenant with heaven."
The jade pendant inside his ring warmed softly, as though rejoicing.
Jiang Jinyue's expression turned very strange.
She wasn't sure whether Qi Yan had guessed her background and was deliberately probing her...
Together with that wretched name, Yue Jinjiang... That thing you absolutely cannot miss-surely you don't mean me?