Chapter 525: The Ascetic

Great Manor Head Miao’s gaze then fell upon the other party’s busts reflexively.

The other party wasn’t put off by this. It seemed they were already accustomed to such looks. The reason why they cross-dressed as men was to avoid unnecessary trouble. Whenever someone found out that the two of them were actually women, they would always turn their gazes towards their chest, regardless if the other party was a man or a woman. It wasn’t as though they both liked dressing up as men. However, they simply had no choice because of their circumstances. Otherwise, they would be too easily recognized.

After proving their cultivations to Miao Yi, Wu Zhen, and Wu Ming helped each other arrange their masks neatly, before galloping off on their mounts, leaving the Great Manor Head Miao behind as they went off in separate directions.

Alone on his dragon steed, Miao Yi turned to look at the person gradually disappearing to the east, then to the other fading off into the west. He was a little unsure of what to say. In the end, he looked down at the sandpit that was just dug up, then gazed upward at the starry sky. After getting his bearings right, he proceeded alone towards the next gathering point for the group.

He was on high alert throughout the whole journey; he really didn’t wish for the assassin to appear.

Perhaps his wish had managed to reach the heavens; the assassin really didn’t show up anymore after that. And in the blink of an eye, one year had passed…

The roars of the dragon abruptly resounded as the Inferno Qilin Spear was launched out. Seated on his dragon steed, Miao Yi thrust his spear to the side, its sharp spearhead fiercely stabbing into the body of a giant scorpion. A powerful wave of heat soon erupted from within the giant scorpion, casting its sleek, black carapace in a luminescent glow.

This creature was a savage beast unique to Flowing Clouds Dune Sea, and went by the name ‘Flowing Clouds Desert Scorpion’. It had the body the size of a carriage, with equally massive pincers and a stinger filled with deadly poison. It was a creature that possessed an innate aptitude for killing other living things. And because there wasn’t much food to be found in the desert, it would hunt its prey down relentlessly if it ever met one.

There was another terrifying beast Flowing Clouds Dune Sea was famous for, and that was the Sea Monkey. It possessed a vicious-looking face and was armed with sharp fangs and claws. It also had enormous strength, especially when underwater, and was exceptionally good at ambushing the people that dove into the subterranean ocean. Sometimes, it would also hide itself under the sand. And when an unsuspecting person passed by, it would suddenly reveal its claws and pull the victim down into the ocean. Then, it would make use of its aquatic superiority to slowly torture the person to death. As a creature that normally attacked in hordes, there was quite a number among their species who would eventually ascend into immortality.

Because of these creatures, Miao Yi’s group had already lost over half their members. However, as soon as the situation was reported to the higher-ups, they would quickly arrange for replacements to be sent over.

The Flowing Clouds Desert Scorpion before Miao Yi now wasn’t too large. A few months ago, he had killed a Scorpion Spirit that was the size of a small house and managed to net himself a First Grade Yao Core.

Apparently in the past, out of the Five Emperors of Flowing Clouds Dune Sea, two of them were actually a Scorpion King and a Monkey King, and both had possessed a very high cultivation. However, they both perished at the hands of Devil Sage Yun Aotian because of the incident with Tempest Tavern.

Miao Yi pulled out his spear and swung it around, chopping down one of the giant pincers with the reversed-edge of his spear, which he then promptly tucked away. He proceeded to circle around the corpse of the giant scorpion, constantly hammering down on its hard shell with his spear. The places he hit were all the fleshy parts of the scorpion, and soon, a mouth-watering fragrance wafted in the air.

He sprinkled a significant amount of salt on the giant scorpion’s back, then allowed his dragon steed to go up to the scorpion and chow down on it. It ate up the meat in a delicious manner, occasionally stopping to lick off the salt around its mouth.

Miao Yi also released the two Blue-Feathered Swallows and let them join in on the feast.

Miao Yi then took out the pincer that he had previously tucked away and smashed open the shell, immediately revealing the juicy, tender meat wrapped within. A tantalizing smell quickly wafted through the air. Miao Yi then used a small knife and slathered a little bit of salt on the meat, before putting it into his mouth. The meat was fresh and delicious, and had a refreshing bite to it; it was truly a wondrous delicacy.

As he ate while seated on his mount, his dragon steed ate around the corpse of the giant scorpion. The two Blue-Feathered Swallows were happily partaking in the meal as well. This was how it was when sharing one’s good fortune.

At first, his dragon steed would grow anxious when it first saw the Flowing Clouds Desert Scorpion. But now, the giant scorpion was like a delicious treat in its eyes. It would chase after the creature relentlessly every single time it saw one. Clearly, it had grown hooked to the taste.

As he chewed on the delicious meat, Miao Yi glanced at how his dragon steed was gnawing ravenously on the scorpion’s body, shell and all, and couldn’t help but notice a brief resemblance to Charcoal on it. He continued waving the small knife in his hand as he clicked his tongue and sighed. “Oh poor fatso, you’re missing out!”

Shortly after, Wu Zhen and Wu Ming came over on their dragon steeds after hearing the sounds of a battle. Miao Yi took out the other pincer and split it in half before tossing it over to them. “My two beautiful Seniors, I’ve left these especially for you.”

The two of them rolled their eyes. After receiving the pincer halves, they quickly retreated to avoid being seen too close to Miao Yi. When Miao Yi noticed how they were lowering their heads in the distance, he knew that they were also breaking open the pincer’s shell and eating the meat. After all, who would hate good food?

After the two of them tried it once, they had become addicted to the taste as well.

Miao Yi looked to the left and right and couldn’t help but chuckle. He had always wanted to befriend the two beautiful twin Seniors, but most of the time, they maintained their distance with him as they went along. They would only meet up whenever the rest of the group did, making it very hard to have a proper conversation.

Now that a year had already passed, even Wu Zhen and Wu Ming started to doubt that the assassin would ever show up. However, like Miao Yi, they too had their mission, and they had no other choice but to continue onwards. As long as the higher-ups didn’t give them the green light, the two of them wouldn’t be able to leave.

After eating his fill, Miao Yi slapped on his stomach and licked his lips, before giving off a resounding burp. This delicious meal was a reward to himself for finally breaking through to the Blue Lotus Sixth Grade. Yes, just a few short days ago, his cultivation had finally made another breakthrough.

His daily refining speed for Orbs of Will had once again increased, from seven orbs a day to eight. And for him to break through to Blue Lotus Seventh Grade, he would need to refine approximately another 82,000 Orbs of Will, which meant that he would have to spend another twenty-eight years cultivating before he could make another breakthrough. Furthermore, this was under the condition that he would not be disturbed.

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Evidently, that was impossible in his current circumstances. Originally, he should’ve been able to break through to Blue Lotus Sixth Grade six months ago. However, it ended up being delayed by half a year.

A spirit eagle flew over from across the sky. Miao Yi extended his arm for it to land on, then took out the jade archive inside the cylinder by its legs. It was a letter from Qian’Er and Xue’Er.

“Looks like you’re in luck again. Go!” Miao Yi shook his hand, and the spirit eagle immediately swooped over to the giant scorpion and began gnawing down on it.

Meanwhile, Miao Yi sat to the side and slowly read through Qian’Er and Xue’Er’s letter. Currently, both parties would write to each other at least once a month. Simply put, it was just a way of telling each other that they were safe.

As far as safety was concerned, there wasn’t much danger on Traversing Water Palace’s side. Everything proceeded as usual in Raincloud Manor, although there had been several occasions where Sikong Wuwei and Zhao Fei pressed the two girls on where Miao Yi had gone. Clearly, they had noticed something was wrong, as they both also had subordinate Manor Heads disappearing on their end as well. The two girls ended up being put in a difficult spot because of this.

The letter simply described the current situation as such, and towards the end, the two girls said that they missed him, and asked if it would be alright for them to come visit.

Clearly, this was an impossible request! Miao Yi shook his head at the jade archive. And after some thought, he ultimately decided to write a letter to Zhao Fei and Sikong Wuwei as well. He took out two jade archives and wrote down similar content in each one. In his letter, he asked them not to trouble Qian’Er and Xue’Er, and that he was fine, that it was difficult for him to explain to them his current situation, but promising that he would as soon as he got back. He also told them that their subordinate Manor Heads would no longer be returning and that they should be looking for replacements soon. He told them not to wait any longer.

He then proceeded to write his reply to the two girls. After writing them some words of reassurance, he asked that they hand the two letters he was sending them to Zhao Fei and Sikong Wuwei.

Miao Yi got down from his dragon steed and waited for the spirit eagle to finish eating before placing the three jade archives into the cylinder by its legs, then letting it fly off into the skies.

With hands behind his back, Miao Yi watched as the spirit eagle gradually disappeared into the horizon, and couldn’t help but let out a sigh. He also missed Qian’Er and Xue’Er terribly. What did he have here? Beyond the neverending desert was still just more sand! He would constantly have to deal with sudden sandstorms or the attack of ferocious creatures. Not to mention, there was no one here to warm his bed at night. Although there was a pair of beautiful twins right beside him, it was impossible for him to sleep with them. If he had revealed even the slightest crude intention, they would most likely beat him into a bloody pulp. Their cultivations were simply too high.

“Goddammit! Where the hell is that shitty ghost ship? If this keeps up, when will I be able to break through to Blue Lotus Seventh Grade? If it never shows up, then does that mean I’ll have to continue wasting my time here and never be able to cultivate in peace ever again? Stop eating already! We’re going to look for that ghost ship!”

Miao Yi cursed aloud and tucked away the two Blue-Feathered Swallows. He then leaped up onto his mount, giving himself some motivation as he scanned his surroundings and continued forward with his search.

There was no end to the boundless sandscape. Miao Yi didn’t know if there was anyone in heaven who could hear his cries, but one person surely did.

Lao Bai’s graceful silhouette appeared under the shade of the palm tree. He glanced at the messy aftermath that had been the giant scorpion, and slowly shut his eyes.

Even though Miao Yi was just letting off some steam, Lao Bai also had to agree that his words had a point. This pointless search was not helping Miao Yi’s cultivation at all. It was just a waste of time. It would have been better if there was some kind of benefit to it, but he was doing nothing more than just roaming around the desert.

Lao Bai then spread his arms wide, his eyes closed as his figure slowly ascended into the skies. His light blue outer coat and white robes gently fluttered in the wind as his whole body quietly spun about in mid-air…

As dusk approached, Miao Yi was galloping on his dragon steed, when suddenly, he brought it to a stop, and his eyes looked forward cautiously.

In the desert ahead, there was an old man dressed in plain robes walking right towards him. The man had a cane in one hand and a woven straw hat adorning his head.

It was impossible for a mortal to be seen in these parts and even less of a chance for one to be traveling on foot. Having relaxed his guard somewhat over the last six months, Miao Yi immediately went back on full alert. It didn’t matter if the other party was the assassin sent to kill him or not; there was still a chance that he was a bandit.

Whoosh! Miao Yi hastily garbed himself in armor and readied his Inferno Qilin Spear. He then quickly made his way to one of the sand dunes to the side in order to avoid coming into direct contact with the other party.

The old man walked by at a leisurely pace, lifting his head to look up at Miao Yi on the sand dune as he passed him by. He had a fair, clean face, with a set of deep, penetrating eyes. His expression was gentle, and he lightly smiled and nodded at Miao Yi. He didn’t interact with Miao Yi beyond that and continued on his way with the cane in his hand.

The way the old man quietly walked reflected a profound belief in his own faith. It seemed he was an ascetic, and bore no ill will towards other living creatures. However, Miao Yi still maintained his vigilance, not turning his back on the other party for even a second.

Once the other party was far away, Miao Yi finally heaved a sigh of relief and continued on his own journey. Suddenly, a loud explosion erupted from behind him. Miao Yi quickly turned his head around and saw a powerful upward blast of sand and dirt, followed by a mighty gush of water. It looked as if some massive object had just come up to the surface of the ground.

As the massive spurt of water rained down upon the powerful wave of sand and dust, the helm of a white ship revealed itself, and it was gradually coming closer and closer.

A ship! It was a giant ship! And it was white? Before he knew what was going on, Miao Yi had already turned his mount around and galloped straight towards the ship. By the time he realized that he was drawing close to it, he came to a sudden halt.

It was indeed a giant white ship. It was at least a hundred meters tall and a hundred meters wide. There was no telling how long it was from the front.

The colossal ship looked as though it was carved out of an enormous block of white jade, and under the sunset, it seemed even more imposing than normal. The cabins of the ship were both intricate, yet incomparably ancient and massive at the same time. There was no telling what was inside those cabins. And as the giant ship drifted across the vast desert, it emitted a dull, clanking noise.

The ship wasn’t gliding across the desert floor on its own. Rather, there was a nigh-uncountable amount of iron chains attached to the ship’s hull, and surrounding the ship’s body was an equally large crowd. The iron chains were cuffed onto these people, and they in turn, were pulling on the iron chains to drag that ancient, massive ship across the sand.