Martial Cultivator

A ferry departed from a great river in Qingshan Prefecture, heading toward a dock in Changping Prefecture.

Most of the passengers aboard were merchants returning to the Divine Capital. Having concluded their business, they had sold the goods brought from the Divine Capital and were now bringing back items from Qingshan Prefecture to sell in the Divine Capital.

There were many foreign sects in Qingshan Prefecture, so most of the goods were related to cultivators , things like materials for crafting artifacts, various kinds of pills. Almost everything was included.

As a result, the goods were of considerable value. After all, the average citizen of the Divine Capital could not afford such items, and these merchants would hire extra guards to protect their goods.

Because of that, whenever the ferry docked and new passengers boarded, everyone was especially cautious. Even if there was the occasional clash between merchants, both sides would be exceedingly polite, doing their utmost to avoid offense.

When traveling the world, what one feared most was forming grudges without reason - you might not even know how you ended up dead.

All the more so when everyone was carrying valuable cargo.

The ferryman often ran this particular route, and most of the merchants were acquaintances of his.

All familiar faces.

So when two unfamiliar young men boarded, the ferryman could not help but take a few more glances. One of them wore black and carried a saber. The other was dressed in plain green robes, solitary in manner, but the occasional sword intent in his eyes told the ferryman this must be a sword cultivator.

As for the saber-wielding young man, he looked like a martial artist.

The ferryman could not quite figure out their identities, but seeing how both of them looked pale, they should be injured.

This made the ferryman feel uneasy. These two might be fleeing from enemies, if they were pursued after boarding, the ferry might get dragged into trouble. Even so, he did not dare to stop these two from coming aboard.

What if the two had powerful backgrounds? If he angered them, he might not be able to bear the consequences either.

The martial artist was still fine, but that sword cultivator, who did not know that sword cultivators were the worst to provoke?

With a sigh, the ferryman changed to a smiling face and welcomed the two young men aboard, cheerfully explaining a few things about the ferry.

To his surprise, the two young men were both easy to talk to, especially the young man in black. He even smiled and said that if there were any fresh river fish just caught, they could cook some up and bring them over, and if there was alcohol, even better.

The ferryman relaxed at that and immediately ordered some of the large fish kept in a water vat aboard to be prepared. He even personally carried over two jars of alcohol for the two, and generously declared that the meal was on the house.

The young man in black thanked him and did not stand on ceremony.

He simply said that if anything happened on the boat, they could let him know, maybe they could lend a hand.

Hearing that, the ferryman felt all the warmer inside.

He had done plenty of small favors for people while traveling, but rarely had anyone offered to return the kindness.

Of course, whether they really could return it was another matter, but since they said it like that, he was naturally happy.

When the food and wine finally arrived, the two sat down.

The pale-faced young sword cultivator poured himself a bowl of alcohol and took a sip. Only then did he click his tongue and say, “You didn’t let them find out who you really are, did you? Otherwise, why would they be this polite?” ”But this Lord Warden Commander identity of yours is really handy. If you waved that title around the whole way, you might not have to spend a single coin.”

These two were naturally Chen Chao and Yu Xiyi, traveling together back to the Divine Capital.

Chen Chao also took a sip of alcohol, smacked his lips to savor the taste, and realized that this alcohol had indeed been aged for several years. Only then did he smile and say, “They don’t actually know my identity. They’re being so polite because they recognized you as a sword cultivator. To them, you sword cultivators are the last people to provoke. Who knows if you might get angry and cleave the boat in half?”

Yu Xiyi frowned and said, “Who would be that unreasonable?”

Chen Chao shook his head with a grin. “Happens all the time.”

Yu Xiyi raised an eyebrow but did not say anything else. Though he had roamed the world in recent years, his understanding of such matters was naturally not as deep as Chen Chao’s. On this topic, he really had no grounds to argue.

Finally too lazy to speak further, Yu Xiyi focused on the bowl of fish in front of him and began eating heartily.

Chen Chao had a few bites and then set his chopsticks down, looking toward the sky. Before long, a wooden bird landed in front of him. He retrieved the item attached to the bird, glanced over it, and then smiled. “Yun Jianyue has become the new temple master of Infatuation Daoist Temple.”

Yu Xiyi, who was currently wrestling with a fish head, looked up in surprise. He stared at Chen Chao. “So fast?”

Chen Chao nodded, a bit wistful as he said, “It’s a little beyond what I expected too. I thought he’d at least need some time, but turns out it happened this quickly.”

Yu Xiyi spat out a fish bone, shot Chen Chao a sideways glance, and said with a laugh, “Isn’t that exactly what you wanted? Now that he’s become temple master, you don’t have to worry about the Infatuation Daoist Temple targeting Great Liang anymore.”

Chen Chao nodded. The Infatuation Daoist Temple was one of the greatest sects in the foreign lands. In terms of prestige and influence, few others could compare. Now that a young temple master had taken over, and one who did not stand against Great Liang, it was indeed a good thing for the Great Liang.

“You think it’s that simple? From now on, I can only choose to trust him. After all, I’ve already withdrawn all our personnel stationed in the Infatuation Daoist Temple. From now on, anything that happens there, I’ll be hearing it only from him.”

Chen Chao put on a falsely aggrieved look and said, “Given the choice between listening to his words and seeing for myself, I’d still rather trust myself.”

Yu Xiyi rolled his eyes. “You got the upper hand and you’re still playing the victim. Someone ought to have let Yinli beat you half to death.”

“You really think I wasn’t beaten half to death? Your Father can barely hold these chopsticks while eating fish. Look at how my hands are shaking.”

Chen Chao let out a sigh, unable to voice all his suffering.

That battle with Yinli might not have looked like a big deal on the surface, but in truth, he was gravely injured. His internal organs were in terrible shape.

Yu Xiyi was momentarily stunned, then burst into loud laughter. So that was why this brat had only eaten a few bites before stopping; turns out he could not even hold onto his chopsticks properly.

Chen Chao said, “But beyond that, Yun Jianyue did something else that really made me see him in a new light. He actually wanted to keep the people I stationed in Infatuation Daoist Temple, regardless of the past.”

Yu Xiyi clicked his tongue. “He’s not afraid those people will quietly plot against him?”

Chen Chao smiled. “Doesn’t matter what he thinks, I can’t leave them there. If anything happens down the line, his position as temple master would be in jeopardy.”

“Forget the future, if those daoists found out right now that Yin’i was killed by the two of us working together, he’d be in trouble all the same.”

Yu Xiyi chuckled. “You could always use that as leverage to threaten him.”

Chen Chao shook his head. “Since I chose to trust him, that kind of thing won’t ever be brought up again. I still believe he’s different from the rest.”

Yu Xiyi opened his mouth but didn’t say anything more.

Chen Chao glanced at him a few times and said, “I’ve got some news. Want to hear it?”

”Either say it or don’t!”

Yu Xiyi could not stand it the most when Chen Chao acted all mysterious and coy like this, and he could not even be bothered to humor him.

Seeing this, Chen Chao had no choice but to speak up. “The stone quarry that the imperial court promised to hand over to Sword Qi Mountain has been finalized. Three days ago, your Sword Sect already had disciples who went up the mountain to retrieve swords. Seems they were lucky and picked up a decent flying sword.”

Yu Xiyi was taken aback, then said, “So fast?”

Chen Chao answered as if it were only natural, “If we wanted to hoodwink you into risking your life, how could we not deliver on what was promised?”

“At least you’ve got a bit of conscience.”

Yu Xiyi put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth, and let out a burp. Just as he thought of something, Chen Chao smiled and said first, “That batch of green bamboo has already been sent to the Divine Capital.”

Now Yu Xiyi was truly satisfied, bursting into loud laughter.

But before he could laugh long, the entire ferry suddenly lurched violently. The sudden jolt almost knocked this sword immortal off his seat. Though he managed to stay seated, quite a bit of wine was spilled.

Chen Chao raised an eyebrow, while Yu Xiyi looked rather pissed.

What kind of ship was this supposed to be?

But before long, Chen Chao stood up, only to tug at his wounds, causing him to grimace in pain.

Yu Xiyi burst into loud laughter once again.

Chen Chao cursed, “Quit laughing, damn it. It’s your turn to draw your sword.”