Chapter 40 Crossing the River

Jiang Chen looked at the fist-sized, emerald-green, glowing bead in his hand.

He used his True Qi to probe the bead, and suddenly, he felt countless illusory Mirage Ships appearing all around him.

This forced Jiang Chen to quickly guard his clarity of mind.

Although he understood some common knowledge about demons, he did not know much about the finer details, and at this moment, he did not know the name or usage of this Mirage Pearl.

Jiang Chen simply felt that this bead was likely the demon core or something similar of the Mirage Beast, and its value must be immense.

Thus, he put it directly into his robes, and after the Mirage Beast died, the fog in the distance began to dissipate rapidly.

Jiang Chen chose a direction and walked down the mountain.

Less than an hour after Jiang Chen went down the mountain, two people arrived one after another at the side of the lake.

Daoist Zizai looked at the pool of blood covering half the lake, the rage in his eyes almost impossible to conceal.

"Revered Master, what if that person doesn't know there is a Mirage Pearl inside the Mirage Beast..." Before Taoist Gu Ming could finish speaking, he was stared at by his Revered Master's extremely gloomy gaze, rendering him unable to say another word.

Plop!

A palm gently rested on Daoist Zizai's hand; it was a mountain goblin that had just come out to forage.

But this time, it seemed to have made the same mistake as its companion and chosen the wrong target.

As soon as it touched Daoist Zizai's hand, the mountain goblin sensed something was wrong and wanted to bolt.

However, Daoist Zizai was already furious, but he couldn't take his anger out on his Disciple. Encountering such a clueless demon, he naturally wouldn't let it go.

Before the mountain goblin could react, Daoist Zizai's large hand slammed down onto its head.

Taoist Gu Ming turned his head away, unable to bear it, as if he had already anticipated what was about to happen.

Crack! Bang! With two successive sounds, the mountain goblin's head was crushed by Daoist Zizai!

Red and white matter splattered all over the ground, which actually contrasted with the blood-red lake water.

Taoist Gu Ming used his fingertips to disgustedly flick off a small piece of white brain matter that had stained his sleeve.

"Revered Master, what should we do about our offering to Your Majesty this time?" Seeing that his Revered Master had vented most of his anger on the mountain goblin, Taoist Gu Ming finally asked.

"Just now, I heard from those merchants that this Daoist is also likely heading to Chang'an to meet the Emperor. No matter who this person is, when the time comes, I will make him know what things should be taken and what things should not!"

Daoist Zizai took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled and said, "I still have a Tier 6 Jade Ruyi here; let this serve as the Mid-Autumn offering for Your Majesty!"

Taoist Gu Ming's eyes widened. This Jade Ruyi was Daoist Zizai's favorite Magical Artifact; it was of high grade and also had the effects of extending life and assisting with Cultivation.

Ordinarily, even getting a glimpse of it was a luxury. He hadn't expected that this time, his Revered Master would actually bear the pain of parting with his treasure to offer this Magical Artifact to Your Majesty.

Daoist Zizai glanced at his Disciple's expression and knew what he was thinking.

"Taoist Gu Ming, what do you think our Jingming Sect relies on to grow and thrive in the cracks between large Schools like the Three Mountains Dharma Lineage and the Beidi Sect?"

Taoist Gu Ming's expression tightened; his Revered Master was testing him again. He thought for a moment, then hesitated and said, "Is it by relying on the generations of Jingming Sect Ancestral Masters who blazed trails and struggled arduously?"

Daoist Zizai said crossly, "Bullshit! It relies on the favor of Your Majesty! Only by keeping Your Majesty happy can our Jingming Sect enjoy the fruits of success."

"If one day Your Majesty stops looking after our Jingming Sect, those large Schools will immediately swarm in and divide up the Jingming Sect until nothing is left!"

Taoist Gu Ming was scolded like a mistreated young wife and dared not say a word of rebuttal.

Although his Revered Master appeared kind and benevolent, his heart was truly sinister and vicious. Once, a Senior Brother had gone against his wishes in a matter and challenged Daoist Zizai's Face.

Then, one day, that Senior Brother went down the mountain to do some tasks and never returned. Why he didn't return, everyone understood; naturally, he had been killed by Daoist Zizai to vent his anger.

"Let's go. If we happen to run into this thieving Daoist on the road, we can just take back our Jingming Sect's treasure!"

After speaking, Daoist Zizai struck another palm, completely smashing the mountain goblin's body to pieces. The powerful Aura made even Taoist Gu Ming tremble.

Although Daoist Zizai was sinister and vicious, his strength was truly formidable; his cultivation had reached the Life Wheel Realm, otherwise he would not have dared to come so carelessly to take the life of the Mirage Beast.

The Mirage Beast was usually gentle towards the Jingming Sect because it knew it was going to the Jingming Sect to serve as a guardian Divine Beast and be worshipped.

If it had known that what was being worshipped wasn't itself, but the Mirage Pearl inside its body, it would have been strange if it didn't fight the people of the Jingming Sect to the death!

...

Jiang Chen descended the mountain and continued on his way. He had no idea that at this moment, behind him, a pair of Revered Master and Disciple were following his route in pursuit.

Both parties were heading to Chang'an, and their routes had miraculously overlapped.

Not long after, a large river lay across his path like a formidable obstacle.

If he followed the river upstream, he could still reach his destination, but that would mean taking a detour of dozens or even hundreds of miles. It was not as quick as crossing the river directly.

Fortunately, there were many boatmen on both banks of the river who made a living by fishing and ferrying people. Jiang Chen casually found one of the boatmen.

"Boatman, how much to cross the river?"

The boatman was a small, shriveled old man with skin tanned pitch-black. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked at Jiang Chen's attire, and then said:

"Little Daoist, originally, rowing against the current to cross the river costs 80 wen, but since the Little Daoist is taking my boat, perhaps it will allow me to rub shoulders with some Immortal Qi, so I'll charge you 50 wen, how about that?"

The boatman had originally held up five fingers, but with a look of pain on his Face, he quickly held up one more finger.

Jiang Chen saw this and found it somewhat amusing. "No need, Boatman, just charge the 80 wen. There is no time to lose, let's set off now."

"Eh, alright, alright!" The boatman's eyes lit up, and he quickly untied the hemp rope tied to the wooden stake on the bank.

"Little Daoist, you've made the right choice by taking my boat. I just happened to catch two fresh crucian carp; would you like to have a taste later? Oh, I forgot, you are a monk, you don't eat meat."

Jiang Chen laughed. "It's no matter. It's the bald donkeys... monks who don't eat meat. We Daoists only have a few dietary restrictions; as for crucian carp, there are no taboos. I must thank you for your hospitality, old man."

"Not at all, not at all. There are many crucian carp in this river. I catch them, but a little old man like me can't eat them all, so I usually release most of them!"

Speaking of his proudest achievement, the boatman let out a "hehehe" laugh. Clearly, he was very confident and proud of his fishing skills.

Jiang Chen sat at the bow of the boat and looked at the riverbank. It had just rained not long ago, so logically, the river should be rising.

However, Jiang Chen saw that there were several feet of black, damp soil exposed on both sides of the river. Clearly, the river had not risen; it had dried up significantly.