318: Returning to the old place

"What a miscalculation. Had I known, I should have asked for another flying boat to use for travel."

Zhou Yan was currently riding his Saint-exclusive flying boat, moving at a speed that, while still not fast, was finally no longer a snail's pace.

His destination was Jiangzhou, which, in a strict sense, was his first true base of operations.

Looking at this flying boat, Zhou Yan felt quite a headache.

In the past, his Artifact Refining skills were poor, and he thought he had added some ingenious designs. In reality, the improvements to the flying boat were negligible, like sticking pretty stickers on the core of the boat—meaningless.

Now that he had entered the Nascent Soul Stage and his experience had grown, he removed all those messy modifications and commissioned the Fourth Elder to carry out repairs.

Everything about this flying boat was good, except that it had no brakes; the current brakes were a later addition.

If not for the Fourth Elder's exquisite craftsmanship, these brakes might not even work.

It was said that this flying boat was once the early ride of a certain Mahayana Cultivator. Before attaining the Dao, that person had the style of a "speed demon." Once he summoned this boat, it was to flee to the ends of the earth, so he only focused on stacking speed, and all other components that affected speed had been modified.

The grade of this flying boat was not high, nor was it any rare treasure. In Zhou Yan's eyes, it didn't even show a specific rank and was simply categorized as an item.

Zhou Yan chose to travel on it this time because he had just discovered it had a Heaven-Defying function: "the ability to freely traverse anywhere on this continent."

At first, it seemed unremarkable, but this world was no ordinary place.

It was staggeringly vast. According to the terrain map provided by Yu Kou, at least in his current understanding, this land was still in a state of "Square Earth under a Round Sky."

Later, Zhou Yan gradually noticed some issues. He had spent a very long time traveling from Langqi Village to Jiangzhou, only to learn later that the County Office near Langqi Village had a Teleportation Array that could go directly to Jiangzhou.

Except for some merchant caravans and special travelers who chose to walk or use flying artifacts for cost reasons, most Cultivators would not use flying boats or other flying tools at will.

Simply because these things were too fast, and in remote areas, it was extremely easy to accidentally enter certain Small Worlds.

Some of these Small Worlds were not dangerous, and the entrance might be right above one's head; others might be hidden underground, yet to be discovered. Even more unlucky, one might charge straight into the territory of Bandit Cultivators or Evil Cultivators and be captured on the spot.

But Zhou Yan's flying boat was different. Wherever it flew, it stayed only there, completely unaffected by the interference and capture of Small Worlds.

Only when moving at full speed would it actively leap into other Great Worlds.

This meant that even without the help of Teleportation Arrays, Zhou Yan could reach any place in the world at will, and even explore other realms, provided he could handle this brakeless flying boat.

Well, it didn't even have rearview mirrors.

"Help! Help!"

Cries for help came, making Zhou Yan's expression tense up.

He looked at the mini-map, and after confirming the color, he quickly grabbed a sack and dove down.

He bagged the woman being chased and the two lecherous men behind her all at once. At the same time, he waved his hand and sent out seven wind chains, dragging the large men lying in ambush behind a distant hill into the bag as well. Only then did he pat the dust off his hands and return to the flying boat.

"That was close. I was so busy thinking about the flying boat that I almost missed my family members."

Tied to Zhou Yan's waist was a specially made Rank 2 Magic Treasure called the Monster Spawner.

This bag was refined from Rank 3 Sea Demon skin and Rank 2 Oyster Pearls, with the patterns of the Law of the Heart and the path of evolution inscribed inside.

Once someone was taken inside, their will could be instantly controlled, making them voluntarily become Zhou Yan's family and surrender their Spiritual Root, after which they would be converted into Mobs and have the Mob panel applied to them.

Defeating them would grant Karma, and they would also respawn in the wild. This one-stop industry had already successfully operated four times.

It could only be said that the Chaos of Kaifeng had a profound impact on Great Yu. Bandit Cultivators in the wild had increased, allowing him to have a good harvest before even reaching his destination.

Now there were nearly twenty thousand "players" in the main Kaifeng, most of whom had switched to life professions, while a few with better talent became combat players.

Their starting capital and initial experience sources were the newbie technique taught by Zhou Yan, which was the Flying Immortal Art he had first cultivated.

After learning the technique, they could gain experience by farming Mobs.

Relying on the uniqueness of the Flying Immortal Art, as long as they ground enough, even if the Mob experience was limited, Zhou Yan could still benefit from it.

In time, all his Seven Star Souls could enter the Nascent Soul Stage. At that time, when the eight great Nascent Souls joined forces against an enemy, how spectacular the scene would be.

"We've already reached Jiangzhou?"

"It seems that after reaching the Nascent Soul Stage, my control over the flying boat has indeed improved. Unfortunately, the number of captured Mobs is small, and there are even fewer with talent among them. Not many are suitable to serve as NPCs, causing the newbie area of the main Kaifeng to be a bit crowded now."

"Luckily, they aren't real players and won't complain about anything."

"Greetings to the Saint of Qingxu Grotto-Heaven, the Great Yu Imperial Preceptor, and True Person Yunshu."

Zhou Yan piloted the flying boat to land slowly and looked at the elderly man before him, who was glowing with health as if enjoying a second spring. This was Huo Zhongshan, whom Zhou Yan had notified in advance to wait outside Jiangzhou Kaifeng.

"Not bad, you've reached the Early Stage of Core Formation."

Zhou Yan sized him up, remembering that at first, he just wanted to find a guide and later only planned to run the Jiangzhou business.

Who knew that seeing him again after just a few months, things would be like this. Sure enough, there is no logic to a life using cheats.

Huo Zhongshan did not become complacent because of his current achievements. He knew well who had bestowed all this. "It is all thanks to your promotion, My Lord. The courtyard where you once lived is still being cleaned; I wonder if you would like to go back and take a look first?"

Zhou Yan was noncommittal and just shook his head. "I only notified you of my return this time because I have my own arrangements. For now, I don't plan to enter Jiangzhou. I've come to talk to you about a business with a partner."

"This partner resides in the Eastern Region and is now considered a power at the Soul Transformation level. I wonder how the Foundation I mentioned before is developing, and if it has the capacity to establish dealings with them?"

Hearing this, Huo Zhongshan showed a confident smile and patted his chest in guarantee.

"My Lord may not know, but the branch head of the Lianxing Pavilion who was on good terms with us has now been promoted and just happens to have been transferred back to the Eastern Region."

"The current branch head was originally Hui Butan's deputy. Therefore, even though the old acquaintance has left, our connection with the Lianxing Pavilion remains close, and our trade dealings have not been severed."

"If it's trading with the Eastern Region, we can completely handle it. We can even use the Hui Family's trade routes, which can save a lot of costs."

Huo Zhongshan spoke incessantly, clearly having mastered the way of business and bringing the spirit of loving whatever job one does to its fullest. Abandoning medicine for commerce also showed his talent; it was just a pity he was trapped in a medical clinic in his early years, missing his opportunities.

Just as Zhou Yan was secretly sighing with emotion, Huo Zhongshan suddenly threw out a question.

"I just don't know, what business exactly does My Lord want to do?"

Zhou Yan was stunned, and then thought of the most crucial question.

"Right, what are we selling?"

Qingxu Grotto-Heaven, Fifth Peak.

Long Tianxing lay on the ground with a face as ashen as death, staring blankly at the ceiling.

What had happened?

This matter had to be traced back to before Zhou Yan left.

At that time, he was happily accepting the greatest harvest of this event, a Soul Transformation rank Talisman Treasure, which contained a power more stable than the Power of Law.

If this item could be obtained, it would surely become his important trump card, as it was equivalent to several full-power attacks from a Soul Transformation Cultivator.

With it, Long Tianxing would no longer need to go to Small Worlds to hone his cultivation and could instead go to the outer regions for experience. However, all of this was built on the premise of "obtaining" it.

Just as he was rejoicing, Zhou Yan descended from the sky. Since fighting was forbidden and the Magic Treasure had already recognized him as its master, even though Zhou Yan was a Nascent Soul Cultivator, there was nothing he could do.

So Long Tianxing naturally said a few words of encouragement, such as "Nascent Soul is nothing more than this; one day I will surpass you, and I hope at that time you will not be blinded by the dust I raise and fail to see that I have already sped past" and the like (intended to express recognition of Zhou Yan's cultivation as well as his own unyielding will).

Subsequently, Zhou Yan pulled out a Recording Stone.

After some negotiation, Long Tianxing voluntarily handed over the Soul Transformation rank Talisman Treasure and recorded a friendly video to sign a contract, in exchange for Zhou Yan destroying all related Recording Stones.

Although the final image left behind was not as shameful as that one, he still found it hard to let go, to the point that he was still lying on the ground now, questioning his life.

Without the Talisman Treasure, he didn't dare to go to the places he previously wanted to explore.

Now his mind was full of thoughts about finding a place to just make do, finishing his practice, and then coming back.

At the same time.

"Boss, when will that kid come?"

"Their Sect has been holding an event recently, so it should be after the event. Anyway, it'll be in the next couple of days."

"We've sold his whereabouts to the Miechen Sect. What if he doesn't come?"

Two ill-intentioned people were thus cautiously conspiring.