Several days passed in the blink of an eye.
On the morning the commerce airship was scheduled to depart, Lin Sheng arrived at Purple Iris Immortal City's enormous harbor before sunrise.
The port was far more heavily guarded than he had imagined.
Layers of formations were engraved into the entrance itself, their runes glowing faintly beneath the stone pavement. Every cultivator entering had to pass through them before stepping onto the dock. Beside the formations stood cultivators holding special talismans that emitted soft light whenever someone walked past, each one designed to detect demonic qi or hidden ghost techniques. High above, Lin Sheng could vaguely sense a Purple Palace cultivator's divine sense sweeping over everyone who boarded.
The inspection was thorough.
No one complained.
After all, the route toward the Southern Archipelagos crossed vast stretches of sea where danger lurked everywhere. If someone from a demonic sect or a wanted criminal slipped aboard, the consequences would affect everyone.
Only after passing every inspection did Lin Sheng finally board the massive commerce airship.
The vessel was several hundred meters long, its hull forged from spirit wood reinforced with countless runic formations. Several enormous wind arrays surrounded the ship, keeping it suspended high above the ground even while stationary. Dozens of cultivators bustled about preparing for departure, while merchants supervised the loading of cargo ranging from medicinal herbs and spirit ores to yao beast materials.
After confirming his identity, a steward respectfully led him toward the VIP quarters.
His room wasn't particularly luxurious, but it was quiet and isolated from the ordinary passengers. A small meditation chamber, a spirit gathering formation and a window overlooking the endless sea were more than enough.
Once inside, Lin Sheng finally relaxed.
He took out his transmission jade and checked the messages that had accumulated over the past few days.
The first message came from Qian Feng.
Reading it, a smile unconsciously appeared on his face.
Qian Feng had officially become the new head of the Qian Family.
The succession ceremony had gone smoothly, with Lin Xiaolu and Lou Han attending as honored guests. Even Lin Shou had returned briefly to congratulate him before leaving once again to continue cultivating under the Grand Elder.
Only Lin Sheng himself had been absent.
He silently sent a short congratulatory message before putting the jade away.
For some reason...
The uneasiness in his heart still hadn't disappeared.
If anything...
It had become even stronger.
Originally, he had assumed reaching the Spirit Platform Realm and advancing his body refinement to the third rank would finally give him enough confidence to ignore whatever vague danger he had been sensing.
Instead...
The warning only became clearer.
It was as though something unseen continued drawing closer.
He frowned slightly.
"It still hasn't gone away..."
Shaking his head, he forced himself to stop thinking about it.
There was little point worrying over something he couldn't identify.
Meditation had always been the best way to calm his thoughts.
Sitting cross-legged, Lin Sheng slowly entered cultivation.
Within moments, his consciousness sank into his sea of consciousness.
The brilliant Yellow Origin Sun quietly revolved above the Spirit Platform, illuminating every corner of his spiritual world. Ever since breaking through, he had noticed an astonishing increase in both his comprehension and deduction ability.
It was finally time.
His consciousness moved toward the vast collection of formation knowledge left behind by the Formation Spirit Elder.
He had already mastered every second-rank formation inheritance.
The third-rank inheritance, however, had remained untouched.
It wasn't because he lacked talent.
The requirements were simply too high.
Without reaching the Spirit Platform Realm, forcing himself to comprehend third-rank formations would only have exhausted his soul.
Now...
Everything was different.
As his mind gradually entered the Emptiness State, countless complicated runes unfolded before him one after another.
The knowledge no longer described ordinary formation arrays.
It described...
Runic formations.
If second-rank formations relied on arranging numerous formation flags and spiritual nodes to complete a complete array...
Then third-rank formations condensed an entire formation into a single runic imprint.
Every rune represented countless smaller formations intertwined together.
One rune...
Could replace an entire array.
The complexity increased by several levels.
Yet strangely...
Lin Sheng didn't feel overwhelmed.
On the contrary...
The more he studied, the more natural everything became.
It felt as though a door that had remained tightly shut for years had finally opened.
Outside...
The enormous commerce airship slowly lifted into the sky.
Without Lin Sheng noticing...
It had already begun its journey toward the Southern Archipelagos.
---
Elsewhere aboard the same airship...
Another familiar figure quietly stood near the railing.
It was Shen Xiuyong.
Ever since becoming the Pavilion Master of the Phoenix Ridge branch of the Dan Dao Pavilion, he had devoted nearly all of his time to cultivation and alchemy.
With his current status, ordinary first-rank pills no longer required his attention.
Only second-rank pill refinement remained worthy of his personal effort.
His contributions to the pavilion had steadily increased over the years, earning him access to greater resources and inheritances.
Yet...
His progress had gradually come to a halt.
It wasn't his cultivation.
Nor was it his talent.
The bottleneck lay elsewhere.
Rank-three alchemy.
No matter how many manuals he studied, he always felt as though something was missing.
His understanding stopped just short of the final step.
That frustration had accompanied him for years.
Fortunately...
Long ago, while exploring an ancient ruin, he had obtained a mysterious stone sealed by an ancient talisman.
At the time, the seal had been impossible to open.
Only after reaching mid Foundation Establishment and possessing sufficient divine sense had he finally broken it.
Inside...
He had discovered an ancient inheritance unlike anything recorded within the Dan Dao Pavilion.
A flame cultivation method.
It allowed an alchemist to continuously devour flames of every kind, strengthening one's natal flame with each successful refinement.
The stronger the natal flame became...
The greater one's affinity with alchemy.
Using that inheritance, Shen Xiuyong had traveled across the Eastern Region, seeking Earth Flames hidden beneath mountains and volcanoes. After years of effort, his natal flame had reached the peak of the second rank.
Yet...
It still wasn't enough.
The third-rank alchemy inheritance remained just beyond his grasp.
After much consideration...
He had finally made his decision.
The Eastern Region had reached its limit.
Rumors claimed that the Southern Archipelagos possessed an entirely different system of alchemy, one that emphasized flame control and medicinal fusion unlike the traditions practiced on the mainland.
Perhaps...
The inspiration he sought awaited him there.
Looking toward the endless sea stretching beyond the horizon, Shen Xiuyong quietly exhaled.
"Let's see..."
"...whether this journey was the right choice."
.......
By the time the commerce airship disappeared into the clouds, Purple Iris Immortal City was still buzzing with discussion about what had happened on the night of the auction.
Inside a busy teahouse near the central market, cultivators gathered around wooden tables, speaking excitedly as cups of spirit tea were constantly refilled.
"I heard the battle after the auction was terrifying."
"It was," another cultivator replied immediately. "The City Lord's Mansion had just escorted the winner of the Niwan Opening Pill out when someone attacked them."
"The City Lord's Mansion lost?"
The speaker nodded. "The Niwan Opening Pill was stolen."
The surrounding listeners gasped.
"The thief actually escaped?"
Before anyone else could continue, an older rogue cultivator sitting nearby snorted.
"Escaped, yes. Unscathed? Not even close."
Everyone immediately looked toward him.
"The City Lord's Mansion isn't weak. They may have lost the pill, but the attacker paid a heavy price."
"I heard he was seriously injured before fleeing."
Another cultivator quickly joined in.
"The City Lord himself has already issued a reward notice."
"Anyone who captures that person, dead or alive, will receive ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones."
Silence fell over the table.
Someone swallowed hard.
"Ten... ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones?"
Several people couldn't help imagining such an enormous fortune.
"With that much wealth, I'd never have to worry about cultivation resources again."
"I could buy a Foundation Establishment Pill..."
"I could establish my own family."
"Hmph."
A cold voice interrupted their fantasies.
One middle-aged cultivator shook his head before taking a sip of tea.
"Stop daydreaming."
"The person who stole the pill isn't someone you people can deal with."
"Oh?"
"What do you mean?"
"The guards escorting the pill were all late Foundation Establishment cultivators."
He paused before continuing.
"They were defeated."
"Several were seriously injured."
"The attacker still managed to escape despite being surrounded."
The entire teahouse became quiet.
"If that's true..."
"...then that person must be at least at peak Foundation Establishment."
"Exactly."
"Ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones sound tempting, but you'll need to stay alive long enough to spend them."
The crowd immediately laughed bitterly.
Their greed quickly cooled.
Some fortunes...
Were simply beyond their reach.