Soaring the Heavens

Charcoal suddenly felt a little startled, snorting as he turned to his left and right, with his four hooves slowly backing away anxiously.

It was not the first time that Charcoal had experienced the little ones’ might. Every time it had been disobedient, Miao Yi would use these little guys to teach it a lesson.

Charcoal was very morose when facing the little ones. Even though it had greater speed, the island was nothing against the sheer numbers of them; they would flock after it and block its path, able to strike a vicious blow against it at any time.

It was no use diving into the ocean either, as the little ones had the advantage in speed under water. In addition, the sensation of getting stung in the ocean was worse than it was on land; if Miao Yi didn’t go and rescue it, it could very well drown in the ocean.

With no way to retreat, Charcoal could only turn around, taking a leap with its strong hooves, and landed on the ship. Its head was drooping as it obediently entered the inner storeroom of the stern with pressure from the little ones. It obediently let Miao Yi hook the chain onto its body, and started running around the capstan, as the natural-born super driving force…..

After a day at sea, the ship had returned to the ‘dock’ inside the reefy cliffs.

Miao Yi rode off with Qian’Er and Xue’Er back to East Arrival Cave.

Life on the island obviously couldn’t compare to East Arrival Cave’s luxuries, Qian’Er and Xue’Er were completely ecstatic to return again. To them, this was their home.

For the two young ladies, the first order of business upon returning was to immediately gather a handmaiden from each of the respective cultivation residences to clean up the courtyard.

This was the authority belonging to the Cave Master’s handmaidens; the entire East Arrival Cave’s handmaidens looked to them as their leaders.

However, they didn’t need the others to help clean the Cave Master’s sleeping quarters, as this was an area that only the two of them were allowed to enter; they would not allow other handmaidens to go in.

In truth, Yan Xiu would often find servants to clean up this area, but the two young ladies wanted to show their presence off to the other handmaidens. This had something to do with the fact that Miao Yi had never shared a bed with them until now. Both of them had given much thought into how they should prove that they were still the mistresses of this place, even though they had never shared a bed with the Cave Master before.

What the both of them didn’t know, was that if it wasn’t for Miao Yi completely subduing the subordinates of East Arrival Cave until they heeded his every word, the two of them might not have been able to touch the other handmaidens, because their positions tended to rise and fall with their master’s.

Miao Yi didn’t bother with other matters. After collecting this year’s supply of Orbs of Will, he left only Dan Biaoyi and Qiu Shaoqun to look after East Arrival Cave, and brought the rest with him as he made haste for Mount Calming Sea.

There was no reason other than to bring along more people as insurance.

Journeying through the wind and snow, Miao Yi rushed to Mount Calming Sea, and proceeded alone to the Mount Calming Sea Grand Hall, where he was led by Lu Liu into the loft that Mountain Chieftain Qin Weiwei enjoyed spending her time at.

Inside the loft, Qin Weiwei, wearing a dress as white as snow, was talking amicably with Gongsun Yu, another Cave Master. Miao Yi had heard before that this Gongsun Yu was the Cave Master that Qin Weiwei favoured the most.

However, upon seeing Miao Yi appear, Qin Weiwei instantly turned cold; her expression when facing Miao Yi was less than pleasant.

After Hong Mian and Lu Liu confirmed the items that were being handed over, Qin Weiwei gave the report from East Arrival Cave a look through, then placed it to the side as she said indifferently, “Cave Master Miao, this year you need not journey to South Edict Manor. Return to your East Arrival Cave.”

“Yes!” Miao Yi couldn’t ask for more, he would be saved the trouble of having to meet Xiong Xiao.

When he cupped his fists and stepped down, he added another line in his mind…. ‘Adulterous man and a lustful slut, a shameless couple!’

In contrast, Gongsun Yu had an amicable smile as he cupped his fists and greeted Miao Yi in a warm and graceful manner. An act which further highlighted the difference in temperament between himself and the indifferent Miao Yi.

Whether it was personality or disposition, in Qin Weiwei’s eyes, the two were as different as heaven and earth.

When Qin Weiwei looked at Miao Yi, she had a trace of disgust in her gaze that was difficult to hide.

Not only Gongsun Yu, when Miao Yi left the back hall and bumped into the other Cave Masters, they all took the initiative and cupped their fists, greeting him with smiles.

Naturally, it wasn’t because everyone had changed the way they looked at Miao Yi, but because of Miao Yi’s bloody battle last year, his name had already shaken the entire South Edict Manor.

One must know that Xiong Xiao’s strength in the entire South Edict Manor was hardly low, so his subordinate Cave Masters would have also had a certain degree of strength to them; but for two of Xiong Xiao’s subordinate Cave Masters to be beheaded by Miao Yi single-handedly, who would dare mock Miao Yi now?

Miao Yi also returned the courtesies with smiles. He didn’t stay long in Mount Calming Sea, as he led his subordinates and quickly returned to East Arrival Cave.

After this moment, Miao Yi finally understood; if you wanted to earn someone’s respect, you needed to prove your strength. No one would hold you with any importance if you weren’t strong enough!

‘Just you wait till the day that I can be your equal as a Mountain Chieftain; when that time comes, I will see what right do you, Qin Weiwei, have to give me any cheek!’

Quickly returning to East Arrival Cave, Miao Yi once again left all East Arrival Cave matters to Yan Xiu, before turning around and bringing Qian’Er and Xue’Er to disappear once more; his destination was clearly that island again.

Only Qian’Er and Xue’Er were a little disappointed as they had just finished cleaning the quarters…

Spring came and went.

With the passing waves of spring, comes the ruthless heat of the blazing summer, followed by the dreary billowing of the autumn breeze.

At the peak of autumn, Qian’Er and Xue’Er were a little shocked to find the Cave Master that only knew how to cultivate, regardless of night or day, had actually came out of the cave and was slowly walking to the great sea by himself.

The two of them quietly followed behind, only to see the Cave Master standing silently on the reefs by the shore with his clothes fluttering in the wind, his figure appearing a little lonesome. They were not sure what the Cave Master was thinking about right now.

After ten long months, he had finally completed refining that mid-grade Orb of Will, and thus Miao Yi’s cultivation had also reached White Lotus Third Grade as he expected.

But he couldn’t derive any joy from it.

As he had predicted, when his cultivation reached White Lotus Third Grade, an inner scan of the art source inside his body revealed the required amount of Orbs of Will needed to break through to Fourth Grade had once again doubled; needing almost another twenty low-grade Orbs of Will to ensure breaking through to Fourth Grade.

If he were to calculate based on this, then he would need forty orbs to break through to Fifth Grade, and another eighty orbs to break through to Sixth Grade. At this rate, it would be a heavenly sum and with a Cave Master’s share of orbs every year, who knew how long it would be for him to reach the Blue Lotus realm.

He still didn’t know how his Little Brother and Little Sister were doing, so he couldn’t be complacent like the other cultivators, who took advantage of their long lifespan to cultivate slowly in peace. Furthermore, Xiong Xiao would not continue wasting year after year without dealing with him, and would definitely not allow him to continue growing stronger. If he were in Xiong Xiao’s position, he would do the same.

“A horse will not grow fat without feed, it seems I must take the risk and try….”

Standing at the mountaintop, Miao Yi took a deep breath, then suddenly turned around and returned to his cave, tossing a low-grade Orb of Will into his mouth.

When his cultivation broke through to White Lotus Third Grade, the speed at which he could refine Orbs of Will had increased yet again. Miao Yi predicted that he would at most need another two months to completely refine a low-grade orb.

In addition to his share from two years, he now had seven low-grade Orbs of Will.

Qian’Er and Xue’Er were speechless, realising that their Cave Master was a real cultivation fanatic; he had only come out for a short while, before going back and immersing himself into his cultivation.

The both of them had more or less fallen under Miao Yi’s influence as well. Truthfully, they spent most of their time cultivating; at least they could kill some leisure time by doing this and not waste their lives away on this island.

Two months later, when Miao Yi had finished refining the Orb of Will in his mouth, he withdrew from cultivation once more; another year had passed, and winter had come once again.

After the three of them returned to East Arrival Cave, Qian’Er and Xue’Er guessed that their cultivation fanatic Cave Master was planning on heading back to the island and continue cultivating after going to Mount Calming Sea and back, so they didn’t have the same enthusiasm for cleaning the courtyard as they had the time before.