Soaring the Heavens

By two shores of the small river, the willows were evergreen; from time to time one could see women crouching down by the riverbank as they washed either their clothes, or vegetables.

Brothels also stood aplenty; beautiful young ladies waved their handkerchiefs with a sense of wantonness, as they relaxed their throats and made coquettish noises in an attempt to attract passing travellers standing at the prow of their boats.

Further ahead, young men recited poetry by the grassy riverside, looking to charm the groups of young girls strolling leisurely past them. On the other hand, the young girls secretly watched, with faces flushed at the young man with the extraordinary bearing standing firm at the prow of the black awning boat, relishing the breeze.

As the black awning boat passed by a flower boat, a madame wearing heavy makeup also invited the young man at the prow of the boat in a high-pitched voice to come aboard and drink alcohol with her courtesans.

In the restaurant, wealthy guests called their friends over; greetings were exchanged with cupped fists, and cups were raised as they drank their fill.

On the shore, traders came and went, whilst children chased one another around in merriment.

It was simply human nature to set up homes in accordance with the flow of water; thus in making such a journey by boat, one could claim to have seen most of East Arrival City in all its splendor.

The people of this world spent six hours everyday to make an offering of their power of will as well as paying tributes. In return, they obtained the protection of the cultivators for the slaying and banishment of demons; exorcising dark spirits, and in upholding the peace of the land.

The Six Sages of Heaven and Earth also had to rely on the cultivators under their respective domains in order to amass, and harvest a vast amount of the power of will. Otherwise, regardless of how strong they became, they would never have been able to control such large territories by themselves.

And it is precisely because these cultivators exist that the government officials dared not push their followers too much. If anything were to happen to the harvesting of the power of will, the cultivators would be the first to rain terror upon them.

Even though cultivators did not often make grand appearances, they were surely the ones maintaining the order of the realm.

Of course out of all the people that stood on either shores of the river, not everyone would take six hours of their time everyday to offer their power of will like every other man. Those with authority and status could always find others from the Manor of Merciful Hope, or similar such places, to do the work for them. Some would even go as far as to spend the extra dime just to hire others to do it.

Therefore, those who could work hard, would still work hard; and those who were without scruples would still remain unaffected. Some would be busy whilst others would be free – such are the rules of life, as they have always been.

Regardless of its merits or flaws, to the Miao Yi who currently stood patrolling from the prow of the boat, this domain was his to call his own. Seeing the followers under his jurisdiction leading prosperous lives, now he could at least be relieved of his concerns of difficulties arising whilst obtaining Orbs of Will at the end of the year….

Night had fallen, Dan Biaoyi was riding his dragon steed; his heart completely restless as his horse galloped under the moonlight.

Upon seeing that they were about to reach East Arrival Cave, Dan Biaoyi gritted his teeth and picked up his pace to reach the front. Coming up just behind Qin Weiwei, he cupped his fists and said, “Mountain Chieftain, your subordinate shall head immediately to the abode of Immortals and declare your arrival, so that the Cave Master can ready himself to welcome you.”

He actually intended to inform everyone, so that the Cave Master and everyone else could be mentally prepared.

Qin Weiwei turned around to look at him, and coldly said, “No need.”

Then she ordered her entourage riding behind her, “Keep an eye on him, don’t give him the opportunity to tip them off. I want to see what trickery is going on at the East Arrival Cave!”

Dan Biaoyi felt his heart stop for a moment. Two White Lotus Third Grade cultivators had already come forward, and trapped him in the center.

Under the moonlight, the group of five charged towards East Arrival Cave’s mountain gates with a pace as fast as lightning.

Shang Youlai who was on guard duty suddenly sprang out from the dark and stood in front of the mountain gates. He lifted his spear, and shouted for them to stop, “Visitors, dismount from your horses!”

His voice reverberated throughout the mountain; also to serve as a warning to the others inside the abode of Immortals.

As the warning resounded, everyone who was residing in their own training quarters dashed out quickly. Six silhouettes each readied a weapon in their hand as they rode on their dragon steeds, racing towards ‘Hidden Dragon Valley’, prepared in the event of any unforeseen circumstances.

Qin Weiwei would not stoop so low as to break the rules by charging past the mountain gates and had already raised her hand to stop the followers behind her. With her at the lead, the five of them quickly steadied their dragon steeds, and stopped just in front of the mountain gates; if they were mortals, they would have been instantly flung off.

Then they saw on the other side of the mountain gates, another six dragon steeds also charging over at breakneck speeds.

Qin Weiwei felt somewhat surprised. It was hard to imagine that East Arrival Cave’s response was this swift; this efficiency was not normal.

That was because Miao Yi had already mentioned, if the mountain gates were to be broken once more, it would be on Wang Zifa’s head.

Miao Yi also mentioned that those who disobeyed, when the time came, not only would they be unable to receive a single Orb of Will; they would even be expelled!

What other abode of Immortals would have such a grand treatment? In addition, Miao Yi had something over their heads. It needn’t be mentioned how much effort they were putting into their jobs, they wanted to avoid getting the rap from Miao Yi.

Seeing as it was the Mountain Chieftain Qin Weiwei, the gatekeeper Shang Youlai immediately shut his mouth, and cupped his fists to pay his respects.

In order to prepare against any unprecedented occurrence, Yan Xiu’s group raced over in a hurry. They looked at one another and hastily got down from their steeds, before walking over to the front of the mountain gate hurriedly with cupped fists to welcome the Mountain Chieftain.

A number of them casted glances at Dan Biaoyi who followed behind Qin Weiwei, as though questioning why did he had not informed them earlier of the Mountain Chieftain’s visit. There were even people who had secretly transmitted their voice over to Dan Biaoyi to interrogate him.

However, Dan Biaoyi also had circumstances that made it difficult for him to explain. The two men on either side of him were invoking their arts ahead of him to disrupt, and ultimately block him from transmitting his message across; clearly, they were prepared. Qin Weiwei raised her head to look at the mountain gate memorial arch; she coldly said, “This memorial arch was built in an even more imposing manner than South Edict Manor’s!”

Everyone listening could tell that she did not come with good intentions, but none of them knew how to respond.

Qin Weiwei casted a glance at everyone, before charging straight towards the Grand Hall on her dragon steed with her entourage trailing behind her, and finally dismounting outside the Grand Hall.

As he was still surrounded, Dan Biaoyi could only follow behind Qin Weiwei and enter the Grand Hall.

It was empty inside the Grand Hall. Qin Weiwei headed straight for the large courtyard behind the hall, where the Cave Master’s quarters resided.

In the courtyard, Charcoal was lying down leisurely swishing its tail. Its tail continued to make ‘pa-pa’ noises as it knocked gently against the ground. Opening its eyes and seeing Qin Weiwei, Charcoal instantly revealed the whites of his eyes and stood up as though unsure of where it should go to hide.

Under such dire circumstances, Charcoal lifted his hooves and jumped dozens of meters high. It landed outside the courtyard, and ran away in a hurry.

‘This bastard!’ Qin Weiwei felt angry and ridiculed – ‘Am I really that scary?’

Even though she didn’t like Charcoal, she wouldn’t stoop so low as to rush all night to her own subordinate’s residence and kill his steed. If she ever did something as petty as that, she wouldn’t be able to save face.

Since, she hadn’t seen Miao Yi’s shadow outside; without any warning, she charged straight into Miao Yi’s sleeping quarters and silent cultivation room. She went a full round but still failed to find any trace of Miao Yi.

As she came out of the room, Qin Weiwei glanced about and discovered a side room with candles still lit. She immediately strode towards it. ‘Pang!’ She kicked open the room doors with a single leg.

Consequently, she found herself with two beautiful young servant girls dressed in nothing but their undergarments. The girls screamed in shock and hugged each other as they trembled at the sight of Qin Weiwei bursting in.

Obviously since they were able to stay at the Cave Master’s residence, they must be Miao Yi’s handmaidens.

Her handmaiden Hong Mian was behind her the whole time. Qin Weiwei glanced at her, her eyes full of mockery as though saying – ‘You see. All men are the same.’

Hong Mian simply smiled without saying a word. She was the only one who followed this time; Lu Liu didn’t come with them.

After searching the room, she still could not find a trace of Miao Yi, so Qin Weiwei just glared at the two frightened little girls and coldly asked, “Where did your Cave Master go?”

The two little girls simply shook their heads and remained silent.

“Hmph!” Qin Weiwei disdained against squabbling with two young handmaidens. She walked away, once again leading her entourage back to the Grand Hall. She strode straight to the high seat, and seated herself at the spot that belonged to Miao Yi. Glaring towards the the large gates outside, she shouted, “Yan Xiu!”

Yan Xiu, who had been waiting quietly outside the Grand Hall with everyone else, ran in posthaste and conducted himself in an especially respectful manner.