Chapter 41: The Emperor’s Procession

Qin Wu took out the teleportation Formation Plate and injected Spiritual Qi into it, appearing outside the Holy Land in the next instant.

He looked up and saw over a dozen magnificent cloud boats hovering in the sky.

The hulls were covered in flowing spiritual light, and Dao patterns could be seen faintly circulating between the carved beams and painted rafters; their massive sizes, ranging from dozens to hundreds or even thousands of feet, blotted out the sun.

The Cultivators passing below were as tiny as ants before the cloud boats, and even their escape lights seemed to dim slightly under the pressure of the vessels.

Many Cultivators could be seen appearing out of thin air with teleportation Formation Plates, hurriedly flying into the cloud boats on their swords, while others descended from the boats and flew into the hundred thousand mountains.

Qin Wu observed for a moment and noticed that each cloud boat was numbered. He took out the wooden plaque Li Yue had given him, which read: Profound Thirteen, Room 235.

He immediately pulled out the flying boat he had just bought, injected Spiritual Qi, and flew up, finally finding the Profound Thirteen cloud boat in the middle.

Qin Wu landed on the cloud boat and handed the wooden plaque to the Foundation Establishment Cultivator on duty: “To Black Stone City.”

“One hundred and twenty Spirit Stones.” The Cultivator glanced at it and returned the plaque to him.

Qin Wu: “…”

Li Yue didn’t mention that riding the cloud boat cost Spirit Stones!

He took out the identity token given by the Discipline Hall: “Senior Brother, this…” Could there be a discount?

“So you’re going to Black Stone City for guard duty.” The Foundation Establishment Cultivator finally looked at Qin Wu seriously, a hint of pity in his eyes. “Go on in; those stationed in remote areas ride the cloud boats for free.”

Qin Wu finally breathed a sigh of relief. It would have been a joke if he couldn’t get to Black Stone City because he didn’t have enough Spirit Stones for the boat.

He asked, “Senior Brother, this is my first time on a cloud boat. How long will it take to get to Black Stone City?”

The Foundation Establishment Cultivator replied, “The cloud boats follow fixed routes and stay at each city for one day. Black Stone City will take about half a month. Don’t worry, an attendant will notify you.”

“Thank you, Senior Brother.”

After thanking him, Qin Wu walked toward his room.

Entering the room, he immediately activated the defensive Formation inside.

“This place looks decent.” Consort Lian jumped down from Qin Wu’s body, her hair curling around a pastry on the table.

“Delicious!”

Qin Wu sat opposite her, picked up a pastry, and put it in his mouth: “It is indeed good.”

To achieve his Breakthrough recently, he had spent a month eating nothing but fasting pills. Now, he could finally treat his stomach.

While eating with Consort Lian, he took out the wooden plaque and injected Spiritual Qi into it.

A circular route map appeared on the plaque, showing the names of various cities. Locations already passed were red, while those not yet reached were green.

The moment Qin Wu saw the route map, he was reminded of the subways from his past life.

Aside from one being in the sky and the other underground, the two were remarkably similar.

Before long, Qin Wu felt a slight vibration: “Is the cloud boat moving?”

“Come, let’s look out the window.” Consort Lian patted his shoulder with her hair.

The two walked to the window and opened it. They could see a thin protective shield covering the outside of the cloud boat as the hundred thousand mountains were left far behind.

“This is the first time I’ve seen the scenery outside the Holy Land.” Consort Lian’s expression dimmed for a moment as she saw the black sun that never set in the sky.

She feared she would never see light or feel the warmth of the sun again.

Outside, the thick black mist surged violently, held back by the cloud boat’s shield. Aside from the black sun, nothing else could be seen.

Consort Lian returned to the table, her interest waning.

Qin Wu closed the window, sat back down, and took out the stone bowl he had received as a system panel task reward.

Over a month had passed, and nearly a hundred drops of azure thunder spirit liquid had condensed in the stone bowl.

Drawing his sword, unthinking, he picked up the stone bowl and poured the thunder spirit liquid onto the blade, watching as unthinking absorbed it all.

A flash of blue arc light flickered and vanished, and unthinking returned to its usual appearance.

This sword was originally forged from Void Thunder Crystal. Although it had lost its original abilities due to the erosion of the black mist, storing thunder was not an issue.

Qin Wu gripped the hilt and slowly injected Spiritual Qi.

Vaguely, he could sense that if he wished, he could unleash a lightning sword aura comparable to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

Furthermore, as long as he continued to store thunder spirit liquid within it, the power of this strike would continue to grow.

This was another trump card for him.

“It’s a pity you don’t have a lightning Spiritual Root.”

Consort Lian felt it was a waste seeing this: “If you had a lightning Spiritual Root, the power would be even greater with the boost from your spiritual power.”

Qin Wu smiled but said nothing.

A Spiritual Root was just a thing; at the Seventh Outpost, as long as one had money and power, it could be bought.

As long as nothing went wrong with Qian Tuo, obtaining a lightning Spiritual Root wouldn’t be a problem.

It was just that the grade couldn’t be guaranteed.

There should be a Spirit Gathering Formation in the room as the Spiritual Qi was abundant; conditions wouldn’t be this good once he reached Black Stone City. Qin Wu sat cross-legged on the bed, making the most of his time to Cultivate.

He still had two spirit nurturing pills and should be able to raise his cultivation a bit more.

Time passed slowly as Qin Wu Cultivated, until a sudden, violent vibration of the cloud boat startled him awake.

“What happened?” Qin Wu asked, getting off the bed.

Consort Lian had been eating and drinking the whole time; she should know what was going on.

She used her hair to hang herself by the window, looking outside with a solemn expression.

Qin Wu walked over and followed her gaze.

Outside, the black mist was churning violently. The void near the black sun was like fragile paper, torn open by a beast’s claw into a rift ten thousand meters long and hundreds of feet wide.

The void rippled and folded, revealing the chaotic grayness behind it. Eight terrifying and hideous giant Zheng beasts, their bodies bound with gilded iron chains, leaped out from within.

The Zheng beasts’ bodies were covered in jagged black armor. Every flap of their wings stirred the black mist into a wild vortex, and where their claws passed, the air condensed into fine spatial ripples.

Then, a hundred-foot-tall Imperial Carriage slowly emerged from the void rift.

The carriage was built on a foundation of ten-thousand-year profound iron, with shark-silk curtains. The hanging pearls and jades clinked with a cold, crisp sound, yet were muffled into insignificance by the low growls of the Zheng beasts.

The eight Zheng beasts pulled the Imperial Carriage through the air, their sharp teeth biting down on the gilded chains. On both sides of the carriage were gold-armored guards wearing ghost masks.

The black mist could not approach within three feet of the carriage.

Qin Wu could even see the shadow of an emperor inside the carriage, hidden behind the curtains, showing only a corner of a dark sleeve embroidered with dragon patterns.

“An emperor’s procession!”

Qin Wu whispered in awe, though his heart was already heavy with concern.

There was no setting for an emperor in the game ‘Immortal Sect’. Where did this come from?

Or was it new content added after his death?

“The Decaying Dynasty…” Consort Lian murmured.

The moment he heard the words ‘Decaying Dynasty’, Qin Wu’s entire body stiffened, and he turned his head toward her inch by inch.

“What… did you say?!”

The Decaying Dynasty!

He knew of the Decaying Dynasty.

In his past life, his hometown was on a mountain shrouded in mist; anyone who wasn’t a local would surely get lost in it.

He had grown up in the village on that mountain. At the end of the village, there was a dilapidated stone gate where the village children loved to play, and he was no exception.

So he knew that a madwoman lived near the stone gate. She claimed that one could go to a place called the Decaying Dynasty through that gate and that she was the gatekeeper.

To prevent the Decaying Dynasty from invading, her family had guarded that spot for generations.

But it was clearly just an ordinary stone gate, likely carved from a single block of stone, and the door couldn’t be pushed open at all.

So he had always thought it was just the ramblings of a madwoman.

Later, he moved to the city and gradually forgot that memory.

Could it be that everything the madwoman said was true?

Actually, it was also possible that someone had heard the story and set this plot in ‘Immortal Sect’.

Qin Wu wanted to laugh, but the corners of his mouth wouldn’t lift.

“Did I say something just now?” Consort Lian looked at him strangely.

Qin Wu fell silent, motionless.