“Senior, if we collide with that, it would be terrible!”

Seeing the black ship approaching with tremendous force, Zhou Jun noticed that due to its excessive speed it had become nothing more than an afterimage, still carrying fierce winds. Immediately fearing being affected, he hurriedly turned back to persuade Jian Chou to retreat.

Who would have thought that when he turned around, he saw frost covering Jian Chou’s face, her eyes solemn and cold, as if she had seen something. Her gaze was fixed deadly on a certain position on the ship.

Between her brows, there was faintly a cold anger and ferocity!

Zhou Jun’s heart jumped in alarm, but before he could react, he heard an extremely strange explosive sound beside his ear—

“Swish!”

The figure of Jian Chou, who had been standing beside him, actually scattered directly in response, disappearing from the spot in the blink of an eye, without a trace!

“What?”

Zhou Jun was startled, his whisk trembling in his hand. Almost instinctively, he looked toward the direction of the great ship.

Indeed, almost simultaneously, Jian Chou’s disappeared figure had already reconstituted in the void two and a half li away!

A Nascent Soul stage cultivator—teleportation!

This wasn’t anything special; Zhou Jun had seen it before.

But the direction of her teleportation…

In that instant, Zhou Jun almost wanted to kneel down from mid-air—she was actually heading toward the Night Sailing Ship’s floating vessel!

Was she mad? What did she want to do?

In the mountain air, a breeze had already begun to rise, stirring up swirling clouds and mist that gradually covered half the sky.

The Night Sailing Ship’s floating vessel was ahead, like a storm; Jian Chou’s sword-riding teleporting figure followed behind, chasing at lightning speed like flowing light!

One ship, one person—in just the blink of an eye, they plunged into the clouds and disappeared from sight.

Zhou Jun stood in place, watching dumbfounded, completely unable to understand how this senior had suddenly gone mad.

“She actually dares to chase the Night Sailing Ship—simply courting death! And this is at the edge of tomorrow’s Star Sea. Ahead is the Night Sailing Ship’s teleportation array. She can’t catch up, so why chase? Isn’t that sick!”

As he muttered this to himself, he suddenly shivered and slapped his forehead.

“Damn, I forgot. After sixty years in closed-door cultivation, what the hell would she know!”

For a moment, Zhou Jun felt awkward.

He expected Jian Chou probably couldn’t catch up, and even if she did, she probably wouldn’t have a good ending. He really wanted to just turn around and find the medicine boys from Saochenzhrai himself, ignoring Jian Chou.

But who could predict the temperaments of old monsters?

This female cultivator seemed gentle, but just before chasing the ship, her expression had been so ugly it was frightening to look at. Anyone could tell with their toes that she wasn’t someone to be trifled with.

So after careful consideration, Zhou Jun didn’t leave, but he didn’t dare stay in the sky either.

He flicked his whisk and descended from mid-air, landing under a large tree below to wait.

On the other side, Jian Chou knew nothing about the Night Sailing Ship’s background.

But she had no intention of retreating.

She flew at full speed!

That glimpse earlier had been extremely vague and blurred.

But the feeling left in her mind from that instant was extremely clear—even though the face had taken on new weathering and no longer looked like it had years ago, that person was very likely Zuoliu!

Zhou Jun had also said that among those who had originally gone to explore Qingfeng Nunnery’s hidden realm, Xie Buchen’s life or death was unknown, she herself had mysteriously disappeared, and Zuoliu had also vanished without a trace…

But when she had spiritually wandered the Nineteen Continents in the Extreme Domain, she had seen Zuoliu in tomorrow’s Star Sea.

Jian Chou had been influenced by someone on the isolated island, entering the Extreme Domain directly from the hidden realm; but what about Zuoliu?

How did he end up in tomorrow’s Star Sea?

And who was pursuing him?

How did he now fall to such circumstances…

A series of doubts swirled in Jian Chou’s mind.

Her figure rapidly shuttled through the clouds and mist.

Teleportation consumed enormous amounts of spiritual power, and using it continuously might not keep up with her strength. So she alternated between teleportation and sword riding, and her speed was not at all slower than the great ship.

The runes carved on the hundred-zhang ship hull gradually became clearly visible.

Getting closer and closer!

It looked like one more teleportation would catch up!

But Jian Chou hadn’t expected that in this instant, from the continuous mountain ranges below, a terrifying dark light suddenly rose, piercing through the clouds and directly enveloping the deep black ship not far ahead!

“Buzz…”

The clouds rolled and moved, and the runes on the ship also began to tremble.

Just moments later, a massive circular array appeared in the sky, with the great ship exactly within the array’s coverage!

Mighty spatial fluctuations immediately struck!

A teleportation array?!

Jian Chou was greatly alarmed, already feeling something was wrong.

She frowned, her spiritual consciousness instantly spreading from her spiritual platform to cover the space ahead. With a flash of thought—teleport!

“Swish!”

Her figure disappeared, directly appearing at the edge of the array!

At the edge of the pitch-black ship stood a bearded giant man holding a stone axe and a slender female cultivator with a long scar on her left cheek. The moment they saw Jian Chou’s figure, both almost simultaneously showed shocked expressions and raised their hands to attack!

But almost at the same time, those mighty spatial fluctuations had already reached their peak!

“Boom!”

Only a earth-shaking sound was heard in mid-air as the dark light covering the entire cloud peak scattered like wind dispersing mist, completely disappearing!

The pitch-black hundred-zhang ship also vanished without a trace.

Jian Chou, who had been racing forward, immediately struck empty air.

Before her eyes was only clear skies, completely empty. No longer were there the heavy talismans on the ship hull, nor the large iron cages hanging from the ship, and she could no longer see those two people on the ship…

Jian Chou’s brows immediately furrowed tightly.

She had been restraining her aura while pursuing, precisely to gain the initiative. So it was normal that the Night Sailing Ship’s cultivators only discovered her when she approached.

But the current situation was beyond her expectations…

Halfway through the chase, the target had teleported away?

Jian Chou looked around. She couldn’t see any traces of a teleportation array in mid-air. Remembering that the dark light had risen from below, she directly lowered her position.

Passing through the clouds above, the view below became very clear.

High and low mountain ranges rose and fell like deep blue waves. Dense forests covered the fertile or barren soil, making everything the same color.

But there was one spot that was particularly jarring.

Among the mountains was actually a small circular patch of gray-white.

Jian Chou looked carefully and saw it was a circular mountain valley.

The soil and trees in the valley had long been cleared away, revealing only gray-white mountain stone. Silver-gray or red-gold lines were carved on it, with top-grade spirit stones at the intersecting nodes.

Jian Chou, who now had considerable knowledge of arrays, recognized it at a glance.

Although the lines and array structure were much more complex, the basic framework of this array was identical to the common teleportation arrays of the Nineteen Continents!

Jian Chou’s spiritual consciousness probed downward but found no human figures in the vicinity.

She landed directly in the center of the array, trying to activate teleportation with the ordinary teleportation talisman in her hand, but the entire teleportation array showed no reaction whatsoever.

“Looks like it’s a self-built, self-use teleportation array…”

And it had an additional layer of defense added to the teleportation. Even without anyone guarding it, there was no fear of others damaging it.

Jian Chou had wanted to use this teleportation array to follow and see, or at least determine the great ship’s destination when the teleportation array activated, but in the current situation, she was helpless.

“Night Sailing Ship…”

Silently reciting this rather strange name, she only felt it was troublesome.

However, Jian Chou’s decisiveness at this moment was far superior to when she had first explored Qingfeng Nunnery’s hidden realm.

Staying here wouldn’t yield any results.

On the contrary, those two people on the ship had already seen her, and any fool would know her intentions were malicious. So it was likely that after they teleported away and discovered something was wrong, they would teleport back again.

That would be troublesome.

So after thinking, Jian Chou directly flew up from the mountain valley.

After three consecutive teleportations, she had quickly put distance between herself and the valley, then rode her sword through the clouds, identified the direction she had come from, and turned back.

Almost the moment her figure disappeared at the horizon, the teleportation array in the valley indeed lit up with dark light again…

“Whoosh!”

The rapid speed brought terrifying sounds of breaking air.

Zhou Jun, who was under the tree hesitating whether to stay or go, heard the sound and immediately looked up in alarm. He saw a moon-white figure descending from the sky like a meteor, landing right in front of him.

Her long robes flowed with a faint luster, completely undamaged; there was no trace of blood on her body, nor any wounds; her face, except for being somewhat colder than when she had spoken with him earlier, showed no signs of weakness.

She had returned completely unharmed!

Zhou Jun immediately perked up and approached: “Senior, you’ve returned. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

When Jian Chou landed, the Human Emperor Sword had automatically retracted.

“I seemed to see an acquaintance earlier, so I pursued them. But I didn’t expect that after chasing them far, a teleportation array suddenly activated in the valley below, sending both people and ship away. I haven’t been around these years and didn’t have time to ask in detail earlier: could Fellow Daoist Zhou Jun please elaborate on the origins of this ‘Night Sailing Ship’?”

Zhou Jun immediately felt extremely fortunate.

Good thing he hadn’t had a brain lapse and slipped away. If Jian Chou had returned to find him gone and become angry enough to seek revenge, he would have been in trouble.

Hearing Jian Chou mention seeing an acquaintance, but not knowing whether that person was in a cage or on the ship, Zhou Jun naturally didn’t dare ask too much. He only replied: “It’s normal for Senior not to know about the Night Sailing Ship during your closed-door cultivation. Earlier you left too hastily—first, I didn’t have time to speak, and second, I couldn’t catch up. So I waited here, preparing to tell you.”

The two continued walking while talking.

Zhou Jun’s current position in Saochenzhrai was quite high, so his understanding of affairs in tomorrow’s Star Sea was fairly thorough. Speaking of this Night Sailing Ship, their crimes were truly numerous.

“Their ‘business’ has almost spread throughout the entire Nineteen Continents.”

“Their travel speed is unmatched—it’s normal that you couldn’t catch up.”

“That great ship was jointly created by array masters and artifact refinement masters, with incredible speed. It’s further assisted by self-built ground teleportation arrays that activate direct teleportation when they reach their destination.”

Hearing this, Jian Chou nodded: “I indeed saw it just now. Do you know where that teleportation array leads?”

“Junior doesn’t know much about that.”

Zhou Jun shook his head but pointed to the due west, toward tomorrow’s Star Sea.

“The teleportation arrays might go from one to another, but they all eventually return to their lair at Hanyan Ferry by the Lan River. As for those cultivators in the cages, they’re traded at Silver Tower near Hanyan Ferry.”

Within the Star Sea, by the Lan River, Hanyan Ferry, Silver Tower.

These place names all sounded foreign to Jian Chou, but she didn’t show it and continued inquiring about the “Night Sailing Ship’s” situation.

By now, Zhou Jun had also vaguely realized.

This senior was probably going to make trouble for the Night Sailing Ship—otherwise, why would she need to know the Night Sailing Ship’s true strength so clearly?

But someone of her realm wasn’t something he could interfere with.

If she wanted to seek death, he couldn’t stop her.

So he spilled everything he knew like beans from a pod: including the Night Sailing Ship’s sphere of influence, their ambition to challenge Sword Emperor Qu Zhengfeng, the names and situations of several Worldly Entry realm experts within their faction…

When he finished speaking, the two had already walked to the clearing on the mountain ahead.

Faintly, they could already see several medicine boys gathering herbs on the mountain.

Jian Chou now had a good understanding of this Night Sailing Ship and, calculating her own strength, felt she should be able to get by in tomorrow’s Star Sea. She cupped her hands toward Zhou Jun: “Thank you, Fellow Daoist Zhou Jun, for answering my questions along the way. If I have the opportunity in the future, I will surely repay you. I still have matters to attend to today, so I’ll take my leave first.”

Zhou Jun didn’t dare accept this courtesy and was very modest, feeling relieved inside. He hurriedly bowed in return: “You’re too kind. I wish Senior a smooth journey.”

Jian Chou smiled slightly, directly bid farewell to Zhou Jun, stepped into the void, and disappeared without a trace.

After several teleportations, her shadow disappeared from the horizon.

When she reached a place where no one could see her, Jian Chou stopped teleporting and flew directly through the air, carefully storing away the Human Emperor Sword she had been using.

Everyone said she and Xie Buchen fought endlessly, each wanting to kill the other.

The current situation between Kunwu and Yashan was also somewhat unclear—who knew if Kunwu’s influence extended to tomorrow’s Star Sea.

It was better to be cautious.

She reviewed some of the situations Zhou Jun had mentioned earlier while traveling through clouds and breaking through sky, heading due west.

After about half an hour, the continuous mountain ranges below suddenly became lower. A huge basin appeared before her eyes, so vast she couldn’t see its edges, like a massive jewel embedded in the earth’s surface.

Above the basin floated perpetual clouds and mist, giving a hazy feeling.

Through this layer of clouds and mist, she could vaguely see magnificent cities rising from the basin floor, with buildings scattered densely or sparsely throughout various corners of the basin.

A long river flowed from west to east, originating from high mountains at the other end of the basin, flowing through the entire basin toward the Eastern Sea.

Golden light flickered on the river surface, reflecting in the perpetual clouds above, creating an ethereal, fleeting impression.

This was tomorrow’s Star Sea!

Like suddenly discovering an oasis in the desert.

After crossing over towering mountains and peaks, suddenly having such a basin filled with human activity appear before her eyes gave Jian Chou a rare sense of landing.

The Central Domain’s Left Three Thousand had sudden strange peaks and varied terrain.

Sometimes small and delicate, sometimes grand and magnificent. When it came to the Central Domain’s Right Three Thousand, it became a vast roughness, faintly revealing an unrestrained spirit, like chisel marks on cliff faces.

Jian Chou followed the long river, flying through the air.

During her swift journey, she also saw many cultivators shuttling through the cloud layers on artifacts or flying through the air—some just rising into mid-air, others hurriedly descending.

From the basin’s edge to the center, buildings became increasingly dense.

When Jian Chou approached the central area, she gradually lowered her altitude, chose a place with few people, and landed, happening to be at the edge of a small square.

The square was empty, with connected streets not far away where quite a few people were walking.

Shops lined both sides of the street—pills, magical artifacts, array discs, cultivation methods, dao seals… selling everything, presenting a scene full of worldly atmosphere, completely different from the sect-dominated Left Three Thousand.

Jian Chou even saw many wine houses, song houses, and tea shops!

Even more unexpected was that these places often had many people, all appearing to be cultivators of various cultivation levels. Mainly various stages of Golden Core, with Foundation Establishment rarely seen, and Nascent Soul stage even harder to find.

The cultivators walking on the streets were in similar situations.

Men and women;

Some wore dao robes, others were in tight-fitting clothes, and some even wore skull bead necklaces around their necks;

There were white-haired elders, bearded giants, and wild scholars drinking as they walked with blood stains on their robes. There were even several children holding candied hawthorns who ran past Jian Chou, yet their cultivation was late-stage Golden Core;

Some walked with heads high in the middle of the street, others hunched their shoulders and bent their backs, walking along the roadside.

“When I killed that bald donkey Huixing, you little brat wasn’t even born yet!”

“Good, good.”

“Come, come, Yin Sect or Yang Sect—place your bets!”

“Excuse me, fellow daoist, may I take your head?”

“How do I get to Yinxue Pavilion?”

“My sword harvests the waning moon, my blade cuts the dawn clouds. At Luyang Embankment I ask the lotus: do you remember that year when we bought wine at that family’s home…”

…

Various sounds, like waves hitting the shore, instantly filled Jian Chou’s hearing. Among them were the proud and successful, and the down-and-out and fallen.

Truly all types of worldly cultivators, all human conditions, gathered together.

Like a slowly unfolding landscape scroll…

Tomorrow’s Star Sea.

The freest and most chaotic domain on the Nineteen Continents. Good and evil gathered in one hall, strong and weak difficult to distinguish; today successful and admired by thousands, tomorrow white bones by the roadside with none to bury them!

Success and failure, in a single thought;

Life and death, in a single thought!

A place that consumed gold, also a slaughter field.

Walking among such crowds, Jian Chou felt full of sighs, vaguely finding it a novel experience, yet also able to glimpse the swords and blades behind these bustling, lively scenes.

Perhaps because of her cultivation level, perhaps because of her appearance.

As she walked down the street, quite a few pairs of eyes from tall buildings on both sides turned toward her, focusing their gazes on her.

Faintly, she heard several strange laughs.

“Oh my, looks like another newcomer.”

“Want to make a bet—seeking revenge or avoiding disaster? How many days can she survive?”

“She looks very easy to bully…”

Very easy…

to bully?

Jian Chou’s steps paused, and she looked up.

On a tall building by the street, a handsome young man in silver-blue robes leaned casually against the railing. His slender fingers lazily held a glazed wine cup, thin lips curved in a smile, while his dark silver pupils flickered with mysterious light.

Seeing Jian Chou stop, he immediately laughed aloud.

Supporting his chin with one hand while gazing at her, he raised the wine cup toward Jian Chou with the other, his hoarse voice carrying an ambiguous tone: “My surname is Dantai, given name Xiu. This fairy, would you like to come up for a drink?”