Full granaries, cattle and sheep everywhere, tall and majestic city walls, boundless military formations—all could demonstrate a nation’s wealth and power, but what could be more direct and real than a giant warship?

The Emperor perfectly illustrated this point. When seawater filled the entire dock, this giant vessel seemed to come alive in an instant. The ship had half-sails raised, and under the breeze’s influence, it was like a fierce beast trapped in an iron cage, swaying east and west, seeming about to break free from its shackles. Dozens of large men wearing only shorts struggled to open the ship locks with winches. Turbulent seawater filled the channel. When it was level with the dock’s water surface, the dock gates also slowly rose—the fierce tiger was released from its cage.

The giant vessel slowly moved along the narrow waterway. Yun Ye’s face was full of pride. Hong Funv stared blankly at the behemoth sliding past her eyes, almost unable to breathe. Li Jing’s expression was entranced—he almost wanted to rush forward and get close to it. This was a true instrument of war.

Unlike tower ships, the Emperor still inherited the Princess’s consistent streamlined hull. On the deck, aside from the bridge, there were five enormous white sails. Embedded at the bow was a huge, fierce dragon head—one glance at it made people’s hearts turn cold.

Steadily reaching the sea, the half-sails were raised to full sails. Breaking through the waves, it sailed toward the ocean’s depths. Behind it, six smaller warships followed closely. The Princess and Qingque, moored on both sides, simultaneously sounded their horns. The Emperor only faintly transmitted a long dragon’s roar in response.

Not until the fleet disappeared on the sea surface did Yun Ye turn his head to say to Li Jing: “This is the true Sea Dragon King. Seventy-two eight-ox ballistas are enough to let it traverse the ocean invincibly. This is the crystallization of Great Tang craftsmen’s wisdom—noble, formidable, luxurious, yet cold. With its existence, I can very responsibly say the Great Tang fleet is invincible.”

“Over two hundred thousand silver coins forged this sea monster. Does Marquis Yun plan to use it to find trouble with Zhang Zhongjian?” Hong Fu very impolitely interjected.

“You think too highly of the Bearded Warrior. With this, we can go wherever we want. A small-time pirate isn’t worth its attention. You’d best pray that when the Bearded Warrior sees its sail shadow, he runs quickly. I also hope he can escape.”

Having said this, Yun Ye embraced Di Renjie, who had been tanned black at his side, wiping away the tears on his face and laughing loudly: “Well done, Little Jie! Building such a giant vessel in a year and a half—unprecedented and never to be repeated! Not only will the Emperor leave its name in history, Di Renjie’s name will likewise be inscribed in the annals.”

Looking again at Little Wu, who was holding a flowered parasol and likewise weeping, he affectionately pinched her nose and said with a smile: “What do you want to eat? Master will make it for you.”

“I want crystal pork knuckle, sweet and sour fish, beggar’s chicken, fried lotus root sandwiches, crab roe buns. Wuwu, Master, Little Jie bullied me! Just because he’s the foreman, he throws his weight around. He clearly calculated wrong, but still was fierce to me…”

Di Renjie’s sentimentality immediately vanished. He looked warily at Little Wu, who was throwing herself into their master’s arms crying. He didn’t remember ever being fierce to her. Good heavens, here she was the supreme emperor who said one thing and brooked no contradiction.

Old Tie laughed wildly as he threw his tools one by one into the ocean. The Emperor was the pinnacle of his lifetime career as a craftsman—enough to answer to his ancestors. From now on, building ships would definitely be dull and tasteless. The giant vessel was born in the ocean and would inevitably be buried in the ocean. Let his tools remain in the ocean with it. A generation’s famous craftsman was thus retiring.

Yun Ye was a selfish person. He only said one sentence telling everyone to do as they pleased, then embraced the constantly acting coquettish Little Wu and held Di Renjie’s hand as they went to the wooden house. There, Steward Old Zhao should have everything prepared.

“You’re adults now and can drink a little grape wine. You must have secretly drunk it before anyway. From now on you can drink it openly and legitimately.” Yun Ye dropped two ice fish into a glass goblet, shook the glass, and handed it to the delighted Little Wu. He poured another glass and handed it to Di Renjie, then raised the remaining half jar of grape wine and said happily: “The Emperor is your coming-of-age gift. From now on, do whatever you want to do. You’ve completed your apprenticeship. Cheers!”

The master and two disciples drank the wine in their cups in one gulp. Yun Ye smiled and rolled up his sleeves, opening the iron chest Old Zhao had sent. The bottom of the chest contained large ice bricks, with various ingredients arranged on top—chicken, duck, fish, meat, cattle, sheep, mountain delicacies—nothing was lacking.

Yun Ye hummed a tune while cooking dishes. Little Wu tidied the messy wooden house until it was spotlessly clean. Di Renjie took the invitation he’d just written and went to invite guests. The apprenticeship completion ceremony was a major event—guests to witness it were indispensable.

Old Tie held the bright red invitation, beside himself with joy. Being able to attend the apprenticeship completion ceremony of two jade-like youngsters—how could he not be delighted? He rummaged through boxes and trunks to find two wooden carved dolls, chubby-headed and adorable. Li Jing received the invitation and pondered deeply for a long time before wielding his brush to write four characters: “Mountains High, Waters Long.” Hong Fu took out a red short sword, fitted it with a sharkskin scabbard—the style ancient and simple—and carefully wrapped it with silk cloth, as if she’d made a great decision.

Dongyu received the invitation and immediately dove into the ocean. After searching the sea for half a day, he finally hauled up a black carp. The entire fish was only a bit over a foot long and looked ordinary, but from Dongyu’s wounds all over his body, one could tell that obtaining this fish was definitely not simple.

Human Bear received the invitation and without thinking pulled a not-large bear skin from his small chest. The entire bear skin was smooth and glossy. Spread on the table, it was like a pool of lustrous ink, with not a trace of other colors visible.

By the time the red sun was about to set, the guests arrived as promised. Yun Ye led Di Renjie and Little Wu to greet guests at the door. Old Zhao stood with his hands hanging respectfully in the room, waiting to be summoned.

“Excellent disciples have completed their studies. Today they complete their apprenticeship—congratulations!” Li Jing at the head cupped his hands in congratulations.

“They worked hard themselves, plus their exceptional talent—completing apprenticeship is natural. I only hope they walk their own paths well in the future, not be invaded by evil demons. If their hearts aren’t stained by dust, naturally they can do anything.”

Li Jing nodded and placed the calligraphy he hadn’t had time to mount into Di Renjie’s hands, saying: “Traveling away from home, I have no possessions with me—I’ve been remiss with you, young brother. I only have these four characters ‘Mountains High, Waters Long’ to wish you a future like brocade and longevity like endless streams.”

Di Renjie held the calligraphy and performed a great ceremonial bow to Li Jing. Li Jing accepted three bows before entering to sit in the guest seat. Hong Fu took Little Wu’s hand and placed the short sword in it, saying: “This sword is named Vermillion Bird. In my youth, I wielded this sword across the two capitals, beheading thirteen heads. Now I give it to you. I hope you treat it well.”

Little Wu also bowed three times like Di Renjie, vowing not to dishonor this sword. Only then did Hong Fu smile and take her seat.

Old Tie held one in each hand, not asking them to bow. From his bosom he pulled out two wooden dolls—one red male, one green female. He gave the red male to Little Wu and the green female to Di Renjie, blinking his eyes and saying: “This old man will also follow the Marquis back to the capital to take office in the Directorate of Construction. I’m a hardship person, rather poor—I only have these two auspicious dolls to give you. May you soon become husband and wife—that way this old man can also save the wedding gift.”

Di Renjie’s mouth hung open in a foolish smile. Little Wu was so shy her entire face turned crimson. Dongyu showed off the black carp in his hands, waving it in front of Little Wu. Little Wu’s eyes immediately went round as she said loudly: “Uncle Fish, you went to catch Thin-bone Dragons again! Nearly losing your life for a fish isn’t worth it—Master already made delicious sweet and sour fish.”

Dongyu called out twice with a “hehe,” then put the fish in a basin. The fish that had been caught for half an hour immediately became extremely lively when placed in the basin—it truly lived up to its Thin-bone Dragon title.

Human Bear showed his big buck teeth in a foolish smile, took out the bear skin, and placed it in Di Renjie’s arms, saying: “You’ll eventually get married. In the future when you feel cold, you can cover yourselves together.”

Little Wu shyly and angrily kicked Human Bear’s leg. Di Renjie didn’t care at all—he carefully put away the bear skin and invited everyone to sit. Yun Ye stood behind with a grinning smile, not speaking. This moment’s warmth belonged to Little Wu and Di Renjie.

Everyone’s wine spirits were high, and the dishes on the table were abundant. Many things Hong Fu and Li Jing had never eaten before. After a jar of wine went down, Dongyu scooped the Thin-bone Dragon from the basin. A sharp knife appeared at his elbow. The knife flashed, and the entire fish became two halves. Half the fish mouth could still move! The knife probed into the fish skin, sliding from head to tail—the fish skin was removed. The entire fish had just one large bone. After pulling it out, only pink fish meat remained.

Dongyu chopped the Thin-bone Dragon into eight pieces—one piece per person. Yun Ye quickly picked up a piece and stuffed it in his mouth, not speaking for a long while. This was truly a delicacy of the mortal world. The slightly elastic fish meat seemed to jump in his mouth. Aside from fresh and delicious, no other words could describe it.

After Li Jing ate the fish meat, he sighed and said: “Just now when tasting the delicacies Marquis Yun cooked, I already thought it was the ultimate in flavor. Who knew this fresh fish is the true supreme product? Having tasted this fish, there is no fresh flavor left in the world.”

“Although this fish is delicious, it’s not easy to catch. It only swims among coral groves. Trying to catch it is harder than climbing to heaven. This time Dongyu had good luck. We should forget about this delicacy—I don’t want to harm lives in the future because of this food.”

“Indeed so. Remembering it is not as good as forgetting it. Fish meat mixed with human flesh taste is no longer a delicacy.”

Several people chatted and laughed until the moon hung in the sky before dispersing groggily. Yun Ye was heavily drunk. Di Renjie and Little Wu supported their master to bed to rest, but heard Yun Ye murmuring to himself: “What a good pair of children. How did they live like that in the last life? A wordless stele, wordless stele—merit and fault, later generations will judge; happy or not, heaven knows.” Having said this, he fell deeply asleep.

“Is Master talking about us? Why say ‘last life’? Could we have met in a previous life? What’s a wordless stele? Little Jie, have you heard of it?”

Coming out of their master’s room, Little Wu asked Di Renjie like a string of firecrackers. Di Renjie pondered for a long time before shaking his head: “I’ve never heard any rumors about a wordless stele, but Master was obviously talking about us. In a previous life, what were you? With your temperament and intelligence, you definitely wouldn’t be a nameless person. I should also be someone whose name is recorded in history.”

“Little Wu, tell me—who exactly are you? Who should I be?”