ALL NOVEL Chapter 70: The Captured Slave Galley
Transmigrated back into the body of her child self, can the mighty Celestial Bing Meilu survive in a Xianxia world all the while staving off the advances of arrogant young masters and wannabe protagonists alike?
Why is life so hard for the Icy Beauty?
Any corrections or criticisms are welcome, I hope you enjoy Chapter 70: The Captured Slave Galley
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Zhang Mubang had once been a humble peasant living on Goldpalm Island. He spent his days as an apprentice to his father, a glassblower. Through exceptional luck, he had managed to join the Eastern Enlightenment Hall as a worker. His talent for cultivation bore fruit, as he soon became an Outer Temple Monk.
He'd spent several decades refining his mastery of the Star Leaping Buddha-Lion Chant until he reached the Peak of Foundation Establishment and could go no further. A stolen Great River Lotus had helped him to overcome the barrier blocking his ascent into the Third Realm, even as it had resulted in his expulsion from the Enlightenment Hall. Thereafter, he was forced to wander as a rogue cultivator, working for various small companies, even as he ceaselessly refined his Inner Core to the peak of the Third Realm.
He'd ended up employed as a member of a caravan escort company in the Flesh Mountains - a cursed, broken aspect of space-time that connected numerous distant parts of the Bird Talon Continent.
It was there he had met a young girl proclaiming herself a stranded member of the Moon Crying Swan Palace- Bing Meilu. A demon attacked, and she'd taught him a forbidden art to unleash the power to defeat it. He'd been crippled, left with scarcely the power to even defend his own life. He had only the vague promise she would acquire medicine to heal him- a promise then dashed when the unthinkably powerful Twelve Headed Bird Sect had one of its heads crushed.
Zhang had all but given up hope of ever regaining his cultivation after the untimely destruction of the Swan Palace. With nothing else to do, he'd simply sat in the shadows and watched as the young girl swelled in power at an utterly ridiculous speed.
She seemed to hand out rare and powerful cultivation techniques like candy, casually building up the foundation of what he suspected would one day become a top-rate sect. After that, a small spark of hope had begun to build back up within him.
Finally, after acquiring the resources from the Redscale clan, she'd made the medicine that healed him and given him an offer just as life-defining as shedding life as a glassworker and becoming a cultivator all those years ago.
Offer his Essence Blood and life as her subordinate, joining her growing power block, or leave and spend the rest of his days in obscurity.
Perhaps it was risky, but cultivating was all about risks. Zhang took her offer with no hesitation, leading to where he was now.
The sickly-looking man sat at the bottom of a deep river, cold, swirling tides washing over his frail form. He'd spent months preparing, gathering power and steadying his heart. He was now as ready as he ever could be.
Zhang Mubang gave one final nostalgic glance at his Leaping Lion Inner Core. For nearly sixty years the Core had accompanied him, through thick and thin.
The Star Leaping Buddha-Lion Chant had been the only cultivation manual he'd practiced, all the way since the days he'd shed his mortality and stepped onto the path of cultivation. But, like all things, it too had to be discarded now that its usefulness had come to an end.
Zhang had never taken to Buddhism as much as the other workers, but a particular teaching came to mind. Crossing the Sea of Bitterness to the Othershore, every attachment was like a log one gently floated on. When you finally reached the sands, refusing to step onto the beach for the love of the boat was missing the whole point.
For cultivation, he spent countless years continually reciting the Buddha-Lion Chant, and for cultivation, he would completely discard it.
His mind turned to the method he would be reforming his Inner Core with- The Golden Qilin River Gate, as Bing Meilu had called it. Just like all the other manuals she'd tossed around like worthless coppers, it was far higher quality and more complex than anything he'd ever seen. Zhang idly wondered if even the core teachings of the Eastern Enlightenment Hall could compare.
Unlike the ten ordinary shatterings of Core Formation, if he failed this, he would likely die. Converting between cultivation manuals became exponentially more difficult as cultivation rose.
Zhang focused on the mnemonic Bing Meilu had taught him. With a final nod of resolve, he swallowed a heart-calming pill and activated the Spiritual Energy Absorption formation carved into the rock below him.
'Shatter!'
Zhang remembered the difficulty in his first Shattering. He was a long way from that wet behind-the-ears Core Formation. His Will and Qi pierced through the Inner Core with practiced ease. A familiar cracking noise reverberated through him, alongside a sharp spike of pain.
Golden-coloured Qi erupted from the frail man like a geyser, illuminating the river with gossamer strands of starlight numbering in the millions. The full power released by the shattering of a Peak Tenth Stage Inner Core was unfathomable. Zhang would either succeed or die here.
'Condense!'
The swirling vortex of golden light suddenly froze. For a moment it was still, before it began to flow in reverse, every speck of golden qi flooding back towards its origin, to Zhang's Dantian. He chanted in silence, mind focused on the mental image of a golden Qilin.
'...Through the River Gate, a carp took flight,
Transformed by dreams, it bathed in moonlight.
A Qilin born, with golden gleam,
A mighty spirit, now supreme.
The Azure Dragons roar, the mighty Kunpengs call
But in the end, the Qilin will surpass them all...'
Thousands of golden symbols slowly appeared around the outer wall of his Dantian. Each was carefully described in the cultivation manual Bing Meilu had given him. If even one character was off, Zhang would not survive this breakthrough.
'Eight thousand,-nine thousand,-ten thousand... Now!'
This was the crucial moment. The last golden character formed, his entire Dantian inscribed with spectacular symbols. Each reflected a ray of golden light, forming a single point where they all met. In a single moment, his Core would reform according to the Golden Qilin River Gate. With no time to think, Zhang focused every part of his Will and self and poured it into that central golden point.
The outside world faded and his senses turned to black.
'Did I succeed?'
The man's body slumped forward slightly as if he had fallen asleep. His eyelids fluttered shut. His chest stopped rising, and his heart stopped beating. As of now... there was no longer a soul within Zhang's body. In other words... he was dead.
Will and Being entirely entombed within the final Inner Core... He'd finally stepped into the Nascent Soul Realm.
One could only imagine how many ancient humans had died in their attempts to discover the path beyond Core Formation. Otherwise, how could they have decided upon such an insane and risky solution?
Above, heavenly rage gathered.
Beneath the waves of the river, Zhang's corpse suddenly shuddered. From deep within his Core, a ray of rainbow light shot forth. Then a second, then a third. Millions of pinpricks of light exploded from the Core like leaks springing from a dam.
Mubang's eyes opened, multicoloured light pouring from them. He slowly rose through the air, water dripping from his robes as he pushed past the surface of the deep waters and ascended into the air above the delta.
"So... this overwhelming power... this is the Nascent Soul Realm?"
An entirely new realm of perception had opened. This was the 'true' spiritual sense. Everyone perceived it differently. To Zhang, it was like staring at the night sky. He could see trillions and trillions of stars around him, each releasing its own light.
Every drop of water, every tree and stalk of grass. Every cockroach, rabbit and snake. Each lit up to his vision, for countless miles he could see perfectly these stars, shuddering and vibrating with life. He could feel warping rays of thoughts travel through long underground roots. In the distance, a mountain mourned sadly.
And even deeper... there was pressure. An invisible power warping every star's light. Where they should wish to fly straight, this strange warp seemed to twist and curve them.
'...Spatial laws?'
Zhang's soul pulsed, pushing against the invisible force. It was brittle and crumbled the moment he shoved at it. Black voids erupted around Zhang, cracks of air instantly filling the emptiness.
'So that's how they do it?'
In the Nascent Soul Realm, cultivators use the swelling power of the unshackled soul to tear the brittle spatial laws of the Jade Sparrow World. They could teleport at will, moving across the battlefield instantly or crossing vast distances with a single thought, and even worse, unleash spatial attacks that were as dangerous to ally as to foe.
However, Zhang did not have the time to revel in his newfound mobility. Turning upwards, he stared at the Heavens. Huge black thunderclouds had gathered, blanketing the sky. In the distance, he could feel the fear of countless lifeforms.
It was time to transcend his fourth Tribulation.
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Li Ji stared proudly at the finished ship.
Its massive hull was made of a deep blood-red wood resistant to the elements and poisonous to sea creatures. Millions of tiny black symbols were painted across it, numerous complex patterns and formations Bing Meilu had written specifically for the ship. Blazing golden light burned from within it like a lamp, warding off darkness and evil.
A huge cannon pointed from the bow of the ship like the maw of a dragon, ready to rain fiery death down on any of the enemies of the Captured Slave Galley. Hundreds of lesser weapons lined the sides and back of the ship, each manned by one of the outer faction members.
The finished Galley had enough space to carry tens of thousands of people and enough industrial-size spatial storage to supply a city. When Li Ji looked at it using the sensory power of the Dao-Enshrining Scripture, the ship lit up to his senses, a swirling star of wealth surrounded by a constellation of numerous bright lights. A dark red river that signified the cost of expense continually poured from it, alongside an enormous gray vortex that represented the unparalleled future profitability of the ship.
'Months and months of work- It's finally finished!'
Li Ji sighed, a combination of pride and relief. He had never worked on such a dangerous, massive project. Not even managing supplies in the Ashe Mountains came close to the stress of managing the suicidal idiots that worked for him.
But all that was over now. The ship was officially someone else's problem from here on out.
For the second time, Li Ji made his way over to the throne room where Bing Meilu resided. She'd been unusually silent for the past year. No crazy schemes that resulted in dangerous close encounters with continent-shaking top experts. No poorly supplied forays into world-renowned danger zones the faction was only half prepared for. Just quietly cultivating in peace while handing all her previous duties to her subordinates.
Now that the Galley was completed... Li Ji had a sneaking suspicion that was about to change.
He knocked on her door, which was noticeably cooler than the surrounding hall, covered in a thin layer of frost.
"Your majesty, the Captured Slave Galley has been finally completed and supplied. It's ready to disembark at your order."
The door swung open, a horrifying cold draft rushing over the accountant, who hastily shielded himself in jade Qi. He stepped into Bing Meilu's throne room, shivering at the intensely sinister Yin energy that gripped the air before bowing sharply.
Bing Meilu sat atop her throne, eyes closed. For such a young-looking girl, the aura of her Qi seemed horrifyingly powerful and sinister, washing over Li Ji with choking pressure. She seemed even further along in her cultivation in the months since they had last spoken.
"What are your orders, boss?" he asked, voice cutting through the silence.
Bing Meuilu hummed in thought, before opening her eyes to calmly stare at Li Ji.
"There are a few things to do before our first foray into the sea. First, acquire a map of the Snake Scale Archipelago. We will also need an especially large amount of antidotes..."
Li Ji's expression grew more and more reluctant as Bing Meilu rattled off orders. Of course, he had been right... Why did he always have to be right?
'Can our faction ever do something not life-threateningly dangerous? Or is that against the Heavenly laws?'
"Of course, boss. I'll get that done as soon as possible..."