A Sect from a Spirit Vein-Chapter 35 - 34: Entering Cangzhou

Jiang Qingfeng had just approached Taotao’s side when she suddenly awoke with a start and pulled out a yellow talisman, waving it frantically. This action made both Qingfeng and Lu Qian feel a pang of heartache.

Jiang Qingfeng quickly shouted, "Taotao!"

Jiang Baitao was stunned, stared closely, then suddenly threw herself into her sister’s arms, wailing loudly.

Lu Qian also stepped forward to offer gentle consolation. After some comforting and making many promises, the little girl finally calmed down. Jiang Qingfeng used a cloth to wipe her small face clean, revealing a bright-eyed, charming little girl to everyone once again.

She faced Master Xuan Ji, blinking her big eyes, with some tears still swirling in her eyes, and sniffled, asking, "Grandpa, who are you?"

"Oh my! Oh my! What a good child!" Master Xuan Ji’s eyes lit up as if he had seen a rare treasure. He quickly squatted down, his old face beaming, "I, the old Daoist, am surnamed Zhou, with the daoist name Xuan Ji. Child, your name is Taotao, right?"

"Yes, my name is Jiang Baitao." Baitao nodded, not understanding what a daoist name was, she cheerfully called out, "Hello, Grandpa Zhou."

"Oh! Good Taotao! So well-behaved!" Master Xuan Ji looked at this cute and lovely little girl, liking her immensely, his face wrinkling up with his smile, "I’ve been wandering alone for 180 years, one foot already in the grave, I never thought there would be a day I could be a grandpa..."

Saying this, he took out a jade monkey from his storage pouch and placed it in Baitao’s hand, "Take this to play with."

Jiang Qingfeng immediately recognized it as a magical artifact and hurriedly declined. However, Master Xuan Ji glared at him, "This is for my little granddaughter. If you don’t want it, you’re looking down on this old Daoist."

Jiang Qingfeng had no choice but to relent. The jade monkey was palm-sized, looking adorably clumsy, very cute. Taotao giggled, sweetly saying, "Thank you, Grandpa, you’re so nice."

Master Xuan Ji laughed heartily, stroking his goatee.

Lu Qian set the white jade flying ship afloat, and the group boarded it. In the radiant morning sunshine, the flying ship left the desolate mountain, breaking the sky.

Three people came, and four left. With Master Xuan Ji’s addition, the strength of this small squad got a qualitative boost.

Taking advantage of Master Xuan Ji’s storytelling to Baitao, Lu Qian and Jiang Qingfeng exchanged a few whispered words.

This place was still within the Qingzhou realm, so it wasn’t suitable for Lu Qian and Jiang Qingfeng to reveal their identities. Upon entering Cangzhou, with Lu Qian’s wanted status completely lifted, they’d wait a while to ascertain Master Xuan Ji’s reliability before revealing their true identities.

Jiang Qingfeng nodded, she would find an opportunity to explain this matter to Baitao. Baitao, smart beyond her age, would surely understand and not let slip the secret in conversation.

They flew a few hundred miles out of the desolate mountain, leaving the Shengyi Sect’s range, and found a secluded valley to stop and rest.

After discovering their disciples’ deaths, the Shengyi Sect would undoubtedly begin tracking the clues. Lu Qian was unwilling to linger there and continued the journey after taking a short rest.

Along the way, with Master Xuan Ji’s addition, the group had much more laughter. Originally, Lu Qian had thought of Master Xuan Ji as straightforward and outgoing, hard on the outside, but soft-hearted, with a righteous yet stubborn personality. Now he found that he also had a bit of an old child’s nature, playing childish games with Baitao, teasing each other relentlessly.

Several days later, they arrived at the junction of Qingzhou and Cangzhou.

After circling the marketplace there, they finally no longer saw any bounty for Lu Qian.

Lu Qian took a deep breath, feeling the gloom in his heart dissipate a little.

Jiang Qingfeng was also very pleased. This place was about seven thousand miles away from Yun Mountain. They had traversed the wilderness for almost a month, finally escaping layer upon layer of pursuit. Cangzhou lay ahead, like a dragon entering the sea, free from constraints.

However, to be cautious, Lu Qian still wore a mask, intending to take it off once they were deep in Cangzhou and truly safe.

Having acquired many talismans and elixirs from Wang and Chen of the Shengyi Sect, they didn’t even need to replenish supplies now. Lu Qian led the group directly into Cangzhou, flying four hundred miles to find a medium-sized marketplace to settle down.

That night, the group rested in an inn for the first time in a while. Lu Qian ordered a table full of food and drinks to celebrate. Even Jiang Qingfeng, who usually didn’t touch alcohol, had a few drinks, her cheeks flushed, making her appear even more lovely. Jiang Baitao giggled, her mouth full of grease from eating, and Master Xuan Ji kept adding food to her bowl.

Lu Qian smiled, sitting amid the warm aroma of food. Qingfeng lightly lifted her sleeve, her fair wrists resembling frost, pouring him a cup of wine.

Lu Qian drank it in one gulp, suddenly feeling a bit tipsy.

The next day, gathered together, they chose their next destination from a newly bought map.

Three thousand miles from there was a large marketplace, Meihua Square. There, a wind-controlling giant beast capable of traversing state commanderies was available for them to ride, heading straight to Ningzhou.

During the upcoming journey, everyone’s spirits were high.

Lu Qian even found that Baitao had become his lucky star. Whenever he approached during Master Xuan Ji and her happy playtime to ask about array knowledge, Master Xuan Ji would impatiently say a few things before telling him to go cool off elsewhere and not to disturb their play.

Thus, over ten days passed, and although he didn’t learn any new array transformations, Lu Qian had a decent grasp of the basic array knowledge. He also had Li Zhenru’s array insights in hand, which, after some cramming, made Lu Qian feel that the once vague array Dao was becoming clearer.

Now he could indeed consider himself officially initiated.

During this time, Jiang Qingfeng’s continuous hard practice also paid off. With the generous support of high-tier elixirs, her cultivation progressed rapidly, within a step away from reaching the seventh level of Qi cultivation, on the verge of a breakthrough.

In this atmosphere of positivity and joy, the white jade flying ship crossed over a ridge, and suddenly a city appeared before them.

Meihua Square, they had arrived.

This was the first time Lu Qian and Jiang Qingfeng had seen a large marketplace, while Baitao stared in a daze. Master Xuan Ji took the opportunity to tear off the little turtle-drawn paper stuck to his face, proudly saying, "Surprised by the sight? See, just one large marketplace and you’re all dumbfounded..."

Green mountains clustered round, embracing a gigantic valley. In the flat valley, a sprawling city stood.

A medium-sized marketplace was merely a small town. But this large marketplace had transformed into a grand city.

Unlike medium and small marketplaces, which relied on illusion arrays for concealment, this city was fully exposed. However, a massive array hovered above the city like an inverted jade bowl, ensconcing it, daunting all who beheld it.

Such cities required pass tokens for entry and exit, unlike the free comings and goings at medium and small marketplaces.

Lu Qian quietly observed the array. This implied that there must be a spirit vein within the city to sustain the array’s consumption. He wondered which sect controlled this place, having the audacity to use a spirit vein to establish a marketplace.

(End of Volume 1, Driftwood Without Roots. Start of Volume 2, Hatchling Eagle Breaks the Shell.)