A Bad Presentiment

While the boat settled on the ground, Hong Li approached it along Wang Fei, Lan Xue and several other instructors to welcome the member of the Raging Saber Sect.

A figure quickly jumped off the deck and landed beside the spiritual tool. It was a young man, no older than the junior students present here, with a wide saber strapped on his back.

It was a symbol of pride in the Raging Saber Sect, every member wielding this weapon displayed it on the outside as a token of their identity rather than leaving it in their pouches or rings like it would usually be done by other cultivators.

Hong Li and the others stepped forward and cupped their fists in salutation, "Greetings to the Raging Saber Sect representative, I am Hong Li, the dean of the institute and this is my second-in-command Han Zhen Jun along my best instructors."

In the cultivation world, it was customary for the young to salute the old first or the weak to greet the strong in this order. Hong Li was both older and stronger, yet saluted this youth first, he was doing a great favor to this sect member and giving him face.

With a steady stance, the young man swiftly returned their greetings, "This little one greets you all members of the Tiger Martial Institute, I am Tong Jian, an outer disciple of the Raging Saber Sect. I have been tasked by my seniors to lead the students back to Willowshade Town where they remain before we escort you all back to the sect."

Although Tong Jian had a greater status as a member of the Raging Saber Sect, in front of all these seniors of the Foundation Establishment and Inner Core realm, he didn't dare be unpolite and quickly paid respect.

Hong Li nodded unnoticeably hearing the sect disciple's presentation. Tong Jian's peak Qi Gathering cultivation was very obvious to him so he couldn't be an inner disciple of the sect.

In martial institutions, a peak Qi Gathering cultivators would usually be the best of their students, but in a sect, it was merely an outer disciple.

After he saluted them, Tong Jian quickly browsed the crowd with a glance. When he noticed Yan Mei, he grimaced in disgust and quickly shifted his attention to other students until he saw Shen Xue.

"Foundation Establishment cultivation at fifteen?! How can it be, we are the same age, yet I am still stuck in the Qi Gathering realm even though I am a sect disciple, but this guy could step in the next realm as merely an institute's student! I see, he must be the rank 5 talent I have heard about and probably their best student, I should quickly try to attain the next realm once we get back so he doesn't get cocky with me."

"He must have easily won this city year-end competition with his cultivation, but he couldn't be more wrong if he thinks he will have it this easy in the sect, there are many other geniuses who don't have anything to envy him back there. Anyway, this is an opportunity for me, I should try to befriend him during the trip."

With Qi gathering in his eyes, Tong Jian could easily perceive the students' bone structure and determine their age. He internally expressed envy and jealousy towards Shen Xue, but wasn't surprised when he realized his talent, instead planning to take advantage of the situation.

However, another youth quickly caught his attention.

There was a kid sitting near the fountain in meditation with eyes closed, even as the boat landed and this sect member stepped out, he didn't budge at all.

"Qi Gathering realm 8th layer at 13! You must be kidding me, I was only at the 7th layer at his age, what are these students given to eat? Is he another rank 5 talent, at least he shouldn't be less than rank 4, the Tiger Martial Institute has a really good batch this year, the higher-ups will be happy."

Tong Jian was amazed inside, but Ye Mo didn't seem to care about anything happening around him, still immersed in his own world.

Only when Han Zhen Jun's voice resounded in the plaza asking the students to board the boat did he open his eyes and followed his peers.

Hong Li peered at them with an appraising gaze as they went on the deck, "Shen Xue should have no difficulties acclimating with the Raging Saber Sect competitive environment, he will assuredly become an important disciple in the future."

"Ma Shinfei must have received his master's best martial arts to study as a parting gift before he leaves, his strength is sure to rise sharply as well. Ye Mo.... Although he is lacking in terms of talent and cultivation compared to others, he is intelligent and possess impressive battle capabilities, he might be able to manage in there for a few years before his limitations slow him down."

"After they accept such a group, we might even receive another pile of essence stones as gift from the Raging Saber Sect."

Hong Li commented on each student passing in his mind, internally satisfied with the quality of this year's juniors.

While everyone went on the ship, two instructors from the institute were also sent to accompany them and ensure they reach their destination safely.

Tong Jian stepped on the door first, quickly followed by the students. When Ye Mo boarded the boat, he put a bit more force in his leg and stomped down with his foot, but the wood didn't even crack, there was only a dull thud coming from the floor beneath his shoes, as if he was stepping on a silicone floor mat.

"Rubber wood?" A material immediately came to his mind.

Rubber wood is much more durable and flexible than ordinary wood and has the properties to absorb impacts. Rubber trees are difficult to fell and usually requires a powerful cultivator with a very sharp weapon using repeated swift movements to damage them until they are cut down, it was a rare product to construct houses, buildings and spiritual tools like this one who could carry many people.

However, rubber wood was a premium material that wasn't easy to acquire, not only it took centuries for rubber trees to reach maturity, with fully grown trees yielding the highest quality, but all the rubber tree troves were owned by powerful sects and top-tier clans, strictly monopolizing their production.

Tong Jian led the students down a flight of stairs and reached a corridor, "We're here! This section of the ship is the quarters where you guys will rest, there is more than a thousand rooms available so you can all choose one for yourself, but don't fight. If I have to intervene, not only it will piss me off, but you will pay for any damage you do on the ship."

"If you keep going down you will reach a lounge where you can have fun and talk with each other, it is adjoined with the cafeteria you can walk in if you are hungry. Now, two rules: don't go on the decks when we take off unless you wish to go flying on the skies."

"The second and most important, the deepest part of the ship is a private area where are stored the essence stones required to alimentate the spiritual tool so it can maintain itself in the air. You are not allowed to approach it, there is a formation placed to warn me of any approaching intruder, if I find one of you snooping around it, he can forget about joining the sect and will immediately be expelled from the ship before making the trip back to Azure Water City by himself."

There were many spiritual tools that were designed to be supplemented with essence stones. Those spiritual tools consumed too much Qi so depending on the user reserves wasn't reliable, most would not be able to use it throughout a long journey without taking pauses in between and even if they could, depleting your Qi this way was dangerous, the outside wasn't peaceful, being attacked when you have wasted your reserves on your spiritual tool would spell death on yourself.

That's why some of them used the Qi from essence stones to travel the lands. It was the case with this ship, but it was also true for the cloud spiritual tool Wang Fei displayed after the first phase of the institute's recruitment competition.

Back then, he didn't use it for the outward trip and on the way back, he only carried the candidates when they already reached the city.

It wasn't without reason, this cloud was lended to Wang Fei by the Tiger Martial Institute and consumed essence stones to fly, but those were extremely valuable resources in the city, since there was no essence mines in the surroundings, the martial institutions relied solely on the good will of the sect they were affiliated with to receive some essence stones and refill the stock that naturally dwindled with time.

Once the Qi from an essence stone was exhausted, there was no way to replace it beside hoping for the sect's next rewards to contain a few.

How could any member from the institute accept to waste such a precious resource only to carry the candidates around, that's why Wang Fei only showed the cloud when they reached the city, although it was big and there was still a certain distance to travel on foot, it was just a breeze for this spiritual tool. Once it took up, they arrived in a flash to the institute's gates and it flew for such a short time that it barely could waste any Qi from the essence stone.

Obviously, there were also spiritual tools that didn't need to consume essence stones and could be manipulated by the cultivator alone, but those were usually much smaller than the ship or the cloud and could carry one or few people at best.

"We should reach Willowshade town in about three days and the Raging Saber Sect in an additional five days so make yourself comfortable." Tong Jian gave these words as he returned to his own cabin.

The students were excited and immediately went to visit the lounge and every part of the interior of the ship they could access while minding the rules mentionned by Tong Jian.

In any case, there were so much rooms they didn't need to rush to choose one, they would always find an empty cabin if they searched a bit.

Ye Mo took a random room and went inside, separating himself from the mass.

It was rather small; There was a bed on the side while the remaining space was only large enough to contain the door.

This reminded him of the rooms in the dusk yard, but even those were still bigger.

"At least, there is a window here." Ye Mo thought as he suddenly felt weightless.

The window was only the size of a soccer ball and when he approached it, he could see the Tiger Martial Institute growing distant, then the whole city turning into a small point far away.

Ye Mo hopped on the bed and retrieved the pendant from his ring before he hung it around his neck. 

Then he took his last Qi Condensing Carp in his hand, "I should try to attain the peak of the 8th layer before nightfall."

Without wasting an instant, he swallowed the carp and began cultivating.

Soon, a day and a night passed without any disturbance as we find the ship still flying over the Jade Forest in direction to the Willowshade town.

The sky stretched vast and brillant under the sun's golden radiance, lingering moisture shimmered in the air, casting a faint mist over the distant horizon.

Gliding effortlessly through the open sky, the vessel basked in the renewed warmth, its sails billowing gently with the soft, high-altitude winds.

It was afternoon when the spiritual tool suddenly slowed down until it came to a stop in the air, detecting an obstacle ahead.

Tong Jian, the instructors and many students gradually came on the deck investigating the incident.

"Look here, there is someone!" A student yelled, pointing in the air.

When they walked in front of the boat, they noticed a man with long flowing black hair standing on a long sword in the sky before the Raging Saber Sect's spiritual tool.

This person, everyone but Tong Jian recognized him.

"Li Zhen what are you doing here, don't you know this is the ship sent by the Raging Saber Sect? Move out of the way if you know what is good for you!" One of the instructors warned him.

However, the Li clan patriarch ignored his words as he looked at the students on the deck one by one and mumbled, "He's not among them, he must have stayed inside."

While he blocked their way, from the forest below, two men awkwardly riding a small shuttle took off and flew up in the air until they arrived at Li Zhen's side, watching over the floating boat.

The shuttle was a sleek construct, no longer than a forearm, shaped like a smooth, elongated oval with a slightly tapered front. Its surface gleamed with an emerald green luster and as it flew in the sky, steam shoot off several small vents along its surface, leaving small trails in the air where it passed.

On the shuttle stood both Liu Hao, the Liu clan patriarch and Tie Jinghong, the half-brother of the Tie family leader.

With a buzzing sound, a creature flew up and joined the rest of the band.

It was a low-tier rank 2 Thunderwing Beetle, a massive, jet-black insect with an imposing presence, its carapace gleaming with a faint metallic sheen. Its body was broad and segmented, with thick, ridged elytra covering its folded wings.

Its head was small compared to its bulky frame, with two curved, serrated mandibles and a pair of long, segmented antennae that extended outward like delicate, twitching filaments while six sturdy legs extended from its armored torso, each ending in hooked, claw-like feet that seem built for gripping onto surfaces.

On its back sat a brawny old man with a long white beard, but no hair at the top of his head.

Wearing a classic-style red on black martial arts robe, it was Ha Jun's old master, Lan Biao!

Everyone had a bad presentiment watching these experts you would usually rarely see, gathering together in front of them.

"You know why I am here, hand over Ye Mo and we will leave it at that without anyone being hurt." Li Zhen announced coldly.