Radiant Blade of the Wilderness

Chapter 143: Traveling Together

Ding Songyan studied Pan Yunzhou’s back with great care, finding it broad and wide—the perfect shape to shoulder his problems.

For some reason, Pan Yunzhou inexplicably shivered, then noticed that his junior brother was watching him with a broad smile.

Junior Brother Ding is that delighted about using the Myriad Stars Canon to supplement the Celestial Stars Scripture? Pan Yunzhou was baffled.

Just then, he saw Ding Songyan step to his side and cup his hands in a bow to Tao Wenshu.

"Master, this matter is of great importance and Senior Brother Pan needs a trustworthy escort. Though I am unworthy, I am willing to make the journey to Eastern Plains Prefecture."

Wh... Pan Yunzhou racked his brains and never would have guessed that his junior brother intended to accompany him to retrieve the aperture forging and viscera installation methods and the specific martial arts from the Myriad Stars Canon.

Even though it did sound reasonable as something this important warranted the Brightnight Sect sending someone along, it should have been at the very least be a third-rank Form Transfigured disciple or a steward to bear such a heavy responsibility.

He was an early Great Proliferation Realm martial artist who had not yet received a ranking. However gifted in the martial arts, he would only be a burden.

Junior Sister Zheng would have been suitable now; after all, she had fought and killed a fourth-rank Mortal Surpassed martial artist back when she was in the early Great Proliferation Realm, and she was currently at the mid Great Proliferation Realm.

Tao Wenshu didn’t know whether to laugh or sigh.

Songyan, if you really want to use this as an excuse to go investigate his origins in Yuejiang Prefecture, you could simply say so. Pan Yunzhou would surely understand. There is no need to exploit him.

But then, this is just his usual way of doing things.

"Fine," Tao Wenshu said with an inward sigh. "I’ll apply to the Ingenious Mechanisms Bureau for a flying vessel on your behalf, so the road doesn’t bring unwanted complications."

Uh... Junior Brother Ding doesn’t know any better, but Sect Master Tao, you are fine with this too? Pan Yunzhou nearly blurted it out in shock.

He quickly suppressed the reaction and didn’t dare object, for fear of jeopardizing the whole affair.

Whatever the sect master says, goes.

Besides, I’m no match for Junior Brother Ding. I lose every sparring session. If I can travel back and forth between Eastern Plains Prefecture and Dingjiang Prefecture on my own, then certainly he can too. Having another person along counts as an extra pair of hands.

And with Junior Brother Ding coming along, the sect master would apply for a flying vessel, sparing us the long overland journey which is the most dangerous part...

"Yes, Sect Master," Pan Yunzhou agreed.

Ding Songyan thanked his master, then turned aside and said with a sudden grin, "Senior Brother Pan, to be honest, I have important business that requires me to visit Yuejiang Prefecture. I thought it would be nice to have company."

He was perfectly open about it and concealed nothing.

Tao Wenshu, watching from the side, raised an eyebrow ever so slightly.

He actually said it...

Isn’t this more Zhuxi’s style?

When did Songyan start showing this side?

His honesty in the past usually concealed some ulterior motive...

Pan Yunzhou was momentarily thrown and needed a moment to collect himself before laughing, "Then let’s go to Yuejiang Prefecture first."

Handle Junior Brother Ding’s matter first. Once we retrieve the later volumes of the Myriad Stars Canon, we would take the flying vessel back to Dingjiang Prefecture at once. A secret manual shouldn’t be carried around outside for long.

......

Ding Songyan returned to his courtyard, dug out his travel pack, and began packing clothes.

In the biting cold wind, he heard a knock at the gate.

Outside stood Zheng Zhuxi in a red jacket and white skirt.

"Why not wait for me to return to the mountain before heading to Yuejiang Prefecture? Why all this haste?" Zheng Zhuxi asked in her clear, bright voice.

Ding Songyan considered for a moment and gave her an honest answer.

"For one thing, I’ve always been this way. Once I’ve made up my mind to do something, I start right away without delay, to avoid complications down the road. For another, you have the heart and mind for it, Senior Sister; you don’t need to hone yourself out there before reaching the perfected Great Proliferation Realm. Tagging along to Yuejiang Prefecture would only waste your cultivation time. Once you’ve installed your last non-human organ, I should have my realm fairly well stabilized. We can travel the jianghu together then."

Zheng Zhuxi’s expression gradually softened. She studied Ding Songyan for a moment, then broke into a sudden smile.

"I was only teasing! You really should go as soon as possible—the sooner the better."

"That’s my line!" Ding Songyan laughed.

"You taught it to me." Zheng Zhuxi gave a quiet laugh, then reined in her expression. "My mother must have forgotten to mention something just now. She probably assumed you already knew."

Seeing his senior sister turn serious, Ding Songyan adopted the posture of someone all ears.

Zheng Zhuxi pressed her lips together and said, "Immortal Grotto County in Yuejiang Prefecture sits beside Immortal Grotto Mountain. Before the Youqiong Dynasty, Immortal Grotto Mountain on the shores of Heavenly Lake was also a place where one could witness visions of the Heavenly Realm—just like Heaven’s Gate Lookout Island and Mount Dique. In those days, the visions of the Heavenly Realm would be reflected in the great lake as well, which is how Heavenly Lake got its name."

Doesn’t that fit perfectly... Ding Songyan’s spirits lifted.

Zheng Zhuxi continued, "The Demon Sovereign is connected to Mount Dique and has shown an interest in Heaven’s Gate Lookout Island, so he may well frequent Immortal Grotto Mountain on the north shore of Heavenly Lake too. With winter not yet over and the ground still frozen, he is likely still in Dingjiang Prefecture. If you head to Yuejiang Prefecture quickly, you can avoid him entirely."

Ding Songyan didn’t know whether the court had laid any traps or ambushes for Tan Guanchan in Dingjiang Prefecture; at any rate, he had neither seen nor heard of any sign of movement.

You’re getting sharper all the time, Senior Sister... Ding Songyan offered his silent praise, then added to Zheng Zhuxi’s point.

"Yan Changqing said that after Demoness Ji changed her cultivation method, she would break through to the Heaven-Man Realm within one to two years. Half a year has already passed. If I keep delaying, she might just break out and come to Yuejiang Prefecture herself, chasing the secrets the Demon Sovereign and the others are hiding."

If Ding Songyan had encountered something in Immortal Grotto County, met with some mishap, and then been chosen by Demoness Ji as her pawn, then Demoness Ji may well have noticed something was off. Once she broke through to the Heaven-Man Realm, there was a real chance she would return to Yuejiang Prefecture.

This matter truly had to be investigated soon—the sooner the better.

"You must also be extremely careful. If there’s any danger, it’s better to give it up," Zheng Zhuxi said, pressing her lips together and giving the instruction earnestly.

That the Demon Sovereign was still in Dingjiang Prefecture and the Nine-Evils Demoness still in seclusion were both only speculation—neither was certain.

"I will. I’ll read the situation as I go. If I catch a whiff of them, I’ll clear out of Yuejiang Prefecture immediately," Ding Songyan said in a joking tone, so his senior sister wouldn’t worry too much.

Zheng Zhuxi thought it over and said, "The Sovereign Xi School is in Eastern Plains Prefecture and has several Supreme Masters among its ranks. The Imperial Ruins are also in Bao Province, and Ruins Master Xiong Mo is one of the three Sages of the realm. In Chu Province, where Yuejiang Prefecture is located, there are the Shennong Hall and the Nine Realms School. The Nine Realms School’s master, Zuo Jingzhe, is a Sage as well. Whether it’s the Demon Sovereign or the Nine-Evils Demoness, both will keep themselves very much in check in that territory. If you run into trouble, don’t forget to seek help from the court and from reputable orthodox sects."

Ding Songyan gave an affirming sound, then smiled.

"Thank you for the reminder, Senior Sister."

Zheng Zhuxi couldn’t help shooting him a sideways glance.

"Stop smiling like that. This is important—your life is at stake."

"I’ve taken note," Ding Songyan replied, quite seriously.

Zheng Zhuxi let out a slow breath, and her dimples appeared briefly.

"Go quickly and come back soon."

"Will do," Ding Songyan agreed.

Zheng Zhuxi wrinkled her nose and sighed.

"I almost want to skip Changhua and Flame Capital and come along to Yuejiang Prefecture with you. But if something really happened, I’d only end up holding you back and getting in the way of your escape..."

She had long had a rough sense of Ding Songyan’s true capabilities.

"It’s not that serious. Setting Demoness Ji aside, why would the Demon Sovereign care about someone like me? I’m accompanying Senior Brother Pan back to Eastern Plains Prefecture and just stopping by Yuejiang Prefecture on the way. There are so many people coming and going along the north shore of Heavenly Lake every day. Who would think anything was suspicious about me?" Ding Songyan offered the well-meaning lie; his senior sister didn’t know about the transmigration, nor that the Demon Sovereign was a suspected transmigrator. "And Demoness Ji won’t reach the Heaven-Man Realm that quickly. If we’re both at the Grandmaster level, and I can’t beat her within Great Zhao’s borders, can’t I at least run away?"

Only then did Zheng Zhuxi relax slightly.

Ding Songyan changed the subject.

"Will you also be traveling to Changhua and Flame Capital by flying vessel?"

"Yes." Zheng Zhuxi nodded. "My father is a Senior Councillor. Under court protocol, he is entitled to use a flying vessel without any special application."

"Are flying vessels dangerous? I worry they might be like Qu Zhongheng’s wooden kite carriage," Ding Songyan asked, concerned.

Zheng Zhuxi laughed.

"The Ingenious Mechanisms Bureau’s mechanisms are far more reliable than Qu Zhongheng’s. Besides, my father can fly. He’s more than capable of protecting my mother and me.

"There will also be one or two martial artists at the Great Proliferation Realm capable of flight on board, as a precaution against accidents."

"That’s a relief," Ding Songyan said with a nod and a smile.

......

The following morning, on a remarkably level training ground south of Linjiang County.

With packs on their backs, Ding Songyan and Pan Yunzhou waited patiently for the flying vessel to arrive.

Zheng Zhuxi had left with her parents the previous afternoon.

After about half an hour, a shadow suddenly closed in from the sky. A massive structure resembling a tower ship but only three stories tall came hurtling in on the beating of a dozen pairs of gold-and-iron wings, accompanied by a deafening roar. It drew rapidly closer, descended gradually, and landed in the center of the training ground, sending clouds of dust billowing in all directions.

Gazing at the vessel—roughly forty meters in length, wound with colorful ribbons, and painted in gold and vivid hues at every turn—Pan Yunzhou was struck with awe, coming to appreciate the fearsome nature of mechanical constructs from an entirely different angle.

"I’ve never ridden a flying vessel before..." he murmured to Ding Songyan.

Great Zhao had few flying vessels. For one thing, they were extraordinarily expensive to build; for another, their reliability had to be guaranteed. At present, only the court’s Ingenious Mechanisms Bureau, the Ministry of War, and the various top-tier powers had them. Officials of the third rank and above who needed to use one could simply request it from the Ingenious Mechanisms Bureau; a non-top-tier sect like the Brightnight Sect had to apply.

That Tao Wenshu had been able to dispatch a flying vessel so quickly was partly due to the enormous cost involved, and partly because Senior Councillor Zheng Ziming had served as an intermediary.

Ding Songyan observed with keen interest, noticing that the stern of the vessel appeared to have large openings fitted with metal blades, from which residual airflow was slowly venting.

Rotor blades, jet propulsion, biomimetic wings... what a bizarre combination... Ding Songyan couldn’t help pursing his lips.

Had he not long since returned all that knowledge to his teachers back in school, and were he not now so absorbed in the martial path, he would have found some way to rope in Qu Zhongheng and study it together.

Still, he suspected Qu Zhongheng would propose summoning the remnant soul of a wyrm from the underworld and fusing it into the flying vessel, at which point it would be a genuine dragon carriage.

Once the flying vessel had come to a full stop and lowered its wooden gangway, Ding Songyan took the lead and boarded with Pan Yunzhou in tow.

Before they had even reached the deck, he was already making a joke.

"Senior Brother Pan, just like the literal meaning of your name, ’cloud boat,’ it’s now finally the real thing."

Pan Yunzhou glanced down at the ground, thought about soaring to great heights in a moment, and felt a sudden inexplicable flutter in his chest. He hesitated before asking, "Junior Brother Ding, aren’t you afraid to ride this thing?"

If it breaks down at high altitude, what then?

Ding Songyan laughed softly.

"Not at all."

I can fly!