Chapter 386 - 179: Unexpected

"Did you gain anything special from your training expedition?"

"Special?"

Lü Qinyi shook her head.

"This trip was nothing more than young disciples from various sects exchanging pointers and sparring. Afterward, we teamed up to eliminate some Evil Cults and ruthless bandits. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"...Hmph. As boring as I thought."

Feng Baishi pursed his lips and said,

"The Dragon Pavilion foisted a newcomer on us. When you have a moment, go to the Outer Sect and bring him over."

"A newcomer? From the Dragon Pavilion?"

Lü Qinyi was taken aback, asking in confusion,

"Pavilion Master, I don’t understand... We’re lucky the Dragon Pavilion doesn’t poach people from us. Why would they send someone over?"

"...I don’t understand it either."

Feng Baishi said,

"I heard he’s a genius who can withstand a full-force blow from a Nine Blood, despite only being an Eight Blood. The key is, he also has an Innate Iron Lung!"

"Logically, a genius like that should be promoted directly to a Core Disciple of the Dragon Pavilion for special cultivation. I have no idea why they’ve shoved him into our Fishing Pavilion..."

Feng Baishi paused, then said,

"Perhaps they want to grind down his pride and sharp edges... In any case, just bring him here for now. Treat him like any other ordinary disciple."

"Yes, I’ll go at once."

Lü Qinyi nodded, then asked,

"By the way, Pavilion Master, what’s his name?"

"Chen... Chen... Ugh, my memory..."

Feng Baishi rubbed his forehead, trying hard to recall for a moment. Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

"Chen Cheng! Right! That’s his name, Chen Cheng!"

"It’s him?"

Lü Qinyi smiled.

"He just came to report on his own. I’ve already helped him complete the registration procedures. And from what I can see, he seems quite easy to get along with. He doesn’t have that pride and those sharp edges you see in so-called geniuses."

"Plus, he’s only sixteen or seventeen, yet he’s already mastered lip-reading. Add to that his Innate Iron Lung and his Eight Blood Over Nine Blood strength... He’s truly a rare genius!"

"...Yes, he is undoubtedly a genius."

Feng Baishi sighed softly.

"A pity we can only watch in envy. Water flows downward, and man ever strives upward... Sooner or later, he’s bound for the Dragon Pavilion."

Hearing this, Lü Qinyi just nodded silently, having nothing to say.

The Seven Pavilions of the Mountain and Sea Sect: Sword, Dragon, Fist, Python, Medicine, Hunt, and Fishing.

The Fishing Pavilion ranked last.

Even ordinary disciples would choose a better perch once they’d saved up enough capital, to say nothing of Chen Cheng.

"Back in the day, when I was young, the Seven Heroes of Mountains and Seas came from each of the Seven Pavilions. Each had their own strengths, and their glory was boundless... It’s been over a hundred years since then, hasn’t it..."

Feng Baishi let out a long sigh.

"Among the current Seven Heroes of Mountains and Seas, the Sea Courtyard has only a single seedling left... It’s a good thing we’ve taken in a genius like Chen Cheng. Otherwise, in ten years, I fear the Sea Courtyard will have no place left at all..."

"...Is ten years really enough?"

Lü Qinyi’s fine brows furrowed slightly.

"Junior Brother Chen has just barely reached Eight Pillars of Blood Qi. The hurdles before him are not just one or two."

"Leaving aside the distant future, just the trial of Blood Coagulation and Qi Generation alone will likely take him two or three years to pass..."

"...Well, that’s not for us to worry about."

Feng Baishi pursed his lips, his gaze falling back to his hookless fishing line.

...

「At the General Affairs Hall.」

Chen Cheng had spent six thousand taels of silver to trade for a Profound Silk Net, a Dragon-Binding Rope, and a high-grade Fluorescent Pearl.

"Junior Brother Chen, you haven’t left yet?"

Lü Qinyi walked in, her smile as gentle as ever. But when she looked at Chen Cheng, there was a different kind of warmth in her eyes.

"I was just about to leave. Are you here to exchange for resources, Senior Sister Lü?"

Chen Cheng asked casually as he put away the three items he had just exchanged for, preparing to stand up.

"Yes. Wait a moment, Junior Brother."

Lü Qinyi walked over to the exchange counter and spoke a few words to a Steward.

Soon, the Steward retrieved several items and placed them on the counter.

Lü Qinyi brought all the items over, placed them in front of Chen Cheng, and said,

"This is a detailed map of the waters in the Sea Marsh. It marks all the islands. The ones without names are uninhabited, and you can come and go as you please."

"The named ones are exclusive islands belonging to Core Disciples, or even Elders or Pavilion Masters. You may not enter them without permission. You must even detour around their surrounding waters."

Lü Qinyi said this as she unfurled the map for Chen Cheng to see.

"This here is... the Guan Lan Pavilion?"

Chen Cheng gave it a quick look, then raised his hand and pointed to a spot on the edge of the map.

"Yes, that’s the Guan Lan Pavilion."

Lü Qinyi said,

"The waters around it are also restricted. See this circle on the map? It covers a radius of about five li."

’Restricted?’

Chen Cheng’s expression changed slightly. He hadn’t known this at all and had already broken this rule long ago.

’However, no one usually comes to the embankment on the Guan Lan Pavilion’s side. As long as I’m careful when entering and exiting the water, I probably won’t be discovered.’

"The crucial parts are these red areas."

Unaware of what Chen Cheng was thinking, Lü Qinyi pointed to several marked spots on the map and said in a solemn voice,

"These in the middle are areas where vicious fish and water monsters appear. They’re extremely dangerous... These few on the edges are outside the jurisdiction of the Mountain and Sea Sect. External forces, like Water Bandits, might show up there."

"You must commit these red areas to memory... If you accidentally trespass into a claimed waterway within the Sect, you’ll get a reprimand at most. But if you wander into these red restricted zones, you could lose your life!"

"Thank you for telling me, Senior Sister."

Chen Cheng cupped his fist and very seriously began to observe and memorize the map as best he could.

Thanks to his Health-Preserving Traits, his memory was constantly improving. Although it only improved a tiny bit each day, the process never stopped.

While he couldn’t yet achieve a photographic memory, it wasn’t hard for him to spend some time memorizing things by rote.

"Don’t bother memorizing it now. It’s a gift. Take it back and look it over at your leisure."