Chapter 700: Roaming the Outer Sea

In the Outer Sea, within the Quicksand Islands, at an inn in the Songyun Island Marketplace, Lou Yuan wore an expression of utter despair. Before him sat a woman as gentle as water, serene and graceful—it was Jiang Wanqin.

One was a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, the other Early-stage Foundation Establishment. On the small Songyun Island, they were considered rare experts. After all, the Island Master here was only a Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator himself.

The reason for Lou Yuan’s helpless expression was that Jiang Wanqin couldn’t resist meddling in others’ business. He had stopped her, and the two had gotten into an argument. In front of Jiang Wanqin, Lou Yuan was younger, had reached Foundation Establishment later, and was of a much lower status. He was an Inner Sect Disciple with no official post, while she was one of the former Five Elders of the Sect who might have even taught him before. But now, Lou Yuan was supposed to take the lead, and one could only imagine how awkward their relationship was.

But these were Fang Qingyuan’s orders. He had tasked Lou Yuan with accompanying Jiang Wanqin on her journey for experience, explicitly instructing her to ask for Lou Yuan’s opinion on everything. If Lou Yuan objected, she was not to proceed.

Earlier, Jiang Wanqin had witnessed the island’s Cultivators conquer an outer island. Not content with just killing the opposing Cultivators, they were moving to wipe them out completely. This had displeased Jiang Wanqin, and she had been about to intervene before Lou Yuan pulled her back just in time. Now, the two were sitting here, sulking.

Lou Yuan looked at Jiang Wanqin, who now resembled an ice queen, and felt a massive headache coming on. To make matters worse, the Master of Ten Thousand Spiders, who resided in an item on his waist, was also gloating. He was delighted to see Lou the Kid at his wit’s end; it added a lot of fun to his otherwise tedious existence.

‘Lou the Kid, you’ve got such a great beauty accompanying you on your travels, yet you’re wearing such a long face. If those disciples back in the sect who have a secret crush on Jiang Wanqin found out, they’d probably want to tear you limb from limb. Lighten up.’

Lou Yuan gritted his teeth at the voice of the Ten Thousand Spiders Old Ghost in his mind. ‘Traveling with a beauty? What a joke. This is obviously just that overprotective ancestor, Fang Qingyuan. He didn’t trust Jiang Wanqin to venture out for experience alone, so he found her a gofer—a servant.’

After following Jiang Wanqin for a few years, Lou Yuan, with his perceptive nature, had long since figured her out. When they left the sect, Fang Qingyuan, worried for her safety, had spent a fortune on a Talisman Treasure made by a Golden Core Cultivator and given it to her. But that wasn’t all. He had also used Spirit Stones to buy a token certified by the Great Zhou Academy for her to carry at all times.

This token was a smaller version of a Heaven-Reaching Order. In times of danger, she just had to use it, and any nearby sects under the jurisdiction of the Great Zhou Academy, or even individual Cultivators and Loose Cultivators, were required to come to her aid.

The Great Zhou Academy would also send people. Afterward, based on the severity of the crisis and the outcome, they would inform the Qingyuan Sect and then compensate all the Cultivators who had participated in the rescue.

Looking at these arrangements, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say Jiang Wanqin was Fang Qingyuan’s own daughter. And what about him? He had been promised a post in the sect to cultivate peacefully, but with a single sentence, he had been sent packing.

Although this was considered a top-tier mission, and the sect would surely not be stingy with the rewards upon its completion, Lou Yuan couldn’t help but feel a little sour when he compared their treatment.

The two had set out from White Mountain, first passing through Qi Yun, then crossing the Great Desert, and finally arriving at the Outer Sea. They were taking a progressive route, from easiest to most difficult.

According to the plan, they would travel across the entire Outer Sea, following the Cultivation Realm’s long coastline from east to west. They would then pass through the polar regions to reach the Beast Taming Headquarters before finally looping back to the Qingyuan Sect.

It was a vast journey that would span nearly twenty years and cover millions of miles. Looking back now, Lou Yuan was certain he must have been crazy to agree to Fang Qingyuan’s request.

No, it was just that Fang Qingyuan was paying too much. The temptation of one Purple Crystal Spirit Fish per year was not something just anyone could resist.

According to market prices, a single Purple Crystal Spirit Fish was worth between three hundred and five hundred Top-grade Spirit Stones. Meanwhile, an Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator who could earn a dozen or so Top-grade Spirit Stones in a year was already considered to be doing quite well.

Back when Fang Qingyuan was just starting out, he had raided a Foundation Establishment Clan in Jiuye Marketplace and had only managed to get about a hundred Top-grade Spirit Stones. This showed just how difficult it was to earn them.

Although wealth in the Cultivation Realm was severely polarized—the higher a Cultivator’s level, the more wealth they possessed, with each new tier multiplying their fortune by ten or even a hundred times—for a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, an annual income of three to four hundred Top-grade Spirit Stones was enough to make them willing to die for you.

It was just as Fang Qingyuan remembered from his past life: for a salary of 3,000 a month, you tell the boss what to do. For 300,000 a month, the boss becomes your revered father, and you’d feel like you were ripping him off if you didn’t kowtow a few times each day.

Lou Yuan’s mindset was now the same. For the sake of the fortune Fang Qingyuan was throwing around, he was resigned to it, no matter how foolish or ridiculous Jiang Wanqin acted along the way.

Recalling the journey so far, Lou Yuan remembered that he’d initially had high hopes for Jiang Wanqin. ‘As a former leader of the Qingyuan Sect,’ he had thought, ‘even if she hasn’t traveled much, her mentality and disposition should at least be sound.’

However, Lou Yuan had been far too optimistic. Jiang Wanqin had been fine back in Qi Yun; after all, it was the most prosperous and culturally rich place in the entire Cultivation Realm, not to mention her ancestral home. But the moment they left Qi Yun, she began to act foolishly. The rule about not meddling in others’ business when away from home was immediately tossed to the back of her mind. Whenever she saw something she disapproved of, she felt an overwhelming urge to go and argue about it.