The swaying Wind Ravine Valley disciple token undoubtedly caught the attention of the dark-skinned middle-aged man.
He lowered his head and glanced towards Mr. You's waist.
He was also slightly taken aback for a moment, then raised his head, smiled in Mr. You's direction, and loudly shouted:
"So you are a disciple of Wind Ravine Valley, my apologies, my apologies. This ferry has fixed prices with no bargaining. If I have offended you in any way, I hope you will be understanding. Please do not abuse your power to bully others!"
On the Ningshi Mountain Ferry dock, the gazes of many cultivators turned towards Mr. You's direction.
A disciple of the Five Great Sects trying to abuse power and bully others?
An awkward expression flashed across Mr. You's face. He then raised his hand and swept it through the air, causing four high-grade spirit stones to appear in his palm, which he then handed to the dark-skinned middle-aged man:
"Look at what you're saying, Boatman. My Wind Ravine Valley is one of the Five Great Sects of the Chenping Continent, a renowned righteous sect. How could we possibly abuse power to bully others!"
He then waved towards Chen Yan's direction and quickly stepped onto the ferry.
That's what Chen Yan was thinking, as he followed behind Mr. You and stepped onto the ferry's deck.
Unless something unexpected happened, Mr. You's current cultivation realm should be the Dao Union Realm.
Whether it was the time he immobilized Chen Yan's spiritual energy back then or his calculations of heavenly secrets, both undoubtedly declared this point.
A great power of the Dao Union Realm can traverse ten thousand miles in an instant.
The distance of nearly ten million miles from the Southern Region to the Northern Region of the Chenping Continent would only take a great power of the Dao Union Realm about an hour to cross.
Taking this medium-sized ferry, however, would require roughly half a month.
Just like how Mr. You led Chen Yan, walking from the capital of the Great Yi Dynasty to the Tomb of the Star-Paying Respects, what he sought was not to reach the destination as quickly as possible.
It was to trigger "cause and effect" or "Heavenly Dao Fate" during the journey.
If he hadn't followed Mr. You, would he still have encountered the Scorpion Demon in the desert? Would his meridians still have been completely shattered?
Chen Yan had asked himself such questions.
However, this was a question without an answer.
Because, if the purpose of the Cycle of Reincarnation was to drive him to complete the so-called "Heavenly Dao Fate," then encountering Mr. You or that Scorpion Demon in the desert should both be part of the Heavenly Dao Fate itself.
Unavoidable.
As for boarding this ferry now and heading to the Northern Region of the Chenping Continent, that was also part of the Heavenly Dao Fate.
That's what Chen Yan believed.
...
Six days later.
The ferry had completely left the Southern Region of the Chenping Continent and was sailing towards the central region of the continent.
Heavenly Summit Mountain.
An awe-inspiring mountain peak over eight thousand zhang tall towered between heaven and earth. At a height of two thousand zhang on the summit of Heavenly Summit Mountain, the entirely white jade Heavenly Summit Palace hung suspended above it.
Even though this wasn't Chen Yan's first time coming here, when he saw Heavenly Summit Mountain again, he still felt an incomparable sense of shock deep in his heart.
He recalled the scene when Heavenly Summit Mountain was sealed upside down by Wen Hongli's bowl-shaped barrier.
He also remembered many people.
The memories of the past were already very blurry.
For this world, the Heavenly Summit Mountain Cataclysm had only ended seven years ago.
But for Chen Yan, who had retreated into numerous cycles of reincarnation after the cataclysm ended, the Heavenly Summit Mountain Cataclysm was already something that happened hundreds of years ago.
"The former sacred land of cultivation on the Chenping Continent, even when viewed today, remains majestic and imposing."
Mr. You, who was standing nearby, slowly walked to Chen Yan's side, placing his hands behind his back:
"Although the mountain is still that same mountain, looking at it now, it is no longer that same mountain."
The originally majestic, awe-inspiring, and tiger-like aura-swallowing Heavenly Summit Mountain now appeared exceptionally silent and desolate.
The world changes, seas become mulberry fields.
"Mr. You, there's one question I've always been curious about."
Chen Yan said.
"What?"
"Between the former Heavenly Summit Mountain and Fusheng City, which one was truly the strongest force on the Chenping Continent?"
"Heavenly Summit Mountain produced twelve Immortal Ascension Realm cultivators. What about Fusheng City?"
Mr. You asked in return.
"...I don't know."
"Not a single one."
Mr. You shook his head:
"If we don't count that Immortal Venerable Fusheng, Fusheng City has never produced a single Immortal Ascension Realm cultivator."
"The cultivation world of the Chenping Continent has no data or literature about the internal affairs of Fusheng City. How does Mr. You know that Fusheng City never produced an Immortal Ascension Realm cultivator?"
Chen Yan continued to ask.
"Intuition."
Mr. You answered:
"My intuition, you know it."
"..."
After saying that, Mr. You turned and left, leaving Chen Yan alone on the ferry's deck.
Chen Yan began to sink into deep thought.
The Chenping Continent had produced a total of thirty-one Immortal Ascension Realm cultivators.
Twelve from Heavenly Summit Mountain, seventeen from the Five Great Sects, and two rogue cultivators, namely Su Hongzhen and Immortal Venerable Fusheng.
If Mr. You was one of these thirty-one Immortal Ascension Realm cultivators, which one would he be?
Or, is it possible that Mr. You is an Immortal Ascension Realm cultivator from outside the Chenping Continent?
Chen Yan considered the possibility unlikely.
Because from Mr. You's words and actions, one could clearly sense that he was connected to the history of the Chenping Continent, and the cause and effect ran deep.
As for what lies beyond the Chenping Continent...
Chen Yan had even less of an idea.
In fact, even to this day, Chen Yan didn't know why the Chenping Continent was called the Chenping Continent, or who gave it that name.
Since ancient times, the cultivation world has had various theories about the origin of the Chenping Continent, but there has never been a convincing answer.
As for what lies beyond the Chenping Continent, no one knows.
Some people have tried to leave the Chenping Continent in the past, like Xuanbei the Rogue, a great power of the Eighth Realm.
The final result was complete silence, no news, unknown whether dead or alive.
Some say there is nothing outside the Chenping Continent, just void.
Others say it is an endless sea.
Of course, there are also those who say that beyond the Chenping Continent is another world, similar to the Chenping Continent.
They are all just guesses without any evidence.
As the Heavenly Dao Fate pushes forward, if one day he could ascend to immortality, or even step onto higher realms, would he then know the truth?
Chen Yan imagined this.
Suddenly, Chen Yan, standing on the deck, felt an inexplicable sense of strangeness.
He looked towards the direction of Heavenly Summit Mountain.
From just now until now, Heavenly Summit Mountain had been standing there, motionless.
Why had the ferry stopped?
Just as Chen Yan was puzzled, a sense of crisis suddenly came from a direction dozens of zhang away.
A metal spear descended from the sky, pinning a crew member on the ferry to the deck.
The crew member twitched a few times before completely losing all signs of life.
"Please, fellow Daoists, do not panic!"
A tall, slender, and handsome man with a smile slowly descended from the sky and landed on the ferry's deck.
The ability to fly through the air indicated he was at least a cultivator above the Qi Sea Realm.
Moreover, this was at an altitude of nearly ten thousand zhang...
"Esteemed senior, please be merciful. Could you talk with me?"
The dark-skinned man who had been recruiting passengers at the Ningshi Mountain Ferry dock walked out from the cabin, passed by Chen Yan's side, and walked towards the handsome man who had descended from the sky.
In the next instant, a warm, sticky sensation touched Chen Yan's cheek.
It was blood.
The dark-skinned man's body slowly fell to the ground, while his head flew sideways.
Chen Yan raised his hand, wiped the bloodstains from his face, his expression impassive.
Hah, here we go again.