The thirteenth day aboard the ferry.
There were roughly three days left until arrival at the Beiguang River Ferry, located in the Northern Region of the Chenping Continent.
The crew and passengers on the ship had mostly emerged from the shadow of the hijacking that occurred a week prior.
Three people had died on the ship that day.
The dark-skinned middle-aged man, and that unlucky rogue cultivator who was killed as a warning to others, could be set aside for the moment.
The death of a personal disciple of a Lightning-Severing Sect elder was no small matter.
As mentioned before, there were only two possibilities for anyone who would kill a personal disciple of a Lightning-Severing Sect elder so decisively.
Either the Qi Sea Realm cultivators who hijacked the ship belonged to a force far surpassing the Lightning-Severing Sect, or they were utterly desperate outlaws with nothing to lose.
Given the current circumstances, Chen Yan leaned more towards the former.
"I want it! I want it!"
Watching the little girl standing on a stool not far from him, her small face flushed red as she desperately tried to reach the pear he held above his head, Chen Yan pondered this.
The goal of those hijacking cultivators was to capture this little girl in front of him, the reincarnation of Pure Dust True Person.
Furthermore, according to what Mr. You said, if he hadn't intervened, Si Youyou's fate would have been to die that very day.
Combining this with what his cheap master had once told him about the reincarnation of Immortal Ascension Realm great powers, and his own judgment…
Eliminating the Cause of Calamity.
It was highly likely that the true intention of those hijacking cultivators was to Eliminate the Cause of Calamity.
No one knew exactly when the Cause of Calamity Theory began to appear. Even when Su Hongzhen was still alive, rumors about the Cause of Calamity already existed in the world.
It wasn't until twelve hundred years ago that the Cause of Calamity Theory truly began to sweep across the entire Chenping Continent.
But even today, no one knows what the true Cause of Calamity actually represents.
Everything is just speculation, including Lin Qifeng's judgment.
If the force behind those hijacking cultivators was even greater than the Lightning-Severing Sect, then it could only be one of the Five Great Sects…
Suddenly, Chen Yan felt a sharp pain on his arm.
Chen Yan frowned slightly, snapping out of his thoughts, and looked at his left hand.
He saw Si Youyou hanging from his left arm like a fish on a hook, dangling in the air and swaying back and forth.
Feeling rather speechless, Chen Yan pulled Si Youyou off his arm, sighed, and handed the pear in his hand to her.
Si Youyou's eyes lit up. She snatched the pear from Chen Yan's hand, plopped down on the stool, and began eating it in big bites.
"Chen Yan!"
Si Youyou, munching on her pear, looked up at Chen Yan inside the cabin.
This little girl had always called Chen Yan by his full name directly. Although Chen Yan initially felt it was somewhat disrespectful for a little girl to address him like that, he remembered she was the reincarnation of an Immortal Ascension Realm great power and promptly let it go.
Let her call him whatever she wants.
Incidentally, he hoped she wouldn't hold a grudge later for teasing her with the pear.
There seemed to be rumors that this Pure Dust True Person had a rather bad temper… Never mind.
"Chen Yan!"
Si Youyou called his name again.
"What is it?"
Chen Yan responded.
"What do you look like?"
Si Youyou looked up, studying Chen Yan's face, and asked.
"You can see for yourself."
Chen Yan slowly crouched down, bringing his eyes level with Si Youyou who was sitting on the stool, and said with a smile.
"No!"
Si Youyou shook her head and said:
"I mean your real appearance!"
Real appearance?
Chen Yan was taken aback, then raised his hand to gently touch the mask on his face.
This was something Mr. You had given him, said to be the work of an outstanding craftsman from the Mirage Palace.
Why?
Chen Yan looked into Si Youyou's bright eyes. Although there were indeed some shadows of Qin Yue deep within her gaze, he was certain that, despite both being reincarnations of Pure Dust True Person, Youyou and Qin Yue were completely different individuals.
Both in personality and in life.
…
Three days later, Beiguang River Ferry.
The ferry slowly descended towards the dock. While still in the air, Chen Yan could see a considerable number of cultivators wearing identical purple daoist robes gathered on the shore by the dock.
They were from the Lightning-Severing Sect.
Chen Yan recognized the robes worn by the people gathered at the dock's edge. Back when he was on Heavenly Summit Mountain, cultivators from the Lightning-Severing Sect had also greeted him.
The news of the death of Zhang Ming, the personal disciple of a Lightning-Severing Sect elder, had already reached the sect.
The fact that a personal disciple of an elder was killed by hijackers while aboard a ferry was a significant blow to the Lightning-Severing Sect's reputation. Therefore, the sect would inevitably seek to restore face.
Mr. You beside Chen Yan silently removed the Wind Ravine Valley disciple token hanging from his waist.
While traveling around, carrying a token from one of the Five Great Sects did bring considerable convenience, as encounters were usually brief and superficial.
But in a situation like this, a forged disciple token from a major sect could very likely become a problem.
The ferry slowly landed at the Beiguang River dock. From among the Lightning-Severing Sect disciples on the shore, an elderly man with completely white hair, clearly the leader, stepped forward a few paces, raised his hands in a salute, and said:
"I am Pang Luxing, an elder of the Enforcement Hall of the Lightning-Severing Sect. I ask all fellow daoists aboard the ferry to cooperate with our investigation. We will try not to delay fellow daoists on board for too long!"
After all, the Lightning-Severing Sect was a top-tier cultivation sect ranked within the top twenty on the Chenping Continent. Especially with a personal disciple of an elder having lost his life here in such a major incident, even disciples from the Five Great Sects of the Chenping Continent would have to show the Lightning-Severing Sect some courtesy and cooperate with the investigation.
No one aboard the ferry was allowed to leave before receiving permission from the Lightning-Severing Sect.
Chen Yan leaned against the ferry's railing, watching the ship's captain and the Lightning-Severing Sect elder discussing something on the shore.
"Crunch! Crunch!"
From beside him came the sound of Si Youyou munching on an apple.
This child's fondness for various fruits far exceeded the norm.
Then, Chen Yan saw the captain on the shore turn his head. His gaze seemed to be searching for someone on the ferry, and finally, his eyes settled on Si Youyou beside Chen Yan.
Shortly after, several Lightning-Severing Sect disciples quickly boarded the ship, stood before Chen Yan, glanced at him twice, and then looked towards Si Youyou.
"…"
Si Youyou instinctively hid the apple in her hand behind her back, grabbed the hem of Chen Yan's daoist robe with her other hand, and shrank further behind him.