Yefutidaolu

Chapter 274 A Ship of People
Liu Xin sat around him, clutching his arm. His expression was calm, but his eyes betrayed his inner turmoil. He seemed somewhat dazed.

He really didn't know what to do.

Does this have anything to do with insightful opinions?

It's obvious there's a connection. If it weren't for his insightful observation, he would be heading to Liangzhou City with his wife and children right now. There, with his fifth-realm cultivation, he could easily secure a decent position. Plus, the White Cloud Sword Sect has assigned him the task of establishing a branch sect, making him the future head of that branch, expanding the sect's influence and earning him great merit.

Originally, the sect had learned an important piece of information that Liangzhou City might be rebuilding Yongning. During this period, the Baiyun Sword Sect might be able to get involved and enter the border construction system of the Divine Dynasty. He was put in charge of this matter.

After completing these tasks in Liangzhou City and accumulating enough merit, he will return to his sect and use his achievements to enter the sect's secret realm for training. He will be able to reach the sixth realm in no time and become a top combatant in the sect, which would not be bad in the overall Divine Dynasty.

Everything was originally planned perfectly.

But it was because... he was on the same airship as Takami.

His apprentice, wife, and children all perished here; he almost couldn't even protect himself.

He could still go to Liangzhou, but... what good would it do? His wife and children were dead, his apprentice was dead, what could he possibly achieve by going to Liangzhou alone to make a living?

He is not an old monster who has cultivated himself to the point of losing all emotions and desires. He is only a little over a hundred years old this year, still very young. He has also been in seclusion for a period of time, and has spent even less time walking in the world.

Now, suddenly, everything is gone, leaving him completely bewildered.

but……

Who is to blame?
Is it Gao Jian's fault? Of course not. Gao Jian was also a victim. He certainly couldn't have known that someone would attack him.

So who's to blame? The attacker? Indeed, you could blame the attacker, but the problem is... is it someone who has the qualifications and the guts to blow up a flying boat to attack the students of the Imperial Academy?
Even if he cultivated for a lifetime, he might not be able to catch a glimpse of the other party's back, let alone seek revenge. He would most likely investigate for a lifetime and still not find out a single problem, never finding out who did it. Moreover, the other party wouldn't care about his investigation at all; cleaning up the mess was just to prevent Gao Jian from investigating.

and so……

He's feeling a bit lost right now.

Full of anger, but not knowing who to vent it on, all the resentment and disappointment could only be brewed in one's own chest. Even wanting to roar out loud, one opens one's mouth but finds that no sound comes out.

Who is to blame?
He had heard of many people who were caught in the crossfire when powerful beings fought, but he never imagined that he would be one of them.

But after thinking it over and over again, the deed is already done.

Let's search the ruins first.

With that bewildered look in his eyes, Liu Xin walked into the ruins of the flying boat frame.

No matter how hard they searched, they couldn't find anything. In that fire and explosion, nothing was left behind. The maids and cooks of the Hundred Flowers Sect, the prepared ingredients, and other passengers whose cultivation was not high enough were all buried in it. Not even a trace of ashes could be seen.

It was burned completely.

"Hey, Brother Liu." At this moment, Liu Xin suddenly heard a voice.

That voice sounds familiar; it's a brilliant insight.

He then turned to look at Gao Jian, frowning slightly: "Mr. Gao... you should be with them. Someone will be here to pick you up soon."

“They’re here to pick us up,” Gao Jian emphasized. “Do you intend to stay here?” he said.

"I don't know," Liu Xin said, shaking his head decisively.

Should we stay here? Perhaps it would be better to remain in this sea of ​​iron sand.

“There’s no need.” Gao Jian walked over and stood side by side with Liu Xin amidst the ruins, then said, “This is not my responsibility, you and I both know that.”

Liu Xin's expression suddenly turned resentful.

What did Gao Jian mean by saying that?
"Let me finish speaking first, don't rush," Gao Jian quickly added.

Liu Xin patiently listened to Gao Jian's next words.

He couldn't help but be impatient; that's just reality.

Gao Jian continued, "But no matter what, this matter did indeed start because of me, so I will remember the lives of everyone on this ship."

“I’m still investigating other matters, but… there are people from the Netherworld in this operation. I encountered one of them when I went to pick up my knife.”

"Dead?" Liu Xin asked.

“Yes, he’s dead.” Gao Jian nodded.

"Thank you, Mr. Gao." Liu Xin bowed, as if he had received some kind of comfort.

"Don't go looking for the Netherworld on your own. You know what kind of place that is. If you act rashly, the entire White Cloud Sword Sect might be wiped out. Leave it to me." Gao Jian stood there, gazing into the distance, and said nonchalantly.

"Give it to...you? Mr. Gao, Youmingdi...I've heard that important people don't risk their lives casually. I thought you would reconcile." Liu Xin was somewhat surprised by Gao Jian's reaction.

What surprised him even more was that Takashi actually came to talk to him about this.

Isn't he afraid of leaking secrets?

"Reconciliation? Indeed, most conflicts in the upper echelons of the Divine Dynasty end in reconciliation. After all, no one can really do anything about the other, and in the end, whether they want to or not, they all have to reconcile." Gao Jian smiled.

This is true. In the entire Divine Dynasty, although there is a systematic bloody refining system, the premise of all systems is stability and peace.

If there is instability, all systems will inevitably fall into turmoil.

Therefore, under the general trend, even if there are some bloody incidents, the upper echelons of the Divine Dynasty must maintain stability and prevent the conflict from escalating too much. The conflict must be kept under control as a "noble war," and no situation should be allowed to escalate into a full-scale war.

but--

At this point, Gao Jian said, "However, I'm not quite the same as them. I like to make a big fuss."

After speaking, Gao Jian turned and left.

Liu Xin couldn't help but turn his head to look at Gao Jian's retreating figure...

This man spoke with an air of dominance that made him feel compelled to obey him.

Are these the students of the Imperial Academy? Or are they people in positions of power? Meanwhile, after speaking with Liu Xin, Gao Jian gripped his rusty knife, closed his eyes, and used his other senses to perceive his surroundings.

But no matter how much they investigated, there was no progress.

The 'sword energy' mentioned earlier seemed to have vanished into thin air, without producing the slightest sound.

I waited for about half a day—

But then, several large birds flew in from the horizon.

The large bird had a wingspan of three zhang (approximately 13 meters), fleshy wings, a fox-like head, and four feet with claws that were four feet and three inches long. Its fur was red like that of a bat, and it flew very fast. The bird that led the way at the front carried two people on its back.

The two men had just landed on the strange bird when they rushed to Gao Jian's side, clasped their hands in greeting, and knelt down, saying urgently, "Greetings, Lord Gao! You have been frightened, sir. I am Yang Ling, the chief clerk of the Liangzhou City government office, and this is my deputy. We are late in coming to your rescue, please forgive us!"

Wang Huanglong, the captain, and the woman from the Hundred Flowers Sect breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness someone came to our rescue, and so quickly!
As expected of a student of the Imperial Academy, once his name is revealed, the local government arrives quickly!

If it were just the few of them, they might not be able to arrive for another ten days or half a month.

Gao Jianze stood still and asked, "Are you from Liangzhou City?"

"Yes, your subordinate is from Liangzhou City. Lord Gao is here as a special envoy, carrying the imperial court's mission to contribute to the frontier. We are overjoyed and came here immediately!"

Gao Jianze asked, "Is it in a hurry?"

His expression remained unchanged, but the other prisoners around him all stepped back, afraid of hearing a thing.

Even in situations like this, they still know the rules.

The Liangzhou official who called himself "Yang Ling" went from kneeling on one knee to kneeling on both knees, and kowtowed with a thud, his voice trembling with sobs: "We remember when the border first changed, the people were terrified. Now, we respectfully welcome Your Excellency to Liangzhou, and millions of people cheer with joy. When the prefect learned of this, he immediately summoned us. When he mentioned Lord Gao's arrival, tears streamed down his face, and he appealed to the court three times, expressing his gratitude to His Majesty for sending Lord Gao to relieve Liangzhou's crisis!"

This series of quick moves was clearly a blatant attempt to curry favor, so Gao Jian's expression remained unchanged.

Of course, he could also put on a happy face, pretend to be pleased to be photographed, then blend in with the crowd, go to that place, cultivate good relations with the local officials, and then slowly make his move.

If this hadn't happened, Takami might have done so.

However, with several thousand people on this flying boat, Gao Jian had no desire to engage in pretense with them.

So Gao Jian simply nodded: "Then take us to Liangzhou City first. Once we get to Liangzhou City... how far is it from Yongning Region?"

"Reporting to Your Excellency, Liangzhou is about 40,000 li away from Yongning. However, there are no high-speed flying boats there. If you travel by mount, it will take about a day to make the round trip," the man said.

“One day, huh? Let’s go then.” Takami thought for a moment, then nodded without showing any particular expression, as if he had just asked casually.

So everyone climbed onto the strange bird, and then they spread their wings and flew away.

To be honest, it's just a flying boat crash. As long as the students of the Imperial Academy are unharmed, it might be a big deal for the merchant guild that operates the flying boat. But for the Divine Dynasty government, it's just a crash, nothing serious. The best thing is to bring Gao Jian back as soon as possible. There's really no need for anything else.

As they took flight, a strong wind arose in the sky, and iron sand kept flying towards them. The two officials, especially Yang Ling, used their magic to continuously deflect the iron sand. Wang Huanglong also helped, erecting a barrier to block the iron sand.

They flew like this for a while, covering about three thousand miles. The iron sand storms never stopped. If it were an ordinary person, or even a cultivator with slightly lower cultivation, they would probably have been ground into mincemeat by the endless iron sand, and their bones would have been scraped into bone fragments.

However, at that moment, Takami looked down and saw... a person?

After traveling more than three thousand miles, it seemed that on the edge of this Red Sea Iron Sand Desert, there were several hundred people forming a group, struggling to move forward below.

"Yang Ling, how come there are people down here? Isn't this a death trap?" Gao Jian asked.

"Replying to your question, sir, these people have come here to search for treasure. A deadly place is a blessed place. Treasures are always found in such extremely harsh environments, and they have gathered here to search for them," Yang Ling replied immediately.

"Treasure hunting? This kind of place can indeed produce some gold-related treasures, but not everyone can use them, right? Are you going to hunt for treasures and then sell them?" Gao Jian asked again.

Yang Ling lowered his head: "That's right. Your Excellency has sharp eyes. There are merchants waiting outside. They will buy back any treasures they find at high prices. Once inside, if we can make a profit, even the smallest group of these hundreds of people can get at least tens of gold coins, and it's not impossible for some to get thousands of gold coins."

“Thousands of gold pieces.” Gao Jian nodded slightly, peering through the protective barrier at the crowd below who were struggling to advance through the iron sand.

They were also very organized, with some people responsible for supporting the retaining wall, some for maintaining the equipment, some for carrying things, some for commanding, some for guarding, some for medical care, and there were also reserve teams and logistics personnel responsible for relaying messages. They were clearly a well-trained professional team.

The average cultivation level is not very high; even the top cultivators are only at the third realm.

But think about it, if one's cultivation level were higher, there would be no need to risk one's life in a place like this.

Moreover, this is indeed a lot of money for them.

Even in the capital city, a cultivator at the first level with a decent formal job earns only forty or fifty gold coins a year, and that's only if they can withstand the extremely high prices in the capital city.

According to Gao Jian's knowledge, in places like Liangzhou and Cangzhou, a cultivator at the first level of cultivation earns a very good income of ten or so gold coins a year.

A single trip like this can earn you tens of gold coins in the first realm, and perhaps several thousand gold coins in the third realm. It's indeed easy to recruit people to risk their lives for you.

"Are there many gold-related items here? Why aren't there any people with higher cultivation levels taking them? Since these teams can still make a profit here, then surely a small team composed of people at the fourth realm or above, with enough consumables, could also earn their money back here? There wouldn't even be any danger to speak of." Gao Jian asked with some doubt.

Yang Ling smiled and said to Gao Jian, "My lord... what you're saying is true. Those above the fourth realm naturally go to more dangerous places and secret realms. They're all there to earn tens of thousands of gold coins."

"Go to even more dangerous places..." Gao Jian heard the answer, but his expression did not relax.

On the contrary, his expression became even more serious, even frighteningly so. Yang Ling and the others around him were momentarily flustered, wondering what was wrong with this important figure.

But soon, Gao Jian reached out and extended his hand outside the protective barrier.

But the iron filings were blown by rapidly in the strong wind. Most of the iron filings couldn't even scratch Gao Jian's oily skin, but a few of them could make a small cut.

Gao Jian waited for a while, about four or five minutes, before a grain of iron shot finally cut through his skin, leaving a large gash in his palm.

Gao Jian immediately clenched his fist, took the iron pellet in his hand, and retrieved it.

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(End of this chapter)