Misty Rain of the Old Times

Under the blazing sun, Chen Xuan lay sprawled on a deck chair, seemingly boneless, enjoying the sea breeze like a salted fish. In the tropics, during the height of summer, the sun made people lethargic and sleepy.

He unconsciously twirled an irregularly shaped nine-sided alloy in his hand. It was one of the foundations of the concealment array, but it was still a failure. After so long, he still couldn't break through from zero to one. There was nothing he could do. No one was teaching him. He could only figure it out on his own, which was slow and required a lot of time to try and fail. Fortunately, time was the last thing he had.

It wasn't hot on the ship; in fact, it was quite cool. There were ice blocks everywhere to cool them down, and Chen Xuan could easily change the temperature in a certain area around them, so the tropical heat didn't exist for them. However, the sun was dazzling, and the little princesses were used to staying in their rooms during the midday sun. Only Chen Xuan was bored and went to the deck to sunbathe and go sea fishing—he was a seasoned sea slacker.

This was half a month after he and Dujuan had consummated their marriage. They were newlyweds, sleeping together almost every night. The little princess was happy to see this happen and actively encouraged them to get married. After all, she was pregnant and couldn't sleep with Chen Xuan. She was worried that sleeping together might disturb the fetus. Now was a crucial time, and she couldn't wait for her husband to get Dujuan pregnant and have children.

As for who will serve Chen Xuan if Du Juan gets pregnant, there's Yun Lan and Yun Xin, right? Or just send Chen Xuan to sleep with Zheng Wanqian. It's only a matter of time anyway. There's also He Hongyi at home, who's been eagerly waiting for Chen Xuan to take her in. In short, how could her man be without a sister? This is the mindset of the little princess as the first wife. She has already made clear arrangements for Chen Xuan. As a member of the royal family, she is not afraid of having many people in the family, but she is afraid that her descendants will not prosper.

After more than half a month, they still couldn't find the island where the Water Elemental Dragon was located, let alone see the so-called underwater dragon palace. They were unfamiliar with the place and had never been there before. Where could they find it in the vast ocean?
Just as Chen Xuan was getting bored and about to fall asleep, the fishing rod next to him moved. He immediately perked up, grabbed it, and yanked hard, not caring if the rod broke.

Three days have passed, and now we've caught a fish! Look at how my wives are trying to suppress their laughter and comfort me, saying the fish in the water are ungrateful. It makes me want to drain the water myself. I don't need to stop Sister Juan from eagerly trying to go into the water and bait the hook for herself. Fishing is all about patience; if you keep waiting, you'll definitely catch a big one.

"That's quite a strong strike, maybe it caught a shark?" Chen Xuan said with a smile, holding a fishing rod bent like a bow. He wasn't in a hurry to bring it up, enjoying the fun of playing the fish, like opening a blind box, without knowing in advance what he had caught.

The little girl practicing martial arts with a large sword not far away had been watching closely. She immediately stopped, put down her weapon, and ran over, cheering, "Three days! You've caught a big fish! Master is amazing!"

She was so excited she almost jumped up and down, even more excited than Chen Xuan.

However, Chen Xuan's lips twitched upon hearing this, and he was quite speechless. If you're going to talk, then talk less. Little girl, you're stabbing me in the back.

Almost sixteen years old, Su Roujia has grown into a graceful young lady. After following Chen Xuan, she will live a good life and be well taken care of. She is no longer the thin and timid little girl she once was, but is now in the prime of her life.

At this moment, she had two buns on her head, her round and cute face was slightly red from practicing martial arts, and there were some beads of sweat on her forehead. She was wearing a pink and yellow short skirt, revealing her fair and tender calves.

In this era, girls from respectable families usually covered themselves up tightly, but since the ship was full of girls and eunuchs, there was no need to care so much. They could fully show themselves, but only by revealing their arms and legs.

Hearing the commotion, the little princesses also left their room, opened their umbrellas, and came over. They weren't using umbrellas because they were afraid of the sun, but because the sunlight was too bright.

Summer should look like summer. They were all circling around Chen Xuan, so they were all wearing knee-length skirts. Looking at them, their white legs were quite pleasing to the eye, which was a treat for Chen Xuan, who got to feast his eyes on them.

"My husband finally caught a fish! These past few days of waiting were worth it," the little princess teased as she walked over.

Why do they all hit so hard at me? Chen Xuan said stubbornly while reeling in the fish, "This is called self-cultivation. My title of 'Fishing God' isn't for nothing. It's just that I don't want to, otherwise I would have caught all the fish in the sea."

"Yes, yes, yes, whatever my husband says is right. Quickly pull it up and see what kind of fish it is," the little princess said, covering her mouth with a smile, thinking to herself, "You just don't want to, you clearly can't catch it."

Chen Xuan, who had just caught a fish, spoke with a tough attitude, scoffing, "Watch closely, I'll show you what a fishing god really is."

As he spoke, surrounded by onlookers, he swung his rod and pulled, and with a splash, a large creature was pulled out of the water, crashing onto the deck and splashing up a few water droplets.

The little girl volunteered to step forward and exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, it's huge! But what is this? It looks weird, like a door panel!"

Her cultivation level has now reached a certain level, and the strange fish, which is ten feet wide, is unable to break free from her feet.

The little princess and the others also looked puzzled, having never seen such a thing before.

With a twitch at the corner of his mouth, Chen Xuan said with a sullen expression, "Devil ray, there are plenty of them in the sea. I thought I'd caught a shark, but all I got were fish bones to eat. What a waste of time."

"A manta ray? That's quite strange. It looks a bit scary. But sir, how do we eat it?" Du Juan asked curiously.

Chen Xuan shook off the hook, shrugged, and said, "Who would eat this thing? You've never seen it before, so just look at it. We'll just throw it away later."

"It's inedible and doesn't look good either. Looks like we'll have to throw it away," the little girl said with some disappointment. Having lived away from the sea since childhood, she had eaten a lot of delicious seafood with Chen Xuan during this time at the beach. Many strange things were quite delicious, such as sea urchins. She thought that almost everything in the sea was edible.

It wasn't some rare or exotic beast, and after a few moments of observation, the crowd lost interest. Then, Chen Xuan gently kicked it back into the sea.

Chen Xuan had seen many strange beasts on land, including dragons, though they were dead. But in this vast ocean, Chen Xuan and his companions had never seen any strange beasts in the water. They didn't know if they were hiding from them or if they hadn't strayed far from the coastline.

The sunlight was blinding. Just as the little princess and her companions were about to return to their rooms, someone sped across the waves from the beach and quickly returned to the ship. It was Xia Mei, who had gone to inquire about the news.

Chen Xuan cast his line back into the sea and turned back to ask, "Thank you for your trouble, Aunt Mei. Have some water first. How's the situation going?"

After Xia Mei greeted him, she said, "Reporting to Master, after making inquiries from various sources, I'm afraid we will not have the chance to see the underwater dragon palace built by the Water Elemental Flood Dragon." It was just a spur-of-the-moment thing, so Chen Xuan wasn't exactly disappointed upon hearing this, but he still asked, "What do you mean?"

The little princess and her companions also lingered for a moment, quite curious about the so-called underwater dragon palace.

After organizing her thoughts, Xia Mei replied, "Master, Madam, according to my previous investigations, the island of the Water Elemental Dragon isn't fixed in one place in the sea; it moves. The reason for this is that the island is situated on the back of a gigantic beast, a whale-turtle. I've heard that the whale-turtle is a thousand feet tall, like a moving mountain. Although it's enormous, it moves slowly and isn't known for its combat prowess. Even a master of the Innate Realm could easily kill it by exploiting its weaknesses. However, with a Grandmaster like the Water Elemental Dragon present, no one dares to target it. Therefore, the Water Elemental Dragon's island is elusive, and unless he appears on his own initiative, it's very difficult to find. Furthermore, he's not on the island now. I heard that he appeared in the underground cave beneath Ten Thousand Caves Mountain a month ago. As a result, we have no way to visit him, and we can't tour the underwater palace under his guidance."

A whale-turtle a thousand feet in size carrying an island across the sea? Is it a hybrid of a whale and a turtle? This world even has dragons, so Chen Xuan wasn't surprised by the appearance of such strange creatures. Then, the Water Elemental Flood Dragon actually ran to the underground cave heaven, which also didn't surprise Chen Xuan. After all, it was a magical world, and as the news spread, people with some ability wanted to explore it. Now, countless extraordinary people were trying to get in, and Chen Xuan thought it was normal for a few Transcending Tribulation Realm cultivators or even Human Immortals to sneak in.

He had only intended to check it out since he was passing by, but after hearing Xia Mei's words, it really seemed like bad timing. He couldn't possibly go all the way to the underground cave to capture the Water Elemental Flood Dragon just to take a stroll around its house, could he? Chen Xuan wasn't that bored, and besides, he didn't know when the other party would return, so he couldn't just keep waiting.

So Chen Xuan said nonchalantly, "Alright then, it's not going to run away anyway. I'll go take a look when I have time. Actually, there's not much to see. In the capital, they can fix a mountain in the sky. Building a structure underwater is probably just so-so. How difficult could it be to fix a mountain in the sky?"

Nodding, Xia Mei hesitated and said, "Since we cannot visit the Water Elemental Dragon and tour the underwater palace, what should we do next? I hope you can give us your guidance, sir."

Where to go was Chen Xuan's business, but as a subordinate, Xia Mei had to plan the route and handle the trivial matters of supplying and purchasing along the way, so she still needed to ask for instructions.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Xuan looked at the little princess and said, "Looking at the sea for too long can get quite boring. How about we speed up our journey north?"

“My husband can decide. We can both do it. It’s really boring to stay at sea for too long,” the little princess nodded. At first, the sea was indeed very novel, but after a while, it became a bit dull.

So Chen Xuan recalled the map and looked at Xia Mei, discussing, "Then let's speed up our northward journey and land at the northwesternmost edge of Yuhua Kingdom. The altitude there is high, meaning the difference between the land surface and sea level, and it's an environment covered in ice and snow. We can explore there for a while, and then return southeast, passing through the desert grasslands along the way. Although there's an endless and vast world further north of Yuhua Kingdom, there's no need to go too far now. We'll have plenty of time later."

If it weren't for his concern for the elderly man, Chen Xuan would have liked to take his wife around the world. But now was not the time. The elderly man's life was coming to an end, and Chen Xuan was worried that if they went too far, they wouldn't even be able to see him one last time. However, there was no need to say such sad things directly.

As for lifespan, unless one's cultivation breaks through a major realm and fundamentally improves, Chen Xuan is now powerless to reverse the inevitable. Moreover, even if Chen Xuan had the means to prolong his life, he would have to follow the old man's wishes. With such a magnanimous heart, he has long since taken everything lightly. Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the natural cycle; he would not do anything against the will of Heaven. Did they really think that after being emperor for decades, he wouldn't have a way to prolong his life if he wanted to? He has aged considerably and become senile. Doing so would only be the root of chaos. How many emperors in history have ruined their countries in pursuit of immortality? Otherwise, he wouldn't have so readily relinquished the throne that countless people dreamed of and gone to enjoy his final moments of happiness.

Hearing Chen Xuan's words, Xia Mei didn't think much of it and nodded, saying, "I'll make the arrangements right away."

Now that he had made plans for the journey ahead, Chen Xuan no longer hesitated and smiled, saying, "No need, I'll do it. It's about ten thousand li, and if we take it slow, we can reach the shore by tomorrow morning. It's not that we can't go faster, but if we go too fast, Madam might feel uncomfortable. She's pregnant now, so it's best to be careful."

His wife is pregnant, and Chen Xuan isn't in a rush. If something unexpected happens, he'll regret it.

As he spoke, Chen Xuan released his true essence, which enveloped the entire ship, causing it to float and speed northward along the sea surface. The journey was very smooth, but not so fast that it would cause any physical discomfort.

He was on the boat, but he used his true essence to levitate the boat. It wasn't like he lifted himself up. In the end, he was using his true essence to borrow strength from the sea. At present, his cultivation level is not high enough to break the rules of heaven and earth. Even if it is like flying in the sky, he still needs a place to borrow strength, even if the point of leverage is the air.

The distant coastline receded rapidly, but the little princess felt no discomfort whatsoever. In fact, she felt even more stable and secure than if the ship were sailing normally on the sea. Looking at Chen Xuan, she couldn't help but tease him, "Husband, are you in such a hurry to go to Yuhua Kingdom? Is there some little lover there that I don't know about? That Tingyin is in Yuhua Kingdom, isn't she? Will you go to see her? Let me make it clear first, although she is the most beautiful woman in Yuhua Kingdom, she is too old. You can't bring her home. I have no objection to keeping her outside."

Chen Xuan turned around, both amused and exasperated, and said, "What are you all talking about? I was just trying to save trouble."

"Could I have hit the nail on the head? After all, even my husband couldn't honestly say she wasn't pretty," the little princess said, covering her mouth.

That was indeed undeniable. Chen Xuan shook his head speechlessly and said, "She had a mishap during her training. No matter how beautiful she is, I don't want to get involved. Wait, let's go experience the world of ice and snow. Where did things go wrong?"

"Oh, just kidding. I don't mind. Anyway, she's too old for you to take home. It doesn't matter. Speaking of which, Yuhua Kingdom is famous for its beauties. I wonder if I could find a few for my husband. Oh right, Hongyi is from Yuhua Kingdom. I'll ask her later if she has any outstanding and single women." As she spoke, the little princess actually started to think seriously.

Chen Xuan, exasperated, said, "Wife, please don't make things worse. I already have enough of you all. Although I am a womanizer, there are so many beautiful girls in the world. Do you expect me to bring them all home? I can't possibly manage that. I'm already a bit overwhelmed, how could I dare to get involved with any more?"

"What's there to be afraid of? It's not like we can't afford to raise them," the little princess said nonchalantly. Then, after thinking for a moment, she agreed wholeheartedly, "But my husband is right, seven or eight is enough. Any more and some will inevitably be neglected, and that would be unfair to the girls."

How did you calculate seven or eight wives? No, even if I'm a lecher, if I married a bunch of them, even a steel-like body couldn't withstand it. Even an old ox plowing the field needs a rest.

Joking aside, Chen Xuan really didn't want to get involved in anything more. He was already too busy with these matters to handle, and he wasn't the kind of person who would abandon his responsibilities after getting back together with his girlfriend.

Amidst the laughter and chatter, the vast and boundless sea proved to be rather uninteresting, and the little princess, feeling nauseous again, went back to her room to rest.

As the sun set and the moon rose, early the next morning, Chen Xuan and his group had already traveled tens of thousands of miles to the northernmost coast of Yuhua Kingdom. The consumption of his true essence, which had been enveloping the ship for a long time to move forward at high speed, was still not enough to keep up with his recovery speed.

Whether it's the turmoil in Rongguo or Prince Qing's ambitions, what do they care? They're just travelers on their honeymoon... (End of Chapter)