Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 204 The leader invites you
Chen Ye's method of crossing the river was simple and brutal. He did not use any exquisite water-controlling or wave-walking magic. Instead, he directly summoned a giant red snake that dived into the river. With its massive body, it forcefully lifted the bottomless boat and slowly "swam" towards the opposite bank of the Qinghe River.

There are no skills involved, only brute force.

As long as Chen Ye's spiritual energy keeps up, he can reach the small island in the middle of the river.

At first, everything went smoothly.

The current was relatively gentle near the riverbank, and the weight of the bottomless boat seemed no different from that of an ordinary small boat. However, the further it swam towards the center of the Qinghe River, the heavier the boat became.

Chen Ye had no choice but to increase his magical power, causing the red snake at the bottom of the river to grow larger and larger.

Originally, it was only about ten feet long, similar to a python. But when the bottomless boat reached the deep water, the python grew into a huge creature, as thick as a water vat and several feet long, which was enough to barely support the bottomless boat.

Looking up, however, one is still quite a distance from the mysterious island shrouded in mist in the center of the river.

Moreover, the closer one gets to the center of the river, the more astonishingly fast the weight of the bottomless boat increases; for every zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) it travels, the weight seems to double.

"This is too difficult."

He possessed eighteen Qi Seas, and the total amount of spiritual energy contained within his body far exceeded that of cultivators of the same level. This Crimson Serpent was also transformed from his own divine power, making it much more energy-efficient to wield than controlling magical treasures.

Even with such an advantage, Chen Ye could clearly feel that his spiritual energy was being consumed at an alarming rate, and he was already in a situation where his income could not cover his expenditure.

Moreover, the closer one gets to the center of the river, the more rapid the current of the Qinghe River becomes.

The heavier the bottomless boat, the larger the red snake becomes. The larger the red snake becomes, the greater the resistance it encounters from the flowing water, and the more spiritual energy Chen Ye consumes.

Gradually, Chen Ye felt his spiritual energy reserves starting to wane, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. But if he gave up now, the bottomless boat would probably sink to the bottom of the river with a thud, and Chen Ye himself would sink directly into the river.

Chen Ye couldn't help but wonder: Just how much does the Qinghe Sword Sect dislike people coming to visit?
But Chen Ye's stubbornness and unwillingness to admit defeat were also fully ignited. They had already gone through more than half of the journey, so how could they give up halfway?

"I want to see just how deep the Qinghe River really is!"

With a low shout, Chen Ye suddenly activated his divine power. In an instant, a bronze bell with the mouth of a beast, as huge as a mountain, fell from the sky and crashed into the surging Qinghe River with a loud "boom".

The moment the bronze bell struck the river, it stirred up towering waves, creating a massive, bottomless whirlpool on the surface.

The bottomless boat was also pulled by the whirlpool's gravity and was about to go out of control and crash.

Just then, the enormous red snake underwater suddenly lashed its tail, like a giant python clinging to a rock, and forcefully "climbed" onto the huge bronze bell that had sunk to the bottom of the river.

With this solid foothold, no matter how turbulent the river was, it could no longer shake the Red Serpent in the slightest, and Chen Ye was able to stabilize the situation for the time being.

"Come again!"

Without hesitation, Chen Ye dropped the second bronze bell.

This bronze bell is even larger than the previous one, with its top protruding above the river surface.

The red-striped serpent exerted its strength again, its massive body suddenly leaping up and "climbing" onto the second bronze bell, dragging Chen Ye and the bottomless boat forward a distance.

This kind of operation can hardly be called crossing a river; it's clearly "filling in the river."

Using the bronze bell as a stepping stone, Chen Ye manipulated the Crimson Serpent to slowly crawl towards the island in the middle of the river.

One after another, enormous bronze bells rained down from the sky, each strike accompanied by a deafening roar and towering waves. Vast swaths of silt were churned up from the riverbed, turning the once clear Qinghe River into a murky mess.

Such a dramatic commotion naturally attracted the attention of the Qinghe Sword Sect cultivators.

Before Chen Ye could use the bronze bell to "pave the way" to the island's shore, a clear shout rang out: "Which fellow Daoist is performing magic here?"

Then a sword light flew out from the island and landed in front of Chen Ye.

The sword light faded, revealing a delicate and graceful figure. Chen Ye stared intently, a smile immediately spreading across his face. The woman, upon recognizing Chen Ye, froze, her face filled with disbelief.

Chen Ye greeted her with a smile, "It's been a long time, Miss Lan Shi."

The one who arrived on the sword was none other than the little girl who had called herself the Flying Thief. In just one year, she had learned the powerful magic of flying on a sword.

I wonder what level of cultivation she has reached?
Hearing Chen Ye's voice, Lan Shi finally came to his senses and said to Chen Ye with red eyes, "My benefactor, it's been a long time. You... how did you end up attacking the Qinghe Sword Sect?"

Chen Ye said somewhat awkwardly, "How could I have the guts? Isn't this the bottomless boat test of your Qinghe Sword Sect? I didn't expect it to be so difficult. Even those in the Tongxuan Realm can't pass it."

Upon hearing this, Lan Shi couldn't help but laugh out loud and quickly explained, "My benefactor, you've misunderstood. Ordinary people simply couldn't drag this bottomless boat to this position; it would have sunk to the bottom of the river long ago. Actually, even if the boat sinks, it doesn't matter. Once it reaches this position, as soon as the boat sinks, a guiding sword aura will automatically emerge from the water to safely transport the guests to the island."

Chen Ye asked in surprise, "We don't have to go all the way to the end?"

Lan Shi explained, "If you want to go all the way to the end, I'm afraid there are very few people in the Qinghe Sword Sect who can do it."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ye glanced at the island's shore, which was just a stone's throw away, and said to Lan Shi, "Then I'd like to give it a try. You should stand a little further back so your clothes don't get wet from the waves."

Having said that, Chen Ye gave another low shout, and another huge bronze bell crashed to the bottom of the river. The red-banded snake underwater let out an excited hiss, exerted its strength, and crawled forward again.

However, the red-striped snake moved with extreme difficulty, as if it were carrying not a small boat, but a mountain. Every inch it moved consumed a large amount of Chen Ye's spiritual energy.

With only a few feet left to the shore, Chen Ye gritted his teeth and poured out the remaining spiritual power in his body, determined to move the bottomless boat ashore.

Chen Ye never expected that, just when they were one step away, the bottomless boat suddenly made a crisp "crack" sound and turned into a pile of fragments.

As soon as the restriction was broken, the mountain-like pressure vanished instantly. Before Chen Ye could even react, he was sent flying into the sky by his own Crimson Serpent.

Fortunately, Chen Ye was no longer the novice cultivator he once was. He stabilized himself in mid-air, and the black whirlwind cooperated by growing larger, carrying Chen Ye as he slowly descended onto the island.

When he finally set foot on solid ground, Chen Ye saw several sword lights fly out from the island and surround him.

Chen Ye felt as if the sharp aura had locked onto his vital points, as if he would be pierced into a sieve by the Qinghe Sword Sect at any moment.

However, Chen Ye was not flustered, because he had already recognized one of the sword lights.

When the light subsided, Su Chunyi appeared in front of Chen Ye.

The moment their eyes met, the two seemed to forget the presence of others.

Chen Ye was overwhelmed with emotions. Although they had only been apart for a short time, this reunion felt like countless years had passed.

But Su Chunyi seemed unchanged. Upon seeing Chen Ye, she showed a surprised expression, completely ignoring the gazes of her fellow disciples. She walked up to Chen Ye and said, "When did you arrive, sir? Why didn't you send me a message?"

Chen Ye was a little embarrassed. He had only wanted to try the test from the Qinghe Sword Sect because he was in a playful mood, but he never expected it to cause such a commotion.

He even damaged the bottomless boat, and I don't know how to compensate him.

Just as he was about to explain, an old voice suddenly entered Chen Ye's ears.

"Sect Master of the Yellow Springs Sect, please come to Sword Pavilion for a chat."

Chen Ye was startled; he had only heard that voice once before.

This is the voice of Master Zhang, the leader of the Qinghe Sword Sect!

Chen Ye was surprised that even Master Zhang had been alerted, but he was relieved. Zhang Qi had invited him to meet, so it couldn't possibly be to ask him to pay for this bottomless boat.

But why would this number one person in the world suddenly extend an invitation?

(End of this chapter)