“Full army,” Trader Wei laid down his cards winning the hand we were playing. We were only playing for wooden coins on the ship that was carrying us across the Emerald Sea to the Capital of the Kingdom of Wu. “You are quite good at this,” I joked and complained at the same time. “A good way to pass the time,” he replied. After the third battle on the road we reached Port Nearsight without incident. From there it was a simple matter to get a ship to cross the Emerald Ocean to get to the Capital. The ore that had been transported by the caravan was on the ship. Cultivator Han had been let go at the port with the remains of his sword that would need to be reforged. He had chosen to head off in another direction instead of going to the Capital. More work in contested areas apparently. At least the ship was going faster than my tiny little boat. Which was why I wasn’t getting frustrated at the moment. The caravan had been way too slow in my opinion. The fights didn’t help either. Since I knew Trader Wei, we were on the same ship togeather. While he could have sold his gems in port, he would have lost a lot of money compared to transporting them himself all the way to the capital. He dealt the cards for the next hand. I looked at two cultivators and several soldier cards in my hand. They were all from different Empires. A terrible hand. “Land!” One of the sailors up on the mast, keeping a lookout called out. “It appears this will be our last hand,” I said as I traded in three cards and bet. “I don’t think anyone else will be able to claim that they played cards with a cultivator,” Trader Wei joked with a smile. “Is your father or one of your ancestors a cultivator at or above the Nascent Realm stage?” I asked. My chair fell behind me as I unsheathed my sword and stabbed each of the four men in the head and then put my blade away in one motion. As I picked up my chair and sat back down, they all fell down dead. There was complete and utter silence in the tavern. I pulled out another metal coin and flipped it onto their corpses. “Someone can take out the trash,” I said. A bunch of men rushed over and quickly hauled the corpses away. I went back to sipping my wine. “You clearly don’t need any guards. Perhaps an apprentice?” Fu Shirong asked. “What value is there for me taking on an apprentice?” I asked. “If you can teach something, you will definitely learn something from the process,” Fu Shirong said with a cheeky smile. “My skill with a blade is mediocre. I am a cultivator. There is nothing I could teach you,” I replied. My hat was covering my abnormal face and my sleeves covered most of my hands. It wasn’t easy to tell how different I looked compared to the people of the Great World. “Then take me on as a cultivator,” Fu Shirong said. “I will do any menial task you require. Fetch your wine. Shoo away people who would bother you.” “What makes a young mercenary like you want to risk your life like that?” I asked. “I am the seventh son. My father is a minor noble in service of the King. While I have done a sea voyage for the last year, I am looking for actual work. Guard duty for a traveling merchant, which is why I am here,” he said. “I make no promises. I am traveling to the Flame Sect for business I have with the cultivators there. I leave in two days on the Wooden Bone if you want to come along.” “Ah, I am quite poor Master, could you help me out?” he asked. “I haven’t agreed to be your Master. And even if you did join me, I am never returning to this city regardless. I am headed off to the Great Desert most likely after visiting the Flame Sect,” I explained. If I was weaker, I might have been worried about giving away my itinerary, but I was way beyond these people here. “The Great Desert? Isn’t that at the center of the Great World, directly underneath the Life Light?” Fu Shirong asked. “Indeed it is. That is where I am headed. I will let you think on the matter, but that is my ultimate destination. As for cultivation, those questions will be answered at the Flame Sect,” I said. “It is better to die doing something, than live life in mediocrity. I would join you on such a journey,” Fu Shirong said. “Then you will be in charge of travel arrangements after this first part of the journey. I want to travel as quickly as possible.” It was helpful to have a minion to make the travel arrangements. “Of course, of course.” “Look around for any fast ships that can be purchased whenever we are in a city. Better to have one of our own, if one is available.” I pulled out a metal coin and tossed it over. Fu Shirong easily caught it. “Consider that your stipend until we reach the Flame Sect.” “I never got your name Master,” Fu Shirong said. “I am Cultivator Yuan Zhou of the Heavenly Alliance. If anyone reacts to my origin or name, let me know. If someone knows of the Heavenly Alliance, that will be quite interesting.” “Definitely. Any other instructions?” Fu Shirong asked. “For now no. I will enjoy my wine until it is time to leave,” I said. “But you said the ship isn’t leaving for two days,” Fu Shirong pointed out. “I do not need to sleep for that long. One of the advantages of being an ancient cultivator,” I replied. “You don’t look that old. I would guess only a bit older than me, or my father’s age.” I shook my head at that as the stew and wine were brought to our table. I filled up my cup and sipped again. “You aren’t going to tell me?” “Let me just say, I have lived for a long time and have seen quite a bit,” I replied. “Well if we are headed Lifewards, there isn’t much Edgewards, except some boarder cities and wilderness,” Fu Shirong speculated. “Unless you have come from the wilderness?” “Eat your stew. I have had enough excitement.” Thankfully Fu Shirong shut his mouth and began to eat. I didn’t want to answer questions right now. After he was done eating, he left to get a spot on my ship while I stayed at my table occasionally sipping wine. I had massively overpaid to sit here, so the serving women didn’t bother me. As it was nearing the time for me to leave, someone wearing a bright yellow robe and ten soldiers entered the tavern. “I heard the man who killed my son is here.” This had nothing to do with me so I kept sipping my wine. The large group came over to my table with their weapons drawn and the rest of the customers quickly left. “Did you kill my son?” “I have killed thousands of people, so it is quite likely. I am Cultivator Yuan Zhou,” I replied. The guards instantly looked a lot more nervous, even with their bone swords in their hands. “You think you can just kill my son and his companions and get away with it?” the man asked. “Yes. Unless you have a cultivator above the Nascent Soul stage I have nothing to fear. Also, if your son was one of the people I killed where you are standing, they tried to rob me.” The man’s face began to turn red. “As for all you guards, if you don’t point or swing your weapons at me when your master yells, I won’t kill you.” I sipped my wine. This was one reason why I didn’t like killing. It created a cycle of revenge. Once I killed these people, then their ancestor or the King himself would threaten me and it would keep escalating, until one sized realized they were outmatched. “Did you kill a thousand bandits by yourself?” one of the guards asked. “Yes, that was me. I am leaving this city shortly never to return,” I added hoping to defuse the situation. The man in the rich robe turn and left, his guards following behind him. That was surprising. I expected I would have had to kill all of them. That was a pleasant surprise that I didn’t have to kill all those people. I finished off my wine and got up. It was time to leave. I left the tavern and five arrows flew at me. I guess I celebrated too soon. I easily dodged the arrows and drew my sword. I then began a massacre. Did these people not understand the difference in power between me and them? They had cultivators, but their cultivators were probably weak or not well known enough this far Edgewards. The Kingdom of Wu was a backwater, even its Capital which I was in, was nothing compared to the more developed areas Lifewards that had existed for much longer. Regardless, they attacked me and they had been warned. Darting across the road in front of the tavern, I killed ten soldiers equipped with bone swords and five archers. The noble was also still around and I cut his head off for good measure. The entire street was coated with blood and corpses. Shaking my head, and letting out a sigh, I made my way to the docks. Thankfully the Wooden Bone was ready to go and I quickly boarded and went to my cabin. “Hey,” Fu Shirong greeted me in my room. “You get the floor or a hammock, I am taking the bed,” I replied. “Of course, of course.” I lay down on the bed and used my hat to cover my face. “Are you sleeping?” “I am resting, since there is nothing else for me to do at the moment,” I answered. “Ah, well I am going up on deck. I just got here, so I want to look about.” I didn’t say anything and Fu Shirong left the cabin. He was probably going to die horribly, but that was not my problem. He wanted to tag along, then he could tag along. He would die of old age before we reached the Great Desert, but that wasn’t my concern. With canals, it would be slower, but I would have to do less work. That would allow me to focus on conserving my energy even more. If I could be transported to my destination and just rest, then I would have no complaints. I suddenly realized why Yang Heng came along in my hover craft. I knew why, but now I knew why he just rested most of the trip by going into his hibernation state. It was a lot nicer when someone else took responsibility for traveling. I was definitely going to take ships the entire way if I could. Since this place was built in rings, it would alternate between water and land. These people had cut canals through the various bodies of land to connect the oceans to make trade and travel easier. When you have been around for a long time, you figure out what works eventually. Even armies wouldn’t bother destroying the canal. It would be too much work to destroy and then repair. These people built with concrete that was meant to last a very long time. They might not have metal, but there was no need for rebar, since there were no earthquakes. Without any kind of tectonic movement, all the heat came from the Life Light and there were no earthquakes. I heard Fu Shirong enter my room. “Um, Cultivator Yuan Zhou, there is a problem,” he said. I let out a sigh and got up. I made my way up onto the deck. There were ten soldiers on board the ship. I noted there was a ship next to ours with even more soldiers.