Volcanic Age

The city, Chongqing, was surrounded by the Hubei Province to the East, the Sichuan Province to the west, the Guizhou Province to the South, and the Shaanxi Province to the North; all four provinces ruled by people of the Orthodox faction.

The Three-Eyed Godly Thief's treasury was located here.

Qiu Feng and company journeyed from the Shaanxi province to Chongqing, and kept heading south toward the Guizhou province.

Zhou Xuchuan couldn't go anywhere near the location of the treasury. Not only did he have company, but getting in would be a challenge as well.

The Godly Thief's treasury was known to have all sorts of mechanisms and traps, Zhou Xuchuan was unable to get through them as he was now. Even if he could, carrying all the treasures out would be problematic.

Yangtze River, Chongqing.

The Yangtze River, originating from the Hubei province, flowed across Chongqing and ended in Sichuan. The Chongqing area was also separated by the Yangtze River.

Although there was a way around it, that route would take weeks. Although there was no set period of time for their journey, there was no need to go that far.

They headed to the boatyard to board a boat, using lightness arts and footwork arts alternately until they reached the place.

Traveling long distances over an extended period of time was a very efficient way of training lightness arts. This was especially true since there was no place within Mount Hua where they could train to their hearts' content, requiring them to run in circles. Compared to that, running in the Central Plains was good since they could run in any visible direction.

As such, they traveled using lightness arts without riding horses.

"Huh, you have a tremendous amount of internal qi, just as I heard."

Qiu Feng was surprised to see Zhou Xuchuan looking unfazed while they were moving. Even when Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen collapsed from exhaustion, Zhou Xuchuan didn't break a sweat.

Although the matter regarding spiritual medicine was so well-known that even he knew about it, seeing it in person was still intriguing.

The amount of internal qi he had was unthinkable for a twelve-year-old. What was even more frightening was that he was still in his growing phase.

"It's nothing much. I was just lucky. Apprentice-brother and apprentice-sister are more amazing than someone like me."

Zhou Xuchuan handed water pouches to the exhausted Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen. He humbled himself and raised the two of them. He was avoiding unnecessary conflicts with the members of the Lotus Pavilion.

His skills were already devalued as is. He couldn't go any lower, so it didn't hurt his pride much to act more humble.

His actions were wise. The pride of the other two would take a hit if they saw him, who was called incompetent, faring better than them, who were exhausted.

Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen weren't ill-natured, but they were still children. Even if they were more tolerant than other disciples, they weren't good enough to understand everything and accept it.

Zhou Xuchuan's seventy years of life experience didn't just disappear. He might not have been qualified, but he had experience standing above others.

*

Arriving at the boatyard, they saw rows of boats lining the entire area. The place was crowded with people coming out to tour the Yangtze River under the midday sun.

As the group walked around the boatyard, boatmen of various boats took off their bamboo hats to tout their businesses.

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"Great heroes. I'll give you a comfortable trip."

"What good is comfort? They'll be bored. I was known in my prime as a great storyteller."

"How rude of you to try to talk to them. They'll pass by this place anyway; just give them a comfortable ride!"

'I can't believe I get to see the Yangtze River like this…'

Zhou Xuchuan kept looking around, finding the place novel. His eyes were filled with yearning.

In two years, after the discovery of the treasury, the Yangtze River would never be as bustling as it was now.

That was because the Era of War and Chaos would begin soon after that.

Forget admiring the scenery, they would have to be cautious of enemies from the other side of the river whenever they passed through this place.

After the wars ended, he became one of the five high elders in the sect, so he had never gone anywhere close to the Shaanxi province.

The only time he got to appreciate a peaceful Yangtze River was during a truce. Even then, that period was so brief that he could hardly remember.

"Do you have some seats?"

Qiu Feng's voice put an end to his recollections.

"Of course." The boatman nodded with a cigar in his mouth.

Although he was an elderly man whose hair was turning white, the muscles in his arms were well-trained, indicating his long experience in rowing boats.

Qiu Feng handed a handful of coins to the boatman.

"I believe that should be enough to satisfy you. What do you think?"

"I have heard that martial artists have a heart as wide as the Yangtze River, and I see it's true. I'm satisfied, so take a seat," the boatman responded, gesturing toward the boat with his chin. Qiu Feng smiled in satisfaction and got on the boat.

Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen quickly followed him. This was their first time getting on boats, so they looked awkward and curious.

Zhou Xuchuan got on the boat, acting curious, just like other kids of his age.

The boatman rowed, and the boat departed from the boatyard, heading towards the other side of the Yangtze River.

"When you're unsure about which boat to ride, you should check the arm muscles of the boatmen like this elderly man here. You'll be able to tell how much they have rowed."

The Yangtze River was very wide, so it would take a considerable amount of time to cross it. As such, they had a long time to talk.

Most of the time, it was Qiu Feng giving the children some information that would come handy when surviving in the world of cultivators. Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen listened attentively.

Zhou Xuchuan also listened carefully as he didn't have any experience with ships or boatmen.

About an hour later, they came across other ships crossing the river. However, they weren't ordinary ships.

"Senior Uncle Qiu, what is that ship? Zhang Hong asked curiously.

It wasn't a small boat like the one they were riding, but a properly built ship. It looked like a warship that would usually be seen at sea.

Although he couldn't tell, Zhou Xuchuan estimated its size to be at least 13 meters long and 3.5 meters wide.

"Apprentice-brother, look at the sails."

Zhang Xuen put her hand on her sword, and examined the words on the sails.

"They are named ships, and a type of fighter ship. Retract your killing intent and calm down," Qiu Feng replied, tapping on Zhang Xuen's wrist.

"But…" Zhang Hong trailed off with a stiff expression on her face, clearly struggling to accept the situation.

"For now, listen to my words obediently. This is an order," Qiu Feng commanded, prompting Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen to retract their fighting spirits reluctantly.

The boatman, who had been rowing, sighed in relief and steered the boat to the other side, bringing it to a halt.

When he did, the named ship in the distance headed toward them. On top of the ship were many men with fierce-looking faces. They had messy beards, most of them were burly, and their faces were filled with scars. They were all holding weapons as well.

Another common thing between them was that they were all dressed in blue.

"We apologize for stopping you from enjoying your trip in this fine weather."

The man with the messiest beard came forward and greeted them with cupped fists. His vicious-looking eyes were looking at the group's sleeves.

The man examined the plum flower engraved on their sleeves and continued speaking with a calm tone.

"We are cultivators of the Nine Water Gangs, who protect the Yangtze River. Although we were originally protecting this river for a small fee—I mean, free of charge, our budget has been tight lately. If it is okay, could you give us some money in return for protection?"

His words sounded somewhat awkward like he was wearing ill-fitting clothes.

"You are protecting the peace of the Yangtze River, so naturally, we're willing to pay. However, we don't have a lot of money on us, so please let us go with just this."

Qiu Feng placed a silver coin on his thumb, flicking it into the air.

The man who spoke first skillfully snatched the silver coin and fist-cupped them in farewell.

"It was an honor to meet cultivators of the great Mount Hua. Be on your way."

"Thank you."

Qiu Feng glanced at the boatman. The boatman bowed to the men in blue and started rowing the boat again.

Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen struggled to accept the situation, their faces flushed with fury.

The two of them seemed ready to speak out, but Qiu Feng held them back.

The boatman noticed and rowed harder, making the small boat speed away from the fighter ship.

"Senior Uncle!"

When the fighter ship could no longer be seen, Zhang Hong couldn't hold back and raised his voice.

"How could you accept the pillaging of the water bandits?! Aren't they one of the Eighteen Bandit Gangs?"

"He's right. They called themselves the Nine Water Gangs. As martial artists of the Orthodox Faction, we cannot ignore them."

Zhang Xuen chimed in in agreement. Both of them looked visibly agitated.

This place, Chongqing, was a place outside of the Orthodox Faction's influence despite being surrounded by four provinces that were under the Orthodox Faction's rule.

The nine major sects, the one major gang, and five great ancient families were nearby, but there were organizations that could keep them in check.

That was the Eighteen Bandit Gangs, a union of the Nine Forest Gangs and the Nine Water Gangs of bandits.

The Nine Forest Gangs was the alliance of mountain bandits, and the Nine Water Gangs was the alliance of water bandits. It was an organization formed by bandits to resist the tracking and subjugation attempts of the Orthodox Faction and the government.

Their strength and scale were considerable, to the extent that no single faction within the Orthodox Faction or the government could think about attacking them easily.

The sails that Zhang Xuen saw a while ago had the words Water Gangs on them.

"How can we be afraid of mere water bandits as people of the Orthodox Faction?!"

"Even if we did not learn any water arts, bandits are nothing in front of Mount Hua's sword…"

"Quiet!"

Qiu Feng raised his voice for the first time. His voice and facial expression were tense.

Hearing his voice, the boatman trembled and stopped rowing.

"I'm sorry about this, elder. They're both young and rash. Please do not mind us and keep rowing," Qiu Feng said to the boatman.

"Do you truly think that I am afraid of water bandits?"

Qiu Feng was an expert of the Absolute Realm. Even if it was on water, bandits who were below First Class were no match for him. He had the confidence to kill all of them in a few moves if he were to get on the fighter ship.

"The reason we gave them money instead of fighting back is because something very troublesome will happen if we don't do so."

"Something troublesome?"

Zhang Hong and Zhang Xuen tilted their heads.

"First of all, even I cannot guarantee that we can subjugate all of them without any of them running away. Do you know why?" Qiu Feng directed his question to Zhou Xuchuan, who had been listening.

Momentarily taken aback, Zhou Xuchuan replied calmly, "Because water bandits are skilled swimmers and have access to water arts, giving them an advantage in water."

"Yes," Qiu Feng affirmed.

Water arts not only allowed the user to move freely in water, it gave them all sorts of other advantages as well. It allowed them to hold their breath for a long time underwater, and their speed underwater was unrivaled.

Other than cultivators whose lightness arts have reached the level of treading on water as if on land, facing these bandits would be challenging.

Even then, that was when the bandits chose not to go underwater. If they chose to escape underwater, it was almost impossible to catch them.

Although Qiu Feng had a good mastery of lightness arts and could track them down, if someone asked him if he could chase down every single one of them, the answer would be, "I don't know."