The next morning, the end-of-year examinations resumed. Long Yifei had nothing to do today as it was the preliminaries. Those that weren't able to sing on stage were individually judged. Scores were given out for various artistic creations displayed during the garden party the prior night. Other classics like musical instruments and literature also had additional preliminary tests.
Long Yifei practiced her singing and dancing in her dorm. She chose not to mingle with the other sacred daughters as that would be a waste of time. As for Chen Wentian, he took advantage of the downtime to quietly leave the Millenium Mountains Campus. A few hours later, having seemingly gone for an ordinary errand. However, instead of his real body, he was replaced by Chen Mo.
Chen Wentian, himself, slipped away into the lawless territories and donned the disguise of a certain overweight sword cultivator. Immortal Sword Bandit Lin Huzhong reappeared and returned to the Black Mountain Stronghold where his disciples had been patiently waiting for him.
"Master, welcome back." Lin Qingcheng greeted him along with the others atop the stronghold walls.
She was dressed as Ren Jinjin, the first disciple of the infamous Lin Huzhong. Her excessive makeup made her look like the madam of a pleasure house. Her excessive jewelry completed the look. Beside her stood Zhou Ziyun and Wu Qianyu. One was a plain female monk with a forgettable face, the other a fearsome armored dragon warrior. They made for a curious trio.
"Master."
Six identically dressed women behind the trio also bowed as he landed. They wore long, dark red battle dresses. Their features were obscured by wide-brimmed hats and thick veils. Only their eyes were barely visible. If one didn't know any better, they would assume this was a troop of expert assassins, a group of deadly, beautiful warriors.
Chen Wentian smiled, "Are we ready to go?"
"Yes, master." They all replied.
He studied their faces, or as much as he could through their veils and metal helmets. Zhou Ziyun had a placid expression while Lin Qingcheng looked so excited she was about to start jumping up and down.
Their destination was the Temple of the Clouds. They had a long trip ahead. First, they would head to Thousand Sins City and take the teleportation array there to head deeper into the central region. Then, at an area named Hundred Battlefields, they would transfer to a flying boat for the rest of the way until they reached the mysterious place known as the Temple of the Clouds, the most hotly contested area in the entire continent, where many mortals and immortals alike gathered to seek untold fortunes.
"Very well. Hold onto each other and hold on tight!" He said.
His disciples obeyed. Lin Qingcheng directly hugged his fake, oversized belly. Zhou Ziyun held his arm on the other side. The rest crowded around him in a tight circle.
Chen Wentian spread his sword aura to encompass all of them and they took off. Still pretending to be a Spirit Lord, it was barely within his capability to carry nine people at the same time. Any more and bystanders would start wondering if something was wrong with him. He also made sure to take breaks every so often to appear as if he was struggling like an overweight, understrength immortal was bound to do.
This ragtag group eventually reached Thousand Sins City, only drawing a slight amount of attention. Immortal Sword Bandit Lin Huzhong's name was well known by now as the strange sword immortal who had taken over Black Mountain Stronghold. He was also the owner of the brand-new Red Willow Tower which was a big hit throughout the city. The rumor was that spending a night there with the highest quality women would give the customers a substantial boost in their cultivation efficiency and motivation. Thus, Lin Huzhong became a respected bandit lord that nobody cared to mess with.
Going through the teleportation array was a simple affair. Nobody bothered them. Nobody gave them trouble. They were just another group of bandits traveling across the central region. One would have expected the opposite, given that this place was known for lawlessness, violence, and general disregard for social norms.
The answer to that was quite simple. It was money.
Bandits, thieves, murders for hire, everyone had a price. The large gangs that ruled the various cities all had a price. Those that operated the teleportation arrays also had a price.
Granted, this price was many times more expensive than the price in an ordinary province. The cost for one person for a normal trip in the Eastern Sanmu Subcontinent was about ten taels of gold. Here, it was one hundred to sometimes two hundred taels of gold per person. Immortals also had to pay a special tax which was upwards of one thousand taels of gold per use.
Ignoring Zhou Ziyun's grumbling, Chen Wentian happily paid these exorbitant fees at each new city until they eventually arrived at a place known as the Hundred Battlefields. It was a strange place, a vast land filled with the aura of death.
The city, named Hundred Battlefields City, was situated on the far outskirts of a vast desolate flatland, the scene of over a hundred blood battles between humans, beasts, and all kinds of demons. Their blood and spiritual auras had seeped deep into the ground thousands of years ago. Their flesh and bones had long since turned into dirt.
However, the result of such carnage was a dark, eerie region that often gave birth to all kinds of strange demons and deathly spirit beasts. It was one of the many fascinating areas of the central region. Although it was not as attractive of a place as the Temple of the Clouds, it had a definite appeal to people who cultivated deathly spiritual arts.
After the Hundred Battlefields, their journey via teleportation arrays came to an end. Next came a long trip on flying boats. They came in all shapes and sizes. Various gangs operated these flying boats to make the difficult journey to and from the temple. Mortals could pay about ten thousand taels of gold per person to squeeze onto a boat that could carry several hundred. Those with more means could charter an entire flying boat for themselves.
Chen Wentian chose the latter.
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