The flying boat that Chen Wentian chose was called the Skyward General. It was fifty meters from bow to stern and about half of that across. It could comfortably hold twenty to thirty people for the journey to the Temple of the Clouds.
Such a flying boat was far bigger and more luxurious than those that flew above the skies of the Eastern Sanmu Metropolis. And it wasn't even considered big among its peers. There were ones sixty meters, seventy meters, or even a hundred meters in length soaring across the Hundred Battlefields.
The owner of the Skyward General was an old Spirit Lord who called himself Immortal Silver Brawler Yu Yanwu. He was a wizened old fart with one foot in death's door. Still, it was enough to own and operate a flying boat that made the dangerous trip between the Hundred Battlefields and the Temple of the Clouds. Having an immortal on each boat was the bare minimum.
Chen Wentian paid the requisite fee of one million taels of gold without haggling. After taking on supplies, the Skyward General set off for a five-day trip across a vast wilderness. During that time, they would cross endless mountain ranges, massive volcanoes, ancient glaciers, living forests, powerful rivers, and fathomless lakes. It was an unpredictable land; prone to earthquakes, lightning storms, wildfires, floods, and other natural disasters. Unnatural disasters were also common with beast hordes and demon uprisings as common as the sun rising every day.
The flying ship rose among the clouds and flew north at the speed of a soaring eagle. Onboard were two immortals, the elderly Immortal Silver Brawler Yu Yanwu and the obese Immortal Sword Bandit Lin Huzhong. Accompanying them were Yu Yanwu's crew which consisted of ten people at varying levels of the Spirit Initiate Realm and Lin Huzhong's entourage of nine.
The voyage started uneventfully. Across the sky, those on the Skyward General could occasionally see other flying boats either going in the same direction or heading back the other way. As the first day passed, these encounters became less and less until they were the only ones flying in all directions.
"Today's weather is nice, isn't it?" Yu Yanwu wheezed from the steering wheel atop the bridge located in the middle of the ship.
Chen Wentian stood nearby, his fat arms crossed over his wide chest and resting on his belly, "Is it? It seems a little foggy."
Around them, the blue sky had been taken over by clouds as thick as rice porridge. It was difficult to tell up from down, left from right, north from south. They could be heading directly at a mountain and they wouldn't know until the last moment.
"How do you know where you are going like this?" Chen Wentian asked.
"Cough... cough... that's simple, take a look at this." Yu Yanwu said and pointed to the contraption beside the wheel.
It was a glass sphere encased in bronze and gold. Inside, there was a small white cloud that was trying to escape in a certain direction, only to be stopped by the solid glass.
"Oh? What is that?"
"A spiritual cloud, it wants to return to the Temple of the Clouds. This is how all the flying boats navigate."
Chen Wentian frowned, "Aren't we going a little off course?"
The cloud in the sphere was not directly pointing ahead but slightly to the right. He didn't know anything about flying boats but even he knew it didn't look right.
The old man waved his hand, "Haha, don't worry. We're taking a slight detour to avoid an active volcano. You wouldn't know about it. It's information the captains of the various flying boats pass to each other. If you had chosen to fly to the Temple of the Clouds yourself, not only would you not be able to find it, you might have died already. But I have sailed these skies for over a hundred years and I'm still alive!"
"Ah, I see," Chen Wentian replied, unconvinced.
"So… I haven't heard your name around here before. What group are you a part of?"
Chen Wentian hid a frown. He expected such a question but it came too quickly. They had barely been on the boat for half a day.
"Million Swords Menace." He replied.
"Million Swords Menace… sounds impressive. But I've never heard of it before. Who's the master of this Million Swords Menace?" Yu Yanwu asked.
"I'm the master." Chen Wentian said.
"You?" Yu Yanwu's eyebrows raised.
He looked like he wanted to say something but thought better of it. He muttered something inaudible under his breath and went back to staring at the sea of clouds in front of them.
"What about you?" Chen Wentian asked. "What gang are you a part of?"
"Gang? No gang! Don't lump me in with those cretins. I'm just a bored old man with a flying boat, waiting for the eventuality of death. Did you know… I am two hundred and thirteen years old? My heavens, the days pass so quickly now, it's hard to keep track… Back when I was one hundred and fifty-eight…" The old fart kept rambling about some nonsense or another, not answering the original question at all.
Chen Wentian glanced at the other immortal suspiciously for a while. Eventually, he gave up listening to the gibberish and strode off the bridge. He met his disciples at the front of the boat. They were huddled together, warily staring out into the pale white abyss all around them. Even Lin Qingcheng had lost her usual cheer and was full of worry.
"Master," They greeted as he arrived.
"Master," Lin Qingcheng spoke first, "How does the old immortal captain fly the boat through such a fog?"
"How does he know where he is going?" Wu Qianyu asked.
"What if we get lost?" Su Yue added.
"I don't think he'll get lost." Zhou Ziyun answered before Chen Wentian could, "And I am pretty sure such an experienced immortal will know where he is going. However… it remains to be seen if we're actually heading to the Temple of the Clouds or not."
"Sis, what do you mean? Aren't we going to the Temple of the Clouds?" Lin Qingcheng asked.
"We are. But that captain might not be."
Her ominous words sank in slowly, further increasing the tension in the air. They were already on a dangerous journey. Now they had to think about the possibility of their hired ride betraying them.
"Master, you should have at least tried to negotiate with him about the price. Now, he probably thinks we're a bunch of fat sheep." Zhou Ziyun complained softly.
Chen Wentian smiled and patted her arm, "Yimin, you're so smart, always right on the key deductions. However, did you consider this?"
He lowered his voice to a whisper, "What if I wanted to be a wolf in sheep's clothing?"
As he said this, the flying boat suddenly jerked as it changed direction without warning. Instead of left or right, the boat started to descend rapidly, gaining speed until they were hurtling toward the ground.
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