“Wanna have some wine?”
Wu Ming ran to Zhang Han’s side and took out two jade cups. “This is the treasure I found on the western coast of the Ancient Mine. It’s called the Monkey Wine. It took me a lot of effort to get this from a Beast King. It has the fragrance of a hundred kinds of fruit. It’s the best wine. Try it.”
“Monkey Wine?”
Zhang Han took the cup without thinking. Wu Ming fetched out the wine pot and poured wine for Zhang Han.
A faint fragrance wafted through the air.
“They’re drinking now?”
Many people cast sidelong glances at the two.
“Come on, we’re going to a dangerous place to take a trial. How can you be in the mood for drinking? Can’t you tense up a bit?”
“Gulp…”
Zhang Guangyou swallowed subconsciously. He also loved wine. Seeing them drinking, his hankering was back.
“Daddy, we are about to get to the destination. You can’t drink. If you get drunk, who will protect Mummy and me?” said Mengmeng as she walked to Zhang Han’s side.
Her words made everyone’s expressions change.
“It does make sense that Zhang Han should protect you. But does Moon Empress need protection?”
“Ah, you’re right. I won’t drink then,” Zhang Han answered with a smile.
“Ahem.”
Zhang Guangyou looked at the other side and coughed with seeming nonchalance.
“Dad, would you like to have some?” Amused, Zhang Han took the initiative to ask Zhang Guangyou.
“All right.” Zhang Guangyou laughed inwardly, but he showed a slightly hesitant look on his face. He took the glass, sniffed the wine, and then took a sip.
“Wow, it tastes good.
“It’s really refreshing.”
Wu Ming couldn’t find any topic to share with Zhang Guangyou, but it was not fun to drink alone, so he began to talk about wine.
“Young Master Zhang, this pot of Monkey Wine I picked in the territory of the Monkey King is of the best quality. It’s very scarce. I heard that Immortal King Zhang is also an elder in the Deep Valley. Well, the Deep Valley is a nice place.”
Wu Ming gave a hollow laugh. He was strongly implying that he wanted to have a taste of the Deep Valley’s special wine.
After he drained the cup, Zhang Guangyou filled his cup up with the Deep Valley’s wine.
Just like that, the two began to drink from the little cups.
“Huh? Daddy!”
Mengmeng’s pupils suddenly stopped moving. She hurriedly grabbed Zhang Han’s arm and yelled, “Look, the sea has changed color!”
“Yes.”
Zi Yan also quickly blinked her eyes several times. “It has turned silver. Oh, this is a little scary. It’s like mercury. The liquid is dense.”
While speaking, Zi Yan subconsciously leaned closer to Zhang Han, but there was a third wheel in between, so she couldn’t wedge herself in.
In the front and back of the boat, many people eyed Zi Yan from time to time. They were surprised to find that she was… kind of charming and gentle as if a delicate woman, making others involuntarily want to protect her.
“Gee, is Moon Empress usually so, so cute?
Even those from the West Domain, North Domain, and South Domain, who had never met Moon Empress before, had the same thought in mind.
“What the heck is going on?
“Isn’t it said that Moon Empress is extremely powerful. Like a queen, she is high above the masses and has an unparalleled noble aura?
“But now…
“Oh, my eyes!
“The contrast is too strong.
“How could a queen act like this?”
“This is the Silver Sea Area. In half an hour, we will arrive at the Clear Stream, and then we will pass through the Roving Waterfall, enter the space passage, and go to the Lost Continent.”
Yue Wuwei leaped in a flash and landed at the bow of the boat. With his hands behind his back, he looked ahead with a cool look on his face.
At this moment, he really looked like an immortal. It was as if he had wandered in the entire universe to his heart’s content, and nothing could tie him down.
What the others didn’t know was that he was imitating the posture, vibe, and even expression of the master he mentioned.
“Far back then, Master also took a boat like this and sailed against the wind.”
Yue Wuwei sighed in his head.
“When can I meet Master again? This is the ninth trial. Would the Heavenly Lord we select this time be recognized?
“Or perhaps only when someone acquires the martial arts heritage of the Heavenly Lord… would I be able to once more witness Master’s grace.”
Yue Wuwei was looking forward to it very much.
“Don’t tell me that guy will obtain Heavenly Lord’s heritage, will he?”
Yue Wuwei slightly turned around and stole a glance at Zhang Han.
For a long time, other than Zi Yan, Zhang Han was also a person that he couldn’t see through. Zhang Han was a little peculiar. He knew everything and also excelled in everything. Yue Wuwei was quite baffled about that.
After they went past the mercury-like sea, something strange occurred. As if there was a watershed, the water ahead of them was extremely clear and calm. If it were not for the ripples the boat let in its track, everyone would even believe that the boat was flying in the air. It could be imagined how clear the water was.
From the angle they viewed things, they also seemed to be in the air. It looked like they were several kilometers above the ground. Fish were swimming at various altitudes. Since the water was so clear, the fish seemed to be flying in the sky.
Some of the fish looked very big, and some looked very small. Some were in a shoal, while some were swimming around by themselves.
It was simply a spectacle in the world.
“This is… weird.”
Zi Yan observed the surroundings carefully and then looked back. The Silver Sea Area was like a ninety-degree cliff, while the place they were at was full of clear currents.
The scenery was very beautiful, but it seemed even spookier.
“Daddy, what’s that?”
Mengmeng suddenly pointed to hundreds of meters to the right.
“It seems to be a Dragon Bone Fish.”
Zhang Han took a closer look and added, “It’s a slightly mutated Dragon Bone Fish.”
“Dragon Bone Fish?” Mengmeng was a little stunned. She thought she had heard this name somewhere.
Seeing Mengmeng’s big eyes showing a pensive look, Zi Yan suddenly laughed.
“Do you still remember that when you were four years old, we brought back a Dragon Bone Fish, but Dahei and Little Hei roasted it the same day?”
“Huh? Oh, now I remember. Mummy mentioned it before.”
“W-woof!”
Little Hei called out in a low voice.
“That fish you brought back? It tasted good.
“As soon as it came to the mountain, it jumped up and down without a stop and made trouble in the pond. Even if we didn’t eat it, we wouldn’t spare it anyway, would we?”
“The Roving Waterfall is right ahead of us,” Yue Wuwei suddenly declared after traveling for a while.
Ten seconds later after he said that, the sound of running water was heard.
“Splatter!”
The sound of running water was getting louder and louder. But as far as they could see, there was still no ripple on the surface of the water. Even though the boat had created some ripples, they would slowly dissipate after stretching for dozens of meters.
Gradually, the sound of running water became more and more thunderous.
“We seem to be very close to the waterfall. Why haven’t I seen it?”
Zi Yan found it a little odd.
“Here we are.”
Zhang Han abruptly said, “Look downward.”
“Swoosh, swoosh!”
The people around quickly looked down from both sides of the boat.
In an instant, they were all dumbstruck.
Below them, endless water was pouring down vertically, white waves leaping up at the bottom. The waves were magnificent, which was certainly a wonder of the world.
As the poem says, watching the flying currents plunge down 3000 feet, I’m wondering if the Milky Way had fallen from the sky.
However, in the case of the Roving Waterfall, it might be more suitable to measure the water by miles than by feet.
Just like that, the boat kept moving forward. The passengers felt that it sailed very stably and slowly. But in fact, it was moving extremely fast. Shi Fenghou had a thorough understanding of this. He could vaguely feel that if he flew at full speed and overtook sound by seven or eight times, he would be instantly left far behind by this boat in a race.
He didn’t know how fast it was. But he was sure that its speed was so fast that it was beyond everyone’s imagination.
Gradually, they felt like they were in the void, as if they had been struck by Zhang Hanyang’s famous Star Map and Thunder Sea. It was dark around them. A moment later, they saw colorful beams of light flashing around the boat.
“The space passage.”
Zhang Han rubbed Mengmeng’s head and said softly, “The space passage connects two different worlds. Although the two words are tens of millions of miles away from each other, we can travel from one to the other in a split second.”
“Huh?”
Mengmeng was a little dazed. “Is it like the folded space? When there are three points in a straight line and we fold the line from the middle point, the two points on the two ends will become one. This way, the people on either of the two points can reach the other point in an instant. Is that so?”
“Er…”
Zhang Han was taken aback. This question was a little tricky. After thinking for two seconds, he answered with a smile, “The specific principle behind this is the skipping space. What you said may just be some theoretical knowledge.”
“Here we are.”
After they chatted for just a moment, the surroundings once again became pitch-black. However, this time, there were many dots of glimmering starlight in the darkness. One could even clearly see that there were planets in the distance.
“Are we in the void of the universe?”
Everyone present perked up.
“Good heavens, we don’t seem to be in the solar system anymore!”
Instructor Liu was alarmed. He looked left and right and asked, “What’s that? A dragon-shaped planet? That frozen planet seems to be very big.”
“Look back.”
Yue Wuwei smiled faintly.
“Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!”
Everyone turned around. At the sight of the view behind them, they were all stupefied.
In the distance, an incomparably large continent was floating there.
“It’s just like the land floating in the air in that computer game I played,” Mengmeng said in surprise.
“But why is the whole continent covered by a blue storm?” Zi Yan said, puzzled.
“Because I’ve picked the Lost Continent as the trial field.”
Standing at the bow of the ship, Yue Wuwei said with a smile, “On the Lost Continent, there are many strange beasts and even the secret realms. Those at the Elixir Realm Last-Stage are still weak and insignificant. Don’t think that you won’t die. I actually believe that after you go in, about 10 people will die in less than three hours. But that will have nothing to do with me. You can set off from here and enter the Lost Continent. When you enter the Light Gate, relax your mind because I will teach you a method which can help you understand the language of the Cultivation World.”
As he spoke, dazzling light shot out from his eyes and formed a Light Gate.
The two black men standing closest to him walked straight across the Light Gate without a word.
Then, the others entered one after another.
Shortly, only Zhang Han and his group were left on the boat.
“Those people will scatter in different places after they go in.”
Yue Wuwei said, “But when you go in, you will land in the same place together. I can’t do much in the trial field, nor can I intervene too much. But the one thing I can do is arrange for you to land in the same position. If you go in together, there is strength in numbers. But you will consume a lot of energy and you may land in some dangerous place. Make a choice. Do you want to go in together or in groups?”
“Let’s go in together,” Zhang Han answered without hesitation.
Zhang Han had confidence in his strength. Even if so many people fell in a dangerous place, he believed he would be able to solve the crisis. Even if he couldn’t, they still had Zi Yan help them.
Yue Wuwei had said that the energy to drive the trial on the Lost Continent came from the Saint Warrior Planet. Since Zi Yan’s power transcended the rules of the Saint Warrior Planet, it should be the same here.
“Okay.” Yue Wuwei nodded. “A month later, if no one gets the martial arts heritage of the Heavenly Lord, I will come and take you back.”
“I see, Grandpa Yue. Don’t forget to come back, or we would have no way to go home.” Mengmeng reminded him, waving her goodbyes.
“Don’t worry. I’ve been here this whole month. I can’t go in there, but I can sense you. You can just think of me as a satellite that is peeping at you in the air. Hahaha, go ahead.”
Yue Wuwei’s attitude toward Zi Yan and Mengmeng was much nicer than that he had when dealing with Zhang Han.
Zhang Han was also bewildered by this matter. For some reason, Yue Wuwei seemed to have held a grudge against him.
What he didn’t know was that Yue Wuwei was sulking because several years ago, Zhang Han took advantage of the loophole and got Zi Yan pregnant, who then gave birth to a daughter. Yue Wuwei suspected that Zi Yan really had something to do with his master. “She should not be in a romantic relationship with him. But what if she is Master’s daughter?”
If his master got angry because of his negligence, he would be the one to suffer. Thus, he naturally had no liking for Zhang Han.
However, this was just what he showed to the public. Deep down, he still thought highly of Zhang Han.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”
Zhang Han’s family of three were the fastest to get in. The view around them flashed, and the whole world changed.
“Eh?”
“The sky here is so blue.”
Zi Yan look around the moment she landed in the new world. She was standing on a tall mountain peak, surrounded by mountains and valleys. It looked like a primitive world. The sky was a deep blue, without any sign of pollutions. The air was fresh. It was daytime. The place was very brightly lit, but there was no sun in the sky, which made people feel that something was missing. It was kind of odd.
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…”
Chen Changqing, Mu Xue, Zhao Feng, Zhang Mu, and the others appeared in no time.
The first thing they did was also observe the surroundings.
“The sky is very blue.”
“Why is there no sun? Ah, right, right, we are not in the solar system anymore.” Instructor Liu patted his head and said, “Why is it daytime? How do we distinguish daytime from nighttime? Is it always daytime here?”
“There are many mountains around here.”
“It’s so majestic, like a fairyland.” Deep Flame was silent for a long time before he asked, “Brother Mu, I heard that we were going here for a trial. But that Elder Yue didn’t tell others that he would come and bring us back in just a month, didn’t he?”
“That is my granddaughter-in-law’s privilege. If you didn’t come with us and everyone failed to obtain the heritage of the Heavenly Lord a month later, you wouldn’t be able to leave here,” Zhang Mu said slowly.
These words made Deep Flame’s hair stand on end.
“There is more you should know. Some high-level forces across the Sea Dragon Star Area will also participate in this trial. The Sea Dragon Star Area is extremely large. There will definitely be a fierce battle. Brother Flame, I know you are used to acting alone. If you do want to explore this land by yourself, you gotta be careful.”
Deep Flame didn’t know how to respond.
“Why are you driving me away as soon as we came in?
“Don’t you know that I liked to act alone because I was in a world I was familiar with? I didn’t say anything this time. Well, well, Zhang Mu, why are you doing this to me?
“What can I say now? I’m rather desperate!”
The corner of Deep Flame’s mouth could not stop trembling.
Zhang Mu was dazed for a moment. Then, he suddenly laughed. “Of course, I suggest you staying with us until we are familiar with the situation. My grandson has a lot of experience in this kind of exploration, so we can simply listen to him.”
“A lot of experience?” Deep Flame was stunned again.
“It’s also his first time here, isn’t it? How could he be experienced?”
“The Sea Dragon Star Area is indeed vast. The Kunlun Immortal World can’t even compare to a planet here. There are thousands of planets in the Sea Dragon Star Area, and many of them are inhabited by creatures possessing advanced abilities.”
Zhang Han gave a simple explanation. He looked around with his deep eyes and sighed.
“I have good news and bad news for you.”
“Tell us the bad news first,” Mengmeng said immediately.
“The bad news is that we are probably in the depths of a huge mountain range now. It’s quiet all around. And chances are strange beasts will appear. We might run into more than one of such beast,” Zhang Han said.
“Strange beasts? What level are they at?” Zhang Mu asked.
“Those who can be called a strange beast are at least at the early stage of the Yuan Ying Realm, but the ones here shouldn’t be too overwhelmingly powerful,” Zhang Han replied.
“Then what’s the good news?” Mengmeng tugged at Zhang Han’s hand again.
“The good news is we’re safe for the time being.”
Zhang Han chuckled and took a deep breath.
The air here was quite familiar to him. Now that he had entered the Cultivation World again, he felt a little overwhelmed by emotions.
“Ow!”
Suddenly, a roar sounded not far from the east.
“There’s a battle!”
Everyone was instantly on guard.
“Judging by the roar, the creature seems to be very strong. Should we leave from the side?” Deep Flame’s eyes were watchful. He had just arrived at the Lost Continent and no one knew much what this world was like. Hence, he did not dare to go over and watch a battle that did not concern himself.
“I reckon that the fight is less than 20 miles away from us. I can even feel some pressure from here. Is the beast that roared really a strange beast in the Yuan Ying Realm?” Mu Xue looked curious. “Master, should we go and have a look?”
She was completely fearless of getting into trouble. Because in her eyes, Zhang Han was as omnipotent as a god.
The others, including Zhang Mu, Zhang Guangyou, and Zi Yan, all remained silent. It was clear that they would completely do what Zhang Han told them.
“Let’s go take a look.”
Zhang Han pondered for two seconds and said, “If it is a battle between spirit beasts, we will leave in the opposite direction. If people are involved, we will stay and observe to see who they are. I suspect that some forces in the Sea Dragon Star Area have come earlier than us.”
He still remembered that Yue Wuwei looked a little hesitant when telling him when they would set off for the Lost Continent.
Yue Wuwei said they should come on the second day of the new year. Zhang Han reckoned that the forces in the Sea Dragon Star Area set off a few days earlier than them.
“Whiz, whiz, whiz, whiz!”
Everyone rose into the air and rapidly flew low past the top of the mountain in the direction of that battle. On the top of the mountain was rock-strewn. They did not see any plants until they reached the mountainside.
There was a wide range of plants here. They couldn’t recognize many of those, for they looked very bizarre.
“This is not a tree, but a Water Flower.”
Zhang Han pointed to a plant more than 30 meters high. It looked like a willow. But its trunk and branches were as if made by blue water, which kept flowing in a circle. Seeing that Zi Yan and Mengmeng were both staring at that plant, Zhang Han took the initiative to introduce it. “The Water Flower is an ordinary plant. Looking at its height, it is almost at the Elixir Realm Middle-Stage. Its water can fly away from its body at a very fast speed. If anyone at the Elixir Realm Early-Stage touched it by accident, he or she would be glued there and eventually be devoured by it and become its nourishment.”
“It’s such a beautiful tree. However…” Mu Xue grinned. “Isn’t it just an enhanced version of the Cannibal Tree?”
“It’s not a tree. My father said it’s called Water Flower.” Mengmeng reminded her.
“Oh, but it looks like a tree.”
Mu Xue shook her head slightly. “Can’t believe a tree, no, a flower can have such power. It seems that this place is really dangerous. Who would have ever imagined this if not coming here?”
“We’ve just headed down the mountain for a few minutes…”
Chen Changqing chimed in with a grave look, “But I already smelled danger, or perhaps the aura of consciousness, from more than a dozen plants. Are there any plants with consciousness in the Cultivation World?”
“Yes.”
Zhang Han nodded. “In the vast world, there are various kinds of life forms. Some plants have gained consciousness and evolved into special life forms. Their Source Energy is the purest. Many cultivators will try to hunt them down once they spot them. Unfortunately, many of those cultivators are killed by the plants instead. Some of the plants can be very strong.”
