Chapter 518: Setting Off
"Master," Su Ming called out softly in his Consciousness Sea.
Lin Yu's Soul Body flickered with an extremely faint light within the ring—a sign of his intense focus.
"See that?" Lin Yu's voice carried a mix of amazement and mockery. "That old bastard's airship is custom-made. Most flying vessels want everyone to know how fast they are. But him? The whole ship is carved with compound formation lines specifically designed to block divine sense detection."
"Afraid of being followed," Su Ming replied mentally.
"Sure is an old cunning bastard," Lin Yu snorted. "Riding a ship like this is like wearing a night suit while traveling through the dark."
"Get on the ship," Master Xuanming ordered.
Qingfeng and Mingyue could barely contain their excitement. With a single leap, they bounded onto the flying vessel and raced toward the stern, eagerly poking around the wooden railing. This was their first time leaving the Northern Frontier, heading to what legends called the most prosperous region in the cultivation world—the Central Continent.
Su Ming lightly tapped his toes and landed gracefully at the bow.
Shadow launched from his shoulder, circling once above the spiritual vessel. She seemed less than impressed with this musty, wood-smelling airship, letting out a crisp "cheep" before landing back on Su Ming's shoulder and burying her head in her feathers.
Master Xuanming boarded last.
He didn't walk to the bow. Instead, he casually sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion at the center of the cabin.
His withered fingers formed a complex hand seal, and a dull spiritual light sank into the deck.
There was no thunderous sound of breaking air. The spiritual vessel rose silently, like a leaf swept up by the wind.
Passing through the Cloud Hidden Sect's mountain-protecting formation, the airship shot northward at an astonishing speed.
Su Ming stood at the bow, watching the endless mountains sweep past below.
The wind at high altitude was fierce, but the concealment formation on the ship's surface skillfully channeled the currents to both sides. Inside, not only was there no turbulence, but even the sound of the wind was mostly cut off.
"The Central Continent," Su Ming murmured the name in his mind.
After a moment, he turned his gaze toward the rolling sea of clouds in the distance. The Green Nether Sword Sect guarding the pass, the divination old monster from Tianji Pavilion, Master Xuanming's enemies that might jump out at any moment...
Every step of this journey could not afford a single mistake.
The flying vessel glided silently through the clouds.
Qingfeng and Mingyue whispered to each other at the stern, occasionally letting out suppressed exclamations—perhaps spotting a peculiarly shaped mountain peak.
Master Xuanming sat with his eyes closed, as still as an old monk in meditation.
Su Ming faced the faint airflow, gently rubbing the Xuantian ring on his index finger with his right thumb. Then he closed his eyes and began circulating the *Like Water Art*.
...
The flying vessel sailed above the clouds for five days.
As they continued southward, the concentration of spiritual energy in the air began to shift in extremely subtle ways. The originally warm and dense spiritual energy gradually thinned.
Su Ming keenly noticed this change. He slightly adjusted the circulation trajectory of the *Like Water Art*.
"Cheep!"
Shadow, who had been quietly perched on his shoulder, suddenly let out a sharp, short cry.
Her black feathers bristled all at once, making her look like a frightened little black hedgehog. Her tiny claws dug deep into the fabric of Su Ming's shoulder, and she frantically pressed her whole body into the collar of his robe.
Su Ming quickly reached out, gently pressing Shadow's back and channeling a wisp of gentle spiritual energy into her to soothe her instinctive fear.
"Ahead," Lin Yu's voice echoed in the Consciousness Sea. His Soul Body flashed brightly in the void.
Su Ming looked up, following Lin Yu's direction to the front.
The sea of clouds ahead was forcibly torn apart by an invisible force, revealing an awe-inspiring, magnificent sight.
It was a pass so enormous it took one's breath away.
It stretched between two pitch-black mountain peaks that pierced the sky, wedging heaven and earth tightly together. The height of the wall was beyond measurement in ordinary units—it disappeared directly into the lead-gray thunderclouds above.
The entire pass was a cold, iron-gray hue, not built from brick and stone, but seemingly cast from some incredibly hard metal.
Qingfeng and Mingyue had stopped talking without realizing it. They clung to the railing, eyes wide, mouths slightly open—clearly utterly stunned by this colossal, almost inhuman structure.
"This... what is this place?" Qingfeng swallowed hard, his voice trembling.
"The pass guarded by the Green Nether Sword Sect," Su Ming replied calmly, though a hint of gravity lingered in his eyes. "We go through here to reach the Central Continent."
"A pass?" Mingyue turned her head, her young face full of confusion. "Why do we have to go through a pass? Can't we just fly over?"
Su Ming shook his head.
"There's a natural chasm between the Northern Frontier and the Central Continent," he said, pointing to the bottomless abyss on either side of the pass. "That area is filled with spatial rifts that can instantly shred a Golden Core cultivator's protective spiritual light, along with miasma that drains all spiritual energy. Only this passage, forcibly opened by ancient powerhouses, allows safe travel."
Master Xuanming didn't bother to explain. He didn't even open his eyes.
With a slight flick of his withered fingers, the flying vessel began to decelerate, descending toward a massive hovering stone platform in front of the pass.
As the ship drew closer, Su Ming cautiously extended his divine sense.
He could make out the towering city wall's surface.
There were no familiar "Gathering" runes, nor "Control" runes.
The wall was covered in straight, sharp, unyielding deep grooves. Those marks looked as if countless peerless swordsmen had used their most extreme sword qi to plow them into the surface.
Su Ming could feel the destructive power contained within those sword-shaped formation lines—enough to instantly shred the defense formed by his proud seven hundred and fifty formation runes into pieces.
No wonder Shadow had been so terrified that her fur stood on end. Beasts were far more sensitive to killing intent than humans.
The flying vessel landed smoothly on the stone platform.
The four of them disembarked. Master Xuanming raised a hand, and the vessel transformed into a beam of green light, flying back into his sleeve.
In front of the stone platform stood a massive bronze city gate.
Along the top of the wall, every ten paces, stood a sword cultivator with a long sword on his back. Their robes flapped violently in the strong wind, but each one stood like an unsheathed blade, utterly motionless.
At the highest point of the city wall, several heavy crossbows were mounted, so massive they made one's scalp tingle.
With his keen eyesight, Su Ming could clearly see the densely inscribed spirit-talisman-breaking runes on the arrowheads—each as thick as an adult's thigh, specifically designed to pierce spiritual power shields.
A cold-faced sword cultivator on duty strode forward from the gate, his eyes sweeping over the four like lightning, his hand never leaving his sword hilt.
Master Xuanming expressionlessly took out a token from his sleeve—neither metal nor wood—and tossed it over casually.
The sword cultivator caught the token, swept his divine sense over it, and the harshness in his eyes instantly softened. He returned the token with both hands and gave a slight bow.
"So it's Senior Xuanming," the cultivator said, his tone showing some respect, though his spine remained straight. "A routine inspection—please don't take offense, Senior. Follow me, please. The passage will open shortly."