Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)

(Author’s note: I mistakenly forgot that Lu Yang had visited Teacher Tiankui and the other two before condensing his Incipient Dao Fruit.)

“Little Lu, what brings you here? Shopping for items?”

Lu Yang scratched his head sheepishly. “I ran into a bit of trouble while traveling. I realized my speed is far too slow. I was hoping to consult the Thief King and the Thief Ancestor to see if they have any good solutions.”

Teacher Tiankui was surprised. “That’s an easy problem to solve. Why can’t you just use Shrinking Earth To Inches and Close Horizon From Cliff? I heard that was how cultivators crossed galaxies in ancient times.”

Noticing Lu Yang’s peculiar expression, Teacher Tiankui understood. “You’re not proficient in these two spells?”

Lu Yang. “...”

I can’t say I’m not proficient. The thing is, I learned it too properly.

“Let’s go then. We’ll take you to see Huang An.” The immortal sect founders took a liking to Lu Yang. They could only lament that such an outstanding junior hadn’t come from their sects.

“Huang An?”

“He’s the Thief Ancestor you mentioned.”

The Thief Ancestor was a prominent figure from sixty thousand years ago. Only a handful knew his true name, and even fewer dared to call him by his name. As it happened, the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign and the other immortal sect founders belonged to that “even fewer” category.

The four immortal sect founders marched to the top floor of the merchant guild headquarters and strode into the president’s office with an imposing aura.

The Thief King was in the middle of calculating the insurance premiums and compensation for the outer world exploration insurance policies when four “bandits” barged in with a harmless-looking Lu Yang in tow. Those who didn’t know would believe this was the scene of a violent crime.

“Lu Yang?” The Thief King thought to himself, Why is it you again?

“Is Huang An here? We’re looking for him.”

The Thief King recognized the four immortal sect founders and dared not slight them, hastily rising to his feet to welcome them. “May I ask what business you seniors have with the old man?”

“So many seniors have come looking for this junior. I am overwhelmed by the favor.” The Thief Ancestor suddenly appeared in the room with unimaginable speed.

“Senior Thief Ancestor,” Lu Yang greeted with a bow.

“No, no, no, don’t call me that.” How could the Thief Ancestor dare let Lu Yang address him that way? The Epoch Immortal calls Lu Yang “young friend.” If anything, Lu Yang is my senior.

“I’m here to ask if there is any way to travel quickly in the outer world.”

“Travel quickly?” The Thief Ancestor understood the purpose of their visit and chuckled. “You’re not the first to ask about this. Not long after the seal was undone, cultivators came to us with the same question. Whatever the request may be, the merchant guild will grant it. We’ve already begun tackling this issue. Please come with me, everyone.” He gestured for the group to follow and led them to the shipyard outside the imperial city.

The clanging sounds of shipbuilding could be heard from afar. Flying vessels were a major business for the Luodi Merchant Guild, and most of them were built here.

Upon entering the shipyard, Lu Yang noticed something unusual. The flying vessels he had seen in the past were hundreds or thousands of zhang long, but the ones being built now resembled the small black-awning wupeng boats[1] used by old fishermen.

“What are these?”

“These are small flying vessels our merchant guild has prepared for outer world voyages.” Cultivators exploring the outer world tended to travel in small groups of two or three, so there was no need for large vessels.

“The artifact refiners crafting these flying vessels are at least at the Fusion Stage. The hulls are engraved with Shrinking Earth To Inches arrays. When activated with spirit energy, they can traverse space. According to calculations, they can cover a distance of one light-year in just a month.”

The flying vessels couldn’t jump a full light-year in a single leap. The array’s size limited the distance of each jump, and there was a cooldown period between activations.

Even so, Lu Yang’s heart stirred. This vessel is perfect for me.

Master Zhengde raised an eyebrow. “There’s still plenty of room for improvement. I recall that when you came to steal from our Hanging Monastery, your Speed Incipient Dao Fruit could change not only your own speed but also mine.”

The Thief Ancestor’s face reddened. “Senior Zhengde, we agreed we wouldn’t bring that up again.”

Master Zhengde waved his hand. “What I’m saying is, you can change a flying vessel’s speed, can’t you?” He had heard that the cosmos was immeasurably vast. A light-year was merely the most basic unit of distance. If they wished to reach destinations millions or billions of light-years away, how long would these flying vessels take?

“I can’t. The flying vessels are too big for me to sustain the speed modification.” The Thief King produced a piece of immortal gold the size of a fist. “I can only maintain high speeds with objects this small. Like this.”

He activated his Speed Incipient Dao Fruit, his will linking to the immortal gold. It vanished with a whoosh and returned just as swiftly, its speed rivaling that of light. Few present could track its trajectory.

“Besides, if the flying vessel moves too fast, the hull will fall apart. For the entire vessel to withstand such extreme speed, every component will need to be forged from high-grade ores.”

Lu Yang pondered for a moment, then said, “Founding Ancestor, are you able to integrate this piece of immortal gold into the flying vessel?”

“I can give it a try.” The Primordial Heavenly Sovereign extended his hand. “Let me use this immortal gold for a bit.”

“Here.”

He then patted the wupeng boat beside him. “This one is already finished, right?”

“Yes.”

The Primordial Heavenly Sovereign touched the boat with one hand and held the immortal gold in the other, reciting softly, “Unite.”

The wupeng boat glowed. When the halo faded, the immortal gold had vanished, while the boat appeared completely unchanged.

The Thief Ancestor’s eyes widened. In his eyes, the boat had changed drastically. He could clearly sense that the wupeng boat and the immortal gold had become one. It could even be called an immortal treasure. Moreover, the concept of acceleration imbued in the immortal gold hadn’t dissipated. This meant that the wupeng boat possessed both spatial jump and light-speed travel capabilities. With it, one could go anywhere in the universe!

“Little Lu, give it a try.” Without waiting for a reply, the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign smiled and lifted Lu Yang onto the boat.

Piloting the flying vessel was simple. Although it was Lu Yang’s first time, he quickly learned the ropes. He steered the wupeng boat to soar skyward and to the world outside. Just as with the immortal gold’s appearance, few noticed how the boat had vanished.

Before long, Lu Yang returned in the boat. Both he and the boat were unharmed, and the boat still retained the concept of acceleration.

The Thief King’s heart pounded wildly. Once this wupeng boat hits the market, every cultivator exploring the outer world will buy it! A business opportunity! A colossal one!

“Senior Primordial, have you considered a collaboration between us, with profits split fifty-fifty?”

The Primordial Heavenly Sovereign wasn’t interested in spirit stones. He raised an eyebrow and said, “But the four of us are about to set off for the outer world.”

“Two days, please wait just two days. I’ll have our artifact-refining masters work overtime to produce a batch of small flying vessels. You just need to activate your Unity Incipient Dao Fruit two days later,” the Thief Ancestor hurriedly replied. In two days, we can produce twenty small flying vessels—sell the first batch to generate publicity, then build hype for the second batch.

Since the four immortal founders are venturing outside for the first time, they definitely won’t be gone long. Once the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign returns, we can continue our partnership.

“Seniors, you will also need a magical treasure to chauffeur you around, right? I’ll gift this wupeng boat to you!”

The Primordial Heavenly Sovereign turned to Lu Yang. “Little Lu, this wupeng boat is yours.”

The Thief Ancestor added, “I’ll gift another one to you four seniors!”

“That’s more like it.”

“Founding Ancestor, this is too valuable,” Lu Yang said. He was feeling overwhelmed by the favor. I only offered a suggestion. This wupeng boat is worth a fortune, and as the very first one, it holds extraordinary significance. Yet they’re really just giving it to me?!

He tried to jump off the boat, but the Primordial Heavenly Sovereign pressed him back down. “Just accept it. Consider it a gift for reaching the Transcendent Tribulation Stage.”

“A-Alright then.”

1. The wupeng boat, or the black-awning boat, is a traditional watercraft from the Jiangnan region of China. It has a bamboo awning that is typically painted black. ☜