Chapter 370: Setting Off
"Junior Brother, do you know the art of communing between heaven and earth?"
The moment he steadied himself, before he could even get a clear look at the paper boat, the words of a Divine Dao Mountain disciple reached his ears.
Bai Mo composed himself and saw the paper sails trembling, rustling loudly.
"I’ve never studied it. I’m completely clueless."
Bai Mo answered truthfully.
"I see. In that case, Junior Brother, you can just relax. Feel free to walk around, but please don’t touch anything..."
Many Cultivators from Divine Dao Mountain were moving about on the paper boat. A dozen or so sat cross-legged at the bow, wreathed in a profound aura.
A few disciples, like Bai Mo, who didn’t understand the methods involved, stood still in their spots.
Bai Mo stood by the railing and looked around. Every visible part of the boat was made of paper.
Touching it, he could feel the unique texture of paper.
The Divine Dao Mountain disciples walked back and forth carrying items like candles and paper ingots, occasionally whispering a few words to one another.
They looked very busy.
The few outsiders on board couldn’t get a word in.
After exchanging glances, they gathered together.
As it happened, the space on either side of Bai Mo was empty, so they walked over to him.
A refined-looking disciple cupped his hands to the others.
"Everyone, does anyone know what’s going on? What should we be doing?"
"My family pushed me onto this boat. I’m completely in the dark about this whole thing."
Among them was a disciple from Broken Blade Peak who happened to be standing next to Bai Mo. He knew the Black Prison on Mi Mountain was guarded by disciples from his own lineage.
This burly disciple seemed quite calm.
"Rest assured, everyone. This is a paper boat from Divine Dao Mountain. They wouldn’t use it for anything less than a grand or urgent event."
"They’re too busy to pay us any mind. As long as we don’t touch or climb on anything, we’ll be fine. Just don’t cause any trouble."
The disciple from Broken Blade Peak was well-informed and had worked with many other peaks.
They took his word for it.
But someone did ask about the principles behind the paper boat.
The burly disciple from Broken Blade Peak explained:
"I’ve heard they’re folded from rare paper and powered by the wandering lesser ghosts and remnant souls of the world."
"See those disciples sitting cross-legged at the bow? They’re using that art of communing between heaven and earth to communicate with the spirits and ghosts to push the boat!"
The group was greatly amazed.
"Tsk tsk, how many ghosts would you need to help push a boat full of people?"
The Broken Blade Peak disciple waved his hand dismissively.
"This paper boat... you say it’s heavy, but it’s not really. It’s made of paper, after all. A single Cultivator could lift it with a little effort."
"The main weight is us, but that’s really nothing to speak of..."
Because the paper boat was light and the ghosts and spirits behind the sails worked hard, the boat moved incredibly fast.
By the time they reached the cloud wall of the inner sect, they saw a full twelve other paper boats waiting there.
The boat Bai Mo was on executed a sharp turn, sliding effortlessly into place without so much as grazing the vessels beside it.
Scanning the area, Bai Mo didn’t see any sign of Yuan Chu and the other two.
’They’re probably somewhere taking care of Xiong Xin.’
The paper boats gathered together without any communication, and an absolute silence fell over the area.
The disciple near Bai Mo spoke up.
"What a shame. A treasure like this is rarely used because its materials are so rare."
"But to use so many at once today... did something happen?"
It was that same refined-looking disciple, truly clueless about the situation.
Bai Mo spoke up and briefly explained what had happened in the Mi Mountain region.
"Since none of you knew, then why did you all come?"
Everyone was taken aback, then they all started talking at once.
"A disciple from Divine Dao Mountain came to my door and personally invited me aboard. As for the reason, he just said it was because I helped them make a flag the other day..."
"Huh! My family found a way to get me thrown on this boat."
"I came because a relative gave me instructions..." someone said.
"Hm?"
"How do you still have family?"
"They told me in a dream. They said to wait on the hill when I had nothing else to do, and when the boat came, to jump on. That no one would drive me away."
Hearing this, everyone was stunned.
As they spoke, three more paper boats arrived one by one.
Seeing that all were present, a Divine Dao Mountain disciple drew out his voice and yelled.
"We’re off!!"
Everyone on the boats swayed, staggering from the inertia.
PHOOM! PHOOM PHOOM!
The paper boats plunged headfirst into the cloud wall. About a quarter of an hour later, they burst out of the outer sect and, without stopping, headed straight for the main gates.
Before long, the sect gates were left far behind them.
The paper boats tearing through the sky naturally attracted the attention of many Cultivators along the way.
During the day, it was one thing; the paper boats just had an eerie pallor.
But at night, the sixteen paper boats looked downright sinister. The aura of the living on board was completely concealed.
It made one unconsciously think of unpleasant things.
As they journeyed on, disciples from Divine Dao Mountain would occasionally disembark and head down to the cities below.
When they returned, they would be carrying different things, like the three sacrificial animals.
Occasionally, one could also see white rice and flour.
They made stops along the way, but their overall speed didn’t slow down.
A city appeared on the horizon. It wasn’t particularly grand, but its proximity to the Celestial Barrier Mountain range made it a rare sight.
Immortal Arrival City was close.
Bai Mo followed a disciple from Divine Dao Mountain off the boat.
He only found out after asking that they had disembarked specifically because Immortal Arrival City was close to the Celestial Barrier Mountain range.
Their purpose? Simply to find some good Demon Beasts for sacrifices.
"We still need to look around the city; we’ll be delayed for a day."
"Junior Brother, if you have things to do, feel free to go. Just be back before dawn."
Bai Mo agreed solemnly and quickly walked through the city gates.
The guards at the gate hadn’t changed. Seeing Bai Mo, they clearly recognized him and let him straight into the city.
The moment he entered, a strange, faint odor hung in the air, one that was unsettling to smell.
It was the smell of Demon Beast carcasses.
Looking around, he saw that the passersby all seemed accustomed to it. Some were even holding bloody pelts as they haggled with sellers.
Bai Mo got his bearings and headed toward his shop.
He walked down a familiar street. The bookshop on the corner was still there, run by an old Shopkeeper who had always looked out for Bai Mo.
The old Shopkeeper saw a child off, and when he looked up, he saw Bai Mo standing before him.
"Hey! You..."
The old Shopkeeper’s face showed a flicker of emotion.
"Brother Bai, you’re back!? It’s been so long!"
Bai Mo smiled and walked into the bookshop.
"I was just passing through Immortal Arrival City and thought I’d stop by to see how things are."
"Are you still in good health?"
The old Shopkeeper chuckled, leading Bai Mo into the shop.
"Of course! Things are good in the city now. I have some spare money, and I drink beast-blood soup every day..."
It was a health regimen from the older generation.
"I heard that in the Xuandao Sect, you’ve earned the esteem of the elders and been given an important position?"
Heaven knows who started that rumor. Bai Mo quickly waved his hands in dismissal.
"It’s not as grand as all that. I just got lucky and entered the inner sect after my Foundation Establishment."
Bai Mo said truthfully, "Now I’m guarding a place in the sect, so I’m not really free anymore."
The old Shopkeeper stroked his graying beard, looking Bai Mo up and down.
"Isn’t that a good thing?"
"I’m an old man, I don’t understand the affairs of the sects, so I won’t ask any more."
"But you’ve come back at the perfect time. Your shop is quite lively right now..."