Vessel of Worlds

Everyone turned toward the voice. A girl of eighteen or nineteen in a red dress, with large, lively eyes and an air of boundless energy, was stepping lightly into the tearoom.

Andy felt a jolt of caution at the sight of her. Young as she appeared, she was already at mid-stage Foundation Establishment.

"Fairy Hong is here!" "Greetings, Fairy Hong!" "Fairy Hong, it's been too long!" Seven or eight cultivators in the tearoom clearly knew her, rising to their feet with clasped fists to call out greetings.

The stubble-faced big man and the cold-faced young man both stood to welcome the girl, and Andy rose along with them, saluting in turn.

The girl returned each greeting one by one, then came over and sat down at Andy's table. Another serving girl immediately brought her a cup of spirit tea.

"Third Brother Xun, if we're talking about beautiful women, the title surely belongs to the foremost beauty of West Star Island—the young mistress of the Mystic Change Pavilion!" The girl picked up the thread of the conversation about beautiful female cultivators.

"That's just talk from recent years. The Yun family's fairy goes veiled all day long—how many people have actually seen her face?" the big man said.

"Heh, you men certainly never will. But I've had the good fortune of seeing it once, and I can tell you the title of West Star Island's foremost beauty is entirely deserved." The girl smiled, then turned suddenly to Andy. "By the way—how should I address this fellow cultivator?" She had never seen Andy before, and finding him seated among Xun San and the cold-faced young man had piqued her curiosity. She casually erected a sound-dampening barrier enclosing the four of them.

"This is Fellow Cultivator Zhao!" Xun San made the introductions. "Fellow Cultivator Zhao, this is Di Er, and this is Hong Si." He indicated the cold-faced young man and the wide-eyed girl. The three exchanged salutes.

"I'm ranked fourth in our team, but my name isn't actually Hong Si—it's Hongchen. A pleasure, Fellow Cultivator Zhao." The girl evidently found "Hong Si" far too unlovely a name to let stand, and offered the correction herself.

"A pleasure, Fairy Hongchen," Andy said tactfully.

"And greetings, Fellow Cultivator Di," he added to the young man.

The cold-faced young man merely gave Andy a slight nod and said nothing more. Andy returned a good-natured smile and an equally slight nod, and likewise said nothing.

"Fellow Cultivator Zhao, if you've come to this tearoom, might you also be looking to hunt beasts and searching for a suitable team?" Xun San asked bluntly. Nine out of ten visitors these days came for exactly that reason.

"That's right. I lack experience, and I'd very much like to join a team." Andy admitted it just as plainly. He still knew next to nothing about hunting beasts at sea and had no experience whatsoever. At minimum, he needed to learn where to hunt, how to track beasts, what tactics to use once one was found, and what dangers to expect—only then would he consider hunting alone.

The big man was delighted. "Well! Our team happens to be recruiting one more. Would Fellow Cultivator Zhao be interested? Our team leader is none other than Xi Feng—a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator of great renown on West Star Island. Perhaps you've heard of him? He'll be arriving at this very tearoom shortly to meet us!"

Xi Feng—him! Andy felt a flicker of pleasure. Among the handful of Foundation Establishment cultivators Xiao Ye had named as having first-rate reputations, Xi Feng had been one. Joining his team would be no bad thing at all. "Fellow Cultivator Xi's name and standing on West Star Island are known even to me," he said. "I only worry that my shallow cultivation might hold you all back."

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The big man laughed heartily. "Too modest, Brother Zhao! Never mind anything else—those peak-grade flying needles of yours alone would add a great deal of certainty to our hunts!"

The cold-faced young man and the wide-eyed girl, who had been somewhat puzzled by the big man's warm hospitality toward an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, wore looks of sudden understanding at the words "peak-grade flying needles"—and promptly began showing interest in Andy themselves.

The wide-eyed girl said: "You have peak-grade flying needles—multiple? That would make hunting far more convenient. The four of us have partnered for years; we each know our role and work together seamlessly. But the one thing we lack is a clean finishing blow. Big Brother Xi's meteor hammer is matchless in raw power, but it's not built for precision—more than once it's smashed a beast to pulp, ruining the materials and sometimes even destroying the beast core. With your needles assisting, everything becomes simpler! We four pin the beast down, you drive your needles into its vital points—one strike, one kill!" Her meaning was plain: she very much hoped Andy would join.

"Exactly so!" the big man said with delight, watching Andy with open anticipation.

Even the perpetually frosty young man now regarded Andy with a trace of expectation in his eyes.

Andy considered for a moment. "If you'll have me, I'll certainly do my best. I only wonder whether Fellow Cultivator Xi might object to my low cultivation."

"Heh." The girl smiled winningly at his acceptance. "Set your mind at ease. Big Brother Xi has always known how to judge talent and use it well—he doesn't stand on formalities. Your cultivation may be early-stage, but carrying treasures like yours, your real strength is hardly comparable to an ordinary early-stage cultivator's!"

The girl was already strikingly beautiful, those luminous eyes of hers nearly enough to steal a man's soul, and her flowering smile added still more color—the big man beside her was staring in something close to a daze.

Noticing this, the girl flushed faintly and spat: "Third Brother Xun—isn't that right?"

"Ah—yes, quite right!" The big man started, collected himself, and said with some embarrassment: "Truth be told, Fourth Sister, I've already lost to Fellow Cultivator Zhao myself!"

"Oh? Really? Do tell, Third Brother!" The girl's large eyes blinked with keen interest.

"Fellow Cultivator Xun is too kind. We never actually crossed arms that day—he withdrew of his own accord. In a real fight, I'd hardly be his match," Andy said with a mild smile.

"With that many flying needles, Brother Zhao, all I could have done was defend for my life. One slip and I'd have been badly hurt—no sense dragging it out!" The big man waved a hand and gave the cold-faced young man and the wide-eyed girl a brief account of that day's events.

When the two heard that Andy had deployed eight flying needles at once, they were more than a little shocked.

At their mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, they could control five or six peak-grade artifacts simultaneously at most. Yet this man commanded eight flying needles at once. Either his spiritual sense was extraordinary—far beyond his rank—or the needles had been forged as a matched set, which cost less spiritual sense to control than independently forged artifacts. And a matched set could coordinate among themselves in unpredictable ways, making them more powerful still.

Both of them revised their estimation of Andy sharply upward, privately wondering: if they ever faced this man themselves, could they hold their own?

The Xi Feng they awaited had yet to arrive, so the group fell to chatting about memorable hunts, and Andy, short on experience as he was, listened with relish.

The beasts of the Outer Star Sea, it turned out, came in an enormous variety, each species with its own abilities and quirks requiring tailored counters. Moreover, the location of the beast core differed by species—most sat within the skull, but some lay in the belly—and a hunter had to know precisely where, or risk destroying the core. More than half a beast's value lay in that core.

Beyond direct artifact attacks, various auxiliary methods came into play—talismans and formations among them. Talismans needed no explanation; they served well in both attack and defense, though as consumables they couldn't be spent too freely. Formations were exceptionally useful in beast hunting: beasts possessed limited intelligence, so if a formation could be laid in advance and the beast lured inside, the formation's power made the kill far easier—twice the result for half the effort.

Andy listened intently to everything the girl and the big man shared of their hunting experience. Time and again, a few brief sentences would open his eyes and teach him a great deal.

Half an hour later, the girl—mid-sentence in the lively discussion of beasts—suddenly stopped talking, her eyes turning toward the tearoom entrance with delight and a trace of open admiration. The big man and the cold-faced young man looked over with equal pleasure. Nor was it just their table: every cultivator in the tearoom fell silent in the same instant, gazes fixed on the doorway. A tall, imposing middle-aged cultivator with sword-straight brows and a squared face strode into the tearoom—none other than West Star Island's celebrated late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, Xi Feng.