Vessel of Worlds

Between Hongchen's introductions and his own wandering thoughts, Andy followed the group out of the hall and into a market of staggering bustle and scale.

The market was extraordinarily vast—looking out across it, Andy couldn't see where it ended. Everywhere stood tall, multi-storied buildings, packed densely together, easily more than a thousand of them. The streets, dozens of zhang wide, flowed with cultivators, and many more flew back and forth overhead—the market was so large that no flight-restriction had been imposed. Otherwise, crossing it on foot alone would likely take days.

"The teleportation formations for Penglai and its subordinate major islands are almost all here in the market at the foot of Yuntai Mountain," Hongchen said. "But the formations leading to the Outer Star Sea are at Yuntai Mountain's summit. Let's go!"

The group mounted their various flying artifacts and rose straight into the sky.

Looking down from the Wind-Treader Dragon, Andy realized that the enormous market occupied only a small strip of land built along the mountain's base. When he had climbed several hundred zhang and looked down again, the market had shrunk to a small patch, its great buildings reduced to grains of rice. Yet Yuntai Mountain still towered into the clouds, its summit nowhere in sight. As for the peak's breadth—though it narrowed with height, even here at the mountain's waist it was several hundred kilometers across, blocking most of his view. The slopes were built up in terrace upon terrace of cave dwellings and pavilions, many shimmering with restriction light of various colors—clearly under formation protection.

The group flew steadily up along Yuntai Mountain, and after a good while, at an altitude of two or three thousand zhang, they finally reached the summit.

The summit was not especially large—only some dozens of kilometers across—and upon it stood ten identical palace-like structures built of white jade. Here at last, with Yuntai Mountain no longer blocking his view, Andy could gaze out over the rest of the Immortal Island of Penglai. He discovered that in the distance rose several dozen peaks the size of Yuntai Mountain—and one among them was many times taller and broader still, though from its waist upward it was wrapped in dense cloud and mist that hid its full form.

"That is Penglai Peak!" Hongchen said, following Andy's gaze to the colossal mountain. Then she changed the subject. "Fifth Brother, that dragon-shaped flying artifact of yours is quite out of the ordinary. If you flew at full speed, I doubt any of us could keep up."

"Truly—where did you get it?" Xun San had been eyeing the Wind-Treader Dragon with envy for some time. The flood-dragon-shaped artifact was not only extremely fast but made for a magnificent sight besides.

"I forged it myself from flood dragon materials. After many failures, luck finally favored me once, and this was the result," Andy said truthfully.

"Oh? Fifth Brother has attainments this high in artifact forging!" Xi Feng said with mild surprise. Formation masters, artifact crafters, alchemists—all such professions demanded years upon years of accumulated experience, and their ranks were mostly middle-aged or elderly. Someone as young as Andy was a rarity.

"I do have a real interest in the crafting path," Andy said. "In idle hours I like nothing better than reading crafting texts, and now and then I try my own hand at forging artifacts. I wouldn't call my skills anything remarkable." This was no false modesty. Without the aid of vast quantities of high-grade spirit stones, his current technique—even with excellent materials—could scarcely produce a peak-grade artifact. And even so, the value of the high-grade stones he wasted in the forging was astronomical. Had he traded those stones in a market for treasures instead, he could have acquired not merely peak-grade artifacts but a whole collection of dharma treasures.

Xi Feng nodded. "Well then—if this trip yields a good haul, you may take first pick of beast materials for your crafting, and we'll convert the rest to spirit stones."

"Thank you, Big Brother!" Andy was quietly delighted. With some first-rate rank-five beast materials, he might even manage to produce a high-grade spirit tool.

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Xi Feng led them down before a palace at the center of the summit.

"Do all ten of these palaces hold teleportation formations to the Outer Star Sea?" Andy asked curiously.

"That's right!" Hongchen answered patiently. "The ten white jade palaces house ten formations, leading respectively to Islands One through Ten of the Outer Star Sea. Each island lies a different distance from the Inner Star Sea—Island One is nearest, Island Ten farthest, in the deepest waters. The distribution of beasts follows suit: the farther out, the denser the beasts and the more numerous the high-ranked ones. Island One is much like the Inner Star Sea, with only some rank-one beasts nearby—plenty of mortals even live there. From Island Three onward, rank-three beasts begin to appear. Island Five, where we're headed, has mostly rank-four beasts, along with some rank-threes and rank-fives—though unless your luck is truly wretched, you won't run into anything rank-six or above. As for the farthest, Island Ten, they say rank-seven beasts are everywhere in those waters. If dozens of Core Formation seniors didn't garrison that island year-round, the beasts would have destroyed it long ago. The seas beyond Island Ten have never been explored or settled. One can only imagine—they must be more terrifying still."

"I see!" Andy asked another question. "Why don't any Nascent Soul seniors garrison the Outer Star Sea?"

"Heh, that I couldn't tell you. The affairs of Nascent Soul seniors are far beyond what Foundation Establishment cultivators like us may ask about. Big Brother Xi, do you know anything?" Hongchen smiled and turned to Xi Feng.

Xi Feng shook his head with a rueful smile.

The group entered the fifth palace. Inside was indeed a mid-sized teleportation formation, modest in scale, attended by three cultivators in matching green robes. Two were at late-stage Foundation Establishment; the third, a lean old man, radiated fluctuations beyond either of them—so far beyond that Andy couldn't gauge his depth at all. A single sweeping glance from the man pressed down on Andy like a great weight. This had to be a cultivator at Core Formation or above.

"Senior, the five of us wish to teleport to Island Five." Xi Feng bowed to the old man and produced ten mid-grade spirit stones.

Without so much as raising a hand, the old man let the ten stones fly of their own accord into his sleeve and vanish. He flicked a flat glance at Andy. "You—a mere early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator—you mean to go to Island Five as well?"

"In answer to Senior: yes. I ask for Senior's permission," Andy said with a bow.

"Hmph. If you're set on seeking death, why would I stop you?" the old man snorted, entirely unmoved—his tone as good as saying you're already dead.

Andy, Xi Feng, and the others exchanged glances, not daring to reply.

The old man waved a hand and said no more. One of the late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, a younger man, came over and handed Xi Feng five Transfer Talismans.

The five affixed their talismans and stepped onto the formation. Moments later, white light blazed, and they vanished from the Inner Star Sea.

My head— The pain was so fierce Andy could barely stand. Whether because the distance was so much greater, or because he had undergone two teleportations in quick succession, the shock to his body this time was severe. The moment the transfer ended, he sat down hard on the stone platform.

Nor was he alone—the others fared little better, staggering and swaying where they stood. Fairy Hongchen, whose physical constitution as a woman was somewhat weaker, lay slumped against the platform, unable to rise. Only Xi Feng managed to stay upright, though pain was written plainly across his face.

The two cultivators stationed beside the formation seemed thoroughly accustomed to the scene, watching the group's sorry state without a flicker of interest.

A cultivator's powers of recovery far outstripped a mortal's—all the more so for Foundation Establishment cultivators—and within moments Andy and the others had come around.

To his astonishment, Andy realized that both cultivators beside the formation were at Core Formation.

The five bowed to the two seniors and left the stone building housing the formation.

Outside stretched a market street dozens of zhang wide and twenty or thirty kilometers long. Cultivators strolled through it in twos and threes—nearly all of them mid- or late-stage Foundation Establishment. Not a single Qi Condensation cultivator was in sight, and Andy spotted yet another Core Formation cultivator among the crowd.

In this brief span of time, he had laid eyes on more Core Formation seniors than he had ever seen in his life—figures he'd only heard of before—and it shook him considerably.

A careless glance from any of them carried crushing pressure, utterly unlike anything he felt from Xi Feng. Xi Feng had spent years at late-stage Foundation Establishment, a single step from Core Formation—yet the gap within that single step was the gap between earth and heaven.

Andy judged that if he brought out everything he had, he could perhaps fight Xi Feng to a standstill—and fleeing with his life, at least, would pose no great problem. But against a Core Formation cultivator, there would be only death, without the slightest power to resist.

Was the gulf between Foundation Establishment and Core Formation truly so vast? Andy couldn't help but dream of the day he, too, might stand among the ranks of Core Formation.