At three quarters past the hour of Si, Song Yan arrived at the mountain gate as scheduled.

At this moment, many people were gathered around the Entrance Plaza.

Passing Cultivators slowed their steps, secretly glancing towards a certain spot, and some Disciples even stopped in place to admire the scenery not far away.

Song Yan looked up and saw a female Cultivator standing at the mountain gate of the Entrance Plaza, with a stout, honest-looking Disciple standing beside her.

The female Cultivator seemed to sense something and glanced back.

Flowing robes and gauze, beautiful as a Heavenly Immortal, with an ethereal temperament that seemed untouched by the Mortal World...

Song Yan took a deep breath.

What a beautiful woman!

He genuinely marveled in his heart.

Women in the Cultivation World, due to their Qi Refining and spirit nurturing, usually possess an ethereal temperament. If they have a miraculous encounter that cleanses their meridians and refines their marrow, or achieve a Breakthrough in their Realm, their skin becomes like congealed fat, radiant and captivating.

But true beauty lies in the bone, not just the skin; some things cannot be changed no matter what.

Just like the female Cultivator before him... The morning mountain breeze brushed past, gently stirring the hem of her clothes.

She was unbelievably beautiful!

"Song Yesheng?"

..."This Disciple is here."

Song Yan responded and quickly walked over to report.

The female Cultivator nodded: "Qin Ying. This is Li Qingfeng, Junior Brother Li."

"Senior Sister Qin, Senior Brother Li."

"Oh, please don’t, Senior Brother, I’m only at the fourth level of Qi Refining Realm."

Li Qingfeng’s appearance didn’t quite match his name; he was very stout, carried a black pot on his back, and had a Spiritual Artifact resembling a cleaver tucked at his waist.

This made him quite distinctive among the many Cultivators.

"Let’s go."

Senior Sister Qin’s tone was calm, yet not as cold as her demeanor suggested; instead, it held a touch of gentleness.

However, Song Yan detected a hint of urgency in it.

"Linxi County, Peach Blossom Dock."

She lightly tapped her fingertip, and an ice-blue Flying Sword flew out from her sleeve, hovering beneath Song Yan’s feet.

"Get on."

"Ah? What about Li Qingfeng... Junior Brother?"

"Oh, Senior Brother, don’t worry, I have a flying Spiritual Artifact."

He patted the iron pot on his back: "You two go ahead, I’ll be right there."

Flying Spiritual Artifact?

Song Yan was surprised. Among Cultivators in the Cultivation World, besides Spiritual Artifacts for controlling objects to fly, such as Flying Swords and spirit gourds, there were also Spiritual Artifacts that could carry Cultivators for flight.

These types of Spiritual Artifacts didn’t require Cultivators to constantly infuse Spiritual Qi like Flying Swords to carry people. Instead, by infusing Spiritual Qi or placing Spirit Stones beforehand, they could be used continuously without further operation.

The spirit boat he took from the Sect to Jiran Valley last time was one such type.

Flying Spiritual Artifacts were quite precious, and this Junior Brother was quite open about it, not trying to hide it.

Seemingly noticing Song Yan’s surprise, Li Qingfeng chuckled, explaining self-deprecatingly.

"My iron pot here doesn’t look great, and its consumption isn’t small. Moreover... it can only carry one person. Even if I threw it in the plaza, probably few people would want it."

To Song Yan, this sounded like polite modesty.

Because he actually somewhat wanted it.

"Alright, Senior Brother Li, then we... Hey!"

Song Yan wanted to exchange a few more polite words, but he felt a gentle force lift him onto the Flying Sword.

A fragrant orchid scent wafted from Senior Sister Qin’s robes, very pleasant.

A clear, cold sword hum came from beneath their feet.

In a blink of an eye, the two were already high in the clouds, enveloped by ice-blue spiritual light as they sped away.

They were flying!

Besides astonishment, only this thought remained in Song Yan’s mind.

Looking out from within Qin Ying’s protective Spiritual Qi, he saw far into the distance.

A vast, clear sky, a fierce, long wind.

Mountains and great lakes, all visible without obstruction.

This was sword flight!

Completely different from the previous spirit boat journey, this time, he truly felt the unconstrained vision in his heart.

Riding a sword on the wind, free between heaven and earth!

Song Yan couldn’t help but feel his heart surge! 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Linxi County was not far from Cave Abyss Sect. In a flash, a large city appeared before their eyes.

They could already faintly feel themselves descending from the clouds.

Moments later, Qin Ying brought the sword light down, landing steadily on the ground. Song Yan, caught off guard, nearly stumbled and fell.

Fortunately, Qin Ying used her spiritual power to steady him.

"Thank you, Senior Sister."

Song Yan looked up; they were outside the city.

"Linxi County is one of the top cities in the prefecture, with a large common populace."

"To avoid unnecessary disturbances, Cultivators should not use sword flight when entering the city."

Qin Ying walked forward, explaining to Song Yan.

"This is an unwritten rule."

Linxi County was originally an unknown, nameless small place, and it wasn’t originally called Linxi.

It was simply because it was close to Yunxi City, famous throughout the Chu Kingdom, and passing merchants and travelers in the vicinity, when discussing this place, only knew it as "that small county near Yunxi."

Later, a county magistrate came to Linxi, and instead of being ashamed of this, he used it as its name, leveraging the influence of Yunxi City to vigorously develop fishing and agriculture.

In just a few years, it quickly became the largest and most prosperous county town in the vicinity, besides Yunxi City.

It was simply renamed Linxi City; what its original name was, everyone forgot.

"Oh, sirs, where are you from?"

To avoid trouble, Qin Ying had made some facial adjustments and let Song Yan walk ahead.

Song Yan handed over the necessary entry documents Qin Ying had given him, one by one, for the city guards to inspect.

"Stone Ridge," Song Yan said casually.

"Stone Ridge?"

The inspecting city guard seemed not to have heard of it, but another one knew and reminded him: "That’s over in Yunyang County..."

...

The city guards exchanged glances, seemingly realizing something, and their movements paused.

"May I ask if you are... Immortals from Cave Abyss Sect..."

"Hmm?"

Song Yan frowned.

"Ah, Immortal, please don’t misunderstand. The matter of Peach Blossom Dock has spread throughout the ten-mile radius, and both the county magistrate and the enshrined adults have publicly announced that they would invite Immortals from Cave Abyss Sect here..."

"So that’s how it is."

Song Yan nodded.

"Please, Immortal."

Without another word, the two stepped into the city.

Living off the mountains, living off the water.

Bustling with traffic, a land of fish and rice.

Vendors and stall owners transported freshly made tofu to the market at noon, while a fishmonger sat at his stall, cleaning a grass carp and chatting with people, and children chased and played in the streets.

Song Yan had seen such scenes in Shiliang Town.

The two’s attire was out of place, and many people around them stopped to watch and whisper.

Just then, a team of constables in official uniforms came towards them.

"It’s lively, but all you aunties and uncles, keep an eye on your children, don’t let them get lost..."

The head of the constables had a clear purpose and quickly stepped forward, cupping his hands in greeting.

"Are you two Immortals from Cave Abyss Sect?"

...

Seeing that Senior Sister Qin still remained silent, Song Yan nodded.

"Hmm."

"Where is Senior Brother Bai?"

The one who reported this matter was an enshrined Disciple of Cave Abyss Sect in Linxi County, named Bai Zimo.

"Lord Bai is handling important affairs at the government office and instructed this humble one to welcome three people... Huh?"

"Oh, another Junior Brother Li will arrive shortly."

"Oh, then please follow me. This humble one also has the surname Bai, with the single character ’Lei’. You can just call me Little Bai."

Little Bai?

It sounded strange no matter how he heard it. The two characters lingered in his mouth for a long time, but he still couldn’t bring himself to say them.

"Constable Bai, what did you just say? Senior Brother Bai is handling important affairs at the government office?"

As they walked, Song Yan asked casually.

A Cultivator... why was he doing official work?