"Who would ever think martial Dao cultivation is too high? Naturally, the higher the better."
Li Musheng spread his hands. Li Yuanling stared at him for a while with a suspicious expression, "I really can't imagine how you cultivated. Your age isn't much greater than mine. Why is your martial Dao cultivation so formidable?"
"Could it be... you previously relied on eating pills to enhance your cultivation?"
Hearing this, Li Musheng raised his eyebrows, "I wish I had those things you mentioned to eat, but unfortunately, in the past I was dirt poor and couldn't afford anything."
"Just by pure cultivation alone, you could reach such powerful martial Dao cultivation?"
Li Yuanling's eyes were full of shock. Then, she suddenly glanced around the wooden boat, her eyes rolling as she said, "If you put it that way, I'm starting to suspect whether there was some other expert secretly helping us just now."
As she spoke, she stood up and extended her slender finger to lightly poke Li Musheng's arm, frowning, "Moreover, you don't have a trace of true qi on your body. What's that about? I always thought you hadn't even reached the martial Dao Innate Realm yet."
Hearing this, Li Musheng chuckled and waved away Li Yuanling's finger with his hand, his face full of disdain, "If you don't understand, don't speak nonsense. This is called returning to simplicity and truth. It's quite formidable!"
Then, he waved his hand, "Alright, even if I told you, you wouldn't understand. Tidy up the jade tokens. Let's just wait for the results."
Li Yuanling pursed her lips, pondering in her heart whether there really was some martial Dao realm called "returning to simplicity and truth."
After coming up empty, she decided that when she returned, she must thoroughly investigate. She couldn't let this sworn brother of hers, who seemed very powerful yet very unreliable, fool her.
...
On a wooden boat in the underground lake, three women wearing embroidered long dresses stood gracefully. Each had features like a painting and a graceful figure.
However, at this moment, their expressions were extremely grave. Their eyes, like autumn waters, constantly swept vigilantly over the surrounding wooden boats.
Earlier, they had waited like hunters for their prey, obtaining a large number of jade tokens from those who came to snatch jade tokens from the three sisters.
Especially from one young lady who looked particularly fierce and menacing, they had obtained the most abundant number of jade tokens, a full fifteen of them.
However, not long after obtaining that largest haul of jade tokens, a sudden change occurred. All the jade tokens they had obtained flew away. Even when they tried to stop them, they simply couldn't.
"There must be an expert making a move. It seems today we cannot possibly take first place."
Shu Wan'er spoke with furrowed brows. Many of the surrounding wooden boats had also experienced the same situation as them. For the other party to have such astonishing methods, they clearly couldn't be underestimated.
Hearing this, Shu Qing'er beside her shook her head, "Master has commanded that we must enter the depths of Floating Boat City today. Only then can she follow our aura and make her move in secret. Therefore, no matter what, we must enter the top ten."
Shu Ying'er nodded lightly, "Now that the jade tokens are lost, we can only continue to snatch them from other wooden boats. From my observation, that person just now shouldn't have taken away all the jade tokens. We still have a chance."
As soon as these words came out, the three women exchanged glances. After tacitly leaving one person to guard the wooden boat, the other two immediately floated out in graceful movements and disappeared into the darkness.
...
At the same time, in the darkness above the entire underground lake, iron chains and hooks suspended a huge black iron ship, lying horizontally in mid-air.
On the iron ship, nearly dozens of people were bustling about non-stop. Holding brushes and paper scrolls in their hands, they looked down observing the situations on the various wooden boats on the lake below while constantly recording something on the scrolls in their hands.
"Elder Sheng, you must have already seen what just happened. It seems a truly extraordinary expert has come to our Floating Boat City today."
A tall man wearing a dark luxurious robe with a profound aura slowly walked forward from the rear of the iron ship. Beside him followed an old man dressed in black.
Soon, the two arrived and stood at the edge of the iron ship. On the man's right side of the deck sat an old man in gray robes with graying hair and a face full of wrinkles.
The old man's torso and limbs were all locked by several dark iron chains, and his arms were even bound with circles of copper rings, making him look extremely peculiar.
At this moment, the old man looked down at the lake below the iron ship. Those wooden boats lit with dots of candle flames were completely visible in his eyes.
However, his gaze had been constantly fixed on the wooden boat where Li Musheng and his companion were.
"This old man cannot detect anyone secretly infiltrating Floating Boat City, nor have I found the person who made the move. I suggest you still investigate the identities of those two."
The gray-robed old man slowly spoke. The iron chains around his body swayed slightly, producing a series of metallic dragging sounds.
The tall man also looked at the wooden boat where Li Musheng was and nodded lightly, "I've already sent someone to investigate."
Then, he turned his head to look at the black-clothed old man beside him and asked, "Are the two people you mentioned them?"
The black-clothed old man withdrew his gaze from below and immediately nodded, bowing respectfully, "Reporting to the Vice City Lord, it's definitely them. Earlier, my palm wind blew past their candle flame, but it couldn't affect the candle flame in the slightest."
Hearing this, Tu Yao waved his hand, indicating that the black-clothed old man should withdraw.
Before long, he spoke again, "It looks like the news that Floating Boat City has obtained Qilin Blood should have already leaked out. Otherwise, such a group of people wouldn't suddenly be attracted here."
At this moment, his gaze swept across the underground lake below, landing one by one on several wooden boats including the one carrying Zhang He and the three women Shu Wan'er and her companions.
"There are no walls in the world that don't let wind through. That Qilin Blood is a divine treasure widely renowned in the martial world, capable of making countless martial artists flock to it. It's not easy for you to keep this news secret."
The gray-robed old man Sheng Shi'an shook his head lightly, then advised, "For now, the plan is to quickly find someone who can harness the Qilin Blood and use it up. Otherwise, similar troubles will come knocking endlessly. I'm afraid this entire Floating Boat City can't withstand much turmoil."
Hearing this, Tu Yao's eyes moved slightly, "The City Lord is already in seclusion attempting to consume the Qilin Blood. However, that thing is too domineering. We've already had quite a few experts who were burned to ash merely by approaching it from the aura it dissipates. I don't know if the City Lord can harness it."
The gray-robed old man Sheng Shi'an was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Qilin Blood comes from the ancient divine beast Fire Qilin. Only a few portions appear in the world every sixty years. However, those who can harness this thing are even fewer. Besides requiring deep martial Dao cultivation, one's own physical constitution and luck are also extremely important factors."
"For Su Changqing to want to break through by consuming Qilin Blood won't be easy."