Chapter Eighty-Nine: Departure

Zheng Hongjun gave Zheng Yiqing a few more instructions and then took his leave.

“Understood! Uncle, go slowly!”

Zheng Yiqing hurriedly saw him off, his face all obedience and deference.

“Congratulations, young master!”

After Zheng Hongjun had gone, the attendants beside Zheng Yiqing came over at once to offer their congratulations.

“Haha, I, Zheng Yiqing, am truly blessed by the heavens. First I became a cultivator, and now I even have a chance to become city lord! Once I establish a village, all of you will be my trusted men. I will share the blessings of immortality with you!”

At last Zheng Yiqing let his complacency show, his eyes bright with pride.

Just as he was riding high, full of vigor and radiance, his gaze suddenly tightened and fell upon a nondescript young cultivator in the crowd.

“Ye Mo!”

His attendants were skilled at reading expressions and watched Zheng Yiqing closely at all times. Following his gaze, they immediately cried out in alarm.

“Ye Mo!”

Zheng Yiqing’s face darkened. Pushing through the crowd, he forced his way over.

“Young master, do not act rashly!”

The attendants hurried after him, unable to resist warning him. Before leaving, Zheng Hongjun had specifically told them not to cause trouble.

Zheng Yiqing ignored their advice and stopped a few yards from Ye Mo.

“Surname Ye, long time no see. You’re still as shabby as ever, with nothing but that broken sword of yours. What, come to the city lord’s residence to watch the fun?”

Zheng Yiqing sneered coldly.

“Zheng Yiqing? More than a month without seeing you, and I never expected you to have forged your nascent spirit and become a cultivator too. It must be thanks to your uncle.”

Ye Mo frowned. To run into an old enemy from the island here, he answered with a sharp retort.

“Tsk, tsk. You came here to watch the excitement, so it seems you’re eager to enter the Azure Cloud Immortal Academy? Do you even have spirit stones? Tsk, tsk, you can’t even afford a decent cultivator’s robe. How many spirit stones do you have on you? Let me guess—one? Or maybe two, or three?”

Zheng Yiqing was mocked by Ye Mo, yet he showed not the slightest anger. Laughing, he said, “If you kneel and kowtow to this young master three times and swear loyalty to me, I can front the cost of a hundred spirit stones and get you into the academy as an assistant student.

“From now on, when I establish my city, you can serve me at my side and work for me. As for our old grudges, I can magnanimously wipe them clean. How about it?”

Of course, Zheng Yiqing had no intention of letting Ye Mo off so easily.

If Ye Mo truly agreed to become an assistant student, bowing and scraping to work for him, the pleasure of trampling an enemy beneath his heel would be a thousand times more satisfying than killing him with a single sword strike.

“A hundred spirit stones to buy me as an assistant cultivator? Truly extravagant. How many spirit stones do you have? Back on that island, there were dozens of other martial artists who drove you to flee in panic. Why not buy each of them for a hundred spirit stones as well?”

Ye Mo laughed. He did not believe Zheng Yiqing could possibly have that many spirit stones to burn.

Zheng Yiqing’s face instantly turned ashen. He said furiously, “You... Fine, very well. I’m giving you a chance, and you don’t know how to treasure it! One day, you’ll learn the price of offending me!”

With that, Zheng Yiqing left with his attendants.

A thousand spirit stones for a city lord student, meant for becoming a city lord and founding an immortal village of one’s own.

A hundred spirit stones for an assistant student. Such students would mainly assist the city lord and could become capable subordinates.

For assistant students, the key was to choose an outstanding city lord to follow. So long as one’s judgment was sound, following an excellent city lord could still lead, in the future, to becoming a top-tier cultivator.

“That hundred spirit stones would be worth it too. I’ve saved up a fair number of spirit stones over the years, and I want to try the academy and pledge myself to a city lord.”

“How do you get to Azure Cloud Immortal City? I don’t even know where Azure Cloud Immortal City is.”

“You don’t know? In Eastshore Immortal Village there is a small teleportation array that can send you directly to Azure Cloud Immortal City. Travel between the main immortal city and the village is very convenient. Still, there is only that one small array in the village, so it can’t take you anywhere else.”

The cultivators discussed it at length.

Hearing their talk, Ye Mo also fell into thought. His own men could likewise be cultivated into assistant cultivators.

Ye Mo left the crowd and headed for the dock.

What he did not notice was that within the crowd there was another familiar face. Lin Zhi, the poison master in a black robe, stared at the notice, his excited eyes shimmering with light.

Back aboard the ship, Ye Mo did not immediately make arrangements for Azure Cloud Academy.

The registration deadline was the first day of next month, so there was still plenty of time.

First, Ye Mo entered the ancient painting and checked on A Li’s progress in weapon forging.

After these days of intensive forging, A Li’s success rate had clearly improved. For first-grade items, she was already nearing a ninety percent success rate, which was remarkable for an apprentice artificer.

Seeing that A Li was occupied with forging, Ye Mo left the painting, took out the Primordial Harmony Art, and began to study it earnestly.

As an attribute-neutral cultivation art suitable for ordinary cultivators, the Primordial Harmony Art was not difficult. It was an introductory immortal cultivation method, and the book explained it in great detail.

He spent several hours reading it through three times, word by word, before beginning to cultivate.

Only after a full half hour did he sense a faint trace of vital energy forming in his dantian.

Vital energy?

Ye Mo’s spirit lifted. He hurriedly guided that wisp of flow along the route prescribed by the cultivation art, circulating it through his body. As the current moved through his meridians, it continuously refined the spiritual energy flowing into them.

The true force in his meridians also began to recover slowly.

To Ye Mo’s delight, he discovered that with every completed cycle, the vital energy within his body increased by a thread. At the same time, the restoration of his true force also became noticeably greater, all of it plain to see.

At last, he had an immortal cultivation art!

Carefully savoring the sensation, Ye Mo felt something profoundly mysterious and utterly renewed.

After so much hardship crossing the sea to Eastshore Immortal Village, he had finally stepped onto the path of immortal cultivation.

Only he himself knew the twists, turns, bitterness, and sorrow that had gone into this journey. Now that he had finally begun cultivating, all the hardship had been worth it.

“This is only the beginning of cultivation. The road ahead is still very long.”

A look of steel settled on Ye Mo’s face.

Early the next morning.

“Ye Mo, have you heard about the news from the city lord’s residence?”

Mo Ling ran back from the immortal village, climbed aboard the deck, and excitedly called out to Ye Mo, who was cultivating in meditation at the bow.

The five Earth Slave Guards stood beside Ye Mo, exchanging helpless glances. They could block Mo Ling’s people, but they could not block her voice.

Ye Mo came out of his meditation, and when he saw Mo Ling’s excited expression, he could not help but laugh in spite of himself, waving the Earth Slave Guards back.

“Did you see the notice posted by the city lord’s residence?” Mo Ling asked brightly as she rushed over to his side.

“I saw it. I read it as soon as it was posted last night.”

Ye Mo answered calmly.

“You knew even earlier than I did! Last night I stayed at the inn with my grandfather, so I didn’t hear a thing. Only this morning, while eating breakfast, did I hear the innkeeper mention that Azure Cloud Immortal Academy is recruiting city lord students. What a huge undertaking!”

Mo Ling said excitedly, as though she herself had entered the academy.

“Too bad the registration fee is so expensive—an entire thousand spirit stones!”

She sighed regretfully.

Ye Mo smiled.

“You’re not tempted? Weren’t you always saying you wanted to become one of the allied immortal cities and take a position as lord of an immortal village?”

Seeing Ye Mo so unhurried, Mo Ling could not help pouting.

“Of course I’m tempted.”

Ye Mo said, “I plan to go register at Azure Cloud Immortal Academy.”

“What!”

Mo Ling was startled at once. Realizing she had失态, she covered her mouth and lowered her voice. “A thousand spirit stones! Where would you get them?”

“I have my own way,” Ye Mo said. “Are you coming too? Azure Cloud Immortal City is one of the thirty-six main immortal cities of the Eastern Sea. It is far better than this Eastshore Immortal Village.”

“If you’re not going to tell me, forget it.”

Mo Ling rolled her eyes. “Azure Cloud Immortal City—I certainly want to go. But what would I do there? A city lord is one in ten thousand; I’m not becoming a city lord.”

“City lord students pay a thousand spirit stones and are trained to become city lords. There are also assistant students, who only need to pay a hundred spirit stones.”

Ye Mo said.

“Assistant student? That might be worth considering. But even a hundred spirit stones is still a lot!”

Mo Ling’s face fell after her moment of joy.

“Don’t worry about spirit stones. I’ll have Deputy Shipmaster Chang go find Wang Hu and Yang You. When they’re all back, we’ll talk it over in detail.”

Ye Mo said.

Mo Ling froze and gave him a long look. She had thought she already understood Ye Mo well, yet now he seemed mysterious again. Where on earth had he obtained one or two thousand spirit stones?

By noon.

At the dock, aboard the ship.

Ye Mo and his followers—Mo Ling, Wang Hu, Yang You, the five Earth Slave Guards, Deputy Shipmaster Chang, and the rest—were all gathered inside the vessel.

“I imagine everyone has already heard the city lord’s notice,” Ye Mo said.

“I intend to go to Azure Cloud Immortal Academy and register as a city lord student. After one year, upon graduation, I will do my utmost to seize one of the top ten spots, become a formal city lord, obtain the city lord token and the immortal village blueprint, and establish my own immortal city.”

“Azure Cloud Immortal Academy also recruits assistant students to train them as aides to the city lord students. I plan to take all of you with me to Azure Cloud Immortal City.”

Ye Mo looked at everyone and stated his intentions.

Inside the cabin, all the martial artists were shocked. Their gazes toward Ye Mo grew fervent.

“Brother Ye is going to establish an immortal village of his own!”

“So that means we can all become cultivators and follow Brother Ye onto the path of immortality!”

The martial artists were all thrilled beyond measure.

Chang Fei secretly felt fortunate and was deeply satisfied with his original decision to follow Ye Mo.

To be able to follow a city lord cultivator was something many people would only ever dare dream of. Now it might actually become reality. How could one not be excited?

“Brother Ye, my junior brother and I have only one heart, and that is to follow you! Wherever you go, we go!”

Wang Hu thumped his chest and declared loudly.

He did not think much; his trust in Ye Mo had nearly reached blind devotion.

Once Wang Hu had led the way, the others also voiced their agreement one after another.

Even Mo Ling, who rarely made public declarations in such settings, could not suppress her excitement and expressed her willingness to go to Azure Cloud Immortal City.

“Then good. In a few days, we’ll go straight from Eastshore Immortal Village to Azure Cloud Immortal City through one of the village’s teleportation arrays.”

Ye Mo nodded.

In the end, he selected ten people to enter Azure Cloud Immortal Academy.

Besides Ye Mo himself, there were Mo Ling, Wang Hu, Yang You, Chang Fei, and the five Earth Slave Guards.

Mo Ling was inclined toward crop cultivation.

Wang Hu and Yang You would mainly focus on weapon forging and construction.

Deputy Shipmaster Chang had a steady temperament and meticulous mind, making him suitable as an administrative aide.

As for the five Earth Slave Guards, their seamless cooperation made them the ideal choice for combat power.

There were still dozens of crewmen and guards aboard the ship, but there were too many for all of them to enter the academy and study. Ye Mo promised to help them become cultivators, however, and that moved them deeply.

“Deputy Shipmaster Chang, Eastshore Immortal Village is far from Azure Cloud Immortal City. If you sail there, the journey will be too long and you may well encounter accidents; it is not certain you can arrive safely. Sell this pirate ship, and afterward we can buy a new one. In the future, when we establish an immortal village on the islands of the Eastern Sea, we will probably still need a sea vessel.”

Ye Mo said to Chang Fei.

“Yes. The dock is very busy every day, and many people want a sea ship. I’ll turn around and sell it.”

Chang Fei was rather attached to the ship, but he still nodded immediately.

Ye Mo nodded as well, quite satisfied with Chang Fei’s attitude.

In only half a day, Deputy Shipmaster Chang found a buyer willing to take over the vessel.

Ye Mo sold more than ten black iron spirit swords at the market for a low price and obtained one hundred spirit stones. He then spent more than ten spirit stones to buy a second-grade healing pill and gave it to Mo Nan, helping him recover as soon as possible. Mo Nan had no intention of going to Azure Cloud Immortal City; he was old, and once his old injuries were healed, he would most likely return to the Nine Provinces Continent.

The next day.

Ye Mo took his men to find the teleportation array in Eastshore Immortal Village. Yet after searching the whole village, they still found nothing. Only after asking an immortal guard did they learn that the small teleportation array was actually inside the city lord’s residence.

It cost one spirit stone to teleport a single person, which was not cheap, so very few people used the array in ordinary times.

As for the registration fee, Ye Mo intended to sell black iron and black iron swords once they reached Azure Cloud Immortal City.

As one of the largest main immortal cities among the Eastern Sea archipelago, Azure Cloud Immortal City was naturally not as stingy as Eastshore Immortal Village. Selling black iron there should be much easier.