uite some distance away, the passengers on the pitch-black ship could hear the muffled booms off in the distance, and their smiles grew even happier.
“That guy must be dead already.”
“He overestimated his own ability, and didn’t even have enough Spirit Stones to pay to get on the ship. No wonder he wanted to risk it all in the Third Ring. What a pity he’s not very intelligent. Who does he think he is to try to charge through the Stormwind Divide? One of the Three Saints?”
As the others chatted and laughed, the two calm Cultivators closed their eyes and ignored the goings on. The three old men from the Sun Soul Society who were responsible for the boat looked more arrogant than ever. They had been running this boat for a full sixty-year cycle of time, and during that time had never heard of anyone successfully charging through the Stormwind Divide.
However, after a few days passed, the sense of happiness felt by everyone had lessened a bit. But then, more of the magical symbols in the area, as well as the lightning and even the gusts of wind, seemed to be under pressure, even nervous. More explosions could be heard from off in the distance.
The sounds caused the group to grow even more excited. This time, they didn’t need any explanation from the three old men. Everyone knew exactly what the sounds were, even if they couldn’t see the source. Soon, the sound of their conversation could be heard.
“Hahaha! Don’t tell me another person is trying to charge through?”
“Another person who doesn’t know their own limits? I never imagined that this trip to the Third Ring would be so fascinating.”
“What a pity. I truly wish I could watch with my own eyes.”
Everyone was excited, but the three old men were actually somewhat shocked. Just about every time they piloted the ship, they would hear explosions like this. However, it was very rare to hear such a series of explosions twice, like they had this time.
The three old men exchanged smiles, but didn’t think too much about it, and focused instead on piloting the ship forward.
The sounds didn’t last for very long, only as long as it takes an incense stick to burn. Then they faded away, and another round of talking and chuckling began on the ship.
However, about four days later, the sounds could be heard once again. The passengers on the ship were astonished.
“What’s going on? How could there possibly be three people all trying to cross the Stormwind Divide?”
“Something doesn’t seem right….”
“Everyone; do you think… that perhaps the person from the very beginning didn’t actually die?” These final words were spoken by the person with the weakest Cultivation base of the whole group, the young Core Formation Cultivator.
As soon as he spoke the words, everyone went quiet. The two Cultivators who had sat there calmly the entire time suddenly opened their eyes, seemingly astonished by the implication of the young man’s theory.
The three men in charge of the ship also looked shocked, but quickly recovered.
“No unfounded ravings allowed onboard!” growled one of them.
“This is the Stormwind Divide!” said another. “Other than the Three Saints of the Milky Way Sea, nobody can cross it!”
“Obviously what we’re hearing is an entire Sect trying to cross. It’s not the first time something like that has happened.” The rest of the passengers weren’t quite sure whether or not to believe the words of the old men. In any case, the happiness of their mood had clearly lessened by quite a bit.
Meanwhile, Meng Hao flew quickly through the storm wind gusts. Currently, he faced a 150 meter long whip. The whip was about three meters wide, and completely savage in appearance. However, it was surrounded by an enormous mountain, which was gradually suppressing it.
After enough time passed for half an incense stick to burn, it made an unyielding howl. Then the mountain descended, completely sealing it. It shrank down into Meng Hao’s hand, after which he put it into his bag of holding.
“Number four!” he said, eyes shining brightly. With a smile, he turned and proceeded to speed along his way.
Two more months passed by. During that time, the group on the ship heard one set of explosions after another. Soon, they had heard the sounds seven times. By now, their mood had changed from one of curiosity to shock.
By the time the thirteenth set of explosions rang out, they were filled with dread. Even the three old men were panting.
After the two months passed, and the twentieth set of explosions reached their ears. Everyone on the boat was now completely and utterly dumbfounded. That was especially so after they realized… that the sounds of the explosions were getting closer!
During the two months, Meng Hao ran into more magical symbols in the shape of treasures. Whenever he did, he would instantly attack and exert full power to subdue them.
By this point, he was in the very depths of the Stormwind Divide, and was getting much closer to the pitch-black ship.