A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm

Chapter 648: Ferry Station

After walking a few more kilometers, Han Li's group drew to a halt in front of another arched opening.

Han Li's trio turned to Fox 3, and the latter said, "In here is one of the teleportation arrays leading to the sixth level that I was telling all of you about. There are quite a few more of these littered throughout the city."

With that, Fox 3 stepped through the opening, followed by Han Li and the others.

As soon as they made their way through the opening, Han Li caught sight of a teleportation array that was over a hundred feet in size on the ground not far away.

Beside the array was a table, behind which sat a green-skinned being that resembled a lizard. At the moment, the foreign being seemed to be sleeping, and it displayed no reaction to the arrival of Han Li's group.

Fox 3 made his way over to the table, then tossed a pouch of top-grade spirit stones onto it, then led Han Li and the others into the array.

The green-skinned being took a moment to inspect the contents of the pouch, upon which he discovered that there was an additional tip enclosed on top of the teleportation fee. An elated look appeared on his face as he hurriedly sprang up from behind the table, working to activate the array while extending a bow toward Fox 3, who nodded in response.

Following a flash of light within the array, Han Li's group vanished from the spot.

The green-skinned being turned back to the top-grade spirit stones sitting on the table with an excited expression, yet right as he was about to inspect the contents of the storage pouch again, his expression suddenly stiffened.

He looked down at his own bare fingers, and his elation was instantly replaced by fury.

On the sixth level of the city, Fox 3 was playing with a green storage ring as he made his way out of the teleportation hall.

"You're going to land yourself in trouble sooner or later if you keep dabbling in petty theft like this," Shi Chuankong sighed with a resigned expression.

"That was very impressive, Fellow Daoist Fox 3. You were able to instantly sever that man's connection with his storage ring without being detected at all," Han Li praised with a smile.

Immortal Lord Hot Flame remained silently as he reflexively checked his own storage bracelet, and he was quite relieved to see that it was still there.

"I've been sticking to the straight and narrow for too long recently, so I was getting a little antsy," Fox 3 chuckled.

Upon reaching the sixth level, there was a noticeable increase in the number of people making their way along the boardwalk, and most of them appeared to be human, but there was also a clear increase in the number of foreign beings around.

There were also far more shops that lined the mountain faces, and all manners of flags and banners had been hung up outside the shops, most of which were selling spirit soils and spirit plants, but of course, there were also some shops that sold treasures and pills.

After that, Han Li's group made their way up a few more levels, and the things were much the same, but the higher they went, the more densely populated the levels became, and as a result, their surroundings also became progressively more bustling and chaotic.

However, Fox 3 seemed to be quite fond of this type of chaotic environment, and the higher he went, the more leisurely his pace became. Along the way, he even stopped by a restaurant and treated everyone to a meal.

The restaurant was quite renowned for the spirit wine that it served, and Fox 3 had heard that Han Li was an avid wine enthusiast as well, so he offered to gift a few flagons to Han Li. However, having spent so much time with Daoist Hu Yan, Han Li had developed a taste only for the finest spirit wines, and the spirit wine in question wasn't quite up to his standards, so he tactfully turned down the offer.

By the time Han Li and the others made their way up to the surface, half a day had already passed by.

It was close to nighttime, and the light of the dying sun was spilling down from the west, basking the city in a warm, red glow.

Han Li could see a series of giant docks situated around the outskirts of the city, hovering beside which was a collection of mountainous immortal ships.

"The True Mantra Sect ruins are located somewhere in the Illusory Smoke Swamp of the Floating Mountain Continent, which is, in turn, situated in the central region of the Black Soil Immortal Region. There won't be many teleportation arrays along the way, so we'll mostly be traveling by ship, and it'll take us around thirty years to get there," Fox 3 said.

"Why are we traveling by ship? Surely it'll be faster for us to travel using our flying immortal treasures," Han Li said in a perplexed manner.

"That's correct, but there are some special rules in the Black Soil Immortal Region, so flight is prohibited in certain areas. There are even some restrictions set up in some places, and if you try to force your way through them, there's a very good chance you'll catch the attention of the Immortal Palace," Fox 3 explained.

"I didn't know there were so many annoying rules in the Black Soil Immortal Region," Immortal Lord Hot Flame scoffed.

"There are many spirit fields and mines in the south, most of which are privately owned by the major trading houses, so trespassing is strictly prohibited. On top of that, there are also massive swamps between the continents of the Black Soil Immortal Region, some of which are home to many fearsome demon beasts.

“In fact, even Great Encompassment Stage demon beasts have been known to prowl those areas, so it would be very dangerous to try and fly through them," Fox 3 explained.

"These are all rules put in place by the Black Soil Immortal Palace in order to strengthen their control. The rules aren't enforced all that tightly in some more rural places, but things get a little troublesome near the larger cities," Shi Chuankong added.

"All of the ships of the trading houses have set routes that have been registered with the Immortal Palace, so they're able to make the journey without drawing any ire," Fox 3 said.

"Back when our True Mantra Sect was still standing, the Black Soil Immortal Region didn't have any of these bullshit rules!" Immortal Lord Hot Flame sighed in an indignant and melancholic fashion.

"In that case, it does sound like traveling by ship is our best option," Han Li said with a nod.

"Not necessarily. Even though all of the trading houses have registered routes and have issued enormous sums of Immortal Origin Stones to the Immortal Palace, their ships are still subject to checks at some ferry stations for all manners of arbitrary reasons. In those situations, the ships will either have to accept the checks and be delayed for several months, or issue another sum of Immortal Origin Stones as a toll of sorts," Fox 3 said.

"That does sound like a real pain in the backside," Han Li said with an amused smile.

"Thankfully, we won't have to worry about any of that with Brother Shi here with us. Out of all of the ships, only those owned by the Hundred Creations Pavilion and the Vast Origin House are granted certain privileges, and during most trips, those ships won't be subject to these impromptu checks," Fox 3 said with a smile.

"The Vast Origin House's ferry station is a bit further away from here. Please come with me," Shi Chuankong said with a smile, then flew away into the distance.

Han Li and the others followed along, and the group began to travel southward.

After rising up into the sky, Han Li looked down to discover that there were far more ferry stations on the ground below than he had seen earlier. All of them were spread out in an orderly fashion in an area with a radius of several hundred kilometers.

There were also some markets and streets interspersed throughout these ferry stations, presenting a lively and bustling sight to behold.

Moments later, the group arrived at a large ferry station before making their way into an administrative hall.

There was an elderly administrator inside, who immediately approached Han Li's group at the sight of them.

The administrator seemed to be familiar with Shi Chuankong, and a wide smile appeared on his face, but right as he was about to speak, Shi Chuankong beat him to the punch.

"Long time no see, Shopkeeper Zhu. I'll have to trouble you again."

"Not at all! It's always an honor whenever you come to our ferry station, Fellow Daoist Shi. These must be your friends, right? Come in and take a seat, everyone," the elderly man said.

He led Han Li's group into a booth as he spoke, then poured cups of tea for everyone before asking, "What brings you here today, Fellow Daoist Shi?"

"When is our Vast Origin House's ship to the Floating Mountain Continent scheduled to set off?" Shi Chuankong asked with a smile.

The administrator considered the question for a moment, then replied, "We recently collected a batch of spirit soil, and some of the spirit plants in our fields have also matured. We'll be ready to set off once everything is loaded, and that should only take about half a month."

"It sounds like we came at just the right time then," Fox 3 said.

"Indeed, you have," Shopkeeper Zhu replied with a smile. "There's an arena in Black Glaze City that's opening in a few days. Why don't you go and check it out to kill some time?"

Shi Chuankong was very intrigued to hear this, and he immediately sat up straighter as he asked, "Is it the Black Fence Arena? What are the draws like?"

"That's right. I've heard that there are going to ten fights, and all of the combatants are high-grade demon beasts captured from the primordial land north of the Black Mountain Immortal Region, two of which even possess true spirit bloodlines, so it's certainly a stacked draw," Shopkeeper Zhu replied.

"How about it? If you're interested, we can all go and take a look together, fellow daoists," Shi Chuankong proposed as he turned to Han Li and the others.

Han Li was rather amused by Shi Chuankong's enthusiasm. Fox 3 was a thief and an avid drinker, while Shi Chuankong was a gambler, so they certainly made for a good pair. Having said that, he wasn't interested in watching the arena battles, so he turned down the offer.

"I'll pass as well," Immortal Lord Hot Flame said with a smile.

"How about you? Surely you're coming along," Shi Chuankong asked as he turned to Fox 3.

"Of course I'm going! Why not? You lose in every single bet that you make, so I just have to bet against you, and I'm guaranteed to win!" Fox 3 declared.

"Nonsense! When have I ever lost?" Shi Chuankong protested.

After chatting here for a while, everyone was arranged places to stay by Shopkeeper Zhu.

That night.

Han Li was meditating in his room when he suddenly received a visit from Immortal Lord Hot Flame.

Han Li invited him into the room, then poured him a cup of tea and sat down across from him ub silence.

Right as the atmosphere in the room was beginning to grow a little awkward, Immortal Lord Hot Flame finally broke the silence.

"Fellow Daoist Li, I have something to say, but I'm not sure if I should say it..."

Before he had a chance to finish, Han Li raised a hand to conjure up an invisible light barrier that encompassed the entire room.

"Go ahead, Fellow Daoist Hot Flame," Han Li prompted with a smile.

"You've been waiting for me, haven't you, Fellow Daoist Li?" Immortal Lord Hot Flame asked with a wry smile.

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