Chapter 908: On the Ship

Volume Six: Spirit Treasures

Iron Gun paused, startled by the voice. It sounded like the maid from the boat. The Shun River might freeze at other times, but never during flood season. Besides, given today's weather...

Wang Tieqiang couldn't help but glance up at the sky. The blazing midday sun was directly overhead, and even in his thin leather jacket, he felt a slight warmth and a hint of sweat. How could there be someone in ice?

Even after so many years of adventuring, this was the first time he'd heard of something so bizarre. After feeling the two black iron short spears on his back, he inexplicably walked towards the source of the sound.

As he reached the side of the large boat, he immediately saw seven or eight people gathered there: men and women, maids, servants, and boatmen. They were huddled together, pointing at something in the river and exclaiming in surprise.

He quickly looked sideways and indeed, about forty or fifty feet to the east of the boat, something white was bobbing on the river surface, extremely eye-catching.

Upon closer inspection, it was indeed a crystal-clear block of ice, with a human figure seemingly trapped inside.

"How strange," Wang Tieqiang murmured, a look of surprise on his face. "Could it be someone who fell into the river long ago, and now, as the ice melts, they've floated up from the bottom?"

"Brother Wang, what's going on?" a low, husky voice asked from behind him, accompanied by footsteps.

"Brother Gao, you're here too," Wang Tieqiang said without turning around. He knew it was his old partner of many years, a bodyguard who had practiced hard qigong for several years and was quite renowned for his martial arts skills.

"Oh, there really is someone in the ice," a large man with a full beard remarked casually as he walked over, clicking his tongue in amazement. "This is truly a rare sight."

"It's just a dead person, no matter how strange, it doesn't matter," Wang Tieqiang said indifferently with a cold laugh.

"That's true! At least a dead person can't rob the boat," the big man said, stroking his stiff beard with a chuckle.

"What are you all clamoring about? Don't you know the madam just went to rest?" A middle-aged man dressed as a scholar emerged from the cabin. His face darkened slightly upon seeing the scene, and he reprimanded the maids and servants.

This was Master Zhou, rumored to be a confidant of the high-ranking official. He was the one who had hired Wang Tieqiang and his partner, and he was traveling on the boat with the official's family.

"Master Zhou, in the river..." The young maid named Oriole timidly extended a pale, delicate finger and pointed towards the river surface.

Master Zhou, already a little surprised to see Wang Tieqiang and his partner standing there, looked where the maid pointed. Upon seeing the ice block and the figure within, his face also filled with astonishment. But then he frowned and said:

"It's just a dead body. There's no point in looking further. Disperse and go about your duties. Must I call Butler Wang over?" His tone became sterner at the end.

At the mention of 'Butler Wang,' the maids and servants immediately paled and scattered like a swarm. The remaining two or three boatmen also quietly slipped away.

Wang Tieqiang and the big man exchanged glances, deciding it wasn't good to stay there, and were about to leave together. But before taking a step, the big man, named Gao Dafeng, couldn't resist one last look at the river. Suddenly, he froze and let out a startled cry.

"How is that possible? This person is still alive!"

Wang Tieqiang and Master Zhou were both startled by his words and looked again. Yet, they saw nothing unusual; the figure remained motionless in the ice.

The scholar cast a doubtful glance at the big man.

"There's no mistake. The person in the ice just moved their eyelid. I really saw it," the big man asserted.

"Brother Gao wouldn't lie to us. It seems that person really isn't dead," Wang Tieqiang said, unhesitatingly choosing to believe his companion's words.

Seeing this, Master Zhou became somewhat skeptical.

However, after pondering for a moment, he shook his head and said:

"Even if that person truly isn't dead, it's none of our concern. We shouldn't cause trouble for the madam and young lady. Since other boats haven't interfered, there's no need for us to inquire either."

Wang Tieqiang felt no anger or injustice upon hearing this. The person in the ice seemed truly strange, and not letting them on board suited him just fine.

After all, having wandered the pugilistic world for so long, his caution towards strange occurrences was far greater than that of ordinary people.

However, a hint of hesitation appeared on Gao Dafeng's face.

"Hold on, Master Zhou!" a sweet voice suddenly called from inside the cabin. "Saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-story pagoda, and my mother has always been compassionate. Since this person is still alive, let's rescue them first." A beautiful young woman in a brocade robe then emerged, followed by the maid Oriole, who had just left and was now walking behind her with downcast eyes.

It seemed she was the one who had informed the young woman.

"Second Miss! This might not be suitable. Allowing a stranger onto the boat...?" Master Zhou bowed respectfully upon seeing her, but his face showed hesitation.

"There's nothing unsuitable about it. Since this person survived such a great ordeal in the ice and encountered us, it can be considered a good deed for our family. There are many empty rooms on the boat anyway, so we can just arrange one. With so many of us, are we truly afraid of one dying person?" the young woman said softly, her expression unyielding.

"Very well. Since the young lady has given such instructions, I will have someone go down and rescue them." The scholar pondered briefly, then clasped his hands and agreed.

The young woman in the brocade robe smiled faintly, said no more, and returned to the cabin with the young maid.

Master Zhou, however, gazed at the cabin, his brow deeply furrowed.

"You both heard, it seems this person truly needs to be rescued now. But this ice block is so huge, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you two," Master Zhou said with a wry smile.

"No problem at all. I may not have much else, but I certainly have plenty of strength," Gao Dafeng said nonchalantly.

Wang Tieqiang, however, re-examined the massive ice block, then slowly nodded, indicating no issue.

...After an unknown period spent in darkness and a splitting headache, Han Li finally awoke from his dazed state.

Before he even opened his eyes, he heard the tender voice of a young girl.

"Old Master, when will this person wake up? It's already been two days and two nights. Is he really alright? The young lady is still waiting for my reply!"

"Hmph! What do you know, little girl? I only have a slight understanding of medicine; how would I know when he'll wake up? But this person's condition is truly peculiar. His face is terrifyingly pale, showing signs of severe blood loss, yet after feeling his pulse, it's remarkably strong, as if his body is much stronger than an ordinary person's. This truly baffles me!" an old voice said, sounding a bit frustrated.

"Hehe! I think you probably took the pulse incorrectly, Old Master!" The girl seemed very familiar with the old man and even teased him.

"Nonsense! In the past, whenever any of you had a headache or fever, wasn't it always I who cured you? When have I ever made a mistake? Perhaps this person has a strange illness no one has ever seen. I'm not a doctor, so what's so strange about not being able to identify it?" The old man seemed a bit embarrassed but still pushed on.

Upon hearing this, Han Li realized he was lying on an extremely comfortable bed, with thick padding beneath him and a smooth cotton quilt covering him, his body unusually warm.

Listening to the old man and the young girl converse in the language of the Great Jin, Han Li felt a little relieved.

It seemed he had not only been rescued by mortals but had also finally arrived within the Great Jin territory. However, his current situation was truly dire!

The moment he awoke, he used his spiritual sense to survey his internal condition. The result made him gasp, filling him with bitterness.

After escaping the Heavenly Azure Saintess's pursuit and fleeing tens of thousands of miles, his unsealing time arrived. He immediately leaped into the river, employing the feigned death technique taught by Grand Ascension Cultivator Dayang. He sealed himself within solid ice and allowed the ice block to drift with the current, thus escaping the pursuit of the Sudden People.

But his current physical condition was absolutely terrible, even worse than he had anticipated by a significant margin.

Not only had he suffered immense vital essence loss due to overuse of the Blood Shadow Escape technique, leaving his body incredibly weak, but his true essence had also depleted severely. This caused his cultivation level to plummet several stages, falling all the way to the Qi Condensation stage. At this rate, without five or six years of proper rest and recovery, he couldn't even dream of regaining his previous cultivation.

Han Li sighed inwardly. Suddenly, as if remembering something, he quickly checked the flying swords within his body.

He found Silvermoon, her primordial spirit also extremely weak and deeply unconscious, within one of the flying swords. This brought him a slight sense of relief.

However, the non-return of his second Nascent Soul also gave him a major headache.

Although the distance was too vast for him to sense anything accurately, it was clear that his second Nascent Soul had not been annihilated by the Sudden People's Grand Immortal Master, as he had predicted. A subtle, intermittent connection still remained, letting him know the Nascent Soul still existed. However, if he couldn't recall this Nascent Soul within a certain timeframe, the backlash he would face if it became independent was foreseeable.

The only thing that kept him from panicking was the knowledge that once he recovered his original cultivation, the nascent stage of his second Nascent Soul would be no match for him. Finding and subjugating it again would not be a difficult task.

As he thought this, he suddenly transmitted a message within his sea of spiritual consciousness.

"Senior, how long was I unconscious in the ice before arriving in the Great Jin? Are there any Great Jin cultivators nearby?"

"Hmm! You're finally awake. You drifted at the bottom of the river for over a year. The magical power attached to the ice finally ran out, and the ice block automatically floated to the surface. However, little Han, your situation is truly not very good," Grand Ascension Cultivator Dayang replied, sounding a bit lazy.

"How could I not know my own body is in a bad state? But this time I managed to escape by pure luck, which is a great fortune amidst misfortune, so there's nothing to complain about. After all, not everyone can slip away from a late-Nascent Soul stage cultivator in that kind of situation," Han Li said with a smile, sounding somewhat pleased with himself.

"Hmph, you certainly have an open mind! But I haven't asked you yet why you never told me about possessing a spirit treasure. No wonder, during some of your secluded cultivation sessions, you always left me outside the cultivation room. I've long wanted to personally examine a true spirit treasure. Stop talking nonsense; find some time later and bring that small cauldron for me to take a good look," Grand Ascension Cultivator Dayang's tone changed, and he said with some frustration.