Chapter 149: Forging the Sword Ring

On that day, Chen Mobai was in his seat, meditating to cultivate his spirit.

Suddenly, a violent tremor shook the vessel, causing his body to sway uncontrollably.

“What’s happening?”

All the cultivators on board stood up and went to the windows.

“A group of water serpent demons are attacking us, and we might need your assistance.”

Two cultivators from the Liu family came in and said to them with solemn expressions. Afterward, they approached the Qi Cultivation stage cultivators with higher cultivation levels on board, and soon, one of them came over to Chen Mobai.

“Brother Chen, would you be willing to lend a hand? We will refund your fare for this trip.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Mobai immediately nodded. He understood the principle that they would either all prosper or all perish together. If this ship were to capsize now, it would be difficult for him to survive in the vast Cloud Dream Lake, and he would likely have to flee back to the Immortal Sect.

Inside the cabin, ten of the twelve late-stage Qi Cultivation cultivators followed the Liu family cultivators onto the deck. Chen Mobai glanced around. Of the two who didn't come out, one appeared to be injured and pale, while the other was He Qun, who had lost an arm, severely diminishing his combat strength, and could be considered gravely wounded.

“Everyone, please stand on both sides of the outer perimeter of the cabin. This icebreaker of ours was jointly produced by Liujia Mountain and Hanshan Peak. It can withstand both spells and physical attacks from demon beasts. However, its power source requires mid-grade spirit stones to operate, and I only have a few left. To prevent further trouble, we still need to find an opportunity to repel or kill this group of demon beasts.”

The leading Liu family cultivator on board was named Liu Yongnian, and he was at the ninth level of Qi Cultivation. After briefly explaining the situation, he immediately directed Chen Mobai and the other nine to their positions.

Upon hearing “mid-grade spirit stones,” Chen Mobai was also surprised. They usually used low-grade spirit stones for transactions in the market, and if converted to mid-grade spirit stones, one hundred low-grade stones were needed to exchange for one mid-grade stone. All spirit stone mines in the Eastern Barrens were monopolized by the Seven Great Sects, and those that circulated outside were basically all low-grade spirit stones. After all, mid-grade spirit stones were used by Foundation Establishment cultivators for breathing and cultivation, and the Seven Great Sects themselves found them insufficient for their own use.

The Liu family was indeed one of the Four Great Cultivation Families of Yun Kingdom; they were actually able to obtain mid-grade spirit stones. However, it was also possible they were included when the ship was purchased. Thinking of this, Chen Mobai could also understand why the ship tickets were so expensive, as the Liu family had invested heavily in this ship.

Amidst a buzzing sound, Chen Mobai looked up and saw a circle of earthy yellow light shield illuminate, enveloping the entire ship. At the same time, in the waters beside the ship, nearly dozens of dark green water serpents emerged their heads from the surface, opened their cavernous mouths, and sprayed waves of water towards where they stood. Accompanied by piercing whistles, waves of water, like blades and swords, poured down onto the ship, covering everything. But the earthy yellow light shield blocked all the attacks.

However, after two consecutive rounds, the light shield began to dim slightly. Liu Yongnian, with a pained expression, took out a mid-grade spirit stone and had his nephew replace it.

“Everyone, it will still take three days for the ship to reach shore. If we let these beasts continue to attack, it might attract other demon beasts. Please join me in attacking and charging for a while.”

After saying this, Liu Yongnian was the first to leave the icebreaker, controlling a flying sword, and began fighting with a large black serpent, which was clearly the leader.

Chen Mobai waited a moment, until half of the people had started leaving the protection of the light shield and begun fighting the water serpents, before he followed them out. He first applied a Floating Talisman to himself, then dark yellow flying needles shot out from his cuff, piercing the eyes, vital seven-inch mark, and other vulnerable spots of the two large serpents that lunged at him. Blood splattered instantly. All the flying needles pierced the water serpents' bodies, but the demon beasts' vitality was tenacious, completely unlike that of humans. Or rather, the damage from the needle strikes was not fatal enough for them.

As two cavernous mouths closed in front of him, Chen Mobai immediately pulled out a green cloth handkerchief. A large green shield materialized in front of him, blocking the two injured cold serpents, which had instead entered a berserk state.

“Time to test these three magic artifacts.”

Chen Mobai saw the two water serpents, now berserk after being blocked by the green shield, begin to coil around it, attempting to bypass his defense. He raised his right hand. He rubbed the brass ring on his middle finger with his thumb and infused it with spiritual power. A golden light flashed! Like a sharp sword sweeping across the water, it easily severed the two water serpents that had just coiled around the shield.

“Not bad,” he murmured, “but the spiritual power consumption is a bit high.”

Chen Mobai's eyes lit up when he saw the result, but after sensing the spiritual power within his body, he slightly shook his head.

Inside the cabin, He Qun, who witnessed this scene through the window, slightly narrowed his eyes. He had an impression of this brass ring in his memory; it seemed to be the Sword Forging Ring from Jinguang Cliff.

The group outside were mostly individuals experienced in fighting demon beasts in the Cloud Dream Lake. All were at the late Qi Cultivation stage, with even two at the ninth level of Qi Cultivation. Moreover, with the icebreaker as a retreat option, allowing them to withdraw at any time if they felt they couldn't hold on, this battle naturally ended in a complete victory.

Chen Mobai tested the power of the brass ring and the green cloth handkerchief again. He didn't take out the white jade bell because it was an area-of-effect attack and uncontrollable. After killing two more water serpents, the remaining ones scattered in all directions. However, the leading black serpent was firmly entangled by Liu Yongnian and unable to escape. Chen Mobai and the others naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity. They all rushed forward, displaying their various techniques, and ten spells simultaneously bombarded the demon beast in one round, directly blasting this peak first-tier demon beast to death.

“Thank you all for your assistance,” Liu Yongnian said. “I will have someone present your ticket refunds shortly.”

After returning to the ship, Liu Yongnian first thanked Chen Mobai and the others, then called over his nephew and began refunding the spirit stones. As for him, he called upon the other three Liu family cultivators on board and gleefully dismembered the black serpent, skillfully extracting useful items like its gallbladder, bones, skin, and eyes. These items, if sold at the Nanxi Market, would be worth at least a hundred spirit stones.

Those who had helped still needed the Liu family's icebreaker and had also received their ticket refunds, so they didn't say much. However, Liu Yongnian knew how to conduct himself. He divided some of the serpent meat and gave two catties to each of the ten cultivators who had assisted, including Chen Mobai. The meat of these first-tier demon beasts contained abundant spiritual energy. If sold to establishments like Tiancan Tower that specialized in spiritual cuisine, two catties of meat could fetch two spirit stones. After receiving these benefits, no one had anything more to complain about.

During the rest of the journey, they encountered another wave of demon beasts. These were merely slow-moving black armored turtles. The Liu family, without hesitation over spirit stones, increased the ship's speed to maximum, bypassing the waters where these demon beasts were located and avoiding a battle.

Three days later, they finally disembarked. Naturally, there was also a market town near the shore. Chen Mobai looked at the map and found that the path back to Shuifu was a bit distant. Although going to the market town and then back to Shuifu would be a detour, his cautious nature still led him to decide to return to Yun Kingdom with the Luo family's caravan first.

He Qun watched Chen Mobai purchase a ticket from the Luo family, his eyes narrowing slightly. He exchanged glances with two other rogue cultivators who had just disembarked. Then He Qun bought a ticket for the same caravan as Chen Mobai, while the other two left directly.