Wei Huoran sat in Simspace, hair and clothes disheveled, looking at the artifact he had 'created' with a disappointed look.
"Your tried your best", an older man with grey hair beard comforted him.
"You must be having fun with every image you conjure, Quanliyuan", Huoran responded.
"It is enjoyable to decide what form I should take", Quanliyuan said, "While I do have my true form, it's not hard to change my looks at this stage."
Huoran looked back at the half finished artifact and the jade plates sitting on the drafting table.
"Even with all the techniques I know, it's impossible to make the workstation as I wish", Huoran lamented, "It requires too much power, higher level materials, and runes that I know but unable to draw."
"Perhaps you have been working on this too long, Xiao Ran", the artifact spirit replied, "It wouldn't hurt to take a stroll and center your thinking."
Huoran looked at the old man and stood up, "You are right, I do seem to be obsessed with this."
Huoran took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he had sitting in his cave. He stepped out of his him, took his hover bike out, and instructed it to go to the lake. Traffic on Sun & Moon island was different from his past life, travel artifacts didn't just run on the ground, but flew in the air as well. The Ministry of Transportation had set up a system of priority, and as Wei Huoran was the disciple of the master and benefactor to the residents, he was allowed to travel what traffic lane he wished, as long as no emergencies were present.
Fifteen minutes later, he was exiting the hover bike as he landed at the lake at Market Square. It looked very different than when he first arrived here as railing, sidewalks, footpaths, and vendors could been seen around the water. Restaurants could be seen around the cliffs and waterfalls, as well as the special rooms at the bottom of the lake. As he walked around, he spotted a chicken skewer vendor close to him, and the smell drew him over, so he lined up. After he bought a three skewer set, he sat down on a nearby bench that was empty and began to eat the a skewer.
"Daoist Wei", a young woman's voice called his name, "It's a pleasant surprise to see you here."
Huoran turned to see Zeng Meirong standing there, wearing the work uniform of the inscription guild and holding chicken skewers as well.
"Miss Zeng", Huoran said as he stood, "It's a pleasant surprise to see you here."
"I thought I asked you to call me Meirong", Meirong pouted.
"Didn't I also request you call me Huoran?", Huoran replied.
The both of them laughed as the awkward moment passed, and Huoran invited Meirong to sit.
"You've been very busy lately", Meirong spoke before taking a bite, "Is everything going well for you?"
"A few things have gone well for me", Huoran responded, "But just recently I hit a wall, and I'm taking a break to organize my thoughts about how to overcome it."
"Is it something assigned to you by your master?", Meirong inquired, "Must you overcome this trial by yourself?"
Huoran was struck dumb by this question.
"Actually no", he replied, "Perhaps I was so used to doing things by myself or having others depends on me, but I didn't consider asking for help."
"I can relate", Meirong smiled, "When I was first learning talismans in the palace, my instructors would constantly imprint in my memory that I could only depends on myself to perform my tasks. But in reality, they were teaching and helping me so that I could stand up on my own one day."
"Your instructors", Huoran said in a whisper.
"Anyways my lunch hour is almost finished", Meirong said as she looked at her Qphone, "Hopefully, the next time we meet, it will be for the meal you owe me."
Huoran laughed, "Most definitely, Meirong, things are busy now, but I'll try to set aside some time soon."
Meirong smiled and bowed as she walked away, meanwhile Huoran called Secretary Lui, "Please contact the Top merfolk inscription artisans, and invite them to my office."
"Immediately Boss Wei", Secretary Lui answered.
Su Ping was standing in line inside the Golden Peony Pavilion belonging to the trading company of the same name. Thousands of independent cultivators stood around by themselves or in groups minding their own business, but also keeping an eye out for trouble. A group of eleven men stood close to Su Ping, and he noticed it consisted of an older man at the late Body Perfecting stage and ten younger men at the mid Body Perfecting stage. As a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, Su Ping didn't care that much for a bunch of people who failed to reach the Qi Gathering stage despite their age. Yet as he stood there, he still inadvertently overheard their conversation.
"Chief Yao, are you sure about taking this trip?", one man said as he looked nervously at all the other bystanders.
"Yao Chang, you worry too much", the older man remarked, "This pavilion offered transportation for all cultivators at appropriate prices, so it would damage their reputation if something happened to us. No one would be interested in pawns like us anyways since we don't carry anything of value to them."
Another of the younger had a bitter look on his face, "This should be our time to rise, we suffered for so many years now. We had a mortal village to rule over, and life was good until that beast tide ruined everything. Even when we returned there was nothing of value, and no survivors. Since then, it's been nothing but mining and we finally made enough to travel to the west of the continent. This is the last chance we have or we might as well return to a mortal city and live out our days the best we can."
Before any of his group could respond, the aura of powerful cultivators spread out through the room.
"Fellow Daoist", a voice projected itself through the large gathering area, "The Golden Peony Trading Company will be departing soon, but before we start allowing you to enter, I must make announcements. First, boarding the spiritual boat will done in the following order: Golden Peony employees, VIPs, privacy rooms, and finally community rooms. Second, meals will be provided for all guests, your meal will be announced by the Golden Peony employee on your level. Third, each level will have guards and enforcers stationed to prevent violence between guests. Penalties for trying to solve conflict on your own will range from fines to death. Four, stealing or attempting to steal from others will also be punished harshly. Lastly it will take a week to arrive at our destination, please use this time to discuss the Dao with fellow cultivators. Now let me introduce the leader of today's flight, Lord Merchant Tan Xinyue."
Everyone bowed or acknowledged the presence of the man that just walked out of the pavilion. Lord Merchants were almost never seen by the general public, as they only served the highest VIP customers that visited the company.
"Everyone, I'm glad to be able to offer you this opportunity that is normally only available to the elite disciples or elders of a sect", Xinyue said, "Let me reveal how this trip will go, after we depart here we will visit several sects across the continent picking up more passengers along the way. The total trip will take a week, and our destination is the island in the middle of the sea between the three continents. The master of the island is the strongest cultivator in the world and his disciple, a man named Wei Huoran, is the overseer of the island. When we arrive, you will all be registered as guests on the island, but seeing that our company are responsible for bringing you there, I can guarantee you one thing. If you embarrass yourself, they will catch you, and even if they banish you from the island, we will take your actions as a slap to our face. Don't think you can continue to survive if you slap our face."
The room could hear the seriousness of Xinyue's voice, and though no one reacted, many bold independent cultivators decided to observe the situation more before taking an actions.
The announcer's voice from before spoke out again, "It is now time to board the spiritual boat. First, Lord Merchant Tan and all Golden Peony employees embark at this time."
Tan Xinyue began walking towards the ship as he was followed by his retinue. Behind them was the aura of a few strong cultivators as they escorted just over a hundred women and fifty men. All the ones being escorted were very beautiful or handsome, ranged from Body Perfecting stage to Void Refinement stage in cultivation.
As the last of the group entered the boat, a new group of guards came out with approximately five hundred people. Just as the first group the cultivation ranged from low to high, but unlike the first group, all these people appeared to be clerks, stock boys, managers, evaluators, and more.
When the last person entered the boat, the announcer spoke, "Will the the holders of the VIP tickets starting at ticket one please step forward and board."
Cultivators of high status started the process of boarding, followed by the ticket holders for the private rooms, and finishing with the community room ticket holders.
"Lord Merchant Tan", a servant reported, "All passengers and cargo is loaded, we are ready to go."
"Thank you", Xinyue replied, "Captain Lei Zhu, let us proceed as planned."
"Yes Lord Tan", the older man said respectfully before turning around.
Lei Zhu began barking orders and soon the spiritual ship and two smaller escort ships rose into the sky before the three quickly accelerated into the horizon.
Wei Huoran was back in his Simspace workshop, but this time he was joined by three merfolk men and two merfolk woman.
"Sage Vigol, Sage Zara, Grandmasters Mettuc, Uzzik, and Magal, I welcome you to my workshop", Huoran greeted each guest with respect, "Surely it's unnecessary for all of you to stay here as your workshops will miss your guidance."
Vigol laughed heartily hearing Huoran's greeting, "It's my honor to assist you in your endeavors, I heard your quite talented in runes, so I decided to witness it myself."
Zara responded in a pleasant sounding voice, "Daoist Wei, the princess just happened to mention that required assistance. I would be happy to lend what little knowledge I have if it will aid you."
The other three grandmasters nodded to signify that they could add nothing that wasn't already said by the sages.
"I will use your time wisely then", Huoran bowed and walked to the large artifact covered in the corner before removing the cloth.
Mettuc was the first to speak, "What is this, Daoist Wei?"
"This is what was working on", Huoran replied, "An Inscription Workstation."
The five merfolk paid more attention to the artifact before Magal asked, "And what is the purpose of this workstation?"
"Well I'm sure the five of you are familiar with the process of inscribing runes into your work", Huoran explained, "And you're also familiar with how much work you can accomplish before your Qi runs dry."
The five merfolk nodded in understanding as Uzzik asked, "And this artifact will change that?"
"That's the purpose", Huoran agreed, "With your help, not only will you be able to do ten times the work than before, but you and all the other inscription artists will be able to safely draw runes above your level."