Translator: Cinder Translations
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"Because this large boat is too big and the spacing between the grass patches is too small, it's not enough for the big boat to pass through. Therefore, we need to switch to a smaller boat to enter the Clear Heaven," Yan Zhengping said to Song Wen and Guo Tao.
"Men, lower the small boat."
Two mid-level Qi Refining Yan family cultivators dragged a small boat out of the ship's cabin.
The small boat was about six meters long and one meter wide.
The small boat was quickly placed into the water.
Yan Zhengping said, "Board the small boat."
As soon as he finished speaking, the four later stage Qi Refining Yan family cultivators all flew onto the small boat together.
The small boat, which already had limited buoyancy, immediately sank more than a foot. The distance from the water surface to the boat's gunwale was now less than a foot, as if a small wave could flood into the boat.
Yan Zhengping continued, "This small boat can only accommodate up to five people. Guo Tao, Ji Yin, you two decide who will board, and the rest of us will go to inventory the spirit grass. As for the other person, they can only stay on the big boat."
Song Wen was somewhat stunned as he watched Yan Zhengping's performance. He had pondered countless times before how the Yan family would cover up the issues in Clear Heaven.
Now, he finally understood. The Yan family had no intention of letting him enter the Clear Heaven area at all; they only wanted him to watch from afar.
Although Yan Zhengping said that either he or Guo Tao could enter Clear Heaven, it was clear that Guo Tao, with higher cultivation, would go in. Moreover, Guo Tao was the one in charge of this inventory mission, while he was just a follower with lower cultivation.
Guo Tao glanced at the somewhat stunned Song Wen and said, "Junior Ji Yin, you stay on the big boat. I will accompany Master Yan into Clear Heaven."
Song Wen's expression was somewhat odd. There were too many loopholes in Yan Zhengping and Guo Tao's words.
If one small boat could only carry five people, why couldn't the Yan family just take one less person so that Song Wen could also board?
If the four Yan family cultivators in the later stage of Qi Refining had to all go, why didn't they prepare an extra small boat? This was clearly treating him like a fool.
After a moment of contemplation, Song Wen said, "Master Yan, Senior Guo, I also have received a mission from the sect to personally inventory the quantity of Rainbow Grass. Now that I can't even enter Clear Heaven, it will reflect poorly on the sect."
Originally, Song Wen had mentally prepared himself that during this period with the Yan family, his actions would be manipulated by them and Guo Tao.
However, this was too blatant, treating him completely like a fool. If he didn't even raise any questions, that wouldn't be normal.
Yan Zhengping laughed loudly and said, "My apologies, I didn't explain clearly to Junior Ji Yin."
"The water in this swamp is often shrouded in poisonous mist and miasma, making it highly toxic and corrosive. Ordinary wooden boats would be corroded and sunk in no time."
"The small boat under my feet is made of Ling material, Baqing Wood, which can resist the corrosiveness of the swamp water. Due to the rarity and expense of Baqing Wood, it's extremely difficult to collect enough to make a boat."
"Therefore, even for my Yan family, it's extremely rare to have boats that can navigate in the swamp. For this inventory, we can only mobilize one small boat."
"This is why we can only allow one person to enter Clear Heaven. I hope Junior Ji Yin can understand."
Although Yan Zhengping's explanation was full of holes, Song Wen knew that he couldn't continue questioning further.
'If I continue like this, it's very likely to embarrass the other party and invite a thunderous strike.'
Song Wen bowed his fist to Yan Zhengping.
"Thank you, Master Yan, for clarifying."
He then turned to Guo Tao and said,
"Senior Guo, please take care."
Guo Tao nodded and swiftly boarded the small boat.
At this moment, Yan Zhengping continued,
"Ji Yin, you need not worry. Although you cannot personally board the small boat to enter Clear Heaven, I have here a magical tool that will allow you to see a glimpse of Clear Heaven."
Yan Zhengping suddenly produced a bronze mirror about the size of a basin in his hand, and in the other hand, he held a fist-sized stone.
"This mirror is called the Retaining Image Mirror, a middle-grade magical tool. It complements this Shadow Stone in my hand. As long as one person holds the Shadow Stone and activates it with spiritual energy, and another holds the Retaining Image Mirror within a hundred feet, they can see an image near the Shadow Stone."
Having said that, Yan Zhengping gave the bronze mirror to Song Wen and the Shadow Stone to Guo Tao.
"Later, I will trouble Friend Guo to activate the Shadow Stone. This way, Ji Yin can see a glimpse of your surroundings."
Guo Tao, with a face full of astonishment, exclaimed, "I didn't expect Master Yan to have such a miraculous treasure. With this, Junior Ji Yin can experience a glimpse of Clear Heaven as if he were there."
As the small boat gradually drifted away, Yan family cultivators also set up a prepared wooden frame for Song Wen to place the bronze mirror on.
On Guo Tao's end, he activated the Shadow Stone, and suddenly the scene ahead of Guo Tao appeared in the bronze mirror.
As the small boat entered the Clear Heaven area, Song Wen also saw a glimpse of Clear Heaven on his end.
The first area the small boat entered was the century-old Clear Heaven range. Due to the immense spiritual energy required for the growth of century-old spiritual medicines, Rainbow Grass was sparsely distributed, with tens of meters between each plant.
The image in the bronze mirror was clear, showing the leaves and patterns of the Rainbow Grass vividly.
Song Wen stared at the image, not missing any details.
Each leaf of these century-old Rainbow Grass plants had colorful distributions, with clear black patterns along the edges of the leaves, perfectly matching the description in the ancient records about century-old Rainbow Grass.
However, perhaps because the image was transmitted by the magical tool, Song Wen couldn't examine it up close with his own eyes or perceive it with his spiritual power, giving him a somewhat unreal feeling about these images.
It was like watching a movie in a theater in his past life. No matter how realistic the special effects were, there was always a sense of falseness deep inside.
After watching for a while, Song Wen confirmed in his heart that there seemed to be no problem with the appearance of these century-old Rainbow Grass.
But he thought to himself, if only he could examine them up close.
Glancing around, there were more than ten Yan family cultivators on the boat. Initially, they were all curious about the bronze mirror, but now they had dispersed, chatting or meditating, and no one was paying attention to Song Wen anymore.
After standing in front of the bronze mirror for a while, feeling somewhat bored, Song Wen began to look around. Then, he started to gaze into the distance towards the Clear Heaven.
(End of the Chapter)