Hundreds of miles east of the Great Han, in the sea, two demonic beasts, with dragon heads, ox bodies, and shining black skin, their hooves having five claws, were slowly pulling a three-story pavilion boat towards the Great Han.
"Miss, why are we traveling so far to this desolate sea?" a little maidservant grumbled, picking a flower.
On the third floor of the pavilion, a graceful figure slowly emerged and playfully tapped the grumbling maidservant on the head.
The figure was a woman in a purple dress, with curved willow-leaf eyebrows and a pair of bright, clear eyes that sparkled like stars. Her three thousand strands of black hair cascaded behind her. Though barely in her prime, she possessed a beauty that could topple nations.
"Miss~~" the little maidservant lowered her head shyly, fidgeting with the hem of her clothes.
"Thump—"
"Thump—"
At this moment, a one-armed man in a tight black long gown, with a long sword on his back, walked out of the pavilion. "Miss, we have entered the near waters of Tianyue Island."
"Hmph!"
The little maidservant snorted coldly.
"You..." The woman smiled helplessly and walked out of the pavilion, gazing at the distant sea.
"Miss, it's not that I'm being nosy, but for you to abandon the market your family has developed in the Moluo Dynasty and come to Tianyue, ten thousand miles away, is not a wise choice!"
The one-armed man looked troubled. The woman before him was Ling Xuan, the sole daughter of the Ling family, one of the ten great families of the Shengyuan Dynasty. The Ling family, unlike other powerful families, focused solely on business with diversified industries. Although they didn't have many top-tier experts and were at the bottom of the ten great families of the Shengyuan Dynasty, for tens of thousands of years, no force had dared to draw a blade against them.
This was because the Ling family monopolized the precious medicinal pills of the Shengyuan Dynasty and was the sole collaborator with the Danqing Pavilion of the Shengyuan Dynasty.
The Danqing Pavilion was the only sect in the Shengyuan Dynasty with alchemists of fifth grade and above. All medicinal pills of fifth grade and above originated from the Danqing Pavilion.
The woman before the one-armed man was precisely Ling Xuan, the only daughter of the Ling family patriarch. The Ling family patriarch's lifespan was nearing its end, and some of his power had been usurped by the family elders, who were nurturing disciples of their own lineage.
The Ling family had two conditions for appointing a patriarch: first, to develop commerce and bring immense profit to the family, which was a basic requirement; the true deciding factor for the new patriarch was to gain the support of the Danqing Pavilion.
The Danqing Pavilion, in the path of alchemy, besides their fanatical pursuit of precious spiritual materials and natural treasures, was also a place that revered the strong.
To gain the support of the Danqing Pavilion, one had to either find extremely rare celestial spiritual treasures or conquer the Danqing Pavilion through alchemy.
Conquering the Danqing Pavilion through alchemy was no easy feat. In the Shengyuan Dynasty, the Danqing Pavilion was the heaven of alchemy, a lofty heaven.
For tens of thousands of years, the Ling family patriarchs had all obtained the support of the Danqing Pavilion by seeking celestial spiritual treasures.
Ling Xuan gazed at the vast blue sea, a thin layer of tears welling up in her eyes. "Li Shang, do I have any other choice?"
Her father was old and frail, even falling into a coma at times, leading to the family's power being divided by the elders, who each supported disciples of their own factions. The resource-rich markets developed by the Ling family had long been selected and divided by others.
Not a single person from the clan stepped forward to help her compete for a favorable market. Under the cold mockery of the clan elders, she was sent to a vassal state of the Shengyuan Dynasty—the Moluo Dynasty.
A dynasty with thin primal energy, far from the Eastern Desolation Continent, offered no chance for a comeback.
Just then, she heard the story of the Human King Mang. A dynasty that could produce a Spiritual Venerate expert must have something extraordinary about it. Therefore, she made up her mind: since it was still a dynasty, why not go to the distant Tianyue and take a gamble!
"Miss~~" The little maidservant's eyes were filled with tears as she draped a long gown over Ling Xuan. She knew her mistress's helplessness all too well, but she couldn't understand why she chose Tianyue. That was a place previously drained of primal energy by the Zhang family; it was worse than the Moluo Dynasty.
"I'm fine," Ling Xuan said with a gentle smile. Her placid face hid her sorrow deeply, except for her eyes.
On the vast boat, only her most loyal personal maid, Liang'er, and her guard, Li Shang, remained by her side. This was not a competition for the patriarch position; it was clearly a disguised exile. From the moment she was sent to the dynasty, she had no chance of winning.
Ling Xuan stroked Liang'er's small head. Being able to leave the Shengyuan Dynasty and live in seclusion elsewhere was not impossible. What worried her now was whether the Ling family would let her go. Ling Xuan, though young, was exceptionally beautiful and renowned throughout the Shengyuan Dynasty, even being ranked among the top three beauties by many martial artists.
With her lineage losing power and her father's protection gone, she could only become a pawn for the family to appease other forces.
"Miss, rest assured. As long as I, Li Shang, have a breath left, I will protect you with all my might," Li Shang declared, a fierce glint in his eyes.
Ling Xuan smiled charmingly. "How much longer until we reach Tianyue?"
Having never traveled far, Ling Xuan was witnessing the vastness of the world for the first time. Setting off from the Shengyuan Dynasty, pulled by two Ox Dragon Jiao beasts at the Divine Mansion realm, the pavilion boat had sailed on the sea for more than two months.
Even the two Divine Mansion realm demonic beasts had taken a considerable amount of time. The Ling family had teleportation arrays, but unfortunately, the family had stripped her of the right to use them, which was another form of obstruction.
Meanwhile, beneath the sea, at the station of the Sky Azure Manticore Dragon, Ao Qing was leisurely drinking fine wine and enjoying the graceful dance.
Since pledging allegiance to the Great Han, he, as the patriarch, rarely had time for leisure, constantly patrolling the deep seas. Today, Ao Bing was on patrol, allowing him to steal some time for himself.
"Report~~"
As Ao Qing swayed his head, immersed in the music and dance, an extremely annoying voice reached him.
"Can't a person live?"
"Ah!"
"Can't a person live?" Ao Qing grumbled miserably. As a dignified patriarch, he had never endured such hardship in millennia, but he dared not speak out, so he vented his anger on his subordinate.
"Patriarch... Patriarch!"
"Elder Ao Bing has sent word that a pavilion boat has been discovered in the sea a hundred miles away. There are three primal energy fluctuations within the boat, with the strongest being at the peak of the Spiritual Sea realm!"
"What?"
Ao Qing sat up abruptly, frightened. The Spiritual Sea realm, the peak of the Spiritual Sea realm—this was essentially the strength of a top martial artist in a dynasty. How could this be?
"Direction of travel?"
Ao Qing's forehead beaded with sweat, his expression extremely tense. He silently prayed, *Don't come to the Great Han, don't come to the Great Han...*
"Patriarch, the direction of the pavilion boat's travel is heading directly towards our Great Han!" The reporting soldier lowered his head, not daring to look at his patriarch. Since his patriarch pledged allegiance to the Great Han, he seemed to have a split personality, acting meek and submissive within the Great Han, but prone to yelling at his own people at home.