Zhi Xuan flicked his finger, tossing the small boat into the air and channeling his essence towards it. The formation of the tiny vessel faintly trembled, resonating with the wind and illusion formations inscribed on it.

  In the blink of an eye, the small boat made of Star Burial Forest pine branches was no longer merely a replica. With a soft whooshing sound, the dull silver boat expanded, stretching from just a handspan to five feet in length, large enough for two or three adults to ride.

  The Seven Stars Boat now hovered waist-high above the grassy hill, not emitting a glaring light, but enveloped in a thin layer of spiritual mist, as if it had just emerged from a sea of stars. The surface of the boat was smooth and shimmering, radiating a calm and stable essence aura—proof that this artifact was dedicated purely to speed and mobility.

  Mei Hua, who was stunned, released Zhi Xuan’s grip. Her clear eyes widened at the sight of the marvel. She showed no fear of the cultivation artifact, only pure admiration.

  “Star boat!” Mei Hua exclaimed, with a crisp laugh like a wind chime. She rushed forward, but Zhi Xuan immediately stretched out his left hand, holding her back.

  “Wait a moment, Mei Hua,” Zhi Xuan said, his voice containing a cautious tone.

  He scratched his fingertip, splattering his spiritual blood and making an artifact contract. His spiritual blood immediately resonated with the pine branch, wood that had once rested in a desolate place full of harsh spiritual energy. Zhi Xuan’s control over the flying artifact felt perfect, almost instinctive.

  The boat trembled faintly, emitting a brief, silvery light. The silvery light solidified into fine particles behind the boat, giving an impression that was beautiful and awesome.

  “Now,” Zhi Xuan whispered, allowing his aura to subside. “Get on, Mei Hua. Just consider this a new bed for Lulu.”

  Mei Hua immediately climbed aboard, her steps small but steady, as if she was already accustomed to the wonders of cultivation. She sat with her legs dangling over the side of the boat, hugging Lulu and her silk scroll. She looked up at the first stars appearing in the twilight sky.

  “Xiao Die,” Zhi Xuan called, opening the collar of his robe slightly and allowing the moth to emerge. “Get up there.”

  The Heavenly Moth, Xiao Die, responded. It flew out of the folds of Zhi Xuan’s silk robe, its palm-sized wings vibrating, radiating a soft, rainbow-colored pollen dust. Xiao Die flew calmly, circling Mei Hua’s head once, and landed on the tip of the Seven Stars Boat.

  The presence of Xiao Die immediately strengthened the illusion formation on the boat. The wind formation carved on the boat’s surface now spun faster, drawing thin spiritual essence from the twilight air, making the boat not only fast but also enveloped by a thin spiritual layer that was difficult to penetrate with low-level divine sense.

  Zhi Xuan stepped aboard. The Seven Stars Boat trembled slightly under his weight, as if welcoming its master. He stood behind Mei Hua, his feet slightly apart, his left hand on Mei Hua’s back—an unspoken barrier between the little girl and the dangerous outside world.

  He channeled his black jade essence into the core formation. The dense and pure essence immediately triggered the wind formation.

  WHUSHHH!

  With a sharp whiz that cut through the twilight air, the Seven Stars Boat shot forward. It was not a violent burst of speed, but a smooth and silent acceleration, like an arrow shot by an immortal archer. In the blink of an eye, the grassy hill where they stood, the jade gate of Green Cloud City, and the hustle and bustle below, shrank into faint dots.

  Zhi Xuan stood tall, his torn red robe now fiercely flapping behind him, lashed by the wind of speed. However, Mei Hua, sitting in front of him, did not feel the cold touch of the wind.

  The Seven Stars Boat, enveloped by a thin spiritual mist, created a zone of calmness around it. This was the function of a good Flying Artifact: it filtered out the rough air essence and left only softness, protecting passengers from the deadly friction of speed.

  Coupled with the presence of Xiao Die at the tip of the boat, whose shimmering wings radiated a layer of illusion, the Seven Stars Boat felt like a capsule made of dreams and essence. Mei Hua laughed cheerfully. She stretched out her hands, trying to grasp the layer of spiritual mist circling the boat.

  “Big Brother Zhi Xuan, we are flying! Like a leaping star!” Mei Hua exclaimed, her eyes fixed on the Jade Dragon Mountains that were now whizzing past beneath them.

  Zhi Xuan did not answer. His sapphire eyes narrowed, his Divine Sense spreading like an invisible spiderweb, scanning the horizon. He felt his black jade essence rushing fiercely, but the energy consumption of the Seven Stars Boat was far more efficient than he had anticipated.

  He steered the boat straight towards a hidden gap in the Southern Mountains, a route rarely used by ordinary cultivators, avoiding the main trade routes that were prone to robbery or clashes with patrolling sects.

  They soared over the mountain peaks whose summits were covered in eternal spiritual snow. Below them, the forests looked like a vast, dark green brocade. The Essence of Heaven and Earth here was much denser and purer than in the Lower District. Every breath Zhi Xuan took felt like a draught of pure spiritual wine.

  ‘This is faster than a flying sword,’ Zhi Xuan muttered in his thoughts, his long black hair gently fluttering. ‘Isn't this faster than the blue wind sword we got from the silver moon auction, Ruo?’

  Zhi Xuan smiled faintly, shaking his head with amusement remembering the blue wind sword. An artifact that shattered into pieces, the first witness of him trying to fly with an artifact and finally the artifact being destroyed during the heavenly moth disaster.

  He allowed the memory to pass, a reminder of a chaotic past. Now, with the Seven Stars Boat and the new control of the Eclipse phase, he felt the difference between struggle and mastery.

  In his sea of consciousness, the Ancient Devil Monument resonated with a cold snort full of disdain.

  “That blue wind sword? Oh, please. Don’t remind me of the beggar's expression on your face when you were given it for free. Even that auction would vomit blood just seeing this boat made from an ancient pine branch,” Ruo Xianxue hissed, her voice like wind blowing through a cold cave.

  Zhi Xuan allowed the rare amusement to crawl into his mind, an almost inhuman response to the Ancient Devil Monument’s sneer. For him, every artifact, no matter how foul or sacred, was a tool that must be used efficiently. This Seven Stars Boat, though without offensive capability, offered absolute speed and protection.

  “Efficiency is the truth, not a luxury, red stone,” Zhi Xuan countered in his spiritual silence, his sapphire eyes locked on the mountain gap ahead. “This boat carries me away from trouble, which means it is invaluable.”

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  “Crawling nonsense!” Ruo Xianxue roared, the Ancient Devil Monument vibrating with waves of cosmic mockery. “You just fled a potential fight with the phoenix girl and other clan geniuses. And now you call it ‘efficiency’?”

  “Fleeing is a strategy that preserves essence and time,” Zhi Xuan said flatly, channeling more of his black jade essence. The Seven Stars Boat responded, its acceleration speed increasing slightly, leaving a thin trail of silver mist behind them.

  “Why waste a single breath teaching those barking dogs their place, when I can utilize it to absorb more Heavenly Essence on these peaks?” Zhi Xuan continued, his voice deep and calm, pressing down on the Ancient Devil Monument with cold logic. “They will find my path. And by then, the price of the lesson I will teach them will be far more expensive than a few sword blades or cheap techniques they possess.”

  Ruo Xianxue fell silent. The sudden quiet was more eerie than her roar. Zhi Xuan’s logic was an efficient logic, one that deferred cruelty not out of weakness, but out of cold calculation.

  “Cunning Monkey,” Ruo Xianxue finally hissed, her tone containing a rare mix of disappointment and acknowledgment. “You use your caution as a slow-injected poison. I like this way of thinking.”

  Zhi Xuan only smiled faintly, taking a slow breath and gazing at the stars that began to show, shining in the twilight sky, embracing the moon that looked so bright and magnificent.

  Mei Hua’s cheerful laughter broke the cold silence inside the Seven Stars Boat’s spiritual capsule. She pointed to the sky.

  “Big Brother Zhi Xuan, that moon is so big! And the stars are close!” Mei Hua exclaimed. Her cloud silk dress emitted a soft, faint glow, as if welcoming the true light of the heavens.

  Zhi Xuan followed Mei Hua's gaze. Above them, the sky had completely transformed into a sea of dark indigo, where thousands of stars glittered with greater intensity than he had ever seen in Green Cloud City. The pure spiritual essence of the high mountains made the stars seem closer, as if they could be touched.

  He felt his black jade essence rotating, purifying the abundant Heaven and Earth Essence. The acceleration speed of the Seven Stars Boat felt intoxicating. In a very short time, they had crossed a distance that would have taken days on foot, even for an ordinary Blood Transformation cultivator.

  “Yes, Mei Hua,” Zhi Xuan replied, his voice softening again. “We are flying very fast. We will find a falling star soon.”

  Xiao Die, the Heavenly Moth, trembled slightly at the tip of the boat, as if enjoying the pure Heavenly Essence. Its presence maintained the stability of the illusion formation, concealing the boat's energy signature from divine senses that might scan from the mountain peaks below.

  Zhi Xuan nodded to himself. They had reached the border of the Southern Mountains. Before them, lay the vast Xingluo Plains, a land famous for the density of its major sects and its unmatched spiritual energy.

  He had to start looking for the right location for a resting place. Not only to recover from his last fight, but also to carry out closed-door cultivation before the Thousand Heavens Sect Selection arrived.

  The location had to be hidden, rich in essence, and, most importantly, far from the paths of cultivators. His sharp gaze swept across the curved horizon. In the distance, he saw a faint energy trace, a mountain slope that seemed to hold a small pond and a small, separated fissure like a natural hole.

  Zhi Xuan narrowed his eyes, his divine sense, honed by arena discipline, focused on the faint energy trace. To the mortal eye, it was just an unremarkable mountain slope among the thousands of peaks of the Southern Mountains.

  However, Zhi Xuan felt an anomaly—a subtle tremor that hinted at an unnatural concentration of heavenly essence. Not an explosive essence concentration, but a slow, enclosed vortex, like an ancient heart still beating underground.

  “Over there,” Zhi Xuan mumbled, his voice low and absolute. He channeled his black jade essence, triggering the formation on the Seven Stars Boat.

  WHUSHH!

  The boat accelerated, leaving a denser trail of silver mist in the air. Their speed increased sharply. In a few breaths, they approached the targeted location.

  The mountain slope was hidden, far from the main peaks and covered by thousand-year-old pine forests. In the middle of the forest, there was a small pond whose water looked pitch black under the moonlight, enveloped in a thin spiritual steam—a characteristic of a rich and hidden jade essence pond.

  Just above the pond, he saw a narrow vertical fissure on the side of the mountain, as if the stone cliff had been torn by a giant sword blade. It was a natural cave, hidden behind a thin curtain of waterfall originating from an unknown essence source.

  ‘A perfect spot,’ Zhi Xuan thought, quickly assessing. A jade essence pond to accelerate his cultivation, and a hidden cave protected from rain and divine sense. ‘At least, I can try my luck by stepping into the Zenith phase here before the selection gamble.’

  Zhi Xuan knew, Transmutation cultivators supported by clans and sects would easily climb the Transmutation realm ladder. He could map out that most genius cultivators at the Thousand Heavens Sect selection would be a minimum of Blood Transformation Zenith phase, the peak of Blood Transformation.

  Zhi Xuan lowered the Seven Stars Boat with perfect control, hovering above the still and dense jade essence pond. The Heavenly Moth, Xiao Die, circled once joyfully, as if welcoming the abundant pure Essence, and then landed gracefully on Zhi Xuan’s shoulder.

  “We are landing, Mei Hua,” Zhi Xuan whispered. The boat slowly touched the mossy ground at the edge of the pond, without the slightest sound.

  Mei Hua, who had now stopped looking at the stars, looked at the pitch-black pond with curious eyes. “Big Brother Zhi Xuan, this water is black,” Mei Hua mumbled, her voice small. “Is this dirty water?”

  “No, Mei Hua,” Zhi Xuan replied, kneeling briefly at the edge of the boat. “This is very strong water. It is full of star energy. We must not touch it without caution.”

  He stored the Seven Stars Boat back into its small replica form, which Mei Hua immediately hugged along with Lulu. Zhi Xuan, with his cold sapphire eyes, scanned the hidden cave. The thin waterfall curtain covering the narrow fissure radiated abundant spiritual essence, but also concealed footsteps.

  He wasted no time. While holding Mei Hua with his left hand, he stepped forward. As he passed through the waterfall curtain, the gentle spiritual essence cleansed his torn robe of travel dust.

  Inside, the cave was much larger than it looked. A narrow stone passage opened into a vast, round room. The air inside the cave felt cold and damp, but also filled with pure and concentrated Heaven and Earth Essence, much denser than the pond outside.

  “Perfect,” Zhi Xuan muttered, he raised his right hand, unveiling the Azure Holy Flame which illuminated the cave. The dark purple flame reflected their shadows on the cave walls.

  Instantly, the stone room that had been shrouded in ancient darkness was now lit by a dancing dark purple light. Zhi Xuan’s Azure Holy Flame, though controlled and small in size, emitted a strange heat, not burning, but purifying the essence in the air. The cave became a perfect cultivation room.

  The cave floor was smooth, flat stone, cold under his feet. In one corner of the room, Zhi Xuan saw a natural formation created from cracks in the rock—a geological anomaly that instinctively attracted and gathered spiritual essence. The center of the room faintly trembled with Heaven and Earth Essence so thick it almost felt like dew.

  “Big Brother Zhi Xuan, it’s cold,” Mei Hua whispered, clutching Zhi Xuan’s torn robe with her small fingers. Although she was now wearing a cloud silk dress embroidered with protective formations, the essence-rich dampness of the cave still felt cold.

  Zhi Xuan nodded. He stretched out his left hand, and with a flick of his finger, the Azure Holy Flame floating in the air split into two. One flame remained floating high, illuminating the cave. The second flame floated into the corner, where the essence gathered. The dark purple flame slowly dampened the moisture and left a gentle warmth.

  The advantage of the Azure Holy Flame over other soul flames is its purity and how the fire is not easily extinguished. Although compared to the Bloom Lotus Flame and Heavenly Lotus Flame which are soul flames marking a Genius, the Azure Holy Flame is just below those soul flames.

  “Sit down, Mei Hua,” Zhi Xuan said calmly and gently. “Xiao Die, I will be outside the cave, watch over Mei Hua.”

  Mei Hua sat on the stone floor which now felt warm thanks to the Azure Holy Flame manifested by Zhi Xuan. She hugged Lulu, her rag doll, and the Seven Stars Boat which returned to its small replica form.

  The Heavenly Moth, Xiao Die, whose wings radiated a soothing rainbow light, hovered above Mei Hua’s head, as if becoming a gentle spiritual guardian.

  Zhi Xuan watched the scene for a moment. Calm innocence in the midst of the cruelty gathered inside the cave. He took a deep breath, letting his black jade essence rotate once, gathering resolve.

  “Big Brother will be gone for a moment, Mei Hua. Don’t leave this cave, okay. Outside… outside there are unfriendly shadows,” Zhi Xuan whispered, his sapphire eyes radiating a hard calmness.

  Mei Hua nodded obediently, her clear eyes fixed on the Azure Holy Flame dancing on the wall. “Okay, Big Brother Zhi Xuan. Lulu will keep the secret. And Lulu doesn’t like unfriendly shadows.”

  Zhi Xuan wasted no time. His first task was to secure this defensive fortress. He turned, stepping through the waterfall curtain which now felt cold.

  Outside the cave, the dense jade essence pond radiated abundant spiritual essence, enveloped in thin mist under the moonlight of the Southern Mountains. Zhi Xuan stepped to the edge of the pond, his divine sense spreading like the roots of an ancient tree, searching for footsteps or natural formations around it.