The next day.
Chen Jinshu summoned the errand disciple who had delivered the message the day before and handed him an already-prepared letter.
"In the future, if there's any mail, just bring it directly to me," she instructed, then pulled out ten spirit stones as payment.
"Senior Sister, that's too much. Five is enough."
"The other five are for you to ask someone from the Message Hall to assign a reliable message owl."
"Alright! I won't let you down, Senior Sister!"
After the letter was sent out, Chen Jinshu breathed a sigh of relief. She immediately returned to the courtyard to continue studying the terrain around Guhe City, wanting to at least gain a general understanding of the area.
In the blink of an eye, five days passed. At dawn, having already prepared everything, Chen Jinshu received a series of messages from her master and senior brothers and sisters. Seeing this, she smiled slightly—they had all assumed she'd oversleep.
She swiftly flew toward the agreed meeting spot: Biyi Palace.
This time, it was their master personally piloting the spirit ship to Guhe City, making the journey exceptionally safe. As long as they didn't run into some Nascent Soul-level old monster, this trip would likely go without a hitch. Besides, she had seven Foundation Establishment senior brothers and sisters accompanying her—it was more of a group outing.
When she arrived at Biyi Palace, she saw that the others were already geared up and ready to go. Indeed, she was the last to arrive.
"I told you she wouldn't be late. Seventh Sister insisted on rushing," Wen Yushu said with a glance at Chen Jinshu, then smiled at Dai Yuzhu.
"I just didn't want her to oversleep," Dai Yuzhu replied with an embarrassed grin.
Shui Huanmeng looked on with a smile, not saying anything. She simply took out a sleek, dark purple spirit ship from her storage pouch—it was exquisite and beautiful.
"Guhe City isn't far. I'll take you there a little faster."
As soon as Chen Jinshu laid eyes on the spirit ship, she couldn't look away. It was undoubtedly the most high-grade spiritual artifact she'd ever seen.
"Master's Zishan Ship is really beautiful," Dai Yuzhu praised softly.
"It was custom-made by a Tier 4 artifact refiner using millennium-aged purple cedar wood collected by Master herself. You usually won't see it unless it's a special occasion like this," their eldest senior brother explained.
"You're the only one who's ridden it before. How was it?" Shui Huanmeng asked with a smirk as she looked at Zheng Shaosi.
Zheng Shaosi's expression subtly changed.
Something felt off to Chen Jinshu. Why would he look like that if the ship was so good? Maybe there was more to it—but she was seeing it for the first time, so she had no way of knowing.
After Shui Huanmeng infused a spell into the ship, it instantly expanded in size, becoming a massive vessel that could carry up to fifteen people.
"All aboard!" Shui Huanmeng called as she jumped aboard.
Zheng Shaosi silently flew to the back of the ship and stood there without a word. Chen Jinshu followed suit, using her Rainbow Step to leap gracefully into the air and land on the ship. She deliberately stood beside Zheng Shaosi.
Zheng Shaosi gave her a friendly look, as if approving of her choice. By now, Chen Jinshu had a good idea of what was going on. Still, she didn't say much—she simply followed his example and stood firmly on the ship.
After Dai Yuzhu boarded, she couldn't hold back and ran straight to the bow, showering the ship with praise—at least eight out of every ten words were compliments.
"Hold tight—I'm setting off now."
Shui Huanmeng spoke as she activated the ship, which sped forward rapidly. Moments later, the spirit ship reached the front of the Xuanming Sect and passed inspection from several elder guards. Nothing happened on the way, which left Chen Jinshu slightly puzzled—until the next moment clarified everything.
In a blink, the ship suddenly accelerated like a purple arrow piercing the clouds, leaving behind a glowing trail. At the bow, Dai Yuzhu was instantly blasted by a gust of wind. Her hair flew in all directions, and she staggered backward until she tumbled all the way to the stern, landing hard.
"Why is Master's ship shaking this much?!" she grumbled, quickly fixing her appearance and trying to maintain some semblance of senior-sisterly dignity.
Seeing her like this, Chen Jinshu secretly felt glad she'd chosen the back of the ship—her master up front was blocking most of the wind, sparing her a miserable fate like her senior sister. The ship was extremely fast. She could no longer see the scenery clearly—only colorful streaks of light.
The wind roared past her ears.
"Though this ship is high-grade and fast, it wasn't refined with stability in mind. At high speeds, it tends to shake slightly," her senior brother explained beside her.
Chen Jinshu touched the small green gourd-shaped hairpin she wore. She was curious if activating the Gale Gourd would cause the same shakiness. She'd spent time refining the flying artifact after receiving it, and ten days ago, she'd finally succeeded in fully refining the Tier 2 spirit tool.
Sure enough, like the steward had said, the gourd could change size freely.
Shrunk to the size of a fingertip, it no longer emitted any spiritual energy—a hidden restriction must've been placed on it, activating concealment when minimized. She wore the now tiny green gourd in her hair. It had an elegant, unique look. However, she had yet to actually test it out, so she didn't know how fast it could go.
On the other hand, her Ice Will Sword pleased its sword spirit greatly. In excitement, the sword spirit had taught her several simplified sword techniques—easy to practice, yet surprisingly powerful when used.
Half an hour later, under Shui Huanmeng's control, the spirit ship finally arrived near Qingping Marketplace. They planned to stay there for a day, gather intel on the demonic beast incursions, and decide their next steps.
"We're here. Stay in the marketplace for a day and find out what's going on."
They landed about five li away from the marketplace. Flying in with the spirit ship would be too conspicuous. To avoid alerting anyone, they decided to enter separately. Each of them changed into casual rogue cultivator outfits.
Chen Jinshu had long since changed into a green robe gifted by her third senior sister. It was light, flowing, and subtly fragrant—she adored it. The others also changed into their own disguises.
"I'll head in first. The rest of you enter every quarter hour," Shui Huanmeng said before flying off toward the marketplace.
At the Golden Core stage, one could already fly without the aid of spirit tools.
"As planned—Junior Sister, you go next," said her fellow disciples.
Chen Jinshu nodded, then removed the Gale Gourd from her hair and quickly enlarged it. She sat at the center of the gourd and slowly flew toward the marketplace. Under her control, the gourd was stable and graceful, leaving behind a faint green trail in the air—nothing like her master's rattling ship.
She felt quite satisfied.
Soon, she reached the entrance of Qingping Marketplace. After paying half a spirit stone, she walked inside with a blank expression.