Early in the morning, Elder Li saw the leave note on the table.
I've gone out with Lin Feng to have fun. I'll be back tomorrow, the day after, or the day after that.
by Zhang Ze
Li Guanqi looked at the note, and without commenting on the meaning of "by," he felt a bit mystified as a master.
Just like farming.
Throw Qi Cultivation Stage Zhang Ze on the ground, and by autumn, you'll have a Foundation Establishment Stage Zhang Ze.
Forget it, let him go for now this month.
Mountain path.
Zhang Ze walked in front, and he found Lin Feng to be quite the chatterbox.
Since they left the Outer Disciple dorm area, his mouth hadn't stopped.
From recent training, fights he'd gotten into, to the vegetable prices at nearby markets, which mountain streams had sweet water, which were murky, he rambled on about everything.
Also, maybe due to increased fondness, Lin Feng hadn't uttered a single indecent word after talking for so long.
Reaching a fork in the road, the left led down the mountain, while the right was where the Flying Ship was parked.
Zhang Ze pointed to the right.
"Flying Ship fare is too expensive," Lin Feng, however, shook his head.
"We can spend three Spirit Stones to take the Teleportation Array to the border of the Cyan Thorn, and then ride a horse. It'll only take about..."
"Stop, stop, come on, my brother, stop reciting it."
Zhang Ze raised his hand, with a Jade Pendant hanging from his finger, shaped like a scabbard, engraved with a Chen character on it.
"Why bother with all that trouble when we can fly for free?"
"But I heard the sect's procedure for applying for a Flying Ship is strict; even Inner Sect Disciples can't easily request to use one. Brother Zhang, how did you?"
"Borrowed it from Sister Mei'Er. This Sword Sect is all owned by the Chen Family, isn't it all up to Miss Chen whether to use it or not? Let's go."
"You managed to borrow such a valuable thing? Didn't you guys just meet not long ago?"
"That's called networking, Brother Feng, learn from it."
After walking a few more dozen steps, they arrived at a mountain cave entrance. Through the cave and across a covered bridge was a platform, opening up a scenic view before them.
The platform was formed from a sheer mountain cut, surrounded by towering sword peaks, shrouded in mist, with several Flying Ships intricately inscribed with mysterious patterns parked in a corner.
This place quite matched Zhang Ze's stereotypical impression of an Immortal Sect.
The only discordance was a Senior Sister.
She had placed a rocking chair next to the Flying Ship parking area, with a book covering her face, sleeping with drool flowing.
"Senior Sister. Senior Sister?"
Zhang Ze shook her a couple of times, but there was no response.
Thinking for a moment, he took out his Copper Gong and handed it to Lin Feng, making a gesture for him to proceed.
Lin Feng being straightforward, gave it a hard knock.
Then, the gong was kicked away, and five seconds later, Senior Sister leisurely woke up.
"Whose kid is this? Go play elsewhere, I'm at work, not offering service."
Zhang Ze thought this Senior Sister's words made no sense, so he shook the Jade Pendant in front of the slacking Senior Sister.
"I want to take a Flying Ship, Senior Sister, look at this."
Seeing the Jade Pendant, she reluctantly scratched her messy hair and walked to the Chen Family's eldest lady's Flying Ship, lifting the Restrictions.
"Mm, press here, then press here. Once it lights up there, just think about where you want to go."
"How do you land?" Zhang Ze asked.
"Just jump off directly, once no one is on the Flying Ship, it'll return by itself."
"I mean, is there a landing method suitable for Qi Cultivation Stage disciples?"
"Fly a bit lower and then jump."
"Alright then."
Thanks to Senior Sister's pointless guidance, Zhang Ze somewhat understood how to operate the Flying Ship.
Simply put, it goes where you think.
But there's no brake, no accelerator.
To return, there's a one-button call.
The short script on the Jade Pendant is Sister Mei'Er's personal number.
The long one is for Didi Flying Craft.
Once aboard the Flying Ship, Zhang Ze remembered, "Junior has not yet asked for Senior Sister's name, may I know your esteemed name?"
"Ah, I am called Qiao Lezhi. Just call me Lezhi."
Sister Xuegao seemed to recall something, grabbing the Flying Ship about to take off with one hand, "By the way, when you return, try to come back the day after tomorrow or the day after that."
"Why?" Lin Feng asked.
"Tomorrow, I still have to be here serving time duty.
The day after tomorrow and the day after that, I'm on vacation.
Safe travels, off you go."
Senior Sister Xuegao waved one arm, sending the thousand-pound Flying Ship soaring into the clouds.
[Achievement obtained, Take Off, Wow!]
The feeling of flying wasn't new to Zhang Ze, who had many plane trips while attending gaming expos around the world in his past life.
But sitting in an open-air plane was a first.
Zhang Ze instinctively felt this Flying Ship should have a wind-shielding function, but he wasn't sure and dared not meddle.
Who knew if this Flying Ship had a self-destruct feature built in.
Adding to the mess, Zhang Ze realized his plan had misfired.
He had thought he could merrily fly the Flying Ship, traverse the open map, with achievements popping up everywhere.
Yet, in reality, there was nothing, as plain as running a map outdoors in a game.
The Flying Ship journey turned into pure confinement.
And the destination was quite a distance from the Sword Sect, taking the Flying Ship almost half a day to get there.
"I was wrong, before the Golden Core Stage, I definitely won't take a Flying Ship again," Lin Feng said after jumping off.
"I think the Flying Ship itself isn't the problem, it's that Senior Sister's fault, Chen Qin said riding a Flying Ship is very comfortable."
Zhang Ze pressed down his hair, but it still looked wild.
Blame or not, repairing it was futile, as that Senior Sister had quite the Cultivation.
Being able to send a thousand-pound Flying Ship into the sky, who knows if she practiced Sword techniques or Body Refining.
"Let's go, we'll talk about Senior Sister Qiao's matter later. The rest of the journey is up to Brother Lin."
"Naturally." Lin Feng took the lead.
To be safe, they disembarked a bit away from that Secret Realm.
After another day of walking, they'd reach it.
But before they could cross the ridge, Zhang Ze stopped Lin Feng.
"There's something up ahead."
[Outdoors Side Quest triggered, Vanquish Demons (0/999999)]
[Activate to complete the hidden achievement, True Monarch of Demon Suppression]
Zhang Ze closed the notification in front of him and summoned a little earth ghost.
Shedding its skin to return to its main duty, the ghost went ahead to scout.
Through the little ghost's eyes, Zhang Ze saw what was happening down the ridge.
An odd-looking Demon Path cultivator was highway robbing, robbing a cart loaded with live pigs.
The pig herders were knocked unconscious on the ground, and this Demon Path cultivator was busy bleeding the pigs one by one at the roadside.
Demon Path, robbery, pork.
Usually, only two of these terms occur together.
Seeing them all at once was pretty abstract.
"What did you see?" Lin Feng patted Zhang Ze's shoulder.
"I saw madness."
"What is madness?"
"Demon Path is madness."
Zhang Ze recalled the little ghost, sat on the ground, thought for a moment, and then spoke.
"Vanquishing demons is the duty of the Righteous Path.
But that Demon Path cultivator is at least at the Foundation Establishment Stage in Cultivation, if we want to eliminate him, we'll need to devise a plan."
He opened his Hundred Treasures Bag and poured out a bunch of miscellaneous items.
"Come, Brother Feng, listen to my plan..."