Be Passive In The High Martial World

Chapter 53: The Name Rises in Canglang Thirty-Three

This ship is at least ten zhang tall, adorned with carved beams and painted rafters, intricate designs, pavilions, and towers, all complete, resembling a massive palace.

What is even more astonishing is that this ship is not some miraculous Spiritual Treasure, but entirely constructed by mortal craftsmanship.

Such a spectacle, one wonders how much manpower and resources it must have consumed.

This giant ship breaks through the waves and mist from behind, pushing aside the vast expanse of blue waves, grand and majestic, making the small boat where Chen Kuang is located in the front seem incredibly tiny.

Chen Kuang's heart stirs, paying no attention to the cheers from above, but turning his head to look towards the bow of the small boat.

The straw-hatted fisherman who should have been rowing at the bow of the boat is nowhere to be seen, only the empty lantern swaying gently in the wind.

Wen Si has already left, which means his mission is complete.

Is this where he was supposed to bring Chen Kuang?

Right in front of this ship?

Could his Qingyun Ladder be on this ship?

The fog around suddenly disperses, and Chen Kuang, who was puzzled, suddenly freezes.

Where is this?

This place is no longer the foggy Wen Si River, but an open lake.

The lake breeze blows directly on his face, refreshing.

Looking around, one can see overlapping distant mountains, with varying shades of intensity, the scene of the Cloud Mountain fog-shrouded mountains echoing the sparkling lake, like an ink painting.

And here, it is close to the center of the lake, where the shore is almost invisible.

The scenery is beautiful.

After a little thought, Chen Kuang deduces where he is at the moment.

The cultivators on the ships who greeted him have the accent of the Liang Kingdom, obviously locals of the Liang Kingdom, and the architectural style of the ships is also in accordance with the regulations of the Liang Kingdom.

Obviously, this is still within the territory of the Liang Kingdom.

And within the entire Liang Kingdom, there is only one place that fits this description.

Known as the "Cloud Palace Dragon Pool," it is rumored to have been the residence of the Dragon King in the Eastern Court Lake, with its main body located in Jishao County.

Wen Si has traveled downstream and brought him to the Eastern Court Lake!

"I wonder if this counts as returning home for Senior Brother?"

Chen Kuang doesn't know where Wen Si has gone at this moment, and he is curious.

He has a hunch that the Music Saint must have given Senior Brother other tasks, but just didn't tell him.

"Fellow Daoist, enjoying the beauty of the Eastern Court alone can be a bit lonely. Since we have met, why not come up and enjoy it together?"

The people on the ship, seeing that Chen Kuang didn't respond, were not annoyed and continued to extend their invitation.

Through the misty veil, Chen Kuang sees the appearance of those people.

Three men and two women, all young.

The one who spoke is obviously the host, a young man with a tall hat and wide robe, a belt adorned with various ornaments around his waist, handsome features, and a feather fan swaying slowly in his hand, dressed in an excessively grand manner.

But it complements this towering ship quite well.

Chen Kuang's expression is strange.

Even though he has been in the palace for so many years, he has never seen anyone dressed so formally.

Since Su Yu became the emperor, the palace gradually became "loose and wild," from top to bottom, even the Supreme Frequency Temple became more relaxed and no longer adhered to rules, let alone officials.

However, this formal attire, placed in this situation, seems particularly ironic.

Because Emperor Liang has just died less than a month ago, the country is in ruins, yet they are dressed so grandly and gorgeously.

Moreover, what they are doing is actually boating on the lake...

Jishao County is right next to the imperial city!

On one side, there is a thousand miles of barren land with no rooster crowing, and battles to the death without turning back.

On the other side, there is leisure and elegance, riding on a ship to tour the lake, inviting passersby to appreciate the beautiful scenery together!

Chen Kuang, who has just escaped from danger, even has a feeling that he has transmigrated again into a fantasy world.

"Coincidentally, my boatman suddenly had urgent matters and left me behind. Since you insist, I will trouble you to take me along."

Chen Kuang stands up half-jokingly, puts away the Dragon Jaw, and bows.

"Haha, Fellow Daoist is truly humorous."

The owner laughed and thought that Chen Kuang was joking because he only saw Chen Kuang and didn't see any boatmen.

Chen Kuang boarded the nearby boat and was led by a maid to the top floor.

As he climbed up the stairs, he discovered that the boat was vast, with dozens of compartments on each floor. There was a faint sound of mingling voices, as if a banquet was being held.

The top floor, however, was spacious, with pavilions and towers connected by artificial mountains and gardens.

The people he had just seen were now sitting and chatting in the central pavilion.

This was probably his first encounter with the circle of genuine cultivators.

Chen Kuang stopped and listened curiously for a while.

One of them, a young man with thick eyebrows, exclaimed with surprise and excitement, "Have you heard? Li Hongling, who was leading the army to attack the city, seems to have been defeated by the 'Killing God' Huo Hengxuan and died in the imperial city."

Another young man in blue chuckled, "You're behind the times. The Canglang Review had an extra update yesterday and released a new issue. I used my connections to get it first."

He reached out and a scroll appeared in his hand, which he waved around as if showing off.

Upon seeing this, the owner raised an eyebrow and said, "Qisibai, it's said that your Observing Heaven Court is related to the mysterious Canglang Review. I think it's probably true."

Qisibai smiled without confirming or denying, and unfolded the scroll in mid-air.

Five hundred names were listed in order.

And at the top of the list was "Shen Xingzhu"!

"She has been at the top of the Canglang Review for a whole ten years, hasn't she?" said a beautiful woman in a red dress next to him, unable to help but sigh. "A star in the heavens for eternity, a candle in the mortal world... With this name, I'm afraid that in the next hundred years, everyone else will pale in comparison."

The owner shook his feather fan and said, "The stars in the sky are naturally beyond reach."

The bright-eyed girl in a goose-yellow dress looked at the name and felt a sting in her eyes. She pouted in dissatisfaction, "It's not that impressive, really. Maybe in a few years, I'll be on there too."

"Haha... cough cough."

The young man with thick eyebrows stifled a laugh and said seriously, pointing upwards, "Hmm... After all, you all have the surname Shen."

The girl in the goose-yellow dress's face turned black, and she immediately drew her long sword to fight the young man with thick eyebrows to the death.

The woman in the red dress quickly held her back and coaxed, "Xiaomei Nan, calm down. Let's work hard, and in a few hundred years, we'll definitely make it into the top ten, if not the first."

The girl became even angrier and screamed, threatening to attack.

The owner hurriedly said, "Alright, alright, let's first see the changes in the Canglang Review."

He pondered for a moment and said, "In my opinion, if it was just Li Hongling's death, it wouldn't be enough for the Canglang Review to have an extra update. They could just add her in the next issue when they rearrange the rankings."

"There must be other variables involved."

Qisibai nodded and said, "Lin Xiong is indeed perceptive. In this extra update, besides removing Li Hongling's name, they also added an extra spot."

The owner widened his eyes in astonishment, "They added an extra spot?!"

He took a deep breath and immediately realized the seriousness of the problem, "The one who killed Li Hongling wasn't Huo Hengxuan?"

Qisibai said, "Not only was it not Huo Hengxuan, but it was also someone we've never heard of before."

His finger moved down a bit.

It pointed to the position number thirty-three.

The owner read it out slowly, "Chen... Kuang?"

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PS: The previous chapter was edited once during the review process, but I changed it back... I don't know which version you all read, so I suggest going back to read it again to avoid any further changes.

Chapter 2 will be posted tomorrow morning. I have a sore back and a headache.

(End of this chapter)