"For the time being, do not let anyone else know that my cultivation has broken through to White Lotus Third Grade." Miao Yi instructed, then hid the lotus outline on his forehead.
The two of them discussed their secret plan in hushed voices, then left the silent quarters together.
As he saw Qian'Er and Xue'Er outside, Miao Yi stopped in his tracks and pondered for a while, then took out two Orbs of Will and gave one each to the two young girls.
The both of them knew this was something good. Once they had successfully trained their art source, this would be of great benefit to their own cultivation, so naturally they thanked the Cave Master with expressions of heartfelt joy.
Yan Xiu only looked on and didn't say anything. He knew that Miao Yi did this as preparation in case he could not make it back, the two Orbs of Will would act as a sort of reparation for the two young girls on account of their relationship.
They watched as the two young ladies left to gather the cultivators of East Arrival Cave for departure.
Not long after, at the plaza outside the East Arrival Grand Hall; Zheng Jinlong, Wang Zifa, Zhu Tianbiao, Qiu Shaoqun, Dan Biaoyi, Shang Youlai, Hou Sheng, Nan Sisi and Wang Xiuqin, all fell in line on their dragon steeds with their weapons in hand.
Even the gatekeeper had been called over; every one of them looked at each other, unsure of what was happening, and why the Cave Master was making such a big commotion.
Miao Yi walked over slowly from the treasury. He had already stuffed all the annual gifts from East Arrival City into his storage ring. As he came out of the Grand Hall he called Charcoal over and leapt onto his steed. He turned to look at Yan Xiu, who was cupping his fists to send them off, before waving his hand and saying, "March!"
A puzzled group followed after him as their horses broke into a gallop; their stomps boomed like thunder with overwhelming momentum.
Qian'Er and Xue'Er only felt that their Cave Master looked valiant, and were completely unaware to when he would return.
As they journeyed on, Zheng Jinlong could no longer hold back his doubts, and chased after Miao Yi's back to ask, "Cave Master, where are we going?"
"You'll naturally find out once we reach." Miao Yi didn't leak any information out at all.
The group rode to the seaside, and one by one brought their dragon steeds onto the ship in the dock.
To everyone, the existence of this ship was no secret, but they were curious as to where they were sailing off to.
With other dragon steeds on the ship, there was of course no need for the Cave Master's own steed to be the ship's primary driving force.
What's more is that the other dragon steeds were more obedient, and did whatever the master told them to, unlike Charcoal, who didn't have the self-awareness that it was a steed with a master.
Seeing others suffering, Charcoal felt a rush of energy, and the beast that Miao Yi usually had to force or coax into the power chamber, stepped foot inside of its own accord. With its rump held high, Charcoal made a couple snorts to the other horses that had to become the driving force, as a display of its status. It even twisted its butt at the others and flicked its tail around, before finally leaving, as though asking the others to work hard.
Hou Sheng handled the rudder under Miao Yi's instructions; as the ship headed out to sea, he immediately steered it towards the south-eastern direction.
The dragon steeds all heeded their master's orders and obediently stood in a line beside the railing of the ship's deck, facing the great ocean. Charcoal was the only one that was used to being extremely lax, occasionally falling in line, bumping its head on this, and hitting its rump on that; it even ran around on the deck. Its vigor was evident, only that it was a little plump.
Everyone had already gotten accustomed to this Cave Master's steed that lacked even the slightest ounce of discipline, and had often been left to run wild in East Arrival Cave. Many of East Arrival Cave's plants and flowers had been destroyed by this beast. It even ran inside everyone's cultivation residences where it continued on with its path of destruction, then laid on their flower gardens and slept.
If it wasn't Miao Yi's steed, everyone would have thought of butchering this bastard long ago. A steed that didn't behave in a steed's manner, clearly the Cave Master was the one that spoilt it so.
On the highest deck of the ship, everyone stood behind Miao Yi, facing the ocean as they rode the wind and broke through the waves.
Wang Zifa and the rest threw a glance to Zheng Jinlong; he could only walk to Miao Yi's side with much difficulty and ask once more, "Cave Master, what is it that we are supposed to do here?"
Miao Yi slowly turned around, and smiled to the rest, "Doesn't everyone still remember the fact that I have an alternate source for Orbs of Will? This Cave Master has not forgotten his promise, so this journey is obviously to share the rewards with everyone here!"
The rest of their eyes immediately brightened, 'Could it be that we were going to get some Orbs of Will?'
Then they listened on as Miao Yi added, "Because this matter is of grave importance, I was afraid that someone would leak out the information, which was why I didn't tell any of you beforehand. I hope all of you will not blame me."
As he became used to being the 'esteemed' Cave Master, his tone when speaking with all of them had gradually become more suited to to the position of Cave Master.
"Cave Master's words are too serious!"
"Cave Master is wise. This matter is indeed very important, so it was natural to do so!"
"Cave Master can make all the decisions, we will simply heed your orders."
The rest of them couldn't hold back their excitement as their eyes shone; one after another speaking words of flattery.
Shang Youlai, Hou Sheng, Nan Sisi, and Wan Xiuqin were even more ecstatic.
They had gone through a lot of pain these past two years. Originally, each of them could get two Orbs of Will every year, but then Zheng Jinlong popped out of nowhere, and the four of them could do naught but take turns readying three orbs every year to give to Senior Brother Zheng.
They were told to wait until the Cave Master could compensate them for their share of Orbs of Will from his alternate source, but it had been so long and the Cave Master hadn't so much as batted an eye at them. They didn't dare speak their opinions out to the Cave Master or their Senior Brother, so they could only keep everything to themselves. They even thought that it was only a method used by the Cave Master in order to subjugate them previously, and in truth, that the so-called alternate source of Orbs of Will didn't exist at all. Who knew that the Cave Master would be so appreciative this time around, and was really going to retrieve the Orbs of Will; it could certainly be said to be a pleasant surprise.
They no longer looked at the Cave Master the same way.
Only Zheng Jinlong still had some doubts, so he cautiously asked, "If I may ask where the Cave Master is planning to get…."
Miao Yi swept him a cold glare that stopped him, and said indifferently, "It seems you're really interested in knowing the details first? You wouldn't happen to be plotting something, would you?"
"No! Nothing of the sort!" said Zheng Jinlong, anxiously waving his hand. He knew that he had broken a taboo, and didn't dare continue his inquiry.
Even if the rest of them had doubts, they knew that the Cave Master was sure to keep this sort of secret to himself, and wouldn't easily reveal it; thus, no one bothered asking anymore, so long as they could get their Orbs of Will in due time.
Among them Dan Biaoyi felt a little depressed, as he didn't know that the Cave Master was bringing them out for this. He was supposed to be the 'spy' that Yang Qing had sent to East Arrival Cave, and needed to report on East Arrival Cave's situation at regular intervals.
It really was 'too great'; with this sudden move by the Cave Master, he himself was already on the ocean and didn't have the chance to pass this information out.
After that everyone made some idle chatter, Miao Yi then decided to head downstairs after listening to a bout of empty platitudes, and proceeded to his own personal room; the largest personal room in the ship naturally belonged to him, the Cave Master.
Day in and day out, they looked at the ocean during the day, and during the night they gazed at the black curtain of stars; the world seemed to feel boundless.
Days passed one after another; everyone took turns handling the rudder, and in letting their own dragon steeds become the ship's driving force.
With a dragon steed acting as the ship's driving force, the ship continued to ride the winds and break through the waves of the ocean at a tremendous speed.
Whereas Miao Yi spent the majority of his time in meditation and cultivated inside the cabin.
The group of cultivators also didn't fear the boring days drifting on the ocean, as they could simply use this time to cultivate.
But a month later, the ship still showed no signs of reaching shore. With the dragon steeds powering the ship's speed, this was very abnormal.
Everyone slowly felt that something was off with the ship's direction; this direction seemed to be headed towards the Yao Nation, and it especially seemed like it was headed towards the most chaotic place in the Yao Nation…. the Sea of Constellations!
They were all no longer greenhorn cultivators, so they could vaguely guess where this ship was headed from the direction of its course, and faintly suspected that the Cave Master's so-called source of Orbs of Will was to go hunting at the Sea of Constellations?