Chapter 255: Boundless Pavilion

The colors were stark, the land desolate, yet it made a group of cultivators confident they could range freely between Heaven and Earth feel their own insignificance. They exchanged glances, nodded slightly, then leapt out one after another.

Wind howled past their ears. The group glided out from the mountain summit together, like flying ants between Heaven and Earth. They landed on a sand dune, then immediately launched themselves onward again. Rising and falling across the vast sea of sand, they sped deeper into the desert.

Four hours later, Linghu Qiu raised a hand. "There's no hurry. Everyone rest for a while and recover your spiritual power. Don't let yourselves become too depleted. If we run into trouble afterward, you may not have enough strength left to deal with it."

There was a reason he was being so considerate. He knew perfectly well that someone had set their sights on Niu Youdao. Even if the odds were ten thousand to one, that one chance was enough to guard against.

Of everyone here, only he and his two maids had Golden Core Realm cultivation. Everyone on Niu Youdao's side was only at the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Linghu Qiu took out his goatskin waterskin, signaled for his two maids to remain on alert, then removed the stopper and slowly drank. Niu Youdao and the others also took out their waterskins and drank while looking around.

Apart from blue sky, white clouds, and sand dunes, there was nothing to be seen in any direction. The world was empty and silent. Now and then a gust of wind came through, sending grains of sand tumbling and sliding down the dunes.

"Have you two been to Boundless Pavilion before?" Niu Youdao asked Black Peony and Duan Hu after lowering his waterskin.

Both nodded. Black Peony said, "The two of us came here together three times."

Niu Youdao nodded slightly. One after another, everyone sat cross-legged directly on the scorching sand, took out Spirit Essence Pills, swallowed them, and regulated their breathing to recover. Linghu Qiu did the same, while Hongxiu and Hongfu remained on either side of the group, keeping watch. About an hour later, an unusual sound reached them.

Everyone sitting in meditation opened their eyes and turned toward a nearby dune. Five enormous yellow-brown scorpions stood atop it, tails swaying violently behind them.

Niu Youdao had read about these creatures in the Shangqing Record of Gleanings. They were called sand scorpions, monsters that lived in this desert. They moved through the sand like the wind, crawled with astonishing speed, possessed armor-hard shells, and carried deadly venom in the stingers on their tails. Once the venom entered the blood, death came swiftly. They were extremely dangerous attackers. They did have one weakness: water.

It was said that the sand scorpion's hard shell immediately softened upon contact with water, which was why the creatures feared it.

Niu Youdao had read the descriptions, but this was his first time seeing one in person. Each was as large as a calf. Except for their gray-white eyes, every part of their bodies blended almost perfectly with the color of the desert. If they concealed themselves in the sand, they would be extremely difficult to spot.

It was said that the largest sand scorpions could grow to more than one zhang in body length even without counting the tail.

The five sand scorpions violently shook their tails as though sounding a signal to attack, then came sliding down the dune with a rustling hiss. That was right—they did not crawl down.

The special structure of their undersides let them skim across the sand like sleds, while their legs could be used like paddles to accelerate. Their speed was astonishing.

More frightening still, with their bellies against the ground they could glide, and when they lifted their bodies they could leap. A spring of their legs sent them shooting up the next dune toward the group.

Hongxiu and Hongfu's palms turned over again and again as they rapidly struck out with waves of force, blasting the attacking sand scorpions away.

The five creatures could not get close to the dune where the group rested, yet they refused to give up and charged repeatedly. Niu Youdao reached for the hilt of his sword.

Linghu Qiu noticed and hurriedly gestured for him to stop. "It isn't that we can't kill them. These monsters have adapted to the desert over countless years. To find food in such a harsh environment, they're born with exceptionally keen senses of smell. Once blood is spilled, sand scorpions within a hundred li may come rushing over. They're everywhere throughout this desert. A few are easy enough to handle, but if they swarm in densely from every direction, it would be no different from falling into the middle of an army. You can't kill them all. The more you kill, the more will come, and one careless moment could still get you stung. At that point we'd have no choice but to flee. So we can only beat them back, not kill them. Once they've had enough, they'll retreat on their own."

Niu Youdao already knew this. He had read the same warning in the Shangqing Record of Gleanings. He had reached for his sword only as a precaution.

"I've heard there's an ancient city buried beneath this desert?" Niu Youdao asked.

Linghu Qiu nodded. "There is such a story. Supposedly, a very long time ago this place was still fertile land rich with water and grass. Then Heaven and Earth changed, yellow sand swallowed the entire region, and the ancient city was buried with it. People occasionally stumble upon it by accident, but even if they find it, there's little meaning in doing so."

As though to prove his words, the five sand scorpions finally reached the limit of what they could endure. Seeing that they still could not do anything to the group, they turned tail in defeat and rapidly disappeared from sight.

Everyone resumed what they had been doing. Linghu Qiu stood and took over the watch while Hongxiu and Hongfu sat down to regulate their breathing and recover.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Linghu Qiu gazed into the distance. From time to time, figures could be seen flying across the far-off dunes. Needless to say, they were all cultivators traveling to or from Boundless Pavilion. The group set out again. One rest had been enough. After that, they traveled directly to Boundless Pavilion.

A gigantic mountain of black stone rose abruptly from the desert. Across its summit lay lakes large and small, like pearls of different sizes resting on a great platter, reflecting the blue sky and white clouds in a scene that soothed the heart.

Rain was almost unknown here, and the land was arid, yet the water levels of the lakes atop the mountain remained constant throughout the year and had never been known to fall. Linghu Qiu described it as quite miraculous. Niu Youdao understood the principle behind it and did not find it miraculous at all.

After cultivators discovered this place, the strange stone peaks rising from the lakes were gradually transformed. They were carved into pavilions, halls, and cave residences that became shops operated by sects from all over.

Stone bridges rose and dipped everywhere across the lakes, crisscrossing one another and linking the various locations. Anyone unfamiliar with the place would have been remarkable if they did not get lost.

For that very reason, fighting was forbidden here. Anyone caught fighting would be severely punished. The rule was easy enough to understand. Once cultivators started battling, some of these bridges would hardly withstand the damage.

At the highest peak rising from the lakes stood the place with the most exquisite carved beams and upturned eaves, overlooking the majestic sweep of the desert. That was Boundless Pavilion itself. Below Boundless Pavilion stood an inn called the Heavenly Lake Inn.

Niu Youdao's group naturally took rooms at the Heavenly Lake Inn. Black Peony and the others were already accustomed to it. Given a good option, Master Dao was not the sort to make do with an inferior one. As they walked along the interlacing stone bridges, dark ripples suddenly churned beneath the water. Niu Youdao stopped and stared. A huge black shadow could faintly be seen turning in the depths.

Linghu Qiu stopped beside him and smiled. "The Pavilion Master's pets. The flood dragons in Heavenly Lake. Supposedly, if the right opportunity arises, they can evolve into the legendary true dragons. They're one of Boundless Pavilion's sights. Whenever the moon hangs high at night, dragon cries can often be heard, though very few people ever see the creatures themselves."

Niu Youdao nodded slightly. He had read about this too in the Shangqing Record of Gleanings. According to the account, this place had originally been like a pool of dead water, long before Boundless Pavilion existed. Cultivators traveling through the desert would stop here to replenish their water.

Then one day, for reasons no one understood, two flood dragons suddenly appeared in the lake. No one knew where they had come from. Legend claimed they had burrowed up from the heart of the earth. One was male and one female, and the pair churned the waters into chaos, killing and injuring many cultivators.

Later, Lan Daolin, one of the nine supreme experts beneath Heaven, arrived after hearing the news and subdued both flood dragons.

Afterward, Lan Daolin claimed the place as his own and established Boundless Pavilion here. The current Master of Boundless Pavilion was Lan Daolin's son, Lan Ming.

Later still, a smaller flood dragon appeared within Heavenly Lake. Everyone assumed it had been born from the mating of the male and female pair.

Naturally, Niu Youdao wanted to see the legendary flood dragons with his own eyes. Unfortunately, he caught only a vague glimpse of a dark shadow turning beneath the water. Even after standing there for a long time, it did not surface again. He had not even made out its general outline, which left him somewhat disappointed.

After settling into the Heavenly Lake Inn, Niu Youdao pushed open his window. His room stood slightly higher than most of the surrounding shops.

He looked at the streams of people moving along the stone bridges outside, then stared for a while at the deep emerald water below before turning back to Black Peony. "Go familiarize yourself with the three sects' shops. If something happens, it'll make timely communication easier."

Black Peony was inspecting the room. When they had booked their rooms, she had taken the liberty of asking to share one with Niu Youdao. In other words, the two of them were staying together. She did not care, and Niu Youdao did not care what outsiders thought either.

"Yes!" Black Peony answered and turned to leave.

Duan Hu soon entered and took over from her. He carefully inspected every part of the room, then lit a charcoal stove to boil tea. When Black Peony returned, she brought the shopkeepers of the three sects' local businesses to meet Niu Youdao. The two sides spoke for quite some time. Niu Youdao asked many questions, mainly about the situation around Boundless Pavilion.

Since he had come all this way, naturally he had to walk around, look at things, and broaden his horizons. Linghu Qiu accompanied him throughout. They wandered until late before returning to their respective rooms.

Niu Youdao had barely sat by the window with a cup of tea to admire the moon when a Goldenwing swept in from the night sky and flew directly through the window.

Black Peony raised a hand and caught it. She removed the secret message from the tube on its leg, fetched brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and decoded the contents onto paper.

Then she walked to the window and offered it over. "Master Dao, news from Beizhou."

Niu Youdao turned, accepted the message, and read it. One glance told him it had come from Chen Guishuo, but the contents made him frown. He did not quite understand what they meant, and Chen Guishuo himself did not know either.

Chen Guishuo had suddenly been transferred by Shao Pingbo to handle a task. The order had come so abruptly that he temporarily lost contact with the person who handled his Beizhou communications. Nor was it appropriate to entrust the message to someone else. Only after returning to Beizhou Prefectural Capital had he finally managed to send the report out.

"A map of the State of Han!" Niu Youdao set down his tea and rose.

Black Peony immediately found the requested map among their belongings and spread it across the table. Niu Youdao studied it for a while, then asked for a charcoal pencil. Comparing the map against Chen Guishuo's message, he found the waterways mentioned in the report and marked the relevant stretches, connecting them into a single route.

Simply listing place names meant little. The State of Han had so many places and so many rivers that who could possibly make sense of it at a glance? Once the route was marked out, however, everything became clear.

"Beizhou connects to the sea outlet... the sea outlet connects back to Beizhou..."

His finger traced the route twice. Niu Youdao fell into thought. The corner of his mouth gradually lifted into a strange smile. Then he murmured one word.

"Warhorses!"

Black Peony tentatively asked, "Beizhou plans to transport warhorses by sea?"

[End of Chapter 255]