Zhang Mubang raised his hands, as the last remnants of the Heavenly Tribulation faded, and he smoothly slid into the full prestige of the Nascent Soul Realm.

At this level of power, he would be qualified to start a small sect in the more rural areas of the Continent or serve as a core elder of a second-rate power. Instead, he would act as the servant of a girl in the second realm. Other Fourth Realm Cultivators might find the idea absurd, but they had not seen what Zhang had seen.

A flash of rainbow light erupted from the sickly man's hand, shearing through the paper-thin spacetime of the Bird Talon Continent and leaving behind a blank void. With a single stride forward, Zhang disappeared. Moments later, atop a large mountain, he reappeared. In a mere step, countless miles had been crossed.

Step after step after step. In the time it took an incense stick to burn, Zhang had crossed a distance that previously had taken several weeks of nonstop flight. With a final motion, he arrived above Seventieth Port Snake.

Immediately, he was noticed. A red-robed Nascent Soul appeared before him, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"And who might you be?"

Zhang merely lifted a token signifying his membership in the BMFS Faction.

"You will answer my question," the red-robed man sneered.

"With all due respect, I don't answer to you, Rampage-Sword," Zhang said curtly. "Or do you want to test the value of the Division Commander's promise?"

Commodore Rampage-Sword stilled, frowning. Then he drew his sword. A boundless red energy exploded from him, filled with millions of screaming, blood-drenched souls. It was Sword-Intent, forged by constant slaughter and war.

The previous Zhang would have fled in terror. The current Zhang stepped forward... and flew past Rampage-Sword, ignoring him. He flew over to his faction's base and landed upon the ground.

A short walk later, he arrived at the door outside his master's throne room. Zhang bowed his head respectfully. The door swung open, and he entered.

"You were successful," Bing Meilu observed. "Good. It would be quite tedious to find another Fourth Realm pilot for my Galley."

Icy qi flew from her fingers, forming a tablet of ice before him.

"That is the Writ of the Heaven-Crossing Divine Admiral, a scripture related to the Dao of the Boat. It will allow you to bind yourself to the Captured Slave Galley and turn it into a Soul Bound Item that will grow with you." the girl explained. "However, that goes both ways. Should the boat ever be damaged, you will be similarly harmed. Should it ever be destroyed, you will perish along with it. And your fate will forever be tied to the boat. Are you willing?"

"I am," Zhang nodded.

"Then do so quickly. I plan to set sail within the week."

"Very well."

With that, the Nascent Soul's form flickered through space, and he appeared in the command room of the massive galley. There was a central seat, covered in glowing golden runes. The Captain's throne. It was connected to the numerous formations and arrays that covered every inch of the glittering gold marvel.

Ten meters forward was a much larger, grandiose, throne carved of a pure black crystal that seemed to glimmer with thousands of silver stars. Skulls were carved all along the armrests. A wry smile overcame Zhang's stoic expression.

Even on his ship, Bing Meilu still let him know who was really in charge. The former Buddhist took a seat upon the captain's throne and began to murmur the words of the Writ of the Heaven-Crossing Divine Admiral.

As he did so, he slowly sank into a trance. His senses faded until he saw nothing but black. Hours passed, and then days. When Zhang awoke he was floating above a massive chaotic ocean.

'I stand over the black depths, and I show no fear. I stand under the black heights, and I show no fear.'

Massive waves roared and churned in the black waters below. Above, the black storm clouds roiled and spun, perfectly mirroring the motion of the waters below.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

'To cross the sea is to cross the sky. I navigate that which is above and that which is below.'

In the distance, he saw a flash of golden light. The distance between them shrank as he was suddenly before it. Its body was long, covered in golden scales, and from its head protruded two horns. Its four-hooved feet tapped out rhythmically as it danced.

With each step, golden light flickered on the surface of the waters. Pools of flat and calm waters rippled out with each step of the dancing beast, cutting across the disordered waters.

'Let my will be the Sea Stabilizing Needle. The turbulent becomes clear when the Dharma is expounded.'

This was the Artifact Spirit of the Galley. Zhang stepped towards it, palms raised. Golden light blossomed in each hand in the shape of a lotus flower.

'Let the greatest wall become the greatest road. Yin and Yang can become each other.'

The two-horned beast turned its eyes towards him. Motes of Golden light began to shed from its horn-like particles of dust.

'The sea and I are one. The heavens and I are one. The ship and I are one. The crew and I are one. As one word that became creation and ten thousand paths that lead to the Origin of All Things.'

Light continued to pour from Zhang and the Qilin. The two became closer and closer, and yet there was still an inexplicable distance between them. Their lights did not mingle, but were separate -like the fresh and saltwater oceans, they refused to merge.

'To cross the sea is to cross the self. To reach the Other Shore is to leave everything behind. Within oneself, and yet abandoning oneself. Only with love of that which is reviled by all, can one exist as Emptiness. To expand forever is to have no center. Only the empty bowl can be filled. To be all things is to be nothing at all. I cross the black emptiness and there is no shore that greets me.'

As the words of the Writ of the Heaven-Crossing Divine Admiral rang out from the lips of Zhang's real body, he paused. The light flowing from him ceased. The Qilin tilted its head to look at him in confusion.

"Why must we merge? I am you, and you... are me."

The Divine Admiral opened his eyes, and all he saw was himself.

—

Two days later, the entire BMFS faction had gathered.

Bing Meilu stood facing the crowd. Her long inky black hair spilled down her shoulder like the darkest abyss. Her frost blue eyes stared forward. A silver tiara of rippling metal sat on her head. Standing to her left was Xia Xuefeng, and to her right was Shen Xinyue. Around her sleeve, her snake demon Aiwa coiled.

In front of her knelt the inner circle.

Li Ji, Master of Coin and Head of the Treasury.

Jiang Hu, Commander of the Inner Circle.

Zhahg Mubang, Captain of the Captured Slave Galley, and Commander of the Outer Circle.

The Elemental Five.

Ji Hui, Master of Beasts and Friend of Dogs.

Ji Longyi, Chosen of Heaven.

Most of these were self-given titles, but Bing Meilu could not get angry at her slaves for self-importance. They would be representing her, after all.

Only one was missing.

"Where is Xi Fu?" Bing Meilu asked.

"He… seems to have left for Redscale city, boss!" Li Ji reported. "Should we send someone to retrieve him?"

Bing Meilu paused. Her spatial ring hummed and a large copper goblet appeared in her hands, covered in blood-red runes and pulsating erratically. This was the Blood Convergence Chalice, an Artifact she had created herself.

It was also the very same goblet that she had the first Inner Circle members put their Essence Blood when they swore loyalty to her, those many months ago. While her cultivation base was not yet deep enough to use some of its more profound functions, it could be used to divine the location of those whose blood was within it.

Bing Meilu looked into the rippling blood on the surface of the goblet, and an image of Xi Fu appeared. She shook her head.

"No. Leave him be," she told Li Ji. "In fact, no members of the BMFS faction are to head to Redscale city until Xi Fu finishes his business."

It would not do to have any outside influences affect his path at this critical juncture...Just where would his Dao take him? Bing Meilu was very interested in seeing the results.

"Yes Boss!" the Inner circle members cried.

Behind the Inner Circle, stood the Outer Circle, all similarly kneeling. In the months since her deal with the Division Commander, the ranks of her faction had swelled considerably. Seventy-seven Qi Condensation Realm Privates. Thirty-one Foundation Establishment Realm Lieutenants. Even two of the unaligned Core Formation Realm Captains had chosen to join.

Bing Meilu then spoke, her voice amplified by Qi.

"Tomorrow, we set sail for the Snake Scale Archipelago. There, wealth and glory abound, side by side with danger and peril. You will risk your lives. Some of you may even die. But for those who survive, ascension awaits. Are you willing?"

The Snake Scale Archipelago was a series of massive round islands that appeared to be like the scattered scales of a snake. In truth, they had formed from the corpse of a Truth-Dao Serpent Demon who had died in the Immortal Ascension Tribulation. The island's green jungles were teeming with countless species of serpentine Spiritual Beasts, and Demons formed by the high contraction of Qi. Even the air itself was like a venom that would instantly kill any mortal who breathed it.

It was a place totally inhospitable to human life. And much like the Ashen Mountains, it was the perfect place to both grow stronger and acquire wealth. Countless unclaimed natural treasures alongside the inherently valuable corpses of Demons and Spirit Beasts. It was no wonder the Sky Swallowing Gulper Armada kept it as a private hunting zone for their fleets.

But none of that has anything to do with why Bing Meilu was sailing toward it. There were countless places just like it in the vast waters of Ximu's Demise. In truth, she had selected it as her destination for one particular reason.

A natural treasure of heaven and earth, the Shed-Skin Dragon-Lotus. Its petals blossomed once every ten thousand years and the next blossoming was going to be quite soon. Three years in Bing Meilu's estimation.

In her past life, this particular treasure had been seized by Yu Cao, the Deep Sea Queen, a Chosen of Heaven and one of Bing Meilu's many rivals. She had consumed it, shedding her human skin to attain a perfected physical body, and awakening the bloodline of the Deep Sea Xuanwu - an ancestor of the Islandback Tortoises tamed by the Armada.

In this life, however, it would be Bing Meilu's fortune. In fact, with her deep knowledge of the Dao of Rebirth, she could refine it into an elixir with an even more marvellous effect than what Yu Cao had received.

'And after that, Nine-Lines Frigid Yin Jade that Fatty Pill God Wang Bai found in the Crypt of the Nightdancers, the string of Yuan Essence refined by Heaven's Great Muse Xhen-Xiu, the Chiliocosm Death Flower carefully grown by the demonic path for Daoist Skyfall, the Yin-Yang Heavy Water scammed from me by Flame Princess Hong Long Xiyi… Those chance encounters stumbled upon by my past rivals will all be mine!'