An Earth Immortal emerged from behind the counter of Wine in the Sky after the seats were relatively full.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the item exchange will begin shortly. I will now explain the news for the new comers here.”
Much to Shen and Xue’er’s surprise, there seemed to be a custom of gathering at the rear deck and holding a small trade fair on every trip of the flying ship.
“We will now go around in number of the table you’re sitting on. If you don’t have an item you wish to trade, please hand the number sign back now. You will show the item you have and also state an item of roughly equal value that you wish to exchange for. If no one has the item you want, one may offer an alternative at which the initiator will have the right to exchange or not.
One person per table is able to present an item per round. The rounds will complete once there are no more items for trade. You may trade in private after the rounds are complete.”
‘The rules are simple enough. Too bad we don’t have anything to trade with.’
Shen handed back the number sign on their table to a waiter.
“Now, please start the round from table number one.”
The round started from a table occupied by three Nascent Soul cultivators. One of them stood up and took out an item from his bag of holding.
“I have a branch of a ten-thousand-year-old iron bark tree. I want to trade this for a piece of gale fruit or a similar wind element item.”
A mature lady from another table stood up. “I have a gale fruit, I will trade you for the branch.”
The exchange was carried out swiftly. Shen noticed that the lowest cultivation present at the trade fair was Nascent Soul cultivators. There were a few Soul Formation stage cultivators but no one exceeded False Immortal cultivation.
The first round was completed swiftly with no especially rare items being traded. Shen and Xue’er merely observed since they had no need for any particular cultivation treasures.
There was only three rounds of trading total and people seem reasonably satisfied and started leaving the deck.
There were only a few cultivators left after a while.
“Hello friend, does this happen during every trip?” Shen asked a peak Nascent Soul cultivator sitting near their table.
“Oh? This your first time taking a flying ship? Yes, indeed it is a common occurrence. Even an Earth Immortal is here to preside over the trade fair to prevent conflict after the first few times.”
“I see. Quite interesting. Were you at Jade Leaf city for the competition?”
“Haha, yes. We came to escort my nephew to enter the first stage. He is only at the mid Foundation stage but it was a good experience for him.”
The man and Shen chatted for a while. Shen and Xue’er decided to go back to their room to rest.
The next few days were very idle with the couple enjoying their time on the deck and trying out the food and wine in the restaurants.
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Shen and Xue’er were once again at the rear deck during the day. It was raining heavily at the time. If a mortal were to see the current scene, he or she would be awed. There was a transparent barrier enveloping the entire ship.
It was unknown how many spirit stones were needed to operate the barrier daily. The rain drops hit the barrier and were not able to fall onto the ship. It was a sight to behold as people sat on the open aired rear deck in the world of rain.
Suddenly.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have encountered a monster beast group. They are flying type beasts numbering more than ten thousand. The majority of the monster beasts are of Core Formation stage. However, the group is being led by three half-step False Immortal magical beasts and quite a few False Immortal and Soul Formation stage beasts.
Please stay in the barrier for your safety. We request that all passengers of Nascent Soul and above help in expelling the beast horde. We thank you for your cooperation. We will be purchasing the beast cores with a higher than normal price afterwards.”
The announcement caused a commotion on the ship. Juniors of Core Formation and lower rushed on the decks to look at the monster beasts.
The monster beasts were clearly visible and were approaching the ship rapidly from a large mountain peak.
There were currently two Earth Immortals on board. One being the announcer and the other being the cultivator responsible for the trade fair at the start of their journey. Normally the two would have no problem fighting three half-step False Immortal beasts. However, the group’s number was too high and the barrier would not last more than two hours of being assaulted by more than ten thousand monster beasts.
The number of cultivators above Nascent Soul stage were upwards of 1300. The large majority of the beast horde was only at Core Formation stage. There would be no problem expelling the attackers.
Shen stood up and looked towards the approaching monster beasts. There were many types of winged monster beasts.
“Xue’er, I will fight against the beast horde! Please take care of Xiao Yan.” Little White needed no protection since she was a powerful Spirit Formation stage magic beast. Xiao Yan, however, was just born and was still very weak.
“Ok, please be careful Big Brother Shen.” Xue’er replied without worry since she knew Shen’s prowess and was not concerned that he would be in danger.
Shen was quite excited as this would be his first combat. Shen flew up and joined the various cultivators exiting the barrier.
Xue’er remained on the deck with the two spirit beasts. However, Little White flew up and followed Shen.
“I will also fight.” Little White stood on Shen’s shoulder. Shen looked at Xue’er and did not say anything since Xue’er only had a faint smile without any intention to prevent Little White.
The surrounding cultivators noticed the white fox that stood on the shoulder of an early Nascent Soul stage man.
There was surprise as well as envy and jealousy for having a Soul Formation spirit beast. However, all of them turned their sight towards the beast horde. The black mass was now less than ten miles from the ship.
“Let’s go!” The two Earth Immortals led the cultivators towards the monster beasts. It was not a good idea to fight near the barrier as residual shockwaves would impact the barrier and increase the consumption of spirit stones.
The two Earth Immortals charged straight towards the three leading flying magic beasts. The largest of the three was a grey eagle with a sharp looking beak and claws giving off a savage aura. The two smaller eagles followed behind the large one and similarly charged towards the two Earth Immortals.
Magic beasts and monster beasts naturally had much tougher fleshy bodies than human cultivators. If a human half-step False Immortal were to fight against an Earth Immortal, he would not last longer than a few minutes. The eagles relied on their powerful bodies rivalling spirit tools to confront the Earth Immortals.
The group of five flew towards the right and much higher in the sky to avoid influencing the weaker cultivators. The energy released from a battle of Earth Immortal level would be fatal to Nascent Soul stage cultivators.
Shen himself confronted a group of peak Core Formation stage crow type monster beasts. Little White did not interfere and merely coiled around Shen’s neck.
Shen took out a top-grade magic tool and inserted his spiritual power. The sword started to faintly shine and gave off a somewhat sharp and dangerous air.
Shen flew forward and took a horizontal swing towards three crow monster beasts. The monster beasts were only Core Formation stage and could not defend against the slash. The middle crow was cut in two and its body fell towards the ground. The other two were slightly behind but they were still injured by the slash.