Chapter 286 Sea City

Hao Nhien followed the gray-robed man away from the docks and into the crowded streets of Sea City.

Shops of every kind were packed between towering structures on both sides of the road. The people moving through them wore such varied clothing and carried such different auras that it was nearly impossible to guess how many regions they had come from.

Their guide walked at an unhurried pace.

From time to time, he nodded in acknowledgment when someone recognized the Earth Spirit insignia on his chest.

Hao Nhien observed the surroundings as he walked.

They had not gone far when a young man standing beside the road caught his attention.

The man looked as though he had only recently returned from the sea.

His clothes were still soaked.

An open wound remained across one shoulder.

White traces of dried salt marked his face.

He stood beside the road leading toward the harbor, repeatedly glancing back at the sea with an expression caught somewhere between panic and hesitation.

“No…”

“I have to go back…”

His voice was so low that it was nearly swallowed by the surrounding noise.

He took several steps toward the docks.

Then stopped.

One hand unconsciously tightened around something hidden inside his clothes.

Hao Nhien followed his gaze.

Beyond the harbor, a transport vessel was preparing to depart.

Those responsible for the ship repeatedly called for passengers to board, while several cultivators who had arrived late hurried down the stone steps toward the pier.

The young man seemed to be waiting for that very vessel.

He took out a small token from inside his clothes and stared at it for a long time.

Then he looked toward the sails being raised.

One foot lifted from the ground.

Stopped.

Conflict filled his eyes.

After a while, he slowly turned toward Sea City.

The tall structures.

Spirit-stone lights.

The ceaseless flow of people.

The cries of merchants from nearby shops.

Something about it all seemed to remind him of something.

The panic in his eyes gradually faded.

In its place appeared a strange silence.

Finally, the young man murmured,

“I’m not going back.”

He put the token away.

Turned his back on the harbor.

Then disappeared into the crowd heading deeper into the city.

Hao Nhien watched until the man vanished completely.

Lang Tuyet, walking beside him, had noticed as well.

“What are you looking at?”

“That man.”

Hao Nhien replied.

“He was about to board the ship.”

“Then changed his mind.”

Lang Tuyet looked back toward the harbor.

The transport vessel was already slowly leaving the dock.

“Perhaps he no longer wanted to return.”

“Perhaps.”

Hao Nhien nodded faintly.

But a trace of doubt remained.

He did not know where that young man had come from.

Nor what could make someone who had clearly been desperate to return suddenly abandon the decision at the last moment.

Their guide had also stopped.

He looked in the same direction.

There was no surprise on his face.

“In Sea City, people arrive every day.”

“People leave every day as well.”

“But not everyone preparing to board a ship truly wants to return to where they came from.”

Hao Nhien looked at him.

“Does that happen often?”

“Not rarely.”

The gray-robed man answered simply, as though it were nothing noteworthy.

He gestured ahead.

“Let us continue.”

“Earth Spirit is still some distance away.”

Hao Nhien resumed walking.

Notice the difference: this chapter was taken from NovelPhoenix without permission, and the author's posting supports their creative work.

But the image of the young man clutching the token while watching his ship leave remained in his thoughts.

He had heard many stories of people crossing the Sea Region and never returning.

Most were assumed to have died at sea.

Others were believed to have simply lost the route home.

That young man probably had nothing to do with those stories.

Even so, seeing someone stand before a departing ship and suddenly choose not to board left Hao Nhien with a strange sense of uncertainty.

After passing another two streets, their guide led them to a transport station built upon a raised stone platform.

Several flat-bottomed vessels floated nearby.

Their hulls were made from dark metal, with delicate formation patterns engraved across the surface.

“Earth Spirit is still quite far.”

“This will be more convenient.”

The gray-robed man took out a command token.

One of the vessels immediately glided toward them and lowered itself.

Hao Nhien, Lang Tuyet, and Lanh Hoa boarded in turn.

The vessel rose smoothly.

Within moments, it had climbed above the rooftops.

From the air, Hao Nhien realized Sea City was even larger than it had appeared from the harbor.

Markets and docks stretched along the coastline.

But many other structures had been built at different elevations, linked by stone bridges and complicated transport systems.

Farther away, several districts were covered by formations and almost completely separated from the noise of the rest of the city.

Hao Nhien could not help wondering what lay inside.

But the vessel soon changed direction and carried them deeper into the heart of Sea City.

Once their course stabilized, the gray-robed man turned and cupped his hands.

“We have traveled together for some time, yet I have not introduced myself.”

“You may call me Earth Three.”

“Earth Three?”

Hao Nhien looked slightly surprised.

“Is that your real name?”

“Only what I am called within the association.”

“Does it have some special meaning?”

Earth Three smiled faintly.

“Within Earth Spirit, position is sometimes more important than a name.”

Hao Nhien looked at him for another moment.

Then asked no more.

Earth Three was clearly a title with a specific meaning inside the organization.

But the man had no intention of explaining it yet.

As the vessel passed over a transport district surrounded by large buildings, Hao Nhien noticed several metal cages covered entirely in black cloth.

They were being moved toward a small warship.

Each cage was sealed by several layers of spiritual patterns.

From time to time, heavy impacts sounded from within.

A sudden gust of wind lifted one corner of the covering.

For an instant, Hao Nhien saw a sea creature with pale gray skin almost translucent in color.

Several wounds across its body had already healed.

Around them remained strange lines of spiritual markings.

“Are those things merchandise as well?” Hao Nhien asked.

Earth Three looked down.

His expression changed slightly.

“Goods from the deep sea.”

“They are connected to the Heavenly Demon Sect.”

“The Heavenly Demon Sect?”

Lang Tuyet asked softly.

“A force that rarely reveals itself within the Sea Region.”

“Goods carried under their name occasionally appear in Sea City.”

“But actual members of the Heavenly Demon Sect are rarely seen.”

Hao Nhien remembered the scars on the creature’s body.

“What do they capture those creatures for?”

“There are many rumors.”

“None are certain.”

Earth Three looked at him.

“When it comes to the Heavenly Demon Sect, it is better not to ask too deeply.”

Hao Nhien understood that the man did not wish to continue the subject.

So he did not press.

He merely watched the covered cages disappear from sight and silently remembered the name.

Not long afterward, their vessel descended before an enormous complex.

A divided-circle symbol had been carved into a black stone monument standing in the plaza.

The same emblem carried by the Earth Spirit Merchant Association.

Earth Three led them through the reception area.

Numerous cultivators were checking goods and guiding visitors toward different chambers.

Inside, Hao Nhien saw many unusual objects protected by formations.

Massive bones bearing traces of the Sea Region.

Sealed jade boxes.

Fragments of materials he could not identify.

Several items caused his Soul Art to react faintly.

Hao Nhien did not probe them.

He merely observed.

Whatever was being brought through this place did not seem limited to ordinary merchandise.

Earth Three did not stop in the trading area.

He continued into a quiet corridor.

Stone pillars stood on both sides.

Very faint spiritual patterns had been carved into them.

Light occasionally moved across their surfaces.

At the end of the corridor, Earth Three reached for his command token.

Before he could use it, the patterns on the door ahead lit up by themselves.

Earth Three looked briefly surprised.

Then put the token away and stepped aside.

“Please.”

Hao Nhien entered first.

Lang Tuyet and Lanh Hoa followed.

The room beyond was larger than he expected.

There were few furnishings.

Only several chairs and a stone table to one side.

The walls had been built from pale gray material without decoration, giving the entire room an almost empty stillness.

But what stopped Hao Nhien immediately was the wall opposite the entrance.

A large painting hung there.

It depicted an enormous battlefield.

Figures and creatures stretched toward the horizon.

In the middle of the chaos stood a man with his back turned.

He held a longbow.

The string was drawn.

An arrow pointed toward something far beyond the scene.

Hao Nhien unconsciously held his breath.

He had seen this image before.

Within the Heavenly Spirit ruins, he had once stood before an almost identical painting.

Not merely the posture of the man.

The shape of the bow.

The angle of the arrow.

Everything carried an overwhelmingly familiar feeling.

Hao Nhien stepped closer.

His eyes moved over every detail.

The painting before him was not completely identical to the one in the ruins.

Some parts of the battlefield differed.

The distant figures had been depicted differently.

But the man drawing the bow appeared unchanged.

Hao Nhien thought of the Ancient Bow resting in his storage ring.

Who was the man in the painting?

And why would the Earth Spirit Merchant Association hang this scene inside a private room?

As Hao Nhien continued studying it, he suddenly noticed that Lang Tuyet had stopped moving.

She stood not far away.

Her gaze was fixed on the back of the bow-wielding man.

The calm expression she usually carried had disappeared.

In its place was a rare look of absent shock.

One hand hanging at her side had unconsciously tightened.

Her fingertips had gone slightly pale.

Her brows drew together as though she were trying to endure something she could not explain.

Hao Nhien was surprised.

He remembered clearly that when they had seen the similar painting inside the Heavenly Spirit ruins, Lang Tuyet had shown no such reaction.

“Lang Tuyet?”

She did not seem to hear him.

Her gaze remained fixed on the man in the painting.

Only after Hao Nhien called her a second time did she start slightly and slowly turn toward him.

“Are you all right?”

Lang Tuyet remained silent for a moment.

Then slowly shook her head.

She loosened her hand and tried to restore her usual composure.

But when her eyes accidentally passed over the painting again, Hao Nhien still caught a faint sadness crossing her face.

“I’m fine.”

“It’s just…”

“When I look at that man, I suddenly feel very uncomfortable.”

“Do you recognize him?”

“No.”

Lang Tuyet looked at the figure once more.

“I don’t understand it either.”

“It feels as though there is something extremely important that I have forgotten.”

Hao Nhien frowned slightly.

From her expression, he understood that she had no answer herself.

He did not press.

At that moment, a very faint fluctuation appeared within the room.

There was no burst of spiritual energy.

No sound of footsteps.

Hao Nhien merely felt the surrounding space change slightly, as though something had appeared where there had been nothing before.

He turned immediately.

A middle-aged man now stood nearby.

The man wore a plain robe.

His face was unremarkable.

No obvious spiritual pressure came from him.

If Hao Nhien had encountered him among the crowds of Sea City, he might not have paid him much attention.

But Earth Three immediately lowered his head.

“Second Master.”

The middle-aged man did not look at him.

He slowly studied the three guests.

His gaze stopped first on Hao Nhien.

Then moved toward Lang Tuyet.

When he looked at her, something changed faintly in his expression.

It vanished almost immediately.

Finally, his eyes returned to Hao Nhien.

“I heard you managed to use that bow.”

Hao Nhien did not answer immediately.

He had already guessed that Earth Spirit was interested in the Ancient Bow.

He had simply not expected the first person they met to mention it so directly.

“That is correct.”

Earth Two nodded faintly.

“Take it out.”

His voice was calm.

But it did not sound like a request.

Hao Nhien looked at him for a moment.

“You know that bow?”

“A little.”

“Then can you tell me what it is?”

Earth Two did not answer.

He looked at the painting on the wall.

Then back at Hao Nhien.

“Do you know what you are carrying?”

“Not clearly.”

“And you still dared to use it?”

Hao Nhien answered calmly.

“The situation did not leave me many choices.”

Earth Two studied him.

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

“You have some courage.”

He stepped closer.

“I want that bow.”

Hao Nhien frowned faintly.

“You want to buy it?”

“No.”

Earth Two answered.

“I want you to hand it over.”