Chapter 149: North Cold Palace

Unfortunately, all the way to Hexi Ferry, the Thunder Bead remained completely silent, and he did not encounter any predestined persons.

Although there were not many people at the ferry in winter, the morning market still brought it a bit of life.

Ling Chi led his horse into the ferry, where a sparse number of boats of various sizes were moored at the berths.

"Brother, are there any ferry boats heading to Hanzhou right now?"

He casually stopped a young man who looked like a merchant and asked.

The young man was initially somewhat displeased, but upon seeing that Ling Chi was wearing only a single layer of clothing in the dead of winter, leading a horse and wearing a saber at his waist, his attitude immediately turned amiable. He realized the youth before him was not someone he could afford to provoke.

"I wouldn't dare accept the title of brother," the young man replied hastily. "The largest multi-story ship ahead, the *Haihe*, belongs to the Haihe Gang and is heading to Hanzhou. It's about to set sail, so you should hurry and buy a boarding token."

Ling Chi nodded in thanks, then led his horse straight toward the *Haihe*.

Just as he approached the gangway, a sharp, piercing young woman's voice rang out.

"Hey, sell your horse to this young lady, and I'll give you ten silver coins." A young woman dressed in purple looked at the robust, magnificent black horse with a haughty and bossy expression.

Ling Chi walked on minding his own business, not wanting to bother with an intellectually disabled woman.

"Neigh!"

The big black horse also let out a whinny, its large eyes completely ignoring the group of people.

"Could he be deaf?" The piercing, mocking laughter came again.

"Senior Sister Ziyu, Master and Uncle both told you not to cause trouble," a gentle female voice said weakly.

"Little vixen, shut your damn mouth! Who asked you to meddle in other people's business here? If you dare to go back and report this, I'll pull out your fingernails," Ziyu shoved the cyan-robed woman beside her and cursed.

The cyan-robed woman took several steps back to barely steady herself. Ziyu was at the seventh stage of the Qi Sea realm, and she was no match for Ziyu.

"Hahaha, I think he's just deaf. Lianyi, don't meddle. He's just a boy, what kind of waves can he make?"

"Hey, my Senior Sister Ziyu is calling you! Why aren't you stopping to answer? I'll make you regret it in a moment."

The several men around the woman were all in the mid-Qi Sea realm, shouting and scolding one after another.

"This kid has a top-tier physique. Wouldn't it be wonderful to capture him and make him my martial slave!"

Ziyu stared fixedly at Ling Chi's broad shoulders, narrow waist, and extraordinary posture, making no attempt to hide the covetous look in her eyes.

"Right! Let's capture a martial slave for Senior Sister!" the group clamored.

Passersby on the road, seeing that trouble was about to break out over here, quickly quickened their pace and fled. Once these martial cultivators started fighting, the innocent passersby would end up suffering the consequences.

Ling Chi stopped leading his horse, raised the hilt of his saber to nudge his bamboo hat, and felt the Thunder Bead inside his body tremble slightly.

He turned slightly to look at the four men and two women not far away, furrowed his brows, and a burst of overwhelming aura flashed and vanished instantly.

The group suddenly felt a wave of suffocation, as if someone had grabbed their hearts.

The purple-robed woman, who was the leader, turned pale and landed flat on her backside on the ground.

Beside her, the exquisitely beautiful cyan-robed woman, Lianyi, looked at Ling Chi's profile, a flash of astonishment crossing her eyes. What a heroic and dashingly handsome youth.

"This person's cultivation is so high, we've kicked an iron plate!"

"So young, just a boy, how could he have such a terrifying aura?"

Their thoughts varied.

"You..." Ziyu caught her breath and was about to speak when her junior brother grabbed her sleeve from behind.

"Senior Sister, stop talking! Together we probably couldn't defeat him!"

A handsome man whispered close to Ziyu's ear.

"This young master, please forgive my lack of discernment. I am Li Che, a disciple of the North Cold Palace."

"Our sect elders have brought us out to travel and are still waiting for our return."

Li Che deliberately stated his background to show that elders were present, hinting to Ling Chi not to offend them lightly.

Just as Ling Chi was about to speak, a drum sounded on the ferry, reminding everyone that the ship was about to depart.

"Your sect elders had better be good at fighting."

Ling Chi hooked the corner of his mouth, dropped these words, and led his horse onto the gangway. These were all predestined persons sent to spice up his boring journey!

Seeing that the others were also preparing to board the ship, he was suddenly in no hurry. He had plenty of time to deal with them.

"What does he mean by that? What does 'your sect elders had better be good at fighting' mean?"

The purple-robed woman had fully recovered and started clamoring again.

The cyan-robed woman, Lianyi, sighed helplessly. She knew trouble was brewing again.

This handsome youth possessed unfathomable cultivation and an aura as majestic as a mountain. Regardless of whether he had backing or not, he was not someone they could afford to provoke.

The rest of the group felt a simultaneous sigh of relief upon seeing Ling Chi lead his horse toward the ship. Once aboard, they would tell their master first.

"Let's go find Master and Uncle-Master first. This youth is not simple. Just a glance at him earlier made my heart tighten, as if I were about to die the next moment. It's simply freakish."

Li Che pressed one hand against his sword, speaking with a serious expression.

"Indeed, Junior Brother Yan and I had the same feeling. Even when facing core legacy disciples, we haven't had such a terrifying reaction."

The other three men chimed in, leaving only the purple-robed woman still wearing an annoying, unresigned expression.

Ling Chi walked across the gangway, paid fifty silver coins at the boarding gate, received a top-tier cabin token, and boarded the multi-story ship leading his large black horse.

The ship was quite large, easily over twenty zhang in length, with three or four decks. Huge ship crossbows were mounted at the bow, their sharp bolts glinting coldly.

He stabled the big black horse, found his room using the token, surveyed it and found it satisfactory, then turned and left the room.

Another roll of drums sounded, and the multi-story ship slowly pulled away from the port.

Ling Chi rested a hand on the *诛恶* (Slayer of Evils) at his waist, swept his spiritual sense to lock onto those people, and walked leisurely toward his target. These were all his predestined persons.

Meanwhile, inside another luxurious room on the ship, two extraordinary-looking middle-aged men sat opposite each other on a couch, drinking tea and conversing.

"Junior Brother Zheng Yu, the great battle here ended several days ago, and the local Jing'an Division still hasn't sent any news. I suppose that person will not be joining our North Cold Palace," the middle-aged man in black robes on the left sighed.

"His master refused on the spot back then. It's thanks to you, Senior Brother Wang, that we wasted all these days waiting here for news and only decided to leave yesterday."

Zheng Yu's tone sounded extremely impatient. Waiting here in vain for days, only to find out that the person, despite being young, had such an arrogant attitude.

And Wang, relying on his status as senior brother, kept trying to suppress him everywhere, which made him deeply unhappy.

"Was it not the Palace Master who ordered us to recruit talented disciples by any means possible, in preparation for the All-Nations Prodigy Tournament in half a year?"

The black-robed Wang Jian noticed Zheng Yu's impatience. This trip had originally yielded little harvest, but on the return journey through Hexi Prefecture, he had heard that there was a prodigy nearby who practiced thunder magic.

His combat record was fierce; he could even slay a Spirit Bead realm cultivator while still in the Qi Sea realm. The crucial point was that he was only sixteen years old—simply absurd.

Wasn't such a prodigy the exact target of their trip? Thus, after inquiring about his location, they were politely refused by the boy's master and could only leave a letter at the ferry to await news.

They had waited six or seven days with no news from the other party, forcing him to decide to return last night. He had no idea how he would explain this to the Palace Master upon returning.

"These rumors from the pugilistic world can never be taken seriously; they always sound exaggerated. Slaying a Spirit Bead cultivator from the Qi Sea realm—even the legacy disciples of our North Cold Palace couldn't achieve that."