Soaring the Heavens

“Reward him!” Yang Qing smiled and nodded.

Immediately, an Orb of Will flashed out with a gentle luminance as Qing Mei withdrew it from her storage ring, and gifted it to Dan Biaoyi.

“Thank you Manor Head, thank you Manor Head for the reward!” Unable to restrain his joy, Dan Biaoyi thanked Yang Qing repeatedly.

“Leave!” said Yang Qing with a casual wave of his hand.

After Dan Biaoyi left the mountain and had walked some distance, Yang Qing shook his head and chuckled, “He has just taken up the post, and already he has destroyed his own mountain gate in secret. I can’t believe that this brat actually thought of something like this. He’s got guts. Aye! He has both wit and valor, I could use someone like this. It would have saved me a lot of trouble if he was a mountain chieftain, but his cultivation is really too low. He’s barely acceptable as a Cave Master, and it would be overdoing it to further give him even greater responsibility. Before, I had only assigned a defeated White Lotus First Grade soldier like him to East Arrival Cave just to see how many people in South Edict Manor would heed my words. I had wanted to see the weight of my words; I wasn’t acting on impulse, I only wanted to see who would step out and stop me. When I had actually placed him at East Arrival Cave, I was worried about whether it was the right thing to do. However, now that I have seen that the kid has some ability, it seems I have been worrying for nothing.”

Looking at one another, Qing Mei and Qing Ju could tell that Miao Yi had further impressed Yang Qing. As handmaidens, they had already made up their minds that Cave Master Miao would surely be held in high regard when the time came, so in future they should not act too unfamiliar with him.

On the other hand, Qin Weiwei pouted as though she wasn’t pleased.

Suddenly Yang Qing called out her name, smiles and all, before asking, “Weiwei, I trust my judgement was not mistaken in personally assigning this East Arrival Cave Master to you?”

His words were full of jest as he obviously knew that Miao Yi and his daughter had a poor relationship.

However, Qin Weiwei did not like to hear those words, so she got up and walked to his side and said spitefully, “He’s enjoying himself now, but I want to see if he will still have this much fun if he can’t procure the Orbs of Will to give to the other parties when the time comes!”

Yang Qing laughed loudly as he pointed at her and shook his head, “Oh you! Oh you! Do you really spurn the man that your father has handpicked for you so much? All he did was kill your steed, and yet you’re still being so stubborn. Why don’t you think for a second? He has something over all those people’s heads, and they even went as far as to betray their own sect. Even if he does not live up to his promise, what can those people do to him?”

“......,” Qin Weiwei was speechless after this shocking revelation.

Yang Qing walked back to his seat and sat down. He sighed, “If my South Edict Manor had a few talents like that kid, then I wouldn’t have to worry about the School of Blue Jade, and South Edict Manor’s affairs could be handled with ease.”

Qin Weiwei furrowed her brows, “Manor Head, after this incident, don’t you feel that brat is too calculative?”

Yang Qing shook his head, “If he was truly calculative, he wouldn’t have intentionally made things difficult for them right from the start, but would communicate his plans with you first. Then, once he had set up a contingency in order to avoid shouldering the responsibility, only then would he act. His actions right now have shown that he believed it was a matter of course, which is why he could go out patrolling like it was nobody’s business after the deed was done.”

Still unreconciled, Qin Weiwei mumbled, “I still feel that bastard was a little too cunning and shameless. You are the only one who admires him so, and sees him in a positive light.”

Yang Qing laughed involuntarily, “Regardless of whether you like him or not, or whether I admire him or not, these are not important. At the battle of Transient Light Cave, with his White Lotus First Grade cultivation he dared to meet his foes in a battle to the death and didn’t back down, as brave generals do; when I sent him to the Changfeng territory to kill the ghost cultivator, two of Xiong Xiao’s subordinates at the White Lotus Third Grade fell in battle, whereas he was the only one to have finished the mission alive; when I had sent him to oversee East Arrival Cave, all the other Cave Masters within Mount Calming Sea, nay, the entire South Edict Manor could do nothing but complain and quake in their boots at the School of Blue Jade’s forces, whereas he quickly subdued East Arrival Cave with his decisive methods. The other Cave Masters could not come up with a single effective countermeasure; do you think they have done right by me in exchange for being allowed to manage a piece of my territory? The point is, Miao Yi has never disappointed me before, is this not a testament to his capabilities? Weiwei, as a superior, at times you must not only consider your own likes and dislikes, you must learn to appreciate the strengths of your subordinates as well. There is no such thing as a completely flawless person, only those who know and can use other people well have the makings of a superior!”

Qin Weiwei kept quiet, she knew Yang Qing’s logic was correct, but she could not deny her dislike towards Miao Yi. Regardless, she just hated the sight of that bastard!

A father knew his daughter best! The observant Yang Qing shook his head as he knew it would be hard to change his daughter’s mindset so soon. Alas, these matters couldn’t be forced....

At the docks next to East Arrival City’s great sea, the jade waters stretched out over the horizon. The skies were tall and the seas were grand, whilst seagulls flew about in the air.

After spending a few days walking around, Miao Yi had secretly returned to the city to visit Ji Xiufang. Afterwards, he came here, to the place where he had first arrived on land after crossing the seas.

As always the docks had a busy undercurrent; various fish stocks were being unloaded off the boats and sailboats were docking after a long journey at sea.

Miao Yi went abound pulling people aside and asked them about the state of affairs. After which, he remounted his horse and left alongside Zhu Tianbiao.

After patrolling for a few days, he had obtained a pretty good understanding of the matters in East Arrival City. As the two left the docks, Miao Yi smiled, “That Xu Xinliang is not a bad City Lord. It looks like there’s no need to change him.”

Zhu Tianbiao immediately cupped his fists and said, “The Cave Master is wise!”

“......” Miao Yi was speechless. He rolled his eyes - ‘What did this have to do with me being wise or not? Someone with a good eye chose the City Lord, I had nothing to do with it at all. You don’t even know how to give praise.’

The two of them rode alongside the shoreline. Miao Yi had lived on an island for ten years, so he was quite knowledgeable about the sea. He could roughly tell how deep the waters were from its hue.

As they came to a place filled with tall reefs, the two of them stopped. Miao Yi dismounted his horse, and darted to the top of the reef to begin examining the surrounding geography.

Zhu Tianbiao came to his side and asked, “Cave Master, what are you looking at?”

Miao Yi replied with another question, “I heard that in the cultivation world there was a ferry that could travel long distances without the need of manpower?”

“Yes.” Zhu Tianbiao explained, “But to cultivators who have reached the Red Lotus stage and are able to fly, those things are useless, so only cultivators below the Red Lotus stage will use them.”

“Is it hard to construct?”

“Not at all! Actually, on the outside it doesn’t look very different from normal boats, but the artisans need to construct a helical paddle and add it to the stern, then connect it to a gearing mechanism so that it can be propelled forward. Certain constructs require a transcendent artifact in order to move, and those that don’t, could instead move using the leg strength of dragon steeds as they gallop on the wheel of the stern; in either case, the sailing speed is still much faster than those boats powered by mortals. Cave Master, why do you ask this?”

Miao Yi didn’t answer the question. He pointed to an area and said, “It’s this spot. Carve out a small dock here, then construct a ferry. It will be solely for the use of my East Arrival Cave. Inform Yan Xiu to contact workers from East Arrival City and construct this when we have returned.”

Zhu Tianbiao cupped his fists, “The Cave Master is wise!”

“I say......,” Originally Miao Yi wanted to ask him - ‘You’re not even asking what I’m thinking about, yet you say I’m wise. Is your brain damaged?’

Then again, Miao Yi didn’t have much in common to talk about with this fellow. Whatever he said may as well be equal to playing the lute to the ox, and Miao Yi couldn’t be bothered for idle chatter. He flashed his spear and struck at the reef creating a mark, then left with a wave of his hand, “We’ve been away for a few days, and have gone through almost everything that needed to be seen, let us return!”