Chapter 330: Boundary Domain Ferry

After the "Fu" character was stuck on, it couldn't be peeled off even after several attempts. Liang Pingle stepped back a few paces to look at it and found that it was stuck on perfectly straight. He couldn't help but exclaim in wonder.

"Dad, Mom, Brother-in-law, come and see this! This 'Fu' character stuck itself to the door, and we can't even peel it off."

This naturally piqued the family's curiosity. Zhang Fu, his wife and children, and the Liang family all walked to the doorway, looking at the perfectly affixed "Fu" character.

As everyone pondered this phenomenon, gazing intently at the "Fu" character, they suddenly caught a glimpse of a faint stream of light flash across it.

"Oh! Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Uncle, there's light on this character! It must be a treasure!"

The child's voice rang out, making those nearby suddenly realize.

"Yes, I think I saw it too!"

"So it wasn't just my imagination?" "Could this, could this be a treasure?"

Liang Chunlan quickly asked her husband, Zhang Fu.

"Husband, back in our hometown, do the 'Fu' characters also stick to the door by themselves when you put them up?"

"I don't know. Dad just brushed on paste and then put them up, but they always looked straight and nice. We were in such a hurry to get here, we didn't look closely..."

Liang Pingle exclaimed excitedly from the side.

"Hey, Brother-in-law, it must be the same back at your place too. Both of these characters were written by Mr. Ji, and he said what he said, so these characters might be treasures. I've heard that for some highly virtuous and talented scholars, their brushstrokes are like divine assistance, and a single piece of writing can be a priceless treasure. These two characters must be the same!"

Old Liang immediately said, "Oh dear, if these characters are stuck on the door, exposed to the elements and sun, won't it be a waste? What if they get damaged? Wouldn't it be better to have someone frame them?"

"Exactly! But we can't peel them off!"

"Why would we peel them off? These are New Year's 'Fu' characters, and Mr. Ji said to keep them up, so let's just leave them."

"Right, right, don't get the priorities mixed up!"

Regardless, everyone was in high spirits. The "Fu" characters on the door looked more pleasing with every glance. Even when they went back inside to chat, they would occasionally come out to take another look.

As for the person who wrote the "Fu" characters, he was currently on the back of a whale, heading towards the vast outer sea. The land was long gone from sight behind him.

Ji Yuan looked at the boundless distant sea. Although the world in his eyes remained a blur, the feeling of vastness and openness was as if he were treading on clouds, soaring into the heavens.

'Accept what comes!'

Thinking of this, Ji Yuan felt no more reservations. Instead, some interest arose within him. He had originally set out to travel and explore. Although his plan was to first journey through Dongtu Yunzhou, now that he was going overseas, the path was uncommonly long, but at least it would broaden his horizons.

"General Giant Whale, you always refer to yourself that way, but I still don't know your real name."

"Hehe, Mr. Ji, you may not know this, but I am indeed called General Giant Whale. If there's ever a need to state my name in the future, you can also just call me Giant Whale. I wonder if there's a surname 'Giant'; if not, then I'll be the first!"

This giant whale was clearly quite optimistic, especially after picking up Ji Yuan and Ying Ruoli; he was in excellent spirits. His speech was very light and quick.

Ji Yuan smiled upon hearing this and said nothing further.

"The vast East Sea is long and arduous. Crossing continents and boundaries is not a task for a single day. Mr. Ji, Goddess Ruoli, if you don't mind, you can come inside my belly; it's quite spacious in there."

Amidst the rolling waves, General Giant Whale swam swiftly, loudly informing the two people on his back. His size was more than ten times that of an ordinary whale. Even if his belly wasn't a world unto itself, it certainly had ample space. However, neither Ji Yuan nor Ying Ruoli had such a preference.

Ji Yuan said nothing; Ying Ruoli merely said softly, "Just keep swimming; you don't need to worry about us."

Ji Yuan shook his head and, with a flick of his sleeve, a dark wooden desk flew out. Then, the four treasures of the study—brush, ink, paper, and inkstone—also flew out. The wolf-hair brush, which occasionally flickered with a faint divine light, was prominently among them.

"This scene, this moment, it's quite like 'Dreaming While Roaming in the Clouds.' Goddess of the River, please make yourself comfortable. I'll do some writing."

Ji Yuan spread out the paper and held it down with a paperweight. Ying Ruoli, on the other side, naturally walked over. She extended a slender finger and lightly touched the inkstone, gathering a trickle of water. With one hand holding back her long sleeve, she took the inkstick with the other and slowly began to grind the ink.

"Uncle Ji, once we leave the East Sea, it will be untold thousands of miles to Tongtian River. If you keep calling me 'Goddess of the River,' others might overthink and speculate, which could lead to trouble. Just call me Ruoli!"

The dragon maiden certainly made a valid point. Although Ji Yuan was accustomed to using honorifics, his relationship with the old dragon and his family was quite close, so it wasn't a big deal. However, it wasn't necessary to try calling her that right away. Ji Yuan simply said, "That makes sense," and picked up his wolf-hair brush, preparing to dip it in ink.

The dragon maiden smiled slightly and put aside the inkstick. She watched Ji Yuan tap his brush on the inkstone, picking up some freshly ground ink, and then lift his brush to write on the paper.

He began to write "Dreaming While Roaming in the Clouds." However, this time, it was neither the ordinary text he had copied for the Wei family, nor the original mood of the book, but rather infused with Ji Yuan's own feelings. As the characters were written onto the paper, the ink immediately dried and vanished, clearly indicating it was a Celestial Talisman script.

Ji Yuan had not learned the formal method of creating Celestial Talisman scripts. However, he had a divine artifact by his side. Through their spiritual connection, his understanding of Celestial Talisman scripts naturally developed over time, without the need for special study.

This time, Ji Yuan wrote very, very slowly. Although no extraordinary phenomena emerged, the dragon maiden beside him watched with extreme concentration.

It was already late in the twelfth lunar month. By New Year's Eve, Ji Yuan was still slightly bent over the desk, writing slowly. Whenever the ink ran out, the dragon maiden would immediately grind more.

"Rumble..."

"Whoosh... whoosh... whoosh..."

A thunderstorm raged in the sky. Strong winds swept all around. The waves on the sea surged violently, yet the wind and rain did not reach Ji Yuan's desk.

"Rumble..."

"Crash, crash, crash..."

The downpour intensified. Ji Yuan had also reached the last few characters of his "Journey in the Clouds" essay. As the last character was written, Ji Yuan looked up at the sky, where lightning flashed, thunder roared, and winds howled.

"Today is New Year's Eve, and it has some bearing on my cultivation."

The dragon maiden was engrossed in the essay on the desk. Hearing Ji Yuan's words, she also looked up at the sky.

"Uncle Ji, would you like me to disperse these storm clouds?"

As a deity of the waters and a member of the dragon-flood dragon lineage, it would not be difficult for her to do so.

"No hurry. Such a fierce thunderstorm at sea is quite rare."

Ji Yuan raised his hand and flicked his sleeve towards the sky. A golden light shot out from his cuff. As soon as it appeared, a faint thunderclap began, and then it suddenly flew into the clouds. The golden lightning unfolded across the sky, forming four large characters entwined with lightning: "Expel, Evil, Bind, Charm."

Ying Ruoli had heard about this from her elder brother before. In fact, Gao Tianming of Tianshui Lake had told her brother some things, which were then passed on to her and her father. Now, looking at the sky, she immediately understood what it was.

'Uncle Ji's Decree Thunder Charm!'

As if in response to the dragon maiden's thoughts, the moment the thunder charm unfolded in the sky, the lightning of the thunderstorm became even more furious.

"Crack... Rumble..."

"Rumble..."

"Crack... Boom..."

Bolts of lightning struck the thunder charm, increasing in speed and number. The sky below the clouds and the surface of the sea were illuminated by the dense lightning, as if countless cameras were continuously flashing. After half a quarter of an hour, the great thunderstorm that had covered the horizon had significantly weakened.

As Ji Yuan extended his hand and made a gesture, the thunder charm, which appeared largely unchanged, returned to his hand. This was also what Ji Yuan was most proud of regarding this thunder charm. After achieving the perfection of the Five Qis within himself, Ji Yuan gained new insights into this thunder charm. Just as he had absorbed the diffused marsh essence and thunder from Mo Rong back then, the thunder charm could now attract and guide lightning. The prerequisite was that the thunderstorm had to be large enough. If it were just an ordinary rainstorm, the absorbed lightning might not even compensate for the energy expended when activating the charm.

"Uncle Ji, shall I disperse these rain clouds then?"

"Thank you!"

The dragon maiden smiled and leaped directly into the air. In mid-air, she transformed into a giant *chijiao*. Besides the inherent red light emanating from her body, she was also surrounded by multicolored divine light. She glided upwards, ascending into the sky, and directly entered the cloud layers.

"Roar————"

The dragon's roar echoed through the clouds. One could faintly discern a giant dragon tail sweeping through the clouds, causing the cloud layers to take on the shape of a dragon's tail.

"Moo... moo..."

The cloud layers in the sky were like a basin of calm water being wildly stirred, creating an oddly turbulent and swaying sensation. Before long, the heavy rain stopped. Then, the clouds gradually dispersed, revealing the starry sky behind them.

Ying Ruoli circled once in the sky. Though the storm clouds had dispersed, she did not immediately descend. Instead, she looked towards the distant sky diagonally above, where a flying boat was sailing. Judging by its size, its length was about a *li*.

Ji Yuan's gaze also fell upon the distant flying boat. Earlier, blocked by the thunderstorm, even he hadn't noticed such a boat in the distance. Observing its posture and the faint magical light emanating from it, he couldn't help but murmur, "It must be a form of realm ferry."

Meanwhile, the realm ferry had earlier sensed a sudden decrease in the thunderous power within the storm clouds below, and felt that something unusual might have occurred. Then, they saw a *jiao* dragon churning and gliding through the clouds, dispersing the storm clouds in a short time.

Realm ferries were naturally a means of long-distance travel created by cultivators. However, the passengers were not necessarily all cultivators or those who had achieved success in cultivation. Besides those with low cultivation, there would even be many mortals. At this moment, some people by the ship's rail, suddenly seeing the *chijiao* in front of them, immediately cried out in excitement.

"A dragon! There's a dragon! Come quick, look, what a huge dragon!"

"Where is it?" "There, there!"

"Come quickly and look! Go tell Senior Brother to come see too!"

"Oh my goodness, so dragons are this big! Is that a *jiao* dragon or a true dragon?"

More and more people gathered by the ship's rail, old and young, calm and excited. Soon, a true cultivator from the ferry boat appeared before them and loudly reprimanded them.

"Everyone quiet down! Do not offend the dragon *jiao* in the sea!"

Another true cultivator also appeared beside the high-crowned cultivator, as if transforming his body.

"Senior Brother, this *jiao* has no horns and is covered in rainbow light. It must be a legendary *chijiao*?"

"Undoubtedly. This type of dragon *jiao* is generally rarely malevolent. As long as we don't offend it, we should be fine!"

After a brief discussion, they saw the *chijiao* turn its gaze towards them. The two dared not be negligent and bowed together with cupped hands, offering a respectful greeting.

Ying Ruoli gave the distant flying boat a faint glance. She descended from the sky, transforming back into her human form, and landed on the whale's back.

Only then did the cultivators with keen eyesight on the flying boat realize that there was also a giant whale on the sea surface, with a desk set up on its back. Besides the *chijiao* who had just landed and transformed into a woman in an elegant robe with flowing ribbons, there was another person, standing with his back to them, looking up in the direction of the flying boat. He held a brush in the hand behind his back, clearly indicating that he was the one who had been writing at the desk.