v2c1. A Few Things About the Journey
The carriage ride from Yueyang City, where the Dongyang Sect was located, to Yanlie City, the capital of the Heartflame Empire, took about seven or eight days.
Of course, Shangguan Lingyue wouldn’t have this esteemed guest travel in an ordinary carriage.
They were riding the legendary Cloud-Treading Colts.
Despite their name, these colts didn’t actually tread on clouds.
Their most distinctive feature was their peculiar appearance.
How peculiar?
They were entirely white, fluffy like cotton balls. When resting, they tucked their heads under their forelegs, and since they squatted, their legs were hidden from view, making them look like clouds drifting on the ground.
Yes, other people’s Cloud-Treading Colts were magnificent steeds that could gallop on clouds.
These Cloud-Treading Colts were so-called because riding them felt like treading on clouds.
Ah, the profoundness of the Chinese language.
Of course, these colts’ speed was even more peculiar than their appearance.
When happy, they were white clouds, slow as snails. When sad, they were gray clouds, much faster than ordinary horses. When angry, they were dark clouds, their speed lifting the skirts of anyone along the way.
So, to make them go fast, you had to keep them angry. The angrier they were, the faster they ran, the faster they ran, the angrier they got, until they surpassed the speed of light and spontaneously combusted.
The above was just a setting; no idiot would actually try time travel this way.
But this setting… was a bit problematic.
For example—
“So cute!”
Chun Lian and Little Heehee, riding the colts, buried themselves in their fluffy fur, almost disappearing from sight.
The Cloud-Treading Colts, supposedly enraged by a special pill, were now happily nuzzling the two girls, purring contentedly.
Their dark color quickly turned white, and then they began to move at a snail’s pace.
Seeing the scenery barely moving outside, Gong Yiling couldn’t help but rub her forehead.
“Should I pull them back?” Qiu Shui, amused by the sight of the two girls, asked.
“Forget it, let them play. We’ll arrive a few days later, no big deal. They’ll get tired eventually.”
As she spoke, Gong Yiling continued flipping through the strange, worn book in her hand.
It was titled:
*Divine Forging of Creation – Volume 1*
She had found it this morning while randomly rummaging through her Universe Ring.
Seeing the book, Qiu Shui suddenly remembered, “I think I’ve seen this before. I took it from that dilapidated room.”
“Daoist Daman’s place?”
“Yes.” Qiu Shui nodded. “I wanted to tell Master, but we were in a hurry to collect the treasures… and then…”
She stuck out her tongue sheepishly. “I forgot.”
“It’s fine. It’s not like it would run away.”
Miss Gong hadn’t been interested in the book initially, considering the state of the other items in that room.
Except for that peculiar pill.
But this book surprised her.
Not only was it legible, but its contents were astonishing.
Daoist Daman was a quasi-immortal level blacksmith. Many of his creations were reforged and enhanced, which was why they were so famous.
And his forging skills came from this book.
The first page read:
—This book was written by an ancient forging god named Zhuge Shenqi. It contains conventional and unconventional forging methods, detailed in Volume 1 and Volume 2, respectively. This volume contains all the secrets of conventional forging.
Note: Blacksmiths are the best.
The book described various forging methods for different grades of equipment, and the later chapters detailed the creation of immortal weapons.
Like the Broken Steel Holy Sword (a sword), the Rotating Blue Lancer (a spear), Star Platinum (a pair of gauntlets), Avalon in Dalian (a healing-enhancing head ornament, a flower), and I Only Feel Sorry for My Brother (a throwable lollipop weapon).
Perhaps already desensitized by the anti-mother weapon and the Genshin Impact KFC collaboration, Gong Yiling didn’t find these names strange.
It was probably just the AI’s doing.
She was even curious about that throwable lollipop classified as an Immortal Artifact.
However, learning blacksmithing wasn’t easy. Although Miss Gong was an engineering student, she wasn’t a blacksmith.
And blacksmithing in this world was definitely more complicated. She hadn’t seen any signs of Gong Yiling possessing any special forging talent.
But she could try it sometime. Perhaps Gong Youyuan had included it in her original setting but left it out as a discarded idea?
She closed the book, feeling a wave of drowsiness, and stretched.
“I’m going to take a nap. Qiu Shui, can you keep an eye on this guy and make sure it doesn’t bump into anyone?”
“Understood.” Qiu Shui nodded, then looked at the Cloud-Treading Colt outside, puzzled. “But… can it even bump into anyone?”
“Of course it can.”
It was about time.
Suddenly, the Cloud-Treading Colt bucked, throwing the two girls into the carriage. Its color turned dark, and it sped off.
“Ah?”
The two girls, confused, looked at each other and then at Gong Yiling.
“These Cloud-Treading Colts are starved for three days and nights before departure. When they’re angry, they don’t feel hungry, but once they’re happy, they become hungry. You two were just petting it without giving it any food.”
“That’s called freeloading, and they hate freeloaders.”
“Eh… is that how it works…?”
“I don’t have the food they eat. At this speed, we should arrive at the capital tonight. You can feed it then.”
“Oh…”
Seeing them settle down, Miss Gong found a comfortable position and fell asleep. But soon, she felt the two girls snuggling up to her, their little hands fidgeting around her waist.
But whatever…
She yawned, grabbed something to use as a pillow, and drifted off.
Soon, her hands also started fidgeting, rubbing and kneading.
In her dream, Miss Gong was petting a cat.
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