Cultivating Civilization - Chapter 78

After everyone found a place to lay down a couple of blankets and settle down, Jack and Old Long went up to the main deck to watch the proceedings.

A passing sailor told them that they could stand near the port railing, but that they had to get out of the way if other sailors told them to move.

Four people already stood in that area and observed the bustling deck. Jack and old Long gave them polite greetings with clasped hands and turned to watch the crowds on the starboard side of the ship.

An hour later, a noise that sounded like someone blew into a horn blared out across the calm waters of the harbor. When it ended, a voice that Jack and old Long recognized as the middle-aged man that sold them their reservations, rang out in the cavernous harbor “Everyone not on a ship is commanded to leave the harbor. The White River family will not take responsibility for your deaths if you linger.”

Jack and old Long exchanged glances, and old Long asked “Deaths?”

Just as Jack shrugged his shoulders, a voice from their side stated “This must be your first time on a White River family ship.”

Both of them turned around to see one of the four people near the port railing giving old Long a polite smile. Jack already knew that two of them had grade five cultivations, and old Long signaled that one had a grade six cultivation, and he couldn’t tell with the other one. The young man that addressed old Long had a grade six cultivation.

Old Long nodded his head and confirmed “Indeed, I just came to these lands and am traveling to the wilderness to do some trading.”

“Then you are in for a treat. Just try not to scream.” The young man said and gave them a mysterious smirk.

Jack and old Long exchanged glances, then looked at the other three people on the deck. The two grade five cultivators just gave them the same mysterious smirks, while the higher grade cultivator ignored them and stared up towards something.

When Jack followed his gaze, he could only see the spot where the western wall met with the ceiling. A few seconds of staring later, he looked back at the scattering crowd and waited for the ship to move.

Twenty minutes later, when Jack couldn’t see anyone standing on the land, the middle-aged man’s voice sounded out once more as he declared “I am opening the gates, turn your barriers on.”

As soon as his words rang out, Jack saw all of the ships shining brightly from spirit energy. Their light overshadowed the Light Orbs in the ceiling of the harbor. Jack almost had to look away from the intensity, but he forced himself to stare to see what they planned to do.

A few seconds later, the intense light cleared out in Jack’s eyes and he finally saw a net of sigils cover the top decks from one railing to the other on all of the ships.

Even his ship, the Unbreakable Fortress, had the same net of sigils extended over the entire ship. Jack couldn’t help himself and had to stare at the ingenious way that the sigils connected to one another. He didn’t know what the vast majority of them meant, but he could see the brilliance of their arrangement.

While old Long pretended that the net of sigils didn’t faze him, Jack turned to the young man on his side and asked “What do they do?”

The young man just shook his head and said “Watch.” as he pointed towards the large building where Jack’s squad bought their reservations.

A few seconds later, the entire golden building started shining. Lines of spirit energy extended from it into the ground. From the ground; they went towards the wall that separated the cavernous harbor from the outside world.

Jack’s eyes turned round when the lines of spirit energy spread across the entire wall, and he saw blurry sigils lighting up in the depths of the calm white water next to the wall.

A second later, the entire humongous wall started sliding down into the lower layers of the floating city without a sound.

As soon as it did, humongous amounts of raging white water spilled into the White River Outpost’s harbor and drowned out everything else.

Jack saw hints of panic in old Long’s eyes, but he just chuckled and ignored the old man as he focused on the sigils of the Unbreakable Fortress. The thought that hundreds of White River family members and their customers wanted to commit mass suicide never crossed his mind so he looked forward to see what they had planned.

When he saw the raging water engulf the first few ships in front of the Unbreakable Fortress, his relaxed smile turned a little sour. He glanced at the faces of the people that stood near him for some signs of panic, but they looked like they watched a show, and not a murderous wave of destruction that could end them all.

Jack gave out a small sigh of relief, and steadied himself as the massive wave of water neared the Unbreakable Fortress.

As it did, the sigil net around them shined even brighter. In the cold calculating part of Jack’s mind, he thought ‘How are they able to waste so much spirit energy and still charge such low prices?’ This thought kept bugging him every time he saw some ancient device in the White River City turn on, he just couldn’t figure out where they got all of the spirit energy from.

The wave engulfed the Unbreakable Fortress in one swoop.

Jack saw a world of barely transparent white water around him. The sigil net somehow pushed the water away so that the ship didn’t even shake at all when the massive wave engulfed it.

A desire to touch the sigil net flared up in Jack’s chest for just a second, and then he snuffed it out as fast as it appeared. He didn’t believe that the White River family would have any mercy for him if he screwed around with their sigils.

Jack and old Long exchanged glances, and they both saw the same excitement that they experienced in the eyes of the other. They grinned at each other for a second and then turned to look down at the deck of the ship as it started shining bright with sigils.

With a smooth start, the Unbreakable Fortress moved forward. Jack could feel the slight movement from the way the acceleration made him tilt backwards a little for a moment before he stabilized himself.

He looked up at the sigil net and saw the previously calmed down churning water start to flow past the ship. Strange white fishes and other pale aquatic creatures swam past the ship from time to time. Somehow, when they tried to near the ship the sigil net repulsed them away. Jack even saw an insistent snake-like creature get disintegrated after the net repulsed it a few times.

‘These bastards made submarines with force fields!’ Jack exclaimed in his mind as he tried to observe everything around him at once.

Every person on the deck of the Unbreakable Fortress stood and watched the awe-inspiring demonstration of cultivator technology in silence. Even the White River family members stopped everything they were doing and stood in something that resembled religious worship as they bowed their heads and mumbled something under their breaths.

Jack tried to listen in, but could only hear a few random words from the rushing of the water around him; the one he caught most was “Ancestors”.

The solemn atmosphere held for a few minutes. Just as Jack started seeing the color of the water above them turn paler, the sailors started moving on the deck. A few seconds later, the Unbreakable Fortress broke through the surface of the raging river with a huge splash.

Jack blinked a few times to get used to the morning sunlight and had to stabilize his footing as the ship started tossing on the waves. He looked to the side and saw old Long clutching to the railing with both hands as his face turned pale.

‘S*it, I forgot that none of them have any experience on the water. I hope that I won’t have to sleep in vomit tonight.’ Jack thought as he watched the white-knuckled grip that old Long had on the railing.

The sailors moved like they walked on flat land and only took a couple of minutes to have the sails unfurled and catching the wind. A lot of the tossing stopped as the ship started tearing through the waves, but some still remained.

When the sailors had a good grasp on the ship, the sigil net disappeared and the Unbreakable Fortress’ hull stopped glowing. The ship switched from spirit energy propulsion to wind.

A few seconds later, the door of the main cabin that stood on the top deck in the back of the ship opened. A middle-aged handsome man in gold robes stepped through them. He had a few beads of sweat on his forehead as he looked up at the clear sky with obvious delight.

When he glanced down and scanned the entire top deck the beads of sweat evaporated. He smiled at his crew and shouted “Get ready for the welcoming party!” The crew responded with a cheer and turned to look at two officers.

The officers, one of which was the man that allowed the Immortals’ Lament entrance to the ship, started taking out spears and harpoons out of their Star Bags and giving them to the sailors.

Old Long and Jack glanced at their four companions, and the young man said “We will receive guests soon.” while his lips threatened to turn into a smirk.

Jack’s brows furrowed as he asked “Should we arm ourselves too?”

The young man shook his head and said “No need, the White River family is more than capable to fight off the Kung.” Just as Jack wanted to ask what these Kung were, he got his answer.

A four meter long fish jumped out of the river and flung itself at the Unbreakable Fortress. It had five rows of serrated teeth in its open mouth; the fins on its side looked at least as long as its body, while the flat and wide tail took up half of its smooth white length.

The fish, the Kung Jack presumed, glided in the air for a second as it looked for a target, and then folded its side-fins and aimed its terrifying jaw at one of the sailors.

Jack placed a hand on his Star Bag and watched as the sailor prepared his spear. Just as the Kung came into range, he flung it at its open mouth. The spear had a shine of spirit energy imbued sigils about it, and it easily tore through the fish. The sailor had a spirit energy tendril tied to the spear so he had no problems with pulling it back.

The Kung slammed on the deck and flopped a few times, but a few sailors came with poles, hooked the Kung, and flipped it back into the water.

After the first Kung’s corpse splashed into the River, dozens of them jumped out of the water and flung themselves at the Unbreakable Fortress.

The sailors treated the murderous fishes like target dummies as they competed for who could get more. A few Kung even aimed at Jack’s position, but the sailors got to them before they could threaten the six cultivators.

The young man chuckled after a dead Kung slammed on the deck near them and said “We should go down to our quarters, these things can take a while and we’re just giving the Kung more targets.”

Old Long and Jack both nodded their heads and moved with the young man and his two attendants towards the entrance for the lower decks. Only the higher grade cultivator didn’t listen as he stayed and watched the festivities.

When they reached half-way to the entrance, Jack saw the familiar figure of Kuang Bindun climb up to the deck. His face was as white as the river on which they sailed while his eyes looked at the flying fish with fright.

Jack’s brow furrowed as he shouted “Bindun!” to get his attention.

Just as Kuang Bindun turned and gave Jack a sickly smile, the ship broke through a large wave and he lost his footing.

Jack watched with horror as his fried stumbled towards the starboard railing with little hope of stopping himself.

He didn’t think as he used Moon Step as quickly as he could and rushed after his friend.