Li Yue immediately pulled Liu Ye and dodged. At the same time, her foot tripped, and the girl couldn't stop. She tripped again on Li Yue, losing her balance and crashing into a boy of about ten years old in front of her! The boy, caught off guard, was sent tumbling forward and landed flat on the ground with a thud.
Liu Ye burst into laughter at this, pointing at the girl.
“Hmph, trying to compete with me? You’re too green! So uncivilized. Whether my good sister knows anything or not is her business. Why are you calling us country bumpkins? Who do you think you are looking down on!”
The boy, who had been knocked to the ground, was quite annoyed. He turned and glanced at the girl who had fallen behind him.
“Yang Lulu, are you bored or something?”
The girl, addressed as Yang Lulu, now had red eyes and looked at the boy aggrievedly.
“Big brother, I… they were bullying me!”
Yang Lulu said, pointing at Liu Ye and Li Yue.
The boy looked up, gave the three of them a casual glance, slowly got up, and pulled Yang Lulu to her feet.
“How many times have I told you not to cause trouble when we’re out? Do you still think this is Prefecture City!”
Li Yue and the other two exchanged glances. What did this person mean? Although they hadn’t intentionally bullied his sister, this still felt a bit odd!
As the three of them were puzzling over this, the boy dusted off his clothes and approached them, cupping his hands.
“My apologies to you three sisters. I am Yang Luting. I’ve spoiled my sister at home. If I’ve done anything wrong, I, as her brother, apologize to you three sisters!”
Liu Ye and the other two exchanged glances, feeling they might have overreacted. They had just teased his sister, and he came to apologize? Liu Ye was about to speak when Li Yue suddenly pulled her back a few steps.
Li Yue, with a frosty expression, watched Yang Luting’s punch miss.
“Heh, I knew it. You’re all birds of a feather. I really thought you were a gentleman! Turns out you’re just a sinister person with a smiling face and a hidden dagger!”
Yang Luting wasn’t angry that his punch missed. He smiled slightly, withdrew his hand, and looked at Li Yue, a hint of eagerness in his eyes!
“You, on the other hand, seem like a Practitioner of Martial Arts!”
Li Yue rolled her eyes at him.
“Fighting with a villain like you is an Insult to me!”
Upon hearing Li Yue’s words, Yang Luting attacked Li Yue again.
Li Yue watched the fist coming closer, preparing to meet it head-on. But just then, a figure suddenly rushed forward.
He grabbed Yang Luting’s wrist and threw him aside. Yang Luting flew out and landed on the deck not far away with a thud!
“What’s this? Trying to bully my sisters? You’re not qualified!”
A resonant voice rang out. Tie Chui’s tower-like body blocked Liu Ye and the other two.
Yang Luting had been thrown too hard this time. Tie Chui had used some force when throwing him, sending him one or two zhang away. Being thrown in mid-air, the fall from that height was truly painful. He could only curl up on the deck, groaning in agony!
This scene startled many children on deck, who all looked curiously at Tie Chui and then at Yang Luting, who was curled up on the ground.
Tie Chui walked over to Yang Luting, picked him up with one hand, and patted him down, helping him stand.
“I don’t know my own strength. If you don’t bully my sisters, I won’t touch you. We can be good friends in the future!”
Tie Chui’s actions drew a slight smile from the middle-aged cultivator in the cabin.
“This new disciple’s Spiritual Root Aptitude is very good, and it seems his character is also good. Alas, with such good aptitude, he’ll likely be targeted by those fellows from Artifact Peak!”
A young cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Stage sitting next to him said.
“Uncle-Master, how is it? Among the disciples taken in this time, besides Yang Luting who has a Lightning Spiritual Root, this big dark fellow has good aptitude! Are you thinking of taking him as a personal disciple?”
The middle-aged cultivator smiled slightly and shook his head.
“That’s not something I can decide. With such aptitude, he’ll probably be snatched by those rough guys from Artifact Peak as soon as we return to the sect. I’d better just stay out of it!”
The young cultivator agreed.
“Alas, I think that kid is naturally suited to be an Artifact Peak disciple. Look at his physique. His bone age is only fourteen, and he already looks like an adult!”
The middle-aged cultivator, however, continued to gaze at Li Yue and Liu Ye. Although these two girls’ aptitudes weren’t as good as the big dark fellow’s, they were still decent. Especially the little girl with the Fire-Earth Dual Spiritual Root. Looking at her, she didn’t seem like someone who would easily suffer a loss. Didn’t they just see her about to fight Yang Luting? It was only stopped by that big dark fellow!
Li Yue was unaware that her actions had been observed. She was smiling and looking at Tie Chui and Yang Luting, who, after a brief altercation, had become good friends chatting happily.
Liu Ye blinked and looked at Tie Chui.
“When did Tie Chui become so eloquent? He wasn’t like this before!”
Li Yue smiled slightly.
“That was before, when it was just us. Of course, he has a different face when he’s out. It shows that brother Tie Chui has always been yielding to us!”
Lin Daya also said.
“Mm, we won’t be easily bullied once we go to the sect. We’ll have brother Tie Chui protecting us!”
Li Yue just smiled at Lin Daya’s words. In her opinion, no matter how much Tie Chui cared for the three of them, it was still difficult. Relying on oneself was the most important thing at any time, after all, One must be strong oneself to forge iron, wasn’t that right?
Time passed quickly. Before long, a young cultivator walked onto the deck.
“Hello everyone, I am Yan Liuyi, a disciple of the Inner Gate Talisman Peak of our Wendao Sect. I am at the Early Foundation Establishment Stage. You can just call me Uncle Yan!”
Yan Liuyi paused and continued.
“We are about to set sail for the cultivation world. The journey will take five days. For these five days, you will stay in the cabins. Remember, each cabin can accommodate five people.”
He then took out a jade bottle from his Storage Pouch.
“This is a Grain Abstinence Pill. Taking one pill can sustain you for ten days without hunger or thirst! Come, each of you take one and then return to your cabins. The Uçan Tekne will depart shortly!”
Li Yue and the others quickly stepped forward and took the Grain Abstinence Pill from Yan Liuyi. Looking at the pill in their hands, it was about the size of a little finger, yellowish-brown on the surface. Bringing it close to their noses, they caught a faint scent of rice.
Liu Ye also looked at the Grain Abstinence Pill and nudged Li Yue with her elbow.
“Yue’er, can this small pill really keep us from hunger and thirst for ten days?”
Li Yue believed it.
“Since Uncle Yan said so, it must be true. We will be disciples of the Wendao Sect from now on, fellow sect members. Uncle-Master has no reason to lie to us, right? Eat it!”
Saying this, Li Yue directly swallowed the Grain Abstinence Pill. Although it smelled faintly of rice, it had no taste at all when eaten. She smacked her lips.
“Let’s go, let’s pick a cabin to rest!”
Lin Daya and Liu Ye quickly followed Li Yue towards the cabins. The girl named Yang Lulu called out.
“Hey, wait for me! I’ll come too!”
Li Yue and the other two exchanged surprised glances and looked back at the approaching Yang Lulu.
“No… we had a conflict, and you’re still coming with us?”
Liu Ye looked at Yang Lulu in surprise. Was this person too thick-skinned? She had seemed resentful just moments ago, and now she was coming to find them?
Yang Lulu blushed and glanced around before saying in a low voice.
“Aren’t we… acquaintances through conflict? Besides, we just exchanged a few harsh words. Do we really have to be enemies?”
Yang Lulu’s words left the three of them dumbfounded. However, it seemed Yang Lulu wasn’t entirely wrong. Li Yue smiled.
“I thought you were a spoiled young lady! I didn’t expect you to have this side!”
Yang Lulu smiled awkwardly and shrugged.
“I just have a bad temper, but I’m actually easy to get along with!”
Li Yue and the other two couldn’t be bothered to dwell on what had happened earlier, so they said.
“If you want to come, just follow along!”
The four of them entered the cabin corridor together and walked inside. The doors to the cabins were all wide open, so they casually found a room and entered.
There were five beds in the cabin, all bare.
“This is where we’ll be resting for the next few days. Not even bedding?”
Yang Lulu complained, looking disdainfully at the simplistic cabin.
Li Yue smiled and was about to speak when a furious roar suddenly came from outside.
“Bloodthirsty Old Ghost, how dare you…!”
Following this roar, Li Yue and the others felt a ringing in their ears, then they fell to the ground, rolling around as the ship capsized!