Kara Liwei arrived before Jian Chen with her eyes shining. She smiled, “Ten years have passed in the blink of an eye. Your temperament has undergone a huge change. It is like you’re a completely new person. Yang Yutian, ten years later, I am still the me from before, while you have stopped being your past self long ago.” Reminiscence clouded her beautiful eyes, as she seemed to recollect everything in the past.
Jian Chen smiled silently at Kara Liwei’s words, and he replied, “Miss Liwei really does like to joke. It may be ten years since we last met, but I am still my old self. Even if my status and strength differ from before.”
Quan Youcai and Yang Ling drank together. They understood what was going on, so they excluded Jian Chen and refused to talk to him. However, they would glance at Jian Chen and Kara Liwei at times, purposefully or otherwise.
“Really?” Kara Liwei smiled. She extended her slender, white fingers and poured wine into an empty cup on the table. Then, she glanced at Jian Chen and said, “Since the current Yang Yutian is still the former Yang Yutian, do you still remember that in the artifact space, I saved you once?”
“Of course, I remember. At that time, I was caught in a tight encirclement within the artifact space. It was all because miss Liwei arrived in time. You kept a portion of enemies busy, which allowed me enough time to cast Judgement’s Sword and change the situation,” Jian Chen said with a smile.
“Then, how do you intend on paying me back for assisting you all those years ago?” Her eyes glowed with an alluring light as she stared unblinkingly at Jian Chen’s weathered face. She slightly smiled.
“When the seal of the saint artifact loosens in forty years, I will do everything I can to assist miss Liwei in breaking through. Does this satisfy miss Liwei?”
“I hope the esteemed Yang Yutian does not break his promise and upsets me,” Kara Liwei quietly responded in a delicate and touching fashion. Afterward, she raised her cup to Jian Chen and said, “Come, Yang Yutian. I want to toast you a cup for my successful breakthrough to Class 7 in forty years’ time.” Kara Liwei brought the cup of wine close to Jian Chen’s lips. She stared at him with a slight flush on her beautiful face. Jian Chen had even caught a whiff of her faint fragrance from her fingers; the smell was intoxicating. Kara Liwei was a beauty that outshined the moon. If Jian Chen did not possess a tough mental fortitude, he would have let down his guard long ago.
Jian Chen chuckled as he accepted the cup of wine from Kara Liwei. Then, he downed it completely.
“Yang Yutian, is the wine good?” Kara Liwei suddenly asked, as her eyes continued to shine.
“This wine is valuable, so of course it’s…” Jian Chen replied subconsciously. However, before he could finish his words, Kara Liwei suddenly leaned forward. She kissed Jian Chen with her cherry-red lips.
Jian Chen was caught off-guard. He had never thought that Kara Liwei would do something like this, and he immediately became stunned. However, he returned to his senses very soon. Their lips separated, and Kara Liwei blushed. She slowly backed away with a slight smile.
Spurt! Quan Youcai suddenly spat out a mouthful of wine while he was drinking heartily with Yang Ling. All of it landed on Yang Ling’s face, as he too became stunned.
Yang Ling used his clothes to wipe his face before looking at Quan Youcai in confusion. “Master Quan Youcai, why have you spat all the wine onto my face? It’s such a pity for such good wine.”
“Miss Liwei, you…” Jian Chen was astounded, as he stared blankly at Kara Liwei.
Kara Liwei giggled. Her smile was charming, while her blush deepened. She said, “Yang Yutian, you must always remember that you owe me the most important thing.” With that, dense Radiant Saint Force suddenly began to condense into a cloud beneath Kara Liwei. She did not stick around. Instead, she stepped onto the cloud and left the ferry. She made her way to the riverbank.
“Yang Yutian, I might as well pass on a message from the ancestor of my clan. The Kara clan wishes to be eternal friends with you.” Kara Liwei’s voice rang through the sky. As her voice subsided, she disappeared into the darkness as well.
“Jian Chen, what’re you waiting for? Go chase her! She’s about to run away!” Quan Youcai put down his cup and frantically called out to Jian Chen. He was panicking.
Jian Chen looked in the direction that Kara Liwei had disappeared. He shook his head with a forced smile and gently sighed. “Come, let’s keep drinking.”
“My god. You missed such a good opportunity. If you chased her, nothing would’ve been impossible.” Regret filled Quan Youcai.
Kara Liwei’s appearance was only a small deviation from their plans. They returned to their previous state very quickly, continuing to heartily drink and talk.
At that moment, the tight-robed You Yue stood in a grassy plain within the artifact space. Beside her lay a five-meter-long blue wolf littered with sword slashes. There had been bloodshed, and it had stopped breathing long ago.
You Yue wiped away the sweat on her forehead as she stood before the wolf’s corpse. She murmured, “Why do I suddenly feel so uneasy?” After a period of silent thought, she called out to the empty space, “Artifact spirit!”
“This one greets the mistress. What does the mistress require?” The artifact spirit appeared beside You Yue out of nowhere. It was extremely polite, as if it was talking to Jian Chen.
“Send me out of here,” You Yue said to the artifact spirit.
“Yes, mistress,” replied the artifact spirit. He immediately contacted Jian Chen. After he gained Jian Chen’s approval, he let You Yue out.
You Yue’s appearance on the ferry naturally piqued Yang Ling and Quan Youcai’s curiosity. As a result, Jian Chen introduced You Yue to them before continuing to drink.
You Yue changed into a white dress in the ship’s hold, regaining her elegance and nobility as a princess. Afterward, she sat quietly next to Jian Chen and helped refill his cup. She did not speak a lot.
At that moment, Hong Lian and Hei Yu’s expressions changed. They sat at the rear of the ship. Both of their eyes suddenly snapped open. Then, they leaped to their feet. A gleam of light flashed in their eyes as they glared at the surface of the river.
“There’s something wrong with the river,” Hong Lian said with a deep voice. Her eyes were dyed red at that moment, as if flames rolled within them. At that moment, her eyes seemed to be able to penetrate the void and see through all illusions.
A while later, she became surprised. She said with a deep voice, “How is that possible? How can a divine hall hide at the bottom of the river?”
“What? A divine hall?” Hei Yu was also surprised as disbelief filled his face.
Hong Lian nodded as she stared fixedly at the bottom of the river. “The divine hall has been sealed at the bottom, which concealed all of its presence. Now that the seal has eroded with time, the divine hall is currently breaking free and floating to the top.”
As soon as Hong Lian finished speaking, the peaceful surface of the river suddenly began to churn. Huge bubbles emerged like boiling water. The entire river began to rise at a visible rate, flowing onto the banks of the river very quickly.