The leaf boat sped across the surface of the black Abyssal Sea. It was moving about ten times as fast as before, making it seem like it was truly fearful of causing any delays for Xu Qing. Whenever it noticed Xu Qing’s facial expression turning dour, it would speed up.5

Given the information he’d learned from the Smokewights, Xu Qing had abandoned his previous plan to go to Mount Greenmist. Instead, he would go directly to Mount Daybreak. That said, he was feeling more uncertain than ever. For one thing, he was worried about the war in the north and to the west. What was more, the information from the Smokewights made it impossible for him to forget about what the palace lord had mentioned in the jade slip about a behind-the-scenes traitor.0

I can’t do anything to affect the war... The only thing I can do is finish this mission for the palace lord.20

Days passed. The net in the dome of heaven seemed to flicker more dramatically than before. To Xu Qing, that seemed to indicate that the war was heating up.2

Sighing, he focused on the path ahead.1

On the evening of the fourth day, he spotted Mount Daybreak off in the distance. The mountain was very...34