61: Chapter 61 Spaceship

At the break of dawn, Wang Bin left early, knowing that his trip to White Cloud City had an uncertain return date, and thus he had many matters to arrange properly.

He gathered Qin Wenjun, Zhaojun, Yuhuan, Qianqian, and Huang Youcai and Chen Jun in one place.

With a determined gaze, he solemnly handed one of White Cloud City's Formation Flags back to Huang Youcai, and with a serious expression, he instructed:

"After this beast tide, White Cloud City is in ruins awaiting reconstruction; the subsequent recovery work will be entirely entrusted to you."

"My trip to White Cloud City will likely take several months or even longer, but I am very satisfied with your handling of this beast tide."

"I feel at ease leaving the Formation Flag with you as I depart this time."

Huang Youcai quickly stepped forward, took the Formation Flag with both hands, and solemnly nodded in agreement.

During this beast tide, both Huang Youcai and Chen Jun performed exceptionally well. Moreover, everyone in White Cloud City now knew that Wang Bin had established a deep connection with the Chu Family in White Cloud City, gaining the protection of this formidable power.

In the eyes of others, the four women—Qin Wenjun and the others—were merely maids, Qi Refining Stage Cultivators with Five Spiritual Roots. Although they possessed some beauty, in the Cultivation World, a place teeming with hidden talents, beauty was not a rare commodity.

Only those with both Aptitude and beauty could barely be considered beauties in the eyes of Cultivators, and if a strong background was added, then they were truly eye-catching Cultivation World 'white, rich, and beautiful' women.

Wang Bin frowned slightly, and after a brief hesitation, he decided to leave a drop of Spirit Liquid for each of the four women. The path of Cultivation was like sailing against the current; their progress could not be delayed by his departure.

Leaving only one drop was also due to their Qi Refining Stage second-layer cultivation. This single drop of Spirit Liquid was enough for them to Cultivate diligently for several months, and Spirit Liquid was precious. Carrying too much might cause trouble, making it unsafe for them.

After dawn, Wang Bin, along with Hall Master Chu, Yin Tianqi, and others, boarded the flying ship returning to White Cloud City.

Thanks to Hall Master Chu's care, Wang Bin was able to have a small but barely accommodating room for rest on the flying ship.

As soon as he rested briefly in the room, the curiosity in his heart, like a cat scratching, could no longer be suppressed.

He secretly pondered, he also wanted to modify flying ship propulsion in the future, if he didn't investigate now, how would he know where to start?

So, he resolutely walked out of the room and slowly made his way along the slightly narrow corridor to the deck of the flying ship.

On the deck, a Late Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator sat upright, exuding a steady aura like a statue.

This person was Xuantian, an Elder of the Enforcement Hall. Seeing Wang Bin approach, he glanced at him indifferently, then cupped his hands slightly and said loudly:

"Yesterday, I thank Junior Brother Qingmu for your generous hospitality. I am Xuantian, an Elder of the Enforcement Hall."

Wang Bin quickly returned the bow and humbly said:

"Greetings, Senior Brother Xuantian. You know that I, your Junior Brother, have always been in the remote White Cloud City. This is my first time taking a flying ship in my life."

"My heart is filled with curiosity about this flying ship; I truly couldn't sit still in the room, so I wanted to come out and explore, to experience the wonders of this flying ship."

Wang Bin spoke frankly; he knew his past experiences were not a secret to everyone. Stating his purpose so directly made him appear natural and sincere.

Upon hearing this, Xuantian couldn't help but laugh heartily, his laughter carrying a hint of barely concealed envy:

"Junior Brother, don't belittle yourself. Your feat of hunting an Azure Flame Bird and presenting it to the Chu Family is enough to make you stand out in the School."

"In my opinion, your future prospects are bound to be bright. The Golden Core Dao is merely a matter of time for you, and living for five hundred years is not an exaggeration. Senior Brother congratulates you in advance!"

Xuantian sighed inwardly. Although he was already at Late Foundation Establishment Stage and served in the Enforcement Hall as an Inner Sect Disciple, he felt uneasy facing the cruel success rate of Core Formation.

The path to Core Formation was like thousands of soldiers crossing a single-plank bridge, with a success rate of less than one in a hundred, deterring countless Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Even within the School, with many resources and Opportunities, the success rate only increased slightly, but not by much.

Many Foundation Establishment Cultivators, constrained by factors such as Aptitude, resources, Cultivation Technique, lifespan, and combat, spend their entire lives trapped in the Foundation Establishment Early Stage, unable to advance.

And for those fortunate enough to Cultivate to Late Foundation Establishment Stage, the spiritual items that can increase the success rate of Core Formation are so rare and precious, mostly encountered by chance and not sought after.

Whenever such spiritual items appear at auctions, various forces will compete for them, and their prices often far exceed their actual value, even leading to a fierce Dragon-Tiger struggle.

If ownerless Core Formation spiritual items appear in the wild, it's an even bloodier free-for-all, with various forces sparing no expense, just for that glimmer of hope for Core Formation.

These thoughts flashed through Xuantian's mind, and his gaze towards Wang Bin grew warmer.

He knew that although Qingmu was currently only at Mid Stage Foundation Establishment and his Aptitude was average, with such an Opportunity, barring any accidents, becoming a Golden Core cultivator was only a matter of time. Such a person was certainly worth befriending wholeheartedly.

"Junior Brother Qingmu, since that's the case, I'll take you on a good tour of this flying ship!"

Xuantian said enthusiastically, "This flying ship is just an ordinary Rank three flying ship within the Commercial Alliance, but its cost is as high as over a million Mid-Grade Spirit Stones."

"The Materials required for a Rank three flying ship are more than ten times that of a Golden Core cultivator's Magic Treasure. Although most of them are just ordinary Rank three Materials, this flying ship is thirty zhang long, and the entire hull needs to be adorned with various complex Formations and runes. This requires multiple Rank three Artifact Refiners, Rune Masters, and Formation Masters to work together for several years or even longer to complete."

"Its flying speed is quite impressive, easily covering tens of thousands of li a day. If fully propelled at a critical moment, its speed can be greatly increased."

"The defensive light shield on the flying ship, when fully activated, can withstand a full-strength blow from a Golden Core cultivator, which is truly formidable."

"However, this flying ship is not perfect. Its biggest drawback is its huge consumption."

"Normal flight is fine, but once it enters full combat, it consumes tens of thousands of Mid-Grade Spirit Stones every hour."

"One hundred thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stones can purchase a Magic Treasure used by a Golden Core cultivator, so ordinary Golden Core cultivators simply cannot afford such exorbitant consumption. At most, they can only purchase small Spirit Boats that are one zhang long, haha!"

Wang Bin nodded repeatedly as he listened, but he secretly compared it to the passenger planes of his previous life.

Passenger planes in his previous life were generally about forty meters long, and their consumption was far from this exaggerated.

He wondered, it seemed that the flying speed of airplanes was actually faster than this Rank three flying ship. Why was this?

After much thought, he guessed that it might be due to the flying ship's enormous size. However, this flying ship had many functions and was integrated for both offense and defense. He presumed this was only a relatively low-Rank flying ship, and higher-Rank flying ships might possess other wondrous qualities.

But at this moment, he couldn't investigate clearly. What he cared about most was the flying ship's power System.

Under Wang Bin's subtle hint, Xuantian led him to the flying ship's cockpit.

Wang Bin walked into the cockpit with anticipation, only to find that it wasn't as mysterious as he had imagined.

There was only one detection Formation in the room, but its detection range was extremely limited, only covering a few li around.

The person operating the flying ship mainly relied on Divine Sense to observe the surrounding situation, which was far inferior to the Advanced navigation Systems of airplanes in his previous life.

Of course, although Wang Bin had this thought, he dared not voice it. He secretly speculated that perhaps higher-Rank flying ships might have more powerful navigation facilities.

Looking at the power System again, it was entirely driven by Formations, and the energy for the Formations came from Spirit Stones.

During normal flight, Mid-Grade or even Low-Grade Spirit Stones could meet the demand, but once in full combat, it had to be replaced with High-Grade Spirit Stones as the energy source.

High-Grade Spirit Stones were incredibly precious, generally only used by Golden Core and Nascent Soul Cultivators for Cultivation.

Wang Bin had only accidentally found two fire-attribute High-Grade Spirit Stones in the Azure Flame Bird's Storage Pouch.

After the overall tour, the flying ship did not meet Wang Bin's expectations, and he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

He secretly pondered whether there was energy like petroleum in this Cultivation World, or if he could improve lightning and convert the flying ship's power to electric propulsion?

Solar power seemed feasible too.

It's just that this flying ship consumed too many Spirit Stones, was not very useful in everyday life, and was expensive to manufacture. Perhaps its value could only be reflected in wars between large Sects.

After all, so-called major powers were so because they had Nascent Soul and Soul Transformation Cultivators overseeing them, and they possessed a large number of various mineral veins, especially Spirit Stone Spiritual Veins. These abundant Spiritual Vein resources could supply the Cultivation needs of many Cultivators within the School.

Otherwise, even if a group of high-Rank Cultivators gathered together, without a stable income of Spirit Stones and no Spiritual Veins for Cultivation, they would eventually become nothing more than a group of roaming bandits, fighting for resources.