'This guy still has some self-knowledge.' Shui ling thought to herself.

If she didn't make a perforation in the toughest outer layer, and if Yun Fei, in an uncanny manner, wasn't present at that exact place; he wouldn't have been able to escape.

She believed that Yun Fei was very lucky to survive. After all, not even Duan Xiang's nascent soul was able to escape from inside that beast. Now that she had coincidentally done him a favour, she didn't mind helping him a little more.

"The place I'm headed to is in the direction of Sungon City. You can accompany me till there."

Yun Fei didn't even know where he currently was and he was just about to ask her for directions. Since he had received such a good offer, he wasn't going to refuse it.

Shui Ling threw something into the space in front of her. The small item rapidly grew larger. As it stopped expanding and Yun Fei recovered from his awe of the mystical artefact, he could finally notice what it was.

A boat.

It was around 7-8 metres long and 4-5 metres in height. Standing sturdy, it sported a very beautiful azure colour.

It seemed that Shui Ling really liked the colour. From her garments to her techniques as well as this boat she had taken out, everything had been blue. As Yun Fei was thinking this, Shui Ling suddenly said.

"Before entering, let's clean ourselves up."

Hearing her voice, Yun Fei finally remembered what he currently looked like. He looked so sorry that if he saw himself in a mirror, he wouldn't know who it was.

He was completely soaked in snake blood from head to toe. Even his face was dyed red because he was frequently drinking blood.

After he was thrown to the ground by Shui Ling, dust stuck to his drenched clothes and his previously white bandages hung broken and loose. He currently looked like a beggar that had been beaten half to death.

He felt a little embarrassed since he had figured out why she suggested cleaning themselves up. She didn't want Yun Fei to dirty the artefact.

Suddenly, a wide river materialised and flowed right into them. Yun Fei held his breath in surprise. The river that covered them completely melded into one giant whirlpool; swirling at a great speed.

Even as the waves upon waves of water buffeted Yun Fei, he did not feel any resistance.

A slight, comfortable pressure accompanied the water, it was as if it had a life of its own. Each particle homing in on the contaminants. Such control was mind boggling.

All of the blood and dirt was being washed away from them. His tattered bandages were mere rags after all his time struggling within the insides of a reptile. The torrent swept them away and revealed the soft regenerated skin.

After some time, the fast flowing water disappeared as it was replaced by a warm gale of wind. Drying their wet bodies rapidly.

Yun Fei saw Shui Ling's dark hair and azure clothes fluttering in the wind as the water evaporated out of them. Unfortunately, she was still wearing her rustic mask and he wasn't able to see her face.

Shui Ling also glanced at Yun Fei, this was the first time she had actually seen his face. Since, before he was covered in so much blood that he was virtually unrecognisable.

She was a little surprised by his beautiful amethyst purple eyes. This was the first time she had seen naturally purple eyes. She felt that these eyes carried a weird charm.

It wasn't as if she hadn't seen good looking people before. In the cultivation world, most of the people were able to rid themselves of the blemishes on their skin and become better looking.

Yun Fei might be very handsome according to the standard of a mortal but she had seen a lot of people who were better than Yun Fei in that regard.

The only factor that affected her were his eyes. She felt that this pair of eyes was the most beautiful she had ever seen. Even more beautiful than her own. She didn't know why, but that was how she felt about them.

"Let's Go."

Yun Fei walked behind Shui Ling and entered the boat. The inside looked much better than the simple and plain design that the outside would indicate.

Shui Ling motioned for Yun Fei to sit on a couch and then retreated to another room towards the front of the boat.

He went and sat next to a window. Suddenly, Yun Fei felt the pit of his stomach drop. They rose farther and farther from the ground.

The boat stopped moving upwards when the trees were indistinguishable from the grass. Yun Fei's back sank into his seat as it accelerated. He was only able to sit properly after the boat reached a uniform speed.

He was completely fascinated by this new experience. This artefact had completely exceeded his wildest imaginations. It was too fast. He couldn't even distinguish anything on the ground anymore. The forests had just melded into a greenish colour.

It was too convenient for travelling. The distance he would take months to travel might not even take this boat an hour.

'It will be good if I can have a treasure like this someday.'

The environment inside the boat was very suitable for cultivation. It was even better than the best place inside the snake. Yun Fei decided to capitalise on the opportunity and move towards the 5th stage of Qi condensation.

He sat with his eyes closed and a perpetual frown on his face from all the pain he had to endure.

He obviously could not use the forest king's crown openly. If the senior took it from him, he wouldn't even be able to object as she had saved his life.

Bearing the pain, Yun Fei continued.

A day had already passed since they started their journey. Fortunately, nothing unusual happened and Yun Fei could benefit from the rich environment without any problems.

Shui Ling didn't show up even once.

While she didn't show up, it wasn't as if she couldn't observe Yun Fei. Oblivious to him, she could perceive everything inside the boat very clearly. After all, it was her own artifact and even if it was not, he would never be able to catch her divine sense on him.

Currently, Shui Ling was puzzled.

She had thought that this kid was talented. After all, he was able to thrive in such a perilous situation. Although a lot of it was dependent on his fortune, he had still survived for more than a week inside a predator.

That too in complete darkness, without divine sense. He didn't lose his spirit even in that situation and actually started digging outwards. This type of tenacity was rarely seen in people.

All of these hints were pointing towards him having exceptional talent, good fortune and a hard-working spirit. But currently, she discovered that she had a misunderstanding.

She had been observing him trying to break through to the 5th level of Qi Condensation for the past day but he still remained without success. He wasn't even able to cover up the frown on his face, making it look like he was under tremendous pain.

Normally, it would take a person with average talent only a few hours to break through a level of Qi Condensation, provided that they had the sufficient accumulation.

The reason Yun Fei wasn't able to go from the 4th to the 5th level so fast was because he was creating the meridians himself.

A normal person already had the meridians, they just accumulated Qi and opened them. This process of accumulation and getting used to your level took a lot of time after which they'd be able to go straight from one level to the next.

Since Yun Fei was creating the meridians, it looked to Shui Ling as if was failing to break through the bottleneck to the next level, which made her think that Yun Fei had terrible talent.

Even with her cultivation, she wasn't able to find out that Yun Fei's body was devoid of meridians. Something like that could only be discovered after a thorough check-up by a specialist. She just felt the fluctuations in his Qi and knew he was trying to break through.

'He might not even break through to Foundation Establishment.'

That was her genuine opinion. Some people just weren't dealt a fair hand. Even then, she wasn't going to treat him any different though.

She had already saved him and promised to leave him at the city and whether he was talented or not didn't matter much to her.

It was just a pity that someone with such tenacity and will wasn't going to progress further because of his lack of talent.

There was one more thatched hut in the hamlet by the Knull river. Yun Zhilan and Yun Rong had decided to make this place their new home.

Nobody knew them here. Here, Yun Rong could forget his previous life in the city and spend the rest of his life in peace.

Although the hamlet was very remote and inconvenient in various areas when compared to the bustling city. The crowded city would never be able to compare with the beauty of this place.

The couple was resourceful and very understanding of their social position. Their finances were constantly in dire straits and both of them had to take on work to survive.

Even though the life was hard here. The small thatched hut that Yun Rong had built echoed with laughter. Yun Zhilan was content with this simple lifestyle. To her, home was where he was, it didn't matter if they were rich or poor.

Yun Rong worked hard as a seasonal worker and odd jobs man. He put the skills he had built up surviving in city to good use. A conman had to be pleasant to be around, no? Why else would people let their guard down?

This time, he wasn't using his slick tongue to scam people though. He just conversed with the well-to-do, regaling them with tales of the sinful but fascinating city.

Networking.

To the people who had never been to a big city before, Yun Rong and his views seemed novel. He was often described as someone who truly and earnestly, listened. His efforts were repaid as people preferred him over the others.

Not because he was a better worker, that was something he couldn't compete in because he only had the one arm.

Yun Rong was preferred over the others because he was amiable to associate with. It was also because he was skilled in coordinating the other workers.

Yun Zhilan worked as a maid and a seamstress. Although not blindingly beautiful. She did have a certain charm and the air of a proper woman, comfortable in her skin. She portrayed a trustworthy demeanour and was a popular help around the hamlet.

The women too were interested in matters of the city and often pestered her to tell them more about it.

Overcoming the harsh conditions of when they had just moved out of the city, the couple had built their livelihood from no roots at all.

One day, Yun Rong's greatest wish finally came true. He had become a father.

Now, they were a family of three. Both of them loved their child fiercely. They named him Yun Zian.

Yun Zian grew up healthy and happy. Their savings had grown too, the family finally had enough money to buy a plot of land besides their plain hut.

Although, he had only a single arm, Yun Rong took the responsibility and fixed up the hut. He also tilled the land and sowed crops with some help from Yun Zhilan.

This was also another one of the reason why Yun Rong was admired by the people around him. Although he had only one arm, he never tried to use it as an excuse.

He wasn't a con anymore. Yun Rong had transitioned into an upright and hardworking man who placed his family above all else.

The sowing of crops as well as the reinforcement of their home were an apt preparation for a family, they soon proved to be fruitful. The first harvest of Yun Rong was a big success. And so was the birth of his second son, Yun Moxie.