Once I enter the pass, great Confucian scholars will surely debate the classics for me.

Guanjiang River, its waters turbulent and churning, carrying yellow sand as it converges towards the Myriad Realms Sea. Fishing boats of varying sizes are moored at the riverbank dock. Zhou Qingfeng and Jin Wei board the largest fishing boat. Captain Qu takes the helm, and several crew members skillfully raise the anchor, loosen the ropes, hoist the sails, and the fishing boat slowly sets sail, heading towards the nearest city, Qiantang.

Under Captain Qu's arrangement, Zhou Qingfeng and Jin Wei were given a cabin to rest in. The cabin was in very poor condition, with a strong fishy smell. It was dirty, messy, and so narrow that it was suffocating. They couldn't even turn over properly while lying on the bed. In addition, the ship was rocking from side to side, which made them feel a little uncomfortable.

Fortunately, Zhou Qingfeng was no longer affected after a few breaths. He went up to the deck, looked back at the gradually disappearing riverbank, his eyes cold as two sharp blades piercing through illusions and fantasies; the surging river could wash away any residual smells, and even if the pursuers were really capable of catching up, they would lose their tracks again on the riverbank.

"Have you heard? The Myriad Realms Void Sea holds the Thief King's endless treasure."

"I've heard about it, so I'm thinking of venturing into the Myriad Realms Void Sea. Maybe I can find the Thief King's endless treasure."

"No way, you're really going?"

"Yes, I want to go out and try my luck while I'm young. There are already people recruiting seamen at the Qiantang City Wharf. I'll give it a try on my way to Qiantang City."

"The Myriad Realms and the Void Sea... that's too far away. Have you ever thought about dying on the way? What will happen to your family if you die?"

"Hehe, you don't understand. Everyone has their own ambitions. This is my only chance to change my life."

Zhou Qingfeng stood on the deck with his hands behind his back, gazing at the river. He listened to the conversation of the crew members next to him, then glanced back at the young fisherman who wanted to change his life. He didn't want to say much; people's fates are predetermined. He should put aside his desire to help others and respect their destinies. However, thinking of the Zhou family's ancestral teachings, Zhou Qingfeng changed his mind.

Be compassionate in your character, but act decisively and ruthlessly.

If a single word from me could save a boy's life, why not?

Good and evil both stem from a single thought. It's always good to form a good relationship with others.

As long as nothing stands in the way of Zhou Qingfeng's ascent to the summit, Zhou Qingfeng is willing to be a good person, a very good person.

So he warned, "Young man, the Thief King's endless treasure is fake. Even if you want to take a gamble, you must choose the right path. Some choices you can make countless times, but some choices you can only make once in your life. If you choose wrong, you will die."

Upon hearing this, the young fisherman was stunned for a moment: "Fake? But this news came from the people of Sword Tower. Before he died, the Thief King Fufa said that the endless treasure was hidden in the Myriad Realms Void Sea. The people of Sword Tower heard it. It's absolutely true. How could it be fake?"

"Besides... even if it's fake news, I'm going to go and see for myself, to give it a try. Even if I don't find the endless treasure, I'm going to make something of myself!"

Zhou Qingfeng turned around, calmly looking at the fisherman boy who was unwilling to accept his ordinariness and was trying to defy fate, and said lightly, "You will die."

The young fisherman's eyes were firm, and his dark face was full of determination: "I am not afraid. What is there to fear about death? Rather than living a muddled and meaningless life, I would rather die on the road to pursuing my dreams."

"Since you're not afraid of death, I might as well kill you now." Zhou Qingfeng summoned the Blood of the Devourer from his palm, which transformed into a blood-red longsword, and slowly slashed towards the fisherman's head.

The young fisherman was so shocked that he fell to the ground, swallowed hard, and although his face showed some fear, his eyes remained very firm: "Even if you kill me, I am not afraid."

Zhou Qingfeng stared coldly at the fisherman's crotch, not so frightened that he wet himself. Instead, he calmly summoned back the Blood of the Devourer, then turned and looked at the river ahead with his hands behind his back, saying calmly, "You have some courage, you're a promising talent. What's your name?"

The young fisherman stared blankly for a moment, then, gazing at the silhouette of Zhou Qingfeng's back, he replied, "Li Hongji."

Zhou Qingfeng: "Li Hongji, a good name."

Seeing that Zhou Qingfeng seemed to have no ill intentions, the young fisherman Li Hongji staggered to his feet, patted his buttocks, and said, "The village chief gave me this name. I don't know what's so good about it, but if you say it's good, then it must be good. By the way, you're so awesome, brother. What kind of magic was that just now? Whoosh, whoosh, it almost scared me to death."

Zhou Qingfeng's lips curled slightly. After a moment's thought, he took out some outdated equipment from his Holy Ring and tossed it to the fisherman boy: "Turbid-grade Assault Crossbow, Arm Shield, and Ghost-Slaying Blade. These things are suitable for your level. Take them. You can't venture into the Myriad Realms Void Sea empty-handed. Don't refuse, and don't misunderstand. This is my personal investment in you. When you make a name for yourself in the Myriad Realms Void Sea, I will collect my share of the profits."

Li Hongji was somewhat taken aback, but also pleasantly surprised. Holding the magic weapon in his arms, he bowed deeply and said, "Thank you, elder brother. You are the first person to support me since I decided to go to sea. As long as I, Li Hongji, rise above others and make a name for myself, I will share half of my business with you."

Zhou Qingfeng chuckled repeatedly but did not respond further.

Seeing this, Li Hongji silently retreated.

"Since Young Master wanted to stop that boy from going to his death, why did you suddenly change your mind?" Jin Wei walked over and asked closer.

Zhou Qingfeng said calmly, "I can't stop him. Young people don't listen to advice. Just like you and me at his age, who would listen to others' advice? They won't know the pain until they hit a wall. This kid has some courage, lofty ambitions, and strong execution. He can be a good initial investment to build a good relationship. If he succeeds, he may bring me a rich return. If he fails, it's nothing. It's just a small step in the game. For me, the loss is negligible."

Upon hearing this, Jin Wei nodded slightly: "Young Master is far-sighted and has a grand strategy for the world. Perhaps this seemingly insignificant move will prove useful someday."

Zhou Qingfeng gave a soft "hmm" and quietly gazed at the distant river surface: "It seems to be foggy."

Time flies like an arrow, and soon it was evening. The river was completely shrouded in fog, making it impossible to continue sailing. The fishing boat was forced to lower its sails and anchor. Soon after, the boat seemed to be hit by something huge, and the entire fishing boat rocked back and forth on the river several times.

Zhou Qingfeng noticed something was wrong and rushed to the deck with Jin Wei. He said with a serious expression, "Captain Qu, don't tell me this is normal."

Captain Qu took a puff of tobacco from his pipe and squinted. "Cough cough cough, don't worry. I've been sailing on the river for decades, and I've encountered this situation once or twice. What hit our boat just now was probably the Dragon King of Guanjiang. He's the tyrant of Guanjiang, and the entire Guanjiang is his hunting ground. We're sailing over his head, so of course we have to come and take a look."

"But don't worry, cough cough cough, the Guanjiang Dragon King only likes to hunt moving things. We just need to stay still and wait for it to leave. Cough cough cough, it's just that you've met me. If you had rashly crossed the Guanjiang River, you would have been in grave danger. Cough cough, there are countless monsters in the river. Every year, countless cultivators die violent deaths."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qingfeng scanned the dense demonic mist around him and frowned deeply: "Is the demonic mist also released by the Dragon King of Guanjiang?"

Captain Qu coughed incessantly, then gasped for breath: "No, the demonic fog is strange. Don't worry, many strange things happen on the Guanjiang River every year. Since I promised to take you to the nearby Qiantang City, I will definitely do so safely. Go back and rest. The fog should dissipate by tomorrow morning, and then we can set sail again. Cough cough cough..."

Zhou Qingfeng turned his head to look at him: "Are you alright?"

Captain Qu opened his palm, coughing up blood. He waved his hand and said, "It's nothing, just a lingering injury from years ago. I'll be fine after a rest."

As he spoke, Captain Qu, holding his old pipe, walked toward the captain's cabin. The crew members on deck exchanged glances, shrugged, and went back to their cabins to drink and gamble.

Zhou Qingfeng and Jin Wei returned to their cabin, closed their eyes to rest, and waited quietly through the night without any danger occurring.

Even after daybreak the next day, the eerie mist surrounding the Guanjiang River still hadn't dissipated.

Without hesitation, Zhou Qingfeng pointed at a crew member and coldly ordered, "Go and call Captain Qu. Let him give me a reasonable explanation."

Upon hearing this, the crew members of the Turbid Realm immediately set off to find their captain. A moment later, they returned in terror, crying, "The captain is dead! The captain is dead!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qingfeng and Jin Wei exchanged a glance and hurriedly ran to the captain's cabin. Pushing open the door, they saw Captain Qu lying on the bed, holding a pipe, with blood all over his mouth, nose, face, and neck. Zhou Qingfeng remained calm and waved to Jin Wei, signaling him to come forward and check on him.

Jin Wei nodded, stepped forward to examine the body carefully, and then turned back to say, "There was an old injury to the lungs. The cause of death was an flare-up of the old lung injury at night. The person must have died in their sleep. There were no signs of struggle. They died peacefully and without suffering."

The crew members had already gathered at the entrance to the captain's cabin, and their expressions became somewhat subtle upon hearing Jin Wei's assessment of the cause of death.

A burly man stepped forward and said, “I am Jiang Manzi, Captain Qu’s nephew. Now that Captain Qu has died, I am temporarily in charge of the ship. You can call me Captain Jiang or Jiang Manzi. Don’t worry, although Captain Qu is dead, I will be responsible for getting you to Qiantang City. That will not change.”

"Hmm." Zhou Qingfeng nodded slightly: "Captain Jiang, hello, my name is Tian Xingyi, and this is Jiang Yunjian."

Jiang Manzi nodded to Zhou Qingfeng and Jin Wei one by one, then stepped aside and gestured: "Please wait on the deck for now. If there is anything important, you can talk to me later. I want to collect my uncle's body and sort out his belongings. We will bury him according to the customs of our Quark Village later."

"Please go ahead." Zhou Qingfeng led Jin Wei out of the captain's cabin and onto the deck, casually asking, "Jin Wei, do you remember how many crew members there are?"

Jin Wei recalled: "Excluding the captain, there were seven people in total."

Zhou Qingfeng asked, "How many people did you see just now?"

Jin Wei said, "Six people."

Zhou Qingfeng: "Where did the other person go?"

Jin Wei was stumped by the question and couldn't answer for a long time because he didn't know where the other person had gone: "Young Master, I feel like things are getting a little strange."

“Things started to go wrong yesterday.” Zhou Qingfeng calmly surveyed the thick yellow-white demonic mist around him: “It’s not early, it’s not late. We encountered the Dragon King of Guanjiang while crossing the river by boat, and we also encountered the mysterious demonic mist. What a coincidence. We thought that Captain Qu was greedy and wanted to kill and rob us, so he deliberately set a trap for us.”

"But Captain Qu died silently last night, and another crew member also disappeared mysteriously. There are strange things going on."

Judging from a series of events, it seems that they are under the watchful eye of some unknown force.

Whether it's the sudden appearance of the demonic fog, Captain Qu's death, or even the mysterious disappearance of a crew member, there may be some kind of conspiracy or eerie force behind these events.

Faced with this situation, Zhou Qingfeng and Jin Wei need to be more vigilant, ensuring their own safety while also searching for the source of danger. As for Jiang Manzi taking over command, although he said he would be responsible for safely delivering the passengers to their destination, in this environment full of uncertainty, anyone could become a potential threat.

Jin Wei licked his lips: "This wilderness is truly dangerous and exciting. We just shook off our pursuers, but we've been spotted again. In my opinion, staying on this boat is too dangerous. We might as well abandon the boat, fly across the Guanjiang River, and find the nearest land to land on. Anyway, let's get out of the hidden danger first."

Zhou Qingfeng calmly said, "No rush, let me think about it first."

Crossing the Guanjiang River by air is indeed feasible. Although the Guanjiang River is large, it is not so large as to be boundless.

The Guanjiang River is home to the Guanjiang Dragon King, a powerful overlord whose strength is unknown. There are also various monsters lurking beneath the surface of the river. Flying at low altitudes might result in being ambushed and knocked into the river. Flying at high altitudes would not pose a threat of attacks from the Guanjiang River's water monsters, but the speed and ferocity of the aerial demons would be even more deadly.

Compared to the unknown dangers on a boat, crossing the Guanjiang River by air also seems extremely dangerous.

Should we stay on the boat, or abandon it and fly across the Guanjiang River?

Zhou Qingfeng weighed the options briefly but couldn't make a decision because there was too little information available.

We only know that it's dangerous inside the ship and dangerous outside. How do we choose?

Since it concerns my life, I should be cautious and cast a divination stick to inquire about good or bad fortune.

Zhou Qingfeng silently summoned the scarlet divination bucket from the depths of his consciousness and muttered: Shake the divination sticks!

Two divination sticks flew out of the scarlet divination bucket, wobbling precariously.

[A very bad omen; crossing the Guanjiang River is an ominous sign.]

[Neutral fortune, crossing the river by boat, neutral]

Following the principle of choosing the auspicious option if it is available and the neutral option if it is not, Zhou Qingfeng decided to stay on the boat and cross the river. At least the divination showed that he could handle the hidden dangers on the boat with his current abilities, which made him feel much more at ease.

Zhou Qingfeng slowly said, "Flying across the Guanjiang River is not advisable. Let's continue by boat."

Upon hearing this, Jin Wei lowered his head and agreed. He knew that the young master's wisdom and vision were far superior to his own, and every decision he made had the young master's intentions. As a trusted lieutenant, he didn't need to think too much while by the young master's side; he only needed to obey and support him.

"They're here. What are they going to do?" Zhou Qingfeng frowned and looked towards the captain's cabin with a puzzled expression. He saw Jiang Manzi carrying Captain Qu's body on his back, with several crew members standing in front of and behind him. They held gleaming fishing knives, their expressions solemn, and they walked over in orderly steps.