Kiana and the Captain's Bizarre Adventure

"Three foreign visitors, please wait a moment. Do you yearn for immortality?"

The speaker was a suspicious-looking person in green from a fairy boat.

The three of them remained silent, simply watching the celestial being from the ship.

The immortal from the celestial ship seemed a little embarrassed when the three of them didn't speak, but he quickly recovered.

"Oh, I see! The three of you are probably suspicious of me because you've been struggling to achieve immortality for so long, right?"

Clearly, this person from the Immortal Ship was convinced of his own conjecture.

"After all, although the Immortal Ship Alliance is a planet inhabited by immortal beings, it is extremely averse to immortality. They strictly prohibit anyone from researching how to achieve immortality, and treat even foreign guests seeking survival the same way."

Unfortunately, none of the three people before him could be called short-lived. Kevin, the fusion warrior, had already lived for thousands or even tens of thousands of years, and Otto had spent five hundred years by transferring his consciousness into a Soul Steel body. Even Kiana, as an existence completely fused with the Cocoon of the End, had an immeasurable lifespan.

However, since this suspicious-looking Immortal Boat person is so enthusiastically promoting their ability to help people achieve immortality, it is likely that they are backed by an organization similar to a cult. If they can help the Immortal Boat Alliance eliminate this organization, it would be an excellent choice for building relations.

So the three of them readily agreed to what the celestial boatman said. The celestial boatman was obviously relieved and, after revealing his name as Green Hibiscus, led the three of them to a secluded courtyard.

A large number of people gathered in the courtyard, among whom Kiana and her group discovered the presence of a Cloud Cavalry.

Could it be that this organization has infiltrated the Cloud Cavalry?

Just as Kiana was thinking this, Otto next to her already showed a knowing expression.

"Let me reintroduce myself. I am the cultivator of the Medicine King's secret lineage. It was inconvenient to reveal my identity in Chang Le Tian before, but now I can tell you with confidence."

Green Hibiscus continued, "The Secret Teachings of the Medicine King is an organization that regards the Compassionate Medicine King as the orthodox religion and the true teachings. The 'Planters' is what we followers call ourselves. To obtain the secret to immortality, one must become a Planter, but to become a Planter, one must undergo some minor trials."

"Please forgive me... As the Medicine King's Secret Teachings grow stronger, they have also attracted the attention of those demon bow believers. If we do not act with such caution, the consequences will be unimaginable."

Otto gestured for Kiana to gather more intelligence. Although Kiana wasn't really keen on listening to Otto, he was right; the current situation did indeed require more intelligence gathering. Since neither of them was yet familiar enough with this world, only Kiana was somewhat suited to step forward and gather information.

Kiana then asked, "Who is this Cloud Rider...?"

"Um... don't worry about this Cloud Rider. He's undergoing a test, just like you."

"Don't the people of the Immortal Ship hate abundance?"

"Haha, only those who have been bewitched by the demon bow will hate the Compassionate Medicine King. But unfortunately, there are many such people... far too many."

What can I get from the Medicine King?

"Every race yearns for the grace and healing of the Compassionate Medicine King, whether or not they have heard of His abundant name. The fox-people yearn for healing from their mere three hundred years of lifespan. The Vidyadharas yearn for healing from the suffering of reincarnation and childlessness... and the Immortal Boatmen, they yearn for healing from the torment of their demonic bodies—though we consider it not torment, but rather a kind of evolutionary blessing. Returning to your question, the Medicine King can heal your short-lived race's aging, illness, and death, just as He did for the Immortal Boatmen."

"One last question: what kind of test will I be given?"

"'May all your requests be fulfilled.' The Compassionate Medicine King is magnanimous and will never easily refuse anyone's prayers. Therefore, the entry test for our Medicine King's Secret Teachings will not be too difficult. As long as you copy this book, 'The Thousand-Handed Compassionate Medicine King's Salvation Manual,' five hundred times and let your brothers and sisters believe in your sincerity, you can become a cultivator. This is the fundamental scripture of our Medicine King's Secret Teachings. You must copy it carefully with a devout heart... It would be best if you could even memorize it."

Upon hearing that the test was to copy so-called scriptures, Kiana revealed an expression similar to that of Akagi, though Green Lotus was unaware of this.

"Of course, this is only the first step. After becoming a cultivator, you will have to go through many other trials."

"Isn't this too much?"

Honestly, let alone copying it ten times, Kiana would be extremely reluctant to even copy it once, let alone five hundred times.

"Is that a lot? The old rule was 50,000 times, and I copied it 50,000 times back then. Now, the leader cares about the suffering of the people, so he specially changed it to 500 times."

After speaking, Green Hibiscus led the others out of the courtyard, leaving only the Cloud Rider and Kiana behind. On the table in the courtyard, scriptures, paper, pens, and ink for copying were specially prepared.

Kiana looked at the things on the table with a troubled expression. She was extremely unwilling, but in the end, she picked up the pen on the table and began to copy them.

Kevin, on the other hand, said nothing, picked up a pen, and began copying. After all, compared to the trials he had participated in before, such mechanical copying was already quite simple. Although he was also extremely tired of this kind of thing.

Alto remained calmly sitting there doing nothing, while Yunqi, after finishing copying his own copy of the scriptures, tactfully picked up Alto's copy and began copying it.

Upon seeing this, Kiana immediately scolded in a low voice, "Hey! How could you let someone else copy for you?"

Alto calmly explained, "This young man from the Cloud Cavalry came here voluntarily to infiltrate. As a distinguished guest of General Jingyuan, why can't I ask him to help me copy this so-called 'Thousand-Handed Compassionate Medicine King's Salvation Manual'?"

The Cloud Cavalryman explained as he copied, "This gentleman is right. I'm a Cloud Cavalryman from the Changle Tian Garrison. I noticed that Green Hibiscus was acting suspiciously and spreading some heretical ideas, so I followed her here to infiltrate. I didn't expect to be suspected so quickly… It took a lot of effort to barely convince them that I genuinely wanted to join the Medicine King's Secret Sect…"

Kiana looked at the Cloud Cavalryman with the same gaze she would give Aqua, and remarked, "Dressed like that, you're bound to arouse suspicion."

"Hey, when I'm looking for ways for evil organizations like this to expand offline, they mostly hope that their members can infiltrate and influence law enforcement. That's why I came here wearing armor. That's called fully understanding user needs."

"You really are a genius..."

Unbeknownst to them, Kiana's voice had grown much louder, and the Cloud Cavalryman quickly told Kiana to lower her volume.

"Shh, keep your voice down... These guys aren't pushovers. If they find out we're undercover agents, none of us will escape. Come on, let me copy the scriptures for you. Before joining the Cloud Cavalry, I worked in clerical positions at the Shence Prefecture for over 150 years. Copying is a piece of cake for me. But let's make it clear, after I finish copying the scriptures, you have to cover for me. I need to go to the Shence Prefecture to report back..."

“I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed,” Kevin said, putting down his pen. “They never trusted you from the beginning. They only put you through the test to keep you in check. Now that the three of us have joined them, they’ll probably try to kill you to silence you.”

Yunqijun paused in his copying, then asked, "What should I do then?"

"Don't worry, since you helped us complete the test of copying the scriptures, we will naturally help you in return," Otto said. "Afterwards, they will most likely use the test as an excuse to make the four of us fight each other. As for how many of us will survive, we don't know. At that time, you just pretend to fight one of us, then lose and play dead. After you complete the test, we will find a way to send you out."

After thinking it over, the Yunqi Army had no other choice but to agree.

"Let's make this clear first, you absolutely have to get me out of here."

With Kiana and the others' repeated assurances, the Cloud Cavalry was reassured, and soon they finished copying the three people's scriptures.

Green Hibiscus was quite satisfied after reading the four scriptures, and then he took the opportunity to mention the next test.