The Gate Of Good Fortune c1-905

by Demon Translations

  Ning Cheng could only put away the gold coins, as he followed the Tao father and son to visit the Guild of the merchant caravans.

  The beast carriage did not take long, before it stopped before a tall tower like gate. Tao Xiumao then took out a wooden plaque, as he respectfully gave it to the guard beside the gate. The guard looked at the wooden plaque, before returning the it to Tai Xiumao, and then waved his hands at Tai Xiumao to signal him to go in.

  Tai Xiumao then daringly took his beast carriage through the tall gates, as Ning Cheng also entered through the tall gates following the beast carriage.

  After entering through the gate, Tao Xiumao directly pointed to the front, towards a row of tall magnificent buildings in front of Ning Cheng and said, “Little Brother Ning, that is the place where the largest merchant caravans in the Tai Wan Sea Town are stationed. If you are looking for a merchant caravan to join, you can try your luck there. At the moment I have to take my boy to deliver the Clear Light Stones.”

  Ning Cheng had already seen the big sign in the front, that had a few words ‘Tai Wan Business Chamber’ written on it. Seeing that, he hastily thanked the Tao father and son again, as he left them and entered the Tai Wan Business Chamber.

  ……

  The Tai Wan Business Chamber was not just a single entity, but rather it was the collection of all the Business Chambers in the Tai Wan Sea Town. After entering here, Ning Cheng even had a certain feeling that he had entered one of the Business Chambers back on Earth.

  There were all kinds of names of the merchant caravans displayed, moreover there were stations of all the merchant caravans here, as such the signs simply were innumerable. In front of some of the stalls of the merchant caravans, there were a few titbits of information displayed, showing some of their profile and also announcements of recruitment of staff personal.

  Ning Cheng looked around, but found that there was no merchant caravan that was going to the Hua Continent, almost all of them were going to a place called Pu Bu Island.

  Ning Cheng called out to a man who was also watching the announcements, as he cupped his fists and politely asked, “Friend, I want to join a large merchant caravan, but how come none of the merchant caravans here are not even going to the Hua Continent?”

  “You want to go to the Hua Continent?” The man stared at Ning Cheng in shock.

  Ning Cheng quickly spoke, “No, I just want to join a large merchant caravan, but I do not know about any of such merchant caravans. I heard that in the Yi Xing Ocean, there were some large merchant caravans that can even go across continents. So I thought that a merchant caravan that is able to cross continents would certainly be a large one.”

  When the man listened to the explanation provided by Ning Cheng, he laughed and said, “Most of the merchant caravans here in the Tai Wan Sea Town will only go to the Pu Bu Island, only from the Pu Bu Island and the Xi Hai City will you be able to find a merchant caravan that would go to the Hua Continent. You should have just arrived at Tai Wan Sea Town, right?”

  “Right right, I’m a newcomer here, but I am somewhat confident in my strength, originally I wanted to go to the Xi Hai City to join the cultivator army, but I did not think that the Xi Hai City would be so far, as such I came to Tai Wan Sea Town instead.” Ning Cheng hastily replied.

  “You are a cultivator?” When this man heard that Ning Cheng was a cultivator, his expression immediately turned respectful.

  Ning Cheng once more spoke, “I cannot be regarded as a cultivator as yet, as my cultivation level is very low, and is only in the Qi Gathering Realm.”

  Hearing that Ning Cheng say that he was a Qi Gathering Cultivator, and also speaking so kindly to him, he estimated that he was only at Qi Gathering 1st or 2nd Level. This man secretly sighed to himself, as he spoke, “Even if you were an Early Stage Qi Gathering Cultivator, you can still join the cultivator army. In fact, if you are looking for recruitment into the cultivator army, then in addition to the Xi Hai Town, the Pu Bu Island also recruits people. As such, many of the Qi Gathering Cultivators join a merchant caravan to go to the Pu Bu Island, and then join the cultivator army there.”

  “That is the best news for me, I have to try my luck at Pu Bu Island, if it doesn’t work out, then I would simply go and join a merchant caravan.” Ning Cheng spoke with a happy expression.

  But in his heart he was very disappointed, if there was a direct merchant caravan to the Hua Continent, it would have been the best for him, but alas.

  Thanking this man, Ning Cheng casually selected a merchant caravan called the Flying Sea Merchant Caravan and went inside. He had chosen this Flying Sea Merchant Caravan because he could see on the notice outside that this merchant caravan was going to leave tomorrow, from the Tai Wan Sea Town to the Pu Bu Island.

  Since he could not find a merchant caravan to go directly to the Hua Continent, so he could go out and casually look for anyone, it would not have made any difference.

  The station of the Flying Sea Merchant Caravan was not very big, and there was only a woman sitting inside. This woman looked like she was in her twenties, but she had a body that was sturdy and was giving off a faint seafood like smell, it gave the people who came close to her a feeling that she travelled the sea all year long.

  Although she was sitting on a wooden chair, she appeared to be in a daze. When Ning Cheng came in, it looked like she was not aware of it. Either it was that she was not aware of it, or simply did not care about it, but it looked like she was thinking about her own affairs.

  Although this woman was not very beautiful, she was also not an ugly woman either. But what made Ning Cheng surprised was that she turned out to have the cultivation of True Condensation 9th Level.

  Ning Cheng had originally thought that since it was a merchant caravan, as such it would mostly have common people in it. Yet, just as he entered the first merchant caravan station, he saw a cultivator with the cultivation of True Condensation 9th Level.

  “Excuse me……” Ning Cheng had just spoke two words, when this True Condensation 9th Level woman turned her head towards him and spoke in a cold voice, “What do you want?”

  “I heard that the Flying Sea Merchant Caravan is short of hands, I’m here to apply for……”

  Ning Cheng had still not finished what he was going to say, when he was once again interrupted. But this time Ning Cheng was not interrupted by the True Condensation 9th Level woman, but rather a middle aged man. This middle aged man hurriedly came in running, as he bowed his head towards the woman and spoke, “Goddess Zhuang, the ship has arrived.”

  Hearing the words ‘the ship has arrived’, the woman immediately stood up and said, “Now that the ship has already arrived, then we will start tonight.”

  “Yes, Yes….” Although this middle aged man was saying the words ‘Yes’ multiple times, but his face was already somewhat awkward.

  The woman surnamed Zhuang spoke in a light voice, “I know that you want to recruit a few people, but at this current time it is already too late. There is this person who came to apply for a position in the crew, let’s bring him in immediately. If there are any losses caused by the insufficiency of manpower, I, Zhuang Ya, will bear it myself.”

  “Does not dare, does not dare……” The middle aged man quickly bowed, as he let this woman named Zhuang Ya out.

  Once this woman walked away, the middle aged man wiped the sweat of his brow, as he began to observe Ning Cheng, and asked after a short while later, “Do you want to join the Flying Sea Merchant Caravan to go out into the sea? What is your name?”

  “I am called Ning Xiaocheng, I heard that the Flying Sea was recruiting crew members, so I hurried over here.” Ning Cheng immediately answered.

  The middle aged man nodded and asked, “How is your strength?”

  Ning Cheng quickly made a flexing motion with his arms, “I definitely am a muscle man, in my village, many girls like me for my great strength and endurance.”

  The middle aged man thought that Ning Cheng was
joking but still smiled and said, “All right, then it is you. My name is Shen You, but you can call me Deacon Shen. You are a temporary crew of the Flying Sea Merchant Caravan, and the reward is a thousand gold coins, 10% of the rewards will be deducted as remuneration of the trip, 30% will be paid to you on reaching Pu Bu Island, and the remaining will be paid after we return back to the Tai Wan Sea Town.”

  “It suits me.” Ning Cheng replied without hesitation, he had not imagined that he would easily find a merchant caravan to the Pu Bu Island. Because he would not be returning, he knew that he would not receive all of the thousand gold reward, but this fact Ning Cheng completely ignored it.

  Chapter 0164 – Ghosts Inside

  Translated By – DemonKiller

  Checked By – MissLucifer

  Edited By – CurlyAdi

  Proofread by – SmartyMouth and DemonKiller

  Please do not host our works anywhere else without our permission.

  Ning Cheng was not a meddlesome person, but he knew that this Zhuang Ya was not as simple as she looked. But at the moment he did not have the right to ask about her. His goal at the moment was to arrive at the Pu Bu Island. As to the others, they had nothing to do with him.

  He followed Shen You and sat together with him in a beast carriage as they went towards the wharf near the Yi Xing Ocean. Although Ning Cheng had been in the waters of the Mingot sea, but he had never gone to a big dock before.

  Now that he saw the Yi Xing Ocean’s piers at the Tai Wan Sea Town, he suddenly understood the meaning of the words, ‘running to the wharf’. The pier was too big, with all kinds of ships and boats densely packed and docked at the edges of the pier, along with many people hustling to and fro from them.

  There were also some cultivators wearing military uniform, patrolling near the edges of the pier. Compared to the scattered forces in the Mingot City, Ning Cheng thought that the Tai Wan Sea Town was much more stable.

  Xing You brought Ning Cheng right next to a large ship as he spoke, “This is our Flying Sea Ship, you see that bunch of people moving stuff on the ship, right? Your job is to go and help them, after that pile of stuff are put away, we will set sail.”

  [

  TL Note

  – The author arbitrarily decided to change the name ‘Shen You’ to ‘Xing You’, please don’t get confused. I kept it as it was in the raws.]

  “Then where would I live?” Ning Cheng hurriedly asked.

  Xing You pointed towards the group of people moving the goods into the ship and said, “You’ll be staying together with them. You’ll also move things together with them, and also be sleeping together with them. There is a large cabin aboard the ship for you all.”

  Ning Cheng quickly said, “Deacon Xing, I am the kind of person who like cleanliness, as such I am not greatly interested in living together with a lot of people in the same room, even if it is big. Can you help me get a separate room? Even if it is a small one it doesn’t matter.”

  Just as Ning Cheng finished speaking his words, he saw Xing You frown, immediately he understood that his request might not be fulfilled easily, and quickly spoke up, “Deacon Xing, I do not want the 10% advance of the gold coins from my pay, also after reaching the Pu Bu Island you can take out half my pay. I would really be in your debt if you could just help me get a referral to work on board of a ship……”

  Ning Cheng was just a goods-handling crew member, but actually wanted a separate room for himself. As such Xing You was originally uncomfortable with such a request. But when he heard Ning Cheng’s words, he finally gave a slight nod, thinking that at least Ning Cheng can still maintain such a behaviour in front of him.

  Because of this his original impression of Ning Cheng was pretty good, since Ning Cheng had spoken like that, he also directly spoke up, “There is a cabin at the back end of the stern, but it is very windy, although the wind can be blocked when we are still, but when the ship is moving about in the sea, you will not be able to block the wind nor the sound. If you do not mind it being too loud there, and also can adapt to the wind then you can stay in that cabin.”

  Ning Cheng quickly replied, “Thank you Deacon Xing. I am willing to take it.”

  Deacon Xing patted Ning Cheng’s shoulder and said, “When one is going out into the sea, earning gold coins will not be easy, although you asked me to deduct your introductory fees, I won’t keep it from you. Moreover, if you are able to save enough gold, then you can safely and securely settle down in one of Jia Continent’s cities.”

  Seeing Deacon Xing leave, Ning Cheng sighed in his heart. Even in such a dangerous and sinister place, there were still good people around.

  Ning Cheng immediately began helping the numerous crew members to load up the goods, although he was carrying multiple goods in each hand, they were not heavy for him at all. Glancing at them with his Spiritual Consciousness, he found that some of them were food rations while the others were crafting materials. Although the grade of these crafting materials were not high, he could tell that these crafting materials were for crafting Low Level Artefacts.

  No one felt that Ning Cheng joining the crew was strange, as there would always be people who would join and there would always be people who would leave.

  As the piles of goods were finished being moved inside, Ning Cheng once again saw that Zhuang Ya, only this time she was not alone, but was together in a group of five people.

  Ning Cheng swept a glance towards them, and found that all five people were at True Condensation 9th Level. After the five people came on board, they immediately entered the VIP cabins inside.

  Just as the five people came on board, Xing You stood on the bow and shouted out, “Everybody quickly get on board, the Flying Sea will immediately set sail.”

  At this time the piles of goods stacked on the docks were finished being loaded onto the ship, as such Ning Cheng followed the rest of the people without wasting any time and boarded the ship.

  Ning Cheng had some doubts in his heart, as to what his work actually was after being drafted into the crew. It shouldn’t only be moving these things inside, then wait to arrive at Pu Bu Island, and move the things out of the ship, right?

  Since it was Xing You’s idea, he especially brought Ning Cheng to the windy aft cabin, as he took out a piece of paper and handed it to Ning Cheng while saying, “You will live here from now on. The people on the Flying Sea have a five-day rowing cycle. You just have to remember your rotation days. Every five days, you will have to go rowing for a full day, all the instructions are written very clearly in here.”

  “Do you still row a ship?” Although Ning Cheng knew that 1000 gold coins was not something easy to make for a normal person, but he had not thought that he would have to row a boat.

  Xing You looked at Ning Cheng in surprise and said, “Of course you have to row a ship, otherwise did you think that 1000 gold coins was something easy to make? But you do not have to worry about it too much, there has been a downwind for months which helps in our sailing, as such the sails can fully expand, so rowing would not need much effort.”

  “When have I ever rowed a boat before?” Ning Cheng spoke out with a bitter face.

  Xing You laughed and said, “Although this is not the kind of boat you want, but there aren’t a lot of people here who sail a propeller driven ship. At the moment the Flying Sea Merchant Caravan does not have the strength or power to lay down an Array Formation that uses Spirit Stones to drive the propeller, as such movement and speed can only be achieved for us through human power.”

  When Ning Cheng heard it, he at last came to understand his point, as he spoke, “I understand.”

  Xing You nodded, “You can have your food in the pantry. You’ll be the first to live in this windy cabin for a long time, if you are really not able to adapt to it, then you can come find me, or you can directly move into the large common cabin inside.”

  “Thank you Deacon Xing, I get it.” Ning Cheng quickly thanked him again.

  After Xing You
left, Ning Cheng was at last free to check out the windy cabin. On this ship there were quite a few of such windy cabins, this type of cabins had two purposes, one was for a more compact structure of the ship and the other was to reduce wind resistance.

  The cabin that Xing You gave to Ning Cheng was equal to opening a small back door for him. The air in the cabin was generally not blocked, but since now Ning Cheng was going to live in here, it had to be blocked. Although he could adjust to the wind, but one would not be able to sleep directly in such a winds and sounds, right?

  Moreover, this windy room was in the shape of an oblique triangle, and only had an area of about 5 square meters, but for Ning Cheng, it was already sufficient.

  At the moment the wind in the cabin was blocked, evidently he was not the first person to live here. The ship had only just started, but the rushing sounds of the wind from outside the ship was already very loud, as such one could imagine that when the ship finally sped through the deep seas, wouldn’t the sounds of the winds inside the cabin became even louder?

  But this point was something that did not affect Ning Cheng’s state of not mind, as he started to arrange an Array Formation. At first he arranged a Soundproof Array Formation, so after he finished arranging the Soundproof Array Formation, the sounds of the winds from outside the ship completely disappeared.

  After that Ning Cheng started to lay down an Isolation Array Formation, he remembered that this ship had five True Condensation Cultivators, if he wanted to cultivate here, then it was necessary for him to lay down an Isolation Array Formation. As for a Spiritual Gathering Array, he did not arrange it, once he arranged the Spiritual Gathering Array, the signs of it would be very revealing. In addition to the Isolation Array Formation outside, Ning Cheng also arranged an Early Warning Array Formation outside of the windy cabin.

  Although Ning Cheng was certain that no one would find him out here, he still felt that he had to be careful.