Zu An shivered. He quickly unleashed a streak of sword ki to scatter the astral winds. He sighed in relief, but his expression quickly changed. He noticed the air beginning to stir again, and the powerful astral winds gathered again and swept toward him. They were so fast that he didn’t even have time to think too much. He immediately attacked again to smash them apart.

However, he soon frowned because he discovered that the astral winds were now much stronger than the ones he had faced before. The air stirred again, and dark clouds began to gather above him, flickering with lightning. The air was filled with a harsh, murderous intent.

“Hurry and come down!” Jing Teng cried, sounding panicked.

Filled with shock, Zu An rushed toward the ground. At first he was worried that the mysterious astral winds would follow him down, but the winds seemed to have lost their target and calmed down again. Meanwhile, the clouds that had begun to appear also gradually scattered, revealing the clear sky again.

Zu An asked gravely, “So there’s a restriction on the skies?”

“That’s right,” Jing Teng said with a nod. “A long, long time ago, when the road between heaven and man was severed, a restriction appeared in the sky. No one could enter the heavens anymore.”

“But I feel that even though the astral winds are strong, they’re not impossible to deal with either…” Zu An muttered, wondering if he could have continued to climb with his strength.

“It’s useless,” Jing Teng said, shaking her head. “Didn’t you feel the astral winds suddenly becoming stronger?”

“That’s right,” Zu An replied. “But there has to be a limit to that increase too, no?”

“There is no limit,” Jing Teng said, to the others’ shock. She slowly continued, “Over the years, there have been countless stunning cultivators who wanted to ascend and see what lies beyond. However, no matter how strong they were, they all failed in the end.

“Eventually, people finally realized that the astral winds scale proportionally to one’s strength. The stronger you are, the more powerful they become. That means no one can ever break through the restriction.”

Qiu Honglei said in surprise, “It seems similar to some large-scale formation.”

“Many from the older generation who are proficient in formations have researched it. There are no formations in the sky,” Jing Teng said, then paused for a moment before continuing, “Rather, they seem to be natural dao principles.”

Silence fell. If the restriction was related to natural law, it really wasn’t something the power of man could go up against.

Zu An said gravely, “If we can’t fly through the air, based on what you said, we’re still far, far away from Zhi River. Just how many years will it take to get there?”

Jing Teng remained silent for a moment. She said, “I planned to buy some spiritual beasts in a nearby town to help us with our travels, but I just noticed that you have your…” She trailed off as her gaze moved to the blazing wheels beneath Zu An’s feet.

“Wind Fire Wheels,” Zu An finished.

Jing Teng nodded and said, “Those spiritual beasts aren’t as fast as your Wind Fire Wheels. We should just use those.”

Zu An asked in confusion, “Didn’t you say we couldn’t fly?”

Jing Teng pointed at the sky with her slender finger and said, “You just can’t pass a certain height. If you fly at a low altitude, it should be fine.”

Zu An was stunned. Thinking back, that was indeed the case. However, while flying at a low altitude, the wind pressure would be a big problem, making it difficult for the Wind Fire Wheels to reach maximum speed. Of course, it would still be much faster than walking on foot.

“Then I’ll take you guys,” Zu An said. However, he was a bit troubled as he looked at the group. Qiu Honglei was one thing, as he could just hold her, but what about Jing Teng and Wei Suo? He couldn't just carry the two of them, right?

Jing Teng saw through his dilemma. She reached out a vine toward him, saying, “You can just pull me behind you.”

“Then what about me?” Wei Suo asked, stunned. “I can’t fly.”

Jing Teng gave him a look. Suddenly, several vines wrapped around him and she said, “As long as you’re fast enough, you won’t fall off.”

Wei Suo was bewildered.

In the end, Zu An carried Qiu Honglei while flying close to the ground. Meanwhile, Jing Teng followed calmly several meters behind him. Further behind was the incredibly pitiful Wei Suo, who was wrapped up like a dumpling.

Qiu Honglei leaned into Zu An’s arms with a red face. She was embarrassed, but that was outweighed by her bliss. Being so close to her lover made her suddenly feel as if this world’s dangers weren’t that big of a deal anymore.

She looked down at the Wind Fire Wheels beneath her. She asked with a gaze full of surprise, “The fire won’t hurt us?”

While embracing her slender and soft waist, Zu An said with a smile, “It won’t. The fire resonates with me and won’t hurt you. You can just give it a try.”

Qiu Honglei tried to reach out with her feet. Sure enough, she only felt warmth wrap around her feet, and the flames didn’t burn her at all. Her eyes immediately lit up and she cried, “You’re right!”

…

When she saw the two lovebirds chatting intimately, Jing Teng looked a bit absent-minded, as if she were recalling past events. However, her expression quickly became cold, as that hadn’t been all that happy of an experience.

The Wind Fire Wheels were considerably slower than usual while carrying four people. Between that and the low-altitude flight, they were far from their top speed. However, after rushing along for an entire day, they still traveled a thousand miles.

They could have traveled even further, but they had to deal with all sorts of dangers along the way. There were some who tried to rob them, and others who lusted after Qiu Honglei and Jing Teng’s beauty. There were demons that were greedy for their flesh. There were even some who were simply curious about Wei Suo, who was being dragged behind the group. However, with Zu An’s profound cultivation and Qiu Honglei’s assistance, there were no major problems.

Qiu Honglei gradually became more and more excited. She really liked the feeling of fighting side by side with Zu An.

Jing Teng was secretly shocked. They had encountered many opponents whose strength was on par with her own, and yet they were no match for a single slash from Zu An’s sword. Just what kind of cultivation did this man have? He was so young, and yet he was actually so powerful!

Most importantly, he’s pretty handsome too…

She quickly snapped out of her daze. She saw that it was already dark and said, “We should find a place to rest while it still hasn’t become completely dark. Let’s rest nearby. It’s really dangerous outside at night.”

Zu An asked curiously, “But we didn’t really encounter anything that dangerous along the way, right?”

“More powerful beings roam around in the evening. They’re many times stronger than the ones we encountered during the day,” Jing Teng replied.

Even though Zu An wanted to finish the journey to the Zhi River as quickly as possible and find the other women, Jing Teng clearly wasn’t saying that for no reason. Furthermore, Wei Suo’s face was about to turn completely black, so Zu An decided to stop for the day, saying, “Resting for the night sounds good.”

…

As soon as they landed, Wei Suo ran to the corner and began to vomit. Qiu Honglei and Jing Teng both moved away in disgust.

Zu An walked over and patted his back. He asked out of concern, “Are you okay?”

“Motion sickness… Ugh…” Wei Suo began, but before he could even finish his sentence, he vomited again.

Zu An was speechless. Being dragged such a long distance really was difficult.

Just then, Qiu Honglei pointed at a nearby courtyard and said, “Hm? There seems to be a manor up ahead. They seem to be celebrating some happy occasion.”

It wasn’t just a manor; it was closer to a fort. It had city walls, city defense crossbows, watchtowers, and other such things.

This was a troubled world, so all those who had some strength all chose to create their own strongholds. Such a thing wasn’t too strange a sight. On the contrary, it would have been far stranger to see an ordinary residence.

“Who’s there?” a group of men called out as they came over and surrounded Zu An’s group, kicking up a spray of dust.

Zu An saw that some of them dressed in armor, but not too many. They clearly weren’t a proper army; rather, they seemed to be a peasant militia. He said, “We’re in a hurry to get to our destination. It’s already dark, so we wanted to find a place to stay.”

The one in the lead was a tough-looking, dark-skinned man. He said, “What a coincidence! We just happen to be holding a celebration. Why don’t you come and grab a drink?”

Someone quickly advised him, “Brother Zhang, you have to be careful of a scheme!”

The large, dark-skinned man replied, “Don’t worry. Judging from this little brother’s mighty appearance, he doesn’t seem to be a bad person. Besides, who brings two women with them to do bad things?” As for Wei Suo, he was just treated as an attendant and wasn’t even worth mentioning.

The man continued, “The miss has always been kind, and today is her day of celebration. If she found out we had refused people and put them in danger, she would definitely blame me.”

When they heard his response, the others no longer said anything else.

In response to the robust man’s invitation, Zu An cupped his hands and said, “Then we’ll be troubling you for a bit!”

Thus, the group was led into the manor by the men. They chatted with each other along the way, and Zu An learned that the man’s name was Zhang Yong. He was the leader of the manor’s guards. Meanwhile, today was the day of their young miss’ wedding.

Wei Suo couldn't help but sigh. With such a huge manor, no wonder she hadn’t married into another family, and they had taken in a son-in-law instead. He thought, Why can’t I enjoy any of these things…

When he remembered how Brightmoon City’s princess had taken in Zu An as a son-in-law, and how he now had the goddess-like beauty, Qiu Honglei, at his side, Wei Suo felt more and more miserable.

…

When they entered, they were suddenly stopped. An old man who seemed to be a bookkeeper gave them some cards, asking, “Are you related to the bride or the groom?”

From the looks of it, they were expected to give a gift.

Zhang Yong said in embarrassment, “Uncle Wang, they’re passing guests. I invited them just now.”

Zu An chuckled and said, “It’s fine. We should offer a gift, at least.” He took out some gifts and handed them over.

The bookkeeping elder immediately broke out into a big smile and said, “Oh my, you’re too kind. How can we take something like this…” Even though that was what he said, he quickly took the gifts.

“What should I call all of you?” he asked as he picked up a pen and began to write on the guest list. There were all sorts of other names too, as well as their gifts.

Zhang Yong slapped his head and cried, “Look at my memory! I forgot to even ask for your names.”

Zu An was about to reply when Jing Teng’s voice suddenly said in his ear, “Don’t give them your real names.”

Zu An was stunned, but he quickly understood and said calmly, “I’m Wu Yanzu.”

Qiu Honglei was also sharp and quickly thought of as an alias, saying, “I’m Qiu Xiang.”

Jing Teng said calmly, “Jing Tian.”

Wei Suo was stunned, but he wasn’t stupid either. He quickly said, “Wei Xiaobao.”

…

Meanwhile, deep in the manor, a woman dressed in red bridal clothes and a veil slowly opened her eyes. She said to herself, “Hm? They seem quite similar to the ones the Ghost King spoke of.”