Five years later, at the end of summer, the sun burned fiercely in the sky.

The merchant ship, crowded with people, docked at Nanliu Port.

This was the third trading port of the Northern Continent, where people of all kinds disembarked, their faces bright with joy as they looked ahead.

"So this is the Northern Continent."

The first stop in the Northern Continent greeted them with a port city they had never seen before.

In the city, carriages and pedestrians hustled about, goods were busily transported, and vehicles laden with merchandise raced along the smooth streets. Not far off, in front of a colossal statue, crowds knelt on the ground as if on a pilgrimage.

"Great King, what are they doing?"

A young girl, fresh from disembarking, asked.

"Making an offering."

The Six-Eared Macaque, having transformed into human form, responded as he looked towards the statue.

It was a double-sided statue; on one side was a beautiful human figure, on the other an imposing Monkey King.

It was a statue of the Heavenly Emperor.

The newcomers to the Northern Continent approached the statue to pay their respects.

The Six-Eared Macaque couldn't help but feel sentimental inside; although Sun Wukong had not yet reached out to other divine continents, his influence had already spread through the Northern Continent.

The Northern Continent had undergone earth-shattering changes in five years.

After the arrival of Sages and wise men, they all described this place as a mortal Immortal Country, and poets and minstrels alike loved to use various poems and songs to depict the prosperity and beauty of the Northern Continent.

Such immense changes in just a few years seemed incredible to the Six-Eared Macaque.

Therefore, he decided to come and see for himself.

"Let's go."

After observing the statue for a while, the Six-Eared Macaque tugged on the girl's arm, indicating they should leave the port.

"Esteemed sir, is this your first visit to the Northern Continent?"

A coachman noticed them and approached proactively: "The Northern Continent is vast and sparsely populated; why not rent a carriage for your travels?"

The Six-Eared Macaque wanted to ignore him, but the coachman, discerning his extraordinary attire, did not give up.

"Could sir bear to see this young lady exhausted?"

The coachman said, "My carriage can travel a thousand miles a day, blessed with a Spirit Talisman from Huaguo Mountain, and you won't feel any jostling inside."

The Six-Eared Macaque paused: "How much?"

"That depends on where you're heading."

The coachman smiled: "We can calculate by distance or by days..."

"How much for you to sell the carriage to me?"

The Six-Eared Macaque cut him off.

The coachman was taken aback.

Ten minutes later, the Six-Eared Macaque was driving the carriage, leaving the port with the young girl.

Not long after departing from the port, they saw vast expanses of rice fields.

The girl lifted the curtain and poked her head out to look at the rice fields on both sides of the road, where vast ripples undulated with the wind.

"Great King, these rice fields are so vast!"

Having never seen such immense rice fields before, the girl couldn't help but exclaim, "It's just like the Qingsha Grasslands in the Eastern Divine Continent."

The Six-Eared Macaque steered the carriage, and upon hearing these words, he couldn't help but smile.

He could cast spells to travel across the Four Seas and Five Lakes in a single day, but for some reason, the girl did not enjoy such a life; she always clung to him, asking him to take her slowly through various places.

The Six-Eared Macaque drove through the rice fields, and after half an hour, they still hadn't seen the end of them.

"It really is vast."

The Six-Eared Macaque couldn't help but think to himself.

Just then, two figures suddenly soared out from the side of the rice fields, unable to stop themselves from hurtling towards the carriage.

"Move aside, move aside quickly!"

The two screamed in panic.

Six-Eared Macaque's expression changed slightly, and with a wave of his right hand, two gentle waves of air sent the two flying out.

"Ouch."

The two fell onto their bottoms on the ground, both of them teenagers.

"Big Brother, Second Brother, what are you messing around for!"

A middle-aged couple hurriedly ran out from the rice fields.

"Sorry, sorry!"

While apologizing to Six-Eared Macaque, they scolded the two children, "We told you not to practice here. Look, you almost hurt someone."

Six-Eared Macaque looked over, "Is that Spirits Magic?"

"Yes."

The couple was a bit nervous, "These two children have just learned to fly, and are not yet skilled. Please, Immortal Master, don't hold this against them and forgive them."

Six-Eared Macaque was dressed in Taoist robes, leading the couple to mistake him for a Taoist.

"It's okay."

Six-Eared Macaque nodded, somewhat surprised.

He knew that Sun Wukong had put great effort into educating the Northern Continent, but in just five years, even commoners like these were able to wield Spirits Magic.

"How many spirit people have actually awakened."

Six-Eared Macaque couldn't help but think.

These five years he hadn't paid much attention to the affairs of Huaguo Mountain, only hearing rumors that a great number of spirit people had awakened en masse and started to teach mortals throughout the Northern Continent.

The warm-hearted couple, seeing that Six-Eared Macaque didn't blame their children, insisted on having him stay for a meal.

Although Six-Eared Macaque wasn't interested, the young girl in the carriage pestered him to stay.

The couple lived in a nearby village, and people from their entire village as well as from two nearby towns jointly managed these rice fields.

"This is a grain-producing area of Wanling Country."

At their home, the couple explained their work to the young girl.

During the entire lunch, Six-Eared Macaque remained silent, but the young girl chatted happily with them.

"Every child in our village has to go to school."

The couple said, "In the past few years, it was compulsory to learn to read and write. My two children learned quickly, so they were recommended to the town, where they study spells with the other children."

"If they study well, in four or five years, they could be sent to Jingluo Academy. Do you know about Jingluo Country?"

The girl nodded, "I have heard of it."

Jingluo Country is the homeland of the Great Emperor Zhenwu and is now the most prosperous city in the Northern Continent. After joining Wanling Country, Jingluo Country developed into the first city with a population of a million.

"The best children of the Northern Continent will be taken to Jingluo Country, and if they perform well, they can later go to Huaguo Mountain."

Speaking of this, the couple said, "If our children could go to Huaguo Mountain, that would bring honor to our ancestors, we would die content."

They spoke of Huaguo Mountain with faces full of longing, and although Six-Eared Macaque felt a mixture of emotions, the girl listened with great interest.

Seeing her like that, Six-Eared Macaque couldn't help but sigh.

"I still can't compare to that Sun Wukong."

He felt an inexplicable twinge of jealousy.

"Goodbye."

After lunch, the girl waved farewell to the couple from atop the carriage.

Six-Eared Macaque continued onward, driving the carriage.

"Great King, it's really nice here."

The girl, watching the couple's silhouette disappear from view, then said to Six-Eared Macaque, "The Heavenly Emperor is indeed impressive, the people here seem very happy."

Six-Eared Macaque gave her a look, "Are you happy?"

"Mmm..."

The girl looked at Six-Eared Macaque's face, then slyly said, "As long as Great King is around, I am happy."

Six-Eared Macaque's mood immediately brightened.

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