The Dao Xuan Tianzun, together with Gao Yiye, boarded the transport ships at Gudu Ferry.
Accompanying them were Gao Yiye's hundred personal guards, two grain transport vessels, and two cargo ships loaded with construction tools and raw materials.
By September, the Yellow River had calmed considerably.
The raging torrents of June and July were gone. The water level had dropped, and the downstream floodwaters were finally receding.
With the river now tame, travel by boat was far easier than before.
The four cargo ships slipped past Fenglingdu, then continued downstream along the Yellow River.
This was Li Daoxuan's first time maintaining long-term co-sensing inside the box—seeing the world continuously from its miniature perspective rather than in brief glimpses.
To the naked eye, both banks of the Yellow River looked bleak and empty. No fishing boats drifted on the water. No government patrol ships passed by.
Gao Yiye frowned slightly.
"I was reading a book a few days ago. It said that grain transport ships were once everywhere around Sanmenxia. How come we haven't seen even one?"
Li Daoxuan genuinely didn't know.
So he quietly switched perspectives, checked the internet, then returned to co-sensing mode. Only then did he speak, wearing the serene confidence of someone who obviously knew everything already.
"That's because Jiangnan rose in importance," he said calmly.
"The empire's grain centers shifted from Guanzhong to Jiangnan. Since the Northern Song, grain transport along the Yellow River declined year by year. Add to that the severe droughts in Shaanxi and Shanxi these past two years, and river transport naturally all but vanished."
Gao Yiye sucked in a breath.
"Oh! I see. So traveling really does teach you things."
Li Daoxuan smiled faintly.
"Yiye, knowledge can actually be divided into two kinds: effective knowledge and ineffective knowledge."
Her curiosity was instantly piqued.
"What do you mean?"
"For example," Li Daoxuan said, "what I just told you—that's ineffective knowledge. Knowing it has no immediate use. A person who fills their head with such facts might seem learned, quoting classics, speaking of ancient and modern affairs, appearing omniscient… but in truth, they can't do anything."
Gao Yiye was momentarily stunned.
"Effective knowledge," Li Daoxuan continued, "is different. Take Gao Sanniang. She understands tailoring. She can take plain cloth and turn it into beautiful clothing. That knowledge creates value. She might know only this one thing and seem unsophisticated—but she contributes something real to the world."
Gao Yiye slowly nodded, clearly grasping something deeper.
Li Daoxuan concluded,
"We should cherish people with effective knowledge—and look down on those whose heads are stuffed only with useless learning. That's the only way the world can truly prosper."
As they spoke, mountains drifted past on both sides of the river.
The ships passed Sanmenxia, then entered the Lesser Three Gorges of the Yellow River.
When they finally emerged, the view opened wide.
The river broadened, currents weaving and splitting. Mountains and inlets dotted the landscape, water stretching endlessly to the horizon.
Xiaolangdi.
They had arrived.
The four cargo ships hadn't gone far when suddenly—
A swarm of small boats burst forth from ahead, racing across the water. In the blink of an eye, they surrounded the larger ships.
Gao Yiye gasped.
"Oh no—pirates?"
The guards stiffened slightly. Crews on the other ships tightened their grips.
Then—
A burly man leapt onto the bow of a small boat. On his chest was embroidered the likeness of the Dao Xuan Tianzun. He threw his head back and laughed.
"All heroes of Gao Family Village!" he roared.
"You four little cargo ships—hand over everything at once, or else! Hahahaha!"
A moment of silence.
Then someone on the cargo ship jumped to the bow, laughing angrily.
"Damn you! That joke nearly scared us to death. We really thought pirates had come."
The man on the small boat laughed even harder.
"Just fooling around! Sometimes we like pretending to be wild pirates."
The man on the cargo ship snorted.
"You've gone too far. The Saintess is aboard—and so is the Dao Xuan Tianzun."
The words hit like thunder.
The man's face turned a sickly, liver-like green.
"What?! You're not lying to me, are you?"
Before anyone could answer, the Dao Xuan Tianzun and Gao Yiye appeared side by side at the bow.
Gao Yiye's face was icy.
"How dare you act so recklessly! My guards were moments away from drawing their flintlock rifles and blasting you into the river."
The man shrieked and collapsed flat onto the deck.
"Forgive me, Saintess! I didn't know you were here! I thought it was a routine transport—I was just joking!"
Gao Yiye crossed her arms.
"Such a grave offense cannot go unpunished."
Sweat poured off the man like rain.
Then—
She burst into laughter.
"I'll punish you by making you croak like a frog! Hahahaha!"
Only then did the man realize she'd been joking all along.
Laughter erupted from the cargo ship and the small boats alike.
"Dao Xuan Tianzun, please."
"Saintess, please."
The small boats turned and guided the four cargo ships toward a hidden cove beneath Eagle Beak Mountain's Yellow Turban Fortress.
The cove was vast, half-hidden by tall reeds—a natural harbor made for concealment.
Within it lay several electric cargo ships belonging to Gao Family Village, as well as two gunboats.
Stone steps climbed from the docks, winding up the mountainside toward the Yellow Turban Fortress halfway up the slope.
Upon hearing that the Saintess had arrived, Bai Yuan hurried out to greet them, running all the way down the steps.
There were hundreds of steps. An ordinary scholar would be gasping halfway down.
Bai Yuan reached the bottom without so much as a flushed face.
He bowed deeply.
"Greetings, Dao Xuan Tianzun. Greetings, Saintess."
That he ran all this way simply to perform the rites showed how deeply Bai Yuan valued propriety—one of the six arts of a true gentleman.
Li Daoxuan often observed Xiaolangdi via co-sensing, so nothing here surprised him.
Gao Yiye, however, was wide-eyed.
"Wow… it's already built up so well? There's even a huge fortress halfway up the mountain."
"It's still incomplete," Bai Yuan smiled.
"Saintess, look around the cove."
He handed her a telescope.
Gao Yiye raised it and scanned the shoreline. She saw villages scattered along the bay—east and west alike. Common folk bustled about, constructing buildings.
Bai Yuan explained,
"These people are flood victims from the Henan plains. We relocated them here, gave them work, and had them build these settlements. Once finished, they'll live here and work at our docks and shipyards."
Li Daoxuan silently gave a thumbs-up.
Then Bai Yuan's expression turned serious.
"However… this place is far too close to Luoyang. Although we used unconventional methods to persuade the Mengjin County Magistrate to speak on our behalf, the Prince of Fu's Residence in Luoyang has already noticed what's happening at Xiaolangdi."