Ning Zhuo slightly opened his mouth to say something, but in the end, the words never came out.

Finally, he turned his gaze towards the cloud whale in the distant sky.

The cloud whale was so enormous, occupying a corner of the sky, making Ning Zhuo seem like an ant in comparison.

After a moment of silence, Ning Zhuo asked, “Was such a colossal cloud whale once a tiny cloud seed?”

Song Fuli chuckled softly. “Yes, that’s precisely it.”

“It’s hard for outsiders to imagine, isn’t it?”

“That’s the wonder of cloud seeds.”

“They are born from the Myriad Manifestation Cloud Sea. Once they’ve matured to a certain extent, they automatically detach from the cloud sea and drift with the wind in all directions.”

“During their drift, they absorb the essence of the sun and moon, draw in the various celestial auras from the firmament, and encounter countless rays of light and radiant clouds.”

“The cloud seeds absorb them and continuously grow, eventually transforming into various types of cloud beasts, each with unique characteristics.”

As Song Fuli spoke, he also looked at the cloud whale in the distance.

He continued, “This cloud whale wasn’t raised by me from a young age.”

“I encountered it along the way, and through a twist of fate and the help of a benefactor, I was able to make it my own.”

“Based on our conjecture, this cloud whale must have, in its cloud seed phase, devoured a vast amount of majestic qi and also encountered the Leisurely Grove Clouds.”

“It slumbered for many years within the Leisurely Grove Cloud layers. That’s why it’s so massive, with an incredibly vast storage space, and at the same time, it has an excellent temperament, quite gentle.”

“Such a temperament has both pros and cons. On one hand, it’s indeed easy to control; on the other hand, its combat power isn’t ideal, even though it’s at the Nascent Soul level.”

At this point, Song Fuli looked at Ning Zhuo. “Feiyun Country has quite a few specialties, especially various kinds of cloud qi. The varieties are so numerous that even I am dazzled and cannot know them all.”

“When you return in the future, you can experience them thoroughly.”

“Exposure to cultivation resources from different places and of different types is very enlightening for cultivation itself.”

“Young Master Ning Zhuo, your attainments in artificing are exceptional. New materials can also inspire your ideas for many artificial creations.”

Ning Zhuo nodded subconsciously, his heart involuntarily stirred. But when he thought of the Lava Immortal Palace, that stirring suddenly vanished.

Ning Zhuo continued to stare at the cloud whale. “I’ve heard that every cloud beast has its own lifespan limit. The higher the cloud beast’s strength and the larger its size, the shorter its lifespan?”

Song Fuli nodded. “Yes, that is indeed the case.”

“So, this cloud whale of ours is actually in its old age.”

“In a few more years, we will need to assist it in returning to the Myriad Manifestation Cloud Sea.”

“Every cloud beast, upon sensing that its end is near, will fly back to its birthplace – the Myriad Manifestation Cloud Sea.”

“They are born there, and likewise, they will die there, like a cycle.”

“Regardless of how humble or how brilliant their past was, they return to where they came from, and all their achievements are buried with the wind.”

“The past is buried, and new hope is born. Such a Nascent Soul level cloud beast will give birth to a massive number of new cloud seeds.”

“And these new cloud seeds will also follow nature, drifting outwards. Ultimately, they may become various kinds of cloud beasts, and with good fortune, they may even become new cloud whales.”

At this point, Song Fuli sighed. “The life of a cloud beast is actually very similar to our human lives, isn’t it?”

“The cultivators of our Feiyun Country have always had a close relationship with cloud beasts.”

“Many cultivators begin by acquiring and nurturing cloud seeds at the start of their cultivation.”

“By investing various cultivation resources, they cultivate the cloud seeds into cloud beasts of various forms.”

“Massive cloud beasts are our homes when we travel, they are the immortal palaces unique to each of us.”

Song Fuli looked towards the mountain peak, knowing that the Lava Immortal Palace was there.

He said to Ning Zhuo, “In terms of direct confrontation, even our cloud whale can’t beat the Lava Immortal Palace.”

“But in terms of size and storage space, the cloud whale is much larger than the Lava Immortal Palace.”

“The cloud whale also has other advantages, for example, it’s easy to maintain.”

“It primarily consumes the cloud qi and spiritual energy of the heavens and earth as food, and it can also self-repair and naturally heal.”

“Whereas something like the Lava Immortal Palace is not so easy to repair.”

Ning Zhuo suddenly thought of something, his expression changing slightly, and he couldn’t help but ask:

“Senior Song, listening to your words just now, it seems that cultivators in Feiyun Country generally cultivate cloud seeds. So, does everyone have a cloud seed?”

Song Fuli nodded. “Almost everyone will have a cloud seed, but it’s not so easy to truly cultivate them.”

Ning Zhuo eagerly asked, “I have a question! My mother is from Feiyun Country, but among her belongings, there isn’t any cloud seed or cloud beast.”

Song Fuli said seriously, “I haven’t yet asked for Young Master Ning Zhuo’s mother’s esteemed name.”

Ning Zhuo replied, “My mother’s surname is Meng, and her given name is Yao Yin.”

“Meng Yao Yin?” Song Fuli heard this and showed a hint of confusion. “Why does that sound a little familiar?”

Ning Zhuo couldn’t help but become curious and nervous. “What, does Senior Song happen to know my mother?”

Song Fuli frowned and thought for a moment before slightly shaking his head. “It just sounds familiar, I can’t recall anything at the moment.”

“However, while Feiyun Country has so many people, there aren’t many with the surname Meng. There is a family named Meng that is quite extraordinary, with unusual roots.”

Ning Zhuo pressed on with his questions.

Song Fuli explained to him, “The Myriad Manifestation Sect in Feiyun Country is a super sect, and the Myriad Manifestation Cloud Sea is almost entirely under its control and management.”

“Within the Myriad Manifestation Sect, there are twelve peaks, and one of them has long been controlled by the Meng family.”

“This Meng family made its name through artificing and was once very powerful, but in recent decades, it has declined.”

“The Meng family…” Ning Zhuo murmured to himself, committing this information to memory.

He didn’t forget about the cloud beasts and continued to ask:

“Although my mother has passed away, I haven’t found any cloud beasts or cloud seeds among her belongings.”

“If these cloud beasts were still around, where would they be?”

Song Fuli shook his head. “That question is difficult for me.”

“Cultivating cloud seeds requires a lot of resources, especially to reach the Golden Core level, which often requires a long period of dormancy.”

“But as far as I know, Young Master Ning Zhuo’s mother was only a Foundation Establishment stage artificer. It’s essentially impossible for her to have a Golden Core level cloud beast.”

“And cloud beasts at the Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment levels are not powerful. It’s very likely that they would have dispersed along the way.”

Ning Zhuo sighed, neither confirming nor denying.

As they were talking, a subordinate of the caravan came to report to Song Fuli: “Leader, all the mechanized Fire Explosive Monkeys have been counted. There are no discrepancies in quantity or quality.”

After confirming, Song Fuli laughed heartily and took his leave from Ning Zhuo.

Before leaving, he paused slightly, turned back, and handed Ning Zhuo a talisman.

“This is a talisman created by our side using the cloud mud from the cloud whale.”

“You can think of it as a ticket.”

“As long as you carry it, you can enter the body of the cloud whale and thus travel to other places by riding the cloud whale.”

Ning Zhuo quickly cupped his hands in thanks, and at the same time, stated that although he had this ticket, he might not return to Feiyun Country with Song Fuli’s group.

Song Fuli waved his hand. “We’re not going back to Feiyun Country immediately either. Next, we’ll spend some time around Nan Dou Country, and if business is good, we might even continue further south.”

“This talisman is not only effective within the cloud whale’s body, it’s also a credential.”

“In the future, if you encounter other cloud merchant caravans, you can use this to prove your good relationship with our cloud merchants. With this talisman, cultivators can still board the ships and cloud beasts of other cloud merchants.”

The practicality of the talisman given by Song Fuli greatly exceeded Ning Zhuo’s expectations.

Ning Zhuo thanked him again and watched as Song Fuli, accompanied by numerous mechanized Fire Explosive Monkeys, flew back into the cloud whale.

Large numbers of the mechanized monkeys were sent into the cloud whale’s body, where the cultivators of the caravan handled the handover.

“Next, we’ll leave it to you!”

“They’ve been counted. The numbers match.”

“Okay, open the warehouse door, and we’ll place these goods inside.”

The door of the storage warehouse rapidly dispersed like cloud smoke.

Afterward, cloud beast octopuses flew out from the warehouse, one after another.

These octopuses floated in the air, extending their tentacles to bind the mechanized Fire Explosive Monkeys, lifting them into the air, and then slowly drifting and entering the warehouse.

The empty warehouse number 188 had very spacious interior.

The warehouse was empty, not even a single shelf.

The cultivator responsible for warehouse management came to the wall, took out his identity token, and placed it on a key position on the wall.

He activated his magic power and infused it into the token.

The token quickly emitted a faint yellow light.

The yellow light rapidly spread outwards, permeating the cloud-like walls, and quickly flowed out, transforming along the way into assembly line-like array patterns.

These array patterns quickly spread across the entire wall.

The next moment, the wall deformed, as if shrouded in mist, and then quickly condensed together, forming a giant shelf that was tightly attached to the wall and the ceiling.

The octopuses, holding the mechanized Fire Explosive Monkeys, floated into the air and placed the monkeys into the compartments of these shelves.

It was evident that these compartments could also be adjusted freely. The current space was just enough to hold one mechanized Fire Explosive Monkey.

Under the work of hundreds of thousands of octopus cloud beasts, although the number of mechanized monkeys was large, it only took the time it takes to brew a cup of tea to arrange them neatly.

After a final check, the caravan cultivators collected all the spirit beast octopuses and left.

After he left, a large mass of cloud mist slowly appeared, then rapidly condensed, forming a solid wall that replaced the position of the door.

At this point, warehouse number 188 was empty and very quiet.

Suddenly, a ripple appeared in the air.

Sun Lingtong and Yang Chanyu crawled out from inside a mechanized Fire Explosive Monkey.