Flight is currently one of the fastest methods of movement across the whale's back.
The prerequisites are paying attention to the Floating Whale's own flight patterns and avoiding attacks from dangerous creatures.
"The Floating Whale appears stable, but its flight speed isn't actually slow - that's why sunrise and sunset times are so unpredictable," Gotthard said, seated on something resembling a carpet.
That carpet was what they called a flying magic carpet, woven from the Floating Whale's wild fine hairs and enchanted with certain spells to carry people through the air.
His sword occasionally flickered, and distant approaching flying predators would be cleanly severed before plummeting downward.
Among all dangerous creatures, the flying varieties posed the greatest threat since they could leave the whale's back and approach the contaminated earth below.
The abilities of flying creatures weren't particularly complex - for instance, both the bones and fur of Floating Whales possessed some degree of gravity manipulation.
Pur's bone fin, which allowed him to adjust his own weight, originated from this very principle.
Thus, with just a small piece of whale bone or some hairs, combined with spells that activated these traits, one could create flying vehicles.
Yet most people still traveled cautiously on the ground, facing other types of dangerous creatures.
Only someone of Gotthard's Gold Seed caliber could be so confident, carrying an entire group through flight.
Their airborne speed proved remarkably fast. Even accounting for traveling with the Floating Whale's flight direction, they reached the center of Biqing Whale City - Breathspring City - in just one day.
As the name suggested, Breathspring City was located at the Floating Whale's blowhole.
Except that what erupted from that massive, bottomless-looking hole wasn't water, but 'breath'.
At specific times, this blowhole would produce an absolutely spectacular sight.
Enormous currents would surge upward, forming a slightly curved white pillar of breath.
Because the pillars carried the Floating Whale's intense aura, flying predators wouldn't disturb them.
By timing it perfectly, people from Breathspring City could land precisely on the Floating Whale's swinging tail.
Meanwhile, within these breath pillars, one might find whale-derived materials.
Things like whalehide ore and similar resources made for completely legitimate harvesting opportunities.
Thus, one could witness people riding somewhat peculiar-looking 'ships' that caught the rising breath pillars, then casting enormous nets once they reached certain heights.
At that moment, their group on the flying carpet watched a white breath pillar erupt in the distance, with numerous tiny black dots visible within it.
The entire breath pillar, influenced by both its ejection direction and the Floating Whale's movement, rapidly passed their flying carpet before speeding into the distance.
Though the speed was tremendous, those inside remained unharmed - the ships were specially designed, and crew members had mostly undergone specialized training.
"The whale's breath flow is remarkably stable. After exiting the blowhole, it decays rapidly. Many knights and witches repeatedly ride these breath pillar ships to sense the airflow, studying techniques to slow this decay and maintain stability," explained the female priest accompanying Gotthard, apparently noticing Naimes' focus on the breath pillar.
"I was born here, so I naturally know this. I just never expected to return to this place again," Naimes withdrew his gaze, no longer watching the breath pillar or the blowhole beneath it.
According to accurate church terminology, that place should be called the Abyss of Breath.
The breath inside the hole and the breath expelled outside were completely different things.
The expelled breath formed pillars that supported travel.
But the breath inside the hole was known as ghost wind.
Many of the church's 'sinners' were imprisoned within the Abyss of Breath.
Naimes' creation of his Rising with the Wind technique owed much to his three-day experience within the Abyss of Breath.
After transmigrating here, Naimes believed he had arrived at the stage where he could achieve great things, becoming exceptionally flamboyant.
Leveraging his advantage of dual-core coordination between his True Spirit and soul, he quickly gained a reputation as a genius.
Yet this smooth-sailing life made him drop his guard.
He had once naively believed he could dominate everything around him and change this world.
Then reality hammered him into understanding - the church made it abundantly clear that he was nothing!
Looking back now, his betrayal and abandonment during factional struggles largely stemmed from being labeled an unstable element from that point onward.
Rather than pinning hopes on an unpredictable genius's growth, it proved easier to discard him and create a standardized mystical weapon - a Petitioning Angel.
"Essentially, I remain a minor character who still struggles to change this world," Naimes mused. His only unique aspect lay in his transmigrator's True Spirit structure.
Without that True Spirit, his story would have ended the moment he was sacrificed and transformed into a Petitioning Angel.
Because of that singular uniqueness, Naimes grasped the opportunity to continue existing and the possibility of climbing upward, truly riding the wind and mastering the great waves.
Yet it remained merely a possibility.
"I need to learn from this lesson and not fall halfway again," Naimes found himself overwhelmed with complex emotions before sinking his consciousness into the divinity number carried by his True Spirit. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ nοvelfire.net
He continued studying and researching the Divine Spark, persisting even when progress seemed nonexistent.
"I will truly stand above the heavens!" Naimes opened his eyes as the flying carpet descended slightly.
They had arrived at Breathspring City.
Compared to Beiqi Village's small church, Breathspring City's great hall presented a spectacular sight.
Continuous structures adorned with whale-fat stained glass created brilliant reflections everywhere, spontaneously evoking a sacred feeling from within.
Numerous clergy members moved about constantly, with many people hurrying toward their arrival.
The leader was someone Naimes recognized - his former highest superior.
The Grand Master of Biqing Whale City - Gilliman Robert.
"You've worked hard," Gilliman immediately adopted the demeanor of a superior welcoming a subordinate.
"After all, these troubles were created by certain seniors. As a junior, I felt obligated to help clean up the mess," Gotthard clearly wouldn't be outdone in verbal sparring, skillfully turning the tables on Gilliman with strategic humility.
This situation essentially represented lingering problems from Biqing Whale City Church's past.
The fact that principal researchers behind those forbidden experiments could quietly retire and remain unchecked in a small village for so many years...
"Has the church's political struggle intensified to this extent?" Naimes concealed his gaze, avoiding direct observation of this conflict.
Fortunately, both Gold Seeds ultimately needed to maintain basic decorum and order, preventing open combat before the great cathedral.
Everything quickly proceeded through formal channels.
Naimes was brought to a small courtyard where, over the following days, he met numerous batches of interrogators.
Fortunately, due to certain political struggles, he wasn't treated as a prisoner.