Yan Ling continued to drag Liang Chen after her by the collar, eliciting several strange gazes and a few snickers from the onlookers. Yan Ling was the little princess of the sect, so there were a few who weren't too happy seeing her so close to another man, but Liang Chen couldn't be bothered to care about a few jealous glares, chatting with Yan Ling.
"Alright, so exactly what mission is it I am being dragged to?"
There was a myriad of different missions, ranging from picking herbs to slaughtering smaller sects or participating in battles against disciples from the other large sects. He didn't think that Yan Ling would drag him along if it was a mission he would be uncomfortable with, but it was still best to make sure.
Yan Ling let go of Liang Chen's collar as they started to approach the Wolf Hall palace, as if she suddenly cared about how others were looking at the two of them. She swiped her interspatial ring, taking out a scroll that was made using faint yellow paper, handing it to Liang Chen as she continued to head towards the Mission Castle.
"It's a protection mission. The Snow Mirror nation is going to sign a peace treaty with the Merrow Reef nation in a few days, so the mission is to protect the Crown Prince and his siblings while the king and queen head out to sign the peace treaty. The mission to protect the king and queen is a bit higher ranked, so the two of us aren't allowed to accept it yet, we'll have to settle."
Liang Chen opened the scroll and gave the contents a quick glance. The contents were just a repetition of what Yan Ling had just told him, so he rolled up the scroll and handed it back to Yan Ling. After handing back the scroll, he rolled his eyes slightly, suddenly realizing something.
"I assume we can expect the Moon Dragon Sect or the Ghost Soul sect to attempt something?"
The Snow Mirror nation was controlled by the Bai clan, which in turn was controlled by the Storm Wolf sect. The Merrow Reef nation, on the other hand, was controlled by the Tian clan, which in turn was controlled by the Fiendgod sect. The two nations signing a peace treaty was likely orchestrated by the two sects, a sign that they wished to further deepen their friendly relations. Yan Ling nodded her head, patting Liang Chen on the shoulder and putting on the image of a senior sister.
"Clever. Just as you guessed, either of the sects might attempt to harm the princes and princesses, mostly just to throw a wrench in our plan and annoy us. The mission to protect the king and queen has a higher rank than this one, so the two of us aren't allowed to accept it."
The Moon Dragon sect and the Ghost Soul sect had poor relations with the Storm Wolf sect, so how could they just let things go as the Storm Wolf sect wished? Even if disrupting this peace treaty was only a minor inconvenience, they were still willing to do it, just like the Storm Wolf sect was willing to do the same to them.
But even though they were likely going to try and disrupt the occasion, there were limits to what they were willing to do. If they sent a cultivator at the Soaring Immortal realm or higher, the Storm Wolf sect would obviously reply in kind, so they might lose some strong cultivators. To lose people at the Soaring Immortal realm, just to cause a minor inconvenience? The sects were not willing to suffer such loses. If they were to sacrifice their higher cultivation level disciples, it had to be for a much grander purpose.
The two quickly reached the pitch black Mission Castle, pushing open the wooden gate and entering it. The inside of the Mission Castle was a convoluted collection of hallways and rooms, with each room either holding a different rank or type of mission.
Yan Ling led Liang Chen down a narrow hallway to their right, turning right and left a few times until they reached a peach-colored door. The two stopped in front of the door, Yan Ling taking a finger-sized tablet made from milky jade out from her interspatial ring, handing it to Liang Chen.
"Hold onto this tablet, otherwise you'll have to walk the entire way up the mountain again once we return."
Liang Chen nodded his head and put the tablet into his interspatial ring. This jade tablet was something handed out to people who accepted missions and had to be returned once the mission was over, as they were hard to make, meaning that the sect didn't have too many. As long as you had one of these tablets, any of the sect's spatial arrays would send you back to the Mission Castle, rather than the other places they would usually send you.
After Liang Chen put away the tablet, the two pushed open the door and entered the room, revealing that it was completely empty. The room was very similar to the room that held the spatial array that first led Liang Chen to the Storm Wolf sect, in that it was completely empty, the floor covered in a formation drawn using Demonic beast blood.
Once the two stepped on the center of the formation, it lit up with a bright light, blinding them as space around them turned into a viscous cocoon. Once the cocoon vanished and the bright light receded, Liang Chen and Yan Ling had arrived in the center of the spatial formation located in the Floating Rose nation.
The two left the room, arriving outside the deep green spire that was engraved with a howling wolf. Once they stood outside the tower, Liang Chen could see that a large number of guards clad in cyan armor had lined up, forming a path the two of them could walk. With Yan Ling and Liang Chen stepping out of the tower, all the guards straightened their backs and hit the chests of their armors, producing a loud sound as they called out in a unified voice.
"We greet the Young Masters! We wish you a successful mission!"
Their voices, mixed with the sound of them hitting their armors, was so loud that it echoed throughout the city. Liang Chen didn't expect for them to be greeted like this, even Yan Ling looked somewhat caught off-guard by it. But she quickly regained her calm, clearing her throat and swiping her interspatial ring, taking out a strange item, an elongated golden chariot. Yan Ling stepped onto the chariot, waving at Liang Chen.
"Come on now, come on up, it won't explode."
The fact that she said it won't explode only made Liang Chen more wary of it, as it meant that it might possibly explode, but he couldn't really say that. He stepped onto the chariot and saw that Yan Ling was placing several Spirit Stones into an oval hole. Once she had put in 10 Spirit Stones, the chariot suddenly rose up from the ground, shooting into the air and soaring through the sky, quickly leaving behind the city beneath them.
Liang Chen hadn't expected something like this to happen, so he was completely caught off-guard. This was also the first time he had ever been this high into the air, so he couldn't help but hold onto the side of the chariot, looking around in shock. This seemed to be the exact response Yan Ling had wished for, as he could hear her giggle at him.
"Nihihi, what's the matter, never flown on a Skyborne Chariot? Are you scared, are you shocked? You are, aren't you?"
While she giggled, she also stepped forward and poked his sides, continuing to laugh all the while, enjoying his shocked expression. Liang Chen had read about special items that could fly through the air using formations, but reading about one and experiencing one were two completely different things.
But his shock swiftly transformed into astonishment and excitement. After one reached the late stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, one could form wings using their Qi, allowing one to fly in the air. Only if one had the law of wind could one simulate flight before this, but that was only simulating flight, it wasn't like this. Yan Ling was not one to miss a chance to tease Liang Chen, so she immediately changed her words once his shock turned to astonishment.
"Nihihi, It's pretty cool, isn't it? But this one is mine, so you can't have it! Are you jealous, envious of how cool it is? You are, aren't you?"
While Yan Ling was laughing and poking Liang Chen's waist in an attempt to tease him, Liang Chen suddenly turned his body. His right arm stretched out like a bolt of lightning, catching Yan Ling completely off-guard. She wanted to pull back, but before she got to do that, Liang Chen gave her forehead a heavy flick, leaving a red mark behind. His lips curled into a smirk, flicking her forehead once more before she finished pulling back.
"Trying to brag in front of me, are you? You want me to pick you up by the neck again? Shall we see how the princes and princesses react then?"
Yan Ling staggered backward, her back hitting the other side of the chariot as she covered her forehead. This chariot was covered by a defensive formation that prevented one from falling over, so she wasn't worried about suddenly falling while pulling back. She continued to cover her forehead, shrinking her neck as she stuck out her tongue.
"Geh, you're just a brute who only knows how to bully me thanks to your higher cultivation. Just you wait till this mission is over and I increase my cultivation, then it's my turn to bully you."
Yan Ling's plan was to use the resources she would get from this mission to enter the Heaven's Gate realm, at which point her cultivation would be the same as Liang Chen's. Liang Chen had some tricks, but so did she, so she was confident she could at least bully him a little once she increased her cultivation. But facing her threats, Liang Chen simply stretched out an arm, flicking the air in front of him in a challenging manner.
"Bring it, I'll flick your forehead and lift you by the neck no matter how high your cultivation gets."
Yan Ling continued to drag Liang Chen after her by the collar, eliciting several strange gazes and a few snickers from the onlookers. Yan Ling was the little princess of the sect, so there were a few who weren't too happy seeing her so close to another man, but Liang Chen couldn't be bothered to care about a few jealous glares, chatting with Yan Ling.
"Alright, so exactly what mission is it I am being dragged to?"
There was a myriad of different missions, ranging from picking herbs to slaughtering smaller sects or participating in battles against disciples from the other large sects. He didn't think that Yan Ling would drag him along if it was a mission he would be uncomfortable with, but it was still best to make sure.
Yan Ling let go of Liang Chen's collar as they started to approach the Wolf Hall palace, as if she suddenly cared about how others were looking at the two of them. She swiped her interspatial ring, taking out a scroll that was made using faint yellow paper, handing it to Liang Chen as she continued to head towards the Mission Castle.
"It's a protection mission. The Snow Mirror nation is going to sign a peace treaty with the Merrow Reef nation in a few days, so the mission is to protect the Crown Prince and his siblings while the king and queen head out to sign the peace treaty. The mission to protect the king and queen is a bit higher ranked, so the two of us aren't allowed to accept it yet, we'll have to settle."
Liang Chen opened the scroll and gave the contents a quick glance. The contents were just a repetition of what Yan Ling had just told him, so he rolled up the scroll and handed it back to Yan Ling. After handing back the scroll, he rolled his eyes slightly, suddenly realizing something.
"I assume we can expect the Moon Dragon Sect or the Ghost Soul sect to attempt something?"
The Snow Mirror nation was controlled by the Bai clan, which in turn was controlled by the Storm Wolf sect. The Merrow Reef nation, on the other hand, was controlled by the Tian clan, which in turn was controlled by the Fiendgod sect. The two nations signing a peace treaty was likely orchestrated by the two sects, a sign that they wished to further deepen their friendly relations. Yan Ling nodded her head, patting Liang Chen on the shoulder and putting on the image of a senior sister.
"Clever. Just as you guessed, either of the sects might attempt to harm the princes and princesses, mostly just to throw a wrench in our plan and annoy us. The mission to protect the king and queen has a higher rank than this one, so the two of us aren't allowed to accept it."
The Moon Dragon sect and the Ghost Soul sect had poor relations with the Storm Wolf sect, so how could they just let things go as the Storm Wolf sect wished? Even if disrupting this peace treaty was only a minor inconvenience, they were still willing to do it, just like the Storm Wolf sect was willing to do the same to them.
But even though they were likely going to try and disrupt the occasion, there were limits to what they were willing to do. If they sent a cultivator at the Soaring Immortal realm or higher, the Storm Wolf sect would obviously reply in kind, so they might lose some strong cultivators. To lose people at the Soaring Immortal realm, just to cause a minor inconvenience? The sects were not willing to suffer such loses. If they were to sacrifice their higher cultivation level disciples, it had to be for a much grander purpose.
The two quickly reached the pitch black Mission Castle, pushing open the wooden gate and entering it. The inside of the Mission Castle was a convoluted collection of hallways and rooms, with each room either holding a different rank or type of mission.
Yan Ling led Liang Chen down a narrow hallway to their right, turning right and left a few times until they reached a peach-colored door. The two stopped in front of the door, Yan Ling taking a finger-sized tablet made from milky jade out from her interspatial ring, handing it to Liang Chen.
"Hold onto this tablet, otherwise you'll have to walk the entire way up the mountain again once we return."
Liang Chen nodded his head and put the tablet into his interspatial ring. This jade tablet was something handed out to people who accepted missions and had to be returned once the mission was over, as they were hard to make, meaning that the sect didn't have too many. As long as you had one of these tablets, any of the sect's spatial arrays would send you back to the Mission Castle, rather than the other places they would usually send you.
After Liang Chen put away the tablet, the two pushed open the door and entered the room, revealing that it was completely empty. The room was very similar to the room that held the spatial array that first led Liang Chen to the Storm Wolf sect, in that it was completely empty, the floor covered in a formation drawn using Demonic beast blood.
Once the two stepped on the center of the formation, it lit up with a bright light, blinding them as space around them turned into a viscous cocoon. Once the cocoon vanished and the bright light receded, Liang Chen and Yan Ling had arrived in the center of the spatial formation located in the Floating Rose nation.
The two left the room, arriving outside the deep green spire that was engraved with a howling wolf. Once they stood outside the tower, Liang Chen could see that a large number of guards clad in cyan armor had lined up, forming a path the two of them could walk. With Yan Ling and Liang Chen stepping out of the tower, all the guards straightened their backs and hit the chests of their armors, producing a loud sound as they called out in a unified voice.
"We greet the Young Masters! We wish you a successful mission!"
Their voices, mixed with the sound of them hitting their armors, was so loud that it echoed throughout the city. Liang Chen didn't expect for them to be greeted like this, even Yan Ling looked somewhat caught off-guard by it. But she quickly regained her calm, clearing her throat and swiping her interspatial ring, taking out a strange item, an elongated golden chariot. Yan Ling stepped onto the chariot, waving at Liang Chen.
"Come on now, come on up, it won't explode."
The fact that she said it won't explode only made Liang Chen more wary of it, as it meant that it might possibly explode, but he couldn't really say that. He stepped onto the chariot and saw that Yan Ling was placing several Spirit Stones into an oval hole. Once she had put in 10 Spirit Stones, the chariot suddenly rose up from the ground, shooting into the air and soaring through the sky, quickly leaving behind the city beneath them.
Liang Chen hadn't expected something like this to happen, so he was completely caught off-guard. This was also the first time he had ever been this high into the air, so he couldn't help but hold onto the side of the chariot, looking around in shock. This seemed to be the exact response Yan Ling had wished for, as he could hear her giggle at him.
"Nihihi, what's the matter, never flown on a Skyborne Chariot? Are you scared, are you shocked? You are, aren't you?"
While she giggled, she also stepped forward and poked his sides, continuing to laugh all the while, enjoying his shocked expression. Liang Chen had read about special items that could fly through the air using formations, but reading about one and experiencing one were two completely different things.
But his shock swiftly transformed into astonishment and excitement. After one reached the late stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, one could form wings using their Qi, allowing one to fly in the air. Only if one had the law of wind could one simulate flight before this, but that was only simulating flight, it wasn't like this. Yan Ling was not one to miss a chance to tease Liang Chen, so she immediately changed her words once his shock turned to astonishment.
"Nihihi, It's pretty cool, isn't it? But this one is mine, so you can't have it! Are you jealous, envious of how cool it is? You are, aren't you?"
While Yan Ling was laughing and poking Liang Chen's waist in an attempt to tease him, Liang Chen suddenly turned his body. His right arm stretched out like a bolt of lightning, catching Yan Ling completely off-guard. She wanted to pull back, but before she got to do that, Liang Chen gave her forehead a heavy flick, leaving a red mark behind. His lips curled into a smirk, flicking her forehead once more before she finished pulling back.
"Trying to brag in front of me, are you? You want me to pick you up by the neck again? Shall we see how the princes and princesses react then?"
Yan Ling staggered backward, her back hitting the other side of the chariot as she covered her forehead. This chariot was covered by a defensive formation that prevented one from falling over, so she wasn't worried about suddenly falling while pulling back. She continued to cover her forehead, shrinking her neck as she stuck out her tongue.
"Geh, you're just a brute who only knows how to bully me thanks to your higher cultivation. Just you wait till this mission is over and I increase my cultivation, then it's my turn to bully you."
Yan Ling's plan was to use the resources she would get from this mission to enter the Heaven's Gate realm, at which point her cultivation would be the same as Liang Chen's. Liang Chen had some tricks, but so did she, so she was confident she could at least bully him a little once she increased her cultivation. But facing her threats, Liang Chen simply stretched out an arm, flicking the air in front of him in a challenging manner.
"Bring it, I'll flick your forehead and lift you by the neck no matter how high your cultivation gets."
