Xue Wei was patiently laying on top of the Earth Warrior Prison and waited for the day to come to an end.
He was a cultivator, so laying in the same position for a long time was in no way a problem.
There was no one flying in the sky, so Xue Wei was temporarily safe. He continued to listen to everything that was discussed by the guards below.
Although he eavesdropped for a whole day, the subjects all revolved around the same things: Xue Wei"s escape, Tie Haolong"s execution, and the riot in Outer City.
After a few hours, Xue Wei realized that it was impossible for him to get more information from these guards, but he could not move so he just listened to what was being said.
Sometimes, a few experts appeared with news about the Xue Weis that had been captured.
The five versions of Xue Wei had been trapped in one cage each. These cages were different from the cells of the prison as in they were literally ma.s.sive cages made from black gold. They were impossible to break as they would restore themselves every time they were damaged, and it was possible to see through into the cages to observe the ones trapped within.
A group of Sky Warriors had been placed around the cages to observe the group of copies, waiting for them to dissipate so that they could find out whoever was the original copy.
Unfortunately for the Sky Warriors, these copies were unresponsive and did not use any of their Qi, resulting in them being capable of remaining intact for a few years before they would dissipate.
Night descended, and the guards were changed. Xue Wei climbed to the back of the prison and began climbing down.
The city was still in chaos. n.o.bles were searching everywhere for Xue Wei or more of his copies, but to no avail.
Xue Wei, on the other hand, was moving in the shadows. He was extra cautious and alert. Unfortunately, he quickly found that the Inner City was filled with search parties in every corner, and the entrance and exit to the Outer City was closed down.
It was clear that the entire Capital was on lockdown. People were searching far and wide, but Xue Wei was confused as to why no one was using Spiritual Energy to search for him.
"Is the center of the continent really that much more developed than the Kingdom of Heping?" Xue Wei muttered to himself.
"I had not heard about Spiritual Energy before, but Prophet Lan taught me how to use it. It is incredibly simple though," Xue Wei mused about how no one seemed to use their spiritual sense to search for him, and that the prisons had had no protection against the spiritual sense either.
Was this truly something they only knew in the central countries?
Xue Wei could not help but be surprised, but he found no other explanation. This discovery made him understand that Lan had truly helped him immensely.
Although it was Lan who had taught him how to transform his arms into scaled monstrous arms, he never blamed the prophet. Instead, he blamed himself for not listening to the warning he had been given.
It took him an hour to move fifty meters, and the night was breaking into dawn by that point. Xue Wei had not gotten far. His heart started beating fast; would he make it to a safe location before the light returned and everyone would notice him?
Suddenly, a loud screech sounded not far away from Xue Wei, and he hurriedly tried to hide, when he saw that the Lightning sparrow appeared in the sky.
It had arrived without any prior notice and the speed with which it moved was so fast that when the people noticed it, it had already reached Xue Wei.
Once again, the claws gently grabbed Xue Wei. When it swept him up in its firm grip, the sparrow flapped its wings so fast that thunder rumbled in the sky. It sped far into the sky in an instant, towards the forest outside the city.
They soared through the air, their speed so fast that no one could catch up to them.
Xue Wei and the sparrow did not stop before they were at a mountain deep in the forest outside the capital.
The bird landed on the ground after releasing Xue Wei and chirped happily.
"You saved me again?" Xue Wei was perplexed. The thread of karma that connected them had already been undone, so it was acting out of kindness this time.
The bird nodded its head in a human way.
"Tell me, can you do me one more favor?" Xue Wei asked tentatively. Although he did not wish to ask for a.s.sistance from someone else, he knew that he definitely needed this beast’s support if he wanted to succeed in his upcoming endeavors.
The bird c.o.c.ked its head for a bit as if it did not fully understand what Xue Wei had asked of it. It chirped a little as it looked at him.
"Can you help me?" Xue Wei asked, and the bird suddenly seemed to understand him. It flapped its wings happily and chirped in a cheerful voice.
"In a few days, I need us to return to the capital," Xue Wei continued. "The big group of houses," he added when he saw a doubtful expression on the eyes of the bird.
"A friend of mine is going to be executed. I need to save him. Can you help me?"
The bird nodded its head solemnly; it was no longer cheerful but instead serious.
The day was bright as the two sat next to one another on the mountaintop and Xue Wei spoke of the plans to save Tie Haolong. The bird would chirp twice whenever it understood what was being said, and once when it was confused as to what exactly Xue Wei was explaining.
Although only Xue Wei was capable of speaking, the bird had a very high intellect, and it was capable of making itself understood.
Xue Wei and the bird planned all day long., As the time pa.s.sed, it was soon evening. They were looking at one another as one would at a friend, and the racial differences did not divide them.
"There are another seven days before it is time for Tie Haolong to stand trial," Xue Wei muttered, "but there is a chance that they will do it sooner rather than later since they want to lure me out."
"So far, my copies from the Seed of Mirage are still active and sitting like good boys in their cages, but I think they have understood that the five copies are just that, copies."
"Since that is the case, they have to do what they can to lure the real one out, and their best bait is without a doubt Tie Haolong."
Xue Wei was partly speaking to himself, partly to the Lightning Sparrow.
He sighed. "I can"t just return to the capital like that," he lamented. "After the last time, they are sure to have tightened the security. Trying to enter will mean that I will be caught."
The bird chirped happily and suddenly its ma.s.sive size shrunk to that of a small bird, similar in size to the mortal beast the Black Bird.
Although the color of its feathers was still brilliant and blue, it was easy to mistake it for a bird you would often see in the gardens.
The bird used a wing to point at itself, and Xue Wei looked at it with astonishment.
"You will do the scouting?" he asked, and it nodded its head happily.
"You are doing a whole lot for me," he continued, and although the reaction was hard to read, Xue Wei could have sworn that the bird shrugged its shoulders.
"Oh well, if you can get information on the date for Tie Haolong’s execution, then I will be incredibly grateful," he said. Although Xue Wei was not eager to take the help from others, he knew that he could not afford to be picky when it came to the life of a friend of his.
To save Tie Haolong, he would be willing to do almost anything. It was also rewarding to have a beast in the Heavenly Warrior rank a.s.sisting him.
Xue Wei was left behind as the bird shot out from the mountainside, heading towards the capital with speed so fast that it had already vanished from sight within a moment.
Being alone, Xue Wei decided to cultivate. He knew that it could take some time to get some information, so instead of worrying needlessly he decided to spend his time cultivating. Worrying would do him no good anyway.
As to how much time had pa.s.sed before the sparrow returned, Xue Wei had no idea.
Xue Wei quickly turned serious when he saw the Lightning Sparrow in front of him. It had flown at its highest speed, and its eyes displayed worry and urgency.
"The execution is starting soon?" Xue Wei could guess what was happening just from looking at the sparrow, which nodded its head vigorously.
"Let us go!" he exclaimed, and instead of being grabbed by the claws of the sparrow, he jumped onto the back of it after it returned to its original size. Together, the two soared through the sky in a hurry towards the capital.
They made their way to the capital, and they could sense it seething with energy. They flew high in the sky so as to not be noticed and to see what was going on underneath them.
The Outer City was eerily quiet on this day, and the closer they got to the Inner City the more puzzled Xue Wei became. Groups of Outer City citizens had gathered in groups and were throwing stones at the Inner City castle walls. They even engaged in tussles with the guards that they saw.
The Inner City gates were closed even though it was in the middle of the day, and groups of Outer City citizens were trying to break through the gates, all of them roaring and screaming while fighting with all their might.
The guards were doing their best to knock them down; they dared not kill too many as it could spark a true revolution instead of the current small-scale riot.
Xue Wei and the Lightning Sparrow easily pa.s.sed the wall to the Inner City and observed this place with caution and hesitation.
The Inner City was in turmoil. Some experts were here and caused problems, but the majority were all moving towards the central square that was right outside the palace.
"So that"s where they will execute him," Xue Wei mused. "We will fight in the sky first," Xue Wei decided. As they closed in on the square, they saw three experts flying in the air, all on Fierce Beasts equivalent to the Heavenly Warrior rank.
These three experts paid no special attention to Xue Wei. They knew that to have a flying Fierce Beast one usually needed to be a Primordial Beast Hunter, and when they saw it was the lightning Sparrow, they already had determined who it was.
Xue Wei and the Lightning Sparrow were so high in the sky that the others could not make out his size or appearance.
The original owner of the Lightning Sparrow had not dared to tell anyone that his beast had regained its freedom out of sheer shame, so none of the ones present were informed of it.
The lightning sparrow casually flapped its wings and hovered in the sky, far above the others, as Xue Wei looked down on the stage. No one was there yet, but it would not take long before they would bring Tie Haolong out. When that time came, Xue Wei would save him!
Xue Wei felt nervous. As he looked down, he saw multiple experts of various strength, but there were quite a few Heavenly Warriors. Although the Lightning Sparrow had similar strength, it was impossible to go up against this many alone. They had to rely on the Lightning Sparrow’s superior speed if they wanted to succeed!