Chapter 122: Great Power Arrives
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The morning of March 31, 1229 of the Ziyun Era.
Swoos.h.!.+
A huge creature flew through the air above the Chu royal mansion, swift as thunder, and before long arrived at Chuxiu Inn, circling in the air and surveying the courtyards and guest rooms below.
“Commander Xiao has arrived.”
The commander of the city guard stationed outside Chuxiu Inn, Xue Meng, saw the large Cloud Condor high above Chuxiu Inn flying into Chuxiu Inn, and his eyes lit up.
“We’ll enter.”
The Chu king, Xiang Xiong, was standing beside Xue Meng and saw the Cloud Condor fly into Chuxiu Inn at the same time as Xue Meng. He gave the order and led the way into Chuxiu Inn.
Two old men followed closely behind Xiang Xiong.
One of the old men was the second elder of the Chu royal family, Xiang Donghua, who had personally made the trip to the imperial court of Yunyang to invite Commander Xiao Jiancheng of the imperial guard over.
The other old man was the head elder of the Chu royal family, Xiang Chong.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Xue Meng acknowledged and turned to give the order to his lieutenants. “Let everyone withdraw, those who should rest may go, and those on patrol duty in the city may carry on!”
At Xue Meng’s order, the city guards who were sealing off the streets and alleys around Chuxiu Inn dispersed.
The presence of these city guards was only to prevent anyone from approaching Chuxiu Inn to bring word to that youth.
Now that the commander of the imperial guard and the Cloud Condor from the imperial court of Yunyang had arrived, there was no need to be concerned that someone would bring news to that youth.
It would be tempting death for someone to dare bring news to that youth now, and even if he were successful, that youth had lost the opportunity to flee.
Under these circ.u.mstances, there was no purpose for the group of city guards to maintain their presence here.
…
As the Cloud Condor carrying Xiao Jiancheng flew into the air over Chuxiu Inn, no less than twenty flying demons took off into the air surrounding Chuxiu Inn and approached Chuxiu Inn.
One or two people stood on the backs of each of these flying demons.
However, only two of these flying demons flew into the airs.p.a.ce bordering Chuxiu Inn, and the other flying demons could only fly around the surrounding area.
“This Cloud Condor is a Petty Consummation flying demon… the golden flame eagle, the level-seven flying demon raised by our Ouyang family, dares not go any further.”
An eagle covered with feathers like golden flames circled in the air around Chuxiu Inn. It was obviously a size smaller than the golden-crowned eagles, and two people were standing on it.
One was a middle-aged man, and the other was a young man.
The one who had sighed was the middle-aged man. He was of average build, wore a green robe and had long hair that was black as ink hanging over his shoulder. He stared at the Cloud Condor circling in the air above Chuxiu Inn with his sharp and far-sighted gaze.
“Patriarch Ouyang, that applies not only to the golden flame eagle of your Ouyang family… isn’t it the same for the level-seven white-headed vulture flying demon raised by our Lu family?” a cheerful voice piped up from nearby.
The speaker was another thin middle-aged man in a long grey robe with salt-and-pepper hair, looking at the middle-aged man standing on the back of the golden flame eagle with a slight smile.
This middle-aged man had also arrived standing on the back of a flying demon.
This flying demon was a vulture completely covered in black feathers, and only the feathers around its bare head were white. While circling in the air, it had caught the gaze of the Cloud Condor and also gave off waves of fear.
“I acknowledge Uncle Lu.”
Just then, the young man on the back of the golden flame eagle bowed respectfully to the middle-aged man in the grey robe on the back of the white-headed eagle.
“Haha… Qiuping has grown up so quickly. How is it? Any intention to take a wife yet? If not, Uncle Lu will choose a beautiful one from the Lu family, and just as well the Lu family can be related to your Ouyang family by marriage.”
The middle-aged man laughed heartily at the young man’s bow, an amicable expression on his face.
The three of them were from two of the three elite tyc.o.o.n families of the Chu royal city. They were Patriarch Ouyang Ye and First Young Master Ouyang Qiuping of the Ouyang family, and Patriarch Lu Yuanshan of the Lu family.
“Patriarch Lu, actually we should be content… in the Chu royal city, other than the Chu royal family which raises a level-eight flying demon, only the flying demons raised by our two families have that level of ability.”
At Lu Yuanshan’s words, Ouyang Ye glanced towards the east as he said with a smile, “Didn’t you see the patriarch of the Liu family standing on the back of the level-six flying demon gale bird, looking at Chuxiu Inn from such a distance?”
“What can he see at such a distance? I don’t know what excitement he can catch.”
Flying demons were notoriously difficult to rear.
Only the Chu royal family had managed to rear a level-eight flying demon in the entire Chu royal city or even the entire Western Ridge of the Chu king.
In any case, the Chu king had not ridden that flying demon because he knew that it would not dare approach the Cloud Condor or the golden-crowned eagles.
He might as well enter Chuxiu Inn himself, and this way he would be able to watch from the closest distance possible as the man sent by the imperial palace attacked and killed those two golden-crowned eagles and captured that youth.
In the entire Chu royal city, only the two elite tyc.o.o.n families, the Ouyang and Lu families, had level-seven flying demons.
As for the other families, they could only rear some level-five or level-six flying demons and could only look on from the outskirts of Chuxiu Inn.
“The Liu family originally had a level-seven flying demon… however, their little son roasted and ate the baby flying demon not long after it hatched.”
Lu Yuanshan laughed.
“The Chu king and Commander Xue are standing outside that guest apartment… it seems that the youth is staying in that apartment.”
Suddenly, Lu Yuanshan’s gaze sharpened, and he stared into Chuxiu Inn.
Now, due to the distance, he could only see four figures standing outside the courtyard of one of the guest apartments, and from the attire of the leading figure, it was not difficult to tell that he was the king of the Chu royal family, Xiang Xiong.
“We are closer than them, but we can barely see anything… Old Liu and the rest must surely have an even worse view.”
Ouyang Ye shook his head with a bitter smile.
“That can’t be helped… we cannot brazenly walk into Chuxiu Inn to gawk, can we? Even if the Chu king doesn’t mind, who is to say whether that man from the imperial court will take offense at the sight of us and do something unpleasant to us?”
Lu Yuanshan also broke out into a bitter smile. “He is a Great Consummation adept, even if he used just one arm, we would not be able to resist him.”
“Father! Uncle Lu!”
Just as Ouyang Ye and Lu Yuanshan were smiling bitterly at each other, Ouyang Qiuping spotted a commotion in Chuxiu Inn. “Look! It’s those two golden-crowned eagles! They were in the neighboring courtyard, now they are in the air above the courtyard where the Chu King and the others are at.”
When Ouyang Ye and Lu Yuanshan heard this, they refocused their gaze on Chuxiu Inn and saw that it was indeed the case. “It seems that youth is really staying in that guest apartment.”
…
In the courtyard of the second guest apartment.
A youth dressed in clothes whiter than snow was sitting at a stone table, contentedly sipping tea.
“Young Master!”
“Young Master!”
As the voices of his two companion demons reached him, in the sky above the courtyard, the youth appeared immediately with the two giant eagles, with pitch-black bodies and golden heads.
“Big Gold, Little Gold… it’s early in the morning, what are you fussing about?” the youth asked lazily, as he raised an eyebrow sluggishly, and swept a languid gaze over the two golden-crowned eagles circling in the air.
“Young Master, there is a Cloud Condor above, and it looks to be no weaker than us… it is probably also a Petty Consummation flying demon.”
Big Gold cast a wary glance at the air above him and continued, “The person on his back seems familiar, he is the human who was soundly defeated by Little Gold and I four years ago and left with his tail between his legs, a Great Consummation adept of the Qi-Gathering.”
“Big Brother, I remember that too now that you mentioned it.”
Little Gold looked at the sky above, and continued, “I also find this human familiar. That time, those people with him all had qi-gathering elixirs that increased the sense of qi by a hundred percent. That occasion was the largest bounty we had after living so long in the Lost Forest.”
Little Gold quickly looked back again. “However, with the qi-gathering elixir from Young Master, that kind of qi-gathering elixir is nothing more than rubbish.
“That Cloud Condor is descending!”
Following Big Gold’s warning, the Cloud Condor swooped down from on high into the air above the courtyard the youth was in, circling and keeping a watchful eye on Big Gold and Little Gold.
“You are Zhou Donghuang?”
On the Cloud Condor’s back, a robust middle-aged man with hair that was turning white, dressed in golden armor, looked down coldly on the youth sipping tea in the courtyard. He spoke in an interrogative tone.
This man and bird were the Great Consummation adept, Xiao Jiancheng and the Petty Consummation demon Cloud Condor sent by the imperial court of Yunyang.
Cras.h.!.+
Almost as soon as Xiao Jiancheng’s voice died away, the door of the courtyard of the second guest apartment was burst open by brute force. Crumbled stone was all over the floor and rubble rolled in all directions.
Immediately, four figures led by a middle-aged man in a dark gold dragon robe strode into the courtyard of the second guest apartment, staring ferociously at the youth.
“I was just saying that you were standing outside foolishly, not making a sound and not coming in… turns out that you were waiting for him.”
The youth spread his arms and stretched as he stood up unhurriedly, his gaze sweeping over the four people who had just come through the door, finally landing on the well-built man on the back of the Cloud Condor.
The four men led by Xiang Xiong could not help staring in shock when they heard the youth.
They knew then that the youth had long been aware of them.
“You, are you from the imperial court of Yunyang?”
The youth squinted as he stared at the well-built middle-aged man in golden armor on the Cloud Condor’s back, questioning him in an even tone.