Having left the palace after getting so many different things from Yi Min, Xuan Hao decided to wait until he made it back to the Flying Sword Sect before reading through the rest of the book. The same with the map of the frozen wasteland he had been given. After all, he did not really have much use for any of those things at the moment…
The only thing he wanted to inspect immediately, was the beautiful silver sword Yi Min had given him as a thanks for helping out yesterday.
First and foremost, he did not want to end up encountering a powerful enemy on the way back. Only to be unable to fully use the sword that he had just obtained…
With this in mind, Xuan Hao took out the silver sword as he slowly made his way back towards the manor.
The silver sword that Yi Min had given him was not a Transcendent Grade Sword, something like that was simply way too precious and Xuan Hao did not really expect for her give him such a high grade sword in the first place.
However, even if it was not a Transcendent Grade Sword, it was by no means a bad sword. On the other hand, the silver sword should be at the Peak of the Mystic Grade just below the Transcendent Grade! Even if he surpassed the Domain Lord Realm in the future, he should be more than fine using the silver sword…
Not to mention, given the fact that Yi Min had made something like the silver sword, Xuan Hao believed that she might not be too far away from surpassing the Master Blacksmith Realm!
If she really managed to surpass the Master Blacksmith Realm, Xuan Hao could always come back and ask for a Transcendent Grade Sword in the future!
Thinking about all of this as he put away the silver sword, Xuan Hao felt like it was a good idea to get closer with Yi Min in the future…
…
"Let's get going, we should at least get out of the Iron Sky Kingdom before it starts getting dark!"
""Yes!""
Returning to the manor where Qing Yi and the rest of the elders were already waiting for him to return before leaving the capital city of the Iron Sky Kingdom, Xuan Hao did not intend to let them wait for any longer, as the group soon left the manor under his command.
"Li Yao!? Are you also leaving today? Didn't the Artisan Alchemist take you in as a disciple?"
Having left the manor, the group abruptly came to a stop almost the moment they had taken their first step out of the manor, as Qing Yi exclaimed loudly while making her way over to greet a young girl coming out from a similar manor to theirs located directly across from them.
"Q-Qing Yi?! Y-yeah, we are leaving today as well, I first need to talk with my parents before they can agree to let me study under Elder Fang…"
Watching the young girl nervously answer Qing Yi as she had run over, Xuan Hao did not know what to say, as he soon realized that the girl was none other than the young girl who had managed to place first in the alchemy competition!
She was even younger than Qing Yi, yet she had managed to take the first place in the alchemy competition!
Even if Xuan Hao had not witnessed how well she did in the competition, as most of his attention was on Qing Yi during the time he was there, Xuan Hao still felt impressed by the achievements of the young girl.
Not only that, but from the looks of it, Qing Yi seemed to have become quite good friends with the young Li Yao during the short period of time they had interacted with each other over the duration of the alchemy competition.
Thinking about this, Xuan Hao looked over towards the people walking together with Li Yao. From the looks of it, they should be Li Yao's elders or maybe family members who had come along with her.
"Hm?"
However, inspecting the group of old people on Li Yao's side, Xuan Hao could not help but frown. The group of old men and women looked extremely on edge, like someone was going to attack them at any given moment!
Not to mention the fact that almost all of them had reached the Nascent Soul Realm, there was also the formation that covered the capital. Any attack at the Nascent Soul Realm or above would cause it to instantly activate and at the same time alert Yi Min…
"Master! Can we go together with Li Yao? She said that her group are also leaving, and they will be moving in the same direction as us!"
"That's fine with me, but what did Li Yao's elders say about this?"
"Ehm…"
Seeing his disciple come up to him and ask him this, Xuan Hao could not help but smile a bit as he watched her make her way back over towards Li Yao currently talking with one of the elders walking just behind her.
"…"
Seeing Qing Yi make her way over the old man stopped talking, as he suddenly raised his head to stare at Xuan Hao with an unfriendly expression.
"Hah…"
Not knowing what to do when faced with the death stare of the random old man he had never seen before, Xuan Hao could not help but sigh to himself as he watched Qing Yi make her way back towards him after a small conversation with Li Yao.
"Master! Li Yao said it would be fine for us to go together with them!"
"Really?"
"Yes!"
Hearing his disciple say this, Xuan Hao could not help looking over towards the unfriendly looking old man who had stopped giving him a death stare and was instead talking with Li Yao with the expression of a kind old man.
He really had no idea what was up with the elders from Li Yao's side, but he decided to not really care about it for the moment. After all, for his disciple to make a new friend was a good thing and he wouldn't be the one to ruin it.
Li Yao also seemed like a kind girl compared to the older people who had come along with her…
"Well then, you can go over and chat with Li Yao, me and the other elders will go over and have a chat with the ones on Li Yao's side."
"Thank you master!"
Like this, the two groups of people making their way out of the capital merged into one.
After beginning to move together with the elders from Li Yao's side, Xuan Hao took the opportunity to talk with the old man who had given him what could almost be considered a death stare just a few minutes earlier.
Talking with him, Xuan Hao quickly learned the reason why they were so on edge. Even when still inside the formation that covered the capital of the Iron Sky Kingdom.
According to him, Li Yao, and the rest of them were a part of a large sect inside the Sky Empire called the Sunfire Sect. The reason that they were so on edge, was because several of the small kingdoms neighbouring the Sunfire Sect had turned hostile after discovering that Li Yao's mother, the sect master, had been injured during a battle with a powerful demon beast.
However, what had truly caused them to risk it all and offend a Domain Lord, was because it was rumoured that Li Yao's mother had gotten her hand on a source crystal!
In the end, they wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to destroy the Sunfire Sect and size the source crystal for an attempt to breakthrough to the Domain Lord Realm!
Things, however, did not go as planned… As even if she had been injured, Li Yao's mother was still a Domain Lord and had easily managed to repel the small kingdoms combined attack on her sect!
"… And, with things not going according to plan, these smaller kingdoms turned their attention towards her daughter that was currently on her way to the Iron Sky Kingdom. Wanting to kidnap her and use her to force the Sect Master to hand over the source crystal!"
"I understand, but how can you say something like that to me without fear? Are you not scared that we take the opportunity to kidnap Li Yao after hearing this?"
Hearing the joking tone in Xuan Hao's voice, the old man could not help rolling his eyes.
"Please… If the sect master really did have a source crystal, she would have already used it to recover from her injuries…"
"Haha, indeed, it's a wonder those kingdoms did not realize something simple like that yet."
"Maybe they did, maybe not… From what I can see, someone should be controlling those small kingdoms from behind the scenes!"
Talking with the old man, Xuan Hao could not help but feel a bit of pity towards Li Yao, it seemed like she would have quite a dangerous journey back home…