Captain Kwon first absent-mindedly looked at Gong Cui and then turned to Old Yen with a glint in his eyes.

“You will compensate for that, right?”

“Haha, of course”

Old Yen shook his head as he took out some coins, placing them on the same table as Captain Kwon nodded with satisfaction.

“Cui’er…”

Gong Liwei placed a hand over her face while Wu Long waved his hand to the guilty-looking maiden with a slightly lost expression holding the two halves of the flagpole to indicate it was fine.

As Gong Cui saw that gesture and reassuring smile she turned lively and happy again, giving him a thumbs up with a grin, the flagpole halves falling to the ground.

‘She is thinking that she will thank me by talking up my good sides to her sister, isn’t she?’

Wu Long thought as he wryly smiled, returning the gesture back to her and having an urge to laugh as he looked at this young lady.

“Let’s go”

Wu Long turned as he went toward the carriages that were brought to the other side of the encampment. They boarded the carriages as Old Yen and Butler Bang took the reigns and followed a small squad of warriors who were tasked with getting them through the conflict zone.

Captain Kwon looked on as the carriages went off into the distance, as a soldier who he stopped earlier came closer to him.

“Why stop there captain, if they have money we could just…”

“Are we bandits?!”

Captain Kwon fiercely looked to the man, as the latter cowered and stepped back.

“Not to mention, greed and lust are powerful driving forces, but lose control of them and they will drive you off a cliff. Remember what I told you, know who you are messing with.

Those people…”

Shivers went through captain Kwon as he remembered the shift in Wu Long’s eyes at the moment this idiot tried to say something untoward. The sheer dread he felt at that moment caused him to hasten his actions to stop the man, managing to salvage the situation at the very last moment.

“… they are not people that someone like us should ** around with, since, believe me… we don’t want to find out what lies beyond that”

Captain Kwon then sighed, trying to shake off the shivers that were still gripping him, and also shook his head at the stupidity he had to deal with as he turned to return to the camp.

—

“Mei’er, Xiang’er, do you two want to learn more about the saber techniques?”

Wu Long asked in the carriage, as the two looked at each other, and then nodded since they saw that Wu Long was training Hua Ziyan, Shen Min and Wei Lan at every opportunity they got outside of cultivation, dates and leisure time.

“Mengqi, would you like to train in the sword with me? With your talent you will quickly catch up to me”

Ye Ling also looked at Wu Mengqi who would have started jumping in joy if they were not sitting in the carriage.

“Sister Ling is the best!”

“Haha”

Ye Ling smiled as Wu Mengqi hugged her.

“Old Yen should have learned some of the techniques I gave him before by now, since he had time in the merchant town before, as well as on the way. I better train him a little if he wants to return as a triumphant man and not simply come back to get his ass whooped”

“Haha, I saw Butler Bang train him, though not much since he is also busy studying what you gave him, and their fighting styles are different as well”

Ye Ling chuckled as she too had a vivid image of Old Yen returning only to get beaten up by his former rival.

“Mm, I don’t plan to interfere in his battle with the rival, but I will remove the support he has…”

“Support?”

Cao Mei asked as she and her mother both widened their eyes while Wu Mengqi looked at him with a hint of curiosity in her gaze while Wei Lan slightly shook.

“Hmm, if my guess is correct, there should be a sect of Lust Cultivators in the Yen Kingdom, which serves as the support for the current king, Old Yen’s rival”

“Lust Cultivators? I thought you already destroyed their sect?”

Wei Lan uncomfortably cleaned her throat as she still felt a hint of dread at what her fate might have been if he did not show up.

“I did, on the Azure Eagle Continent, but that one is more recent, and likely less important to the one behind them than the one on this continent, remember how Nie You described them as a failure?”

Wu Long nodded and Wei Lan expressed a slight shock at remembering the conversation with the Imperial Prince.

“What makes you think there is a Lust Cultivation sect here?”

Ye Ling asked since she did not remember hearing any information about them being here.

“This conflict”

Wu Long turned to the window where the scenery of the conflict zone between two kingdoms was going by.

“It has been unresolved for hundreds of years already with even the Wood Spirit Empire not stopping it, indicating that there are larger interests at hand than simple squabble between royal families.

Were it a conflict that did not bring any benefits to someone it would have long since died down, or one side would have lost”

“You mean…”

“Yes, there are at least three sides profiting from this conflict, one of which is the Blood Demon Cult in the Gugong Kingdom as they need sacrifices to cultivate, and the other must be Lust Cultivators in the Yen Kingdom as they also need ‘cultivation resources’ which is why they are supporting or, more accurately, controlling the royal families, each having one king under them.

It is very easy for both to hide missing people that are required for their cultivation after all”

Wu Long nodded as Wei Lan gasped, slightly trembling from welling indignation.

“And the third?”

Ye Ling looked at Wu Long who wryly smiled.

“That I don’t know yet”

“You mean that there must be a merit for the Ministers of the Wood Spirit Empire?”

Cao Mei asked as Wu Long shrugged his shoulders and he nodded in return.

“Correct, the fact they are ignoring this conflict and leaving it unresolved without even trying to mediate is a behavior indicating that they do indeed have a stake, I just don’t know exactly what their involvement is”

As Wu Long was speaking the beauties descended into thoughts, the carriage turning silent for some time with only the sounds of the horses, wheels turning as well as rattling of the carriage creating a monotonous background noise.

“How certain are you about a Lust Cultivation sect?”

“Hmm, about three out of five? There is still a large portion of guessing in there”

Wu Long touched his chin with a pondering expression at Wei Lan’s question.

“If there is a Lust Cultivation Sect here, would you go there alone?”

Ye Ling asked next and Wu Long smiled knowing what she was thinking.

“Haha, you are thinking that this is a perfect opportunity for Hua Ziyan, Shen Min and Wei Lan to consolidate what they’ve learned and trained”

Wu Long chuckled and Ye Ling smiled as her thought was effortlessly read.

“Though I do hope to find an opportunity to break my limits, there is honestly little chance for it happening in that sect. So I have also been thinking about having them temper themselves in actual combat”

He then nodded, agreeing with her since the opportunity to gain real battle experience while Ye Ling and Wu Long had the complete control of the situation to protect them in cases of emergency would become rarer when they leave to the Seven Boundless Worlds and the higher their realms advance.

It was better to stack such experiences earlier on since then they would become formidable cultivators who did not need to be worried about, and thus be able to gain more experience on their own in more serious battles since they would not be under protection but an actual force. 𝓲𝓪𝙙.𝒄𝓸𝒎

The carriages passed through the conflict zone in a week and a half, since the route they had to take was quite complex, arriving at a camp of Yen Kingdom soldiers who were Captain Kwon’s associates in the smuggling business.

The group then traveled to the nearby city, the first city of the Yen Kingdom they would visit.