?”Eh?”

Qiu Yilao looked at the Spatial Ring in her palm, and then returned her gaze to Wu Long’s face.

“You didn’t find what you were looking for?”

“No, I got everything I needed”

“But…”

Her eyes revealed a confused look.

“…it’s only been five days…”

Wu Long simply smiled with a nod, confirming her words as her eyes widened.

“You can’t be serious…”

“I only needed to read through to memorize the contents, I can analyze everything after”

He chuckled at the lost expression she made, explaining while her mouth opened with no words coming out.

“Khm… Master”

Xue Bing lightly coughed into her fist and Qiu Yilao snapped out of it, recovering a composed expression.

“… anyway, thank you for returning it in such a short time. I must admit, not having it has proved to be far more stressful than I thought”

“It is understandable, this is the legacy of your Sect.

Now, let’s discuss our plans going forward.

I will be moving out to Fantian Kingdom in a few days, but the Sect is safe to stay in even without my presence, so you need not worry about the renegades pursuing you here or anyone else for that matter”

His words caused Qiu Yilao to slightly raise her eyebrows.

“You are not going to ask me about our decision?”

“I assume that decisions like that require far more than five days to be made, especially if it concerns changing the way you have lived for centuries and your ancestors have for millennia”

He shrugged, not expecting the results to come out by this time in the first place.

“You are a patient man.

Considering how much you have already done for us I would not have been surprised if you were a little more pushy with this matter…”

“It is not in my habits to leverage anything I do against someone I intend to have an alliance with”

“I did not expect to hear something that sounds idealistic from you”

“Hahaha, quite the contrary. It is extremely pragmatic.

Leveraging one’s deeds or merits to demand or even softly ask something in return is a transaction. Which is perfectly fine if that is your goal.

But if your goal is establishing a true alliance, it requires not only aligned interests or mutual benefit, but trust and goodwill. The latter part can be achieved by acts or deeds, but the nuance is different.

One is a binding, as well as enforced quid pro quo and another is true camaraderie not unlike true friendship or genuine relationship, the two don’t mix well in this particular manner”

Wu Long lightly laughed while Qiu Yilao first expressed surprise and then nodded with a pondering expression.

But as Wu Long bid the two farewell and came out of the room, he was soon notified of a talisman message reaching his communication jade.

‘Hah, what an attentive Master’

He lightly smiled at the fact the message was sent by Qiu Yilao, taking out a talisman and sending a very short affirmative message back. He then proceeded to go meet Song Lingfei with whom he had a prior appointment.

They went for a walk around the outskirts of the Sect enjoying the scenery as before, but as they passed a wooden bridge onto a stone platform carved from a mountainside…

“Eh? You are leaving again?”

Song Lingfei stopped to look at him after he told her about his imminent departure.

“Hahaha, I will be back here in a few weeks at most”

“…I see…”

The beauty slightly hesitated for a moment, lowering her head to think, but then her eyes behind the veil rose to look at him again.

“…Daoist Wu… will it be possible… for me to travel with you?

I-… I have long since wished to travel beyond the limited world I have seen.

Besides if Daoist Wu, Fairy Ziyan and Commander Feng would leave… n-not to mention that Fairy Mengqi is currently in the Fantian Kingdom as well…”

She finally asked, rapidly supplementing her reasoning right after, and causing a wry smile to touch his lips since he could see it coming from her expression right before.

“Hmm, I would not object if that is your wish, but will His Highness the Crown Prince agree?

Not to mention that this trip may not be as comfortable as Your Highness might think.

We would travel at high speed without rest until we reach our destination, and there would be likely no servants from the palace who could keep up so you would have to bear with the servants present in the mansion”

Wu Long’s words caused her first to almost jump up with joy, but a slightly lost expression appeared on her face next.

“Um… regarding Father… I will make sure to persuade him, and as for the rest… I-I would try to not hinder you in any way”

“I am not talking about hindering us or anything of the sort. I am simply worried such a trip would be uncomfortable for Your Highness”

He smiled, causing her to lightly blush and turn her eyes to the side. Even though she was wearing a veil, she could not get rid of the feeling that it did not hinder his vision of her at all.

“I- I must know what it is like to live outside the comfort of the Palace eventually. Though we have traveled so far out, my way of living here had little, if any, change

My only concern is if I would cause inconvenience to Daoist Wu…”

“Hahaha, of course not, Your Highness. If you say so, I will not ask any further, so the only thing left is to get the approval of His Imperial Highness”

“O-of course! I will get his approval right away!”

“Haha, let us finish our walk first, Your Highness. There is no need to rush, as there is still a day or two until departure”

“Ah… yes”

Song Lingfei once more turned her eyes away with subtly rosy cheeks under the veil as they continued their walk.