“Master, this is the information on Ding Nan.”
“Is this his current situation?”
A tall, capable-looking woman with a low ponytail and a flat chest presented a report with both hands.
The little girl sitting in the Flying Boat’s living room reached out and took the report.
The girl was small in stature, her hair was entirely white, and it was simply tied up with a Peach Wood Hairpin.
These two were none other than Lin Xihe and her Master, Lin Yue’er.
Lin Yue’er looked over the report.
“What is the deal with this Luo Yao by his side?” Looking at the report, Lin Yue’er frowned.
“They have not engaged in anything improper,” Lin Xihe stated the result directly.
Luo Yao’s origins and identity were clearly written in that report.
“None at all?”
“None. Whether they are out or at home, they maintain a simple master-servant relationship. Young Master Ding has been obsessed with cultivation and has no interest in romantic feelings, though the bond between the two is indeed deep,” Lin Xihe said.
Lin Yue’er stopped asking questions and stared at the report for a long time.
Then, her expression gradually became anxious.
She stood up abruptly and said, “I must go see him immediately!”
“I will go prepare the Flying Boat right away.”
“There is no need,” Lin Yue’er said.
“No Flying Boat? Do you mean… you intend to use a Teleportation Array?” Lin Xihe was stunned.
Teleportation Arrays were certainly convenient, but they were extremely expensive due to high maintenance costs.
They were currently located in the southern part of Zhongzhou, near Nanjiang, while the Tianfeng Dynasty was located in the southwest of the Western Barrens.
The distance between them was over 10,000 kilometers.
At such a distance, the consumption of Spirit Stones alone would be massive, not to mention the proportional taxes they would have to pay.
Lin Xihe wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, “Master, this single trip would cost our Medical Hall an entire year’s worth of income.”
As a long-famed powerhouse of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage, the Medical Hall Lin Yue’er established spanned the entire continent.
Usually, it treated the sick and saved lives, while occasionally buying and selling intelligence.
Its income was something even the current dynasties could only dream of.
If Lin Yue’er really used a Teleportation Array to cross 10,000 kilometers, Lin Xihe didn’t dare to imagine how wide the emperors along the way would be grinning.
Hearing this, the expression on Lin Yue’er’s indifferent face changed slightly.
Lin Xihe secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, her Master was usually frugal.
“Master, I will go prepare a Flying Shuttle instead,” Lin Xihe said.
A Flying Shuttle was a specialized, flattened version of a Flying Boat.
Its maximum speed could reach over 1,000 kilometers per day, making it the fastest mode of transportation currently available.
“A Flying Shuttle?” Lin Yue’er sighed softly.
“That will do.”
Five days and nights was already quite fast.
Lin Xihe left.
Lin Yue’er untied the Peach Wood Hairpin from her head and replaced it with a different one.
Although that wooden hairpin was related to him, he probably wouldn’t recognize it now anyway.
Leaving her own Flying Boat to travel a long distance, there was no guarantee the hairpin wouldn’t be damaged.
Lin Yue’er carefully put the Peach Wood Hairpin away.
One hour later, Lin Xihe had the Flying Shuttle ready.
Lin Yue’er boarded the shuttle-shaped, fully enclosed vessel.
“Master… is that person very important to you?”
Lin Xihe asked.
“Without him, the ‘me’ of today wouldn’t exist, and neither would you,” Lin Yue’er answered simply.
Lin Xihe’s expression changed slightly.
“Master, does Reincarnation actually exist in this world?”
“It does not. A cultivator has one life and one heart. Where would Reincarnation come from?”
Lin Yue’er closed the hatch.
Lin Xihe didn’t ask further.
She bowed to see her Master off.
As Lin Xihe operated the array, the Flying Shuttle slowly ascended.
In an instant, it carved a trail of afterimages across the sky, followed by the distinctive sound of the air being torn apart at hypersonic speeds.
The Flying Shuttle traveled at nearly Mach 5, and the High-grade Spirit Stones were consumed at an extremely rapid rate, though it was still much less than using a Teleportation Array.
Anxious to see him, Lin Yue’er didn’t eat or sleep for five days and nights, arriving at Qingquan City with extreme speed.
—
At Qingquan City, the Flying Shuttle moved slowly toward the city’s old and dilapidated port.
The City Lord of Qingquan, Qin Yangtai, was waiting with his team.
The middle-aged man, who wore a mustache and had a somewhat scholarly air, looked at the Flying Shuttle with visible unease.
These Flying Shuttles could only be operated by Soul Transformation Stage cultivators.
He had received notice in advance that someone had applied for a private Flying Shuttle route through the Tianfeng Dynasty’s special channels.
Shuttle routes were almost exclusively used by the government for urgent military matters.
For an individual to apply for one was as difficult as reaching the heavens.
To be able to influence the Tianfeng Dynasty as an individual meant that person was both incredibly wealthy and noble.
Qin Yangtai was only at the middle level of the Golden Core Stage, while even the strongest person in the Tianfeng Dynasty was only at the late level of the Soul Transformation Stage.
Furthermore, his superiors had told him that if he angered the other party, he wouldn’t need to worry about wearing his official hat anymore.
If not for that, Qin Yangtai wouldn’t have been so nervous.
The shuttle opened, and a cold-faced little girl jumped down.
She raised her hand and stored the Flying Shuttle into her Spatial Ring.
“We welcome Fairy Jade Frost!”
Qin Yangtai bowed and cupped his hands in greeting.
Behind him, a group of prominent high-ranking officials from Qingquan City followed suit, shouting the same words.
Lin Yue’er, with an expressionless face, walked toward Qin Yangtai with her short, thin legs.
“This is my Travel Document.”
Lin Yue’er took a python-skin document from her pocket and handed it to Qin Yangtai.
“Ah, uh… yes…”
Qin Yangtai looked at Lin Yue’er’s cold face and her small head, which only reached his waist.
For a moment, he thought of his youngest daughter.
‘Fairy Jade Frost really is like the rumors say—she looks like a little girl who’s still wet behind the ears.’
Moreover, he didn’t expect this ‘little girl’ to be so blunt.
She immediately handed over her Travel Document without any pleasantries, which made this old veteran of officialdom feel quite out of place.
“Stamp it quickly. Once it’s stamped, I have urgent business.”
Lin Yue’er gave Qin Yangtai a side-eye.
Qin Yangtai hurriedly took out his official seal and pressed a red stamp onto the Travel Document.
The moment Lin Yue’er took back the document, her figure vanished.
“Honored guest, you shouldn’t run that fast in the city… ah…”
Qin Yangtai was covered in sweat.
He suddenly felt a pain in his stomach.
Ordinary people used travel permits, but she used a Travel Document.
Since she used her strength to back up that document, how could Qin Yangtai dare to offend her?
And he couldn’t afford to offend his superiors either.
“Lord City Lord, what should we do?”
“Help me prepare my kneepads.”
the officials looked at each other before bowing and saying, “Your Excellency is wise!”
—
Lin Yue’er, who had hurriedly left the port, naturally flew toward the Ding Clan estate.
However, as she approached the Ding Clan territory, she began to fly slower and slower.
The closer she got to that place, the more unsettled her heart became.
She felt a sense of panic.
It was a feeling she hadn’t experienced in a very long time.
Lin Yue’er touched her hair.
She suddenly regretted not bringing that Peach Wood Hairpin.
Lin Yue’er looked down and could clearly see her own feet.
While she couldn’t be described as completely flat, there was only a slight curve.
‘No… if he doesn’t agree… then I’ll just have to use force!’
Lin Yue’er thought to herself.
She slowly landed in front of the gate to the courtyard where Ding Nan lived. She raised her hand, intending to knock on the door.
Click.
An odd sound echoed.
Lin Yue’er turned her head to look, only to see a person in black clothes and a bamboo hat, their face covered by black gauze, standing not far away with a hand on the hilt of a waist saber.