98 Hai Yun
"Senior Brother Quan Chen, you are already back?" A bald youth, who looked to be in his late twenties, had a look of surprise on his browless face as he respectfully stared at Quan Chen before fixating his gaze on the two new faces.
He had an intimidating spear on his right hand as he tried to scrape his mind for any information about the two young teenagers behind Senior Brother Quan Chen.
Quan Chen had left Broken Moon Clan under the guise of a Clan Mission and in just a day, he was already returning.
Who were those extremely young brats?
"Senior Brother, those two-" the bald guard had just begun to talk when Quan Chen abruptly interrupted him without care.
"I have already completed my mission. I didn't expect it to be so easy." Quan Chen replied casually before looking at the bald guard with a cold gaze.
It was a warning for the latter to stop being nosy.
"Just continue doing your work, baldy or else, you will unintentionally infringe on the interests of an Elder!" Quan Chen spat out his words with venom.
I am just doing my work, Senior Brother!
Aren't I supposed to be guarded against foreign faces entering the clan without permission?!
Even though the bald guard had such thoughts, he didn't dare to project them or else, he would risk suffering from the displeasure of the master behind Senior Brother Quan Chen.
With a submissive smile on his face, the bald guard apologized awkwardly.
"I am sorry Senior Brother Quan Chen, it seems that I was unnecessarily being nosy. Please forgive me!" The bald youth took a submissive approach since his status was massively lower than Quan Chen's despite being somehow acquainted with him.
Zhao Wei looked at the two without any change to his expression as he continued to enjoy the scenery and think about his next plans.
Those two probably had their own history together. Such kind of history wouldn't even make him feel curious or anything.
Within a sect system or even a legitimate clan system, people would always establish connections everywhere.
'Why do they call it Broken Moon Clan when it is in essence, a sect?' Zhao Wei mulled over the minor but strange issue inside his mind.
'Maybe it was a translation error or misinterpretation by either the translation team or the author. Well, I am not sure and it isn't like it affects anything.' Zhao Wei took a second to examine the plaque on the gate before his focus shifted to something else.
It didn't take long before Quan Chen led the two past the Main Gate before they arrived at a misty wonderland.
There were countless mountain ranges and those mountains were the sources of the mist partially covering most of the lands. Sky Moon Mountain - which they were currently on - was the tallest mountain in sight so it was used as the main base of operation by the Broken Moon Clan.
'Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth.' Zhao Wei noted. The sudden knowledge was almost instinctive to him. It was as if he had always known what the mist was.
There were small rivers with clear water flowing down the mountains.
Graceful white cranes of astounding beauty flew in the sky carefreely, effortlessly flaunting their presence.
The melodious songs of the Nine Tunes Golden Sparrow could be heard over the distance and anyone who heard its symphony would feel their mind relaxing.
A troop of mischievous monkeys could be seen moving from tree to tree while chattering utter gibberish to their playful companions.
Zhao Wei also noticed that some smaller mountains had been modified for farming practices as seen by the perfectly created terraces.
They were all sorts of spiritual plants being grown and actively being taken care of by manual labourers.
It reminded him of Earth and agriculture.
It was truly wondrous to him.
At the back of his mind, Zhao Wei promised himself to one day try mortal farming.
Within the mundane lies wisdom, as he would like to say.
It was honestly partly bullsh*t and partly truthful.
The group of three silently walked past a few disciples who looked at them with curiosity and awe.
"This is the Outer Clan Division where you will find outer disciples. The clan higher ups usually don't concern themselves with their existence unless… you are a gem capable of being polished inside the Inner Court." Quan Chen explained with a lackluster voice, disdain hidden deep in his words.
"Only by being an Inner Disciple can you truly enjoy the vast resources of the clan via which you will grow stronger fast."
Bei Moi nodded in understanding while listening before his attention got caught by the Floating Palace in the sky.
"Senior Brother Chen, what is that building in the sky?" Bei Moi swallowed his pride and asked Quan Chen due to the curiosity bubbling inside of him.
It gave some ancient vibes that were hard to ignore.
He had an intuition that there might be something good up there.
It was a genius's intuition!
If there was something that cultivators were terrifyingly aware of, then it would be treasures and fortuitous encounters!
Anyone with the word 'genius' as their middle name shouldn't ever be underestimated.
Zhao Wei saw the changes in Bei Moi's micro expressions and he couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking about.
From his tone when he had asked about the Floating Crest Palace, Zhao Wei had picked up various emotions ranging from wonder, anticipation and… slight excitement.
"That's the Floating Crest Palace, one of the forbidden grounds of the clan. Within it lies both danger and exciting opportunities. Not just anyone can enter it." Quan Chen shared that piece of information with longing in his voice.
After that, he didn't explain further as he led the two into a region with more sense of spirituality and less people.
Soon, they arrived at an isolated hill that was paved with one huge path that led uphill.
Atop the hill was a huge, beautifully built house that seemed to subtly shine under the gentle rays of the morning sun.
"Senior Brother Quan, the Elder has been waiting for you. He had anticipated that you would arrive early." A guard, dressed in black and purple armour, with a long sword strapped on his waist, amiably greeted Quan Chen.
There was a brief change in Quan Chen's facial expression before he calmly nodded at the guard.
"You two, follow me." Without looking back, Quan Chen instructed both Bei Moi and Zhao Wei to follow him inside lest they wonder off.
The courtyard inside was spacious and clean.
There was a 5 by 5 meter pond and a well-maintained beautiful garden placed far wide in the courtyard.
The invigorating scent of the translucent almost illusory Qingxin flowers in the garden wafted by the noses of the three individuals as they took a second to marvel at the new environment.
Spiritual bees could be seen happily buzzing as they facilitated cross-pollination from one flower to another.
Quan Chen was the first to escape from the piece of scenic wonder as his eyes locked on the almost inconspicuous figure of a handsome young man who seemed to be between age 20 to 30 years.
He was clad in pure white robes that were speckless and bereft of any dust or pollen.
His hands were placed behind his back as he deeply gazed at the small ripples on water surface of the small pond.
The golden carps swimming within seemed to be unaware of his soft, absent-minded gaze.
The young man was Hai Yun, the youngest elder in the Broken Moon Clan and the master of Quan Chen!
A special aura radiated off him as if he was one with his surroundings, as if he was an integral part of everything in the courtyard.
That was the essence of a True Spirit!
"Quan Chen, are you going to stay there without speaking anything? When are you going to introduce the two young friends?" A soft yet cold voice sounded from Hai Yun before he swiftly appeared in front of the three.
When did he-?
The three were immensely shocked!
Did he just cover 30 meters in an instant?!
It almost felt like… Teleportation?
***
