Chapter 3 Departure

A week passed in a flash and Yun stood in front of his father in blood red robes. They were robes of the Blood Blade Sect and would act as a sort of cover while he was out on the escort mission.

"Have I made myself clear?" Tian asked as he stared his son down. He was still very much against this mission but turbulent times were ahead and he couldn't deny his son a chance to grow stronger. 'I hope you'll forgive me Hong'er.' Tian sighed inwardly.

"Yes! While on the mission protecting the Princess is the number one priority, but if I can't handle it I should run first. I can also use...................." Yun went on listing all that his father had told him. They'd already repeated this about 10 times so he was more or less just repeating himself at this point.

"Great you've recited everything, now I'll take you to the meeting location." Tian smiled satisfied that his son had finally remembered everything. The two then left the Clan Compound and used a secret route before appearing at a secluded area at the outskirts of the Capital.

Here there was already everyone present, from the Head of the Crimson Ember Clan to the Sect Mistress of the Unfathomable Illusion Sect. "Seems we're late again." Tian muttered before looking around, it seemed as though the King wasn't present.

"Come on we have to get going." From atop the 7 horses Fu's voice sounded, he was similarly dressed in blood red robes, and his beady eyes were staring at Yun annoyedly. Despite what one may think when looking at his father, Fu was actually quite lean and not at all fat. Although most assumed he'd grow into it eventually.

"Indeed they must leave immediately." A man clad in golden armour spoke out. Without missing a beat Yun mounted the horse before looking around him. It seemed as though he'd be taking the rear of the formation.

At the front of the formation were Xie and Fu, Yang the heir of the Crimson Ember Clan was positioned to the right, while Lan the heiress of the Blue Swallow Clan took the left, and lastly the 1st Princess Ling was at the center with the disciple of the Sect Mistress, Nyx, directly to her left.

"Okay, we must make haste we need to arrive at Copper Leaf by dawn." Fu declared before urging his horse forward. And with him the others all followed, they had already said their goodbyes after all. Well besides Yun.

"Bye father, I'll make sure to come back alive!" Yun waved before spurring his horse forward to catch up with the others. Standing at the exit Tian looked on with a complicated expression, but he soon dismissed his thoughts before looking at the man clad in golden armour.

"So fill me in, I refuse to believe we're actually letting the children protect the 1st Princess especially for such an important task. What's really going on?" Tian demanded an answer, the only reason he even ceded to this is because he knew there was something else at play and Yun would be mostly safe.

"Honestly I don't know, you can ask the other 5 esteemed guests here I know as much as you." The man clad in golden armour replied which caused Tian's face to fall. He then looked towards the others, but it seemed they were just as clueless as he was.

'This has to be some sick joke.....there's something I am not understanding here.' Tian thought, his instincts were rarely wrong and something was fishy here, he just didn't know what.

After exchanging some words, the 7 of them then headed back to their residences, they too had preparations to make for the upcoming war. They couldn't afford to idle around, their children and disciples had already made their decisions.

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"....Damn I am bored." Yun muttered, they had been riding their horses now for a good 4 hours so it was natural for him to get a bit agitated. 'Maybe I should've just stayed home and trained.' He pondered as he looked at his companions.

They weren't strangers, but they weren't exactly people he got along with either, in fact they were competitors in a sense. Xie for one, was slightly older than him and had recently reached the 9th Stage of Qi Gathering just as he was.

On the other hand Lan wasn't very outspoken and rather shy, Nyx hadn't spoke a word, and similarly Princess Ling would only say a few words and smile meekly. Fu was even worse, as he'd only speak if it pertained to the mission, and there was no hope in talking to Yang.

'Just because he can create a fireball he thinks he's special, I'll be able to do it too....one day at least.' Yun thought before touching his left breast which calmed him down considerably.

"We're turning here." Fu's voice sounded as they took a right heading into a forest path. "Now its your turn to lead Xie." Fu continued as he slowed his horse down slightly allowing Xie to take the lead.

Simultaneously 2 birds flew out of Lan's sleeves. "The Golden Forest? Where exactly is Copper Leaf?" Yun questioned, he'd never heard of the town and the Golden Forest wasn't the most friendly of places to put it lightly.

"Its on the border between the Blue River Kingdom and the Red Star Kingdom. Now lower your voice we have to be as quiet as possible." Fu explained as quickly as he could so as to try and reduce the noise.

'Red Star, if we're going to go through there things won't be as easy as I thought.....then again I didn't come here cause I thought it'd be easy.'