Lu Yin felt embarrassed that he'd only gotten a job as a coachman after spending so much money. Thankfully, he'd managed to sneak into the Reverent King's entourage, and all he had to do was follow them to the capital.
Being a coachman was a challenging job, or at least that was what Lu Yin thought.
It had already been two days since they arrived at the Reverent King's Residence. Just yesterday afternoon, the fleet of carriages had finished assembling. The carriages stretched for several miles, carrying countless goods as they headed towards Mingdu. On both sides of the carriages were the Shanhai City Army and the Reverent King's Residence's private soldiers. Even further away were the experts that the Reverent King's Residence had recruited. There were at least a thousand of them, and almost all of them were Martial King experts.
Lu Yin could not understand how the Shenwu Continent had managed to produce so many experts. If they had only used martial crystals, then they would not have been able to nurture so many Martial King experts. Even though the Great Yu Empire encompassed thirteen filaments and countless planets, it would still be difficult for them to casually gather over a thousand Limiteers who were free cultivators. This could only be attributed to the speed at which martial power was absorbed. Perhaps the Shenwu Continent's natives were able to absorb martial power from the void much faster than outsiders like them.
As he thought about it, he noticed that the carriage had deviated slightly. Lu Yin raised his hand and whipped the carriage back to its original course. He had been working with this horse for the past two days. At first, it had been very difficult to control, and he had only been able to forcefully control it with his martial power. However, he had slowly realized that it was not that difficult to control the horse, and it was actually quite interesting. Since he couldn't cultivate in the Reverent King's Residence, he might as well treat himself as a coachman.
His performance had even won the praise of Butler Seven. The more he looked at him, the more he liked him. Earlier, Butler Seven had even come looking for him, saying that he wanted to keep him in the Reverent King's Residence.
Three days passed by peacefully, and the Reverent King's convoy had already left Shanhai City, traveling on the official road to Ming Zhou. The wide road was flat, and there were local troops protecting it from time to time.
Lu Yin hadn't seen Ming Yan for the past three days; she had been in her carriage the entire time.
The military carriage was pulled by a kind of strange beast known as the He Beast. It was usually used by the Reverent King, Ming Zhaoshu. At this moment, Ming Yan and Ming Zhaoshu were inside the military carriage.
The coachmen in the Reverent King's Residence had their own promotion system, and Lu Yin was the lowest ranked coachman. There were other coachmen above him, such as government coachmen, military coachmen, family coachmen, and so on. The highest ranked coachmen were military coachmen. Lu Yin actually wanted to be a military coachman, but those coachmen were all cultivators, and even Steward Seven had to treat them with respect.
While Lu Yin was lost in his thoughts, a wave of energy swept past him. This was the power of the heavenly globes, and Lu Yin had come into contact with it countless times. Suddenly, a light shone from a tea stall on the side of the road. There was a repelling reaction, and Lu Yin looked over in surprise.
At the tea stall, a young woman suddenly stood up. Her expression changed drastically as she rushed into the distance.
"Hold on tight." Ming Zhaoshu's deep voice came from the carriage.
Tang Si leaped into the air and swung the spear in his hand. The spear arced through the air and seemed to cause ripples in the air as it pierced towards the woman.
The woman gritted her teeth, turned around, and stabbed out with her sword. The sound of metal clashing resounded, and dazzling sparks flew out. The sword was broken by the spear, and the tip of the spear swept past the woman's arm, bringing out a trace of blood. She was thrown dozens of meters away, heavily smashing into the ground, and spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Lu Yin's eyes narrowed. The difference between this woman and Tang Si was too great. Tang Si was comparable to a student leader of the Astral Combat Academy, but this woman was not even at the level of an Area Master. She should be from the Outerverse. She was done for.
Tang Si landed on the ground and picked up his spear as he slowly approached the woman.
The woman felt bitter. If she had known this would happen, she would not have participated in this trial. The Outerverse's trials were indeed not something that could be touched by ordinary people. She was considered the most outstanding person in her own country, but she was still far from being able to compete in a trial of this level.
"Surrender, or die." Tang Si's cold voice rang out as the tip of his spear was only an inch away from the woman's face.
The woman helplessly stood up. Of course, she did not want to die.
At that moment, several figures rushed over from the distance. Tang Si looked over, and a trace of astonishment flashed through his eyes as he turned back to look at the carriage.
Ming Zhaoshu lifted the gauze curtain and saw the figures. They were the Ming Vanguard from the Ming Constables.
There were a total of five people, and all of them were Martial Kings. One of them was definitely not weaker than the woman, and he respectfully greeted the carriage, "The Ming Vanguard greets the Reverent King."
"Why are you here?" Ming Zhaoshu was curious.
"We've been tracking this outsider. Thank you, Your Highness, for capturing this person for us."
Ming Zhaoshu lowered the gauze curtain. "Let's go."
Tang Si glanced at the Ming Vanguard and then coldly left.
The woman's face was deathly pale. If she had been captured by the Reverent King, then she might have had a chance to live. However, if she had fallen into the hands of the Ming Vanguard, then it would be a different story. She had been on the Shenwu Continent for half a month, and she had heard too many rumors about the Ming Vanguard. They were a bloodthirsty organization that specialized in killing trialtakers.
Lu Yin looked at her with pity. He was well aware of the Ming Vanguard's brutality, and this woman would definitely not have a good ending. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to help her.
The convoy continued forward, and soon, the woman and the Ming Vanguard disappeared from Lu Yin's sight.
At that moment, Lu Yin was more concerned about Tang Si, who was ranked eighth on the List of Tempering. This person was very strong, and if he had been placed in the Astral Combat Tournament, he would have been able to rank within the top sixteen, and he would have been qualified to fight against the student leaders of the various academies. The Shenwu Continent was truly a mystical place. It possessed martial power that surpassed star energy, and it had even nurtured so many powerhouses. It was no wonder why it could resist the entire Darkmist Weave and why even the powerhouses of the Innerverse had failed.
The more Lu Yin understood about the Shenwu Continent, the more he did not want to treat this trial as a mere trial. The Shenwu Continent was not too far from the Frostwave Weave of the Great Yu Empire, and it was also very close to the Astral River. This geographical location was rather important, and it would be good if he could gain some status here.
The only thing this continent lacked was technology. Once technology caught up, the strength of this continent would be enough to raise the overall strength of the Darkmist Weave to a whole new level.
The sky gradually darkened, and the convoy rested. They were still quite a distance away from the next city, and they would need to cross over two mountains. It was impossible for them to reach their destination before nightfall, so it was likely that they would rest here for the night.
This continent's space was stable, and even Explorers could not tear it apart. This was not a good thing for the invaders from the Darkmist Weave, but it also had its disadvantages for the Shenwu Continent itself. They could not create spatial items, and they could not create things like cosmic rings. Thus, they could only carry items around with them, which was very inconvenient.
Night fell, and the roars of beasts could be heard everywhere. Occasionally, huge creatures would fly across the sky, stirring up strong winds.
Lu Yin rested in the carriage, and before long, Butler Seven arrived.
"Damn it, that snobbish bastard! If I hadn't promoted him back then, how could he have become a carriage driver? He actually forbade me from getting close. Bah!" Butler Seven angrily rebuked as he sat down next to Lu Yin.
Lu Yin was curious. "Who dares to anger you, Butler Seven?"
"It's that carriage driver! I wanted to pay my respects to His Highness and the Princess, but I was actually rejected. Bah!" Butler Seven was furious, and his face turned ashen.
Lu Yin glanced at the huge carriage in the distance and saw a middle-aged man behind the He Beast. He was the carriage driver. "Why aren't His Highness and the Princess coming down?"
Butler Seven casually answered, "Of course it's to protect the Princess' reputation."
"What's wrong with the Princess?" Lu Yin asked as he recalled the rumors he had heard in Taicang City.
Butler Seven carefully looked around and whispered, "The Princess' reputation has been ruined, and she doesn't dare to come down for the entire journey. She's afraid that Crown Prince Ming Hao's people will use this against her and stir up trouble."
"Crown Prince Ming Hao?
Isn't he His Highness's junior?
Is there a conflict between them? "
Lu Yin asked curiously as he took out a jug of wine. He had specially bought this jug of wine to curry favor with Butler Seven.
Butler Seven smiled when he saw the wine and took a big gulp before wiping his mouth. "This is no secret in the empire. Ever since His Majesty went to the Central Planet to defend against foreign enemies, all of the empire's affairs have been concentrated in the Crown Prince's residence. The excessive centralization of power has caused a group of old officials in the court to be dissatisfied, and they believe that power should be concentrated in the palace instead of outside. Many of them pushed His Highness out, and since then, Crown Prince Ming Hao has hated His Highness and has been opposing His Highness everywhere."
Lu Yin muttered to himself. This was not what Wu Xia's memories had told him. Although Lu Yin could not remember it clearly and only had a rough idea of what had happened, it seemed like Crown Prince Ming Hao had been targeting a certain person and was very wary of him. Could this person be the Reverent King? If it really was the Reverent King, then it would not be as simple as hatred, but rather fear. Ming Hao wanted to prevent the Reverent King from rising to power.
"There are many people from the Crown Prince's residence in our prince's residence. His Highness also knows about it, but he has never asked about it. Who would have thought that some time ago, an outsider would take advantage of the princess's innocence, and the Crown Prince would wantonly spread the news, causing the princess's reputation to be ruined.
Butler Seven sighed. Lu Yin felt even more apologetic. An accident had involved an innocent girl in a fight, and she would have to bear the reputation of having her reputation ruined for the rest of her life. The Shenwu Continent placed too much importance on a girl's reputation, and this was the result of not having a clear mind.
"Right, what about Tang Si?
He seems to be very powerful. "
Butler Seven nodded. "No one knows where he came from, but he is indeed very powerful. Almost no one in the Martial King realm is a match for him, and the fact that he is ranked eighth on the List of Tempering is not an exaggeration. Do you know how many Martial Kings there are in the empire?
The older generation of Martial Kings cannot be compared to the younger generation in terms of experience and techniques. However, Tang Si still managed to suppress countless Martial Kings and reach the eighth position. He is very terrifying, and he is second only to His Highness in the Reverent King's residence. "
…
The mountain roads were not easy to traverse, but with the army clearing the way, the convoy still managed to enter the city after a day.
"As long as we pass through Fan City, we will enter Ming Island, and after another month of travel, we will reach the capital." Butler Seven was delighted as he spoke to Lu Yin. He liked chatting with Lu Yin, as he felt that Lu Yin was smart, generous, and knew how to flatter others. He was very much to Butler Seven's liking, and he decided that he would definitely bring this young man into the Reverent King's residence and groom him as his successor.
Lu Yin looked at the tall city in front of him and looked up at the heavenly globe. From time to time, ripples would sweep across it, and he wondered if there were any trialtakers in this city.
Fan City had already arranged a place for the convoy to stay, and Lu Yin had just finished his meal when Butler Seven called him to the side. "Little Seven, His Highness just instructed me to find a few coachmen to follow the princess out for a walk. Do you want to go?"
Lu Yin was delighted. "Of course! Thank you, Butler Seven."
Butler Seven smiled in satisfaction. "The princess needs to keep a low profile when she goes out. Aside from Tang Si, there will only be one maid and a few coachmen. Remember, be smart and don't cause trouble."
Lu Yin immediately agreed.