"Princess, so you are telling us that your friend was trapped in a tunnel at the bottom of the lake and that's why you crushed the Red Signal Crystal?" The masked man asked trying to confirm Xiao Wen story. When they heard that nothing is happening to the Princess Wen, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Earlier, before she could finish more and more experts were coming and landing near them, so when she finished there were already a dozen or so Saint Stage cultivators around her. There were a few tens of Xiao Family experts stationed in every Region to monitor the various businesses here.
Wuying easily discerned the facts as only those who had at least Saint Stage were capable of flight without any Spirit Artefacts. Wuying was also in shock seeing how much backup Xiao Wen could gather in a moment.
'Who is she?' Wuying wondered as she looked strangely at Xiao Wen. She started to calm down seeing so much help came.
"What are you asking questions for?! Why are you still not checking out what is going on down there?!" Xiao Wen threw a fireball at the masked man in anger but he dodged it tilting his head to the side.
"Y-yes, right away. Sai, your mastery of water element is the highest. Create a passage for us, so we can have a closer look. Lin and Jin your formations skills are the best. You will come with me to inspect the situation. The rest, prepare a lockdown in the area and don't let anyone unauthorized come inside" Seeing how much their princess care about this boy they didn't waste time anymore.
The masked man started to give orders as it seemed he was the highest in rank from them all. Everyone nodded and started working without questions.
"Also check if there is anyone else inside the forest, I don't want any disturbance in the valley."
At the same time as he said it, in the other part of the forest, a group of people in haggard clothes were surrounding Xuefeng clone. Their faces had surprise expression as they were chasing after him but suddenly Xuefeng stopped and showed no signs of movements.
"What? Are you finally giving up on escaping?" Crown Prince laughed in a hoarse and irritated voice. They already destroyed 3 clones and still couldn't find the real one. Every time he finds a wrong target, his hatred for Xuefeng increases.
"Crown Prince I think that's not the case. I think its the clone but he is too far away and can't control it anymore." One lackey commented.
"Hmm…" Crown Prince frowned and wanted to approach Xuefeng but suddenly halted when he saw it move. The moment Ling stopped controlling the clones, her Spirit Qi inside started to become chaotic.
The clone began to slowly disintegrate until it was completely gone.
"Fuck! We were being played by him for so long. He probably already killed the nightmare and left already." Crown Prince fumed when he realised Xuefeng scheme and sent an attack in the spot Xuefeng faded away.
"The whole valley is being closed for the time being. You have to leave." Suddenly a deep voice sounded from the sky as a Man in a black mask appeared above their heads.
"Fuck you too! Do you know who I am? My father is the Emperor!" Crown Prince cursed at the man in the sky disregarding the fact that he can fly. He was consumed by his anger and wanted to vent it on someone.
"Uhmm, sir we are not with him, so please let us go..." Crown Prince lackeys seeing the black man could actually fly, separated from him and decided to leave.
The masked man just waved his hand leaving them alone. He didn't care what happens with them.
"You guys…" Crown Prince looked at his "friends" who started pulling out their Spirit Beast tokens and spawning their aerial beasts for transport. They started flying away from the valley.
"If you want to die then don't put us together in the same situation." The last flunky to fly away called out to Crown Prince before joining others.
In seconds Zhen Ping was standing alone facing the Saint Expert. Only then he recalled that crucial information.
"I actually didn't mean those words I sa…aaargh..." Crown Prince tried to explain himself, but before he could finish, the masked man appeared next to him in a flash and hit him in the arm with two fingers. Crown Prince couldn't even react before he was overwhelmed by pain.
"I give you 10 seconds to leave, next time it will be your head." He warned without caring about Crown Prince Status.
"Y-yes…" Zhen Ping answered through his teeth pulling out his beast token with his other arm and releasing a rare rank 4 Lightning Sparrow. His injured arm was hanging down limply as he mounted the bird and commanded it to fly away.
"Aaaaaaaargh… Damn you Xuefeng! It is all your fault." Crown Prince cried loudly when he was already high in the air. He blamed everything on the person that made him come here.
...….
After some time passed from Xuefeng disappearing, the person of interest woke up from his unconsciousness. To his surprise, Xuefeng didn't find himself in the stomach of a Spirit Beast of some sort but in a nice smelling bed.
His head hurt, but overall he was alright. Xuefeng looked around the room and noticed that all types of furniture were made from the wood of different colours. They had various designs carved on them adding a unique vibe to the room.
He glanced through the opened window and saw that on the balcony connected to the room, there was a string with his clothes hanged up. Only then did Xuefeng realise that he was completely naked beneath the soft quilt.
He stood up from the bed and entered the balcony before grabbing his clothes. After he wore them, a strange view entered into his eyes. There were various humongous tree branches above his head as if he was inside a large tree house.
Xuefeng was scared what to expect but still approached the balcony railing. What he saw made him open his mouth wide in shock.
"Where am I…" Xuefeng gasped for air from the breathtaking view.