In the end, neither of them could figure the other out and the group finally left in the afternoon with Jinde still covering his eyes and hair with the veiled hat. The group walked over to the edge of the town and the person that had talked to Jinde before took out something that looked like a dried leaf. When he imbued his spiritual energy, the shriveled up surface turned back to a brighter green color and grew until it was big enough to seat all of them. The man motioned at the leaf and gave Jinde a smile. "This is our sect's spiritual artifact. Get on and have a look around. We won't need long to get to the Liu He Alliance.
Jinde nodded and followed the other men onto the leaf. He sat down cross-legged and indeed took a look around when the leaf rose into the air and departed from the town, traveling further to the north.
Looking at the landscape, Jinde couldn't help but feel lost. All of this … He had never seen it before. Either Chun Yin had taken him to a completely different place in the mortal realm back then or things had really changed a lot. If he had really needed to go there alone, it would have been difficult. In that regard, he could count himself lucky that he had met this group of demon hunters. Now, he only had to hope that nothing would happen that gave him away and ended up with getting him killed.
The man from before sat down next to him and motioned to the ground below them. "Do you recognize anything?"
Jinde shook his head. "I haven't left the sect in a long time. Everything seems …" He shook his head and didn't speak any further. What he said wasn't wrong so there shouldn't be any way for these people to detect that his story was mostly made up.
The man nodded but didn't know what else to say. The two of them fell silent once again. The other disciples talked silently among themselves and the spiritual artifact continued to glide through the sky.
Jinde closed his eyes and took in the spiritual energy from the air around them. His spiritual ability had always been high so he would be able to make up for the energy he had lost soon. Maybe he would even have recovered it by the time they arrived at the alliance. This was also good. Not spending his energy and even being able to restore it … If it really came to a fight, he wouldn't be completely helpless.
Jinde couldn't help but sigh lightly. Ah, who would have thought that he would ever be in this kind of situation where he would need to be afraid of a few mortals? He had been born as a proud member of the dragon race, he had even been crowned their king but now he had fallen this deeply. It really was hard to stomach when he thought about it like this.
Well, he couldn't change it anymore. What was the use in worrying about it? And soon, it wouldn't be important anymore. He would be able to heal his soul and then his strength would return bit by bit. Afterward, he would be the same as before. He just needed to hold on a little while longer.
The man next to him looked over again and wanted to speak up but when he noticed the energy fluctuations around Jinde, he kept quiet. It seemed there was no way to converse with this person. Well, some cultivators were like that. They didn't like to interact with others too much. He also couldn't fault him. Making new friends was always a good thing but if the other person didn't want to, there was nothing he could do. Anyway, he felt that it was the right thing to bring this person to the place he needed to be since it was on their way. Everything else, he'd see about that later.
Soon enough the Long kingdom was left behind and they got closer to the territory of the Liu He Alliance. Compared to the Yun Zou Sect, this cultivation sect was ranked much higher. Actually, there was no way to compare the two sects. Originally, the Liu He Alliance had been made up of several cultivation sects that ranked among the first- and second-tier sects. Because one of the entrances to the demon realm wasn't too far away and demonic beasts tended to invade this part of the land, the sects finally formed an alliance, catapulting them right up to those sects that weren't even categorized in tiers.
The disciples on the spiritual artifact couldn't help but grow excited when they saw the sect appear in front of them. The sect grounds of the Liu He Alliance were different from any of the other sects. They weren't concentrated in one spot but instead dotted the land like stones that had been casually thrown in a pond. It truly was a sight to behold! Ah, if not for the person they had picked up, they might never have seen this. In that regard, they were really happy that their senior martial brother had made them go over and do so in the town.
The man next to Jinde finally spoke up again. "This is the territory of the Liu He Alliance. The person you want to see …"
Jinde opened his eyes and looked around. He didn't know anything about the alliance other than the fact that it was prominent and that Jin Yu had some relationship with the person he had sent him to see. Looking at it now, it really was much bigger than the Yun Zou Sect. "That would be Alliance Head Hua."
The man nodded and the leaf swerved to the right, approaching a mountain peak that stood out from the otherwise flat land like a finger pointing up at the sky. "I hope I'm not wrong but as far as I know, Alliance Head Hua is residing on the solitary peak. We should go and ask there. If I'm wrong and this actually isn't the place, then we will bring you over to wherever they point us."
Jinde nodded. "Thank you for your help once again. Without you, I'm afraid I really wouldn't have made it." He couldn't help but sigh again. Leng Jin Yu really thought too much of him in this regard. Even though he might not be helpless, the mortal realm really wasn't a place he knew well. Asking him to find a person in such a place, it really was quite a daunting task.
The man just smiled in response and the leaf finally landed not far from the towering mountain. The disciples got down, eagerly looking around. This might be the only chance to ever take a look at the Liu He Alliance with a valid explanation. They should treasure this opportunity well!
The man turned to Jinde and cupped his fists. "I hope you don't mind if we accompany you over to the entrance. Since we've come to their sect grounds with such a large group, I feel that we should explain to the people of the Liu He Alliance."
Jinde nodded. Honestly, he didn't care too much if these people followed him or not. They had really helped him to get here and hadn't done anything suspicious. There was no need for him to be wary any longer now that he was here. Letting them accompany him for the last bit of the way certainly wasn't too much.
The group of people made their way over to the path leading up the mountain. A disciple in a blue robe with white lines decorating the hem and his lapel stood there and cupped his fists when they approached.
"Greetings, fellow cultivators. My ask who you are and why you've come to our Liu He Alliance's Solitary Peak?"
Jinde stepped forward together with the other man and cupped his fists in response. "I've been sent by the Yun Zou Sect and am here to see Alliance Head Hua." He didn't say his name. With Jin Ling still searching for him, it was better if he didn't mention it. The only person that he might be able to tell was that Alliance Head if he could make sure that nobody else was around. Everything else was much too dangerous.
Although Jinde had a good reason, the other two men couldn't help but take a look at him. Wanting to see the Master governing one of the sections of the Liu He Alliance but not even saying his own name, that surely was something they had never seen before!