He gulped but finally still answered. To his pleasant surprise, it was Yi Zan's face that appeared. "Yi Zan."
"Xiang Yong." Yi Zan inclined his head before getting to the point. "I hope I'm not bothering you. His Majesty just contacted me about Xiao Dong, asking whether I went over yet."
Xiang Yong slightly raised his brows. Normally, he would ask if there was some connection to His Highness but … He glanced at the people around him before turning back to the transmission stone. "I reckon you need somebody to take over your post. An Bai and I are currently in the mortal realm taking care of this matter with those demon-hunting sects. I don't know if Fu Heng and Fu Min …?"
Yi Zan's brows rose. "So you were in the mortal realm." Well, it figured. Their king had likely forgotten about that.
Xiang Yong gave a strained smile. He could imagine why Yi Zan was saying this. "I'm afraid that's the case. Don't worry about Xiao Dong too much. I saw him before we sent him back. He is quite weakened and his abilities will likely be set back by some time but with some rest and care, he should be able to get through this without permanent damage."
"That's good then." Yi Zan kept quiet for a moment. "How long will you be busy over in the mortal realm?"
Xiang Yong once again glanced at the people around him, his thoughts churning. Honestly, they had only arrived a short while ago so it was hard to say how long this would take. On the other hand, with the difference in time between the realms … "It shouldn't be long. Anyway, I will hurry over as soon as I'm finished. Naturally, we can't leave the safety of His Majesty's fiance to just anybody." He tried to look as serious as he could in front of those mortals even though he actually felt that His Majesty was being too much. He had blacklisted Fu Min because of one mistake and An Bai just for getting along with His Highness too well. Considering that the Son of Heaven currently wasn't even conscious right now, that was even more idiotic. Well, their king was just like that. Wherever the Son of Heaven was concerned, he would become unreasonable … even more than usual.
Yi Zan slightly hesitated at those words but finally figured out that most likely, Xiang Yong wasn't alone. It seemed they couldn't be completely open then. "Thank you very much. I'll wait here then and just contact my sister for now to get some more details."
"That would be good. Until later then."
The two of them said their goodbyes and Xiang Yong put the transmission stone away before looking up at the sky. He could understand that Yi Zan wanted to go over and have a look. Seriously, he shouldn't have to guard His Highness all the time. But then again, this was the person their king had fallen in love with. The fact that he cared so much about him was something he was thankful for. In fact, he wished this trial would be over soon. It was time that the Son of Heaven woke up again.
The envoys of the sects around them were exchanging meaningful glances. They didn't dare to discuss the matters of the dragon race in front of one of them but, Heavens, they were curious! What had they heard just now? The king of the dragon race was engaged? And he was so much in love with that fiance of his that he had people protect them and was very particular about who could and couldn't do so? And then there was also the fact that the person who was currently guarding that fiance had contacted the one in front of them which … could only mean this dragon was very, very close to the dragon king! To imagine they actually had the honor to meet a bigshot like this …
The only ones who weren't excited were Zhangsun Xun Yi and Fei Bai Mu who knew pretty well just who that dragon king was. Even though they had a feeling of awe toward the dragon race, it wasn't to this point of blind worship. Especially Zhangsun Xun Yi had long been disillusioned. It probably would have been a different matter if Jinde was the current dragon king but Qiu Ling …
While that disciple of his was strong, he did seem a bit scatterbrained and his thoughts weren't even on cultivating but only on that boy. It was as if nothing else existed in his mind. It was understandable when looking at what he knew about the dragon race but still. His expectations had been a little higher.
Anyway, that wasn't the problem right now. Seeing as the other dragon still hadn't returned, Zhangsun Xun Yi spoke up. "Do you need to return to the dragon realm? I'm sure we could handle this on our own …"
Xiang Yong flashed the Grandmaster a smile, thankful that he was making his task here easier. "Thank you for the offer but this is something that concerns our race as well. The Chun Feng Sect imprisoned not just one of our people but a row of people of the spirit beast tribe as well which is also under our king's rule. How could we just look past that and let you humans deal with everything? Our king is intent on getting to the bottom of this and giving the spirit beast tribe an explanation. That is the least we can do for them. So I am more than willing to take the time to see this to the end."
Zhangsun Xun Yi didn't feel that Qiu Ling had looked particularly interested in the spirit beast tribe but … well, this was helpful to them as well. "Then tell us if there is a way for us to speed up the process. We wouldn't want to take up more of your time than necessary."
"No worries. We can continue as soon as my friend finds what he was looking for and brings it back here. I think it shouldn't take long anymore."
He looked up, as did the people of the gathered sects, and indeed, just a few short moments later, the figure of a man with white hair appeared over the nearby forest and rushed over to the square in the Jian Yi Sect again.