What was supposed to be a quiet journey was now filled with yelling and bickering. Yi Ling didn't know what to think of it.
Linyu didn't go back to the Ring, afraid that the Green Viridis Tree might do something to his master. On the contrary, the Green Viridis Tree just wanted to be next to him. Linyu hated it, though. The guy is too overbearing, he thought.
"Your Highness" this.
"Your Highness!" that.
"YOUR HIGHNESS!!!"
...
.....
....
Linyu was about to explode. The guy was literally harassing him! He kept trying to touch him, hug him, and at one point even kiss him! Linyu could only keep dodging, avoiding, and staying silent. He didn't want to deal with it at all! But the guy was too strong for him! What's an insignificant Nascent to a Sainthood Stage? Like squishing an ant. He sighed.
Yi Ling was amused and annoyed at the same time. She kept sighing while walking as well. Her silent journey was going farther and farther away from her.
She did think about putting Linyu back in the Ring, but Linyu was adamant about staying. She also thought to make a contract with the Green Viridis Tree, but he wouldn't even look at her now that Linyu was around, and Linyu didn't want to live in the same place with the guy too. So he disagreed. She could only blame her luck.
The Green Viridis Tree wanted to know all about Linyu—where he grew up (more like where the tree grew until he became a spirit), his powers, his likes and dislikes, his hobbies, etc. At first, Linyu entertained him, wanting to know why he kept calling him his King. The Green Viridis Tree only said it was because the Red Lotus said so.
The Red Lotus was an old man, a Spirit Herb Elder, who usually told one story about a young maiden, who was the Goddess of the entire world. Being spiritual herbs, they served that same Goddess. It's rumored that before the Goddess disappeared, she left a seed. The seed was connected to the whole world, and that seed would be the King of all Spiritual Herbs. The seed was lost through time, but he said that a Deity kept the seed to make it grow. The spirit herbs would be able to recognize the seed when standing next to it. The seed would emit a particular aura of royalty. Nobody from the Spirit Herb town believed the story that the seed was still around. They believed that the Goddess and the seed existed but were now all gone.
He didn't believe it either, not until the day he met Linyu. Linyu emitted the same aura. He was indeed royalty. He tried to describe the aura, but it was hard. So he just said,
"It makes me addicted to you." He said it in a lover-like way.
Linyu literally choked when he heard this. He instantly punched the guy to keep him shut up. He felt a shiver running down his spine.
Yi Ling was amazed by the story. She did assume that Linyu's previous master was strong but not to this extent. She didn't mind when Linyu basically made the Green Viridis Tree shut up. After all, they were in the wilderness. Someone might be listening.
Linyu sighed in relief, seeing his master didn't say anything. That's when he started ignoring the annoying herb beside him. He couldn't help but be infuriated with him. He needed to get his master as far away as possible from this guy.
All three of them made their journey to the closest Mid-rank Kingdom. They all wore masks. Well, the Green Viridis Tree didn't want to feel left out, so he made a green mask from his own tree. Yi Ling and Linyu could only shake their heads. They did look pleasing to the eye.
At the tallest peak of Huaxia, one of the mountains belonging to the spiritual beasts' territory, there was a man wearing a black robe with gold hues. He smirked as he viewed the lands.
"This King is back. Let's see who dared to hurt this King..."