Before leaving, Li Jing carefully studied the map of the kingdom.
The Relentless Mountain was located northwest of the White Jade City, it meant that he had to leave the city by the North Gate. Moreover, since the journey there would take around two days, he would also need to make a stop before nightfall.
According to the map and his estimation, if he rode the whole day, he would be able to reach the Green Jade City before sunset.
Li Jing left his clan compound and crossed the city on horseback. At this hour of the day, there were not a lot of people outside and only a few shops were already open or begun to set up for business.
Since galloping was prohibited within the city, Li Jing had no other choice than to go to the North Gate by trotting and because his clan compound was quite far from this gate, it took him almost an hour to reach it.
Finally, after showing his clan token to the guards in front of the gate, Li Jing was allowed to leave the Sky Jade City.
After five minutes galloping along the road to the Green Jade City, he activated his Divine Sense to be sure that no one was following him.
A lot of people had a reason to follow him, it could be the shadow guards of his clan, even though he believed that his father would keep his promise and let him go alone. It could also be assassins from the Hong or Zhao clan since he offended them. He knew that Hong Mei and Zhao Yimou were crazy enough to hire assassins to kill even the heir of a Great Clan, they did it for Teng Fen in the web novel. Finally, it could also be Teng Fen's spies since he probably kept an eye on his clan.
He confirmed that no one was following him for now but since the range of his Divine Sense was limited to twenty-five meters, he couldn't tell for sure so he decided to activate it from time to time…
Li Jing thought that the landscape outside the city would be beautiful but it was actually quite empty. Sometimes he could see small villages in the distance but besides that, there was nothing else interesting to see except trees, pastures, and fields. There were also some people along the road, mostly merchant caravans and cultivators walking or riding horses but he just ignored them.
…
While Li Jing was hitting the road, the royal family and the powerful clans of the White Jade City were all busy preparing for the arrival of the four generals from the Heavenly Jewel Empire.
It was early in the afternoon when the city's inhabitants saw a giant silver eagle flying over the city and heading towards the Royal Palace. Seeing this huge and imposing beast, they all gasped in surprise but none of them was afraid because they all knew who the owners of this beast were.
This giant silver eagle was actually a Silver Cuirassed Eagle, a powerful tier-3 Demonic Beast. Four men releasing an imposing and domineering aura could be seen sitting on its back. They were obviously the four generals of the Heavenly Jewel Empire!
Although a cultivator in the Nascent Soul realm could fly, it would have been much less impressive to enter the city like that than on the back of a powerful Demonic Beast. After all, one of their goals was to show the domination of their empire.
The Silver Cuirassed Eagle landed in the middle of the Royal Palace and the four men got down of it.
The king and the leaders of the four Great clans were already there to greet them. All the heirs were also here, except for Li Jing. Li Bai gave the excuse that he was in closed-door cultivation.
"Welcome my lords, I hope you had a pleasant journey." Said the king. Each one of these generals was powerful enough to kill him and destroy the kingdom so he had to be very careful and polite with them.
The four men nodded and introduced themselves one after the other.
The strongest among them was named Zhuo Fan and looked to be in his thirties. He had a short beard, a small scar on the cheek, and his hair was tied into a bun attached by a luxurious accessory. He was in the Late stage of the first level of the Nascent Soul realm.
The other three men were named Yi Zhen, Song Ming, and Xu Jian. However, contrary to Zhuo Fan, they looked to be in their seventies with grey hair and grey beard and were only in the Early stage of the first level of the Nascent Soul realm.
The four generals all wore an impressive black and gold armor with two tigers' heads as shoulder pads. In the middle of their armor chest, was engraved a golden diamond, the symbol of the Heavenly Jewel Empire.
Once they finished their introduction, they followed the king towards the Reception Hall. A banquet had been prepared for them.
…
After a day of riding at a rapid pace, Li Jing could finally see the walls of the Green Jade City in the distance. He arrived exactly at the time he had planned since the sun had just started to set.
Li Jing thought that at this hour, the four generals of the Heavenly Jewel Empire should have already arrived in the White Jade City. In the web novel, it was during the banquet organized for them that princess Wang Qing Yue tried to befriend Teng Fen for the first time. But since the future has changed and she was now not interested in him, he doubted that it would happen…
The Green Jade City belonged to the Sky Jade Kingdom therefore it was based on the same model as the White Jade City. It was led by the king's cousin who acted as the City Lord, as well as the minor branches of the four Great Clans. The main differences were that this city was much smaller and less powerful than the White Jade City, which was normal since it was not the capital of the kingdom.
To enter the city there were two ways. The first way was if someone was a merchant or a citizen of the Sky Jade Kingdom, in that case, they could freely enter the city. The other way was to pay one Spirit Stone to obtain a temporary pass to stay in it.
Li Jing could have shown his clan token and even be hosted like a king in the branch of his clan but since he planned to travel incognito, he decided that he would pay the Spirit Stone to obtain the pass.
After greeting the gatekeeper and paying one Spirit Stone, he received the pass and finally entered the Green Jade City.
A few minutes later, Li Jing got off his horse. He noticed that the architecture of this city was exactly the same as the White Jade City. The buildings and houses were made of wood or stone and because it was almost night, there were not a lot of people in the streets.
Now, he needed to find an inn to spend the night.