Before I could leave the royal palace and get ready for the mission to slay the spirit beast of Mount Sunset, the Emperor raised a hand to stop me.
"To be honest, the reason why I proposed the marriage between you and my daughter is so that you can enter the secret realm."
"Secret realm?" I asked, puzzled. "Which secret realm?"
"The royal one." The Emperor paused for a moment, weighing his words. "We have a royal secret realm that is accessible only to the people of the royal family. You wouldn't be legible unless you marry a royal family member. It's a pity because I think you would have benefited a lot from the opportunities, techniques, treasures and elixirs in there."
"Thank you very much. I appreciate the sentiment, but I think it is fine. I believe that it is more important for me to work hard instead of relying on opportunities, elixirs and treasures. In fact, I never take elixirs. Nonetheless, I appreciate the thought, but it's more important for me to serve the people than to look for my own benefits."
Honestly, I didn't need it.
The Emperor burst out laughing.
"Excellent. I'm so glad my Huang Kingdom has someone like you. Really, youngsters should emulate your behavior. I've seen too many protagonists…ahem, I mean arrogant geniuses be self-centered, thinking only of their benefits or whatever advantages they can squeeze out. If the mission doesn't offer any benefits or rewards, then they would arrogantly turn it down, saying that we are not worthy of asking them for favors and condescendingly leave."
Yeah, that sounded like almost every single cultivation story protagonist ever…
Also, did the Emperor just make a slip and accidentally break the fourth wall?
"All right…I'll be counting on you then. I'll wait for the good news." The Emperor smiled and leaned back against his throne. I bowed my head humbly. He looked at Lan Bei Er and also greeted her warmly. "Take care of your husband, lady Lan Bei Er."
"I will, your majesty."
"You are a very lucky girl."
"I know." Lan Bei Er kept her head lowered respectfully. The Emperor chuckled and then dismissed us. We then departed from the royal hall. Huang Qian Jin and Hui Ying met us outside after a few words with the Emperor.
"Are you sure about this, brother Hei?" Huang Qian Jin asked. I frowned.
"Why? Is there a reason why I shouldn't accept this mission?" I then realized something and lowered my voice. "Is this a trap? Somebody wants to set me up?"
"Oh, no!" Huang Qian Jin was shocked and he frantically shook his head. "Sorry, that's not what I meant. I'm just worried. The spirit beast seems to be Saint Realm at least. I know you're strong, brother Hei, but you're not Saint Realm yet, are you?"
"No, not yet." I considered my predicament for a moment. "Should I try to attain Saint Realm before facing the spirit beast?"
"It's highly recommended that you do so," Hui Ying said. Then he did a double take. "You're talking as if attaining Saint Realm is but a simple matter that can be done almost immediately."
"Oh, I'm not saying it'll be easy, and of course I'm aware that it'll take some time for me to breakthrough to Saint Realm. Unfortunately, I don't think the residents of West Gate City can wait that long. The spirit beast will probably eat all of them before that happens, which defeats the purpose of my acceptance of the task in the first place."
And if the Saint Realm spirit beast really devoured all of the residents in West Gate City, it might even ascend to Devouring Realm. Yes, that was a reference to a manhua of the same name. The one with a white-haired protagonist called Qiu Lin. Yeah, it had the usual "protagonist with cheats who goes back in time to redo" trope, but it was actually a great read and better than the usual harem power-fantasies that infested the Internet. I personally would recommend it. Especially since there was no harem and Qiu Lin remained devoted to just one girl. Sure, there was another girl in love with him, but she ended up with Qiu Lin's good friend, Lubys…
Never mind, I shouldn't be spoiling another manhua here. Just go read it yourself. Wait, where can you read it, you ask? Well, Google is your best friend. Just search for Devouring Realm manhua and it should show up.
"Hello?" Huang Qian Jin was waving his hand at me. I realized that I had drifted off to a world of my own again. A great world filled with manhua, to be sure, but reality called.
"Yeah, I'll do my best. If anything, I'll just use formations and arrays to make up for the difference in strength."
"Oh, right. You're an array master." Huang Qian Jin nodded. "That's the whole reason why my father the Emperor called you here in the first place…your knowledge of spirit arrays is top notch. There shouldn't be any reason for us to worry."
"Do you require assistance?" Hui Ying asked. "You aren't planning on confronting the spirit beast on your own, are you?"
"Oh, yeah…I might need some help," I admitted. "I wonder who I can ask for help?"
"That wouldn't be a problem."
To our surprise, a familiar voice spoke up. Turning around, I caught sight of Hong Yao Yao sitting on the ledge of a wall, swinging her legs. Dressed in that usual pink or violet dress with a bit of frills, she jumped off her perch and landed in front of us.
"Teacher Hong!" Lan Bei Er approached her, pleasantly surprised. "Why are you…?"
"Oh, I had business in the imperial capital. Sorry for not attending the intersect tournament, but I wasn't invited. I'm not part of the seven major sects, after all." Hong Yao Yao shrugged. She then smiled. "I was just happening to pass by when I overheard your conversation."
Passing by, my fucking foot. She was totally eavesdropping.
"So…you were talking about a mission? And a Saint Realm spirit beast?" Hong Yao Yao's eyes flickered from Lan Bei Er to me and then to Huang Qian Jin and Hui Ying. "I might be able to help with that, but could you fill me in on the details?"
"Sure." Between me, Lan Bei Er and Huang Qian Jin, we summarized the whole story of the Emperor inviting me, the marriage engagement drama, and then the favor he had for me. How he asked if I could go to West Gate City and defeat the spirit beast from Sunset Mountain.
"West Gate City? Mount Sunset? That's pretty far." Hong Yao Yao looked thoughtful for a moment, and then she nodded. "That won't be a problem. I'll accompany you."
"Great!" Huang Qian Jin looked relieved. He turned to me. "That's one teammate for you, brother Hei!"
"Yeah."
"It won't be enough, though." Hui Ying studied Hong Yao Yao. "Begging your pardon, miss, but you're also only at Innate Realm, aren't you?"
"That's right. But what if we have several high-level Innate Realm cultivators following sir Hei Ye?"
"You know of other high-level Innate Realm cultivators?" Hui Ying asked. Hong Yao Yao nodded with a smile.
"Yes, and I think we have a mutual acquaintance. I'm guessing you know Chi Yan?"
"Oh! Yes…we've met." Hui Ying exchanged a glance with me and Huang Qian Jin. "If he's coming along, then that will be great. We personally know how strong he is."
"I assume He Shan Jie will be coming along too?" I asked, scratching my head. Hong Yao Yao nodded.
"Most likely. Obviously we'll have to ask him first. But if Chi Yan agrees, then he'll probably tag along."
"We'll need to pay them too," I said, already performing the calculations in my head. Fortunately, Huang Qian Jin raised a hand to assure me that it was taken care of.
"Since my father the Emperor was the one who hired you for the job, we'll handle all of the expenses. We'll reward you in taels and spirit stones, or whatever you want from the imperial armory. Treasures, elixirs, whatever."
"Just cash is fine," I said. Then I glanced at Hong Yao Yao and Lan Bei Er. "I'm speaking for myself, of course. I don't know about the others. But I guess we can all discuss this once we actually succeed. Otherwise it's pointless to talk about rewards."
"Very practical." Hong Yao Yao was amused. She turned away with a flutter of her skirt. "I'll contact Chi Yan and He Shan Jie. I don't know if I can pull in a few more teammates, but I will try my best. No promises, though."
"That's fine. Thank you very much." I pursed my lips and considered for a moment. "Should we wait for you first? Where should we gather? Should we all assemble in the imperial capital first?"
"Good idea. There's no point going to West Gate City one or two people at a time," Hong Yao Yao agreed. "We don't know what the situation there is like, and there's strength in numbers. I would rather we face whatever threat there is together than one by one."
"Okay." That made sense. There was no point assembling a party if I went ahead of everyone and ended up fighting the spirit beast by myself. "I'll go around and collect whatever information I can regarding the spirit beast."
"I can tell you a few details," Huang Qian Jin said, waving his hand excitedly. "I hear it's a really, really big dog or wolf. A hound…white fur, sharp claws, the size of a house. Maybe bigger. Its paws are the size of a small wagon. Oh, and they say it has red flame-like markings around its eyes."
"Who let the dogs out?" I grumbled. As expected, nobody except Hong Yao Yao caught the reference. But she simply snorted.
"I hate that song."
"Oh, sorry."
"Anyway, I'll take my leave. See what you can do on your end."
"Right." I watched Hong Yao Yao leave, and then I turned to Lan Bei Er. "What about you, wife? Are you coming along?"
"Of course!" Lan Bei Er sounded offended. "I've followed you this far, why wouldn't I come along for this one? If you get hurt, who's going to heal you?"
"I'll do my best not to get injured," I said. Lan Bei Er sighed and shook her head.
"It would be great if you could, but the opponent is a dangerous one."
"Yeah, that's why I need to find out more information about it." I turned back toward Huang Qian Jin and Hui Ying. "Do you guys know anything more about this giant white-furred dog? What elements can it use?"
"Apparently it seems to be a fire-type dog, but I'm not. We haven't actually seen it use any fire techniques." Huang Qian Jin scratched his head. "Whatever witnesses survived say it relies on brute force and is almost like a void that devours everything."
Like a black hole, in other words.
"I believe the Shadow Chains I taught you during the intersect tournament might help you a lot in this expedition," Hui Ying said, surprising me. I blinked and then nodded enthusiastically.
"Oh, that's right! You did mention that Shadow Chains are designed to be very effective against spirit beasts!"
"I'm glad you remembered." Hui Ying smiled. "That's right. I created Shadow Chains to handle spirit beasts. After all, a cultivator doesn't only fight human opponents. There are many cases where we will be called upon to fight spirit beasts."
"Did you teach me Shadow Chains in anticipation for this?" I asked, wondering if Hui Ying already predicted that the Emperor would ask me to handle the spirit beast at Mount Sunset. Hui Ying scoffed and shook his head.
"Of course not. I'm not a diviner who can see the future. I didn't even know his majesty the Emperor would want to meet you personally. I didn't expect you to use the Celestial Creatures palace formation during the intersect tournament, after all." He paused and contemplated for a moment. "But I suppose I did conceive of this technique when hearing about the spirit beast at Mount Sunset, among other spirit beasts-related incidents."
"Okay." I pushed my glasses up my nose and nodded. "Thank you for the information. I guess my wife and I will get going and prepare for the trip to West Gate City then."
"No problem." Huang Qian Jin beamed at me. "In fact, we should be thanking you for volunteering to take upon such a dangerous mission."
"Hey, somebody's got to do it," I replied with a shrug. "The Huang Kingdom is as much my home as it is yours. It's my duty to defend it."
Turning away, with Lan Bei Er by my side, we set off for our accommodation to make the arrangements to set off for West Gate City.