Aditya emerged from the cultivation chamber and was immediately embraced by a warm body. He looked and found Siya hugging him, her demeanor full of cheer and excitement.
"Aditya, we've all been waiting for you for over an hour. We thought you had forgotten that today is the sect competition day," she chided him.
"Sorry, I was busy cultivating," Aditya replied and reciprocated her hug. He glanced over Siya's shoulder and spotted Riya, Chikni, Sheila, Sonia, Diana, and his guards a few feet behind.
For a moment, he felt like someone was missing.
"Oh, Aditi!" He exclaimed in shock and turned to the ladies. "Wait for me; I'll be back in 5 minutes." He said this before teleporting, leaving the ladies in the hall.
"What happened to him?" Riya asked with irritation evident in her tone.
"He mentioned Aditi's name. I think he's gone to bring Aditi and Aakansha here," Siya replied to the ladies.
The ladies began discussing their anticipation for the sect competition cheerfully. They were all excited to participate and follow Aditya.
Sonia had come out of seclusion and had become friends with Riya's group. Diana, on the other hand, was quietly standing there, not much of a talker. She was content to see Sonia making new friends.
Both Sonia and Diana were in their original forms. Sonia was a Cat species monster girl with black fluffy ears and tail. Diana was a fox girl with silver fluffy ears and tail. Diana was not wearing her mask; she was happy to be there. Aditya, however, was in a hurry, or he would have appreciated her beauty more. Diana had silver eyes, fair skin, and her beauty surpassed that of any other lady in the hall.
Aditya teleported to the "Immortal Wives Islands" as he playfully named them in his mind. On one of the islands, he found Aditi and Aakansha happily playing with water, building sandcastles. Aditya was relieved to see that they weren't upset about his delay in bringing them out.
Approaching Aditi, he called out, "Namaste, Aditi."
Aditi looked at Aditya and smiled. She had enjoyed this precious time with her daughter over the last 20 hours. They hadn't even slept, just played around the island.
"Aditya, we've had a wonderful time here. Thanks for bringing us," Aditi expressed her gratitude.
"You can come and stay here whenever you want. Some islands are protected by formations, as you can see. However, many are free, and you can choose one to stay for an extended period and decorate it as you like," Aditya suggested.
"Now, Aditi, today is the sect competition. Are you coming with me, or do you want to stay here? If you want to come, we need to hurry," he inquired.
"We're coming," she replied, running to Aakansha and speaking a few words to her before bringing her to Aditya.
"Big brother, I'm so excited! I've had a great time here. Let's go; I want to see the sect competition," Aakansha exclaimed with enthusiasm.
Aditya nodded and enveloped them with his soul energy. The three of them teleported back to the first floor of the manor, just outside the cultivation chamber where Aditya had been practicing.
BOOM!
Aditya, Aditi, and Aakansha reappeared in the hall. Riya's group was accustomed to Aditya's sudden teleportations, but the guards were surprised, deeply admiring his remarkable abilities.
"Aditya, you're back. We need to hurry; we're running late," Riya cautioned.
"Yes, okay, let's go. Are you all ready?" Aditya asked, looking at the ladies. When he locked eyes with Diana, he was awestruck.
"Wow!" Aditya exclaimed, pointing at her. "You're beautiful. Why do you hide your face?"
He couldn't help but be amazed by her beauty. She had captivating silver eyes, an angelic face, luscious lips, long silver hair, enchanting curves, and was dressed in dark leather pants and a dark shirt with silver armor. Aditya was captivated by her appearance.
Diana noticed Aditya looking at her and blushed slightly. She looked away from his intense gaze.
*COUGH*
"We need to leave," Siya shouted into his ear.
"Yes, yes, let's go," Aditya replied with difficulty, reluctantly tearing his eyes away from Diana's face. He now understood why she wore the mask; her beauty could rival Surbhi and Elder Chu.
Diana retrieved the silver mask from her space ring and put it on.
Aditya enveloped everyone with his soul energy and teleported them out of the space world.
BOOM!
Aditya and his group appeared in the maids' room, ready to depart. Aditya led the group out of the room and headed to the lift, which took them to the ground floor.
Aditya saw hundreds of cultivators on the floor; it was 8 in the morning, and the sect competition was scheduled to begin at 10.
"Ladies, please wait here for a few minutes. I'll be right back," Aditya told the girls.
The girls were impatient and wanted to protest, but Aditya didn't give them a chance. He made his way to the reception area and found an empty counter.
He greeted the receptionist and inquired, "Can you tell me how to use a flying artifact or a flying demonic beast within the city?"
Aditya had noticed many cultivators using flying artifacts, flying swords, or flying demonic beasts for city travel. He had a flying boat and wanted to ensure he followed the city's rules before taking off.
"To use a flying artifact within the city, you need either a permission formation from the city elders, cultivation in the Spiritual Ocean realm or higher, or if you are a discipline of one of the four great sects. You can also use it if you have a token from one of the four sect elders," the receptionist explained.
"Thank you for the information," Aditya acknowledged and hastily returned to his group.
"Are we ready to go, or not?" Siya inquired. The other ladies were equally eager to get going, as they didn't want to be late. Riya and Siya were both 19, and for the next competition, they would be over 20 and ineligible to participate.
"Yes, we're ready. I just confirmed something with the receptionist. Let's go," Aditya informed them and led them out of the Taj Inn, with his group following closely.
On the road, Aditya spotted numerous carriages, with many cultivators inside, all hurrying towards the central layer of the city where the sect competition was taking place.
Aditya had several options for getting there. He could bring his group into the space world and teleport alone multiple times, but that was a risky move since cultivators in the Spiritual Ocean realm or higher could detect him. In the Inn's room, he always confirmed with the system that no one was spying on him before going into the space world, but teleporting outside in the city without caution could expose him.
Another option was to hire one of the carriages, but there was a risk of being late given the crowded streets.
Aditya could also use his flying boat and take his group with him. He had a token from Elder Chu of the Mystic Mountain sect, given to him when he saved her life in the Nile Beasts Forest.
Riya and her group followed Aditya, looking expectant. They had urged him to make a decision quickly.
Aditya chose the flying boat option. Though there were many high-quality artifacts in the city, it wasn't too attention-grabbing for Aditya. Finding a less crowded spot with ample space, Aditya retrieved the flying boat from his system space.
BOOM!
"Ladies, we're going to use the flying boat to get there," Aditya announced to the group cheerfully and hopped onto the boat, facing forward.
Riya and Siya followed suit, sitting on either side of him. Chikni, Sheila, Sonia, and Diana took their seats behind them, with the guards in the rear.
Aditya raised the boat several meters into the air. Onlookers couldn't help but envy him as he flew past with several stunning ladies by his side.
Aditya took out the golden token given to him by Elder Chu, keeping it in his hand in case any city authorities requested it.
He infused the boat with his spiritual energy and steered it towards the central layer of the city, where the grand arena hosted the sect competition.