Qiang Jun did not expect to meet the prince in the outer layer of the inner circle of the beast territory. Much less without a powerful guard. It isn't rare to uncounter sixth stage beasts anywhere in the inner circle and the closer you get to the center, the likelihood of encountering stronger monsters increase exponentially.
"Third prince, it's not very safe for you and maiden Xue to be out here by yourselves; senior brother Feng and senior brother Wuxie would both be angry at you if they knew and worry endlessly." Behind close friends with Tang Hao's elder brothers, Qiang jun naturally felt the responsibility to watch out for them.
Hearing Qiang Jun uttering those names, Tang Hao face flinched a bit. He straightened his posture and took an inspired stance, clasping his hands behind his back
"Ahem, senior brother Jun, you don't have to worry about me, it is not so dangerous- so long as we don't adventure too deep. As the prince, I must go outside to experience the world, regardless of the dangers I may face." He spoke with a compelling pitch of confidence.
Raizel and the others side glanced at the pretender, who was originally terrified at the idea of exploring.
"Besides, brother Jun, I am accompanied by my very powerful genius friends, including my favorite cousin. Who is also very talented, as you already know. We'll be fine." Tang Hao relaxed his forced posture a bit as he lightly said.
Qiang Jun silently stood and listened to the third prince's justification.
Indeed, all princes must go out and experience the martial world by themselves sometime, so to forge themselves against true adversity. Besides, Tang Hao was not weak, and should be able to battle against stage four beasts and easily protect himself agains stage five ones with treasures at his disposal.
The young woman called sister Lan came forward and looked at everyone closely.
After a dozen breaths, she nodded.
"It's true that you're all very strong and should be able to protect yourselves around here." She said with a smile, exuding a gentle yet capable big sister aura.
"Thank you, senior sister Lan." Tang Hao bowed slightly.
"Alright. We'll you introduce us to the rest of your friends?" Qiang Jun exhaled in acceptance and proposed with a smile.
"Sure. This is Thorin and Raizel, as for her, she is Su Yao." Tang Hao quickly, yet barely introduced his friends, leaving everyone speechless.
"…"
"Hello, I'm Thorin IronHeart second year disciple of the Free Imoortal sect and personal disciple of the Sundering Tiger Great general." The tall and youthful thorin came forward and properly introduced himself.
"I'm Raizel Bailei, second year disciple and personal disciple of Elder Zhu."
"I'm Su Yao, the daughter of the sect master."
The other swiftly did the same.
"What!? The Sundering Tiger's disciple???"
"Holy- she's the Free Immortal Sect Leader's daughter. She's breathtaking."
"They must be very talented then, no wonder they're friends with the third prince."
Mutters and clatter erupted after the introductions of Thorin and Su Yao
"Elder Zhu?I don't know who that is, but being an elder, he must be quite poweful as well."
Raizel's introduction created the least amount of buzz, but that is understandable, considering elder Zhu was more low profile than the Sundering Tiger general by a large margin.
"Elder Zhu and the general Tang's disciples?" Qiang Jun and Sister Lan exchanged glances with slight shock in their faces. Being older and more experienced than the others, they naturally know who elder zhu is. As for Su Yao, it would be weird if they didn't, considering she's well known among the higher echelons of geniuses of the Coiling Dragon Empires. It's not unusual for the average disciples to not know her since she rarely comes out, but for the very talented, they definitely know who she is.
After, she defeated all the geniuses of the Free Immortal Sects under the age of 20, and so without much difficulty, expect a few monstrous geniuses who gave her a hard time and others who weren't available to battle at the time. Though it's an event that happened inside the sect, the geniuses naturally have connections outside the sect and spread the information to their families, so of which attend the Coiling Dragon Emperial Academy, like Qiang Jun.
"It seems we've underestimated you guys slightly, elder Zhu is knowned as one of the strongest lightning element user in the empire and nothing need to be said about General Tang, attracting their attention means you guys are the cream of the crop." The two seniors smile and asserted.
They exchanged plaisanteries as the young geniuses learnt to know each other.
"What's all this clatter!?" Suddenly, an leisurely and somewhat immature voice creeped up from inside the dragon and phoenix azure carriage
Everyone stopped talking and turned to face the carriage.
Kaeln squinted his eyes as he looked, expectant to see who was inside. Qiang Jun and sister Lan both let wry smiles as they glanced at the carriage.
Slight wood cracking noise resounded, the door of the carriage opening gradually.A young, peculiar looking 15 years-old boy with a horrifying pair of dark green eyes appear under everyones gazes. Immediately, a terrible aura of suppression assaults almost everyone around.
"ugh." muffled noises of pain rang through, as trembling bodies collapsed on the scene. Everyone besides a few select individuals felt a tremendous pressure emanate from this teenage boy ackin to a powerhouse of their respective clans.
Even Qiang Jun and sister Lan were sweating a bit despite being able to maintain their countenance, but the others who came with them were all falling on their knees one after the other
Seeing his affect, the mysterious teenager scoffed triumphantly, as usual, most people around his age crumble with the sligthest release of his power. Over the years, he has gotten used to suppress peopl in such manner. It's quite envigorating.
"Humph, mundanes." He inwardly scoffed and surveyed the area unti he noticed a shocking sight.
He saw a few who could withstand the pressure he released, but whom resistances was not unexpected. Qiang Jun and Lan Xueyi being able to withstand his pressure was not unusual to him, but shockingly, beside those two and a few others older talented disciple, there were actually an unknown group of teenagers that didn't seem affected whatsoever by him.
"Oh!?" An ancient and aged voice erupted from inside the carriage.
"What an interesting group of kids… to think there were under twenty year olds in this empire that could completely ignore the young prince's suppression. " the voice said sofly before silence reigned.
The mysterious teen looked seriously at Kaeln and the others, obviously hearing what the sage in the carriage muttered.
"Grandpa Flame, who are these people?" a soft and melodious voice, which couldn't be more opposed to the one before followed the old man's voice.
"I do not know who these children are, from what I heard they are second year disciples of the Free Immortal Sect. not bad at all… hoho".
"Are they very strong?" The soft voice asked again with a tinge of curiosity
"It isn't simple to assess how strong they are without seeing them perform, but I can say that none of them are below you in terms of talent…" As he answered, the old sage's voice slowly faded out, halting his speech.
"Still… something is not right; There shouldn't be so many kids comparable to the young prince in one empire or faction. Unless we're talking about those titanic powers of the middle-heaven continent. What a shocking discovery- with these kids fighting together, the Coiling Dragon Empirer's future is looking extremely promising." The unknown sage said to himself.
"Grandpa Flame what are you thinking?" Seeing the old sage going silent, the youngin probes.
"Nothing, just that the future is looking interesting." He answers with a smile.
"…" Silence ensues as the two watched the group outside.
The mysterious boy faced Kaelan and the others as the arrogance in his face was replaced by a grave expression.
Opposite to him, Kaelan was also scrutinizing him with a serious expression.
"He is strong, very strong." He thought
A moment passed with tensionbuilding up once more, yet something weird happened. The mysterious boy, without saying anything, simply turned and regained his seat inside the carriage.
Inside, he sat by a veiled young girl, with a pensive look on his face.
The old sage was sitting in front of the two slightly open an eye to steal a glance at him. A bright red light flashed in less than a millisecond. If anyone could see, they would be shocked to see a world of flame simingly existing within his unfathomably deep eye. It was only a second long glance, before the Flame Sage closed his eye back.
Seeing the doubtfull expression on the young prince, he let out a light laugh.
"hoh, there's no need to be surprised, young prince. This world is horribly grand, although you're blessed with godly prowess, the things you have seen can not even count as a fleeting moment in the vast history of the cosmos…"
The old Sage paused as he took a serious face. The girl and the boy listened qietly with deep reverence as they looked at him, thirsty for knowledge.
"In this world alone you will face countless apponents, some with worse talents, that yet must'nt be underestimated. Others blessed with a similar talent who will be your life opponents. Possibly even a few potential world learders who outshine you; if not in this world, then outside- You must always expect this, so you do not become complacent when dealing with those weaker than you."
The young prince silently listened until the old sage finished before nodding.
"Understang Grandpa flame." the old sage heard a competitive spirit from his tone they had not heard before
He looked at the veiled girl as well to see a similar spirit emerging in the young girl
"It seems this trip has brought unexpected benefits."