"Why did you form a contract with Vicious Vulture?" Yuan looked at the beast under him and asked.
Qiu Zhi face turned slightly red when she heard the question. But it wasn't her fault. When she was young, her father brought a big egg when he returned from an adventure. At the time, they didn't know it was Vicious Vulture's egg. She liked the egg and asked her father how to make a contract with it. Her father couldn't stand her nagging and helped her.
But later when the egg hatched, she realized she made a mistake in haste. She cried a lot but couldn't do anything at that time. Many people advised her to break the contract. But she couldn't bring herself to be cruel enough to kill the newly born bird and make contract with a better one.
She kept the beast and now it was a primary-stage Core Realm Beast. Qiu Zhi shook her head and said nothing.
"How long will it take to reach Purple Light Valley?" Yuan curiously asked.
Qiu Zhi gave Yuan a deep look and instead of replying, she countered, "Is this your first time leaving Clear Cloud City?" she countered.
Yuan was astonished. His face turned red with embarrassment when he saw the knowing look on her face. "What makes you say that?"
Qiu Zhi smiled lightly with understanding. "Purple Light Valley lies north of the Imperial Capital, while Clear Cloud City is in the south, almost the exact opposite. We'll have to pass through the Imperial Capital to reach it."
Yuan's face fell. "So how long will it take?"
"More than a month if we traveled the whole way like this," she began, only for Yuan to interrupt with a groan of disbelief.
"A month? How am I supposed to come back home if it's that far?" His voice rose with incredulity. He couldn't fathom the distance. They were traveling at an amazing speed and yet, she was telling him that it would take a month. 'How far is that?'
Qiu Zhi was speechless. It was 2nd time Yuan didn't let her complete what she wanted to say. Her patience was getting thin as she sighed deeply. "Let me finish. We'll only fly to the Imperial Capital. From there, we'll use a teleportation formation to reach Light City. The entire journey will take about ten days."
Relief washed over Yuan's face. "You should have said that first!" All the worries for nothing.
Qiu Zhi lips twitched. For a fleeting moment, she felt the strong urge to toss him off the vulture and leave.
---
As the hour passed, Yuan's enthusiasm turned to quiet observation. The vast landscapes and unfamiliar sights filled him with awe. Amid their exchanges, she proudly revealed she was on the verge of breaking through to the Golden Core Realm at only 23 years old.
Yuan's eyes widened. She was only 23 years old, 3 and half years older than her. "You're only 23? You sure don't look like one. I thought you were a middle-aged woman in her late 30's." he teased, oblivious to the danger his words laid him in.
Qiu Zhi's expression darkened like a brewing storm. Without a word, she directed the vulture to land. When they touched down, she grabbed Yuan by the collar and hurled him to the ground.
"What did you just say?" she demanded, her voice icy.
Yuan was caught off guard as he landed heavily on the ground. Yuan grimaced in pain as he yelled at her, "What are you doing?"
"You said I look like a middle-aged woman. Do I, huh?" Qiu Zhi questioned as she jumped down from the vulture's back.
Realizing his blunder, Yuan stammered, "I didn't mean it like that!"
But her response was swift and merciless. She pummeled him with a flurry of punches and kicks, and only after her anger calmed down, she finally stopped. Yuan lay sprawled on the ground, bruised and battered.
"Never comment on a woman's age or appearance," she declared, tossing him a healing pill. "This is your first warning. Next time, I won't go easy on you."
Yuan swallowed the pill and grimaced. He never knew this beautiful lady was actually a devil in human clothing.
"If that was her going easy, what will she do when she gets angry." He wondered. He resolved then and there to never anger this She-devil. (And a legendary name of She-devil came into being.)
---
Qiu Zhi lit a fire and began cooking her meal as Yuan silently sat on the other side.
After their meal, they silently resumed their journey. The capital loomed ahead, a massive cityscape glittering with the splendor of the empire. Qiu Zhi gestured for the vulture to land a kilometer away from the city walls
"Flying is prohibited within the Imperial City. Only the royal family has that privilege," she explained. Normally, she would have kept the vulture in her pet space but because of Blackey, she left the vulture outside.
"We will stay in the capital for a day. I have to do some stuff and only then we will go to teleportation formation." Qiu Zhi said as the vicious vulture landed on the ground.
As they dismounted, Yuan curiously asked, "Why isn't flying above the Imperial City allowed?"
Qiu Zhi groaned, her patience wearing thin. She had just explained this. "Because only the royal family is allowed to fly above the city. It's their privilege—a symbol of their power and prestige. It's been that way for centuries." She cast him a side glance and muttered under her breath, "What an idiot."
Yuan, undeterred, pressed on. "So, if someone stronger than the royal family wanted to, they could just fly over the city?"
Qiu Zhi immediately covered his mouth and cautiously looked around. The words were barely out of his mouth before Qiu Zhi's hand clamped over it. Her eyes darted around, scanning for eavesdroppers. Thankfully, they for far from the city gate and no was near them to hear what Yuan just said.
Once satisfied they hadn't been overheard, she released him and smacked him hard on the face. "Are you insane?" she hissed, her voice low but urgent. "If someone overheard you, they might kill you just to curry favor with the royals. Do you want to die?"