The Imperial Palace, Hall of a Thousand Mechanisms.
The Emperor listened to the elder's report on the Wei family's recent situation, his smile growing wider with each word.
"Well done," the Emperor praised after the elder finished.
"Your Majesty, shall we continue?" the elder inquired.
"Of course. If we cannot defeat them in one fell swoop, once they recover, the Imperial family will also suffer a severe blow!"
In the past, the Imperial family had been wary of the Wei family for three reasons: first, the strength of the Wei family's ancestor; second, the Wei family's Grand Elder was also the president of the Beast Tamer Guild; and third, the Imperial family's ancestor's lifespan was nearing its end sooner than the Wei family's ancestor.
Now, things were different. The Imperial family's ancestor's lifespan had increased by ten years, while the Wei family's ancestor's had only increased by half a year.
Although the Wei family's Grand Elder was still the president of the Beast Tamer Guild, he was now gravely ill. It was rumored that his divine consciousness had been severely injured. If that were the case, he would not be able to hold onto his position as president of the Beast Tamer Guild.
As for the Wei family's ancestor's strength, with Ling Luo Yi now present, the Emperor did not believe that Ling Luo Yi's strength was what she had currently displayed. She must have hidden some of her power!
Since the apprehension was gone, it was time to teach the Wei family their place.
The elder clearly understood and asked, "Your Majesty, with the Ling family's current momentum, they will undoubtedly surpass the Imperial family. We cannot guarantee they won't become the next Wei family! Should we not suppress the Ling family?"
"No need. The Ling family is much smarter than the Wei family, and I am quite looking forward to how many more surprises Eldest Miss Ling will bring me."
"Your Majesty, if we must heavily rely on the Ling family, why not form an alliance through marriage? It would provide some assurance."
"Absolutely not! If we do that, the relationship between the Ling family and the Imperial family will plummet to freezing point," the Emperor sternly forbade.
The Emperor recalled Ling Luo Yi, whom he had only met a few times. Each time he saw her, her noble aura was even more profound than his own. This Eldest Miss Ling was definitely not simple! She must not be offended!
"This..."
"However, assurance can be provided."
After speaking, the Emperor picked up his brush and quickly wrote an imperial decree, instructing his chief eunuch, Duke Yu, to personally deliver it to the Ling residence.
Eldest Miss Ling, I have expressed my sincerity. Can you help me achieve my long-cherished wish?
*
Meanwhile, on the cloud boat, after half a month of travel, as they were about to enter the outer regions of the Ancient Spirit Continent, the cloud boat suddenly stopped.
A massive Azure Mountain Vulture hovered in front of the cloud boat, with three people standing on its back.
"This is the outer perimeter! A stop for inspection is required!"
Elder Qu emerged, holding a token, and addressed them, "I am Qu Shang Yu, an elder of the Outer Court of the Dragon Qing Kingdom's Ancient Spirit Academy. This time, I am bringing disciples back to the academy and transporting selected geniuses from the Lower Heavenly Martial Kingdom to the capital of the Dragon Qing Kingdom. There are sixty-seven people in total."
"Greetings, Elder Qu. This is a routine inspection, please do not mind," the person in the lead seemed to recognize Elder Qu and said with a smile.
"I understand. Proceed with your inspection," Elder Qu said, clearly aware of their responsibilities and not obstructing them.
The two younger individuals behind the leader leaped onto the cloud boat and meticulously inspected every part of it.
Their inspection was swift. After a quarter of an hour, they returned to the Azure Mountain Vulture's back and reported, "Reporting to Uncle Zhao, there are sixty-seven people on the cloud boat, no one extra."
"Elder Qu, the inspection is passed. You may proceed."
"Thank you, Elder Zhao."
The two bowed, the Azure Mountain Vulture flew back to the ground, and the cloud boat continued its forward journey.
The disciples, excluding those from the Ling family who were already at the Ancient Spirit Academy, had never witnessed such a scene. The powerful auras from outside made them feel breathless.
"Young Master, what was that just now?" a Ling family disciple asked.
"They are the guards at the outer perimeter checkpoint. If our cloud boat had flown past without inspection, they would have shot it down and executed us for trespassing."
"Ah?! Then will we not be able to return after we reach the Dragon Qing Kingdom?"
"How could that be?" Ling Luo Qian said. "Once you reach the Dragon Qing Kingdom, you will be given a temporary token. The token will only allow you to stay in the outer perimeter for one month. After a month, the token will automatically shatter. Anyone without a token must leave the outer perimeter within ten days, or they will be executed for violating continental rules."
"Then won't they also have to leave after a month?" the person pointed at the Ling family disciples for this year.
"Are you a fool! How could they be the same as us?" the person next to him hit him. "They are the disciples who have entered the academy this year from our Ling family. Once they reach the academy, they will receive an academy token. The academy token has no such restrictions, but it can only be used by the individual."
"Alright, I will slowly tell you these rules on the rest of the journey."
The Dragon Qing Kingdom was located in the inner part of the outer regions, so after passing the outer perimeter checkpoint, they still had to fly for another half a month.
Ling Luo Chen explained the rules of the outer perimeter one by one. Apart from the two mentioned earlier, the others were similar to those in the Heavenly Martial Kingdom.
The cloud boat flew smoothly for three days. On the fourth day at noon, Ling Luo Yi, inside her room, suddenly felt the cloud boat shake. Looking out the window, she saw a flash of deep purple lightning mixed with white.
This is...
A spatial lightning storm!
Thinking of the terrifying nature of spatial lightning storms, Ling Luo Yi quickly ran to the front of the boat, stabilized the cloud boat, and temporarily stopped it.
Everyone had felt the tremor just now. Others also rushed out of their rooms, asking Ling Luo Chen and the others what had happened.
Ling Luo Chen and the others had not experienced the cloud boat shaking before, so they didn't know either.
Upon hearing that they didn't know, everyone else became anxious.
Elder Qu came to maintain order, his voice carrying spiritual energy, "Everyone be quiet! What is all this clamor! Luo Chen, go count if everyone is present. Don't let anyone fall off due to that tremor."
"Yes."
Ling Luo Chen and the others began counting. After verifying, they reported to Elder Qu, "Elder Qu, there are sixty-five people in total, one person is missing."
"Young Master, Miss is gone!" Zhu Xue suddenly cried out.
"What?!" The Ling family disciples looked again and confirmed that Ling Luo Yi was indeed not there, and immediately became anxious.
"Young Master, this servant just checked Miss's room, and Miss is not in her room!" Zhu Shuang also gave a meaningful look.
Ling Luo Chen understood, meaning Ling Luo Yi had not entered the small world!
Seeing that the usually calm Ling Luo Chen was somewhat anxious, Elder Qu said, "Luo Chen, have you checked the front of the boat?"
"No!"
Thinking of something, Ling Luo Chen ran towards the front of the boat. There was a door between the front of the boat and the cabin. It was usually not closed, but today it was closed, which was unusual.
The moment Ling Luo Chen opened the door, he heard Ling Luo Yi's command.
"Don't come out!"
Others, seeing Ling Luo Chen run over, also rushed over. Upon seeing the scene outside, they were all stunned.
Ling Luo Yi stood in the middle of the front of the boat, near the helm, with her right hand's two fingers together on the helm, injecting streams of fiery red spiritual energy. Not far in front of Ling Luo Yi, a crack was gradually widening, and massive bolts of lightning were striking down near the cloud boat, while the surrounding weather remained unchanged.
"Luo'er, it's dangerous outside, hurry and come in!" Ling Luo Chen shouted anxiously.
"I cannot come in," Ling Luo Yi said calmly. "This cloud boat does not have any defensive formations or offensive formations set up, only two flight formations. Currently, this cloud boat relies entirely on my defense to avoid the lightning outside. If I come in, this cloud boat will have no defense and will be directly destroyed. At that time, none of you will survive."