It took almost three hours before Yang Qing could finally reach the border of the Red maple Empire. The border guards went on high alert the moment they saw Ellie fly toward them.
The general in charge of the border who was at the eighth stage of the core formation realm hurriedly flew up to meet Yang Qing. He was riding a winding vine condor that had the signature coiled green vines on its wings and legs. From what Yang Qing could tell it was at the fourth stage of the core formation realm.
While the winding vine condor was not as fast as a monstrous cloud-swallowing kite like Ellie, it had great stamina for long flights and was sensitive to murderous aura and slaughtering qi. Making it the best choice of spirit beast to have in areas that need high monitoring such as the border.
"The Red maple Empire may not exactly be considered top tier among rank 3 powers but it is no slouch either," thought Yang Qing as he admired the arrangement of the border team. From the winding vine condor to the late-stage core formation general who despite detecting Ellie was much stronger than him still rode out to meet them, to the monarch-grade long-range transmission artifact Yang Qing detected below him along with the killing array laid below that could kill an ordinary peak core formation stage expert either on the ground or at an altitude of 10,000 meters.
All these spoke to the resources the Red maple Empire had and its willingness to use them.
The stocky-built general with mildly graying hair and a robe that had the Red maple symbol on it had his expression turn graver when he detected there was someone seated on top of the cloud-swallowing kite. He shuddered to think about the identity of the person that was able to ride a fearsome spirit beast that was releasing so much pressure that it took all he had along with the winding vine condor to not plummet downwards. The winding vine was even faintly trembling as it avoided eye contact with Ellie.
"I hope the capital can send someone over in time. Luckily a representative from the Golden bamboo pavilion is at the palace. With their help the situation may be contained," thought the general.
The moment he detected a spirit beast stronger than him crossing the borders he decided to err on the side of caution and immediately inform the palace in case the situation escalated and became too much for them to handle. The palace was already on high alert due to hosting a figure from the rank 2 Organization the Golden bamboo pavilion.
He used this thought to try and rile his spirits up which plummeted down again when he realized he couldn't detect Yang Qing's cultivation base no matter how much he tried to scan with his spiritual sense. The more he stared at Yang Qing the more his heart started rapidly beating on its own as he felt a primal fear coming from his soul.
"Palace realm..," muttered the general as he smiled weakly lamenting his circumstances. Backup would be useless now as a palace realm cultivator would have already disappeared by the time the reinforcements from the palace arrived.
Even though he couldn't detect Yang Qing's cultivation base that deep intrinsic suppression was something he was familiar with as he had experienced it personally when he was stationed at the border with the territory of the Zhou family. The general stationed there who was a palace stage expert exuded the same type of suppression.
"Ellie enough showing off, reign in your aura, we don't need its deterring effect anymore," said Yang Qing when he saw the winding vine condor was almost at its limit.
Ellie immediately complied and the suppressive atmosphere disappeared which came as a relief to both the general and the winding condor as they could now easily move and breathe. The little goodwill from Yang Qing eased the general's nerves though he was still weary as he clenched a talisman in his hand which Yang Qing assumed was the controller of the killing array below.
"Hello senior, my name is Qin Qiang a general of the Red maple Empire. Pardon my insolence senior but it's a requirement for all who enter the Red maple Empire to identify themselves and their reason for the visit. It's not that we want to pry into your matters but it's for us to ensure the safety of our citizens," said the general as he gave a daoist salute.
He had assumed Yang Qing was an old monster maintaining a youthful look. It wasn't anything strange as one of the palace stage experts of the empire was doing the same thing. Outwardly he looked like a 17-year-old youth when infact he was one of the ancestors of the empire who has been alive for almost 4,000 years.
"I'm not a senior or some old monster. This is my real age," said Yang Qing as he chuckled which made the general's head spin.
"Wouldn't that mean…," General Qin Qiang halted his thoughts from shock, fear, and embarrassment at the possibility of the youth before him being a 20-year-old palace realm expert while he was 450 years old with an 8th stage core formation cultivation base. Within the Red maple Empire, he could be considered a talent as 400 years was considered really young for a core formation expert who had a lifespan of 4,500 years more so considering he was at the late stages.
He had always been proud of his talents and achievements but right now that pride had been ruthlessly smashed to pieces by casual seemingly innocent words from the green-haired youth before him.
"General Qin Qiang, General Qin Qiang I'm in a bit of a hurry here," said Yang Qing as he reappeared where the dazed general was.
Seeing Yang Qing floating in the air removed any doubt he had about his guess about Yang Qing being a palace realm cultivator.
"Yes sorry about that. We just need your details and reason for venturing into the empire and then we will issue you a token though with the senior's..ahem sorry I mean.." general Qin Qiang paused midway with an embarrassed expression as he didn't know what name to use.
"My name is Yang Qing," said Yang Qing
"Thank you…With young master Yang Qing's cultivation realm there is no need for one though for ease of travel it's good to have one," general Qin Qiang humbly said.
"It's okay, I don't mind having the token.
"My name is Yang Qing and I'm here to visit a friend, it's Zhong Quan the owner of the Earthvine restaurant. He told me to pass by his restaurant when I'm around the Red maple Empire," said Yang Qing.
Yang Qing decided against divulging he was from the Order to avoid the hassle of the welcome ceremonies and the eventual leak of his location should that happen.
"Oh, so you are Master Zhong Quan's friend?" said general Qin Qiang as his tone turned friendlier and even more respectful when he mentioned Zhong Quan's name.
"It seems Zhong Quan is a big shot within the Red maple Empire," thought Yang Qing as the general excused himself to retrieve the token he would need.
"With this, you can move freely without any unpleasantness," said the general who had hurried back with an orange-red round wood that had the red maple tree engraved in it.
"Thanks," said Yang Qing as he received the token. He detected the material used was at the top tier of sky grade and there were a few arrays in there to prevent duplication and also a unique signature mark which Yang Qing assumed was of the royal family.
Yang Qing didn't waste any more time after receiving the token. He hurriedly said his goodbyes to general Qin Qiang and sped away with Ellie.
…
20 minutes later
"Ellie since you can't transform yet and you're too huge you'll have to hide in the clouds. I'll call for you when I'm done," said Yang Qing when they were a few kilometers away from Purple grass county.
Ellie screeched reluctantly when Yang Qing decided to coax it with a few snow peaches which seemed to have done the trick as she happily flew away.
"Now time for the great feast," said Yang Qing as he speed blitzed so fast that conical airwaves were produced from his flying.
It only took him at most ten minutes before he saw the outline of the largest city in Purple grass county. It was known as the Purple city.
