"We are at the entrance of Xuan. There's a big line ahead of us. It will probably take some time." She said as she closed the doors of her carriage.
"Finally we are here..." Long Chen let out as he looked towards the window.
Half an hour passed and their carriage finally reached the entrance.
Royal Tutor Wang and General Yao got off their carriages as they walked towards the guards.
"Earth Realm cultivators? " The guards frowned as they saw both of them, but they had seen many Earth Realm cultivators that came with the people of various kingdoms, so they weren't intimidated.
They believed that no Earth Realm Cultivator would be stupid enough to create trouble in the Xuan Kingdom unless he was seeking death. Also, the leader of the Royal Guards was nearby, who could take care of both of them with ease should they try anything bad.
"Where are you people from and what's your purpose of coming here." The guards inquired. Although they had already guessed the reason, they had to fulfill their duty and ask everyone.
"We are from the Huanji Kingdom. I am here to escort and protect my Prince and Princess. Here is our Royal Medallion" General Yao replied first. He showed a Medallion to the guards.
"We are from the Dongxin Kingdom. I am here to escort and protect our Crown Prince. He will be taking part in the sect entrance exams ." Royal Tutor Wang said. He was wearing a robe that hid his arms. He took out the Medallion and showed it to them using his left arm.
"Something is strange. The Dongxin Kingdom is said to be stronger than Huanji. Why are both of you traveling together? And where is your entourage? You only have one carriage and no guards?" One of the guards noticed something strange as he asked Royal Tutor Wang.
"We are attacked by an Earth Realm beast along the way. Although we managed to kill the beast, all our guards were killed while Huanji also lost 13 of their guards. " Royal Tutor Wang replied in an annoyed voice.
"Alright, you can enter." The guard said as he gave them both a piece of paper.
"It is your entry permit. It has the date of your entry... keep it with you as it will come in handy." The guard explained to them.
"Thank you." General Yao and Royal Tutor Wang both walked back to their carriages. Their entourage entered the kingdom as they were finally allowed entry.
"The first rank Kingdom is much bigger than second rank kingdoms, but it's cities are located closer to each other," Zhiqing told Long Chen.
"The Yu Clan is situated in the capital city of the Xuan Kingdom along with some of the biggest sects. Yu Tianhao is the eldest son of the Yu Clan Patriarch and he is also the father of Miss Ling. The people of the Northern Moon Empire will surely stay at the Yu Clan as it's Miss Ling's home." Zhiqing continued as she informed Long Chen.
"Yu Tianhao is an Elder of the Glorious Blossom sect, right?" Long Chen inquired.
"Yea. I think almost everyone knows about it since the Glorious Blossom sect is so proud of this fact. Ever since Miss Ling was selected by a master from the Northern Moon Empire, they had been promoting this fact quite a lot to intimidate others." Zhiqing replied with a chuckle.
"The Glorious Blossom Sect is in the capital city too?" Long Chen asked again.
"Yea, If any disturbance happens at the Yu Clan, I'm sure they'll come for help," Zhiqing said as she nodded.
"They wouldn't need to come. I will go there myself. I have some business with them." Long Chen said with a thoughtful look on his face.
"Oh right, Do you know about the strengths of the strongest people in this kingdom?" Long Chen asked while their carriage traveled towards the capital city of Xuan.
"The strongest...ahmm... it's tough to say who is the strongest as no one clearly knows the real strengths of them, but there is some information."
"There are 5 major sects in this kingdom and the sect masters of all those sects are at the top of Earth Realm. Those five sects are Glorious Blossom Sect, Striking Sword Sect, Floating Cloud Sect, Earthly Mountain Sect and West Warriors Sect."
"The Glorious Blossom Sect is said to be the strongest sect amongst the 5 sects while the floating cloud sect is said to be the weakest," Zhiqing said as she looked at Long Chen with a concerned look. It was as if she was warning Long Chen against creating trouble for the Glorious Blossom Sect.
"The Sect Master of the Glorious Blossom sect is said to be a 10th Stage Earth Realm Cultivator. The Sect Masters of the other 4 sects are all at the 9th stage of Earth Realm. Though there's a Rumour that the Sect Master of Striking Sword Sect has broken through to the 10th stage as well but the Striking Sword Sect neither confirmed nor denied the rumor." She told Long Chen
"10th stage huh... " Long Chen touched his chin as he fell into a deep thought.
"What about the king of Xuan?" Long Chen inquired with a thoughtful look on his face.
"The king? Well, he is only an 8th stage Earth Realm Cultivator. Also, he is the brother of the Glorious Blossom Sect's Sect Master." Zhiqing replied to Long Chen.
Mingyu was hearing everything with interest along with Long Chen as she wondered about the difficulty of this mission.
"We will get to the capital city tomorrow and the Sect Entrance Exam is the day after tomorrow. My best opportunity will be to strike them while they are at the Yu Clan." Long Chen let out softly.
"It won't be that easy. The Patriarch of the Yu Clan is a 5th strange Earth Realm Cultivator and Yu Tianhao is a 3rd stage Earth Realm Cultivator. Also, there will be hundreds of guards." Zhiqing said with a worried look on her face.
"Don't worry about it. I have my ways." Long Chen said with a smile. Throughout the journey, he collected more information about the various sects and the clans of the capital city.
They traveled through the night as they finally reached their destination City.
It was the afternoon when they reached the capital city of the Xuan Kingdom. The city was known as Lecton. It was the capital city of Xuan and the home of the Royal Clan.
Three of the five big sects of Xuan were established in Lecton. They were Glorious Blossom Sect, Striking Sword Sect, and Earthly Mountain Sect. The 4th sect, West Warriors Sect, was situated at the border City of the Xuan Kingdom in the city of Fuxia. The fifth sect, Floating Cloud Sect, was situated on the Northern side of the Xuan Kingdom.
"Will you even get rooms? This city looks quite packed with the participants of various kingdoms." Long Chen let out as he noticed the crowd on the streets.
"Don't worry about it. We have already planned for it. We sent someone from our Kingdom to book rooms for us a long time ago.
Although it would cost more to keep rooms booked in advance, It's better than sleeping on the road. It was necessary as we had already expected that the turnout would be big." Zhiqing said with a chuckle.
"Wise thinking." Long Chen smiled as he complimented Zhiqing.
The carriage stopped after a short while. There was a knock on the carriage's door.
"We have reached our destination, Princess." General Yao informed her as soon as she opened the door.
"Finally..." Zhiqing smiled as she left the carriage along with Mingyu and Long Chen.
"So this is 'Delighted Stars hotel'...Not bad!" Zhiqing let out with a smile as she looked at the building in front of her. This building had 4 floors. There were two private guards of the hotel at the entrance.
"So, how many rooms did you get?" Zhiqing asked as she looked at the man standing near General Yao. He was the person she had assigned to book the rooms for them.
"I...I apologize Princess, I was only able to get 6 rooms. Even though I came so early, most of the rooms were already booked in advance." The man said with a downcast tone as he looked down.
"Only 6 rooms? but there are 19 of us!" She let out with a stunned look on her face.
"Maia and I can share a room and General Yao and Estelin can share the second room. There are 10 guards and 3 carriage drivers... and there's Master Chen and Miss Mingyu as well." She said with a worried expression on her face as she tried to think of a way.
"You can use our rooms..." As she was thinking, a voice came from behind.
As she looked back, she noticed Prince Lan standing there with Royal Tutor Wang.
"We have 15 rooms booked in this hotel, but as you can see... most of our people are dead except the both of us. If the rooms can be of use to you, then it is all good," Prince Lan said to Zhiqing.
"Oh, thank you. I'll pay you the money." Princess Zhiqing said as she thanked Prince Lan
"Oh, You don't need to worry about paying me. Think of it as my apology gift to Master Chen... for upsetting him unintentionally." Prince Lan said with an apologetic look on his face, though he still didn't look at Long Chen out of fear.