"Master, it's your turn." The girl in white smiled. She was the girl, Lin Xintong, who Yi Yun had the chance to meet. And the old man she addressed as master, was of course Old Man Su.
"Eh…" Old Man Su knitted his brow in concentration as his fat finger tightly squeezed a chess piece, indecisive of his next move.
He had used various excuses to retract the last eight chess moves he had made, but once again, he had been forced into a corner by Lin Xintong. Seeing that his king was about to succumb, he did not have any way to get out of his predicament.
"Ahem…Xintong, your chess skills have improved and it resembles my skills of the past. Looks like I have to get serious…" said Old Man Su brazenly which made Lin Xintong snigger, but all she did was to urge her master to make his next move.
Lin Xintong seldom smiled. Only in front of Old Man Su would she display the small liveliness a young girl would normally display. In Lin Xintong's mind, Old Man Su was both her master and a grandfather.
At that moment, a voice came from the door," This lesser commander, by order of the Emperor, is here to deliver a letter to Grandmaster Su."
"Ah? There's a guest," said Old Man Su as if his savior had arrived. "Not playing anymore, not playing anymore. A guest is here. Xintong, bring the pot of tea here."
With that Old Man Su, used his fat arms to swipe across the chessboard, messing up all the chess pieces.
"Eh…" Lin Xintong was speechless and said with humor, "Your disciple has already prepared the tea. Master had been too focused on the game that you didn't drink it."
"Eh?" Old Man Su looked at the teapot on the table as he blinked speechlessly.
Fortunately, the Jin Long Wei's Thousand Households Zhang had entered the yard and cupped his hand, saluting Old Man Su.
"This lesser commander, by order of the Emperor, is here to deliver a letter to Grandmaster Su. May Grandmaster Su look over it." As Zhang Tan said that, he placed the letter on the chess table politely. It was a red letter with a seal rune on it.
Old Man Su's main reason for being at the Tao tribal clan was to wait for the letter that Zhang Tan brought him.
He took the letter and with a serious look on his face said casually, "Zhang Tan, right? You've worked hard. Have some tea." Zhang Tan paused for a moment and glanced at the teacups on the table.
He was a careful person. He could see that the tea was drunk while Old Man Su and Lin Xintong played chess, and it was most likely brewed by Lin Xintong.
Lin Xintong was a person of great stature that many elites from the big families chased after. She may one day be betrothed to a prince of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom and become a princess. She might even become empress one day.
As a Thousand Household of the Jin Long Wei, Zhang Tan would be courting death to drink tea brewed by a future empress!
Although it was unlikely, Zhang Tan had to consider the big picture as a Jin Long Wei Thousand Household when dealing with all kinds of people.
He immediately replied, "Thank you, Grandmaster Su, for the offer, this lesser commander still needs to return to report, so I'll not drink."
Zhang Tan followed etiquette to the letter and was proper with his words, but Old Man Su was a person with no fixed place of abode, so even the kingdom's royalty would have to treat him with courtesy. He was not mindful of the etiquettes of the world, nor was he interested in it.
"Alright, you can leave then." Old Man Su waved his hand and waited till Zhang Tan left. He tore up the wax and with a few hand gestures released the seal.
Next, Old Man Su took out something inside the envelope. It was not a letter full of text, but a diagram.
When Old Man Su took out the diagram, a phantom image of an ancient beast rose up before disappearing. It was like a curl of smoke.
Seeing this diagram, Old Man Su's eyes lit up. It was as if he was a poor vault guard seeing a priceless treasure.
He said to himself, "This Cloud Wilderness might really have some treasure! Even Marquis Wenyun could not do it himself and needs my help… Looks like the kingdom's search for treasure was not in vain!"
"Master, what's the matter with the diagram?" asked Lin Xintong, who was pondering on the side as she looked at the phantom image of the ancient beast that had already dissipated.
She could not uncover the mystery from the diagram but she could feel its mysticism.
Old Man Su said, "This diagram is something that was passed down from ancient times. I do not know if it's related to the Purple Clouds' Birth, but even if it isn't, it's something quite good! Xintong, don't worry. I will search to the ends of the world just to find a way to join up your broken meridians.
…
Ever since Lian Chengyu failed to break through into the Purple Blood realm, the Lian tribal clan had quietened down. There were no more grand scenes of hundreds of people on the mountains picking herbs, nor were there strong men fanning the fires in the grain-sunning ground.
The news that Lian Chengyu was injured had been covered up. All the people had believed that Lian Chengyu had broken into the Purple Blood realm, and had increased his strength by leaps and bounds!
Now, all they had to do was to wait for the kingdom's selection; Lian Chengyu would become a kingdom warrior and bring the Lian tribal clan to a better life.
This day, the sky was dotted with snow as the clouds hung low. A large eagle was flying in the skies of the Lian tribal clan.
This eagle had a wingspan of over ten meters, and its flight picked up a gust of wind, causing the snow to dance in a chaotic manner.
"What's that?"
How could the poor of the Lian tribal clan have ever seen such a big eagle?
"Is it a fierce beast? Or could it be a…desolate beast!?"
Seeing such a large eagle had panicked the people. Typically under the protection of a wonderland, normal fierce beasts or desolate beasts would seldom encroach into the vicinity of a tribe.
But those were under "typical" conditions, there could be instances when fierce beasts or desolate beasts would charge into the wonderlands that hosted people, resulting in a mass murder.
That had the same meaning as genocide. There were numerous small tribes in the entire Cloud Wilderness, so it did not matter if a few small tribes were to collapse.
If it was really an attack by a desolate beast, it would be a tragedy for the Lian tribal clan!
As the people panicked, the large eagle suddenly dropped something that began burning in the sky.
"Peng!" A large explosive sound resulted in a row of text appearing in the sky.
Each of these words would have taken half an acre of land if they were placed on the ground. In the sky, this allowed anyone in the entire region of the Lian tribal clan to see it clearly.
"In three days at noon, the Jin Long Wei will send ambassadors to the Lian tribal clan and take with them ten warriors to the Tao tribal clan for the selection. Those who pass the selection will become the kingdom's warriors, members of the Jin Long Wei! The ten people have to be below the age of twenty-eight. They are to be chosen from those who had passed the preliminary examination and their eligibility will be decided by the tribe!"
Seeing the large row of text, everyone paused. The kingdom's selection was finally beginning!
After all these days of waiting, and all that they had sacrificed, it was here! The day they had been waiting for was here!
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