When parting, Xiaoyao gave Guxing some instructions, which made the Young Miss and the other girls very jealous. They questioned why Xiaoyao only instructed Guxing and didn't give them any instructions.
Regarding this, Xiaoyao thought for a moment and began instructing the Young Miss and the others, reminding them of various matters, not just martial arts related, but other things as well. This helped the Young Miss and the others considerably. They were very glad afterward that they had shamelessly asked Xiaoyao for instructions, it was completely right.
Finally, Xiaoyao told them to contact him using messenger eagles if anything happened. Of course, Guxing could contact Xiaoyao directly, while the Young Miss and others had to go through Guxing to contact Xiaoyao.
Xiaoyao had trained a pair of messenger eagles, one in his hands, one with Guxing. This pair of eagles allowed Xiaoyao and Guxing to maintain contact at any time, no matter where they were, as long as both eagles were alive.
This was one of the reasons Xiaoyao felt so confident about wandering the martial world, he could maintain contact with Guxing anytime, anywhere, knowing her situation and her martial progress.
Why didn't the Young Miss and others have such messenger eagles? They had asked about this, and the answer was—
"I can only train one pair of such special messenger eagles. They can find us no matter where we are. Other messenger eagles can't do this. You writing to Guxing is the same, she's at First Academy Under Heaven anyway..."
Baiyue Kingdom, a kingdom not particularly large, yet possessed the most advanced sword-forging technology on the entire continent. In this kingdom, martial prowess wasn't the key, sword-forging technology was the measure of success.
In Baiyue Kingdom, almost everyone knew sword-forging. Even ordinary apprentices, even children, might have sword-forging skills that rivaled expert-level figures from other countries.
...
One could imagine how prosperous Baiyue Kingdom's sword-forging technology was.
Because of this, Baiyue Kingdom had almost become the weapon manufacturing center of the entire continent. Weapons were constantly being shipped out every day, while coal and iron ore were constantly coming in.
Despite this, upon entering Baiyue Kingdom, one didn't notice how poor the environment was. Instead, looking around showed pure skies, green mountains and clear waters, it was unknown how they achieved this.
After entering Baiyue Kingdom, Xiaoyao frequently visited sword-forging workshops along the way, which gave his companions considerable headaches. But they couldn't do anything about it because Xiaoyao was a Young Prince, he had the highest authority here.
Xiaoyao's visits didn't inconvenience the sword-forging workshops either. He maintained excellent discretion, not letting the group affect others' work. Of course, he himself was even less likely to, he only observed some of their crafting techniques, as long as they were willing.
Because the sword-forging workshops Xiaoyao visited generally weren't very famous, although they had superb skills, these techniques weren't considered secrets. Plus, with Xiaoyao's Young Prince status, the workshops generally allowed him to observe.
Like this, Xiaoyao proceeded with stops and starts until reaching Baiyue Kingdom's royal capital, Yue City. However, for the group, this wasn't unusual because they had originally planned to arrive slowly, just needing to be there a few days before the competition began. Now it was exactly three days before the competition started, perfect timing.
Generally, important people all arrived in the last few days. Of course, they couldn't be too late, it had to be just right, showing one's status while making people feel this was normal, not that you were putting on airs.
Apparently others had the same idea. They happened to encounter the Great Tang Empire's group just outside Yue City. Both sides "very unfriendly" exchanged "friendly" greetings, then proceeded in parallel.
This group was the one Xiaoyao needed to pay attention to this time, the Greedy Wolf Empire.
When both sides met, a very handsome young man appeared from the Greedy Wolf Empire. His robust physique was full of explosive power, whether face or body, he was the type very attractive to girls.
The young man quickly figured out Xiaoyao's role, knowing his competition opponent. So he greeted Xiaoyao, "Hello, I'm the Ninth Prince of the Greedy Wolf Empire, Li Cheng. May I ask your name?"
"Hello, I'm the Young Prince of the Great Tang Empire. You can just call me Young Prince," Xiaoyao smiled. He didn't plan to say much. This time, he would only say he was Young Prince, this was his name now.
This was because Xiaoyao didn't want his name to appear, creating connections between the two. That way, some people who had designs on him might make moves against him.
This was also something agreed upon with Ning Zhiyuan beforehand. Xiaoyao didn't need to reveal his name this time, just saying he was the Great Tang Empire's Young Prince was enough. Officials and attendants in the group would handle everything else.
This was also for Xiaoyao's safety. Ning Zhiyuan didn't want Xiaoyao to encounter any accidents because of this matter. Even if he could forgive himself, the Eldest Princess would fight him to the death.
Hearing Xiaoyao's words, Li Cheng's face darkened slightly. This was clearly being dismissive, this Great Tang Empire Young Prince was too arrogant. You're just a Young Prince, not a prince. Your status is much lower than mine, yet you won't give me face.
However, at this moment, Li Cheng didn't show his displeasure, because as a prince, if he couldn't even handle this slight provocation, his scheming would be too shallow, and he'd definitely have no hope for the future throne. This Li Cheng had prospects, and his support wasn't low either.
"Young Prince, since we've met by fate, why don't we enter the city together," Li Cheng cupped his hands and said indifferently, not getting angry over Xiaoyao's rude behavior.
"Good, together," Xiaoyao smiled. He didn't care, and it would allow his subordinates to gather intelligence on the opponents. Wasn't his purpose this time to sabotage them? Although he only needed to observe, he could still do such simple tasks.
Along the way, Xiaoyao paid no attention to Li Cheng. He just played with Chi Chi, acting like a spoiled young master who only knew how to play with pets, earning Li Cheng's disdain.
"Chi Chi, have you gotten fat recently? I feel like you've gained a lot of weight. Should I make you a diet plan? Starting today, two meals a day, two potatoes per meal, how's that?" Xiaoyao held Chi Chi, pinching here and there. Chi Chi felt very meaty to him.
"Chi chi!!" Chi Chi jumped up, chittering at Xiaoyao. Obviously, it disagreed with Xiaoyao's diet plan. Making it eat two potatoes wasn't even enough to fill the gaps between its teeth, how could it accept this?
"You disagree? But if you keep growing like this, you'll look even more like a ball, though you're already a ball," Xiaoyao grabbed Chi Chi again, pinching and kneading it.
"Chi chi..." Chi Chi called out.
"What did you say? You're still growing and need to eat more? Damn, you already eat so much, and you want to eat even more? That way I'll go bankrupt. How about you go back to Boss and let her raise you? Anyway, I don't need you now, you're a burden," Xiaoyao continued laughing, saying this very heartlessly.
Previously, Xiaoyao had been in a state of qi deviation, so he needed Chi Chi to absorb his excess internal energy. Now he had stabilized his basic skills and broken through, this qi deviation state was gone. Simply put, he no longer needed Chi Chi to continue absorbing internal energy.
So Xiaoyao's words were very heartless, completely burning bridges after crossing.
"Chi chi..." Chi Chi looked very wronged, appearing weak as it looked at Xiaoyao, as if afraid he would really do that.
"Alright, alright, don't look at me with such wronged eyes. I was just joking. Even if I go broke, I'll still raise you, little glutton. If there's no money, we'll eat worse food. We got by the same way before..." Xiaoyao patted Chi Chi's head, smiling gently.
"Chi chi..." Chi Chi looked at Xiaoyao. It seemed to sense his mood, jumping onto his shoulder and nuzzling his face affectionately.
"You little glutton, keep pretending," Xiaoyao patted Chi Chi and took out some beef jerky to eat. Of course, he also shared some with Chi Chi. Seeing Chi Chi's excited expression, Xiaoyao smiled.
Although Chi Chi ate all day, whenever Xiaoyao gave it any food, it would be very happy, no matter how much, no matter what it was. Of course, if it were supreme delicacies, it would be even happier.
Actually, Chi Chi was easy to raise. Xiaoyao didn't need to feed it much, it would find food itself and could eat anything, not necessarily just food.
In fact, even if Chi Chi were hard to raise, Xiaoyao would still keep it. Even if Chi Chi was useless now and a burden to him, he would still raise it. He'd been raising it for over ten years, this affection wasn't shallow compared to any other.
Xiaoyao stroked Chi Chi's head, smiling gently.
"Chi chi..." Chi Chi ate the beef jerky, calling out from time to time.
Soon, the two groups arrived at Yue City's gates. The people responsible for welcoming guests outside the gates were somewhat stunned. How did two groups arrive together, side by side? Had they arranged this?
Now there was a problem, who should they welcome first? It seemed inappropriate to prioritize either. Even though the Great Tang Empire was strongest, the Greedy Wolf wasn't weak either, at least not something their Baiyue Kingdom could afford to offend. If there were problems with protocol, that would be troublesome.
Although welcoming them together was a good choice, it would please neither side and would make both somewhat displeased.
However, if they didn't welcome them together, they'd definitely offend one side. Forget it, although they couldn't please one side, it was better than offending one side.
(End of Chapter)