A little fox with platinum blonde fur, eight tails and pink eyes looked at a couple sitting on the ground.
The man did not care that the grass stained his robes green and that the dirt was soiling them.
His sole focus was on the beautiful woman cuddled in his arms and sitting on his laps, slightly curled up as she leaned onto him.
She was softly sobbing, as he soothed her, stroking the back of her head.
The vertical pupils of the fox dilated slightly as it looked with curiosity at them, but did not disturb, only silently observing the scene from afar.
Soon the beauty in the man's hands calmed down, and then closed her eyes, dozing off and eventually sinking into deep slumber.
The fox was about to start approaching, but noticed that the man did not move despite the beauty's sleep.
Simply looking down at her, as if listening to the evening out soft breaths and studying the relaxing features of her face.
The head of the little fox tilted to the side, its ears moving slightly as its tails swayed from side to side as it sat back down to continue watching the scene.
When Xue Bing woke up her face already resumed the usual slightly cold and emotionless expression, but there was a clear change in her eyes as she looked at Wu Long.
He smiled at her, and their lips united in a kiss.
They spent some time not parting, and then she turned to look at the scenery for the first time taking her eyes off of him, even that seemingly with reluctance.
"What will happen to this country next?", she asked as she looked at the cityscape.
"Hmm, there will be a period of turmoil, and after that it will settle down under a new rule, whoever it belongs to.
In any case the main driving force of the perpetual conflict on this continent is gone, so after some time most of it would settle in peace, though of course not infinite", he made a pondering expression as he turned to look at the scenery too, and then turned back and smiled toward her.
She nodded, her interest subsiding as not much tied her to this country anymore.
With this, she could finally truly move forward with nothing holding her back.
Wu Long went inside one of the more unstable and phantasm-like realms of Fen Baihu to dispose of the two last remnants of his conflict with Gu Zhen, and then moved out from the Gatang Kingdom back to the Cloud Piercing Empire, where a ship already arrived in the Imperial Capital.
This city was somewhat more dark and immersed in the heavy atmosphere of the whole continent, than the one Wu Long and Xue Bing just left.
The ship stopped a bit further off in the gulf, to not alarm the Imperial Army that was already on edge all the time, and only a small group of people consisting of Wu Long's Dao Family and Butler Bang with a select few of his subordinates arrived in the city.
Of course, their arrival itself was already quite noticeable, but as Bi Rui and Cao Mei revealed their cultivation bases to ward off trouble, no one sought trouble with them.
Thus as Wu Long arrived and joined them they simply settled in one of the higher-end inns of the city.
Old Yen welcomed Nie Guanting with joy, and Kwon Qianhong with surprise as he did not think the latter was of the type to follow someone.
"Hehe, looking forward to work with you, Senior", but Kwon Qianhong's amicable attitude and visible quick wit made Old Yen swiftly accept this newcomer.
Though despite the warm welcome for the other newcomer, Old Yen did not escape the fate of being tested for strength against his new partner. And though he won, it was a far less comfortable win for him than for Butler Bang.
"Hmm", Nie Guanting stood up from the ground with a smug look, that seemingly said that he was not that far off from overtaking Old Yen, and then his eyes turned to Butler Bang, as he gained a renewed confidence.
Needless to say, there were now a few more bruises on the face of the former Imperial Prince as the old butler demonstrated that he was rapidly increasing his strength as well.
Wu Long shook his head at the antics of his four direct subordinates who seemingly were in the middle of forming a strange and complicated relationship, going outside to head to the Storm Forge, the reason he has arrived in this city instead of returning straight to the Azure Eagle Continent.
Butler Bang, noticing his departure, gave a look to Old Yen, who nodded and taking the two newcomers hurried to join Wu Long while the old butler remained in the inn to make sure no one dared to disturb the Wu Family.
The famous weapons and armor refinery workshop was located in a whole district of the capital dedicated to the Dao of Forging.
There were some of the finest weaponsmiths in the whole of the Three Continents here, supplying high-quality goods to the other continents as well.
As Wu Long arrived in the company of the trio that followed behind him, he passed through the post of Imperial Guards at the wall separating this special district without much trouble thanks to Kwon Qianhong.
'Heh, it takes one to know one', Wu Long inwardly chuckled as he saw the quick exchange happening with one of the guards.
When the group entered the Storm Forge some time later, they saw a clerk looking at them with a slightly bored expression.
"I need to speak with the Forge Master", Wu Long calmly spoke as the clerk snorted.
"Hah, if everyone could meet the Forge Master by simply asking he would have no time to work", the young man spoke without any surprise or even changing his bored pose, as this exchange likely happened before, and not once.
"Huh?! You wanna lose a few teeth talking like that to Boss?!", Nie Guanting spoke with a menacing face, instantly raising the clerk by the shirt.
"...! D-do you know where you are?! You're in big trouble if you act in here!!!", the clerk's legs helplessly dangled as he clenched the wrist of the hand that held him with both of his.
"Guanting, we're not thugs, let the man down", Old Yen, noticing Wu Long's raised eyebrow came forward to mitigate the situation.
"But...", Nie Guanting hesitated, slightly lowering the man he held but still not completely as he turned to look at Old Yen.
"Aigh, don't you see that Boss is not happy with your actions either?", Old Yen spoke with a bit of frustration as Nie Guanting turned to look at Wu Long, and then placed the clerk back on his feet, as the latter took a few steps back with wide eyes and rough breath, shuddering from both fear and anger.
"Th-That's it! You all are-...!", the clerk pointed his finger at them, but shrank back at a menacing gaze from Nie Guanting, lowering his finger.
"Eiii... this little brother, we're not here to make trouble. We're just serious people who don't like to waste time", Kwon Qianhong made an amicable smile, leaning forward and resting his elbow on the counter in a friendly manner, adding "Our Boss needs to meet your Forge Master, and that's gonna happen one way or another.
Do you really want to be the reason your Forge Master failed to greet the current most powerful man on the whole Three Continents?"
The clerk's eyes that were full of anger, apprehension and fear now revealed a hint of caution.
"Mm, it seems Qian is enough here", Wu Long only needed to give a look to Old Yen with those words, for him to nod and take Nie Guanting with him, parting ways and leaving his 'Boss' in the company of only the thrifty newcomer.
The clerk saw that the menacing muscle mountain was sent away and was hesitating until Kwon Qianhong's glib tongue got him to go to the depths of the Forge.
He returned with a middle-aged man who narrowed his eyes on the two guests, studying their demeanor and correctly discerning Wu Long as the one to speak to.
"Hmm, the title of the most powerful man on the Three Continents is not that easy to claim, young man", the middle-aged man spoke stroking a thin beard.
"Will this help?", Wu Long retreived a crimson red large saber from his Spatial Ring, and the middle-aged man's jaw dropped as his eyes widened.
"Th-The Blood Drinker!", he spoke with fear and reverence at the same time.
"So, can you call out the Forge Master now?", Wu Long smiled and the middle-aged man nodded, turning back and running off, bringing an older man with him.
"How may we address this Honorable Guest?", the Forge Master spoke with a humble tone as Wu Long's eyes slightly narrowed.
"Haa~... you can call me Wu Long. But it seems I will not find what I seek here", Wu Long replied with a bit of disappointment in his voice.
"What does Honorable Guest mean...? I am afraid I cannot understand...", the Forge Master revealed a slightly confused look.
"You were not the one who designed the retractable armor that uses Spatial Rings, were you?", Wu Long explained as the Forge Master widened his eyes.
"C-Correct, we have received those designs as legacy from our Great Ancestor who had long since passed"
"Any information on the origins of those designs?", Wu Long spoke as his disappointment grew even more as the chances of finding the one who created that armor were becoming slimmer.
"O-only that those were from before the Great Calamity. ... I-it seems they were made by an apprentice of our Great Ancestor, who banished him, although near the end of his life the Great Ancestor seemed regretful ... Oh! Yes! I-I seem to recall that that apprentice was called Gao Lianjin", the Forge Master spoke as he eyed the blood-colored saber in Wu Long's hands, and checking his expression.
It was clear he understood that the person before him had to be answered, whatever he asks.
Meanwhile Wu Long sank into thoughts, getting the gist of the situation.
He did not linger in the Storm Forge any longer, as it lost its allure to him, swiftly exiting the Forging Dao District and returning to the inn, though Kwon Qianhong quickly noted that the two that left the Forge ahead of them did not return until late in the evening.