"I’m not hiding anything from Master Qin, Marquis Yuan Rang was kind to me. When I went to Ten Suns Cave Heaven, it was his repeated assistance that allowed this student to quickly and firmly stabilize in the Seventh Grade Realm and then make a breakthrough to the Sixth-Grade Early Stage earlier this year," Ji Zixuan said.
"Just kind?" the woman in the green robe, Qin Hongying, had a hint of a smile in her eyes, "Is there a personal affair perhaps?"
The other two male Masters also started teasing, "Zixuan is one of the most outstanding graduates from the Daoist Academy in recent years. We must vet this properly for you. If he is just average, wouldn’t that waste Zixuan’s whole life?"
"Ah, you can’t say that either," another handsome Master shook his head and said, "Choosing a man is like choosing a horse. You can’t just look at the present; you have to consider future potential."
Subjected to teasing by the three Masters, Ji Zixuan was neither shy nor timid, but instead, she boldly said, "Then I’ll have to trouble Master Wen and Master Zhai to interact with him more and help this student discern."
"Oh? You’re really taken with this lad?" Qin Hongying was somewhat surprised, "Then we really need to take a good look this time."
After finishing chatting with the three Masters of the Bishui Daoist School, Ji Zixuan moved to another room on a different floor of the building ship.
There were also three figures resting here.
However, they were dressed in armor, wearing military boots, and swords were fastened at their waists; they were all military officers.
"General Xia, General Fang, General He, we are about to arrive at Twin Islands, Zixuan specially comes to report to the three generals," she said.
"Thank you," replied two of the generals, their attitudes far from enthusiastic.
Because their coming here was merely a political task.
All being high-ranking commanders of powerful armies, they already had stable sources for cultivating their war beasts and procurement channels.
It was only out of consideration for Princess You Ruo that they came to go through the motions; in reality, they didn’t plan to actually buy any warhorses or war beasts from Twin Islands this time.
But General Xia, bearing the surname Xia, was much more enthusiastic, "Thank you, Princess Chenxi."
Princess Chenxi was Ji Zixuan’s title as a Commandery Princess.
After her return from Ten Suns Cave two years ago, she finally earned recognition from her family.
Her grandfather, King Chenglan, allocated quite a few fields and properties to her in Chenxi Commandery.
He then requested a title from the Zong Mansion for her. After a year, Ji Zixuan was officially acknowledged as Princess Chenxi.
Of course, she only had the title of a Commandery Princess, her feudal land wasn’t much, and she didn’t have any vassals.
But at least the title could add to her influence when traveling abroad, so she wouldn’t have to always rely on the reputation of being an outstanding graduate of Bishui Sect.
"General Xia is too kind. You’ve traveled a long way, and if there is any lack in hospitality, I ask for your understanding," she said.
"Ha ha ha, I’m just a martial artist, how could I be so delicate? To be able to ride on the princess’s fragrant ship is already a great fortune," he responded.
The other two military officers didn’t take his words seriously, thinking to themselves that it was fine for him to fawn over Princess You Ruo, but why was he so respectful to her student? He was, after all, a fifth-rank general of the Xuanjia Army!
What they didn’t know was that Xia Tong was not here for Princess You Ruo’s sake. His visit was actually unrelated to Ji Zixuan.
Xia Tong was the cousin of Xia Jing and also held a position in the Xuanjia Army.
Over the New Year’s, Xia Jing had a conversation with Zhao Xing.
Upon learning that his good brother was raising horses, Xia Jing immediately asked his cousin Xia Tong to come and check things out and place some orders, regardless of the quality.
If there were no ready stock, then a preorder would suffice. In any case, he was determined to support his good brother’s endeavor.
Xia Tong wasn’t initially too concerned, but last year Xia Jing achieved many merits in the Pacifying Barbarian Battlefield and relayed Zhao Xing’s analytical and strategic intelligence capabilities to his cousin, which left Xia Tong in awe!
The ability to foresee the future from among numerous pieces of intelligence was extraordinary; Zhao Xing’s status in his mind rose significantly.
Moreover, there was the connection through Xia Jing.
Therefore, Xia Tong came all the way from a million miles away to the East Sea. Using the name of the Xuanjia Army, he came to place orders with Zhao Xing’s Dragon Horse Guard.
By the 21st year of Jingxin, many lives had been lost in the war, and the losses among war beasts were also sharply rising.
The Xuanjia Army had the Dragon Rider Camp, which had its own needs for mounts. Just one missed order could contribute to boosting Zhao Xing’s achievements.
At the time, Xia Tong promised, "Qilin’er, don’t worry. Even if they are all lame horses, I’ll buy a few thousand of them to bring back!"
Xia Jing laughed and said, "Cousin, rest assured, my brother will definitely not let you down. Just wait and see. In the future, the Xuanjia Army might even gain a significant boost in strength because of this."
So it was that three groups, each with their own agendas, came to the Dragon Horse Guard on Twin Islands.
Before disembarking, Zhao Xing also received news and the person himself rushed to the Land Island’s docking area to meet the guests.
"Yo? Quite the grand reception," observed the three Masters from Bishui Daoist School as soon as they disembarked. They noticed something unusual.
For Zhao Xing didn’t just bring people to welcome them; he brought a large contingent of warhorses.
On the horizon, two colors appeared. One was azure, the shade of the azure Heavenly Horses with dual wings, treading on Gang Wind.
The other was the color of dawn, which belonged to the Fire Fierce Horse herd, wingless, traveling amidst flames.
The two herds of horses flew majestically across the sky from the horizon.
Zhao Xing rode a Bronze War Chariot, with a Green-eyed Dragon Lion pulling the chariot in front and the herds of horses following behind. Atop the chariot stood a large cat.
This odd combination flew towards the warship via the cloud path.
At first, Wen Ji and Zhai Zhong didn’t pay much attention, but when the two saw the leaders at the front of the herds in the distance, they nodded slightly, "Not bad, he’s managed to breed a few good horses."
What they were looking at were Naga and Nata (named according to East Sea customs, the names of the Heavenly Horse King and the Fire Fierce Horse King). These two magical beasts already possessed quite a majestic demeanor.