"Princess.....Ma Yu?" Hao Xuan stared at the new arrivals with wide eyes.
"She really looks so much like her..." he mumbled absentmindedly.
"Looks like who?" a soft voice sounded right in front of Hao Xuan, waking him from his daze.
It was Ma Yu. She had walked all the way up to Hao Xuan and was looking at him with a smile.
"I have heard so much about the great captain, it is a pleasure to finally meet you," she reached out and grabbed Hao Xuan's hand unexpectedly, making him almost jump back.
Hao Xuan took a few seconds to regain his composure, "Si- Princess, how do you do," and shook her hand which was already in his grasp.
"Mhm," she smiled back sweetly.
"It's not her. She looks like her, a lot, but it's not actually her," Hao Xuan thought inwardly.
He wanted to ask her about Sin, but she leaned in on her own and whispered, "Older sister told me that you would be the best person to have on my side, pleasure working with you," she giggled coquettishly and backed off of Hao Xuan after getting some angry glares from the older couple that came with her.
Hao Xuan finally understood what was going and smiled back at her. So Sin and Ma Yu were sisters and she was the one that chose him?
Wait...if she was Ma Yu's older sister, then she was the oldest daughter of the Ma Clan, Ma Ai?!
The Ma clan was an ancient clan to the northeast of the Kingdom of Mei. It was neither a country nor a kingdom, hence it did not have a grade of its own. Yet it was strong enough to rival most Grade 1 Kingdoms.
Their current leader was the old King Ma. That man alone was older than the entire kingdom of Mei, and his cultivation level was a secret to most people.
The Ma clan was a clan of assassins and suffice to say, were very good at their jobs. So where they had many enemies, even more people were scared sh*tless by their very name.
When a Ma assassin accepted a contract out on someone, they were considered legally dead.
The Old King Ma was infamous for being extremely ruthless and strict, even with his kin. When their children turned five, they would be thrown into an open-air prison with a single weapon, and they had to survive in there for forty days.
No one knew where this prison was. It was one of the most well-kept secrets of the Ma clan. Anyone that dared to go against them was thrown into this prison, never to be seen again. Some of the evilest and vile creatures that ever walked the earth could be found in there.
It was rumored that when Ma Yu turned five, Ma Ai, her older sister begged the old king to let her take her sister's place. Hesitant at first, the old king agreed on one condition, that she would have to survive in there for over 120 days.
And she did.
Ma Ai came out victorious and with a newly awakened power. Even since then she was considered to be the official princess of the Ma clan. She was groomed by the Old King himself to one day lead the clan.
She was a cold-blooded murderer, or so people thought. But Hao Xuan had seen a side of hers that no one else thought even existed.
But the more interesting thing was that the Ma clan and the Shi country had been at war for over a thousand years. There had been three wars between the great powers that had claimed two entire grade-three kingdoms. These poor kingdoms were where the wars had broken out and everyone in them was wiped out as a consequence. Some lucky ones managed to escape but most did not.
And now there was supposed to be a marriage between their youngest? If news of this broke out, it would rock the entire region.
Other than the Empires, there was basically no one stronger than a grade 1 kingdom. And two powers of that level had decided to put their differences aside? To what end? Was a new supreme power going to be born?
Hao Xuan knew most of this information. If what Sun An said was true, then this was way too big of an event to let someone like him handle it, and with limited manpower to boot.
He looked at Ma Yu and Shi Chun who were chatting with one another on the side, and his heart couldn't help but feel heavy.
He turned towards Sun and said in a serious tone, "I don't think its a good idea to let me handle this. I barely have 50 capable men under me, just these guys' entourage is stronger than my forces. It would be best if they went with you or brother Guo."
Sun An shook her head, "No can do. The higher-ups have approved this. And although it is a big deal, even if something does go wrong, you won't be held responsible. Plus," she smiled and looked towards Shi Chun and Ma Yu, "Both of them requested you specifically. You are the most famous person from the younger generation and they seem to be huge fans of yours so...."
She didn't need to finish, Hao Xuan knew he was stuck with them. But he couldn't shake the feeling that this was going to backfire in some big way.
"Alright, now that everyone has met each other, please form a line. The Rift is about to be opened," Sun An clapped her hands and announced.
With Hao Xuan at the forefront followed by Jin Wang, Shi Chun, and Ma Yu right behind him, they formed a long line.
A team of fifteen scientists had also joined them at some point.
Sun An went past each and every person and nodded when everyone was present and accounted for.
"Do it," she waved her hand and the platform below the rift started spinning. Sparks of blue lightning came out of it and entered the rift, making it expand outwards in an oval shape. It was only wide enough that a single person could walk through at once.
Hao Xuan took a deep breath to calm himself down and quickly entered the rift, disappearing from the beast world.
Everyone else did the same and within a few minutes, the entire party had entered the rift.
The platform slowed down and then completely stopped, making the rift return to its original shape and size.