She had gone towards the direction of the Holy Court, following the back of Ji Mo Ya’s carriage…
Cousin was unwilling to meet her, but by simply following his tracks and aura, it was enough to make her feel happy, well, except for that slight bit of pain that could be ignored…
***
When Ji Mo Ya entered the city, the attention of every faction was on him.
Within a courtyard of the Holy Court, there was an ancient Chinese Scholar Tree*, under the tree was a large stone table.
(Cuppa: Chinese Scholar Tree – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styphnolobium_japonicum)
On it, two old men were playing a game of Go; on the board it was an intense and great phase in battle, yet the two elders wore gentlemanly calm smiles on their faces.
“That kid from your Ji Mo Clan has arrived, did he not reach the level of Mystic Spirit Master recently? How come, he reached Mid-Stage Mystic Spirit Master already. Are the eyes of this old man playing tricks on me?” he was Mu Rong Qiong.
Strictly speaking, Ji Mo Ya was also a member of the Mu Rong Clan’s outer branch, making them related by blood to a certain extent; but due to the size of the Mu Rong Clan, it resulted in too many outer branch bloodlines, so they were not directly related.
Ji Mo Kai Yuan’s rosy complexion replied in a loud voice, “That brat is really too reckless, the clan had told him to take it slow and solidify his foundation. What’s the point of improving so fast for? It looks like I should properly discipline him this time…”
On the side was a barefooted big person, his waist was wide and round while his face was also as round as its waist. He was currently standing on one leg, while he lifted his other leg with his hand as he used his hand to rub the dead skin off his feet, the legendary image of a man picking at his feet.
This was Shang Qiu Ling, a King Spirit Master.
“Ji Mo Kai Yuan, you stop trying to act proper. Seeing how your grandson is excelling had caused this old guy to feel angry…”
Ji Mo Kai Yuan could no longer held his look as a grin appeared on his face.
In that moment of smugness, he accidentally made a wrong move which costed him the game. Mu Rong Qiong stretched his hand and said, “Come come come, this old man has won. Our bet is a Purple Rank Equipment, give it up.”
Ji Mo Kai Yuan displayed a rare look of willingness as he paid the bet.
He was known for his skills in making equipment but was also a miser. Whenever he lost a game, he would ask to backtrack his moves multiple times, which eventually dragged out and turned into a fight, before he ultimately paid the bet that he lost.
“Another round, another round!” Ji Mo Kai Yuan requested in a happy mood.
Mu Rong Qiong was worried the equipment that he won would be at risk and quickly waved his hand.
The foot picking man, Shang Qiu Ling sat down, “This old man shall play with you! If you win, this old man will pay one million spirit stones. If you lose, you must guarantee that you will help my clan’s Yan’er and match her with that brat of your family to borrow a seed. When child is born, you must give to our Shang Qiu Clan, do you dare or not?”
Ji Mo Kai Yuan’s face immediately collapsed, “Are you breeding pigs? That kid’s marriage is something even his mother has a problem handling; this old man is not going to get involved in that dirty water! In addition, even if they have children, they would also belong to the Ji Mo Clan, the patriarch will absolutely not allow our bloodline to flow outside the clan…”
“Then you can play the game with yourself.” the big man adopted his single leg stand again and resumed picking his foot.
“Hey now, we can always discuss things. Come, let’s have another round first…”
A hundred miles outside the Holy City was a small town called Fake Mask Town.
The town was famous for producing all sorts of masks, leading to a culture of wearing masks; on the street, one could see many pedestrians wearing all sorts of masks.
Some cultivators from the Holy City would visit this place out of interest, and most of them would buy masks as souvenirs or as gifts for others.
The masks sold here were all made from authentic materials harvested from the battlefields between humans and demons; made by skinning the heads of demons.