Chapter 111: Tianyun City, Barbarian Race

　　The excitement didn’t last long. The lengthy journey continued, and it was dull and dry.

　　This was the longest journey that Lu Mingshu had ever been on. The journey from Dongyue to Xizhou took half a year.

　　Of course, this journey was very different from the ones she had always been on with her legs. With the emerald-colored vehicle and the heavenly beasts that never stopped flying, she could see all the mountains and rivers below as time passed.

　　“No wonder they say that mankind originated in Zhongzhou. Look at all the unique sceneries,” Tan Yubing commented.

　　Lu Mingshu stood by her side on the balcony, looking down at the land below.

　　In Dongyue, it was full of hills, but in Xizhou, it was full of mountains. However, unlike Dongyue and Xizhou, Zhongzhou, which occupied the most land in China, was surprisingly a vast flat land. Farms could be seen everywhere, and there were rivers and mountains too. Compared to Dongyue and Xizhou, it was quite wide.

　　Lu Mingshu nodded in agreement, “I didn’t know that Zhongzhou was full of cities.”

　　“Zhongzhou has a dense population. It has always been populous and affluent – very different from Xizhou. We have many industries in the Nine Jade Palace that rely on resources from the Jade West Mountain Forest, while Zhongzhou can sustain itself just with its citizens.”

　　Tan Yubing then turned to face the other side, “Junior Niece Lu, with our current speed, we will reach Tianyun City by today. Let’s prepare our stuff now.”

　　“Let me take a look at the mounts first,” Lu Mingshu smiled.

　　“You mean feed them, right?” Tan Yubing let out a short laugh.

　　Lu Mingshu laughed while nodding before heading to the stable.

　　The stable on the vehicle housed around ten mounts, and most of them belonged to the disciples in the Harmonization Realm. Disciples in the Inner Breath Realm rarely had a mount that was valuable enough to bring with them, while Elders in the Spirit Realm stored their mounts in a portable stable similar to a mustard seed pouch.

　　Pondering for a moment, she realized that mustard seed pouches and portable stables were extremely important for long trips. When she was at Nine Jade Palace, she could still handle things without those two items even though it was more inconvenient, but now that she was out and about, that was no longer true.

　　Little Daze jumped up and down upon seeing her.

　　Lu Mingshu ruffled its head before she gave it some fresh fruits.

　　Chomp! Chomp! Little Daze was so happy that his eyes could no longer be seen.

　　“Looks like Junior Sister Lu is in a good mood,” a voice rang from across the stable.

　　Turning around, she saw Shao Zhengyang walking toward her.

　　“Senior Brother Shao.”

　　Shao Zhengyang was carrying a basket filled with meat, indicating that he was here to feed his mount too.

　　“We will be reaching Tianyun City today, what does Junior Sister Lu have planned?” He asked while placing the basket in front of his mount.

　　“Senior Brother, that’s such a funny question. We are just disciples, what’s there to plan? You should be asking the chaperones,” she answered while glancing at him, full of sarcasm.

　　However, it seemed as if Shao Zhengyang didn’t sense the sarcasm, “Does Junior Sister Lu perhaps have any raging doubts that you need to clear, but you have no one to help you clear them?”

　　Lu Mingshu remained silent. Be it the Zhou family or the line of Jade Terrace… if there’s nothing important, god, please let them stay far away from me.

　　“My master knows how the Zhou family settles things. It’s obvious they wouldn’t let you off that easily.”

　　He cleaned his hands and turned to her, “What they’re doing now is all for show. The biggest possibility is that they want to show that they recognize you as the Eldest Miss.”

　　Shao Zhengyang ended the conversation and left with the basket.

　　Lu Mingshu stood there staring blanking into space.

　　Eldest Miss? Hah. What’s the worth of an Eldest Miss exactly?

　　…

　　“Oh my god, look at that! It’s Tianyun City!” The disciples all crowded around to have a look.

　　Golden rays of sunlight shone onto a majestic skyscraper, making it look like a bunch of huge blocks of gold shooting out from the ground. Even though the buildings were so tall, they still could not cover up the vastness of the plain.

　　“That’s Dingshan Tower! It’s so huge!”

　　“Look at the Nine Dragon Cauldron! It sure does embody its name!”

　　Lu Mingshu looked over. She saw a giant cauldron in the middle of the city, and it had nine dragon carvings around the rim, making it seem like the dragons were protecting the cauldron.

　　The Nine Dragon Cauldron. The landmark of Tianyun City. In the past, mankind went through quite a lot in order to conquer the Barbarian race and get rid of mystic beasts who harmed humans. They built up Tianyun City with their blood, sweat, and tears, and they made the Nine Dragon Cauldron. That was the reason for mankind’s prosperity now.

　　It was also said that the Nine Dragon Cauldron could suppress anything, thus, Tianyun City was also known as Dragon City.

　　Just as the vehicle was about to land, a group of birds flew towards the vehicle and blocked the way.

　　“What are those?” The disciples were taken aback by the scene.

　　Those birds are huge, and there seem to be humans on them… humans? No, they have the upper body of a human!

　　In the blink of an eye, the “birds” arrived in front of the vehicle

　　Peng! Peng! Peng! The “birds” started knocking against the vehicle, causing it to sway vigorously, and the disciples fell.

　　Lu Mingshu jumped out of the window to prevent the creatures from hurting the disciples.

　　“What happened? Why are there harpies?”

　　“Look at their horns! It’s the Barbarian race!”

　　“Have the Barbarians invaded!?”

　　Shrieks of alarm and shock could be heard. A siren could then be heard as the vehicle formed a layer of protection around itself.

　　“The Barbarians?”

　　An Tongchen’s voice rang across the vehicle, “How dare they invade China? Are they declaring war?” He stood up and drew his sword, which was as white as snow and just as cold.

　　Boom!

　　The sword-light blocked a black fist-light.

　　“I see the martial artists of China aren’t very good!” A nasally male voice rang.

　　The disciples raged after they heard what he said, “Come and fight us then, you ignorant Barbarians!”

　　“What makes you think you’re better just because you’re a giant bird!?”

　　An Tongchen rolled his eyes at the comment. Being as good-tempered as he was, a few words would have no effect on him.

　　“I might not be good, but I’m good enough to end you,” he sneered.

　　As soon as he finished his sentence, Lu Mingshu could feel that the temperature around her had dropped, making it feel kind of like winter.

　　Seeing that Elder An was about to take on the Barbarians, all the disciples cheered, “Elder An, show them what you got!”

　　Snowflakes started falling slowly, and the sword-light shone brightly. Just as An Tongchen was about to attack, a ray of light shot toward the front of the vehicle from the city.

　　“Please wait a minute!”

　　The ray of light faded, uncovering a middle-aged man in a maroon robe.

　　“Brother An, after so many years, you’re still the same – so powerful!” The man smiled at him.

　　An Tongchen squinted his eyes to get a better look.

　　“Oh, so it’s Mr Lin! It’s been so long since we met, I see you’ve been promoted to an official.”

　　Mr Lin waved his hand, “Nah, it’s just because Lady Luck’s on my side.”

　　However, An Tongchen was not in the mood to entertain him. He cut off the chat and went straight to the point, “So, why did you stop me? Tons of Barbarians are in China right now and yet no actions have been taken? Are they now allowed to roam freely around Zhongzhou?”

　　“It’s a misunderstanding!” Mr Lin immediately apologized. “Both of you are my valuable guests, it is my fault that this happened.”

　　“Valuable guest?” An Tongchen stared at him coldly. “You invited them?”

　　The harpy sneered, “So what if he invited the Barbarians? Do you think that we don’t deserve to be here? Fight me then!”

　　Upon hearing that, Mr Lin tried to cool down the situation, “Elders, it’s just a misunderstanding. Please don’t take it so seriously….”

　　An Tongchen rolled his eyes, “Mr Lin, they rammed into our vehicle as soon as we arrived, is that a misunderstanding? I have no say in who you invite, but I’m pretty sure they did what they did on purpose, and you want me to turn a blind eye to it? Do you think the Nine Jade Palace is a pushover?”