As Yan Hai had previously relayed the beast attack incident to the Tie Family Fort through the communication talisman, not long after they came out from the Blood Phoenix Forest, they met the Tie Family Fort’s team of escort guards.
The escort team was made up of over a hundred people, with two perfection stage late-Tenth Order Highgod Realm masters among them. From their attire, these two were guard captains like Yan Hai.
The rest of the guards were between Ninth and Tenth Order Highgod Realm.
However, there was no Heavenly God master amongst them.
The leader of the team was a young man clad in a pure white brocade robe. He seemed to be in his early twenties appearance-wise, with dashing features, but his eyes shone with hostility when he spotted Huang Xiaolong who was standing beside Tie Xinlan.
“Yan Hai, it is extremely rare for a Tenth Order Highgod Realm demonic beast to appear in the outer areas of the Blood Phoenix Forest, yet you were attacked by one, and this brat just happened to pass by and save you? Isn’t this too much of a coincidence?” The white brocade robe young man observed Huang Xiaolong with suspicion in his eyes.
Even though he didn’t directly accuse Huang Xiaolong, the meaning of his blunt words was easily deciphered — it was all planned by Huang Xiaolong.
“That’s right, my thoughts exactly! This strange brat is trying to find a way to sneak into our Tie Family Fort!” One of the perfection stage late-Tenth Order Highgod Realm master behind the white-robed young man agreed coldly, “All these years, I have lost count of the number of disciples from the neighboring countries who tried to sneak in!”
Before Yan Hai could say a word, Tie Xinlan’s charming eyes were glaring angrily at the white-robed young man, “Tie Yang, Elder brother Huang is our savior, I won’t allow you to speak any more nonsense here. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re scheming!”
Tie Mu turned to Huang Xiaolong, saying, “Elder Brother Huang, let’s go, there’s no need to bother with these mad dogs! I want to see who dares to stop us!” He glared sharply at Tie Yang and his men.
Being reprimanded by Tie Xinlan and Tie Mu in front of a crowd, especially Tie Mu calling him a mad dog, was a great insult to Tie Yang. Regardless, Tie Mu was still the Tie Family Fort’s young fort lord, so he wasn’t in a position to say anything.
Tie Mu slightly pulled Huang Xiaolong by the arm, then the four of them mounted on the horses Tie Yang’s team brought and galloped away without another glance.
Yei Yang stared icily at Huang Xiaolong’s back, a sharp glint flickered across his eyes, so did killing intent.
“Young master Tie Yang, what should we…?” One of the guard captains approached Tie Yang’s side, cautiously asking.
“Return to the Tie Family Fort first. I don’t believe a mere early Tenth Order Highgod Realm brat can escape from my hands!” Tie Yang laughed icily.
“But, if that brat is really capable of killing a late-Tenth Order Highgod Realm Giant Tiger Beast, it seems he isn’t as weak as he appears ah.” The other guard captain stated.
Tie Yang snickered in response, “So what? Don’t tell me the two of you together still won’t be able to kill an early Tenth Order Highgod Realm punk.”
“Hehe, with our strength, either one of us can easily take that brat’s life. The only thing is, that brat has rescued the young lord and young miss, and from what I could see just now, he’s become real chummy with the two of them. If we kill him without any rhyme or reason, it would be hard to explain the matter to the Fort Lord!” said the first guard captain.
“You two don’t need to worry about this, I’ll handle the Fort Lord.” Tie Yang reassured them.
Even though they were now riding on horses, it still took Huang Xiaolong’s group more than ten days to reach the Tie Family Fort.
Along the way, Tie Mu and Tie Xinlan kept close to him, ignoring Tie Yang. Watching the two of them acting so familiar to Huang Xiaolong, Tie Yang gnashed his teeth in anger. Although his dislike toward Huang Xiaolong grew intensely, he did not deliberately cause trouble for him, therefore the entire trip was still quite smooth.
As for Huang Xiaolong, Tie Yang was just an insignificant character in his eyes. From his interaction with Tie Mu and Tie Xinlan, he came to know this man’s identity.
This Tie Yang was the son of Big Elder Tie Chengdong. As the Big Elder of the Tie Family Fort, Tie Chengdong’s status was high, only surpassed by the Tie Family Fort’s Lord. Not to mention the fact that Tie Chengdong himself was a late-First Order Heavenly God.
When they reached their destination, the Fort Lord, Tie Qianyuan, was already waiting for them at the gates.
After a series of introductions, Tie Qianyuan cupped his fists at Huang Xiaolong, “Many thanks to young hero Huang for rescuing my son and daughter.” His manners could be considered proper and courteous.
Tian Qianyuan was a Second Order Heavenly God master. In the Divine World, the gap between a Heavenly God and a Highgod Realm was wider than heaven and earth, moreover, Tian Qianyuan was also the Tie Family Fort’s Lord. Waiting outside at the gates to welcome and thank Huang Xiaolong, not everyone could be this humble.
Huang Xiaolong responded courteously in return.
The middle-aged man standing closest to Tie Qianyuan, who had been observing Huang Xiaolong the whole time, suddenly spoke, “I heard young hero Huang single-handedly killed a late-Tenth Order Highgod Realm Giant Tiger beast, may I know which sect you belong to? Being capable of this feat, I think even the genius disciples of our Green Cloud Island’s big three sects don’t have such talent.”
This stalwart middle-aged man was none other than the Tie Family Fort’s Big Elder, Tie Chengdong.
Huang Xiaolong calmly replied, “I’m from the Cluster Star Island. As bad luck would have it, I was pulled into a space fissure and sent over here. The Divine World is so vast, sects number more than the trees in a great forest; the fact that you haven’t seen an early Tenth Order Highgod Realm cultivator killing a late-Tenth Order Giant Tiger Beast does not mean it has never happened before.”
Hearing Huang Xiaolong’s tone and words caused Tie Chengdong’s eyes narrowed slightly with coldness.
Tie Yang was the first to erupt, “Insolent brat, how dare you speak to my father with that tone?! I bet you’re nothing but a spy sent by other families to infiltrate our Tie Family Fort!”
Tie Qianyuan frowned with displeasure, “Enough, Young hero Huang is my Tie Family Fort’s honored guest!”
Tie Yang unwillingly lowered his head and acknowledged Tie Qianyuan’s words, retreating to the side.
Huang Xiaolong was quickly invited into the Tie Family Fort by Tie Qianyuan. While he was passing by Tie Chengdong, he completely ignored the coldness in the other’s eyes.
Inside the Tie Family Fort, Tie Qianyuan had prepared a banquet to thank Huang Xiaolong, gifting him one hundred shenbi as reward for his help.
The shenbi was the accepted currency here, usable in any city of the Divine World, similar in size to a bill from Earth. In the Tie Family Fort’s neighboring cities, one could purchase a good residence with three hundred shenbi, therefore, one hundred shenbi was considered quite a handsome reward.
Huang Xiaolong accepted the reward without any pretense. At the moment, he was unable to condense any divine stones, with nary a coin on him, he indeed needed the money.
Subsequently, he made a request to Tie Qianyuan: he wanted to enter the Tie Family Fort’s library.
Although Huang Xiaolong managed to understand some things through his conversations with Tie Mu and Tie Xinlan, his knowledge of the Divine World was still very much lacking.
He was in a hurry to understand as much as he could about the Divine World, and the best way to do so was through books. This was also the reason why he accepted Tie Mu, Tie Xinlan, and Yan Hai’s invitation to.
In other words, he wouldn’t be staying long in the Tie Family Fort, at most ten days to half a month. He would then leave once he was done reading all the books in the Tie Family Fort’s library.
Tie Qianyuan didn’t even hesitate after hearing Huang Xiaolong’s request, agreeing on the spot.
