Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After dinner, their guest from the White Dragon tribe left, and a cold wind blew across the lake. Gao Peng was still ruminating over what the old lady had said.
“What’s bothering you?” asked Ji Hanwu, who had suddenly appeared behind Gao Peng.
“The fact that Earth will soon turn into a war zone. I still can’t wrap my head around what’s going to happen here,” said Gao Peng before letting out a long breath.
He was never the heroic type to try to save the world. As a rule, he always strove to avoid unnecessary conflict if possible. Him going to the Black Fog World to work could also be seen as him trying to escape from his own troubles. However, it seemed that there was no escaping this time.
On one side was the ancient clan; on the other were the natives of Jiutian Shidi, whom Gao Peng had never even heard of until that day. Both sides were hellbent on turning the Earth into a battlefield, delivering desolation onto the place.
That’s right, we Earthlings stand no chance against either of them. If we can’t beat either of them, we might as well hand this place over. The universe is such a big place, I’m sure there’s somewhere we could relocate to.
But there’s just so many of us here on Earth. We’re talking about billions of people here.
“Then let’s move,” said Gao Peng’s grandfather after thinking about this for a while.
“Move?”
“Yeah. Don’t we already have the Black Fog World? Those people from the ancient clan will probably be taking refuge in the sea of planes of existence. We could do the same.” His grandfather said the word “refuge” without any sense of shame.
“Yes, you’re right… The Black Fog World could definitely fit the billions of people here on Earth, and there would still be some space left over,” muttered Gao Peng, frowning. “However, we can’t do this by ourselves. A billion isn’t exactly a small number.”
“We could seek cooperation from the government.”
“All right then, I’m leaving this to you, Grandpa. You go work out the details with the government, while I go over to the Squared World and participate in their tribal meeting and see what they’re up to.”
“I think you should stay here and work with the government. I’ll go to the Squared World myself,” suggested Gao Peng’s grandfather.
“No, Grandpa, you should stay. Your words hold more weight with the government than mine. Besides, I still haven’t grown a full beard around my mouth,” said Gao Peng, chuckling. There was no way he would let his grandfather go to the Squared World, where untold dangers probably lurked in every corner.
Despite being aware of this, Ji Hanwu still wanted to talk Gao Peng out of going. Before he could open his mouth, Gao Peng simply said, “I have two Saint-tier familiars and a divine artifact at my disposal. I’m sure that I can get away from even a Quasi God there.”
Ji Hanwu was cut off immediately before he had a chance to get a word in. “Fine, you can go.” His grandfather seemed to visibly age as he said these words. He could see that Gao Peng was no longer the little boy he had to shelter from the wind and rain.
Turning around, Gao Peng’s grandfather muttered, “Come back alive.”
“All right, Grandpa,” replied Gao Peng, nodding. Before leaving, the old woman had told Gao Peng where to find her. She would be staying in the Huaxia region for one more day and leaving for the Sky World the next day.
Gao Peng didn’t see Bei Qingyan when he came back. His grandfather had told him that Bei Qingyan had left Yuzhou at someone’s invitation. She must have already gone back to the Sky World.
The next day, in the afternoon, the blazing sun was shining down from the sky. Outside Yuzhou City stood a mountain villa, where people were bustling in and out. A group of people was sitting on the grass with a small table set before them. All kinds of food were placed on it.
“These Earthlings do make good food.”
“Should we ask the high priestess if we can bring a few of their chefs back with us?”
“I’m sure most natives here could only dream of being able to enter the White Dragon Tribe, let alone work as chefs there,” said someone proudly.
The silver-haired old woman was sitting quietly in a corner, eating her porridge.
“High priestess, will he come?” asked a young girl sitting just beside the old woman. The girl had her black hair behind her shoulders. Clad in a yellow, short-sleeved shirt, the design of which was obviously not of this planet, she was a dainty thing with slender arms and legs.
“He will come,” said the high priestess. Setting down the bowl in her hand, she wiped the corners of her mouth with a napkin.
“Oh.” The girl obediently nodded and decided to not press any further. The high priestess’s word was absolute.
“High priestess, Gao Peng’s here,” shouted a young man from the White Dragon Tribe in the distance.
After entering the mountain villa, Gao Peng surveyed his surroundings for a bit before walking straight towards the high priestess, who was sitting beneath a tree.
“You’ve arrived,” said the high priestess, nodding, as if everything had gone exactly as planned.
“May your wisdom guide us well on our trip,” said Gao Peng, his expression severe as he bowed before the old woman.
The high priestess nodded in acknowledgment of Gao Peng’s bow. “Then let’s be on our way,” she announced as she stood up, her voice carrying across the entire mountain villa.
Silence fell over them at that moment. The younger boys and girls didn’t look too eager to leave the place, especially when they’d only scratched the surface of the local cuisine that was already served to them… However, the high priestess was an authority figure whom they just couldn’t say “no” to.
A few moments later, a couple of winged familiars took off into the skies from the mountain villa, each of them carrying a group of people on its back. Gao Peng was sitting on the back of a white dragon alongside the high priestess, as well as the young girl whom Gao Peng had seen sitting beside the high priestess back in the mountain villa.
Beneath them was a pure-blooded white dragon. Its grade was Legendary, and its level was 69. Gao Peng was amazed by the fact that despite looking no more than 20 years old, the girl already had a peak-level Emperor-tier familiar. Gao Peng remembered having only King-tier familiars when he was her age.
“As you currently don’t have any standing in our tribe, I would suggest that you speak only when spoken to. Even though some of the people in the ancient clan bear no ill will towards Earthlings, there are still some who can be a bit harsh towards them,” explained the high priestess.
Gao Peng nodded obediently. For some reason, the high priestess seemed to care for his wellbeing. “May I ask why some of them have such a harsh attitude towards Earth?” asked Gao Peng. This feeling of being discriminated against was quite off-putting.
“Because Earthlings can establish Blood Contracts with multiple familiars at the same time, while in the ancient clan, only Holy Individuals are able to perform such a feat,” said the high priestess.
Gao Peng nodded.
“Also, there aren’t any powerful individuals on Earth with whom we can establish a fair dialogue. Such a thing can only happen between two entities of the same power level. Truth be told, most people in the ancient clan have begun mating with Earthlings either through force or subtler means.” The silver-haired old woman paused for a moment before continuing, “As one can only sign a Blood Contract at the age of eighteen, it remains to be seen if their progeny is capable of signing contracts with multiple familiars.
“Don’t worry too much about it. These people won’t deliberately discriminate against you. The tribal meeting this time will focus more on how we should deal with the people of Jiutian Shidi. By our calculations, the barrier protecting the Earth won’t hold for much longer. Soon, it will merge with Jiutian Shidi.
“You’ll also get to meet some of the brightest young folk that the Squared World has to offer. It’s good to know people from your own age group. Who knows, you might even make a friend there,” said the high priestess.
