Dawn. The sun was just about to rise and the mist was still hovering in the air.
The clansmen gathered at the plaza in front of Qin Residence, bidding farewell to the two junior clansmen who were about to join the clan.
Qin Long patted his son on the shoulders and smiled casually, “I’ve already told you all that I should so I’ll stop nagging you. Just focus on your cultivation in the sect. There’s no need to worry about your father. When you achieve something with your cultivation, just remember to come back and visit.”
The corner of Qin Feng’s lips twitched as he tried to squeeze out a smile, but failed to. He could only nod and made a quiet grunt.
Nearby, Qin Xi was hugged tightly by a woman who was crying softly.
That was her mother.
The woman thought that with her daughter becoming a cultivator, their family would be taken care of by the main family, no longer needing to worry about their wellbeing and could lead a comfortable life. All she had to do was just to cultivate diligently at home. Why then did she have to join a sect?
The two members of the family from the previous generation that joined the sect did not survive. From that, one could surmise that joining a sect was a dangerous thing. That really made her worry about her daughter’s safety.
However, Qin Xi might look soft on the outside but had a valiant heart. Otherwise she would not have taken the spot from those youngsters from the branch family with her tenacity.
Right then, the patriarch walked out from the residence.
Seeing that, Qin Xi’s father quickly pulled his wife away to avoid delaying the important matters. “That’s enough. It’s a great fortune for Little Xi to enter the sect. Why are you constantly crying?”
Qin Xi added, “Mom, don’t worry. I’ll take good care of myself. We’ll also be under the care of a senior of the family. It’ll be fine.”
After some comforting from the father and daughter, Qin Xi’s mother finally stopped crying. She offered a few more advice before finally backing away.
The patriarch walked forward and gave some cordial speech before summoning his Shadow Panther, getting ready to depart.
Qin Feng gave his father a full bow before getting up and rode on the Shadow Panther’s back. The patriarch then led them flying toward the direction of the county city.
Qin Long did not follow along. Without the patriarch around, he needed to stay back to protect the family. Otherwise, with only Third Uncle, a lowly cultivator of the Foundation Establishment Stage, he might not be able to intimidate the outsiders.
After all, the Huang family was just burglarized some time ago and suffered heavy losses. The Qin family could not be undefended. That was why Qin Long did not personally send his son to the county city. If he had learned that the burglary incident at the Huang family was done by his son, what would he think?
The Shadow Panther flew high in the sky. Qin Xi turned around to look at her parents down below and waved at them.
That spiritual beast’s flying speed was extremely fast. In just a moment, they had already lost sight of their clansmen down below.
Qin Xi was not too worried about her own family. Regardless of her performance at the sect, the main family would take care of her parents. Moreover, she had a younger brother and a younger sister. She had no worries of not having someone fulfilling her filial duties.
However, it was her first time leaving home and she felt a little uncomfortable.
The patriarch could feel the both of them feeling a little dejected and immediately laughed. “No need to feel sad. You can still come back to visit after entering the sect. Just wait a few years. When you have some results from your cultivation, you can accept some training missions issued by the sect. If it’s along the way, it wouldn’t hurt to come back for a visit.”
Qin Xi’s eyes brightened immediately after hearing that. She immediately asked, “Patriarch, are there many missions that require traveling? Are they dangerous?”
She had a skinny body and a pretty face. Her speaking voice was also light, gentle, and melodious. However, her voice was not strong. If not for Qin Guangpao’s advanced cultivation stage, he would not have heard what she said.
“There are quite a lot of missions. As long as you know your limits and when to fall back, you normally won’t run into much danger.”
Qin Guanpao did not want to damage their confidence, but he warned them anyway. “The path of cultivation requires fortuitous encounters and also resources. However, please do not let your greed mask your thoughts. Otherwise, you’ll easily fall into peril.
There are countless cultivators in the world with uncountable tricks and schemes. Some would set up traps by exploiting the greed of others in order to obtain cultivation resources.
Of course, that type of person may have obtained some momentary benefits, but would easily run into something beyond their ability to handle. Once exposed, death would soon follow.”
Speaking of that, the patriarch started to explain to them the various plots and plans that were commonly seen in the world of cultivators.
He had a long life and experienced many things. Moreover, he had a good sense of humor. That was why Qin Feng and Qin Xi were able to listen to him in rapt attention while he told them those horrifying and violent matters.
Finally, he added, “I tell you these not to have you scheme against others, but instead to help you assess the situation better whhen you are in trouble. Don’t fall into somebody’s trap and throw your life away.”
Both of them nodded and grunted a reply as their hearts grew more weary of other cultivators.
Qin Guanpao’s nascent spirit beast, the Shadow Panther, was not the biggest among demon beasts of the Foundation Establishment Stage, but still had a length of 15 feet. Moreover, its fur was silky smooth, making it extremely comfortable while Qin Feng and Qin Xi rode on it.
Although the Shadow Panther flew at a high speed and caused the wind to rustle by their ears, Qin Guanpao had raised a layer of magical barrier to shield them from the head wind.
Otherwise, at such high speeds, they would find it difficult to even talk as the rushing air would fill their mouth the moment they opened it.
Half a day later, the group arrived at Tieling County City.
It was a keep built beside a huge mountain range.
That mountain range contained a large number of metal ore veins. Each year, they would produce a large amount of refined iron used for tool refinement. There were many factions that would purchase refined iron and ores from them to be sold elsewhere. It helped benefit the few families within the county city greatly.
Outside its gates, the Shadow Panther landed.
The people coming and going were already used to seeing all sorts of cultivators. Furthermore, the Zhao family in the county city was affiliated with the Beastmaster Sect as well. The common folks of the city were used to seeing various spiritual beasts, hence many would only give the Shadow Panther curious glances instead of cowering in fear.
Qin Guanpao retrieved his nascent spirit beast back into the Spiritual Beast Bag before leading Qin Feng and Qin Xi to the heart of the city.
They were cultivators and were naturally not required to queue up for entry. They walked straight in through the main gates without any guards daring to stand in the way.
Compared to Kun City, the county city was a lot busier. According to what the patriarch told them, this city had over thirty thousand permanent residents. The pedestrians coming and going by the road was beyond counting.
To Qin Feng, it did not matter as he had seen even busier cities. Apart from checking out some curiosities, there was nothing much on his mind.
As for Qin Xi, although everything was new, her personality was soft and quiet. She would only tag along quietly behind the old patriarch. She had no intention of loitering around the bustling city.
It went on until Qin Guanpao brought them to a cultivator market within the northern section of the city before the bustling scene died down.
The cultivator market had quite a lot of people as well, but it was less crowded as outside.
Arriving there, Qin Feng had an eye-opening experience. Be it the shops in the market or the stalls by the street, or the factionless cultivators and their stalls selling a plethora of spiritual items, it made him dizzy looking from just looking around.
That was his first time witnessing so many spiritual items.
Seeing their response, Qin Guanpao smiled as he brushed his beard.
Thinking back when he first arrived there, his behavior was a lot worse than those two children. It seemed these children had decent discipline.
“The area around here are the cultivator’s residences. They are separated by magical formations. Although it was still situated within Tieling County City, it was considered a city within another city. Apart from a small number of common folks working for the cultivator families, the rest of the regular folks would never step foot in this place. Of course, they’re incapable of entering even if they wanted to. Although the Illusion Spell placed over the entrance was simple, it was not something the regular folks could see through. That would avoid them accidentally running into some random cultivators and losing their lives.”
Qin Guanpao made a faint smile. “Let’s go. We’ll settle down at the sect outpost first before I bring you out to explore this place.”