Wu Long entered the capital after paying a toll. He was heavily inspected on the way in and the guards looked at him with the same suspicion the troops outside did, but as he showed his disciple badge they let him through.
It was not like disciple badges could not be faked to show in front of mortals who did not have the means to check Spiritual Qi records within the badge, but doing so will make the perpetrator a mortal enemy of the sect whose disciple they impersonated. Cultivation sects universally supported each other’s pursuit of such individuals since it was a good mutual assurance for all of them.
Thus impersonating a disciple of one sect will make one hunted by all sects in the region. Not many were willing to risk these repercussions. And certainly, not mountain bandits who generally had more or less fixed areas of activities, and therefore could be found and eradicated if all the sects in the region got serious.
Wu Long decided to look for the young lady in question right after entering the city since he was not yet sure that such a rare condition could be accurately identified in this place, but the lure was too good to completely ignore it and the fact that the Frozen Garden Palace sent out people was encouraging. Thus he needed to verify with his own eyes.
He arrived at the Luo Family Manor to see that the area was vigilantly patrolled by royal troops which he bypassed similarly showing his disciple badge. The mansion itself was also heavily guarded.
‘Hmm, I guess they really are afraid of that bandit’
He thought, as normally a proclamation by a simple bandit should not invoke such a heavy response.
‘Well, that makes it that much easier’
“Stop there! Apologies but the situation does not allow us to be too courteous. Please state your business with our Luo family”
As he was thinking, he was stopped by the guards around ten meters away from the gates to the manor.
The royal troops who allowed him to pass also vigilantly looked this way.
“I want to get hired as a bodyguard”
He said simply.
“… wait here”
The guard who talked to him seemed to ponder, then nodded and went in, as another one took his place, as there were close to twenty guards directly behind the gates, ready for any emergencies.
The young man looked more like a scholar with his physique and, judging by his handsome face, a playboy without any aura of an expert. As much as he did not believe that he even deserved the attention of the higher-ups with such a proposal, it was above his paygrade to make such decisions.
It showed his experience and why he was entrusted with keeping the gates. In contrast, a younger guard made a “hmph!” with a disdainful look on his face, clearly not impressed. He would have told Wu Long to screw off but as his superior made a decision he could not contradict him without getting a beating later.
Soon, an elderly person with a goatee in plain-looking but high-quality robes followed by a small group of people came back with the guard and looked at Wu Long with an inquisitive gaze up and down.
“You want to be hired as a bodyguard?”
“Only for the period of danger, I have other business elsewhere after that”
Wu Long nodded at the elderly man’s question.
“Hmm, we do welcome strong people to help us weather the storm, but…”
“You are in Body Transformation Realm so you do not see it, but I have a cultivation base at the 8th level of Qi Gathering” Wu Long explained
Hearing this the expressions of the guards changed. In a mortal kingdom like this Qi Gathering Realm was already enough to make people more courteous, and he was near the peak. They themselves were either in the 1st or 2nd level Body Transformation Realm.
The elderly man simply looked at one of the people who came with him. It was a burly man in the Qi Condensation Realm which was the highest realm present who simply nodded.
“Do you perhaps have any recommendation or identification?”
Wu Long did not bother showing his disciple badge, it was enough to let him enter the city or go to public places, but not enough to gain the trust of the people besieged by danger.
Instead, he took out another token, on which the “Ye” character was inscribed in gold.
Seeing this token, the elderly man’s as well as everyone else’s eyes widened. This was a token signifying an honored guest of the Ye family Wu Long received from Ye Ling. Normally he just needed it in the Imperial Capital, but she told him to keep it, it seems in case he needed trust from nobles and royals in the kingdoms as she knew he was going to travel.
This produced a magical effect, and he was led in without much wait.
Such tokens were bound by blood and an array, so they would self-destruct once they are taken a certain distance from the token holders who provided the drop of blood to activate it. Thus they did not even need to doubt that he stole it, only checking the authenticity by respectfully asking to inspect it, which Wu Long did not refuse since the token was real.
This was a move Wu Long used quite a lot before, as he ‘bodyguarded’ many young ladies. He guarded them with his whole body covering them from above, and so well that none of the ladies were left unsatisfied. Their families were usually not so thrilled by his guarding though.
Though, strangely, now that he looked back at it, his perception and the way he thought seemed different. He was no longer as interested in making short-lived relationships and fleeting one-night stands despite being mostly focused on such relationships before. He pondered on it a little before dismissing it as the feeling was very ephemeral.
The Luo family has already hired about 10 people of varying strengths from outside and there were occasionally seen Luo family people who were in various stages of Body Transformation and early Qi Gathering Realms. It seems Qi Condensation was the highest realm around here, and there were very few of them.
Wu Long settled in the Luo family and waited for his turn to see the young lady of the house. It took two days and as the bodyguard that was hired from the outside he did not get to see her in close proximity, but seeing her from a distance was enough for him with the Chaos Origin Eyes.
She had exquisite facial features, straight jet-black hair, and purple eyes that were a natural manifestation of her Extreme Yin physique. Her plump lips were of a slightly darker pink color, and together with her long eyelashes, refined eyebrows, and hair created a sharp contrast to her fair jade-like skin. She was slightly petite overall in her height but her forms were sensual and would instantly ignite a fire in the men who saw her while being perfectly proportional to her overall body, not seeming too oversized.
‘Extreme Yin Dark Phoenix Body!’
He looked at her with astonishment. As her physique has toppled all his expectations. It was a common misconception that Extreme Yin physiques were only of the ice attribute, as these were the most common out of these extremely rare conditions. The ‘Extreme’ only referred to the Yin attribute, and not to an element, and there could be Extreme Yin physiques of all elements, even fire.
Her physique was a very unique and precious one, and Wu Long only read about it, never having seen one himself. But he was certain as all indicators were there.
She was now greeting a group of beautiful women in snow-white robes with blue flower patterns. 𝙚𝙙𝙤𝒗𝒆𝒍．𝒄𝙤𝙢
“Yu’er, meet Elder Qin of the Frozen Garden Palace”
A middle-aged man who seemed to be the father of this
“Luo Mingyu meets Elder Qin”
The purple-eyed beauty made a graceful bow.
“It is nice to meet you, I am Qin Jinin, and this here is our sect’s Prime Disciple Xue Bing”
The elder introduced another beauty. Her hair was long and straight, it was dark but had a deep ocean-blue tint. Her eyes were of a dark and cold blue color as if frozen in eternal ice, but there was no light of emotions in them. Her beautiful features were also frozen and unchanging, even as she bowed and greeted, and even her voice was devoid of any fluctuations.
‘!!!…Extreme Yin Frozen Soul Physique…’
Wu Long looked at her and was flabbergasted. There were two Extreme Yin physique maidens before him. The probabilities of them both being born in one lifetime in the same isolated minor world with a fractured link to the Spiritual Qi, and both being before him were so miniscule that he did not have the words to describe it. In his past lifetime, he only met three people with natural Extreme Yin physiques in his whole lifetime, and now he was meeting two at the same time.
‘Hmm, it seems I will need to visit the Frozen Garden Palace sometime in the future too…’
The Frozen Garden Palace Elder seemed to notice something and turned to look in Wu Long’s direction. Her eyes widened when she saw a familiar handsome face standing in line with bodyguards.
“You are…”