Kree!
A white crane cried as it swayed its long neck in every direction. From its eyes, one could see a hint of haste and worry.
The young woman on its back had an expression of impatience and disinterest. She glanced around idly, watching the scenery passively.
"Is he here?" The young woman asked indifferently.
Kree!
Abruptly, the crane lifted her beak and cried. She revealed eyes of excitement as she faintly caught the scent of Wei Wuyin, her master! She heavily flapped her wings and took off rapidly.
Woosh!
After a few minutes, her eyes caught sight of a naked figure, shoeless and dirty. The figure whistled freely, looking about, and touching things in boredom at random. It was as if he was the only person in the world.
The crane saw this and immediately knew who it was. When she saw the third leg swaying between his legs, she was even more certain.
"Is that him?" The young woman said, her tone skeptical seeing a dirty man completely naked in the forest. When she had met Aria, the name she had subsequently given the crane, she never would've imagined this type of man, this type of pervert, could be her previous master.
Kree!
A soft cry of reply was followed by a sharp dive towards Wei Wuyin.
Wei Wuyin had been walking for quite a while, his eyes wandered about without direction as the wind carried his steps. He didn't know who he was or why he was walking, but he liked it and that was enough.
When the cry of the crane was heard, he turned and saw it dive towards him. There was no fear in his eyes watching a bird far larger than him dive towards him. In fact, he cocked his head to the side and smiled.
"Whitey," he dubbed this crane with a playful smile. When she landed in front of him, he didn't hesitate to walk towards her and reach for her feathers.
The crane joyfully cried, pushing her head forward to touch Wei Wuyin's abdomen with affection. Wei Wuyin ignored this action and grasped a feather.
Kree?!?!
With a tug, he ruthlessly pulled out a feather. Inspecting it, he started to play with it, sniffing it, caressing his skin with it, and twirling it about.
The crane yelped in pain, shocked at Wei Wuyin's viciousness. To a crane, their feathers were their life, but Wei Wuyin didn't hesitate to pull one from her beautiful wings. Unfortunately, she could only lower her head as it would never retaliate against her master.
The young woman saw all this happen and pouted, her eyes focused on Wei Wuyin's body, specifically, his lower area. Her face seemed somewhat flushed, but she didn't look away. Her eyes revealed all sorts of perverted thoughts. Her spiritual sense swept Wei Wuyin and learned that he wasn't a cultivator.
He had no qi fluctuations or spiritual aura, indicating a complete lack of cultivation. Despite that, his body was tone, firm, and tall. In all the right places.
Only after a while did she awaken from her overactive imagination and asked, "Is this him?" She didn't know the story of why Aria decided to make Wei Wuyin her master, but seeing as he had no cultivation base to speak of, she didn't really care.
Thanks to the Animal Communion Spell, a spiritual spell suited for communicating with beasts, she got the general gist of what Aria wanted. Wei Wuyin often used this spell, and it was quite common in the cultivation world.
"The deal is this: We find your master, find him a place in the sect so he can stay safe, and you're my mount, right?" As if to reaffirm the details of their contract, the young woman questioned. However, her tone was a little…odd...
The crane turned towards the young woman and nodded, but internally, she felt some disdain.
Did this woman not know who her master was? When he recovered his abilities, we'll see if you want me to be your mount! However, as the instructions left behind by a clear-minded Wei Wuyin was clear, she openly accepted the conditions.
Despite not clearly understanding the cultivation world thoroughly, from Wei Wuyin's random mutterings, she knew he had attained 'godhood' and was incredibly strong. She was also there when he killed another 'god' in one blow. As a mount of such a figure, she had her own developed sense of pride and dignity.
In fact, her intelligence was growing just being around him. Even she didn't understand it.
"You! Yeah, you! Come on, we're leaving," the young woman beckoned for Wei Wuyin's attention and gestured for him to come up.
Wei Wuyin saw her and gave her a harmless smile, reminiscent of a blissful idiot. He didn't hesitate to follow her, the crane lowering itself to accommodate his lift, and he comfortably sat on her broad back.
"My name's Chu Lingxi, you can call me Senior Sister Lingxi." She introduced herself, but Wei Wuyin only kept his idiot smile, his head started turning elsewhere in interest. His hands roamed the feathers of the crane and an itch to pull emerged in his heart, but he didn't. Instead, he caressed it more and more.
He liked the softness and texture of the crane's feathers and flesh on his skin.
"Mute? That's fine. When we get to the sect, I'll have them find some clothes for you," she smiled sweetly at the nude and dirty Wei Wuyin. Her eyes flashed a dangerous glow as she once more glanced at Wei Wuyin's body from top to bottom.
When he turned away, she licked her lips slightly. "Let's go, Aria!" She said, and with a flap of her wings, the crane took to the skies magnificently.
-----
South of Wu Country, the prestigious Xin Country was located. Its strength was slightly weaker than the Wu Country, but no wars took place. This was because the Imperial family of Xin and many of its sects are not defined by strength, but legacy of other skills.
The country was known for its practice and mastery of the Alchemic Dao. Alchemy was a legacy of creation, transformation, and combination. Through a myriad of materials from the world, alchemists create pills, pellets, elixirs, and paste. The four states of alchemy.
These items can bolster cultivation base, recover qi, heal the body or spirit, or even the exact opposite in the form of poisons. Not only that, but pellets are often defensive and offensive items, giving alchemists a variety of tools to fight with.
Because of this, the Xin Country was graciously accepted and perceived as neutral by the surrounding countries. Not once has war been declared upon it nor will it ever. As it supplied alchemic products to all the myriad forces of the various countries for usage, and even upper-tier members required its support.
In fact, it was known to have dealings with the Elven Race and other races as well, being a perfectly neutral country.
In this country, there were many different sects, palaces, towers, clans or academies, all of which have their own legacies or derivatives of such. One such sect was a sect similar to the Five Great Sects of the Wu Country in terms of status in the Xin Country.
It was called the Eden Earth Sect. They specialized in the unique set of alchemical arts called the Eden Creation Method. There were many forces that derived their own legacies from this method, but even still, the sect remained at the top.
A white crane flew towards this sect with two people sitting atop its back. She revealed a relieved expression as she saw the sights before her.
A grand tree, reaching twenty kilometers high, pierced upwards into the sky and clouds like a godly mountain, its crown and leaves were gargantuan, with thick branches capable of holding entire cities. In fact, the branches actually held various buildings and structures.
Upon closer inspection, one could see that the tree's branches had been dug through and became somewhat like an intricate underground network that allowed travel to various locations of the tree.
At the branches, there were window-like pieces missing that showed a dark depth. At times, green leaf vessels would flash through these tree tunnels carrying all sorts of people or items.
A dense aura of wood energy could be felt from the surroundings, one filled with an abundance of power and vitality.
The total area of this tree exceeded the Scarlet Solaris Sect's Scarlet Mountain in both height and width. The only difference was there were no special material qi birthed naturally from the tree, only a dense form of wood energy.
"This is the Eden Earth Sect!" Chu Lingxi proudly exclaimed as she introduced Wei Wuyin to their current location. "This is your new home." She smiled as she looked towards Wei Wuyin. When she saw his awed expression, a deep sense of pride emerged in her heart.
Wei Wuyin truly gawked at the sight. His silver eyes were wide as he inspected the tree with rapt attention. However, he didn't speak. Instead, he remained silent, like a mute.
In fact, he didn't speak because the girl assumed he was a mute. He felt like playing a prank on her, so he decided to never speak to her.
As they flew towards the sect, a leaf nearly five meters long and three meters wide, soared towards them. It radiated a form of energy and a unique formation. It seemed the leaf propelled itself by relying on the dense atmospheric wood energy and innate wind energies produced by some object embedded at the center of the leaf.
It arrived next to them, revealing a woman. She had short-cut hair, dressed in light green and white light battle armor, and had a stern expression. When she arrived, she halted them with a gesture, "Halt!"
Chu Lingxi expected this, instructing Aria to stay where they were in mid-air. A trace of respect and solemness appeared on her face as she met this woman. She was a member of the Verdant Valkyries, a specialized group of female elites that handled the affairs of the sect, including its security.
Each member of that group had talent, and not in alchemy, but in combat. They could often fight people above their cultivation level to a certain extent, giving them a great reputation.
Even she wished to become one, as her alchemic talent wasn't the best, and neither was her overall cultivation talent, but at least she had hope.
"Greetings," she respectfully clasped her hands and bowed slightly. To do this to a guard showed how much she respected them.
The female guard seemed used to this and ignored it, she inspected the crane and Wei Wuyin, who was naked. Her eyes narrowed, a trace of coldness within. That was until her spiritual sense swept by and felt him utterly lacking in cultivation. Not only was this dirty man approaching thirty years in age, he hadn't a lick of cultivation to show for it.
Then, she only revealed a confused look. Glancing towards Chu Lingxi, "Name, rank, and purpose."
Chu Lingxi quickly replied, "Chu Lingxi, Inner Disciple of the Verdant Way Hall, and to induct a member as an honorary disciple. Him." She answered without a single lapse in words, producing a token of status, and pointing at Wei Wuyin at the end of it.
A slight wrinkle appeared on the brow of the Verdant Valkyrie, but she only shook her head as her imagination wandered.
"You may go." Like a flying leaf in the wind, the Verdant Valkyrie left.
Chu Lingxi sighed inwardly as she directed Aria to fly.
"One day, I'll become one of you." Chu Lingxi swore in her heart.