A moment later, Niu Hai returned with Xiao Dong following behind. The poor dragon looked as if he had been through hell the last few days. Even though Yue Lin had given him the easy tasks, he really wasn’t used to doing anything like this.

Back at home, he would train with his father to one day follow in his footsteps and become a guard while here in the mortal world, he had only needed to practice some sword arts that were more than simple to him as a dragon. He had never needed to do those boring but time-consuming theoretical tasks in either of the realms so he had felt as if he suddenly got to know true suffering.

Shen An De pointed at his sorry figure and turned back to Yue Lin. “Take a good look at that one and commit that visual to memory. Then think of it when you make your final decision.”

Yue Lin chuckled and nodded but didn’t say more. He had already understood the Grandmaster’s point and seeing as Xiao Dong had helped him without complaining, he didn’t want to make fun of him.

Shen An De also didn’t dwell on it any longer and simply nodded at the other two. “Very well. Since you’re here now, let’s set off. Everyone else should have gathered in the Long kingdom’s capital city already.”

The three people nodded and the group set off. With one being a high-leveled cultivator who happened to be a half-demon as well, a young dragon, and two gifted disciples, their speed naturally couldn’t be described as slow. They soon spotted the Long kingdom’s capital city in the distance and rushed straight ahead.

They landed directly in front of the guesthouse that Qiu Ling and Jing Yi had chosen and Shen An De waltzed in, taking a casual look around as if he owned the place. He didn’t need long to spot his wife who was sitting at one of the tables with a steaming cup of tea.

His eyes lit up and he walked over, taking the seat next to Hong Ai, and gently taking her hand. “Did they leave you all alone here? If I had known, I would have asked you to come along.”

Hong Ai laughed at his playful expression and then looked up at the disciples, her gaze softening when she saw how tired both Xiao Dong and Yue Lin looked compared to Niu Hai. “Have things been dealt with in the alchemy division?”

The other three felt a bit uncomfortable with Shen An De and Hong Ai sitting like that even though Niu Hai and Yue Lin weren’t surprised at all. The Grandmaster and his wife were known as the most romantic couple of the cultivation world in their sect so this wasn’t unexpected at all. It still made them feel as if they were intruding on a world of two though. But since Hong Ai was directly looking at them they also didn’t feel comfortable just staying silent.

Yue Lin finally cleared his throat to give a hum and nodded. “Yes, it’s all thanks to Grandmaster Shen.”

Niu Hai nodded along but didn’t know what else to say so he finally just looked around, pretending to be blind to the affectionate couple.

Xiao Dong also took a quick glance around and then changed the subject. “May I ask where His Majesty and the rest are?” In fact, he mostly cared about Qiu Ling and Jing Yi but it seemed impolite to make that too obvious so he asked about everyone just in case.

Hong Ai motioned toward the door. “They went out into the city for a bit. The people from the Yun Zou Sect arrived today so they are showing them around. Xiao Bao and Wu Ya also joined them later on. I guess everyone should come back soon though.”

Xiao Dong nodded. In that case, it made no sense to go and find them now. The more people were around, the less private time His Majesty and Jing Yi would have anyway and he didn’t think that his king would appreciate that. He definitely didn’t want to be a nuisance in his eyes so it was best to stay where he was.

Shen An De glanced at the three disciples and then motioned at the other side of the table. “You can sit if you want to. Otherwise, I believe everyone was assigned rooms? If you want to go and rest up until the others get back, you can do that.”

Yue Lin’s eyes immediately lit up when he heard that. He really, really wanted to go and rest. He wasn’t sure if it would really be alright though. After all, wasn’t it impolite to leave the Grandmaster like that after he had just helped him out so tremendously?

Hong Ai laughed when she saw his expression. “You look like you need a few hours of sleep. Come on, let’s see which room was meant for you.” She got to her feet and waved for him to follow.

Since the Grandmaster’s wife herself had taken action, Yue Lin naturally wouldn’t refuse and happily followed her.

Xiao Dong hesitated for a moment and then went after them as well. Even though he had taken breaks in-between, he did feel a bit exhausted as well and he didn’t want to leave Qiu Ling with a bad impression later on. Resting up a bit would be for the best.

Meanwhile, Niu Hai awkwardly stood in front of the Grandmaster. He didn’t want to rest but he surely didn’t want to stay alone with the affectionate couple. Finally, he cleared his throat. “Uh … I haven’t really been to the city in forever either so … I’ll go and take a look around outside?”

Shen An De simply waved for him to leave. He could imagine why Niu Hai didn’t want to stay around. Anyway, personally, he was indeed quite happy if he could be alone with his wife. Not that he minded showing off his affection in front of an audience. In a sense, he and Qiu Ling were quite similar in that regard.

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