185: Honor guard procession

On the square in front of the main hall sat a sedan chair that resembled a small palace. It was pure white, with various exquisite snow lotus designs carved upon it.

Surrounding the sedan chair stood sixteen high-tier Spirit Rank Contract Masters in an orderly fashion. These Spirit Rank Contract Masters seemed to have been meticulously chosen—eight men and eight women, each with refined features, standing beside the sedan chair like golden boys and jade maidens.

Behind the sedan chair followed forty-six low-tier Spirit Rank servants in uniform, standing in neat rows.

Seeing Chu Shengfan's arrival, Wu Yuan, who had been waiting in the main hall for a long time, appeared by his side in a flash.

Seeing that Chu Shengfan had already reached the Spirit Rank Realm, there was no surprise in his expression, only some joy. Then, seeing Chu Shengfan's gaze fall upon the honor guard in the square,

A slightly proud smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Little Palace Master, are you satisfied with this team configuration? I have already reduced the original hundred-person honor guard to this size according to your requirements. If you think it's too few, we can add them back."

Exaggerated. Chu Shengfan only felt it was exaggerated right now. He swallowed hard and looked at Wu Yuan with some difficulty, his lips twitching.

"Uncle Wu, can we trim this configuration down a bit more? Isn't it a bit too much?"

Hearing Chu Shengfan's words, Wu Yuan rubbed his chin with his finger and then shook his head resolutely. "This is already the smallest scale. If your honor guard is any smaller,"

it would make others think our Qinghan Palace is destitute, or that you are not favored here. In the future, you would needlessly be seen as inferior when socializing in the circle of True Disciple Studentss.

Besides, you are leaving home to study. Being so far away, you will surely worry about your home situation. This honor guard is also meant to give you confidence. Only by displaying enough Aura,

will no one in your Family dare to provoke you, even while you are at the academy."

Wu Yuan spoke very bluntly, but Chu Shengfan felt his consideration for his situation in every aspect; he was truly thinking of him as one of his own.

Chu Shengfan could no longer say anything to refuse. He could only bow slightly toward Wu Yuan in thanks. "Thank you for your consideration, Uncle Wu. It was indeed my own narrow-mindedness."

Wu Yuan accepted the bow and said with a gratified smile, "That's more like it. You must remember that you are now the Sage Master's only Disciple; you deserve all the best things. The entire Qinghan Palace is the backing behind you."

Although Chu Shengfan was excessively cautious and humble, lacking the vigor one should have at his age, Wu Yuan still liked him quite a bit.

After all, such a personality indicated that Chu Shengfan would not become a 'brat' and had his own way of doing things. He just needed to cultivate a sense of nobility to become a qualified Little Palace Master of Qinghan Palace, so he wouldn't disgrace the palace when he went out.

He looked at Chu Shengfan with a smile. "Little Palace Master, if you are ready, let's set off. Please enter the sedan chair."

At his signal, Chu Shengfan walked side-by-side with him toward the sedan chair in the square.

Although called a sedan chair, it was actually a simplified version of a palace, containing a hall and several rooms for resting.

Wu Yuan let him enter the small palace first, then extended an arm and called out melodiously, "Depart."

As his words fell, the small palace rose without any wind. A massive lotus flower slowly rose from beneath the palace, its giant white roots spreading outward.

Then, individual Lotus Platforms, each large enough for one person to stand on, appeared beneath the feet of the servants standing beside and behind the small palace.

Chu Shengfan stood at the entrance of the small palace, watching this scene in a daze. His palms clenched slightly, wondering how the students at the academy would gossip when they saw this.

He hadn't brought any of the eight servants assigned to serve him; now, only Su Yi followed by his side.

Clearly, this was also her first time experiencing the treatment of standing within the small palace. Her hands trembled slightly with excitement. Although she wasn't the protagonist, she felt a sense of shared glory.

The giant Lotus Platform carried the palace as it slowly descended from Qinghan Mountain. Along the way, they passed various terrains within the academy. Any patrol teams or other students traveling on the road proactively made way for them without being asked.

This scene of an honor guard departing didn't seem very common within the academy. Some newly enrolled students couldn't help but ask their seniors out of curiosity.

"Senior, who is in that palace floating in the sky? What an impressive display of power."

The senior being questioned cast an envious glance at the honor guard in the sky and then explained in a low voice.

"That is an honor guard that only appears for Thousand Spirits Students or True Disciple Studentss within the academy. It's a proof of status. If you encounter them in the future, remember to take the initiative to avoid them and do not provoke them."

"Only a True Disciple Students, and they get such treatment?" a freshman asked in great surprise.

"What do you mean 'only'? You are currently just Ordinary Students, not even Legacy Disciples, and yet you look down on True Disciple Studentss?"

"You should know that the prerequisite for becoming a True Disciple Students is that you must be apprenticed to a Sage Master within the academy. How many Sage Masters are there in the entire academy? After enrolling, you'll be lucky if you can hear a single lecture from a Sage Master in a month."

As he spoke, the senior pointed to the quiet servants standing on the Lotus Platforms behind the small palace.

"See that? Even the position of a servant behind that palace is something you might not even be qualified for."

Hearing the senior discourage them like this, the newly enrolled students couldn't help but show indignant expressions on their faces.

Seeing this, the senior didn't say much more, only shaking his head slightly. Once they spent more time in the academy, they would realize that the difference in status and background would weigh down on them like a massive mountain.

The palace supported by the Lotus Platform appeared outside the gates of Qianling Academy, then accelerated toward the station for leaving the city.

The Lotus Platform was a high-tier Spirit Rank Source Beast. Carrying the palace through the city, it quickly attracted the attention of the residents. Chu Shengfan wondered how the Literary Journals would spin this story tomorrow.

They reached the station without any obstacles; there was no need to buy tickets.

Inside the small palace, Wu Yuan stood beside Chu Shengfan, looking out of the palace.

A streak of light flew out from him and transformed into a small bird outside the palace.

It was only the size of a palm, but silver and blue lightning flickered all over its body. It looked somewhat like a sparrow, but its pupils were pitch black with only a white streak in the middle, looking very mysterious.

Its wings vibrated slightly, and a blue light shot out from its body, fixing itself in the Void Realm. Soon after, this blue light rotated rapidly, forming a vortex.

Chu Shengfan observed closely and was startled to find that this vortex was identical to the passage vortexes between the inner borders and Beyond the Border. It turned out those passages were formed by Source Beast skills.

Seeing him watching intently, Wu Yuan explained from the side.

"Because we need to ensure that so many people can pass through this Spatial Gate, and since the transmission distance this time is quite far, it will take a bit of time to stabilize the passage."

Chu Shengfan was about to ask how long it would take, but the passage there had already stabilized. The Void-Splitting Thunder Domain Bird transformed back into a streak of light and returned to Wu Yuan's side.

It didn't return to the Source Beast Space but stood on Wu Yuan's shoulder, its head tilted toward Chu Shengfan as if it were sizing him up.

"Enter the Spatial Passage."

At Wu Yuan's command, the procession continued forward, slowly vanishing into the blue vortex.

Once the last person had entered the passage, the blue vortex shut instantly.

The other pedestrians by the station, who had almost been holding their breath, finally breathed a sigh of relief. The few wisps of Aura that the little bird had accidentally leaked while opening the passage were enough to make all the pedestrians on the station afraid to move.

Only after everyone had gone did they begin to whisper and speculate with those beside them about the identity of the person departing.

In the small courtyard, Sun Chunchen lay on a rocking chair, his eyes staring blankly into the distance.

"Xiao Fan shouldn't be in a hurry to contract a third Source Beast right now. His advancement to the Spirit Rank was a bit fast; I forgot to tell him that."

"However, even if he does contract one, it won't be a big problem..."