Turning towards the still bewildered group of villagers that had yet to comprehend what had just happened, Chu Yang smiled wryly as he realized that a few of the weaker villagers had ended up fainting during his early display. A few of the quick mothers among the villages had also managed to cover the eyes of their children. Preventing them from seeing the massacre of the bandits.
"…"
Seeing this situation, Chu Yang had no idea what to do. This was the first time he had ever ended up in such a situation. The villagers just standing there staring at him without saying anything also didn't help break the awkward silence that had suddenly descended after the last bandit's death.
Wanting to end the awkward silence by saying something, Chu Yang was a step too slow, as a young woman at the early stages of the Qi Condensation Realm from the village's last bit of fighting force stepped forward.
"T-thank you for your h-help, n-noble lord! I-is there perhaps anything w-we can help with…?"
Hearing how nervous she was when thanking and asking him, Chu Yang could not help letting out a small sigh internally.
Was he really that scary? Well, he did just kill off the group of bandits that they had been hopelessly struggling against…
"Actually, there is something I could use your help with-"
About to answer the young woman's question, Chu Yang could not help frowning upon suddenly noticing a change in the way that the villagers was looking at him.
"I want to know if you have any idea about the direction of the Shattered Star Peaks, a small mountain range consisting of nine really tall mountains."
Finishing his sentence before some of the villagers ended up saying something, Chu Yang watched as a few of them blushed a bit in embarrassment upon realizing that they had misunderstood what he wanted to ask for…
These people…
Not knowing what to say when he discovered this, Chu Yang decided to pretend he didn't notice anything, as he kept his gaze focused on the young woman who had been the only person brave enough to step forward and talk to him so far.
"The Shattered Star Peaks…? The one where the peaks of the mountains were cut-"
"Yes! Do you perhaps have any idea what direction it's located!?"
Not paying too much attention to the fact that the young woman had calmed down enough to talk normally already, Chu Yang was excited after realizing that the young woman. Even to the point that he had interrupted her before she had finished speaking.
"Y-yes, the Shattered Star Peaks should be located in that direction."
Stuttering a bit out of surprise at Chu Yang's sudden excitement, the woman from the village answered quickly before pointing in the direction that Chu Yang had just come from.
"…"
Discovering the direction that the young woman was pointing in, Chu Yang suddenly felt his expression darken.
He did not believe that the young woman would lie to him. Especially given the fact that he had just saved her and her village, but… He really didn't want to admit that he had ended up walking in the opposite direction of the Shattered Star Peaks…
"Are you sure that is the direction of the Shattered Star Peaks!?"
"Yes…?"
Not understanding why Chu Yang had suddenly asked her this with an extremely serious expression on his face, the young woman answered almost absentmindedly due to being caught off-guard by Chu Yang's sudden question.
"Hah… Looks like I have to backtrack…"
Letting out a reluctant sigh, as he muttered this to himself, Chu Yang shook his head before putting away his spear. Preparing to leave the village now that he had found out that he was still far away from the Shattered Star Peaks.
"Um! C-can I ask where t-the noble lord is from…?"
Seeing the young woman suddenly move towards him before he left, Chu Yang decided to answer her honestly. In the first place, it would be a good way to help increase the Flying Sword Sect's reputation. Even if just a little…
Along with these words, Chu Yang left the small village without looking back. Hopefully heading in the correction direction this time around.
…
Back at the ancient record hall below the temple of the Half Spirit race, Xuan Hao had already grown tired looking through the ancient scrolls that only turned out to be name lists of past visitors!
To be honest, he had even started giving up hope of finding something that wasn't a name list of past experts who had visited the temple during its peak. However, he did not plan to leave the ancient record hall before he had read through every single intact scroll present there.
"Hm?"
Picking up another ancient scroll thinking that it would turn out to be a name list like the rest of the ancient scrolls he had read so far, Xuan Hao was taken aback upon realizing that it was something completely different!
"First flight…?"
Reading the barely readable title on top of the worn-down scroll with interest, Xuan Hao slowly began reading through the scroll with much difficulty.
The words written down on the worn-out scroll told a short story, a story about a small blue bird that had been struggling to fly. After struggling for some time trying to learn on its own, it soon met with a kind wind spirit.
The wind spirit saw the small blue bird struggling so hard and decided to lend it a hand. Spending the next few days teaching the small bird how to fly by harnessing the power of the wind.
After learning how to harness the power of the wind over only a few days, the small blue bird could fly into the sky. Parting ways with the kind wind spirit as it flew high above the ground.
The rest of the story was completely unreadable. In the end, only a little below half of the story was readable.
The story written down on the barely intact scroll was not something Xuan Hao had expected. At first glance, it seemed like children's story of some sort. However, looking closer, Xuan Hao could not help frowning, as he discovered that the first half of the story was essentially made in a way to allow the reader to more easily comprehend the dao of wind!
Even he felt his close to negligible comprehension of the dao of wind increase slightly after only reading through the story once…
Very clearly, the story was a priceless treasure that could help when comprehending the dao of wind.
Thinking this far, Xuan Hao quickly put away the worn-down ancient scroll before resuming his search of the ancient record hall.
Rustle~
"Wind, Fire and Wood…"
Having finished his search through the entire ancient record hall, Xuan Hao smiled to himself as he looked over three small worn-down scrolls in front of him.
Other than the story of the bird that allowed one to more easily comprehend the dao of wind, he had found two more similar stories. One for the Dao of Fire and one for the Dao of Wood!
Even if he had not gained any more information about the ancient era that the temple was from. At least he managed to obtain three priceless treasures that would be able to help not only him, but also his disciples and the Flying Sword Sect!
With the help of the small scrolls, it would be much easier for someone to form a pseudo domain and later on enter the Domain Lord Realm! Even if the dao inside the scrolls was not suitable for them, it would still help them to some degree.
"Chu Yang is practicing the spear and is likely to end up pursuing the dao of the spear, while Bai Ning will likely end up pursing the dao of metal…"
Muttering this to himself, Xuan Hao could not help shaking his head. From the looks of it, it looked like the one who would benefit the most from this would be Qing Yi. After all, she practiced a fire mantra and even had a fire related physique!
Having thought about just how much Qing Yi would end up benefiting from this, Xuan Hao felt like he had to get something good for his two other disciples.
"Looks like I will take a bit longer before I return to the sect… Maybe the Half Spirit race has something?"
Remembering the Half Spirit race that had been inside the valley for over a thousand years by now and the fact that they had cleaned up the ancient record hall in the past, Xuan Hao realized that they might also have similar scrolls stored somewhere.
Whoosh~
Not wasting anymore time in the ancient record hall, Xuan Hao directly left the ancient record hall. Prepared to ask the grand elder of the Half Spirit race if he could take a look at the things, they had taken out from the ancient record hall.