Not too long after finding out about the situation in the Flame Sky Kingdom, Shu Yao was officially chosen to take care of the matter as she headed in the direction of the Flame Sky Kingdom.
Given that she had no idea just how strong this unknown Domain Lord that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere was, she decided to bribe the winged lion demon beast into going with her to the Flame Sky Kingdom.
Just in case, the unknown Domain Lord was far too strong for her to deal with. Not something too unrealistic considering that she was still in the First Stage of the Domain Lord Realm and could at most contend with some weaker Second Stage Domain Lords with her current strength.
If the unknown Domain Lord Realm Expert was someone above that and she ended up going there on her own, it might require Xuan Hao to come and help, something she wanted to avoid if possible. Especially considering that Xuan Hao was currently in secluded cultivation...
Rooar!
Whoosh~!
Unaware of the thoughts going through Shu Yao's head as they made their way in the direction of the Flame Sky Kingdom, the winged lion demon beast let out a somewhat dissatisfied roar before using its overpowering strength to throw a surprised Shu Yao on his back.
"Huh!?"
Not giving her any time to react as it soon flew off in the direction of the Flame Sky Kingdom at a far greater speed compared to before.
"So... You want to deal with this as soon as possible and get your reward...?" Understanding what was going on in the head after calming down for a few seconds on its back, Shu Yao could not help smiling wryly to herself as she felt the wing violently crashing into her.
Roar!
Nodding its large head in acknowledgement, the winged lion did not feel that there was anything wrong with what it had done as it soon increased its speed even more-
"Waaah!?"
Causing Shu Yao to tightly grab hold of it with all her strength. Fearing that she might end up getting thrown off the winged lion demon beast if she did not do this.
Swish-!
Not at all carrying about Shu Yao using her full strength as a First Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert to grab hold of it, the winged lion demon beast just continued flying in the direction of the Flame Sky Kingdom at a speed no worse than someone who had just broken through to the Soul Ascension Realm.
The reason it was so fast being that it had already reached the Ninth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm and was inherently faster than normal Domain Lord Realm demon beasts due to the fact that it was originally a flying demon beast. Even if it didn't really look like a flying demon beast outside of its large pair of wings. n/.0VElbIn
No matter how skilled someone in the Domain Lord Realm or the Soul Ascension Realm might be when it came to flying, they would ultimately almost certainly be inferior when compared to a flying demon beast who was inherently born with the ability to fly.
...
"Hm? Seems like something happened in the Flame Sky Kingdom..."
Having been about to leave his room to teach his disciples like he had been doing once a week since entering secluded cultivation in an attempt to comprehend the Dao of Space to the Small Success Realm, Xuan Hao managed to learn what was happening through his divine sense.
"Wait... Could it be the people from the Heavenly Dragon Temple? No... Those people should have at least reached the Soul Ascension Realm. Not to mention, there is no reason for them to suddenly kill off the higher ups of the Flame Sky kingdom if they wanted to try and weaken the Star Shattering Sect over time with the help of the surrounding major kingdom.
Not to mention, they should have realized that those major kingdoms won't be able to do anything to the Star Shattering Sect... So... Who is it...?" Muttering this to himself as he looked out of his room in the direction that Shu Yao and the winged lion demon beast had disappeared in, he could not help feeling a bit uneasy about the entire thing.
Rustle~
For this reason, he began to gently shake his robe before-
A very confused rabbit demon beast landed on the wooden floor in front of him.
Squeak!?
Not understanding why, it had suddenly been shaken awake and thrown out of what it now perceived as its new home, the rabbit demon beast let out a confused squeaking as it looked up at Xuan Hao. Waiting for him to explain the sudden abuse.
"Don't look at me like that, I should have found you a new place to stay after returning to the sect, you can't just live inside my robe forever-"
Bang!
SQUEAK!
Interrupting him before he had a chance to finish what he was saying, Xuan Hao was forced to use his dao domain to block the rabbit demon beast as it suddenly attempted to rush back inside his robe again.
"You... Let me finish speaking, will you? I have a task for you..."
Restraining the rabbit demon beast so it didn't try to enter his robe again, Xuan Hao began explaining the reason why he had thrown it out of his robe.
In simple words, he wanted the rabbit demon beast to secretly follow Shu Yao and the winged lion demon beast and help keep them safe in case the person who had appeared at the Flame Sky Kingdom was not someone in the Domain Lord Realm but instead one of the Soul Ascension Realm Experts from the Heavenly Dragon Temple.
Considering that the rabbit demon beast had reached the Third Tribulation of the Soul Ascension Realm and could even escape from over a dozen Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beasts, he didn't feel that anything would happen to it even if the person ended up being someone in the Peak of the Soul Ascension Realm.
In the worst-case scenario, it could inform him about the situation before escaping with Shu Yao, Sheng Mei, and the winged lion demon beast.
This way, he would also be able to continue cultivating in peace without worrying about suddenly deciding to spend the next few weeks investigating the unknown Domain Lord Realm Expert.
Also making sure to promise the rabbit demon beast a small mountain of spirit stones if it completed the mission. Not caring too much about the spirit stones he was giving to the rabbit demon beast as it could be considered spirit stones he had collected on his own and was not directly from the sect's treasury like where the winged lion demon beast got most of its spirit stones from.
Squeak!
Swish-!
Hearing about the mountain of spirit stones that was waiting for it after it completed what could essentially be considered a short trip, the rabbit demon beast didn't bother trying to enter his robe again as it rushed out of the room in the direction of the winged lion demon beast the moment Xuan Hao released it from his dao domain.
Although the winged lion demon beast's current speed was comparable to someone who had just broken through to the Soul Ascension Realm, there was no way for it to get anywhere near the speed of the rabbit demon beast who had managed to outrun over a dozen Peak Soul Ascension Realm demon beast.
In the end, it didn't take more than a few seconds before the rabbit demon beast caught up to the two and began to slowly follow them while remaining hidden on the ground below. Looking just like an ordinary rabbit from above, that was, if one didn't consider its terrifying speed.
...
At the same time that Shu Yao, the winged lion demon beast, and the rabbit demon beast were making their way towards the Flame Sky Kingdom, the unknown Domain Lord Realm Expert that Shen Mei had identified before escaping from the royal palace was hovering a dozen or so meters above her with a disdainful smile plastered all over his emaciated face.
"Hehe, she actually thinks that she can hide from me with the help of that little artifact created by a mere First Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert. If not for the fact that I'm waiting for the creator of this little artifact to show up, there is no way she would still be alive..."
Snickering to himself as he watched how Sheng Mei was cautiously scanning her surroundings, the unknown Domain Lord Realm Expert turned his attention towards the border between the territory of the Flame Sky Kingdom and the Star Shattering Sect in the distance.
"I really want to see just how this Grand Elder Xuan is..." Muttering this to himself, the unknown Domain Lord Realm Expert began to withdraw hundreds of small paper talismans from his interspatial ring-
Whoosh~
Not wasting a second after withdrawing these paper talismans, he spread them out across the entire forest before using his qi to draw thousands of small formation symbols that flew out and merged into the ground. Forming small lines on the ground connecting the paper talismans together into a single entity.
All of this without Sheng Mei noticing anything in the process. Making it very clear that the formation back in the throne room was nothing more than an illusion created to make Sheng Mei think she had a chance to escape by getting help from the Star Shattering Sect...