"Young sirs and madam, please follow me," Manager Hu said with a glance at Xue Wei and the others. "I understand that this is interesting news to you, but you need to determine whether or not the King's Floor is to your liking."
As he spoke, he started walking towards the grand stairs in the middle of the lobby, which lead up to the upper floors.
Xue Wei, Hei Gou, Wang Xiaoyun, and Bai Tianyi followed him up the stairs with no hesitation. They did not care about the rumor.
Bai Tianyi gave Manager Hu a long glance because he had guessed that the manager had realized where the formations came from. But seeing that the manager had no intention of sharing this info, he was calm and did not care too much.
The leader of the Cerulean Starlight Sect glanced their way once they were out of sight. He was the only one who was not too shocked by the news and had overheard what Manager Hu had said.
Those four were to reside on the King's Floor. That was not a place you could stay at because of money – you had to have great achievements in the Golden Chambers or be part of a royal family.
Since he was certain that this elusive young man was not of royal blood, he knew that he had done the Golden Chambers a great favor.
Suddenly, he frowned and looked at the midget. "You said that the Rebirth Pill will no longer be sold?" he asked, pressuring the midget slightly. The dwarf nodded his head like a chicken pecking rice.
"The honored formation master took the Rebirth Pill, so it is obvious it will not be put up for sale at the coming auction. Instead, he provided a large quantity of formations. I only know of this because I have a friend in the Golden Chambers who overheard the head appraiser discuss it with the high-ranking staff."
The man from the Cerulean Starlight Sect remembered Wang Xiaoyun's appearance. Her disfigured face was only recoverable by the use of something like a Rebirth Pill, but their group had not shown any kind of reaction when they heard that the Rebirth Pill was no longer for sale.
This could only mean that they had already acquired it! He was certain of this. Meanwhile, the women from the Argent Moon Sect had not thought too deeply on the matter.
Their leader already had an unfavorable impression of Wang Xiaoyun and her companions, so they would never compare them to a formidable formation master.
Xue Wei continued upstairs with the manager and was brought to the top floor. The stairs ended at a small balcony leading towards a stylishly constructed entrance of twin doors.
The door was made of precious metals, and gems were inlaid in the frame. A large sign had the characters for King's Floor written on it above the double doors.
The manager opened the doors with a white jade slip. "Please feel at home," he said politely. "Everything here is for you to use. You can stay here for as long as you want; everything will be available for you."
The manager was eager to befriend a formation master, so he held nothing back. Initially, although he had been told to take care of them and ensure they had a comfortable stay, he had expected it to be only until the auction.
However, when he realized what their leader’s status was, he took matters into his own hands and promised to let them stay indefinitely if that was what they wanted.
Xue Wei also realized now that this manager was likely to have guessed his identity as the formation master, but he did not care. If anything, he knew that he would garner respect and people would fawn over him instead of trying to kill him all the time.
"Thank you for taking us here. We will stay until the auction has ended and we have tidied up a few loose ends. Then we will be on our way." Xue Wei knew that this manager was trying to curry favor, and he was willing to give it.
This manager had been friendly and accommodating. He had been respectful and even went to the trouble of trying to protect him and his friends against the Argent Moon Sect.
Since he had shown such goodwill, Xue Wei also wanted to return it. He did not know how to repay him, and he felt that gold coins were too simple, so he took out a Spiritual Energy Bomb formation and handed it to him.
"We cannot stay completely for free, take this as payment for our stay here at the Three Legged Golden Crow Hotel," he said.
It was one thing for the manager to know that Xue Wei was a formation master, but to suddenly receive a formation was completely out of his expectations. The manager stuttered and trembled before he accepted the formation.
In fact, he had already decided to not accept any gifts from them, but he had never thought that he would be handed a formation.
Although he had wanted to decline, a formation was of great importance to the Golden Chambers, so he hurriedly accepted it with a deep bow.
"This lowly one will take his leave. If sirs or madam need anything, please don't hesitate to ask. We will do everything in our power to accommodate you."
"When sirs and madam have gotten used to this room and freshened up from your travels, please come to the restaurant. We will gladly present our finest delicacies for you to sample."
Xue Wei accepted the offer with a smile. He nodded his head and spoke a few pleasantries, but both he and the manager were eager to end the conversation.
Xue Wei wanted to take a bath. He wanted to relax after traveling with Wan Qiang for a long time while being on high alert. He wanted peace and quiet so that Wang Xiaoyun could consume the Rebirth Pill, and he wanted to consult Bai Tianyi about the various ranks of spiritual energy.
Manager Hu was eager to rush over to the director of the Golden Chambers so that he could deliver the formation he had been given.
As the manager left, Xue Wei looked into the hallway he was standing in. There were various rooms on both sides of the hallway; some were bedrooms, others were bathrooms. There was one training room and a few living areas.
"Where is everyone?" he muttered, noticing that the other three had scattered while he was speaking with Manager Hu. He spread out his spiritual energy and found Wang Xiaoyun in the training room, who was looking at the pill in her hand with a complicated expression on her face.
He then found that Hei Gou and Bai Tianyi had claimed a bathroom each. He chuckled before restraining his spiritual energy, and headed for the final bathroom.
Washing up after having been on the road for a long time was a great feeling, and all three men soaked in the water for a long time.
Wang Xiaoyun was seated in the training room. After staring at the Rebirth Pill for some time, she finally placed it in her mouth and felt how it melted and turned into pure energy.
This energy went into every cell of her body, restoring and purifying her body.
The other three had finished washing up at this point. They were standing outside the training room, but the longer they stood there the more nervous they became. In the end they had no other option than to wait with bated breath outside of the door. They were afraid of interrupting her while her body was being reborn, but they were also eager to see whether or not the Rebirth Pill would have the desired effect.
Xue Wei knew that it would take a long time for Wang Xiaoyun to consume the pill’s medicinal properties. It was, after all, not some simple pill that enhanced strength or increased training efficiency. No, this was a rebirth of every cell in the body.
"Why are we going to the center of the continent now?" Hei Gou asked curiously. "We’ve found out about your past and we have found Wang Xiaoyun. Is there any reason to risk our lives by heading deeper into the continent?"
"I need to find Prophet Lan." Xue Wei sighed. "It is true that I have recovered my old memories, but what they brought with them were more questions than answers."
Xue Wei had informed the others about the memories on the way back to the Black Iron Fortress, and they had all been shocked – all apart from Bai Tianyi.
"I need to know why Xiao Lei killed my father. I also have to know what his relationship with Chu Huiyin is. I need to know why Xiao Lei left me when I turned fifteen. He left me the Azure Dragon Scripture and the Heritage Ring. He left me every treasure and item within the mansion… it was clear that he had no intention of returning."
"Why did he bring me with him to Tiankong City only to leave me five years later? It is clear that he had some sort of plan, but I cannot understand what exactly that plan is. Hopefully, Prophet Lan can shed some light on these questions."
"Not to mention, what was the point of removing my memories? They were locked behind a curtain that was clearly man-made. It is clear that he cared about me greatly, but there are just too many mysteries and things that I am unaware of."
"Not to mention, if we want to become stronger, we have to go towards the center of the continent. That is where all the materials and all the top-grade resources are located. Although most of it is claimed by the three great sects, there is still enough for us to get a share," Bai Tianyi suddenly chipped in.
"And we cannot forget that the pressure from other experts can push us past our limits."
Hei Gou had wanted to stay away from the center of the continent because of the dangers, but the more he thought about it, the more he nodded his head. "You're right," he finally said. "If we want to be strong enough, we have to brave the dangers! Not to mention, we’re growing stronger at a rapid pace.”
"The men sent to catch us from the Heping Kingdom were all rather weak. Although we cannot kill them, we should be able to flee from them whenever we encounter them – until the day our strength is superior to theirs and we can defeat them all."
"The biggest problem is that elder from the Blood Vulture Tribe," Hei Gou continued. Xue Wei just laughed. "He has long since returned to the Blood Vulture Tribe," he said with a smile on his face.
"He has?" Hei Gou was skeptical. "Of course," Xue Wei said with a smile. "If he is gone for long, the other Ordinary Knights from the Flowing Blood Prairie will make a move on his tribe. Even if he is insulted and hates us, unless he brings the entire tribe out from the Flowing Blood Prairie, he will not dare to chase us so far. And should he bring the entire tribe, then their travel time will be so slow that they can never catch up to us."
Hei Gou suddenly had an epiphany as he listened to Xue Wei. "So we are only chased by those weaklings from the Kingdom of Heping?"
"That's correct," Xue Wei nodded his head. "But we need to remember that they too have left the Kingdom of Heping. Their group consists of our old home’s best geniuses, so we can’t discount their ability to grow stronger."
"How strong can they possibly have become?" Hei Gou laughed, but Xue Wei could not help but frown. No one knew what lucky chances they could have encountered on their trip.