Along this winding, seemingly endless road, the caravan of several hundred people was making no great speed. The mercenary guards scattered throughout the convoy kept casting wary glances toward the Magic Beast Mountain Range.
Traveling this road meant facing two major dangers: the first was the magical beasts of the Magic Beast Mountain Range, the second was bandits. For this stretch of road, several hundred li long, fell under neither the jurisdiction of the Holy Alliance nor the control of the O'Brien Empire. Naturally, quite a few outlaws lurked about.
Creak, creak — the wooden cart rattled along in a steady rhythm as Lin Lei happily sipped his coarse wine.
"Three years without a drink, and this rough wine actually tastes better than the fine brews at Blue Water Paradise," Lin Lei mused with a smile. Beside him, Bei Bei was happily gnawing on roasted meat.
Two other mercenaries shared the same cart with Lin Lei. The older of the two, a sturdy man, spoke up: "Brother, name's Lonz. This here's my little buddy, Ludi."
Lin Lei paused briefly. He understood the man wanted to know his name. But Lin Lei knew his name was listed on the Red List of the Church of Light's Inquisition Court — he was marked for elimination.
"You can call me 'Rei,'" Lin Lei said with a smile.
"Rei-ge, what level magical beast is your panther?" the young Ludi asked eagerly. "Its fur is incredibly smooth! Riding a beast like that — that's real prestige! I'd say it's at least a seventh-level magical beast."
"You just need to know it's a high-level one," Lin Lei replied casually.
Meanwhile, the black-patterned cloud leopard "Heilu," who had been trotting alongside all this while, turned its cold gaze toward Ludi. The young man flinched under that stare and gave an awkward laugh.
Everyone on the Yulan Continent knew that magical beasts were no less intelligent than humans, and they absolutely should not be treated like domesticated livestock. Otherwise, the consequences could be dire.
"Are you two from the Holy Alliance or the O'Brien Empire?" Lin Lei asked.
He knew precious little about the O'Brien Empire.
"We're both from the O'Brien Empire," Lonz answered cheerfully. "And you, Rei-ge?"
"This is my first trip to the O'Brien Empire. I've heard it's a place that deeply reveres martial prowess, but I've never seen it for myself," Lin Lei said evenly.
Both Lonz and Ludi made their living with a blade at their throats. Their eyes were sharp, and they could tell at a glance that Lin Lei was one of the strong ones. After all, to subdue a formidable magical beast, you had to completely defeat it in strength before it would submit.
"Rei-ge, people in our O'Brien Empire deeply respect the strong. A man like you will be treated with courtesy wherever you go," Lonz said warmly. "Is this your first time in the empire? How well do you know it?"
"The only things I know are that the empire is divided into seven great provinces and that there's a Martial God. Beyond that, I'm in the dark," Lin Lei said with a laugh.
The O'Brien Empire was the most powerful military state on the entire Yulan Continent, and likely the largest of the six great powers in territory as well. Any one of its seven provinces was considerably bigger than an entire kingdom.
"Rei-ge, let me tell you — the strongest fighters are concentrated in the imperial capital. Even a ninth-level powerhouse wouldn't dare cause trouble there. After all, the School of the Martial God sits atop a tall mountain just outside the capital's walls," Lonz explained enthusiastically.
"The School of the Martial God?" This was something Lin Lei knew nothing about.
Ludi jumped in immediately: "Rei-ge, you absolutely must know this. The School of the Martial God is the supreme cultivation sanctuary in the O'Brien Empire. The Martial God generally takes only one personal disciple every hundred years, sometimes even every several hundred years. The number of his personal disciples is extremely small. But among those who become personal disciples of the Martial God, nine out of ten go on to become powerhouses of the Saint Realm."
Lin Lei was genuinely stunned.
He had previously thought Obren Academy was the most prestigious institution, but by the sound of it, it paled in comparison to the School of the Martial God.
"But it's incredibly difficult to become the Martial God's disciple. Even for an officially enrolled student, the Martial God only takes one every year or two," Lonz sighed.
One every year or two — and only an enrolled student at that.
The odds were even worse than the elimination rate at Ernst Academy. But then again, it made sense — after all, this was studying under the Martial God. The Martial God was a being who had surpassed the Saint Realm five thousand years ago.
"So Rei-ge, if you ever run into people from the School of the Martial God in the future, be careful. Even when they kill someone, usually nobody dares to intervene," Lonz warned.
Lin Lei understood this perfectly.
The Martial God "O'Brien" was the founding emperor of the O'Brien Empire. Though he had long since abdicated, his influence far exceeded that of the current emperor. The Martial God "O'Brien" was the empire's true pillar.
"By the way, do you know if any extraordinary talents have appeared in the capital recently?" Lin Lei suddenly asked. In his mind he was thinking: "Wotton's concentration of Dragon Blood Warrior blood is even higher than mine, so his potential should be a bit greater. Wotton is already seventeen now. He must have made quite a name for himself at Obren Academy."
Given the speed at which Dragon Blood Warriors cultivated, typically a few decades was enough to reach the Saint Realm. So twenty years of hard training would bring one to the ninth level, and a little over ten years to the eighth.
With Wotton's talent, he could absolutely be famous throughout the capital.
"A talent? Are you talking about the genius swordmaster Olivia?" Lonz said.
"The genius swordmaster 'Olivia'?" Lin Lei had never even heard this name. "What makes this Olivia worthy of being called a genius swordmaster?"
Ludi quickly chimed in: "Rei-ge, if you say you don't know the genius swordmaster in the empire, people will laugh themselves to death! Do you know how old Master Olivia was when he reached the Saint Realm?"
A Saint Realm powerhouse?
"How old?" Lin Lei remained perfectly calm. Members of the Dragon Blood Warrior clan could typically reach the Saint Realm in just a few decades. So-called geniuses among ordinary people generally needed close to a hundred years.