At the entrance of Pearl City, numerous flying Spirit Treasures and Divine Artifacts could be seen going in and coming out.

But this was just the start; news was still spreading to every corner of the Eastern Region and beyond.

Among the flying Divine Artifacts ready to take flight at the city entrance, the Huashan Sect's own was there as well. It was like all the others in the shape of a ship, but it was more well-made and significantly larger, measuring around two to three hundred meters.

"Welcome, Yong Master Byeong-Ho."

Byeong-Ho nodded to the Elder in charge of operating the Divine Artifact.

"Elder, this is Brother Sol, Brother Yoon-Jae, Brother Mar-Dule, and my other friends."

Sol stepped forward with Little Zeel in hand and bowed.

"I thank Elder for allowing us to use your Huashan Sect's flying Divine Artifact, and I apologize for the inconvenience I may have caused you with this request."

The Elder was an old man with an ordinary appearance. He waved his hands dismissively and said.

"No need to apologize, child. Rather than your appearance being an inconvenience, it seems the disciples are excited to see you."

Currently, numerous disciples from the Huashan Sect were rushing to board the ship.

They had suddenly received a message that the ship was leaving because Byeong-Ho had requested to return early.

Although they were extremely disappointed they wouldn't be able to stay and possibly see an Immortal, they weren't angry in the slightest.

As young men and women leap onto the ship, they turn to greet Byeong-Ho before looking at Sol and the others curiously.

When Byeong-Ho introduced them, their eyes widened.

"Ah! So that's Brother Sol, amazing."

The male disciples became excited upon getting to meet Sol; they'd heard so many rumors about him.

Was he really talented like their Young Master? The ones who weren't able to witness the Plum Blossom Gathering were eager to see a rematch between him and Byeong-Ho.

As for the girls, they comment on his looks rather than his rumored talent. But not just Sol.

"Brother Yoon-Jae is there as well. He really looks beautiful, like in the rumors. I'm so jealous. If I become his friend, do you think some of his looks will rub off on me?"

A girl was heard saying, and her friends around her all giggled.

The male disciples' reaction to Yoon-Jae was different as they all wore hard-to-read expressions. The stories about this devil made them a bit frightened, though aside from that, those stories really didn't do his looks justice.

There was a small buzz for Mar-Dule as well. After beating Su-Jin, the Head Disciple of the Divine Beast Pavilion and the tenth Rising Star in the Heaven Arena, he solidified himself as a genius among geniuses.

The disciples didn't know who Cheong-Su and Cheong-San were, but they seemed too close to their Young Master for them to be ordinary.

Having this many gazes on them while hearing all sorts of comments about themselves, Cheong-Su and Cheong-San felt a bit embarrassed.

"You'll soon get used to it, and even come to enjoy it."

Mar-Dule leaned over to whisper to the two brothers.

The old man smiled in amusement before he looked at Little Zeel in Sol's hand and said.

"Are you rushing back to the Academy because of this pet beast? He looks to be in bad shape."

Sol nodded.

"Whoa, so we're stopping by the Martial Alliance Academy?!"

The Huashan Sect's disciples were even more excited than before.

"Ah, why are you all so excited? It's not like we're going to enter the Academy to look around; we might not even enter their City."

"So? Just seeing it from afar is enough!"

Suddenly, a female disciple stepped forward.

"How cute. I hope he gets better."

She leaned forward to look at Little Zeel, and her hair fell in front of her face as a result. As she fixed the strands behind her ears, she glanced up at Sol and asked sweetly.

"Can I pet him, Brother Sol?"

The girl was quite attractive; she looked to be a second-year disciple. From this angle, Sol could see into her robes a bit.

"No."

Came Sol's immediate cold reply.

"Pfft!"

Some of the male disciples in the crowd hurriedly covered their mouths before they accidentally burst out laughing.

The girl's face resembled a tomato when she heard Sol's reply. She was trying to shoot her shot, but it flopped hilariously.

"Sorry."

The girl immediately turned to leave out of embarrassment.

However, Sol felt kind of bad for coldly rejecting the girl.

"Wait. You can pet him, but do it gently."

The girl who was about to escape to crawl into a hole and die quickly spun around with a bright smile on her face.

She leaned forward once more and rubbed her fingers through Little Zeel's fur. The feeling caused her body to jolt, and her eyes brightened even more, if that was even possible. To her, Little Zeel's fur was smoother than anything she had ever felt before.

Suddenly, she was overcome with jealousy of Sol for being able to hold Little Zeel every day. If she had a pet like this, she would probably never put it down.

However, the girl knew she couldn't continue petting Little Zeel for long, so after a few seconds she very reluctantly stopped.

"Thank you, Brother Sol."

The girl bowed and gave a sweet smile to Sol before turning to leave.

"Ah, Brother Sol, can I pet it too?"

Another female disciple suddenly asked.

However, before Sol could answer, a male disciple's hand shot up.

"Can I pet it too?"

A few more male disciples requested to pet Little Zeel as well.

The girls' intentions were obvious as they wanted to take this opportunity to leave an impression on Sol, but the boys just wanted to do it because the girls got to it.

This annoyed the girls quite a bit.

The second female disciple to ask came to the front and stepped forward to pet Little Zeel; however, a voice suddenly said.

"He's not feeling well, so just settle with me."

Little Abdu said as he leaped towards the girl.

The girl instinctively reacted by catching him.

"N-No way, did that cat just... Did that cat just talk?!"

All the disciples turned to stare at Little Abdu in shock.

The girl's expression became fearful as she kept Little Abdu at a distance while holding him.

The Elder who was watching everything from the side paused and looked at Little Abdu.

Little Abdu licked his paw, then looked up at the Elder and said.

"What? Have you never heard of a Spirit Beast speaking human language?"

Mar-Dule and the others looked at Little Abdu worriedly. Wasn't he supposed to keep something like this a secret? Why was he revealing this to everyone?

Sol, however, glanced at Little Abdu and smiled. He knew why Little Abdu was doing this.

'If something like that happens again, then I'll never forgive myself. I'd rather reveal my existence so people know not to try anything funny. As for that brat, wait until I recover my cultivation, I'll immediately slap him to death.'

As Little Abdu was thinking this while licking his paw, the girl hesitated but eventually couldn't help but massage his fur. It was as smooth as it looked.

Suddenly, the disciples around quickly got over Little Abdu being able to talk, and they suddenly crowded around him.

Loud 'Ooos' and 'Ahhs' could be heard as hand after hand stroked Little Abdu's fur.

It's true that it was possible for Spirit Beasts to be intelligent enough to learn human language, but it was the first time these young disciples were seeing one in person.

After looking at Little Abdu for a bit, the old man looked away.

From his senses, he estimated this cat's cultivation to be in the Quasi-Spiritual Realm.

Little Abdu decided to openly reveal his current cultivation, but not his Heavenly Palace. It was his mistake for not being alert to other Transcendents sensing it before. But there was no point crying over it now.

'What a strange beast... both of them are.'

The old man thought before he glanced around to see that no more disciples were coming.

"Okay, we'll leave immediately. We should be able to reach the Martial Alliance Academy at sunset, but if we rush, we could shorten the time."

Sol nodded and thanked the elder once again.

The Elder then controlled the ship to rise, while at the same time, runes lit up on the body of the ship to create a shield, blocking out the intense winds this high up.

With a loud bang, the ship then shot toward the Martial Alliance Academy. Pearl City got further and further away until it was no longer visible.

"Ah!"

Mar-Dule's body suddenly jerked, and everyone turned to look at him.

He held a hand next to his mouth as he whispered.

"Aren't we forgetting something? The Sects and Clans property in Pearl City! If we leave like this, they'll try and get it back."

Yoon-Jae frowned at Mar-Dule.

"Is this really the time to be thinking about this? How greedy are you?"

"Damn it, that's not it. What's with you? Can't you stop being cynical for one minute?"

Mar-Dule glared at Yoon-Jae; he was tired of his bullshit.

"Why did you bring it up then? We could always come back to reclaim the land, so there's no need to worry."

"Why didn't you say that first? No wonder you have no friends, you can't trust anyone."

Yoon-Jae silently looked at Mar-Dule and said nothing.

Mar-Dule stared back at him before he huffed and angrily walked off to the side.

Cheong-San stepped forward in place of Sol to try to ease the tension.

Meanwhile, Sol was off to the side; his mind could not focus on anything else right now. He looked down at Little Zeel, and his hold tightened a bit.

"Don't worry, Little Zeel, I promise your mom that I will protect you so I will... I promise.'

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