Chapter 269 Mark Meets Zheng (Part-1)
<strong>Sometime later;</strong>
"Song Yue, this is Black Knight, a peak stage 6-circle realm expert from the Western Moon kingdom. I have hired him for your protection in my absence." Mark introduced the disguised Song Yun to Song Yue as a guard, surprising her a little bit.
Song Yue was taken aback, not expecting that Mark would hire such a strong expert. She doesn't know how strong this man in a knight's armor is, but as the former heiress of Song Clan, she does know that his security services won't be cheap.
She asked, "How much it will cost for his security?"
Mark actually didn't prepare for that question. He thought Song Yue will ask him whether there is a need for an outsider when there was Allen and Alina.
As he was thinking of a price, along the lines of somewhere between 300-400 gold coins per month, Song Yun raised his hand and gave the reply through writing. It didn't take long for the words to appear in mid-air.
"I owe Lu Zhen, my life. As repayment for the favor, I will be protecting you for the next 6 months, Lady Song."
As he cannot say that he will serve for the rest of his life as some sort of slave, he gave a certain time limit. He thought that time would be enough for him to gain forgiveness from his daughter. If it wouldn't suffice, he will try to extend the time limit by using some sort of excuse.
Luckily, Song Yue bought his reasoning, and nodded with a smile, "Thank you." She was happy because of two things. One, it didn't cost money. Two, her fiancé saved someone's life.
But, what do those things have to do with her?
Song Yue never dwelled on the matter as if it is obvious.
Meanwhile, Mark inwardly sighed in relief, feeling that he dodged a bullet. Originally, he wanted to introduce Song Yun as a 7-circle but didn't do it so as to not attract unnecessary suspicion. So, he portrayed the guy as a foreigner he hired for Song Yue's protection citing her father's escape from the prison as a reason.
The Imperial Palace was also aware that Mark visited the Western Moon kingdom and brought a change of regime. Hence, it would be a perfect ideal cover for Song Yun, according to Mark's opinion.
But, the biggest issue lies within the family, not the outsiders. Song Yue's opinion is the most important here. As she didn't suspect anything and agreed with the protection, Mark was satisfied.
<strong>The next day morning;</strong>
"Okay, I will be back by evening. See ya."
Leaving behind the manticore and Allen at the store for Song Yue's safety just in case Song Yun tries to switch to his old ways, Mark boarded the attack helicopter, which was piloted by Alina.
As he rejected the instant teleportation function to complete the emergency quest when he accepted it, Mark received a map, which lets him track his target until he completes/fails the quest.
After a few hours of travel, while refilling the fuel, on the midway for once with Mark's ether energy, they reached the Kunyu mountain range.
Soon, it started descending onto one of the peaks, which was a huge flat ground as if the mountain's top part was sliced away. The place wasn't that big but it wasn't small too. It was roughly around 1 sq. km (~250 acres) filled with ruined buildings, but still, the place was quite neat without any dust or unnecessary rocks and stones around.
At the corner of this abandoned village, there was a graveyard filled with burial mounds. A grey-haired man in tattered white robes appeared to be sweeping the place at a slow pace as if he has all the time in the world.
The sound of the helicopter didn't escape his ears. He immediately raised his head to look at it and frowned, "what is that thing?"
Putting away the broom, he started walking toward the location of the ruined buildings where the helicopter was going to land.
Upon reaching there, he saw two people stepping out of it and the helicopter disappeared into thin air.
The man, who appeared to be in his early fifties, opened his mouth, "Stop right there. Leave this place, strangers."
Mark was naturally surprised by the appearance of a human in such a location as he wasn't expecting any hosts to receive him. "Was he a member of the Church of Doom?" he wondered. According to Gu Ya, the organization is planning to occupy the beast for three decades but to no avail.
To confirm his suspicions, he activated the Sage Eyes and inspected him. And the details really surprised him.
Status: Humanoid
Grade: Emperor
Species: Zheng
Gender: Male
Rank: 9 (peak-stage)
Type: Offensive
Attribute: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, and Lightning
Description: Zheng is a beast from the undying lands. A pet of Lan Gengxin, it is very loyal to its master even after his death, acting as the grave keeper of the Lan Sect's graveyard.
*
"So, this beast can take the shape of a human?" Mark heard the legends of the pure dragons that can transform into a human but didn't expect this one can also do it.
What's more shocking is its cultivation. If the beast's cultivation level is at peak-9-circle in its humanoid form, it will be even higher in its true form.
And then, what's about its strength?
It is safe to assume that a demigod beast emperor can easily defeat an average Immortal realm human (11-circle). All of a sudden, Mark felt like the peak potion might not be enough to subdue it by force.
And if he manages to defeat by some miracle, there's still a problem left. How will he be able to form a contract with a Demigod-level beast using an advanced Spirit beast contract?
Hence, he came to the conclusion that he needed to fight for its acknowledgment, rather than trying to capture it.
Fortunately, he received a manuscript of Beast Tamer Xie Chen as an engagement gift from his sister. During the past ten days, it helped him to understand more about the beasts and their behavior. As a result, the loyalty of the manticore was raised substantially enough for it to give him a word that it will guard Song Yue with its life.
Not knowing whether he can defeat by force or not, Mark first closed his eyes, controlling his stunned expression, and then, took a deep breath and greeted the Zheng with a sincere bow, "Greetings, Lan Ju, my name is Lu Zhen and I came from the Imperial City."
The middle-aged fellow was a little bit surprised by how Mark greeted him. After all, not many people who are still alive knew his name. If someone knew his name, that means, they also knew that he is a beast, not a human. The Church of Doom came to his mind, at first.
Suspecting that the visitor might be lying about his origins, Lan Ju warned him again, this time, a bit aggressively, "Whoever you are, the outsiders have no business with this land or me. Leave before you regret it."
Mark was the kind of person that gets offended even by the slightest threat. But, knowing that he cannot attack the beast, he tried to reply as calmly as possible, "I'm here because of three things. First, I want to pay my respects to my grandfather. Two, I want to claim his inheritance, which he left for me. And three, Reviving the Lan Sect."
"Grandfather? Reviving the sect?" Lan Ju furrowed his brows upon hearing that Mark is related to someone from the Lan Sect. He asked, "Who is your grandfather?"
Mark answered, "Lan Gengxin. He is my maternal grandfather if what Granduncle, Lan Jing said is true."
He purposely mentioned Lan Jing's name so that the beast would atleast consider giving him an opportunity to earn its acknowledgment. However, little did he expect that he would actually touch its sore spot for speaking out Lan Jing's name.
"How dare you to spout that traitorous bastard's name?" Lan Ju suddenly roared in response. His voice released some sort of sound waves, striking Mark and Alina at the same time, pushing them away.
The power behind the sound waves was so powerful that Mark felt like he would fall from the cliff. Thankfully, Alina was quick to act in releasing the Protos chains and catch him before leaping to the side and landing on the ground.
As Mark was freed from the chains, Alina stood before him while conjuring her Protos daggers.
"What is that corrupted energy?" Lan Ju became wary all of a sudden, stopping in his tracks and staring intently at Alina and the black energy daggers in her hands. "A peak quality puppet? There's no way humans of this remote world can progress this far."