"That's wonderful! Thank you, Your Majesty!" Grace said with a bright smile.
Colin Gu looked at her genuine, heartfelt smile and gave a meaningful, knowing grin in return.
Early the next morning, Colin Gu really did select a hundred palace guards, and, together with Evan Xiao, Minister Zhuo, and Grace, set out for Lionhead Mountain.
He had Grace ride alongside him at the front, leading the way.
Behind them marched his palace guards.
Minister Zhuo and Evan Xiao brought up the rear, acting as the last line of defense.
At first, Grace didn’t think much of it.
But as they traveled, she suddenly noticed that of all the palace guards, the two closest to Colin Gu looked strangely familiar.
She wasn’t actually familiar with the palace guards of the Blue Moon Kingdom.
So why did their faces seem so familiar?
Grace thought hard, then suddenly gasped in shock.
These two weren’t from the Blue Moon Kingdom at all.
They were the personal bodyguards of King Skyroc.
Their names? Wolf and Scorpion.
Both of them had already surpassed the peak of Spirit Practitioner and advanced to Spirit Master.
A Spirit Master’s power is several times greater than even the strongest Spirit Practitioner!
If Spirit Practitioners are kids, then Spirit Masters are full-grown adults.
If Spirit Practitioners are sheep, then Spirit Masters are wild beasts!
Because spiritual energy is so thin in the Blue Moon Kingdom, almost no one ever breaks through beyond the Spirit Practitioner stage.
But it’s a whole different story in the Vermilion Kingdom.
The Vermilion Kingdom is overflowing with spiritual energy, and plenty of people there have broken through the Spirit Practitioner stage to become Spirit Masters.
And these two? They were Spirit Masters.
Even if the three of them joined forces, they probably wouldn’t be a match for either one of these guys.
Colin Gu said he was taking her to find a master, but obviously, that wasn’t his real reason.
He wanted to test the truth.
Could it be... he knows something?
No! He’s probably just suspicious.
With his personality, if he really knew what they did in Yanjing, he’d have executed them as soon as they got back—why bother with Lionhead Mountain?
He probably got suspicious because their camp was right on the Vermilion Kingdom’s border...
Grace glanced back at her dad and Evan Xiao.
She hoped they wouldn’t do anything reckless.
At the back of the group, Minister Zhuo and Evan Xiao walked side by side. Minister Zhuo whispered, "Can we still summon the Red-crowned Golden Eagles?"
"I’ve already sent them back to the Eastern Wilderness Forest," Evan Xiao replied.
"Then what should we do? When the time comes, should we just..."
"Don’t act rashly," Evan Xiao warned. "Did you see those two by Colin Gu’s side?"
"Yeah."
"They’re both Spirit Masters."
"Spirit Masters?" Minister Zhuo gasped.
"If I’m right, they’re King Skyroc’s people," Evan Xiao said. "Sent to lend him a hand."
"So what do we do? Run away?"
Evan Xiao kept his eyes on Grace and said, "Look at Grace."
Minister Zhuo looked at his daughter. "Is she... stretching?"
"She’s pressing one hand down and patting her chest with the other. It looks like she’s stretching, but really, she’s telling us to ‘rest easy.’"
"Rest easy? How are we supposed to do that?" Minister Zhuo frowned. "Don’t tell me there’s really a maze up on Lionhead Mountain, and inside it lives some reclusive Spiritual Alchemist?"
"Let’s just wait and see," Evan Xiao said.
Grace led the group straight toward Lionhead Mountain.
Lionhead Mountain wasn’t just a single peak—it was an entire mountain range.
The deeper they went, the more dangerous spirit beasts lurked within.
Luckily, with so many people, even the spirit beasts kept their distance; they made it through without any major trouble.
Finally, Grace led them to a spot beneath a bamboo grove.