2051 The Elegant Woman's Entourage

Finally seeing Lady Kang, Lin Mu understood that Qiao De had not chosen the members of the expedition casually.

'She didn't come here unprepared at all… She's basically ready for war.' Lin Mu thought to himself seeing the equipment of the woman.

Plus, he knew that considering her position, all of the Immortal tools and weapons she brought with her were compatible. Not just that, the way she carried herself showed that she was no stranger to conflict and had been in many of them before.

"I greet Lady Kang of the great Kang Auction house!" Crown Prince Feng Shun greeted with cupped hands.

"We greet Lady Kang!" His companions said in unison.

"Lady Kang, always so elegant and full of beauty." Qiao De flattered her while bowing his head.

"Greetings, Lady Kang." Lin Mu greeted her too.

"Mmm, Looks like you're the same Qiao De." Lady Kang spoke, her voice carrying a hint of detachedness. "Greetings Crown Prince, Crown Princess." She looked at the two royals before stepping down from the carriage.

Two more people left the carriage after her, who were rather eye catching too.

The first seemed to be a man that was covered head to toe in armor. His face could not be seen, as the helmet fully covered his face too, leaving just a slit for his eyes.

His armor was maroon in color and had faint immortal Qi fluctuation too, showing that it was an Immortal armor.

'At least high grade armor made out of Barren Dune Pangolin scales.' Lin Mu quickly recognizing it from the color of the armor and the texture.

Barren Dune Pangolin was a beast that was highly specialized in defense and its scales could even take a hit form a Peak Immortal even if it was at the Fourth Tribulation Stage of the Immortal realm. Though it had its downsides too, as the scales weren't exactly good at conducting Immortal Qi.

Thus while they worked well as a defensive armor, they couldn't be used for weapons. This also affected how an immortal could use Qi skills, as most of them would either become weaker or simply impossible to use. Thus the scales were mostly used to make shields or individual pieces of armor rather than a full set.

Using a full set basically made it very difficult to use one's Qi skills. This only left a few people who would be able to properly utilize a full set of armor made from Barren Dune Pangolin scales.

'Is he a specialized weapon user?' Lin Mu wondered, but didn't see the man carrying any weapons.

The armor also made it hard for Lin Mu to estimate the cultivation base of the man, as they were muffled by the armor. Right now it seemed like the man was at the third tribulation stage of the Immortal realm, but Lin Mu was highly sure it was higher than that.

"My lady, would you like to get your room ready?" The third person who had walked out of the carriage spoke.

It was a woman dressed in the robes of a servant. She had a cold face and looked to be in her late twenties from her face. Her cultivation base was at the Fourth Tribulation Stage of the Immortal realm and was not hidden. Lin Mu also didn't see any Immortal tools or weapons on her person.

"Get it done, Min Ju." Lady Kang replied to her servant.

"At once." The woman said.

"I'll bring you to the quarters. We've set aside a room for Lady Kang." Daoist Chu said and guided the servant downstairs.

Lady Kang looked around the ship for a couple of seconds before speaking, "Mmm, not bad."

"I tried to make our journey as comfortable as possible, Lady Kang." Crown Prince Feng Shun said in a respectful tone.

Seeing him talk like this made Lin Mu think that the Crown Prince had returned to his formal ways. He wasn't talking casually like he did with him and the others anymore.

'Looks like Lady Kang's status is much more than I thought.' Lin Mu thought to himself.

The way Crown Prince was behaving with her was as if she was another royal too.

"You did well." Lady Kang replied. "And what about you, Qiao De. Did you get all the things prepared?" She asked the 'host'.

"Of course." Qiao De said with a smile. "Now that you are here, we can leave right away."

"That'll be for the best." Lady Kang said before waving her hand at the carriage.

~SHUA~

The Carriage shrunk at her gesture and turned into a small charm. It flew out and attached itself to a bracelet on her wrist.

"Neigh!" The Great Steppe Immortal Stallion neighed, as if asking something of the woman.

"You can go rest too." She said holding out a rectangular wooden plate that had a unique pattern on it.

Looking at the Pattern, Lin Mu recognized it. There was a snakes' tail, a bird's feather and a tiger's claw on it showing that it was a Beast storage treasure!

Lin Mu had seen it a long time ago when he had found out about the merchant that had brought the Great Slumber Bear into the Xiaofan world. He was in the ownership of such a beast storage treasure too, though it had been damaged beyond use.

With that done, she spoke again.

"Let's get moving," she ordered.

"Of course." Qiao De said, taking out the broken compass that had the red gem in its center.

Lin Mu wondered how they were going to use it and as such watched curiously.

"Crown Prince, if you would assist me." Qiao De requested.

"Come," The man said, bringing him to the control wheel of the ship.

Above the wheel, there was a pedestal that had an empty circular slot. It looked like it was meant to hold a compass.

~shua~

Qiao De placed the compass in it, which easily fit in the groove.

~Humm~

The ship trembled at that action and the compass let off energy fluctuations.

But from them, Lin Mu could tell that it was actually just malfunctioning. Since the compass was broken, there was no way it could work.

"Here we go." Qiao De said as he took out another compass from his spatial storage too.

The difference though was that this compass was three times as big as the broken compass.

~SHING~ SHING~

Multiple metal latches extended out from the bottom of the large compass. Qiao De lowered it over the smaller compass, causing the metal latches to hook onto it.

~Kacha~

Once both the compasses were attached, the larger compass retracted the latches, causing the smaller compass to be pulled into it half way.

This still kept the compass attached to the pedestal, but also accommodated the larger compass.

~SHUA~

Lin Mu watched as the large compass glowed in a faint red light, while the needle on it started to twitch.

"It's ready now, Crown Prince Feng Shun." Qiao De stated.

"Alright, time to move." Feng Shun said, injecting his Immortal Qi into the pedestal.

~humm~

A humming sound was heard coming from the pedestal, before the ship finally shook.

~SPLASH~

The ship caused waves as it started to move backwards.

~drrrrr~

The ship's wheel turned automatically, causing the vessel to turn as well.

~DINK~

The needle on the large compass finally moved and shifted to a particular direction.

"There we go, it caught on." Qiao De smiled seeing that his fix was working.

The ship moved away from the Island and started to sail towards the west.

With that done, both the Crown Prince and Qiao De were satisfied.

"It will take us at most a month, if the weather holds up well." Crown Prince Feng Shun stated.

"That is acceptable." Lady Kang replied.

"Speaking of that, did you face any difficulties in coming here Lady Kang?" The Crown Prince asked, since he could tell the woman had been delayed for a bit.

"There were a few delays… a little work came up which I needed to deal with." Lady Kang said, glancing at Lin Mu for a moment. "But it was wrapped up without any issues."

"That's good. Now you can relax until it is time for us to disembark." Crown Prince Feng Shun replied.

~step~step~step~

As if on cue, Lady Kang's servant walked up from the stairs.

"Your room is ready, my lady." Min Ju informed.

"Good." Lady Kang replied before the Crown Prince spoke again.

"Will these two be your candidates for the expedition, Lady Kang?" Feng Shun asked, looking at the servant woman and the armored man.

"Yes." Lady Kang replied. "This is Min Ju, my personal maid and Elder Ho. They're the people I've chosen to come along with me." She introduced.

"Ah, I see. I'll trust your judgment then." Crown Prince Feng Shun replied before extending a hand to his companions, introducing them before finally stopping at Lin Mu. "And this is Daoist Mu Lin… The Winner of the Tourna—" but before he could finish his words, he was interrupted.

"Winner of the Tournament of the Four Guardian beasts… I know." Lady Kang said, looking at him directly.