The heavy carriage streaked along the stone road at a relentless pace, covering hundreds of miles each day without interruption. After a full week of continuous travel across the frontier, the landscape began to shift, signaling their proximity to their first major destination: Puma City.
Puma City was a renowned regional trade hub and the primary checkpoint granting access into the sovereign territory of the White Tiger Dynasty.
Unlike the sprawling vassal empires that governed millions of commoners across vast, thinly guarded borders, the White Tiger Dynasty did not operate like a conventional nation.
Instead, it resembled an immense, heavily fortified metropolitan clan-state anchored around accumulation of powerhouses.
While its total population was modest compared to the lower empires, its density of high-tier bloodline houses was unmatched. In this territory, numbers were entirely secondary to lineage; a single noble house residing within the inner ring possessed enough military strength to eradicate an entire empire overnight.
Social standing within the dynasty was dictated by two metrics: bloodline purity and combat strength.
Inside the carriage, the interior was deceptively spacious, expanded through specialized spatial compression arrays. Anyone stepping past the outer door was greeted by a comfortably furnished common hall. To the left stood two private sleeping quarters, while the right side opened into a single master suite reserved exclusively for Leylin.
Leylin sat cross-legged on the central cushion, his eyes closed in deep meditation. A short distance away, Blair sat in identical concentration, her silver hair catching the glow of the spirit lanterns. Curled quietly in the corner of the couch was a small, sleek fox with soft fur, Kelly in her beast form.
Blair has always took her training with seriousness, pouring every spare second into refining her energy. Her discipline was one of the primary reasons Leylin had agreed to take her as an apprentice, second only to her experimental utility.
Leylin's eyelashes fluttered slightly, and his dark eyes opened. "Blair. Just as you warned, the border entrance is rather chaotic."
Blair snapped out of her meditative state, her eyes flashing with a dangerous, predatory glint. "Teacher, point out their positions. I will step outside and eliminate them for you."
"Was the slaughter back there not enough to satisfy your bloodlust?" Leylin asked with a faint smile. "Focus your energy on your cultivation rather than wasting time on minor annoyances. Besides, this particular group is not something you can handle cleanly just yet."
He paused, gesturing casually toward the front carriage window. "And make sure you speak with Derick to settle your dispute. Open communication prevents unnecessary misunderstandings. He is a dependable youth, even if he can be rather dense at times."
Blair lowered her head, sitting back down onto her cushion. "I apologize, Teacher."
Leylin observed her quietly before closing his eyes again, understanding the root of her agitation. Her foul mood was not merely the result of a spat with Derick; she was deeply unsettled by the prospect of returning to her ancestral home.
Under Leylin's tutelage, Blair's cultivation had shattered records, eventually catching the attention of the White Tiger Dynasty's upper echelon and prompting an official recall order.
Born with a mutated Wampus Cat beast rather than the standard ancestral tiger lineage, Blair had been unable to practice the dynasty's orthodox cultivation arts, leaving her stuck at Private Stage at thirteen years of age.
While such a feat was acceptable in the outer empires, it was deemed worthless by the strict standards of the dynasty. Bound by ancient clan laws and poisoned by factional politics, the elders had cast her out.
At the time, her father, General Rakim Welbring, had been powerless to overturn the clan council's ruling. Believing his daughter was crippled, he had reluctantly accepted her exile, arranging for her to live comfortably in the Felineca Empire away from capital politics.
Yet when news of her unprecedented genius reached the capital years later, her father had moved aggressively to lobby the council for her reinstatement.
To the dynasty, strength always superseded tradition. If an exile proved powerful enough, the royal house had no qualms about granting exceptions to secure a formidable military asset.
This blatant hypocrisy disgusted Blair. While she understood her father's political reality, she could not entirely mask her resentment toward the clan.
She had originally intended to reject the recall, but an order from Leylin had reversed her stance immediately. Now, her primary motivation was to validate her master's guidance, alongside a quiet desire to prove her worth to her father.
'She possesses all the foundational traits of a classic protagonist.' Leylin amused himself silently. 'A tragic past, unyielding determination, complicated romance, immense destiny, and, most crucially, an OP master.'
"Hisssss!"
From the shadows behind the master chair, the Black Horrall Snake emerged slightly, flicking its tongue as it detected the approaching perimeter forces.
"I am aware," Leylin said calmly, not bothering to open his eyes. "A few small flies. Go clear them out."
Blair did not question the command, trusting Leylin's judgment implicitly as she resumed her breathing exercises.
Outside the carriage, muffled shouts, abrupt explosive blasts, and brief shrieks of terror tore through the evening air before cutting off completely. A few minutes later, the carriage door opened silently, and the massive horned head of the Black Horrall Snake slid inside. Clamped securely within its jaws was a battered, half-dead man in shredded dark robes.
The serpent hissed softly, dropping the body onto the floorboards.
"People from the Church?" Leylin muttered, glancing down at the captive.
After a brief scan of the man's spiritual signature, Leylin shook his head in disinterest. "Cheap imposters. The Church does not deploy such unrefined rabble. They are merely a band of rogue deserters using the Church's reputation to rob passing merchant convoys. Finish him."
The ambush party had consisted of several Master Sergeant-stage tamers and Gold Warriors, led by a single early Captain-stage combatant. To claim affiliation with the Church without probably even knowing the names of the sacred orders was absurd.
The Black Horrall Snake bowed its horned head, flicked the half-dead bandit into the air, and swallowed him whole in a single gulp before dissolving back into the shadows.
With the road cleared, the carriage continued smoothly toward the gates of Puma City.
By the time the carriage rolled past the fortified gates of Puma City, midnight had long since passed. A generous distribution of Aura Crystals to the night watch ensured immediate, unhindered entry.
Seeking a quiet environment to recover from the journey, they headed directly to the Wild Sun Divine Inn, the most luxurious establishment within the commercial district.
As the carriage halted in the private courtyard, the small fox resting in a corner jumped, its fur melting away to reveal the curvaceous, humanoid form of Kelly. Stepping out ahead of Leylin, Kelly approached the front desk, paying a staggering fee of one hundred Aura Crystals per person to secure three premier suites: one for Blair, one for Derick, and the master suite for Leylin, which Kelly shared as his personal attendant.
While the price was exorbitant, the multi-layered defensive arrays, private courtyards, and spirit enriched meals justified the expense.
Retiring to his private chambers, Leylin settled onto an expansive sofa. Kelly shifted back into her fox form, curling onto his lap as he lazily stroked her back. An azure light flashed across his pupils as he reviewed the data models compiled by the A.I. Chip, waiting patiently for a scheduled arrival.
A faint, unnatural breeze slipped through the room's sealed balcony.
Moving with complete silence, a tall figure wrapped in black-and-crimson robes slipped through the window arrays, bypassing the inn's outer wards without alerting a single guard or guest. A heavy bronze token hung from the stranger's belt.
Stepping into the candlelight, the intruder found Leylin watching him with a calm, penetrating gaze that seemed to pierce right through his concealment.
An involuntary shiver ran down the man's spine. Suppressing his sudden surge of dread, he immediately dropped to his right knee, placing his right palm firmly over his left knee in a formal salute.
"Tucker greets the Vice-Commander!" the man whispered respectfully, keeping his head lowered.
Leylin patted Kelly's head gently. "Pour is some tea, Kelly."
The fox leaped down, transforming smoothly back into her human form.
She brewed two cups of hot tea with practiced elegance, set them onto the low table, and quietly exited the room, closing the door behind her to stand guard in the hallway.
Throughout the exchange, Tucker remained completely motionless, his head bowed toward the floor.
Leylin picked up his teacup, taking a slow sip. "Join me."
"I am unworthy, my Lord," Tucker replied immediately.
"Suit yourself," Leylin said. "Have you brought some intelligence, Tucker?"
"Yes, Sir. I was tasked with delivering the regional situation report, alongside your next official directive."
Tucker reached toward the spatial ring on his finger a high-grade middle-tier spatial artifact, indicating his status as far more than a basic courier and withdrew two sealed parchment scrolls. He placed them carefully onto the table before stepping back into a kneeling posture.
Leylin raised his index finger. An invisible current of spiritual force wrapped around the scrolls, lifting them into the air and depositing them neatly into his palm.
Inspecting the outer casing, Leylin noted the crimson wax seal stamped into the parchment: a crowned giant resting within an equilateral silver triangle. It was the formal sigil of the Church of Leviathan.
Five years ago, shortly after Leylin had accepted Blair as his disciple, representatives from the Church of Leviathan had covertly approached him.
Recognizing his rapid advancement and strength, they had extended an official recruitment offer, providing massive resource stipends, access to restricted archives, and loose organizational oversight.
Recognizing the benefits and having prepared several contingency measures, Leylin had accepted their invitation without hesitation.
Over the past five years, the alliance had proven exceptionally lucrative. In exchange for access to high-tier materials, Leylin had completed only three high-priority missions assigned by the central command.
His flawless execution had earned him rapid promotions through the hierarchy, eventually securing his current rank as an acting Vice-Commander.
Leylin was fully aware that the Church was utilizing these assignments to test his loyalty and probe the limits of his strength. Yet as long as their requests remained reasonable and the flow of ancient resources continued uninterrupted, he was more than content to utilize their network to fuel his personal research.
At first the Church wanted to probe into the mysterious figure behind Lucian Alistair but Leylin himself informed that he and Lucian are same person, it was just a disguise to protect himself. This revelation caused embarassment for a few in the intelligence department but it also increased Leylin's value and worth in the Church.