708: Kingdom of Gold and Treasures

Kingdom of Gold and Treasures

4"But what should I do now?" she wondered, "Should I look for him in the Beast Continent or go to the Golden Treasure Kingdom?" 4

Mei Zhen and Zhang Guang could see her pondering face, looking at each other. 

"It seems that our old friend has something that you need but you must be quite busy. Clearly, this is something important so if there is anything that we could do to help you, please let us know", one of them said. 

Ming Yue looked at them gratefully before shaking her head. 

"I know that the two of you have things to tend to. It would be selfish of me to ask you to do more."

At this moment, she felt slightly hopeless, not knowing what to do next. 

"How am I going to do this? she wondered to herself, "The Beast Continent was vast, even if I were to search for Senior Cheng first, where would I even start? I'd need someone to help me look for him, or at least know where they're going but who could I ask?"

Seconds later, someone came to mind, rather a group came to mind.

"I could ask them, couldn't I?" she thought, "With that ship of theirs, the Zodiacs!"

She then looked at the two seniors, both of whom noticed her gaze. 

"Would it be possible to send a message to the Beast Continent?"

The pair smiled and nodded. 

"Of course!"

With that, a messenger was sent, traveling into the Beast Continent and heading towards their capital city, the Den. With a hood hiding their appearance, the messenger quickly made its way through the city towards a large mansion one with an enormous courtyard. 

Standing in front of the doors, they looked both ways on the street before knocking lightly. 

"Coming!"

A cheerful voice echoed from within followed by a few heavy footsteps until the door was finally open.

"Oh, who might you be?"

Standing before the messenger was Zhu Xie, the boar-kin with a knack for tinkering. The curious figure looked down at the messenger, wearing an open no less. 

"Zhu Xie, whose outside?" 

From within was another voice, somewhat quiet as a small mouse climbed up his shoulder.

"Ah, Shu Yi, I'm not sure. What business do you have with us?" 

The messenger seemed a bit stunned by their appearance before quickly handing a letter to them and running off.

"Wha- hey! Ay least enjoy a cup of tea! Hah, what's this anyway? A letter from... Ming Yue?"

The beastly duo shared a look before heading back into the mansion. 

"We should gather everyone."

With that letter received, Ming Yue didn't quite have to worry about the 10,000-year Penzai as much. Her attention focused on the Dragon Eye Berries instead and to obtain them, she had to go to the Golden Treasure Kingdom. 

As Wo Long had told her, if there was one place that had them, it would be there. 

Luckily, it wasn't very far from the Xue Mountains. She had to cross a few smaller kingdoms but at her speed, it didn't take her long to reach it. Days later, she noticed something on the road below her and descended from the skies, putting Xao Yin and Hei Yue down on the ground. 

The trio looked around their surroundings seeing a wide and spacious stone road. And it was far from empty with merchants, big and small, as well as travelers from a variety of places. And instead of trees, there were stalls lined up as far as the eye can see. Peddlers selling their wares and whatnot. On top of that, there were plenty of inns and other small businesses doing their best to make some money off these travelers. 

"We haven't even reached the kingdom yet and it already feels like I'm in a bustling city street," she thought to herself."

In just a matter of minutes, hundreds passed by her, all dressed in ways that she had never seen before. That included cultivators and nobles as well with carriages and other forms of travel including flying swords and even ships. 

No one batted an eye at her coming down. If anything, they were more interested in her equipment and even the two beasts. 

"Hey there, I was wondering, how much for the Star Owl? What about the Mistral Fox?"

A voice surprised her from behind as one of those very merchants approached her. Ming Yue froze for a moment before answering bluntly. 

"They're not for sale." 

She stood firm on that notion, keeping both of them close by her. 

The merchant's smile faltered a bit before raising his hands up as if to surrender. 

"It was worth a shot", he said, leaving her as his attempt resulted in failure. 

Watching him go, Ming Yue sighed and relaxed a bit before walking through the road. This being her first time in this area, she felt that a little bit of sightseeing wouldn't hurt. With so much to see, it made the journey quite enjoyable, there were even little shows happening on the side of the road. 

But she was also peppered with merchants trying to either buy something of her or sell something to her.

There was a somewhat exasperated expression on her face as she declined another offer and sped off without even looking back. In fact, she flew off with her beasts, leaving the road. Rather than carry them in her arms, a sword of wind formed beneath her feet, growing several times her size so that she could sit and set them both down. 

It was slower but at least this way, they were comfortable. 

Ming Yue looked further down the road, seeing tall golden gates alongside even taller walls. The closer she came, the more amazed she was at it. 

"They really do have the most money, don't they?"

Of all the places she's been to, the walls of the Golden Treasure Kingdom were probably the most impressive she's seen. 

In some ways, it seemed excessive. 

"Those defenses... I've never seen anything like them. Just rows of cannons all across the walls, those lookout towers, the ballistae, and how many people do they have patrolling the skies?"

She was in awe of it, truly a place deserving of being one of the Six Great Kingdoms. 

There were squads of guards, riding winged beasts that were no weaker than Rank 4. Their equipment was at least Sage Grade and each of them was in the Earth Realm. And there were plenty at the Sky Realm too. 

Truly, money was a type of strength as well, this much Ming Yue understood. But perhaps, she underestimated just how deep the coffers of this kingdom went. 

Nearing those gates, the group descended once more, joining the lines of hundreds trying to enter the kingdom. 

Looking around a bit, they waited patiently as the line moved at a decent pace, not going faster or slower. 

Before she knew it, Ming Yue was one of the next to go. Looking ahead, she saw multiple doors at the bottom of the gate that had nothing but shining light. People entered them one by one, walking in without needing to show some proof of identity. 

"I just walk in?" she questioned.

Some of the entrants seemed a bit nervous, others not so much. Nevertheless, Ming Yue didn't quite understand what was happening. 

When it came time for her to go, she stared at the glowing door. Together with the owl and fox, she stepped in hoping that nothing bad would happen. 

It was bright, incredibly so but a few more steps and that light subsided. She blinked several times, trying to see what was ahead of her before noticing someone standing before her, smiling politely. 

They bowed to greet her. 

"We welcome the Fairy of the Moon to the Golden Treasure Kingdom."

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