After Wu Ling finished speaking beside Flender's ear, he was about to leave. The next second, a voice stopped him.
"Um, Brother Wu Ling, I want to go home. Could you take me with you?" Cecilia Jewel said as she hurried after him.
Cecilia actually had a very high emotional intelligence. She knew when to obey and when she could act spoiled. Otherwise, with her little-devil personality alone, the Sword Sage and Bone Sage would never have doted on her so much.
After what had just happened, she, one of the people who started the whole mess, could already feel Shrek's people rejecting her. The malice in Barrett Knox's and Alban Regis's eyes was practically spilling out. She had never met Wu Ling, Spirit Hall's Saint, before, but the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and Spirit Hall were at least buyer and seller. Following him was better than staying here and waiting.
Wu Ling looked expressionlessly toward the roof of a three-story building. Several Spirit Masters were stationed there. He guessed they were probably Cecilia's guards, because through his senses, three of them had reached Spirit King level. That was not common in a small city like Soto. The only explanation was that they were Cecilia's protectors.
After all, in the original story, Alistair Jewel sent Flender a letter on Cecilia's second day at Shrek. That proved Cecilia's movements had always been under Alistair's watch.
This time, for certain reasons, no letter had been sent, but that did not mean Cecilia had escaped her father's surveillance. The guards had likely been restrained because Cecilia had run away from home. Most likely, they would only act if Cecilia faced a life-or-death danger.
Wu Ling did not expose any of that. Just as Cecilia had thought, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was one of his major clients. The boots, inner armor, and handgun on Cecilia had all been personally made by Wu Ling after Alistair Jewel paid a steep price. Since he had met the man's daughter, taking slight care of her was no problem, especially because he had business with Alistair during this trip to Polaris.
"Fine. You can come with me. But on the road..."
Halfway through, Wu Ling suddenly stopped and looked beside Cecilia.
Cecilia looked at him in confusion, then checked herself and the space beside her. After confirming that nothing seemed wrong, she was just about to ask when Wu Ling spoke to the empty space at her side.
"Bone Sage, since you are here, there is no need to keep hiding. You came to take her back, didn't you?"
Cecilia stared at the space beside her in astonishment. Wu Ling would not say something like that without reason, but she had sensed nothing at all. Not far behind her, the Shrek group, who had been watching Wu Ling and Cecilia from the corners of their eyes, were also startled by his words.
The next second, that patch of space seemed to prove Wu Ling right. Air, light, and even space itself began twisting nonstop, finally forming a black hole about two meters tall, dark and flowing.
"My, Your Highness is impressive. I never thought I would be discovered the moment I arrived. Even an ordinary Titled Sage would not notice me."
A frivolous voice rang out. A black-clad figure slowly walked out of the black hole.
"I would not dare claim too much," Wu Ling said. "Since Your Excellency is here, I will leave Cecilia Jewel to you. Also, please pass a message to Alistair Jewel for me. In some time, I may pay your sect a visit. When that happens, I hope you will not shut me out."
After saying that, Wu Ling had no intention of adding another word. He turned, waved, and left.
"Ha ha, Your Highness must be joking. If the Saint honors our sect with a visit, our sect master will certainly sweep the couch clean to welcome you. I only hope Your Highness does not find us lacking."
Even after Lucius Grimm, the Bone Sage, finished speaking, Wu Ling only waved to show that he had heard.
Lucius was not angered by Wu Ling's perfunctory attitude. He knew Wu Ling's strength and importance to Spirit Hall. The current pope, Bibi Dong, had even declared that seeing the Saint was the same as seeing her. For someone whose status was equivalent to the pope's, Wu Ling's attitude was not actually improper.
More importantly, Lucius's main purpose in coming was not to pick up Cecilia. His true goal was the enormous crater formed by Wu Ling and Tang Hao's battle. An attack of that level could not be produced even if he and Vane Ash joined forces. After Alistair Jewel received the news, he had sent Lucius directly to gather information.
According to informants in Soto City, Lucius could already make a preliminary judgment that the crater had been left behind by a battle between Spirit Hall and the Clear Sky Sage. Because of that, he did not want to cause displeasure or suspicion in Wu Ling, Spirit Hall's Saint, over some small action.
"Grandpa Bone, Cecilia missed you so much. Just now, someone tried to bully me. He even said he was going to do that to me."
Once Wu Ling had left, Cecilia threw herself into Lucius's arms and started acting spoiled. Halfway through, she did not forget to lodge a complaint.
Behind them, Flender's face changed as soon as he heard Cecilia complain. Inwardly, he cursed Alban Regis several times. Of all the people Alban could provoke, why provoke this little demon? Everyone on the continent knew how much the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect doted on her. If Alban were still Star Stripe's crown prince, that would be one thing. But how did a fallen prince dare do this? Had he drunk too much during that earlier nonsense?
"Your Excellency Bone Sage, this is actually a misunderstanding..."
Flender had just started speaking when Lucius raised a hand and stopped him. Flender did not dare treat Lucius the way Wu Ling had, so he could only close his mouth awkwardly.
Lucius then made a hand signal. A Spirit King suddenly arrived beside him and quietly reported everything that had happened earlier. Lucius Grimm's expression darkened at a visible speed.
Flender was about to speak again, but Lucius's eighth Spirit Ring lit up. Flender's face changed. In the next second, every Shrek teacher, Flender included, was sent flying by a dragon claw. Alban Regis's right arm twisted grotesquely, then tore away from the shoulder.
Ignoring the screams behind him, Lucius turned back and spoke to Cecilia in an exceedingly gentle voice.
"Cecilia, I already punished that person for you. There is no need to stay at an academy like this. Go back to the hotel with Number Five and wait for me. I need to handle one matter first, then we will go home together..."
By then, Wu Ling had already returned to the hotel. The reason he arrived so quickly was thanks to the clone he had left there. As for what happened after he left, he had already guessed the general result. He simply had no leisure to watch the show.
After ordering Hassan of the Hundred Personas to keep watching Tang San, he returned to his room. In his hand appeared a blue, rod-like object. It was another gain from his trip to kill Tang Hao, the 100,000-year Blue Silver Emperor right leg Spirit Bone that Tang San had once absorbed in the original story.
Its effects were recovery and flight. Paired with his left leg bone's flight and sunlight recovery, it was a powerful combination made stronger still.
Wu Ling stared at the Spirit Bone before him and murmured, "Both leg bones give flight and recovery. The right hand strengthens. The left hand devours. That leaves the torso bone and head bone. Perfect. I can obtain them together when I hunt my eighth and ninth Spirit Rings.
"Tang San's side is settled now. Tonight, I will absorb this first. Tomorrow, it is time to visit Polaris City."