The only thing he could do at the moment was to release them in forceful bursts which acts to disorient his targets, and even the [Dragon Slayer Staff/Sword] were physical attacks he simply channeled little to no soul power into to add the effects of the [Buddhist Chant of the Cherubs] into for added damage…

But Min Hong simply followed their spirit sense and used it to trace their location…

Wings flapped behind Min Hong as he took flight...

"I still can't believe he's got wings…" Rin Chen blurted in envy...

"You don't have to bother about that…"

"There is a Wing type technique at the Treasure Hall which costs about 150,000 merit points…"

"Get as much merit points and buy yours…"

Xiao Gui added nonchalantly as they all sat in a circular pattern around a massive hole that was billowing insane heat...

Min Hong flew to an extent and slowed down before shutting every single one of his senses except his hearing and then he focused his hearing extremely sharply, as he glided towards his destination…

Min Hong smiled happily as his hearing caught some sort of rushing sound…

It was like the sound of a flamethrower going at full throttle, blazing and burning crazily…

"There you are!"

Min Hong said with a smile as he increased his speed leaving a massive sonic boom in his wake, in less than three seconds, he got to Gong Yi's house…

He was extremely excited and eager;

"What happened?"

"Did you see something interesting?"

Little Ming asked, seemingly sensing Min Hong's eagerness and excitement through their soul link…

"Yeah… Something really special and interesting that I have been searching for…"

"I have been searching for over a year, and I had also thought it would have taken another year or so to find it…" Min Hong said ecstatically;

"But now, it is within reach…" Min Hong stretched out his hand and grabbed the empty air in anticipation…

"Soon… Soon, they will all pay for what they have done to my family…"

Min Hong spoke as the memory of the entire Min Family flooded his brain making his countenance gradually turn very solemn from one of excitement…

"Sorry Little Ming, we have to postpone your search for now…"

"This is very important to me, and I am not ready to go farther than a district away from it…"

Min Hong added as he landed in front of a hut where the four strongest disciples of the Desert Sun Sect were waiting for him…

"Welcome, we were just about to come looking for you…"

Gong Yi stepped forwards and spoke with an amicable smile, causing Min Hong to understand that what they wanted to discuss with him was truly something very important…

They all entered the hut and Min Hong was instantly stunned…

Saying what was inside this massive hut was wealthy and almost royalty wouldn't be too farfetched…

This circular hut was about 50 meters in diameter, and it was simply segregated into rooms by thick, soundproof, and temperature regulating walls made out of fine, smooth clay…

The decorations weren't much, but those that were here were very impressive, boasting not only the bravery, but also the valiance of the person who lived within it, and from these alone, Min Hong was starting to discover who Gong Yi was…

There were beast bones, head, tusks, talons, claws, hide, skin, [Name it all…]

There were also gems that glittered and lit up the entire hut…

Min Hong followed them until they reached the center of the hut, after maneuvering through different corners like a cult trying to enter their secret meeting room; 'I told you these guys gave me the creeps…'

Little Ming's voice echoed inside Min Hong's head, as they reached the room at the center of the hut…

The place was an open space that was about 5 meters across with a massive hole that was billowing strong heat out of it…

There were five meditating mats laid around this massive hole, and Min Hong understood that the fifth mat most likely belonged to Bai Yi…

He allowed the quad sit first, so he can figure out which one belonged to Bai Yi and not sit on someone else's meditation mat…

After scanning the empty mat in every possible subtle way, Min Hong finally took his seat;

"Alright, I am here now, what do you guys want to talk about?" He asked…

"Very nice… I also don't like standing on too much ceremony when there is something very important to be discussed, so we will begin immediately…"

Gong Yi spoke and the rest of the group just kept quiet and just listened, and sometimes stole some glances at Min Hong [Particularly Ki Ting…]

"We want to invite you to join us at the Imperial Seeding Tournament…" Gong Yi revealed;

"Imperial Seeding Tournament… What is that exactly?" Min Hong asked, insinuating that they gave precise explanation…

"Firstly, it's a competition amongst the top five strongest sects in the entire Dogon Empire" Gong Yi revealed…

"Top five sects?"

"I thought there were only four?" Min Hong was puzzled by the new discovery…

"Well it is more of an open secret…"

"Since the Imperial rulers are a massive clan on their own, they would obviously have their own younger generation members…"

"But since they also recruit extremely talented youths who are willing into their ranks, it was then renamed by the public as the Imperial Academy, rather than the Imperial Clan…"

"Though, many still choose to call it the Imperial Clan, but since the Imperials themselves seemed not to bother being called the Imperial Academy, others decide to go with it…"

"Then over the years, several structures have been erected, and the Imperial Palace is now looking more like an exclusive sect than a clan…"

"Thus, they are considered the strongest Sect within the Dogon Empire…" Gong Yi explained;

"How strong?" Min Hong asked as Xiao Gui gazed towards him after he made the statement;

"Well the way the Imperials choose families or people who can join their ranks is by merits; Individual and collective, and also across many fields…"

"But the choosing of a successor, is more like the way one breeds a Gu Bug…"

"They throw all of the candidates within a single arena and have them battle until there is one man left standing…" Gong Yi explained;

"What an efficient and effective method!" Min Hong spoke with an impressed tone;

"How so?"

Xiao Gui asked, trying to test Min Hong's intelligence which the rest of his group caught on, and even though Min Hong understood that it was a harmless challenge, he decided to give it a go;

"Well, in my miniscule understanding, that method not only ensures that the succeeding ruler of the Empire is mentally and physically fit for the role, it also extinguishes the possibilities of a conspiracy or coup happening against the throne by those who believe an entire family has ruled long enough and it was time for a change…"

"Furthermore, it would also project justice, equality, belief and trust to the people who will generally accept the successor as the right one for the job, rather than the chosen one…"

Min Hong stopped putting them in suspense and refusing to reveal the extent and depths of his- 'miniscule understanding'…

They couldn't speak for a while after Min Hong had crushed their test with blazing colors, but Min Hong's next question brought them back to the matter at hand;

"How strong are their younger generation… I know their crazy strong, but I just want to know the extent of their strength…"

"Well, I can bluntly tell you that I will struggle to enter the top five rankings of the Imperial Academy, but the top ten on the other hand is pretty easy…"

Gong Yi spoke as Ki Ting gazed at him with glittering eyes [more of fanatic than romantic… You all are being too hormonal…]

"The Imperial Clan doesn't favour any of its descendants or disciple within the academy, and merits are not gained by simply cultivating to be the strongest…"

"The one and only way one obtains merit point there is by taking on missions and respect is given based on the amount of merit points from mission accepted one has…"

"This way, no one can steal merit points from another and try to use it to rank up… That's impossible…"

"Only the mission personally accepted by a disciple would be used to collate their total merit points and furtherly rank within the Imperial Academy..." Gong Yi continued;

"Well I can simply accept a mission and have some of my seniors complete it for me and in return I give whatever he or she needs that is within my possession…"

Min Hong said nonchalantly, and though, the rest were surprise at his mentality of getting whatever he wanted no matter the cost, they also understood that such a mindset can't make a cultivator go far on the path to immortality, since they would gradually get used to such methods and become lazy…

Furthermore, that would also mean lack of battle experience and personal knowledge of the outside world which are two very fatal mistakes any cultivator could ever make…

"Yeah, about that; they also send scouts to monitor each disciple on their missions, should in case they cheat, and these scouts would not interfere with the disciples even though they die on the mission…"

"Finally, the scouts don't use merit points, and are people who have risen through the ranks through tough challenges and life threatening missions, so trying to bribe them in any way is useless…"

Gong Yi ended with a deep breath, something that told Min Hong that he was most likely a person who doesn't talk much…