The envoy from heaven also followed the eyes of the crowd.

"It should be you two, the Esteemed Sirs?" The man asked them.

Alex nodded, while Hermes took out the golden talisman.

When the delegate saw their proof of authentication, he sighed in relief.

"We have prepared the best of facilities for you two back in the heavenly domain," The delegate was rather polite and kind.

Alex got a good impression of the man.

"Before that, I'll do my duties as a delegate."

A sect elder came out from the crowd and passed the delegate a stash of scrolls, "These are the unfinished reports for this month, Esteemed Sir."

The man smiled and said, "We apologize for coming on such short notice, I think I might have stressed everyone out."

People's eyes were practically glowing with praise for the manners of the man.

The sect elder fervently refuted, "No, No, Esteemed Sir, we welcome you with open arms all year-long."

"I am lucky to be treated this way," The delegate smiled.

Then, he turned to Alex and Hermes.

"Originally, we would have taken a route from the developed Central Qin, but the area has been in a constant state of flooding since yesterday, so we'll have to go along the northern Gobi Desert..."

An elder exclaimed, "Esteemed Sir, are you okay?"

The delegate nodded and remarked, "I've called for some weather gods of our sacred domain to solve the issue."

"You are very responsible, Esteemed Sir," The sect leader flattered the envoy.

Then, the delegate looked around and praised, "I am not even sure we need to read the report, I trust the Kunlun Mountain Sect, who has maintained proper doctrine since its founding."

The sect members were all very happy at the praise and bowed down.

"Would departing tomorrow be optimal for you two?" The man politely inquired with the two gods.

Both Hermes and Alex approved.

"Esteemed Sir, let us take you to our best guest houses,"

Following that, they all parted ways.

"Oh yeah, Hermes?" Alex needed to inform his friend of something.

Hermes looked at him and said, "That's the face you make when you want to tell me you made trouble, what is it this time?"

"In exchange for a peach of immortality, I'll need to defeat this 'ghost emperor' and his 9 'ghost kings'."

Hermes facepalmed and said, "Will you need any help with that?"

"Probably not."

They silently went back to their pagoda and slept peacefully.

________________

-The next morning-

The gong that marked the beginning of the day rang out and woke up the two.

They were departing today, so they took good care of packing up their possessions.

The delegate was probably waiting for them in the pagoda, hence they immediately headed there.

'That man has tamed a dragon, incredible...' Alex looked at the sleeping divine beast.

It was the size of a tall building and had the girth of an ancient tree.

The delegate was, in fact, awaiting them near the dragon, and remarked, "The advantage with the Gobi desert route is that there are fewer monsters, so we'll fly through uninterruptedly."

That was a pleasant, sidenote, and now, they needed to go.

"Sir Alex!" A few voices approached them.

Alex looked at the approaching people, and he recognized them all.

Zhen Lingxi, the pharmaceutical expert.

Zhen Hong, the young man.

The two siblings he hadn't seen for a while, Ma Xuefeng and her brother, Ma Guanting.

And, the sect leader.

Ma Xuefeng made her brother bow, and she exclaimed, "Thank you for helping us beat the ghost general, you have given us a second chance at reaching higher cultivation stages!"

Alex waved his hands and said, "Don't worry about it, take care of yourselves."

The two bowed another time and then left.

Then, Zhen Lingxi was next.

"I've continued with the pink salt treatment, Sir, and the results are nothing short of extraordinary, they all thank you enormously!" She spoke breathlessly.

"That's good, advise them to eat a lot of dairy and eggs too, that will help them with their symptoms."

Zhen Lingxi exclaimed, "Thank you for your insights!"

The sect leader had already rewarded him and was here to bid his goodbyes only.

However, Zhen Hong said, "Sir, I believe the mission wouldn't have ended the way it did if you weren't here! I'd like to thank you for that, but I will shamelessly ask you, is there anything you would desire in my possession?"

Alex thought about it.

Then, he replied, "If you so insist, can I have the undecipherable crypt?"

'It will probably come to use when I gather more of them..'

Zhen Hong didn't expect that answer, but ultimately relented and happily gave him the crypt.

Since they were done here, they bid their goodbyes to the sect leader, and Hermes supersized the chariot.

However, the delegate said, "Ride on my dragon, he's fast, gentle, and comfortable."

The dragon opened its mouth and roared out.

'He seems...gentle..' Alex coughed.

Nonetheless, the prospects of riding a dragon were much more interesting, and after pestering Hermes about it, they both climbed up on the dragon's back.

Then...

*Whoosh*

The dragon pierced through the sky and immediately left the domain of the sect.

"It is...faster than the chariot," Hermes lamented.

The delegate laughed, "Of course, this is one of the most well-bred dragons of the Azure Dragon species, one of the divine beasts."

"Is the phoenix a divine beast too?" Alex was curious about the fiery bird he met yesterday.

The delegate kindly nodded and said, "The phoenix is only a divine beast when it is paired with the divine dragons, as they complement each other."

Alex thanked the delegate and looked below them.

This dragon was truly fast, as they were already in unfamiliar territory.

The envoy was also easygoing and spoke to them about various divine beasts, the heavenly domain, and the Qin in general, which made the trip swift and smooth.

"We're over the Gobi desert now, let's put the dragon to rest in a nearby village," The delegate declared.

Then, the dragon very slowly lowered in altitude.

Alex had the impression of seeing a small group of people below them, and then, he heard strange sentences.

"Oh, a dragon, I wonder if they have food or people I can fight!" 

"I wonder if they have women...."

"Focus on the journey, you two.."

The delegate overheard this, and exclaimed, "Wait, that's Xuanzang! Let's go see what they're up to..."