“Your elder brother?!” the guy yelled in surprise, earning everyone’s attention towards him. He quickly waved them off after he regained his composure as he eyed Yun Ling seriously. Now that he took a closer look at him, Yun Ling and Yun Hui did have some similarities in their appearances. Although Yun Ling looked a little too much like a woman, it was not hard to believe that he and Yun Hui were related.

Even so, the guy didn’t expect that this person he randomly called turned out to be the younger brother of the renowned genius from the Spirit God Sect, Yun Hui.

“Anyway, who are you supposed to be?” Yun Ling asked the guy coolly. Looks like his elder brother, Yun Hui had made a name for himself. Even though he was a disciple from the Spirit God Sect, even someone from Riverspan Sect knows of him.

With that knowledge in mind, Yun Ling hid his smirk as he realized that he could take advantage of his brother’s reputation for himself.

“I am Wen Baishi, an inner court disciple from the Riverspan Sect. Nice to meet you, Senior Yun Hui’s little brother,” Wen Baishi quickly introduced himself upon hearing Yun Ling’s question.

‘An inner court disciple?’ Yun Ling raised a brow at him. He discreetly inspected Wen Baishi’s cultivation state for a second. ‘Hmm, not bad. He’s at the late stage of the Core Formation Realm, a bit superior to those so-called geniuses back in the empire. Looks like he’s telling the truth.’

In that short inspection of Yun Ling, he managed to know Wen Baishi’s cultivation realm with just a single glance.

Most of the participants in the Golden Dragon Election back in the empire were only at the early to the middle stage with just a few at the late stage of the Core Formation realm. For one to become an inner court disciple in a sect, they had to be at the Core Formation realm at the age of thirty or less, the same requirement the Jin Empire had for one to be able to participate in the Golden Dragon Elections.

Although Yun Ling had never been a disciple of a sect before, he knew this information from his elder brother the first time he went home after becoming a disciple of the Spirit God Sect.

‘If he manages to reach the Four Transformation Realm before thirty years old, he’ll become one of the core disciples of the Riverspan Sect.’ Yun Ling thought, and judging from what he saw, this Wen Baishi wasn’t too far away from reaching the Four Transformation Realm. He’d probably become a core disciple of the Riverspan Sect sooner or later.

For someone of Wen Baishi’s caliber to look up to his elder brother, it looked like Yun Hui was doing well in his sect. Too well in fact. It'd had been years since Yun Ling had last seen him so he didn't really know how he was doing. They did exchange letters once every few months though but Yun Hui didn’t reveal much about him in their letters. When Yun Ling tried to ask him how he was, Yun Hui would just say he was fine.

Even though Yun Ling doesn’t know exactly how Yun Hui was doing, he didn’t really worry about him as Yun Hui always kept updating their parents every month about his well being. And if he took their father’s pleased look every time he read Yun Hui’s letters as a basis, Yun Ling could tell that his elder brother was fine in the Spirit God Sect.

“Wen Baishi is it? What is your business with me?” Yun Ling asked.

Wen Baishi had a flattering smile on his face as he said, “It’s nothing personal, Senior Yun Hui’s little brother, but we’re chasing a fugitive who had escaped into this city. That fugitive has a supreme art that makes him able to change his appearance at will so we had no choice but to question anyone who seems even the slightest bit suspicious here in the city.”

“Are you saying that I look suspicious?”

“No, I mean nothing of the sort. Just that, you stick out a little bit and you don’t seem like a resident here,” Wen Baishi shook his head and quickly explained as he gave a furtive glance towards the horse Yun Ling was sitting on.

Yun Ling noticed where he was looking at. It seemed like the reason why he caught Wen Baishi’s attention was due to his horse. As for why, it was because his horse wasn’t a normal horse but actually a type of lesser beast called Warhorse. Unlike normal horses who could only gallop at full speed for a few minutes, warhorses could do it for days with little to no rest. They were even much faster than normal horses, making them perfect for traveling. Despite that, warhorses were incredibly expensive. Only nobles or wealthy merchants could afford to buy one.

“A fugitive?” Yun Ling suddenly got curious. “What did this fugitive do to warrant such attention from even an inner sect disciple like you?”

Wen Baishi hesitated a little bit. Should he tell Yun Ling or not? It was supposed to be a secret but at the same time, it was not too much of a secret since many people already knew. Even some residents in the city somehow knew, so if Yun Ling really wanted to find out, all he had to do was ask the right person in the city and he’d get his answer.

“I’m not supposed to tell anyone this so keep this a secret, okay? That fugitive apparently killed a core disciple of the Thunder God Sect and took the copy of one of the sect’s treasured scriptures on him. Since the Thunder God Sect and the Riverspan Sect are allies, they requested our sect’s help to retrieve their scripture. Including me, some of the inner court disciples of our sect were deployed to search for him, there are also a few core disciples and even elders from our sect taking action because of him.” Wen Baishi ultimately told Yun Ling the truth. This information was an open secret by now anyway.

Yun Ling fell in thought. No wonder that there were many disciples from the Riverspan Sect in the city. It turns out they were after a fugitive who had run into this place.

“By the way, Senior Yun Hui’s little brother, if it’s alright with you, may I ask what you are doing here? Because of this fugitive, we had no choice but to ask outsiders this,” Wen Baishi asked.

Yun Ling thought for a moment whether to tell him or not. If he’s uncooperative, he might get in trouble with the other Riverspan Sect disciples in the city. After all, this Wen Baishi was only doing his job by asking him.

“The reason why I’m here is that I’m heading towards the Thousand Mountain Valley to kill a lesser beast.” Yun Ling decided it was fine to tell him about his destination but he didn’t tell him all the details. Although he didn’t sense any hostility from Wen Baishi, he wouldn’t trust a total stranger with this.

Wen Baishi took out a brush and a piece of paper as he wrote down Yun Ling’s words. “Thousand Mountain Valley? Do you need any help? If you do, let me assist you. We, disciples of the Riverspan Sect, regularly enter the Thousand Mountain Valley to temper ourselves. There’s no one who can help you better than a Riverspan Sect disciple who knows a lot about the place.”

“But aren’t you chasing a fugitive?” Yun Ling frowned.

Wen Baishi let out a laugh, “It’s okay. One less inner court disciple wouldn’t make any difference. As long as I explain it to my senior, he’d certainly allow me to go. Please let me help you.”

Yun Ling raised a brow at that. By senior, he probably meant one of the people overseeing them on capturing the fugitive.

“And what are you going to gain from helping me?” Yun Ling asked.

Wen Baishi smiled, “I’m sure you already have an idea. Just leave some good words for me to Senior Yun Hui and that will be enough.”

Yun Ling also smiled. It looked like he still underestimated Yun Hui’s influence a bit.

“I appreciate your offer to help but I’ll have to decline,” Yun Ling shook his head at him. This Wen Baishi was only at the late stage of the Core Formation Realm. He would become a burden to Yun Ling once they encountered the Trinity Giant Serpent. Not to mention, he was also a stranger.

Wen Baishi sighed, “That’s too bad. I was hoping I can help you and earn Senior Yun Hui’s favor for it.”

Yun Ling smiled, “Too bad, indeed.”

…

A while later, after Yun Ling had left, Wen Baishi looked at the other Riverspan Sect disciples soaring in the sky.

“Senior Yun Hui’s little brother, huh?” Wen Baishi muttered to himself. He scanned his surroundings as he sighed. “The security here is too tight. How am I supposed to escape from this place on my own?”