192 free eagle.

In the secret room located at the center of the World Tree Clan headquarters, Arthurius was discussing various possible plans for the future with some of the higher-ups in the clan, including Diana, Gilberd, and Leylan. He had two more siblings, Salaman and Lissandra, but he had judged that it was better to let the two of them continue with the missions they had been given, merely warning them about what might take place in the future. While Arthurius spoke, the rest of the people sat around the table with solemn expressions.

"As you probably know, the enemy alliance has resorted to using guerilla warfare in an attempt to whittle away at our manpower and resources. I know that all of you are eager to launch a bloody return attack, but we..."

Arthurius's words got caught in his throat, his head involuntarily turning towards the distance, an incredulous expression on his face. The people around the table did not know why he suddenly stopped talking, so Diana quickly spoke up in a somewhat hushed voice.

"Arthurius, are you..."

Before Diana was able to finish her question, Arthurius interrupted her with a surprised mutter, his eyebrows furrowing slightly.

"Already? How is he so fast?"

His eyebrows furrowed a bit more, but the corners of his lips pulled up into an intrigued smile. He turned his head back towards the people around the table, standing up from his seat as he quickly gave out a few orders.

"Focus on defense, we must not lose too much of our manpower. Try to keep as many of our clansmen within the areas that we control. This meeting is temporarily adjourned, I will call for you later."

The various people around the table were clearly a bit confused by Arthurius's actions, but as he currently served as one of the highest ranked leaders, they could only nod their heads and leave the room. After everyone left, only Arthurius and his siblings remained in the room, Diana quickly questioning him, her eyes containing a slight tinge of worry.

"Little Art, what happened, did you get a report?"

The meeting had practically already been over, but it was still strange for Arthurius to end the meeting early. Especially his actions just as he ended the meeting, they clearly indicated that something had happened. Facing Diana's somewhat nervous expression, Arthurius let out a light chuckle, once again turning his head towards the distance.

"That little freak has already completed the training I prepared for him, but he finished far faster than I expected him to. I set it up in a way that would allow him to complete it in about one and a half to two years, but it's only been six months, so I am quite curious how he managed to finish it so fast."

Arthurius was connected to the four orbs that were tempering Yao Jun's body, so the moment they failed to wound his body or stopped attacking him, he would immediately notice it. To complete two years training in only half a year, just how had he done it? Diana was a tad surprised, but as she was oblivious to exactly what type of training Arthurius had prepared for Yao Jun, she did not know what it meant for him to finish it so swiftly. Seeing the amused and interested expression that Arthurius wore as he stared into the distance, Diana could not help but speak out.

"You seem to pay quite a bit of attention to him, you even asked to see him right after I told you about him. Do you know what his secret is?"

It was easy for Diana to see that Yao Jun carried some large secret, otherwise, he would not be able to control so many diverse laws with such great efficiency. As long as Yao Jun was still useful to their clan, Diana was not too interested in prying into that secret, but from Arthurius's actions, she could guess that he might already know what Yao Jun was hiding. Arthurius turned back towards Diana, a mysterious smile on his lips. He did not answer her question, merely giving a slight wave of his hand.

"Stagnant waters breed death. Our World Tree Clan has gone without changing for countless years already, if we don't change now, we might perish in the coming chaos. I believe he can help us change. I'll go meet him alone, there is no need for you to follow me."

Arthurius had no intention of telling anyone about Yao Jun's strange fragment, the fewer people knew about it the better. Diana was a bit curious about why Arthurius wanted to meet Yao Jun alone, but as she had full trust in him, she did not pursue it. She simply nodded her head and handed him an interspatial ring, bringing Gilberd and Leylan, leaving the hidden room.

Once it was only Arthurius left in the room, he used his finger to cut a black line in the air in front of him, tearing it open and stepping into it. He quickly arrived in front of Yao Jun, who was covered in blood and clad in mere rags. The four orbs still floated around him, but they had already stopped releasing any droplets, meaning that Yao Jun had perfectly hidden away the energy from his God Gate. As he stepped towards him, Arthurius lightly fondled his chin, his eyes gleaming with interest.

"You truly are quite the freak. It seems I greatly underestimated what Demonic beasts you have already absorbed, for them to increase your strengthening this drastically."

When he set up this training for Yao Jun half a year ago, Yao Jun had a body so strong that only cultivators at the 5th Houtian Sky or higher would be able to wound him. But now, after only half a year had passed, his body had become so tough that only cultivators who had reached the Ascending Immortal stage would be able to wound him. Of course, if they had a strong law, like the law of space or the law of slicing, people with lower cultivation realms would still be able to wound him.

But what Arthurius did not know was the sheer amount of corpses Yao Jun's Demonic beasts had to devour to fuel Yao Jun's rapid healing and strengthening. The number of corpses devoured over this half year could be stacked up to form a small mountain. But such was the process of cultivation, one had to step over countless bodies to reach a higher realm, stacking their bodies to form the foundation you used to climb. The higher one wanted to climb, the more bodies one ended up stacking beneath their feet.

Arthurius waved his hand, the four orbs returning to him and sinking into his hand. Yao Jun took the chance to clean away the blood on his body, putting on one of the spare robes he had been given by Leylan before he joined the war. After he put on the clean green robe, Arthurius tossed him a transparent ring made out of crystal. Yao Jun glanced at the ring with a bit of confusion, something that Arthurius seemed to notice, as he shrugged his shoulders and gave an explanation.

"The rewards Diana promised. I'd ask you to stay here a bit longer, but I am guessing that you are eager to get to the Heaven's Secrets Company and checking what information they have."

Yao Jun's eyebrows twitched slightly after hearing Arthurius's casual remark. Was it really that easy to tell that he was eager to leave? He put on a somewhat awkward smile, but Arthurius merely let out a light laughter.

"No need to look like that, I would be just as eager if I was in your position. The enemy alliance is launching guerrilla attacks on anything that leaves the planets we control, so I can't send you to Earthern Peak planet using one of our caravans. What I will have to do instead is forcefully send you to Shattered Ocean planet, and you will have to hitch a ride with a caravan from there."

Yao Jun had not heard about this Shattered Ocean planet before, but he knew that the closest branch of the Heaven's Secrets Company, that he could safely go to, was indeed located on a planet called Earthen Peak. He had been a bit worried that Arthurius would try to keep him behind, so hearing that Arthurius was planning to send him out, his eyes could not help but light up somewhat.

"From the Shattered Ocean Planet to the Earthen Peak planet, I assume that there is no need to make any intermediary stops?"

Yao Jun felt that Arthurius would have mentioned it if he had to make several stops, but he still felt it was better to ask. Arthurius gave a light shrug of his shoulders, swiping his interspatial ring and taking out a blue jade slip, handing it to Yao Jun as he explained.

"That depends on which caravan you decide to take. Some caravans stop at other planets to drop off or pick up wares, but it is fully possible to hitch a ride with a caravan that makes the journey without a single stop."

Yao Jun sank part of his mind into the jade, checking the information it contained. A map quickly appeared in his mind, and looking at how detailed it was, even Yao Jun could guess that it was incredibly valuable. It detailed not only a staggering amount of planets but even various sects and clans that were located on those planets, as well as which routes were safer than others. After memorizing the most relevant parts of the map, he stored it into his interspatial ring for future use, raising his head and matching eyes with Arthurius.

" Since you brought it up, I assume that your intention is to send me away immediately? Anything I should know before arriving there?"

Yao Jun could only call himself painfully unaware. He knew far too little about the universe, so it was better to ask someone that knew more than him. Arthurius fondled his chin for a short moment before nodding his head, a serious expression appearing on his face.

"Indeed, my plan was to send you on your way immediately so that you can reach Earthen Peak planet within two months. As for advice, unless you absolutely trust them, don't tell anyone about the connection you have to my clan. The enemy alliance has people in most parts of the universe, so you are likely to get attacked if others figure out that you are connected to us. I could also suggest joining the God Hunter Pavilion, a subsidiary of the Heaven's Secrets Company. Joining it will give you the chance to take on missions all around the universe if you require funds, as well as get access to special information based on the rank you have within the organization."

Yao Jun gave a slight nod of his head, taking the advice to heart. If he was unable to buy any information about his planet, joining the God Hunter Pavilion might prove to be a good way to travel around and gather up information. Of course, it would be for the best if he could simply buy the information he needed and then return home.

"I see, I will make sure to keep it in mind."

Arthurius truly meant it when he said immediately. After Yao Jun nodded his head, Arthurius gathered up a large amount of Qi between his palms, space all around them getting sucked into the Qi he was gathering. Had Arthurius not protected Yao Jun with a bit of his Qi, Yao Jun would also have been drawn into the gathered Qi, torn apart by the sheer force of it.

After spending a few minutes gathering up energy, Arthurius clapped his hands together, a large rift appearing in front of him. Yao Jun glanced into the rift, spotting a small blue orb located far into the rift, his destination. Yao Jun took a deep breath, raising his foot and stepping into the rift, Arthurius's light laughter ringing in his ear.

"Goodbye, for now, little freak. I look forward to seeing how much your strength has grown the next time we meet."

The rift closed after Yao Jun stepped into it, making sure that no one could accidentally enter the rift and follow it back. Arthurius took a last glance at the spot where Yao Jun had been training for the last half year, the interested smile on his face growing wider as his body turned transparent and vanished from the black dimension.

Arthurius appeared back in the secret room where he had just held a meeting. He was somewhat surprised to find Diana sitting at the table, chatting with Leylan and Gilberd. He wanted to ask why they had returned, but Leylan spoke up before he could.

"Arthurius, where is Brother Yao?"

Leylan swept the surroundings, his eyebrows furrowing when he was unable to spot Yao Jun. Had Arthurius started a new training regime for him? Arthurius sat down at his seat, shrugging his shoulders and giving a casual response.

"I sent him on his way, he should be arriving at the Shattered Ocean planet in only a few minutes."

Not only Leylan, but even Diana and Gilberd looked somewhat shocked at Arthurius's casual response. He had already sent him away? Leylan's expression twisted somewhat, but just as he was about to say something, Arthurius interrupted him.

"Don't look at me like that. I know that you want to keep him in the clan so that he can foster good feelings for the clan, but that doesn't work on everyone. Sometimes it is better to let them go free and assist them if they should ask for it. He is exactly one such person."

Not everyone was content with being a caged bird who was spoonfed, some preferred to be wild eagles that hunted for their own food. In the eyes of Arthurius, Yao Jun was exactly one such person, he not only desired, he needed freedom. Restricting him was more likely to breed discontent within him. In that case, it was better to let him spread his wings and go free.