Departure : To the mainland

The restaurant was in silence for a few minutes, until one mercenary couldn't contain his curiosity and asked, "Who's David?"

"No one of consequence. He was the successor of the Crystal Globe Sect. But he got himself killed before the sect got annihilated" said the Obnoxious young master, upon saying which he cast a glance at the old man. Seeing that the old man had his eyes shut and was ignoring everything again, he continued "That guy was quite cocky when he was alive, and offended quite a number of people. So after he died, no one bothered to reinforce the Crystal Globe Sext when it was invaded by the beast tide"

Stygian got agitated by hearing something about his parents, even if it was something negative. He took a deep breath, to calm himself down, just like his uncle Tan taught him to when he tossed him into the middle of a pack of Direwolves.

"Looks like this fatty knew my parents, but unlike uncle Tan and old man Alvin, he was not so friendly towards them. These mercenaries don't seem to know about my parents, so he must have been quite low key.

Yet a vice-head and grand elder of the Seven Sovereign Sects seems to know about them, so they must have had decent cultivation or status" Stygian though inwardly, but remained expressionless outside.

"Well well, it's quite a surprise to meet David's son. Haha old man Alvin, looks like you are taking him to the Ultra Sword Sect. If he had half his father's talent, he would be more than qualified to join as a core member of your sect. But didn't that fool David always claim that he 'Thrives in the Forest'? How come you are taking his son away from the forest then?"

"He was living peacefully in the forest all this time. Now because of the incompetence your Flame Ridge Sect, the forest is a mess. He has no choice to leave the forest thanks to you. Maybe you should apologise for the fact that your incompetence forced him to leave his home" taunted the old man Alvin.

"Huh! You dare call the grand elder incompetent?" shouted the Obnoxious young master, attempting to drag the grand elder into the quarrel.

"What did I say wrong? And those words were not mine, those are the words of the grand elder of the Great Earth Sect, old master Forge Hammer. If you really have an issue you are welcome to go and question old master Forge Hammer" rebutted old man Alvin.

"Hmph" snorted old man Fill, upon which the Obnoxious young master went silent again.

By then, the five of them finished their meal and started out.

Glancing at their backs, the ever silent old man Fill muttered under his breath "The son of the most talented human cultivator of this era, the youngest to reach King stage of cultivation in history...I wonder...." before closing his eyes again

As they walked out of the restaurant towards a bestiary where their flying mounts were kept, old man Alvin noticed that Stygian was in a fidgety mood, and said "Don't overthink it. Your father and that fatty disliked each other a lot, and he spoke about your father with prejudice. While it was true that he had a few enemies, he had an even larger number of friends. The reason no one was able to lend a hand to your father's former sect, the Crystal Globe Sect was because it happened too fast"

"I understand, grandpa Alvin. Can you tell me more about my father?" he asked.

"Well, he was very talented, and he and your mother met at a young age and fell in love. They eventually got married. He launched multiple successful expeditions into the forest and made a lot of money. He made lots of friends and quite a few enemies during this process. He went into another excursion into the forest ten years ago but failed to return. That's pretty much all I know about him. Maybe in the future you can meet some survivors from your fathers' sect and know more" said the old man Alvin.

"I understand," said Stygian.

By this time, they walked into the bestiary. Since mounts cannot be taken into the forest, huge bestiaries were established by the Mercenary Association for people to keep mounts when they want to go into the forest.

They walked towards the centre of the bestiary, whereupon producing a token, they were led towards five large grey birds.

"These are Gray Tailed Swallows. They are the most common flying mounts on the continent. They might not be the fastest mount, but they have the highest endurance. Most sects on the mainland have tamed a few of these for travel purposes" explained Spring upon noticing Stygian's curious gaze.

"These are not demonic beasts?" he asked.

"No, they are not. Only cultivators can easily control demonic beast mounts. Since you and the young miss are not cultivators, we did not bring demonic beast mounts" said Spring.

Stygian clambered onto the large grey bird and sat down on it, imitating how the other four sat. The old man Alvin looked around at them all and blew a whistle. The five large birds took off into the skies.

Stygian watched the fading stretch of woods being him and muttered "Goodbye for now, Azurewood forest. I'll come back as soon as I can"

He then turned forward and gazed expectantly in the direction of the mainland.