28. Delegates

Millions of Li far from the White Tiger Kingdom an old man was relaying the same news to a group of people who were all similarly dressed. The room was nothing like the ones in the White Tiger Kingdom as it was massive and serenely decorated to resemble a heavenly court.

White and gold were the predominant colors as they covered everything from the floors pillars, walls and even high ceilings. Grey huge life like statues stood against the walls and one could see occupied seats if they looked a bit closer. Each seat held imposing men and women who were similarly dressed in white and golden robes that glowed against the light making them look ethereal.

The old man seemed to be the odd one out as his blue robed stuck out like a sore thumb in the sea of white and gold. Despite standing before the imposing group he did not seem nervous as he calmly explained his discovery.

A woman calmly sat at the helm of the room and looked down at him emotionlessly before speaking after he was done reporting. "Thank you for your work Lord Jiahong."

Her voice sounded like tilling bells as she spoke engulfing the entire room in it's calming timbre. The old man bowed respectfully and slowly walked out the room leaving the group to discuss on what to do.

"This can cause a war amongst the surrounding countries I believe we will need to send someone to supervise the division of resources." a middle aged man spoke up getting nods from everyone present.

Another man did not seem to care.for his words as he spoke up a question that silenced them all."Who do we send though? Every delegate seems to be busy with something else."

His question really stomped the group as they wondered who was eligible for the task. All but two of them seemed to really think of a solution. The two men were sitting in opposite sides and shared a look before one of them spoke up.

"Didn't we just celebrate the Young Miss's inheritance banquet and she still seems to be around." he spoke up making everyone turn to their leader who had clenched her fist within her robes as she stared at their expectant faces.

She did not want to send out her daughter as the Continental Youth Tournament approached. Wanting her to go in for more training in order to represent their clan but she did not think these old fogeys would accept such an excuse making her wonder what to do.

She was about to mention sending someone else when her husband spoke up shocking the group."She is still new to this and will not be able to handle such a huge matter. Why don't we ask someone who is already close by to handle the issue with the help of an escort?"

His suggestion was crazy making the entire room burst out into discussion as they clearly did not support his suggestion. "Ning Tianxi seems to be the closest to that place and is still busy with her tasks."

The man that had spoken earlier spoke up rejecting the idea. Most of the people in the room seemed to agree with him as they quietly nodded before turning to their leader who was now wondering what to do.

"I was not referring to Ning Tianxi" her husband spoke up again making her wonder just what he was up to. He had never cared for their daughter's matters and it was shocking to see him speak up relentlessly.

"Who else?" a woman who sitting next to him inquired curiously as they all knew that no one else was around that place.

Everyone was curious and racked up their brains to think of a person only to come up blank while the couple made eye contact making the woman's eyes widen as she immediately thought of someone. She was about to reject his idea and closed her mouth as he beat her to it.

"Chen Liju" he said shocking everyone no one had heard of her and wondered when she had joined them and even been sent to that place.

"I don't think I have heard of her before." one of them questioned voicing out all their confusion.

"Of course you haven't, she was my disciple while I visited that place and I have just received news that she is ready to start taking on tasks." he explained shocking them even more.

"Is she really qualified seeing as she only learnt from you for a short period of time?" another asked.

"If you remember well that was the time I lost my mother's soul companion but that was because he chose her as his partner and has been training her in all our ways. If you do not trust you should at least trust him." he finished prompting everyone to silently contemplate his words.

Everyone in the clan had heard about how their former leader and her soul companion as the tales of their exploits made their blood boil with vigor. He was said to be the strongest soul companion who had been bounded to the most successful delegates as he was experienced and good at his job.

Making him the most wanted soul companion in the whole clan every delegate worked hard just to be acknowledged and bonded to him that was until he had disappeared years ago after going out for a mission with his previous partner's son.

Everyone was devastated by the news and had wanted to know why he had not come back but the only person to come back had never said anything about what happened leaving the delegates to settle for other companions but now hearing the the soul companion had picked another person and even trained them made their hearts fill with inexplicable anticipation to see who it was.

While they were busy coming up with different scenarios Zhang Yuang their leader was fuming. She could not believe it he had told her that the soul companion had been lost and yet now he had the audacity to say he had chosen someone else?

That was clearly a lie as she knew he had not been willing to hand over the souls to her family and even given them up to his bastard child. She had even thought he finally cared about their daughter but she now knew he was just opening up a path for his bastard but she would never let him win this battle.

"How do you know she ready to take on missions?" she questioned drawing everyone's heads from the clouds as they all turned to him.

He of course knew his wife had already discovered his intentions and did not plan on stepping back as he answered her question.

"We all know that soul companions can communicate with each other. Well a few weeks ago he reached out to my soul companion and said so." he started and went on when he saw she was about to speak up.

"You can ask her yourselves if you do not believe me." he finished as the incorporeal form of a woman slowly took shape next to him.

Everyone was silent as they respectfully watched the woman take form. She was dressed in purple robes and confidently stood before the group. She seemed to already know why she had been called forth and calmly confirmed her partner's claims.

After learning that Chen Liju had indeed been trained by the Ren Wentian everyone was convinced she was ready and only had to think of who would be good enough to escort her. At this time another person suggested someone who everyone but Zhang Yuang thought was perfect for the job.

Just like that everything had been decided without consulting her as all the members of the council happily walked out. She was furious as she walked out the chambers and towards a well decorated courtyard.

One could tell how important the owner of the courtyard was just based of it position in the compound and its humongous size. A beautiful garden greeted as she walked in making her calm down as she inhaled the calming floral scent floating around.

She was clearly familiar with the landscape as she briskly walked to the center most room where a teenage girl was meditating. She was dressed in a sky blue dress that was spread all around her figure as she sat cross legged with her eyes closed.

Her long hair fell all around her in beautiful tresses as it framed her tiny face that would cause many hearts to stir. She seemed to hear her mother walk in and opened her eyes revealing black bottomless pupils that stood out in the white part of her eyes.

Her rosy pink lips rose up into a smile as she got off the ground welcoming her mother. One could see the resemblance between the both of them as mother and daughter held onto each other as they sat down on one of the seats.

"What is wrong mother?" the girl asked with her sweet angelic voice on seeing her mother seemed to be upset.

"Your father just declared that bastard as a delegate and wants her to start taking on tasks." her mother revealed making the subtle smile on her face disappear as she let the news sink in.

She had known about her step sister since she had been young as her father had praised her endlessly saying she was more talented than she could ever hope to be making her hate the girl she had never met.

She still did not understand why her father loved her so much and was naturally shocked to hear that he had mentioned her to the council."But why should she take on tasks?"

She asked her mother as she had been the leader of the council for years and would not let he father do something of the sort. Her mother seemed to understand her confusion and held onto her hand comfortingly before explaining everything.

"A mine was discovered in that backward place and no one seems to be available so the council wanted to send you in but I said no. Your father took it as his chance to promote that bastard and offered her up as your replacement."

She now understood her mother would not allow her to go out now as she had to focus on her cultivation. Although she didn't like the idea of having her step sister getting acknowledged it would be better to let her take on any extra tasks giving her the time she needed to focus on her cultivation.

"But mother isn't that good at least then I can cultivate" she said making her mother sigh as she seemed to have more to say.