Master Trusts Him

The formerly clear and serene skies and air was now pressed down with heavy gravity released from the aura of this spirit. Ying Hui was pressured from saying anything physically even though she had intended to explain the situation before. With this much force, she could hardly even move her own tongue! How was this guy contracted to her master?!

"I did." Malleus struggled against the pressure much to his surprise. Never had he needed to struggle this much against others before. He could not say the same for those magicians who was ranked higher than him in terms of power, but if this was what a very special beast was like in the princess's world, then he could say that the so-called-entire world is lacking in the understanding of twisted wonderland! How could something this powerful not have been recorded since ancient times?!

However, as soon as he said this, he could already feel the pressure around him growing stronger as though it could break his scales and bones! The only other time he even felt an ounce of danger was only when his grandmother allowed Lilia to take him out into the wilderness to train a few hundred years ago. Since then, he had not felt such a terrifying sense of danger before!

"A mere infant dares to harm the one I've chosen as my master?!" The vermillion bird shouted as the surrounding grew to an unbelievable sense of sweltering.

Malleus grew more concerned as he realized this thing was far more than just a projection of a will. It was the Vermillion bird itself! But, didn't Peony mentioned that it was sleeping?!

"Hold on!" Little Jun cried out as he struggled against the pressure on fragile looking legs, "Vermillion Bird of the South. Please hold off your anger!"

"And what does a mere low rank Qilin think of achieving angering this one?!"

"Guh... Not again..." Little Jun grimaced in pain as he muttered with the pressure only pushing him further back.

Finally, Ying Hui cried out in tears with all her strength, "Please save master! She's dying!!!"

Her piercing screech penetrated the air as finally everything stood still. The pressure was gone and the heat dissipated as well. With the pressure gone, Malleus nearly lost balance by how abrupt the release of power was, but he quickly found his footing once again. Yet, seeing the artifact spirit crumble and faint as soon as she cried out and Little Jun crumbling onto his knees made him realize that, perhaps had Peony not been in his arms, he would've ended up similarly to them if not just a knee to the ground. However, just the thought of this annoyed him. He had thought that he was among the strongest in the world or even one of the stronger ones with how long he had dedicated his time to his studies and training, but he had never thought he would be this powerful in the face someone from outside of the known societies. Just who are they? And who is Peony?

"Once again, the fool placed herself into another dangerous situation." The bird huffed in dismay yet still lowered her face towards her form. With a quick glance, he turned to Little Jun and became surprised how he been brought down to his knees. He then dispersed the pressure completely along with the pressure. Finally, He began, "What happened?"

"I'll cut to the chase before speaking of the details, Vermillion bird." Little Jun began, "The little dragon accidentally harmed master during an ambush. Before I explain the details, can you please help her?!"

Hearing this, the Vermillion bird sighed, "Very well. There's little much I can do about the poison, but all else is manageable in my current state. However, with this, I may not be able to show myself for another few months perhaps."

Poison?

The bird bent its neck towards them as Malleus watched in shock as a small stream of mana entered into Peony's chest. He was stunned! He had not seen mana of this level of purity before if not for a long time!

Once done, the bird turned his head toward Little Jun and demanded, "The explanation."

The qilin maintained himself once more and stood up before speaking, "During a camping trip, we discovered master's people had been attacked by shady people who originally came for her life. At first, master took care of them. However, upon returning, she was informed by the dragon that more shady people had arrived and we assumed that they may be after master as well. Master and this dragon went into the caves to confront them, but they were ambushed by what was actually ghosts and cornered into a small vein of spiritual stones. Master said she would take this time to absorb it so she may take them down. However, they broke down the barrier and attacked us. In an attempt to destroy them, this dragon gathered a lot amount of mana to strike them down, which worked. However, he had accidentally taken some from master's pool without realizing it."

"Of course, the fool had!" The Vermillion bird scowled, "This is why I hate all of these dumb lizards and snakes! They don't know when to stop! Where is this child's guardian?! We would like to have a word with them about this!"

Hearing this, Malleus grew irritated! First, it was Peony, then it was that horse and now it was from a bird! He had been scolded by his grandmother and Lilia before, but was it ever to this extent?! It wasn't his fault that his control of mana was that difficult to begin with! He even thought he had gotten better at it by now! Why is everyone he meets always irritating him?!

With a sigh, the Vermillion bird settle down and turned to Little Jun, "I assume as you brought him here that he is trustworthy?"

Little Jun nodded, "Master trusts him enough to speak of you."

Hearing this, the vermillion bird grew silent, but opened his mouth and responded, "In place of out master, I shall give you the permission that That puny one there and you shall allow him to explore the area as he wishes and give him what he wishes. However, he is not allowed to wreck havoc. If he so far as to break one of our master's belongings, he is to be removed immediately. Had it been master's personal permission, I would care less, but if you so far as to mess up under our words..."

"U-Understood!" Little Jun replied.

"Hmph! Then, leave her here with us and take this child to play elsewhere!" The bird replied before returning to his body.

Seeing this, Malleus was stunned once more. Just as it had suddenly appeared, it wasted no time to leave them. He turned to Little Jun who was carry the little spirit artifact, "Did it not say it would protect her?"

"If they said they would then they will." Little Jun replied, "The Vermillion bird is smart and also one who stays true to their words. As such, even if they make others think they've been fooled. In reality, their words are true in another meaning or literal sense. Due to this confusion, however, they are seen as very sharp-witted and the only one capable of standing against them are of the other three heavenly emperor beasts or those of the ancient demonic beasts. Their biggest rivals are said to be the dragons which you have continued referred to as loongs."

Hearing this, Malleus was surprised! Loongs are still around in this age?!

Little Jun added, "You should put master here. The Vermillion Bird is more than capable of protecting her. So, you don't have to worry about that. Hurry or you will make him irritated again."

Malleus nodded and placed Peony there before following Little Jun out. He stopped and took a quick glance back once more before leaving the room.

Once out, he noticed how clean this place was for one being banned from entry before. He turned to Little Jun, "What shall we do to excuse the princess's absence? He will be missing for a while from a human perspective."

"Nothing." Little Jun replied, "This spatial ring has an effect that warps space and time. It creates a pocket dimension and warps the time within it."

"Really? For how long?"

"Right now, it's not as strong as it once was. So a week inside is a day outside." Little Jun replied.

"That's rather convenient."

Little Jun nodded, "The spatial ring is a place to preserve the things we want to preserve and age things we wish to age. However, this spatial ring is different from the others."

"Different from the others?" Malleus looked to him in surprise.

"In our side, a spatial ring is much harder to come by and more valuable than a storage ring that acts similarly to a suitcase or a sack."

"Is it that valuable?"

Little Jun nodded, "It is. According to brother Li, Master suffered many hardships just to keep this ring on her. Though, what those hardships were, I'm not familiar with it."

To know the princess a little better, it may be better to start exploring this pocket dimension then. With this thought, he resolved it to be better to consult with this guy called Xiao Li and see if he could get a little more information from him. Though he was not too confident on his skills to extract information from these people, he was willing to see how much he could gather.

"What makes this ring so valuable?" Malleus questioned.

"Didn't Big sister answer that before?" Little Jun looked to him in confusion.