Shun, Tianying, Meng, Sao and Caihyi slowly came in front of Ling who was looking at them in a calm gaze. After they stood near him, all of them were still silent as they didn't know what to say. They were only looking at the dead body beneath his feet. On the other hand although Ling looked tranquil and composed on the outside he was actually panicking in his mind thinking, ‘Fuck! They told me to catch…not kill him! Damn it! I should have controlled my strength! They won't give me some kind of punishment or expel me right?’

At this time Vanisha said in a mocking tone, “Hmph! Who told you to get ahead of yourself? ”

“How the hell are you able to read my thoughts at times like this….and we are on the same team remember? ” Ling said while regretting his decision.

Then Shun finally shifted his gaze from the corpse and looked at him, “You…killed him? ”.

Ling turned his body to face him and bowed slightly as he clasped his hands together and said “I didn't think he would die from something like this after all I am only at Yellow Star realm and I also reacted on instinct so I didn't really control my power…..I hope you try to understand.”

His reply caused the rest of the bunch to become even more stunned. But Caihyi had already retained her senses as she remembered how he had killed the Golden Soul Wolf. Then she slowly walked and got beside him. After that she looked at the other four and only then she realized they were the highest level existences of their sect among the young generation. But she didn't say anything as all of them looked dumbfounded.

They all wanted to know how Long was able to kill someone like that bandit who was two entire realms above him just like this but no matter how they thought about it they weren't unable to come up with an explanation.

At last the only thought that came to prince and Tianying and princess Sao's mind was that he was only able to kill him because he took that bandit by surprise and the bandit was injured beforehand. But Shun and princess Meng were still looking at Ling with doubtful and astonished eyes. Although both of them probably had different reasons.

Then prince Tianying took a long breath and said, “I believe you are Shin Ling right? And you are? ”. He asked while looking at Caihyi who was wearing a inner disciple robes.

Caihyi hurriedly gave a light bow of respect and said, “I am Xia Caihyi. A new inner disciple of our honored sect. ”

Ling was tensed up as he said , “That's right! I am Shin Ling.…. do I need to do something to reprimand for this mistake? ”. 

Although Yuan Tianying was one of the young princes of their sect, he never had any air of arrogance around him but still he radiated a royal elegant light. When he saw Ling was worried that he might be punished Tianying gave a smile a said, “Well that is of course not! You helped us to kill this bandit and for that you should be rewarded….not punished. We were going to kill him anyway but we just wanted to interrogate him before that. By the way what are you two doing here? Are you here on some quest?”

Ling let out a breath of relief and said, “That's right! I came here to kill a beast. ”. Caihyi shot him a glance with slightly parted mouth as the beast Ling mentioned like it was a nothing much was actually a Heavenly Spirit beast.If it were Other disciples, they would definitely have mentioned that part specifically to get favor from the young prince and princesses. After all killing a Heavenly Spirit beast was not a small thing! But Ling didn't really know about such a thing that even killing a mere beast could be seen as an achievement!

Then Caihyi faced them and said, “I was also here to find a missing item. I never would have thought I would be able to meet prince Tianying, princess Meng, princess Sao and the exceptionally talented senior brother Kaminari Shun. It's an honor to meet you all like this!  ”.

Prince Tianying said humbly, “I see! Well anyway you two better be careful! There is bandit group called Wild Tiger Mercenary which is ambushing many profound practitioners in places like this! And Shin Ling, when I get back to the sect I will come and find you to give you your reward. Now we shall go! ”. 

But then all of a sudden Shun who was silent till now said, “Prince Tianying, I have a suggestion. How about we ask brother Shin Ling and sister Xia Caihyi to join our group for our quest? The more people we have, the easier it will be to do the task!  ”

All of them including Caihyi looked surprised when Shun proposed the idea. Yuan Tianying knew very well that Shun was a man who would never make rash or wrong decisions but still when he suggested this, even Tianying couldn't understand his reason.

“This….I mean junior sister Caihyi is an inner disciple so when she goes back to the sect, she will definitely be asked to do this task but Shin Ling… ” but before he could even finish, surprisingly Yuan Meng suddenly spoke up, “I also agree with brother Shun! Why don't we ask them to help us? ”.

This time princess Sao and Tianying looked at Meng with wide eyes. Everyone knew that she was not someone who liked to meddle in businesses which doesn't concern her but this was probably the first time she had actively tried to propose a suggestion for the group. Although Tianying still couldn't understand the reason but since them were saying that, he knew that they definitely had understood something which he and Yuan Sao was unable to do.

Yuan Tianying gave a quite sigh and said, “So what are you going to do? You heard them right…do you two want to help us? ”

When he asked them, princess Caihyi looked mind blown as she became over joyed. This was a chance for her to accompany the prince and princesses of the sect on a mission. This was a privilege which only the top 5 inner disciples could use which also included Kaminari Shun.

“Of course! I will! ” she replied without hesitation as she was nodding her head several times. But Ling asked while being a little surprised, “Even the young prince and princesses of the sect has to do tasks? ”.

Prince Tianying gave a laugh and said, “Well that is of course! Although we don't need to do the quests for contribution points but in the end even we need Respect points! After all the whole system was created by the Imperial Family! Even we are not an exception! To get qualified enough for the Imperial special army forces, everyone needs at least eight hundred thousand Respect points! Although we get some special privileges but that doesn't mean we can run away from our duties! Every Imperial sect strictly follows the Imperial Family rules. Although we usually don't do tasks requested by others. The tasks assigned by the Imperial army are given to us and the inner disciples so we do them ! Even the rewards for those task are much greater than the usual tasks. ”

Ling gave a understanding nod and said, “So what's this about? ”

“Didn't I just mention ‘Wild Tiger Mercenary’ group? That group is a group of bandits who are commiting murders and violence for a past few weeks. Even some disciples from the Imperial sects were targeted by them. And they even raided many villages and burnt them to ashes. According to the intel we were given, that group itself is not strong but their numbers are huge. They have one main hidden branch and eleven sub branches throughout the entire nation. The main branch will be dealt with by the elders and higher-ups of the two Imperial sects that are located in this country. And as for the sub branches, they are not too powerful so the disciples were requested to take care of them. And in this forest, there is actually one of their sub branches so our group came here to take care of them!”

When Ling listened to Tianying, he remembered Lui from the Wild Tiger Mercenary whom he had fought with. Then he said doubtfully, “Isn't that a bit too harsh? I mean sending the disciples to take care of such powerful foes! And you are only four people…don't tell me you four plan on tacking care of all of them!”

“No…that's not it! The Imperial Army would never give tasks for disciples which are not suitable for them to do. Although the tasks include risk but still they are doable and the reward for the tasks is also huge. And also a disciple is free to decline the request if they are unwilling to do the task! Right now almost all of our sect's inner disciples are sent to different locations to do this quest! As we were saying, if junior sister Caihyi goes back to the sect, you will also be requested to do this task. So if you want to do it then join our group, I will tell fath…I mean sect master that you have joined us. And as for our group, we actually have twenty people but we are searching the entire forest to find out their base's location. ”

Ling said quietly, “I see.”. 

Looking at Ling who was asking questions after questions, Caihyi whispered came close to him and whispered gebtlyy, “Hey..they are he is the second young prince of the sect and they are giving you an opportunity to work with them in a quest where only inner disciples are eligible. Then why are you being so picky? Just accept it. ”

But Ling paid no heed to her suggestion and asked bluntly, “And What benefits will I get from working with you? I mean senior sister Caihyi will be given her share of rewards but what about me who is not permitted to do this quest? And how much time will all of this take…I also have to submit my own task you know! ”

Princes Tianying and others looked surprised. This was the first time an outer disciple had actually spoken like this to them. Even Shun and Meng didn't think that Ling would be this much calculative before joining them.

Then prince Tianying broke out in laughter and said in a gentle tone, “Hahaha! You really are interesting! Well since you will be helping us…of course we will reward you. Since I can't register you officially, you won't be given any Respect points as they can't be traded or given. But I can give you the twenty thousand Contribution points? Our group of twenty people will be given two hundred thousand Contribution point and I am giving my entire portion to you. How about that?  And as for the time, I think it wouldn't take more than one week. We have already searched half of this area. We just need your help to search the remaining area and fight off the weak bandits whom you can handle. And don't worry! I know you are worried about your safety but since we are the one inviting you…we will protect you as well.”.

“Miss Vanisha….what do you think I should do? ” Ling asked. He was very suspicious as to why they wanted him to join. After he was betrayed by Shangchen and Shinji, he would always stay cautious and protective around new people. So even when he heard that he would be given twenty thousand Contribution points, he didn't agree to it immediately.

“Well…since the reward is quite high then you should accept it! As for them, just be cautious and always stay alert! I don't think people like them will try to backstab you but still even if they do, you don't need to worry! With your power and speed I don't think there's anyone who will be able to hold you off if you want to escape and don't forget we also have the presence concealing robe! It's just that you will probably have to leave the sect as well! But still I don't think they will do any despicable things to you!” Vanisha said quite confidently. She had heard Caihyi had called Shun one of the strongest of their sect among the disciples so she could easily imagine the power levels of the disciples. And so she was confident enough that even if any mishap happened, there was no danger to Ling's life! 

All of them looked at Ling who was in a deep thought. Caihyi was scared silly as even inner disciple wouldn't be this wary and calculative if they were invited by the young prince himself. She was worried that his rude behavior might just enrage the young prince who was giving such a valuable opportunity to him. Ling finally proved their auras for once and saw prince Tianying and Meng were at fourth stage of Blue Star realm and  Sao was at third stage of Crimson Star realm and surprisingly Shun was at fourth stage of Crimson Star realm.

Then he finally replied, “Okay then! I will help you with this task! ”.

“Great! Then let's get moving! ” Prince Tianying said. Then the four of them took medicinal pills and recovered their wounds. After that they started moving in southern direction. Caihyi also followed behind him. Ling only took a last glance at Meng and Shun with suspicion filled eyes before he went with them as well.

SoulBlaze

Next chapter on 24/07/2020. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.