The Fate’s Scribe Shun Tao had prepared everything he could to make sure that the crown prince’s mortal reincarnation wouldn’t head down the path to becoming an ascended deity. Right now, it was too soon to say whether his plan would be successful or not because Jing Yi hadn’t even reached the Yun Zou Sect yet. He was about to encounter another problem though.

Other than him, another fifty children had shown some aptitude for cultivation so all of them would follow Wu Min Huan and his junior martial brothers and sisters to the sect. It wasn’t that far away but naturally, the disciples couldn’t walk there with a bunch of small children.

Instead, Wu Min Huan took out a mystic artifact. It was a white ribbon made out of thin fabric. The only thing slightly interesting about was that there was a cloud embroidered in the middle with a shimmering blue thread much like the pattern on the hem of Wu Min Huan’s sleeves. Had he exchanged the crown on his head for it none of the children would have found it strange. It just didn’t look like much in their eyes.

Jing Yi curiously examined it though. He didn’t know too much about heroes yet and considering how this Wu Min Huan had taken it out, it had to be something really special. He couldn’t wait to see what heroic deed he would use it for! Maybe he could save people with it if they fell down somewhere? Or he could tie it to a house and make sure it wouldn’t collapse? Some of the huts in their village might have needed such a ribbon.

Seeing that there was at least one child that could still be awed by the appearance of a mystic artifact such as this, Wu Min Huan gave Jing Yi the opportunity to examine it a bit longer and explained.

"This is a special artifact of our Yun Zou Sect: the Veil of Clouds. It will be used whenever the younger disciples of our sect that haven’t achieved a high enough stage in their cultivation to use a flying sword yet need to be brought somewhere. And sometimes we even transport those with it that want to enter our sect. Just like we’re doing it for you today."

Jing Yi reached up and tugged at Wu Min Huan’s sleeve. "Big brother, how can you transport people with it? It’s so small. You can’t tie it around everyone, can you? Wouldn’t it be easier to walk? Or maybe get a cart with horses? I’ve seen carts that can be pulled by just one horse but at least four people would be able to sit on it."

Wu Min Huan laughed and tousled Jing Yi’s hair. "That’s a good idea. But you know as a mystic artifact, the Veil of Clouds isn’t what it seems to be at first glance. Look at this!" He tossed the ribbon into the air, quietly imbuing a sliver of his spiritual energy. It floated on the spot, the embroidered clouds shuddered and seemed to rip apart in the middle. In a bright flash of light, the ribbon elongated and finally landed on the ground again, now headed by a white cloud in the front and back and big enough to fit all the disciples and new recruits.

Wu Min Huan smiled and motioned at the ribbon. "Now you see? If a mystic artifact is used by a cultivator, then it can show astounding uses. Now, get on! We’ll bring all of you to the Yun Zou Sect now."

The children clamored to get onto the Veil of Clouds and Wu Min Huan’s juniors made sure that all of them were sitting down in the middle before they themselves settled down at the edges to make sure that none of the children would accidentally fall off because they had gotten too curious.

Wu Min Huan watched his junior busy themselves and finally nodded with satisfaction. They had done a good job. It seemed he wouldn’t need to accompany them the next time and could instead let them go by themselves. That way, he would also have more time to help his Master with the preparation of the admissions to the inner sect.

Wu Min Huan took a last look at the square of the capital to make sure that they hadn’t forgotten anything, then he also stepped onto the Veil of Clouds. With one gesture of his that was filled with his spiritual energy, the mystic artifact floated up into the air again until it reached the real clouds above their head and then moved toward the Yun Zou Sect at the edge of the Long mountain range.

Jing Yi curiously looked around. He had lived in a village for most of his life and had only seen a bit more when he traveled to the capital with his parents. Leaving the place he had gotten familiar with once again, he couldn’t help but want to see everything he could. Thus, he craned his neck and tried to look past the edge of the Veil of Clouds. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to see from his seat in the middle and although he wanted to climb forward to Wu Min Huan’s side he couldn’t because there was something on the Veil of Clouds he hadn’t expected to encounter and it was something that was much more threatening than the height at which they were flying.

Jing Yi cautiously peeked to the side. There it was: a girl. She might have been seven years old and she had donned a light-blue dress that fit perfectly well with the blue cloud that had been embroidered on the white ribbon. Jing Yi bit his lower lip looked to the other side where a girl in a green robe sat. He turned around and noticed a girl donning a lilac dress behind him. Finally, he could only turn back to the front and look at the back of a girl in an orange dress.

Finally noticing all of them around him, Jing Yi shuddered. He still hadn’t found out that everything Qiu Ling had told him had been utter nonsense and thus he could only retract his head in fear. Why wasn’t his grandfather here right now? He really needed his help now! There wasn’t just one mud-monster waiting for him. No, this time, he was surrounded on all sides!