Soaring the Heavens

'You sure know how to talk big. I can become a Hall Master just because you said so?' Miao Yi grumbled in his head. It was no longer a matter of whether or not it was difficult for someone with his cultivation to become a Hall Master. Rather, it was outright impossible. If they really made him Hall Master, the higher-ups would end up being a laughingstock.

Think about it this way. During the handover of the annual tribute, all the other Hall Masters would be flying to Traversing Water Palace, whereas he would be riding over on his dragon steed. By the time he arrived, everyone was probably already escorting the Palace Lord to the capital city. Would he have to continue chasing after them on horseback then?

'And this guy says that a Hall Master's seat is mine to take? He's just trying to beguile me. There's no way someone with a cultivation like mine can ever become a Hall Master. There never was, and there never will be. After all, there's no way the public can accept being subordinate to someone weaker than them. A heavy reward, though, is not entirely impossible.'

"Senior Guo, does the Chamber of Commerce have a dragon steed I can borrow?" Before he left, he continued, "My mount perished during my scuffle with the Hive Gang."

"Just go ask one of the guys outside. Tell them I gave the order. Once you've accomplished your mission, we'll reward you with a flying mount."

'And yet another empty promise. It sure is easy to give false hope like nobody's business when you don't have to deliver them. Do you honestly take me for a fool?' Miao Yi grumbled deep down again. He politely gave his acknowledgment, then excused himself.

The second Miao Yi set foot outside the door, another person appeared inside the room. Lao Bai's graceful visage had abruptly formed out of thin air, his gaze calmly scanned Guo Shaohai, who stood before the window with his hands behind his back.

Guo Shaohai abruptly turned around, casting a piercing gaze across the room with his beautiful sharp eyes. His glare reflected the powerful aura underneath that was capable of causing men's hearts to quake in fear as he instantly locked onto the place Lao Bai had just been standing on.

It seemed he was able to sense something, but he couldn't see anything. After briefly appearing, Lao Bai had disappeared just as silently.

Guo Shaohai slowly turned around and scanned the room. Seeing that there was nothing amiss, he frowned. It seemed he still harbored some suspicions...

As Miao Yi walked down the corner of the stairs, he bumped into the white-bearded old man who had guided him up previously. He continued following the old man down, then said, "I'm in need of a mount. The one inside has asked for you to give one to me."

"Alright!" The white-bearded old man immediately agreed.

'That was quick. He didn't even bother asking if it's true!' Miao Yi then said jokingly, "I also need a decent Third Grade Transcendent Artifact!"

"Alright!" The white-bearded old man immediately nodded and agreed again.

"..." Miao Yi was utterly dumbfounded. 'Are you serious? You're not even going to confirm with the person inside before deciding to give it to me?'

After making their way downstairs, the old man instructed the teller from before to prepare a dragon steed, then asked for Miao Yi to wait awhile.

Miao Yi looked around the empty room with a hand on his chin in curiosity. 'That old man isn't really going to give me a Third Grade Transcendent Artifact, is he?'

Miao Yi didn't have to wait too long before the old man returned, and in his hands was an actual sleek, black vajra, which he proceeded to hand over to Miao Yi.

Still a little addled, Miao Yi grabbed the vajra artifact, then injected it with his transcendence energy. The vajra immediately started emitting a red glow, causing Miao Yi to be even more astonished. 'He's really giving me a Third Grade Transcendent Artifact?!'

The old man then extended his arm in gesture. "The dragon steed is already waiting in the courtyard outside. You can just take it yourself."

"Okay!" Miao Yi turned around and walked out to the courtyard, where the teller from before pulled over a dragon steed and handed it over to him.

Miao Yi turned back to look at the hall, then gave the vajra artifact in his hand a light shake, causing its nine hoops to ring vibrantly. He then scanned his surroundings and quickly tucked the vajra artifact away, deciding it was best not to reveal his treasure so publicly.

He leaped onto the dragon steed's back, and after a brief exchange with the dragon steed in the courtyard, he ultimately managed to subdue it. He then charged out the gate and beckoned to the carpenter who was waiting for him outside. "Let's go!"

The carpenter stood up and walked beside Miao Yi. Shortly after, he looked up at Miao Yi, who was seated on his dragon steed and still looking a little dazed, and said, "Are you trying to show that I'm your subordinate by sitting so high up?"

"Uhh..." Miao Yi snapped back to reality and hurriedly jumped down. He waved his hands and chuckled, "I didn't mean to do that. I was just a little too distracted to notice just now."

The carpenter looked around, then replied in a casual tone, "Kid, this place is none other than the Flowing Clouds Dune Sea. You'd better keep your wits about you now that you're out of the tavern. Otherwise, you won't just be losing focus, but your life as well!"

"Yeah, yeah, you're absolutely right." Miao Yi gave a perfunctory reply, the absent-minded expression on his face completely saying otherwise.

"Are you high or something? Why are you smiling to yourself like an idiot?"

"Ahh! It's nothing. Was I really smiling like an idiot?"

"Moron!"

"Hey, I'm neither *freeloading here, nor am I taking advantage of the tavern. I've paid all of my dues. Not to mention, I haven't forgotten about the time you guys beat me up."

"You should be grateful that we didn't pummel you to death. You taking advantage of the Lady Boss is the same as taking advantage of the tavern."

"Can't you people stop mentioning this for once? We're outside right now! It doesn't matter what happens to my reputation, but if the Lady Boss's dignity is damaged, won't all of us be held responsible?"

The two continued to banter as they made their way back to the tavern. They then bumped into the stonemason, who was coincidentally walking around the courtyard. Miao Yi hurriedly pulled his dragon steed over to the stable and locked it in, then said, "Stonemason, take good care of my mount."

The stonemason rolled his eyes in disdain, but he didn't refuse. It was his and the carpenter's job to take care of the mounts in the tavern in the first place.

"Kid, why are you running away so fast for?" The stonemason turned back and shouted. He had just pulled out a stone tablet for Miao Yi to register his dragon steed, but the guy just up and ran away without so much as a sign as if he had a nasty case of diarrhea.

"Stonemason!" The carpenter called out, and the two started mumbling to one another.

"Niu Er!" Sitting behind the reception counter, the scholar called out to Miao Yi when he saw that he had returned.

However, Miao Yi just returned a simple wave before hastily rushing off.

Once he was back in his room, Miao Yi immediately shut all the windows and the door. He even took out a dagger to seal off the bolt around the door completely.

He then perked up his ears and listened to his surroundings. After making sure there was no one outside, he took out the demon-subduing vajra artifact and quickly injected it with his transcendence energy signature to register himself as its owner. He then focused his transcendence energy throughout the artifact to comprehend its inner workings.

After getting a general understanding of how it works, he held out the vajra with one hand and activated it with his transcendence energy.

The vajra artifact immediately started shining with a crimson glow, and the nine hoops attached around it slowly began to spin, gradually picking up speed.

Ding ding ding...

With nine chimes, the hoops abruptly broke out and flew off from the vajra, quickly expanding over ten times their original size. They transformed into nine giant, glowing red hoops, orbiting around Miao Yi in mid-air.

With a vajra in his hand and nine shining hoops rapidly hovering about him, Miao Yi emitted an extraordinary aura as if he was some powerful saint. However, his expression was terribly pale.

Ding ding ding...

With another nine chimes, the hoops shrunk back into their miniature size and reattached themselves onto the vajra.

Like a deflated balloon, Miao Yi crashed onto his bed, clutching tightly onto his vajra artifact with a deathly pale expression on his face. However, despite how weak he looked, he couldn't help smiling idiotically to himself.

'Calm down, me! This isn't just a normal Third Grade Transcendent Artifact; it's a transformative top-tier Third Grade Transcendent Artifact! I wonder how many Third Grade Yao Cores must have gone into making this. Well, either way, it's not like I can wield this transcendent artifact properly with my Blue Lotus Fifth Grade cultivation. I can barely change the forms of the nine hoops, let alone the vajra itself. How can I possibly use it to fight my enemies? It's not something I can control at all with my level of cultivation at the moment.'

'But what does that matter? Even if I can't use it for the time being, I can still hold onto it. What's most important is the value of this transcendent artifact. After trying it out once, I am positive that the worth of this demon-subduing vajra artifact alone is higher than all the loot I plundered during the Sea of Constellations Subjugation Crusade.'

'Frickin' hell! Did that old man really need to go so far? I was only just kidding. He didn't even bother asking anything before handing me a Third Grade Transcendent Artifact, and a top-tier one at that! This is just way too generous, much more so than the fifty million Gold Crystals I had received from Granny Tao. In fact, it is so generous it's almost aggravating!'

Miao Yi wasn't afraid that the other party would hold him responsible for this later on either. It wasn't as if he had asked to be given the transcendent artifact. He only casually mentioned that he needed one in passing. The old man was the one who gave it to him of his own accord. If they wanted to take it back afterward, then they were free to do so. But what if they really handed this vajra artifact over to him? Perhaps this would be the reward he was promised for the successful completion of this mission.

As Miao Yi thought about this, he started regretting not asking for a couple more expendable items. After all, there was no way they could get him to return the things that he had already used up.

However, now that the transcendent artifact was already given to him, it wouldn't be as easy to get it back. After all, this was the Flowing Clouds Dune Sea, a place where it wouldn't be surprising for someone to be robbed...

"If I said I needed a Fourth Grade Transcendent Artifact back then, I wonder if they would give me one…" Miao Yi held onto the transcendent artifact and mumbled to himself, then burst into crazed laughter once more. 'I'm rich! I'd better think of what to ask for next time and see if I can get away with it again.'

The sound of footsteps outside caused Miao Yi to be alarmed, finally realizing that he had lost himself a bit in all the excitement. He quickly tucked away the demon-subduing vajra artifact and tossed an Orb of Will into his mouth as he began cultivating to restore his transcendence energy...

Early the next morning, Miao Yi was in the front hall for once, enjoying his breakfast slowly.

The ever-beautiful Lady Boss walked out onto the front hall from the rear courtyard. When she saw Miao Yi, she tossed him an alluring smile, then walked over to the table where he was eating and traced her finger across the surface the way she always did to check if it was clean. She wasn't in a rush to start her patrols. Pushing on the back of her skirt with both hands, she sat herself down next to Miao Yi, crossing her legs as she lazily tilted her head to face him. While the cloud-patterned shoe on her foot gently swayed, her flawless calves could be seen under the green frilly muslin skirt that was adorned with tiny golden pearls at its edges. Her every move carried a seductive allure about it; this was the true definition of sex appeal.

Miao Yi raised his head to look at her and smiled. "Good morning, Lady Boss!"

As she rested her chin on her arm, the Lady Boss smiled back with her beautiful eyes. "Why haven't you come to drink with me?"

"I don't have the guts. After drinking with you last time, I almost got beaten up to death by three bastards. How could I possibly have the audacity to go looking for you for a drink again? Not unless I'm tired of living, that is," Miao Yi scoffed, then said sarcastically, "They all say that Tempest Tavern is the safest place in the entire Flowing Clouds Dune Sea, but the way I see it, there's no place more dangerous. There's a Purple Lotus cultivator lurking in almost every corner, making even escape impossible."

The Lady Boss was taken aback, turning her head towards the scholar who was behind the receptionist's desk. The latter hurriedly waved his hands and said, "That's not my fault. The cook and the others were the ones who did it. I'll go give them an earful after this."

The Lady Boss turned back towards Miao Yi and smiled. "I can see that you guys must have gotten quite close for them to fool around with you like that."

Miao Yi asked, "You call beating someone up fooling around? Why don't you let me beat you up then, and we can say I was just fooling around?"

The Lady Boss winked playfully and nodded. "Sure, I don't mind. I won't move a single inch. Give me your best shot."

Miao Yi rolled his eyes at her. 'Even if you're willing, I need to have the balls to make my move too, you know?'

Suddenly, the sound of rumbling footsteps could be heard from outside. Miao Yi tilted his head towards the gate to listen. Once the commotion quieted down, he put down his chopsticks and stood up with a smile. "I'm done eating. Lady Boss, you're a busy woman. I won't be bothering you any longer!"