The old man turned toward the capital, taking a single moment before bursting into speed.
He didn’t hold back at all, his body becoming a dark blur.
To his surprise, when he glanced to the side, Qingyi was there, easily keeping up with him.
"Oh... interesting!"
The smile on the old man’s face grew uncontrollably, and he moved a little more Qi towards his legs.
Immediately, his speed nearly doubled, the air in front of him exploding into a powerful shockwave.
"You’re pretty fast for someone so old, huh?" Qingyi asked, keeping up with the old man again, as easily as before.
"Old? I’m in my prime, kid! Just... I’ve always been a warrior of strength, not speed." The old man turned his face away and turned up his nose.
There wasn’t even much time to talk to Qingyi, with the high walls of the capital rapidly approaching on the horizon.
"Ah... back to this rotten, gold-painted hell!" The old man flashed a big smile, interrupting his flight a few meters from the capital’s central gate.
The guards protecting it flinched, grabbing their weapons.
As soon as they saw who it was, they relaxed, bowing and clasping their fists.
"Greetings, General Xu Jianming!"
"Ah... to hell with titles, I no longer serve in the imperial army." The old man grunted, landing on the ground and beckoning Qingyi to accompany him.
"You know, I’m quite famous around these parts. Xu Jianming, the Crimson Eclipse Saber! Ever heard of it? Everyone, from the far north to the lands of the beasts, knows me." Jianming smiled, puffing out his chest.
"I’ve never heard of such a title, senior, but I hope we can duel and that you can show me where that title came from." Qingyi replied after a moment’s thought.
Truly, he had never heard anything about anyone with the title Crimson Eclipse Saber.
Although, obviously, such a title immediately aroused curiosity in him.
"Ugh... you really don’t know anything, young man. What are you, an ascended from the mortal heavens? I didn’t know they had dragons there." The old man questioned, observing Qingyi’s face.
The young man kept a serious expression, not even blinking at those words.
"Wait, are you really an ascendant from the mortal heavens?" The old man asked again, receiving a nod from Qingyi.
"Damn, three years and so much has changed." Jianming shook his head, grunting softly, a hint of irritation taking over his voice.
Sighing, he quickened his pace toward the center of the capital.
"Tell me, old man, who is this son-in-law you’ve come to meet?" Qingyi asked curiously.
"What other man in the capital would be worthy of having me as his father-in-law? The Gold King, of course!" The old man exclaimed, puffing out his chest, barely noticing the shock on Qingyi’s face.
"The King of Gold? Jin Hao? You’re his father-in-law?"
"Yes, why? Finally someone you know here, hahaha." The old man laughed loudly.
"Jin Hao is also my father-in-law."
The moment he heard that, the smile on the old man’s face disappeared completely, and he stopped in his tracks.
His mind raced.
From his eyes, he judged that Qingyi should be no more than twenty-five years old, but most of the Gold King’s daughters were either too young for him, too untalented, or already married.
As the old man’s mind raced, a name came to his mind.
"Boy... are you married to Jin Meilin?" the old man asked, his eyes wide.
"We will be married soon." Qingyi nodded, a soft smile spreading across his handsome, masculine face.
The old man trembled, searching for words until, finally, he just sighed in defeat.
"Let’s hurry up, my son-in-law should have a good arena for me to knock a few teeth out of that pretty, smug face of yours." The old man grunted, clearly annoyed.
"Hahaha." Qingyi laughed, but his voice quickly turned serious. "I want to see you try, old man."
He received nothing but a soft growl in response.
The old man ascended into the skies and flew toward the center of the enlightened city, where the Gold King’s mansion stood.
Qingyi sighed, keeping a gentle smile on his face as he followed close behind.
Of course, it was technically forbidden to fly through the capital without specific permission or being a government official of a certain rank.
Some guards even noticed the two, but a single glance at the old man leading the way was enough for them to immediately give up on the idea.
The rules, in the end, only applied to the weak.
An Ancestral Emperor and an old monster from the Astral Body Realm. Who the hell would dare to stand in their way?
After a few seconds of flying, the old man landed in front of the huge, luxurious mansion, passing through the gates without disturbances.
Immediately, a shadow appeared in front of him, kneeling down.
"Young Master Qingyi, Master Jianming. Master Jin Hao is still taking care of the Third Young Master, should I alert him of your arrival?"
"Hm... just tell him we’re in the arena." The old man nodded, waving for the shadow to leave.
Entering the mansion and descending a huge staircase that led to the underground levels, the old man turned his face to Qingyi.
"What the hell happened to that brat Third Young Master? I don’t remember him being sick." Jianming muttered, stroking his beard as his footsteps stopped.
They were already in front of the gates leading to the Gold King’s private arena, almost three hundred meters below ground.
"He wasn’t, he just tried to offend me, so Meilin castrated him with a kick. It was quite a sight." Qingyi chuckled, ignoring the old man’s shock.
"Meilin? Does she have the martial talent to do something like that to her brother? Impossible! She’s a smart girl, yes, but the Third Young Master is a great genius with chances of reaching the Astral Body Realm."
"You’ll understand when you meet her again." Qingyi shook his head, not insisting on explaining anything to the old man.
Opening the gates leading to the arena, he looked around curiously.
All he wanted was a suitable chance to test his newfound strength and see how he would fare against a peak Astral Body Realm expert.
Fortunately, the Gold King’s personal arena was naturally exceptional, enough to allow an expert of that old man’s level to reveal his full power.