Chapter 118: Princess Lyra
Rhys walked out of the Mission Hall, the sealed scroll clutched in his hand. He was oblivious to the ripples his decision had just sent through the outer sect.
The moment he accepted the mission, the dusty wooden tablet on the mission board glowed with a faint light before turning to blank wood, signaling that the task was now active.
It was an open secret in the Azure Sky Palace, a truth that everyone knew but no one dared to speak aloud: the mission from the fallen princess of House Lyra was a trap.
It was a thin bridge built across an abyss, and everyone knew it led nowhere good.
The Crimson Sun family, a powerful noble house with deep ties to the sect’s elders, had a long and bitter history with House Lyra.
When House Lyra fell, the Crimson Sun family had been the one to deliver the final blow.
They had taken the Lyra family’s lands, their wealth, and their pride. But a single member of the main family, the young princess, had survived.
No one knew why she was allowed to stay alive. Some said it was because the Sect Master himself had intervened, forbidding any further bloodshed.
Whatever the reason, no one dared to attack her directly after that. But that did not mean she was safe. The Crimson Sun family used their influence.
They could not kill her openly; that would risk the wrath of the Sect Master. But they could make her life impossible.
That was why, despite the high rewards, no one bothered to take her missions. Everyone knew that to accept it was to openly defy the will of the Crimson Sun family, and by extension, the elders who supported them.
The few disciples who had been foolish or desperate enough to take the mission in the past had all met with unfortunate accidents.
Some were ambushed by bandits on the road. Others were attacked by unusually powerful spiritual beasts. None of them ever returned.
The news that a new disciple, a nameless, unremarkable boy, had taken the suicide mission spread through the outer sect like a wildfire.
"Did you hear? A new kid took the Lyra mission."
"Is he an idiot? Or just suicidal?"
"He won’t last a week. The Crimson Sun family will send their dogs after him."
The whispers even reached the inner sect. In a high cavern, inside a luxurious private training chamber filled with the rich scent of burning spiritual incense, a young man with a proud face and a fiery red aura looked up from his meditation.
He was Leeroy Crimson, the young master of the Crimson Sun family.
A junior disciple stood before him, his head bowed low.
"Young Master," the disciple reported, his voice trembling slightly, "an outer disciple has accepted the mission from the Lyra girl."
Leeroy’s eyes narrowed, a cruel smile touching his lips.
"Oh? Someone finally has the courage to be a fool." His smile then vanished, his handsome face contorting with a sudden flash of rage.
"How dare a fool oppose us... and accept a mission from that slut?"
He stood up, the red aura around him flaring with heat. "He dares to defy me? He dares to align himself with the last remnant of that worthless house?"
He paced the room, his anger a palpable force. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the rage disappeared. He returned to his calm facade, picking up a delicate fan and swinging it gently.
"Send a message to my cousins in the outer sect," he said, his voice now a cold, indifferent command.
"Tell them to keep an eye on him. I want to know his every move. And when he leaves the sect... make sure he has an accident. A very, very permanent one."
*
* *
Rhys, completely unaware of the storm he had just created, walked calmly through the bustling streets of Sky’s Edge.
He followed the directions on the mission scroll, which led him away from the grand avenues and into a quieter, older part of the city. He found the Whispering Willow Inn.
It was a small, clean, and quiet establishment, a world away from the rowdy taverns favored by the other disciples. He walked inside.
The inn was almost empty. An old, wizened innkeeper looked up from behind the counter and gave him a knowing, pitying look.
"You must be the one," the old man said, his voice a dry whisper. "She is waiting for you upstairs. Room 7. And... good luck, boy. You’ll need it."
Rhys nodded and walked up the worn, wooden stairs. He found Room 7 at the end of a quiet corridor. He knocked softly on the door.
"Enter," a soft, clear voice said from within.
Rhys opened the door and stepped inside. The room was simple, but clean. A young woman was sitting in a simple wooden chair by the window, looking out at the city below.
She was dressed in simple but elegant traveling clothes. Her face was covered by a thin, green veil, but he could see the outline of her sharp features.
Her hands, resting in her lap, were long and slender.
The most striking thing about her were her eyes. They were a bright, piercing green, like two emeralds. They looked at him as he entered, and he could see a flicker of surprise in their depths.
"You are the one who accepted my mission?" she asked. Her voice was calm and steady, but Rhys could hear a faint note of disbelief in it.
"I am," Rhys said. He walked to the table in the center of the room and placed the sealed mission scroll on it. "Outer Disciple 734. At your service, Your Highness."
The woman, Princess Elara, looked at the scroll, then back at him. "You are... younger than I expected," she said.
"I am strong enough for the task," Rhys replied simply.
She was silent for a long moment, her green eyes studying him with an intensity that made him feel like she was looking right through his ordinary disguise.
He felt a faint, probing energy from her, a sign that she was using some kind of sensory skill.
His Shroud of Forgotten Echoes easily deflected it, leaving her with nothing but the image of a simple Body Tempering cultivator.
The intrigue in her eyes deepened. She could not get a read on him at all. He was like a calm, still lake with no bottom. But she was sure he wasn’t a simple Tier 1 cultivator.
"The journey to the Lyra ruins is dangerous," she said, her voice a quiet warning. "The Glimmerwood Forest is full of powerful beasts. And there are... other dangers. Human ones."
"I am aware," Rhys said. "The reward is high. I am willing to take the risk."
She looked at him for another long moment, then she seemed to make a decision. A small, almost imperceptible nod.
"Very well," she said. "We leave at dawn tomorrow. Be here. And do not be late."
She turned back to the window, a clear dismissal. Rhys gave a slight bow and left the room, closing the door softly behind him.
He walked back down the stairs and out of the inn. The old innkeeper gave him another sad look as he left.
Rhys returned to his small, stone room in the sect. He had a job to do. He had a princess to guard, a forest to cross, and an enemy he did not yet know he had made.
He felt a familiar thrill of excitement. His quiet, boring life as a disciple was already over. The real game was about to begin.
But before that, he needed to prepare.
He sat on his stone bed and took out the materials he had bought in Sky’s Edge after leaving the inn. He had spent a good portion of the spirit stones he’d acquired in Greenleaf, but the investment would be worth it.
First, he unrolled a set of small, blank formation flags. He took out a special brush and a pot of Qi-conductive ink.
He began to work, his hands moving with a speed and precision that would have shocked any Artisan Formation Master.
Next, he took out a small pouch of herbs and a portable alchemy set. He began to grind and mix the ingredients, his knowledge of herbology guiding his every move.
He was not brewing complex, power-boosting elixirs.
He was making practical, life-saving potions: a high-potency healing salve to treat wounds, a fast-acting antidote for common forest poisons, and several stamina-recovery pills to fight off exhaustion during a long journey.
He worked through the night. The small, glowing crystal in his room cast a soft light on his focused face.
By the time the first hint of dawn touched the sky, he was ready.
He packed his newly created pills and formations into his spatial pouch, put on his unremarkable face, and walked out to meet his princess.
The journey into the Glimmerwood was about to begin, and he was prepared for anything.