Chapter 948: Chapter 948: Aura's Whereabouts

The Cloud Sect was a second grade sect affiliated to the Cloud Hall.

But to a majority of the disciples and stewards in the Cloud Sect, the Cloud Hall was a legend.

There were very few disciples in the Cloud Sect who could enter the Cloud Hall.

The All Peaks Competition was held every three years, and only the top three from the competition would earn tickets to the Cloud Road. But there were hundreds of thousands of disciples in the Cloud Sect, and they had only one in a hundred thousandth chance to enter the Cloud Road.

Besides, the elites of the Cloud Sect would have to compete with the disciples of other four second-grade sects.

The leader of the Cloud Sect could only be considered a steward in the Cloud Hall, at most. He didn't even have the qualifications to become an elder. It could be deduced from this how high and mighty the Cloud Hall was.

Zen had no intention of hiding anything, so he told Cao everything about Letitia's identity.

But he had overestimated Cao's ability to accept this. Cao's mouth was wide open as he looked at Letitia, his face fearful. He was lost for words at the moment.

There were some elders from the Cloud Hall who had visited the Cloud Sect before. But the leader of the Cloud Hall had never personally been here. For a moment, Cao could not tell what was going on, but he was quick to recover. He bowed to Letitia and said respectfully, “I feel honored that Master Ning has personally come to the Cloud Sect. I will report this to our leader immediately!”

It was up to Kenneth to judge if the person before him was the leader of the Cloud Hall or not. Cao only needed to perform his duty and pass the information to the leader.

With that, Cao jumped onto his flying chariot and rushed into the Cloud Sect.

“Cao, why are you in such a hurry? What has happened?” one of his companions asked.

But Cao didn't have the time to talk to him. He didn't pause, ignoring the steward as he headed straight to the hall.

“Crazy idiot!” the steward cursed at Cao. The other stewards were also baffled. What had just happened? They turned, only to find three people standing at the entrance of the Cloud Sect, the cultivation level of whom they couldn't figure out. They were all startled and then became anxious as they thought of how Cao had left in a hurry.

It didn't matter who these three people were. All they knew was that they weren't someone they could afford to offend.

Moments after Cao had left, a burly figure rushed over to the entrance. It was Kenneth, the leader of the Cloud Sect.

“Master Shi!”

“Master Shi!”

The stewards were good at judging situations through people's expressions. As they watched Master Shi hurry over, they assumed that the three people standing at the entrance of the sect were someone important. But they didn't have a clue who these three people were.

When Kenneth arrived, he first saw Zen and was pleasantly surprised. When he saw Letitia, his expression became respectful. “Greetings, Master Ning! I did not know that you would come in person. I'm sorry I didn't come out to greet you. Please forgive me!”

Letitia rarely showed up in the Cloud Hall. Kenneth was only a steward and despite having held the position for so many years, he was still not qualified to ascend to the position of an elder since his cultivation had stopped at the Internal Elixir Realm. R̃å₦Օ₿Ёś

The stewards' hearts began to race as they heard the name 'Master Ning' and saw the courtesy with which their leader was treating the woman.

There was no divine kingdom in the Central Region, but the leader of the Cloud Hall enjoyed a status on par with that of an emperor of a divine kingdom. The Eastern Region, where the Cloud Sect was situated, could only be considered as an annexed territory of the Cloud Hall.

They had never thought that the leader of the Cloud Hall would come to a place like the Eastern Region. And what was she doing here?

But the stewards were swift to react. They followed Kenneth and bowed respectfully to greet Letitia as they said, “Greetings, Master Ning!” In actuality, with their strength, they weren't qualified to meet and bow to Letitia. But no matter which rank they belonged to, all warriors hoped to reach higher levels through hard practice. Although the chances of them becoming Letitia's subordinates were slim, they still treasured the chance to pay their respects to the supreme leader.

Cao hurried back on his flying chariot. The moment he saw everyone bowing to the fairy-like woman, he knew for sure that she was the leader of the Cloud Hall.

He jumped down from the flying chariot and stood alongside the other stewards, greeting Letitia with a low and respectful bow.

Letitia looked at Cao and said, “I've heard something about the saints. Cao is a dutiful person, why would he be relegated-”

The moment Letitia uttered the words, Kenneth's scalp began to tingle in nervousness. How could he not be nervous when the leader was questioning him? He suddenly remembered what had happened to Cao in relation with Zen.

At the time, he had indeed gravely punished the few saints who were involved. However, these saints had deep relations with the seven noble clans, and he could not suppress all of them. Since Cao did not have any background, he had assumed that the saints had retaliated against him.

But he was a leader of a sect and he had so many affairs to deal with. How could he have the time to attend to every single thing that happened in the sect? But this time, Zen had arrived and happened to meet Cao, which was how Letitia had gotten wind of this. Kenneth felt a sudden deep resentment towards those saints. He would take drastic measures to clean them up once the leader of the Cloud Hall left.

“It's my fault. I failed to govern with the necessary stringency and I let some subordinates go unpunished. I will overhaul the Cloud Sect. As for Cao, I will give him justice and the position he deserves,” Kenneth said, bowing even lower.

The other stewards looked at Cao and felt their hearts tighten. The leader of the Cloud Hall had personally asked about Cao and Master Shi had promised him a position. It was a given that Cao's fate was now going to change. “If a wall starts tottering, everyone wants to push it,” or so the saying went. Ever since Cao had been removed from his original position, this group of stewards had often bullied him. But now, luck had turned in Cao's favor.

Cao was now excited. He hadn't expected his fate to change with just a few casual words!

Letitia smiled at Kenneth's seriousness and nodded. “Alright,” she said. “I'm here to accompany Zen on his travels. You don't have to be so nervous.”

Relief flooded through Kenneth. This was the first time in history that the leader of the Cloud Hall had personally come to the Cloud Sect. He had been frightened to have been questioned by Letitia in the beginning.

“Take it easy, Master Shi. Don't be so nervous,” Zen said to him with a faint smile.

“Please don't call me 'Master Shi' anymore. Just address me by my name,” Kenneth replied rather obsequiously.

Strength decided one's position in the world of martial artists. Zen had left the Cloud Sect, but his strength had long since reached a level that Kenneth could only look up to. He felt a little ashamed and flustered as Zen called him a master.

Zen, however, answered seriously. “I'm from the Cloud Sect, it's normal to call you master. I don't think there is anything inappropriate.”

Kenneth felt he had no choice but to accept it, since Zen was insisting so much. He sighed with emotion. He could see that Zen was someone who placed a high value on old friendships. In fact, Kenneth had done nothing to help him before Zen had taken part in the All Peaks Competition. Zen had earned all the resources he had relied on for practice through his own efforts. Kenneth had not expected Zen to become the strongest warrior in the Central Region within just a few years.

Kenneth knew all about Letitia and Zen's wedding ceremony which had taken place a while ago. But the Cloud Sect had only sent them a lavish gift. The people who were invited to the wedding ceremony were all leaders of the third-grade sects. Although the Cloud Sect was affiliated to the Cloud Hall, it wasn't qualified enough to attend the wedding ceremony since it was only a second-grade sect.

And now, Zen had suddenly returned to the Eastern Region. It was true that Zen's family was in the Eastern Region, but what concerned Zen the most was still the Sky Princess Aura.

Letitia and Margaret followed Kenneth and Zen for a tour of the Cloud Sect.

As they moved ahead, Zen asked Kenneth through his life vitality, “Master Shi, where is Master Su?”

Kenneth had expected Zen to inquire about this, so he replied truthfully, “After you left the Eastern Region, Aura was still confined in the royal palace. But half a year later, I brought her back to the Cloud Sect. She then returned to Drizzle Peak and did her job as a master.”

Kenneth had promised Zen that as long as he was around, nobody could harm Aura. He said that he couldn't help Aura grab the throne, but he could guarantee her safety.

A year after the promise, when news of Zen's rise in fame in the Martial Arts Contest reached Kenneth, he changed his mind.

Kenneth knew of the relationship between Aura and Zen. He knew that in the future, Zen would definitely become a core member of the Cloud Hall.

Kenneth arrived at the Burning Sky Palace the day after he had obtained information about Zen's achievement in the Martial Arts Contest and kicked Ray off the throne in front of all the civil and military officials. He then released Aura from her house arrest.