Chapter 222: Chapter 222

In the morning, Du You had just woken up, only to discover someone was already waiting at the door for him.

"My lord, you’re awake. Would you like to have breakfast or go directly to the City Lord’s Mansion? The city lord has been eagerly awaiting you."

Overnight, the attitudes of the people of Qingji City towards him had completely changed. From being initially wary or even scared, they were now respectful and some were even displaying fanatical adoration. That look in their eyes was almost too overwhelming for Du You.

"I will go to the City Lord’s Mansion first." Reflecting on the town’s poverty- where even the city lord could only eat steamed bread with water - Du You dismissed any reliance on Qingji City’s food. He might as well have barbecued meat.

"My lord, please follow me. The city lord and others have already waited for you all night."

Upon arriving at the grand hall of the City Lord’s Mansion, Du You had to admit – the city lord and the others, all had dark circles under their eyes, and some were constantly yawning. They all looked like pandas. This was a definite sign of not having slept during the night. Still, Du You found it hard to believe they had been waiting for him all night.

With a bit of thought, Du You understood – they must have been busy all night confirming the situation with the bandits.

"So, have you all confirmed the situation?" He didn’t expect them to be this proactive.

The city lord hastily rose to his feet, his smile filled with both obsequiousness and sincerity. "Yes, our mage lord is indeed powerful. We have prepared a banquet in your honor, my lord..."

Du You immediately interrupted, "No need for a banquet, I am pressed for time."

Du You didn’t have any faith in their banquet and he genuinely didn’t want to waste his time. The university entrance exam was imminent; this might be his last time venturing to the Other World before the exam. This time, he had to gain as much as possible, and couldn’t afford to waste a minute.

Others, were like him - putting all their efforts and trying their best, except those who had already given up on themselves.

"If you’re in such a hurry, then we won’t take more of your time," the city lord said, their face turning a bit awkward but quickly recovering. On the table, a card made of an unspecified material was already placed.

The City Lord’s Mansion took out its city lord seal and stamped it on the card. The magic power fluoresced, leaving a peculiar impression on the card, which vanished in a blink.

It seemed that even this seal was a magical item; impersonating it would be impossible.

"My lord, this is the recommendation certificate, simply take it with you when you go to the White Stone City."

Du You nodded, taking the certificate and, after checking it, stored it safely.

"Please give me a map, I am not exactly sure where White Stone City is."

Without further ado, the city lord began drawing a map on a sheet of paper: "White Stone City is not too far from us. You can reach there within half a month. We do not have a specific map, I will make do with a route for you."

Upon hearing ’half a month’, Du You was slightly taken aback, but heaved a sigh of relief as the city lord explained while drawing the map-that ’half a month’ was for them who had to travel on foot.

But he could fly! And he did not have to wind his way around mountains like they did. He could take a straight line, thus significantly reducing the travel time.

Once he figured out where the White Stone City was, Du You said his farewells, took the map, and left.

Looking at Du You soaring away, an expression of regret passed over the city lord’s face.

"Ah, if such a person could stay in Qingji City, he would be a tremendous asset to us."

The city lord shook his head: "I wish the same. If he were willing to stay, I would fulfill any of his conditions. Unfortunately, a person like him would never take an interest in such a small city."

As a newly incorporated city in the empire, and just recently admitted, they had to be aware of their place. In the past, they were just nominally part of the Divine Flame Empire, so what can their city offer?

"Let it be, we did what we could. As long as he can establish a foothold in White Stone City, given his contribution to the empire, we will undoubtedly yield massive advantages. Also, is the trading convoy prepared?"

The food supervisor promptly replied, "My Lord, we don’t need to go buy food anymore. The scouts reported that the bandit camp had plenty of food remnants. Some are rotted due to toxic substances, but the majority are intact. Collecting these food supplies is more than enough to tide us over the winter."

"Indeed, in the absence of bandits we can cultivate more land, and we won’t be worried in the future."

The city lord glared at these guys, "Don’t you think I know this? Continue to buy the food. Our city needs more population. For Qingji City to develop, we must exploit the Goblin Forest. We are currently understaffed."

The crowd fell silent; the city lord was right, his foresight outweighed theirs. No one argued, and everyone promptly left to prepare.

At that moment, Du You was not planning to fly for long, as he hadn’t had breakfast yet.

In a forest, Du You and Xiaozi descended. On the ground lay a deer that Xiaozi had just electrocuted. It would be their breakfast. Admittedly, it was more satisfying to hunt and eat in the wild.

After breakfast, Du You packed some of the finer cuts of deer meat and resumed their journey.

"Such a pity, I just wish my personal space had preservation functions. If it did, it wouldn’t be so troublesome." Grumbling to himself, with Xiaozi’s agreeable chirp, Du You continued flying along their predetermined route.

For the distance which would take half a month to cover on foot, a direct flight didn’t take much time. Du You calculated roughly, even if he took a break during the journey, without rushing, he could reach there within a day.

Leaving the mountains, the surrounding terrain started to become barren. Vegetation on the ground was sparse, Du You could tell that desertification was setting in, even without being an expert.

Yet, Du You wasn’t in the reforestation business, so all he could do was just watch helplessly.

He wondered if the ’Quicksand’ in Quicksand Empire came from being situated in a desert or for some other reason. "If no trees are planted, this place will eventually turn into a desert," Du You lamented aimlessly as he sped up.

Flying for the entire day, by the next day, traces of human impact appeared in the distance. It was a string of modified mountain ranges with sporadic guard posts scattered around. Orıginal content can be found at 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✶𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲✶𝗻𝗲𝘁