Chapter 301: The Price of Greatness
The Skycart wasn’t as bad as Zi Delan had feared. The ride was smooth, and its formations deflected most of the wind, leaving only enough for a pleasant breeze. And the bench seats, as the sect leader called them, were more comfortable than anything Zi Delan had ever sat on.
Yes, it was definitely a pleasant ride.
Until Jin LiJuan detached the Skycart from her glider.
Even though he’d seen the device’s safety demonstrated, his head associated flying through the air with being pulled by her. Once she let go, the obvious result was that they’d plummet to the ground.
Only that, of course, wasn’t what happened. Instead, the Skycart was just as smooth as it floated down as it had been in flight, and it landed without so much as a bump.
In fact, the fall was so slow that Jin LiJuan and Ganzou made it to the ground before them and stood waiting for them to get out. As soon as the Skycart settled in its landing position, the occupants quickly exited and gathered before her.
“We’re at a border between zones.” Jin LiJuan pointed back the way they came. “If you go that way, you’ll run into mostly rank two beasts. Threes are in the direction of the mountain. Ganzou will patrol for anything rank four and above and deal with them before they reach you.
“The density of beasts is medium, nothing like near the village prior to the tide. I recommend groups of three to give you enough safety to handle the dangers while still giving everyone a chance to fight. We’ll camp here tonight, so you have the rest of the daylight hours to hunt. I will give each group a whistle before you depart.”
Zi Delan was actually quite impressed with the intense girl so far. The choice of location and the orders she gave both seemed quite competent. He was quite glad that Master had selected her as the expedition leader.
The transition from street rat to respected cultivator was a jarring one for Zi Delan. It had been hard enough feeling accountable for his small gang, and all he’d really had to worry about there was finding enough food to keep them from starving and to keep them from drawing attention from the enforcers. There was no way he was ready to have the lives of a dozen people fighting monstrous spirit beasts be his responsibility.
The glider and Skycart had flown fast enough after an early start to leave many hours before sundown, plenty of time to hunt, and since everyone was eager to get started, the groups quickly split up.
Zhong Kun and Han Huian stayed with Zi Delan, while the rest of his former gang went off on their own. For the Poison Claw Sect members, four of them led by Deng Meixiang separated from Pan Jiang, who wanted to remain with Jin LiJuan.