Chapter 288: Jinx
Translator: Panda_Penn Editor: Chrissy
"Father..."
Zi Lian was so shy that she could dig a hole in the ground and hide. She threw a glance and Zi Huanqiao and ran away. Zi Huanqiao laughed out loud while Lu Li felt embarrassed.
Zi Huanqiao patted Lu Li on his shoulders and said, "Let’s go. My daughter is shy. Don’t mind her. Let’s go and have a drink."
Zi Huanqiao was such an impressive person. He could take control of any situation. He took the lead while Lu Li and the others followed him in.
The imperial palace!
It was the first time Lu Li had seen an imperial palace. It had a forbidding yet magnificent feeling. Resplendent and elegant, it radiated regal splendor. Zi Huanqiao walked to an elevated table in the forefront where he could look down from the height. The power of a royal king was too strong for people to look at him directly.
Lu Li was seated in the first row while Yu Huashen and Ming Yu were behind him. On the opposing side seated Zi Huangyu. It was quite an honor to Lu Li.
What ensued was boring banquets, praises and toasting. Lu Li was drunk but he found it difficult to refuse. He had to go through with the socials before he could go to the Central Plains.
After all, he had to take the Teleportation Formation owned by the Zi Family to get to the Central Plains.
By noon, Lu Li was so drunk that Ming Yu carried him out to have a rest. Lu Li was unwilling to force his drink out with his Xuan Energy. After he rested for four hours, Zi Huanyu came again to invite Lu Li for drinks. The latter, however, dared not to drink more. Otherwise, he could not leave today.
He asked Zi Huanyu to show him to Zi Huanqiao and said directly that he wanted to take the Teleportation Formation and go to the Central Plains. Zi Huanqiao tried to talk Lu Li into staying. Seeing that Lu Li insisted on leaving, Zi Huanqiao said nothing more except for asking Zi Huanyu to activate the Teleportation Formation for Lu Li.
Right after Lu Li said goodbye to Zi Huanqiao, Zi Lian came. Her face was still blushing. She worked up enough courage to ask, "Lu Li, you are really going to the Central Plains? Will you… come back here?"
Lu Li answered after some serious thoughts, "Maybe yes, maybe not!"
Zi Lian was disappointed but didn’t say much except for a nod and "Take care, then."
"You take care as well, Lady Lian."
With that said, Lu Li walked out with determination. His back was as straight as sword and his steps steady. Soon, he was gone.
Zi Lian stood where she was. She didn’t look well. She knew that after this encounter, she might never come in contact with or see Lu Li again.
Rustle, rustle, rustle~
An imposing man walked over to Zi Lian. Staring into the direction Lu Li went to, he said, "Lian-er, if you like him, you should go after him. I think Lu Li is quite a nice young man judging by his actions. He deserves you. Not so many man like him can appear in the Northern Desert. If you let him go, there might not be a second one coming."
Zi Lian shook her hand and said, "I don’t know if I like him or not. Maybe it is more about remorse. I regret not taking him back to the Zi Family years ago. Sometimes, when you miss somebody, there is no way back. To force something is meaningless. I will leave it up to fate."
Zi Huanqiao nodded slightly. He had helped Zi Lian create a chance and encouraged her. It was her choice, so he wouldn’t say anything more.
…
The plaza at the Heaven Martial City was filled with people. They all learned that Lu Li had come and that the Super Teleportation Formation was going to be activated. It would not be activated for any random use. Without Zi Huanqiao’s permission, nobody had the authority to activate it.
"Is that Lu Li?"
"He is so young…"
"That is Yu Huashen and that should be Ming Yu in the Ghost Mask. He is Lu Li."
As Lu Li walked over, noises came up. Many people were discussing in a low voice. There were some ladies of small families staring at Lu Li with obvious admiration…
Lu Li was very used to this kind of situation now. He walked on indifferently and stepped directly into a huge Teleportation Formation. Looking at Zi Huanyu, Lu Li asked, "Chief Patriarch, how much does it cost for one teleportation?"
"Nothing!"
Zi Huanyu shook his head and replied with a smile, "Our king has said that we cannot take your Xuan Crystals. We can afford this. Don’t refuse."
"Thank you, then."
Lu Li nodded. Without further ado, Zi Huanyu released some Xuan Energy while some other patriarchs quickly placed some Xuan Crystals and special stones into the Formation. The Teleportation Formation glowed and the entire plaza shook. Then a surge of horrifying qi and energy came from inside the Teleportation Formation. A glaring ray of light shot up to the sky, getting brighter and brighter. Eventually, Lu Li, Ming Yu and Yu Huashen vanished into the Teleportation Formation.
"The dragon is soaring into the skies."
Zi Huanyu exclaimed after the light from the Teleportation Formation dimmed down, "How high will the dragon fly? Or will he die halfway? Will he ever return? I hope… not."
The several patriarchs nodded. It could be told from Lu Li’s information that every place he went to would suffer.
He went to the Wu Ling County and the Liu Family sunk into bloodbath. He went to the Blood Evil Island and the Blood Evil Brotherhood was destroyed. Then the Xu Family of the God-down Island doomed. In the end, even the Bai Family suffered from misfortune because of him and the Thousand-island Lake was covered in blood…
True dragons could not hide in a ditch forever. With the emergence of a real dragon, there would always be foul wind and rain of blood. Or… Lu Li was just a piece of jinx.
The patriarchs of the Zi Family certainly hoped that Lu Li would not return and that he could just scourge the Central Plains.
…
Lu Li felt like he was in teleporting forever. It might be hours or years. He was getting light-headed and every second was spent in misery. Lu Li felt really sick in those kind of long-distance teleportation. It was the first time that he hated Teleportation Formation so much.
Of course…
It was because Lu Li’s soul was not strong enough. Yu Huashen and Ming Yu were both fine. The time spent was actually not as long as Lu Li thought. It was only a bit over an hour.
When they finally landed, Lu Li couldn’t take it anymore. He got down on all fours and began to vomit. He threw everything he ate at the Zi Family out.
"Squeak, squeak~"
Little White sneaked out from Lu Li’s sleeve and screamed in worry. Lu Li waved his hand to ask Little White to go back.
Yu Huashen and Ming Yu inspected the surroundings at once. They had heard of the Cloud City but never been here before. Therefore, they must put their guards up.
Technically, Cloud City was not part of the Central Plains. It was a large island to the north of the continent of the Central Plains. It was the territory of the Hall of Peaceful Heavens, one of the four overlords of the northern Central Plains. Anyone from the Northern Desert must pass by this place and they must pay a sum of Xuan Crystals to the Hall of Peaceful Heavens before they could be allowed in.
"Get out if you are going to vomit!"
A group of black-armored guardians were outside the Teleportation Formation. One of the leaders threw a few cold glances at Yu Huashen and Ming Yu and said to Lu Li with discontent.
The leader was only at the initial stage of the Eternal Realm but he was not in fear of Ming Yu or Yu Huashen. Instead, he looked at them with a mock, as if he wanted to challenge them.
Ming Yu’s eyes grew cold. Yu Huashen, on the other hand, had heard about the power of the Hall of Peaceful Heavens. He quickly helped Lu Li out.
The leader then looked at Ming Yu with provocation and said coldly, "100 million Xuan Crystals per person, give me."
"100 million?"
Yu Huashen and Ming Yu looked at each other, getting anger. They heard that they needed to pay some Xuan Crystals to step into the Central Plains, but it should only be 10 million per person. When did it become 100 million? Were they being robbed in daylight?
Rustles, rustle, rustle~
From the distance came two men. The older one laughed and shouted from the distance, "Ha, ha, ha, Qin Hong, are you so desperately poor? You dare to blackmail a distinguished guest of our Du Family?"
Finally, the Du Family was here to come to their aid. Yu Huashen and Ming Yu were relieved. The three of them could not have a happy ending if they really were to fight with the Hall of Peaceful Heavens.
Yu Huashen and Ming Yu were weighed down with anxiety at the same time. They might be able to do anything they wanted at the Northern Desert, but the Central Plains was in no want of powerful warriors. With their power, they were faced with a bumpy way ahead.