Chapter 45: The Letter

Ao opened up his pair of eyes, and a faint spiritual light surrounded the piece of transmission talisman above the table. The light flickering twice before stabilizing, and Ao caught the talisman in his two fingers, observing the spiritual inscription marked on it surface. A hint of spiritual power belonging to the city lord lingered on it.

Ao activated the talisman, and a voice echoed in his mind, as if the sender was right beside him. ".. Young master Ao ,this message is delivered from the City Lord residence. The City Lord has requested to personally invite you to a discussion regarding an upcoming expedition... The expedition shall take place in a few months time, and the details regarding it have been attached to this message."

The spiritual light shined, and a thin sheet of spiritual paper formed in the air, before Ao caught it and began reading. Ancient ruin, expedition, several month time frame, and the invitation to personally participate from the city lord. Ao finished reading the message and looked up, his expression unreadable.

"Not interested."

Ao folded the paper and set it down on the table in-front of him,

There were plenty of ancient ruins around, some of which even possessing valuable treasures and powers. But Ao had no particular interest in treasure hunting, nor did he have any loyalty to the city lord. He had more than enough problems already, with the Lin families rebuilding their influence, and the remains of the Ironwood Clan being weeded out. Besides, there was always a possibility that the expedition would prove disastrous in some way, and Ao was willing to take on more problems if need be. With a dismissive wave of his hand, the message vanished entirely.

A slightly annoyed voice echoed in Ao mind, ’You declined the offer so quickly.’

Ao poured himself a cup of tea and replied, ’Because there’s nothing interesting about it.’

’Two times you read the letter,’ Long Xuan pointed out, smirking.

’Because I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything.’

’You were interested after all,’

’Nah,’ Ao casually shrugged, taking a sip of his tea. ’I think I’d rather sit through a few days of those crazy martial artists from the Southern mountains fighting each other with spears, than investigating some ruin.’

Long Xuan was about to retort, when another voice interjected to the discussion. "Tell me what the letter said,"

Ao paused, his hand hovering over the still folded paper,

before he responded. "An ancient ruin is going to be opened up in a few months, the city lord wants to talk to me about an expedition," Yun Rou said

’About the location, did he give any description?’ she asked.

’Some,’ Ao replied, unfolding the paper once more, to reread the section about the location. "A mountain range surrounds the ruin, with a frozen valley adjacent to it," he said, eyes narrowing slightly. "The entrance is located beneath a large stone structure,"

Yun Rou was quiet for a moment, before Ao spoke again. "What is it?"

"I don’t think that’s the same place,"

Ao frowned. "What do you mean?"

’I don’t remember every single location from the war, but the description you gave me,’ Yun Rou paused, recalling the memories from centuries past. ’It’s familiar, the way you described the mountains, the valley, the stone structure... I don’t think I’ve been to that exact place, but it feels familiar,’

Ao leaned back in his chair, ’Did you seal one of the invaders beneath a ruin?’

’I did,’ Yun Rou said.

’Did you seal it in that ruin?"

’The one in the valley?’ she mused. ’Honestly it hardly matters to me either way, that ruin is not something I remember,’

Ao stared at the paper for a long moment, before looking up at her. ’I just don’t remember sealing an invader in a valley.’

Yun Rou fell silent, before replying, "Maybe I don’t remember it at all."

Ao narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. A moment passed, before Ao lightly traced his fingers along the rim of his teacup.

That changed things.

Where before, refusing the expedition offer had not been a big deal, now there was something else that was worth investigating. Where Ao’s path crossed with Yun Rou, an interesting possibility.

’It doesn’t change everything ,’ Long Xuan finally said, ’but it does change things.’

Ao sighed. ’You two really want me to go investigate that ruin,’

’I just believe he should go and investigate the ruins,’ Long Xuan said, his tone suddenly more serious. ’That’s different than you think’

Ao glanced out of the window for a moment. ’If it wasn’t the ruin you were thinking of, than it’s wasted effort,’

if it was, than it could mean finding something else of interest

,"Ao paused, before continuing, ’It doesn’t change things much in my mind,’

Long Xuan frowned. "I mean you don’t have to enter that ruin as soon as we find it, you don’t have to agree to go to the expedition, you might not even go through with it. The only thing I’m asking you to do is see it."

Ao fell silent for a moment.

’It’s true ,he only needs to see it. I don’t have any interest in an expedition,’

’I understand,’ Ao eventually responded. ’I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, but you’re not asking for much at all. Just to see the ruin, I can accept that,’

Yun Rou said nothing, but the faint aura of determination she exuded was enough to tell, that she was glad with Ao’s response.

Long Xuan gave a small laugh ’You know what’s funny? I would have never guessed it, but the two of you almost had it on the first time through. Ao just needed a reason to go, and Yun Rou needed to remember something.’

Ao rubbed his jaw in thought. ’I’m sure there’s plenty of distractions, and plenty things that I could use my time doing instead, but if you’re willing to invest the time and effort, I’m willing to take the opportunity when it appears.’

A pause, then, "Yun Rou, you should inform me the second you recall anything at all. That goes for you too Long Xuan, the second find some information regarding an ancient ruin, inform me,"

Ao’s eyes gleamed with determination, before he smirked."You think it’s going to be that easy? Long Xuan laughed. " Yun Rou’s voice became quieter. "

"I knew you’d change your mind."

Ao activated the transmission artifact, infusing it with spiritual energy, activating the formation carved into it.

I’ve read the letter, Ao said, his voice resoning from within the artifact. Inform me of anything else of interest, regarding the ruin.

He released the energy, and the formation pulsed, the message sent away.

Ao set the artifact aside ,not wasting another thought on whatever reply the message would provoke.

He was already on to the next thing, a growing fixation already taking root in his head, waiting to push him on to greater achievements. Ao picked up the Dragon Bone from the table. His eyes gleamed as he observed the artifact.

Pure purple Higher Realm Qi, powerful, abundant. He mused, contemplating possible applications for said Qi.

The Mini World needed more power. Needed more of the energy required to sustain and strengthen itself, to continue the progress it had already begun. This would be useful to the Mini World, and the Mini World was important to Ao. That meant this was important to Ao.

Ao extended his hand and the Dragon Bone floated toward him.

"If I can extract the Qi without damaging the structure of the bone," he mused.

"The Mini World will benefit greatly from this,"

Long Xuan fell silent.

Ao studied the bone for a long moment, before his voice turned serious.

’I’ve been thinking about this for a long time.’

Long Xuan’s eyes narrowed, and Ao continued, "I’m planning on using this,"

There was a pause, before Long Xuan said, ’I’ve waited long enough for you to do that’

Ao’s hand closed around the miniature bone, and it vanished into his ring.

’...I’m going to use it,’

Long Xuan chuckled, ’Finally,’

Ao leaned back in his chair, ’The ruin can wait,’

He glanced at the spot where the Dragon Bone now resided in his ring. ’The miniature realm comes first,"