Wang Ling and the rest stepped down from the stage where the spatial transportation array and flew towards the direction of the wall.

On their way to the wall, Wang Ling realized something and asked Lu Tao, "If the current Thunderlord and you are here, who is protecting the academy? There are many people who hate the academy correct?"

Lu Tao looked behind him and grinned while explaining, "That's right, we are hated by many and usually we don't need any protection but the academy is different because the strongest person in the academy next to me is there acting as our spear."

This comment caused more confusion to Wang Ling. Wasn't the Thunderlord supposed to be the strongest one amongst the current staff of the academy?

Such though was picked up by Fu Peng and burst out laughing as he began explaining, "Kid, you are always away from the academy so I doubt you care about it that much but do you know why there's no power struggle amongst the Elders and Grand Elders of the Academy?"

Wang Ling shook his head.

"Hehe, that's because my title of Thunderlord is nothing but in name. And although I do the menial tasking and relocation of resources is handled by myself, I don't actually rule the academy as the strongest. Rather, it is my… senior sister… who do so."

Fu Peng's words became weaker as he went on. Lu Tao who had been giddy all the while suddenly became quiet and he was at a loss for a word. Once again, Wang Ling was at a loss for words, but not at the way one would expect. He turned to Mao Lan who seemed to be the most competent of the three and asked.

"What is up with them?"

Mao Lan sighed and she slowed down to match Wang Ling's pace before answering him, "Well, they are basically 'scared'… no, they are tired of dealing with senior sister, who is also my mother. It's rather complicated so please don't mind it. The bottom line is that, they are tired of dealing with her and that exhaustion extends to your mother, the Moon Goddess Xiao Fei'er."

"What has that got to do with Mother?" he asked to clear the clouds that are making him unable to comprehend what was happening.

"Well, the Moon Goddess is a friend of Mother. Although they rarely meet these days because of personal matters, the two basically grew together and traveled the lands together with your father and my father. In one of their travels, their group went to cause a lot of trouble and one of these troubles was cleaning up the internal conflicts inside the academy. Their act of 'cleaning' ended in them beating up almost every elder and because of the Moon Goddess' father, Master here cannot do much other than watch… oh, he and Senior Brother over there also got beaten up so badly their faces turned black and blue. Since that day, they never dare to make Mother angry and the fact she had grown terrifyingly stronger over the years is heightening their fear towards her."

Such an amount of information was something Wang Ling did not expect to receive. All those events had practically ground the face of Lu Tao and Fu Peng to the ground, and as Wang Ling sneaked a peek at them, the two never uttered a word to save their faces.

The only thing they could do was keep their silence and accept the story being told. This made Wang Ling believe every word that had been uttered by Mao Lan without doubting her.

The more Wang Ling and the rest gets near the city walls, the more people there were. Around them were hundreds of cultivators who are either at Saint Phase or Dominion Realm. There were some at Celestial Phase, but most of them were old people.

Wang Ling flew towards the walls and as he traveled further in. The more he got recognized by different people. Nobles, commoners, cultivators, rogue cultivators, sect members, different kinds of people knew of Wang Ling and as they turned to look at him, they would either gasps in surprise or scoff in indignation.

Overall, it was a mix reaction. But even though he was free and was doing nothing to threaten anyone, no one could approach him at the simple fact that Lu Tao and Fu Peng were with him.

Although Fu Peng and his master can't deal with Xiao Fei'er or Mao Lan's mother, they are still figures who deserve respect. And as their past was not entirely pretty, people were looking at them with fear apparent in their eyes.

They got near to the city walls without a problem because of this. Upon reaching the city walls, it was even more amazing than what he had originally thought. From what he knew, the exact height of the walls was five hundred meters high.

Although a wall might do nothing for Saints who can fly, in a war, there are those who prefer not to engage in aerial combat and those who can't fly. Not only that, the wall provides a strategic vantage point that lets the citizens of the Celestial Spirit Realm to put more traps overhead.

Wang Ling was not a professional on putting traps for warfare that involves a great number of people on his side because he was someone who fights an army not 'with' an army. He reckons if there is a war, he might not be able to respond to the problem in regards to moving together with people.

As his thoughts wandered, Lu Tao and Fu Peng took care of everything and they were granted passage to the city. They entered the city and as they did, a girl passed by them and Wang Ling was made to turn his head around as something caught his attention.

He turned and a young maiden with peculiar green eyes, black hair, and fair skin was looking at him with interest. Wang Ling stared at the maiden and as he did so, he showed a wide grin.

The maiden also showed a mysterious smile before turning around to leave.

Mao Lan noticed his strange reaction and followed his gaze. She smirked as she gave an explanation as to who that fair maiden was, "That over there is Feng Wuhan, the First Phoenix of the Dragons and Phoenix Rankings. It seems like she had just arrived, what, did she catch your fancy, Junior Ling?"

Wang Ling caught Mao Lan by surprise by nodding his head honestly as he said, "She's someone I have been looking for…"

[She has a fragment of my sword.]