As the twenty-person squad brought by Mu Anning dispersed in various directions, Ling Luoyi turned her gaze to Mu Anning, who was still kneeling on the ground, and said with a raised eyebrow, "Commander Mu, why haven't you gone yet?"
"Your Highness, your subordinate is your guard, so naturally, I should follow you."
"Didn't I say I'm used to being alone?"
"Your Highness, this is my duty. Moreover, Elder Four warned me when I came to ensure your safety, and I will stay by your side at all times."
Hearing that it was Elder Four's arrangement, Ling Luoyi fell silent. It seemed Elder Four and Elder Five had also guessed her current situation and had Mu Anning follow her, letting Mu Anning handle things when necessary.
After a moment, Ling Luoyi said in a deep voice, "You may rise."
"Yes." Mu Anning stood up. Seeing Ling Luoyi's displeased expression, she hesitated before saying, "Your Highness, please rest assured. Although I was once the universally recognized Saintess of War, you were ultimately chosen. Initially, I felt some dissatisfaction, but over the years, I have become convinced of your suitability. You are indeed more suited to be the Saintess of War than I am. Therefore, Your Highness, you do not need to guard against me."
Mu Anning assumed Ling Luoyi was unwilling to let her follow because she feared she might harm her, hence her explanation. However, Mu Anning's tone towards Ling Luoyi was always cold yet respectful. Even this explanation sounded cold, and while she said Ling Luoyi didn't need to guard against her, it sounded like an accusation.
What Mu Anning said was true. Everyone had said she would be the Saintess of War for this generation. Over time, she had come to believe it herself. Although she had wondered why the First Saintess of War hadn't chosen her yet, she had waited patiently. However, later, the First Saintess of War chose Ling Luoyi, whose cultivation was inferior to hers at the time.
She didn't understand why, so she was very angry and looked down on Ling Luoyi. However, her upbringing taught her to fulfill her duties. According to past customs, she was chosen by the First Saintess of War as the Guard Commander of the War Hall. Having accepted this, she had to protect Ling Luoyi, the mistress of the War Hall.
Hearing Mu Anning's words, Ling Luoyi was startled. She instantly understood and chuckled softly.
"Commander Mu, you've misunderstood. I'm not guarding against you; I'm just used to being alone," Ling Luoyi thought she should explain.
"Your Highness, you don't need to explain anything to your subordinate. I'm saying this because I don't want Your Highness to keep rejecting me. I am your guard, and protecting you is my duty. But if Your Highness always travels alone, what if something happens? Elder Four and Elder Five also said..."
Looking at the now talkative Mu Anning, Ling Luoyi felt a headache coming on. "Alright, if you want to follow, then follow. Our immediate priority is to find the fragments of the Heavenly Star Cauldron as soon as possible, not to argue here."
With that, Ling Luoyi flew towards the Heavenly Profound Domain. As soon as she arrived, she went to the Ancient Spirit Academy. After a brief conversation with Wen Ting'an, she received a message from Elder Four saying, 'The people are ready.' She rushed out to send him her location, having not even bought a map yet.
Two quarters of an hour later, at the same spot, Ling Luoyi, who had bought a map, and Mu Anning were carefully comparing the two maps.
As expected of the Heavenly Profound Domain, it had the most comprehensive terrain maps on the entire continent. Moreover, Ling Luoyi had also purchased a terrain map of the Ancient Spirit Continent from eight hundred years ago in a small shop. They were now examining the changes in the terrain on the map.
The two maps were not significantly different. Ling Luoyi had also deduced the changes in some areas, which were normal topographical changes. There were no issues.
After they had compared the maps for two hours, the sky had gradually darkened. Ling Luoyi put away the maps and looked at the sky, saying, "We should find a place to rest. It looks like it's going to snow again."
"Yes." Mu Anning knew that with Ling Luoyi's abilities, she could easily conjure a small space to shelter them from the snow. She didn't understand why Ling Luoyi wanted to take her to the nearest city, but her duty was to protect Ling Luoyi, so she didn't say much and simply followed her.
Upon entering the city, Ling Luoyi booked two rooms. After asking the waiter to bring some food, she and Mu Anning resumed studying the maps.
Another hour passed. The two of them had deduced all the changed areas on the entire map but found nothing.
"It seems that the two abandoned lands that fell from the Ancient Profound Continent onto the Ancient Spirit Continent are likely secret realms. However, this continent is too vast. Finding the entrance to a secret realm would be like searching for a needle in a haystack."
Ling Luoyi flopped onto the ground ungracefully. Mu Anning, as if unfazed, put away the map and took out a star compass from her storage ring, handing it to Ling Luoyi. "Your Highness, this is a star compass jointly refined by the Craftsman Hall and the Talisman Array Hall. They said it can sense all secret realm entrances and exits within a five-hundred-mile radius of the user."
Upon hearing this, Ling Luoyi curiously took the star compass from Mu Anning. The compass was only about the size of her two palms, but Ling Luoyi didn't doubt the Craftsman Hall's words. Every item he refined was extraordinary, and he usually only revealed seventy percent of its capabilities, leaving the rest for her to discover.
Thus, Ling Luoyi activated the star compass. The needle on the compass spun rapidly, then drew a rough map of a five-hundred-mile radius above the compass, centered on Ling Luoyi. The star stones on the compass flashed five times, and blue star points began to appear on the map. The star points varied in depth of color; the closer the star point was to Ling Luoyi, the deeper its color. Some star points were connected by thin lines.
Looking at the star points, Ling Luoyi felt a warm current surge through her.
The Craftsman Hall liked red, so he would generally choose red for any areas that required color in his refined items, with other colors as accents. The Talisman Array Hall liked purple, and most of his items were also purple.
Apart from requiring specific colors, these two would always use their favorite colors when giving items to others. However, the items they gave her were almost exclusively blue, with no trace of red, even though she had never mentioned it.
Ling Luoyi smiled emotionally, then put away the star compass and walked to the window.
It had started snowing outside. Large snowflakes drifted down, and the world quickly turned a pure white.
"Looking at this, it doesn't seem like it will stop anytime soon."
Mu Anning also stood by the window, watching this rare scene, and felt a sense of joy.
The Sacred Domain had distinct seasons. Except for the Northern Region, it did not snow elsewhere. The Sacred Palace was located in the center of the Sacred Domain, a considerable distance from the Northern Region. Mu Anning had never left the Sacred Palace, so she hadn't seen snow in the years she had been in the Sacred Domain. Spirit Transformation Island was perpetually spring-like, with no snow. The Azure Blue Continent did snow in winter, but she had been cultivating and hadn't paid close attention. It was only now that she realized how beautiful and magnificent the falling white snow was.
As Mu Anning was engrossed in watching, a wine pot was suddenly presented to her. Mu Anning looked over and saw it was Ling Luoyi.
Ling Luoyi held one wine pot in each hand, placing one in front of Mu Anning while drinking from the other. Seeing Mu Anning look at her, Ling Luoyi swayed the wine pot in her hand and asked, "Want some?"
Mu Anning wanted to drink, but...
"Your Highness, we are on a mission. Drinking would be detrimental to our task."
"We don't have a destination yet, and those people haven't arrived. Besides, it's just one pot. We'll be busy after tomorrow, so why not enjoy ourselves now?"
Hearing this, Mu Anning took the wine pot and began to drink.