Shi Chun followed suit, cutting his finger to let a drop of blood fall onto the Token. As soon as the blood touched the faintly glowing token, a sizzling sound was made, as if it were poured on a red-hot piece of iron, emitting steam and then disappearing.

The glow on the Token faded, and Manxi laughed as he tossed the Token to Shi Chun.

Shi Chun was about to express his gratitude when Mulan Jin interrupted, saying, "You may go."

It was clear that he had something private to discuss with Manxi.

Thus, Manxi called out loudly, "Come, someone." After summoning a person over, he pointed at Shi Chun and Mulan Qingqing, "Centurion of the three-thousand squad, take them to join the team."

"Yes," the summoned person cupped his hands in obedience and immediately gestured for them to proceed.

Shi Chun and Mulan Qingqing had no choice but to follow and leave.

After leaving the hall, Shi Chun looked at the Token in his hand and found that it indeed had the number 'three thousand' on it. With five teams fighting, each with three thousand tokens, this meant he was ranked last in the Heavenly Court Team's third squad.

At this moment, several figures emerged from the corridor at the other end; they descended from a side staircase, with a slim, appropriately dressed man in plain clothes leading in the front.

The man's skin was fair and clean, and his beautiful face exuded a noble, cold demeanor. It was evident at a glance that this was a woman dressed as a man, besides the unhidden curve of her chest in the men's clothing.

The woman in men's attire had her dark hair elegantly gathered with a simple hairpin, exuding an unusual purity, bright as the moon, seemingly emitting an unseen shimmer.

The faint look in her eyes seemed to scan countless mountains and rivers, as if disregarding all the world around her.

This woman in men's clothing wasn't exactly stunningly beautiful, but she possessed an appropriate gracefulness, an attractiveness that could capture attention as she walked by.

Shi Chun, fiddling with the Token, vaguely heard footsteps behind him, instinctively alert and observant, which made him subconsciously turn to look back, noticing the group that had suddenly appeared in the corridor ten yards away.

Although the distance was somewhat far for normal vision, and the corridor wasn't well-lit, Shi Chun's gaze ignored the other people and fixated instantly on the face of the woman in men's attire. His mind buzzed, his brain went blank, instantly recalling the graceful figure dancing in the sandstorm, and the smiling side facade with long hair flowing at the cliff of the setting sun.

The laughter emerging from the cave echoed, "Chun Tian, have you heard of waist dimples? I have them on the back of my hips, they're quite pretty, do you want to see..."

That teasing laughter long resounded in his teenage dreams, seemed to echo once more in his ears.

His entire being seemed to detach from his soul, maintaining the motion of looking back, with past images fleeting like dreams.

The woman in men's attire glanced lightly in this direction, her cold gaze conveying no emotion over her noble visage, mingling with a group as they turned the corner to descend the stairs, vanishing from sight.

Mulan Qingqing, realizing that Shi Chun was missing, turned back and saw Shi Chun standing there in a daze, couldn't help but call out, "Shi Chun."

The leader taking them away also halted and turned, curious about what Shi Chun was gazing at, ready to reprimand him if not for Mulan Jin's presence.

What frustrated him more was Shi Chun, after being awakened by Mulan Qingqing's shout, not only didn't follow but actually turned back and ran, what idiocy?

Shi Chun, coming to his senses, realized the woman in men's clothes had disappeared, immediately dashed off in pursuit.

Mulan Jin and Manxi, conversing in the hall, simultaneously looked back, noticing the figure rushing past the door, then saw Mulan Qingqing flash by, followed by the silhouette of the leader taking someone out.

The two were startled, exchanging puzzled glances, both unaware of the situation, and rushed out together.

Arriving at the foot of the stairs, Shi Chun saw a corridor at the corner, seemingly leading straight to some courtyard or otherwise, with no sign of the people.

Mulan Qingqing, chasing after, urgently warned, "Shi Chun, what are you doing, don't wander around heedlessly."

The leader approaching with a stern expression, ready to reprimand if not for Mulan Jin's face.

Who would have thought Shi Chun, behaving recklessly, would dart past the corridor, landing amidst outside pavilions and corridors, swiftly scanning around, seeing no one, uncertain which room or corridor they went into, thus activated his Right Eye Superpower, searching for the figures glimpsed earlier.

The next moment, a hand clapped onto his shoulder; it was the leader, warning in a deep voice, "This isn't a place you can intrude, leave immediately!"

"What's happening?" Manxi's voice called, as he and Mulan Jin arrived.

The leader gripping Shi Chun spoke, "Commander, this guy, after leaving, seemed to have eaten something wrong, running around recklessly."

Manxi frowned at the words, with major matters at hand, encountering someone disobediently chaotic, nobody would appreciate that. He had heard rumors of this fellow's troublesome nature, and meeting him for the first time reaffirmed it.

Unexpectedly, Shi Chun ignored this completely, realizing he was restrained and unable to break free, glanced at Mulan Jin, hurriedly saying, "Commander, junior just saw a very important acquaintance, could you help me find her?"

The plea was because his Right Eye Superpower didn't detect the silhouettes, clearly seen moments ago, yet vanished in an instant when pursued.

Now he was anxious, even noticeably unsettled.

Upon hearing this, everyone understood what prompted his reaction earlier; it indeed seemed like he was searching for someone.

Manxi and Mulan Jin exchanged curious glances, both puzzled about who here could be an acquaintance of Shi Chun, especially one causing such an unsettled state.

Seeing there was a reason behind it, and acknowledging Mulan Jin's standing, Manxi gestured to the leader to release Shi Chun, then asked, "What person?"

Shi Chun replied, "A woman, a woman dressed as a man."

"Woman?" Manxi was startled, and turned to ask the general, "Are there any women working here? How come I didn't know?"

The general also paused to think, then shook his head and said, "No, I don't think so. I should have an impression if there were women. Could it be because she's wearing men's clothes?"

Manxi asked Shi Chun again, "What's that woman's name?"

"..." Shi Chun was indeed asked, but he didn't know the woman's name. Or maybe no one in East Nine Plain knows. When asked her name, she raised her hand to the wind, unable to catch it, then jokingly said, just call me 'Wind'.

This was obviously a casual alias; saying it was just nonsense. So he could only stammer, "I don't know her name either. I just saw her coming down from the corner of the building along with five or six other people."

Not knowing her name, yet claiming she's a very important acquaintance, does that make sense?

Their eyes towards Shi Chun were filled with suspicion, but they also felt Shi Chun had no reason to make things up.

"And a group of people..." Manxi muttered. If Shi Chun wasn't lying, he was also curious where a woman had suddenly appeared from, whether true or false, verification would be simple. He immediately instructed the general, "Since they came from upstairs, go ask who they are."

"Yes." The general accepted the order and left.

The few people present looked around, and Manxi quickly found something wrong. How come there wasn't a single guard standing between the surrounding pavilions and buildings?

He was contemplating when he saw a team swapping shifts approaching, scattering to their respective posts.

It wasn't long before the general returned and reported, "Commander, the guards upstairs said they didn't see any woman, nor did they see any group of people."

Shi Chun immediately exclaimed, "How is that possible, how can a group of people moving go unnoticed."

Manxi immediately asked Mulan Qingqing and the general, "You came out together with him, did you see them?"

The general shook his head, saying, "Didn't see them."

Mulan Qingqing also shook her head, but hesitantly said, "I think I heard some footsteps."

Manxi then stared at the general and asked, "Didn't you hear them?"

The implication was simple: with your cultivation far superior to theirs, if they could hear it, how could you not?

The general was instantly uncertain. Were footprints here abnormal? Coming and going for inspections and such, the key was he was muddled by the current affair, his memory surrounding the event unclear. After reflection, he hesitantly said, "Seemed like there were, seemed like there weren't, can't remember."

Alright, Mulan Jin asked Shi Chun, "Besides the woman dressed as a man, how were the others dressed?"

"..." Shi Chun was again silent, realizing his attention was entirely fixated on the woman earlier, rendering him inattentive to the others' appearances and attire, only able to let out a sigh and say, "Didn't pay attention to looks, vaguely saw five or six people when I got a little distracted and didn't remember their appearances."

Sounds a bit far-fetched, and this wasn't the time to put aside pressing matters for this investigation. Manxi immediately told Mulan Jin, "We'll look into it later. The army's expeditionary advances wait for no one."

The frequent coming and going of people in the Cultivation World, having an acquaintance with the Heavenly Court was also commonplace, so it wouldn't be proper to let Shi Chun's trivial issues delay the expedition. Mulan Jin immediately told Shi Chun, "Alright, now even if you find them there's no time for communication, wait until you return. Later, question the guards outside if anyone went out, naturally you'll find out."

Shi Chun hesitated to speak, eagerly wanting to meet the person. Having waited for so many years, he really had numerous things to tell her, yet rationality told him there truly wasn't time to deal with such a matter for a minor character like him. Even if found, there wouldn't be time for a chat. So he could only silently nod.

Thus the general escorted Shi Chun and Mulan Qingqing away.

Shi Chun couldn't help but turn back with his Right Eye Superpower to survey the surroundings, occasionally touching his face, puzzled. Although wearing armor, his appearance shouldn't have changed that much; he recognized the teacher, so why didn't the teacher recognize him? He had even shaved the jail beard; was it because he wasn't seen? Or was it because he had grown fairer?

Mulan Qingqing would occasionally sneak a glance at Shi Chun's reaction, remembering what Shi Chun had previously said: a very important acquaintance.

It's a woman, so a woman very important to Shi Chun.

After exiting, the general then gathered the Mingshan Sect group waiting outside and led them away.

Hundreds of thousands of troops gathered like clouds, even sparse whispers could converge into a hum like waves, standing there unable to form a tidy lineup, some with hands behind their backs, some with arms crossed, although all wearing uniform battle armor, they appeared peculiarly strange, clearly lacking military discipline.

The general leading a group skirted around, brought the group to an inconspicuous corner in the back row to a cluster of people, introduced Shi Chun to the group, saying, "This is your Centurion." Then said to Shi Chun, "These are your troops, get acquainted."

After speaking, he left, guards standing nearby preventing others from leaving.

The troop members of the third thousand sequence all gazed at Shi Chun with curiosity. Just now they were curious, even asking each other, who is our Centurion?

Searching everywhere to no avail, they still asked each other, where is our Centurion?

This is strange; other groups' Centurions had already appeared to communicate and familiarize themselves, but their leader's approachability was unknown, and being that no one showed up for so long, it felt quite abnormal, giving an ominous feeling, since they were going into battle.

Finally, someone appeared.

Just that he appeared unfamiliar, never seen before during the Centurion contest. This was understandable though, with countless contest points, it was impossible for everyone to watch all rounds everywhere, not knowing him was normal.

Oddly enough, a general of not low rank in the Royal Court personally delivered him, so it seemed unusual. Though he appeared young, one shouldn't judge by looks, presumably his cultivation and strength were both extraordinary.

Having an expert leading promised a higher chance of survival and merit, a good thing!

The group looked at Shi Chun with eyes containing a hint of respectful admiration.

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