By the time Lan Cai’er regained her composure, Dao Ge and Lan Yingwu hurriedly sent people to pursue them.

But the Heroic Team acted mysteriously, taking paths that were not ordinary, so how could the people of the Lan Residence catch up?

Lan Cai’er thought of Aguduo and others, but by the time they reached Mercenary City, Aguduo and the group had already departed.

"No, I must go to the Ancient Nine Provinces and bring Jiunian back."

Yan Jiu hasn’t returned, and Jiunian is also missing; Lan Cai’er’s world is on the verge of collapse.

"Cai’er, don’t worry, not everyone can go to the Ancient Nine Provinces. The Heroic Team moves without a trace and is hard to contact. Unless we can first get in touch with Ling Yue and the others, we have no way to find Jiunian."

Dao Ge was also burning with anxiety.

He never expected that Little Jiunian would undertake such a bold move.

"First contact Ling Yue, but how do we do that? Oh, I can seek help from the Lonely Moon Sea. Ling Yue mentioned that if there is truly an urgent matter, we can reach out to Zitang Su from the Lonely Moon Sea."

Lan Cai’er was desperately seeking help, and she immediately wrote a letter to be sent to the Lonely Moon Sea.

Meanwhile, Little Jiunian, with the Heroic Team’s assistance, had already left the Qing Province Continent.

For Little Jiunian, who had never left Xia Capital since birth, his journey was full of curiosity, asking questions at every turn, unaware of the trouble he’d created until he met Aguduo and the others.

"My goodness, who is this little kid?"

Aguduo, Jin Wu Old Monster, and several key members of Yan City looked at Little Jiunian in fear and disbelief.

Weren’t they heading to the Ancient Nine Provinces? Why bring a little child along? Could it be just a child’s play?

"This is Little Master Lan Jiunian, the nephew of City Lord Ye."

The Heroic Team introduced.

Upon learning of Lan Jiunian’s identity, Aguduo and Jin Wu Old Monster realized Jiunian was the child of Lan Cai’er and Yan Jiu.

However, the little guy is so very young; how could his family let him travel alone?

"Little Jiunian, I’m your Uncle Jin Wu, I attended your parents’ wedding banquet when you were a baby. What breed is this little cat of yours? It’s as cute as you are." Jin Wu Old Monster said, his smile radiant like a blooming flower. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

But upon hearing this, both Little Jiunian and the Little Chichi in his arms were displeased.

Little Jiunian declared he was a young man; calling him brave was fine, but calling him cute was not!

Little Chichi was more annoyed; what a joke, simple old man with ignorant eyes, who’s a cat here? Your whole family is cats!

Little Chichi was usually gentle with Little Jiunian, but hearing Jin Wu Old Monster’s words, it bared its teeth and opened its tiger mouth, snapped at Jin Wu Old Monster with a roar.

"Goodness." Jin Wu Old Monster exclaimed as a bloody bite mark appeared on his hand.

"Well then." Jin Wu Old Monster took a closer look, realizing Little Chichi was a Spiritual Tiger upon seeing the "King" character flickering on its forehead when angry.

Although just a little beast, the little creature managed to injure someone in the Reincarnation Realm.

"Old Monster, you certainly failed this time. This Spiritual Tiger isn’t ordinary. Little Jiunian, where did you get this treasure?"

Aguduo, an inheritor of the Hundred Beasts Sect, was knowledgeable about spiritual beasts.

Heading to the Ancient Nine Provinces this time, due to personnel limits, she couldn’t bring along her own spiritual beasts, including the Purple Micro Alabaster Elephant, which was a bit regrettable.

Yet she also heard from Ye Lingyue that demon beasts ran rampant in the Ancient Nine Provinces, offering great opportunities for her Hundred Beasts Sect’s inheritors.

Still, she couldn’t quite identify the species of the little tiger cub in Little Jiunian’s arms.

Especially with its back’s markings, resembling a crouching dragon, evoking a sense of awe.

Little Jiunian glanced at Aguduo, deciding she seemed more pleasant than Jin Wu Old Monster, and casually replied.

"Big sister, Chichi was a gift from my godfather Dao Ge. He mentioned he acquired it from a traveling merchant."

Feeling pretty smug about Chichi’s fierceness, Little Jiunian boasted.

"Dao Ge from the Primordial Demon Cave is your godfather? Little guy, Dao Ge is your dad Yan Jiu’s arch-enemy; you’re taking a thief as your father."

Jin Wu Old Monster, feeling quite irked by Chichi’s bite, took the opportunity to scare Little Jiunian.

"My godfather is a good person, not a thief, and Yan Jiu doesn’t deserve to be my father, he’s a heartless man."

Little Jiunian retorted unkindly.

Upon hearing Little Jiunian’s words, Aguduo and Jin Wu Old Monster discerned the resentment underlying in the child’s speech.

They were both aware of the complicated entanglements between Yan Jiu with Lan Cai’er and Dao Ge.

"Ah, how can you be so blind to what’s right and wrong? I, Jin Wu Old Monster, may not be a good guy, but have respected few people all my life, among them my master, Ghost Emperor Wu Zhong, and another is your father Yan Jiu. He’s the kind who’d sacrifice for his brothers, a real man."

Just as Jin Wu Old Monster was about to debate with Little Jiunian.

At that moment, the carriage they traveled in came to a stop.

"Folks, the road ahead is impassable for the carriage, you’ll need to walk."

The Heroic Team’s members advised.

By now, they had left the Qing Province Continent and entered the border of the Ancient Nine Provinces.

The path the Heroic Team used to enter the Ancient Nine Provinces was essentially small trails off the main road, where not even carriages could pass due to sparse human activity.

Yet, troublesome travel aside, this stretch was relatively safe with no demon beasts appearing. That’s why the Heroic Team chose this path.

But once past this section, someone would be there to meet them.

The group had no choice but to get off the carriage.

The carriage halted within a narrow mountain gorge, flanked by cliff walls about over two hundred meters high, strewn with jagged rocks.

Between the two paths was a mere sheep trail.

Walking along it, one had to constantly guard against rocks rolling down from above.

With the path ahead clearly visible, Jin Wu Old Monster and Aguduo handled it well, but Little Jiunian found it troublesome.

The Heroic Team was busy transporting supplies and could only rely on Jin Wu Old Monster and Aguduo to watch over Little Jiunian.

"Little guy, though I’ve got my grievances, I’ll carry you across." Jin Wu Old Monster grumbled.

"I can make it on my own." Little Jiunian stubbornly declared, he vowed before setting out not to burden anyone along the way.

He was a resolute young man with pride.

With that, he followed Aguduo, moving forward.

Jin Wu Old Monster shook his head, muttering "little rascal" under his breath before following along.

The mountain path was tough, and the group proceeded cautiously, but halfway through, Little Jiunian was already physically exhausted.

Yet he was too embarrassed to say anything, gritted his teeth, and pressed onward.

But just then, Little Chichi, who had been sleeping in Little Jiunian’s arms, suddenly raised its head, its fur standing on end, issuing a series of roars towards the heights.