Ao Bai carried Yi Lan through the clouds.
The moonlight shone brightly all over, and the gentle glow of lights in the mortal world below accompanied it.
Winds blew through her hair, and the thrill of the flight made her grip Ao Bai's body a bit tighter.
Ao Bai flew towards the moon above, and a single roar scattered the clouds away.
Seeing the world below in all its entirety, something inside of Yi Lan burnt.
The burning sensation appeared for a moment, then disappeared immediately.
Ao Bai noticed it, and condensed a small orb of energy in his claw.
He slowly pushed the orb into her dantian, and it slowly stabilized.
Zhu Fan had warned him about this, and had taught him how to resolve the problem.
He had said that, "Yi Lan is special, and her constitution randomly acts up."
Seeing the tiny girl, Ao Bai was reminded of his master's second disciple.
"Elder sister hasn't visited master for quite some time now..."
Yi Lan on the other hand, was afraid of this burning sensation. It had appeared twice before, and both times it felt like molten metal running through her veins.
But, she didn't linger on it for too long. Her master had told her not to worry about it, and she trusted her master deeply.
Ao Bai resumed their journey around the world, showing her all the interesting things about the mortal world.
Over the course of their journey, the moon started to fall, and the sun rose in its place.
Warm sunlight sparkled, and the mortal world started to awaken.
Yi Lan still wasn't done, she took Ao Bai on another round of the explorations.
This time, Ao Bai flew closer to the ground so she could get a clear view of the world below.
People below looked up and saw the dragon flying through the air.
Rumours quickly spread through the cities, rumours about the Great Sage's pet having descended, and a mysterious person riding it.
People suspected that this mysterious person was the Great Sage himself, but their stature seemed too small to match.
Some rumours spread, ones that said,
"This person is the newest disciple of the Great Sage!"
Although rumours hold next to no credibility. When the rumour involves someone like the Great Sage, they must be confirmed.
In order to confirm the rumours, a newly established mortal sect from the Azure Stone city sent a team of cultivators.
The sect was named the Dao of Tea sect.
The team consisted of five wandering cultivators who had joined the sect.
All five were highly skilled in reconnaissance and assassinations.
When the team had been assembled, they were given the task to track down Ao Bai and confirm whether the person riding him was the Great Sage, or someone else.
Once they confirmed the mission, the five of them flew up and quickly located Ao Bai, who was still taking Yi Lan through the mortal world.
The mortal world was fairly large, made up of over twelve continents, and adding on top the transcendant planes and the immortal realm, it would take some time to get a full view.
As the five slowly got closer to Ao Bai, the leader of the squad said in a hoarse voice.
"Everyone, split up."
Following his orders, the cultivators split up and took positions around the flying dragon.
The leader of the squad was a cultivator of the golden core stage, eight layer. And the other members of the squad ranged from the third layer to the sixth layer.
Getting into positions, they activated a small surveillance array and started to record all of Yi Lan's actions.
It was clear that the person riding the dragon was not the Great Sage. But they still needed to confirm who it was.
She could be the Great Sage's child, or his newest disciple. There was no way that they would leave before confirming it.
Ao Bai had long noticed these insects swarming around him, while his master had instructed him not to cause trouble.
He didn't say anything about protecting Yi Lan.
For some time, Ao Bai ignored the 'insects' trying to follow him around, but when those insects started to use a surveillance array, he decided to finally take action.
Ao Bai flew over a forest, and slowed down. He then came to a halt above a small clearing in the forest.
Looking around, he roared.
Clouds scattered, and the squad of cultivators fell out of the sky.
Then, with a single swipe of his claw, the entire forest disappeared.
A massive crater now lay where there was once a lush, green forest.
There was no noise, no wind, and no smell. Just quiet stillness.
Ao Bai took care of the cultivators, and Yi Lan didn't even notice.
How would she? The fight ended too fast, in fact, it couldn't even be called a fight.
It was a massacre.
———
Somewhere far, far away.
In a dark room, a sinister man stood in front of a crystal ball.
The room was slightly damp, and seemed to have been destroyed in a violent struggle.
Tiles were cracked, walls shattered, and countless bodies lay on the floor.
The sinister man looked into the crystal ball, looking at Ao Bai floating over the forest.
But he didn't look towards Ao Bai for long, he directly looked at Yi Lan sitting on his back.
"So... It truly is you. Senior sister..."