Chapter 46: Departure II
In a couple of hours, the vessel pierced the cloud expanse, gliding over the central plains of the Tianlong continent.
Kage did a little sightseeing for a while, bringing back a rush of nostalgia. The central plains were a rolling agricultural heartland with the Jade Highway stretching across an endless distance.
They flew over cities like Goldenheart, Riverstone, Coralbridges, and Dragon’s Rest. Even from the vast distance of the sky, Kage could see the enormous ships being built by the Jade Serpent fleet.
Afterwards, they crossed into the river deltas and maritime climate zones of the Eastern Coastal Plains. At this point, Kage had retreated to the room provided for him in the air vessel.
Looking at the room, he couldn’t help but think that someday, some random stranger would be so amazed that the great Kage Ardyn had once used this very room. By that time, he’d probably be a Peak Demigod, and nations and clans across all continents would speak his name both in reverence and in fear.
Kage allowed himself that wishful thinking that the Sovereigns laughed at, and later fell asleep while reading The Scroll of Rejected Disciples—thinking about Chen, who had reached Rank 9 of Earth Realm at age 59. In this present era, you were lucky enough if you could become a Transcendent at 59; in fact, it was not uncommon.
Most Transcendents were men in their 50s and 60s. The ones who made it before then were geniuses like Kazuto, already a Transcendent in his forties, and his first sister, who was even more monstrous than Kazuto.
During his sleeping hours, the airship arrived at Pearl Harbor—the largest port in Tianlong, with a population of over two million people.
The airship did not land on the main harbor. Instead, it took a different route to the west and headed toward the secured naval districts, where it was lowered onto a wooden platform.
The moment it landed, Kage was escorted outside by the Iron Gate Knight Guards in silver armor. They walked down the deck, closing behind them, and at the base of the deck stood a man with a weathered face wearing a navy-blue robe with golden wave embroidery.
He cupped his hands and bowed his head as Kage’s feet touched the ground.
"This Harbor Master, Liang Tideborn, greets the seventeenth young master of the great Ironstorm Clan."
Kage also cupped his hand but did not bow.
"Master Liang, it is a great honor to be received by the Governor of Pearl Harbor."
The man laughed shortly, looking at Kage with small, blue eyes. He gestured with his hand.
"I shall escort you to the departure dock. The academy has sent an instructor to pick you up for the test."
Kage’s gaze sharpened.
’Looks like the test will start as soon as my feet touch Mistral soil.’
He gave the Harbor Master a nod, and they continued with several men in ocean-blue uniforms, whom Kage recognized as the Jade Serpent Marines.
As they reached the dock’s base, they were met by a young man with a muscular build and shaved head, with a geometric tattoo on the right side of his scalp.
As Kage and his entourage arrived, he stared intensely at them, his eyes hard as iron.
A knight stepped forward immediately and handed him some papers, which he flipped through carefully.
Meanwhile, the Harbor Master standing beside Kage sniffed the air.
"Is that the smell of dried fish, or is it just me?"
The Jade Serpent Marine Guard glanced at the Harbor Master and focused on what he was doing.
Kage could indeed smell dry fish, but it did not concern him.
"Hmm, I will need to reprimand the workers around here. The beauty of Pearl Harbor must not be tainted by careless and disgusting atmospheric defiling."
One of the Marine Guards standing beside the Harbor Master chuckled slightly.
"It’s actually not what you think, Master Liang."
At once, the Marine Guard inspecting Kage’s papers shot him a glare, making him quickly shut his mouth.
But Master Liang caught that.
The Marine Guard handed the knight Kage’s papers, saying in a strong voice.
"All clear."
The Harbor Master shot him a suspicious look as they climbed the dock and whispered:
"We shall discuss this matter, Sergeant Yan."
Kage, totally dismissive of whatever was going on around him, finally reached the dock. And there, the airship that was going to take him to the Mistral was waiting, along with the instructor in charge of him.
The airship itself was much smaller compared to the magnificent vessel that had brought him to Pearl Harbor—it looked meager in comparison.
The man standing before it was certainly not what Kage was expecting.
This man looked like he’d walked out of a tavern brawl and decided to teach class anyway.
Instantly, looking at him, Kage could already tell that this man was going to be problematic and did not like him at all.
The man had red-copper hair sticking up at odd angles, like he’d just rolled out of bed. A jagged scar ran from his left eyebrow down to his jaw, crinkling as he kept a small smile on his face.
Another feature Kage couldn’t help but notice was his mismatched eyes—one warm amber, the other pale blue.
He stepped forward and looked down at Kage, the small smile staying on his lips.
Then he pulled out a paper, glancing at it.
"Uhmm... I’m Renzo Rashford. And you are... hmm... Kage Ardyn of the Ironstorm Clan."
A crooked grin appeared on his lips as he read down the paper.
"Interesting..."
The Harbor Master sighed and leaned toward Kage.
"Young Master Kage, the academy instructors are naturally disrespectful to great clan young masters. We’ve seen this play out many times, so do not mind it."
Kage did not respond to the Harbor Master. He himself was not surprised by the instructor’s disrespectful attitude. He’d sort of already known how they could be from his encounter with a frenemy in his past life.
The man looked at Kage like he was already tired of him. Then he turned and walked away.
"Get on."
Kage sighed and walked behind the man. The Harbor Master and the Iron Gate Knight Guards bowed as he left.
The Harbor Master shouted:
"Please be safe, Young Master!"
The Leader of Knights gave him a disgusted look.
"Are you never tired of doing this?"
He slipped his hands into his wide sleeves and grinned greedily.
"Why would I be? There’s no telling where the young masters can reach. It is rather unwise not to try to stay in their good graces."
The Knight Leader was disgusted by his words.
"Even a talentless bastard?"
The Harbor Master gave the levitating airship a delighted smile, a greedy light glinting in his eyes.
"A talentless bastard who was escorted by thirteen Iron Guard Knights? That didn’t happen with Young Master Bai Shen or Hai Chen. I don’t care what he is. What is obvious is that he is in the good graces of the Iron Patriarch. Only the Patriarch could’ve ordered The Silent Blade—hence the reason you lot are here."
He exhaled after the airship vanished into the sky and laughed.
"Aha. I look forward to what the future holds."