118 Visiting A Daedalus Branch

She Meixiao had just told Sheng Feilong about the plans for the initial part of their trip to the Star Luo Continent. They would have to leave early in order to meet up with the Douluo Continent's delegation in Star Luo City later.

When they were about to leave, a tall, middle aged man approached them with a smile and humble demeanor. Although unable to remember his name, Sheng Feilong knew that he was a member of the Star Luo Continent's delegation that travelled on the ship with them.

The man stood in front of She Meixiao and gave a light bow before introducing himself to She Meixiao. The two of them exchanged a few pleasantries and the man came to the main topic why he approached them. There was a great tournament going on in Star Luo City and the man actually invited Sheng Feilong to join.

Neither Sheng Feilong nor She Meixiao seemed too interested in the tournament as they had their own mission to fulfil, but the man didn't give up. "I understand that Madam She and Young Sir She must be busy, but will you truly not consider it? Of course, the Star Luo Empire promised great prizes for the winners; Even Elder Cai and the respected students of Shrek Academy decided to join."

Sheng Feilong's interest peaked when he heard that Tang Wulin and the others would contend as well. "The students of Shrek Academy will join as well?" The man quickly caught on to Sheng Feilong's question, not missing the chance to persuade him to join. "Yes indeed. Elder Cai herself has allowed them to join as the prizes are truly great and it would be a good way to gain experience for them."

Shng Feilong glanced at She Meixiao, only to see the latter looking at him as well. She Meixiao nodded lightly ad turned towards the man. "Prizes that are able to sway Elder Cai must be truly excessive. I have to admit that even I'm tempted."

"The prizes truly are grand! Depending on the type of competition the prizes will become even more promising. There are solo-, team-, two-versus-two and other competitions. Most noteably the team competition, where every member of the winner team will obtain a rare, spirit refined metal, the two-versus-two competition, where the winners will obtain a 10.000-years-old Soul Treasure and especially the solo competition; It's champion will be bestowed a Soul Bone by our great Star Luo Emperor!" The man explained with exaggerated glee and enthusiasm.

Sheng Feilong wasn't too surprised about the prizes; It was meant for the greatest young talents of their continent after all. But for outsiders like them to be allowed to join and possibly even win a Soul Bone like that was really surprising. 'Why are they allowing us to join like that..? Are they that confident that their young geniuses will win?'

She Meixiao smiled lightly and looked at Sheng Feilong. "Those prizes are really something. The Star Luo Empire truly doesn't shy away from rewarding its outstanding young Soul Masters; Truly respectable! Feilong, what do you think? If you wish to join, we can easily adjust our schedule accordingly."

A slight expression of contempt flashed over the face of the man when She Meixiao answered. Naturally, neither She Meixiao nor Sheng Feilong failed to see this blunder. Sheng Feilong didn't like that of course, but seeing She Meixiao not take any action, he smiled lightly and answered her question. "I'm sorry Master, but this really is a great chance. And I'd love to see just how powerful our friends from the Star Luo Continent truly are."

Another look of contempt flashed over the man's face when he heard Sheng Feilong. As expected, he didn't really take Sheng Feilong serious and thought him to be rather weak and inexperienced. Still, he tried hisbest to rally Sheng Feilong up further, even complimenting him for his open-mindedness. After a while, he left and Sheng Feilong and She Meixiao were alone again.

She Meixiao said nothing, but when the man was out of ear's reach, Sheng Feilong sneered lightly and smiled at She Meixiao. "He tried his best to hide it, but he doesn't seem to think much of me. Or rather, he doesn't seem to think much of our Douluo Continent's younger generation at all."

She Meixiao smiled light in response. "There's no need to get rallied up. He said the tournament was for open everyone under the age of 20, so seeing that you're barely 15 years old most likely led him to believe that you would be unable to put up a fight against their Star Luo Empire's top Soul Masters near the age of 20. Don't take it to heart; People from the Douluo Continent that don't know you would most likely think the same."

Sheng Feilong nodded in response and didn't say anything else. He knew She Meixiao was right, but he couldn't help but feel displeased about it, nonetheless. Looking at the time, She Meixiao grew somewhat more serious and turned back to Sheng Feilong. "Let's go now. We can reach the Daedalus' branch near here in about two hours by car. Someone will take us over to Star Luo City after that."

Sheng Feilong nodded and followed behind She Meixiao. "Master, what do we have to do at the branch, by the way?" She Meixiao answered him while walking and made sure no one would be able to hear their conversation. "Nothing much. I've been asked to take a look around and just check up on them. It's more of a pleasantry to visit them to show that the two continent's organisations are still connected as one."

"Are they that different that something like this is necessary?" Sheng Feilong asked with a slightly confused expression. She Meixiao answered with a smile. "Well, they're not that different in essence. But there's a difference between each branch even on the Douluo Continent depending on the branch headmaster. And I've heard that the branches here are a bit... wilder than what we're used to from the headquarters."

The 'wild' She Meixiao mentioned was referring to the competition between individuals in the Star Luo Continent's branches. Unlike the ones on the Douluo Continent, that were united as one, there was apparently a lot of tension between the branches of the Star Luo Continent as there was no clear leader. Every branch headmaster wanted to be at the top and thus conflicts arose.

They soon reached the streets and took a cab to bring them near the branch of Daedalus. They alighted from the cab in the middle of nowhere, surprising the driver, but She Meixiao told them it was okay and paid a nice tip, so no questions were asked. After walking for a while longer, they reached the Daedalus branch.

The people there were on guard against the unfamiliar people, but upon seeing She Meixiao's badge, the guards immediately bowed deeply and profusely apologized. One of them went in to inform the branch headmaster and She Meixiao and Sheng Feilong were escorted in soon after.

A grey haired, middle aged man awaited them inside a clean office and greeted them with a friendly demeanor. He was the branch headmaster and exchanged a few pleasantries with She Meixiao while occasionally praising Sheng Feilong for his strength. Apparently, this branch leader was one of the only ones that didn't care about the struggles for power and was rather content with just helping the Soul Masters with evil or dark attributed Spirit Essences.

He showed She Meixiao and Sheng Feilong around the base, which surprisingly had the same layout as the headquarters back on the Douluo Continent. Sheng Feilong guessed that this was the standard layout for every branch. It somehow made him more comfortable to know that he at least wouldn't get lost whenever he stepped into a new branch.

Overall, She Meixiao and Sheng Feilong spent the whole day there, taking turns of checking all different parts of the base while constantly being with the branch headmaster. Quite a few topics came up during their visit, many of which Sheng Feilong couldn't quite follow as he wasn't involved in the management of Daedalus. They left early in the morning of the next day, ready to head to Star Luo City.

A while later, She Meixiao and Sheng Feilong were back on the road where they exited the cab before. They had already contacted another cab and had asked to be picked up there. To keep suspicions low, She Meixiao asked Sheng Feilong to make a little illusion, masking them standing there with a broken down vehicle next to them.

The cab driver arrived shortly and took them to Star Luo City on the highway. She Meixiao told a little story of how they were on vacation to Star Luo City but their car had a problem and thus they needed a cab. The driver bought the story without a hitch, or rather, he wasn't really interested in the story at all as he'd get paid for the drive to Star Luo City, which was a lot of money for him; He would've probably bought a story about a Soul Beast eating their car engine without blinking.

Soon enough, they reached the city and rejoined the Douluo Continent's delegation at the Grand Star Luo Hotel. Sheng Feilong was unable to get a hold of tang Wulin and the others for the whole stay as they were all occupied with different things, so he strolled the streets of Star Luo City alone. With his power, there wasn't anything that could happen to him, so She Meixiao had no problem leaving him to his own advices.

Two days later, they finally heard from the Star Luo Empire's higher ups. Today, the Star Luo Emperor would personally welcome the politic delegation and other visitors in the palace. As they would meet the Emperor soon, they were required to wear formal attire, so Sheng Feilong wore the same suit he already wore at the banquet some time back.

In the evening, when it was barely past dusk, a row of luxurious cars arrived to take them to the Star Luo Palace. She Meixiao and Sheng Feilong were invited to a personal car as they were high ranking guests. Sheng Feilong was once more reminded of how good life became once one was powerful enough.