The moment Yang Liqin placed on the mask, it was like she had turned into a completely new person. Not even Jiang Ming could recognize her at first glance if it wasn't for the fact that she put the mask on in front of him.
"Heaven is truly biased… how could they create something as perfect as you, aunt?" Jiang Ming teased, putting on his own mask.
Meanwhile, Yang Liqin pinched his waist and twisted it for a bit, causing him to feel pain.
"You better keep those flattery words to yourself. The masks might have concealed our aura and identity, but the moment you speak like that, all will be naught." She warned. As much as she loved to hear his flattery words, there was a time and place for that.
Jiang Ming scratched his head lightly as he switched from his aloof personality to a cool one.
"What should I refer to you as, aunt?" He then asked. If they were going to go undercover, it's necessary to create a new alias for them. Otherwise, the masks would be pointless if they are going to reveal their identities through names.
Yang Liqin rubbed her chin slightly, clearly trying to come up with an alias.
"How about Jiang Liqin?" She suggested. "The Jiang as in yours…"
Before she continued her next sentences, she suddenly stayed silent and turned around, her body shaking in nervousness.
'The Jiang as in mine?' Jiang Ming repeated her words silently a few times before realizing what she had meant. By taking his name, it meant that she was ready to become his woman officially. After all, in this era, a woman would usually take their other half's name to prove that their body and soul now belonged to the man only.
Although he figured all this out, as a man who had seen many types of this situation in anime for research purposes, he wouldn't outright expose her. That would result in the usual cliche- a hard slap into the face.
He coughed slightly, acting completely ignorant of her previous words, and said, "The name isn't bad, aunt. However, our enemies would most likely pinpoint the word 'Jiang' with me, so that wouldn't do. How about Yiqin instead?"
"W-W-Whatever you say, Jiang Ming. Yiqin it is." Yang Liqin hurriedly responded. Her back remained facing Jiang Ming as she still needed to calm down from her previous blunder.
Meanwhile, Jiang Ming smoothly diverted the topic and said, "Since you're going to be called Yiqin, then I shall be Jing. Perfect right?"
"Un, now let's get going."
"You're really provoking me so much Yiqin." Jiang Ming whispered sweetly, holding her by the waist as he activated his movement technique. With her still in a daze, Jiang Ming used this as an opportunity to make a popular couple entrance to greet the powerful clans.
As Jiang Ming had begun to hurry to the gathering area, the other powerful clans had already begun discussing the deployment with each other.
"Your Di Clan is truly shameless. The ancient ruins had a quota limit and you wanted to send half of your clansmen inside. Do you take my clan as a stepping stone?"
"My Di Clan is big and has many people compared to yours. Of course, we'll need to send more people inside the ancient ruins to grab more lucky chances."
"Hmph, your 6 big clans are always shameless to no end." After saying that, the middle-aged man walked forward a bit before kneeling down. "Your Majesty, I plead that you can help our Huo Clan injustice."
'Your Majesty?' Jiang Ming raised an eyebrow when he heard the middle-aged man pleading for help. He glanced around and saw a normal carriage in front, but his spiritual perception couldn't peek at what was inside there.
He stood above a tree branch while placing her aunt gently and asked her, "Did you know the emperor was here all along?"
Yang Liqin nodded her head. "I thought you knew about his presence already." She said in confusion. She had expected that he would know about it already.
Jiang Ming smiled bitterly behind the mask as he felt ashamed. He was always bragging and boasting to his aunt. Yet, the reality was extremely cruel and harsh to him.
'GLCS, can you determine how powerful my aunt actually is?' He asked the system, seemingly curious about her actual strength and prowess.
Ding!
<Yang Liqin's current ability and prowess are at a restricted data level. May Player Jiang Ming increase his cultivation base before asking again>
<Additionally, Yang Liqin is a scary woman, so please don't ask me about her personal information>
–
Jiang Ming was shocked because it was the first time he saw a trembling system prompt occurring. The prompt was shaking back and forth, almost like it was frightened to the core.
'Damn, is my aunt really that fearsome?' He exclaimed inwardly. He swallowed some of his saliva nervously, reminding himself to not go overboard with his teasing.
Who knows what kind of fate he would receive if Yang Liqin was truly angry with him?
Sometime later, Zhao Tong came out of his carriage and exuded a powerful might. His appearance frightened the person who proclaimed himself from the Huo Clan.
Zhao Tong stared at the person with a calm demeanor and then the elder from the Di Clan.
He breathed out a soft sigh as he raised his hand, "What the Huo Clan said is logical, but I also understand Di Clan's reasoning. However, our Northern Continent always promotes the strongest, so why don't we have the Huo and Di Clan send one of their best personnel to fight for the quota?"
"This is uh-"
"This is perfect, Your Majesty."
Both the Huo and the Di Clan initialized different responses. The Di Clan was clearly overjoyed at this arrangement since their clan had more powerful cultivators compared to the Huo Clan.
Right when the elder from the Huo Clan was caught in a dilemma, a voice echoed from the forest, shocking them.
"I don't mind helping the Huo Clan in exchange for two quotas."