Ken smirked impishly and threw a talisman at the man in front of him.
*BOOM!*
The Inheritor Protection Talisman was a ninth-rank talisman that allowed Ken to execute peak seventh-stage attacks. By activating the talisman, an attack was suddenly launched at the evil cultivator.
The attack did not even travel, and if it did, it was too fast for Ken to notice. As soon as he channeled his will and Qi into the talisman, it was instantly activated, and Ken didn't even have to throw the talisman.
'One Step.'
Ken didn't wait to see the result of the attack. He instantly disappeared from his place and appeared on the back of the soaring bird.
"AHHH!"
The bird screamed in protest when it felt the weight of the human child on its back again, but it had no choice. It flew as fast as it could toward the sect, hoping to get rid of the ticking bomb as soon as possible.
"Kid!!! I will kill you!!!"
Ken heard an angry shout and knew the man didn't die. He hoped the surprise effect would be enough, as nobody expects a fourth-stage cultivator to launch a peak seventh-stage attack. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be the case.
The bird tensed up from the shout and activated its Wind Qi at its max, cutting the air in front of it to move faster and boosting its flight with the extra wind.
'This talisman should have a long distance as a ninth-rank talisman, right?'
Ken thought to himself as he activated another Inheritor Protection Talisman and willed it to attack the wounded evil cultivator.
*BOOM!*
This time, there was only silence after the implosion. The attack was very precise, and the area of damage was controlled by the user. Since Ken willed it to only harm the man, the attack was similar to an implosion that only harmed those in the specific spot.
With this last attack, Ken flew directly to the sect at max speed, shortening the expected trip from 3 days at their normal pace to a single day, thanks to the anxious bird.
-----------
"Halt! Show your proof of identity!"
The guards in the sect raised their weapons and shouted when they saw a large bird flying toward the sect at high speed with a cultivator standing on its back.
"You may leave now. Have a beautiful life, this is your reward."
Ken jumped off to the ground and threw a fifth-grade Bloodline Refiner Pill to the exhausted bird, making its eyes lit in excitement. Ken was never cheap with beasts that helped him; they couldn't rat out his abilities to others.
With a final cry for goodbye, much warmer this time compared to before, the bird turned around and flew away to make some distance from the sect and find a place to rest.
"Hello, guards. I'm Ken Sue from the Sue family," Ken declared with a clear voice. Unfortunately, Elmer could supply him only with normal inner sect robes.
"Then why don't you have the Sue embroidery on your robes? Show us your clan's token or your sect token, please."
The guards, however, remained vigilant. It might be a drill to test their vigilance while guarding the gate. None of them thought seriously that a young child was there to attack the sect on his own or infiltrate in such a crude way.
"I don't have it on me. However, I'm sure you can see my resemblance to the family. Let me pass."
Ken said confidently and tried to walk past the guards. Sadly, it didn't work.
"Stop, or we will attack!"
"Be ready to sound the alarm!"
The guards shouted. They were sure now it was a drill meant to check their awareness and whether they followed the protocols. Ken was surprised by how strict they were; he normally used to enter and leave without showing his discipleship token when he wore his clan's robes.
"What are you doing? Are you trying to stand in the way of the grandson of the Sue Clan's patriarch?" Ken asked strictly, frowning his eyebrows in displeasure.
"No, Young Master, we only follow the protocols. Please cooperate," The guards seemed to be making weird faces at him as if they were expecting something from him.
'Am I misreading the situation?' Ken decided to probe. He also found it weird that they restricted his entrance while calling him Young Master.
"It's good to follow the protocols."
"Thank you, Young Master."
An awkward silence filled the atmosphere as the guards looked at him expectantly.
'What are they expecting?' Ken tried to figure it out exasperatedly. For the life of him, he had no idea why they were acting so weird.
Just that time, a pretty female disciple wearing white robes with embroidery of a crane approached the gate. Ken had no idea who she was, but he knew her origins; she came from the Geranos Clan, an elite family which used the image of the crane on their banner.
"Young Lady Laila, please show us your discipleship token before entering."
The guard ran to her fervently and asked with a bow. Laila looked at him confusedly as she traveled outside often and never had to show her token. She soon noticed he was sneaking glances toward the young teen on the side.
"Of course, you guys always work hard and follow the protocols," she said with a bright smile and nodded. Her voice was loud, obviously intended to be heard by Ken.
'Wait, maybe they think it's a check?' Ken felt suddenly enlightened when he noticed the striking difference in the girl's expression and her weird behavior.
"You've done great guys. I will report to my supervisor you have performed perfectly. I never thought you'd handle so well such an unusual case," Ken smiled widely at the guards.
"Haha, Young Master, is it possible you were here to test us? We had no idea, it's good that we just did our job as we always do."
"Of course, I'm sure all of you will get a bonus for your performance today."
"The Guarding Division is really crafty, Young Master. I thought they used up their creativity in the previous check; the crawling worm and the grandmother seemed so bizarre together, but today I saw a child jump from a bird's back!"
'No, a grandmother with a worm sound weirder,' Ken thought to himself as he tried to picture the scene in his mind.
"Anyway, I will be on my way to report to the Guarding Division then. Keep up the great work."
"Thank you, Young Master, have a nice day!" the guards moved to the side and cleared the way and let him pass.
"Phew, we managed to recognize another test. I hope they will not do something believable next time," One of the guards whispered to his friend after Ken left.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶