Putting that intriguing conclusion aside for the moment, Zhen Shi turned back towards Lance with a thoughtful expression.
While it was true that he had welcomed Lance with open arms, the last thing he wanted was for another fellow to tag along on his private visit to the Brishman mansion.
As such, he smiled and spoke sharply, "Lance, you've already been through a lot today. Let me contact Myne and send you over to our pavilion."
Normally, Lance would've refused the offer worried that he was imposing too much. However, he could sense that Zhen Shi was adamant about this for some reason. Either way, Lance was quite looking forward to serving under the kind and great master Myne. So, he simply bowed down in gratitude.
Seeing that Lance was being reasonable, Zhen Shi happily tapped the ring that Myne had gifted him before, causing it to vibrate and thrum with intense spiritual energy.
With the ring extending the range of mental transmission, he could easily contact Myne, completely disregarding the several kilometers of distance between them.
As he waited for the connection to be established on the other side, Zhen Shi curiously analyzed the ring with
Reading through the basic information about its capabilities, he couldn't help but be impressed.
While Zhen Shi had read about other long-distance communication items, he was confident that none of them would work as smoothly or as cleanly as this ring. In fact, their extension effect was much more limited and only allowed the transmission of very short messages.
It wouldn't be wrong to say that Myne's ring was similar to a mobile phone, while ordinary communication items were nothing more than telegraphs.
Zhen Shi could only assume that this was due to Myne's skill in the field of formations, and that strange indescribable formation he had seen engraved on to the ring, back when he first got it...
Click!
Bringing Zhen Shi out of his thoughts, the ring stopped thrumming with an audible click.
At the same time, a familiar voice rang out in his mind, "Hey, bro, what's up?"
Before he could even begin to reply, Myne continued to prattle on with a loud laugh, "Haha! Don't tell me you got cold feet!? Don't worry, big bro Myne will help you out! I'll give you awesome advice on how to handle your lady friend, okay? After all, I'm a married man and you're just a pitiful single fellow!"
Hearing this shameless offer, Zhen Shi almost coughed a bucketful of blood. For the next few seconds, he didn't know what the heck to say.
Seeing that there was no reply, Myne could instantly see that Zhen Shi was speechless. Greatly pleased, he laughed even louder and spoke in a proud tone, "Haha! They say that silence is consent, right? Come, come then, let Lord Myne teach you the secrets of keeping the ladies happy--"
Unable to handle this shameless bragging any longer, Zhen Shi spat out in annoyance, "Shut up! I don't need love advice from an old fogey! I only called to give you a polite heads-up. William will be bringing over an old friend of ours soon.
This 'friend' fell into some serious trouble trying to testify against Turnbull for our sake. So I decided to recruit him as a favor. When he comes over, take 'good care' of him, okay 'Lord Myne'?" ending in a strangely satisfied and mischievous tone.
Back in the golden pavilion, noticing the strange tone in Zhen Shi's voice, Myne couldn't help but shudder... Something was terribly wrong!
Greatly worried, he asked in a hurry, "An old friend? Who are--"
Click!
With another tap on the ring, Zhen Shi decisively broke off the connection.
He couldn't help but smirk proudly, 'Trying to make fun of me, old man? Lord Zhen will show you that he is not to be provoked! Trying to get under my skin? I'll destroy your skin in retaliation!'
Zhen Shi truly couldn't wait to see Myne's face when he realized that the new addition to their group would be 'Lance the Impaled'!
Turning back towards Lance and William, Zhen Shi spoke with a smile, "Alright, I contacted Myne and notified him of your arrival. Will, can you escort Lance back to the pavilion? I don't think it's safe to send him alone..."
🌉🌉🌉
Watching William and Lance disappearing into the distance, Zhen Shi heaved a sigh of relief.
For a moment there, he had actually been worried he'd have to take Lance with him to the Brishman mansion as well.
Will O'Dale had been extremely unhappy about separating from him for even a short while and had adamantly refused to leave. In the end, Zhen Shi was forced to promise that he wouldn't leave until Will came back.
Only then did Will grudgingly agree to leave.
Realizing that he had to wait in one place for the next half an hour, Zhen was already beginning to feel bored. He half-heartedly kicked a stone and stared at it as it rolled across the road.
As a few more minutes passed, Zhen Shi was becoming even more bored and was tapping his foot on the ground impatiently.
In the end, he decided to go on a short walk without straying too far from his current position.
Looking around, he quickly spotted the Golden Bridge that was placed close to the wooden bridge nearby.
Seeing that there was quite a large crowd attempting the Bridge Trial today, even larger than the day before, he walked over with curiosity.
Having gone closer, Zhen Shi could now see what was going on. Instantly, his eyes widened and he couldn't help but gawk in disbelief.
A Soul Formation cultivator was crossing the golden bridge and... he was basically running across it!
The moment he finished, another cultivator jumped onto the bridge and ran even faster!
After him, another Soul Formation fellow jumped up and ran across as well!
They were like starved rats who had seen food on the other side and were scuttling across the bridge to eat it as soon as possible!
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Rather strangely, there was no cultivation enhancing blessing being gifted to any of them by that Black Tiger, but their speed was still shocking to behold!
After all, the spiritual pressure of the bridge wasn't anything to scoff at. Even Zhen Shi would have to activate
Worse still, from what he could see, a few hundred people had already completed the bridge trial. With every new cultivator dashing across the bridge, this number was only increasing!
Seeing their frightening capability, Zhen Shi couldn't help but analyze these few hundred cultivators with serious wariness.
As of this moment, to Zhen Shi, the cultivators who had attempted the bridge trial yesterday were truly the black sheep of the Lyonesse kingdom.
After all, not a single one of those cultivators had been able to complete the Bridge trial. Even the strongest cultivator, who was that axe-wielding noble had only made it halfway across the golden bridge.
Compared to the cultivators present today, all of them were nothing but complete and utter trash!
They weren't even worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence!
More worrying was that, despite his best attempts to analyze them, Zhen Shi couldn't find anything special about these cultivators. Although they continued to run across the bridge to the very end, all of them looked completely ordinary.
By this point, Zhen Shi was growing rather suspicious. There was no way there could be a thousand cultivators on par with him in the same kingdom. Something seemed off...
Fortunately, he spotted Elder Hao Lei observing the trial from nearby. He was watching the cultivators cross the golden bridge, one by one, with a strangely complicated face.
Zhen Shi quickly walked closer and tapped him on the shoulder, expecting to surprise the old man.
However, Elder Hao Lei simply raised his head, looked at him calmly, and lowered his head once more, sighing heavily.
His eyes on the bridge trial, he spoke in an apologetic voice, "Young master Zhen Shi, I'm sorry. Despite my best attempts to have him punished, Lord Turnbull has gotten off scot-free. The council of elders ruled that he was innocent and only acted out of a misunderstanding."
Hearing about this, Zhen Shi completely forgot about the strangeness of the bridge trial. With a slight tinge of rising anger, he asked, "What!? How? Why? Can't we get Lord Lyon to help us?"
Elder Hao Lei heaved a heavy sigh, "The reason is what you see before us. Lord Turnbull is a clever old fox. He had prepared the perfect excuse," and sighed heavily again.
Zhen Shi stared at what was in front of him. All he could see was the golden bridge trial. He was completely confused, 'How the heck does a bunch of random cultivators scuttling across the bridge make Turnbull innocent? How the heck does trying to attack us, become a misunderstanding?'
Seeing that Zhen Shi still didn't understand, Hao Lei forced a grin and began to explain, "The last cultivator to cross the golden bridge yesterday was you, am I right young master Zhen Shi?"
Zhen Shi nodded but was still unable to see what Hao Lei was getting at.
Elder Hao Lei turned back to the golden bridge with another heavy sigh, "Every single cultivator that tried the golden bridge trial after you, easily made it across.
Only after a large number of cultivators crossed the bridge did we realize that the spiritual pressure has completely disappeared! The golden bridge is broken!
All Lord Turnbull did was mention this fact. He must've found out about this somehow, that wily old fox.
On the grounds that he was only trying to arrest the one who had damaged the sacred golden bridge, he was completely exempted from all accusations!"
An awkward expression appeared on Hao Lei's face, "Worst of all, we can't close the golden bridge until every cultivator that arrived has attempted the trial.
By the time the day ends, I'm afraid there will be a few thousand new {Honorary Guests}! This will be a huge loss to the market hall!
If it weren't for Lord Lyon's backing and your frightening battle prowess, the council of elders might've already made a move on you and officially named you as the primary suspect for breaking the golden bridge.
Honestly, everyone is sure it is your fault, but for the moment, no one dares to make a move on a Sovereign level power..."
Hearing Elder Hao Lei’s explanation, Zhen Shi's mouth dropped, his face a picture of complete disbelief. Never could he have imagined that something like this would happen!
In fact, he was so surprised, he didn't even have time to feel embarrassed for mistakenly thinking that the random cultivators scuttling across the golden bridge were serious threats to him.
However, now that he thought about it, he did remember sensing something strange about the golden bridge yesterday.
After that plump god shadow hurled that ball of divine aether at him and he finished crossing the bridge, when he tried to make it back across that same bridge, he had not felt any spiritual pressure!
But back then, he had simply dismissed it without thinking too far. He had even made a joke about the bridge being broken!
Never could he have thought that a simple joke would end up becoming a reality!
Realizing that he was basically a criminal who had dabbled in involuntary vandalism, Zhen Shi felt a bit embarrassed. In the end, he could only scratch his head awkwardly. He was already cursing impatient nature for having come over here and asking for it, instead of waiting patiently for Will O'Dale.
It was around this point that the final cultivator made it across the golden bridge.
While none of these cultivators had gained any cultivation blessings, the huge discount and power available for them as {Honorary Guests} of the Market Hall was already enough!
Realizing this, all of them began to laugh happily, patting each other on the back.
Even though all of them realized that it was some form of error that had granted them this random stroke of fortune, the only necessary condition for receiving the title of {Honorary Guests} was crossing the bridge!
As such, they were confident that the Market Hall could do nothing to change this!
From today onwards none of them would be nobodies! They were cultivators with considerably powerful backing!
After all, the title of {Honorary Guest} wasn't just for show. They were entitled to a certain degree of protection from the Market Hall.
A certain cultivator from the thousand brand new {Honorary Guests} had started the day rather depressed. His small clan had been destroyed and slaughtered by a slightly more powerful one. As the lone survivor, his life was under threat.
But with this new title, he could make a formal complaint of grievance to the market hall and take revenge!
He began to laugh madly as he pointed at himself and the other cultivators and shouted, "I'm a winner! You're a winner! We're all winners!"
The other cultivators were a bit taken aback by his abrupt outburst.
However, they too were basking in their good fortune and his cheerful shouts quickly spread throughout the crowd,
"Haha! That fellow Daoist has a point! What a wonderful day it is today!"
"It's true! Situ Yi, on that fateful day, you stole my wife in front of me. Soon, I'll pay back that shame in full! I'll steal your entire family!"
"Ben Dover, I'll make you pay for the humiliation a few years back! Haha! This time, you'll be the one bending over for me!"
"Didn't you say I'd never get a chance to get my revenge? Willie Stroker, you'll curse the day you stroked me!"
"Haha! Our lives changed today! All of our grievances will be addressed!"
"From today onwards, no one can stop me from touching what I want! Haha! My name is Moe Lester, don't you dare forget it!"
"Haha! Everybody's a winner!"
Listening to the cheers of the crowd, Elder Hao Lei heaved a heavy sigh. He had been expecting such a situation to arise.
Fortunately, he had notified Lord Lyon and had already made a series of preparations to control and lessen the chaos. As to the reason why he would go so far to help Zhen Shi, one could only guess...
On the other hand, poor Zhen Shi definitely had not been expecting a result like this!
He was beginning to think that the golden bridge hated him or something. Every time he came close to it, something phenomenal would happen.
Last time it was god shadow, this time it was a thousand {Honorary Guests}!
He couldn't even imagine how the crowd could continue to cheer in such a fashion. Even listening to their outbursts was enough to make him feel ashamed. Having heard some of their names, he couldn’t help but think, 'Who the hell named them? The god of comedy?'
Just as Zhen Shi was beginning to look down on the shameless crowd even more, he was reminded of the fact that he was basically the match that had lit this fire. He was the reason for everything that was happening.
Zhen Shi felt so embarrassed he wanted to dig a hole and bury himself!