“Paige, who are these people?” Ocean Martin, the young man, asked in surprise upon seeing everyone.
“Ocean, these are the new friends I just met!” Paige Martin replied, pointing at Ivy.
“This beautiful lady is a doctor, she came to help you with your injuries.”
“Thank you, miss!” Ocean Martin struggled to sit up.
“No problem. You don’t have to move, let me take a look.” Ivy smiled lightly. Then, she turned to Billy and said, “Billy, Stout and I will stay here. You and the others wait outside, alright?”
Billy nodded and led everyone out.
“Paige, when did your family come to the Polar Domain?” Harleen asked her as they entered the living room.
“My parents have been here for many years. They met and got married in the Polar Domain. My brother and I were born here, and we’ve never left the Polar Domain.” Paige Martin responded.
“I see.” Harleen nodded.
Then, they asked Paige Martin some questions about the Polar Domain, and she answered them without holding back. After an hour, everyone had a deeper understanding of the Polar Domain.
A few minutes later, Ivy and her brother led Ocean Martin out of the room.
“Ocean, are you feeling better?!” Paige walked over to her brother, looking surprised.
“Yes!” Ocean Martin nodded vigorously. “This young lady is truly a divine doctor! She’s really amazing!”
“Thank you, thank you, Miss!” Paige Martin bowed deeply to Ivy with a grateful expression on her face.
“Glad I could help.” Ivy smiled lightly.
“Beautiful ladies, did you just come to the Polar Domain from Glavale?” asked Paige Martin. “Are you all selected from Glavale to come to the Polar Domain, to receive the baptism of the spiritual spring?”
“Sort of!” Ivy smiled and continued, “Have you heard of the title ‘Lord Dragon’ in the Polar Domain?”
“Lord Dragon?” The siblings looked puzzled, clearly not having heard of it.
“How can you not have heard of Commander Gardner?” Ivy asked again.
“Of course we have!” Paige Martin was the first to speak up. “In the Polar Domain, regardless of age or gender, everyone has heard of ‘Commander Gardner’. Most people hold him in great admiration! Especially after the incident a few months ago, where he brought down the Nine National Fortunes at the Kun Lun Mountains. It spread all over this place, and even people from other countries have heard of his title!”
Ivy smiled and said, “Have you seen any pictures of Commander Gardner or anything like that?”
“No!” Paige Martin shook her head. “But I heard that Commander Gardner will be coming to the Polar Domain soon, so we’ll be able to witness his greatness then!” After speaking, she looked at Ivy with a curious expression. “Have you seen Commander Gardner? Does he look very mighty? Does he look special? How old is he? Is he sixty years old?”
Harleen and the others couldn’t help but suppress their laughter.
“Paige, does this handsome guy here look like he’s sixty years old?” Harleen, holding back her smile, pointed at Billy and said.
“What do you mean?” Paige didn’t react immediately.
“Are you… Commander Gardner?” In the next moment, Ocean Martin stared at Billy with his eyes widened and asked in a trembling voice.
“What?!” Paige finally reacted and looked at Billy with the same shocked expression. “Are you really Commander Gardner?”
“Am I not as handsome as you imagined?” Billy made a rare joke.
“Ah?! It’s really you?” The siblings exclaimed again, then knelt down on one knee.
“I’ve heard so much about you, Commander Gardner. It’s truly an honor to finally meet you.”
“It’s an honor to meet you, Commander Gardner!”
“Get up, no need for formalities!” Billy raised his hand.
The siblings stood up after expressing their gratitude. Both of their faces were filled with astonishment, and their hearts were in turmoil. They never expected that the person in front of them would be Commander Gardner, who was revered by millions of people. It felt like a dream come true.
“Tell me, what exactly happened this time!” Billy then turned to Ocean Martin and started asking.
“Alright.” Ocean Martin nodded vigorously and began to explain.
It took about ten minutes to explain the whole story in detail. After listening to his description, Billy and the others had a general understanding of the situation. Three days ago, Ocean Martin, along with Steven Thomas and four other young people, went out as usual to search for Spirit Stone veins, which was one of their daily tasks. The six of them were lucky enough to discover a small Spirit Stone mine in a snow-covered valley after two days and nights of searching. Although it wasn’t very large and the grade wasn’t too high, the six of them were still happy. In the end, they dug up all the ore from that location and prepared to bring it back to the city. However, on the way back to the city, they encountered people from Oriana and a conflict ensued. Among the enemy’s people was a mid-level Sovereign Realm expert, and Ocean Martin and his five companions were no match for them. And what happened afterwards was just as Paige Martin had described earlier on the street.
“Heh, it seems that the spoiled young masters are everywhere!” Black Tortoise shrugged and looked at Ocean Martin.
“After you came back, didn’t you report the situation to the City Lord’s Mansion?”
“I did, but Steven Thomas and the others unanimously said it was my fault, and I couldn’t defend myself.” Ocean Martin responded. “Plus, they are all young masters and sons of important people. The people in the City Lord’s Mansion didn’t have the patience to listen to my explanation.”
“Alright.” Black Tortoise shrugged again.
“By the way, Commander Gardner!” At this point, Ocean Martin seemed to remember something and looked at Billy. “I feel like there should be more than just the small Spirit Stone mine we found. There should be similar mining areas nearby. I was planning to confirm it after I recovered from my injuries.”
“Oh?” Azure Dragon raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
“At least 80% sure!” Ocean Martin nodded and continued, “But the people from Oriana already know about that place. They might go there to survey as well. I don’t know if they will find it before us.”
“Is that place far from here?” Billy asked.
“Not too far, about a little over two hours by snow carriage.” Ocean Martin responded.
“Harleen, you go with Ivy and Night Orchid to buy supplies, and I’ll go with Casey to take a look.” Billy thought for a moment and said to Harleen.
“Let us go with you, okay?” Harleen spoke up.
“No, you guys go back and tidy up the yard, then buy the necessary daily necessities for everyone.” Billy replied.
“Okay, then you guys stay safe!” After a brief thought, Harleen didn’t insist anymore.
“No problem, don’t worry!” Billy smiled.
About fifteen minutes later, Billy and Casey rented a snow carriage and, led by Ocean Martin, headed towards the Spirit Stone mine. After a while, the snow carriage entered the icy and snowy environment again. Along the way, they occasionally encountered other people riding snow carriages, as well as many unnamed fierce beasts.
“Commander Gardner, we’ll be there after we pass that hill!” Two hours later, Ocean Martin pointed to a small hill in front and said.
“Hmm!” Billy squinted his eyes slightly. “Your guess was right!”
“What do you mean?” Ocean Martin was stunned for a moment.
“There are people ahead, and there are quite a few of them, some of whom have strong cultivation.” Casey, who was beside them, responded.
“They should be those people from Oriana!”