The woman reluctantly handed the beast egg to the black-robed elder, her face full of unwillingness.
Without acknowledging Elder Harvey and his companions, she flew out of the valley, consumed by rage and indifferent to their fate. As she turned, her eyes briefly glanced at Billy’s group, a cold and sinister look flashing in her pupils.
As the lady of Quicksand Sect, she had never experienced such humiliation. In her mind, Billy and his companions were already sentenced to death. She had also set her sights on White Feather and was determined to find a way to acquire it.
The flying beast ignored the woman in red and turned its attention to the black-robed elder, its violent aura intensifying. However, with the beast egg in the elder’s hands, it dared not act rashly.
The black-robed elder watched the woman leave, his face darkening. He exhaled deeply and looked at the three people on the ground. “Harvey, how are you? Can you walk?”
Two of them opened their mouths but couldn’t utter a word as blood gushed out, and they fell silent. “Don’t worry about me… just go…” Harvey managed to say, his condition slightly better.
“Harvey, you go first; I’ll cover you,” the black-robed elder replied loudly.
At that moment, the flying beast screeched at the black-robed elder, its eyes full of fury. “Harvey, go quickly!” the elder shouted again, ignoring the beast.
Elder Harvey gritted his teeth and struggled to get up. But before he could take a step, the enraged flying beast attacked again, unleashing a powerful gust of wind that swept towards him. “Elder Harvey, watch out!” the black-robed elder cried out.
Before his words could finish, a cloud of blood erupted, leaving nothing of Elder Harvey behind. “Damn it!” the black-robed elder roared.
Meanwhile, the flying beast’s violent aura surged again as it glared at him, as if warning him to return the egg or face annihilation. Understanding the beast’s intent, the elder took a deep breath and flew into the sky.
The flying beast screeched and pursued him. “Take it!” The black-robed elder threw the beast egg to the side once he gained speed.
The flying beast quickly chased after it, using a gust of wind to catch the egg. Soon, both the bird and egg descended onto the mountainous terrain. By then, the black-robed elder was already several kilometers away. The battle for the egg had come to an end.
Meanwhile, Billy and his group followed the elder towards the city gates. They had been unsure of the gate’s location, but now they had someone to lead them.
“Boss, that young lady won’t let this go easily,” Judge said to Billy as they flew.
“She’d better behave,” White Tiger interjected before Billy could respond. “Otherwise, I won’t mind teaching her a lesson.”
“She was indeed excessive,” Felicia added. “She didn’t even care about her companions’ lives!”
“I noticed she looked at White Feather with greed in her eyes,” Frostblade remarked. “She’s probably set her sights on White Feather.”
White Feather squawked several times and shook its head vigorously upon hearing this. Night Orchid and Frostblade smiled at its reaction.
About ten minutes later, they landed outside Sky City’s western gate. “These city walls are really high!” Judge and Soul Chaser couldn’t help but marvel at the several hundred meters tall walls.
“I wonder why they built them so high,” Vermilion Bird responded. “Even Saint realm experts can’t fly that high, but for Divine Realm warriors, it’s not difficult.”
“Maybe they have their reasons,” Casey mused. “Just like when Boss wanted to build Skydragon City’s walls.”
“Alright,” Vermilion Bird replied.
“Let’s go in,” Billy said, leading them towards the gate.
There were a few scattered passersby at the gate. “Boss, I’ll check how much the toll is,” Stout said before quickly heading to the gate.
He returned shortly after and said, “It’s quite reasonable; only one top-grade spirit stone per person!”
“Stout, you’re really rich now!” Alex Long laughed. “Just entering costs a top-grade spirit stone each; isn’t that expensive?”
“Hehe, we have money to spare!” Stout grinned.
As they chatted, they reached the gate. “Here are eighteen top-grade spirit stones,” Stout said, handing them to the guard.
“Not enough!” The guard didn’t take the spirit stones.
“Not enough?” Stout was puzzled. “One top-grade spirit stone per person; we have eighteen people. How is it not enough?”
“Who told you it’s one top-grade spirit stone per person?” The guard glanced at Stout expressionlessly.
“Then how much is it?” Stout asked.
“One king-grade spirit stone per person!” The guard replied coldly.
Stout choked on his saliva. Casey and others were also taken aback. A king-grade spirit stone was worth ten thousand top-grade spirit stones; this toll was outrageous!
“Say that again; what kind of spirit stone?” Stout asked after regaining his composure.
“Can’t you understand human language?” The guard said sternly. “To enter the city, each person must pay one king-grade spirit stone; otherwise, don’t even think about stepping through this gate!”
“You might as well rob us!” Judge frowned. “No, this is easier than robbery!”
“If you want to enter, pay up; if not, don’t block the way!” The guard glared at Judge.
“Why did those people before us only pay one top-grade spirit stone?” Stout continued to ask.
“Which eye of yours saw them pay only one top-grade spirit stone?” The guard responded coldly. “Looking at your rustic appearance, you probably can’t even tell top-grade from king-grade spirit stones!”
“You…” Stout was furious and wanted to hit him.
“Stout, give him the king-grade spirit stones,” Billy said calmly.
“Boss, this is extortion…” Stout protested.
“Stout, listen to Billy Boy and give him eighteen king-grade spirit stones,” Opal interrupted.
“Alright!” Stout reluctantly took out eighteen king-grade spirit stones from his storage ring. Thanks to their previous haul from Alvin Hatfield’s group, they had some left; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to pay today.
“Tell your superiors that if they want to return our spirit stones later, it won’t be just eighteen,” Billy said after handing over the stones.
“It will be multiplied by a hundred; they’ll owe us two thousand king-grade spirit stones!”