Niu Juo had strong senses and felt the presence of a strong immortal approaching them.
He turned to the back and looked up at the sky.
The investigator who saw his actions was a bit surprised and followed his line of sight.
"What are you…" Just as the man was about to ask though, he saw a faint dot appearing in the distance.
It was approaching them at a great speed and was rapidly growing in size. In just a few seconds, it turned into a forty meter long wolf with wings!
"A beast?!" The investigator became alert.
But just as he was about to alarm the others, they saw a person sitting on the back of the wolf. Niu Juo narrowed his eyes and saw the old man. He was a bit surprised but did not act, letting them land.
"Who are you? State your identity!" The investigator and the other people of the Holy Topaz Dynasty became alert.
~step~step~step~
The old man got off the wolf's back and walked towards them without speaking.
"General Niu Juo, should we—" The investigator was about to ask the general to restrain the old man when Niu Juo spoke.
"Junior Niu Juo pays his respect to Grandmaster Alchemist Lao!" General Niu Juo cupped his fists in salute while bowing his head.
Hearing this, the investigator was stunned. He repeated the words of Niu Juo in his mind before looking back at the old man again. A moment later, some information appeared in his mind and his expression fell.
~THUD~
"Investigator Dui pays his respect to the Grandmaster!" The investigator directly kneeled on the ground and cupped his hands in salute.
~THUD~THUD~THUD~
The other soldiers that heard it did the same. Kneeling and greeting him in a similar way.
"Hoho… Seems like the juniors of the Holy Topaz Dynasty are well informed too." Old Man Lao laughed.
"Forgive me, Grandmaster. I couldn't recognize you at first—" The investigator hurriedly said.
"It's fine. Your generation is far too young to have seen me." Old Man Lao didn't mind. "So you are the Steel Horned General Niu Juo." He said while looking at the half Orc man.
"Yes, Grandmaster." Niu Juo said respectfully.
"You can be at ease with me. We're here for the same thing." Old Man Lao replied.
Hearing this, Niu Juo raised a brow before feeling relived.
"Did they send…" Niu Juo asked in a low voice but was interrupted.
"Yes." Old Man Lao responded. "And not just them, the Emperor of the Holy Topaz Dynasty has asked me the same." He stated, before taking out a scroll.
The scroll floated up from his hand and automatically opened up.
~SHUA~
A yellow light shone from it, as the crest of the Holy Topaz Emperor became visible.
Upon seeing the decree, all the soldiers kneeled and kowtowed their heads, as if the emperor himself was present there.
"By the decree of his majesty, the Holy Topaz Emperor, Grandmaster Lao is hereby appointed as the Chief Investigator and is vested with the powers to command the army of the Holy Topaz Empire!" A voice could be heard coming from the decree.
General Niu Juo was pleased to see this.
'Looks like the Emperor managed to find a way to send help after all. Grandmaster Alchemist Lao is a neutral party and can operate in the Holy Topaz Empire too.' The general thought.
To him, the current task was quite difficult. Not only was he dealing with a being that was possibly one of the strongest existences in the world, but also with information that was wholly unknown to him.
Not to mention, he was also not fit for work like this.
He was a man of action rather than planning and observation.
Send him into a battle sure, he'd do it gladly, but careful search and investigation was not his forte. His skills weren't specialized in this either. If not for that fact that he was already here, The Huiqing Emperor would not have asked him to investigate.
The same was the case with the people of the Holy Topaz Empire.
Originally, they had been assigned to him under the guise of 'guiding' him. In reality, it was just to monitor and spy on him, but after the disappearance of the Violet Mystic Life Tree, the appearance of the Demon and then the Grand Tempest Transcendent Immortal Tribulation, they had to employ the man to investigate.
They didn't have a choice either, as he was the only strong immortal who might be able to handle all this.
But now that Old Man Lao was here, it was all simplified.
Not only was the man an immortal with a high cultivation base, he was also highly knowledgeable and respected across several worlds. He was an ancestor level figure for the people of the Rust Sky world too, being the senior of all current emperors!
While his cultivation base might be less than the emperor, his skills as an alchemist gave him a special status. The pills made by him were prized and could greatly help one in a pinch.
Even the emperors would have to greatly request him to make any pills.
This was the reason why the Holy Topaz Emperor directly gave him such a high authority. The man had both the skills and status to demand it. Plus, his neutrality made the emperor feel safe too.
"It's great that you are here, Grandmaster. I was at my wits end. This is all beyond me." General Niu Juo stated.
"That's fine. Not everyone can be good at everything." Old Man Lao was happy with the honesty of the general. "Now then, can I get the reports and everything else you all have learned so far?" he asked.
"At once, Grandmaster!" The investigator said before the others hurried to bring all the information they had gathered so far.
A camp was quickly set up, allowing Old Man Lao to work properly.
"This is certainly interesting…" Old Man Lao said after having looked through it all.
