General Niu Juo's questions was valid since there were other communication jade slips that worked within the Desolate Blood Battlefield too. He had one with him too. After all, that's how he had managed to contact the people outside.
The one that Old Man Lao had given him was several levels above it.
"I'm giving that to you just in case… you end up in another plane. There's no saying with a Transcendent Immortal." Old Man Lao replied.
"You think there'll be a spatial opening?" General Niu Juo asked.
"It is possible. Or maybe it could be a teleportation array, who knows? That Jade Slip will be crucial then. And if you don't end up needing it, just return it to me later." Old Man Lao replied in the end.
Niu Juo was no stranger to spatial travel and other accidents associated with it. He had also been to a few excursions in the past, and knew just how dangerous it could be. In fact, that was his main work.
The Rust Sky World was in a time of peace thus the work of an army and general was limited.
What would they do if they didn't have work on their own worlds?
Go to other worlds of course!
Thus Niu Juo would routinely go to various worlds as per the orders of the emperor and had done so for a few thousand years. But even then, he wasn't as experienced as Old Man Lao.
Each of the empires usually had two generals. One general would always stay within the empire and be ready if a battle breaks while the other would go out on missions and tasks assigned by the emperor.
Even now, there was a general waiting in the Huiqing Empire. Niu Juo himself was actually on a 'leave'.
Unfortunately for him, what was supposed to be his 'private time' was now occupied by the current set of events. It wasn't like he could say no to it either. The matter was too serious after all. At the very least, he knew that he would be well compensated for this later on.
And not just by the Huiqing Empire, but also the Holy Topaz Empire since he was helping them out as of now too.
"I'll take my leave then, Grandmaster. I'll keep you informed on everything." General Niu Juo stated.
"Mmhmm…" Old Man Lao nodded his head, but then recalled something. "There's something else I want you to look into, while you're out there." He added.
"What Grandmaster?" The General asked in doubt.
"The Holy Topaz Emperor didn't say it outright to me, but I think he very well intended for me to look for his Son… The Eleventh Prince Huangyu Shiyi." Old Man Lao said in a straight tone.
Hearing that name, the steel horned general frowned.
"That prince… I've seen him before." General Niu Juo replied.
"You have?" Old man Lao raised his brows.
"Yes… it was back in the Grey Slate Ravines. Just before the disappearance of the Violet Mystic Life tree. I was there looking for some things for myself." General Niu Juo spoke. "I didn't interact with the child, but he did not seem stable."
"Oh? What exactly was he doing?" Old Man Lao had heard a bit about the so called Trash Prince too, but didn't know the true reality of it all.
"He was slaughtering some cultivators he came across. It didn't seem like they were able to fight back either." Niu Juo answered.
"Hmm… so the rumors are true. He's turned ruthless after gaining power." Old Man Lao muttered.
"That might be an understatement." General Niu Juo shook his head. "At the very least, I can say with confidence that he is not suited to be in any administrative position in the future." He stated.
"I see… no wonder the emperor is concerned. While the child was weak and is now strong, he has lost his mentality on the way. One can be ruthless to one's enemies, but not to everyone." Old Man Lao said with a bit of disappointment.
"I'll do as you say, Grandmaster. But will he listen to me?" Niu Juo questioned.
"I'm sure the Emperor will be fine if the prince suffers a bit." Old Man Lao answered. "Break his legs if you have to, but bring him back." He said coldly.
"Very well, grandmaster." The steel horned general cupped his hands in salute before taking his leave.
~WHOOSH~
The man flew away in the distance, while Old Man Lao was left to his thoughts.
After a minute or so, he took out a small bracelet. It had a flat hexagonal plate on which a translucent pearl was embedded.
"Did Huangyu Shiyi really obtain a way to hide his traces? Even the Imperial Tracker is not working." Old Man Lao muttered seeing there was still no change in the bracelet. 'The kid's really rebellious huh… hiding and running away from his house.' He thought.
Old Man Lao would have given the Imperial Tracking Bracelet to Niu Juo, if it weren't for the fact that it really wasn't working.
Every prince and other heir had their bodies being tracked by their family for safety purposes. Though some were more overlooked than the others. The eleventh prince being one of them.
Even if he was tracked, there weren't really many that would care where he went.
It was only after his sudden rise did they became proactive. Though by then, the prince was hiding his tracks too. Of course his family was not pleased, but they couldn't do much other than scold him a few times.
And now that he was out roaming in the Desolate Blood Battlefield, things only became more difficult.
'While the emperor does not show it in the surface, he certainly wants the prince back. He should also know about the character of the prince, so is he expecting assign him to a combat role instead?' Old Man Lao couldn't help but wonder.
What he would have never thought was that the reason why they couldn't find him was due to the fact that the prince had been dead all along.
