“Please wait for a few more moments! My daughter will be out soon!” Governor Bai gestured for Su Mo to wait.
Su Mo then waited quietly outside the gate.
Many people were staring at him since most people in the crowd knew that he was the outsider and that he was an extraordinary talent whose strength was comparable to Governor Bai.
They all gossiped about him in hushed whispers.
Su Mo ignored the crowd and examined the procession.
Great Martial City had nominated ten women to attend the selection, and including Bai Yin’er, this was a total of eleven women.
There were 11 carriages and he could sense a strong cultivation aura from the remaining ten carriages that revealed that these women were all of True Darkness Realm cultivation.
Bai Yin’er had the highest cultivation amongst them!
After a while, a slim figure clad in gray walked out of the mansion.
When Su Mo caught sight of her features, he was first stunned, then he quickly held back his laughter.
This was none other than Bai Yin’er.
However, she had lost all her earlier youthful and gallant energy!
Bai Yin’er was clad in a coarselinen long robe and she had put on a heavy layer of rouge on her cheeks and even powdered her brows. He wasn’t sure if she had done so intentionally or if she just had bad make-up skills, but she now looked like a clown.
Her high ponytail was no longer there and her hair was now fashioned into a short bob.
Su Mo was not alone in his astonishment. Governor Bai, the guards and the maids, as well as all the gathered crowd were all astonished.
Was…was this Bai Yin’er, the daughter of the city governor?
Everyone stared at her slack-jawed. Was she going to attend the concubine selection process dressed like that?
Governor Bai’s face twitched uncontrollably but he sighed to himself. He could tell that his daughter had intentionally made herself look this way to try to get herself disqualified from the process.
“Father, I’ll get going!” Bai Yin’er knew that she looked very embarrassing and immediately entered the first carriage after bidding goodbye to her father.
“Let’s go!” a clean-shaven Divine Guard in front of the carriage yelled and the procession started to move ahead.
Su Mobid Governor Bai goodbye and strode toward Bai Yin’er’s carriage. He then proceeded to walk alongside the carriage.
The procession moved extremely quickly. The fire-dragons were Lv 4 Demonic Beasts and the accompanying entourage were all experts. Even the maids were of the True Spirit Realm.
Soon, the procession left Great Martial City and sprinted on the lush pastures.
The procession consisted of over 30 Divine Guards who were in charge of clearing the roads and over 200 guards and maids. A large majority of the guards and maids were from the Mansion of the City Governor.
As Bai Yin’er’s personal guard, Su Mo walked alongside Bai Yin’er’s carriage.
Although the procession moved on foot, but it moved extremely quickly, able to cover a distance of 50,000 kilometers in a single day.
Su Mo was speechless. He had heard that the Imperial City was not too far from here and was only two hours away if he chose to fly there. He could not believe that this procession had to be so grand!
Su Mo knew that since this was the Emperor’s concubine selection process, the proceedings had to be very grand.
Su Mo covered a distance of 300 meters with each step he took. As the procession made its way to the Imperial City, he also took the time to secretly tend to his wounds.
He glanced at the magnificent carriage beside him and couldn’t help smiling as he remembered Bai Yin’er’s strange fashion earlier.
He could tell that she did not want to be an imperial concubine! Her dressing was too unique, and would be considered strange all across the Firmament World.
He had never seen hair as short as hers in this world.
Su Mo was amused. This woman must truly be a weirdo to have come up with such a stupid plan just to avoid the fate of becoming an Imperial Concubine.
Clatter!
Bai Yin’er pulled open the curtains and peered out from the carriage at Su Mo.
“Su Mo, do…do you mind talking to me?” Bai Yin’er asked softly as she bit her lips nervously.
Su Moglanced at her. He had not expected this entitled young lady to have a gentle side to her as well. He gave a slight nod and asked, “What do you want to talk about?”
Bai Yin’er thought for a moment, then said, “Do I look very ugly?”
“You’re not ugly!” Su Mo shook his head.
“Even dressed like this?” Bai Yin’er said disbelievingly. She thought Su Mo was just trying to humor her.
Su Mo had a faraway look in his eyes as the memories of his previous life slowly came back to him.
“There are many people who dress like you in my hometown. In fact, I was reminded of my hometown when I saw you earlier!” Su Mo said slowly. He was not lying for there were many women who cut their hair short and wore thick makeup in his previous life.
“Ah! You must be joking! Are people from your hometown this strange?” Bai Yin’er exclaimed in surprise. She had intentionally made herself to look this way and tried to make herself as ugly as possible, hoping that she would not be selected at the concubine selection process.
She had even cut off her beautiful long locks.
Now, Su Mo was telling her that people from his hometown all dressed this way!
“It is not strange at all. We’re more open-minded there!” Su Mo said with a smile.
“Could you tell me what life is like outside the Mist Mountains?” Bai Yin’er asked, her curiosity piqued. She assumed that Su Mo was referring to his hometown in the outside world.
“Sure!” Su Mo nodded. He gathered his thoughts together, then said, “The Firmament World lies outside the Mist Mountains and is made up of five major continents. Each continent is extremely vast, and Mist Mountains is located in Central Continent…”
Su Mo introduced the outside world in detail to Bai Yin’er.
Bai Yin’er was extremely engrossed in his words and it was clear that she yearned to experience this for herself.
She sighed after hearing Su Mo’s explanation and said softly, “I’m so jealous that you could experience life in such a colorful world. It would be great if I could get out of here and visit your hometown!”
Su Mo couldn’t help but size Bai Yin’er up. He noticed that she looked extremely depressed and her youthful vitality was nowhere to be found.
Su Mo understood that she had been forced to attend the selection process and that she did not want to become an Imperial Concubine.
“I don’t think it would be that difficult getting out of here!” Su Mo said softly.
It would be almost impossible for someone else to get out of the Mist Mountains, but since he had the Ghostly Magic Sight Martial Soul, it made getting out of here a lot easier.
Bai Yin’er shook her head and sighed, “It’s not so easy. I’ve never heard of anyone who managed to successfully leave the Mist Mountains!”
Many people had tried to escape the Mist Mountains, but many of them had lost their way and died in the mountains.
It was possible that some could have found their way out, but since none of them ever returned, nobody knew if they had made it out!
“Once I settle my affairs at the imperial palace, I’ll leave this place and get out of the Mist Mountains!” Su Mo said solemnly.
Bai Yin’er looked at Su Mo in shock.