"Don't mind us too much. We're only here because of the zither competition that'll be held in this city," Elder Xuan said to the guards with a friendly expression.
"Of course. The majority of people coming to the city these past few days are only here for the competition. Are you going to be participating or are you just spectating, Seniors?" The guard then asked.
"My disciples will be participating in the zither competition," Elder Xuan responded.
"I see. Then please accept this. It's a small gift from our city for those that'll be participating in the competition."
The guard suddenly showed them a small golden medallion, and he continued, "If you head to the Royal Blossom Hotel and show them this token, you'll receive rooms to reside until you decide to leave the city— free of charge, of course."
"Oh? That's very generous of this city. I'll be sure to thank the lord of this place when I get the chance," Elder Xuan said with a smile on his face.
"Thank you, Senior!" The guard bowed to him respectfully.
Of course, the city doesn't hand out these tokens to just anybody that decides to participate in the competition like candies and only prestigious or powerful backgrounds like the Dragon Essence Temple would receive them, especially if their Grand Elder is there.
After accepting the golden medallion, Elder Xuan entered the city of the others.
"Did you already reserve a hotel for us, Elder Shan? If you haven't, we can head to the Royal Blossom Hotel for our rooms since it'll be difficult for us to find empty rooms right now." Elder Xuan asked her.
"Of course, I did. I am not incompetent. However, the Royal Blossom Hotel is definitely a much nicer place than the hotel I'd reserved, so we can act as though I didn't reserve us any rooms." Elder Shan said, dumbfounding them.
"V-Very well… Since that's the case, we'll head to the Royal Blossom Hotel instead." Elder Xuan said.
"Then follow me. I am pretty familiar with this city since I've been here a few times," Elder Shan said as she took back the lead from Elder Xuan and began leading the others to the Royal Blossom Hotel.
"Wow! Look at that group of fairies! I have never seen such beautiful women in my life!"
"Damn! I would not ask for anything else in my life if I could have a woman that's even half as pretty as one of them!"
The pedestrians in the city stopped whatever they were doing to stare at Elder Shan and the female disciples with bewitched expressions on their dazed faces after noticing their presence.
"Why don't you try approaching them? Maybe you'll get lucky."
"Are you nuts? Look at their uniforms! They're from the Dragon Essence Temple! And judging by their aura, they're definitely powerful experts! If you don't cherish your life, go ahead and approach them!"
Sometime later, Elder Shan stopped walking in front of this tall and massive building that not only occupied the entire street but was also surrounded by beautiful cherry blossoms.
"Wow… What a beautiful place," Yuan mumbled with a dazed look on his face, feeling mesmerized by the cherry blossoms.
After standing outside for a few moments to admire the beautiful trees, Elder Shan entered the building with the others.
"Welcome to the Royal Blossom Hotel, esteemed guests from the Dragon Essence Temple."
A dozen servants greeted them the moment they entered the building, almost like the hotel was expecting their arrival.
Elder Shan didn't act too surprised about this and showed them the medallion.
"How many rooms do we get with this?" Elder Shan asked them afterward.
One of the workers there immediately responded, "Normally, you will be allowed to have up to five rooms, but due to the upcoming competition that has caused an influx of guests, we are only able to spare two rooms. However, each room can accommodate up to four people. We apologize for the inconvenience."
"You don't need to apologize. We can't complain about something that's given to us for free, after all." Elder Shan said.
She then turned to look at Yuan and the others.
"Let's see… We have six of us but only two rooms— two male and four females. I guess it's obvious how we should split the rooms."
Elder Shan then pointed at the female disciples and said, "The three of you can stay in one room, and I'll stay with Elder Xuan and Disciple Yuan."
"Eh?"
Everybody there stared at Elder Shan with gawking expressions.
"Ahem!" Elder Xuan cleared his throat a moment later and said, "Elder Shan, wouldn't it make more sense if you joined the three female disciples instead of joining us— two men? After all, each room can fit four people."
"Why force four people into a single room when we can share the rooms evenly and have more space? This is a no-brainer." Elder Shan responded in a clear voice, her beautiful face void of even the slightest sign of shame or embarrassment, and she continued, "And I don't mind sharing a room with you two since I'm confident that nothing will happen."
"Are you sure about that? While I am also confident that neither of us will do anything, I cannot say the same for you, Elder Shan." Elder Xuan said with narrowed eyes. "But since you want to share the rooms evenly, my granddaughter can stay in the same room as us."
Elder Shan's eyebrows twitched after hearing Elder Xuan's comeback.
Meanwhile, Xuan Wuhan's heart throbbed with excitement, and she could already imagine sleeping in the same room as Yuan, perhaps even in the same bed!
"Why are you making this so difficult, Elder Xuan? Just let the disciples be together. However, since Disciple Yuan cannot sleep with the others for obvious reasons, he can stay with us, the elders." Elder Shan said after a moment of silence.
Elder Xuan raised his eyebrows and said in a casual voice, "Why not? It's not like this is their first time sleeping in the same place, anyways."
"W-What did you just say?" Elder Shan's eyes immediately widened with shock, and she stared at Elder Xuan with disbelief on her face.