Translator: Fate Proofreader: Silavin The atmosphere in the garden became more gloomy as grey clouds drifted in and dimmed the place. The smell of blood was everywhere, making many who had come upon hearing the news, turned pale with shock. Beams of light shot in from all directions, led by the Azure Dragon Emperor and his entourage. They had come hastily as soon as they heard the news but hadn’t expected to see this. “Someone please come help us! It’s an enemy attack!” The Azure Dragon Emperor paled when he saw everything, feeling dizzy as he called for the doctor. Qing Feng and Qing Xiaoyi didn’t have a powerful background, but the Talents they possessed made them highly favoured by the Elders of the Immortal Academy. If something happened to them, his head wouldn’t be enough to compensate. For now, he hoped to save Qing Feng’s life as the commotion would definitely make some of the Elders come here. The energy was exuded by someone in the Sacred Realm, at the very least. Thus, that expert was at a level where the Empire could not hope to contend against much less think of capturing. He was relieved that Gu Xianer was unharmed, though. She still maintained her ethereal air of cool calmness as she stood to one side. He had been most worried about her being endangered as he knew exactly who was backing her. Any slight harm befalling her would elicit such fury that destroying the Empire wouldn’t even quench it. “Lady Xianer. It’s good to see you unharmed.” The Azure Dragon Emperor smiled at her in relief. She nodded silently in reply, eyes flickering with runes and traces of divine light as she studied Qing Feng’s condition. Qing Feng was covered in blood as he lay on the ground, looking as if he had exploded, and his life signs were as weak as that of a sputtering flame in the wind. However, there was a faint light protecting his heart, making it continue to circulate, and his soul. If not for her powerful divine sense, she would have taken him for dead. [What’s that?] Gu Xianer was confused and surprised as her eyes fell onto the flask-like object glowing faintly within his arms. Its markings looked extremely old and the object looked slightly rusted. It looked extraordinary even though it had blood on it. [Was it this mysterious flask that saved his life?] Gu Xianer’s surprise was not unreasonable. The person who had kidnapped Qing Xiaoyi was extremely strong and was at least in the Sacred Realm. Even her Quasi-Sacred Grade spear should be able to be used in a fight against someone in the Sacred Realm or higher, yet it had broken into pieces when the person raised their finger. Such terrifying power did not belong to just a simple Sacred Realm expert. Qing Feng had just begun cultivating, so he was not even at the Mighty-Transcendent Realm yet. He wouldn’t be able to stand a strand of a Sacred Realm expert’s might, let alone a strike of a palm. Thus, it made sense that his body blew up. [That mysterious person exudes a Sacred Realm aura, his strength is definitely not just in the Sacred Realm. He’s most likely an ancient monstrosity.] Gu Xianer hypothesised, as no normal Sacred Realm expert would possess such might. Besides, she was a little confused as to why this expert seemed to avoid her after she attacked. [Was it someone I know? But, who would want to kidnap Qing Xiaoyi?] [The Source of the Celestial Demonic Physique? Is it someone related to the Successor of Demonic Arts? I’ve heard lately that the Successor of Demonic Arts is in the Black Tortoise Empire. I guess Qing Xiaoyi will meet an unfortunate end…] She sighed, more confused than anything. She hoped that Qing Feng would know something when he wakes up. Otherwise, it would be hard to find Qing Xiaoyi, without any more information. [Well, I can inform that bastard about this. After all, Gu Changge has confidently vowed to protect the siblings in front of the Elders. But now, one of them is seriously injured and the other’s fate unknown. Could it be one of his enemies?] She wondered about this. However, she had no evidence to prove her assumptions. Soon, a group of doctors from the Azure Dragon Empire hurriedly came in, planning to heal Qing Feng first. His injury was clearly fatal, showing that the attacker had decided to kill him, yet he still had some life in him after withstanding a palm strike from a Sacred Realm expert. This shocked the doctors. “His heart circulation is protected by a mysterious energy and his soul is intact as well. Though, his whole body had nearly been crushed… how curious.” They were surprised by this as they had seen many injuries, yet this was the first time they saw someone come back from death’s door. If it wasn’t due to extraordinary luck, then it was just because it wasn’t his time yet. “That flask is strange…” Someone was observant enough to notice the flask but did not explore it further. They did not have Gu Xianer’s visual capability and could not understand its uniqueness. Although she knew it was precious, Gu Xianer did not hold any unsavoury thoughts towards the flask. Even if she was miserly, covetous, and would do anything to win, she still had her principles. She would never take advantage of someone while they were down. Right now, she was mostly worried about Qing Feng and Qing Xiaoyi’s safety. Their trial in the Azure Dragon Empire was led by her. Yet, she couldn’t protect the two of them as their Senior. This made the proud girl a little uncomfortable. Had it been Gu Changge in her place, this wouldn’t have happened to them, and the mysterious person wouldn’t have even been able to escape. [I’m still too weak…] She felt a little dejected, having been humiliated multiple times in front of him and now unable to capture that mysterious person. She suspected that her Master back at the Peach Village had lied to her when they said her strength could crush all of her peers, and she was peerless. Now, her suspicion has been cleared up, and she knew the truth. She was still too weak. After some hesitation, she eventually sent a message about what had happened to Gu Changge herself. Hopefully, he would have some way to solve it. However, very quickly after the messenger amulet had sent her message to him, she got a reply. This surprised her, as he seemed to never be this concerned about anything. ‘Why are you so useless? You can’t even look after two people properly.’ She hadn’t expected the first few sentences to be a reprimand. This angered her enough that she nearly threw the amulet. Shouldn’t he ask about her condition first instead of scolding her? ‘I’ll be there soon.’ She calmed down after hearing the next sentence, letting out a huff and wrote back, ‘I only wanted to tell you about it. Who asked you to come here?’ … ‘If you are capable enough to make me worry less, I wouldn’t need to go at all.’ Gu Changge crushed the messenger amulet in his hand when he finished speaking, meaning that he couldn’t hear her neverending ramblings. He glanced at Qing Xiaoyi, unconscious in his arms. As the void before him blurred, he stepped into it and soon left the territory of the Azure Dragon Empire. He now knew that Qing Feng was alive thanks to Gu Xianer, which was part of his plan. If he had killed Qing Feng, who would give a testimonial? He had deliberately lessened his strength when attacking Qing Feng, partly in concern of killing him by accident. He obviously knew that the youth had the Flask of World Domination. After all, this one object had changed the Qing Feng’s fate and fortune, and so it would face no issue in saving Qing Feng’s life. He had rushed from the Vermillion Bird Empire for this scheme, but it didn’t take much time according to the speed he was travelling to reach his destination. After all, when he entered the void, he would be able to travel through millions of kilometres in one breath, speed much faster than that of a small teleportation circle. For now, he has to finding a suitable place to place Qing Xiaoyi. [If I have enough time, I can use the Dao Fruit of Reception to get the Origin of the Celestial Demonic Physique from her…] A swirling glow appeared on his palm and materialised into a bright sapling on which principles and runes flickered, emitting different colours of light. Fruit hung from its branches, including one entrapped in Chaos Purple Qi. It looked extremely mysterious with multiple kinds of Dao and Principles intertwined around it. He looked at the still unconscious Qing Xiaoyi, a strange light flashing in his eyes. A glimmering fruit surrounded in mist then dropped from the tree, transforming into a ball of light. It entered her forehead, which immediately dissolved. … Three days had passed since that day. The events in the Azure Dragon Empire hadn’t spread into the outside world just yet; only within a limited area, probably due to the low number of young prodigies the Empire had. However, after Gu Xianer informed Gu Changge about the news of Qing Xiaoyi’s kidnapping via the messenger amulet, the news quickly spread like wildfire through the Immortal Academy’s young prodigies, which caused a huge uproar. Gu Changge, who had been away in the Vermillion Bird Empire dealing with the Eternal Overcase crisis, had returned at once and led his followers to the Azure Dragon Empire. Many young prodigies and ancient monstrosities now paid attention to his every move, and someone who had seen him leave the Vermillion Bird Empire had asked around before knowing what had happened. This news spread so quickly that nearly every young prodigy in every Empire knew about it. Qing Xiaoyi and Qing Feng were special in the Immortal Academy, as they had no strong background yet had such powerful Talent that many Elders fought to recruit them as apprentices. Many young prodigies even felt envious. The girl had a unique physique, and with the recent appearance of the Successor of Demonic Arts, many began to wonder if both events were related. Many prodigies had been assassinated by the Successor of Demonic Arts in the Black Tortoise Empire, so was it possible that the Successor had escaped to the Azure Dragon Empire. [The Successor of Demonic Arts?] The King with Six Crowns, Jun Yao, sat cross-legged on a bluestone rock in his palace which swirled and surged with light and mist. His expression was thoughtful as he suddenly remembered someone. It was not the Successor of Demonic Arts. Instead, it was Ying Shuang. Ying Shuang was at the capital of Black Tortoise Empire when Qing Xiaoyi had been taken. Even if he had wings and was able to travel through the void, he wouldn’t be able to take her in such a short time. He felt that someone else was the true culprit, contrary to popular thought of Ying Shuang being the Successor of Demonic Arts. [He isn’t the Successor, but he can’t escape the connection. Sky King Zhi Yang is heard to be hunting the Successor, yet Ying Shuang hadn’t left the capital at all. So, just who’s the person he’s pursuing then? Interesting. The two of them must be in cohorts. It’s no wonder that Ying Shuang has become so brave and brazen now. Zhi Yang’s ability to escape looks very well practised.] Jun Yao smiled and closed his eyes, not caring about it anymore. He had already deduced the truth but didn’t want to disturb the calm yet. The Successor of Demonic Arts, Ying Shuang, had been able to collaborate with Zhi Yang in secret. This means that he has been underestimating Ying Shuang all this time. Thus, it was no surprise that he could escape whole and unscathed at Gu Changge’s hand. “Everyone else is still being tricked. It’s uncertain if Gu Changge could see the truth,” Jun Yao muttered, feeling a little excited and holding some expectations. He would be a little disappointed with Gu Changge if he couldn’t even do that. Such a powerful enemy was still weak after all. … [The Successor of Demonic Arts? Are they trying to blame me again? No way! The King with Six Crowns saw me himself, and he could prove that it wasn’t me!] Ying Shuang, the usual suspect, had heard of the news as well. He had felt shocked before finally understanding, and wore an annoyed expression on his face. From what everyone’s saying, they all suspected the Successor of Demonic Arts of orchestrating this, meaning that he was once again being used as a scapegoat for no reason. [Gu Changge has no grudges against me, so why is he trying to corner me like this? So what if the King with Six Crowns knows that I didn’t do it?] Ying Shuang felt frustrated and angry, clenching his fists in dissatisfaction. He couldn’t do anything about the situation, though, not even giving his explanation. “You’ve been following my Mistress for the past few days. Just what do you want?” Suddenly, a cold female voice spoke from beside him. He immediately came back to himself and looked towards the attractive girl approaching him from the side. “I…” Ying Shuang got stunned and mumbled, before remembering he was beside a street stall. The girl, dressed like a maid, was currently looking at him contemptuously. He hadn’t expected to be noticed by Yin Mei when he had been so careful; the girl in question was now frowning as she stared at him in suspicion and confusion. “I’m not a bad person,” he smiled honestly as he rubbed his nose. “You dare say that when you’ve followed our Mistress for so many days?” The maid’s gaze was unfriendly. Runes flickered as energy flowed through her body, showing she was ready to attack him. “Please don’t attack me. I’m really a good person!” Ying Shuang said hurriedly, not wanting to offend her because of such a trivial thing and make her dislike him. “Xiao Zhu, let him come here.” Yin Mei sighed. “I also think he’s not that bad of a person. I seem to see someone familiar in him…” Her voice wasn’t loud, filled with some helplessness and sadness. Yet, Ying Shuang heard it all the same. He froze and his eyes widened as he came to the realisation. He had a broad guess about what she meant, [did she see traces of her former horse feeder?] He became excited at that thought and was greatly moved by it. [It’s been so long, yet Lady Yin Mei had never forgotten about me, even though I was just a mere horse feeder.] Ying Shuang had no idea what he was feeling when he approached her. “What’s your name? Are you someone from the Immortal Academy?” Yin Mei’s voice rang out again, getting his attention. He froze and for some reason shook his head. “No.” He was trying to calm his excited heart. The last time she had asked for his name, was when he had been bullied by a gang of people and nearly died by the street. [I’m no longer the horse feeder from the past. I can stand proudly before her now. I will let her know who truly holds the best of intentions for her.] Ying Shuang felt overwhelmed as he could finally speak formally to her. “No?” Yin Mei looked a little disappointed. “If you aren’t someone from the Immortal Academy, then why are you here?” Ying Shuang didn’t know what to say to that. If he wasn’t from the Immortal Academy, then why was he here? Even so, he had no choice but to reply, “I’m actually someone from the Academy coming here for the trial. I’ve known about Lady Yin Mei’s existence for a while and I was attracted to you, so…” “So you followed me in secret?” Yin Mei interrupted him lightly. “I won’t pursue this because of your honest attitude, but don’t let me see you ever again.” She turned to leave, but Ying Shuang was rooted to the spot as he watched her retreating figure, feeling panicked. He already knew her very well from when he had been a horse feeder. He knew she would never let him go unharmed if she was really angry. [This means that she isn’t actually enraged by my actions. Maybe, it’s because I look familiar. That means, I hold some importance in her heart…] Ying Shuang suddenly felt that being framed as the Successor of Demonic Arts wasn’t so bad after all. That his current situation was no longer dark and gloomy like before. Silavin: My god. The simp is too real with this one. Quickly, get the tide pods!