Several disciples chatted excitedly about setting off for home tonight.
"Hey—" Guang Ling shouted, draping an arm over Mo Ziqian's shoulders. "Let's go."
The disciples followed in a clattering stream.
One disciple sidled over. "Brother Ling, are you going home?"
Guang Ling shot him a fierce glare, and he immediately shut his mouth.
Only then did the others realize it too, and they wanted to turn back to look at Meng Anli.
Guang Ling barked, "Turn around and move!"
After the group rounded the corner, they heard Guang Ling lower his voice. "If you're going home, can't you wait until we're back at the dormitory to talk about it? What are you shouting for?"
"Worried Princess Anli would be upset if she heard?" Mo Ziqian asked gently, his voice smiling.
Guang Ling gave a light cough. "Of course not. I just find their chirping annoying!"
"Oho, so annoying~"
"Brother Ling may be an iron man, but he has a tender heart~"
Laughing and joking, they left.
Meng Anli was touched. They were all kind-hearted youths.
Lu Yao looped her arm through hers. "They really don't understand you at all. When have you ever been that fragile? You don't need anyone's pity either."
Meng Anli patted her hand, and the two naturally clasped hands.
"As expected, my A Yao understands me."
"Then, would you be willing to go home with your A Yao?"
"Of course I would."
Meng Anli and Lu Yao still went their separate ways to cultivate.
Yet news that Meng Anli would have a rest day tomorrow had already reached both the Meng family and the Crown Prince's residence.
The Meng family.
After three months, Meng Liangmiao, who had been washing dishes, looked even more haggard, and the aura around him had grown even gloomier.
Upon hearing the news, his pale, wrinkled fingertips clenched tightly around his teacup.
Grinding his teeth, he said, "Meng Anli, you've finally come out."
Meng Xiuchen eagerly said, "I'll do it. She made a fool of me last time; this time, I'll definitely catch her."
Ever since Meng Anli had defeated him last time, no one in Shen Class had been willing to play with him anymore.
What was more, she had actually dared not to seek out the Crown Prince, making him wait for an entire day in vain.
Meng Zhao's muscle and bone injuries and external wounds had healed by now, but the terror of having his inner core shattered by Yuan Tuo remained.
He cautiously said, "Great Deity Yuan Tuo is still very formidable. Meng Anli's cultivation is unfathomable now. You must be careful."
Meng Xiuchen said disdainfully, "I've been watching her all along. She's still in the Foundation Establishment Realm."
"Then why did you lose to her last time?" Meng Zhao asked, puzzled.
"That was because, because..." Meng Xiuchen's face flushed bright red. "She won through speed."
"So," Meng Zhao countered, "wouldn't she be even faster now? Besides, do you know how many magical artifacts are in that universe pouch Yuan Tuo gave her?"
"This..."
Unable to answer, Meng Xiuchen said irritably, "Then are we just going to let her go to the Crown Prince's residence? Let this chance slip away while she's outside the academy? Yuan Tuo has returned to the North Sea. This is a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity."
"Yes," Meng Liangmiao said. "Let her go to the Crown Prince's residence."
Both brothers looked at him. "Big Brother!"
Meng Xiuchen did not understand. "Big Brother, she's reduced you to this state, and you're still protecting her?"
Meng Liangmiao raised his eyes. The corners of his lips curled slightly, but his gaze was a sheet of ice, with even a murderous chill hidden within.
When he spoke, poison seeped through his voice.
"Since her strength cannot be measured and her magical treasures cannot be controlled, what if she were to lose consciousness within the Crown Prince's residence? As her family, if we take her home, wouldn't that be perfectly reasonable?"
Meng Zhao lowered his head in thought.
Meng Xiuchen still did not understand. "Why would she lose consciousness in the Crown Prince's residence?"
"Big Brother has a way?" Meng Zhao looked toward him.
Meng Liangmiao nodded faintly. "If I couldn't even accomplish this, wouldn't my hundred years by the Crown Prince's side have been spent in vain?"
Yet Meng Zhao was deeply alarmed.
If Meng Anli could be poisoned so easily, then could the Crown Prince be poisoned just as easily?
Only then did Meng Xiuchen understand his elder brother's meaning.
Excitedly, he said, "Big Brother is amazing. I'll gather some men, and when the time is right, we'll go to the Crown Prince's residence and take Meng Anli."
"Do not reveal your hatred of Meng Anli in front of the Crown Prince."
According to news from the spies, the Crown Prince's attitude toward Anli was somewhat strange.
He seemed to dislike her, yet he had Master Zhang watch her every move.
He seemed not to dislike her, yet he had never been willing to spare her even a glance.
From what he knew of the Crown Prince, Meng Anli had once constantly clung to him, but now that she suddenly no longer did, he was somewhat unaccustomed to it.
Because of Meng Anli's status, the Crown Prince would not break off the engagement with her.
Even if the Crown Prince wanted to, the Heavenly Emperor would not agree.
At that moment, in the Crown Prince's residence.
When the Crown Prince learned that Meng Anli was still in the Foundation Establishment Realm, he frowned. "How could she be so foolish?"
Master Zhang told him about Yuan Tuo's theory of "building a house for Foundation Establishment."
The Crown Prince curled his lip in disdain. "That is merely Master Yuantuo comforting her. Master Yuantuo protects her, and she possesses so many heavenly treasures, yet she still cannot break through."
Master Zhang added, "Yuan Tuo also said that if he truly wished to raise her cultivation level, he had countless methods to make her reach the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal Realm overnight."
The Crown Prince's eyes brightened slightly. From Foundation Establishment to Primordial Unity Golden Immortal, there was a gap of ten major realms and thirty minor stages.
Could someone truly rise to the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal Realm overnight?
He was three major realms away from becoming a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal. If Yuan Tuo intervened, he too would surely be able to leap through realms with ease.
Was this the strength of Great Emperor Dangmo?
The Crown Prince dismissed Master Zhang, then summoned Liuyin and gave her instructions.
"When Meng Anli arrives tomorrow, there is no need to make her wait outside. Invite her directly in."
He had to use her power to forge a connection with Yuan Tuo.
Early the next morning.
The moment Meng Anli stepped out of the academy gates, she sensed two gazes fixed upon her.
She looked in both directions and saw two figures.
The one on the left flew toward the Meng family.
The one on the right flew toward the Crown Prince's residence.
Meng Anli sneered.
Her shoulder suddenly sank as Lu Yao hung off it, panting. "Why are you moving so fast? I can't keep up."
"Then I'll take you with me."
Meng Anli wrapped an arm around her waist and shot into the air in an instant, like a flash of lightning that vanished in the blink of an eye. Skimming through the clouds, they flew toward Niuyang Mountain.
In only three breaths, she and Lu Yao were already standing at the foot of Niuyang Mountain.
Lu Yao stared blankly at the mountain before them. "My home?"
She turned stiffly toward Meng Anli. "You... three breaths? A thousand li?"
Meng Anli smoothed down her upturned hair. "I held back my speed because I was afraid of startling you."
"Wow!" Lu Yao cried excitedly. "With your speed, why are we still living in the dormitory? We could come back and live here every day!"
"Do we spend much time in the dormitory every day now?"
Lu Yao thought about it. "Not really. All right, then. We can spend more time at home today."
Happily, she tugged Meng Anli along. "Let's go home."
What had originally been an ordinary stone transformed into the entrance of an ordinary cave as Lu Yao approached.
A tiger was meditating atop the straw.
Before you continue