Space Spirit Stone

At the lantern festival in Jiali City.

Le Ling and Qian Daoliu ran into Dugu Bo and his grandson, who had also come to watch the lantern festival.

As the four chatted, Le Ling sensed a familiar aura in a nearby alley and quickly ran toward it.

Just as she reached the entrance to the alley, a bewitchingly handsome man with long ink-black hair suddenly threw himself into her arms.

"Her Highness the Princess, I finally found you!"

Before Le Ling could react, the bewitching man fainted in her embrace.

"A'Mo..."

At that moment, Qian Daoliu flashed over to the alley entrance and happened to see a grown man leaning against his Ling'er.

Jealousy instantly surged through him!

He strode over and grabbed the man leaning against Le Ling, lifting him away.

"Qian Daoliu, what are you doing?!"

"Put him down, now."

Le Ling anxiously tried to make him put the man down.

She could clearly see that the man called A'Mo had exhausted his spiritual power and suffered severe injuries.

She was afraid Qian Daoliu might be too rough and worsen A'Mo's injuries, which was why she stopped him!

But seeing his Ling'er defend that pretty boy so fiercely only made Qian Daoliu angrier!

Yet at that moment, something miraculous happened.

An ink-black flash appeared, and the man suddenly vanished.

Immediately afterward, an oval Ink Jade Crystal Stone the size of a goose egg appeared where the man had been standing.

"This is..."

Qian Daoliu looked at Le Ling, surprise flickering in his eyes.

Seeing the Ink Jade Crystal Stone on the ground, Le Ling hurried over and picked it up.

A'Mo had already fallen into a dormant state. She still had questions she wanted to ask him, but now she could not ask them!

With a helpless sigh, she could only place the crystal stone into her storage ring.

"Ling'er, that crystal stone couldn't be the man from just now, could it?"

Once Qian Daoliu realized what had happened, even someone as knowledgeable as him found it rather unbelievable!

"You guessed right!"

Le Ling stood up and turned to him, answering honestly. "This Ink Jade Crystal Stone is called a Space Spirit Stone, and the man you saw just now is A'Mo. He is a stone spirit nurtured by this Ink Jade Crystal Stone over thousands of years."

"The Space Spirit Stone is an inherited treasure of the Ten-tailed Spirit Emperor clan of our Five Elements Continent. It can only be entrusted to each generation's Spirit Emperor. On my birthday, my father announced that I would become the heir to the position of Spirit Emperor."

"Originally, my father was going to pass the Space Spirit Stone on to me during the succession ceremony. But just as the ceremony began, Imperial Uncle led the rebel army into the Spirit Emperor Palace. Not only did he seize the spirit stone, he also killed my father!"

"The Space Spirit Stone then fell into Imperial Uncle's hands. But he is only a Nine-tailed Heavenly Fox Spirit Cultivation King and has not yet reached ten tails, so he cannot open or control the Space Spirit Stone at all."

Qian Daoliu understood.

"So the Space Spirit Stone came looking for you on its own?"

Le Ling nodded. "Because I am my father's only bloodline heir, the Space Spirit Stone can sense my presence."

"I suspect that either A'Mo used some method to break free from Imperial Uncle's control and came to Douluo Continent to find me, while Imperial Uncle simply went along with it and controlled the Yin spirits to follow him here and carry out the pursuit."

"Or Imperial Uncle deliberately let A'Mo come find me, then controlled those fifty Yin spirits to track him here and hunt me down!"

"Unfortunately, A'Mo expended a great deal of spiritual power just getting here. Now that he has reverted to his spirit stone form and fallen dormant, otherwise we could have learned what is happening on the Five Elements Continent!"

As she finished speaking, the scene of her father's murder resurfaced in her mind.

Seeing the grief on her face, Qian Daoliu reached out and pulled her into his arms.

"Why didn't you tell me that someone was hunting you? If I hadn't accompanied you this time, how would you have faced those Yin spirits alone?"

This time, Le Ling did not push him away. Perhaps speaking of the vengeance for her father's death made her long for even that small measure of warmth.

The man cupped her face and said, "Ling'er, will you tell me whenever anything happens from now on? Even if you cannot forgive me in your heart, that does not prevent me from helping you."

Looking into his golden eyes, Le Ling nodded instinctively.

Seeing her agree, Qian Daoliu was overjoyed and lowered his head, wanting to kiss her.

"I only agreed to tell you when something happens. I never said you could kiss me!"

Le Ling raised a hand and covered his approaching thin lips.

The man pulled her hand down and smiled.

Although Ling'er still resisted his kisses, her agreeing to tell him about anything that happened was already very good progress!

"Right, what exactly are those Yin spirits?"

Qian Daoliu asked curiously, "You said they were controlled by your Imperial Uncle, but isn't your Imperial Uncle, like you, dual-attributed in light and fire?"

Le Ling explained, "My Imperial Uncle's bloodline was impure. He and my father shared the same father but had different mothers. He was cast out as a child, but later Father found him and brought him back into the family. Who would have thought that he would bite the hand that fed him, colluding with the Evil Spirit Clan to attack Spirit Emperor Palace and seize Father's position as Spirit Emperor?"

She clenched her fists tightly, her nails digging deep into her flesh. Fury nearly burst into flames from her eyes!

"The Evil Spirit Clan?"

Qian Daoliu murmured to himself.

He seemed to have heard his father mention them before, but only in passing, without any details.

Le Ling explained, "The Evil Spirit Clan cultivates using Evil Spirits as their foundation. Their power is not of the righteous path. Father and the rebel army had always been fighting against the Evil Spirit Clan. I suspect that when the Asura God came to the Five Elements Continent back then, it was to destroy the Evil Spirit Clan."

"I was still young then. I only met the Asura God once, so I didn't know much. But I remember that the rebel army only appeared after the Asura God arrived. Father and the Asura God must have reached some sort of agreement."

"Those Yin Spirits that appeared today were the Evil Spirit Clan's Yin Spirit Attendants. On the Five Elements Continent, we call Yin Spirit Attendants living dead. I suspect Imperial Uncle deliberately sent those Yin Spirits first to test us. He may make even greater moves afterward!"

Qian Daoliu pulled her into his arms again. "Ling'er, with me here, I will protect you."

Suddenly, he seemed to remember something. The wings of the Six-winged Angel unfurled from his back, and he took off into the air with her in his arms.

"Come on. I'll take you somewhere."

"Where?"

"A place you know well."

Le Ling frowned at him, but she did not struggle, allowing him to carry her away from the ground.

The two flew toward the end of the lantern festival street.

After flying for around twenty minutes, Le Ling spotted a small lake, its shore covered in dandelions swaying in the wind.

Those dandelions were somewhat different from ordinary ones. They were rather large, looking more like little saplings.

Qian Daoliu brought her down beside the lake.

"Ling'er, do you still remember this place?"

"Back then, when we came to see the lantern festival, we wandered around and ended up here. This was where I told you how I felt."

"I hadn't even finished confessing, and you had already agreed to be with me. Look how impatient you were back then!"

The man held her hand and chuckled.

"Nonsense!"

"Who... who was impatient? I wasn't!"

Le Ling refused to admit it, turning her flushed face away.

Qian Daoliu smiled and drew her into his arms. He gazed deeply into her eyes and said earnestly, "Ling'er, I know I broke the promise I made back then. I was wrong."

"But there was truly a reason for it. Can you forgive me? Now, there are no obstacles between us. We can start over."