Princess Mingyue

Corpse Eating Worms lived by feeding on the rotten flesh of zombies, but they could not gnaw through the skin and flesh of high-level undead like Silver Corpses—unless...

Qi Bei had no time to think. He suddenly spun around and leaped beneath the Corpse Eating Worm nest, and at that very instant, the Silver Corpse's attack followed.

For some reason, Qi Bei's movements slowed by half a beat. He lost his balance while dodging the attack and fell to the ground, but the Silver Corpse smashed the Corpse Eating Worm nest to pieces, and countless finger-sized black Corpse Eating Worms came pouring out.

The Silver Corpse paid no attention to the Corpse Eating Worms. It pounced at Qi Bei like lightning, opened its foul-smelling maw, and bit toward his throat.

This was exactly what Qi Bei had been waiting for. The Bone Spear in his right hand shone with a faint golden light as he violently thrust it into the creature's mouth. One had to know that when zombies attacked at close range, they did not use their claws first, but their fangs.

Streams of foul-smelling black liquid flowed from the zombie's huge mouth, covering Qi Bei's face and body, but he had no time to care.

A zombie could not be killed unless its head was chopped off. Qi Bei's attack had only injured the Silver Corpse; it could not kill it.

However, the fact that Qi Bei could not kill it did not mean that these enraged Corpse Eating Worms could not.

One Corpse Eating Worm after another crawled into the Silver Corpse's huge mouth. The Bone Spear had jammed its mouth open, making it completely unable to close.

Although the Silver Corpse's exterior was as hard as iron, its insides were no different from those of other zombies.

In the blink of an eye, both the Silver Corpse and Qi Bei were covered by Corpse Eating Worms.

The Silver Corpse struggled a few times at first, but soon lay motionless. Apart from its skin and bones, its internal organs and brain had all been gnawed away.

At this point, the Corpse Eating Worms began to scatter. They needed to rebuild their destroyed nest.

Qi Bei lay motionless with his eyes closed. Suddenly, several Corpse Eating Worms crawled out of his nostrils, and then several more emerged from his ears.

"Whew."

Qi Bei exhaled a long breath of foul air. The places in his mouth and esophagus where the Corpse Eating Worms had crawled began to itch and go numb. He was a living person, and Corpse Eating Worms did not eat living flesh and blood. Thus, after crawling around inside him, they sensed his fresh flesh and crawled back out.

Qi Bei pushed aside the Silver Corpse's empty framework. His face had already begun to turn green, and his lips were turning purple. Speaking of which, he had to thank the Corpse Eating Worms not only for gnawing the Silver Corpse hollow, but also for eating away the flesh that had been corroded around his wounds. Otherwise, the area of corrosion would have been even larger.

"I hope these lower-level Undead Beads will work. Otherwise, I'll be the Corpse Eating Worms' dinner." Qi Bei sat up with a bitter smile and took out several Undead Beads, placing them against his wounds.

Undead Beads were not merely energy beads. They also had one major function: absorbing corpse poison.

After a while, Qi Bei frowned. He had truly guessed correctly—the Silver Corpse's poison was too potent, and these blue Undead Beads had limited effect.

Qi Bei swept his gaze around. Fortunately, there were no undead nearby. However, undead wandered about without consciousness, and another one might pass by after a while.

Finally, Qi Bei's gaze fixed on the Silver Corpse beside him. He yanked it over, pried open its huge mouth, and shook it vigorously downward.

A silver bead fell from its mouth, radiating a cold silver glow.

"Ha, Heaven hasn't abandoned me." Qi Bei laughed. He had escaped another calamity.

The capital of the Golden Leaf Dynasty had eighteen main roads, each ten zhang wide. Like eighteen arteries, they crisscrossed and ran through the entire capital.

Among them, Golden Leaf First Avenue was the Imperial Road, running straight to the Imperial Palace. A row of offices for the various central departments of the dynasty stood on its left, while the residences of the dynasty's core ministers stood on its right.

The Imperial Palace had eighteen main halls and one hundred eighty palace compounds. The beloved Princess Mingyue lived in Sleeping Moon Palace.

The turmoil caused by that undead mage eight months ago had gradually subsided, but Sleeping Moon Palace remained heavily guarded inside and out.

The rear garden of Sleeping Moon Palace was filled with exotic flowers competing in beauty, their fragrance assailing the senses.

The tinkling notes of a zither flowed like water and filled Sleeping Moon Palace, leaving people unable to help becoming intoxicated.

Inside Listening to Rain Pavilion, Princess Mingyue sat upright before a seven-string zither in a silver-white gown. Her slender fingers were like elves dancing across the strings, and the music poured from beneath them, flowing into a great river.

A snow-white animal resembling a small dog ran and played among the flowers to the sound of the zither. It was incredibly adorable.

After a long while, Princess Mingyue lowered her hands, and the zither's lingering notes slowly scattered away. She gazed up at the sky, the sharp and proud light in her beautiful eyes forming a stark contrast with her tranquil expression.

At that moment, a streak of white light shot over like lightning. It was the little dog playing among the flowers, and its speed was terrifyingly fast.

"Mingyue, you have ravines in your heart and a million elite soldiers hidden in your breast." Suddenly, a dignified, resonant voice sounded behind Princess Mingyue. Emperor Hanmos, dressed in a golden robe embroidered with a hundred beasts, had appeared without anyone noticing.

The little dog in Princess Mingyue's arms suddenly sprang up. Electric light flashed through its transparent eyes, and a bolt of purple lightning instantly struck toward the dignified Emperor Hanmos.

Emperor Hanmos did not even twitch an eyelid. Several meters away from him, the purple lightning seemed to strike an invisible wall of air and dissolved into nothingness.

"Unicorn Cubs really are protective of their masters. Worthy of being a seventh-grade Magic Beast. Katie must have paid a huge price to take you as her disciple." Hanmos burst into hearty laughter.

Princess Mingyue turned around and stroked the Unicorn Cub's smooth, satin-like fur. Her cherry lips curled slightly as she said, "Is Father Emperor jealous? I heard that Father Emperor once pursued Master, only to be thoroughly rebuffed."

"Ahem."

Emperor Hanmos coughed twice and immediately changed the subject. "Mingyue, did Katie say when she would take you to Tongtian Mountain?"

"Probably in another six months or so. Master said she had to go handle something." Princess Mingyue spoke indifferently, but yearning and anticipation showed in her tone.

Tongtian Mountain, one of the Five Great Holy Lands, was paradise for mages.

"Six months. The Nord Family should have calmed down by then, right?" Hanmos said.

At the mention of the Nord Family, Princess Mingyue's delicate brows creased slightly, as though she had thought of something unpleasant.

"Mingyue, are you still blaming your father for promising to marry you to Qi Bei Nord?" Hanmos asked.

"Father Emperor, although Qi Bei saved my life, I don't like this." At the thought of Qi Bei Nord's lovestruck grin, Princess Mingyue felt a burst of displeasure.

"Qi Bei Nord has been missing in the Undead Mountain Range for eight months. The undead mage who took him along couldn't have held out for long. Once the undead mage died, that good-for-nothing Qi Bei Nord could never survive. By now, he has probably already turned to dust. But if I didn't put on this show, I couldn't pacify the Nord Family. My plans are still underway. Since I can't crush the Nord Family in one stroke, I can only endure for now. In any case, we've endured for eight hundred years already." Flames blazed in Emperor Hanmos's eyes. He did not hate the Nord Family. On the contrary, the Golden Leaf Dynasty owed its current prosperity in no small part to them. But their authority was too great—great enough to leave every emperor unable to eat or sleep in peace.

"What if he comes back?" Princess Mingyue sighed. She knew of her father's grand ambitions. The Golden Leaf Dynasty was currently enjoying an unprecedented period of stability. The Beastman Empire to the west had split apart, and its civil war had continued for thirty years. The Saint Ana Alliance to the south had only recently been established and could not yet threaten the Golden Leaf Dynasty. To the east, the ambitious Goths were held outside the gates by the Golden Fortress, which had taken over five hundred years to build. This was the perfect time to reorganize the dynasty's interior.

"Mingyue, you think far too highly of that good-for-nothing. Hahaha." Hanmos laughed loudly. If Qi Bei Nord could kill his way out of the Undead Mountain Range alone, wouldn't that mean even an apprentice mage could instantly kill a King-grade mage?

Princess Mingyue smiled faintly as well. The possibility she had mentioned truly did not mean much.

"Father Emperor, is that old tiger of the Nord Family still making trouble around the Undead Mountain Range?" Princess Mingyue was referring to Qi Bei Nord's full elder brother, Huai'an Nord. At eight, he had been able to tear a fierce tiger apart with his bare hands. At ten, he had become a true junior warrior, and by twenty, he was already an advanced warrior. He was a genuine genius. His temper was fiery, but he was shrewd beneath his rough exterior, and people called him the Nord Tiger.

"Huai'an Nord can truly be considered a figure among the capital's younger generation. He and his good-for-nothing younger brother share the same mother and are deeply attached to each other. Even after eight months, he still refuses to give up searching... Mingyue, why did you suddenly mention him for no reason? Could it be that you've taken a fancy to him?" Hanmos joked. When he mentioned Huai'an Nord, undisguised admiration and regret colored his voice.

Princess Mingyue smiled faintly, but the pride in her eyes already made her attitude clear. In this capital, there was no outstanding young man worthy of her regard—especially since she was about to go to Tongtian Mountain and become a disciple of a Holy Land.

"Father Emperor, I heard that tiger is engaged to the eldest daughter of the Feng Family. Ruixue seems rather heartbroken." Princess Mingyue spoke with deliberate implication. Ruixue was the Eighth Princess and had always been enamored with Huai'an Nord.

"Hmm..." A deep light flickered in Emperor Hanmos's eyes as he fell into thought.