Southern Border Demon Territory.
Ten Thousand Demon Mountain.
Deep in a valley shrouded in sinister mist, the ground rumbled and shook.
Beneath it, a peerless fiend seemed to be struggling desperately to emerge. Faintly, the sound of ancient chains rang across the void...
Seven mighty auras of Body Integration Realm demons rose like columns of smoke, joining forces to activate an ancient formation and suppress the thing underground!
Whoosh!
A streak of snow-white light shot in and landed on an ancient formation platform.
It was Bai Bingyan!
She formed hand seals and cast a spell, taking her place at the heart of the formation. She even forced out some of her blood essence, drew a strange talisman, and sent it down below.
Boom!
The formation's power surged, pinning the peerless fiend so completely that it could no longer move. All fell quiet.
"Bing Yan is back?"
"Seventh Princess, it seems your Nine Yin Cold Meridians have been completely suppressed! What wonderful news!"
"Good thing Little Seven returned. Otherwise, we old fellows might not have been able to keep it down!"
Seven powerful demon auras swept over and took the forms of five men and two women.
Not one of them was young. Each was among the foremost great demons of the Southern Border Demon Race.
Bai Bingyan knew all seven well, and they began chatting happily.
Just then, a streak of blue light flew in from afar and landed before Bai Bingyan. It was a gentle-looking middle-aged man.
His aura was calm and untroubled, like a clear spring or a passing breeze.
"Father!"
Bai Bingyan called out, tears glistening faintly in her beautiful eyes.
Hua Lingtian said softly, "Little Seven, I've heard what happened. No matter what, I'll stand by you..."
"It's just that my words carry little weight in Qingqiu. The power ultimately rests with your mother. All I can do is pass along news and help where I can!"
"Thank you, Father! How are things here in the Southern Border?" Bai Bingyan asked.
Hua Lingtian replied, "Your mother went to Worry-Free Valley, likely to consult your aunt. I heard Diao Zhenxiao drank all day, then flew off to Central Province. The Dark Lightning Purple Eagle King Clan sent experts after him..."
Bai Bingyan nodded and said with a trace of worry, "That brainless fool Diao Zhenxiao is no threat! The one I'm most worried about is Shi Batian of the Fearless Lion Clan. He's cunning and ruthless. I fear he'll harm my husband!"
"What? Little Seven, you have a husband?"
The seven great demons were stunned and hurriedly pressed her for details.
Bai Bingyan gave them a rough account, then pleaded with Hua Lingtian to help Chen Xuan.
"I will! You just stay here and keep the ancient formation steady!"
That was Hua Lingtian's answer, though a faint disappointment flashed in his eyes.
Bai Bingyan was the only true Nine-Tailed White Fox born in three thousand years. All of Qingqiu had placed its hopes on her, yet she had chosen a former Human Race prodigy who had now become a cripple...
Without question, this brought shame upon the entire Southern Border Demon Race.
In truth, Hua Lingtian was unhappy when he heard the news. He only agreed to help because he loved his daughter.
"Father, I know none of you approve of the husband I chose! It isn't just because humans and demons walk different paths. More than anything, you think he's a cripple!"
"Once Mu Yun Sanxian's Apprentice Ceremony ends tomorrow, you'll know my Brother Xuan isn't useless. He's a peerless prodigy!"
Bai Bingyan spoke with absolute confidence, her beautiful eyes shining with pride.
"What?"
Hua Lingtian and the others exchanged bewildered looks!
In a valley of lovely scenery and abundant spiritual energy.
White apes offered fruit, while spirit rabbits vanished into hiding.
A woman in a snow-white gauze dress appeared, walking barefoot atop the waves of a long river. The Jade Bell at her ankle chimed with every step.
Her features were exquisitely beautiful, her bearing like poetry and painting. She seemed at once an immortal untouched by the mortal world and a beauty who had fallen into its dust, ethereal and seductive in equal measure.
She was Bai Yaowu, leader of the Qingqiu Nine-Tailed White Fox Clan!
"Sister, come out and talk!"
As Bai Yaowu parted her lips, a white cloud flew in from afar. It was an enormous cloud bed.
An exquisitely beautiful woman in white reclined languidly upon it.
Her skin was smooth as cream, her brows curved like crescent moons. With skin like ice and jade, she had the cool, distant air of the Guanghan Fairy in the moon palace.
At her arrival, even the world seemed to grow purer, suffused with an air of sanctity.
Bai Yaowu said, "Bai Qian, go to Central Province and see whether this Chen Xuan is worthy of Bing Yan!"
"Why me? Sister, you know how lazy I am..." Bai Qian replied languidly.
Bai Yaowu's brows drew together. "Things at Ten Thousand Demon Mountain are tense. If Bing Yan's matter isn't handled properly, the consequences could be unimaginable! You're her aunt. It's only right that you go!"
"Diao Zhenxiao is already on his way. Shi Batian and the other prodigies who adore Bing Yan won't let this go either..."
But Bai Qian merely poured herself a cup of fine wine, took a small sip, and said nothing.
At a loss, Bai Yaowu sent her a voice transmission. "Bing Yan is pregnant! And she says Chen Xuan possesses the supreme True Dragon Bloodline of a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon. He's a hidden dragon in the depths, not a cripple!"
"What?"
Bai Qian was startled, her beautiful face changing at once!
After a moment's thought, she nodded. "Sister, I'll go to Central Province and hold the Demon Race factions in check!"
"Thanks for the effort!"
With those words, Bai Yaowu turned and left.
"Bing Yan is only twenty, isn't she? And she's already pregnant?... Your aunt has cultivated for a hundred years and is still a virgin..."
Murmuring to herself, Bai Qian formed a hand seal and began to divine.
Her skill in divination ranked among the best in the entire Southern Border Demon Race.
A moment later.
Clatter!
The wine cup trembled in Bai Qian's hand and fell onto the cloud bed.
Wine spilled over her collar, a few drops even catching on the snowy curves of her breasts and glimmering like crystals... a lovely sight!
But Bai Qian paid it no heed.
Her soft lips slowly parted...
Panic, bewilderment, and disbelief flashed through her clear, glasslike eyes!
"My Love Tribulation, the one that's kept me at the peak of the Body Integration Realm and barred me from the Tribulation Realm... How could it fall on Chen Xuan? Am I supposed to share a husband with Bing Yan?"
Bai Qian, usually so serene, began to breathe rapidly!
Then, all at once.
A sharp glint appeared in her beautiful eyes!
Bai Qian murmured, "Killing him... would also let me pass this Love Tribulation! To embrace love or sever it... What a difficult choice!"
The Mu Yun Mountain Range stretched for thousands of miles.
Its scenery was beautiful, and the renowned Seven Towers rose among its peaks, standing guard around Mu Yun Immortal Palace. It was the only sacred land of the righteous path in Central Province!
At dusk.
A vast Sword Dragon cut across the sky and arrived near the Mu Yun Mountain Range.
Aboard it, the people of the Vast Sword Sect gazed ahead, their hearts surging with excitement!
An event as grand as the Apprentice Ceremony was worth looking forward to!
Ji Wushuang's eyes blazed as he threw back his head and proudly recited, "A spark of noble spirit fills my breast; for a thousand miles, the wind blows free! Today I ride a dragon to Mu Yun; for a hundred years, I'll laugh in triumph at the Immortal Palace!"
"What a fine poem!"
"Saint Son Ji is a genius blessed by heaven! He's sure to claim first place and become Mu Yun Sanxian's heir!"
"With Saint Son Ji among us, what could stop the Vast Sword Sect from becoming the foremost sect of the righteous path?"
The Vast Sword Sect members applauded and praised him one after another.
Li Yinglian nodded in satisfaction.
Ji Yaoyue's voluptuous figure trembled with delight, and she could not stop smiling!
The Nine Sects and Thirteen Schools had no shortage of prodigies, but who among them could compare with her beloved son?
In one corner of the Sword Dragon sat Chen Xuan, so forlorn he might as well have been invisible.
No one noticed the fierce, overbearing pride in his eyes as he looked toward the faintly visible Mu Yun Immortal Palace!
The Apprentice Ceremony?
I, Chen Xuan, have arrived!!!
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