"Young Master Cheng? You've finally arrived."
At the sight of him, the King of the Great Zhou Kingdom couldn't help lighting up.
The Northern Region Cheng Family was a truly great aristocratic clan, and the power behind the Great Zhou Kingdom.
"Wasn't this supposed to be an engagement banquet? How did it turn into a fight?"
"Did they arrange this especially because I'm here?"
"Still, it's quite interesting."
Cheng Yushu glanced at the three people fighting, his heart filled with curiosity.
After all, Youth in the fight didn't look much younger than him. How could his combat strength be so formidable?
Cheng Yushu thought highly of himself and believed there were few among the younger generation in the Northern Domain who could match him.
But after seeing Chen Yunxuan, he couldn't help feeling somewhat ashamed of himself.
After all, at Chen Yunxuan's age, he couldn't have taken on two Transcendence Realm Ninth Layer Peak experts.
What's more, when he was in his teens, he hadn't even broken through to the Transcendence Realm First Layer!
"Uncle Liu, tell me, will Youth win?" Cheng Yushu asked with a smile.
The old man behind Cheng Yushu shook his head at the question.
"Youth has a fierce, forceful aura. His moves are domineering and powerful."
"But he doesn't seem to have much combat experience. That's one weakness."
"His cultivation technique, however, is surely no ordinary thing."
"For now, it's hard to tell who will win or lose. But the longer the fight goes on, the worse it is for Youth. Once his strength gives out, he'll lose." After watching for a while, Uncle Liu shared his assessment.
"Mm, that's about what I thought, too."
Cheng Yushu nodded, then turned to the King of the Great Zhou Kingdom and asked, "An enemy?"
"That's right. This man is called Chen Yunxuan, a descendant of the Chen Family."
"Young Master Cheng, will he really lose?" the King of the Great Zhou Kingdom asked with some worry.
"Since Uncle Liu says he will, there probably won't be any problem."
"In that case, I can relax."
"Young Master Cheng, please take the seat of honor."
Although everyone's attention was fixed on Chen Yunxuan and the other two, some people still noticed Cheng Yushu's arrival.
"Who is that? Do you know?"
"I'm not sure. In the Great Zhou Kingdom, who could make the King so deferential?"
"Look at where he's sitting!"
"This... Even the two Grand Elders of the Shangqing Sect are seated below him? Just who is this man, to have such a high standing?"
"Do you think the King knew from the start that people from the Chen Family would come and cause trouble, and invited reinforcements in advance?"
"Don't talk nonsense. Even if he knew, would the King be afraid of the Chen Family? Besides, who could've known the Chen Family would have such a Prodigy?"
"True. Then who is this man?"
Everyone was curious about Cheng Yushu's identity, but after only a few murmured exchanges, they turned their attention back to the fight.
Meanwhile, inside the palace, Chen Changan and Da Huang were searching everywhere for the Fetal Pearl.
"Can you even find it or not?"
"How long has it been? Aren't you worried that kid Chen Yunxuan will get killed?"
After searching for ages without finding anything, Da Huang was getting impatient.
"If he dies, that's his fate."
"Besides, the Chen Family has plenty of people. If he dies, they can just raise another one," Chen Changan said unconcernedly.
"Damn, you're even more of a beast than I am. No, wait, I'm not a beast. I'm a Divine Beast."
"Are you really not worried about that kid at all?" Da Huang asked curiously.
"If he wants to grow, he has to face all kinds of hardship. If he can't even handle a little Great Zhou Kingdom, how's he going to venture out into the world?"
"Can you help me look for the Fetal Pearl instead of worrying about useless things?"
Chen Changan was getting a headache, too. Was the Fetal Pearl really in the hands of the Imperial Family? He'd been searching for so long, yet hadn't found a thing.
"I told you, this thing has no aura. I can't sense it at all."
"If you want to find it, you'll have to rely on yourself. The most I can do is conceal your aura so no one discovers you."
"This is ridiculous. We've already searched every treasury in the palace."
"Could it no longer be in the hands of the Imperial Family?"
After all, the Imperial Family had had the thing for quite a few years. It wasn't impossible that it was gone.
"Isn't there something you're curious about?" Da Huang suddenly asked.
"What?"
"What use does the Imperial Family have for this thing?"
What use?
Right. It seemed the Fetal Pearl was of no use to anyone else. Aside from Chen Changan, no one could fuse with it.
So what had they taken it for?
As they pondered, the man and dog suddenly looked at each other.
"Heh heh heh!"
Da Huang couldn't help snickering. Chen Changan shot him a glare.
"What the hell are you glaring at me for? I'm not a member of your Chen Family." Da Huang looked at Chen Changan with scorn.
"Damn those unworthy descendants!"
"Good-for-nothings!"
"Isn't that normal? So many generations have passed in your Chen Family."
"Over that time, it's perfectly normal for a few good-for-nothings to show up. Not everyone can be like Chen Zhengyuan."
"Otherwise, your Chen Family wouldn't have lost eight of its nine Fetal Pearls." Da Huang sounded as if he were consoling him, but his tone brimmed with mockery.
Chen Changan had actually been screwed over by his own descendants. It was a real delight!
Faced with Da Huang's ridicule, Chen Changan could only accept it. There was no avoiding it.
Ten thousand years—an entire ten thousand years. Chen Changan had no idea what the Chen Family had done before to lose the Fetal Pearls.
But as for the one lost in the Great Zhou Kingdom, he had already pieced together some clues.
The Chen Family had fallen into decline and desperately needed to find a place to put down roots, so they chose the Great Zhou Kingdom.
As newcomers, they naturally had to cultivate connections in every direction, and the Imperial Family was an essential link.
The Chen Family probably didn't have many things they could use to build connections. What was the most precious thing they had?
The Fetal Pearl!
It was, after all, a treasure passed down for nearly ten thousand years. Just saying that would be enough to impress people.
And the Fetal Pearl was crystal clear and beautiful, with no aura at all, impossible to detect.
Anyone who saw it would immediately think it was a treasure and that its use deserved careful study.
The Chen Family had definitely given the Fetal Pearl to the Imperial Family themselves back then.
"At first, something like this might have piqued the Imperial Family's interest."
"But as time passed and they couldn't figure it out, it would have become useless."
"What would they do with a beautiful but useless object?"
"A crown. A queen's crown!"
"Damn it. What rotten luck!"
When Chen Changan thought that his Fetal Pearl might really have been set into a crown or a queen's crown, he felt uncomfortable all over.
But that was only one possibility. Maybe it wasn't there.
"So what are you planning to do now?" Da Huang asked.
"Mm... There are plenty of women in this palace."
"Why don't we... heh heh, go pay them a visit first?" Chen Changan said with a mischievous grin.
"Heh heh heh, I like that."
"Let's go!"
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