Her Good Name, Ruined

Long before releasing the Soul Origin Golden Dou, Lady Bixiao and the others had already communicated with Yang Jian, the Nine Heavens Profound Maiden, and the Nine Nether Pure Maiden, coordinating their efforts to build up the spectacle and use the treasure to identify the Qi Cultivators in the crowd.

The process had two main steps. The first was to frighten them with a bluff: pretend they were going to refine everyone, prompting those with cultivation to believe it and use their Magic Power to flee.

This first step had already met with some success. The Nine-headed Pheasant Demon had revealed her whereabouts because of it.

If any had slipped through the net during the first step, then once they were sucked into the Soul Origin Golden Dou, they would surely react somehow, not knowing whether they were alive or dead, and try to escape. This would expose anyone who had been missed.

Lady Bixiao was now carrying out the second step.

Since the first step had failed to identify anyone, she concluded that the thief who had stolen the treasure must have been sucked into the Soul Origin Golden Dou.

The young man had directly accused Di Xin, on the grounds that he had not cried.

Lady Bixiao found the accusation both absurd and amusing.

"You're certain the others showed no unusual behavior? And that they all cried?" she asked, seeking confirmation.

The young man nodded firmly. "Everyone else reacted as you'd expect. They cried, or made a fuss, or instantly broke down. Only he remained completely calm. Everyone here can vouch for that..."

As he spoke, the young man suddenly sank to the ground in a strange way, inexplicably sprawled flat as though something heavy were pressing down on him. He tried to get up, but couldn't.

Lady Bixiao kept her gaze on him. After watching for a moment, she withdrew her Magic Power.

She had just secretly used her Magic Power to test him. If he possessed Magic Power, he would have reacted instinctively when caught off guard.

After all, it was common for a thief to cry out, "Stop, thief!"

But after testing him, she found that he really was just an ordinary mortal, with no Magic Power at all.

Only then did Lady Bixiao turn to Di Xin. "Why didn't you cry?"

"Hmph... You think you can do whatever you want just because your powers are divine? I, Di Xin, ruler of Yin Shang, was inexplicably sucked into your magical treasure, and now you ask why I didn't cry? Do you take me for a three-year-old child? Must I cry?"

Di Xin looked up at the people above him, his expression darkening as he challenged them with righteous indignation.

Normally, he might have chosen to keep a low profile and bluff his way through. But just moments ago, he had received a system quest with two choices. The first was to swallow his anger and submit.

The second was to speak out with righteous indignation and say exactly what he had just said.

The system's reward for the first choice was the Immortal Beast Azure Ox. The reward for the second was a Spirit Pill worth ten years of cultivation.

Di Xin naturally chose the second option with practiced ease.

"King Zhou?"

Hearing Di Xin's claim, everyone looked at him in surprise.

King Zhou lived deep within the palace and rarely appeared in public. Few of the city's people had ever seen his face, and the Three Ladies of the Auspicious Clouds, the Nine Heavens Profound Maiden, and the Nine Nether Pure Maiden did not recognize him either.

They had not expected King Zhou to appear here, much less to be sucked into Lady Bixiao's Soul Origin Golden Dou.

"Nonsense! How dare you impersonate King Zhou!" Lady Bixiao's expression shifted. Then she gave a cold snort and silently pressed her Magic Power down on Di Xin.

In an instant, Di Xin felt as though a mountain had come crashing down on him. He glared at the many Qi Cultivators in the sky and strained to straighten his back. "You're trying to ambush me..."

Before he could finish, he fell to the ground with a thud, sprawled out and struggling.

"You're trying to ambush me... I am the Human Emperor..."

He kept shouting, but inwardly Di Xin felt relieved. Fortunately, the young man had taken the first hit and warned him. When the pressure came, Di Xin had resisted it only with his physical strength.

Without that warning, if he had fought back with all his might against the pressure of her Magic Power, he might have exposed the fact that he possessed Magic Power.

Lady Bixiao withdrew her Magic Power without changing expression. She did not even glance at Di Xin, acting as though nothing had happened.

"Great King Di Xin, since you are the Human Emperor and ruler of Yin Shang, why have you come out onto this street?" Zhao Gongming asked thoughtfully.

Di Xin was tall and imposing, with an air unlike that of an ordinary citizen. In Chaoge, no one would dare impersonate the Great King.

They would surely be found out.

"Am I not allowed to make an incognito visit?" Di Xin slowly got to his feet and raised his chin. He still seemed to be seething.

"An incognito visit?"

Zhao Gongming looked pensive. His gaze settled on the young palace maid beside Di Xin, and he pointed at her. "Did your Great King truly come out on an incognito visit? If you tell even a single lie, I'll refine you to ashes."

Terrified out of her wits by Zhao Gongming's words, Gun Juan dropped to her knees in the street with a thud. Trembling, she said, "Immortal, the Great King didn't come out on an incognito visit. He came out to meet with me in secret. I used to be a palace maid serving the queen. I spent the night with the Great King yesterday, and when the queen found out, she drove me out of the Royal Palace. The Great King couldn't bear to part with me, so he sneaked out to find me. Every word I've said is true. Please see for yourself, Immortal..."

Di Xin's face filled with anger. He planted his foot on Gun Juan's shoulder, then shoved her to the ground with a kick and shouted, "You spineless wretch! You've ruined my good name!"

"Good name?"

The Nine Heavens Profound Maiden gave a scornful laugh.

The palace maid had made the situation perfectly clear. No matter how much Di Xin tried to save face, there was no undoing it.

She and the Nine Nether Pure Maiden knew all about King Zhou's many misdeeds, including the poem he had written at Nuwa Palace.

He was simply a lecher. Getting involved with a palace maid was nothing out of the ordinary.

At the sound of that mocking laugh, Gun Juan, still shaken with fear, suddenly came to her senses. She realized she might have angered the Great King again. Without caring how many people were watching, she scrambled over to Di Xin, wrapped her arms around his leg, and pleaded miserably, "Great King, it was my fault. I didn't mean to. I didn't mean what I said earlier, either. I only spoke out of deep love and concern. Please don't be angry..."

Inside the Soul Origin Golden Dou, Gun Juan had cursed Di Xin thoroughly. She had thought she was about to be refined to ashes, so she had held nothing back. Now she had survived and made it out alive, and she still had to rely on the Great King.

She regretted it bitterly and begged him desperately.

"Get lost..."

Di Xin pointed into the distance and shouted.

"Great King, call me Juan. Don't call me Gun."

Gun Juan pretended not to understand and stubbornly refused to leave, clinging tightly to Di Xin's leg.

Many of the people around them watched with varied expressions. Whatever else could be said, the Great King had become famous in a single day. Everyone here would remember him.

"Someone, drive her out of Chaoge City. Don't let her set foot inside again!"

Just then, Di Xin saw a group of Imperial Guards arrive nearby. He hurriedly waved them over.