Premonitions were a strange thing. Ninety-nine percent of the time, good ones failed to come true while bad ones did—just like now.
Xue Xing continued.
"Among the Chosen Ones who entered the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, every one who truly belonged to our Heaven Dou Empire has already died, including Imperial Brother Xue Ye. Of those remaining, Ning Rongrong of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect might stand with us, but she is more likely to remain neutral. After all, she and Dai Mubai are both members of the Shrek Seven Devils."
"Imperial Uncle, what exactly are you trying to say? Just give it to me straight."
Xue Beng was genuinely on the verge of breaking down. It was not as if he did not already know what Xue Xing was saying...
"Cough, cough. Fine, then I'll be direct. I hope Xue Ke can marry Dai Mubai and become the Crown Princess of the Star Luo Empire."
Sure enough, so that was it...
Meanwhile, seeing the result she had caused, Chu Xi nodded in satisfaction before turning to Yun Xi.
"Big Sister Yun Xi, did you see that? This is the power of our Chu Clan. If your luck is incredible enough for you to catch the eye of an Ancient Ancestor of our Chu Clan and eventually bear the child of an Immortal King, then your child's strength will be a hundred or even a thousand times greater than mine at the same age!"
At this point, even Chu Xi felt a little speechless.
Her father really was something else. How could he make an eight-year-old girl find a Dao Companion for the Ancient Ancestor? What was he thinking...
But Yun Xi was even more speechless than Chu Xi. She had truly experienced what it meant to be sitting peacefully at home when disaster fell from the sky.
A month ago, she had been cultivating properly at Heavenly God Mountain when Chu Xi descended from the heavens like a king, directly defeating the Old Venerable of the Celestial Race at Heavenly God Mountain. She had also beaten up every expert on the entire mountain, forcing Yun Xi to leave with her while claiming that she had a tremendous opportunity to offer her.
When Yun Xi refused, Chu Xi had actually threatened her with the lives of everyone on Heavenly God Mountain!
Only after leaving did she learn that Chu Xi had been seeking a Dao Companion for the Ancient Ancestor of her clan. Chu Xi had taken a liking to Yun Xi and wanted to give her to that clan's Ancient Ancestor.
Good heavens, she was only eighteen years old, yet she was supposed to marry some ancient fossil whose age she did not even know?
(I remember that when Shi Hao met Yun Xi in the original novel, Shi Hao was around eight or nine, while Yun Xi was only around twelve or thirteen. According to this novel's setting, Shi Hao was eleven at this point, so Yun Xi should theoretically have only been fifteen or sixteen, still underage. That would not do, so she was specifically changed to eighteen to avoid certain content that might get flagged.)
Besides, had her clansmen not said that experts of the Celestial Race in the Upper Realm had once issued an Imperial Edict, telling her to reach the Spirit Transformation Realm as soon as possible? They would send experts to the Lower Realm to bring her to the Upper Realm, where there was supposedly a great opportunity waiting for her.
She had reached the Spirit Transformation Realm eight years ago, yet she had never seen any experts dispatched from the Upper Realm. If those Upper Realm experts had come, perhaps she would not have been kidnapped by Chu Xi.
Could it be that the Celestial Race experts in the Upper Realm had merely played a joke on Heavenly God Mountain?
That could not be right. The Old Supreme of Heavenly God Mountain had once said that Upper Realm experts had to pay no small price to descend to the Lower Realm. Even sending information down came at a considerable cost.
Paying such a huge price just to play a joke was impossible no matter how she looked at it.
There was another strange point as well. From her birth until now, she had devoted all eighteen years to cultivation and had never left Heavenly God Mountain. Few even within Heavenly God Mountain knew her name, so how had Chu Xi learned it?
Could Chu Xi be an expert sent to the Lower Realm by the Celestial Race of the Upper Realm?
But was she not a little too young for that?
And Chu Xi called herself a member of the Chu Clan, not the Celestial Race!
The more Yun Xi thought about it, the more her mind turned to mush. No matter how she analyzed it, nothing made sense.
Of course, it was precisely because the Celestial Race had once sent down an Imperial Edict, because Chu Xi did indeed qualify as an expert, and because Chu Xi had threatened every living being on Heavenly God Mountain, that Yun Xi had no choice but to go with her.
"Big Sister Yun Xi, you're back. What were you thinking about so deeply?"
Chu Xi had originally stood with her hands on her hips, waiting for Yun Xi's praise. Over the past month, she had grown accustomed to Yun Xi praising her whenever she casually made a move. Yet this time, after waiting for so long without hearing any praise, she became a little angry and could not help urging her.
Brought back to her senses by Chu Xi's urging, Yun Xi looked at Chu Xi's expectant face, hesitated for a moment, and asked.
"Alright, alright, I know. This is the power of your Chu Clan. But tell me, Xiao Xi, how did you know about me?"
Chu Xi had been happy at Yun Xi's praise, but upon hearing the latter half of her question, her little face fell.
"I heard it from Grandfather. It seems that ten thousand years ago, Grandfather led people into the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands once. He happened to pass by the Celestial Race there, and he also happened to hear that the Celestial Race possessed extraordinary bearing and were generally exceptionally beautiful. So Grandfather issued an Imperial Edict demanding that ten thousand years later, which was this year, the Celestial Race select one hundred of their most beautiful and talented young women and send them to our Immortal King Chu Clan's headquarters in the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands."
"When I came to the Lower Realm, the Old Celestial Human of the Celestial Race happened to be taking the first group of Celestial Race members back to report to the Old Ancestor currently overseeing the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands. He happened to mention that there was a Celestial Race descendant like you in the Lower Realm, and praised you as unmatched beneath the heavens and one of a kind on earth. So I remembered your name and planned to see you with my own eyes when I came to the Lower Realm."
As she spoke, Chu Xi's beautiful eyes continuously swept up and down Yun Xi's body, making Yun Xi unconsciously tighten her clothes.
"Honestly, Big Sister Yun Xi, you're so beautiful. You're prettier than so many people. Even within our Immortal King Chu Clan, there are only a few who can compare to you in appearance. If you became the Ancient Ancestor's Dao Companion, I doubt anyone would object, right?"
Yun Xi: ...
What was all this? Why did it sound more and more as if she had been sold off?
"Oh, Big Sister Yun Xi, don't feel like you've been sold. Whether you can even be chosen is another matter. I heard that all the Eternal Life Clans of the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands submitted lists. The competition is fierce."
As she spoke, Chu Xi seemed to think of something. Her little mouth drooped, and she asked pitifully.
"Big Sister Yun Xi, do you think the character Xi is really common?"
Yun Xi stared blankly at Chu Xi, completely unable to understand how Chu Xi had made that leap...
"Why do you ask?"
"Because I heard that the person submitted by the Eternal Life Wang Clan is called Wang Xi. I'm called Chu Xi, and Big Sister Yun Xi, you're called Yun Xi. We're all Xi..."
Yun Xi: ...
She really was just a child...
Before you continue