Jiang Ce was utterly baffled.
According to the timeline, the Silver Dragon King should have been asleep in the Lake of Life in the Star Dou Great Forest.
Why had Na'er's avatar appeared here?
Venom tendrils reached into the girl's sea of consciousness and read her memories.
Empty.
Aside from the most basic survival instincts, there was nothing.
As expected, she had sealed her memories.
He split off a mass of venom from Yan Lingji and instantly wrapped it around the girl's entire body.
The venom symbiote on Yan Lingji lost half its age, dropping from twelve thousand seven hundred years to six thousand three hundred years.
The venom devoured the girl's clothes, replacing them with a layer of black bodysuit. A gorgeous dress appeared over it.
Na'er opened her eyes and stood up.
Jiang Ce controlled her body and tested its limbs.
"Another mount in the bag."
Yan Lingji took back control of her body, reached out to touch Na'er's cheek, then slowly traced her fingers along the other girl's graceful curves.
"But, Master, is there anything special about her? You wouldn't just take anyone as a mount."
"If she weren't a child of destiny, I wouldn't take her as a mount."
Jiang Ce controlled Na'er's hand and patted Yan Lingji's ample breasts. In an instant, Three Thousand Lightning Movement.
"So that means this servant and Sister Xiaomeng are both children of destiny?"
"Of course. In your original worlds, you were both children of destiny, bearing great fortune."
Xiaomeng spoke calmly.
"Daoism speaks of 'fortune' and 'fate.' Those favored by destiny have fortune on their side, and their cultivation becomes twice as effective."
"Of course, when fortune turns in your favor, all the world lends a hand."
"Then is this young lady also a child of destiny?"
"She has an even greater origin."
Jiang Ce explained briefly:
The Dragon God had once ruled the Soul Beasts. After falling in a war with the Divine Realm, the Dragon God split into the Golden Dragon King and the Silver Dragon King.
At the height of her power, the Silver Dragon King had strength on the level of a god king. She was the true ruler of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Yan Lingji and Xiaomeng were both stunned.
"Then why is she here?"
"Her memories are sealed, so I can't read them for now," Jiang Ce said. "My age is nowhere near hers, and the gap between our spiritual powers is too great. Unless she unlocks her memories herself, I can't do anything."
"But since I've run into her, I'm taking this mount."
"Let's go to the Duke's Mansion."
Venom surged behind Na'er, forming black wings. She shot into the night sky.
Yan Lingji and Xiaomeng exchanged a glance, then hurried after her.
The Duke's Mansion, council chamber.
A dozen people sat along the sides of a long table—the duke, Xue Lingshan, and several of the most powerful marquises and earls in the Heaven Dou Empire.
Fine food and wine covered the table, and candles blazed brightly.
"It's been over a month since the Fierce Tiger Mercenary Group was wiped out. Have we still not found the culprit?"
Xue Lingshan's face was dark.
"Spirit Hall is getting suspicious. Last month, someone spotted our transport team near the edge of Sunset Forest."
"Supplies for the Dark Blood Alliance have run out, and several branches below us keep pressing for more."
A marquis set down his wineglass and sneered. "What's there to fear? Spirit Hall is investigating Evil Soul Masters. They'll never trace it back to us."
"If we don't have enough materials, just snatch more people from the slums in our territory. Nobody cares if those commoners die."
"Exactly. Hundreds go missing every year, and the authorities never investigate."
"We need to gather this batch before next month's sacrifice. The big shots above are waiting for it."
"Your Grace, how many should we take this time?"
Xue Lingshan took a sip of wine and said flatly, "A thousand. Take the old, the young, women, and children. Prioritize the little ones."
"Yes."
"Also, seal the road leading to the Star Dou Great Forest. People from the Dark Blood Alliance have been coming and going too often lately. We don't want anyone watching us."
"Rest assured, sir. Only our people know that road."
The dozen men chatted and laughed, their voices casual, as if they were discussing livestock rather than human lives.
Bang!
The council chamber doors exploded, sending splinters flying.
Several slender figures walked in gracefully.
Na'er led the way. Jiang Ce controlled her body and clapped slowly.
"Just as expected of beasts."
"You can discuss something like this as if it were perfectly reasonable."
The nobles around the table froze.
Their greedy gazes swept over the women—their figures, their looks, their bearing. Any one of them was a peerless beauty.
But they quickly came to their senses.
"Guards! Someone, come!"
Xue Lingshan roared. Seven Soul Rings rose from his body—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black.
A Seven-Ring Soul Sage.
The other nobles released their Martial Souls as well.
The three marquises were Six-Ring Soul Emperors, the five earls were Five-Ring Soul Kings, and even the remaining viscounts and barons were Four-Ring Soul Ancestors.
Soul Rings of every color glimmered as Beast Martial Souls covered their bodies and weapon-type Martial Souls appeared in their hands.
But it was no use.
Yan Lingji's main body and two avatars vanished at once.
A flash of swordlight cut through the air. Before the three marquises could release their Soul Skills, venomous swords had severed their arms.
Another sword's back sent two earls flying into a stone pillar, smashing it to pieces.
Xiaomeng raised a hand. Colorless World engulfed the chamber, slowing every noble's movements dozens of times over.
Yan Lingji's avatar darted back and forth, smashing the hilt of her sword into the back of Xue Lingshan's head and knocking him face-first to the floor.
In less than five breaths,
every one of the dozen nobles lay sprawled on the ground, their Martial Souls gone. They couldn't even crawl.
"That's all you've got?"
Yan Lingji flicked the blood from her sword.
Jiang Ce controlled Na'er's body and walked up to the long table.
"Now it's your turn."
Xue Lingshan forced himself to look calm and managed a smile.
"Ladies, let's talk this out. What do you want? Money? Power? I can give you anything."
"Even—I could marry you and make you duchesses."
"The most honored women in the Heaven Dou Empire. Isn't that what you want?"
He stared at Na'er's face, greed practically spilling from his eyes.
"As long as you spare me, I promise—"
Smack!
Yan Lingji slapped him across the face.
His teeth flew out with a spray of blood, and Xue Lingshan toppled to the ground.
"Something as disgusting as you? I'd feel dirty just touching you."
Yan Lingji shook her hand, her eyes full of revulsion.
"Good thing I hit you from a distance with Soul Power. I didn't want to dirty my hand."
"What if Master finds this servant repulsive?"
"You trash, you think you could marry me?"
Blood filled Xue Lingshan's mouth as he begged in terror. "Don't kill me... I'm a duke... the Heaven Dou Imperial Family..."
The other nobles fell to their knees and kowtowed.
"Spare us! Spare us! We have plenty of money! You can have it all!"
"Don't kill me!"
Jiang Ce spoke in Na'er's voice. "Kill you? That would be too easy."
"Fairy, nail them to the walls."
"Yes, my master."
Yan Lingji took a long spear after long spear from the Storage Soul Tool, their tips gleaming coldly.
The nobles felt that something was terribly wrong.
One spear pierced Xue Lingshan's thigh and pinned it to the wall.
A second pierced his shoulder.
A third pierced his other leg.
Xue Lingshan screamed, his cries tearing through the chamber.
Yan Lingji drove in one spear after another, unhurriedly.
Blood trickled down the wall and dripped onto the floor.
"Don't you like treating people as materials?"
She walked toward the next marquis.
"Then you can taste what it's like to bleed out slowly."
A spear pierced his shoulder and pinned him to the wall.
An earl cried and begged for mercy, but she still drove a spear through his leg.
A viscount tried to escape, but Yan Lingji's avatar kicked him back. A spear pierced his waist and pinned him to a pillar.
Screams echoed through the council chamber without end.
The nobles' bodies were nailed all over the walls.
Blood flooded the floor, soaking through the carpet.
Na'er stood off to the side, expressionless, like an exquisite doll.
"Come in and gag all of them."
[Yan Lingji's disgusted face.]
Before you continue