Reporter:
"Could you be a little clearer?"
"Fine. Women are all skeletons painted with rouge, and men are all skeletons painted blue..."
"So what you mean is—you aren't ancient... cough cough, so you don't like eating bones?"
"Mm."
Yilu nodded calmly. The next second—
Bang—!
A berserk beggar gang leader made a dazzling entrance!
The black-haired energetic puppy skillfully stuffed the unconscious Sarkaz into a sack, slung her over her shoulder, and headed deeper into Rhodes Island's main vessel together with the coldly smiling Dobermann.
The reporter froze, then quietly put away the recording equipment and lit a candle for the heartless Sarkaz in his heart.
Savage Forest, Spirit Vein Martial Contest
The group returned to the courtyard.
Inside the dimly lit room, Xiao Minghuang sat on the bed, with Ye Ruoshui and Lin Wanqiu standing before her.
The two girls' gazes kept drifting toward each other, whether intentionally or not, only to return to Xiao Minghuang before they met.
For some reason, the peaceful bedroom was filled with the scent of gunpowder.
Faced with such a scene, Xiao Minghuang's delicate brows furrowed slightly. She found it somewhat troublesome, especially since she was already exhausted and only wanted to get a good night's sleep.
"Ruoshui, Wanqiu, go rest first. We can discuss anything tomorrow."
Xiao Minghuang said softly.
Hearing this, Ye Ruoshui and Lin Wanqiu were not unreasonable girls who would endlessly pester her. Seeing the fatigue on Xiao Minghuang's face, they did not continue to linger. After saying goodnight, they left.
After the two girls departed, Xiao Minghuang lay on the bed and soon fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning.
After resting for the night, Xiao Minghuang slowly opened her eyes. Once she had washed up, she stepped outside.
Within the courtyard, rocky hills rose high, birds sang amid fragrant flowers, and the scenery was uniquely charming, refreshing the heart and delighting the eye.
Xiao Minghuang sat down on a bamboo chair beneath the corridor, circulated her cultivation method, and prepared to continue cultivating.
Knock, knock, knock!
A knock sounded at the door.
"Is it Wanqiu, or that girl Ruoshui?"
Thinking this, Xiao Minghuang walked to the entrance, only to find an unexpected guest.
City Lord Lin stood outside the door, his face full of smiles.
"Did Ninth Highness rest well last night?"
Xiao Minghuang nodded.
"The courtyard City Lord Lin arranged is excellent. I am very satisfied."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two entered the courtyard and sat in the pavilion.
As they spoke, Lin Zhengquan took a storage pouch and a brocade box from his sleeve and placed them on the table.
"Last night, when we confiscated the Chen family's property, we uncovered many stolen goods. Most have already been handed over to the court. This storage pouch contains some spirit stones and pills, while the brocade box contains the Chen family's treasured heirloom. Please inspect them, Your Highness."
A trace of surprise appeared in Xiao Minghuang's eyes. The Chen family had been convicted only three or four hours ago, yet such a vast family had already been utterly destroyed.
The city lord's residence alone likely could not have accomplished this. The three great families must have contributed greatly, and naturally they would receive no small share of the benefits.
Xiao Minghuang did not open the brocade box. Instead, she first extended her spiritual sense into the storage pouch and found many spirit stones and medicinal pills.
There were more than eight thousand spirit stones, along with quite a few pills. However, most were Yellow-grade mid- or low-rank pills, and of poor quality, generally around sixty percent purity.
After examining the storage pouch, she opened the brocade box.
As the box opened, a rich medicinal fragrance spread out, filling the entire courtyard.
"This pill is called the Spirit Infusion Pill. It is a Yellow-grade top-rank pill with potent medicinal power. It can help Qi Refining Realm martial artists improve their cultivation. I hope Your Highness will accept it with a smile."
"A Spirit Infusion Pill?"
Xiao Minghuang looked toward the brocade box.
Within the exquisite box lay a pill resembling green jade. Its glow remained gathered without dispersing, faint patterns flowed across its surface, and it continually drew the surrounding heaven and earth spiritual energy toward itself.
Upon seeing the patterns flowing across the pill, Xiao Minghuang was suddenly startled.
"This is... a Pill Pattern?"
Seeing Xiao Minghuang's surprise, Lin Zhengquan nodded with a smile.
"Your Highness has keen eyes. This pill is more than ninety percent pure, and it has even formed Pill Patterns. Its medicinal efficacy will endure without fading. Even ordinary Mysterious-grade Low-rank pills can hardly compare. Otherwise, I would not dare present it before Your Highness and make a fool of myself."
The pills commonly used by Body Tempering Realm martial artists were Ascension Yuan Pills, which could greatly increase cultivation. However, once one reached the Qi Refining Realm, Ascension Yuan Pills became somewhat inadequate for advancing one's cultivation.
Thus, Qi Refining Realm martial artists often took Spirit Infusion Pills. Yet these pills were exceedingly precious. In all of Great Xia, only one elderly Imperial Family Enshrined could refine them, and the yearly output was fewer than ten!
Xiao Minghuang composed herself, a trace of surprise in her gaze as she looked at Lin Zhengquan. The confiscation of the Chen family had been handled entirely by the city lord's residence. If he had secretly swallowed this precious pill, no one would have known.
She would not believe that the city lord's residence was so loyal to her that it would offer such a precious pill for nothing.
If it were merely because she had saved Lin Wanqiu, then sending some spirit stones would have been understandable.
But this pill could help a Qi Refining Realm martial artist advance by a minor level. Its value was likely far beyond what a few spirit stones could measure.
"City Lord Lin is too modest. A pill that has formed Pill Patterns is worth at least twice as much as one without them."
"Though this pill is merely Yellow-grade top-rank, in terms of price, even a poor-quality Mysterious-grade Low-rank pill would likely struggle to compare."
Xiao Minghuang had heard Ye Ruoshui say that any pill which formed Pill Patterns was at least ninety percent pure. Moreover, no matter how much time passed, its medicinal efficacy would not dissipate. Such pills were often worth far more than their grade suggested. Once they appeared, they were treasures with a price but no market.
Lin Zhengquan's gift of such a precious pill made Xiao Minghuang unable to help but suspect his intentions.
"City Lord Lin, if you have something to say, say it plainly. There is no need to beat around the bush."
Even Xiao Minghuang found it hard to remain unmoved by such a valuable pill.
But before accepting it, she needed to know exactly what his purpose was.
Lin Zhengquan revealed a bitter smile and spoke slowly.
"Please forgive my laughter, Ninth Highness. It is a long story..."
After Lin Zhengquan's explanation, Xiao Minghuang roughly understood the full situation.
A month earlier, Beiyang City had discovered a spirit stone mine near the border and sent people to mine it. Yet only a few days later, disciples of the Golden Elephant Kingdom suddenly appeared, injured Beiyang City's martial artists, and occupied the spirit stone mine.
After the matter of the Chen Family Head colluding with an enemy state came to light, it was confirmed that he had secretly informed the Golden Elephant Kingdom of this matter and concealed it in private.
With the spirit stone mine that had been within their grasp snatched away, Beiyang City naturally could not swallow this grievance. Thus, it sent out the Guard Team in an attempt to reclaim the spirit vein.
However, the ruler of the Golden Elephant Kingdom was a Divine Sea Realm expert, and no one in Beiyang City could match him.
After negotiations and concessions, both sides decided to resolve the matter through a martial contest.
After hearing Lin Zhengquan's account, Xiao Minghuang realized that the key lay in the spirit stone mine, so she asked:
"How many spirit stones can this spirit stone mine produce each year, for it to provoke such—"
Lin Zhengquan seemed to hesitate for a moment before answering, "Its annual output should reach two thousand spirit stones."
Hearing that number, Xiao Minghuang's heart tightened. Such an enormous amount was indeed enough to spark a struggle between two major powers.
"Your Highness, this matter is not merely about the quantity of spirit stones. It concerns the face of Great Xia. If we yield today, the Golden Elephant Kingdom will surely press its advantage tomorrow. If this continues, the nation will cease to be a nation!"
Lin Zhengquan's expression was impassioned, his words stirring and fervent.
"Oh? If the problem is so serious, why not report it to the court and ask the Imperial Family Enshrined to act?"
Xiao Minghuang noticed a flaw in his words and thus asked.
Great Xia's Imperial Family Enshrined were all veteran Divine Sea Realm experts, powerful and numerous. Even across the Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Southern Border, few could stand against them.
Moreover, Emperor Xia possessed peak Divine Sea Realm cultivation and was known as the strongest beneath the Spirit Seed Realm. Why would he fear the ruler of some trifling Golden Elephant Kingdom?
At Xiao Minghuang's question, an awkward expression appeared on Lin Zhengquan's face.
"Your Highness knows that for a place of spiritual abundance like a spirit stone mine, if it were reported to the court, Beiyang City would be fortunate to receive even thirty percent..."
At this point, Lin Zhengquan paused, then continued solemnly.
"If Your Highness helps us seize the spirit vein, then fifty percent of its annual output will belong entirely to Your Highness. What do you think?"
The spirit vein produced a thousand spirit stones each year, and fifty percent meant five hundred stones. That was truly bleeding heavily.
Yet faced with such generous terms, Xiao Minghuang shook her head.
"I am only in the Qi Refining Realm. Even if I wish to help you, I lack the ability."
Lin Zhengquan explained.
"Your Highness does not know that this martial contest is restricted to the younger generation. It will not become a major conflict."
"Your Highness is a youthful prodigy with extraordinary strength. You reached the Fourth Level of Qi Refining Realm at merely fourteen years old, making you one of the rare feathers and unicorn horns across the entire Southern Border."
"And the most gifted young genius of the Golden Elephant Kingdom is merely at the Qi Refining First Level. How could he possibly withstand even one exchange against Your Highness?"
"The reason we must trouble Your Highness is that after the Chen family's destruction, Beiyang City has only the city lord's residence and the three great families left that can present worthy contestants. We cannot even gather enough people to take the field."
Xiao Minghuang ignored the preceding rainbow farts. Her delicate brows furrowed as she asked:
"Beiyang City is Great Xia's greatest city in the north. How has it declined to such a state?"
Lin Zhengquan sighed softly and explained.
"Your Highness does not know that although Beiyang City is the greatest city in the north, there are neither spirit veins nor spirit mountains nearby. Spirit stones and spiritual herbs are extremely scarce, yet we must support a massive army and remain constantly vigilant against the Golden Elephant Sect's invasion. The city's finances have long been unable to bear the burden. If not for the court occasionally providing spirit stones, the hundred-thousand-strong army would likely have scattered like a flock of birds and beasts long ago!"
Xiao Minghuang asked:
"When I passed through the Savage Forest, I saw many lands of spiritual abundance within it. Though the spiritual herbs were not of high quality, they were not few in number. Why has City Lord Lin not developed the Savage Forest to supply military funds?"
Lin Zhengquan gave a bitter smile and said:
"My father tried this method while he was still alive, but fierce beasts often roamed the Savage Forest. Whenever soldiers reclaimed a patch of spiritual farmland, those beasts would sneak in at night and devour it clean. They were impossible to guard against."
"Not to mention that if too much spiritual farmland is reclaimed, it can trigger a Beast Tide. Hundreds of thousands of fierce beasts erupting in unrest together would shake heaven and earth. Even Divine Sea Realm experts would find it difficult to resist."
"Ten years ago, the spiritual farmland we reclaimed in the Savage Forest was destroyed by a Beast Tide. Many soldiers left neither corpses nor bones in that disaster, while those who survived were still haunted by fear and no longer dared venture deep into the Savage Forest."
"Even my father suffered grievous injuries in that Beast Tide. He lived only a little over three hundred years and rode a crane westward before reaching his natural lifespan."
At this point, Lin Zhengquan's expression darkened.
The former Beiyang City Lord had been a Divine Sea Realm expert with a lifespan of five hundred years. Naturally, he had not passed away at the age of fifty, when one knew Heaven's mandate.
The "Heaven's mandate" Lin Zhengquan spoke of meant dying an unnatural death before reaching the limit of one's lifespan.
Divine Sea Realm experts lived five hundred years. Xiao Minghuang naturally knew that the former Beiyang City Lord had died from severe injuries at just over three hundred, which could be considered a death in the prime of life.
Xiao Minghuang was slightly stunned. Having grown up in the capital since childhood, she had never known that Beiyang City had such a past.
"Beiyang City's soldiers guard the frontier, enduring hardship and rendering great service. After I return to the capital, I will certainly ask Father Emperor to reward Beiyang City for its merits!"
Hearing this, gratitude filled Lin Zhengquan's face. He immediately rose and bowed.
"With those words from Your Highness, all the suffering we have endured over these many years has not been in vain!"
Once she understood Beiyang City's current plight, Xiao Minghuang no longer declined and readily agreed to the martial contest.
Because the story got recommended, and I wanted better results, I sought recommendation swaps from many big shots. The recommendations at the end of chapters may affect all you dear readers' reading experience. As an expression of the author's apology, there will occasionally be extra updates during the recommendation period. Please forgive me, dear readers!
Would She Be Angry If I Said Something Like This to Her?
After settling the matter of the spirit vein, Lin Zhengquan suddenly looked troubled. He hesitated for a long while without saying a word.
Before you continue