Peerless Grace

Over these past few months, Zhao Li had left almost all of the academy's affairs to the Vice Headmaster.

During this time, Zhao Li had not only studied music with Elder Fu, he had also had some degree of contact with several powers in the Jia Ma Empire. He had either given them pointers, refined pills for them, or made trades with them. All in all, there was some friendship there.

For the time being, Zhao Li was not worried that anything would happen to Jade Capital Academy. As for what would happen after he left, he did not know.

A thing like favors only worked if others acknowledged them.

That night, Zhao Li gathered with some acquaintances again, then left on his own.

When Zhao Li first began cultivating, he had thought about coming to see the map where this story had first begun. More than ten years had passed, and at last he had arrived here.

He had seen the Misty Cloud Sect from a hundred years ago, thriving and focused on nurturing its disciples; the Jia Ma Imperial Family, which had only recently founded its nation after Dragons and Snakes Rise; the Snake People Tribe, whose circumstances were difficult, who had hidden in the desert yet were still hunted and treated as special "gifts"; and the Xiao Family, which had long since forgotten its family history and was struggling to make its way in the Jia Ma Empire...

After ten years of cultivation, he had finally satisfied that first curiosity of wanting to go outside and take a look. It was just that all of this, in the end, was not the scene he had wanted to see.

Zhao Li sighed. The current Xiao Family had not yet moved to Wutan City, the Misty Cloud Sect did not have Yun Shan, and Medusa of the Snake People Tribe had not yet been born. Everything was still very early...

"I wonder what changes this academy I left behind after stopping here for half a year will bring to the Jia Ma Empire?"

Zhao Li did not know what effect the things from this trip would have on the future, but he had still done them.

Now, after traveling such a long distance and crossing more than half the continent, all sorts of objectives for his trip to the Jia Ma Empire had been achieved. For a moment, Zhao Li actually felt somewhat empty.

"It's about time I went to the Central Plains to see the strong and the Geniuses."

While Zhao Li left the Jia Ma Empire and headed toward the Central Plains, in the Eastern Region of the Dou Qi Continent, in the Great Qian Empire!

The Myriad Beast Mountain Range, central region!

Big Xiong was flipping through Storybooks that had been read who knew how many times, yet he still read them with keen interest.

Suddenly, Big Xiong frowned and reluctantly walked out of the Cave Dwelling.

Looking at the bruised and swollen Wind Wolf before him, he found it funny, but anger also rose in him.

Wind Wolf could be considered an old acquaintance of his and Zhao Li's, but his talent was truly limited. Although he had made some progress over all these years, he still had not broken through to the Fourth Tier.

"This is bullying a bear too far! Even when beating a dog, you have to look at its master. Little Wolf, who beat you up like this? They simply don't take me, Big Xiong, seriously. Speak. Let me see who's so bold."

Never mind that his father, Xiong Ba, was a Tier 7 Magical Beast. Even he, Big Xiong, had broken through to the Sixth Tier before the new year and truly become one of the Beast Emperors of this Myriad Beast Mountain Range. With the Black Demonic Bear's astonishing combat strength, there was almost no one in the Myriad Beast Mountain Range who was his match.

Now someone actually dared beat his underling up like this. Wouldn't they be charging into his, Big Xiong's, Cave Dwelling tomorrow?

"Awooo~"

Wind Wolf let out a mournful howl and told him what had happened. He was just about to play up his misery and add some embellishments when Big Xiong's expression changed.

Without waiting for Wind Wolf to continue, he rushed toward the outskirts of the Myriad Beast Mountain Range.

The moment he heard Wind Wolf mention the Nameless Valley on the outskirts, Big Xiong abruptly sprang up. He even had no time for Wind Wolf and went straight toward the outskirts of the Myriad Beast Mountain Range.

Along the way, Big Xiong felt somewhat irritable.

"Nothing's happened for so many years, so why would someone come here today? They even disturbed Grandpa Bear's sleep."

Then Big Xiong seemed to think of something, and his bear eyes widened.

"No way, right? It can't be the person Brother Zhao Li mentioned, can it?"

Guessing was guessing, but Big Xiong was not slow. His whole bear turned into a streak of light that swept across the Myriad Beast Mountain Range and descended toward the Nameless Valley like a falling meteor.

When Big Xiong arrived, he saw the surrounding beasts prostrate on the ground, trembling all over, but they were all facing the direction inside the valley. Big Xiong looked over.

What entered his eyes was a peerlessly graceful figure. She wore a bright yellow robe, her sleeves fluttering, her beautiful hair dancing lightly, standing apart from the world.

She seemed to have stepped out of a painting, her temperament transcendent, as if she might at any moment shed the mortal world and ascend as an immortal, detached from this world.

She stood quietly before two low graves.

Yet merely by standing here, her bearing was still peerless.

Big Xiong looked at her once and only felt that even Zhao Li had never possessed such a temperament.

Seeing the woman before the low graves, Big Xiong understood inwardly, but he still opened his mouth to ask and confirm it with her.

"Am I in the presence of Miss Ye Yunsheng?"

When Ye Yunsheng returned to this place and saw the valley surrounded by beasts, she only assumed the place had already been occupied by Magical Beasts, and killing intent rose in her heart.

But after she went in and took a look, nearly ten years had passed, yet the valley remained the same.

Through wind and rain, the Wooden House still stood. The two low graves seemed to have been tended by someone and were not overgrown with weeds. Only the Cave Dwelling in the mountain was still sealed shut, yet there was no sign of life inside.

Ye Yunsheng had some guesses in her heart. Seeing her suddenly appear here, Wind Wolf wanted to go forward and see what was going on. Ye Yunsheng sensed the movement, released her aura, and Wind Wolf was sent flying, crashing into the little mountain before slowly sliding down.

Not daring to linger, he hurried off to find Big Xiong.

Ye Yunsheng had already formed a guess, so she did not act to stop him.

As expected, Big Xiong had only just arrived here, yet he was able to call out her name, which confirmed the thoughts in her heart even more.

Ye Yunsheng turned her head. Her hair was pinned high, adorned with a long, straight Golden Phoenix crown hairpin. Beneath the hanging strands of the crown was an almost flawless face, pure and elegant, graceful and charming. The dragon and phoenix patterns embroidered on her clothes added a few more touches of nobility.

Whether it was beauty that made fish sink and geese fall, or loveliness that shamed the moon and flowers, before her, such descriptions seemed pale and powerless.

Ye Yunsheng looked at Big Xiong with slight confusion. A Sixth Tier Magical Beast—before she had left Great Qian, there was no way she could have known such a Magical Beast.

Her red lips parted slightly, revealing white teeth and bright eyes, and a light, ethereal voice drifted over.

"You know me? Who are you?"

Although Ye Yunsheng had done nothing, just being looked at like that made Big Xiong feel as if even breathing had become a little difficult.

Fortunately, Ye Yunsheng's words also gave Big Xiong his answer, and his tense heart finally settled, though inwardly he was already cursing wildly.

"What kind of freakish woman did Zhao Li provoke? He's a freak himself, and now there's an even bigger freak. Uncle Lin Lan is half a step into Dou Zun, and even he couldn't give me this kind of pressure. This woman is definitely a true Dou Zun expert."

In just that short while, Big Xiong felt as if he had fought Zhao Li all over again, utterly exhausted.

He made a preliminary judgment of Ye Yunsheng's strength, not daring to be careless, and told her the truth of the matter.

"My name is Big Xiong. Before Zhao Li left, he entrusted me with looking after this valley."

Hearing this, Ye Yunsheng unconsciously smiled. But when she heard that Zhao Li had left, her brows lifted, and she pressed him with a trace of urgency.

"When did he leave? Where did he go?"

Big Xiong thought back. Zhao Li really had not said where exactly he was going, so he could only make a guess.

"He left more than two years ago. From what he said, he wanted to wander around. He probably headed toward the Central Plains."

Ye Yunsheng gave a soft hum, her brows furrowing slightly before soon relaxing, and she murmured to herself.

"The Central Plains? I'll have to go and take a look sooner or later."

Great Li had not been founded for long, and there were still some matters that required her to personally oversee them, so she could not leave for the time being.

At that moment, Big Xiong saw a handsome, dashing man dressed in white robes rushing over from the distance. The dazzling, flowing Dou Qi Wings on his back showed that he had at least reached Dou King Level.

He did not even glance at Big Xiong or the Magical Beasts prostrate on the ground. He only looked at Ye Yunsheng, unable to hide the heat and greed leaking from his eyes, then lowered his head and cupped his hands.

"Your Majesty, we should leave. The Great Qian Imperial Family has already prepared a banquet to welcome you."

Ye Yunsheng's calm voice carried an unquestionable dominance.

"Take the Emissary Group ahead. I will arrive shortly."

Hearing this, Lin Feng still seemed to want to say something, but in the end he did not dare disobey the order. He nodded in assent, turned back, and joined the group of flying Magical Beasts.

Big Xiong watched the man who had hurried over and hurried away, silently comparing him to Zhao Li, then shook his head, paying it no further mind.

"The difference was a Heavenly Abyss. There was no comparison at all."