Making a Request, a Place to Cultivate

Listening to these rewards, enough to make any Martial Dao faction green with envy and mad with desire, Su Yueli calmly stepped forward.

She nodded to the referee, then reached out and took the Purple-Gold Wooden Token that symbolized Great Li's number one Martial Dao genius.

After some thought, Su Yueli decided that once the tournament had fully concluded and the crowd dispersed, she would go to the Imperial Family to claim this promise.

She turned around and stepped down from the arena amid a wave of cheers.

Her gaze fell on Lin Ye, who was leaning against a wall in a corner not far away.

Thanks to the potent medicinal effect of the Spring Return Pill, although the boy's face was still deathly pale, he was clearly much better.

Seeing Su Yueli claim first place, Lin Ye tugged at the corner of his swollen mouth and forced out a smile.

Su Yueli went over and helped the badly injured Lin Ye up from the corner.

The two followed the flow of people out of the Imperial Martial Arena.

All along the way, the taverns and teahouses lining the streets buzzed with heated discussion.

"Did you hear? The winner of this Martial Dao Tournament was actually a woman!"

"Her name is Su Yueli! She's absurdly strong. She defeated the core geniuses of the four great families one after another, even crushing those arrogant young masters who always looked down their noses at everyone!"

Listening to the astonished voices around her, Su Yueli remained calm as she calculated her next move.

She would claim first place, collect her rewards from the Imperial Family, and settle the deadlock with the Pang Family once and for all.

Once matters in the Imperial City were resolved, she would immediately set off back to Azure Province City.

She had been away for so long and had not seen Tie Tu or Ling'er in quite some time. The open strife and covert struggle of the Imperial City did not suit her in the end.

As Lin Ye walked, he bared his teeth in pain, yet could not help grinning. "Miss Su... congratulations. Great Li's number one in Martial Dao—that title is an immense honor."

At this, his gaze dimmed somewhat, and he said guiltily, "I'm sorry. If I hadn't insisted on meddling in other people's business back then, I wouldn't have dragged you into the Pang Family's mess..."

Su Yueli gave him a somewhat helpless glance.

After being treated like a soft persimmon and nearly beaten to death on the arena this time, he had suffered a huge loss. Surely the next time he encountered trouble, he would not dare play the wandering hero without regard for his own strength.

"What's done is done. There's no use talking nonsense." Su Yueli cut him off. "Save your strength and go back to recover."

After returning to the inn, Su Yueli settled Lin Ye onto the bed.

After instructing an inn attendant to look after him, she did not linger. Taking the token with her, she headed for the Great Li Imperial Palace.

The Imperial Palace was a vital place, guarded with extreme vigilance.

The moment Su Yueli reached the palace gates, she sensed that the guards stationed on either side all possessed the blood vitality of Fifth Realm martial artists.

Using Fifth Realm martial artists to guard the gates—the Imperial Family's foundations truly ran unfathomably deep.

Su Yueli took out the Purple-Gold Wooden Token and displayed it. The guards immediately respectfully opened a path for her and told her where to collect her reward.

Following the steps, Su Yueli arrived at a magnificent and resplendent hall.

The hall was quite spacious, with only two young men seated within.

The one seated in the place of honor was the Fourth Prince, Zhao Yan. The young man in plain robes lounging casually beside him was the cultivator named Gu Chen.

"Greetings, Your Highness." Su Yueli stepped forward and cupped her fists.

Zhao Yan studied Su Yueli, undisguised admiration in his eyes. He praised her, "A twenty-year-old Fifth Realm Martial Awakening warrior, capable even of shattering a martial artist who had taken a Bloodburst Pill with one punch—Miss Su, your talent and combat strength are truly unprecedented. This prince has had his eyes opened today."

"Your Highness flatters me." Su Yueli lowered her head and replied modestly, not taking the bait of such empty pleasantries.

Seeing her indifferent nature, Zhao Yan did not mind and went straight to the point. "In a moment, Gu Chen will take you to the Imperial Family's armory to select that low-grade earth-rank weapon. As for the other reward..."

Zhao Yan paused and leaned forward slightly. "State your request. So long as it does not harm the interests of the Great Li Dynasty, this prince can grant it."

The hall fell silent.

Su Yueli's brows furrowed slightly as she sank into thought.

Her original plan had been simple: use this promise to have the Imperial Family intervene and resolve the life-and-death enmity between her and the Pang Family.

Although the Pang Family was one of the Imperial City's four great families, before the Great Li Imperial Clan, they were still subjects and would never dare defy an imperial decree.

But now that the moment had come for her to speak, she found herself conflicted instead.

Using one unconditional request from the Great Li Imperial Family merely to buy temporary safety seemed somewhat too wasteful.

This was a chance to grow stronger that she had fought for with her life.

But if she asked for top-tier cultivation resources instead and said nothing about settling the grudge, then with Pang Jinbiao's vindictive nature, the moment she stepped even half a foot out of the Imperial City, she would certainly face the Pang Family's relentless pursuit unto death.

Even if she obtained the resources, she would not have a life left to absorb and refine them.

If she chose resources, she would die before leaving the Imperial City. If she chose mediation to preserve her life, she would waste a shortcut on the path of Martial Dao.

After her thoughts turned a hundred times, Su Yueli suddenly raised her head and looked directly at Zhao Yan. "Your Highness, may I ask whether the Imperial Family has a place where I can cultivate and grow stronger more quickly, and where absolutely no outsider would dare disturb me?"

The moment these words left her mouth, Zhao Yan froze.

Gu Chen, seated beside him, also stopped fanning himself and raised a brow.

Neither of them had expected that after holding it in for so long, this girl would make such a request.

"A place for secluded cultivation?"

Zhao Yan was somewhat puzzled. "If you wish to become stronger, wouldn't it be more direct to ask this prince for several bottles of top-tier Demon Beast Blood Essence, or rare Martial Dao pills?"

Su Yueli's expression remained calm as she laid out the stakes plainly. "If I merely take the pills, the Pang Family will never let me go. Your Highness surely knows of the deadly feud I formed with the Pang Family at the inn and on the arena."

"I need a place where I can thoroughly absorb the resources and raise my strength. So long as I am inside, the Pang Family will not be able to touch me."

Zhao Yan and Gu Chen exchanged a glance.

A faint smile tugged at Gu Chen's lips, and inwardly, he found it rather amusing.

This mortal girl's thinking was truly somewhat a castle in the air.

What good would entering seclusion do? A mortal's lifespan was only a few brief decades. Even if she were given a blessed grotto-heaven, could she hide inside and cultivate for ten years, or twenty?

Could she possibly remain in seclusion until she reached the Tenth Realm before coming out?

Without the bone structure of an immortal, the Martial Dao path only became harder than climbing to the heavens the farther one went.

No matter how gifted she was, after several years of secluded cultivation, at most she could rise to the Sixth Realm.

When she came out, the Pang Family would still kill her all the same.

This girl seemed to possess no clear understanding of the pitiful upper limit of a mortal's lifespan.

She was abandoning an Imperial Family talisman that could absolutely preserve her life in exchange for a turtle shell to temporarily avoid the storm.

Zhao Yan thought much the same, but since he had already given his word, he naturally would not go back on it.

"Since this is your request, then this prince shall grant it."

Zhao Yan lightly tapped his fingers on the table and said evenly, "My Great Li Dynasty does indeed have a special place. Not only would no one dare disturb you there, but the environment within is also highly suited to martial artists like you cultivating."

(A new book is setting sail. Please keep reading, please keep reading, please keep reading. If too many chapters get dropped, I won't win the PK and will be finished right at the debut. I really don't want to abandon another book...)