The Princess's Plan [Bonus Chapter for Alliance Leader Yidaamblowe, Five and Six!]

As far as swordsmanship alone was concerned, there was nothing strange about Jiang Chen defeating Yun Lanzi.

Max-level body techniques, the sword-skill-like max-level Eight-Step Mad Blade, and Myriad Phenomena Resonance, which he had mastered to a modest degree.

He had not even used his max-level Possession Spirit Control or Li Lingzhou's Pure Yang Sword Aura.

Every one of his skills was practically a cheat code, enough to let him fight above his level. Even against a big shot like Chen Gongxing, Jiang Chen would not be afraid if Chen Gongxing suppressed his cultivation to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer.

As for this particular strike, he admitted that it had carried an element of surprise.

From the instant Yun Lanzi slapped at the sword aura, Jiang Chen realized that Yun Lanzi had neither destroyed nor endured the Sword Shock, but had instead dispersed its force almost perfectly.

Even though Yun Lanzi had used the spiritual pressure of the Foundation Establishment Peak.

That spiritual pressure had merely made up for his failure to immediately recognize Jiang Chen's Sword Shock technique, or perhaps for forgetting to defend himself in time due to excessive curiosity.

In other words, the spiritual pressure he had suddenly raised merely compensated for the loss of speed caused by underestimating Jiang Chen or being too curious.

Yet the technique, position, and force with which he had raised his hand to slap the Sword Shock had all been perfectly judged, showing that his body's physical arts had reached a terrifying realm capable of neutralizing the power of resonance.

Even after slapping away the Sword Shock, there was not the slightest residual tremor left in his hand.

Jiang Chen thought that if he had not struck first and caught Yun Lanzi off guard, they would likely have fallen into a hard battle once they understood each other's abilities.

After all, his body techniques and Five-Element Spirit Control were merely fundamentals. No matter how refined they became, they still had limits.

Demonic Aura could fuse with his own spiritual power in three aspects to unleash critical strikes, but using it openly would make it easy for others to notice.

Most bizarre of all, his Sword Shock through Myriad Phenomena Resonance, which he had mastered to a modest degree and which was enough to surpass Chen Gongxing's, had been effortlessly neutralized when the other party raised his spiritual pressure.

Perhaps Jiang Chen would need to use Li Lingzhou's Pure Yang Sword Aura to defeat him easily.

No matter what, this man was certainly no ordinary person!

Especially that method of slapping away Sword Shock barehanded—it did not look like a physical art a human should possess...

Others might not be able to tell, but Jiang Chen's body techniques had already reached their peak. He knew the limits of human physical arts.

For now, Jiang Chen did not dwell on it. He sheathed his sword, stopping the residual tremors drifting through the entire hall.

"You lost."

The entire hall fell silent.

As the momentary shock faded, Yun Lanzi stared at Jiang Chen and smiled openly, as though some excitement was being restrained in his eyes.

"As expected of Chen Gongxing's disciple."

With that, Yun Lanzi turned and left.

Elder Guo's expression darkened, though he was inwardly astonished.

He had never expected Liu Xuande, a Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivator, to possess such advanced Spirit Control techniques and wield such exquisite swordsmanship.

But it was also possible that this was part of Yun Lanzi's plan.

Since Yun Lanzi had lost, Elder Guo could say no more. He slightly cupped his fists toward the emperor, then flicked his sleeve and departed.

Supported by a eunuch, the emperor rose with difficulty, intending to praise Jiang Chen's performance as well.

Even if this had been arranged by the princess, finding such a swordsmanship prodigy had still taken effort.

"Every generation produces talented people. Who would have thought that the Azure Mist Sect hid such a genius of the sword!"

Jiang Chen had defeated Yun Lanzi merely to cut his losses. He did not truly want to marry Princess Ping'an—would that not be a violation of human relations?

"Chen Gongxing is an agent of Liyue. Does Your Majesty not fear that I am also a Liyue spy?"

The emperor merely laughed.

"The little Fireburn Kingdom has no treasure that Liyue desires. And the legendary Liyue would not make a mere Qi Refining cultivator one of its agents."

He then ordered:

"Guards, take the imperial son-in-law to Pingxing Palace. Reward Pingxing Palace with ten thousand spirit stones, choose an auspicious day, and have him wed the princess."

Ten thousand spirit stones...

Jiang Chen was somewhat tempted, but he still did not intend to choose this outcome, so he glanced at the empress dowager.

The empress dowager revealed a maternal, aunt-like smile.

"If possible, could I not marry the princess and receive a reward of one hundred thousand spirit stones instead?"

Jiang Chen tested the waters.

The emperor's expression darkened, radiating majestic imperial authority.

"A ruler's word is no jest. Do you wish to challenge the entire Fireburn Kingdom?"

Jiang Chen:

"..."

After court was dismissed, Jiang Chen glanced at the empress dowager.

The empress dowager once again wore that aunt-like smile, placing immense psychological pressure on him.

Jiang Chen was then taken to Pingxing Palace.

Even though she had learned beforehand that Jiang Chen had defeated Yun Lanzi in their sword duel, Princess Ping'an still found it hard to believe until she saw Jiang Chen arrive at Pingxing Palace with her own eyes.

She looked him over from head to toe, then drew his sword from its sheath and examined it carefully.

"You really defeated Yun Lanzi in a sword duel?"

Jiang Chen could not be bothered with empty pleasantries and laid everything bare.

"Wasn't it you who deliberately made him lose to me?"

"Shh..."

Alarm flashed in Princess Ping'an's eyes. Frightened, she hurriedly pulled Jiang Chen into her private chambers.

This place was likewise covered in all sorts of complicated formations.

Princess Ping'an pointed outside the window and whispered in an extremely low voice:

"Be careful. Walls have ears."

Jiang Chen spread out his divine sense but found no one listening beyond the walls. Clearly, nobody took the princess seriously.

"At least for now, it's safe."

Only then did the princess say in surprise:

"I thought you were sent by Imperial Grandmother to help me!"

Jiang Chen was stunned.

"Help you do what?"

The princess did not hide anything.

"Help me rescue the Merfolk Woman imprisoned by Father!"

Jiang Chen only felt that this woman trusted others far too easily.

"How could you be so certain?"

The princess tightly gripped his hand.

"Xiaobai and Feifei are terrified whenever they see beast tamers, but there was no fear in their eyes when they looked at you. They even seemed to admire you."

"Imperial Grandmother has always kept herself pure and dignified, commanding the respect of all. Yet she trusts a strange man like you so completely."

"She had always refused to help me before because she feared that my mind and strength were inadequate, and that Father might harm me."

Thinking it over carefully, Jiang Chen finally understood why the empress dowager doted on this spoiled princess. Princess Ping'an truly was an innocent fool.

"So you secretly joined forces with the Beast Taming Sect?"

Princess Ping'an shook her head and sighed.

"It is a long story.

Mother was once a prodigy of the Beast Taming Sect. She especially loved the merfolk, but she was unwilling to control them through beast-taming arts. The Beast Taming Sect could not tolerate her, so she was sent into the palace to marry Father.

Who could have known that Father's purpose in marrying Mother was also to collect and control merfolk women?

At first, Father claimed he collected merfolk women to protect them from being bought, sold, and enslaved by merchants.

Very soon, Father began forcing tears from the merfolk women to harvest their pearls, just like the merchants did. Later, he even devised an even crueler plan... This plan may have been connected to finding the Dragon Bone.

Mother refused to cooperate and threw herself into a well... But I have always believed that Father killed her.

I think that even if Mother had endured humiliation to survive, she would have done so for the thousands of merfolk women Father had imprisoned."

Thousands of merfolk women? Jiang Chen asked in astonishment:

"Weren't there only three hundred merfolk women?"

The delicate little face that had once been so spoiled and unruly was now filled with sorrow. Princess Ping'an sighed and shook her head.

"Over the years, under Father's constant exploitation, only a little over three hundred merfolk women with good constitutions and cultivation have survived."

Out of three thousand, only three hundred remained after being exploited... No wonder even your own daughter wanted to oppose you.

"What is the matter with your marriage arrangement with Yun Lanzi?"

Jiang Chen asked curiously.

The princess explained at length:

"This marriage was arranged while I was still in my mother's womb, and it was Father's idea, not Mother's.

Father wanted me to inherit Mother's beast-taming arts, so he could either have me find him a beast-taming prodigy as a son-in-law.

But later, Father seemed to have deciphered Mother's relics. He mastered the beast-taming methods himself, condensed a Merfolk Core, and formed a Pseudo-Nascent Soul.

Now Father only has one final step left. Once he finds the legendary Dragon Bone, he will truly be able to form a Nascent Soul.

And the key to the plan seems to be the Twin Mermaids!

In fact, for quite a long time, neither Father nor I knew that the Beast Taming Sect had this pair of merfolk women.

It was not until several years ago, when people from the Beast Taming Sect approached me and invited me to inspect their sect, that I met Xiaobai and Feifei.

Yun Lanzi promised me that he would use Xiaobai and Feifei to rescue more merfolk women, so I agreed to the marriage arrangement that had been made long ago.

Though I also knew that the Beast Taming Sect did not sincerely want to save the merfolk women. Their true objective was most likely Father's Dragon Bone.

But without temporarily cooperating with the Beast Taming Sect, there was no way someone of my cultivation and strength could rescue the merfolk women.

The plan began once Xiaobai and Feifei successfully reached Qi Refining.

The first choice was to have the Imperial Guards capture the two merfolk women in the desert and present them to Father, making it less likely that he would become suspicious.

The second choice was to fulfill the marriage agreement with Yun Lanzi. He said that even without Xiaobai and Feifei, he had a way to rescue the remaining merfolk women.

Who would have thought that something would go wrong midway through the first option? Xiaobai and Feifei were abducted, and the beast-taming restriction placed on them was destroyed.

That was when I discovered that the person who abducted the merfolk women was you, Imperial Grandmother's imperial physician.

Breaking off the engagement was meant to lure you in and rescue the merfolk women.

Who would have expected you to deliver yourself right to my door?

Naturally, I thought Imperial Grandmother had sent you to help me.

Imperial Grandmother dotes on me so much that, in order to help me rescue the merfolk women, she was even willing to give me her own man..."

Seeing her imagination run wild, Jiang Chen slapped the back of her head to make her come to her senses.

"What nonsense are you thinking? This has nothing to do with the empress dowager. I fell into the trap because I was greedy for money.

As for whether I will help you, I need to return to Peaceful Palace and discuss it with the empress dowager. Only if I confirm that there is no danger and that the reward is generous enough

will I consider helping you."

The unspoken meaning was: he would have to wait until the main storyline before helping her.

He gritted his teeth and forced out eight thousand words. His phantom sun syndrome still had not ended; he was exhausted every day, his eyes swollen and blurry, and something felt wrong.