The Great Thief of Four Kingdoms

Li Jieyan's soul scattered into oblivion. Like Li Jiehua, he had no possibility of returning to life.

Xiao Yuanjun withdrew the circling Defiling Wind, then watched Chu Ruifeng and Chu Xiyin fleeing outside. After a moment's thought, she decided to let them go.

Only two of the Five Surnames and Seven Houses were in the Bian Kingdom. Provoking the Eastern Bian Li Clan was enough; there was no need to trouble the Western Bian Chu as well.

"Where's Zhang Yuan?"

Xiao Yuanjun counted briefly on her fingers, then looked up and discovered Zhang Yuan sitting in the Golden Carriage, watching her.

A moment later, the Golden Carriage came to a steady halt before Xiao Yuanjun.

Xiao Yuanjun examined the Golden Carriage, recognizing it as a manifestation of the Divine Ability [Golden Chariot].

"Master, I tried. The Third Princess's Residence has been sealed off. There's no way out," Zhang Yuan said, lifting the carriage curtain.

"I know. We can simply stay here peacefully. There's no need to rush to escape." Xiao Yuanjun nodded, unsurprised.

Neither Dongfang Caibai nor the Eastern Bian Li Clan or Western Bian Chu wanted Zhang Yuan to escape. He could only remain under their watchful eyes.

At most, three Foundation-Building Heavenly Beings were simultaneously sealing off the Third Princess's Residence. It would have been a wonder if Zhang Yuan could escape.

Still, this Divine Ability of Zhang Yuan's was rather impressive. She had thought Thousand Miles in a Thought would be similar to Shrink the Earth to an Inch, but it had turned out to grant Sky Traversal instead.

Flying through the sky was absolutely beyond Outer Dao Qi Refining cultivators, and a considerable number of Gang Sha Path Qi Refinement Perfected could not take flight either.

Unless, like her, they developed their Divine Abilities to the utmost, using two Divine Abilities to lift their bodies and achieve Sky Traversal.

Zhang Yuan nodded, his gaze shifting toward the spot where Li Jieyan had died, a faint change stirring in his eyes.

"You had a grudge against him. I forgot to leave him a breath for you. In the future, remember to tell me who your enemies are, and I'll leave them a breath," Xiao Yuanjun suddenly said.

"There's no need for that." Zhang Yuan waved a hand in refusal.

Since he could so easily have one fewer mortal enemy, he had no desire to grow extra branches out of a perfectly good trunk. Who knew whether Li Jieyan might suddenly erupt with power upon seeing him and try to drag him down to death?

With his Third-Turn Qi Refinement, he could not withstand the dying counterattack of a Nine Turns Qi Refining cultivator. The chances of everything going disastrously wrong were quite high.

In the sky.

Dongfang Caibai stood upon empty air, looking at Li Houjin and Chu Miaofu directly ahead of her. She smiled. "Fellow Daoists, it seems most of your people are dead. Why don't we call a halt to this battle for now?"

None of the three bore any injuries, as though they had merely chatted in the sky.

"Hmph. Don't celebrate too soon, Dongfang Caibai. On the day of your wedding, you'll most certainly die!" Chu Miaofu said, her brows drawn fiercely together.

It had to be said that Dongfang Caibai had far exceeded their expectations.

They had assumed that, as a Foundation-Building Heavenly Being of only nineteen, Dongfang Caibai's Daoist Attainment could not possibly match theirs, and they would defeat her within a few exchanges. But once they actually fought, things proved otherwise.

Although they were not being beaten back by a rising youngster, they still could not subdue her despite fighting for so long. It was truly humiliating.

No wonder their clans were plotting to take the lives of Dongfang Caibai and the Demon Empress. With Dongfang Caibai's talent, she might otherwise succeed in Proving the Dao and becoming a Golden Core True Lord.

With the Demon Empress also about to prove the Dao as a True Lord, two Golden Core True Lords would stand guard, and the Bian Kingdom's imperial family would no longer be constrained by the aristocratic clans.

Li Houjin's gaze remained calm, his eyes slightly lowered.

As a Foundation-Building Heavenly Being of the Li, he had known the instant Li Jieyan died.

But he did not care. His death proved that Li Jieyan was worthless.

The Lineage had helped him find Heavenly Dipper and Earthly Baleful Forces and cultivate to Nine Turns Qi Refining, yet in the end, he could not even defeat the Qi Refining cultivators of the Third Princess's Residence. What was the point of keeping such trash around? Better that he died early, rather than waste more of the Lineage's resources.

As for what they should do now that Li Jieyan's death had left the Lineage's younger generation even less able to fill the gap...

He needed only to prove the Dao as a True Lord. Even without a younger generation, every problem facing the Eastern Bian Li Clan would be resolved.

Peace gradually returned to the Third Princess's Residence.

The members of the Li and Chu Clan who had entered the residence departed.

Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun returned to the Guest Room.

Even though the battlefield had not been here, the Guest Room's courtyard was already a mess. Fortunately, nothing inside the room had been damaged, so it remained habitable.

"It's over."

Xiao Yuanjun's eyes flickered as she spotted a streak of light plunging swiftly from the sky.

Dongfang Caibai landed in the courtyard. First, she glanced at Zhang Yuan to make sure he was unharmed, then turned to Xiao Yuanjun.

"Xiao Yuanjun. Is that your real name?" Dongfang Caibai asked straightaway.

"To think a Heavenly Being recognizes me." Xiao Yuanjun smiled, making no attempt to deny it.

"It would be stranger if I didn't recognize you," Dongfang Caibai said, shaking her head.

From the sky, she had taken in Xiao Yuanjun's entire performance.

Li Jieyan, Chu Ruifeng, and Chu Xiyin possessed seven Divine Abilities between them, yet Zhang Yuan's Master had suppressed them on every front and ultimately slain Li Jieyan on the spot.

Such a display of fighting prowess was truly powerful to an excessive degree.

Even she had not possessed such overwhelming strength during her Nine Turns Qi Refining days.

Someone so powerful should never have been obscure, even if she was only a Qi Refining cultivator.

Thus, based on the Divine Abilities she had used, Dongfang Caibai had finally identified her name and origins.

She was a great thief of the Qi Refinement Realm who roamed the four kingdoms of Ling, Jing, Wen, and Ya. Every renowned immortal aristocratic clan in those four kingdoms had suffered at her hands, losing at least one Earthly Baleful Force to her thefts. The Wenshui Deng and Ya Cui had each even lost a Heavenly Dipper.

With only Qi Refinement Realm cultivation, she could enter and leave immortal aristocratic clans as though walking through uninhabited lands. The name Xiao Yuanjun was quite famous throughout the four kingdoms.

Those immortal aristocratic clans had finally reached the end of their patience and intended to have their Foundation-Building Heavenly Beings jointly divine Karma, determined to find Xiao Yuanjun. Yet some time ago, she had seemingly evaporated from the world. No matter how those clans searched, they could not find the slightest trace of her.

"You flatter me, Senior. It's nothing but an empty reputation," Xiao Yuanjun said modestly.

Those were all past achievements, hardly worth bringing up. Still, she could tell Zhang Yuan about them later and further elevate her image as an expert in his eyes.

"An empty reputation? I rather doubt that. If I handed you over to any one of the aristocratic clans in those four kingdoms, I would receive at least one Heavenly Dipper as a reward."

Dongfang Caibai spoke with a beaming smile, her eyes fixed on Xiao Yuanjun as though appraising a rare treasure.

"A Heavenly Dipper is precious to a Qi Refinement Perfected, but it doesn't seem particularly useful to a Foundation-Building Heavenly Being, does it? Hmm... You could certainly try, Senior."

Xiao Yuanjun blinked, confidence glittering in her eyes.

"It certainly isn't much use to me, but I could give it to my Princess's Consort."

Dongfang Caibai spoke with a radiant smile.

Xiao Yuanjun glanced at Zhang Yuan beside her, and two currents of air slowly began circling her body.

She could not quite see through the woman before her.

Although she used Divine Abilities to obscure heavenly secrets and Karma, that was primarily to conceal her whereabouts.

She had never deliberately hidden her name or reputation.

Was Dongfang Caibai bringing this up to warn her, or did she have some other purpose?

Dongfang Caibai kept smiling.

Xiao Yuanjun's expression remained calm, but inwardly, she was on guard.

Watching the two of them, Zhang Yuan found the atmosphere slightly strange, so he looked above Dongfang Caibai's head.

[Read People] could reveal labels for Gang Sha Path Qi Refining cultivators, as well as Outer Dao Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators. He wondered whether it could reveal a label for a Foundation-Building Heavenly Being, whose Dao Status was higher.