Yun Shuiqing sprang up onto the Netherworld Beast's back.
But before she could settle into her seat, the Netherworld Beast suddenly went wild and surged forward.
The Netherworld Beast accelerated so quickly that she nearly bounced off. Her hands instinctively reached forward, and she wrapped her arms around Fang Ling.
Fang Ling had been sitting comfortably when he suddenly felt Yun Shuiqing press against him from behind.
Those two peaks in particular were remarkably springy, unlike anything he had ever felt before, leaving him secretly startled.
"Church Leader, forgive my impertinence..." Embarrassed, Yun Shuiqing hurriedly shifted her bottom backward, putting some distance between them again.
"It's fine. This beast was far too impatient!" Fang Ling said.
As he spoke, he raised his hand and gave the Netherworld Beast a hard smack.
The Netherworld Beast whimpered as though admitting its mistake, but a trace of cunning flashed through its unnoticed eyes.
"Church Leader, Emperor Shao is not to be underestimated." With the atmosphere somewhat awkward, Yun Shuiqing tried to find a topic to ease it.
"I met her once. Her strength was unfathomable-truly terrifying."
"There's also something very few people know. Back when Lord Mo was at his peak, he secretly sought her out for a spar."
"But the result was unbelievable. She actually subdued Lord Mo in a single move!"
"I would never have known if the Church Leader's wife hadn't inadvertently mentioned it while drinking with me one time, when she was drunk."
"Oh?" Fang Ling was somewhat surprised, since he knew the previous Church Leader's cultivation level.
To subdue him in a single move, Emperor Shao's cultivation had to be far beyond what the outside world claimed. She was certainly not merely in the late Heavenly Balance Realm.
"If she's as powerful as you say, why hasn't she unified the Southern Sun Kingdom's cultivation world?" Fang Ling asked.
The Southern Sun Kingdom's sects and Lineages were extremely active, while the Imperial Family and imperial court had very little presence.
Although the Imperial Family still took the largest share of resources, the various powers diluted that share far too much.
If he were the ruler of a kingdom and had the strength to subdue its domestic powers, he would never leave them to their own devices.
"That, I don't know," Yun Shuiqing replied. "Emperor Shao hides her thoughts deep. I doubt anyone in the Southern Sun Kingdom can see through her."
The Imperial City stood at the very center of the Southern Sun Kingdom, so it was not particularly far regardless of where one set out from.
At the Netherworld Beast's speed, it carried the two of them there in two hours.
The Imperial City was much livelier than Dragon City, which Fang Ling had visited before, and there were indeed plenty of powerful auras here.
In the direction of the imperial palace alone, he sensed twenty-one Heavenly Balance Realm experts.
Even more unexpectedly, there was someone in the early Heavenly Authority Realm among them.
This person's cultivation realm matched his, but he could clearly sense their deficient vitality. They had already entered the Five Declines of Heaven and Man and had few years left to live.
So this person definitely was not Emperor Shao. Perhaps it was an old eunuch.
"Church Leader, I won't be going into the palace with you," Yun Shuiqing said on the bustling street.
"The Medical Immortal Valley is right here in the Imperial City, and it seems Sister Dou has returned too. I want to invite her out for some fun."
"I haven't strolled around the Imperial City in years. I really do miss it..."
Fang Ling nodded and had her take the Netherworld Beast along.
A while later, Fang Ling reached the palace gates, where the guards stopped him.
He had no time to wait around for a eunuch to announce his arrival and was about to slip inside to find Emperor Shao himself.
Just then, however, a young palace maid approached him with quick, short steps.
"Are you the Heavenly Net Church's new Church Leader?" the maid asked.
Fang Ling nodded. "That's right!"
"Her Majesty knew you would be coming, so she is already waiting in her bedchamber," the maid continued.
"I was sent here specifically to welcome you, Church Leader Fang!"
"Oh? She knew I was coming?" Fang Ling was rather surprised.
Only the Heavenly Net Church's core members knew he intended to visit the palace.
And only a little over two hours had passed. The news had traveled far too quickly.
Or perhaps she had long since guessed that he would come looking for her. Fang Ling felt that explanation might be more reasonable.
The maid offered no explanation, silently walking ahead to lead the way.
This young maid attended the empress personally, so they encountered no obstacles along the way. Before long, she brought Fang Ling to the entrance of Emperor Shao's bedchamber.
"Her Majesty is inside. Please enter, Church Leader Fang!"
The young maid gently pushed open the door and bowed, inviting him inside.
Suspecting nothing, Fang Ling strode in.
As soon as he entered, the young maid closed the door from outside.
He raised his gaze and looked ahead. Emperor Shao was still in bed.
She lay alluringly on her side, propping her head up with one hand.
Behind a curtain of golden gauze, her graceful figure held a hazy allure.
It was now the 678th year of Emperor Shao's reign, and she had ascended the throne at precisely twenty-two.
That made her exactly seven hundred this year. Before arriving, Fang Ling had assumed she would look like an old woman.
But now it seemed that, like most female cultivators, she was keen on preserving her youthful appearance.
What puzzled him even more, however, was that he could not sense the depth of her cultivation at all.
"Just who are you, Church Leader Fang?" Emperor Shao asked. "Why have you come stirring up wind and waves in this little Southern Sun Kingdom of mine?"
Having ruled as emperor for many years, her voice naturally carried a measure of authority.
"Stirring up wind and waves is hardly an accurate description. I've always behaved myself," Fang Ling said.
Emperor Shao chuckled. "More than three hundred thousand cultivators of the Six Harmonies Sect died at your hands. If that isn't stirring up wind and waves, what is?"
"With such cultivation at your young age, Church Leader Fang, you must be a scion of a great Lineage. Why come to this tiny speck of a kingdom...?"
"I've thought about it for a long time, yet I still cannot understand."
"You can't expect to understand everything in this world. There's no need to dwell on it," Fang Ling said.
"I haven't come for anything in particular. I'm simply about to leave the Southern Sun Kingdom."
"But most of my church's disciples will remain in Nanyang. I hope you won't make things difficult for them."
Behind the curtains, Emperor Shao gently shook her head. "No!"
"After absorbing the Six Harmonies Sect, your power has grown too great. It still needs to be curbed."
"I can only promise that I won't slaughter your Heavenly Net Church's people en masse."
"But I must take control of at least half the Six Harmonies Sect's former holdings!"
"I don't believe I was negotiating with you." Fang Ling frowned, his voice sinking.
Emperor Shao's tone grew colder as well. "Nor was I joking."
Fang Ling understood. Unless he taught her a lesson today, she would not obey.
He was about to use force, but Emperor Shao struck first.
With a wave of her delicate hand, their surroundings instantly changed.
They were no longer in the imperial palace, but in a vast, boundless, mysterious space.
She actually has such an ability! Fang Ling was slightly surprised.
The divine ability she used resembled the Sarami Realm, but the independent space she had constructed could not compare to the Sarami Realm at all.
Across from him, Emperor Shao slowly approached on bare, delicate feet.
She had an imposing presence, and her twin peaks were quite spectacular.
Fang Ling had been down from the mountain for some time now, and hers were unquestionably the fullest and most prominent he had seen.
Although she was already seven hundred, she looked about twenty-five or twenty-six, with peerless beauty capable of toppling cities and kingdoms.
But her eyes were exceptionally sharp and commanding, creating a sense of distance that brooked no disrespect.
"Then let our skills reveal the truth!" Emperor Shao murmured, a powerful aura erupting from her body.
Her ample twin peaks bounced a few times with it, looking wonderfully springy.
"How is that possible?" For the first time, such a shocked expression appeared on Fang Ling's face.
He actually sensed an aura from Emperor Shao that was roughly as powerful as Jin Buhan's!
But Jin Buhan was a prodigy of the Golden-Horn Race, a heaven-favored man who possessed an innate spirit treasure.
Emperor Shao was born and raised in Nanyang, yet she had actually cultivated to such a level in this barren land.
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