Xue Fuyao hid behind a rockery, surrounded by flustered palace attendants.
Yet, the panic of these attendants was not because of her, but because this country was about to perish.
Xue Fuyao left the rockery soundlessly like a nimble cat, shuttling rapidly among the palaces by virtue of her familiarity with this imperial palace.
Because everyone here was thinking about how to flee for their lives at this moment, naturally no one noticed her sneaking around.
Just like that, Xue Fuyao smoothly slipped into the private treasury of the emperor-namely her old man-and swept away all the various treasures inside.
Then she headed toward the other palaces, looting them thoroughly as well; the Imperial Jade Seal, calligraphy and paintings, various furnishings, and not even tables, chairs, or benches were spared, striving to leave nothing behind for those rebellious officials and traitors.
After finishing all this, Xue Fuyao decided to go all the way, directly burning the imperial palace down with a single fire, while she herself squeezed straight out through a dog hole and escaped the imperial palace.
Outside the imperial palace at this moment, it had also become chaotic due to the invading rebel army, with everyone fearing for their lives.
Xue Fuyao arrived at a hiding place she had prepared long ago, closing the doors and windows tight before finally setting her mind at ease and breathing heavily.
It was at this exact time in her past life that, due to the city gates falling, the rebel army breached the imperial palace.
Xue Fuyao was only five years old at the time, and because she was a princess to begin with, moreover an unloved princess, she was not implicated right away but luckily got out of the palace.
However, good times did not last; the maid who had always followed her actually betrayed her whereabouts to the rebel army for the sake of her future, so that not long after she had settled down, she began living a life of wandering.
Thinking of this, Xue Fuyao's gaze turned gloomy; she was young at the time, and coupled with the fact that so many years had passed, her memories of that year were actually not all that clear, but the suffering she endured then was still fresh in her mind.
After her rebirth, upon learning that only three days remained until the rebel army breached the imperial palace, Xue Fuyao began making preparations, not even bothering with the little maid who had betrayed her in her past life.
Fortunately, hard work pays off; this time, she successfully retreated in one piece.
As for her Imperial Father and her various brothers and sisters, well, apologies; as an unloved princess, although she did not grow up in the cold palace, it was tantamount to growing up in one. Toward these blood relatives of hers, she truly had zero affection, having never even laid eyes on each other, making them pretty much like strangers.
These three days she had been running around for her own little life, and now she was finally able to stop and sort out her thoughts of the past few days.
Lying on the bed, Xue Fuyao first pinched her face, not stopping until she had pinched it red.
These past few days she would do this from time to time to confirm that she was not dreaming, that she was truly reborn.
In her past life she was the princess of a fallen state and an obscure Rogue Cultivator in the Cultivation Realm, dying under a beast tide during a beast tide siege.
Thinking of the agony before that near-death experience, Xue Fuyao couldn't help shivering.
She thought her life had ended just like that, but she didn't expect that when she opened her eyes again, she found herself returned to her childhood, and right three days before the fall of the state.
After shock came wild joy; after all, how many people's wish is it to be able to live once more? This time, she would never be that obscure little Rogue Cultivator again.
Having made up her mind, Xue Fuyao began planning her subsequent path.
Although she was a princess of this country, she also knew that with her current ability, wanting to save the country was definitely too late and beyond her power, so she could only take advantage of these three days to gain more benefits for herself.
Fortunately, she was an unloved princess to begin with, acting like a transparent person inside the imperial palace whom no one would care about.
As for the reason why she could be reborn...
Xue Fuyao reached her hand inside her clothes and quickly pulled out a necklace from within.
To call it a necklace wasn't quite right either, because it was simply a crude red cord with no decorations on the red cord, only a solitary white petal.
The petal was carved with striking likeness, and even the veins on it were extremely clear.
This pendant was one of the keepsake relics left to her by Xue Fuyao's mother, originally a cyan lotus petal, but after her rebirth, the petal changed from cyan to white.
Rebirth was no trivial matter; she needed to reverse time and space. Xue Fuyao did not believe such good fortune would fall upon her for no reason, so after searching her entire body, she finally locked her gaze onto this discolored necklace.
In her past life, she was able to transform from an ordinary mortal and fallen princess into a cultivator precisely because of this necklace.
So, what on earth was her mother's identity?
In her past life she had also investigated her mother's identity, but the results all came up empty; the only thing that could be determined was that her mother was definitely not an ordinary person, because aside from this mysterious Lotus Petal necklace, there was also a Storage Bag of immense capacity stuffed full of Spirit Stones-low-grade, middle-grade, high-grade, and even supreme-grade spirit stones.
In addition, there was a hair ribbon capable of masking her aura and altering her appearance.
Compared to other magical artifacts, the special point of this magical artifact was that even an ordinary person without cultivation could use it.
The hair ribbon contributed immensely to her being able to escape safely several times when pursued in her past life.
Early the next morning, Xue Fuyao woke up early. According to her memories of the past life, this was precisely the most chaotic time outside, so she did not plan to go out.
Taking advantage of this period, she prepared to properly map out her path ahead.
First of all, cultivation was definitely a must, but her aptitude in her past life could only be considered medium, coupled with being suppressed by the Zhang Family, leaving her unable to join a good sect and forcing her to become a Rogue Cultivator.
However, being a Rogue Cultivator was not without its advantages; over the years mingling among Rogue Cultivators, she had heard quite a few rumors and gossip, among which plenty were related to fortuitous encounters.
For example, who obtained what fortuitous encounter where, and who acquired what treasure in a Secret Realm inside.
When she heard them back then, she just treated them as gossip and felt only envy in her heart, but now she could completely turn these fortuitous encounters she once heard about into her own.
First, it would start with changing her Spiritual Root aptitude.
After all, a Spiritual Root is the foundation of a person's cultivation; possessing a good aptitude allows one to leap far ahead of others in cultivation, to say nothing of avoiding many missteps and acquiring a powerful sect and master.
Thinking thus, Xue Fuyao locked down a location in her heart-Lingjiu Mountain.
The thing she wanted was there.
Having determined the first location, Xue Fuyao began her preparations.
Before you continue