"An alliance between our two lineages is no small matter."
Faced with the expectant gazes around her, Yan Ruyu remained cautious.
Only after a moment's thought did she speak. "Might you allow me to report this to my clan's elders before making a decision?"
Her clan's elders?
Chen Yu was somewhat surprised.
Given her caution, it was only natural that she had not agreed immediately. But if she still had elders in her clan, how had she later ended up being hunted down, forced to seek someone else's protection?
Or was this merely an excuse?
Various thoughts flashed through his mind, but Chen Yu's expression remained unchanged. He merely smiled and nodded. "Of course."
"I also feel guilty for entering this place uninvited. Please accept this aged medicinal herb, Your Highness, as a small token of my sincerity."
He took out a mahogany box and opened it before Yan Ruyu, revealing a precious medicinal herb inside.
The instant the box opened, a medicinal fragrance wafted into their faces. Merely smelling it left them refreshed in body and mind, with a sense of ease as though they had absorbed the spiritual Qi between heaven and earth.
"A precious medicinal herb that has grown for at least ten thousand years!"
"A precious herb like this must have astonishing potency. It would be enough to establish an excellent foundation!"
The elderly demon women around them stared at the precious herb, their eyes instantly lighting up. Their bodies almost moved on instinct.
Even mighty cultivators would probably fight over such a precious herb if they encountered it, yet someone was now giving it away as a meeting gift.
Surely even a Desolate Ancient Family couldn't be this lavish?
Such were their thoughts.
Even Yan Ruyu was greatly startled.
The Azure Emperor Lineage had long since declined, and precious medicinal herbs like this had become exceedingly rare within the Big Dipper.
Even with her status, never mind possessing one, she had only seen such precious herbs a handful of times.
And now someone was simply giving one away as a meeting gift?
After accepting the precious herb, she wanted to offer a gift in return, only to discover, to her sorrow, that the Azure Emperor Lineage could no longer even produce a respectable spiritual treasure.
They naturally still had things such as sentient magical artifacts, but they truly could not find a spiritual treasure equal in value to the precious herb before her.
"It is merely an apology for my earlier rashness. Please think nothing more of it, Your Highness."
Before her, Chen Yu seemed to have noticed Yan Ruyu's embarrassment. He spoke softly, indicating that she need not dwell on it.
"Then I won't refuse."
Yan Ruyu nodded. "This precious herb is very important to me. Thank you, Daoist Brother."
She thanked him solemnly, then instructed the others to attend to Chen Yu well before hurrying away alone.
She went deep into the Profound Origin Sect and awakened an elder sleeping there.
"What? An Imperial Clan from beyond the starry sky?"
An elderly woman had been cultivating in seclusion there. Upon receiving the news, she jolted fully awake.
A careful examination would reveal that the elder's cultivation was not actually very high. She was only in the Four Extremes Secret Realm.
However, divine power lay faintly within her body, and a powerful majesty emerged from her. Clearly, she had long since cultivated to the utmost limit of the Four Extremes domain. One more step forward would bring her into the Dragon Transformation realm.
She was a clan elder of the Azure Emperor Lineage and Yan Ruyu's senior. With her lifespan nearing its end, she had entered closed-door seclusion here, hoping to advance another step and extend her life.
But now, the news Yan Ruyu brought shook her, leaving astonishment plain on her face.
"Is his identity as a member of an Imperial Clan genuine?"
The elderly woman looked at Yan Ruyu before her and asked.
Yan Ruyu said nothing. She simply brought out a few drops of blood and handed them to the elderly woman.
This was the blood Chen Yu had left behind when he cut his palm earlier, which Yan Ruyu had deliberately collected.
Without hesitation, the elderly woman used a secret art to test it.
In an instant, brilliant light filled the place. The imperial might pervading the blood was exceptionally intense, with imperial patterns faintly interweaving within it. Like the blood of legendary immortals, it was extraordinarily noble and radiant.
Such a bloodline concentration almost rivaled that of a legendary emperor's child.
In the present Azure Emperor Lineage, even Yan Ruyu, whose imperial blood was the most concentrated, was utterly unworthy of comparison.
Could he be a living emperor's child?
Elder Qing was shaken, her mind completely blank.
Only after a long while did she recover and hastily say, "Agree to his proposal!"
"An emperor's child wishes to cooperate with us. We could ask for nothing better."
Because of its prolonged decline, the Azure Emperor Lineage had long since ceased to command many people's regard. Many major powers had even stripped it of its standing as an Imperial Clan.
At such a time, an emperor's child from the far shore of the starry sky had sought them out, willing to form an alliance. They could ask for nothing better.
Yan Ruyu stood where she was, seemingly unsurprised by Elder Qing's decision.
Even before entering this place, she had anticipated this outcome.
After all, given their current circumstances, she could think of no reason to refuse.
After explaining a few matters, she took out the precious herb Chen Yu had given her and handed it to Elder Qing.
Compared with her, Elder Qing was at a critical juncture and undoubtedly needed this precious herb more.
Given her circumstances, having this precious herb would undoubtedly raise her chances of successfully breaking through to the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm considerably.
"This is difficult."
Elder Qing looked at the precious herb in her hands, both longing and hesitation in her eyes. "Since we are forming an alliance, we should naturally support one another. We must offer a suitably substantial gift so that he does not look down on us."
Although he had said there was no need for a return gift, their Azure Emperor Lineage was a dignified Imperial Clan. Wouldn't accepting his gift without reciprocating be far too discourteous?
Their Azure Emperor Lineage had the dignity of an Imperial Clan. They could not do something that would invite contempt.
But what to offer in return was another major problem.
Given the Azure Emperor Lineage's current circumstances, they truly could not produce anything of equal value to give him.
"Unless... we bring out that thing."
Elder Qing drew a deep breath, as though she had made some decision.
The next day, the Profound Origin Sect was bustling with activity.
Elder Qing personally emerged from her place of seclusion to conclude an alliance with Chen Yu on behalf of the Azure Emperor Lineage.
At the alliance ceremony, she made a point of presenting a return gift.
It was a wooden token made from a special kind of spiritual wood. Part of an inheritance had been inscribed within it through special means, and one needed only to examine it with divine sense to obtain it.
Initially, Chen Yu paid it little attention. After all, given the Azure Emperor Lineage's current circumstances, they did not seem capable of producing anything worthwhile.
But the instant he picked up the wooden token, he realized he had been wrong.
Weapons danced across the sky, and vast profundities flooded his mind, forming an incomparably complex and extraordinarily mysterious forbidden technique.
Demon Emperor's Nine Slashes, Spirit Wound!
This was a forbidden technique recorded in the Azure Emperor Scripture, comprising nine forms in all.
Without question, this was something supremely precious, a technique recorded only in a true imperial scripture. Once unleashed, it would shake heaven and earth and make ghosts and gods weep. Even the gods of legend would be slain by it.