After making up her mind, Xiao Minghuang walked out of the courtyard and immediately ran into the person she was looking for.
After a month apart, she saw Ye Ruoshui again.
The little girl felt completely different now.
Xiao Minghuang looked her over and saw that the young woman had grown a lot taller, her round chin had become more pointed, and her once innocent and cute face now showed hints of charm.
In a few more years, she’d definitely be a stunning beauty who could turn all lives upside down! The only flaw was that her chest didn’t seem as full as before.
Xiao Minghuang understood one principle: matter is conserved.
Since her body had grown taller, something had to shrink, and unfortunately, it was the flesh on her chest that had lessened.
But even if the little girl grew up, she was still her little girl.
Xiao Minghuang naturally walked up and habitually patted Ye Ruoshui’s soft hair, smiling as she said, “Ruoshui, you’ve made a lot of progress.
You’re already at Body Tempering Sixth Realm.”
Ye Ruoshui squinted her eyes in delight, her little face full of enjoyment.
She loved it when her Highness patted her head.
“Compared to Your Highness’s cultivation, my strength is nothing.”
“Don’t belittle yourself.”
Xiao Minghuang said seriously, “I’m going to Beiyang City for a while.
You stay home and focus on your cultivation, okay?”
Hearing that her Highness was leaving, Ye Ruoshui’s face immediately fell.
“Your Highness, can’t you take me with you?”
Xiao Minghuang hadn’t planned to bring Ye Ruoshui.
She didn’t know what enemies she’d face in Beiyang City.
If something happened, she could escape easily on her own, but with Ye Ruoshui, it might not be so simple.
But then she thought, if she ran into an opportunity or some serendipity on the road, who would she give it to if Ye Ruoshui wasn’t there? Besides, once they got to Beiyang City, she could settle the little girl in the city, and there wouldn’t be much danger.
“Alright, but you have to behave on the way and not run off.”
Ye Ruoshui nodded like a pecking chicken and quickly agreed, “Don’t worry, Your Highness!”
With her mind made up, Ye Ruoshui went to pack her things.
About half an hour later, the little girl came back to her.
“Your Highness, I’ve got everything.
Let’s go.”
Xiao Minghuang nodded.
The two of them walked to the mansion gate and saw three thousand Ironclad Army soldiers ready to go, with a large group of attendants lined up on both sides, filling the whole street and showing off royal majesty.
But Xiao Minghuang didn’t care about any of this pomp.
She didn’t stop and got into the carriage, heading for the city gate.
…
“Ninth Princess Xiao Minghuang is ordered to go to Beiyang City to help eliminate Evil Cultivator.
Please open the gate, General.”
At the city gate, Xiao Minghuang leaned out of the carriage and spoke in a deep voice.
Great Xia Capital’s four gates were guarded by Gushing Spring Realm Martial Artists.
Now that the Xia Emperor was in seclusion and Evil Cultivator were appearing everywhere, the guards were even stricter than usual.
Everyone coming and going had to be checked thoroughly.
But as the Ninth Princess, Xiao Minghuang was exempt from inspection.
Just showing her face was enough for the guards to open the gate.
After Xiao Minghuang’s carriage left, one of the gate guards quietly slipped away and ran all the way to Prince Wu’an’s mansion.
…
Prince Wu’an’s mansion, in a secluded chamber.
Inside, a middle-aged man with a long beard sat upright on a wooden chair, his expression calm but imposing.
He was the second strongest in Great Xia, Prince Wu’an.
Standing in front of him was the guard from earlier.
“A quarter of an hour ago, the Ninth Princess took a carriage to Beiyang City.”
Prince Wu’an’s eyes flickered.
He waved his hand and said, “I know.
You can go.”
After the guard left,
A cold light flashed in Prince Wu’an’s eyes as he muttered to himself, “Why use a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken…”
…
Great Xia Capital stood on a vast plain, surrounded by endless fertile wilderness for a thousand miles, perfect for ordinary people to live and work.
Beiyang City was on the northern border of Great Xia, right between the plains and the Northern Mountains, making it a natural checkpoint.
Great Xia and the northern Golden Elephant Kingdom had fought countless wars, but the Golden Elephant Kingdom had never managed to take Beiyang City.
So calling Beiyang City the anchor of Great Xia was no exaggeration.
At this moment, a simple carriage sped across the vast wilderness.
It had been two days since they left the Imperial City.
At first, Xiao Minghuang had brought a large group of attendants, but later she found them a hassle and decided it was better for her and Ye Ruoshui to travel light and get to Beiyang City faster.
After shaking off the guards, things became much more relaxed.
Xiao Minghuang used her free time to refine a large number of Spirit Stones Pill, almost using up all the rewards from the Xia Emperor and the System’s compensation.
But she only broke through one small realm, reaching Qi Refining Fourth Stage.
Although her foundation was solid and she needed a lot of Spirit Stones Pill to improve, it was also possible that the pills the Xia Emperor gave her were too low in purity, so the effects weren’t great and didn’t help her realm much.
“Feels like the System is getting stingier.
I gave Ruoshui a whole storage bag of Spirit Stones Pill, and it only compensated me double.”
“System, are you there? Tell me why that is?” Xiao Minghuang asked.
[Ding! The System’s compensation depends on the number of items given at one time.
The more items given at once, the lower the chance of a high multiplier compensation.]
[Also, giving the same type of item multiple times will also lower the critical hit/bonus multiplier.]
[The critical hit/bonus multiplier will never be lower than the number of contractors.]
Hearing this, Xiao Minghuang understood.
Right now, she only had Ye Ruoshui as a contractor, so the minimum compensation for giving an opportunity was just one time—not a loss, but not a gain either.
But if she gave it to Ye Ruoshui, it would be double.
Because she could give it to the little girl and then take it back.
But Xiao Minghuang wouldn’t do that.
That’s just inhumane.
Inside the carriage.
“This is the first time I’ve ever traveled so far from home,” Ye Ruoshui said, leaning against the window, gazing at where the sky met the earth in the distance.
She couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement and awe.
Xiao Minghuang was completely calm, sitting cross-legged on a cushion.
While circulating her Cultivation Method and refining a Pill, she chatted idly with Ye Ruoshui.
“You’ll get used to it once you travel more often.”
Ye Ruoshui closed the curtains, scooted her little head over to Xiao Minghuang’s shoulder, and grinned.
“As long as I’m with Your Highness, I can get used to going anywhere.”
Xiao Minghuang stopped her cultivation, reached out, and knocked Ye Ruoshui on the forehead, sounding a bit annoyed.
“We’ve been out for two days now, and you haven’t Cultivated for even a quarter of an hour.
Can’t you talk a little less and spend a bit more time on Cultivation?”
Ye Ruoshui covered her forehead, looking pitiful.
“I want to Cultivate too, but when I’m with Your Highness, I don’t know why, I just can’t focus.
I keep wanting to look at Your Highness.”
“So you’re saying I’m distracting you from Cultivation?” Xiao Minghuang narrowed her Red Eyes, staring at Ye Ruoshui.
Ye Ruoshui felt prickly under her gaze, barely daring to breathe, and quickly tried to explain.
“No, no! Absolutely not! My willpower for Cultivation just isn’t strong enough, it has nothing to do with Your Highness.
I’ll definitely calm down and work hard on my training!”
After swearing her loyalty, and seeing Xiao Minghuang’s expression soften, Ye Ruoshui finally let out a sigh of relief.
Ever since they’d left two days ago, she’d noticed that her Highness’s attitude toward her was getting worse.
Maybe it was because they’d spent so much time together that there was less need for restraint, and her Highness was showing more of her true self in front of her.
Thinking of this, Ye Ruoshui couldn’t help but feel secretly delighted.
But if she wanted to please her Highness and keep improving their relationship, she still needed to take action.
After thinking for a moment, Ye Ruoshui pulled out a gift she’d prepared in advance from her sleeve.
“This is for Your Highness.”
Ye Ruoshui pursed her lips, lowered her head a little, and kept sneaking glances at Xiao Minghuang, perfectly embodying the look of someone shy and hesitant, wanting to refuse but actually willing.
Xiao Minghuang looked over and saw Ye Ruoshui holding a delicate little Box, square and about the size of a fist.
Judging by the size, it didn’t look like a hairpin.
Was it a Ring? “What is this?”
Ye Ruoshui whispered, “Your Highness, just open it and you’ll see.”
Xiao Minghuang took the Box, opened the lid, and was immediately hit by a strong medicinal fragrance—sweet and refreshing.
“What’s this?”
Inside the delicate little Box lay ten round Pills, each one glowing faintly, with hardly any impurities.
At first, seeing the ten neatly arranged Pills, Xiao Minghuang didn’t think much of it.
They were just ordinary Yellow Grade, Low Rank Qi Replenishing Pills.
But when she picked one up and examined it closely, her pupils suddenly contracted.
“This is… eighty percent Purity Pill!”
