The next morning, the Cold Palace was bustling with activity.
Great Eunuch Wang Jin led more than a dozen young eunuchs, carrying numerous rewards, and made a grand show of inviting Ninth Princess Xiao Minghuang back to the Palace.
“Ninth Princess Xiao Minghuang is both virtuous and talented, with extraordinary gifts.
The previous Competition violation was nothing but slander by petty people.
By imperial decree, all your titles and ranks are restored, and you are granted one hundred Spirit Stones.
You may freely browse any Cultivation Method on the second floor of the Scripture Repository Hall.
This is the Emperor’s will!” Great Eunuch Wang Jin held out the Imperial Edict, smiling as he said, “Ninth Princess, Your Highness, please accept the decree!”
“I accept the decree.
Thank you for Your Majesty’s great kindness!” Xiao Minghuang took the Imperial Edict, saw Wang Jin off, and checked the list of gifts.
She couldn’t help but let the corners of her mouth curl up, a hint of a smile appearing in her eyes.
This scene was unexpected.
Yesterday, she’d lied about having the help of a mysterious expert, just to bluff the Xia Emperor.
She hadn’t expected it to work so well, and she’d gained so many benefits for nothing.
Ye Ruoshui opened the boxes one by one, revealing all kinds of glittering gold, silver, and jewels.
The Small Servant Girl’s eyes went wide with amazement.
Xiao Minghuang had no interest in these gold and silver trinkets.
Now that she had one foot on the path of cultivation, treasures that were precious to ordinary people meant nothing to her.
What really mattered were those hundred Spirit Stones, and the chance to freely browse the books in the Scripture Repository Hall! You have to know—
As a member of the Royal Family, she only received one Spirit Stone per month.
The Xia Emperor had given her a hundred at once—he was being extremely generous! If she gave them to Ye Ruoshui and Ye Ruoshui managed to multiply them tenfold, that would be a thousand Spirit Stones!
As for being able to browse any book on the second floor of the Scripture Repository Hall, that was an incredibly rare opportunity.
Normally, even Royal Family members couldn’t just go to the second floor of the Scripture Repository Hall whenever they wanted.
Every Royal Family child, like Red Eyes’ Yue Fei Qun, could enter the second floor of the Scripture Repository Hall once when they first started cultivating at age six, nine, four, nine, three, six, one, three, or five.
After that, they had to wait until they turned fifteen and had their coming-of-age ceremony.
After adulthood, if they wanted to enter the second floor again, they had to achieve great merit or break through to a major Realm/Cultivation Stage.
Even then, each visit couldn’t last more than a day—once time was up, they had to leave.
This showed just how generous the Xia Emperor’s reward was.
His favor for her seemed to suddenly surpass that for all the other princes and princesses.
A trace of doubt flashed in Xiao Minghuang’s eyes.
Even if the “expert” she’d mentioned had bluffed the Xia Emperor, it shouldn’t have had such a powerful effect, right?
“Could there be some hidden reason behind this?”
After thinking for a while, Xiao Minghuang couldn’t come up with any other possibilities, so she stopped worrying about it.
“My main priority now is still to improve my strength.
As long as I’m strong enough, whatever schemes the Xia Emperor has won’t matter!”
Turning her gaze, Xiao Minghuang looked at the Small Servant Girl who was still lost in the pretty jewelry, and said helplessly, “Ruoshui, stop looking and come here.”
As soon as she heard her Highness call, Ye Ruoshui immediately put down the sparkling jewelry and ran over to Xiao Minghuang with a grin.
“Your Highness, what are your orders?”
Xiao Minghuang nodded, thinking for a moment.
“I’ve already started on the path of cultivation, but you’re still a mortal with no cultivation.
Sooner or later, we’ll be separated.
What should we do about that?”
Hearing that she might not be able to stay by her Highness’s side in the future, Ye Ruoshui’s face fell, and she said pitifully, “Your Highness, please don’t abandon me! I’ll work hard at cultivation and won’t drag you down!”
Xiao Minghuang pretended to be heartbroken and sighed, “But you only have a Yellow Grade, Low Rank Spiritual Root.
Your talent is too poor.
Even if you work hard, how could you possibly catch up to me?”
“This… this…” Ye Ruoshui was at a loss, unable to say a word for a long time.
Seeing the timing was right, Xiao Minghuang pointed at the box of Spirit Stones and said gently, “Your talent is lacking, so if you want to catch up to me, you’ll need a lot of resources.
This box of Spirit Stones that Father gave me—I’ll give them all to you.
You must work hard at cultivation and catch up to me as soon as possible.
I believe in you.
Good luck!”
“Ah… this…” Ye Ruoshui glanced at the box full of Spirit Stones, then looked nervously at her Highness, only to see encouragement and warmth in her eyes.
“Your Highness, these Spirit Stones were given to you by His Majesty.
How could I dare…”
Xiao Minghuang frowned slightly, covered her face, and sighed, “I’ve never had any close friends my age since I was little.
You’re like a little sister to me.
Giving you these Spirit Stones is like giving them to my own sister.”
“So, when a sister gives her little sister a gift, the little sister can’t refuse, understand?”
Xiao Minghuang kept calling her “little sister,” making Ye Ruoshui dizzy with happiness, her eyes sparkling with stars.
At this moment, in Ye Ruoshui’s eyes, Xiao Minghuang was incredibly tall and dazzling, almost like a goddess.
“Then… I’ll obey!”
Finally having given away the box of Spirit Stones, Xiao Minghuang let out a sigh of relief, feeling secretly delighted.
[Ding!]
[Opportunity/Chance/Serendipity successfully given!]
[Congratulations, host! You’ve triggered a thousandfold Critical Hit/Bonus and received 100 mid-grade Spirit Stones!]
Hearing the System’s voice, Xiao Minghuang was pleasantly surprised again.
The Spirit Stones given by the Xia Emperor were just Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
With a thousandfold Critical Hit/Bonus, she should have received a hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones as compensation.
But the System gave her a hundred mid-grade Spirit Stones instead.
You have to know, one mid-grade Spirit Stone can be exchanged for a thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones, but a thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones might not be enough to get one mid-grade Spirit Stone.
The total amount of Spiritual Energy in both is the same, but the Spiritual Energy in mid-grade Spirit Stones is much purer and easier to absorb.
For high-level Cultivators, it might not make much difference, but for Xiao Minghuang, mid-grade Spirit Stones were clearly more useful.
With a hundred mid-grade Spirit Stones in hand, feeling the pure Spiritual Energy waves, Xiao Minghuang sensed her dantian almost humming, as if she was about to start Guiding Qi into the Body at any moment.
But that was just an illusion.
In the Body Tempering Realm, anyone can reach the peak through hard work, with or without a Cultivation Method.
But if you want to Guide Qi into the Body, without a Cultivation Method to guide you, at best you’ll go astray and ruin your meridians, losing all your progress; at worst, you’ll lose your cultivation and die on the spot!
So, the most urgent thing now was to find a suitable Cultivation Method to help her Guide Qi into the Body.
Thinking of this, Xiao Minghuang didn’t hesitate any longer.
After giving Ye Ruoshui a few instructions, she left for the Scripture Repository Hall.
The Royal Family Scripture Repository Hall was divided into two palaces, inner and outer.
The Outer Hall stored classics and histories unrelated to cultivation.
The Inner Hall stored Cultivation Methods and martial techniques.
The second floor held rare, treasured manuscripts—the Great Xia’s most precious inheritance, the foundation of the nation.
Legend had it that many years ago, Great Xia was a vast empire on par with a Supreme Holy Land.
But over time, it declined, migrating all the way to the Southern Border of the Eastern Extremity.
Its profound classics were lost, its talents withered, and now it was what it was today.
These were stories passed down by the elders of the Royal Family.
Whether they were true or not, Xiao Minghuang had no way of knowing.
But the most advanced Cultivation Method in the Royal Family now was only an Xuan-grade Upper Rank “Dragon Origin Scripture,” which could be cultivated up to the Spirit Seed Realm.
It was the Great Xia’s national classic.
