In Great Xia, in the imperial city.
Inside a certain grand hall.
The Xia Emperor sat cross-legged, holding in his hand an image-recording talisman sent from Beiyang City.
The talisman burned, and Wang Jin’s figure appeared before him. His voice, reverent yet trembling with excitement, rang out.
“Your Majesty, the one who triggered the phenomenon of the five-colored divine radiance is none other than the Ninth Princess, Xiao Minghuang.”
“And the Ninth Princess’s five-element spiritual root is of extremely high quality—Heaven-grade, lower tier!”
As his words fell, Wang Jin’s image dissipated.
The Xia Emperor clenched both fists, unrestrained joy surging across his face.
“Xiao Jiu actually has a Heaven-grade five-element spiritual root! Heaven itself prospers Great Xia—our rise is unstoppable!”
…
Beiyang City.
In the blink of an eye, three days had passed, and the day of the agreed duel had arrived.
Ye Ruoshui, Lin Wanqiu, and the people of Beiyang City were all standing outside Xiao Minghuang’s courtyard.
They could feel a mysterious, unfathomable aura emanating from within the room, and so none of them dared to make a sound and disturb her.
They waited for a long time, until the sun was high in the sky.
Inside the room.
Xiao Minghuang slowly opened her eyes.
In that instant, it was as if endless stars shimmered within her pupils. Ancient celestial bodies that had stood in the universe for countless ages seemed to come alive, bursting forth with dazzling, resplendent radiance through her gaze.
Among that myriad of stars, only one shone brightest—high above the thirty-three heavens, wreathed in purple light, its nobility beyond words.
That radiant star represented eternity, represented immortality, represented the supreme, the most exalted of all the heavens’ stars—the sovereign before whom every other shining star in the firmament must, without exception, respond when summoned.
A moment later.
The starlight in Xiao Minghuang’s pupils faded. The divine anomaly retreated, yet her gaze remained bright. Those sparkling peach-blossom eyes carried a matchless, innate nobility that made one instinctively want to prostrate themselves in worship.
“The Purple Tenuity Imperial Dao Sutra—brought to Great Completion.”
During this seclusion, her cultivation realm had not advanced, but the gains from comprehending the cultivation method were in no way inferior to a rise in realm.
Xiao Minghuang drew back her aura until she seemed perfectly calm. The corners of her lips lifted slightly, a faint smile touching her eyes.
“Cultivation methods and martial arts are divided into five levels of comprehension because once you temper one to Great Completion, you can derive a divine ability from it.”
“Any divine ability is unimaginably powerful and unfathomably mysterious. If a martial artist can comprehend even one in their entire lifetime, it’s already considered quite an accomplishment.”
“But I only used a few short months to comprehend a divine ability. If word of that got out, I doubt anyone would believe it.”
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“The divine ability hidden within the Purple Tenuity Imperial Dao Sutra is called ‘Daylight Star Manifestation’. It allows one to draw down the power of the stars and infuse it into the body, greatly boosting one’s own strength, to the point of even leaping across an entire major realm to kill the enemy.”
Xiao Minghuang knew that when the Purple Tenuity Imperial Dao Sutra reached Minor Completion, one could condense one’s spiritual power into starlight that burst forth from the body, combining offense and defense into one.
The effects were comprehensive, but limited by the user’s own spiritual power. Its might was ultimately finite; at best it allowed one to fight across a minor realm.
Daylight Star Manifestation was not like that.
This divine ability drew on the power of the stars themselves. Its upper limit was beyond imagination.
Right now, her cultivation was only at the Qi Refining Realm, so she could at most draw on some weaker stars.
But one day in the future, if she could summon the power of the sun that illuminated the boundless starry sky—what kind of world-shaking, heaven-toppling force would that be?
After comprehending Daylight Star Manifestation, Xiao Minghuang grew increasingly certain that the Purple Tenuity Imperial Dao Sutra and the Seven Stars of the Big Dipper Sword Art shared the same origin. The two complemented each other perfectly; used together, they were not at all at odds, but instead multiplied each other’s power.
However, Xiao Minghuang had no time to ponder it further. She had already sensed the auras of the people waiting outside. She rose to her feet and pushed open the door.
“You’ve all waited long. I trust we haven’t missed the agreed time for the duel?”
Xiao Minghuang cupped her hands in greeting.
Lin Zhengquan hurriedly waved his hands.
“No, no, not at all. We only just got here ourselves. Your Highness has emerged at precisely the right time!”
Hearing this, Xiao Minghuang smiled.
“In that case, let’s be on our way.”
Lin Zhengquan gestured ahead.
“Ah… yes. Your Highness, please follow me.”
…
The Wilds Forest stretched for tens of thousands of miles. Mountain ridges rose and fell in endless layers, lush and verdant. Towering ancient trees grew everywhere, their canopies so dense that even the bright sunlight could not pierce through.
Xiao Minghuang’s group trekked through the dense forest for about an hour before they reached the agreed dueling ground, just outside the spirit-vein mine tunnel.
When they arrived, the people of the Golden Elephant Kingdom had already been waiting there for quite some time.
Hundreds of soldiers in golden armor stood in formation, surrounding several burly young men. These should be the younger-generation martial artists of the Golden Elephant Kingdom.
Among the young warriors stood a few fighters wearing short yellow jackets—one elder and several youths—each with arrogance written across their faces.
Among the Golden Elephant Kingdom’s warriors, these six were clearly the ones at the top.
With a single glance, Xiao Minghuang sensed the aura of the peak of the Yongquan Realm surging from the yellow-robed elder. It swept toward them, clearly meant to crush them with sheer pressure, to force them to their knees.
Just then.
A powerful aura erupted from behind Xiao Minghuang’s group, directly pushing the yellow-robed elder’s pressure back.
Feeling his suppressive aura bounced away, the elder’s shoulders twitched. His expression remained calm, utterly unafraid of the opposing pressure, as he spoke lightly.
“City Lord Lin, such impressive might. Are you saying you don’t put my Dragon Tiger Sect in your eyes at all?”
At those words, everyone present changed expression.
This elder was actually from the Dragon Tiger Sect!
The Dragon Tiger Sect—one of the three great sects of the Southern Region.
Its sect master was a Nascent Soul Realm powerhouse. Across the entire south, only the Spirit Sword Sect’s Sword True Person and the Beast Taming Sect’s Giant Elephant True Person could be mentioned in the same breath.
In the northern part of the Southern Region, the Dragon Tiger Sect was a power that could cover the sky with one hand.
Moreover, of the eight subordinate forces under the Dragon Tiger Sect, more than half bordered Great Xia.
One could say that the Dragon Tiger Sect was a sword hanging over Great Xia’s head, one that could fall at any time to end the dynasty’s fate.
Faced with such provocation, the strongest among them, Lin Zhengquan, did not open his mouth. Instead, he turned his gaze to the girl in the center—the one in a dress of bright crimson, his eyes carrying a hint of inquiry.
Seeing this, even the yellow-robed elder couldn’t help a flicker of doubt in his eyes.
“Lin Zhengquan is the lord of Beiyang City, in charge of all northern Great Xia. How could he be taking orders from a little yellow-haired girl who hasn’t even grown up yet?”
At that moment, the peerlessly beautiful girl in crimson, black hair like a waterfall, skin fairer than snow, bearing an ethereal, refined, and noble aura that seemed beyond the mortal world, parted her soft pink lips. Her voice was like heavenly music, yet her words were anything but gentle.
“If you want to fight, then fight. What’s with all the pointless chatter?”
