The King of Six Crowns Has Seen Through Everything, and Life Is Not All Gloom
The King of Six Crowns Has Seen Through Everything, and Life Is Not All Gloom
In the courtyard, dark clouds drifted in, shrouding the surroundings. Everything was dim, making the scene seem all the more desolate.
A thick stench of blood permeated the air, causing the faces of many Cultivators who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion to change rapidly.
High in the sky, divine rainbows streaked one after another, moving at great speed, converging from all directions.
Leading them were the ruler of the Azure Dragon Empire and his party.
The moment they heard the disturbance here, they had rushed over in a frantic hurry.
But none of them had expected to witness such a scene.
“Someone, come quickly!”
“This is disastrous—we’ve been attacked!”
The face of the Azure Dragon Empire’s ruler turned pale. Seeing this scene, he felt dizzy and hastily summoned physicians.
Although the siblings Qing Feng and Qing Xiaoyi had no great power backing them,
the talent they had displayed had drawn the attention of many Elders of the True Immortal Academy.
If something happened to them here, he, as the ruler, feared that even offering his own head would not be enough to atone.
Right now, he could only hope to first snatch Qing Feng’s life back from the brink.
Something like this happening would surely alarm the Elders of the True Immortal Academy into rushing over.
That aura just now was at least a strike from a Sacred Realm expert. With the Azure Dragon Empire’s capabilities, how could they possibly capture a Sacred Realm assassin?
However, what gave the Azure Dragon ruler some relief was that Gu Xianer was safe and sound—serene and cool, immortal grace drifting about her, standing there unharmed.
What he worried about most was Gu Xianer getting hurt, knowing who stood behind her.
If she were harmed in the slightest, the entire Azure Dragon Empire’s annihilation probably wouldn’t be enough to quell that person’s fury.
“Xianer xiaojie, as long as you’re unharmed, all is well.” The Azure Dragon ruler revealed a smile of relief.
Gu Xianer nodded but did not reply.
Within her gaze, runes flickered and strands of divine light flowed as she carefully examined Qing Feng’s current condition.
At this moment, although Qing Feng lay on the ground, covered in blood, his body looking as if it were about to burst apart,
his life force was incredibly faint, like a dying candle in the autumn wind that could be extinguished at any moment.
Yet there was a hazy radiance protecting his heart meridian and his soul.
If not for Gu Xianer’s powerful perception, one might have thought he was already dead.
“What is that?”
Gu Xianer was somewhat puzzled and astonished. Her gaze fell upon him, and she could just make out a flask-like object in Qing Feng’s embrace, glowing faintly.
Its patterns were incomparably ancient, with some traces of rust.
Though stained with blood, it still appeared extraordinary.
“Could it be that this mysterious flask protected Qing Feng’s life?”
Gu Xianer’s astonishment was not without reason.
The mysterious person who abducted Qing Xiaoyi was extremely powerful, at least at the Sacred Realm level.
Her Quasi-Sacred Realm war spear, once activated by her, could at least battle a Sacred Realm existence.
But under that mysterious person’s casual finger strike, it had been shattered to pieces.
Such terrifying strength was no simple Sacred Realm.
After all, Qing Feng had only recently set foot on the path of cultivation.
His strength hadn’t even reached the Mighty-Transcendent Realm.
Let alone a palm strike from a Sacred Realm expert—even a wisp of their pressure would be unbearable; he would explode directly.
“Although the aura the mysterious person revealed was Sacred Realm, his strength is definitely not merely Sacred Realm...”
“Most likely, he’s some ancient freak.”
Gu Xianer speculated thus. How could an ordinary Sacred Realm Cultivator possess such power?
And what puzzled her somewhat was that after the opponent struck, he seemed to have deliberately avoided her?
Could it be someone she knew? But which acquaintance would come to abduct Qing Xiaoyi?
“The Source of the Celestial Demonic Physique? Could it be someone connected to the Successor of Demonic Arts? I recently heard that a Successor of Demonic Arts appeared over in the Black Tortoise Empire?”
“It seems Qing Xiaoyi is likely in grave danger this time.”
Gu Xianer sighed. Her heart was filled more with doubt. She could only wait until Qing Feng was saved to see if he knew anything.
Otherwise, with Qing Xiaoyi lost, she really would be hard to find.
“But I can use this opportunity to tell that guy Gu Changge about this. Back then, he swore confidently before all the Elders that he’d guarantee the safety of this pair of siblings.”
“But now, of this pair of siblings, one is heavily injured and the other’s fate is unknown. Could it be the work of some enemy of Gu Changge?”
She speculated in her heart, but without evidence, it was hard to say.
Soon after, the physicians of the Azure Dragon Empire arrived, intending to treat Qing Feng first.
Speaking of which, Qing Feng’s injuries were incomparably fatal. Clearly, the opponent had struck with the intent to kill.
Yet he had forcibly endured a palm from a Sacred Realm expert without dying, still clinging to a thread of life. This left all the physicians utterly shocked.
“His heart meridian was protected by a mysterious power. His soul nearly shattered, but in the end, it was likewise protected by that power...”
“How truly strange.”
They marveled greatly. They had seen many injuries, but this was the first time they’d seen someone walk through the gates of hell and come back.
If it wasn’t heaven-defying luck, then it was fate decreeing he shouldn’t die—even the heavens couldn’t bear to take him.
“This little flask is somewhat odd...”
Some sharp-eyed people did notice the ancient little flask in Qing Feng’s embrace, but they didn’t think too deeply about it.
They lacked Gu Xianer’s discernment and naturally had no way to perceive the flask’s mysteries.
Gu Xianer, for her part, harbored no designs on it. Although she was stingy, miserly, and fond of money, and loved knocking people out with a sap, that didn’t mean she would loot a burning house.
At this moment, her main concern was still the safety of Qing Xiaoyi and Qing Feng.
For this trial in the Azure Dragon Empire, she was effectively the one leading it.
As their senior sister, she had failed to protect even the two of them, which left her proud heart somewhat distressed.
If it had been Gu Changge, Qing Xiaoyi and Qing Feng simply wouldn’t have come to harm, and that mysterious assailant very likely wouldn’t even have been able to escape.
“My strength is still too weak...”
She was somewhat dejected. Having been repeatedly crushed in front of Gu Changge before, she hadn’t expected that now she couldn’t even handle a mysterious person.
Gu Xianer truly began to suspect that those shifus of Peach Village had been deceiving her.
They had actually said her strength would one day allow her to casually sweep through her peers, invincible in the world.
Even she herself didn’t quite believe those words.
Then she hesitated for a moment, but still took the initiative to send word of what had happened here to Gu Changge, hoping he might have some solution.
But soon, the Communication Rune lit up. The instant she informed Gu Changge of what had happened here,
a reply came back from Gu Changge’s side.
This surprised Gu Xianer somewhat. Normally, Gu Changge wouldn’t care so much about any given matter.
“How are you so useless? You can’t even watch over two people.”
She hadn’t expected Gu Changge’s first words to be a head-on scolding.
Gu Xianer was somewhat indignant, nearly throwing the Communication Rune in her hand.
At a time like this, shouldn’t he first show some concern for her? Yet Gu Changge actually opened his mouth to curse her.
“I’ll come over soon.”
However, hearing Gu Changge’s next words, she relented somewhat, letting out a hum through her nose. “I was merely informing you of this matter. Who asked you to come over?”
......
“If you could spare me some worry, why would I need to go to such trouble?”
After saying this, Gu Changge crushed the Communication Jade Talisman in his hand, naturally no longer able to hear Gu Xianer’s incessant chattering.
He glanced at the unconscious Qing Xiaoyi in his hand.
Then, the void before him blurred once more. He stepped into it and quickly vanished beyond the borders of the Azure Dragon Empire.
From Gu Xianer, he had also learned that Qing Feng hadn’t died.
Of course, this was all within his plan. If he killed Qing Feng now, who would be left to testify later?
When he struck, he had deliberately held back, partly out of concern that he might accidentally kill Qing Feng.
Of course, Gu Changge knew he possessed the Flask of World Domination. As the divine artifact that had defied fate and changed Qing Feng’s destiny, it should have no problem blocking for him at a critical moment and incidentally saving his life.
For this chess game, he had rushed over nonstop from the Vermilion Bird Empire. Though with his current speed, it actually didn’t take much time.
While traveling, he merged into the Dao of Space, crossing tens of millions of li in an instant. Even small Transportation Arrays weren’t as fast as him.
What he needed to consider now was finding a suitable place to dump Qing Xiaoyi for the time being.
“If there’s enough time, I can use the Dao Fruit of Reception to first obtain the Source of her Celestial Demonic Physique...”
In Gu Changge’s palm, a hazy radiance emerged, then manifested into a resplendent little sapling. Various rules and runes flickered, bursting forth with multicolored light.
Upon the sapling, fruits were growing.
One of the fruits was entwined with primordial purple qi, incomparably mysterious and divine, with various Daos and laws cascading and interweaving upon it.
Gu Changge looked at the unconscious Qing Xiaoyi, a strange gleam flashing through his eyes.
Immediately, a crystalline, misty fruit detached from the sapling, transforming into a ball of light that drifted toward Qing Xiaoyi’s forehead, instantly merging into it.
......
And soon, three days passed.
What had happened in the Azure Dragon Empire initially didn’t spread, circulating only within a small scope.
At the end of the day, it was because the Azure Dragon Empire had too few prodigies of note.
But after Gu Xianer informed Gu Changge of the matter through the Jade Talisman,
the news of Qing Xiaoyi’s abduction finally spread like wildfire among the prodigies of the True Immortal Academy, causing a huge uproar.
Gu Changge, who had been far away in the Vermilion Bird Empire resolving the Eternal Overcast calamity, immediately turned back at the first moment, then led his people toward the Azure Dragon Empire.
Many young prodigies and ancient freaks were paying close attention to Gu Changge’s every move.
Some saw him depart from the Vermilion Bird Empire, and after a little inquiry, learned what had happened in the Azure Dragon Empire.
Word spread from one to ten, ten to a hundred. Soon, prodigies of nearly every ancient empire knew of the matter, and all were utterly shocked.
Qing Xiaoyi and Qing Feng were quite special in the True Immortal Academy, with no backing behind them.
Yet their aptitude was so powerful that many Elders had competed to take them as disciples.
Now that something had happened to Qing Xiaoyi, in the eyes of many young prodigies, there was even some schadenfreude.
They heard her physique was very special.
And with the Successor of Demonic Arts having recently appeared, many instantly made the connection, speculating whether it was related to the Successor of Demonic Arts.
Many prodigies of the Black Tortoise Empire had fallen victim to the Demonic Arts’ schemes. Could it be that during this period, the Successor of Demonic Arts had run off to the Azure Dragon Empire?
“The Successor of Demonic Arts?”
In a residence bathed in cascading radiance and swirling immortal qi, the King of Six Crowns, Jun Yao, sat cross-legged on a bluestone.
His expression was somewhat thoughtful. He suddenly thought of a certain person—though of course, not the Successor of Demonic Arts.
After all, on the day Qing Xiaoyi’s incident occurred, he had personally seen Ying Shuang in the Capital of the Black Tortoise Empire.
Even if Ying Shuang had wings on his back and could travel through the void, it would be impossible for him to abduct Qing Xiaoyi in such a short time.
So the rumors outside about the Successor of Demonic Arts—in his view, that wasn’t the truth. The one who actually struck was someone else entirely.
“It wasn’t the Successor of Demonic Arts.”
“But it shouldn’t be unrelated to him either. Heavenly Monarch Ziyang is said to have gone off in pursuit of the Successor of Demonic Arts, yet Ying Shuang himself never left the Capital of the Black Tortoise Empire by half a step.”
“Then who was he chasing?”
“Interesting, interesting.”
“So the two of them were in cahoots all along. No wonder Ying Shuang is so bold and unscrupulous. Heavenly Monarch Ziyang’s little cicada-shedding-its-shell trick is quite masterfully executed.”
Jun Yao laughed, then closed his eyes again, paying it no further mind. He had already seen through it all—he simply couldn’t be bothered to expose it.
The Successor of Demonic Arts, Ying Shuang, had such capability, secretly joining forces with Heavenly Monarch Ziyang.
He had somewhat underestimated Ying Shuang. With such ability, he truly lived up to being someone who could escape unscathed from Gu Changge’s hands.
“At this moment, everyone has been kept in the dark.”
“I just wonder whether Gu Changge can see through all of this?”
Jun Yao murmured, a faint anticipation in his heart. If Gu Changge couldn’t even see through this, it would be somewhat disappointing.
This great enemy of his, in that case, would amount to nothing much after all.
......
“The Successor of Demonic Arts?”
“Are they trying to pin the blame on me again?”
“No, wait—the King of Six Crowns saw me with his own eyes that day. He can completely prove this wasn’t my doing.”
Meanwhile, on the other side, Ying Shuang, the professional scapegoat, naturally received this news as well.
At first, he too was shocked. After coming to his senses, his expression turned incomparably ugly.
After all, judging by what everyone was saying, they all suspected this was the work of the Successor of Demonic Arts.
In other words, out of nowhere, he had once again been saddled with a black pot.
“Gu Changge and I have no grievance or enmity. Why must he frame me time and time again?”
“Even if the King of Six Crowns knows this wasn’t my doing, what of it?”
Thinking of this, Ying Shuang felt incomparably stifled, furious, and unwilling, his fists clenched tight.
But there was nothing he could do about it—he couldn’t even offer a single word of defense.
“You’ve been following my xiaojie from behind these past few days. Is there something you want?”
However, just then, a woman’s voice carrying a chill rang out beside Ying Shuang’s ear.
He suddenly snapped back to his senses and looked at the beautiful young woman walking toward him.
“I...”
Ying Shuang was momentarily dazed. Only then did he realize he was currently standing beside a small street stall.
This maid-dressed young woman was glaring at him with an unfriendly expression.
Ying Shuang hadn’t expected that despite being so careful, he would still be noticed by Yin Mei.
Not far away, Yin Mei was frowning, her delicate brows knit, staring fixedly at him with a suspicious, puzzled, and wary look.
“I’m actually not a bad person.” Ying Shuang gave a somewhat simple, honest smile and touched his nose.
“You’ve followed our xiaojie for days, and you still say you’re not a bad person?”
The maid’s eyes were unfriendly. Mana surged around her body, divine runes shining, looking ready to make a move.
“Don’t attack, I really am a good person!”
Ying Shuang hurriedly said. He didn’t want to offend Yin Mei over such a trivial matter and incur her displeasure.
“Xiao Zhu, let him come over.”
At this moment, Yin Mei, not far away, spoke up, sighing. “I also feel he probably isn’t a bad person.”
“On him, I seem to see a familiar shadow...”
Her words weren’t loud, carrying a sigh and a trace of helplessness, but Ying Shuang heard them.
Ying Shuang froze. After reacting, his eyes couldn’t help but widen, stunned.
He faintly guessed the meaning of Yin Mei’s words. Was she seeing the shadow of the former horse-feeding servant boy in him?
Thinking of this, Ying Shuang’s emotions suddenly became agitated and excited, but more than that, he was moved.
All this time.
Yin Mei xiaojie still hadn’t forgotten him, even though he was just a lowly horse-feeding servant boy.
At this moment, Ying Shuang himself didn’t know with what sort of feelings he walked over.
“What’s your name? Are you a prodigy of the True Immortal Academy?”
Yin Mei’s voice sounded again, bringing Ying Shuang back to his senses. He was taken aback, and for some unknown reason, he shook his head as if possessed. “No.”
He was striving to calm his agitated emotions.
He remembered the last time Yin Mei xiaojie asked his name, he was being bullied by a group of people and nearly died in the street.
“I’m no longer that little servant boy of the past. I can stand before Yin Mei xiaojie with dignity now.”
“I’ll let her know who in this world truly treats her well.”
Ying Shuang’s heart surged with emotion. After so many twists and turns, he could finally speak to Yin Mei with his head held high.
“You’re not?”
Yin Mei looked somewhat disappointed and shook her head. “If you’re not a prodigy of the True Immortal Academy, how did you come to be here?”
Ying Shuang was momentarily at a loss for words.
If he wasn’t a prodigy of the True Immortal Academy, how would he be here?
With no other choice, he could only brace himself and say, “Actually, I am a prodigy of the True Immortal Academy who came here for the trial. I learned of Yin Mei Tiannv’s existence long ago and admired her in my heart, so...”
“So that’s why you’ve been following me in secret, right?”
Yin Mei lightly interrupted him. “Considering your attitude is fairly honest, I won’t pursue the matter today. Don’t let me see you again.”
With that, she prepared to leave.
Hearing this, Ying Shuang suddenly froze, standing in place, quietly watching Yin Mei walk away. But his heart was anything but calm.
Back when he was still the horse-feeding servant boy, he had understood Yin Mei’s temperament very well.
If she were truly angry, there was no way she would let him leave unharmed.
“In other words, she’s actually not angry about what I did. It should be because she finds me somewhat familiar. That means, in Yin Mei’s heart, the old me actually held some weight...”
Thinking of this, Ying Shuang suddenly felt that being framed as the Successor of Demonic Arts wasn’t such an unacceptable thing after all.
His life now was no longer like before—shrouded in gray mist, a stretch of endless gloom.