“Commandery Princess Feng!?”
Under the omniscient influence of pain, it was difficult to discern a person’s identity solely by their voice.
However, the distinguished charisma and beauty of the Eastern Commandery Princess Feng Guanyin couldn’t escape such illusion.
And when the equally charming and beautiful figure appeared at the edge of the doorway, the hearts of the various cultivators affiliated with the Hundred Clan Coalition were thrown into chaos.
The young members wished desperately within their hearts to be noticed by the prestigious Eastern Commandery Princess.
Be it a consort, bodyguard, or even butler, such a position would bring forth infinitely more valuable benefits to their wellbeing compared to their current status within the Hundred Clan Coalition.
The cultivators more advanced in age couldn’t help but panic upon the appearance of the young woman, but for a different reason altogether.
If Eastern Commandery Princess noticed the intricacies of the affairs leading to the current situation of pitting a young mortal girl against a significant collection of the Hundred Clan Coalition’s elite cultivators, then it would spell the end of the Hundred Clan Coalition altogether.
Cultivators suppressing mortals wasn’t uncommon or prohibited within the massive empire that was Great Yong.
As the Lu Imperial Family was only able to rise to their current position as imperial rulers due to their status as cultivators, it was natural for them to ignore such ordinary cases as a group of cultivators bullying a mortal girl.
However, when it concerned ancient legacies of considerable renown such as Emperor Nine Yellow Reincarnations, then…
How could the Lu Imperial Family not become involved?
The Four Commanderies could be considered the true masters of the territories underneath Jiang’an, not the Hundred Clan Coalition – for each of the former’s members were affiliated with the Lu Imperial Family.
As such, if Commandery Princess Feng Guanyin decided to investigate the causations of this event and report it to the Emperor, then…
The Hundred Clan Coalition would be decimated to the ninth generation, receiving the crime of plotting against the Imperial Family and attempting to gain ownership of Great Yong without permission.
Not even the dogs living their residences would be spared after receiving a crime of that magnitude.
Thus, it was imperative – no, absolute that the Commandery Princess remind blind regarding this matter!
“Commandery Princess, this is just a measly matter not worth your concern,” the elder dispatched by the Di Clan patted his sore body into a standing position.
“The Hundred Clan Coalition is merely settling an internal matter. We apologize for the inconvenience it may have caused for the Commandery Princess!”
Therefore, please get out of the way!
Feng Guanyin raised an eyebrow towards the implied message conveyed by the Di Clan’s elder. Nonetheless, spotting his efforts to place a smile on his bleeding countenance, the young princess didn’t press the matter immediately but instead turned to face the young girl.
“Well, Lady Xu, this seems to be an exciting matter, doesn’t it? Why doesn’t Lady Xu enlighten this princess what exactly is happening here?”
“Your Highness asks quite the interesting question.”
Can’t you see what had happened with your own eyes? Why ask me, a participant?
The young girl’s heart reached out for the celebrities and actors of the modern world when they had to face the absurd questions posed by the media, feeling a similar bitter exasperation and contempt arise in her heart.
As An Fei’s mind mused in silence, her brows raised at an interesting thought.
Didn’t the Hundred Clan Coalition love the brag that their authority spanned the entirety of Great Yong that was underneath Jiang’an?
Well, her father was a third-ranked minister employed at the Imperial Court of Jiang’an and dared to talk back to the Emperor with ease – didn’t that mean that he had greater authority than the Hundred Clan Coalition?
As a daughter of such an influential person, An Fei naturally had one duty – to ride on the coattails of their authority as much as possible!
“As Your Highness can observe, the Hundred Clan Coalition threw a total of twenty-seven cultivators to rob my possessions,” the young girl’s fingers grasped the hem of her dress as she lowered into a slight curtsey.
“It is just that Your Highness entered the scene at this particular moment.”
“Oh? This princess would like to know just how a mortal girl can effectively defeat at least twenty cultivators of the Spirit Building Realm and Core Formation Realm without suffering an injury,” Feng Guanyin displayed a sneer.
“Since this princess is also a mortal, isn’t it a perfect opportunity to explain yourself, Lady Xu? Unless… perhaps Lady Xu holds the Feng Family in contempt?”
It wasn’t just Feng Guanyin of the Eastern Commandery that wished to know An Fei’s secret of utterly humiliating cultivators.
The Hundred Clan Coalition also wished to pry apart the young girl’s secrets, but simply wasn’t in the right position to do so.
There simply wasn’t any external martial arts technique within Great Yong or the Three Lotus Sect that could accomplish such a feat!
An Fei merely shrugged her shoulders at Feng Guanyin’s question. The young girl returned the provocative gaze, her mood undisturbed by the silent threat hidden within the Commandery Princess’ words.
Given how the Eastern Commandery was of the same lineage as the Empress, Feng Yu Xin, An Fei was in no way going to offer any assistance whatsoever.
She had no duty serving the family of a person who had caused her to fall into this mess!
The young girl even tinkered with the scarlet flames blossoming on the taijijian’s blade, an indolent expression on her countenance.
“You-!”
Feng Guanyin scowled at the obvious affront to her authority and influence, feeling the rage reserved for aristocrats enveloping her body.
Nonetheless, the young woman felt a sliver of dread creep across her heart at An Fei’s behavior.
She hadn’t managed to observe the entirety of the proceeding events, but was confident that she understood seven to eight tenths of the underlying conflict. As such, she as well as the other members of the Hundred Clan Coalition questioned the young girl’s identity numerous times within their hearts.
This Xu Lingxue – surely this mysterious ‘Xu’ family wasn’t an ancient lineage that possessed greater strength than that of the Lu Imperial Family?
Or was she from the mysterious region of land that was foreign to the Shattered Star Continent – the Natural Domains that existed only in legends?
The Hundred Clan Coalition may be oblivious, but the Commanderies as well as the Imperial Family at least knew that it existed…
“Does Your Highness have any other questions for this little one?”
The young girl tilted her head to the side, a placid expression on her exhausted countenance. Having heard no response from the Commandery Princess for a whilte, An Fei lowered her gaze onto the panting figure of Yang Jian.
More particularly, she stared at the twin butterfly swords sheathed at the man’s waist.
“Still not coming back?”
The voice was lofty but devoid of grace, energetic yet tinged with fatigue. At first, the cultivators didn’t realize to whom the young girl spoke towards, but soon found their eyes widened as far as possible.
The twin butterfly swords lurched from the handsome man’s belt, flying into the hands of the young girl standing across.
The sheathes followed the steel blades, ripping Yang Jian’s belt and shredding his outer robes to facilitate their flight.
“How…”
That was a spiritual artefact that had been partially refined by another cultivator. How was it able to respond so quickly and efficiently?
Furthermore, to that of a mortal girl’s words!?
The conflicted thoughts of the cultivators of the Hundred Clan Coalition and an Eastern Commandery Princess were ignored by An Fei. The young girl stared at the white inscriptions etched onto the shale floor, curiosity brimming in her heart.
“How does this transference array work?”
Aerial transference to specified… destination?
Unlike the neatly described characters that manifested in the talismans and arrays that Wei Xuan had ‘cheerfully’ demonstrated to her, the massive engraving underneath An Fei’s feet could be considered a catastrophic mess.
The young girl had to pace several times around the various layers before she was able to make recognize the characters engraved onto the array.
It was akin to taking the characters of simplified script and partially simplifying them three steps further, then displaying the results before someone who had only studied traditional script.
Illegible!
Furthermore, some of the strokes of the characters had been scattered across the engraving!
An Fei suppressed the bitter disappointment within her heart as she glared once more towards the engraving on the transference array.
The young girl kicked the struggling Yang Jian and Tang Yunhe off of the elevated shale platform, before stepping onto the center of the circular platform.
She then performed what could be considered the dumbest and most effective method of discovery and inquisition.
Stabbing the tip of the slender taijijian into the center of the transference array, An Fei allowed a thread of spiritual essence to slowly permeate the circular platform. Afterwards, it really didn’t take a long period of time before she obtained significant results.
“Surely not… a mortal doesn’t have access to spiritual essence, so what is she thinking…”
An injured cultivator murmured with outstretched eyes as he stared at the young girl’s figure. And yet, his thoughts were destined to be dashed to the ground for the second time.
The white engravings of the transference array burst into spectral white light, the scattered characters appearing more illuminating.
Above, the sky flickered with a multicolored aurora as in indicator for the aggregation of a massive quantity of spiritual essence.
It was at this moment that Yang Jian’s countenance broke with a truly sinister and maleficent smile, and An Fei’s expression warped into one of pure rage. At the same time, a figure flew from the corridor of the chamber, and a powerful shout rent through the air.
“Brother Yang! This is no different from those of the demonic sects – how could you!? Breaking such basic morals like this, just how can you call yourself human!?”
But it was too late.
The two figures disappeared into a streak of white light, and the chamber housing the transference array returned to its prior tranquility.
