121: Chapter 121 The Reincarnation of the Empress

Gu Changge's fingertips lightly tapped his folding fan, his gaze sweeping past the bustling street corner and landing on the fleeing figure of the Young Miss.

The wind swept the hem of her moon-white brocade dress across the bluestone slabs, the skirt's edge stained with dust, yet it still accentuated her tall and graceful figure.

Even in her panicked flight, her knees instinctively straightened when she landed, as if accustomed to maintaining composure under the gaze of many.

The Young Miss's hair clung messily to her cheeks, her forehead beaded with a thin layer of sweat, but her almond-shaped eyes shone astonishingly bright, like cold stars, revealing an arrogance that refused to lose her spirit even if she lost a fight.

Gu Changge's eyebrows subtly raised, and a faint wisp of Qi drifted by with the wind.

It was an unusual fluctuation hidden deep within the Young Miss's Soul, ethereal yet carrying the profound weight of Reincarnation, like a dust-laden Emperor's crown.

Though firmly suppressed by her new Physical Body, it still faintly trembled in the depths of her Soul. This Qi, surprisingly, held a hint of the Emperor Dao.

He silently activated his Eye of Illusory Breaking, and a faint golden light flashed in his eyes.

In an instant, the Young Miss's past unfolded in his Sea of Consciousness like a shattered painting.

She was not from the Xuanhuang Great World; her previous life originated from the "Tianlan Great World," where she was an existence that made all domains bow down.

As a woman, a mere Mortal, she rose from a sea of corpses and blood, creating her own Heaven Devouring Dao Art to cut down Prodigies of her generation, and with a single iron sword, she suppressed ancient Supremes, eventually ascending to the position of Empress, known as "Empress Ling Xi."

Gu Changge's Divine Thought followed the images deeper, seeing that a thousand years after she ascended to the Emperor position, her cultivation had reached the limit of the Tianlan Great World—Peak Emperor Realm.

To seek a higher Realm, she used her own Emperor Body as a guide, forcefully tearing open the domain barrier.

That battle lasted for three full months. She endured the suppression of the Great World's Heavenly Dao, the tearing of the domain storm, and even when her Emperor's crown shattered and her Emperor's robes were stained with blood, she did not retreat a single step. Finally, she tore acrack in the barrier.

But just as she was about to step into the legendary Immortal Realm, a golden Law light blade suddenly shot out from thecrack—it was a Law of the Immortal Realm, cold and merciless.

In her haste, she swung her sword to block, her Emperor weapon shattered into dust, her Emperor Body was pierced by the power of the Law, and even her Divine Soul nearly disintegrated.

In a moment of life and death, she burned her last trace of Emperor Dao Origin, stripped her Divine Soul from her Emperor Body, and, using the spatial rift created by the clash of Laws, escaped into the Void Realm.

Eventually, by a stroke of Opportunity, she drifted to the Xuanhuang Great World and was Reborn into the Ling family. Sixteen years had passed in a blink.

"She's quite a formidable character."

Gu Changge retracted his Divine Pupil, a hint of interest flashing in his eyes.

Such an experience was somewhat similar to a certain Great Emperor in legends, both rising from a Mortal Body, relying on Heaven-Defying talent and an unyielding spirit that defied fate, carving out a path to survival in desperate situations.

The little black bird on his shoulder suddenly became restless, its black bean-like eyes fixed intently on the Young Miss, its wings taut like a drawn bowstring, emitting a low whimper.

Although it had not yet cultivated to the Emperor Realm, it had once felt the pressure of a Great Emperor. Now, vaguely sensing the lingering Emperor Dao in the Young Miss's Soul, it instinctively became wary.

Gu Changge gently pressed his fingertip on the little black bird's head, calming its restlessness, and a smile played on his lips: "What are you panicking about? She's just a little one who hasn't recovered her strength. You were much more disheveled when Mortals chased you for spirit fruits back then."

Xiao Ruobai and Fang Hanyu stood to the side, but did not notice anything unusual.

Xiao Ruobai frowned, looking at the chasing middle-aged man, and whispered to Gu Changge: "Master, judging by the situation, it seems like a family matter. Should we avoid it?"

Fang Hanyu also nodded in agreement, his fingertips unconsciously brushing the scabbard. He always felt an indescribable sense of incongruity about the Young Miss, yet he couldn't find anything abnormal, so he could only suppress his doubts.

Only Gu Changge and the little black bird could capture that wisp of Emperor Dao lingering deep within her Soul—a Qi that even a quasi-Emperor Realm might not easily perceive.

If Gu Changge's cultivation hadn't already reached the Peak Emperor Realm, and if the little black bird wasn't a Divine Beast, anyone else, even a Saint Realm cultivator, would only see her as an ordinary Young Miss.

Clearly, this girl had concealed her true background extremely well.

"Father! Stop chasing me! I said I won't marry!"

Ling Xi stumbled and hid under an old locust tree, leaning against its rough trunk.

A tear had appeared on the side of her brocade dress, revealing an ankle splattered with mud, yet she still held her chin high, her eyes full of stubbornness.

Just as she was about to use the tree trunk to steady herself, she suddenly stumbled. When she had fled earlier, she had instinctively tried to use "Tianlan Steps," but her Foundation Establishment Realm spiritual power couldn't keep up, and she almost tripped after only darting half a zhang.

This broken body, it doesn't even have one ten-thousandth of this Emperor's speed. It's truly a disgrace to my former self!

When Ling Xi awakened her memories three days ago, she was still immersed in the memories of her past life as Empress, her mind filled with the battles of the Burial Dao Abyss and the bloodshed of the Emperor Road.

Before she could finish sorting through her past life's Emperor Dao insights, her father, Ling Kun, dragged her into a discussion about her engagement to Young Master Wang of the Wang family.

The Wang family was a top aristocratic family in Xuan Province, and Young Master Wang Hao was already in the Early Stage Core Formation Realm at a young age. He had fallen in love with her at first sight, and the Elders of the clan all said it was a "match made in heaven."

At first, she patiently and softly explained: "Father, my aspirations are not here; I don't want to marry..."

But to her family, these words simply meant, "The Young Miss is throwing another tantrum."

The Second Elder stroked his goatee, his eyes narrowed into slits with a smile, holding her hand and refusing to let go: "My dear Xi'er, Young Lord Wang is a son-in-Law hard to find even with a lantern!

He's handsome and highly cultivated. Last time you said you liked spirit jade hairpins, and he immediately sent over his treasured 'Dewdrop Hairpin.' Isn't that enough sincerity?"

The Fifth Elder was even more anxious, his cane tapping "dong dong" on the ground, veins popping out on his forehead: "Do you know how much Young Lord Wang fought with his family to marry you? He's even willing to offer the ancestral Heaven Spirit Jade as a betrothal gift. Don't be ungrateful!"

One after another, words like "blessing," "Opportunity," and "ungrateful" bombarded her. Suddenly, the "Empress's past" memories in Ling Xi's mind surged.

Her fingertips quietly tightened, her nails digging into her palm. In her previous life, a mere wave of her hand could make all domains bow down; how could she have endured such restraints?

Anyone who dared to speak to her like that would have been crushed by her Emperor's might.

Unable to hold back, her voice suddenly rose by eight octaves: "Don't force me! If you force me again, I'll suppress all of you!"

Ling Kun's smile froze, the Second Elder's goatee shot up to a right angle, and the Fifth Elder's eyes widened: "You, you girl, what nonsense are you saying! You want to suppress us?"

Ling Kun was so angry his hands trembled. He picked up the jade ruyi he had treasured for many years, now holding it high, his tone urgent and furious.

"You ungrateful girl! Have your wings grown hard, have they? Today, I must teach you a good lesson and let you know what rules are!"

"I won't marry!"

Ling Xi bit her lip, turned, and ran out.

Ling Kun chased behind her, panting, waving the jade ruyi in his hand, but never quite touching Ling Xi's clothes. He kept muttering: "You stop right there! If I don't knock some sense into you today, I'm not your father!"

The next chapter is still being written, it will be a bit late, brothers, please wait patiently!