43: The "Judgment" from the Ninth Princess

A purple beam of light pierced through the roof of the side hall, shooting straight into the depths of the firmament.

The clouds above the Su Family were instantly torn asunder.

The originally clear sky was now illuminated with a vibrant purple hue, as countless golden lotus phantoms bloomed, spun, and fell from the Void Realm.

The Great Dao's melodies resonated throughout Tianyan City.

Inside the side hall.

The Spiritual Qi became so dense it liquefied, turning into a torrential rain that poured frantically into the slender figure in the center.

Su Zining floated in mid-air.

Her old, washed-out dress had long since turned to dust in the Spiritual Qi storm, replaced by a radiant robe woven from Dao runes.

Her skin was whiter than snow, crystal clear and translucent.

Her hair, which had been somewhat dry due to long-term malnutrition, now became jet-black and lustrous, cascading down to her waist like a waterfall.

“Boom!”

The final torrent of Spiritual Qi was swallowed by her like a whale.

Su Zining slowly opened her eyes.

With a light tap of her toes, a visible ripple of the Dao spread out.

Qi Sea Realm third stage... fifth stage... ninth stage!

Break!

Yuan Gang Realm!

The astonishing momentum of her ascent only barely came to a halt when it reached the third stage of the Yuan Gang Realm.

This wasn't because her potential was exhausted.

It was because Su Xuanchen had stepped in and forcibly suppressed her Realm.

“The Foundation must be stable.”

Su Xuanchen withdrew his hand from the top of her head, looking at the girl before him who had undergone a complete transformation, his eyes filled with appreciation.

“Now, you can finally be considered truly alive.”

Su Zining stared blankly at her hands.

She clenched her fists.

The air exploded in her palms, letting out a crisp crack.

Power.

An unprecedentedly powerful strength.

The feeling of clear Meridians and surging spiritual power gave her an urge to cry.

“Thump!”

Su Zining did not hesitate for a moment and knelt heavily before Su Xuanchen.

Her forehead slammed hard against the stone floor with a dull thud.

“The Old Ancestor's grace of rebirth...”

“Zining can never repay it, even with ten thousand deaths!”

She looked up, her face already covered in tears.

This wasn't subservience.

This was the tearful gratitude of surviving a desperate situation, a sincere devotion of her life.

Su Xuanchen was about to reach out and help her up.

A light snort came from the side.

“Hmph.”

Gu Lingshuang leaned against a pillar with her arms crossed, her black-gold Phoenix eyes scanning Su Zining.

Her gaze was somewhat complex.

There was jealousy and annoyance, but more than that, a sense of recognition upon meeting one of her own kind.

“Innate Primordial Dao Embryo...”

“It indeed has some merit.”

She stepped forward, and though her tone remained tsundere, the hostility in her eyes had dissipated significantly.

“Although it's still a tiny bit inferior to my Myriad Tribulations Indestructible Body.”

“In a backwater place like this, it's barely presentable.”

Su Xuanchen's mouth twitched slightly.

This woman was truly stubborn.

Clearly, when she was watching the Breakthrough just now, her eyes were wide with amazement.

Gu Lingshuang ignored Su Xuanchen's teasing gaze.

She flicked her wrist.

A green Jade Slip radiating an ancient aura was casually tossed out.

“Catch.”

Su Zining instinctively caught the Jade Slip, looking bewildered.

“Sister... this is?”

“Don't call me sister, call me Mistress.”

Gu Lingshuang raised her chin slightly, exuding the demeanor of an Empress.

“This is the first half of the Innate Dao Scripture.”

“This Cultivation Technique is tailor-made for a Physique like yours; it's ten thousand times better than those trash techniques of your Su Family.”

“As for the second half...”

She paused, a flash of reminiscence in her eyes.

“It's in the Kunxu Divine Domain of the Central Heaven Realm, within a Great Emperor's Tomb.”

“The Divine Domain opens in a hundred years; go get it yourself.”

“If you don't even have that much ability, don't bother practicing this first half, lest you embarrass me.”

Su Zining held the Jade Slip, her hands trembling.

Although she had never heard of the Kunxu Divine Domain, the words “Great Emperor's Tomb” were enough for her to understand the weight of this gift.

“Thank... thank you, Mistress!”

She was about to kowtow again.

But Gu Lingshuang waved her sleeve, and a gentle force lifted her up.

“Enough.”

“I don't like this sort of thing.”

“Since you've taken my things, don't embarrass the Su Family in this Clan Competition.”

“If you don't take first place...”

Gu Lingshuang's gaze turned cold, and she made a throat-slitting gesture.

Su Zining shuddered and quickly straightened her back, promising loudly:

“Zining will not fail Mistress's high expectations!”

“I will definitely take first place!”

Su Xuanchen watched this scene, laughing inwardly.

This Gu Lingshuang was a typical case of a sharp tongue with a soft heart.

She clearly cherished talent but had to make it look like a mob boss collecting protection money.

“Alright.”

Su Xuanchen clapped his hands, interrupting the “lecture.”

“Since your Physique has awakened, don't waste time.”

“Zining, listen well.”

“Although your cultivation has returned to the Yuan Gang Realm, it is hollow.”

“I want you to do one thing.”

Su Xuanchen extended a finger, pointing at Su Zining's Dantian.

“Cripple your cultivation.”

“Cultivate again.”

Su Zining was stunned, her face instantly turning pale.

The cultivation she had worked so hard to get back... she had to cripple it again?

“The Innate Dao Embryo emphasizes the word ‘purity’.”

Su Xuanchen's expression was serious.

“The Cultivation Techniques you practiced before were too messy, and your spiritual power is impure; it's like sand.”

“If you want to build a tall building, you must replace all the sand in the Foundation with diamonds.”

“Use the Innate Dao Scripture and start from the beginning.”

“I believe that with your Aptitude, three days is enough.”

Su Zining gritted her teeth.

Looking at Su Xuanchen's trusting gaze, the fear in her heart instantly vanished.

“Zining understands!”

“Bang!”

She struck her own Dantian with a palm.

The Yuan Gang Qi that had just condensed instantly dissipated.

A trace of blood leaked from the corner of her mouth, but her eyes were brighter than ever... Over the next three days.

Su Zining seemed to have gone mad.

She didn't sleep or rest, locking herself in the side hall and frantically circulating the Innate Dao Scripture.

The terrifying nature of the Innate Primordial Dao Embryo was fully revealed at this moment.

On the first day.

She returned to the Qi Sea Realm.

With a single arm swing, she possessed a hundred thousand pounds of immense force!

On the second day.

She broke through to the Qi Sea Extreme Realm, and her Physical Body strength surged to three hundred thousand pounds!

This was already the limit for ordinary Cultivators.

But she didn't stop.

On the third day.

Boom!

An explosion came from inside the side hall.

Su Zining punched the Black Gold Stone Tablet used for testing strength.

The stone tablet shattered.

The numbers displayed on it froze at a terrifying value—

Nine hundred and ninety thousand pounds!

Just a sliver away from the million-pound Extreme Realm!

This was pure Physical Body strength, without using a shred of spiritual power.

She could be called a human-shaped Dragon!

“Freak...”

Gu Lingshuang stood outside the hall, looking at the girl who was steaming with heat, and couldn't help but curse under her breath.

She touched her belly.

“Son, you'd better be capable in the future.”

“Otherwise, if you can't even beat your little aunt, where will I put my face?”

Just then.

Buzz!

Su Xuanchen's brow suddenly twitched.

An aura carrying a powerful pressure entered his Divine Thought's range of perception.

That aura was overbearing and made no attempt to hide itself.

It was like a golden Dragon swaggering into its own backyard.

“They're here.”

Su Xuanchen looked up, his gaze piercing through layers of Void Realm to look towards the east of Tianyan City.

There.

A Golden Divine Boat that blotted out the sun was breaking through the clouds, slowly descending.

On the divine boat, banners fluttered.

The words “Eternal Radiance” shone brilliantly in the sunlight, stinging people's eyes.

Yongyao Imperial Court.

Su Xuanchen narrowed his eyes, the corners of his mouth curling playfully.

“They came quite quickly.”

He turned around and looked at Su Zining, who had just finished her cultivation and was excitedly preparing to run out and report the good news.

“Zining.”

Su Xuanchen's voice became low.

“Restrain your aura.”

“Following your Mistress, go and stay in the back mountain Forbidden Ground.”

Su Zining was stunned. Although she didn't understand why, she still nodded obediently.

“Yes, Old Ancestor Brother.”

She circulated the Breath Concealment Technique from the Innate Dao Scripture, and the aura on her body became unremarkable.

“Lingshuang, take her away.”

Su Xuanchen looked at Gu Lingshuang.

Gu Lingshuang nodded, her expression also becoming somewhat solemn.

She knew that the people from the Yongyao Imperial Court were not to be trifled with.

Especially now, when the Su Family's Foundation was not yet stable; if the Imperial Court discovered Su Zining's Innate Primordial Dao Embryo, they might forcibly take her away.

“Be careful yourself.”

Gu Lingshuang left a sentence, took Su Zining's hand, and with a flash, they vanished from the spot.

Su Xuanchen straightened his collar.

The expression on his face instantly switched.

From the previous seriousness and depth, he turned into a composed, calm, and even somewhat lazy appearance.

“Since distinguished guests have arrived.”

“As the host, I must go and meet them.”

...Su Family, Main Hall.

The atmosphere was so heavy it felt as if it would drip water.

Su Jingyuan stood in the center of the hall, his forehead covered in fine beads of cold sweat.

The Elders behind him didn't even dare to breathe, each lowering their heads as if they wanted to stuff them into their crotches.

And in the main seat.

Sitting there was not Su Xuanchen.

But a girl who looked only fifteen or sixteen years old.

She wore a pale gold palace dress, with nine lifelike fire phoenixes embroidered on the hem.

Her figure was petite and exquisite, yet she exuded a nobility that made people dare not look directly at her.

At this moment.

She was lazily leaning back in the Grandmaster Chair Su Xuanchen usually sat in, playing with a snow-white spiritual cat in her hands.

Her pale gold Phoenix pupils carelessly swept over the Su Family members below.

It was as if she were looking at a flock of sheep that only knew how to lower their heads and eat grass.

“This is the Su Family?”

The girl spoke.

Her voice was youthful, yet it carried the arrogance of a superior.

“It's not much.”

“There isn't even any decent tea.”

She disdainfully pushed away the teacup beside her, spilling the top-grade spiritual tea all over the table.

Su Jingyuan's mouth twitched.

That was the “Dao Enlightenment Tea” treasured by the Su Family, which he himself couldn't bear to drink on ordinary days!

“Ninth Princess Your Highness, please forgive us.”

Su Jingyuan cupped his hands with a stiff face.

“The Su Family is located in a remote area with scarce resources; it indeed cannot compare to the prosperity of the Imperial Court.”

“If the hospitality is lacking, I hope Your Highness can be magnanimous.”

“Magnanimous?”

The Ninth Princess sneered.

She lifted her eyelids and looked directly at Su Jingyuan.

“I don't have time for nonsense with you.”

“Where is that Su Xuanchen?”

“Tell him to come out.”

“I didn't come all this way just to see a bunch of old fogies like you.”

“This...”

Su Jingyuan looked troubled.

“The Old Ancestor is currently in secluded cultivation...”

“Secluded cultivation?”

The spiritual cat in the Ninth Princess's arms suddenly let out a “meow” and arched its back.

The smile in her eyes vanished instantly, replaced by an icy chill.

“I will give you three breaths of time.”

“After three breaths, if Su Xuanchen still hasn't appeared.”

“I will tear down this broken hall and drag him out of his rat hole.”

Domineering.

Arrogant.

This was the style of the Ninth Princess of the Yongyao Imperial Court.

In her eyes, besides her Great Emperor father, no one in this world was qualified to make her wait.

“One.”

The Ninth Princess extended a fair finger.

The air in the hall instantly froze.

The middle-aged woman standing behind her suddenly erupted with the pressure of a Quasi-Saint.

Boom!

Su Jingyuan and the others' knees buckled, and they almost knelt on the spot.

“Two.”

The Ninth Princess's voice was still lazy, but to the ears of the crowd, it sounded like a death knell.

Just as she was about to count “three.”

“Creak—”

The doors of the main hall opened.

Sunlight poured in.

A tall and slender figure walked in unhurriedly against the light.

“The Ninth Princess has graced us with her presence; Su has failed to welcome you properly.”

The voice was gentle, like a spring breeze, instantly dissolving the suffocating pressure within the hall.

The Ninth Princess's finger paused in mid-air.

She slowly raised her head, her golden Phoenix pupils narrowing slightly as she looked toward the door.

There stood Su Xuanchen, dressed in a starry robe, with his hands behind his back.

A perfect smile hung on his face.

Neither humble.

Nor arrogant.

There was no trace of fear in the face of the Imperial Court's experts, nor any hint of an upstart's arrogance.

He just stood there casually, yet he seemed to have become the center of the entire hall, with even the sunlight serving as his backdrop.

“You are Su Xuanchen?”

The contempt in the Ninth Princess's eyes quietly dissipated at this moment.

It was replaced by a deep sense of interest.

This man.

He was quite good-looking.

And... her Phoenix pupils, which could see through people's hearts, actually couldn't see through this man's depth.

Interesting.