174: Chapter 174 The Starry Sky Clan, Tantai Mingyue

Cangfeng Realm, Liuyun Mountain Range.

Although this was a recently discovered Small World, the mountains and terrain exuded a primitive and desolate Dao rhythm.

Mid-air, the Purple Qilin Xiao Bai, who was flying, seemed to suddenly catch a scent. Its four hooves abruptly halted in the Void Realm, and it forcefully changed direction.

"Xiao Bai, what's wrong?"

The Purple Qilin Xiao Bai's bright eyes showed a hint of solemnity as it spoke in human tongue, "I sense a forcibly suppressed Luck, and it's incredibly strong! This feeling... I've only ever seen it on Lady Dragon Mother."

"Lady Dragon Mother?"

In Su Hao's mind, that majestic yet gentle figure immediately surfaced.

Su Hao always harbored a sense of gratitude for this "Grandma Cang Yue."

Had she not generously gifted him a drop of Ancestral Dragon Essence Blood back then, his Physical Body wouldn't have been able to be tempered to the Flawless Realm at such a young age, nor could it have carried the overbearing power of that Supreme Bone.

"Grandma Cang Yue has been in seclusion for many years and has yet to emerge. I wanted to visit and thank her, but I haven't found the chance." A hint of regret appeared on Su Hao's small face, but then his eyes brightened.

"Since even you, Xiao Bai, find it extraordinary, then there must be an incredible pearl hidden within this Cangfeng Realm."

"Let's go! Let's take a look!"

Su Hao lightly patted the Qilin's back. Understanding his intent, Xiao Bai's body flickered with purple lightning as it turned into an afterimage, streaking across the sky and covering a hundred miles in an instant.

A moment later, the man and beast stopped above a hidden valley.

In the valley below lay a cluster of buildings that were ancient in style but appeared somewhat desolate.

Compared to the magnificent palaces of the immortal dynasties outside, this place looked more like a Family's ancestral land hidden away from the world to avoid disaster.

In a corner of the building complex, there was a dilapidated Sword Arena.

A young girl of about eighteen or nineteen stood alone in the wind and snow.

She wore a somewhat soiled green robe, her figure thin and appearing rather frail.

Most strikingly, her eyes were covered with a coarse white cloth, which still bore faint traces of dried blood.

In her hand, she held a longsword covered in rust, swinging it with extremely slow movements.

A thrust, a flick.

Every move seemed stiff and sluggish, as if she were inferior even to an ordinary Mortal.

"Hahaha! Look everyone, our Tantai Family's peerless Genius is practicing her swordplay here again!"

A burst of harsh laughter broke the silence of the valley.

Several richly dressed disciples of the Tantai Family swaggered onto the Sword Arena. The leading youth had a playful look on his face, tossing a Spirit Stone in his hand.

"Tantai Mingyue, that thrust of yours was miles off! Tell me, as a blind person who can't even see where the sword is, why are you still clinging to this piece of scrap metal? You'd be better off handing it over to the clan in exchange for some medicine to nourish your body, so your sickly mother doesn't have to suffer with you every day!"

The blind girl's movements paused slightly, her cloth-covered face turning toward the source of the voice.

Her voice was cold yet carried a resilience that would rather die than submit: "This sword... is the last thing my father left behind. Even if I cannot see, I can feel it breathing."

"It's breathing? I think your brain has been fried by the Seal!"

The leading youth's expression darkened. He stepped forward and fiercely kicked the back of the blind girl's knee.

"Bang!"

The blind girl lost her balance and fell face-first into the muddy snow, her rusty sword dropping to the side.

"Truly stubborn! What's there to protect about a broken sword!"

"Here! Ten Spirit Stones. Your elder cousin is kind-hearted and can't bear to see suffering; take this to treat your mother's illness!"

Tantai Mingyue was shocked. This was a memento from her father, and he had repeatedly warned her never to let it leave her side for even a moment.

"That's my sword!!"

But how could Tantai Mingyue possibly be a match for them?

From the moment she was born, she had caused heavenly phenomena that led to her mother's vital energy being depleted, nearly causing her to die during childbirth.

And there had always been a terrifying energy inside her body that she couldn't control at all, leading to her blindness.

To help her improve her physical strength, her father had traveled to various Secret Realms and dangerous places.

The seemingly damaged iron sword in her hand was actually a genuine Low Grade Immortal Artifact.

However, the damage was too severe, and the sword spirit within had been in a deep slumber.

Amidst the laughter of the Tantai Family disciples, Tantai Mingyue groped in the mud. Her fingertips touched the cold snow water, and she finally grasped the rusty iron sword.

She held it tightly to her chest as if grasping the last straw of her life.

"Oh, still treating it like a treasure?"

The leading youth's name was Dantai Feng, the grandson of the Family's Grand Elder.

Seeing that Mingyue ignored his charity, his expression immediately turned sinister.

"Tantai Mingyue, don't be ungrateful! When you were born, you drained the Star Spiritual Essence of the Family's ancestral land, turning your mother into a cripple and causing your father to die in a Forbidden Ground while searching for some Life-Sustaining Grass for you, without even a corpse left to find!"

"You're a natural jinx, a bringer of misfortune!"

While cursing, Dantai Feng stepped hard on Mingyue's slender fingers, grinding them ruthlessly.

"The clan has long wanted to take back and refine this broken sword. Hand it over, or today I'll cut off the ginseng soup that's keeping your mother alive!"

"No... I can't hand it over."

Tantai Mingyue's face turned pale from the pain, and cold sweat dripped from her forehead, but her cloth-covered eyes remained "fixed" on the sword in her arms.

She would always remember the bloody embrace her father gave her before he left.

"Mingyue, remember, you are the daughter of the stars. This sword is called Falling Star. It's not rusting; it's bearing the powers you cannot yet control for you... When the sword wakes up, your eyes will brighten."

Tantai Mingyue didn't believe her father was dead; she had to protect this sword and wait for him to return!

"A broken sword... I really don't know why my father always tells me to find a way to get it..."

Just as Dantai Feng's patience ran out and he was about to use his spiritual power to take it by force...

"Boom—!!!"

A terrifying pressure, as if crossing over from the ancient primordial era, smashed down from ten thousand feet in the sky like an invisible mountain without any warning!

"Thud!"

"Thud!"

The previously arrogant Tantai Family disciples didn't even have a chance to react before their knees buckled under that suffocating Supreme aura. They knelt heavily in the snow, the sound of their kneecaps shattering clearly audible in the silent valley.

"Ah!! My legs!"

"Who?! Who dared to ambush this young master!"

Dantai Feng roared in terror. He found that the spiritual power within his body, in the face of that pressure, was like a mouse encountering a cat, shrinking back into his Dantian and not daring to move an inch.

Above the sea of clouds, purple light shone brilliantly.

Su Hao, riding the Purple Qilin Xiao Bai, slowly stepped down from the Void Realm.

His purple-gold brocade robe fluttered in the wind and snow, and the faintly visible Supreme Divine Mark on his brow emitted a sacred aura that made all living beings submit.

Su Hao ignored those trash kneeling on the ground. He bypassed all obstacles and stared intently at the woman clutching the sword in the mud.

A profound and mysterious feeling arose. This woman...

With her looks, she probably wouldn't become my stepmother...