25: Fifth-rank Liu family

“Elder Li, is the divination from the Heaven Mending Pavilion accurate or not?” The young man in luxurious clothes rubbed the jade pendant at his waist, his eyes filled with a barely contained anticipation. This jade pendant was the Liu Family’s ancestral “Battle Soul Pendant,” which would only heat up when encountering an equally matched opponent. At this moment, it was subtly warm to the touch.

Elder Li stroked his goatee and smiled bitterly, shaking his head, “Young Master, don’t be impatient. The Heaven Mending Pavilion’s ‘Heavenly Secret Derivation’ has never been wrong in East Pasture State. Besides, for your Hundred Battles Art to break through the ninth level, you need to spar with a hundred prodigies. What’s the harm in waiting a little longer?” As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly looked up at the sky, “Oh, a flying boat is coming.”

Above the clouds, a dragon boat was slowly descending, breaking through the cloud layers. The hull appeared to be crafted from dark obsidian glass, with dragon-scale-shaped planks glowing with dark gold light. The dragon head at the bow looked down on all beings, and though it displayed no pressure, it exuded an ancient, heart-pounding aura.

“This flying boat looks quite rare.” Liu Qi’s eyes flashed with a peculiar light. Her youthful appearance was already handsome, and now, with her battle intent surging, she gained an even more heroic air. “It has the form of an ancient Emperor’s Boat, but its aura is too restrained, making it seem like a Heaven-tier Dao artifact.” She paused, the Battle Soul Pendant burning even more distinctly. “Hmm, it seems the person on this boat is the fated one mentioned in today’s divination.”

The flying boat steadily stopped beside the bronze flying carriage, its cabin door opening, and two figures flew out, one after another.

The man wore a green robe, his face like cold jade, with a faint immortal mist lingering around him, his temperament so lofty it seemed he did not belong to the mortal world. The woman had fiery red hair like a waterfall, golden eyes like flames, and a flexible dark scale armor that outlined her graceful figure. Her face was stunningly beautiful yet carried a stern heroic spirit.

The moment they saw the two, Elder Li and Liu Qi nodded secretly—such bearing was certainly not from ordinary humble families.

Su Chen looked at the old man and young woman blocking their way and nodded slightly. The next second, a refreshing coolness suddenly emerged in his mind, and the Mirror of All Phases had already activated on its own.

When he looked at the young man in luxurious clothes again, the sea of fortune clouds above his head clearly appeared: a faint red flame battle flag phantom was visible, with the character “Liu” embroidered on the flag, and the faint phantoms of a million armored soldiers seemed to move beneath the flag.

[Additional information obtained:

Name: Liu Qi

Cultivation: Early Nascent Soul Realm

Identity: Direct daughter of the fifth-grade noble Liu Family, born with a battle physique, obsessed with martial arts, cultivates the Hundred Battles Art, has defeated eighty-seven prodigies in East Pasture State.]

[Ding, a serendipity mission has been triggered]

[Genius Challenge: You have encountered Liu Qi, the direct daughter of the fifth-grade noble Liu Family. Her cultivation of the Hundred Battles Art requires challenging a hundred prodigies to achieve great success, and she is currently traveling to various places to seek opponents. Please send your family’s Saintess, Tantai Qinghuang, to spar with her.

Failure Penalty: None

Success Reward: Randomly obtain one martial arts divine ability mastered by Liu Qi (probability increases with combat performance)]

Su Chen was secretly delighted—indeed, the choice to put all points into fortune was correct!

This fifth-grade Liu Family was the overlord of East Pasture State, controlling the military power of three states, with seven Void God Realm experts in their clan alone. In his previous life, a player had posted about encountering a training challenge from a Liu Family disciple, but unfortunately, that player’s family genius was too weak, couldn’t even last ten moves, and missed out on the mission reward. He hadn't expected to encounter it so easily in this life.

On the other side, Elder Li’s gaze first fell on Tantai Qinghuang, and he couldn't help but secretly praise: reaching the Spirit Sea Realm at such a young age was extremely rare, even in a fifth-grade family. Having her as the young lady’s opponent was just right.

But when he looked at Su Chen, his brows suddenly furrowed—no matter how he activated his spiritual power to investigate, the young man in green seemed shrouded in a layer of mist. His cultivation, background, and even his aura were all indistinct.

“This…” Elder Li’s heart sank. An existence that even he, with his Void God Realm cultivation, couldn’t see through, was either a great power far above his realm, or had a high-level magic treasure concealing their heavenly secrets. Whichever it was, it was not someone he could offend rashly.

He quickly adjusted his expression, cupped his hands, and smiled, “Greetings, fellow Daoists. This old man, Li Zhong, is a worshipper of the Liu Family. My young master is currently cultivating a technique that requires sparring and verifying with prodigies from all over the world. We are fated to meet today; may we ask for some guidance?”

“Don’t worry, both of you, it will not be a wasted effort.” Elder Li added, “If you can exchange ten moves with my young master, we will gift you a high-grade Profound-tier magic treasure. If you can last thirty moves, we will add a bottle of ‘Spirit Condensing Pills’.”

“Oh? That’s interesting.” Su Chen’s lips curved into a subtle, meaningful smile. “My little sister has just finished her cultivation seclusion and happens to need practical combat experience.” He looked at Liu Qi, his tone playful, “But what if my little sister can defeat your young master?”

Elder Li was stunned upon hearing this, seemingly not expecting this seemingly aloof young man to utter such boastful words. One must know that in the past half-year, his young lady had only lost to those few prodigies in East Pasture State who were hailed as “Saint Seeds.” Ordinary Spirit Sea Realm cultivators couldn’t even withstand three of her moves.

Liu Qi’s eyes, however, lit up, and the Battle Soul Pendant was so hot it almost stuck to her skin. She stepped forward, her clear eyes burning with fierce battle intent: “If you can truly defeat me, you can choose any magic treasure on me, including this Battle Soul Pendant.”

“Young Lady!” Elder Li’s heart tightened—this Battle Soul Pendant was one of the Liu Family’s treasured artifacts, capable of increasing combat power by thirty percent. How could it be given away so easily? But the words had already been spoken, so he could only smile bitterly and give up.

Su Chen smiled and nodded, “Qinghuang, go.”

Tantai Qinghuang nodded lightly, her red hair moving without wind. She naturally recognized Liu Qi—in her previous life, this fifth-grade direct daughter was a famous genius in East Pasture State, reaching the peak of the Dharma Aspect Realm at twenty, hailed as the most promising candidate to break through to the Saint Realm. Unfortunately, she was later ensnared by a malicious plot from the Great Yue Immortal Court, besieged by a hundred experts in a border war, and ultimately self-destructed her battle physique, her astonishing talent buried then.

“Young Master, please enlighten me.” Tantai Qinghuang cupped her hands, her tone respectful but with an undeniable battle intent. “Since my elder… brother has spoken, Qinghuang will not hold back.”

Before her words finished, she gently waved her jade hand, and an eerie purple glow suddenly bloomed in her palm.

“Void Emperor Scripture, First Form—Star Scar Splitting the Universe!”

Following her clear and cold shout, a space crack as black as ink slowly appeared in her palm. The edges of the crack glowed with tiny golden lightning, emitting a heart-pounding devouring force, as if connected to an endless abyss.

This crack spread towards Liu Qi at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye. Wherever it passed, the air was torn into dust, and even light was twisted into spirals. The entire world seemed to tremble before this crack.

Elder Li’s pupils constricted, his voice filled with a rare tremor: “This is… Space Law! And the aura of this cultivation technique is at least Saint-grade! What exactly is their origin?!”