64: Chapter 64 Su Daji, the Holy Maiden of the Joyous Union Sect

Her jade-like hand slowly and gently stroked the crystal ball.

"Collecting information? That was all just to deceive you."

"As long as I can divert your attention and strike first, won't Mr. Swindler belong solely to me?"

"Although I can't determine his exact identity, I can still roughly pin down this location."

"Great Xia, East China Region, Jianghai City... It's thousands of kilometers away from Jinguan City. By the time you reach Jinguan City, the deed will already be done, teehee~"

The witch chuckled softly, her voice growing smaller until it was finally barely audible.

Meanwhile, Su Chen, who was sitting on the subway preparing to catch a flight to Jinguan City in three days, shuddered for no reason and looked around in confusion.

"Strange, is the air conditioning in this carriage set too low?"

...

Jinguan City, deep within the Wuhou Shrine Secret Realm.

This was a place forgotten by time, inhabited by people forgotten by time.

Zhuge Jinyu sat alone under an ancient tree, unconsciously stroking the crisscrossing cracks on Su Chen's mirror while handling matters regarding the Heroic Spirit Contract Ceremony.

Ye Jingjun and Cang Mingyue were right.

She was no longer a minister of the imperial court; handling these mundane affairs was slowly becoming less effortless.

"Ye Jingjun... Cang Mingyue..."

Zhuge Jinyu unconsciously called out their names.

No matter how much they sparred with words, she had to admit it.

Only when she was with these poor souls who, like her, had been abandoned by time, could her heart find a moment of peace.

Suddenly!

Having lost all concept of time, she abruptly remembered.

Those two had not come to harass her for several days.

Even the little snake from Qiantang and the fox from Chaoge they mentioned hadn't come looking for her.

This was very unusual.

Though those two were trapped in emotional barriers just like her,

they never neglected matters of great importance to Huaxia.

Such silence was filled with an aura of abnormality.

As she was pondering, the mist at the edge of the secret realm rippled again, but it wasn't the familiar cold sword intent or deep-sea tides.

A figure as blazing as fire and as enchanting as a phantom pierced through the mist, stepping gracefully into this cold world.

The newcomer wore an extremely bold crimson gauze dress, with the hem slit high up to the root of her thigh.

With every step, her snowy-white, plump long legs were faintly visible.

Her upper body was only wrapped in a matching tube top that held her breathtakingly full curves, covered by a layer of transparent gauze, fully revealing her exquisite and enchanting figure.

Her face was peerlessly seductive, with a natural, bone-eroding charm in the corners of her eyes and brows.

Her black hair was tied into a magnificent bun, with a golden hair dangle inserted diagonally.

As she walked, it swayed gently, her jade ornaments tinkling.

Although this person was extremely beautiful, she was no mere eye candy.

She was also a Transcendent Heroic Spirit.

She was the Transcendent Heroic Spirit stationed at the Central China Hall of Valor in Chaoge, the ancient capital of the Great Sang Immortal Dynasty; she hailed from the former Hehuan Sect and was honored as the "Saintess of the Hehuan Sect."

Su Daji.

She was also the one whom the last Human Emperor of the Great Sang Immortal Dynasty—the one who bore a reputation for tyranny—had playfully called "My Queen."

However, only a few people, including Zhuge Jinyu, knew.

This seemingly dissolute former Saintess of the Hehuan Sect

had only ever loved one person in her life.

And throughout her entire life, she had never truly become his Queen.

Not until the moment he was consumed by fire.

Zhuge Jinyu looked up, her fox-like eyes flickering slightly, showing no intention of exchanging pleasantries.

Getting straight to the point, she asked directly,

"How does Palace Master Su have the leisure today to visit my desolate place?"

Su Daji's red lips curled into a soul-hooking smile, her expression bone-deep with charm.

"Little zhuge, you've grown distant from your elder sister."

"You certainly have a steady heart. Have you truly sensed nothing of the disturbances in West China?"

Without waiting for Zhuge Jinyu's answer, she continued on her own, her tone gradually sinking.

"In East China, the case where three people died in a row within a month—you've heard of it, right?"

Zhuge Jinyu nodded.

"That murderer has come to Jinguan City."

Her gaze narrowed.

Su Daji pointed her slender jade finger into the air, and a light screen appeared, showing the gruesome scene of a hotpot restaurant's back kitchen.

A portly man lay beside a stove where red oil was boiling; his eyes were wide open, and his mouth was pulled into an extremely terrifying smile.

His mouth was dripping with blood, and he had actually bitten off more than half of his own tongue.

"The tongue severed by his own teeth, the face wearing a sinister smile. The methods are identical."

Su Daji said indifferently.

Zhuge Jinyu's expression changed slightly, but not because of the murder case itself.

It was true that this evil entity deserved death for daring to run from East China to West China to cause trouble on the eve of the Heroic Spirit Contract Ceremony.

But what shocked her more was that she, who had recently been searching for clues related to her master, had actually lost her alertness to the foul aura right under her nose because she was indulging in broken dreams.

For the always self-demanding Zhuge Jinyu, this was completely unacceptable.

"It seems you truly didn't notice, Little zhuge."

Su Daji sighed softly, her bedroom eyes sweeping over the broken mirror Zhuge Jinyu held tightly, roughly guessing what had caused her to lose her soul.

"This matter isn't of critical importance; the Huayu Association has already taken on the mission to investigate this case."

"When the time comes, they will send their capable young members to investigate. You only need to coordinate with them."

"However..."

"To the west of Jinguan City, atop the Snowy Plateau, abnormal spatial fluctuations that have swept the entire country have persisted for several days. I fear a demonic creature of the Thirteenth Realm or higher is about to break its seal."

"That disturbance was felt even by me, the 'Hehuan enchantress obsessed with past love' as you call me, thousands of miles away in Central China."

"And yet you, the Marquis zhuge who governs West China, have turned a deaf ear?"

Hearing this, Zhuge Jinyu stood up abruptly.

"A demonic creature of the Thirteenth Realm or higher?! Ye Jingjun and Cang Mingyue, they went to..."

"Those two took the first step three days ago, heading deep into the plateau to investigate and suppress it, attempting to nip the disaster in the bud."

Su Daji interrupted her, her flirtatious manner vanishing, replaced only by a look of gravity.

"As of now, contact has been lost for an entire day."

Contact lost!

Zhuge Jinyu's heart jolted violently.

Ye Jingjun and Cang Mingyue were both top-tier existences among Transcendent Heroic Spirits and genuine Thirteenth Realm warriors.

If they had lost contact even while working together, the danger on the plateau far exceeded her imagination.

I'm afraid it's not as simple as the Thirteenth Realm.

"Could it be... that the next round of large-scale Spiritual Energy Recovery and limit increases is about to begin?"

The highest combat power in the Blue Planet's warrior world had been stuck at the Thirteenth Realm for a long time.

If the next round of expansion began, and it started with demonic creatures,

the entire Blue Planet would likely fall into the turmoil of combat power redistribution immediately.

"Then you..."

"I have also come for this reason."

Su Daji stood proudly, her crimson skirts fluttering.

Like blood, like fire.

"Even if my path ends and my body perishes, I must go."

"Just as the Chancellor said, I was indeed once a Saintess of the Hehuan Sect who only knew of romance."

"Until I met him."

"I originally thought he was just an ordinary mortal Cauldron to be used for cultivation, nothing more than a mortal emperor, but..."

"He taught me much."

"He made me... a true human being."