Although Blood Princess had developed sentience, she truly acted like a child—stubbornly demanding what she was denied. If she didn’t get her way, she would cry and throw a tantrum. Unfortunately, no matter how hard she cried, no tears would fall.
A Spirit Corpse simply had no tears. Legend had it that if a Spirit Corpse ever shed a tear, the consequences would be absolutely terrifying.
"I said next time, so I mean next time! Do you not understand?" Ye Xuan’s expression suddenly turned ice-cold, his tone growing domineering.
Although Blood Princess still wanted to drink more, she obediently lowered her head. The master was angry, and the consequences of that would be severe.
"Blood Princess, I am asking you a question now. Answer honestly. Is this the place where you were born?" A sharp glint flashed in Ye Xuan’s eyes.
For a great figure to resurrect themselves, they would have undoubtedly hoarded an entire era’s worth of resources. In the place where a Spirit Corpse was resurrected, there might even be incredible Divine Medicine left behind. Obtaining just a single stalk would allow one’s cultivation to advance in leaps and bounds.
"Born? What does that mean?" Blood Princess blinked, a bit confused.
"I mean, when you first opened your eyes, were you here?"
"I... I don’t remember."
"Then what do you remember?"
"I remember sleeping, and then, eating."
Ye Xuan was rendered somewhat speechless. If that was the case, for all these years, Blood Princess had done nothing but sleep and drink blood. Then again, it made sense; only by sleeping could her body stave off hunger for longer.
"Then do you know if there is any place in this Secret Realm that grows exotic flowers and rare herbs?"
"Master, what are ’seven flowers and one herb’?"
"..."
Ye Xuan was speechless. Communicating with Blood Princess was proving to be quite troublesome. Over the past thousand years, she had experienced almost no interaction with humans.
"I mean things that look beautiful and make you feel comfortable."
"Oh, I know. I’ll take you there."
Blood Princess skipped and hopped along, leading the way. She clearly had the body and face of a queen, along with a chillingly wicked aura, yet she acted so childishly.
Ye Xuan coughed dryly and said, "Wait a moment. Put my clothes on first."
Blood Princess was still bare-bottomed!
"Clothes? Master, I don’t want to wear them. Your things are uncomfortable to wear."
Ye Xuan raised an eyebrow. "You must wear them!"
Ye Xuan thought to himself, "If you don’t wear them, I’m the one who’s going to be uncomfortable! I don’t want to start having improper thoughts about a corpse. How embarrassing would that be!"
"Oh. Alright."
Whenever Ye Xuan used a commanding tone, Blood Princess had no choice but to comply. Although Ye Xuan’s robe was a bit too large, she wore it with a unique allure.
Time slipped by. Ye Xuan followed Blood Princess, walking through the Secret Realm for two days. This Secret Realm was truly too vast.
As for why there was no chirping of insects or roaring of Wild Beasts, it was because Blood Princess had eaten them all long ago. When she first awakened, she was little more than a mindless zombie. She didn’t know that she couldn’t eat everything at once and needed to leave some alive to reproduce and maintain a balance. By the time she realized this, she had already resorted to keeping humans as livestock.
Two days later, Ye Xuan arrived at a sea of flowers.
The flower field was vast and expansive. Ye Xuan immediately knew that Blood Princess hadn’t understood a single thing he had said. Although this sea of flowers was beautiful, it wasn’t what he was looking for.
What Ye Xuan wanted were peerless Exotic Treasures! Even if there were none of those, there should at least be some Spirit Medicine, right?
"Forget it. I can’t count on you, so I’ll just search for myself."
Ye Xuan decided it would be better to look around on his own. He refused to believe that there wasn’t a single good thing in such a massive place. Now that he was here, he couldn’t just leave empty-handed. Although he had gained Blood Princess, and her combat strength was formidable, only one’s own power was true strength.
Meanwhile, in the Lingxuan Courtyard.
Ye Ling’Er stood in the courtyard, looking up at the sky. "Xuan, it’s been twenty-five days. Are you still not coming out? Did something really happen to you? No, that can’t be. I’ll go find Mother right now and ask her to send someone to the Ye Family to check if your Life and Death Jade has shattered."
Ye Ling’Er could finally endure it no longer. She desperately needed to know whether her brother was dead or alive.
Just as she turned around, Gongsun Xin’s voice rang out. "Ling’Er, call your mother and come with me to the main hall."
"Uncle Xin... what is it? Did my brother come out?!" Ye Ling’Er’s expression instantly filled with joy.
Gongsun Xin said flatly, "People from Chasing Moon City have arrived."
Ye Ling’Er stumbled. Chasing Moon City—wasn’t that the city she had a marriage arrangement with?
"Did Chasing Moon City hear the news first? Brother, who came?" Gongsun Yanran walked out of her room, having naturally overheard Gongsun Xin’s words.
She knew this day would come sooner or later, but she hadn’t expected Chasing Moon City to arrive first instead of Jin Buhuan. She believed that if Chasing Moon City could get the news, Jin Buhuan of Celestial Horse City would certainly know as well. The reason he hadn’t come yet was perhaps because his mind was still in turmoil.
Gongsun Xin spoke, "The City Lord’s legitimate grandson, Liu Xiangyu."
"It really is him. I suppose Chasing Moon City kept their promise well enough. Did City Lord Liu come as well?"
"Liu Yongzhi came too, along with his youngest son, Liu Zhengyuan. They are all in the reception hall. Father is hosting them personally." Gongsun Xin sighed. "They all came. Ling’Er, come with me. What must be faced, must always be faced."
"Am I... Am I about to become someone else’s fiancée? But my father and brother don’t even know..." Ye Ling’Er’s thoughts were in a tangled mess.
However, she had no choice but to follow her mother toward the reception hall.
A dozen minutes later, they entered the reception hall.
Sitting in the hall was an old man with a ferocious Exotic Beast embroidered on his chest. It was an Ancient Fierce Beast, the Taowu. This man was none other than the City Lord of Chasing Moon City, Liu Yongzhi.
Gongsun Xin cupped his hands in greeting toward Liu Yongzhi before turning to say, "Father, Yanran and Ling’Er are here."
As his words fell, Liu Yongzhi glanced at Ye Ling’Er before turning his head to look at the young man seated next to him.
The young man was around the same age as Ye Xuan. This was Liu Xiangyu. Seated beside Liu Xiangyu was a young woman. She was dignified in appearance and graceful in her movements—a true beauty.
Upon seeing this woman, Gongsun Yanran frowned.
At this moment, Liu Yongzhi’s voice rang out. "So this is Ye Ling’Er? Mm, she is quite good-looking. Wenjin, back then in Chasing Moon City, we made a promise. If Yanran’s first child was a boy, he would marry the first daughter born to Yuan Zheng. If it was a girl, she would marry Yuan Zheng’s first son. I, Liu Yongzhi, am a man of my word! Therefore, today, I have brought Liu Xiangyu to the Gongsun Mansion."
"Yongzhi, you truly keep your promises faithfully! Come, let me toast you a cup."
"Wenjin, the wine can wait. There are a few things I must clarify beforehand, lest we damage the harmony between our two families."
"Please, speak your mind."
"Wenjin, this Ye Ling’Er’s status is merely that of an illegitimate daughter. My information is correct, yes?"
"Your information is correct, which is exactly why I said you keep your promises faithfully like a true man, Yongzhi!"
"Don’t flatter me just yet, Wenjin. Although I do not mind her background and have agreed to let her marry Xiangyu, you also know that Xiangyu has already taken a wife. Even if he were to marry again, it could only be as a concubine. You don’t have any objections to this, do you?"