"Shui'er, from now on, you must not continue cultivating. You can only gently nourish your Primordial Spirit, and you are not even allowed to engage in combat with others, understand?"
Hearing that she couldn't even fight anymore, the green-clad girl named Shui'er was quite shocked and asked, "Princess Royal, is my Primordial Spirit really that exaggerated?"
The Princess Royal stared at Shui'er solemnly and said, "Your Primordial Spirit right now is like a bubble floating in the void, in danger of exploding and dispersing at any moment."
"Exploding and dispersing… Heavens!"
Shui'er felt as if the sky were spinning and the earth turning, wanting to cry but having no tears. She said, "If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have nurtured and refined my Primordial Spirit. It's just too terrifying…"
"The Heavenly Mandate descended, and the Great Natural Order mutated. Colorful spiritual energy appeared everywhere in the world."
The Princess Royal shook her head slightly, as if lamenting something, and said, "Colorful spiritual energy is vibrant and full of vitality, rare and precious, a chance encounter that cannot be sought. If used to nourish and break through, it is excellent, but if used to cultivate and refine, it will only backfire. Not everyone knows when to stop, and not everyone can control this vibrant, colorful spiritual energy."
After a pause, the Princess Royal looked at Shui'er and continued, "Don't just look at how many people have been transcending tribulations and becoming Immortals these years. But how many have truly attained the Dao and become Immortals? Even if they succeed in transcending the tribulation, they are merely False Immortals. If one cannot even achieve True Immortal status, what's the point of becoming an Immortal?"
"Princess Royal… Shui'er knows she was wrong…" Shui'er was filled with regret.
Back when the Heavenly Mandate descended and the Great Natural Order mutated, the Princess Royal had warned her not to go with the flow and not to covet the colorful spiritual energy. At first, she had followed this advice, but later, when her fellow disciples' cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, she ultimately failed to restrain herself and used the colorful spiritual energy to nurture and refine her Primordial Spirit.
Although she did manage to refine a Primordial Spirit blessed by the colorful spiritual energy of the Great Natural Order, unfortunately, her Primordial Spirit now frequently underwent strange mutations, and several times she had narrowly escaped death. Fortunately, the Princess Royal was by her side, otherwise Shui'er truly wouldn't know what to do.
She was immensely grateful to the Princess Royal, not only because the Princess Royal had helped her many times, but also because if the Princess Royal hadn't taken her in years ago, she would probably have died long ago.
The Princess Royal was the Princess Royal of the Yanluo Kingdom.
Her surname was Tang, her given name Manqing. She was not only the Princess Royal of Yanluo Kingdom but also a direct disciple of the Taiji Sect.
Was that all?
No.
Beyond that, she was also a Cloud Marquis conferred by the Immortal Dynasty. Her father was the famous Cloud Hero Prince of Yanluo Kingdom, and her mother was an Elder of the Taiji Sect. Both were Immortals. Therefore, Tang Manqing was also an Immortal second-generation and an extraordinary, heaven-favored daughter. She had cultivated for only a short twenty or thirty years and achieved Earth Immortal status—and that was nine years ago. In other words, before the Heavenly Mandate descended, her cultivation was already at the Earth Immortal level. One could imagine how extraordinary her aptitude and comprehension were.
Her name was known to everyone within the territory of Yanluo Kingdom, and even across the Divine Continent, she was a renowned, heaven-favored daughter.
Shui'er heeded Tang Manqing's words and stopped cultivating further. Watching the Princess Royal gaze at the sky with furrowed brows, Shui'er knew the Princess Royal was troubled by that ancient Yan Yue ruins.
Ever since the Heavenly Mandate descended nine years ago and the Great Natural Order mutated, many ancient cave mansions and ruins had emerged all over the world.
Among them were cave mansions and ruins from the dark period of the Ancient Times Era.
The so-called dark period of the Ancient Times Era was a blank and formidable segment of this world's history.
Moreover, this period of history occurred during the peak of the Ancient Times Era.
It was said that in the early Ancient Times Era, the Great Natural Order was also vibrant and full of vitality. Then, suddenly one day, Yin and Yang reversed, the sun and moon both fell, the laws of the Great Natural Order became chaotic, triggering catastrophic storms of the Great Natural Order. Many cultivation experts perished in this event, and many sects suffered devastating disasters, plunging the world into darkness for a full hundred years.
When the sun and moon finally returned to normal, a hundred years had passed. However, the Great Natural Order had already vanished, and from this point on, the Ancient Times Era became deficient in spiritual energy and resources…
No one knew what exactly had happened back then.
Even less did anyone know why the Great Natural Order had suddenly collapsed and never appeared again.
The history of that dark period was completely blank, and many people had been exploring it all along.
The Yan Yue ruins were the remains of a sect that suffered a devastating disaster during that dark period of the Ancient Times Era, and it was none other than the famous Yan Yue Sect of that time.
This made many people very excited.
Especially Yanluo Kingdom.
Because the Yan Yue ruins appeared within the territory of Yanluo Kingdom, according to the rules, they naturally belonged to Yanluo Kingdom.
But the Immortal Dynasty insisted on meddling and even made many overbearing and unreasonable demands, which infuriated the Yanluo royal family as well as the four great clans and seven major sects within the kingdom.
"Princess Royal, what is the current situation regarding this matter?"
"Right now, our Yanluo royal family, along with the four great clans and seven major sects, are negotiating with the Immortal Dynasty."
"Princess Royal, if… if the negotiations fail?"
Tang Manqing shook her head. If the negotiations failed, she didn't know what to do either.
"The Immortal Dynasty is becoming more and more disgusting. At first, they spoke nicely, saying they would establish an Immortal Estate within our Yanluo Kingdom, that they wouldn't interfere with governance or resources. Over the past century of the Present Era, as the Immortal Dynasty's foundation grew more stable, their courage also grew. At first, they didn't dare to be too presumptuous, but now they've started openly seizing things. If this continues for a few more years… I'm afraid our Yanluo Kingdom might even undergo a dynastic change…" Shui'er vented her dissatisfaction with the Immortal Dynasty. Tang Manqing didn't seem to react much, just gazing into the distance pensively.
Actually,
Shui'er's words echoed the worries in her own heart.
She could clearly feel that the Immortal Dynasty's attitude toward Yanluo Kingdom had grown increasingly hostile over the years. Yanluo Kingdom had been making concessions, but the more they conceded, the more aggressive the Immortal Dynasty became. If this continued, the Immortal Dynasty would likely slowly interfere with Yanluo Kingdom's governance. It wasn't impossible that they would remove their Tang family and change the dynasty.
But though she worried inwardly, there was nothing she could do.
What to do?
Resist the Immortal Dynasty?
Given the national power of Yanluo Kingdom, even with the addition of the four great clans and seven major sects, they probably still weren't a match for the Immortal Dynasty.
The Immortal Dynasty of today was a hundredfold, a thousandfold more terrifying than it was in the Ancient Times Era. Moreover, above the Immortal Dynasty, there was still a lofty Cloud Summit.
"If Empress Nüwa were still here, hmph! The Immortal Dynasty probably wouldn't dare to be so presumptuous."
Shui'er muttered under her breath, then seemed to remember something and said indignantly, "It's all because of that damned Lord Chixiao! Back then, he used sweet words to deceive Empress Nüwa, then mysteriously disappeared. How much Empress Nüwa loved him! For his sake, she was willing to give up her throne just to be with him. And him? He just vanished like that… When Empress Nüwa found him, he was actually flirting with the Female Sect Master again!"
The more Shui'er spoke, the angrier she became, harshly rebuking, "He's a damnable bastard! A scoundrel who deserves a thousand cuts! A heartless man! A shameless rogue! This lady curses you! Even if you reincarnate, you'll be judged every single day—judged by the Immortal Dao, judged by the Heavenly Dao, judged by Heaven and Earth! May you be judged to death, you heartless man!"