In the forbidden grounds of the Great Yan Kingdom's royal palace, two terrifying auras confronted each other for several breaths before Patriarch Crimson Flame finally withdrew his imposing might and looked at the newcomer.
"Hmph, since an old thing like you is still alive, I am naturally living quite well."
"You wouldn't visit without a reason. You fellows from the Heavenly Luo Kingdom have always looked down on my Great Yan Kingdom, so you had better spit out what business an old thing like you has here!"
Patriarch Crimson Flame's words were completely impolite, clearly showing he had no liking for this visitor.
Hearing this, Wang Xuan was not angry. Instead, he looked at Patriarch Crimson Flame with a calm and breezy demeanor.
"To think that in a mere five hundred years, you have actually broken through to the fourth level of the Nascent Soul realm. What a pity that you have reached the end of your road. Breaking through to the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm is no easy feat."
"Hmph, I still have three hundred years of lifespan left, enough for me to squander. As for you, old thing, you must be over nine hundred years old by now, right? Still stuck at the fourth level of the Nascent Soul realm, you are the one who is truly hopeless."
At those words, Wang Xuan looked at Patriarch Crimson Flame with a ferocious expression.
"Yes, I have no hope left. That is why, two hundred years ago, I selected the most talented disciple in my family and prepared to heavily nurture him, so that he could protect the Wang family's foundation after my death."
Hearing this, a look of disdain appeared on Patriarch Crimson Flame's face.
"Were you really nurturing a family junior? I don't even want to expose you, but you were planning to seize his body, weren't you!? Don't forget, we obtained that body-seizing secret art together."
Wang Xuan's old face showed not a hint of embarrassment upon hearing this. Instead, he continued.
"But just as I had nurtured that junior to the seventh level of the Golden Core realm, he actually died outside."
As Wang Xuan spoke, his face suddenly became twisted with malice, completely losing the transcendent, sage-like appearance he had before.
"Old friend, do you know where my junior died?"
"Where?"
"Right within the borders of your Great Yan Kingdom!"
Hearing this, Patriarch Crimson Flame's face finally showed a change in expression.
He understood Wang Xuan's character all too well; he was the very definition of someone who would use any means necessary to achieve his goals. Now that his only chance to extend his life was gone, and the incident had occurred in the Great Yan Kingdom, he had no choice but to handle this carefully.
Even he did not really want to face a maddened fourth-level Nascent Soul cultivator.
After all, he was also only at the fourth level of the Nascent Soul realm, essentially on the same level as Wang Xuan. Moreover, he still had several centuries to live and was not about to risk his life against an old geezer whose lifespan was about to run out.
"I will help you investigate."
What Patriarch Crimson Flame needed to do now was pacify Wang Xuan first. As for what to do later, as long as he could trick Wang Xuan out of the Great Yan Kingdom, it wouldn't be his problem wherever the man decided to go crazy.
However, Wang Xuan shook his head.
"No, old friend, I have already found out who did it."
Patriarch Crimson Flame couldn't help but frown. Looking at Wang Xuan, who seemed to have completely descended into madness, he secretly thought this was going to be troublesome.
"Who is it?"
"Chen Changsheng of the Chen family in Skycloud City!"
...
At the Bright Jade Palace, Chen Changsheng walked out of the hall looking quite pleased with himself. As soon as he stepped out, he saw Bai Rongrong staring at him with resentful eyes.
"Rongrong, what is the meaning of looking at your grandmaster like that?"
"Chen Changsheng! Seven days! A whole seven days! Do you know how I spent these past seven days!?"
Bai Rongrong said, tears welling up in her eyes.
It was only then that Chen Changsheng noticed that Bai Rongrong, who clearly had the cultivation of the seventh level of the Foundation Establishment realm, actually had fine bloodshot lines in her eyes.
One must know that at the Foundation Establishment stage, a cultivator had already achieved inedia and wouldn't feel the slightest discomfort even after staying awake for ten days and ten nights.
"How did you spend them?"
Seeing Chen Changsheng actually looking at her with a curious face, the grievance in Bai Rongrong's heart deepened, and she stared at him with reddened eyes.
"Why! Why didn't you activate the soundproofing formation!?"
Hearing this, Chen Changsheng scratched his cheek awkwardly.
So he hadn't activated the soundproofing formation for the past seven days? Didn't that mean Bai Rongrong had likely been eavesdropping for seven days straight?
No wonder this girl's eyes were bloodshot.
Bai Rongrong whimpered for a good while. Seeing that Chen Changsheng not only showed no sign of guilt but was even looking at her with great interest, she was so furious her lungs were about to explode.
"Hmph! Just keep partying every night! Sooner or later, I, Bai Rongrong, will cultivate hard, break through to the Golden Core! Break through to the Nascent Soul! And then I will completely surpass you and trample you under my feet!"
Chen Changsheng couldn't help but be curious and pressed, "And then?"
"What do you mean, and then?"
"I mean, after you trample me under your feet? What are you going to do?"
"Then I... I..."
Bai Rongrong stammered for a long time but simply didn't know what to do next. After all, it seemed she really didn't have any actual grudge against Chen Changsheng.
Even her own master had now become Chen Changsheng's woman, so what was she supposed to do after that?
Wait? How did I end up believing my own angry words?
Bai Rongrong suddenly realized that with her high-grade spiritual root, it was highly likely that, just like her master, her cultivation progress would become incredibly slow after breaking through to the Golden Core.
It wasn't even certain if she could break through to the late stage of the Golden Core realm before the age of three hundred, yet she was already starting to think about what to do after becoming a Nascent Soul expert in the future?
Thinking of this, Bai Rongrong glared at Chen Changsheng again.
Sure enough, this man was exactly as her master had said—most adept at sweet talk!
Following that, Bai Rongrong saw her two junior sisters walking out of the great hall, their faces glowing with radiant health.
"Junior Sister Bing'er, Junior Sister Xue'er, you cannot indulge in the affairs of men and women all day like this! If you do, when will you ever break through to the Golden Core?"
"I have already broken through to the seventh level of the Foundation Establishment realm now, and within fifty years, I will definitely become a Golden Core cultivator. Yet you two are still stuck at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment."
"But Senior Sister, my sister and I have already broken through to the Golden Core."
Mu Xue'er looked at Bai Rongrong with a sly smile. Then, together with Mu Bing'er, she openly summoned the Golden Core from within her body without any hesitation.
Bai Rongrong looked in disbelief at the two Golden Cores floating in front of the two girls. Her beautiful eyes widened drastically, suspecting that someone had cast an illusion on her.
"Xue'er, Bing'er, you... you have already broken through to the Golden Core? You aren't trying to fool your senior sister, are you?"
"Senior Sister~, how could Xue'er fool you? My sister and I were just indulging in the affairs of men and women, and as we indulged and indulged, we broke through to the Golden Core."
Feeling the extremely familiar pressure radiating from Mu Xue'er, Bai Rongrong's eyes couldn't help but lose focus.
That was indeed the genuine imposing might of a Golden Core expert; it wasn't faked.
But...
How could this be possible?
Doesn't indulging in the affairs of men and women ruin one's cultivation? Why did the two girls break through from the middle stage of Foundation Establishment all the way to the Golden Core realm in just a mere seven days?
Did they not have any bottlenecks?
Did they not need to accumulate magical power?
Could it be a plucking and nourishing art?
But no matter how she looked at him, Chen Changsheng didn't seem like he had been plucked and drained at all!
"I don't believe it! It's fake! It's all fake!"
Bai Rongrong muttered in a low voice, then completely ignored Chen Changsheng and the other two, walking away in a daze as if she had lost her soul.
Clearly, the advancement in the two girls' cultivation was too huge a blow to her.
...