At the same time, within the Royal Academy…
As the teleportation array lit up, the old man was practically fuming.
“Who is it?! Don’t they know that every moment of delay gives Jiang Qianhe more time to escape with the spirit body?”
He considered himself a reasonable man, but using the teleportation array at a time like this was nothing less than obstructing a matter of great urgency.
He had already made up his mind—whoever stepped out of that array next was going to be the target of his wrath.
Buzz…
A radiant glow surged, and the figures of the Royal Princess and her entourage slowly emerged. Among them stood Qin Xiu and Yun Nishang.
Seeing them, the old man was stunned.
Before he could even ask about Qin Xiu’s identity, the Royal Princess’s brilliant phoenix eyes flashed with mischief. After a quick signal to her companions, she suddenly put on a tearful expression.
“Master, I… I failed in my mission. I couldn’t seize that spirit body before the Heavenly Profound Sect.”
Qin Xiu immediately understood the meaning of contrast. The noble, proud princess of the royal family—seen by the world as aloof and serene, cold as snow, never smiling even if one plucked stars from the sky—was suddenly acting like this?
“Truly, the prettier the woman, the more convincing the act.”
Seeing that the Royal Princess had returned, the old man’s rage subsided a great deal.
But when he heard the news, his eyes instantly filled with disappointment.
“You… really didn’t get the spirit body?”
A few of the Academy disciples couldn’t bear to lie, seeing how heartbroken the old dean looked. But the Royal Princess, while clinging to the old man’s robe, secretly gave them a warning glare.
“R-Reporting to the dean, we… we didn’t see any spirit body during the trip.”
The speaker lowered his head quickly, afraid he’d give something away. In his heart, he kept telling himself—this wasn’t a lie. After all, it wasn’t a spirit body… it was a divine body.
Upon hearing this, the old man swayed and looked as though he aged ten years in a moment. He stared blankly at the sky, his eyes brimming with tears.
“Oh, merciless heavens… why do you forsake the royal family of Great Li…”
This scene moved several of the Royal Academy elders. The dean truly devoted himself to the Empire…
They turned to the Royal Princess, silently urging her—wasn’t it enough already? This shock was too great. Couldn’t she see the dean’s face had gone pale and tired?
The Royal Princess blinked innocently.
What? This was nothing. Had they never been whacked with the old man’s ruler growing up?
And anyway, she hadn’t failed her mission—Qin Xiu was standing right here. Was he going to run off now?
The old man thumped his chest, sighing heavily, yet didn’t blame them.
Instead, he gently patted the Royal Princess’s shoulder.
“It’s not your fault. Our Great Li Empire simply lacks the fortune. If blame must be placed, it should be on me—thinking that a mere command token would be enough. Jiang Qianhe… I’ve lost this round.”
He added softly, “Did the Heavenly Profound Sect give you any trouble?”
That warmed the Royal Princess’s heart. The old man may be stubborn, but he did care.
She decided to stop teasing and lowered her head with a pitiful, shameful expression. “No, Master… they didn’t. We failed to bring back the spirit body, but we…” New chapters come out on novelping . com first.
“Brought back a divine body!”
At that, she suddenly lifted her head, her face bright as blooming peach blossoms.
“We didn’t bring back a spirit body…”
Wait.
Divine body?!
The old man’s eyes widened in shock. He stumbled back several steps.
He barely managed to steady himself, then turned to look at the Royal Princess, who was now covering her smiling lips with a delicate hand, clearly suppressing laughter.
The other elders from the academy were also trembling, barely holding back their grins.
“A divine body…”
“You’re talking about the legendary divine body that hasn’t appeared in ten thousand years?!”
The old man snapped back to his senses, now completely focused. He couldn’t even bother with scolding—he just pressed forward, urgently.
“Where is it? Where’s this divine body?!”
To be honest, his first instinct was to think this girl was messing with him. If she dared joke about something this serious, he swore she’d learn the meaning of punishment.
But seeing the anxious glint in his master’s eyes, the Royal Princess finally dropped the act. She raised a pale hand and pointed at Qin Xiu. “Right there. That’s him. This is Young Master Qin Xiu—possessor of the divine body.”
Swoosh—
Before the words even faded, the old man’s figure vanished like a blur and reappeared instantly. Qin Xiu felt a heavy weight on his shoulder—two large, steady hands pressing down hard.
The grip was strong enough to make his shoulder bones ache.
“You’re the divine body? You’re the one who triggered the divine lightning that night?”
The old man’s voice trembled. His excitement was clear, yet he was still testing.
Strong build indeed!
Though he seemed thrilled, he was also probing for confirmation.
“Yes.”
Qin Xiu understood the old man’s identity and answered plainly. At the same time, he activated the Azure Dragon Battle Technique. A faint dragon’s roar echoed from within his body.
The old man’s eyes lit up instantly.
With that, he confirmed it further and finally relaxed his grip.
“Good! Good!”
He burst into hearty laughter, unable to contain his joy. “Heaven truly favors us. A divine body has appeared in our Great Li Empire! Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!”
“That’s all thanks to me!” Visit g.com for the full chapter.
The Royal Princess huffed beside him, proud and smug.
“That command token of yours couldn’t scare Jiang Qianhe at all. If it weren’t for my brilliance… Too bad you weren’t there to see it…”
She began recounting the whole story.
As the old man listened, his expression changed multiple times. He hadn’t expected things to be so complex. Thankfully, this clever girl had stood up for Qin Xiu at the crucial moment.
“At the time, Qin Xiu’s divine body shattered the bronze mirror that Father granted me.”
“The bronze mirror… shattered?!”
The old man’s pupils shrank violently, trembling with disbelief.
Of course he knew what the bronze mirror represented. A single crack had marked the rise of the Starseizing Pavilion’s ancestor. And now… it was shattered? That confirmed it. Qin Xiu was undoubtedly a divine body.
All his doubts vanished.
“Hahahahaha—!”
He instantly cast aside his earlier gloom. His face brightened, his eyes cleared, and his aura roared skyward with renewed vigor. His laughter echoed through the entire academy.
A divine body. A divine body!
Back then, a single top-tier spirit body helped the Great Li Empire rise among the three major powers. Now, the Royal Academy had recruited an unmatched divine body!
The old man felt lighter than ever, full of energy and joy.
Once his laughter settled, his brow suddenly furrowed as he looked at the Royal Princess still smirking with pride.
“Wait… then why were you crying just now?!”
“Daring to fool your master?!”
Realizing he’d been duped, the old man vanished and reappeared again, ready to scold her on the spot.
But the Royal Princess was prepared. She darted gracefully away, leaving behind a trail of fragrant air, and hid behind Qin Xiu, her soft white hands resting mischievously on his shoulder as she stuck out her tongue.
“Gramps, I really didn’t bring back a spirit body, did I?”
The old man’s face twitched. “Don’t you play games with me!”
A divine body had been brought back—this should’ve been the best time to discipline her.
But now, she clung to Qin Xiu’s side, dodging every attempt to catch her.
The two sparred playfully, neither willing to yield. The Royal Princess even clung to Qin Xiu’s back, which made him feel like two soft mountains were pressing against him, leaving him unsteady in both body and mind.
After all, this princess was stunning beyond compare. Such close contact—how could he feel nothing?
Though Qin Xiu had matured due to years of hardship, in matters between men and women… he was still rather inexperienced.
How could he possibly handle this?
Just as she circled to Qin Xiu’s front once more, the Royal Princess suddenly sensed something strange.
“Huh?”
Her face instantly turned bright red, even her ears flushed. In that moment of distraction, the old dean finally caught her by the ear.