Three days had passed since the Menace Sovereign warship was officially renamed and anchored high above the Lu Imperial Clan Estate.
While the rest of the Southern Domain was still recovering from the legendary spectacle of forty-seven Upper Realm cultivators doing ballet and wearing giant silk diapers, the inner gardens of the Lu Estate were enveloped in tranquility.
Inside the Golden Lotus Pavilion—a secluded sanctuary resting on a serene, jade-filled lake—the air was thick with the rich scent of brewing spirit leaves and sweet peach wine.
Lu Chen sat comfortably at the head of a low sandalwood table. He wore an elegant, flowing robe of dark purple silk with gold embroidery, his crimson hair falling loosely past his shoulders. His Peak Nascent Soul aura was completely suppressed, giving him the appearance of a handsome, carefree young immortal prince enjoying a lazy afternoon.
Sitting directly across from him was Saintess Ji Xue, clad in a graceful, dark navy silk dress provided by the Lu Clan's finest tailors. Her dark eyes were soft, looking at Lu Chen through the rising steam of the tea set. Her slender, porcelain fingers moved with practiced elegance as she prepared the local Snow-Lotus Jade Tea.
To Lu Chen's left, Princess Yao Ji was leaning her soft upper body directly against his arm, her translucent lace sleeves sweeping over his lap. Her tiny black velvet horns twitched lazily in content, and her fox-like purple eyes flickered with playful affection. On the silk cushion beside her sat her trusty pink stuffed bunny, Barnaby.
Standing on his right, Ye Qingxian stood as motionless and serene as a silver blade, her icy gaze softening whenever it landed on Lu Chen.
"Lu Chen..." Ji Xue spoke, her crisp, melodic voice floating softly across the quiet pavilion as she placed a steaming cup of tea before him. "The three main right-path sects of the Northern Peak have sent three official diplomatic scrolls this morning. They wish to form a permanent alliance with the Lu Clan."
"Oh?" Lu Chen smiled smoothly, taking the tea cup from her hands. As he took it, his fingers brushed gently over her soft knuckles, causing a sudden, sweet blush to spread across Ji Xue’s cheeks. "And what did my lovely Frost Saintess tell them?"
Ji Xue bit her lower lip softly, turning her face slightly to hide her rosy cheeks, though she didn't pull her hand away from his warm touch.
"I... I told them that the Supreme Frost Sect has already aligned its entire destiny with the Lu Clan," Ji Xue murmured softly, her dark eyes looking up into his glowing purple eyes with deep, unshakeable devotion. "And that if anyone wishes to speak to the Young Master, they must first bring thirty thousand top-grade spirit jade stones just for an audience."
"Aha!" Yao Ji giggled, poking Ji Xue’s waist playfully. "Look at our Ice Saintess! She's learning how to be a greedy merchant prince's wife! Big brother, shouldn't you reward her with a sweet kiss?"
"M-Merchant prince's wife?!" Ji Xue stammered, her face turning a fiery crimson as she nearly knocked over her tea set! "Yao Ji! Have you no decorum?!"
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Lu Chen let out a low, irresistible laugh, reaching out to draw both Ji Xue and Yao Ji into his arms, pulling them close against his chest as the warm tea aroma filled the pavilion.
"Ji Xue handled it brilliantly," Lu Chen teased, pressing a warm kiss onto Ji Xue’s blushing temple before smiling down at Yao Ji. "A proper family always protects its assets." You are reading on NovelPing, the official source.
As he swirled his tea, Lu Chen’s mind drifted back to an earlier memory—the very inspiration that had led him to refine his most famous truth-extracting brews.
Ah... I remember it like yesterday, Lu Chen thought to himself with a fond, villainous smirk.
Four years ago, when he was fifteen, an arrogant rogue cultivator had snuck into the Lu Clan’s outer trade hall, lying through his teeth to scam three thousand spirit stones from an elderly clan officer. The scammer had sworn on his ancestral blood that his fake rusty sword was an ancient immortal treasure.
Lu Chen had sat upstairs, watching the scammer's greasy smile and thinking: "Why must liars spend so much energy making up elaborate stories? Wouldn't the world be so much sweeter if a single drop of nectar made hypocrites spill their most ridiculous, embarrassing secrets with absolute bliss and joy?"
That single afternoon thought had given birth to the legendary "Blissful Truth-Nectar"—a powder so potent that anyone who inhaled it couldn't tell a lie even if their life depended on it, delivering their secrets with a wide, blissful smile!
While Lu Chen was enjoying his peaceful afternoon tea, high in the clouds above the border between the Southern Domain and the Central Eastern Continent...
A massive, floating blood-red pagoda was tearing through the upper clouds!
This was the Blood-Demon Phantom Pagoda, owned by Young Master Blood-Moon Gu, a notorious Core Formation Peak genius from the Upper Realm’s Blood-Demon Sect.
Standing on the pagoda's outer balcony, Gu stroked his red silk robe, his pale face contorted with supreme arrogance as he looked at a intelligence scroll in his hands.
"Hmph! That fool Zhao Tian was a disgrace," Gu scoffed, his voice dripping with condescension. "He allowed himself to be tricked by cheap lower-realm illusion arrays and ballet traps because he was careless! He gave our Upper Realm geniuses a bad name!"
Beside him, an elder wrapped in red blood-mist bowed. "Young Master Gu, Zhao Tian’s escape boat reported that Lu Chen possesses strange, rule-bending powders. We must be cautious."
"Cautious?!" Gu sneered loudly, his red eyes flashing with disdain. "I have trained in the Heart-Sealing Blood-Cleansing Technique! My meridians are immune to all mortal poisons and powders! We shall land at the Lu Estate, execute this Lu Chen, and claim his warship and beauties for our Blood-Demon Sect!"
"Full speed ahead!" Gu shouted, pointing his blood-red saber toward the Central Capital! "Let us show this lower realm rustic what TRUE dark-path dominance looks like!"
[Ding!]
[Target Identified: Young Master Blood-Moon Gu (Blood-Demon Sect)]
[Target Status: Arrogantly claiming total immunity to all powders!]
[Quest Triggered: Teach the Blood-Demon Sect the Joy of Sincere Honesty!]
[Objective: Force Young Master Gu to confess his darkest, most embarrassing childhood memories in front of the entire Southern Domain!]
[Reward: 90,000 System Points, 1x Imperial Grade Blood-Purifying Jade!]
Ye Qingxian’s ice-blue eyes sharpened instantly. "Young Master, a blood-mist pagoda is approaching from the eastern sky."
Ji Xue sighed softly, though her eyes glinted with a cute, mischievous smile. "Another one? Do these Upper Realm geniuses never read the news?"
Yao Ji rested her head on Lu Chen’s shoulder, giggling cutely. "Big brother, he says his blood technique makes him immune to powders~ What treat do you have for him?"
Lu Chen closed his silver fan with a crisp, fluid snap. He pulled a crystal vial filled with a shimmering, ruby-red liquid from his spatial ring—the newly upgraded "Blissful Truth-Nectar Powder"!
"Immune to powders?" Lu Chen smirked, his purple eyes flashing with legendary, angelic menace as he pulled his three heroines close.
"Let's go welcome our guest... and see just how honest his immune blood really is!"
Hope you are taking good care of yourself, drinking lots of warm liquids, and recover ing quickly from your cold, fellow Daoist!