“You must be Brother Yuan, right? What a coincidence!”
The spring sun was high, making the speaker’s warm, jade-like features appear even more elegant. His smiling posture as he stopped the youth was perfectly polite and appropriate.
However, Ji Xuanyuan’s pupils shrank. What she saw was a different face—
It was the face from over 100 years ago in her past life.
Shortly after the Black Dragon Emperor fell.
Holy Lord Chu Yunlan had his arm cut off by the Sword Venerable for his misconduct toward the Empress and fled back to the Taixu Sacred Realm.
Ji Xuanyuan had announced to the world how Holy Lord Chu had acted like a coward, “watching the tigers fight from the mountain” during the war.
For a time, the cultivators of the world despised him.
The rumors grew so wild that some even claimed this Holy Lord Chu Yunlan was a remnant of the Demon Path Alliance. Otherwise, why would he backstab his allies?
When the rumors were at their peak, Ji Xuanyuan united various forces and led the Immortal Army to the Sacred Domain, carrying the Gambling Contract.
The Sacred Domain prepared for battle.
The domain-protecting array was activated, and a pale gold light curtain shrouded the void. Behind the curtain, countless Sacred Domain cultivators looked on with grim expressions, gripping their weapons tightly.
As the two sides reached a stalemate, the array slowly opened a crack.
A graceful figure drifted out from the gap.
As nine tails swayed, a golden-haired Fox Venerable appeared in magnificent robes. Her skirt trailed for 30 feet behind her as she walked on lotuses.
Stopping before the Immortal Army, she raised her fox-like eyes, which were curved into crescents, a smile playing on her lips. “I wonder what brings Her Imperial Majesty to our humble domain?”
With every frown and smile, her charm was natural and overwhelming.
The hearts of the cultivators from various factions wavered. Some showed expressions of infatuation, while others looked away, not daring to stare.
Ji Xuanyuan’s expression remained unchanged, her voice cold. “The Gambling Contract is here, signed personally by Holy Lord Chu Yunlan. He pledged half of the Sacred Domain’s resources as the stake. I am here today to collect.”
As she finished speaking, she raised her hand. A contract flew into the air, hovering between the two armies.
The disciples of the Sacred Domain broke into an uproar.
“Half the resources?!”
“This… how can this be!”
“Is Holy Lord Yunlan insane?!”
Chu Yunlan, whose arm had been severed, knew he was in the wrong and immediately ordered, “Fox Venerable, why are you wasting so much breath on them? Lead the army and counterattack! This is a battle for our Sacred Domain’s survival!”
Hearing the enemy’s words, the allied forces led by Ji Xuanyuan gripped their weapons.
However, the Fox Venerable gave a mocking laugh and turned to look at her own Holy Lord. “Heh. Who said this was a battle for the Sacred Domain’s survival?”
Both armies were stunned.
Under everyone’s confused gazes, the Fox Venerable smiled and asked Chu Yunlan, “Holy Lord Yunlan, isn’t this your personal battle for survival?”
Chu Yunlan panicked. “Fox Venerable, what do you mean by that? Are you planning to rebel?”
The smile in the Fox Venerable’s eyes didn’t fade. “Holy Lord Yunlan, did you not sign this Gambling Contract with your own hand?”
Chu Yunlan’s heart skipped a beat. He lowered his head and muttered, “I… I…”
The Fox Venerable’s tone turned cold. “What? Holy Lord, please look me in the eye and speak! Did you or did you not sign this contract yourself?”
As she spoke, her aura bypassed the protective array and pressed directly onto the one-armed figure.
Chu Yunlan spat out a mouthful of essence blood, forced to whisper, “Yes…”
Though his voice was as quiet as a mosquito’s, the Fox Venerable heard him clearly. She said calmly, “The Sacred Domain has stood for 10,000 years. What did we rely on? Strength? Resources? No! It was integrity!”
Her gaze swept over Chu Yunlan and every elder standing on his side. “Since the Holy Lord signed this himself, it is a promise of the Sacred Domain. One must accept their losses. Do the elders have anything else to say?”
The elders who had wanted to protest all lowered their heads in silence.
Only Chu Yunlan, at the end of his rope, gritted his teeth. “Fox Venerable, you were ordered by the ancestors to protect the safety and prosperity of our clan’s bloodline! The ancestors are watching! Is this how you protect us?”
‘Protect the ancestral bloodline?’
Faced with the question, a thin figure flashed through the Fox Venerable’s mind, and a trace of pain appeared on her charming face.
Glancing at the one-armed figure in the distance, her eyes turned even more vengeful. “Holy Lord Yunlan is right! I was indeed ordered to protect the Chu bloodline, but are you part of that bloodline? You fake!”
The word “fake” was emphasized by the Fox Venerable, echoing through the heavens.
‘Oh??’
Upon learning this shocking secret, both armies were in an uproar.
Even the elders in the Holy Lord’s camp were horrified. “Fox Venerable, what do you mean by this?”
Only Chu Yunlan roared like a punctured balloon, “What fake! I, Chu Yunlan, am the most beloved legitimate son of the Holy Father! I have worked tirelessly for the Sacred Domain all these years…”
Before he could finish, the Fox Venerable questioned him sharply, “Then may I ask if the Holy Lord can manifest the power of the [Taixu Saint Physique]?”
At those words, Chu Yunlan felt as if he were being choked. His face turned bright red. “I… I…”
The greatest stain of his life—and his fatal weakness—was undoubtedly this.
Despite being the Holy Lord, he could not activate the Taixu bloodline within himself to reveal the Saint Physique.
One had to know that even children of the Chu Clan’s collateral branches had 10% or 20% of the Taixu bloodline. Only he had none at all.
In the entire world, only the Fox Venerable knew this secret.
After all, this fake young master was originally meant to be a tool to temper the true Saint Son’s character and methods. To be safe, she and the previous Holy Lord had specifically chosen a baby who had no relation to their clan whatsoever.
However, neither of them had imagined at the time that things would escalate to this point.
Seizing this point, the Fox Venerable framed him further. “Years ago, when the Holy Lord and his wife were murdered, the true Saint Son went missing. This scoundrel somehow obtained information, assumed the identity, and lurked in the Sacred Domain for decades.”