With this thought, Ji Xuanyuan didn’t hesitate. “General.” Her voice wasn’t loud, but it clearly pierced through the door, falling into the courtyard.
Yin Shiniang was patrolling the courtyard. Hearing this, she quickly walked to the door, clasped her hands and said, “What are Your Highness’s orders?”
Ji Xuanyuan opened the door. “Prepare the carriage. We are going to the forest outside the city.”
“Ah???” Yin Shiniang was dumbfounded. “Now? Your Highness, it’s already getting dark…”
Before she could finish, Ji Xuanyuan cut her off decisively. “Now!!!”
“As you command, Your Highness!!!” Yin Shiniang said no more and went to carry out the order.
The imperial carriage was soon prepared. Seeing this formation, the Elders of the Chu Clan were all astonished.
Chu Zhenshan was puzzled. “Your Highness, is this… Is our humble abode not to your liking? Do you wish to return to the City Lord’s Mansion?” As he spoke, the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but curl upwards. Chu Zhenshan was very clear about what this damnable Crown Prince had done to his Holy Son. If she wanted to leave, he would be more than happy to see her off!
In response, Ji Xuanyuan shook her head. “Elder Chu, don’t misunderstand! I like the environment of your Chu Clan very much. I just happened to want to go out for a walk! In the days leading up to the Divine Hunt Grand Ceremony, I’ll be counting on your care, Grand Elder!”
Seeing the Crown Princess’s beaming smile, Chu Zhenshan was taken aback. ‘This Crown Princess… she seems a bit more cheerful than before?’
Originally, Ji Xuanyuan’s chosen path leaned towards the Ruthless Path, giving her an overall cold temperament. But as she switched to exclusively cultivating the Jealousy Dao, the change in her personality gradually began to shift her aura.
Finished speaking, Ji Xuanyuan said no more, got into the carriage, and took her seat. The golden-armored guards lined up, the horses’ hooves crushing the twilight, speeding out of Xuanji City and heading straight for the forest outside the city.
On the road, General Yin sensed someone monitoring them with their divine sense. Without pursuing who the monitor was, she immediately coordinated with the guards to activate a stealth barrier that enveloped the entire convoy. In an instant, the entire convoy vanished from sight, and the monitoring divine sense lost its target.
Deep within the Chu Clan residence, Chu Yunlan, who was the monitor, was puzzled. A trusted subordinate transmitted a sound to him. “Young Master, should we send spies to follow them?”
Chu Yunlan waved his hand. “No need! The one leading the convoy now is the famous General of the Immortal Dynasty, Yin Shiniang. We’ve already been discovered. If we send more people, and they get caught, the consequences would be dire. Anyway, our goal has been achieved. Let’s just wait and see. Use this opportunity to spread the news that the Crown Princess is having such a good time in the Chu Clan she’s forgotten to go home. It will facilitate the next step of my plan.”
The trusted subordinate acknowledged the order and vanished from the room.
At the same time, the Crown Princess’s imperial carriage sped through the twilight. Yin Shiniang rode at the front, her gaze sweeping the surroundings like an eagle, her hand always resting on her sword hilt. She didn’t know why the Crown Princess suddenly wanted to go to the forest outside the city, but wherever the Crown Princess wanted to go, she had to protect her.
The forest was getting closer.
Ji Xuanyuan opened her eyes and lifted the carriage curtain. The twilight had dyed the distant mountains a dull blue-grey, and the nearby trees stood darkly on both sides of the road, as if soaked in ink. The spiritual light of the imperial carriage illuminated a small stretch of the path ahead, but beyond that was still deep, profound darkness.
The location marked by the system was right ahead, not far away. Her heartbeat suddenly quickened.
The imperial carriage stopped. Yin Shiniang’s voice came from outside the carriage. “Your Highness, we have arrived.”
Ji Xuanyuan rose, pushed aside the carriage curtain, and gazed at the trees ahead. It was late, and she couldn’t see anything with her naked eyes. Ji Xuanyuan had to release her divine sense, probing in the direction the system had marked.
Under the sensing of her divine sense, she unexpectedly discovered a familiar figure. Feeling that familiar aura, Ji Xuanyuan’s breath caught. ‘Junior brother?’
These two words surged from the depths of her heart, like a burst dam, instantly drowning all her reason and restraint. She immediately stepped out of the imperial carriage. Sensing that figure across the distance of several dozen zhang, she thought to herself, ‘Why is junior brother here? Wasn’t he taken away by the Fox Venerable? What is he trying to do?’
Just as Ji Xuanyuan was puzzled, Yin Shiniang also noticed Chu Yuan deep in the forest. She couldn’t help but ask, “Your Highness, isn’t that Young Master Yuan? Should we go over and take a look?”
Ji Xuanyuan shook her head slightly. “No rush! Let’s watch first!” She was growing more and more curious. ‘What exactly is junior brother doing here?’
After leaving the Fox Courtyard, Chu Yuan wanted to find a secluded place to practice his swordsmanship. The best place to practice would be one not discovered by the Fox Venerable. To that end, he activated the Phantom Ethereal Dharma Robe, merging himself into the void. In a completely invisible state, he left Xuanji City and traveled a long distance.
The sky grew dark, the twilight dyeing the horizon a dull blue-grey, the distant mountains like eyebrows, the nearby trees like ink. Stepping on the fallen leaves of the forest, Chu Yuan followed a path overgrown with weeds and came to a secluded valley.
Seeing no one around, he immediately summoned an ordinary longsword from the Black Ring, eager to try.
He closed his eyes, and the chapters of the Ten Thousand Emotions Sword Art surfaced in his mind. This was a sword art he had spent a hundred years compiling in his previous life. As the proud disciple of the Emotionless Sword Venerable in his previous life, his understanding and mastery of swordsmanship was, in his own opinion, no worse than that of that wooden-headed senior sister. To be able to dominate the world in this life, he had deliberately spent a hundred years in his previous life compiling this sword art. The sword art integrated the foundational sword intent of the Primordial Sword Canon, the method of controlling the soul from the Nine Cycles Soul Refining Art, and the essence of the sword techniques he had honed from countless real battles.
Gripping the hilt tightly, Chu Yuan took a deep breath and swung his sword freely.
When joy arose in his heart, his sword moves were grand and expansive; when sorrow followed, his sword moves became lingering and sorrowful… As he continued to practice, all kinds of emotions flowed with his sword intent, all under his control.
The essence of the Ten Thousand Emotions Sword Art was: not to be controlled by emotion, but to control emotion. Joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, desire—the seven emotions and six desires—could all be used as swords.
While Chu Yuan was engrossed in his sword practice, the Crown Princess’s imperial carriage had stopped nearby. Watching Chu Yuan practice his swordsmanship, Yin Shiniang, who was guarding the front, exclaimed in admiration, “This Young Master Yuan’s swordsmanship is extraordinary!” Her voice wasn’t loud, but it clearly reached the ears of the few guards beside the carriage.
Those guards looked over, following her gaze, only faintly seeing a blurry figure moving in the twilight, unable to discern anything special.
But Yin Shiniang was different. Although her cultivation wasn’t as high as those famous experts, her eyesight was honed from decades of fighting on the battlefield. As a seasoned general, she had seen countless sword masters in her life. Because each master had their own unique path of emotion, their sword intent revealed the characteristics of their respective path. But the sword style of the youth in the distance was different. His sword intent mixed a myriad of emotions together, flowing naturally as he swung his sword, perfectly seamless.
The more Yin Shiniang watched, the more amazed she became. An ordinary swordsman would spend an entire lifetime just to integrate one type of emotion into his sword, which would already make him a rare genius. But this youth had clearly mastered several types of emotion, switching between them effortlessly, as if those completely different emotions were merely different facets of the same sword in his hand. This was no longer genius; this was monstrous! He could even be considered to have reached the level of a grandmaster.
But this made her wonder: if this youth was truly a sword grandmaster, why was he so young? How could he be so unknown, hidden away in a branch of the Chu Clan? Was this the reason the Crown Princess had taken a liking to him?
Yin Shiniang quietly reined in her horse and looked back at the red-haired Crown Princess, who had already stepped out of the carriage.
Sensing her junior brother’s various sword styles with her divine sense, Ji Xuanyuan felt a strange sense of familiarity. Her vermilion lips murmured, “These sword styles… could they be from back then?”
As she spoke, Ji Xuanyuan’s thoughts drifted back to a very distant time in her previous life.
At the Heavenly Sword Sect, clouds of spiritual energy surged, and spirit cranes sang. On a certain afternoon, her junior brother Chu Yuan was on the training platform, holding a wooden sword, practicing some unknown sword technique. Seeing the sword style he was practicing, which she had never seen before, she, disguised as “Li Shixue,” was curious. “Junior brother, what sword style are you practicing? It’s so… strange?”
Chu Yuan stopped, revealing a sweaty, smiling face. “Of course! Senior Sister, this is a sword art I created myself. Want to try it?”
Li Shixue’s icy expression gained a hint of disdain. “Self-created sword art? You?” She raised the end of her words, carrying a trace of disapproval.
But her junior brother wasn’t intimidated by her cold and disdainful tone. His gaze was resolute. “Senior Sister doesn’t believe me? Then come and try. I happen to need a real opponent!”
Li Shixue was silent for a moment. Seeing that she had nothing better to do, she stepped onto the arena at the center of the training platform. “Alright.” Two words, crisp and clean.
Chu Yuan perked up, gripping his wooden sword, walking to the other end of the arena, standing opposite Li Shixue.
The next moment, her junior brother began to channel spiritual power. A faint layer of spiritual light appeared on the wooden sword, spreading from the hilt to the blade. However, as the spiritual power increased, the sword “clattered” and broke in two. Holding the remaining half of the hilt, his expression turned awkward.
Seeing his dazed look, Li Shixue sighed softly. “How long have you been using that sword? Can’t even handle that much spiritual power?” As she spoke, she took a longsword from her storage ring and tossed it over.
Chu Yuan quickly caught the sword his senior sister threw to him. The more he looked at it, the more amazed he became. “Senior Sister, this is a good sword! Although the blade isn’t sharpened, the craftsmanship is exquisite. It’s not some expensive sword, is it?”
Li Shixue shook her head, her voice still cold. “It’s just a practice sword I used when I was training in my early years. It’s been gathering dust in my storage ring ever since. If you don’t mind, you can use it.”
Chu Yuan was stunned. “Really? This is the first time senior sister has given me something! Thank you, senior sister!” As he finished speaking, he smiled warmly, bright as the sun, making her frown slightly.
Faced with her junior brother’s enthusiasm, Li Shixue quickly averted her gaze, not looking at that smiling face. “Less nonsense! Let’s begin!”
The moment she finished speaking, her sword was already drawn.
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