Chapter 20: Prisoner

Inside the side hall.

Lu Ning hurriedly helped Ji Linglong change clothes, fumbling all the while.

After she finished, she thought she could finally rest, so she sat on the jade bed.

However, Ji Linglong’s next words left her utterly stunned.

“A’Ning, you change as well.”

With a casual wave, Ji Linglong summoned a black sect master’s robe embroidered with dark gold demonic patterns.

She tossed it beside Lu Ning.

It was the very same robe Lu Ning had worn earlier.

“Your Highness, this is…”

Lu Ning looked at her, bewildered.

Ji Linglong raised her brows.

“When this Princess tells you to change, you change. Why so much nonsense?”

She walked up to Lu Ning, bending over.

“I went to such great lengths to drag you back from the Heavenly Demon Sect, not so the world could see that I brought back some nameless, faceless little maidservant.”

“This Princess wants the entire Grand Wilderness Dynasty to witness for themselves: the once-arrogant, untouchable Sect Master of the Heavenly Demon Sect, Lu Ning, who humiliated this Princess, is now my prisoner beneath my feet.”

Hearing this, Lu Ning instantly understood.

What this proud princess needed was a thorough, public victory.

She wanted to capture the infamous demon overlord of the Northern Domain—not an unknown woman with no identity.

Before Lu Ning could respond, Ji Linglong continued, “As long as you behave, your little secret will only be known to me.”

“This Princess won’t expose you. I’ll even help you keep this secret.”

“But if you dare disobey me even a little…”

“This Princess doesn’t mind letting the world know the Heavenly Demon Sect Master’s secret.”

Lu Ning: “…….”

Lu Ning took a deep breath, suppressing her helplessness, and picked up the sect master’s robe.

“I’ll do as Your Highness commands…..”

As she spoke, Lu Ning undressed from her palace gown in front of Ji Linglong, took out a white chest binding cloth, and began to tightly bind herself once more, round after round.

Ji Linglong folded her arms, standing by, watching the scene with great interest.

When Lu Ning had put on that wide black sect master’s robe again, she once more became the cold, enigmatic, genderless demon overlord.

“Very good.”

Ji Linglong nodded in satisfaction.

She stepped in front of Lu Ning and drew out a pair of handcuffs from her spatial ring.

The handcuffs were made entirely of a dark gold metal, densely engraved with runes, radiating a strange aura.

“These shackles are forged from ‘Soul-Locking Gold’, made especially for troublesome demon heads like you.”

Ji Linglong picked up the handcuffs and personally locked them onto Lu Ning’s wrists.

“Click.”

The moment the shackles locked shut, Lu Ning felt her connection to the world’s spiritual energy utterly severed.

The true essence she had just managed to restore to the Refining Qi Ninth Layer was also tightly suppressed by an invisible force, impossible to move.

Now, she was truly as powerless as a mortal.

“Let’s go, my… Sect Master.”

Ji Linglong picked up the other end of the shackle chain and walked out of the side hall.

“Don’t keep the people outside waiting.”

As the doors of the side hall slowly opened, blinding sunlight and thunderous cheers surged in together.

Lu Ning, led by Ji Linglong, walked out of the golden war chariot.

What appeared before her was a majestic, colossal city.

The city walls soared into the clouds, built entirely of giant golden stones, covered in countless profound arrays that emanated a vast, ancient aura.

At this moment, the golden war chariot was suspended above a massive white jade plaza before the imperial city.

On the plaza, the civil and military officials, imperial kin and nobles, all knelt in a dense, dark mass.

Around the plaza, crowds of citizens from the imperial city had gathered to watch—people as far as the eye could see, cheering with thunderous voices.

“Welcome back in triumph, Your Highness the Eldest Princess!”

“May Your Highness the Eldest Princess live a thousand, thousand, ten thousand years!”

“The Princess’s divine might subdues demons and exalts the glory of our dynasty!”

The tidal wave of cheers seemed to shake the clouds from the sky.

Most eyes were on Ji Linglong, filled with worship, awe, and fanaticism.

Of course, many curious and gloating looks also fell upon the “demon head” behind her—expressionless, wearing shackles.

Lu Ning’s face was as calm as water, but inside she was madly complaining.

[Putting on such a spectacle? This princess really cares about appearances. Anyone who didn’t know better would think she’d pacified the whole world.]

Ji Linglong thoroughly enjoyed being the focus of all eyes.

She lifted her chin high, like a phoenix returning victorious, leading Lu Ning step by step off the war chariot, through the kneeling crowd, and toward the towering imperial palace.

Along the way, Lu Ning felt the weight of countless gazes.

She was like a criminal being paraded through the streets, enduring all their pointing and whispering.

Yet her expression never changed—still cold and aloof.

This only made many onlookers secretly admire her. Worthy of the demon overlord who dared challenge the Eldest Princess—even as a prisoner, her bearing was extraordinary.

Passing through the long palace path, Ji Linglong did not go to see the Emperor of the Grand Wilderness, nor did she accept the officials’ bows.

She led Lu Ning straight back to her own residence—the Phoenix Palace.

Inside Phoenix Palace, the luxury was beyond compare.

Pavilions and towers, carved beams and painted rafters, exotic flowers and spiritual mist, like a paradise on earth.

Ji Linglong dismissed all the palace maids and guards, leaving only the two of them in the palace.

“Bang.”

The doors of the bedchamber slammed shut, sealing them off from the outside world.

The pride and reserve vanished instantly from Ji Linglong’s face, replaced by a playful smirk.

She let go of the chain, then step by step approached Lu Ning, forcing her against a massive jade pillar carved with a phoenix totem.

“A’Ning.”

Ji Linglong placed her hand on the pillar, trapping Lu Ning between her and the pillar.

“There are no outsiders now.”

“It’s time to settle the accounts between us.”

She leaned in close, her hot breath brushing over Lu Ning’s face.

“About the ‘Nirvana Calamity of the Divine Phoenix’—can you speak now?”

Lu Ning looked into those golden phoenix eyes so close to her own, and steeled herself.

She knew that endless retreat and submission would only make this princess more aggressive.

She had to show her value and seize the initiative.

“Your Highness.”

Lu Ning lifted her gaze to meet hers, lips curling in a mocking arc.

“Do you really think a prisoner would willingly hand over a bargaining chip tied to their very life?”

Hearing this, Ji Linglong paused for a moment, then laughed.

“Interesting.”

“Looks like this Princess was too gentle with you before.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly lowered her head.

The next instant, a soft, heated, and forceful sensation pressed upon her lips—a phoenix-like domination.

This time, it wasn’t a test, but a punishment, an act of conquest.

When Lu Ning came to her senses, her mind was blank.

Her eyes widened at the beautiful face so close, her body trembling slightly from shock.

Ji Linglong was very satisfied with her reaction, even deepening the kiss with practiced ease.

After a long while, she finally lifted her head, a crystal strand flashing briefly between them.

“And now?”

Ji Linglong looked at Lu Ning’s red-rimmed eyes, her stubborn refusal to yield, and felt a great sense of conquest.

“A’Ning, are you willing to talk now?”

“Or should I…”

She lowered her head again, murmuring ambiguously by Lu Ning’s ear: “Do you want this Princess to use even fiercer methods to help you ‘remember’?”