Chapter 42: Ji Yuhuang

Imperial Capital of the Great Yan.

Prime Minister Zhao Shoucheng was busily arranging the upcoming martial arts tournament. Of course, he had not forgotten the special instructions given by the Empress.

“Prime Minister!”

Several officials stood up and bowed when they saw Zhao Shoucheng.

“Please be seated, everyone. I’m here today mainly to carry out an order from His Majesty. I’ll need your cooperation.”

Zhao Shoucheng took out a portrait and passed it around for them to see.

The officials examined the portrait carefully. It was of a young man. After a close look, they asked, “Prime Minister, what exactly has His Majesty instructed regarding this young man?”

“Oh, it’s nothing major. Just make sure this young man in the portrait is not harmed during the competition. Also, for the first-rank cultivators’ arena, the final champion… has already been decided. It will be him.”

Zhao Shoucheng spoke decisively. He recalled the Empress’s words and tried to grasp the deeper meaning behind them. “Surrender as soon as you see the young man,” he was told. And he must not be injured. Wasn’t that essentially saying the champion was already chosen?

Since the Empress didn’t want to say it directly, she must’ve expected Zhao to read between the lines. After all, Zhao had been navigating the political world for years; if he couldn’t interpret the Empress’s intentions, who could?

The Empress didn’t speak outright because she didn’t want to take the blame. In that case, Zhao Shoucheng was more than willing to shoulder it for her.

When the task was completed, wouldn’t his own son’s promotion to Deputy Minister be secured?

Who knows. If Her Majesty was especially pleased, he might even be directly promoted to Minister!

“This is…”

Upon hearing Zhao Shoucheng’s words, the officials present all looked troubled.

“Prime Minister, you know how valuable the prize for the first-rank cultivators is. We…”

“This is Her Majesty’s will. Or are you saying you’re questioning Her Majesty’s decision?”

As soon as Zhao Shoucheng said that, silence fell across the room. No one dared speak.

“If I remember correctly, you have the authority over the match draws, don’t you?”

Zhao Shoucheng stared at the officials as he spoke.

The so-called match draw referred to determining who fought whom. Normally, it was done randomly, and officials were strictly forbidden from interfering.

“Assign all of this young man’s opponents to be cultivators from the imperial court. Remember, the moment they see him, they’re to surrender. Don’t even take a single extra step! As for compensation, the court will handle it.”

Zhao Shoucheng was quite pleased with his arrangements. He believed they would surely make His Majesty happy.

“You handle the rest. I only care about the result. If he’s not the final champion, you can kiss your official hats goodbye.”

With that, Zhao Shoucheng left, tossing the entire matter into the officials’ laps.

The officials looked at each other in dismay.

“What should we do now, gentlemen?”

“We can only do as the Prime Minister said. Otherwise, if Her Majesty gets upset, we’ll all be off to the Far North to dig potatoes.”

“Mhmm, given the situation, let’s first confirm the boy’s identity.”

***

At that moment, the predetermined champion Chu Feng had just arrived as the spirit boat touched down.

Stepping off the boat, Chu Feng set foot on the soil of the Great Yan Empire’s imperial capital.

When he took in the scene, a line suddenly popped into his head: Thanks for the invite. Just arrived at the capital. Got off the spirit boat.

Around Chu Feng, spirit boats from many other factions were landing one after another as well.

But still… none of yours look as good as ours!

“All right, all right! Since we’ve arrived, let’s get some proper rest first!”

An elder appeared and led Chu Feng and the other disciples to their resting quarters. Another elder was in charge of communicating with the officials from the Great Yan Empire.

Among the crowd, Chu Feng spotted a young man whose upper body was wrapped in bandages.

Though his face was mostly obscured, Chu Feng still recognized the clothing he wore.

Wasn’t that the guy named Qian… Qian something?

Well, whatever. But with injuries like that, don’t tell me it was Senior Sister Yuyan who did it.

Chu Feng recalled the screams from that time and the few drops of bright red blood on the floor.

Glancing at Senior Sister Yuyan beside him, Chu Feng couldn’t help but shiver.

Seeing her junior suddenly tremble, Bai Yuyan immediately pressed a palm to Chu Feng’s forehead and asked with concern, “Junior Brother, are you feeling unwell?”

Although cultivators rarely got sick after stepping into the path of cultivation, it didn’t mean they were completely immune. Only after reaching Third Rank would one be truly free from worldly ailments.

“No, Senior Sister Yuyan. I just remembered… something terrifying.”

Chu Feng couldn’t exactly come out and ask, Senior Sister Yuyan, are you a hidden yandere in disguise?

She probably wouldn’t understand even if he said it….not that it would be a bad thing. In fact, it’d be best if she didn’t. If she did understand… he might as well start preparing his funeral song.

“Good, as long as you’re fine. Junior Brother, even though you’ve stepped onto the path of cultivation now, your strength is still weak. You must remember to protect yourself. Especially when you’re out in the world!”

Though Bai Yuyan was currently only at Fourth Rank, in a real fight, she could hold her own against some ordinary Sixth Rank cultivators.

But her junior brother was a different story. His monstrous talent from his past life hadn’t awakened yet.

If she remembered correctly, her junior brother had gone through a secret realm trial. After coming out, it was as if he’d undergone a sudden enlightenment. He even managed to merge two sword techniques.

Chu Feng nodded and said, “Got it. But Senior Sister Yuyan, do you know much about the Empress of Yan?”

Back on the spirit boat, Chu Feng had read the Cultivation Daily, which spoke of the Empress of Yan in almost mythical terms. The more he read, the more she seemed like one of those powerful female leads. Could she be one of the protagonist’s future love interests?

If that were the case, Chu Feng figured it’d be best to stay far away from her. Getting involved with a female lead… if the protagonist ever caught him talking to her, with Lin Ruo’s brain-dead logic, he’d definitely come after him.

When Bai Yuyan heard the words “Empress of Yan” come out of her junior brother’s mouth again, she instantly panicked inside.

“No! I don’t know a thing about that Ji Yuhuang. Junior Brother, you’d best not go poking around either. She’s the Empress, and we’re disciples of the Heaven’s Pinnacle Sect. We’re not on the same path.”

“Ji Yuhuang? Who’s that? Is that the Empress of Yan’s name?”

Chu Feng looked at Bai Yuyan. Just a moment ago, she said she didn’t know anything about her.

But the next second, she blurted out her name. He remembered that the imperial family of Yan had the surname Ji and that the Empress’s personal name was taboo. It wasn’t supposed to be spoken outright.

“!!!”

Crap!

She had blurted out the name before she could stop herself!

“Oh really? Junior Brother, did your senior sister say any names at all?”

“Yeah, you just said Ji… uh, no, you didn’t say anything!”

Chu Feng had only gotten halfway through his sentence when he saw the playful, half-smiling look on Senior Sister Yuyan’s face and immediately shut his mouth.

There was nothing he could do. The enemy was strong, and he was weak. Right now, Chu Feng was only at First Rank. But one day, he’d turn the tables and switch from defense to offense.

There was a term: high attack, low defense. He wondered if that described Senior Sister Yuyan’s “attributes”.

She kept teasing him every day. When his cultivation grew stronger, he’d go for a surprise wall slam!

Just imagining Senior Sister Yuyan flustered, dodging like a frightened little bunny… Chu Feng could already feel himself puffing up with pride!