Volume 3, Chapter 223 – The Crown Princess Arrives (Part 1)

Pingshan Mass Burial Ground.

Li Hua, his face dark with tension, led the female ghost into the imperial mausoleum, heading straight for the grandest hall at the center. The path was heavily guarded, no different from a real imperial palace. After all, the former crown prince had awakened, and a new order was about to be established.

The two arrived before the great hall and were only permitted entry after pleading with the zombie guards to announce their presence to the crown prince.

Inside the hall, the sinister and alluring zombie crown prince sat upon his throne, intently reading a book on the history of the Western Radiance Dynasty.

“Your Highness!”

Li Hua knelt respectfully, the female ghost following suit.

“General Li, you’ve returned. And my crown princess? Did she fail to meet the standards?”

The crown prince did not even lift his head as he questioned.

“No, the crown princess is exceptional!”

Li Hua’s jaw clenched before he forced out the words with difficulty.

“Oh? Is that so? How exceptional? What evaluation did the Phoenix Selection Token give her?”

The crown prince finally set the book aside, raising his head with keen interest.

“The crown princess received perfect scores in appearance, figure, skin, voice, and fertility. In all my years serving in the palace, where beauties are as common as clouds, I have never seen such an exaggerated evaluation.”

Li Hua steadied himself before answering.

“Perfect scores in all categories? Even her natural fragrance?”

The crown prince’s eyebrows rose in surprise.

“Yes!”

Li Hua quickly confirmed.

“Such a peerless beauty… Not only is she unmatched in the Great Qi Kingdom’s imperial palace, but even in the entire history of the Western Continent, few such women have ever appeared. Those who did all secured a place on the Moon-Veiling Ranking.”

The crown prince could not conceal his delight. “Only a woman of such caliber is worthy of becoming my consort and the future empress of the Great Qi Kingdom.”

“Then where is the crown princess? Bring her in!”

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A moment later, the crown prince snapped out of his reverie and issued the command.

“Your Highness, please forgive this lowly one’s incompetence! I… I failed to bring the crown princess back.”

Li Hua immediately prostrated himself. The female ghost, Fang Hui, did not dare hesitate either, trembling as she pressed herself to the ground.

“Li Hua, you know very well that I reward and punish with absolute fairness—no exceptions. Give me a reasonable explanation, or you understand the consequences of dereliction of duty.”

The crown prince’s expression darkened instantly.

“Your Highness, we severely underestimated the crown princess’s strength. Her cultivation isn’t at the Incarnation Realm—she’s at the Divine Realm! We were no match for her. I exhausted every ounce of my strength just to escape with Fang Hui. The others… they likely didn’t make it.”

Li Hua remained prostrate, his voice shaking with fear.

“Divine Realm? How old is she again? Sixteen, correct? And you’re telling me she’s a Divine Realm cultivator?”

The crown prince’s gaze grew colder.

“Your Highness, even if I had the courage of a bear and the heart of a leopard, I would never dare deceive you! If you don’t believe me, ask Fang Hui!”

Li Hua kowtowed desperately.

“Your Highness, General Li speaks the truth! She suppressed all of us with just her Divine Sense alone. Only a cultivator of your caliber could wield such power.”

Fang Hui stammered out her explanation, knowing full well that she and Li Hua were now bound together—any hesitation would doom them both.

“The two of you have already committed dereliction of duty. If you dare deceive me further, the punishment will be even more severe. Do you understand what that means?”

The crown prince’s voice was icy.

“We wouldn’t dare!”

Li Hua and Fang Hui kowtowed repeatedly.

“A sixteen-year-old Divine Realm expert… I’ve never even heard of such a thing. If this is true, she would be the most monstrous genius in the entire history of the cultivation world! I wonder which exiled bloodline of an immortal clan she belongs to…”

The crown prince’s expression turned solemn, a trace of respect finally appearing in his eyes.

“Your Highness, from what I’ve learned, she isn’t from any cultivation bloodline. Her parents were ordinary people.”

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Li Hua hurriedly explained.

“That’s impossible. Unlike martial arts, cultivation places strict demands on bloodline. Unless one of her parents carried an extraordinarily powerful cultivation heritage, her talent could never be this monstrous.”

The crown prince was adamant in his reasoning.

“But… Your Highness, what I said is the truth! Cheng Hongling’s background is common knowledge in Huangtian County—there’s nothing suspicious about it.”

Li Hua reiterated.

“Is that so? I doubt it. Though they say seeing is believing, one shouldn’t trust their eyes too much. I don’t know how, but I can assert that her origins are far from simple.”

The crown prince remained firm in his belief.

“Then… Your Highness, what should we do now? She—”

Li Hua cautiously ventured.

“What should we do? A sixteen-year-old Incarnation Realm genius, a peerless beauty—she can only become this crown prince’s consort.”

The crown prince’s tone was resolute.

Meanwhile, at the edge of Pingshan Mass Burial Ground…

Qi Huang followed her main body as they arrived at the outskirts of the burial grounds. Looking ahead, she saw a visible tide of Yin energy surging forward like floodwaters, its speed comparable to a sprinting human. Wherever it passed, plants and animals alike were corroded and reduced to ashes. Within the Yin energy, ghostly figures flickered, and terrifying wails rose and fell like a chorus from hell.

“Wow! So much cat food!”

Qi Huang’s eyes sparkled with excitement, itching to rush in for a “zero-cost shopping spree”.

“You can see it too—the situation is dire. After some thought, I realized that with just the two of us, trying to stop this head-on would be futile. The only solution is to go straight to the source of this evil. If we can eliminate it, great. If not, then we’ll have to rely on your acting skills to intimidate him into retreating. Of course, that’s only if your Divine Sense is stronger than his.”

Cheng Hongling laid out her plan.

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“You’ve always hated my acting. Why the sudden change of heart? Did you finally realize that acting is a skill?”

Qi Huang asked curiously.

“Yes. But you have zero skill. If there were any other options, I wouldn’t agree to this.”

Cheng Hongling didn’t hesitate to slap her down.

“No way! I think I’ve improved a lot!”

Qi Huang muttered indignantly.

“Enough chatter. Let’s move.”

Cheng Hongling urged.

“Wait! You can’t go in. If we both enter and run into danger, neither of us will escape.”

Qi Huang quickly stopped her. ‘No way am I letting this all-you-can-eat buffet go to waste!’

And if intimidation failed, she’d have to ask Yaoyao for help—something her main body absolutely could not witness.

“Are you sure you can handle this alone? The danger here is unlike anything we’ve faced before. These evil spirits won’t hold back.”

Cheng Hongling was uneasy.

“Exactly because it’s dangerous, you should stay behind. If I can’t handle it, you won’t make a difference either.”

Qi Huang phrased it diplomatically.

Cheng Hongling had no retort and could only stay behind as backup.

Qi Huang, meanwhile, flew toward the burial grounds. Though her cultivation was only at the sixth layer of the Spirit Gathering Realm—far too weak to resist the Yin energy—her Divine Realm Divine Sense made her invincible.

Wrapping herself in a protective layer of Divine Sense, she calmly stepped into the Yin energy. Her first task was to capture a malevolent spirit to guide her. As for collecting cat food? That could wait until the crisis was resolved. She knew her priorities.

“Hehe, so much all-you-can-eat! My sisters will finally be able to take human form!”

Yaoyao, however, had no such restraint. She detached from Qi Huang, transforming into a cat-eared girl, and began hunting low-level spirits.

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“Couldn’t you warn me before leaving?!”

Qi Huang crossed her arms, annoyed. Without Yaoyao’s form as clothing, she was left in nothing but her undergarments, barely clothed.

Yaoyao ignored her, too busy catching spirits.

“Yaoyao, can’t you help me deal with the source of this evil first? At this rate, the Yin energy will reach the major cities soon, and countless mortals will die.”

After retrieving a dress from her spatial ring and putting it on, Qi Huang pleaded.

“What do human lives matter to me?”

Yaoyao replied dismissively.

“Then what about my life? If I die, where will you find such a dedicated poop-scooper?”

Qi Huang shamelessly played the guilt card.

“Dedicated? Dedicated my foot! Since following you, we’ve had more days without food than with! If this counts as dedicated, then that useless old man Qin from your Honghua Sect is a dedicated sect leader too!”

Yaoyao fumed.

“Hey! Don’t insult me! No matter how bad I am, I’m still better than him!”

Qi Huang protested.

“You’re worse!”

Yaoyao rolled her eyes.

“Fine. Take the ring. Stay here. I’ll go find the evil source alone. If I die, don’t be sad—just find a better poop-scooper.”

Qi Huang couldn’t force her. Leaving the ring behind, she walked forward, glancing back every few steps. She hadn’t forgotten—Soul Tethers could be severed. Even with her main body as backup, this mission was perilous.

“Who’d be sad over someone like you? Don’t flatter yourself!”

Yaoyao scoffed at Qi Huang’s retreating figure.

After wandering through the Yin energy for a while, Qi Huang soon captured a ghost and forced it to lead her deeper into the burial grounds.