“Whoa, why do you look like a ghost!”
Jiang Ke’er stared at the suddenly appearing Qiao Xiaoxian, startled out of her wits.
“Why are you here?” Qiao Xiaoxian asked.
“I should be asking you that! Why did you just pop out of nowhere?” Jiang Ke’er retorted.
“Let me borrow the Underworld Province Cauldron,” Qiao Xiaoxian said.
“…You’re really bold about it, huh!”
“Well, I was the one who dug it up.” Qiao Xiaoxian raised an eyebrow.
“But I’m the Queen of the Earth! This belongs to my family!” Jiang Ke’er refused to back down.
“If I hadn’t dug it up, you wouldn’t have become the Queen of the Earth either.”
“No nesting dolls allowed!”
“…Are you going to lend it or not?” Qiao Xiaoxian half smiled, half scowled.
“Fine, fine, fine! Take it already, it’s just a broken cauldron, who even wants it!”
Jiang Ke’er pouted, tossing the Underworld Province Cauldron to Qiao Xiaoxian with a flick of her hand.
“Mommies, don’t fight~” Eggy chirped anxiously while crunching away on a Flame Stone Crystal.
Jiang Ke’er puffed out her cheeks in annoyance, while Qiao Xiaoxian allowed a faint smile.
“You still haven’t answered me, why are you here?” Qiao Xiaoxian continued.
“Guess.”
“My guess is, you were brainwashed by some old swindler and now you’re harboring delusions of saving the world, all set to march to your death,” Qiao Xiaoxian sneered.
“How do you know so much?” Jiang Ke’er was taken aback. “Were you tricked before?”
“Something like that.” Qiao Xiaoxian stowed the cauldron away. “I’m heading out first. Take care of yourself… don’t die.”
“Don’t need your fake concern. Bye-bye, now!”
Qiao Xiaoxian smiled helplessly, pinched Jiang Ke’er’s cheek, and walked out the door.
After sending off the hurriedly arrived and just as hurriedly departing Qiao Xiaoxian, Jiang Ke’er rolled up her bedding.
She stepped out of the small house, and only then did she notice that Si Lian’s hair color was the same rare shade of blue as Qiao Xiaoxian’s, the hues almost identical.
Come to think of it, Si Lian didn’t show any obvious signs of being from the demon race.
Just like Qiao Xiaoxian, she was of the highly refined, perfectly humanlike sort, which made it difficult to discern her original race.
Si Lian balanced her arm with one hand and held her pipe with the other, sweeping her gaze over the group of little monsters.
“Seems no one’s thinking of backing out… then let’s get moving.”
“I’m going to carve ‘I, Jie Shui, was here’ on every arena in Da Si Country!” Jie Shui hollered loudly, bedding slung over his shoulder.
“Weakling, it’d be easier to just chop you up and toss you onto those arenas,” Gan Ruǎnruǎn sneered.
“Stinky skunk, you want a fight?” Jie Shui glared at Gan Ruǎnruǎn in irritation.
“Bring it on, who’s afraid?”
With Jie Shui and the flat-headed sister both in the group, there wasn’t a single peaceful second.
Jiang Ke’er felt a headache coming on.
Si Lian squinted slightly, savoring the spectacle before her.
This time of year was always the happiest.
“Senior,” Jiang Ke’er called to Si Lian, “Blue hair is pretty uncommon. May I ask what race you are…?”
“Dragonkind,” Si Lian replied, unbothered.
“Aren’t the Dragonkind all in Beiju Luzhou? Why’d you come so far?” Jiang Ke’er pressed.
“Not too fond of Beiju Luzhou,” Si Lian replied with a bitter smile.
“And besides, they don’t really like me there either.”
“Oh, sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up…”
“It’s fine.”
“Um…”
After a while, Jiang Ke’er quietly asked again, “Have you heard of Qiao Xiaoxian?”
Si Lian nodded. “Yes, I’ve heard of her.”
“Can you tell me about her deeds?”
“Don’t really know,” Si Lian replied expressionlessly.
“I haven’t been back to Beiju Luzhou for twenty years now.”
“Oh, sorry, sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. I couldn’t help myself,” Jiang Ke’er said remorsefully.
“What, do you have a grudge against her?”
“Yeah, some private little vendettas.” Jiang Ke’er nodded in admission.
Si Lian nodded again. “If you want to know, you can go to the Dragonkind settlement in Beiju Luzhou and check out her hometown.”
“I’ll wait until after the competition,” Jiang Ke’er sighed softly.
“I’m still too weak right now. It’d be dangerous to go to Beiju Luzhou.”
“The scandal that broke out at the Mingxi City arena—there’s no way we can just let it go,” the Honored One charged with safeguarding the Mingxi City arena treasure said darkly.
Not only did the demon race team kill many humans on stage, ridiculing them in public, but while he was preparing some tricks in disguise, some unknown thief made off with the precious arena prize.
A humiliation beyond compare!
“They’ll definitely run to other arenas to challenge. This is Si Lian’s usual method,” the Honored One said.
“I’ve already used the Soul Seeking Crystal to lock onto that wolf demon’s aura. No matter where they run, even to the ends of the earth, they can’t escape our hunt…”
“Venerable Ye, what should we do?”
“I’ll guard the arena. You take the Soul Seeking Crystal and hunt them down,” Venerable Ye said, handing the crystal to his subordinate.
“You must act when Si Lian isn’t around. With the crystal, you can sense their aura and the surrounding situation remotely. When Si Lian is away, finish them off as fast as possible!”
“Understood!”
“Good,” Venerable Ye nodded in satisfaction.
“With the strength of the three of you, dealing with a few small fry like them should be a piece of cake. And with the Shun Wind Colt, even after you kill them, Si Lian will never catch up.”
“Don’t worry, Honored One. We’ll make sure those bastards regret ever being born on the Shenzhou Continent!”
With treasures and strength combined, and even bringing along the Shun Wind Colt, this mission was bound to be foolproof.
Watching the backs of his three departing subordinates, Venerable Ye poured himself a pot of tea in satisfaction.
He had to make careful preparations and wait for good news from his men.
The outline of a city gradually appeared ahead.
Si Lian led five little monsters along a winding path toward the city.
“I’ll go register your identities at the local arena first. You all head straight to this inn and settle in,” Si Lian said, pulling out a crumpled discount voucher and handing it to Jiang Ke’er.
“Qing Yi, you’re captain while I’m away.”
“Okay.” Jiang Ke’er didn’t argue.
In a flash, Si Lian vanished from the sight of the five little monsters.
Jiang Ke’er put away the discount voucher and was just about to head into the city when she suddenly halted.
She turned back and looked into the distance.
The sound of hooves thundered—an urgent team was rushing toward them.
There were five in that group, three of whom exuded powerful auras, clearly troublesome opponents.
“Run!” Jiang Ke’er made a snap decision, stopping Gan Ruǎnruǎn and Jie Shui from bickering and urging them forward.
Gan Ruǎnruǎn and Jie Shui realized something was off, stopped fighting at once, and raced ahead with Jiang Ke’er.
But that team was fast! The colts under them were all extraordinary, their hooves strong and swift—there was no way Jiang Ke’er’s group could outrun them!
In an instant, the five riders charged right up and surrounded Jiang Ke’er and the others.
Their auras flared. Three of them were clearly Seven Luminaries experts!
“You will pay the price for your actions on the arena,” one of the Seven Luminaries experts sneered, then waved his hand.
“Do it while Honored One Si Lian is away—attack!”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.