Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Outside Cang Lan City, Morton’s head was hung in the air to console all the dead souls within the city.
The dozen or so students who managed to survive were evacuated by the executive department, and after seeing Morton’s head, it was as if a tight knot had been unwound in their hearts, and some of them wept tears of release while others finally allowed their tightly wound up bodies to rest before falling unconscious.
The Heavenly Court observed countless casualties every day. In particular, death was a normal occurrence when battling the Blood Tribe or the snow maidens.
This was the harsh reality of the cultivating world; there was no eternal peace or happiness, and the entire continent was riddled with wars of varying scale.
Having completed their mission, An Lin, Xu Xiaolan, Tina, Da Bai, and Xiao Chou arrived back at Huang Quan City.
Meanwhile, in the central region of the Dark Marshlands.
Within the Divine Palace of Life…
Morton’s jade badge of life crumbled into dust after a crisp crack.
Boom!
A crimson pillar of light punctured the roof of the Divine Palace of Life before soaring straight into the heavens.
A thunderous, enraged voice erupted across the earth, “Who killed my trusted lieutenant?
“I will relegate the perpetrator and their entire family to the pits of hell where they shall be tormented for eternity!”
All the tool refinement masters stared blankly at the crimson pillar soaring into the sky, and they almost threw up a mouthful of blood.
They had only just repaired the roof of the Divine Palace of Life, only for it to be wrecked again!
Why was Emperor Yi Deng so easily enraged? The tool refinement masters were enraged, but they didn’t dare to say anything.
Morton was quite a renowned mighty figure within the Blood Tribe as his dao of aura-concealment allowed him to come and go at will, and as a result, he had once been revered as the most unkillable Return to Void Stage mighty figure. However, it was this very same mighty figure who had fallen just like that, before he even had a chance to send out an SOS! How could Emperor Yi Deng not be enraged?
If it wasn’t for the fact that Dao Integration Stage mighty figures were naturally quite sensitive to one another, he would have thought that a Dao Integration Stage mighty figure was involved!
Each and every one of the Return to Void Stage mighty figures were at the tip of the cultivator pyramid, and losing five in a short span of about a dozen days had dealt a significant blow to the Blood Tribe, as well as an even more significant blow to Emperor Yi Deng as all five of those Return to Void Stage mighty figures, including his son, were part of his forces.
Thankfully the Blood Tribe gave rise to three Holy Disciples, and if they developed well, perhaps they could take the Blood Tribe to new heights. This was also why none of the Blood Tribe top dogs were all that alarmed or disconsolate over the loss of the five Return to Void Stage mighty figures.
Of course, there was an exception to this, and that was Emperor Yi Deng.
Yi Deng did a quick calculation to find that he only had four Return to Void Stage lackeys at his disposal…
He couldn’t help but flare up with rage again. “The Heavenly Court has gone too far!”
The Blood Tribe was in a state of turmoil, but everything was peaceful on An Lin’s end for the next few days.
The end-of-term examinations were soon over, and everyone returned to the university.
Immediately after that was the rewards ceremony for the end-of-term examinations.
An Lin’s class received praise from the entire school for their monumental accomplishments.
This was even after the truth about Laden’s death had been obscured from public knowledge. If the circumstances behind that event were to come to light, it would create a massive commotion throughout the entire Kingdom of the Nine States.
In order to avoid having further hostilities directed toward An Lin, the entire event was splendidly covered up. The only ones who knew the truth were the five Emperors of the Heavenly Court, Lin Junjun, as well as An Lin’s homeroom teacher and a few of his closest friends.
On the rewards ceremony, the university handed out many pills, materials, and spirit stones to the heroes of the school, but those were negligible to the filthy rich An.
However, Vice-Principal Yu Hua did sneak three fourth-grade immortal pill coupons and one third-grade immortal pill coupon to him, which was quite a nice gesture.
Those were the rewards for some of the things An Lin had done, which was outside of everyone’s knowledge, and everyone knew this to be the case.
Aside from An Lin, who was obviously the main attraction at the rewards ceremony, Liu Qianhuan’s performance was also quite eye-catching.
During a vital battle against the snow maidens, she had single-handedly held off an army of three thousand and slew three Soul Formation Stage snow maiden generals before chasing the army of three thousand for several hundred kilometers. She only fell back after a Holy Palace Leader was alerted to the situation.
The Heavenly Court executive department based at the Holy Glacial Lands had already extended an invitation to her where she would immediately assume the role of general upon the commencement of her employment. Furthermore, many of the other important departments within the Heavenly Court had also opened their doors to her.
However, she was undecided about where she wanted to go.
On a forest path within the Heavenly Court, a light breeze blew past as dried autumn leaves flew through the air.
The path was covered by a carpet of yellow leaves.
A beautiful woman in a pink-and-blue sailor costume hummed a song as she walked along the forest path, and the dried leaves rustled underfoot.
Her pink hair was getting a little long and had been tied into a ponytail behind her. The ponytail swayed rhythmically as she walked, making her appear as if she was full of energy and vitality.
“An Lin, An Lin… what should I choose?” She asked in her sweet-sounding voice as her brows furrowed with distress.
The handsome man in white robes beside her rolled his eyes at her. “This is the fifth time you’ve asked me the same question.”
The woman beside An Lin was none other than Liu Qianhuan, who was close to graduation and was facing a massive crossroads.
“But you gave me a different answer every time!” Liu Qianhuan glowered at An Lin.
The light of the sun peeked through the gaps in the leaves of the trees before shining onto her exquisite features. Her bright purple eyes flashed and her enchanting pout would be enough to woo countless male students.
An Lin heaved a heavy sigh. “I told you to go to the executive department, but you said you didn’t like fighting and that it was too dangerous there. I told you to stay at the Heavenly Court, but you told me there was a massive family inheritance waiting for you and that you didn’t want to abandon your sect. I told you to go home, but you said there was no love there. I told you to become a free, nomadic cultivator, but you said you would be lonely… What else can I say?”
“Hmph! It’s all because your answers were so insincere! Have you genuinely looked at it from my perspective?” Liu Qianhuan aimed a light kick at An Lin’s shin, and she pouted as tears welled up in her eyes. “I treat you as a friend but all you do is brush my concerns aside, even when I’m about to leave…”
An Lin immediately held his hands up in surrender at the sight of the tears swimming in Liu Qianhuan’s eyes. “Alright, alright, I will very carefully and very sincerely provide an analysis to you, ok?”
“Hmph! You better deliver on your promise!” Liu Qianhuan immediately beamed with joy.
An Lin was instantly shocked. Could human emotions really transition so quickly?
She looked like she was on the brink of tears a second ago, but everything was all sunshine and flowers now.
An Lin and Liu Qianhuan walked side by side as he placed himself in her shoes.
The two of them strolled together with a sense of youthful energy exuding from their playful interactions.
Liu Qianhuan would flick An Lin’s ear from time to time or slice off strands of his hair with her sword intent.
An Lin would try to retaliate sometimes, but all his attempts to do so were evaded by Liu Qianhuan. As she dodged with her agile movement techniques, peals of laughter escaped from her mouth.
However, the lighthearted atmosphere was tinged with the sorrow of their imminent separation.
An Lin turned to look at his spritely upperclasswoman, and he was quite sad at the prospect of her departure.
He thought to himself for a moment before speaking again.
“Ahem, let me ask you a question first. How much is the inheritance from your family actually worth to you in your heart?”
