Although he said he’d brought gifts, his hands remained completely empty.
To tell the truth, since the moment he’d arrived, Xuan Ji had been quietly evaluating him. What wondrous treasures had he brought for her?
The way she saw it, an emperor should definitely bring something extravagant.
But given that he still hadn’t produced any presents, she frowned and said roguishly, “Well, come on then, hurry up and bring out your ‘sincerity’.”
With that, she glanced pointedly at the pile of wondrous treasures the other emissaries had left behind.
“Sincerity!”
“Are you taking this as an opportunity to accumulate treasure?” Seeing Xuan Ji’s rascally behavior, he smiled wryly.
She didn’t deny it. “Yup, that’s exactly right. This is a perfect chance for me to rake in the dough. Is there something wrong with that?”
For better or worse, her friend was leaving. Who knew how many years would pass before they met again?
If she didn’t take this opportunity to fill her coffers, when would she get another one?
When you’re got a close friend, sometimes you need to take advantage of your relationship. On the off chance her friend got upset about it, all she had to do with split the treasures with her.
This was Xuan Ji’s view of life!
Seeing her complete honesty, Chao Feng smiled helplessly.
“What are you shaking your head for?” Xuan Ji said and clapped in rapid succession. “Sincerity! Hurry up and show me your sincerity!”
“My sincerity can’t be expressed with this sort of physical object,” he said with a bitter smile.
“Chao Feng, oh Chao Feng, that’s just not right.” Seeing as he hadn’t brought anything tangible, her way of addressing him grew far more casual. “I know you’re an emperor, and that your Star Altar is the best place for a star-bearer to go. To tell the truth, before you’d arrived, I’d already considered sending my best friend to your place. But at the end of the day, she’s still the Lord of Seven Stars. You want to just come in here empty-handed and run off with her; that’s really unfair of you. Come on, you gotta give a little something, right? Just a little something …”
She approached Chao Feng, stealthily glanced back at her home, then winked at him.
“My relationship with my dear friend has always been good,” she said in a low voice. “Don’t be petty. Make it worth my while, and I’ll sell her to you.”
Hearing this, Chao Feng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Sell?”
“There’s no need for you to worry about the nature of our relationship. Hurry up, let’s make a deal. Give me three thousand divine crystals and she’s yours,” she said under her breath. “Three thousand divine crystals for the Lord of Seven Stars. Come on bro, that’s a fair trade.”
“It really is quite reasonable,” nodded Chao Feng.
“Then don’t just stand there, hurry up and gimme!” said Xuan Ji hurriedly.
“But doing it right in front of her doesn’t feel quite right,” said Chao Feng, smiling bitterly.
“What do you mean, ‘right in front of her?’”
Xuan Ji started, then looked behind her; her friend had been standing there for a while now.
She smiled sweetly back at her, then said, “Emperor Chao Feng, so that’s your true nature. Our friendship isn’t something you can measure with money. All I wanted was to find a good place for my dear friend, yet you want to use money to buy her…..”
“Alright, cut the act,” said the woman.
She rolled her eyes, then bowed to Chao Feng. “Emperor Chao Feng.”
“You are the Lord of Seven Stars. A distinguished figure like yourself needn’t be so polite,” he said amiably, helping her up. “But I still don’t know what to call you.”
“Ye Rong.”
“Star-bearer Ye,” he said, nodding to her. “I am completely sincere about inviting you to join my Star Alter. Everyone there is a star-bearer, and we work together to deepen our understanding of the stars. For someone like you whose star only recently descended, it will be extremely beneficial.”
“I understand.”
“Mm. Of course, I won’t insist. That said, on my way over I used the Milky Way to do some divinations, and discovered that there’s something troubling you,” said Chao Feng. “I’d like to help you fix your problem.”
With that, a diagram of the Milky Way appeared below his feet.
The diagram connected with the stars of the night sky, the space between them shrouded in light.
Woosh….
Star energy instantly enveloped the Three Realms. Xuan Ji frowned
Xuan Ji frowned. “What are you doing?”
“Star-bearer Ye worried that her son would attract too much attention, so she purposefully chose this time to receive her star. It’s been somewhat effective, it’s true, but if you want to fool everybody, it’s not quite enough.”
Chao Feng smiled confidently and said, “I’ve just activated my Milky Way Diagram and used the countless stars of the Milky Way to obscure his secrets. Now, everything is truly hidden from view.”
“I’m willing to join your Star Altar.” Ye Rong bowed to Chao Feng once more. Seeing this, Xuan Ji couldn’t help but be somewhat disappointed.
She’d joined him just like that, and she’d yet to receive any real advantages.
This was an emperor! Missing a chance to rip him off was unbearable.
“It’s absolutely wonderful that star-bearer Ye is willing to join our Star Altar. Given your identity as Lord of Seven Stars, unless something unexpected happens, you’ll become an elder within three years,” he said, face lit up with delight.
Then his expression darkened as he continued, “but as for that son of yours, all I can say is he was born at the wrong time.”
…..
“Big Sister, have you thought of something?” Su Zhu sent a transmission, expression calm. After she’d brought up Lady Providence’s name, Su Liu’er had been lost in thought for a long while.
“Second Sister, why do you think Lady Providence would do that for us?
“That, I don’t know,” said Su Zhu, shaking her head. “But from the start, she hasn’t borne us or our Nine-tailed Fox Clan any ill intent.”
“That’s only natural,” Su Liu’er transmitted back gravely. “Given her methods, if she had bad intentions she could eliminate us in an instant.”
“But why….”
“Big Sister, there’s no need for you to worry about it too much,” transmitted Su Zhu with a smile. “She had no ill intent, and even helped us get our big sister back. Those are all good things, aren’t they?”
“You’re right.” Su Liu’er nodded despite herself. Since becoming head of the Nine-tailed Fox Clan, she’d gotten into the habit of second-guessing everyone’s intentions.
In truth, she didn’t have much of a choice. It’s always difficult to see into other people’s hearts.
Who knew what others were truly thinking? Even when you were cooperating with someone, there was always the possibility that they were hiding dark secrets.
As head of her clan, her every word and deed determined her people’s future. She naturally had to think things through carefully.
But now, it seemed as if she’d been clan head for so long, there were some things she could no longer see clearly.
“What’s going on?”
Suddenly, Xia Keke cried out in alarm. The two Su Sisters looked around and found hat all the hidden land’s vegetation was rapidly withering as their life force flowed back into Su Yan.
Before long, the plants withered completely.
“Something’s wrong.”
Seeing this, Su Liu’er frowned deeply and charged forward, but before she’d taken more than a few steps, Fatty Yin dragged her back.
“What are you doing?”
“No, what are you doing?”
Although Fatty Yin’s spiritual energy was depleted, he was completely unrelenting as he chastised her.
“You just sit tight and wait. Don’t you dare move until I give permission, understand?”
