On the other side of the Neoverse, inside an Azure Mansion, Ming Yu had an uneasy expression as she occasionally glanced at the door.
The anxiety welled up every time she heard footsteps.
All of a sudden, a series of knocks sounded on her door, and Ming Yu’s expression drastically changed. “Who is it?”
The door opened, and the local madam entered with a smile plastered on her face. “Ming Yu, have you still not managed to get in touch with Lu Yin? He’s already been free for quite a long time.”
Ming Yu gritted her teeth and begged, “Please, just give me a bit more time.”
The smile on the madam’s face vanished, and her expression grew ice cold. “A little more time? One year? Ten years? Or maybe a hundred more years?”
Ming Yu turned as pale as a ghost.
She had previously lied about being engaged to Lu Yin to force Tian Shao to back down, and the madam had allowed it since it had been common knowledge that Lu Yin was not someone to be messed with. Everything had been going according to her plan, but unexpectedly, Lu Yin had actually escaped from the Neohuman Alliance. What’s more, his status had even been cleared by the Hall of Honor.
The moment that Ming Yu had learned of Lu Yin’s return, she had realized that she was doomed. She had no means of even contacting Lu Yin, let alone marrying him.
“It was impossible to take anything into the Mountain and Seas Zone when we were there, so Lu Yin said that he would only be able to pass his contact information to me after leaving. That’s why I haven’t been able to reach him,” Ming Yu nervously replied.
The madam scoffed. “Really?”
Ming Yu was insistent. “Of course!”
Although the madam was unable to verify the truth of Ming Yu’s claims, excitement gleamed in the older woman’s eyes. “You better not be lying to me. Well, it’s fine even if you just deceive me. However, if it turns out that you’ve also lied to Tian Shao, you already know what the consequences will be. No one can save you from that.”
The madam turned around and left after issuing her threat. Next, she went to the room where Ming Yan was staying.
The madam was absolutely confident that Ming Yu had lied, but regardless of the situation, a new Flower Queen was still needed, and Ming Yan was the most suitable candidate. The madam needed to make sure that all of Ming Yan’s preparations were complete in order to avoid any potential mishaps.
Upon entering Ming Yan’s room, the madam’s attitude hardened, not nearly as gentle as when she had addressed Ming Yu. “In a few months, you’ll be replacing Ming Yu as the new Flower Queen, and at that time, Azure Mansion will be yours to manage. You better not get into any trouble during this time.”
In an emotionless tone, Ming Yan replied, “There won’t be any trouble.” As she spoke, she picked up a glass of water and slowly brought it to her lips.
She drank slowly, very slowly.
What should have been a perfectly ordinary action caused the madam’s composure to shatter. She hurriedly approached Ming Yan, snatched the girl’s arm, and yanked the glass of water away. Having stopped Ming Yan, the madam stared at her while exclaiming, “What are you doing?!”
Ming Yan calmly turned to look at the madam. “What do you mean?”
The madam’s brow furrowed as she looked at the remaining water in the cup. Ming Yan’s behavior just now had made the madam feel uneasy, and she had assumed that Ming Yan was trying to end her life by drinking poison. However, after thinking about it, the madam felt that this was a bit far-fetched. After all, this entire mansion was under constant surveillance, and there was no way Ming Yan could even gain access to any sort of poison.
Ming Yan smiled. “You took my cup.”
The madam grew more uncomfortable the longer she stared at Ming Yan. She did not know why, but she was absolutely certain that something was wrong.
After casually disposing of the cup, the madam looked back at Ming Yan, but just as the madam was about to speak, she abruptly coughed up a mouthful of blood while every strand of her hair quickly turned white. The madam lost all strength, and she nearly collapsed from the sudden onset of weakness. Realizing that she had been poisoned, she fiercely glared at Ming Yan and accusingly cried out, “You poisoned me?”
Ming Yan slowly walked towards the madam. “I told you, you took my cup.”
The madam glanced at the cup that she had thrown away; had the cup been laced with poison?
“That’s impossible! Where could you have gotten any kind of poison, let alone snuck it past me!” The madam was incredulous, as she was a powerful Enlighter while Ming Yan had not even reached the Explorer realm yet.
The madam suddenly attacked Ming Yan, but Ming Yan’s only response was to narrow her eyes and coldly state, “Look at your own hand.”
The madam hesitated and looked down at her hand, only to see that it had become old and desiccated. She frantically rolled up her sleeves, but she only found more wrinkled, dead skin. It was as if she had aged decades in but a moment. “What kind of poison is this? You- what exactly did you poison me with?”
Ming Yan calmly observed the madam’s reaction before raising a hand and pointing in three different directions. She had pointed to the precise locations of the guards tasked with monitoring her. Ming Yan was not even an Explorer yet, but she was already able to sense her guards even though they consisted of two Hunters and an Enlighter. On top of that, she even dared to directly deal with these guards.
Despite Ming Yan’s provocative actions, there was no reaction from the guards, which made it abundantly clear that they had already been dealt with.
The madam had no idea how Ming Yan had accomplished such a thing, and the only thought in the older woman’s mind was how her strength was continuously ebbing away. In any case, she had never been very good at fighting.
Ming Yan stood tall above the madam and stared down at the woman with glacially cold eyes. Ming Yan’s poison stemmed from the Neohuman Alliance’s regression poison. Despite her poison’s potency, Ming Yan had never revealed it until now, as it would be easily neutralized if the target had an idea of how it worked.
She had taken advantage of her extended time in the room by allowing her poison to slowly infiltrate the bodies of her three guards. And at this moment, Ming Yan had managed to take control of the madam in one decisive move.
Naturally, the madam felt indignant upon discovering that someone had been leading her along for some time. However, unfortunately for the madam, Ming Yan’s poison was too potent, and soon enough, the madam was not even able to stand straight.
She glanced sideways at the hallway outside the door. There were some people that followed the madam wherever she went, and they would soon sense that something had happened. As soon as they raised the alarm, that little brat, Ming Yan, would not be able to resist them with her pitiful strength. Her people would definitely be able to force her to hand over the antidote.
“Who are you waiting for? Your guardians? Or your watchers?” Ming Yan asked mildly.
Right after that, the door opened, and Ming Yu entered the room. The look of unease that the madam had seen in Ming Yu’s eyes just a few moments ago was now gone. Instead, it had been replaced by a look of contempt.
Madam instantly understood—the two of them had joined forces.
This revelation made it clear how the people watching Ming Yan had been poisoned; with Ming Yu’s help, it would be simple for Ming Yang to do all this. Regardless of everything else, Ming Yu was still a Hunter, and any youth able to reach the Hunter realm was someone capable of overcoming numerous challenges without much issue. Even if Ming Yan had not used her poison, Ming Yu’s abilities were definitely enough for her to take out three guards without alerting anyone else in the Azure Mansion.
However, for Ming Yan to poison the guards, the story was completely different.
The madam looked at the two women. One was the present Flower Queen while the other was the future queen. The madam could scarcely believe that she had fallen to the schemes of these two brats!
Ming Yu glanced over the madam’s hands and then nervously turned to look at Ming Yan. “You’ve achieved your goal, so what are you going to do next? Escape from Azure Mansion?”
Ming Yan shook her head. “I’m going to take back what belongs to me.”
Ming Yu was confused because she actually just wanted to leave Azure Mansion forever.
Ming Yan looked at Ming Yu and asked, “Can you escape? Even if there aren’t many Azure Mansions, that Tian Shao guy is quite influential. As soon as word of your escape spreads, it’s quite likely that they’ll capture you and drag you back here.”
The light in Ming Yu’s eyes flickered, but she remained silent.
The madam was limp on the floor and desperately trying to catch her breath. As she watched herself slowly age, her face betrayed her panic. With a fierce glare at Ming Yan, she croaked out, “What exactly did you poison me with? If you give me the antidote, I swear that I’ll never make things difficult for you again!”
Ming Yan locked eyes with the madam and asked, “Do you think that we can leave the Neoverse?”
Without any hesitation, the madam replied, “That’s impossible. The Forgotten Land’s Black Street is Azure Mansion’s backer, and they roam the Neoverse as outcasts and forsaken fugitives. With these kinds of people, information spreads like wildfire, and that’s not even mentioning how the leader of Black Street can easily grasp everything that happens in every corner of the Neoverse. You guys will never be able to escape, so stop daydreaming and give me the antidote right now! I swear that I’ll make your lives easier.”
Ming Yu gritted her teeth. She was capable of coming up with complex schemes, but the more she thought things through, the more apprehensive she was towards Azure Mansion. What did it matter if she managed to escape from the Neoverse? She had heard of Black Street before. Forget about leaving the Neoverse—even if she managed to make it all the way to the Outerverse, there would still be people hunting her down unless she actually married Lu Yin.
“There is no place for you in this entire universe,” Ming Yan said gently.
Ming Yu looked at the other girl and asked, “Then what do you suggest we do?”
Ming Yan matched Ming Yu’s gaze and replied, “We will work together to take down Azure Mansion.”
Ming Yu was momentarily stunned, as she had just heard something incredible.
The madam was similarly dazed by these words, and she let out a strange squawk that seemed to be a bit of mockery mixed with fear. It was as if she was trying to hold in her laughter after hearing the world’s greatest joke.
“Do you know what Azure Mansion represents? Do you even know what Black Street, the organization behind Azure Mansion, represents? And yet you want to take over Azure Mansion?” Ming Yu cried out.
Ming Yan’s face was as calm as still water as she stared at Ming Yu. “With this poison, I can do it.”
Ming Yu was in utter disbelief.
Ming Yan had been the empress of Shenwu Continent for several years, and despite having split personalities with one of the two seeming incredibly naive, she was still able to see through Ming Yu’s concerns with a glance. “Let’s just give this a try. If we fail, I still have a way out, and I can guarantee that we’ll both get out of this unscathed.”
Something flashed through Ming Yu’s mind as she looked at Ming Yan. Ming Yu did not believe Ming Yan’s words. If the girl could make such a guarantee, then how had she ended up in Azure Mansion to begin with?
Ming Yan looked down at her gadget, and a small smile appeared. “I… I am Lu Yin’s woman.”
…
In the southern region of the Neoverse, where the Ku family resided in the Voidsoul Region:
The Voidsoul Region was the Ku family’s ancestral land. The name came from how this land was the transition area between a place filled with life and the void.
Thunder and lightning swept through the Voidsoul Region all year round, and the Ku family’s power vessels, the Withered Bark, was made from the many wilted trees that grew on this land.
In one region of the land, within a mountain range, two large beasts were growling and snapping at each other.
Each of the beasts had the power of an Explorer at the minimum, and the snapping of their fangs caused mountain creeks to shatter and rivers to flow in reverse.
All of a sudden, a human in a sorry state emerged from the void. He gingerly held his abdomen and was gritting his teeth as he looked around. His eyes burned with rage.
Right after his appearance, a bolt of lightning flashed and incinerated the two fighting beasts. Lightning began to gather together in the void, and it soon took on the form of Ku Lei, who stared down at the pathetic figure from high above. “Where do you think you’re going? This is the Voidsoul Region, and I can track you down no matter where you try to go.”
The pathetive figure was actually Ku Wei. He had been running from Ku Lei’s murderous pursuit for many days now, and Ku Wei was in a sorry state. His entire body was exhausted and had been pushed to the limit.
Ku Wei had gravely offended Ku Lei in Progenitor Chen’s Mausoleum. Originally, Ku Wei had planned on becoming one of Lu Yin’s followers and earning Lu Yin’s protection after leaving the tomb. However, to his surprise, Lu Yin had been immediately sent to the Hall of Honor for testing without being able to bring anyone along with him. Ku Pu, the Ku family patriarch, had even stopped Ku Wei from following after Lu Yin.
Then, Ku Wei had become Ku Lei’s target the moment they returned to the Voidsoul Region. Not only were all of Ku Wei’s resources seized, but he also no longer even had the right to meet with the patriarch, let alone leave the Voidsoul Region.
Ku Lei seemed to enjoy playing a game with Ku Wei, like a cat chasing a mouse.
There was a sizzling sound as lightning flashed and tore a hole through Ku Wei’s knee. Excruciating pain wracked Ku Wei’s body, but he resisted the urge to drop to his knees with his entire being, instead glaring angrily at Ku Lei.
Ku Lei lamented, “Come on, run! Let’s see you run some more. So you don’t want to kneel? Then I’ll make sure to hit you hard enough for you to kneel to me. To think that a member from our great Ku family would submit to an outsider! Just the thought disgusts me.”
Ku Wei stayed quiet. From recent experience, he had learned that the more he spoke, the more he would suffer.
Ku Lei scoffed, “Where’s the successor of the Yu family?”
Ku Wei lowered his head and stayed silent. A few days ago, he had realized that everything was over when Ku Lei first asked him that question. This was not a question from Ku Lei, but rather from the patriarch. Only then had Ku Wei understood everything—it was no wonder why Ku Lei was allowed to wantonly attack Ku Wei and mercilessly toy with him. It was because the Ku family had never intended to take Ku Wei’s life from the very start; all the family wanted was to learn of the Yu family’s whereabouts.
Another bolt of lightning struck Ku Wei, and the impact sent Ku Wei violently crashing to the ground. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, and his skin tore apart, revealing raw flesh.
Ku Lei arrogantly proclaimed, “We’ll pause our game for today. Let’s see how many more days you can endure this for.”
After speaking, Ku Lei transformed into lightning and shot away.
Ku Wei stared at where Ku Lei had disappeared in indignation. He had fallen into complete despair.
Ku Wei washed his wounds as he endured the severe pain. Before much time passed, a figure appeared right beside him, but the figure disappeared right after setting a gadget down next to Ku Wei.
Ku Wei stared at the figure in a daze.
