Chapter 0056

Chapter 56: Sister, You Smell So Good. That’s the Scent of a Lie!

Hearing that name again, Zhou Tong felt nothing and even wanted to laugh. He thought: [Does that woman really think that if she destroys the Joyous Union Sect, I will come running back to her? What a wild dream.]

“Mo Liu Su… what an annoying name,” Lian Han Xing said with open disdain, clearly having heard of her for a long time.

But when she learned about Zhou Tong’s past with Mo Liu Su, her mood sank. She muttered with a sour look: “So this brat wasn’t something you planted, you just stole him from someone else’s field.”

Mu Rong Ya snapped back, almost ready to fight as she said: “How many times have I said it, he was born of a father and mother. There is no Divine Seed. You were brainwashed by that old man!”

“Then have you ever seen his parents,” the other side asked.

Mu Rong Ya froze. So did Zhou Tong. Neither of them had ever seen his parents.

Qian Miao Yu watched this and suddenly broke into a cold sweat. A terrible idea flashed through her mind: [Innate Supreme!]

She felt Zhou Tong was very likely an Innate Supreme. The records of the Imperial House said this: across the vast River of Time, strange matter sometimes swallows the world’s spiritual energy. After ages of change, it takes human form and gains wisdom. In that moment, a spirit-born being stands equal to a supreme.

Legends say an Innate Supreme is ageless and undying, always wearing the face of a youth. Their cultivation hides inward, and they know the ten thousand paths. They may look like ordinary people, but if they act, they can destroy heaven and earth with a hand.

[It all fits. It all fits perfectly.]

Combining that with the talk she had overheard between Mu Rong Ya and the others, Qian Miao Yu decided: [Zhou Tong is a Divine Seed that awakened, became human, and was picked up by Mo Liu Su. As for being cast out of the Jade Purity Sect and then joining the Joyous Union Sect, that was just an Innate Supreme walking the mortal world to polish his Dao. When he finishes the road of red dust, a new Emperor will appear. And his name will be Zhou Tong.]

“I understand now,” she thought, and her chest tingled with anger as she realized: “No wonder Mo Liu Su is rushing to claim Zhou Tong. She wants a karmic tie to an Innate Supreme. What a scheme!”

[Greedy for power, fine. But why drag the Ling Xiao Empire into it, forcing the Empire to smash head-on with a future Emperor? Do we have that strength? Does Mo Liu Su even know how terrifying Zhou Tong will be?]

[No, she doesn’t. But I do.]

She pictured a hand ripping down a star, everything breaking. Countless lives turning to dust. Peak experts like ants, wiped out in a blink. It was pure despair.

[No matter what, I cannot let that happen.]

She had no idea how far off her guess really was. If Zhou Tong searched her soul right then, he might have laughed himself to tears. His power came from the hard work of a past life. It had nothing to do with being an Innate Supreme.

“Please let me go,” Qian Miao Yu said with a pitiful look, her voice soft as she added: “I am only a plain, ordinary empress. How would I dare to plot against you? I had no choice.”

The others sucked in a cold breath.

“This one is actually the empress of the Ling Xiao Empire,” the little demoness blurted, feeling unreal at the thought. A dignified empress going undercover. Did she not know how to write the word death?

“She’s very suspicious,” Lian Han Xing said as she came closer. Resting her cheek against the empress’s fragrant neck, she sniffed long and slow, then teased: “Sister, you smell so good.”

Qian Miao Yu’s skin prickled with goosebumps. Before she could protest, Lian Han Xing stuck out her pink tongue and gave the empress’s cheek a quick lick, then said coolly: “That is the scent of a lie.”

Her eyes turned sharp as she told Zhou Tong: “Brat, search her soul.”

“No… please don’t do that to me,” Qian Miao Yu cried. “I am the ruler of the Empire, and I carry the lives of millions. If I die, my people will be slaughtered and bullied by outsiders.”

“Not my problem,” Lian Han Xing said.

“You… I know you are cultivators with conscience. You would never be that cruel,” the empress tried again.

Lian Han Xing smirked and said: “Moral blackmail, is it? Do you think I have morals? My conscience is very bad. If you don’t believe me, come touch.”

She leaned in with a wicked grin, pressing close until their faces brushed. The proud empress flushed scarlet.

“Enough,” Mu Rong Ya said, stopping Lian Han Xing. After learning the woman’s identity, Mu Rong Ya no longer wished to push her. Whatever else, this was the land’s ruler in name. With her help, saving their first disciple would go much more smoothly.

“What is Zhao Wu Tian to you,” Mu Rong Ya asked.

“He is my State Preceptor, and—” Qian Miao Yu began, then felt a blade of killing intent in the air.

She rushed to add with a quick change of tone: “Actually we aren’t close. He always puts on airs. I’ve disliked him for a long time. If I didn’t fear the Heavenly Dao Hall, I would have dealt with him eight hundred times already.”

“We can help you remove him,” Mu Rong Ya said, her eyes steady and voice slow and heavy as she added: “But first, you must cooperate with us.”

“No problem. I agree,” Qian Miao Yu said without a trace of hesitation. She looked to Zhou Tong and added: “If possible, please… be my guest minister. That way we can work together and talk more easily.”

To change the future she had seen in her dreams, she chose to act first. Step one was to build a strong bond with Zhou Tong.

The group traded looks. They had not expected this. A guest minister was not a subordinate. It was closer to a partnership. Come and go freely. Light and easy.

Thinking it through, they had no reason to refuse.

“Fine, you pass,” Lian Han Xing said, waving her hand and letting the empress down.

“From now on, we’re friends, right,” Qian Miao Yu asked at once, as if that question mattered a lot to her.

“Of course,” they answered.

“You won’t attack friends later, will you,” she pressed.

“As long as you don’t turn against us, we will always be friends,” Zhou Tong said, giving his word. She finally let out a long breath.

Zhou Tong clapped his hands, and the white void around them thinned and fell away. In a blink, they were back in the real world.

“This is…,” Qian Miao Yu began, wide-eyed.

“Don’t be so shocked,” Zhou Tong told her, smiling as he explained: “That space was built with my Array Arts. You can think of it as a spatial Signet Ring.”

Qian Miao Yu was stunned. [See? All-round mastery. Truly the methods of an Innate Supreme.]

Suddenly, Zhou Tong’s brows lifted. A smile tugged at his lips as he said: “Everyone else should go. Zhao Wu Tian is coming. Only Your Majesty stays with me.”