Return

Can Xin looked at Lu Qiancha and nodded in satisfaction.

‘That’s right. Why make something so complicated when a fight can solve it?’

Lu Qiancha’s eyes suddenly opened, and her consciousness instantly returned to her body without a moment’s hesitation.

Her figure turned into a pale blue stream of light, shooting toward the void rift that was frantically wriggling and healing, torn open by the previous earth-shattering blow.

Passing through the distorted light and shadows and the turbulence of broken laws, the scene before her changed abruptly, like a fading curtain.

The pitch-black rocks, the gigantic insect corpse in the center, and the cultivation base fluctuation within her body that receded like a tide and finally stabilized at the mid-stage of the Void Refining realm—all reminded her that she had broken away from the illusion and returned to the Myriad Phantoms Hinterland.

“Hiss…” A piercing pain came from her hand, and Lu Qiancha frowned tightly.

Fortunately, only one hand tendon had been severed; the other paw could still move.

She fumbled a bottle of healing potion from her storage pouch and poured it over the bone-deep wound where the tendon was severed to wash it.

“Sizzle—!” As the medicinal liquid touched the wound, a soft red mist instantly rose. The tendon reconnected, and the flesh and blood grew and healed rapidly.

In a few breaths, the wound had recovered completely.

Flexing her claws, which were as nimble as before, Lu Qiancha’s gaze swept over the mountain wall, where several Shapeshifting Stones emitting a mesmerizing,幻彩 glow were embedded.

With a light probe of her paw tip and a surge of spiritual energy.

Several Shapeshifting Stones fell into her pouch.

Then, Lu Qiancha’s figure didn’t linger for a moment.

Transforming into an almost imperceptible dark shadow, she sped wildly toward the entrance of the secret realm.

Without the interference of others, Lu Qiancha pushed her movement technique to the limit. The ghostly flickering of the Moon Shadow Evasion Art, combined with the terrain-ignoring spatial displacement of the Ender Pearl, and interspersed with short bursts of the Cloud Sea Dragon Step during cooldowns.

The return journey, which originally took an hour, was completed in just half a quarter of an hour under her feet.

At the entrance of the secret realm, the five members of the Frost Ice Camp who had been killed by Mufeng earlier were lying on the ground in disorder. All five had pale faces and extremely withered auras, looking as if their spirits had been drained.

It seemed that death was not without penalty.

Lu Qiancha quickly restored her disguise as a young man, circulated her spiritual energy to protect her body, and moved the five people out of the secret realm’s light gate one by one, before finally walking out herself.

“Little Qiancha… what happened?”

Xun Xue immediately saw the five people lying there and the unscathed “young man,” and asked in surprise and uncertainty.

Lu Qiancha shook her head slightly. Her lips did not move, but a condensed divine sense transmission was accurately sent into Xun Xue’s ear, recounting the sudden change in the secret realm, Mufeng’s ambush, and Ling Muxue’s betrayal, word for word, exactly as it happened.

“…”

Xun Xue’s face seemed instantly covered with a layer of ten-thousand-year-old ice. She didn’t speak. But the biting killing intent that uncontrollably radiated from her body was enough to explain the monstrous rage churning in her heart at this moment.

Xun Xue took a deep breath, temporarily suppressing her anger, and then asked, “Did you get the Shapeshifting Stone?”

“I got it.”

Lu Qiancha nodded.

“Good…”

Xun Xue spat out only one word. Then she grabbed Lu Qiancha’s wrist tightly.

“Whoosh—!”

They turned into a deep blue bolt of lightning, wrapped in endless fury, and shot toward the main hall of the royal palace.

The two arrived at the main hall of the royal palace but did not rush forward rashly. Instead, they watched coldly from the side.

Deep within the magnificent palace, pure spiritual energy, so rich it was almost liquefied, seeped out from every inch of the jade walls, beams, and floor tiles carved with array patterns.

Dense as mist, it not only nourished the minds of everyone in the hall but also illuminated the entire grand hall with a splendid golden brilliance.

Under the huge statue of the Spirit Venerable, the Wolf Emperor Ling Ze, dressed in a black imperial robe embroidered with gold, sat upright on the dragon throne. With an unfathomable expression, he looked down at the hall below.

To be precise, he looked down at Mufeng and Ling Muxue below.

Beside the two of them, a dozen wolf generals in frost-patterned heavy armor stood silently like cold stone statues.

Their heavy armor exuded a suffocating, iron-blooded aura, suppressing the atmosphere of the entire hall to the extreme.

In the center of the hall, a soldier from the Heavenly Secret Camp knelt on one knee, holding a manifestation crystal high above his head with both hands, projecting a clear light and shadow.

The crystal clearly played repeatedly the scene of Mufeng holding the Frost Moon Wheel and tearing apart the secret realm barrier, followed closely by Ling Muxue.

And the entire footage of the two joining forces to ruthlessly kill the Frost Ice Camp squad and Lu Qiancha.

The silent images were deafening.

“I know everything.”

Ling Ze finally spoke. His voice was flat and waveless, yet like a heavy hammer, it instantly broke the suffocating deathly silence.

However, the cold air seemed to solidify even more.

Everyone understood that this calm opening was merely the brief silence before the storm.

“Muxue, my good daughter, do you have any explanation for this?”

Ling Ze’s gaze was like a solid ice pick, nailing precisely onto Ling Muxue’s face. His voice still betrayed no joy or anger, but the important ministers familiar with his temper seemed to hear the erupting fury beneath that calm tone.

“Father Emperor, I have a grudge against Mufeng and this person. There is no life or death within the secret realm, so we resorted to this plan. We just wanted to take the opportunity to teach him a lesson and vent our anger.”

Ling Muxue forced herself to remain calm, her voice carrying a trace of imperceptible trembling.

“Heh.”

Hearing this, Ling Ze let out a cold sneer from his nose and shook his head slowly: “I have no interest in judging right or wrong with you about this behavior right now.

“What I need you to explain is why you, as a royal daughter, colluded with this alien who bears heavy crimes and is a wanted fugitive to steal our clan’s inherited sacred object—the Frost Moon Wheel.

“And you were bold enough to wantonly tamper with the core array pivot of the back mountain secret realm and steal the precious medicine nurtured in the Deep Dream Domain!”

As he spoke, Ling Ze slapped the armrest of the black ice dragon throne in anger. His tone suddenly became heavier, and all the engraved array patterns in the entire hall were instantly activated. A vast, unparalleled, and terrifying pressure, like the sky collapsing, descended with a boom under the blessing of the array.

In an instant.

Those with weaker cultivation turned pale and tottered.

Even those battle-hardened generals felt their breathing stagnate and their minds tremble violently.

Facing this monstrous anger that seemed tangible, the last trace of blood drained from Ling Muxue’s face, leaving it as pale as paper.

She had been desperately avoiding this core crime from the beginning. But now, this sword hanging over her head finally fell completely, unavoidable.

The ministers in the hall finally went into an uproar.

Suspicion, shock, disbelief.

Various expressions spread rapidly across countless faces like a plague.

Previously, most of them only knew that the princess had some friction and conflict with Xun Xue’s son. Who would have thought it involved such an appalling crime of treason against the clan?

In comparison, the discussion about killing soldiers in the secret realm and attacking the child of an immortal instantly dropped by several degrees.

“Princess! How… how could you have such treacherous thoughts?!”

An old minister with white hair and beard, dressed in patterned court robes, suddenly stepped forward. His voice trembled with heartbreaking sorrow.

His cloudy old eyes stared fixedly at Ling Muxue, filled with unbelievable disappointment and deep sorrow.

As a three-term veteran who had watched Ling Muxue grow up; as a pillar of the state who had placed high hopes for the future of the Wolf Clan on her.

The disappointment he felt upon hearing today’s events could not be described by mere words.

Standing in the center of the hall, Ling Muxue lowered her head.

Facing her father’s anger-filled questioning and the words of the elders around her, the little courage that supported her in assisting Mufeng to steal the Frost Moon Wheel had long since vanished.

Facing the current situation, she also felt some regret.

Of course, not regret for her actions. But regret for why she hadn’t been cruel enough to destroy the soul talismans on those soldiers in advance.