Chapter 163: Who Entered My Room?
This was Luo Xue’s first time participating in an auction, but nothing unusual happened.
After all, it was just a daily auction, and even the final item wasn’t particularly remarkable to Luo Xue and Nangong Mian at their level.
Of course, for Nangong Mian, as long as it was valuable, it was fine.
Nangong Mian, unsurprisingly, bought the final item, a jade flute that was clearly not for her, a rare spiritual artifact.
Its grade was quite good, but due to its nature, only music cultivators could utilize its full potential.
Nangong Mian naturally bought it to resell, but she didn’t sell it on the spot. She planned to find a music cultivator who needed a spiritual artifact and could afford a high price after returning to the Nangong Sacred Land, to maximize her profit.
Luo Xue, on the other hand, bought another ancient book, Compendium of Talismans, which stunned Nangong Mian.
The reason the three arts were lost in the Great Thousand Worlds wasn’t because of a lack of ancient texts, but because they were unusable.
Even if one followed the methods in the ancient texts, they could only reach the level of Foundation Establishment at most.
And at higher levels, they couldn’t even create a working model.
Something with a ceiling of only Foundation Establishment… naturally, few people would bother researching it. Perhaps some mortals might try to find a shortcut.
However, Nangong Mian didn’t dampen the little princess’s interest. After all, Her Highness had plenty of time, it was normal for her to dabble in these unorthodox methods.
Vivienne was very nervous, and her nervousness was directed at Luo Xue. She couldn’t understand the little princess’s thoughts.
Although she always acted innocent and carefree, her occasional thoughtful expressions were terrifyingly mature, as if she had experienced countless lifetimes.
This deep and unreadable person of high status, just interacting with her gave Vivienne a headache. She could only attend to her carefully.
Nangong Mian’s personality was much better… as long as you flattered her, you were good sisters.
Only after Luo Xue and Nangong Mian waved goodbye and left the Tianlie Auction House did Vivienne truly relax and head towards her office.
But as soon as she opened the door, she found a dim figure inside.
“Who!”
Vivienne’s heart tightened, but the dim figure bowed slightly to her, holding a bloody head.
“Miss Vivienne, don’t worry, he won’t bother you anymore.”
It was… Linnard’s head.
Vivienne’s pupils constricted, and her stomach churned, almost making her vomit.
His face was frozen in terror, his bulging eyes as if he had seen something horrifying, blood and tears staining his cheeks, the entire head covered in filth.
When Vivienne recovered, the dim figure was gone, only a faint smell of blood remained, proof that he had been here.
“The legendary Imperial Shadow Guard…”
Vivienne was still shaken. She had heard of this secret guard force that only served the Immortal Emperor, assassinating everyone from Sea Crossing Realm cultivators to those at the Innate Realm.
Almost no one could see them and live. Vivienne knew she was one of the few lucky ones.
Linnard was a direct descendant of the General Who Guards the South… yet he was killed so casually, even beheaded, like an ant.
And deliberately delivering his head to Vivienne was firstly to inform her that this troublesome matter had been resolved, perhaps as a reward for taking care of the little princess.
Secondly…
If her actions before the little princess were inappropriate, or if she deliberately revealed the princess’s identity, or if she had any malicious intentions, then there would be another head in the hands of the Imperial Shadow Guard.
Vivienne slowly sat down, was silent for a moment, then immediately wrote a leave request, intending to abandon her work for now and return to the Nangong Sacred Land to rest.
This Imperial Capital was truly not a place for humans…
“Vivienne seemed very afraid of me,” Luo Xue recalled Vivienne’s behavior and frowned slightly. “Am I that scary?”
“You’re very cute.” Nangong Mian really wanted to ruffle Luo Xue’s hair and see if this always serious girl would look even cuter with messy hair. “But… it’s normal for her to be afraid, ahahaha…”
Nangong Mian chuckled, trying to gloss over it.
After all, it had been many years since any princes or princesses had appeared in the Imperial Capital, especially in disguise. Anyone would be terrified.
Even the name of the Nangong clan could scare away the onlookers, let alone the little princess of the imperial family venturing out privately…
Among the princes and princesses before Princess Xue, the youngest was Princess Xing, about six thousand years older than Luo Xue, currently fighting against the barbarians at the border, a Soul Transformation cultivator.
And the other, older princes and princesses were either governing their fiefs or leading armies stationed outside the territory. It had been thousands of years since any prince or princess had appeared in the Imperial Capital.
Nangong Mian secretly glanced at Luo Xue, who was intently reading the Compendium of Talismans, and sighed inwardly. The little princess truly didn’t realize how terrifying her current identity was.
“Those who mocked us earlier must have been dealt with by the Shadow Guard…”
“What’s wrong?” Luo Xue looked up and asked with confusion. “Is there something on my face?”
“No, no…”
Nangong Mian coughed lightly and looked away.
“Xue, where else do you want to go?”
“Nowhere, let’s go back to the palace.” Luo Xue closed the ancient text, carefully putting it away in her small pouch. “If we play for too long, Madam won’t let me out next time.”
Nangong Mian was stunned. Her Highness was truly good at planning, even thinking about the next time.
If it were her, finally having the chance to come out, she would definitely play for a while before returning.
“Then… I’ll just send you back directly?” Nangong Mian asked hesitantly, just to confirm.
“Yes.”
Luo Xue nodded.
Returning to the imperial palace didn’t require going to a specific location. Nangong Mian found a secluded spot, took out the token given to her by the etiquette official, and injected spiritual power to activate it.
The reason she didn’t give the token directly to Luo Xue was that she was worried Luo Xue would hide it and sneak out of the palace next time.
The etiquette official couldn’t bear the responsibility of losing Princess Xue, so she entrusted the return token to Nangong Mian.
A faint light emanated from the token, gently enveloping Luo Xue and Nangong Mian, bringing a warm feeling.
A moment later, the light dissipated, leaving nothing behind.
At the same time, the faint gazes around them also disappeared with the light.
…
When the two returned to the palace, Luo Xue found the etiquette official waiting for her at the door, her expression somewhat complicated.
“Madam, what’s wrong?” Luo Xue, sensing something amiss, asked, “I came back on time, there’s no need to worry so much.”
“…This old servant knows.”
The etiquette official averted her gaze slightly and said softly.
Yes… this was the feeling, this was the Princess Xue she had always interacted with.
But the other one…
Although their appearances were almost identical, with only minor differences, they felt completely different.
Although she knew that she had to treat both of them as the real Princess Xue, when actually facing them, she still felt an inexplicable awkwardness.
“Your Highness must be tired after playing all day. Please rest early.” The etiquette official opened the palace door for Luo Xue, then looked at Nangong Mian. “Xiao Mian, you should go back now.”
“Mmm…”
Nangong Mian looked reluctant and said hesitantly,
“Your Highness, when… when can we meet again? I’m going back to the Sacred Land soon…”
“Perhaps very soon.”
Luo Xue smiled sweetly at Nangong Mian, her dimples showing.
“It’s a promise, Your Highness must come to the Nangong Sacred Land to find me next time!” Nangong Mian extended her thumb. “Let’s make a pinky swear!”
Luo Xue couldn’t help but laugh. She had done this childish thing several times already.
However…
She did intend to go to the Nangong Sacred Land.
After all, the Nangong clan carried the bloodline of the Phoenix.
“Okay.”
Luo Xue also extended her thumb and pressed it against Nangong Mian’s.
The etiquette official’s expression turned strange as she watched this scene.
She looked at the slightly distracted Luo Xue, then at the excited Nangong Mian, and suddenly felt like she had missed something.
Wait… wasn’t it Her Highness who was infatuated with Nangong Mian?
Why had the situation reversed?
Just as the etiquette official’s thoughts were running wild again, Luo Xue waved her hand in front of her and asked curiously,
“Madam? What’s wrong with you today?”
“No-, nothing.” The etiquette official quickly lowered her head. “This old servant is getting old, it’s hard to focus…”
Nangong Mian had already left, and Luo Xue walked into her palace.
The etiquette official quickly followed and found Luo Xue holding an ancient book, engrossed in reading.
Her earlier distraction seemed to be because of this book.
“A storybook? Well, Her Highness is at that age now, but I hope she won’t be misled by the love stories inside…”
She recalled that Her Highness had an older sister who, after reading a storybook, went to the neighboring Huiyang Empire on a flying dragon, saying that only the most handsome and powerful prince could save her…
This ridiculous incident almost caused a war between the Great Qin Immortal Dynasty and the Huiyang Empire, and since then, storybooks were rare in the palace.
Of course, that had been many years ago. It was fine for Her Highness to read a few for entertainment.
“What book is Your Highness reading?”
Just in case, the etiquette official still asked.
“Hundred Solutions to Formations.”
Luo Xue held up the book.
“Oh… ah?”
The etiquette official was stunned for a moment, then said,
“Your Highness, are you… interested in formations?”
She had thought Her Highness was so engrossed in reading… such an unorthodox book.
“Just curious.” Luo Xue replied casually, then as if remembering something, asked, “Madam, do you know about formations? When you sent me to the Cold Palace before, you seemed to use a teleportation formation.”
“What do you mean ‘sent you to the Cold Palace’? You can’t say such things…”
The etiquette official broke out in a cold sweat, wiping her forehead as she spoke.
“This old servant doesn’t know anything about formations. It’s said that only ancient humans could master them… It’s just that I happen to know a little about the Law of Space and can use some insignificant techniques.”
“Ancient humans…”
Luo Xue’s expression turned serious.
The people in the nine provinces and four domains were all ancient humans…
It was rather ironic. The nine provinces and four domains called the outside world the Ancient Demon Lands, while the Ancient Demon Lands called the people of the caged world ancient humans.
It seemed the separation between the two had to be traced back to the legendary ancient era.
“The ‘Dao inscriptions’ we use now are derived from formations.”
The etiquette official took out the return token and held it up to Luo Xue.
“Look, this is it. But compared to the legendary formations that anyone could construct and use, the inscription and usage conditions of Dao inscriptions are much stricter, and their variations are much smaller.”
Luo Xue wanted to take the token and examine it closely, but the etiquette official put it away, not letting Luo Xue touch it.
This token was very important, it could be used to both return to and leave the palace.
However, Luo Xue had already seen the Dao inscription patterns on the token and, after a moment of thought, came to a rough conclusion.
Dao inscriptions essentially just imitated the form of formations during use. Besides this, there were no other similarities between the two; they were completely different systems.
Rather than saying they were derived from formations, it was more accurate to say that they were two different interpretations of the same phenomenon.
When Luo Xue learned about formations from Li Guijiao, the first thing she had to know was—
The original formations originated from imitating the innate Dao patterns of ancient divine beasts.
It seemed that Dao inscriptions also originated from the innate Dao patterns of ancient divine beasts, just a different path…
In a sense, Dao inscriptions were even more similar to innate Dao patterns.
“If Your Highness is interested in formations, you can try inscribing Dao inscriptions.” The etiquette official said. “Just dabble in formations, don’t delve too deeply.”
She was worried that Luo Xue would go astray. Since the ancient era, few people had achieved much in the Dao of formations. Research in this area was futile.
“I know.”
Luo Xue replied casually. She planned to try it sometime.
To see if it was because of the environment of the Ancient Demon Lands, or if the people here simply weren’t suited for formations.
Luo Xue reached the door of her room and slowly pushed it open, but the next moment, an unusual scent reached her nose, and her pupils constricted instantly.
“Someone… has been here?”
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