"What is your relationship with Su Xing?"
Gong Caiwei sat on a chair in one of the winding corridors of Bian City"s imperial palace, gazing at the faraway green hills on the horizon. Leader Star Zhu Wu stood beside her. The tall woman of well rounded figure seemed like a statue. That delicate face seemed even more rigid than a sculpture"s – up until she heard this poor question, Zhu Sha"s brows only then slightly shifted.
The Ling Yan Princess"s light purple long skirt trailed along the ground, and she was also draped in a veil of purple silk. Her long hair was rolled up with a jade hairpin, leaving her brow with an even elegance and n.o.bility flowing waters exuded. But her slightly puffed cheeks were nevertheless slightly incongruous with this n.o.ble air. A polite description was serious, but a more blunt was jealous.
Gong Caiwei glanced at Zhao Hanyan out of the corner of her eye, "Friends."
"Caiwei, is it really so simple?" Zhao Hanyan seemingly smiled. "This Princess hears Imperial Uncle Gong complain all the time. He says that you normally are as cold as ice, Gong Caiwei, that you keep people a thousand li away. Countless princes and dukes, and even my Imperial Little Brother, have all been spurned. Little Sister Caiwei, if you truly have eyes on my Su Xing, Hanyan will reluctantly relent, so long as Caiwei does not dislike being a concubine."
"We are only friends." Gong Caiwei calmly replied.
"Remember during the Birth Treasure Outline, Hanyan even brazenly took action with Little Sister Caiwei. It seems Hanyan has misunderstood that time then." Zhao Hanyan stared steadily in front of her at the girl who was cold as ice. That pair of clear and penetrating eyes made the Ling Yan Princess unable to make sense of her. "Does Little Sister Caiwei not want to know what happened between This Princess and Su Xing – so many very interesting things certainly happened between This Princess and he."
Zhao Hanyan took a step further showing a sweet expression, but Gong Caiwei was still unmoved. Her expression that seemed to say this had nothing to do with her made Zhao Hanyan a bit depressed.
The Zhao Hanyan that had wanted to see Gong Caiwei jealous turned a bit bored and did not pester her any further. She chatted with Dong Junqing, Lin Yingmei, and An Suwen about Su Xing"s most recent developments.
Their sense of familiarity with one another while chatting was inharmonious with Gong Caiwei"s atmosphere of coldness.
Speaking of what had happened to Su Xing all this time was a story full of thrill after thrill, however, still Gong Caiwei calmly sat in the corridor, gazing into the distance. But that not very particularly focused expression more or less betrayed the girl"s hidden distress.
Zhao Hanyan thought of four words – As lonely as snow.
"This General wonders what trick that little devil Su Xing used, to surprisingly be able to make Immortal Hero Princess Gong Caiwei so preoccupied." Dong Junqing was astonished.
"Suwen, Yingmei and you stick to Su Xing like shadows, and you do not know??" Zhao Hanyan asked.
An Suwen shook her head.
"Hmph, wait until he comes out. This Princess will ask him herself then."
Not long after, the stone-faced Leader Star Divine Strategist Zhu Sha suddenly widened her eyes. She extended a hand and gazed at the horizon.
"Something has happened."
Gong Caiwei rose and coldly said.
"What is the matter?"
Zhao Hanyan and the others walked over, seeing Zhu Sha"s considerably serious expression. Although she was always very stiff, this time, she appeared even more grim.
"Zhu Sha has calculated that something has happened at the Crystal Dragon Palace."
"Can anything possibly happen in the Crystal Dragon Palace during the Treasure Banquet? There are times when the Divine Strategist has miscalculated." Zhao Hanyan did not agree. The Treasure Banquet could be said to be a gathering of the Azure Dragon Territory"s top-notch Supervoid Cultivators, and there were even many Star Masters. Furthermore, the Crystal Dragon Palace"s "Connecting Heaven Ocean Settling Pearls" were known all throughout Liangshan Continent.
For something to happen now, Zhao Hanyan did not believe this at all. Perhaps some belligerent fools would have plans on the banquet, however, their exit would inevitably be death without an intact corpse.
Gong Caiwei gazed at Zhu Sha, also somewhat skeptical.
"The Taiyi is born, Crimson Star great disaster." Zhu Sha calmly spat out these words.
Just as they were curious, An Suwen suddenly gasped. Her gaze looked in astonishment at the sky. Following the Efficacious Star"s line of sight, they saw the brightly glittering stars that represented the one hundred and eight Star Maidens. In the clouds surrounding these stars, there were myriad odd changes, an abnormality. There was a regular pattern, showing a slight mystery in the formation.
The one hundred and eight stars in the sky represented all of Maiden Mountain"s Star Maidens. Those Stars appeared very close, yet they were out of reach. Once, a Supervoid Cultivator wanted to investigate, but they did not find anything in the end. Now, those representative Stars now displayed an array, so it was no wonder the Divine Strategist would say "Crimson Star great disaster."
"I must first go to the Crystal Dragon Palace. Princess Zhao Hanyan, take good care of Su Xing." Gong Caiwei snapped her delicate fingers, and a completely snow white Flying Sword appeared.
"That place definitely will have something regarding the Star Duels. This Princess certainly does not want to miss this." Zhao Hanyan promptly said.
"Then Su Xing?"
Hearing Gong Caiwei"s tone that inadvertently exposed her slight apprehension, Zhao Hanyan smiled sweetly: "Su Xing has Lin Yingmei, Hu Sanniang, and An Suwen for protection. This Princess does not need to worry. This Princess is much more interested in seeing who is so brazen as to dare cause trouble in the Crystal Dragon Palace."
"You have the Intertwined Branches. You had better stay at his side."
"Little Sister Caiwei, are you ordering This Princess?" Zhao Hanyan smiled and said.
"You both had better go together with me!!"
A clear and sonorous voice interrupted the two girls.
Zhao Hanyan and Gong Caiwei turned their heads. The door opened, and a man with a sharp brow and glittering eyes walked in. He wore a white gown, appearing refined. Beside him were two beautiful girls, one wearing water blue underwear, her figure absolutely beautiful, and the other was full of a vigorous heroic air, beautiful all over.
They were none other than Su Xing, Lin Yingmei, and Hu Niangzi.
"Big Brother." An Suwen ran over in delighted surprise.
"Su Xing, you recovered so quickly?" Dong Junqing looked up and down at the man in front of her. His aura was flat yet sustained as a river. A person without discernment may have felt nothing, but as a Five Tigers General, Steadfast Star General of Double Spears could see from a glance this man was out of the ordinary.
Vaguely, there was unexpectedly the aura of a powerful martial general emitting from him, which was very surprising.
Dong Junqing suddenly felt dry mouth. She could not help but unconsciously lick her lips. "This man is feeling more and more like us Star Generals. Could it be because of the love you make to us Sisters?"
The Steadfast Star"s bare words made every girl present blush.
"Hmph. This can be considered a rare sight across all the ages." Zhao Hanyan was a bit sour.
Su Xing fake coughed and changed the topic: "It felt like more than two months had pa.s.sed as I was cultivating, that I didn"t see you."
"It was only two days."
"Let"s not talk about this for now. We"d better rush for the Crystal Dragon palace." Su Xing looked at the stars in the sky. The formation appeared even more strange.
"Dear Husband." Hu Niangzi suddenly looked straight at Su Xing.
Su Xing"s forehead burned. Several gorgeous Star Crests continuously superimposed and flickered. "Something big should be happening at the Crystal Dragon Palace." With the strong rapport he had with Wu Xinjie and the others, Su Xing could clearly sense their situation.
Each of the Star Crests on his forehead represented one Star Maiden. This concentration clearly made him suffer intense pressure.
"Could it be Emperor Liang and the others working together against you?" Gong Caiwei"s tone was detached.
"No, Father Emperor would not do such a thing." Zhao Hanyan did not hesitate at all to reject this.
Su Xing actually was not too worried about something happening to Wu Xinjie.With Wu Siyou, CHai Ling, Hua Wanue and the others, even if they actually met with Emperor Liang"s alliance, they still had the Three Realms Immortal Movement Pendant for protection.
"Regardless, we"ll know the instant we can see the situation." Su Xing took a deep breath.
Zhao Hanyan glanced at him, actually somewhat worried. Although Su Xing had recovered to Supervoid Early Stage, he clearly felt the pressure and forcefully broke through the bottleneck. To take action before recuperating was certainly very disadvantageous.
"There is a large teleportation array nearby in the Imperial Palace. It leads to the Jimo Beach near the Eastern Sea. We can save a few days" time." Zhao Hanyan said.
Su Xing nodded. There was no time to lose. Several extremely fast escape lights flit past the Forbidden Palace.
"Zhu Sha, since you are knowledgeable about arrays, do you know what kind of array that was just now?"
Su Xing asked.
The others were also very curious. They had never known of such an array in their memory that could surprisingly manifest a worldly anomaly that could trap the one hundred and eight Star Maidens.
"It is perhaps that Taiyi Spherical Heaven Form Array…"
Zhu Sha gently sighed.
…
Thus, as Su Xing and the others rushed for Jimo, the situation at the Eastern Sea Crystal Dragon Palace was already enough to stun everyone.
One hundred and eight pillars rose in the Crystal Dragon Palace to form a hundred mu sized formation. In the array, many brilliant stars flashed, manifesting the Twenty-eight Mansions and an additional eleven Stars. Liao Emperor Yelü Wuxin sat at the exact center of the array, her scroll unfurling. A curtain of light like the sea, with red, black, white, and blue simultaneously spiraled from each of the Mansion Spirit Lights, displaying the forms of the Vermilion Bird, Black Turtle, White Tiger, and Azure Dragon.
The scene was extremely breathtaking.
The array"s spirit lights flashed, and the disguises of all Star Generals and Star Masters collapsed. THeir foreheads shimmered with Star Crests, each and every one of them seemingly bearing the weight of the Five Sacred Mountains, unable to move even a step.
"Xinjie, what is going on?" Wu Siyou was also stunned. Although there was the Heavenly Cycle Northern Dipper Array in the Star Duels that was capable of restricting a Star General"s Star Energy, the fact was that this kind of array could only inhibit one Star General and have various restrictions. It was completely unlike this Liao Emperor"s array that could surprisingly trap so many Star Generals as easily as blowing dust.
Looking around, the more than dozen Star Maidens and Star Masters present all displayed difficult expressions. Even with her Pilgrim"s Array, she could not bear the pressure of this array.
"You are known as Star Generals, yet you surprisingly do not know?" Yelü Wuxin held victory within her hands and showed a self-confident expression. "Star World"s million Star Names carry on as indestructible legends, yet only my Great Liao"s "Taiyi Spherical Heaven Form Array" is able to punish all things. When that childish Empress Great Song first painstakingly destroyed my Great Liao, it was precisely because of this array, yet she never imagined that the Taiyi Spherical Heaven Array brought This King into this realm. Ha, ha. If you are sensible, you will obediently kill Chao Gai and follow This King. This King shall take you to attack Maiden Mountain."
"Chao Gai, are her words true?" Konghou looked at the surrounding lights and asked.
"This One does not know of this, but indeed, This One has heard that the Liao Emperor pursues hegemony. The Liao Kingdom once used a Taiyi Spherical Heaven Array to slaughter in all directions. Afterwards, Xuan Nü of the Ninth Firmament conferred the Heavenly Book to break the array." Chao Gai coldly said.
"Attacking Maiden Mountain is not a bad proposal. It is such a pity that you are villains. Your Humble Servant will never follow such pitiful n.o.bodies." Konghou"s tone was indolent.
"You dare say the Great King is a pitiful n.o.body?" Wuyan Qin furiously shouted.
"It is only because This King can see you are not quite like the other Star Generals that This King uttered such a thing. Konghou, do not think too highly of yourself." Yelü Wuxin was very calm.
Her scholarly att.i.tude made Konghou somewhat impressed.
"Do you actually think you can defeat us by relying on such an array?" Chai Ling disdainfully said.
"Since this is the case, then This King shall take Maiden Mountain"s 108 Star Generals as tribute for This King"s ascension!"
Yelü Wuxing sneered, and her hand gently lifted.
The light curtain poured down, and the twenty-eight mansions1 shook.
Chai Ling only felt a heavy blow smash into her stomach. With a boom, her heartbeat suddenly stopped.
- A set of 28 Chinese astronomical “constellations” ↩