Chapter 20: The Banquet

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas StudiosChu Liuyue’s whole body was shaking. At this moment, she actually felt a terrifying pressure from the ancient past that made one’s soul tremble.A sudden fiery and horrifying burning sensation spread throughout her body before she even had time to be shocked.That one water droplet dispersed into millions of particles and rested on top of her Yuan meridian as though a comet had landed, instantly stirring up a great fire.Her entire body felt like it was wrapped in blazing flames.Chu Liuyue’s heart thumped. Subconsciously, she curled her body into a ball, clenched her fists, and gritted her teeth. A strong bloody scent filled her nostrils and mouth. It was as though she had returned to that nightmarish day all over again.The pain she was having now was worse than that day.Chu Liuyue’s body was red all over; her face was scarlet-red from the gush of blood. Her entire body was like a piece of burning charcoal. She was sweating profusely, but the steam from her blazing body dried before it could fall.For an instant, she was in complete despair.Betrayal.Burn.Death.But she bit her tongue so hard that the sharp pain woke her up the next moment. She told herself desperately that this wasn’t the night for her to die in Tianling Dynasty’s ancestral hall.She wanted revenge; this was what she had to go through. Right now, every second became more torturous than the last. At the same time, Chu Liuyue’s Yuan meridian had finally completed its connection.After an unknown amount of time, the intense pain gradually disappeared.Chu Liuyue opened her eyes slowly and saw the murky medicinal soup in her tub, which had been clear. She immediately examined her crippled Yuan meridian. Upon examination, she couldn’t help but draw a breath of cold air. “The Dijing Yuan meridian?”The Yuan meridian that was crippled initially was fully repaired; it was fluorescent and clear. It even had a faint red color.She never thought that her Yuan Meridian would reach the level of a Dijing Yuan meridian after it was restored.One had to know that in the entire Tianling Dynasty’s 1,000 years of history, only two people had the Tianjing Yuan meridian. Although a Dijing Yuan meridian was a notch lower, it was still considered to be an extremely rare existence.For a body that was born with crippled Yuan meridian, she thought it would be good enough if she could reach the level of a Xuanjing Yuan meridian upon recovering, but she never thought she…It was such a huge surprise!With this, her future cultivation will be twice as effective with half the work.Chu Liuyue quickly changed the water in the tub for a wash.This time, her Yuan meridian’s reshaping seemed to have incidentally forced out the impurities within her body, making her feel much lighter.After tidying everything up, Chu Liuyue sat on the bed with her legs crossed beneath her and tried to absorb nature’s force. She succeeded in condensing that force in her dantian and transformed it into her own power.Feeling the threads of power moving around her body, she was reassured by its familiarity. From now on, she would be able to walk the path of cultivation again! However, there was still doubt in her heart.That transparent page from the book in my dantian… what is it? The water droplet that flew out from it seemed to cause the change in my Yuan meridian. The vast and terrifying pressure I felt in that instant… what was it?Knock, knock, knock.Someone was knocking on the door.“Yue’er, are you awake?”It was Chu Ning.Chu Liuyue looked around and realized one night had passed. She took a deep breath, got up, and walked over to open the door.Chu Ning was standing at the doorway. Instead of looking depressed and in dire straits like how he used to be, Chu Ning looked radiant. Today, he was obviously an entirely different person from before.Chu Liuyue tilted her head and smiled. “Father, you’ve broken through?”Chu Ning was stunned, and he whirled around to ruffle her hair. “There’s really no hiding anything from you!”Ten years ago, he suffered severe trauma when he was just a step away from attaining the fifth stage as a martial artist. He hadn’t made any progress since then; he was even unable to exert half the strength of a stage four martial artist because of his physical disability.Unexpectedly, ten years later, he recovered to his previous condition and even broke through to become a stage five martial artist in one fell swoop!One should know that only the Chu family head and the two elders were the only ones to reach this level.“Father, I told you it would be better than before!”Chu Ning’s talent was inherently good. It was normal for him to break through to the fifth stage after careful recuperation.Chu Liuyue had a sweet smile on her face, yet there was no surprise in her eyes. Chu Ning thought for a moment and guessed that she must have known this would happen. Chu Ning sized her up carefully. His eyes widened as a thought suddenly dawned on him. “Yue’er, your Yuan meridian…”He could actually feel the force coming from her body.Chu Liuyue blinked. “Father, what day is it today?”Chu Ning turned pale. “The eighth day of the eighth month. You will be of marriageable age in two days.” It was also the day of her engagement to the Crown Prince.Up until now, there weren’t any apparent signs that the Crown Prince had been preparing for their engagement.Chu Ning thought Chu Liuyue was feeling aggrieved, and he said hastily, “Yue’er, don’t worry. I will go to the palace to seek an audience with His Majesty today and request to cancel your engagement to the Prince. His Highness is not a good match for you. That will be a relief.”He was now a stage five martial artist and was considered worthy to speak to the Emperor.Chu Liuyue chuckled lightly. “Cancel my engagement with the Crown Prince so that Chu Xianmin can sit back and reap the rewards? That would be too good to be true for both of them, wouldn’t it?” She had not settled the score with them for all the years of grievances she had suffered!Chu Ning was confused. “Yue’er, what are you going to do?”Chu Liuyue replied softly, “I have my own plans.”…Outside the Imperial City, the mountains extended forever.The sunlight dappled the lush forests with light and shadows. Somewhere at the foot of the mountain, a grand birthday banquet was being held.Precious white jade tables were placed on either side with all kinds of delicacies and top-quality wine.Most of the Imperial City’s distinguished sons and daughters were here, drinking and gambling. It was lively.From time to time, they looked towards their leader.There was a jaded seat in purple and gold. A young man dressed in a red and purple brocade was listening to the crowd with a smile. It was the Crown Prince, Rong Jin.Seated below him, on his right-hand side, was Chu Xianmin, looking demure and beautiful. To be placed in this position meant that the Crown Prince did indeed intend for her to be the Crown Princess!“Your Highness is so refined and elegant to have chosen such a scenic place to hold your birthday party. It really is extraordinary!”“Haha. Brother Yue, there’s something you don’t know. The scenery here is beautiful, but more importantly, this mountain is the Crown Prince’s hunting ground. His Highness cares about this place, but it’s rarely been opened for years. Today will be a long day for us.”“Seriously?”With that, all heads turned towards the Crown Prince.Rong Jin nodded his head with a smile. “That’s right. Whoever can tame any of the beasts today will be able to take it away!”Everyone shouted in unison after hearing the news.“Your Highness is so generous!”Someone couldn’t help but ridicule.“Your Highness is so generous. I’m afraid it’s not for us old men, but to get a smile from a beauty. Am I right? If my memory serves me well, it seems that Third Miss Chu hasn’t made a contract with any magical beasts yet.”Chu Xianmin blushed, and she glanced shyly at Rong Jin.Rong Jin smiled and drank his wine. “If you are not as skilled as the others, how can you blame Minmin for stealing your beasts?”The crowd humored him by laughing along.Naturally, the girls from other noble families felt annoyed and jealous. However, judging from the situation, they knew they had no choice but to hold back.Rong Jin waved his hand. “Go on. Get them to open the gates.”