Chapter 467: Child of the Seven Stars, Orthodox Demon Race Bloodline, a True Daughter of Fortune?

Chapter 467: Chapter 158: Child of the Seven Stars, Orthodox Demon Race Bloodline, a True Daughter of Fortune?

‘Every time she thought about how she’d never suffered such a huge loss in her entire life, she wanted to throttle herself.’

“Jiang Lan is truly detestable…” Seeing Ye Shiyin’s expression, Fa Miaoyin understood that her situation was similar to her own.

Ye Shiyin agreed. “That guy really is detestable.”

As she spoke, she fiddled with the Communication Jade Talisman in her hand, seemingly lost in thought.

Looking at Ye Shiyin, who had suffered the same fate, Fa Miaoyin felt a strange sense of closeness to her. ‘Still, I have to admire Jiang Lan’s audacity. He’s brazenly keeping a member of the Demon Race right under the Emperor’s nose. Does this mean the accusations against the Imperial Censor’s Xie Family for colluding with the Demon Race were true after all?’

“Let’s get down to business. Jiang Lan already told me about your plan to capture Xiao Teng. I’ll cooperate with you when the time comes, but Xiao Teng has a special status. You can’t kill him yet.”

“The Star Remains Ruins are about to emerge. Besides Xiao Teng, the others who have obtained a Seven-Star Origin will likely head there as well.”

“It’s bound to be a fierce struggle…”

Ye Shiyin put away the Communication Jade Talisman, her expression turning serious as she explained the situation.

Fa Miaoyin listened intently, then recalled some news from her sect. “The Palace Master will likely send Lou Xinyu to help Xiao Teng. She’s a disciple the Palace Master adopted as a child, her strength is on par with mine, and she is a candidate to become the next Young Palace Master of the Divine Maiden Palace.”

“I already know about her. Jiang Lan told me about her a long time ago,” Ye Shiyin replied.

“What?” Fa Miaoyin was inwardly shaken, finding it unbelievable.

Even as she said it, Ye Shiyin felt a sense of astonishment herself.

‘Just how did Jiang Lan manage to calculate and predict all of this so far in advance? It was as if he was pulling the strings, guiding every event along his desired trajectory.’

‘Jiang Lan had even said in the Communication Jade Talisman that Lou Xinyu was Xiao Teng’s destined partner, and that she was the third party meddling in their affair.’

His words had made Ye Shiyin roll her eyes repeatedly.

After that, the two women began to discuss their plans. With the blueprint Jiang Lan had laid out long ago, they just had to follow it step-by-step to ensure there were no mistakes.

At first, Fa Miaoyin had been worried that Jiang Lan was too confident, but after meeting Ye Shiyin, she finally felt at ease. She couldn’t help but admire his strategic mastery.

After the Feng Jun’s Grand Ceremony, the Imperial Capital returned to its former prosperity and calm.

However, with the great changes sweeping the world, many of the ancient Noble Families and Clans began to pay close attention to the unfolding situation.

Aside from National Master Ge Qixing, many other skilled individuals also noticed the celestial phenomena, fearing the descent of the Seven Stars.

Thus, many factions secretly began dispatching agents to various regions to search for the Child of the Seven Stars.

Meanwhile, in some of Great Xia’s remote commanderies, rumors began to circulate, claiming a female emperor’s succession violated heavenly principles. It was an act that defied nature, an unprecedented event in all of history.

Such an act would invite all sorts of calamities, and the descent of the Seven Stars to save the world was the proof.

Far away in the Imperial Capital, Emperor Xia was enraged upon hearing these rumors. She immediately dispatched agents to quash the dissent and silence the gossip.

However, the rumors grew more numerous and spread ever faster. Soon, no amount of executions could contain them.

It seemed a hidden power was secretly steering public opinion.

In some remote territories, natural disasters of varying degrees began to occur: plagues, droughts, floods, fires from the sky, earthquakes…

When the City Lords of the various commanderies rushed to provide disaster relief, they were struck by heavenly lightning en route. They and their retinues perished in a sea of flames, leaving not even a complete corpse behind.

All manner of wild talk began to spread from every region.

The ministers at court repeatedly submitted memorials to the throne about these matters.

Emperor Xia’s expression was grim. She dispatched the Observatory and the Immortal Suppression Bureau to investigate, utterly refusing to believe it was the will of heaven.

Aboard the War Flying Ship bound for Immortal Ascension Island, Jiang Lan was also monitoring the recent developments in Great Xia. None of it came as a surprise.

‘It’s not so easy for a woman to secure the throne of Great Xia. Besides Cultivators, the vast majority of people in Great Xia are commoners with no cultivation whatsoever. They’ve never left their home provinces in their lives, so how could they possibly understand the intricacies of imperial succession and power struggles?’

‘The so-called natural disasters are merely a tool to control public opinion—something any high-level cultivator can easily achieve.’

Emperor Xia understood this as well; a hidden faction was clearly working against her, deliberately trying to turn the people’s hearts.

That was why dispatching the Observatory and the Immortal Suppression Bureau to handle the matter was the most appropriate response.

Jiang Lan knew exactly who was behind this. When it came to manipulating the state and the hearts of the common people, Emperor Xia was no match for Sixth Prince Qi Qingxuan, who had spent decades studying the Society and Country Scripture.

“Still, these are ultimately just petty, underhanded tricks. They can only serve to annoy Emperor Xia.”

In a room on the top level of the War Flying Ship, Jiang Lan read the contents of his Communication Jade Talisman.

“It’s still unknown where the Star Remains Ruins will appear, but Xiao Teng has already found a way. As expected of the Master of Stars… Heh. This saves me a lot of trouble.”

Ye Shiyin had already obtained a Spirit Turtle Divination Shell from Xiao Teng. She also reported that Xiao Teng had acquired a Seven-star Jade Talisman and was about to set off for the Star Remains Ruins.

Even though Jiang Lan was hundreds of thousands of miles away, nothing would stop him from plucking this particular fruit.

“We’re almost at Immortal Ascension Island. I just wonder where Helian Wen is now—the one who jumped into the Demon Abyss crying injustice. Logically, he should have reappeared by now.”

He walked to the window of his room and gazed out. Billowing clouds rolled by, with a vast expanse of mountains, rivers, and lakes stretching out below.

In the distance, a boundless ocean rushed to meet them, its majestic expanse stretching to an unknown horizon.

The Nine Provinces Land was surrounded by the Endless Sea. Compared to the North Sea Continent, the borderlands where the other major provinces met the Endless Sea were even more vast.

Not even a Saint knew the true size of the Endless Sea.

Even Jiang Lan, who was familiar with the plot, wasn’t clear on these specific world settings. The Nine Provinces Land alone was tens of thousands of times larger than an ordinary planet.

“General Xia Jin…”

With something on his mind, Jiang Lan left his room and walked out onto the deck.

Xia Jin had been sitting there cross-legged, apparently practicing a Cultivation Technique. Wisps of Evil Qi swirled like a black fog above her head, forming a river of phantom weapons that morphed from longspears to greatswords, crossbows, shields, axes, and halberds…

“Greetings, Feng Jun.”

“To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Feng Jun?”

Seeing Jiang Lan approach, Xia Jin stopped her cultivation, stood, and bowed in greeting.

“There’s no need for such formalities, General. It’s nothing important, really. I’ve simply heard many stories about you and grown a little curious,” Jiang Lan said with a smile.

‘As the daughter of Prince Wuxuan, Xia Jin was born from his drunken dalliance with a maid, and she had been bullied from birth.’

‘An unhappy childhood, a disapproving father, a mother who died young… Then, at thirteen, disaster struck: her Spirit Sea dried up, she lost her cultivation, and her fiancé broke off their engagement…’

‘Only after running away to the Southern Wilderness Province did she have a fortuitous encounter and recover her strength. Afterward, during the great war against the Barbarian Race, she made a name for herself in a single battle, earning Emperor Xia’s reward and esteem.’

‘A textbook “daughter of fortune,” right?’

‘Logically, that’s how it should be. But from what Jiang Lan had gathered, that wasn’t the whole story.’

‘Her Spirit Sea hadn’t actually dried up, turning her into a cripple. On the contrary, she had done it deliberately to escape her engagement and win her freedom.’

‘The year Xia Jin fled to the Southern Wilderness Province, she met an Elder from the Dust Sect and subsequently joined the sect under his guidance.’

‘The founding Ancestral Master of the Dust Sect, Jiang Chen, once had a similar experience.’

‘The difference was that Jiang Chen had a Golden Finger in the form of an old master to guide him, while Xia Jin did not. She also never truly became a cripple.’

‘And that fellow, Jiang Chen, could be considered Ye Ming’s senior martial brother. His “old master” was the same Old Ghost who now possessed Ye Ming.’

“Is the Feng Jun referring to my experiences in the Southern Wilderness?” Xia Jin asked. She remained perfectly courteous before Jiang Lan, her posture and manners impeccable.

“No,” Jiang Lan said, his eyes fixed on her. “I want to know about the time you joined the Dust Sect, General Xia Jin.”