Chapter 248 - 247: Stealing the Holy Pearl

Jian Yu stared at Sheng Yue’s large hand gripping her arm, her eyes wide. "Can you let go now?"

Sheng Yue snapped back to his senses and released her. "Sorry."

His arm fell to his side. His fingers were long and slender with well-defined knuckles, immaculately clean.

Jian Yu couldn’t help but stare a moment longer.

Ji Shiyin dropped a bombshell. "So, when are you two going to get the marriage certificate?"

Jian Yu’s attention snapped back to him. "What?"

"You have to get it done quickly." Ji Shiyin looked up at the sky. "If you don’t make it official, other people will never give up."

His eyes fixed on Jian Yu. "Just like Si Yan, who’s after Ayan. I heard she followed Ayan all the way to our school."

Jian Yu’s fists tightened.

’Trying to steal my man? Is it because my reputation isn’t big enough?’

"Who is Si Yan?" Sheng Yue’s brow furrowed.

Ji Shiyin looked at him in surprise. "It’s only been five years. You’ve already forgotten?"

Si Yan, daughter of the High Priest.

She held a minor but respectable position in the Feather Clan.

At that very moment, Si Yan had already set foot on the White Jade Steps of the Feather Clan’s Holy Land.

She avoided her clansmen, secretly using Instant Teleportation to get inside.

With every teleportation, she could hear her own heart pounding wildly.

The figures of the patrolling Night Guard Clan People appeared in the corridors.

"Miss Si."

Si Yan held her breath, pressing her body tightly against a massive, dragon-carved pillar.

’I can’t believe I was still discovered.’

’Then again, while there aren’t many Feather Clan People, the patrolling Feather Guards generally have an Awakening Level of S or higher.’

’If the High Priest wasn’t my father, my own S-Level wouldn’t be nearly enough to matter.’

Si Yan forced herself to appear calm as she stepped out. "It’s me."

Her heart was racing, but her expression remained unchanged. "I’m looking for my father."

As luck would have it, the High Priest was right there on the Holy Altar inside the Holy Land.

The Feather Guards knew the High Priest doted on Si Yan, so they didn’t dare to offend her.

The Chief Feather Guard merely asked as a matter of procedure, "Does the High Priest know you’re coming?"

"Of course! My father knows, obviously." Si Yan shot them a glare and walked inside brazenly.

Only when the Feather Guards spread their wings and flew away did Si Yan’s tense body slowly relax.

The Holy Altar—it was where the Feather Clan’s greatest treasure, the Holy Pearl, was enshrined.

It gathered the Soul Power of their ancestors and was typically controlled only by the Saint Heir and the High Priest.

This generation’s High Priest was powerful and unwilling to cede authority. Having offended the Saint Heir in his early years, control over the Holy Pearl had been split in two.

The Cultivation Technique was in the hands of the Saint Heir, while only the High Priest knew the Picking Pearl Technique.

The Chief Feather Guard watched Si Yan pass through the Nine-Curved Corridor, then directly opened his Star Brain to report to Si Xu.

As for the High Priest...

He wasn’t the High Priest’s man.

...

The silhouette of the Holy Altar was faintly visible under the towering dome.

Si Yan didn’t dare to approach directly.

She rummaged through her Space Ring for a secret treasure.

To prevent any mishaps, her father had given her many useful items before she left for Weis Lan Noble Academy.

Si Yan precisely located a Breath Avoidance Bead, clasped it in her palm, and approached cautiously.

’If it didn’t have a time limit on its use, the Feather Guards wouldn’t have discovered me.’

’I’ll have to ask Father for a few more next time.’

Si Yan hid in the shadows, her gaze locked on the figure before the altar.

That was her father, the High Priest of the Feather Clan—Si Wang.

He was dressed in intricate ceremonial robes, his hands forming complex seals as he muttered an incantation.

’Strange. The Moon Bathing Festival isn’t over yet, so why is he in such a hurry to retrieve the Holy Pearl?’

’No, he’s not retrieving it.’

’Is Father trying to activate the Holy Pearl himself?’

"Gah!"

Si Wang sprayed out a mouthful of blood.

Si Yan bit her lip, a flicker of conflict in her eyes.

She knew her father and her cousin, the Saint Heir, were on bad terms. She also knew the Holy Pearl was the foundation of her father’s power. Without it, her cousin would likely seize the opportunity to usurp him.

But the thought of Ling Yanzhi being bound to another woman made her heart feel as if it were being squeezed by an invisible hand, the pain making it hard to breathe, impossible to think.

’My cousin... he wouldn’t be that cruel...’

she chanted inwardly, trying to convince herself.

’Back when my cousin Si Xu was in trouble, didn’t Father go easy on him for the sake of family? He didn’t act ruthlessly then.’

’Even when my cousin Si Xu refused to hand over the method to activate the Holy Pearl, no matter what, didn’t Father refrain from making things difficult for him?’

’Conversely, Father will surely be fine too. Could my cousin Ah Xu really kill the High Priest of the Feather Clan?’

Si Yan took a steadying breath.

’What’s the Holy Pearl compared to the man I love? Father will surely understand me.’

’Besides, as long as I can bind with Brother Ayan, even if my cousin gets the Holy Pearl, he’ll probably forgive me and Father for Ayan’s sake.’

’Ayan is so powerful, and he and my cousin were childhood playmates.’

Si Yan’s mind was a mess.

Just then, several of the great clan elders flew down.

"High Priest, it is time to retrieve the pearl and escort the Holy Pearl back to the Holy Hall."

The head clan elder wore a scornful expression, as if he had seen through the High Priest’s attempt to activate the Holy Pearl.

Si Wang stopped what he was doing, his face pale.

He slowly turned, his gaze sweeping over the spot where Si Yan was hiding.

"!" Si Yan jerked her head back, her heart leaping into her throat. She even stopped breathing.

The clan elders asked, "High Priest?"

"It’s nothing." Si Wang frowned slightly.

He spun around, silently recited the Picking Pearl Technique in his mind, and formed a series of complex seals with his hands.

Si Yan carefully memorized them.

She had known the incantation for a long time; only the corresponding hand seals were missing.

’Father has always been so good to me. He told me the Picking Pearl Technique when I was very young.’

’If he hadn’t been afraid that I would grow soft-hearted and hand the Holy Pearl over to Si Xu, Father might have even taught me the hand seals as well.’

Si Yan held her breath, her focus absolute.

The Holy Pearl floated on an altar of light in the center of the Holy Altar, its glow soft and sacred.

After the sealing was complete, the surrounding pillars of light dissipated.

The High Priest reached out, took the Holy Pearl from the altar, and cradled it in his palm.

He gazed at the Holy Pearl, a complex look flashing in his eyes.

The clan elders escorted the Holy Pearl away.

Si Yan waited for a long time, not daring to come out until she was sure her father had left.

’Normally, everyone is supposed to be cleared out for the Holy Pearl’s moon bathing.’

’I was planning to sneak in and steal it, but I didn’t expect Father to be here, and even trying to activate the Holy Pearl.’

Si Yan had no other choice. She quickly left the Holy Altar and ran toward the Holy Hall.

Many Feather Guards were patrolling along the way, but none of them discovered her.

Si Yan cautiously entered the Holy Hall. Mimicking her father’s earlier actions, she formed the seals with her hands.

’It didn’t move?’

’Why didn’t it move?’

’Could it be that my Soul Power is insufficient?’

Si Yan suddenly remembered her father’s words: "Only when your Soul Power is strong enough can you silently recite a Magic Technique like I do."

Her father had also said, "Your Level is not high enough; you can’t protect the Holy Pearl. But if you get together with Xi Yu, you will have a chance to pass the Holy Pearl’s techniques to your child in the future."

Si Yan surveyed her surroundings.

She softly recited the Spell.

Combined with the hand seals, the pillar of light locking the Holy Pearl in place did indeed dissipate.

Si Yan’s heart beat even faster.

She reached for the Holy Pearl. The moment her fingertips touched it, a warm sensation spread through them.

A blinding white light flashed, and her vision blurred for an instant.

She didn’t dare to think twice. She clutched the Holy Pearl tightly in her palm, turned, and ran.

Once her figure, like a panicked white bird, had hurried past the White Jade Steps and fled the Feather Clan’s domain, the Feather Guards who had let her pass returned to their posts in an orderly fashion.

The Chief Feather Guard watched Si Yan’s hasty departure, his gaze slowly falling upon a Yuge flying out of the Holy Hall.

’The Saint Heir has seen the High Priest’s hand seals for the Picking Pearl Technique many times.’

’Once the Yuge brings the incantation to the Saint Heir as well...’

’The High Priest is finished.’