The unicorn kept Chen Nan's attention focused on it, because he realized it might be the legendary unicorn. However, Long Wu's scream startled him, and when he saw the face of the person who was ephedrine, his head went blank, and he almost screamed out in surprise as well.
This was an exceptionally handsome young man who bore a striking resemblance to Qianlong. If it weren't for his magic robes and the magical energy surging around him, Chen Nan would have truly believed that Qianlong had been reborn and appeared before him.
Long Wu stared blankly at the approaching young man, tears blurring her vision. She murmured, "Brother..."
Upon closer inspection, the young man on the unicorn horse was somewhat different from Qianlong. His hair was dark purple and his eyes were light blue, indicating that he was a mixed-race individual.
The man who resembled Qianlong had obviously noticed Chen Nan and his group, and had also heard Long Wu's scream. A faint smile appeared on his face. He came close to Long Wu, reined in the unicorn, and gently waved his right hand. Waves of magical elements rippled through the air, and a cool radiance appeared in front of him.
With tears blurring her vision, Long Wu seemed to see Qianlong walking towards her, and that familiar figure seemed to be handing her a piece of jade lotus. She subconsciously reached forward and grabbed the floating ice lotus tightly in her hand.
[Hidden Dragon...] She held the ice lotus in one hand, and stretched out the other, as if to grab the young man on the unicorn.
Chen Nan grabbed Long Wu's delicate hand and wiped away her tears with his sleeve. Then he said to the purple-haired man on the unicorn, "I'm sorry. She's been in a bad mood lately and mistook me for someone else."
The dozen or so riders who had come with the purple-haired man had stopped and were quietly observing from the side. Among these people were martial artists and magicians, but the vast majority were blond-haired, blue-eyed Western martial artists. They were amazed by Long Wu's unparalleled grace and at the same time felt very strange about what was happening before them.
The purple-haired young man dismounted from the unicorn, smiled amicably at Chen Nan, and then said to Long Wu, "My name is Kelly. It's a pleasure to meet you today, Miss, who is as beautiful as an angel."
Long Wu had come to her senses. She had clearly realized that the person before her was not Qianlong, and she shook her head slightly, saying, "I'm sorry, I mistook you for someone else." However, despite this, she still stared intently at Kelly; the almost identical face made her unable to resist recalling everything from the past.
Kelly smiled slightly and said, "May I ask your name, Miss?"
"Dragon Dance," Dragon Dance answered instinctively.
Chen Nan was a little worried that Long Wu would mistake Kelly for Qianlong's substitute, so he pulled Long Wu back a few steps and said, "Let's get going."
Long Wu took a few steps back with him, but still kept her eyes on Kelly.
"Meeting is fate," Kelly said. With a gentle wave of her right hand, waves of magical elements surged in the air once more, and the ice lotus in Long Wu's hand floated up. Countless rays of light rushed towards the ice lotus. The petals grew increasingly dazzling, and a fragrant aroma wafted out, as if the ice lotus had come to life.
"This lotus flower, which I sculpted with life magic and ice magic, will not melt for half a month. It contains the essence of countless plants. Beautiful lady, carrying it with you will bring you peace of mind," Kelly said, placing the ice lotus flower in Long Wu's long hair.
Then he mounted his unicorn and smiled at Long Wu, saying, "I hope to see you again within half a month. When that time comes, I'll give you an ice flower that never fades." He made a pointed remark. He then steered his unicorn forward at high speed, with the dozen or so riders beside him following him as they sped away.
Long Wu stared blankly at the disappearing unicorn, then stroked the ice lotus in her hair and sighed softly. Only then did she realize that Chen Nan was still holding her hand, and she quickly pulled away.
"Long Wu, you can't..." Chen Nan looked at her suspiciously.
"Stop making wild guesses!" Long Wu said lightly, her face flushed.
At this moment, the leader of the mercenary group who had been searching for him muttered to himself, "A divine horse as white as jade, with a single horn—this is a legendary sacred beast! How is this possible?"
The elderly deputy commander beside him said, "Wei said that unicorns rarely appear in the world, and only the purest virgins can win their favor. Ordinary people can hardly get close to them. That unicorn just now must be a descendant of a sacred beast with impure blood. It could not possibly be a real unicorn, otherwise that young man could not have tamed it as a mount."
The towering mountains gradually flattened out, and the group got closer and closer to the western border of Chu. At this time, everyone could clearly feel the temperature getting lower and lower.
The climate of the Hundred Thousand Mountains in the central region of the Tianyuan Continent is unusual, with trees remaining evergreen year-round and no temperature fluctuations. It is said that these Hundred Thousand Mountains are shrouded by a vast and boundless unparalleled object, ensuring a spring-like climate throughout the year. Whether this is true or not, no one knows for sure.
Half a day later, the group entered the western border of Chu. Wangfeng City, the western gateway of Chu, was in sight. Fine snowflakes were falling everywhere, and the earth was covered in silver. Everyone had put on the cotton clothes that had been prepared in advance.
Having reached this point, the mercenary group completed its mission, and the merchants under their protection gradually dispersed. Chen Nan and Long Wu parted ways with the others and, without lingering, rode their horses towards the heart of the Chu Kingdom.
Heavy snow has been falling in Pingyang, the capital of Chu, for the past few days. But this has not made this bustling city deserted. Whenever the snow stops for a while, the sounds of buying and selling can be heard on the streets.
These days, the inns in Chu Capital are booming, with even the most secluded corners nearly overflowing with guests. Recently, the number of cultivators from all over the continent has exceeded several thousand, and it continues to grow daily. The discovery of this secret treasure in Pingyang City has stirred up a storm, drawing countless true masters to the area.
This greatly displeased the Emperor of Chu, for it was a legendary treasure. Every night, it caused extraordinary celestial phenomena above the Chu royal palace. With so many cultivators gathered in the capital, all eyes were on the palace. Once the treasure was unearthed, it was foreseeable that countless self-proclaimed powerful cultivators would storm the palace, and who knew what chaos would ensue.
The eldest princess of Chu sent letter after letter to invite those reclusive masters, knowing that sometimes the army was not effective, and many terrifyingly powerful masters were capable of breaking into the palace.
Despite the presence of Zhuge Chengfeng, a fifth-tier master, in the palace, she still couldn't feel at ease. She invited everyone from the Chu Capital's Qishi Mansion into the palace, and these past few days, the palace has been under heavy security.
Until one day, the old monster who had been traveling suddenly appeared in the palace, which made Chu Yue feel a little more at ease. She knew all too well how terrifying the cultivation of this royal ancestor was.
Meng Ke'er rode the Taoist treasure, the Jade Lotus Platform, back to the sacred land of Tantai for several days before arriving in the capital of Chu. She had been in Pingyang City for nearly ten days, but instead of going to the palace to find Princess Chu Yue of Chu, she secretly stayed in an inconspicuous little shop.
Knowing that the Chu royal palace was now under constant surveillance, she knew that going there rashly would surely draw attention. She didn't want to expose herself to the hidden enemies, because she needed to secretly devise a plan to deal with the Mischievous Little Demon King.
Two miles away from the inn where Meng Ke'er was staying, there was another inn where a mysterious young man was staying. He had already arrived in Chu Capital, but he never showed his face and left everything to his subordinates.
When he learned that Meng Ke'er had arrived in Chu Capital and that her whereabouts had been discovered, he let out a long laugh: "Haha...you've finally arrived! You actually tried to hide it from me, humph, I've been waiting for you for a long time. The feud between our two factions has been entangled for thousands of years. I swear I will definitely take this successor of the Tantai Holy Land as my woman, hehe..."
This man was none other than Xiang Tian, the most outstanding successor of the Hun Tian Dao lineage. He was tall and imposing. His handsome face was as if carved by a knife, exuding masculinity. However, his bright black eyes revealed a hint of cruelty and cunning, causing those who looked at him to involuntarily shiver.
What's most striking about Xiang Tian is his blood-red hair, as if stained with blood, making it exceptionally eye-catching. It's said that this is a natural characteristic that appears after reaching a certain level in the Hun Tian Dao cultivation; anyone with red hair can be called a Little Demon King, and only those who reach this level can graduate. Therefore, it's clear that Xiang Tian's cultivation has reached a terrifyingly high level.
Xiang Tian sneered repeatedly, then said to his subordinate in the room, "Do everything in your power, use every despicable method you can think of to deal with Meng Ke'er."
"This..." The expert from the Chaotic Heaven Path hesitated.
The Mischievous Little Demon King laughed, "There's no danger. This is just a small skirmish. If you can't handle it, I'll step in, or I'll think of another way. Go now, I'll give you three days. Do your best, but don't make too much of a commotion."
Upon hearing this, the subordinate bowed and then slowly withdrew.
Just as the mischievous little devil Xiang Tian was preparing to deal with Meng Ke'er, Meng Ke'er was also listening to a report from her subordinates.
Ancient sects like the Tantai Holy Land and the Hun Tian Dao have relatively few core members. Due to ancestral rules, the number of direct disciples within the sect cannot exceed a certain limit.
However, after thousands of years of decline and prosperity, it has developed into a force with immense peripheral influence, which is not bound by ancestral precepts. Most of its peripheral disciples are engaged in business or pursue official careers, and almost every major city has such peripheral disciples, making its influence unimaginably vast.
That day, Meng Ke'er frowned slightly as she faced the food. She felt that Hun Tian Dao was really terrifying. Although she had received reports that Xiang Tian wanted to deal with her, it was still unimaginable that someone could poison the food in a kitchen that was under surveillance.
That night, Meng Ke'er tossed and turned, feeling as if someone was secretly watching her. In fact, the outer disciples secretly protecting her had all been quietly taken down. The Little Demon King of Chaos had sworn to capture Meng Ke'er, hence the extra effort put into the outer forces of the Chaos Path.
At midnight, several dark figures slowly approached Meng Ke'er's house. The paper window lattice was quickly punctured, and poisonous mist slowly seeped into the house.
Before the people outside could even rejoice, a cold, menacing sword light erupted from inside the house, flashing like lightning towards the window frame. With a few soft "thuds," "thuds," and "thuds," the men collapsed into pools of blood…
Several days passed, and more than a dozen disciples of the outer perimeter of the Tantai Holy Land were killed or injured, while the outer perimeter disciples of the Hun Tian Dao also suffered similar losses.
On the evening of the ninth day, the mischievous little devil paced back and forth in the house, saying, "Judging from those wounds, this Meng Ke'er is truly formidable. Her cultivation is probably extraordinary. It seems we'll have to go to great lengths to capture her. But I don't want to wait any longer. Is that tunnel you dug finished yet? Tonight I'm going to capture her myself!"
Xiang Tian's eyes shot out two cold beams of light, his tall figure blocking half of the candlelight in the room, and his blood-red hair looked particularly dazzling in the candlelight.
"While she was inside the house, we didn't dare let the people below dig, for fear of disturbing her, so we wasted some time, but we're almost done digging."
"Alright, I'll go myself tonight."
In the dead of night, in the secret passage under Meng Ke'er's bed, the Mischievous Little Demon King held a halberd, his eyes flashing with cold lightning.
The halberd is a powerful weapon, resembling a long spear, with crescent-shaped blades on either side below the spearhead, used for both thrusting and slashing. "Fangtian" means comparable to the heavens. "Hua" refers to the engraved patterns on the halberd's body. Therefore, "Fangtian Huaji" means a halberd comparable to the heavens, a name often exaggerated to emphasize its power and the extraordinary nature of its user.
This halberd is the most prized treasure of the Hun Tian Dao sect. The gold essence required to forge it took the efforts of several generations. The sect spent a hundred years collecting enough extraterrestrial meteorites to refine the gold essence. Then, the most famous master craftsman of the time was invited to spend his entire life to bring this halberd to life.
It can be said that, apart from legendary treasures like Hou Yi's bow, this Fangtian Halberd is enough to rank among the top ten divine weapons on the continent. It is even slightly better than the Morning Dew Sword that Meng Ke'er lost to Chen Nan. Historically, only the sect leader or the most outstanding successor of the Hun Tian Dao can wield it.
The Little Demon King stroked the peerless divine weapon, took a deep breath, and then soared into the air. The halberd in his hand shot out a dazzling light, instantly tearing through a ten-foot-thick layer of soil as if it were thin paper. The divine weapon's strike truly had the power to shatter the heavens!
A flash of blood appeared, and the pungent smell of blood filled Meng Ke'er's room...