Chapter 4
The next morning, the Cold Palace was bustling with activity. The Chief Eunuch Wang Jin, led a dozen young eunuchs carrying numerous rewards, making a grand display as they invited Ninth Princess Xiao Minghuang to return to the palace.
“Ninth Princess Xiao Minghuang is virtuous and talented, with exceptional natural abilities. The previous competition’s violation was purely the slander of petty individuals. By this decree, all her titles and honors are restored. She is granted one hundred spirit stones and unrestricted access to all techniques in the second level of the Scripture Hall. So it is decreed!”
Chief Eunuch Wang Jin held the imperial decree and said with a smile, “Ninth Princess, please receive the decree!”
“Your subject receives the decree and thanks Your Majesty for your great kindness!”
Xiao Minghuang took the decree and saw Wang Jin off. As she reviewed the list of gifts, she couldn’t help but let a slight smile curl at the corners of her mouth.
The scene before her was unexpected.
Yesterday, she had falsely claimed to have the help of an expert, merely to test the Emperor. But she never expected the effect to be so remarkably good, gaining so many benefits out of thin air.
Ye Ruoshui opened the boxes one by one, revealing various glittering gold, silver, and jewels, making the young maid’s eyes widen in awe.
Xiao Minghuang had no interest in these worldly treasures. Now that she had half-stepped onto the path of cultivation, what was precious to mortals held no meaning for her.
What truly mattered were the one hundred spirit stones and the opportunity to freely browse the scriptures in the Scripture Hall!
It must be known.
As a member of the Royal Family, she could only receive one spirit stone per month.
The Emperor had bestowed one hundred at once, truly a generous investment!
If she were to gift Ye Ruoshui, even a tenfold increase would amount to a thousand spirit stones!
As for the unrestricted access to the scriptures in the second level of the Scripture Hall, it was an exceedingly rare opportunity.
On ordinary days, even members of the Royal Family were not allowed to casually browse the classics on the second floor of the Scripture Hall.
All royal children were permitted to enter the second floor of the Scripture Hall once when they began their cultivation journey at the age of six. After that, they could only enter again when they turned fifteen, during their coming-of-age ceremony.
Once they reached adulthood, if they wished to enter the second floor of the Scripture Hall again, they would only be allowed to do so if they achieved great merits or made a significant breakthrough in their cultivation. Moreover, each visit to the second floor was limited to a single day, and they had to leave immediately once the time was up.
From this, it was clear that the Emperor’s reward this time was a significant investment, and his favor toward her seemed to have suddenly surpassed that of all the other princes and princesses.
A trace of doubt flickered in Xiao Minghuang’s eyes. Even though the “expert” she had mentioned had managed to impress the Emperor, it shouldn’t have had such a powerful effect, right?
“Could there be some hidden reason behind this?”
After pondering for a moment, Xiao Minghuang couldn’t think of any other possibilities, so she decided not to dwell on the matter.
“My most important task right now is still to improve my strength. As long as I am powerful enough, any schemes the Emperor might have will be nothing to fear!”
Her gaze shifted back to the little maid who was completely engrossed in the beautiful jewelry, and she sighed helplessly.
“Ruoshui, stop looking at that and come here for a moment.”
As soon as she heard her mistress’s call, Ye Ruoshui immediately put down the glittering gold and silver jewelry and ran over to Xiao Minghuang with a smile.
“Your Highness, what are your orders?”
Xiao Minghuang nodded and pondered for a moment.
“I have already embarked on the path of cultivation, but you are still an ordinary mortal with no cultivation. In the future, we will inevitably be separated. What should we do about this?”
Hearing that she might not be able to stay by her mistress’s side in the future, Ye Ruoshui’s face fell, and she looked pitifully at Xiao Minghuang. “Your Highness, please don’t abandon me! I will work hard to cultivate and not hold you back!”
Xiao Minghuang pretended to be heartbroken and sighed. “But you only have a low-grade Yellow Spirit Root. Your talent is too poor. Even if you work hard, how could you possibly keep up with me?”
“This… this…”
Ye Ruoshui was at a loss for words, unable to respond for a long time.
Seeing that the timing was right, Xiao Minghuang pointed to the box filled with spirit stones and said gently, “Your talent is lacking, so if you want to catch up to me, you will need a lot of resources. This box of spirit stones that His Majesty has bestowed upon me, I will give all of it to you. You must work hard in your cultivation and catch up to my progress as soon as possible. I have high hopes for you. Do your best!”
“Ah… this…”
Ye Ruoshui glanced at the box filled with spirit stones, then cautiously looked at her mistress, meeting a gaze filled with warmth and encouragement.
“Your Highness, these spirit stones were bestowed upon you by His Majesty. How could I dare…”
Xiao Minghuang frowned slightly, covering her face with a sigh. “Since I was young, I have never had anyone close to my age. You are like a little sister to me. Giving these spirit stones to you is like giving them to my own sister.”
“So, when an older sister gives a gift to her younger sister, the younger sister must not refuse. Do you understand?”
Xiao Minghuang kept referring to her as “little sister,” leaving Ye Ruoshui completely dazzled, her eyes filled with stars.
At this moment, in Ye Ruoshui’s eyes, Xiao Minghuang seemed incredibly tall, as if she were shining with boundless radiance, majestic and godlike.
“Then… this servant obeys!”
Finally having successfully given away the box of spirit stones, Xiao Minghuang let out a light sigh of relief, feeling a wave of joy in her heart.
[Ding!]
[Opportunity successfully gifted!]
[Congratulations, Host! You have triggered a thousandfold critical strike compensation and obtained 100 mid-grade spirit stones!]
Upon hearing the system’s voice, Xiao Minghuang was once again pleasantly surprised.
The spirit stones bestowed by the Xia Emperor were merely low-grade ones. Triggering a thousandfold critical strike should, in theory, compensate her with 100,000 low-grade spirit stones.
However, the system compensated her with 100 mid-grade spirit stones instead.
It’s important to note that one mid-grade spirit stone can be exchanged for 1,000 low-grade spirit stones, but 1,000 low-grade spirit stones may not necessarily be exchanged for one mid-grade spirit stone.
While the total amount of spiritual energy contained in both is the same, the spiritual energy within mid-grade spirit stones is more refined and easier to absorb. For high-level cultivators, there might be no significant difference, but for Xiao Minghuang, mid-grade spirit stones are undoubtedly more practical.
With 100 mid-grade spirit stones in hand, feeling the pure spiritual energy fluctuations, Xiao Minghuang noticed that her dantian seemed to resonate, as if it was about to spontaneously draw in the energy.
However, this was merely an illusion.
In the Body Tempering Realm, whether one has a cultivation technique or not, everyone can reach the peak through diligent practice. But if one wishes to draw in spiritual energy without a proper technique, the consequences can range from qi deviation, meridian disorder, and losing all progress, to losing all cultivation or even instant death!
Therefore, the immediate priority was to find a suitable cultivation technique to help her draw in spiritual energy.
Thinking of this, Xiao Minghuang did not hesitate. After giving Ye Ruoshui a few instructions, she headed out towards the Scripture Hall.
The Royal Scripture Hall is divided into Inner and Outer Halls.
The Outer Hall stores classics, histories, and literary works, unrelated to cultivation.
The Inner Hall houses cultivation techniques and martial arts, with the second floor containing rare, treasured manuscripts that have been passed down through countless generations of the Xia Dynasty, forming the foundation of the nation.
Legend has it that many years ago, the Xia Dynasty was once a vast empire comparable to the supreme holy lands. However, it gradually declined, eventually migrating to the southern region of the Eastern Pole. Many profound classics were lost, and talented individuals dwindled, leading to the present state.
These stories have been passed down orally by the Royal Elders, and whether they are true or not, Xiao Minghuang has no way of knowing.
But currently, the most profound cultivation technique in the Royal Family is only an upper-tier Earth-grade technique called the “Dragon Yuan Scripture,” which can be cultivated up to the Spirit Seed Realm and is considered the nation’s treasure.
PS: The update time is planned for 5:30 and 7:00. Any thoughts, dear readers? ?(。→v←。)?
Translator: Glariosa
Editor: Ruu
Please support us on Ko-Fi.
What did you think of this chapter?
0 reactions
Discussion
1 comment
enjoying the story so far! Thanks so much for translating!