"You… what do you want from my master? She's just a poor woman, she has nothing! If you think you can use us to threaten her, it won't work. She would never waste a single spirit stone to save us!"
Nie Rong curled up in pain like a shrimp, utterly confused. He had only gone out to the marketplace with Zhou Lili—so how had they ended up captured and dragged to this wretched place?And why wasn't their master still living at the inn?She had left without even telling him?
"Spirit stones? What use do we have for spirit stones? To our Holy Palace, spirit stones are the most worthless thing of all. What we want is only the Holy Maiden!"
Wan Huaiyuan barked, his voice sharp as a whip. A moment later, he really did summon one—a lash of spiritual energy cracking into the air.
Nie Rong and Zhou Lili both flinched, their eyelids twitching.
"Great Elder, let's talk this over!"
"Your Holy Maiden is in your Holy Palace, what does my master have to do with this?"
"Still pretending ignorance? From the moment your master met with our Holy Maiden, the Holy Maiden' soul-lamp went dark!"
Wan Huaiyuan clutched his chest in grief, his voice breaking as he accused, "It must have been your master who murdered our Holy Maiden, leaving our Holy Palace without one! Now you must give us Yao Ranran's life, so she can serve as the new Holy Maiden of the Holy Palace!"
"What? The Holy Maiden is dead?!"
Nie Rong, Zhou Lili, and Qian Zhi all exclaimed in unison, their shock echoing through the chamber.
As the words sank in, Nie Rong and Zhou Lili turned their eyes toward Qian Zhi, who seemed equally stunned.
Wan Huaiyuan glared at him with venom.
The white-haired, white-browed Qian Zhi hunched immediately, shrinking like a doddering old man. "Ah… age makes one forgetful. Great Elder, what did you just say again?"
Wan Huaiyuan said with solemn weight, "The Holy Maiden has fallen."
"What? The Holy Maiden is gone?!" Qian Zhi trembled all over, his lips quivering, his knees knocking together.
Wan Huaiyuan coughed into his hand, struggling not to roll his eyes.
"Enough already. That act was far too overdone!"
Nie Rong began to wonder whether this old man might lose control and wet himself right there.
Zhou Lili suddenly spoke, her tone sharp with disbelief. "Wait. The Holy Maiden died, and now you want Fairy Ranran to become the next Holy Maiden?"
Had she heard wrong?
This so-called Great Elder was demanding Fairy Ranran's life only to make her the new Holy Maiden of the Holy Palace?
How could such madness be considered normal?
To take the supposed murderer of the Holy Maiden, and then crown her as the replacement…
Wan Huaiyuan's face hardened with utter seriousness. "That is correct. She is the only possible choice for the next Holy Maiden!"
Nie Rong's head spun.
"Hold on. You're telling me you captured my master not for spirit stones, not to take her life, but to make her your Holy Palace's Holy Maiden?"
"That's right!" Wan Huaiyuan and Qian Zhi answered at the same time.
Zhou Lili whispered uneasily, "Elder Nie… if one becomes the Holy Palace's Holy Maiden… is she meant to be sacrificed?"
Nie Rong froze. "Why would you ask that?"
"Otherwise, why would they want the murderer to become their Holy Maiden?" Zhou Lili's voice shook with fear.
Nie Rong paused again.
Her reasoning… was not entirely without merit.
But he had traveled widely, and never once had he heard of the Holy Palace sacrificing their Holy Maiden. On the contrary, he'd only ever heard that the position was an honor chosen from countless candidates, the most exceptional and most beautiful among them, desired by millions, selected above all others.
"Hmph! Foolish girl!" Wan Huaiyuan snorted. "So you truly came from the Eastern Wilderness. No wonder you don't know the rules of our Holy Palace!"
He sneered through his nose. "The Holy Palace cannot go a single day without a master. Now that the Holy Maiden has suddenly perished, we elders must find a replacement in the shortest time possible!"
"And if you can't find one?" Zhou Lili asked timidly.
She didn't believe for a second that Fairy Ranran would agree to serve them as their Holy Maiden.
"If we cannot find one…" Wan Huaiyuan's gaze turned cold as frost, "then you will all accompany Holy Maiden Bai to the grave!"
Both Zhou Lili and Nie Rong shuddered violently.
This was no jest. They could see it clearly in his eyes.
…
Tens of thousands of miles away.
"Achoo!"
Bai Qingwu rubbed at her nose, catching a string of clear liquid in her hand. With disgust, she tore off her wooden prosthetic arm and hurled it aside. "If I were to cultivate the Flesh and Bone Rebirth Technique hidden within the Holy Palace, how long would it take for me to regrow my arms?"
From within the stone cave, a shadowed figure emerged, holding two pale arms in his hands. The severed ends still dripped fresh blood.
Draped in black robes, his face concealed by a dark scarf, the man was swallowed entirely by shadow. "If you could master the cultivation method for Flesh and Bone Rebirth, you could regrow them within a year. But for now… you'll use these."
He tossed the two bloodless, rigid arms at Bai Qingwu, who nearly leapt backward on one leg in fright.
"What are these? What did you do to that woman just now?"
Bai Qingwu's face turned ashen, her pupils trembling as she stared.
The black-robed man's voice was cold. "You lost your hands. I brought you a pair. What else do you think I did?"
Bai Qingwu's lips trembled, pale as death. "But… but I never told you to tear her hands off…"
"Either you use these hands, or you live without any at all." His tone was as frigid as a winter blade, his eyes void of all feeling.
Bai Qingwu clenched his teeth. She looked at the discarded wooden prosthetics lying nearby and made her decision. "Since she's dead anyway… of course I'll use them!"
A faint chuckle slipped from beneath the black cloth, mocking and disdainful.
Bai Qingwu forced herself to endure it, face drained of blood. "Senior… I already gave you the Holy Palace's greatest treasure. When will you help me take revenge?"
The black-robed man's eyes shifted ever so slightly. "Who is it you want dead?"
Bai Qingwu ground his teeth until her jaw ached. "Yu Weifeng's daughter—Yao Ranran!"
…
The Yu family.
Yu Weifeng stared down at the letters that had gone unanswered, uncertain whether to rejoice or despair. He had never intended to acknowledge Yao Ranran, his illegitimate child. But one day, he received a secret letter from the Holy Palace's Holy Maiden, Bai Qingwu.
She had promised him vast cultivation resources, and even vowed that he would rise above the Xing Rui family, becoming the true patriarch in power.
All he needed to do was take Yao Ranran back into the Yu family, raise her within his household, and his dreams would be realized.
Before she arrived, he had been full of confidence, without the slightest worry.
But once Yao Ranran truly returned, everything began veering wildly off course, beyond his grasp.
First, she drew out the Sword of Wrath from Guan Fan Temple, then disappeared into a mysterious realm and reemerged a hero who saved others.
Then she demanded to cut ties with the Wuxiang Sect, drove away the Yu family members he sent, and refused to see him even once.
At first, he thought nothing of it—merely arrogance, waiting for him to lower his pride.
But when he let the matter sit, she suddenly vanished from the world entirely. And the Holy Palace's Holy Maiden stopped replying altogether.
No trace of either could be found, as though they had never once contacted him.
Yu Weifeng stared blankly at the old letters, his thoughts sinking into doubt.
Had he been played for a fool?