Proud Sword Soaring Clouds

Ling Xiao’s return brought great excitement to nearly all the Penzesi People!

Unconsciously, Ling Xiao had become the backbone of the Penzesi People. It seemed that only with him around could they live and work in peace and happiness. During the days of Ling Xiao’s absence, the common folk of Penzes City always felt a sense of unease, even though most of them had never actually seen their Lord.

Normally, just seeing a servant from the Lord’s Mansion was enough for them to brag about. If one were fortunate enough to know someone from inside the Lord’s Mansion, they would be envied to death!

As for Penzes New City, construction had just begun when Ling Xiao left. Huangpu Yue, Yisha, and Ye Zi were the women who took charge of the new city’s construction.

Mo Qing and Li Fu needed to manage the government, so almost all administrative orders related to the new city were issued from the Lord’s Mansion.

Huangpu Yue’s intelligence and wisdom, Yisha’s meticulousness, and Ye Zi’s talent for personnel allocation allowed the construction of the new city to proceed at a rapid pace.

Now, the surrounding city walls were already one-third complete!

The walls, over twenty meters high, already looked incredibly majestic. The massive stone blocks used for the walls were transported from faraway places, and the cost of each one was quite high!

Ling Xiao’s wealth was also staggering. In fact, the court of the Lanyue Empire was already in an uproar over him. Many insisted that Ling Xiao’s extravagant spending on large-scale construction was making him the chief culprit leading the Empire into an era of decadence!

In particular, the fact that his auction house had monopolized the Top-Grade Elixir, the Beauty Pill, was seen as greatly detrimental to the Empire’s development. It allowed him to accumulate too much wealth, and if this continued, others would eventually have no room to even survive.

Therefore, they proposed that His Majesty the King should levy heavy taxes on Ling Xiao and have him "voluntarily" donate more than half of his income for the Empire’s infrastructure.

Some even made malicious accusations, saying that although Penzes City was Ling Xiao’s fief, the entire Lanyue Empire was His Majesty the King’s territory. "You, Ling Xiao, a mere Marquis, dare to build a city that surpasses the Imperial Capital? What are your intentions?"

They proposed that His Majesty the King should reclaim Penzes City—a city of immense military, economic, and geographical importance—arguing that such a vital stronghold of the Lanyue Empire should not be enfeoffed to a subject.

The imperial court had never been short of people who were either fearless or simply didn’t know what was good for them. It wasn’t that they hadn’t heard of Ling Xiao’s currently immense power and astonishing martial prowess!

But they were even more afraid that as Ling Xiao’s power grew, it would impact their own interests!

Within the aristocracy, many interests were actually intertwined. Although they fought and schemed amongst themselves on a daily basis, their overarching goals were the same!

That is, to protect the interests of the entire noble class from being encroached upon and to ensure their families could continue to prosper for ages to come!

Although the Ling Family was also noble, not a single one of them acted like a true aristocrat! Ling Tianxiao was a crude warrior! So was his eldest son! The Ling Family’s eldest daughter, Ling Su, was a woman who ran wild all day, without a shred of the poise and elegance of a noble lady.

The Ling Family’s youngest daughter, relying on her formidable strength, had turned the Imperial Academy upside down, to the point that few even dared to look her in the eye!

And as for that Ling Xiao, the nobles hated him to the bone. Everything he did seemed so detestable. He was clearly a half-useless Celestial Vein Master, so how did he suddenly rise to power? And then he went on a killing spree in his own fiefdom!

Look at that family! It seemed that apart from Lady Ling, who was somewhat normal, they were all like madmen. How did any of their actions resemble those of a noble?

But the most ironic thing was this: the Ling Family was now the greatest noble family in the entire Lanyue Empire. There was no other.

Because His Majesty the King’s favor toward the Ling Family had reached the heavens!

With the new Blast Flame Lion King festival approaching, His Majesty the King had once again promoted Ling Xiao from a Third-grade Marquis to a Second-grade Marquis. At the same time, he bestowed countless rare treasures. Although those things meant little to Ling Xiao, it clearly showed the old King’s attitude.

The high-ranking ministers and nobles in the Lanyue Empire’s court had all grown somewhat numb to it. They figured that even if His Majesty the King were to one day grant Ling Xiao the title of Prince, they wouldn’t be too surprised.

In truth, no one knew the bitterness in the old King’s heart. He was forced to do this!

He had reinstated Old Marshal Qiu Chen, appointing him Grand Marshal of the Imperial Army! On one hand, it was because the old King had always trusted Qiu Chen immensely. Qiu Chen’s resignation back then was entirely due to the poisoning incident. Now that Qiu Chen’s strength had recovered, it would be foolish not to use a High-level Demon Swordmaster. On the other hand, the old King was well aware of the relationship between the Qiu Family and the Ling Family, because Ling Xiao was the one who had cured Qiu Chen.

’And it was through Qiu Chen that Ling Xiao cured my poison.’ Thinking of this, the old King felt as if his heart were bleeding. ’It was such a good thing, and I completely ruined it myself.’ But even if this world had a miraculous elixir like the Beauty Pill, there was no such thing as a potion for regret.

What was done was done; all he could do now was try his best to make amends. From this perspective, the old King was quite wise.

Furthermore, the Crown Prince had been completely sidelined by the old King. A large number of high-ranking ministers who had originally sided with the Crown Prince had also been replaced in court. With a powerful military figure like Qiu Chen present, even if those people harbored immense dissatisfaction, they didn’t dare to truly show it.

With the Crown Prince being suppressed, the Southern King, Li Wutong, felt no excitement. He had already sent a message to the Yu Family of Yanzhao because several months had passed without a single word from Elder Peng or Master Yu!

At the same time, all sorts of rumors were coming from Penzes City about the strange celestial phenomena on that day. Li Wutong finally came to a conclusion he was unwilling to believe: Elder Peng and the others... had fallen!

This outcome left him incredibly dejected, just like his father, His Majesty the King! In fact, in terms of personality, the Southern King was very similar to His Majesty the King. In comparison, the effeminate Crown Prince was even more displeasing to the old King.

By now, even Ling Xiao’s mother, Lady Ling, knew that the Ling Family was no longer the Ling Family of the past. The majesty of the Royal Family could no longer pose the slightest threat to them!

The princes and nobles in the Imperial Capital were actually well aware of this. The rise of the Ling Family was an unstoppable fact. However, asking them to completely change their attitude and cozy up to the Ling Family was something their characteristic pride and reserve as old-money aristocrats prevented them from doing.

Ling Xiao couldn’t care less about these matters among the country’s upper echelons, nor did he pay them any mind. In any case, as long as His Majesty the King wasn’t looking for trouble, he really couldn’t be bothered to deal with them.

Right now, Ling Xiao was nursing a headache, unsure how to explain the fact that Song Mingyue had suddenly become a woman and that their relationship... had become intimate.

In reality, on the night of Ling Xiao’s return, both Ye Zi and Yisha were only momentarily stunned when they saw Song Mingyue. They then smiled brightly, acting as if Song Mingyue had always been a beautiful woman, showing no signs of surprise. But the more they acted this way, the more guilty Ling Xiao felt.

’I’m a complete idiot when it comes to relationships,’ Ling Xiao thought to himself. ’So passive.’ Moreover, the reserve of a Cultivator made it difficult for him to completely open his heart.

After all, Cultivation was what he needed to do, while women needed happiness, a sense of security, and a lifelong companion.

’I can’t give them any of that,’ Ling Xiao admitted to himself. What he could do was allow someone without a Spirit Root to retain their memories upon death and be reincarnated to cultivate again. A period of twenty years was but the blink of an eye for a Cultivator.

’The question is, would they be willing? And would that be fair to them?’

At least for now, Ling Xiao couldn’t bring himself to ask, nor did he know how to bring it up.

He wasn’t a hypocrite. He admitted that, in his heart, his feelings for Yisha and Ye Zi were no less than his feelings for Song Mingyue. Therefore, asking him to give any of them up was absolutely impossible.

Fortunately, Song Mingyue noticed the unease in Ling Xiao’s heart. After dinner, she smilingly took Yisha and Ye Zi by the hand and led them away, which made Ling Xiao’s heart pound with fear. Although he knew Song Mingyue probably wouldn’t do anything foolish, he admitted he could never guess a woman’s thoughts.

Thankfully, Song Mingyue didn’t suddenly go crazy as Ling Xiao had imagined. She took Yisha and Ye Zi aside and very sincerely explained her relationship with Ling Xiao. She could only say that her transformation back into a woman was an accident. Her union with Ling Xiao was even more of an accident.

But one thing was not an accident: Song Mingyue had always had feelings for Ling Xiao.

Hearing this, although Ye Zi and Yisha felt a little sour inside, they had to admit one thing: Ling Xiao truly had many qualities that attracted exceptional women.

Furthermore, Ye Zi and Yisha were stunned by the dangers Ling Xiao and Song Mingyue had encountered. They never imagined that behind their glorious return lay countless perils!

At the same time, a new thought rose in both their minds: how could they increase their strength more quickly? Otherwise, if this continued, wouldn’t the distance between them and Ling Xiao only grow wider?

Song Mingyue smiled and whispered something in their ears. Blushes instantly bloomed on both women’s faces, and they looked extremely shy, but the light in their eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Ye Zi finally understood why Ling Xiao always had a strange expression whenever she complained about her lack of strength. ’So that was the reason.’

’It’s a pity that this little demoness before me beat me to it.’ Thinking this, Ye Zi bit her lip. ’I can’t fall behind Yisha.’