《Shameless Wife: Daughter of the General》


 1 Chapter 1: Rebirth

    Jiang Ying Yue woke up confused. By all rights she should be dead, but it appeared that she survived. She remembered being on a mission, one that should have been fairly easy to complete. The man they were after, Ling Chou, was only number 16 on the most wanted list, and his bounty was only so-so. She recalled that Xian Chi, her partner and lover, had been driving behind Ling Chou in a high speed chase, with Xian Chi at the wheel, and her with her head out the window, firing a gun at Ling Chou''s vehicle. They had followed him at high speeds all the way to a ravine, where at Ling Chou jumped out of his car and down into. Jiang Ying Yue, upon seeing him jump, quickly climbed out of her seat to go peer over the edge to see if he somehow survived. Then what happened? Ah, yes. That''s right. She was betrayed. When she was looking over into the ravine, she saw Ling Chou dangling down below, holding tightly to a rope, smiling at her. Then, at that moment, she felt a shove from behind, turning around to see that Xian Chi had pushed her. His smiling face was the last thing that she saw before she closed her eyes and fell to her death.


    Wait, so if she fell to her death, how was she alive now. The immense pain she was feeling made sense, since she fell from a cliff, but the soft cushion under her was confusing. Shouldn''t she be laying on the cold and hard rocks at the bottom of the ravine? While thinking about this, memories that were not her own rushed into her head.


    She was currently in the body of the third eldest miss of the general''s estate of the Ethesian Kingdom. The body''s original owner was also named Jiang Ying Yue, and she was known to be the biggest disappointment in all of the kingdom. When she was born, there was a cloud inn the shape of a phoenix hanging over the general''s residence. It was considered a very auspicious sign, and so the general had high hopes for his new born daughter. Because she was expected to be so outstanding, the Emperor released an imperial edict, promising her to the crown prince of the kingdom. The edict said that when she turned 15 years old they would wed and she would become crown princess of the nation.


    Unfortunately, upon her fifth birthday, she was tested to see if she had any spiritual powers. Children were tested by having the hands placed upon a crystal ball, and the crystal ball would glow different colors at different intensities, showing what attributes they matched with and how strongly. Red would be for fire, blue for water, green for earth, and so on. When Jiang Ying Yue placed her hand upon the ball, it didn''t glow at all. Not a single color.


    Since then, she had been regarded as the biggest disappointment in the entire kingdom, greatly frustrating the general. As a result, general Jiang Won had Jiang Ying Yue moved into the smallest courtyard at the back of the estate, completely ignoring her, as he would fly into a rage anytime he saw her. Not too long after this happened, Jiang Ying Yue''s mother passed away while trying to give birth to a baby boy, not even managing to leave the boy behind in the land of the living.


    Since then, Jiang Won had his mistress, Song Quan Lei, promoted to the status of the first wife. After this happened, Song Quan Lei used her new authority to make Ying Yue''s life miserable. She allowed the servants to bully Ying Yue, as well as her own children. Unfortunately, the previous Jiang Ying Yue was very kind-hearted and just a little stupid, so she simply took all the bullying with a downward face, never once complaining.


    Even though everyone bullied her, Jiang Ying Yue still went about her life as if nothing was happening. As such, she managed to fall in love with the crown prince. It should be known, that Ying Yue was devastatingly beautiful. With ivory skin, wide dark eyes, full lips, and silky black hair, she truly could be referred to as a beauty capable of bringing down nations. Because of this, the crown prince, will being disgusted with her lack of talent, also pitied her. After all, how could someone so beautiful be so worthless? As such, he would show her the occasional act of kindness, maybe giving her a copper coin or a cheap hair pin. Since this was the only kindness that Ying Yue got to experience, she absolutely fell head over heals for him.


    Alas, as fate would have it, the crown prince desired her young sister, Jiang Yao Xiuying, who was often regarded as a genius. When she was tested, she was found to have the attribute for fire, as well as the very rare lightning attribute. Not only this, but she had a remarkably fast cultivation rate, already being a low-level martial king at the age of 13.


    The levels for martial cultivators go, martial practitioner, martial king, martial lord, martial emperor,martial saint, and martial god. These levels were further broken up into low, medium, and high. Any level higher than martial god had yet to be discovered in the mainland, as no one had achieved it yet.


    Since Jiang Yao Xiuying wanted to marry the crown prince, and the crown prince didn''t find Ying Yue worthy of being his crown princess, they plotted together a way to kill her. Seeing as how the previous Ying Yue was too na?ve and trusting, she fell right into their trap. The crown prince offered to take her out to the outer edges of the forbidden forest, to pick rare flowers. Ying Yue was ecstatic, and naturally went along without asking any questions. Once they arrived, the crown prince made up some excuse to walk away from Ying Yue, simply leaving her in the forbidden forest, where she was later killed by a weak magical beast called a blood rabbit.


    Ying Yue''s personal maid, Zhu Xinya, however, found the whole situation fishy, so when Ying Yue didn''t come back after awhile, she headed out into the forbidden forest herself, where she found Ying Yue beaten badly and half dead. However, the Ying Yue that Zhu Xinya brought back home was no longer the one she knew, as that Ying Yue had already died at the paws of the blood rabbit, and the person currently residing in Ying Yue''s body was the modern Ying Yue.


    Jiang Ying Yue took awhile to digest all the new information she now had in her head. She slowly opened her eyes and very painfully sat up, looking around the room. At this moment, a girl carrying some medicinal pastes and bandages walked into the room.


    She had long black hair tied up in a messy bun, large doe eyes, and freckles covering all over her skin. She looked to be maybe 12 or 13 years old, and Jiang Ying Yue considered her to be rather adorable. Ying Yue recognized this girl from the previous owner''s memories as her personal maid and best friend, Zhu Xinya.


    "Third eldest miss, you''re awake!" Zhu Xinya cried, while she sped up to go stand beside Ying Yue. "Do you feel much pain? Where does it hurt the most? I brought some salve to apply to your wounds."


    Ying Yue stared at the fidgeting girl, who was quickly attempting to change the bandaging on her wounds.


    "I''m fine," she replied, in a childish hoarse voice that she did not recognize as her own, "it''s only some pain, nothing I''m not used to."


    Hearing this, Zhu Xinya began to cry. "Miss, that prince is simply too cruel! He knew how much you love him, and yet he would do something like this to you! If I could have my way, I''d go and give him a big slap, right across his stupid handsome face!"


    "What is this I hear about someone wanting to slap the crown prince?" a voice said from the doorway.

 2 Chapter 2: First Face Slap

    Ying Yue looked up to see a girl standing at the entrance of her room with her hands on her hips, looking very haughty. She had long, silky black hair similar to Ying Yue''s, but her eyes were slanted, like a hawk spotting it''s prey. Ying Yue had a few similarities in looks to this girl, and she recognized that this girl was her half-sister and stem of her problems, Yao Xiuying.


    "How could such a worthless little maid think she has the right to even mention the crown prince in a sentence, let alone talk of slapping him."


    Hearing Yao Xiuying say this, Zhu Xinya shrunk back in fear, but upon realizing that Yao Xiuying was eyeing Ying Yue, she quickly straightened up and blocked Ying Yue from her line of sight.


    "It doesn''t matter what I say or think," Zhu Xinya retorted, putting on a false front of bravery, "Since the crown prince has already done such a horrible thing to Ying Yue, anyone with eyes would agree with me!"


    Upon seeing the little girl attempt to draw her sister''s attention away and shield her, a sense of warmth filled Ying Yue''s heart. This little maid had been with her since she was only a couple years old, probably being the closest thing to family this body''s original owner had. Thinking on how loyal this little girl was to the original owner, Ying Yue decided that she must do whatever was within her power to protect this little girl.


    "How dare a lowly maid talk back to her masters," Yao Xiuying said, looking at Zhu Xinya with contemptand arrogance, "Clearly your master hasn''t taught you any manners, so I, as her loving sister, will have to teach you in her place!" As Yao Xiuying said this, she raised her hand, preparing to strike Zhu Xinya across the face.


    As Yao Xiuying''s hand was just about to make contact with Zhu Xinya''s face, Ying Yue made her move. She flung the blanket off her body, standing up abruptly, and grabbed onto Yao Xiuying''s wrist. At the same time, she pushed Zhu Xinya back behind her, knocking onto the bed.


    Yao Xiuying looked at Ying Yue in l, "What right do you have to touch me? Let go of me at once and let me teach this stupid servant a lesson in respecting one''s superiors!"


    "A lesson in respecting one''s superiors?" Ying Yue said, raising her eyebrow in a questioning manner, ridicule written across her face, "I believe it is you who needs a lesson, or have you forgotten that I am your elder sister, and therefor your superior? What right do you have to yell at a superior? In what world do you live in which those below can teach lessons to those above? Know your station."


    "Are you saying that I''m lower than your maid?!" Yao Xiuying screached, glaring with hate at Ying Yue


    "Your words, not mine," Ying Yue calmly replied


    "You bitch!" Yao Xiuying screamed, as she started to gather spiritual energy into her hand. A large red ball of fire could be seen in her hand, emitting an uncomfortable amount of heat. At that moment, however, a crisp snapping sound could be heard, completely stopping Yao Xiuying from gathering any more energy into her hand.


    Yao Xiuying stared in shock at her own wrist, which had now been snapped almost in half. It was a while before her brain finally registered the pain, at which point she starting screaming like a banshee.


    "Ying Yue! What the hell did you do to me! Ahh! My wrist! How could you do this to my wrist! I''m telling father!" she cried, wiggling her way out of Ying Yue''s tight grip and running to the door, leaving with her tail between her legs.


    Throughout the whole altercation, Zhu Xinya was laying upon the bed in a daze, staring at her master in admiration and shock.


    "Third eldest miss, is that really you, third eldest miss?" Zhu Xinya asked, looking at Ying Yue in disbelief, "When did you get so formidable?"


    Ying Yue looked at Zhu Xinya and smiled, "I''ve always been like this Zhu-Zhu, I just finally got tired of being a push-over."


    Upon hearing the familiar form of endearment coming from Ying Yue''s mouth, Zhu Xinya breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like this really was her master. After processing the events that just happened, however, that relief turned into fear.


    "Third eldest miss, what are we going to do? You heard what fourth eldest miss said. She''s going to tell master, and then you''ll be punished. We should pack some things and leave here quickly before they arrive. Maybe we can hide somewhere for a few days."


    Ying Yue look at the young girl panicking for her well-being and smiled. It was nice to have someone care for her like this.


    "There is no need to worry," Ying Yue said, "Father won''t do anything. We can just stay here and go about our days like we normally would."


    "But why?" Zhu Xinya asked


    "Think about it," Ying Yue replied, "The pride of my father''s eyes and genius known throughout the kingdom was defeated by her sister, an absolute good-for-nothing without an ounce of spiritual power in her body. How do you think the public would react if they heard of this? Therefor, my father will do nothing, as he doesn''t want word of this incident to get out. If anything, he might even punish my sister for losing to me."


    Zhu Xinya listened to Ying Yue and a smile broke out across her face. "Wow, you''re really smart third eldest miss. I never would have been able to think that far ahead. But what about fourth eldest miss? She certainly won''t let this go. Won''t she come back to make trouble?"


    "Then, we''ll simply wait for her. After all, I''m excited to see what she can come up with."

 3 Chapter 3: Moving Forward

    After saying her piece, Ying Yue sat down beside Zhu Xinya and finally began taking in the extent of her surroundings.


    The room she was in was very shabby, with one look she could tell the importance that was placed upon the original Ying Yue. Her room consisted of a bed, if it could even be considered a bed. It was a straw mat on a slab of wood with some sheets and blankets. She had a balled up lump of scrap fabric as a pillow. In one corner of the room was a table, a chair, and broken mirror. Ying Yue assumed this was supposed to be her vanity set, although quite frankly it looked very sad. The mirror was cracked and the chair only had three legs, it was a wonder how anyone could even manage to sit in it without falling over. There was hardly any products on the table, and it looked like most of the perfumes were made by Ying Yue herself, as they were pretty much just jars of water with various flower petals floating in them.


    In another corner of the room was a dresser with clothes, although the clothes were more like rags. Even though she was older, she always received hand-me-downs from her younger sisters. As a result, much of the clothes that she had were worn, out-dated and too small. Even the maids within the residence received nicer clothes than what was allotted for her to wear. It really was a wonder how Ying Yue managed to survive this far in life, looking at how poorly she was treated.


    Continuing to look about the room, Ying Yue spotted a small box at the end of her "bed." Seeing the box, some memories flowed into Ying Yue''s mind. She realized that this box contained all of her most prized possessions, mainly being the things the crown prince gave her. Inside was a small hairbrush, a copper hair-pin, a couple of dried flowers, a few wooden beads, and a small gem left to her by her mother. Recalling all this information, Ying Yue scoffed. The previous Ying Yue really was pitiful to have considered these few items most important to her.


    Zhu Xinya watched as Ying Yue looked about the room, seemingly in a daze. She decided she would snap her mistress out of it, and bring her attention back to their current situation.


    "Ahem"


    Ying Yue looked over to see her maid looking at her with concern. She realized that she must have looked pretty disoriented right now, starring at everything throughout the room. Her obvious lack of attention paired with her injury riddled body, it was a wonder that Zhu Xinya wasn''t showing even more concern. In fact, the little maid could even be considered to be restrained, looking at the amount of worry that was apparent in her eyes.


    "I''m fine," Ying Yue said, eyes trained on the little maid, "just a little tired is all. If you could, I''d like to take a bath to wash all this blood off me."


    "Yes, third young miss, I''ll get right on it." Zhu Xinya said, springing up from the bed. Looking at her mistress, Zhu Xinya couldn''t help but think she''s changed, although she couldn''t quite fathom how. Of course, considering the experiences the young miss had to go through, it would probably be even more concerning if she had managed to remain the same, so Zhu Xinya simply shrugged off her concern and went to go draw her miss''s bath.


    In actuality, Ying Yue didn''t really mind the blood all over her body. She had been covered in even more for far longer before, so the blood was the least of her concerns. Really, all she wanted to do was to get the little maid to leave so that she could evaluate her surroundings and her newly acquired body in more depth without arousing too much suspicion.


    She decided first she would further inspect the room. She stood up from the bed, and began to wander around. Upon further inspection, she found that the room was even worse than she originally gathered from looking around. The room was very poorly insulated, meaning the room would have been cold in the winters and hot in the summers. On top of this, Ying Yue noticed that there was a bucket full of murky water on the floor. When she looked up, she found a crack in the ceiling. It could be conferred that this water was actually rain water that had seeped through the crack in the ceiling during a storm. Ying Yue couldn''t help but sigh. The original owner of this body really was treated like she was worthless.


    Ying Yue''s attention was drawn back to the box full of the original owner''s most prized possessions. Ying Yue decided to inspect these items further, to see if there was anything that could be considered of real value inside. When she opened the box, she was extremely disappointed. Based upon the original owner''s memories, these items seemed to have some worth, but clearly she was biased, as these items had come from the crown prince, so she held them in higher regard than they were actually worth. In reality, the only thing that seemed to be worth much of anything was the small gem left behind by her deceased mother.


    Ying Yue picked up the gem to inspect it closer, in hopes of identifying what kind of gem it was and how much money it was worth, thinking that she could at least sell it for a silver or two. When Ying Yue picked it up, however, she felt a sharp pain in her hand, followed by something that completely went against her knowledge. The gem embedded itself in her hand, like a worm digging its way into the ground. She watched as the gem moved under her skin, until it stopped on her middle finger. Once there, Ying Yue felt an even more intense pain, as a ring slowly appeared on her finger. Looking at the ring, Ying Yue had yet to fully process what had just happened before she felt a strong force and everything went black.

 4 Chapter 4: Inheritance part 1

    When Ying Yue came to and opened her eyes, what she saw completely stunned her. No longer was she in the shabby room that was meant to be her home. Instead, she stood in a vast field of flowers, and a small log cabin could be seen in the distance. There was even a small pond by the cabin. The area she was now in looked serene and peaceful, the kind of place that she would have loved to visit on vacation in her previous life.


    Once Ying Yue had finally come to terms with her new surroundings, she was startled once again when a small body tackled her, knocking her onto her butt.


    "Wah! Master! Why didn''t you come to visit me for so long!"


    Hearing this cry, Ying Yue looked to see a small body hugging her tightly. It was a little boy who looked to be maybe four or five years of age. He had copper hair and adorable wide eyes. A small button nose, with a spattering of freckles across. If it wasn''t for his bright red eyes that made one think of a demon, Ying Yue would have mistaken him for a child model. Of course, at the moment, the little demon was shedding many tears and hugging her tightly, spouting some nonsense that she couldn''t make heads or tails of.


    "Who the hell are you?" Ying Yue asked, as she tried to pry the small boy off her body. Unfortunately, this just caused the small child to cling on to Ying Yue even tighter, as his wails became even more insistent.


    "Wah wah! Master has forgotten all about pitiful old me! Do you not remember Jun Huang! Wah!!!" The child looked at Ying Yue like he was extremely hurt, much like a kid that had been abandoned by its mother.


    Ying Yue looked at Jun Huang and sighed. She really had no idea who this kid was, or what she had done to get herself him in the first place. All she could remember was inspecting that stupid gem, followed by pain and then nothing. Now she was here, with no idea what was going on. "Don''t tell me I died and reincarnated again," she thought, "No, that doesn''t seem likely. Otherwise, shouldn''t I no longer be in this body?" Looking down at her hands, Ying Yue could tell she was still in the body that she reincarnated in. Then, she spotted the ring on her middle finger. "Ah, that makes sense now," she thought, "since there is such a thing as cultivation in this world, spiritual artifacts must exist. That gem should have been a spiritual artifact, and it has now taken the shape of a ring on my finger."


    Ying Yue''s skills of deduction were usually spot on, as this is one of the traits that made her one of the best bounty hunters in the business. There were times when she could deduce where a convict was going to hide or run off to even before the convict themselves had made a decision. As such, Ying Yue was correct. The unassuming gem that had been left behind for her by her mother was in fact a spiritual artifact. It''s name was Boundless Spirit Pantheon, and was the home of the ancient celestial phoenix, Jun Huang.


    Jun Huang stared at Ying Yue, and seeing that its master had spaced out and was apparently ignoring it, the little phoenix became upset. As a result, Jun Huang let go of Ying Yue and angrily waddled away, leaving little burnt footprints in the grass behind it.


    "Master no longer wants me," Jun Huang muttered to himself, "then I''ll just have to prove myself all over again." The little phoenix was so hopping mad that his hair turned to flame, and he crouched down by the pond next the the cabin, sulking, trying to come up with ways to prove its worth to its master all over again.


    Coming out of her thoughts, Ying Yue looked over to see the child squatted by the pond sulking while muttering to himself. She couldn''t help but sigh. "Great, not only do I have to deal with my own issues, but now I have to take care of some brat."


    It should be noted that Ying Yue is normally very nimble minded, however with the recent events in her life, her brain seemed to be running slower than usual. As a result, she was not asking herself some important yet simple questions. For example, why is this child all alone? How come this child called me master? And, most importantly, why is this kid not freaking out over the fact that he is currently on fire? As a result, when Ying Yue''s brain finally caught up with itself and she really took notice of the sulking child, the first thought that popped into her head was, "Holy shit, this kid is on fire."


    Ying Yue, being muddled as she was, could only think of one thing after the realization that the child she now seemed to be responsible for was on fire, and that was to chuck the poor kid into the pond to put him out. So, that''s exactly what she did.


    Poor Jun Huang was currently paying no attention to Ying Yue, as he was too immersed in his own thoughts. The lamentable child was simply concocting ways to make his master remember and love him once again, when all of a sudden he was roughly picked up and thrown into the pond in front of him. It had been quite some time since Jun Huang had been treated so roughly, so he was rather taken aback. By the time he had made sense of the situation, he was already submerged in a couple of feet of water.


    Jun Huang lept* out of the water in a rage. When has his master ever treated him like this? Since when had he last had to suffer such abuse? Now, he was no longer crying, he looked at Ying Yue in rage, which was quickly followed by shock. Without the tears in his eyes blurring his vision, he got a clearer view of Ying Yue.


    "Master, what did you do to make yourself look so much younger than when I last saw you?" Jun Huang asked, completely disregarding his anger, and replacing it with confusion. Wasn''t his master in her late thirties? So, why did she now appear to be a young girl? The person standing before him couldn''t even be twenty, let alone thirty. Jun Huang was suspicious, but the girl before him definitely had the mark of the contract on her, so he very tentatively asked, "Yu Yuhan?"


    Ying Yu stared blankly at Jun Huang and thought to herself, "Don''t tell me this brat has mistaken me for someone else?" The name he spoke, however, did seem very similar to her, like something she should know. She just couldn''t figure out where she had heard the name before. Thinking about it, she finally remembered where she had heard the name before. Yu Yuhan was the name of the original Ying Yue''s dead mother. "Has this idiot really mistaken me for my mother?" she thought, "Does this mean this kid has some relationship with my mom? Could he perhaps be an illegitimate child?" Ying Yue''s mind was working a million miles a minute, going of into all sorts of possible scenarios as to who this child was and it his relationship to her mother.


    She decided the best way to clear up her confusion was simply to ask. So, she looked at the little kid and questioned, "How do you know my mother?"


    This caused Jun Huang to blank. "Don''t tell me that idiot woman left me to her daughter?" he thought, "Is that what I''ve been reduced to? What a joke!"

 5 Chapter 5: Inheritance part 2

    Jun Huang sighed, and decided he would have to explain the situation to this girl slowly.


    "Look, it would appear that your mother left the Boundless Spirit Pantheon to you. Seeing as how you now have it and that the mark of the contract is on you, I''m assuming that Yu Yuhan has passed on. She probably transferred the mark of the contract to you as she was dying."


    It was true that Yu Yuhan had passed on, but what confused Ying Yue was how she was now in possession of the Boundless Spirit Pantheon, as it was meant for Yu Yuhan''s daughter. Since she wasn''t this woman''s daughter, even though she was possessing the body of her daughter, how was it that she had control? Why was the mark of the contract on her, when she wasn''t even the original soul?


    Seeing that Ying Yue made no response, Jun Huang assumed that she had no idea what he was talking about."Great," he thought, "First I had to deal with that woman''s eccentric personality, and no I have to deal with her moronic daughter." Jun Huang was feeling very pitiful for himself. Who asked him to get stuck with this awful luck? It wasn''t like he wanted to be passed on to someone else. He had just finally accepted Yu Yuhan, when all of a sudden she stopped visiting him in the Boundless Spirit Pantheon. He could still feel the mark of the contract, so he just assumed he had been forgotten by his master. Never would he have imagined that his master had not only died, but had also transferred the mark of the contract onto her daughter. This really was completely against his expectations.


    While they both were lost in their respective thoughts, time passed slowly. If any outsider were to see this moment, they would have no clue what to think. A young girl covered in blood was standing in front of a drenched toddler, both staring at each other blankly. It really was a rather comical sight. Thankfully, however, as this was happening in the Boundless Spirit Pantheon, no one from the outside could see what was happening, thus saving Ying Yue from having to make some rather awkward explanations.


    Jun Huang sighed, quickly excepting his situation. If he got worked up anytime anything went against his expectations, he would of died thousands of years ago, so he had gotten fairly good at letting go of things he couldn''t change. Since there was nothing Jun Huang could do, he decided the best course of action would be to teach this stupid girl about the uses of the Boundless Spirit Pantheon. Plus, this girl seems pretty stupid, maybe she would treat his existence as akin to a god''s and treat him as someone super mighty. Jun Huang felt pretty smug and grinned to himself when he thought of it, feeling that maybe this new master wouldn''t be that bad. At least, she couldn''t be any worse than her crazy mother who liked to bully him, right?


    Coming back to her senses, and seeing that Jun Huang had spaced out and had a stupid grin on his face, Ying Yue felt the urge to pinch his cheeks. So, as she was never one to restrain herself in the first place, she reached out and pinched his little face. Unfortunately for Jun Huang, she did this with no small amount of strength, causing the poor little phoenix pain, completely shattering his earlier thoughts about how maybe his new master would be better. Did she have to be so similar to her mother! Why was it that upon meeting, bother mother and daughter pinched his face! What horrible deed had he done in a past life to make him have to suffer so much in this one!


    "What are you doing," Jun Huang cried, looking exceptionally pitiful, his little brows turned down in anger, "I am the great Jun Huang! The Ancient Celestial Phoenix! Not some child whom you can pinch!" He decided he must quickly correct this behavior, before she turned out exactly as her mother, punching his cheeks and smacking his bottom whenever the urge struck.


    Ying Yue looked at the little boy throwing a fit, and smiled. He really was cute. This smile, however, terrified Jun Huang. After all, Ying Yue was currently drenched in blood, added to the fact that Jun Huang was worried in the first place, Ying Yue''s innocent smile quickly turned into the smile of a devil getting ready to devour his soul in his eyes. This made the poor fellow begin to cry. Why was he cursed with such fiendish masters?


    Seeing that Jun Huang was now crying, but not understanding why, Ying Yue decided to quickly change the subject. "So, what is this place good for?" Ying Yue asked, letting go of his cheeks as she did so.


    Seeing as how the demoness had let him go and was showing interest in something besides causing him pain, Jun Huang jumped to answer.


    "The Boundless Spirit Pantheon has many uses," he explained, "Firstly, it''s good for cultivating. The spiritual qi in here is much denser than outside, so you can achieve greater results in here than you would out there. Secondly, time in here works differently. When you come inside the Boundless Spirit Pantheon, time can either stop flowing, flowing at a slower pace, or flow at the same rate as outside. It is up to you as the master to decide how time will flow. This can help you if you want to cultivate for long stretches of time, without missing anything in the outside world. You also won''t age at all while you''re in here. Of course, the Boundless Spirit Pantheon has its limits, so you can''t reverse or speed up time. Thirdly, this pond here may seem ordinary, but since the water has been her for a long time, it has absorbed the qi in the surrounding air and now contains spiritual energy. If you were to cook with it, drink it, or bathe in it, you would absorb the qi from the water into your body, helping your cultivation further. Lastly, that little cabin over actually isn''t that little. It is another space within this space and is actually very spacious on the inside. There''s even a training ground and a garden in there."


    Hearing all of this, it was quite a lot for Ying Yue to process. It really did seem like this place was worthy of being considered and ancient artifact. Only some old geezer with way too much time and knowledge on his hands could have been capable of creating something his extraordinary.


    "So, basically what you''re saying, is that I have essentially received the worlds greatest cheat code in helping me to gain more strength?" Ying Yue asked


    "Pretty much. As long as you cultivate here, one day you will stand on top of the world."


    Ying Yue had many questions. First, how did her mother have something like this? And why would she marry her scumbag father if she had something so great? Who really was her mother? While Ying Yue had all these questions, she had one major concern at this moment.


    "But, I can''t cultivate." Ying Yue said.


    "Says who?"


    "What?"

 6 Chapter 6: Whos a waste?

    Ying Yue couldn''t believe what Jun Huang said. Wasn''t this body unable to cultivate? If she could cultivate, why would the previous owner have died? Any way you looked at it, this body was supposed to be completely useless, except for the fact that it was exceptionally pretty.


    Jun Huang looked at Ying Yue like she was an idiot. Why does this girl think she can''t cultivate? Who told her that? If she couldn''t cultivate, there was no way she would have been able to form a contract with the Boundless Spirit Pantheon in the first place.


    Jun Huang squinted at Ying Yue, seemingly deep in thought, and then reached out with his tiny hand to grab her wrist. As he took her pulse, examining the condition of her body, his eyes widened in shock. Someone had placed a curse on this girl, completely sealing her ability to cultivate. Even though she had the ability, her body was able to detect any qi, let alone absorb it into her dantian and refine it into spiritual energy.


    Seeing Jun Huang''s expression, a knot of worry started to form in the pit of Ying Yue''s stomach. Was there something wrong with this body? Did it have some deficiencies? Would she forever be unable to cultivate? Would she really be a waste? She knew she had her martial arts from her previous life, but that wouldn''t be able to help her against a really powerful practitioner.


    Before Ying Yue could spiral too deeply into her worries, Jun Huang interrupted her thoughts.


    "It seems someone has placed a curse on you, causing your body to be unable to cultivate," he explained, "Thankfully, this curse is not one that can''t be broken, it''s just going to be a little hard to accomplish."


    Hearing this, hope sparkled in Ying Yue''s eyes. How cool would it be if she could use spiritual powers? Wouldn''t that be like being able to do magic? Even if she had ended up having trash talent, she was sure she could work hard and accomplish being as good as anyone else.


    "What do I have to do to break the curse," Ying Yue asked, the excitement in her voice almost being visible in the air around her. "Do I need to get someone to help, or can I break it on my own?"


    "That depends," Hun Yuang said, "This curse should be cast using something as a medium to conduct it. If you can find this object and destroy it, you should be able to break the curse. The issue is, we would have to know who would want to curse you, and then once we know that, we would have to search through all their possessions to find the curse''s medium object."


    Once Hun Yuang explained this, a person automatically popped into Ying Yue''s mind. Although the current Ying Yue had yet to meet her, this woman left a strong impression on the heart and mind of the previous Ying Yue. This woman was the current first wife of the Jiang family and the mother of Yao Xiuying, Jiu Niu. Jiu Niu had done everything that was within her power to oppress Ying Yue, being the main culprit for the misery and torment the previous Ying Yue had to suffer through.


    Ying Yue decided that she would share her suspicions with Jun Huang.


    "She does seem like the most likely culprit," Jun Huang said, pondering over what Ying Yue had told him. "Does she have anything that she keeps with her at all times? Like a hairpin or necklace or something?" Jun Huang was hoping the woman would be stupid enough to wear the object on her, that way it would take them less time to find it.


    Ying Yue spent a while trying to remember if Jiu Niu kept anything with her at all times. Unfortunately, the previous Ying Yue avoided her at all costs, so her memories of how she liked to accessorize herself were pretty limited. As Ying Yue was beginning to grow frustrated, she was suddenly enlightened.


    A couple of years back, Jiu Niu had taken all the children of the residence with her to a temple to pray for the health of Old Madam Jiang, Jiang Won''s father and Ying Yue''s grandmother. On their way to the temple, they were ambushed by some men intending to rob them. When the men demanded that they hand over all their valuables, Jiu Niu agreed, except for the bracelet she was wearing. The bracelet really wasn''t anything super valuable, it was a simple jade bangle that Jiu Niu had gotten from Jiang Won. He had gotten her many other much nicer gifts, but she seemed to want to protect this bracelet with her life.


    When Ying Yue remembered this, she explained everything to Jun Huang, breaking out into a smile.


    Jun Huang smiled as well. Thankfully, this woman was stupid, and instead to burying the bracelet somewhere or chucking in in some lake or pond, she wore it on her body. It seemed that things would be much easier than Jun Huang had feared.


    "Alright, you should leave this place then, and find an opportunity to break that bracelet. If our suspicions are correct, as soon as that bracelet is destroyed, you should be able to start cultivating." After saying this, Jun Huang explained to Ying Yue how to enter and exit the Boundless Spirit Pantheon at her own will, and Ying Yue left.


    When Ying Yue appeared in the outside world, Zhu Xinya had she returned with the bath water, so she did not find anything amiss. If she had returned just a few moments earlier, she would have seen her mistress appear out of thin air.


    Seeing the bath being prepared for her, Ying Yue finally registered the fatigue in her own body. After being killed by the crown prince and her sister''s scheme, she had had no time to relax her body before her sister showed up in her room. Then, she had over-exerted this body in order to protect Zhu Xinya and hurt Yao Xiuying. After that, with no time to rest, she was sucked into the Boundless Spirit Pantheon, having to take in tons of information. She really was due for some rest and relaxation at this point.


    As soon as Zhu Xinya had finished preparing the bath, Ying Yue sunk her body into the tub, feeling the sting as her wounds were filled with water. She smiled at the pain. She would remember this debt, and pay back those who had hurt her a hundred fold. Things were definitely about to get interesting, and she was looking forward to it.

 7 Chapter 7: Trouble Brewing

    In another part of the manor, shrill cries could be heard.


    Currently, Yao Xiuying was in in the main hall, looking up at Jiang Won who was seated in the chair of the head of the house. She was crying hard, her face an ugly mess, her tear streaks stained with makeup trailing down her cheeks, and a rather unsightly snot bubble hanging from her nose. Truly, Yao Xiuying was not a pretty or dainty crier.


    Sitting to the right of Jiang Won was Jiu Niu, looking down at her favorite daughter, and seeing her hand hanging limply from her snapped wrist, the dregs of hate starting to churn in the pit of her stomach. As she listened to the embellished tail of the events that her daughter was spinning, the hatred in her gut churned even more.


    Ying Yue! This bitch! Clearly, she had been too nice to her recently, going so far as to cripple her daughter. Who did she think she was? She was only that slut''s daughter, what right did she have to treat her daughter this way?


    The anger was clearly visible on Jiu Niu''s face, Jiang Won''s, however, was completely unreadable as he stared down at his daughter. If one were to study his face closely, one would see a mix of emotions flashing in his eyes. He was angry that someone had hurt his most promising daughter, then surprised when her heard it was he least promising daughter who hurt her. After that, he was disappointed in Yao Xiuying for not being able to protect herself, but also proud of Ying Yue. This was his daughter with the woman he loved! She had the most potential, and yet was the biggest disappointment, so if she could redeem herself, that would make him extremely happy, as he would be able to stop feeling as though he failed Yu Yuhuan.


    Yao Xiuying was completely unaware of the thoughts going through her father''s head. As she was talking, she made sure to portray herself as the victim, where as Ying Yue was the heartless villain who hurt her loving sister who had came to check on her out of concern, after hearing that she had been injured. She would never let anyone know that she had actually been going over to finish the job, when she heard Ying Yue had somehow managed to survive.


    Yao Xiuying could tell that her mother believed her, and would definitely help her get revenge, but what she couldn''t understand was, why was her father not reacting at all? Shouldn''t he be enraged and seek justice for her? Why did he seem so unmoved by what had happened? Just as she was about to up her act, in hopes of getting some reaction out of her father, he opened his mouth, saying something that completely went against her expectations.


    "I will not pursue this. If you could be defeated by your waste of a sister, then that just means you''re not strong enough. I can ask the emperor to summon the imperial physician to look at your wrist, but after you are healed you will go into closed-door cultivation until you break through at least one level. We will not discuss this any further."


    Yao Xiuying was shocked silly, her mouth hanging open wide enough to fit a few eggs inside. She simply could not believe her ears. Was this not the father that had always pampered her? Was this not the father who always stood up for her, even when she was in the wrong? Why was it that this time, it seemed as though she was the one who was being punished?


    Jiu Niu''s face had also turned an ugly shade. What was Jiang Won thinking? Why wasn''t he storming off in a rage right now to beat up that slut and take justice for their daughter? Jiu Niu looked at Jiang Won, feeling as though he had just committed a great injustice.


    "What do you mean closed door cultivation? Why don''t you go and punish Ying Yue? Yao Xiuying is the victim!" Jiu Niu said, looking at her husband as though he had sprouted three heads.


    Jiang Won sighed. Why was it that this usually sensible woman could not seem to follow his frame of thought right now? Normally, should would be able to understand why he would make the choices he did. That was why, even though he did not love her like he loved Yu Yuhuan, he still treated her well as she was good-tempered, well-natured, and ran the household well.


    Seeing as how her mother was sticking up for her, hope sprung up in Yao Xiuying''s heart. Yes! That was right! How could her mother stand to see her suffer? Surely, with her mother to counsel her father, he would quickly come to his senses and go kill that bitch.


    Seeing that his wife and daughter were not on the same page as him, Jiang Won sighed in frustration. Why had they chosen now of all times to act to muddle-headed.


    "It''s already good that I am willing to ask the emperor to let the imperial physician look at her. Do you really want the whole kingdom to know that Yao Xiuying, the pride of the general''s estate, was beaten by Ying Yue,a trash who can''t even cultivate? Do you want her reputation to be ruined?"


    Hearing Jiang Won''s words, the reality of the situation donned on Jiu Niu. That was right, if this information were to get out, wouldn''t her daughter''s reputation be tossed in the trash? What would people say if she couldn''t even defend herself against someone with no cultivation? Thinking on this, Jiu Niu calmed down. Besides, even if Jiang Won didn''t personally take action, that didn''t mean that she couldn''t do something. Thinking this, Jiu Niu''s raging heart finally stilled. They still had time. There were hundreds of ways to get rid of tramp without letting the public have a clue of what transpired.


    Jiu Niu looked at her daughter and sighed. It looked like they would have to swallow this defeat for now.


    "Don''t worry, your father is right. We wouldn''t want word of what happened to reach the ears of the public. If your father were to fly into a rage and punish Ying Yue, the servants would find out what happened and tell other people. Then, we would have no way to save your reputation."


    Hearing what Jiu Niu said, Jiang Won relaxed. It seemed his wife finally understood. Good. Seeing has how everything now seemed to be under control, he simply turned to Jiu Niu, said "I''ll leave the rest to you," and then left the hall.


    Seeing that her father had left, Yao Xiuying felt as though things had not gone how they should. She looked at Jiu Niu indigent.


    "Mother, how could you agree with father? Can''t you see what she did to me? Why can''t we go kill her? She''s just a waste anyway."


    Jiu Niu looked at this daughter whom she loved the most and felt pain in her heart. As much as she would love to go and strangle Ying Yue to death right now, they could not.


    "Yao Xiuying, I didn''t say we would do nothing. We just can''t do anything obvious."


    "What do you mean," Yao Xiuying asked, not following what her mother was implying.


    "I mean, we can take care of her in secret."


    When Yao Xiuying heard this, it clicked in her head what her mother was saying. An unsightly smile broke out on her face, as she thought of all the ways she could torture Ying Yue.


    As the two schemed on how they would deal with Ying Yue, soft laughter could be heard. To anyone passing by, they would think the mother and daughter pair were discussing something pleasant, like flowers or embroidery, not murder.

 8 Chapter 8: The Crown Prince Visits

    The next day, the crown prince made a visit to the general''s residence. Not to visit his fiancee, however, who was supposedly at death''s door. Instead, he was there to visit her younger sister, who had "fallen ill."


    The crown prince was named Fu Longwei and was considered the most desirable man in the kingdom. He was considered to have a good talent, being both water and earth attribute. He was also just slightly more talented in cultivation than Yao Xiuying, also being a low-level martial king, however he was a peak low level, and was said to be on the verge of breaking through to medium-level martial king. He was 16 years old and good looking, with a sharp jaw line, strong brows, and black hair that held a healthy luster.


    The only visible flaw in the eyes of the citizens was his fiancee. Fu Longwei had been engaged to Ying Yue when he was only two years old. As she was born under such an auspicious sign, it was considered as a good thing for the kingdom for her to be his fiancee, the future crown princess, and then empress.


    As such, he had pampered her for a long time. He had though himself fortunate to have been able to be engaged to her upon her birth, so that no other man would have the chance to snatch her. After all, should she turn out to have some heaven-defying talent, wouldn''t that talent then belong to him? However, when she was tested on her fifth birthday and found to be a waste, the crown prince was angry. Was his marriage not now akin to a huge joke? Even though he was only seven at the time, kids in this world understood the importance a good marriage would have on their lives, and so as such Fu Longwei threw a fit.


    The empress argued to have the engagement annulled, as she too did not want to see her son married to someone worthless. However, the emperor refused to retract his decree, as he said it would ruin his image in the eyes of his people, and so as such the marriage decree had stood firm to the present day.


    Fu Longwei felt as if this was extremely unfair to him, until Yao Xiuying was proven to have great talent. Then, the prince realized he could use that fact that he was Ying Yue''s fiancee as an excuse to get closer to Yao Xiuying, as she was the one who was worthy to be his crown princess.


    Him visiting Yao Xiuying had long become normal in the eyes of the public, and no one judged him to harshly for it, as no one would want Ying Yue as their wife. As such, when he visited the general''s manor, it was not seen as anything odd.


    When Fu Longwei arrived at the residence, he was full of worry. Not because he knew that Yao Xiuying was "ill," but because Ying Yue had somehow managed to survive. What would happen to his image if she were to tell people that he had abandoned her, and that was how she sustained such injuries. Even though the public had pretty much excepted that it would be Yao Xiuying, and not Ying Yue who would be the crown prince''s legal wife, that didn''t change the fact that he was engaged to Ying Yue, and thus had to take responsibility for her. So, when he arrived, he quickly went to see Yao Xiuying, so they could discuss the best way to silence her, and quickly.


    When Fu Longwei saw Yao Xiuying, however, he was stunned. Was she not supposed to be ill? Wasn''t it only a simple cold? Why then was her arm in a cast? What had actually happened, and why did the general''s manor seem to be hiding the truth?


    When Yao Xiuying saw the crown prince, she started to cry, explaining to him what happened, being sure to make it seem as though Ying Yue was the one in the wrong. Of course, Fu Longwei knew why she really went to see Ying Yue that day, so her lies wouldn''t fool him. However, as they were now in the same boat, he didn''t say anything.


    What truly surprised him, however, was that she had been injured by Ying Yue. Ying Yue had no cultivation, and her body was riddled with wounds, so how had she managed to injure Yao Xiuying? What exactly was going on here? Things seemed to be more complicated than he had originally assumed, causing the crown prince even more stress as he couldn''t seem to think of how to proceed in this situation.


    At this time when Yao Xiuying and Fu Longwei were worrying over how to deal with their present situation, Ying Yue was in her room, sleeping like a log. It was already almost 11 am, yet Ying Yue still had yet to wake up. Of course, this was reasonable, as her body needed rest, especially since she was injured and had completely exhausted herself the day before.


    Zhu Xinya had decided that unless she woke up on her own earlier, she wasn''t going to wake Ying Yue up until lunch time. Her mistress needed her sleep!


    Unfortunately, Zhu Xinya could not prevent others from coming in and waking Ying Yue, as the maid had always been disregarded by the other residents of the manor. As such, when Yao Xiuying''s personal maid showed up to make trouble, Zhu Xinya wasn''t able to stop her from barging in.


    "You dare to continue to sleep after what you did to my mistress!" the maid shrieked, seeing as how Ying Yue was not out of bed yet. "Who do you think you are? You are nothing but trash! What gives you the right to even live!"


    Ying Yue woke up, staring groggily at the maid. When seeing her standing there, crying shrilly about what a waste she was, Ying Yue smiled. This stupid little girl''s shrieking made her think of chihuahua yapping at a larger dog. It really was funny.


    Seeing Ying Yue smile, the little maid was infuriated. Was this waste looking down on her? She decided that she would teach this girl a lesson. Of course, remembering how she had managed to hurt her mistress, who''s cultivation was greater than hers, she decided she would not attack her physically, but verbally instead.


    "What are you making that stupid face for? Is your brain damaged? That must be it, otherwise, how could you think you could get away with hurting my mistress, who is the epitome of perfection? In fact, she is so great, that the crown prince has even come personally to visit her and make sure she is okay." The maid said this purposely, as she knew that Ying Yue had some feelings for the prince. However, that Ying Yue was now dead, replaced by the current Ying Yue, who really could not care less.


    However, knowing what the maid''s intentions were, Ying Yue''s eyes took on a harsh light. It seemed that even a small maid thought she had the right to look down on Ying Yue. This would have to be rectified.


    Not getting the reaction she wanted, the maid got frustrated. Why was it that no matter what she said, the normally emotional Ying Yue had no reaction? Shouldn''t she be angry or crying by now? Why hadn''t her expression changed at all? Of course, no one knew that the original Ying Yue had died, and the one now was no longer the same.


    Seeing as how the idiot maid was getting frustrated, and had gone to such lengths to prepare entertainment for her, Ying Yue decided that it would be rude if she didn''t go and check in on her sister and fiancee.

 9 Sorry for the Wai

    @@


    Hello everyone! Author here, and I have an important announcement! I am sick.


    So, long story short, the kid I babysit is not vaccinated, since his mom is one of those people who for some reason think vaccines will give her kid autism. Crazy.


    Anyway, as a result, I have contracted a disease that by all means should be extinct, but is making a comeback because people in america aren''t vaccinating their children. For personal reasons, I will not be naming this illness, but basically I am itchy and in pain and would love nothing more than to just be suspended in mid-air with nothing touching me so I don''t feel anything.


    As a result of this situation, I have not posted anything recently, and will not be posting anything anytime soon, as touching things is an overall horrible experience for me.


    In conclusion, I am sorry for the wait for those of you who have been looking forward to chapters, and am sorry to announce that you will have to wait a while longer, as I am not sure when I will be well enough to be able to sit down and really write some more content.


    I thank you all for your patience and hope to be able to give you all more chapters soon.


    Sincerely,


    Your annoyed and sick author,


    EmpressChloe@@

 10 Chapter 9: Meeting the Prince

    Ying Yue got up from her bed, and called out to Zhu Xinya, completely ignoring the maid before her.


    "Zhu-Zhu, come and help me get dressed and do my hair. I think it''s been a while since I''ve visited my fiancee. Since he has taken the time to visit, it would be rude to not go and receive him."


    Hearing her mistress and seeing that she paid no attention to the maid, Zhu Xinya decided to disregard her as well, and started to go about helping her mistress get ready. She didn''t understand why Ying Yue wanted to see the crown prince, since she was under the impression that yesterday they had decided he was a bigjerky bastard. However, she trusted her mistress, and so decided she wouldn''t question it.


    Watching the master-servant pair completely ignore her, the maid felt enraged. Since when had she been treated like this? Even though she was just a maid, she was still Yao Xiuying''s maid, and as such people had always treated her with at least a certain level of respect. However, these two seemed to act as though she completely didn''t exist!


    Knowing that she was no match for Ying Yue, she left in a huff, intending to go tell her mistress what happened and have Yao Xiuying use her relationship with the prince to get revenge.


    Once the maid left, Ying Yue turned to Zhu Xinya


    "Zhu-Zhu, I want you to help me look as good as possible. I want to make that stupid prince realize he''s made a mistake." Of course, this would not be enough to satisfy Ying Yue, but seeing as how she couldn''t cultivate until she broke Jiu Niu''s bracelet, this was the most she could do for the moment. What she really wanted was to torture the prince slowly, both physically and psychologically. At the moment, however, she was no match for the prince, and so could only flaunt that she was better looking than her sister.


    Hearing this, Zhu Xinya shook her head in agreement. This was how her mistress should be. Let''s make that jackass regret his decision!


    In Yao Xiuying''s part of the residence, the crown prince and Yao Xiuying were sitting at a table, listeningng to the maid''s report. When Fu Longwei heard that Ying Yue was coming to see him, he smiled. It seemed that he wouldn''t have to worry about her saying anything about what happened. That moron was still in love with him, and probably didn''t blame him at all for what happened. Thinking about how she was probably coming here to fight with her sister for him, a smile broke out on the prince''s face. Even if she was a waste, what man wouldn''t like it when two girls fought over him?


    Yao Xiuying, on the other hand was seething with rage. It was good that she decided to come, as that means they could put their plans into action, but the fact that she was coming also infuriated her. Wasn''t her coming here to see the prince the same as saying that she was a match for Yao Xiuying! Who did that whore think she was, as if she was someone worthy of having the prince''s attention!


    While the two were both absorbed in the respective thoughts, Ying Yue arrived.


    When the two looked up and saw her, they were stunned. Even though her body was covered in wounds and she was clearly malnourished, this couldn''t hide the fact that she was drop-dead gorgeous.


    Zhu Xinya had certainly done a good job in dressing up her mistress. She had done her hair half-up half-down, with an intricate braid. There was a simple wooden hairpin in her hair, it was one that her father had carved for her mother when they were courting. Her robe was long and light green, with white flowers sewn on in places, covering up the tears in the old clothe. Even though the dress did not hang as low to the ground as it should, since it was meant for a much younger girl, it still fit her well, as her body was as slender as a rail. And while the pains of hunger were evident on her body, this could not hide the signs of the budding of womanhood. She looked as though the goddess of spring had descended down into the mortal realm.


    The thing that was most shocking, however, was her eyes. Those eyes that seemed as though they could see right through you and into your soul. It was as though nothing and no one could escape her vision, and even if you could you wouldn''t want to. When Fu Longwei looked into those eyes, a sense of panic rose up in his heart. For some explicable reason, he felt as though he''d made a mistake. He quickly shook off this feeling, however, as he thought to himself that no matter how she looked, she was still was waste with no cultivation.


    When Ying Yue saw the two of them sitting so close, she scoffed internally. Truly, these two were meant for each other. One was an arrogant prick and the other a self-absorbed dimwit. She couldn''t have made a better match if she tried.


    Ying Yue quickly swallowed down her disgust at the sight of the prince, and sat down in the seat beside him. Not a word passed between the three of them, and yet the animosity in the air could be cut with a knife.


    Finally, Yao Xiuying could take the silence no longer, and seeing that her sister seemed to have no intention to speak, she spoke up.


    "Ying Yue, what are you doing here? Shouldn''t you be too injured to leave your courtyard? You really should head back, as we wouldn''t want the prince to have to see you when you aren''t at your best."


    To any outsiders, these words would sound like those of concern, however Yao Xiuying had chosen these words carefully. She wanted to point out that Ying Yue was not worthy of the prince, and that she should go hide herself away somewhere. What she really wanted most was to rile Ying Yue up, that way she would attack, and Yao Xiuying would have an excuse to beat her up. Yao Xiuying firmly believed that yesterday''s defeat was a fluke because she wasn''t expecting it. This time, however, she was ready, and would surely show this bitch what''s what.


    Much to Yao Xiuying''s dismay, however, Ying Yue didn''t even bother looking at her, and instead turned to Fu Longwei.


    "It has been some time since we last met. I wonder, how has the prince been? Anything worrying you?"


    Hearing her question, sweat rolled down Fu Longwei''s back. It was like Ying Yue could read his thoughts, and see that he wanted nothing more than for her to have died in that forest. Now, he was worried about how to get rid of her.


    Fu Longwei decided he must be overthinking things, and surely Ying Yue was just concerned for him, after all, she was his fiancee.

 11 Chapter 10: First Move

    Seeing that she had achieved her goal in coming to see the prince, and that he was starting to have second thoughts about her, Ying Yue felt satisfied for the moment. Although she knew this small satisfaction would be nothing compared to what she would feel when she finally got her revenge, she still reveled in it.


    "I am fine, thank you for your concern," when the prince finally did respond, his voice sounded hesitant, as if he was not sure this was the correct response.


    When Yao Xiuying heard his hesitation, however, she mistook it for gentleness, and thus grew enraged. This slut! She purposely dressed up to come and distract the prince from her! Even if she was a waste, what man could resist a beautiful girl showing concern to him! Yao Xiuying thoroughly regretted sending her maid to provoke Ying Yue into coming. If she hadn''t come, wouldn''t the prince then instead be gentle to her, showing concern for her arm?


    Ying Yue decided she had made these two second guess themselves enough for today, and since she had more important things to do, she stood up to leave.


    "That''s good. Seeing as how you are fine, I will excuse myself. If you need anything, do feel free to make use of Yao Xiuying."


    Yao Xiuying gnashed her teeth. She was going to fawn over the prince anyway, but hearing her sister say that, as though she was some simple maid, it made her no longer want to be as submissive to the prince.


    Ying Yue saw the glint that passed through Yao Xiuying''s eyes, and knew her objective had been met. Here soon, these two should be very dissatisfied with each other and start fighting. Ying Yue hid a small smile. What she was doing my be very petty, but with her current strength, it was all she could manage to do. Ying Yue then left, the prince''s eyes watching her receding form the whole way.


    When Ying Yue arrived back at her room, Zhu Xinya was smiling from ear to ear, practically jumping from happiness.


    "Did you see the look on his face? He definitely regrets what he did to you now! He must be feeling like he swallowed cow dung right now." Zhu Xinya was beaming, clearly satisfied with the prince''s confusion and regret.


    Ying Yue smiled at the silly girl''s antics. If she knew what Ying Yue was really planning, she would realize that this was only the first step in her plan, and that they had even yet to scratch the surface of what she needed to do.


    Ying Yue sat down on her bed and sent Zhu Xinya away, asking her to go keep watch on Yao Xiuying and Prince Fu Longwei, and to report back to her what they say and do.


    Once Ying Yue had determined that she was completely alone, she quickly entered the Boundless Spiritual Pantheon.


    Jun Huang saw that Ying Yue had entered the pantheon, so he quickly walked over to her to see if she had made any progress.


    "Have you found a way to break the bracelet yet?"


    "No, but I have an idea. Although, it will require your help. How to you feel about setting something on fire?"


    When Ying Yue asked this, Jun Huang looked at her skeptically. "What exactly are you planning?"


    "I''m just thinking that if the residence were to catch on fire, who knows what could happen in the chaos. The only issue is, I can''t be present at the location of the start of the fire, otherwise people will suspect me. That''s where you come in. I''m sure, as a phoenix, you should have no problems with lighting a little fire, right?"


    Looking at the mischievousness in Ying Yue''s eyes, Jun Huang sighed. There was no way his mistress was actually thinking about a small fire. He had a bad feeling about what she had in mind, but could only go along with her plan as she explained in details what she wanted him to do.


    ~? ~? ~? ~?~

 12 Chapter 11: Broken Bracele

    When the mother-daughter duo heard this cry, they quickly jumped up to see what was going on.


    Upon exiting the room they were in, the two began to cough, as smoke could be seen in the air.


    "Mother, what is going on, where is the fire?" Yao Xiuying asked, quickly taking out a handkerchief tocover her nose and mouth, in an attempt to lessen the amount of smoke she was inhaling.


    "I don''t know, but we must leave quickly. It seems the fire is close. Be careful and stay near to me, we must find your father."


    As she said this, the two women made there way towards the exit of the courtyard, hoping to be able to escape the thickening smoke and the encroaching flames.


    When they came to the outside of the courtyard, the place was a rush with guards and maids, all running about to put out the fire. Now that they were outside, the two could see that is was the kitchen connected to the courtyard that had caught on fire.


    Jiu Niu spotted her husband a distance away, pointing and shouting at various servants, giving direction in an attempt to get the fire under control. She grabbed onto Yao Xiuying''s wrist, and started pulling her towards Jiang Won.


    As they were making their way over, Yao Xuiying felt someone push her from behind. She screamed, grabbing onto her mother''s arm, as she fell. Unfortunately, when she grabbed Jiu Niu''s arm, she didn''t manage to get a firm hold, instead simply managing to slip the jade bangle off her mother''s wrist. Yao Xiuying didn''t see who had pushed her, and so just assumed that a servant accidentally bumped her in their rush to help put out the fire.


    Jiu Niu didn''t notice that the bracelet was no longer on her wrist, as she quickly knelt to help up her daughter. As such, when the two were reoriented and starting making their way towards Jiang Won once again, the bracelet was left upon the ground, were it was picked up be a girl wearing a worn brown cloak, the same girl who had stealthily pushed Yao Xiuying from behind.


    When the fire was finally out and investigated, the servants reported that a table clothe close to the oven suddenly caught fire, and as such the incident was labeled as an accident, with all the servants being reminded to be more careful in the future. Thus, no one suspected anything amiss.


    ~? ~? ~? ~?~

 9 Chapter 9: Meeting the Prince

    Ying Yue got up from her bed, and called out to Zhu Xinya, completely ignoring the maid before her.


    "Zhu-Zhu, come and help me get dressed and do my hair. I think it''s been a while since I''ve visited my fiancee. Since he has taken the time to visit, it would be rude to not go and receive him."


    Hearing her mistress and seeing that she paid no attention to the maid, Zhu Xinya decided to disregard her as well, and started to go about helping her mistress get ready. She didn''t understand why Ying Yue wanted to see the crown prince, since she was under the impression that yesterday they had decided he was a bigjerky bastard. However, she trusted her mistress, and so decided she wouldn''t question it.


    Watching the master-servant pair completely ignore her, the maid felt enraged. Since when had she been treated like this? Even though she was just a maid, she was still Yao Xiuying''s maid, and as such people had always treated her with at least a certain level of respect. However, these two seemed to act as though she completely didn''t exist!


    Knowing that she was no match for Ying Yue, she left in a huff, intending to go tell her mistress what happened and have Yao Xiuying use her relationship with the prince to get revenge.


    Once the maid left, Ying Yue turned to Zhu Xinya


    "Zhu-Zhu, I want you to help me look as good as possible. I want to make that stupid prince realize he''s made a mistake." Of course, this would not be enough to satisfy Ying Yue, but seeing as how she couldn''t cultivate until she broke Jiu Niu''s bracelet, this was the most she could do for the moment. What she really wanted was to torture the prince slowly, both physically and psychologically. At the moment, however, she was no match for the prince, and so could only flaunt that she was better looking than her sister.


    Hearing this, Zhu Xinya shook her head in agreement. This was how her mistress should be. Let''s make that jackass regret his decision!


    In Yao Xiuying''s part of the residence, the crown prince and Yao Xiuying were sitting at a table, listeningng to the maid''s report. When Fu Longwei heard that Ying Yue was coming to see him, he smiled. It seemed that he wouldn''t have to worry about her saying anything about what happened. That moron was still in love with him, and probably didn''t blame him at all for what happened. Thinking about how she was probably coming here to fight with her sister for him, a smile broke out on the prince''s face. Even if she was a waste, what man wouldn''t like it when two girls fought over him?


    Yao Xiuying, on the other hand was seething with rage. It was good that she decided to come, as that means they could put their plans into action, but the fact that she was coming also infuriated her. Wasn''t her coming here to see the prince the same as saying that she was a match for Yao Xiuying! Who did that whore think she was, as if she was someone worthy of having the prince''s attention!


    While the two were both absorbed in the respective thoughts, Ying Yue arrived.


    When the two looked up and saw her, they were stunned. Even though her body was covered in wounds and she was clearly malnourished, this couldn''t hide the fact that she was drop-dead gorgeous.


    Zhu Xinya had certainly done a good job in dressing up her mistress. She had done her hair half-up half-down, with an intricate braid. There was a simple wooden hairpin in her hair, it was one that her father had carved for her mother when they were courting. Her robe was long and light green, with white flowers sewn on in places, covering up the tears in the old clothe. Even though the dress did not hang as low to the ground as it should, since it was meant for a much younger girl, it still fit her well, as her body was as slender as a rail. And while the pains of hunger were evident on her body, this could not hide the signs of the budding of womanhood. She looked as though the goddess of spring had descended down into the mortal realm.


    The thing that was most shocking, however, was her eyes. Those eyes that seemed as though they could see right through you and into your soul. It was as though nothing and no one could escape her vision, and even if you could you wouldn''t want to. When Fu Longwei looked into those eyes, a sense of panic rose up in his heart. For some explicable reason, he felt as though he''d made a mistake. He quickly shook off this feeling, however, as he thought to himself that no matter how she looked, she was still was waste with no cultivation.


    When Ying Yue saw the two of them sitting so close, she scoffed internally. Truly, these two were meant for each other. One was an arrogant prick and the other a self-absorbed dimwit. She couldn''t have made a better match if she tried.


    Ying Yue quickly swallowed down her disgust at the sight of the prince, and sat down in the seat beside him. Not a word passed between the three of them, and yet the animosity in the air could be cut with a knife.


    Finally, Yao Xiuying could take the silence no longer, and seeing that her sister seemed to have no intention to speak, she spoke up.


    "Ying Yue, what are you doing here? Shouldn''t you be too injured to leave your courtyard? You really should head back, as we wouldn''t want the prince to have to see you when you aren''t at your best."


    To any outsiders, these words would sound like those of concern, however Yao Xiuying had chosen these words carefully. She wanted to point out that Ying Yue was not worthy of the prince, and that she should go hide herself away somewhere. What she really wanted most was to rile Ying Yue up, that way she would attack, and Yao Xiuying would have an excuse to beat her up. Yao Xiuying firmly believed that yesterday''s defeat was a fluke because she wasn''t expecting it. This time, however, she was ready, and would surely show this bitch what''s what.


    Much to Yao Xiuying''s dismay, however, Ying Yue didn''t even bother looking at her, and instead turned to Fu Longwei.


    "It has been some time since we last met. I wonder, how has the prince been? Anything worrying you?"


    Hearing her question, sweat rolled down Fu Longwei''s back. It was like Ying Yue could read his thoughts, and see that he wanted nothing more than for her to have died in that forest. Now, he was worried about how to get rid of her.


    Fu Longwei decided he must be overthinking things, and surely Ying Yue was just concerned for him, after all, she was his fiancee.

 10 Chapter 10: First Move

    Seeing that she had achieved her goal in coming to see the prince, and that he was starting to have second thoughts about her, Ying Yue felt satisfied for the moment. Although she knew this small satisfaction would be nothing compared to what she would feel when she finally got her revenge, she still reveled in it.


    "I am fine, thank you for your concern," when the prince finally did respond, his voice sounded hesitant, as if he was not sure this was the correct response.


    When Yao Xiuying heard his hesitation, however, she mistook it for gentleness, and thus grew enraged. This slut! She purposely dressed up to come and distract the prince from her! Even if she was a waste, what man could resist a beautiful girl showing concern to him! Yao Xiuying thoroughly regretted sending her maid to provoke Ying Yue into coming. If she hadn''t come, wouldn''t the prince then instead be gentle to her, showing concern for her arm?


    Ying Yue decided she had made these two second guess themselves enough for today, and since she had more important things to do, she stood up to leave.


    "That''s good. Seeing as how you are fine, I will excuse myself. If you need anything, do feel free to make use of Yao Xiuying."


    Yao Xiuying gnashed her teeth. She was going to fawn over the prince anyway, but hearing her sister say that, as though she was some simple maid, it made her no longer want to be as submissive to the prince.


    Ying Yue saw the glint that passed through Yao Xiuying''s eyes, and knew her objective had been met. Here soon, these two should be very dissatisfied with each other and start fighting. Ying Yue hid a small smile. What she was doing my be very petty, but with her current strength, it was all she could manage to do. Ying Yue then left, the prince''s eyes watching her receding form the whole way.


    When Ying Yue arrived back at her room, Zhu Xinya was smiling from ear to ear, practically jumping from happiness.


    "Did you see the look on his face? He definitely regrets what he did to you now! He must be feeling like he swallowed cow dung right now." Zhu Xinya was beaming, clearly satisfied with the prince''s confusion and regret.


    Ying Yue smiled at the silly girl''s antics. If she knew what Ying Yue was really planning, she would realize that this was only the first step in her plan, and that they had even yet to scratch the surface of what she needed to do.


    Ying Yue sat down on her bed and sent Zhu Xinya away, asking her to go keep watch on Yao Xiuying and Prince Fu Longwei, and to report back to her what they say and do.


    Once Ying Yue had determined that she was completely alone, she quickly entered the Boundless Spiritual Pantheon.


    Jun Huang saw that Ying Yue had entered the pantheon, so he quickly walked over to her to see if she had made any progress.


    "Have you found a way to break the bracelet yet?"


    "No, but I have an idea. Although, it will require your help. How to you feel about setting something on fire?"


    When Ying Yue asked this, Jun Huang looked at her skeptically. "What exactly are you planning?"


    "I''m just thinking that if the residence were to catch on fire, who knows what could happen in the chaos. The only issue is, I can''t be present at the location of the start of the fire, otherwise people will suspect me. That''s where you come in. I''m sure, as a phoenix, you should have no problems with lighting a little fire, right?"


    Looking at the mischievousness in Ying Yue''s eyes, Jun Huang sighed. There was no way his mistress was actually thinking about a small fire. He had a bad feeling about what she had in mind, but could only go along with her plan as she explained in details what she wanted him to do.


    ~? ~? ~? ~?~

 11 Chapter 11: Broken Bracele

    When the mother-daughter duo heard this cry, they quickly jumped up to see what was going on.


    Upon exiting the room they were in, the two began to cough, as smoke could be seen in the air.


    "Mother, what is going on, where is the fire?" Yao Xiuying asked, quickly taking out a handkerchief tocover her nose and mouth, in an attempt to lessen the amount of smoke she was inhaling.


    "I don''t know, but we must leave quickly. It seems the fire is close. Be careful and stay near to me, we must find your father."


    As she said this, the two women made there way towards the exit of the courtyard, hoping to be able to escape the thickening smoke and the encroaching flames.


    When they came to the outside of the courtyard, the place was a rush with guards and maids, all running about to put out the fire. Now that they were outside, the two could see that is was the kitchen connected to the courtyard that had caught on fire.


    Jiu Niu spotted her husband a distance away, pointing and shouting at various servants, giving direction in an attempt to get the fire under control. She grabbed onto Yao Xiuying''s wrist, and started pulling her towards Jiang Won.


    As they were making their way over, Yao Xuiying felt someone push her from behind. She screamed, grabbing onto her mother''s arm, as she fell. Unfortunately, when she grabbed Jiu Niu''s arm, she didn''t manage to get a firm hold, instead simply managing to slip the jade bangle off her mother''s wrist. Yao Xiuying didn''t see who had pushed her, and so just assumed that a servant accidentally bumped her in their rush to help put out the fire.


    Jiu Niu didn''t notice that the bracelet was no longer on her wrist, as she quickly knelt to help up her daughter. As such, when the two were reoriented and starting making their way towards Jiang Won once again, the bracelet was left upon the ground, were it was picked up be a girl wearing a worn brown cloak, the same girl who had stealthily pushed Yao Xiuying from behind.


    When the fire was finally out and investigated, the servants reported that a table clothe close to the oven suddenly caught fire, and as such the incident was labeled as an accident, with all the servants being reminded to be more careful in the future. Thus, no one suspected anything amiss.


    ~? ~? ~? ~?~

 12 Chapter 12: Discovering Talen

    "That''s it?" Ying Yue asked, staring in disbelief. She had assumed that there would be some ritual involved in order to lift the curse, or at least a couple of steps in order to break the bracelet.


    "That''s it," replied Jun Huang, "It''s not usually that simple, but with my level of power, simply stepping on it is enough." Jun Huang said this with a smug look, clearly expecting some praise.


    Seeing Jun Huang act like a kid demanding recognition, Ying Yue stifled a chuckle. How was it that this little phoenix could go from acting like a high and mighty figure to a spoiled little kid in the blink of an eye? However, Ying Yue still gave him some praise.


    "Of course, you are simply the greatest. Now that we''ve solved this problem, however, how do I discover which attributes I align with? I can''t simply ask my father to test me, as that would give away that I can now cultivate."


    "Ah, well, thanks to the Boundless Spirit Pantheon, that is also a simple matter," Jun Huang explained, "We can actually test you in here. In the cabin there is a room that holds a crystal that can test you to see which attributes you have an affinity and how strongly."


    After Jun Huang said this, Ying Yue''s eyes lit up. Now, she would be able to start cultivating and truly gain strength. She could also take this opportunity to explore the little cabin, as she had yet to do so. She was very excited to see what each of the different rooms would hold.


    When Ying Yue walked into the cabin, the first thing that came to her mind was a TV show from her old world about a certain time traveling man who traveled in a phone box that was bigger on the inside. The cabin was simply huge! From the outside, it looked as though it might have four or five rooms at the most, and although Jun Huang had told her before hand, she simply wasn''t ready for the sheer massiveness of the inside.


    When she first entered, she was greeted with by a large courtyard. It was almost as though she went from being outside to step into a different set of outdoors. There was a large garden with many plants growing, rich in spiritual qi. She could see a large field a distance away that reminded her of the Olympic training grounds she had seen in her world. There was a massive track for running, weights for lifting, and even some equipment she didn''t know the uses for.


    The most impressive thing, however, was the mansion standing before her. It reminded her of a certain colored house in one of the nations of her world. In this house, the leader of said nation lived, and was considered to be a symbol of the nation.


    Truly, stepping into this seemingly small cabin was making her reminisce about things from her world.


    In a daze, Ying Yue walked forward, gaping at her surroundings. If her mother were here, she''d probably yell at Ying Yue to close her mouth before she caught some flies.


    Jun Huang entered as well, trailing behind Ying Yue. He felt very smug upon seeing her expression, as though he took credit for the grandeur of the inside of the cabin. Seeing as how Ying Yue was in no hurry, however, he got impatient. He really wanted to know how talented she was, OK! Only someone with a heaven-defying talent was worthy to be his master!


    "Stop staring and hurry up," Jun Huang said, "You can explore later. Follow me and I''ll take you to the crystal."


    Hearing Jun Huang''s childish voice berating her, Ying Yue was drawn back to her senses. That''s right. She needed to be focused on finding out which elements she aligns with and the best ways to cultivate. She had plenty of time to explore and be impressed with the inside of the cabin later.


    Seeing the dazed look leaving Ying Yue''s eyes, Jun Huang did not bother to wait any longer, and promptly grabbed Ying Yue''s hand with his much smaller one, dragging her into the mansion.


    Jun Huang walked fairly fast, and as such although Ying Yue was inside the mansion, she didn''t really get to see or take note of anything, simply be pulled along by Jun Huang to the end of a hallway. Once they reached the end, Jun Huang flung open a door to the left of them, to enter a stunning room.


    In the room, a large tree seemingly formed from emeralds and amber stood. In fact, everything within the room seemed to be made of some rare gem or crystal, from diamonds to amethyst to opal, there was enough gems in the room to make the royal treasury of any large nation seem like the earnings of a beggar.


    The most impressive thing in the room, however, was a large circular crystal sat upon a pedestal underneath the crystal tree. It appeared to have every color, and yet no color at all, switching between all colors, never stopping on one particular color for very long.


    If Ying Yue''s mouth was hanging wide open upon first entering the cabin, it was simply unhinged now. She had seen her fair share of impressive wealth in her past, but this was simply ridiculous. Who was so rich that they could make a garden inside their house out of gems and crystals? This amount of wealth was simply ludicrous!


    Seeing Ying Yue fall into a daze once again, Jun Huang sighed. If she was going to react like this every time she saw a new room in the mansion, he would have to spend hours simply bringing her back to her senses! Besides, Jun Huang really couldn''t understand what was so great about this room. Wasn''t it just a bunch of rocks? They couldn''t even help anyone in their cultivation. Truly, besides the crystal used for testing one''s powers, everything in this room seemed completely useless to him.


    Jun Huang let go of Ying Yue''s hand, smacking her leg.


    "Hey! Don''t just stand there! Hurry up and go check what elements you align with!"


    Once again, Ying Yue was brought out of her daze by Jun Huang''s voice. Truly, it would take her awhile to get used to this. Wasn''t it only a few days ago she was desperately thinking of ways for her to earn money? Now, however, it seemed like money would never be an issue again in her enter life! This was simply too much wealth for a single person to spend in their entire lifetime! And this was simply one room! Thinking on how there was a second and third floor to this building, Ying Yue wanted to cough blood. Just who built this place to be able to have so much wealth!


    Still lost in her thoughts, Ying Yue slowly walked forwards towards the crystal. She was worrying about what would happen if she turned out to have trash talent. Although, with the amount of resources now at her disposal, using outside methods to help her would not be an issue, but still, it would be nice if she could have at least a decent talent.


    Ying Yue sucked in a deep breathe and pushed all her worries to the back of her mind. The truly was no use worrying about it. After all, it''s not like there was anything she could do to change her aptitude if she did turn out to have crappy talent. Ying Yue tentatively reached her arm forward, placing her hand upon the crystal. At first, it felt as though time had stopped. The crystal was completely colorless, unlike earlier when it was changing constantly from one color to the next. Then, something that almost made Jun Huang''s jaw hit the floor happened.


    The crystal started changing colors. It was very faint, but the color was definitely there.


    First, it was blue, then brown, then green. Although these colors were extremely faint, it still meant she had some talent with water, earth, and plant attributes.


    This already impressed Jun Huang. Although her talent in these areas could be considered mediocre at best, she still had three colors. This in of itself was impressive. However, the colors continued, and this time brighter.


    After the first three, three more came. Black, red and yellow, lit brightly, showing she had rather impressive talent with lightning, fire and darkness attributes. This simply shocked Jun Huang silly. Six attributes! There were ten in total, and so to have six was simply too impressive! Added on that she had strong talent in three of them, if anyone were to witness this, they would simply want to cough blood If this wasn''t a genius, then no one else would dare claim to be!


    Just as Jun Huang was about to congratulate Ying Yue, he stopped in his tracks. The crystal changed colors once again, this time settling on a singular color. The light was so bright that both Ying Yue and Jun Huang had to squint in order to look at it. Then, small cracks began to form all along the crystal, until finally it shattered, plunging the room into darkness.


    Jun Huang could not believe what he had just witnessed. In all his years, he had never seen someone break a testing crystal. How heaven-defying did one''s talent have to be in order to shatter the crystal! Truly, this girl was a monster! And that color!


    Purple!


    Did this not mean she was of the void attribute! The most sought after attribute besides time!


    It should be noted that the creator of the Boundless Spirit Pantheon had both the void and time attributes, which allowed them to make such a heaven-defying treasure. And although Ying Yue did not posses the time attribute, she would still be able to create treasure''s similar to the Boundless Spirit Pantheon. Truly, Jun Huang was not expecting this.


    Of course, Neither Jun Huang or Ying Yue were paying attention to the now shattered crystal on the ground, as they were both to stunned, and so neither one noticed the faint orange light that passed through the shards for a brief moment.

 13 Chapter 13: Heaven-Defying Cultivator

    While Jun Huang was marveling over Ying Yue''s results and thinking up all the best cultivation methods, Ying Yue simply stood rooted to the spot, lost in her own thoughts.


    What did all this mean? She new that she was likely to have the fire attribute, in fact it was almost a guarantee as everyone in her family did. She new it was also a possibility for her to have the lightning attribute, as a few in her family had it, but what of the other five attributes she tested positive for?


    In this world, the possibility ofwhich attributes you would align with was in part tied to your genetics. Normally, attributes would be passed from parent to child, and while some children would have the rarer sister attribute to their parents attribute, to have one that no one in your family history had was simply unheard of.


    For example, if both the sides of the parents families have water, the child might get ice. If they have fire, the child might get lightning. If they have earth, the child may get plant. However, this happening was very unlikely, and children who turned out this way were often held as geniuses by their families. This was also how many kingdoms kept there powers consolidated, as no one from a more powerful nation would want to marry into a smaller one, thus keeping the possibility of more rarer attributes from being passed to lesser nations.


    So, this raised a big question.


    If her father''s side of the family had fire, lightning, and extremely rarely earth, just how did she get plant, water, darkness and void?


    Just who was her mother?


    The only way that she could have received these attributes would be if her mom, or one of her mother''s ancestors, had these attributes. Added on to the fact that her mother left her the Boundless Spirit Pantheon, where did she come from? And why would she marry someone like her father? With the different attributes her children could possibly have, even the emperor would be hard pressed to make her his empress, let alone marrying the generalof a small nation.


    Truly, her mother seemed more and more mysterious by the minute.


    Ying Yue decided that she would interrogate Jun Huang later, as he new her mother. However, at the moment, what she needed to focus on most was raising her strength. After all, what good would knowing about her mother do if she was dead?


    "So, now what?," Ying Yue asked, turning around to face Jun Huang, "How exactly should I cultivate, like is there a special method I should use or anything?"


    "Actually, that''s what I''m deciding on. Since you have so many different attributes, there are many different cultivation methods you could try. However, I''m thinking you should focus most on cultivating you void attribute, as it is the one you align with most strongly."


    This made sense to Ying Yue, so she decided that her first order of business, now that she had been tested, was to find the best void attribute cultivation method to help her advance in rank.


    Now that Ying Yue and Jun Huang were in agreement about what to do, they left the room to head to the mansions library, to find books on void cultivation methods.


    They headed down the hallway they came from upon entering, and headed up a set of stairs to the next floor. Thankfully for Jun Huang, Ying Yue was too lost in her own thoughts to gap at her surroundings, and so they arrived at the library without having to stop to get Ying Yue back on track. Once they reached the library, however, things became a different story.


    Just who in the world had so many books!?


    Surely this library could make any other seem shameful! Once again, Ying Yue was reminded of the world she came from, as this library made her think of her favorite fairy tale. In the tale, a monster gifted a huge library to a fair maiden, and through this slowly won her heart. If it wasn''t for the fact that Jun Huang looked like a child, Ying Yue might have thought he was trying to seduce her with books just as the beast had done in that story. Truly, this was too much!


    Just seeing the massive amount of books, Ying Yue could imagine spending the rest of her life in here. If she could simply spend the rest of her life reading good books and eating good food, she would be content! Not many knew this, but in her previous world, Ying Yue was a bit of a closeted book worm. She had often thought that if she wasn''t so good at being a bounty hunter, maybe she would have turned out being an author or a librarian. This secret, however, was one known by few, as it would definitely ruin her image as a tough as nails bounty hunter.


    Seeing Ying Yue practically drooling over the books, Jun Huang sighed. This girl sure was getting on his nerves. While he new that many of the books in here were worth lots and rare, it was still just a bunch of paper, ok? The way he saw it, Ying Yue simply couldn''t tell what was actually valuable.


    Of course, it wasn''t Ying Yue who was the problem. It was just that Jun Huang had been surrounded by unimaginable wealth his entire life, and so his idea of what was considered valuable had become a little warped.


    As Ying Yue stared starry eyed and mouth agape, she starting exploring the library, stroking the spines of the books as she walked down each row. There were too many books! She didn''t even know where she should begin looking for a book about void cultivation methods. Although this many books excited her, right now the sheer amount was proving to be a bit of a problem.


    Jun Huang was no help either, as he didn''t know how the books were organised. It wasn''t his fault, ok! He simply had better ways to spend his days than reading some dusty old books.


    As such, Jun Huang and Ying Yue spent close to an hour simply wandering about the library, reading the titles on the spines of each book in an attempt to find one on void cultivation methods.


    As Ying Yue passed by more and more books, she felt something in the back of her mind.


    It was like an itch, or maybe it was more similar to the feeling you get when you know you''ve forgotten something but couldn''t remember what. Whatever the feeling was, she felt as though it wouldn''t not go away unless she kept going straight ahead, as though there was some force pulling her in that direction.


    As Ying Yue continued to walk forward, following the strange sensation, she spotted and extremely dusty desk in the corner of the library. It looked as though no one had used this space for hundreds of years, as if it had simply been forgotten by the world.


    When she saw this desk, something just clicked, and Ying Yue knew that what she was looking for would be there. As such, she sped quickly over to the desk, where she found a worn and leather bound book, without any markings nor title on the cover.


    As Ying Yue opened it and started flipping through the pages, she quickly realized that this was in fact someone''s journal.


    In it, it described the day-to-day activities of the author, along with many cultivation methods and experiments the author performed. As Ying Yue continued to read, she got excited. Whoever wrote this journal could be considered a genius! The numerous cultivation methods that they came up with, as well as all the different medications and poisons they discovered as well, were simply heaven-defying!


    Jun Huang hadn''t seen or heard from Ying Yue for a while, so he wandered around to find her seated at an old dusk in the corner, excitedly flipping through a book. When Jun Huang realized what book this was, he gasped out loud.


    Wasn''t that his first master''s journal?!

 14 Chapter 14: The Almighty

    Seeing Ying Yue excitedly flipping through it, Jun Huang almost wanted to cry.


    He hadn''t let any of his master''s touch that book. That was private property of his first master, and no one else was allowed to touch it! Even he didn''t dare, which was why the area had accumulated so much dust, as he didn''t even dare to clean it.


    Now, seeing Ying Yue so brazenly reading it, Jun Huang was afraid his first master would some how learn of it and strike his little butt with lightening from the sky!


    Jun Huang quickly rushed forwards and snatched the book from Ying Yue''s hands, inspecting it carefully to make sure she had not done any harm.


    Seeing the treasure that she had found being snatched away from her, Ying Yue wanted to cry out loud! She had just found a page describing a void cultivation method that she thought would be very suitable to her, when Jun Huang snatched it from her hands.


    "Give that back! I just found the perfect method and was in the middle of reading it!"


    "No! You shouldn''t even have touched this book in the first place! No one is to touch it! Do you even know the owner of this journal! I couldn''t even touch it when he was here, let alone you!"


    Hearing Jun Huang say this, Ying Yue frowned. Just what was this little phoenix blathering on about? No matter who it belonged to previously, they obviously weren''t here, and the book was useful to her now. Ying Yue felt very indignant, and reached out to snatch the book back.


    "Give that back, or so help me I will roast you like a chicken!"


    Of course, this threat had no meaning to Jun Huang, who, as a phoenix, would not be affected by any flames. Furthermore, Ying Yue would have to catch him first even if she did have the ability to roast him, and Jun Huang was more than confident that he could escape her when she currently had such weak strength.


    "No! This journal belonged to Al and no one else is allowed to touch it!"


    "Al?" Ying Yue asked, a little thrown at Jun Huang''s response. Who in the world was Al?


    "Yes, Al! My first master! He created the Boundless Spirit Pantheon! To all others he was hailed as a god! No one is allowed to simply touch his journal, even if he isn''t here!"


    Hearing all this said in Jun Huang''s childish voice, Ying Yue couldn''t help herself, and let out a stifled laugh. Besides, what kind of a name was Al anyway?


    "Who names their kid Al?" Ying Yue asked, no longer trying to hide that she was laughing.


    "His name''s not Al! He was called The Almighty! I just got tired of calling him that, so one day he told me I could just call him Al," Jun Huang said a little sheepishly, "Anyway, you shouldn''t make fun of him! You''re very lucky to be alive right now! The last time on of my masters touched this book, lightening struck them from the sky and they died on the spot!"


    After shouting this all out in a rage, Jun Huang stopped and looked at Ying Yue as though he just thought of something. That''s right, anyone who would touch this book without Al''s permission would receive divine retribution and be struck by lighting, so how come Ying Yue wasn''t? And how was he now able to hold it now? Just what was going on?


    Then, a voice as soft and smooth as a babbling brook, yet as loud and ferocious as roaring thunder could be heard. It was as if the voice was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Upon hearing this voice, Jun Huang started to tear up. Just how long has it been since he last heard this voice?


    "At long last, I have finally found someone worthy of receiving my inheritance. Today marks the day that you set out on your journey to become an immortal practitioner and rise above all. I now leave my journal to you, as it contains all my research throughout my many years. You must continue on my legacy, and unite the realms. Do not disappoint me."


    And with that, the voice left as suddenly as it came, as though it never arrived in the first place. No matter how loud Jun Huang yelled for his first master to say something again, no matter how many questions or complaints Ying Yue shouted, the voice did not return.


    When Jun Huang and Ying Yue had finally worn themselves out from shouting, they both plopped down on the floor of the library, at a loss for words. This was simply too much, wasn''t it? Just come, throw the fate of all the realms on our shoulders, and then leave. Who does that?


    The two sat in silence for a while, Ying Yue cursing the voice in her heart for giving her such an impossible task, and Jun Huang crying, reminiscing about the past. He thought about the time when his master first brought him into the world with a small flame at the snap of his fingers. Finally, Ying Yue could stand the silence no longer, and so she spoke.


    "What happens now?"


    Coming out of his memories, Jun Huang answered Ying Yue.


    "Honestly , I''m not sure. However, one thing is for certain, and that is that you are now The Almighty''s chosen successor, and as such you must complete the mission he left you. Now, the best thing to do would be to work to raise your strength."


    After saying this, Jun Huang placed the journal open between the two of them so they could both look over it at the same time. The page it was turned open to was the page Ying Yue had been attempting to read previously, and so they both started reading about the void cultivation technique.


    "I have spent several months now, but I have finally created the perfect technique for cultivating my void attribute," the journal read, "One must first completely empty one''s mind of all thoughts. Your head must be entirely clear. Next, you must expand your senses to the limit, and then even once you''ve reached your limit, keep expanding. In doing so, you should start to be able to feel the invisible spaces within the universe, the ones were all matter is destroyed down into basic qi. This is the qi you must absorb in order to cultivate your void attribute.


    Before, it has been thought that one should simply absorb the qi in the air around you, as air was thought to define the void. To define nothing. But then, what use is the wind attribute? Do they also not absorb qi from the air? Are we then to believe that void and wind attributes are one in the same? No!


    To truly understand the void, one must understand the profound nothingness that exists all around us. Once you truly grasp this, then can you consider yourself to be a void practitioner."


    When the two of them had finished reading this page, they both looked at each other and made eye-contact. It was as though something clicked in Ying Yue''s mind, and she could see Jun Huang coming to the same realization.


    Seeming to come to a silent understanding, Ying Yue walked some distance away to start trying to feel for the invisible spaces around her, while Jun Huang picked up the journal and continued reading.

 15 Chapter 15: The Void

    As Ying Yue emptied her mind and focused on feeling her surroundings, she started to feel strange.


    First, it was though her limbs had simply fallen asleep, that annoying tingling feeling you get when you''ve been in one position for too long. Then, this feeling faded away, replaced by a different feeling, or rather, a lack of feeling. It was as though there was nothing. All she could feel was the air around her. It reminded her of a senses deprivation tank that she got the experience in her original life.


    Finally, the strangest feeling of all. It was as though she was everywhere. Like she existed in every speck of dust, every fleck of dirt, and every grain of sand. But at the same time, she still was not. Like being something and the exact opposite all at once. A living contradiction.


    And then Ying Yue started seeing things, but not. She was not seeing with her eyes, but instead witnessing with her soul. All around her where different pocket dimensions, some spilling over into others, and all in different states of disarray. Ying Yue could feel that everything within these spaces was made up of dense qi. If she could absorb all the qi from within just one of these ''voids,'' she could probably advance to be a martial king as easily as drinking water.


    Ying Yue decided on one of the smaller looking voids to start out with, and started drawing the energy into her body. It was a very strange sensation, like her body was desperately thirsty, and she had finally taken a sip of water. She could feel the energy flowing through her meridians where it slowly settled in her dantian.


    All the while that this was happening, Jun Huang was starring and Ying Yue completely shocked. As The Almighty''s chosen successor, it goes without saying that she should be talented, but wasn''t this a little ridiculous? He watched on as she broke through rank after rank, as though it was nothing.


    Low level martial practitioner, medium level, high level. Between each level, the cloud of dense energy above her grew larger and larger. Low level martial king, medium level, high level. Between each advancement, a loud booming sound followed, like thunder reverberating through space. Finally, her advancements slowed, finally settling on low level marital lord.


    Jun Huang could not believe what he just witnessed. Five days! She accomplished what many cultivators would take up to ten years to accomplish in just five days! Just where did this she devil come from to advance so quickly?


    Ying Yue was quite shocked as well. Not because she was aware of how long she had been cultivating, but because she couldn''t stop. She absorbed all the energy in the small void she had chosen, and once she was done she tried to come out of her meditative state, but she couldn''t. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn''t stop absorbing energy. It was like her body was still hungry, and wouldn''t stop until it was full. She managed to completely absorb two of the smaller voids, before she felt she could tear herself away. It was a scary experience.


    While Ying Yue did want to grow in strength, she had heard stories of people absorbing too much qi to quickly, their bodies not being able to keep up, and their bodies subsequently exploding, their souls being scattered, never to reincarnate. She was afraid this would happen to her. Thankfully, however, her body now felt very full, and so she was able to stop. She worried if this happened every time she cultivated, she may lose herself in the process. This was certainly something she would have to look into.


    Ying Yue opened her eyes and looked at Jun Huang.


    The dazed little phoenix was still staring at her, like she was some kind extinct creature that had suddenly been discovered once again. This confused Ying Yue. Just why was he staring at her like that?


    "Um, Jun Huang? Are you ok?" Ying Yue asked slowly


    "Are you aware of how much time has past?" Jun Huang asked, seeing as how Ying Yue didn''t seem to comprehend her own monstrous abilities.


    "Not really. You told me that time in her passes faster than in the real world, so I wasn''t really worried about how much time I spend cultivating. Considering how far I''ve advanced, I should have spent at least a couple years in here, right?" Ying Yue said, a little perplexed


    Jun Huang let out a little choked sound.


    "It''s been five days."


    Ying Yue was thoroughly stunned. Five days? Like, five days outside the Boundless Spirit Pantheon? Wouldn''t that becouple months in here? That''s quicker than she was expecting.


    Seeing that Ying Yue still didn''t quite grasp what he was saying, Jun Huang clarified.


    "Five days inside the pantheon."


    Ying Yue practically fell over when she heard this. Just what kind of nonsense was this?! Five days! Wasn''t this simply too much? Who ever heard of someone advancing from nothing to low level martial lord in five days?! If news of this were to reach the outside world, there''s no imagining the kind of sensation it would cause! Even in nations were great talents are abundant, this kind of speed is unheard of!


    Ying Yue decided she must keep all of what had happened over the past week within the Boundless Spirit Pantheon to herself at all costs. If anyone where to find out, there''s no telling how many people would want to come and snatch her up for their own uses.


    "Master, are you ok?" Jun Huang was worried. Watching Ying Yue''s face go pale and her almost fall over from shock, Jun Huang was worried.


    "I''m fine," Ying Yue said, reeling her breathing back under control. "Just a little startled is all. I never imagined I''d be able to advance that quickly. It''s a little concerning."


    Seeing his master so worried, Jun Huang decided to cheer her up.


    "It is definitely out of the ordinary, but surly this is a good thing. Now, you''ll have no problem seeking revenge against those who mistreated you."


    Hearing this, Ying Yue almost slapped herself. That''s right! She got so caught up in cultivating, she almost forgot her reason for doing so in the first place. Wasn''t this all so that she could take revenge for the original Ying Yue and live freely?


    Reorienting her mind into the correct mind set, Ying Yue thanked Jun Huang, planting a big sloppy kiss on his forehead, exiting the Boundless Spirit Pantheon and leaving a completely stunned Jun Huang behind.

 16 Chapter 16: Contest 1

    When Ying Yue came out of the Boundless Spirit Pantheon, only about ten minutes of real time had past outside. Zhu Xinya had yet to come back from doing the few things that Ying Yue had set her off to do, and so Ying Yue sat down on her bed and started planning.


    In order to take revenge for the original Ying Yue, there were many things that needed to happen. Firstly, Jiu Niu, Yao Xiuying, and Crown Prince Fu Longwei would all have to die. Second, she would have to clear her name as being a useless good-for-nothing. Lastly, she would have to discover more about her maternal family. Since these were all important things that the previous Ying Yue did not manage to do, she felt the need to do them for her. Plus, non that she was the one inhabiting this body, the completion of these tasks would benefit her as well.


    Ying Yue decided that the best course of action now would be for her to wait. She didn''t want to go flaunting her newly attained strength right away, and knowing Yao Xiuying''s personality, it wouldn''t be to long before she attempted something again. And at that moment would be her time to strike.


    Ying Yue was correct, as it would not be too long after that their would be an upheaval in the Jiang residence.


    ~? ~? ~? ~?~

 17 Chapter 17: Contest 2

    Ying Yue sat in the carriage, staring out the window at the scenery passing by.


    The carriage she was in was old and falling apart, and a such the ride was bumpy, making it seem as though the outside world would bounce up and down as Ying Yue stared out. Ying Yue watched as she saw numerous shops and inns all along the road. The road was full of many carriages, all on their way to the castle to participate in the contest. It goes without saying that Ying Yue''s was by far the worst carriage on the road, as all the families participating were of high status, and thus wealthy enough to be able to furnish their carriages extravagantly.


    As Ying Yue continued to look outher window, she could see faces of disgust, pity, and envy when looking at her. This was fine with her, as soon all these people would find that they had been entirely wrong about her. She made sure to make eye contact with each and every person as they passed, memorizing their faces for later.


    Things thus far on their trip to the palace had gone smoothly, at least much smoother than Ying Yue had expected it to go, and she was almost ready to count herself lucky until they arrived at the palace gates.


    All the carriages were being inspected upon arrival, and so when Ying Yue''s carriage pulled up to the gates, they were stopped by security, just as all the carriages before them had been as well. However, after the guard took one glance at who was inside the carriage, he told them they were not welcome, and that they should turn around. This left Ying Yue feeling rather miffed. Wasn''t the whole point of this farce to attempt to kill her? So, who told this idiot to not let her enter? Her participation was made mandatory by the Emperor for goodness sake!


    Ying Yue stepped out of the carriage and on to the street, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at the guard who was impeding their entry.


    "The only way I''ll be moving from this spot is if it''s to enter the palace gates. So, I highly recommend you go and check with your superiors to make sure I really am not allowed to enter, especially seeing as how there is quite a line forming behind me, and I doubt you can afford to piss off all the noble families in the kingdom." Ying Yue said, as she promptly sat herself down on the ground in front of the entrance.


    The guard thought that this was ridiculous. Wasn''t the whole point of this competition to replace this talentless girl? Why would they let her compete then. Even though the guard hadn''t been told to keep her out, he thought this to be something that just didn''t need to be said. As such, upon hearing Ying Yue''s words and seeing her actions, the guard felt angry. Did this brat still think she could use the title as the crown prince''s fiance to scare people and boss them about? She was a nobody, and as such he didn''t have to listen to a word she had to say, or show her even the tiniest bit of respect, and so he decided he would toss her out.


    If this poor guard had simply been a little brighter, and a little bit better at reading the situation, he may have been able to avoid the calamity that was to follow. Alas, this fellow was all brawn and no brain, and this would cost him dearly.


    ~? ~? ~? ~?~

 18 Chapter 18: Contest 3

    When they arrived at the entrance the scene that was before them was a mixture of shocking and comical.


    Ying Yue was seated in the middle of the pathway into the palace with her arms and legs crossed. Behind her was a line of carriages and angry upper-class citizens. What was most shocking of all, however, was Zhu Xinya, who was currently yelling a stream of explicits at the guard who was currently preventing them from entering.


    "Who the hell do you think you are? Do you have any idea what is going on here? This is Ying Yue. Jiang Ying Yue. The fiance of Crown Prince Fu Longwei, and as such is required by the Emperor to attend today''s competition. Are you saying that you are somehow above the Emperor, and thus have the right to keep her from entering? You think we even want fucking to be here? Get your head out of your ass and join us in the real world. If we don''t go in, we die, but if we do go in, we die anyway, so if you think you can frighten us with your dumb ass little sword as a low-level martial practitioner, you''ve got another thing coming. The only thing mildly frightening about you is your obvious lack of hygiene.


    I mean. seriously, do you even bathe? You smell like a whore, and a cheap one at that. Can you even satisfy a woman with your obvious lack of dick? I mean, what kind of man picks on little girls unless he''s trying to make up for lacking elsewhere, right?


    Have you no shame? Because of you, all the nobles in the city are wasting there time waiting for the line to start moving again. Do you get some kind of sick satisfaction out of making all this nobles wait? Is that your deal, huh, you sick bastard. You getting off on making all the pretty ladies wait? You think they''ll show you gratitude later for making them waste there time, like you did them some huge favor by delaying us, and so maybe they''ll life their skirts for you?


    We don''t have to put up with this kind of treatment from anyone, especially not a bastard like you, who is only good as cannon fodder. Today, you will let us enter, and if you think for even a second that I won''t kick my foot so far up your ass you''ll feel my toes in your throat, then you''ve got another thing coming! Now, move!"


    Zhu Xinya had pretty much given up on living past today, and so said everything that was on her mind. She let out all her frustrations on the guard in the form of verbal abuse, wanting nothing more than to smack everyone involved in the events that led up to them being in this situation.


    The Emperor didn''t know whether to laugh or cry when he saw this. For one, he was angry because this guard was defying his orders (he conventionally forgot that he did not specifically clarify that Ying Yue must be in attendance with the royal guards). Second, he was angry because a maid was yelling at one of his guards, but he was even more mad because she was right. Lastly, he found the whole situation ridiculous because Zhu Xinya was at least a head shorter than the guard, and yet was still mildly frightening. He decided that he would take hold of the situation, before the enraged maid before him decided to get physical with his guard and cause an even bigger scene.


    He quickly turned to the guard who, at this point, was so red from embarrassment anger at what Zhu Xinya said, that he looked like tick stuffed full with blood and ready to pop, and started yelling.


    "Who gave you permission to stop Ms Ying Yue from entering? What right to you have to stall the selection of concubines and consorts for Our son?! Do you think you are above Us and have the right to impede people We especially required participation from? Do you not see the commotion you have caused and the mess you have created for Us? Men, come and take away this fool who dares to get in Our Way!" The Emperor roared, as he tried to salvage the situation. He new that if he didn''t act quickly and punish this ignorant man, he would lose more face than he already had in front of all the powerful and noble families of the kingdom.


    The guard was absolutely petrified. Not only had this little maid painted him out to be some kind of perverted man with a strange fetish for making people wait, but now even the Emperor was angry and punishing him. He just didn''t understand what he did wrong. Wasn''t this girl worthless, so why did it seem that the Emperor was protecting her?


    Of course, this guard was very dense, so he didn''t realize the Emperor didn''t want to protect her, quite the contrary, however now was the wrong place and time to do anything about that, as there were too many people around, and he had to uphold his reputation.


    After the man was dragged away, the Emperor turned to the line of angry nobles and rich merchants lined up in front of him, putting on his most amicable smile. "We would like to apologize for the disturbance this guard has caused you all. It would appear Our message was not passed down properly that all eligible females are required to participate, including Ms Ying Yue. We will be reeducating out subordinates as soon as the competition is over."


    Although the Emperor really hated to have to apologize to these people, he still needed to maintain good relationships with them, as he needed their money and support in order to keep control of the kingdom.


    Ying Yue simply watched all of these events seated on the ground with her arms crossed, as if she had nothing to do with the entire incident. The way she saw it, these people were simply putting on a show for her, and she had much more important things to worry about, as she knew there was no way the the Crown Prince and Yao Xiuying would let her survive today if they could help it. She didn''t worry about being blocked from entering, as she knew that as soon as her absence was noticed, those who wanted her dead would come looking for her.


    The whole time that Ying Yue was seated on the ground, Jiu Niu was watching her closely. She couldn''t help but feel that something would go wrong today, and that Ying Yue would be the cause of this.


    When Ying Yue stood up to enter, she noticed Jiu Niu staring at her. Seeing the worry she was trying to hide, Ying Yue smirked internally. Really, this woman''s sense of danger was good, to bad she was stupid. Ying Yue decided she would play with Jiu Niu a little bit, and so as she passed by her, she made sure to make eye-contact with Jiu Niu, and winked.


    This sent alarm bells ringing in Jiu Niu''s head. She didn''t know why, but she suddenly got the premonition that something very terrible was going to happen to her and her daughter, as if they had unknowingly provoked a mighty dragon. While Jiu Niu kept telling herself that it was beyond impossible, something deep within her was screaming that Ying Yue was this dragon.


    Jiu Niu broke out in a cold sweat, as the line started moving again, and they all entered the palace.

 19 Chapter 19: Contest 4

    When Ying Yue enterd the competition arena in the palace, she looked around surveying the area.


    The place reminded her of her of coliseums she had seen that were constructed by civilizations long gone in her previous world. There, they would host mighty battles between man and beast, which would be attended and watched by the upper members and nobility of society as entertainment,


    It was shaped like a large oval, with seats surrounding the perimeter. To save space, and to allow everyone a good view, the seats got higher and higher the farther away from the action you were, so that everyone could see. At what Ying Yue assumed was the ''front'' of the oval was a box with much more lavish seats and refreshments. In this box sat the Emperor and Empress, along with Crown Prince Fu Longwei and Yao Xiuying. In the seats directly below the box sat General Won Jiang and Jiu Niu.


    As Ying Yue continues to look around, a palace maid comes over to her and leads her over to were the contestants will sit, with Zhu Xinya following behind her.


    When Ying Yue was finally seated, she started looking at those around her.


    As no surprise to her, she was sat with the poorest and least likely to to well in the competition. Those from families who just barely qualified to send their daughters to compete. Everyone around her were looking at her with either sympathy of haughtiness, as all those from the lesser families either felt bad for her luck, or felt good to finally be able to look down on someone insteadof be looked down on. Of course, Ying Yue did not care about their gazes, as instead she was looking at those that were seated closest to Yao Xiuying.


    There were many girls that were currently fawning over Yao Xiuying, all of them dressed up like a bunch of pompous peacocks, trying to show off their best ''assets.'' Many of the girls were wearing ridiculous amounts of hair accessories and fun silks, in hopes of drawing the attention of the prince. Of course, not a single one of them would dare to look better than Yao Xiuying, as everyone pretty much already assumed that she would be selected as the main wife, and thus none of the girls competing wanted to anger her.


    While Ying Yue was watching them, and wondering how in the world the expected to fight wearing all that nonsense, she noticed one girl who seemed to be out of place amongst all the girls by Yao Xiuying. This girl seemed to be slightly poorer than the rest, as the fabrics and gems she was wearing were less and of lower quality. However, from looking at the way she carried herself, Ying Yue could tell that this girl carried a good amount of strength. Ying Yue wouldn''t be surprised if she was already a martial king. Seeing the glances that she would occasionally exchange with Yao Xiuying, Ying Yue determined that this was probably the girl that they paid to kill her.


    Ying Yue smiled when she thought of how she would blow these people''s minds.


    Zhu Xinya, when seeing Ying Yue smile, got a little worried. She knew that her mistress and herself would more than likely not survive today, so she had expect Ying Yue to be distressed, or a least a little sad. And yet, here she was smiling. Just what was going on in that head of hers?


    Just as Zhu Xinya was about to ask Ying Yue what she was thinking about, the booming voice of the Emperor was heard.


    "Hello and welcome everyone to today''s event. We are very pleased to see you all here today, and that you could make it out to today''s competition. As We are sure you are all aware, today''s competition will be to chose consorts and concubines for Prince Fu Longwei''s harem.


    We shall select a total of seven girls, as Our son is still young and can chose more later once he has inherited Our throne when We retire.


    We shall be choosing two mid concubines, two high concubines, and two consorts, whom shall be named Consort Peace and Consort Prosperity. Lastly, the title of Crown Princess Consort is currently held by Ms Jiang Ying Yue. Of course, this title can be taken from her, should any lucky lady be able to beat her in today''s contest."


    When the Emperor said this, all this eyes of the girls competing turned to look at Ying Yue as though she was some fat slab of meat, and they starving wolves.


    "The rules for the contest We have created are simple. There shall be no outside help given to the girls participating once the contest begins. If any girl is caught receiving outside help, she will immediately be disqualified and dismissed from the palace grounds.


    Contracted Spirit Beasts are allowed, but only if both participants dueling have them.


    Healing potions and pills are allowed, however strength enhancing potions and pills are not, as We wish to test the strength that the girls have without receiving a temporary boost from such items.


    Lastly, the matches between each contestant shall not end until one side yields or is knocked out of the marked ring on the field.


    We do not wish to see any of the competing ladies die, however, as this is a contest of martial abilities, injuries are to be expecting. We ask each girl to know their own limits, and yield should they face an opponent she can not beat."


    When Yao Xiuying heard this, she smirked. She had already discussed with the girl bribed to kill Ying Yue that the first thing she was to do is cripple Ying Yue''s vocal chords, that way there would be no way for Ying Yue to yield, and thus she could be killed and no one would complain, since she didn''t know her own limits.


    With that, the Emperor said "It is now with great pleasure that We announce the contest shall begin!"


    Ying Yue smiled as she looked at Yao Xiuying''s excited face.


    This was about to get fun.

 20 Chapter 20: Contest 5

    The first two girls called to compete against one another where from two noble families. Both girls were evenly matched in strength. One was had an earth affinity, while the other had water. It was a very interesting battle to watch, and Ying Yue quite enjoyed it.


    Ying Yue was very excited to watch all the battles.


    Even though she was a bounty hunter in her past life, and thus very good at fighting bare handed, as well as with a plethora of other weapons, Ying Yue couldn''t say that say that she was super confident in her abilities using spirit powers.


    Although she was currently the most powerful girl competing in terms of martial rank, she had no real battle experience implementing her powers. Watching other girls compete gave Ying Yue some much needed insight, and so she was glad that she wasn''t called to go first.


    While there was a lot that Ying Yue learned from reading The Almighty''s journal, seeing spirit powers used in reality and not just in theory gave her a better understanding than she already had.


    Much to Ying Yue''s disappointment, the battle between the two girls finally ended, with the girl who had the water affinity winning. Ying Yue found her final move really inventive, because she soaked all the earth that the other girl was using in water, wrenching her earth away from her, and then finally encasing the girl''s head in water so she couldn''t breathe and passed out. This made Ying Yue realize that the elements had much more uses than what she thought they were confined to. Ying Yue got very excited, as she wanted to test the limits of each element''s control and see how they interacted with each other. Of course, Ying Yue knew that this would have to wait for later, as she currently had to focus on the competition, and that''s not even mentioning that the only attribute she had cultivated with so far was void.


    When Ying Yue was thinking of this, it dawned on her that she would have to fight with the void attribute, as it was the only element she currently had. Even though she had an affinity with much of the other elements, she had not cultivated with any of them yet, and so it would be very risky for her to try to use them in battle. Ying Yue berated herself. How could she have been so stupid? Even though she now had the highest martial rank, she couldn''t use elements in battle.


    Sure, she could just chuck her opponent into the void and call it a win, but that would give her away.Based upon her father''s lineage, she should only have the options of wielding fire and maybe lightening. She couldn''t just go around letting people know she aligned with so many different attributes, as that would simply bring too much unwanted attention. Added on to the fact that the void attribute was considered simply a legend in this country, Ying Yue had put herself in quite the tight spot.


    Ying Yue spent so long lost in her own thoughts trying to come up with a solution that many rounds of the contest passed. She was so lost in thoughts, that she didn''t even notice when her own name was called.


    "Ying Yue? Ying Yue!" Zhu Xinya yelled, shaking Ying Yue out of her thoughts. When Zhu Xinya saw Ying Yue in a daze, she took it as her mistress being afraid and overwhelmed.


    "What?" Ying Yue said, looking at Zhu Xinya.


    "They have called your name six times now. You need to head down and fight."


    "Ah." Ying Yue finally snapped out of it, and looked around to see everyone looking at her with pity. Ying Yue wanted to laugh at them. Pity me? Well actually, maybe pity me. Ying Yue still hadn''t come up with a solution after all her thinking! Even though she was the most powerful one here, she had no way to show it. Plus, now it was time for her to go fight! Ying Yue couldn''t help but sigh. Looks like she was just going to have to rely on brute strength and the martial arts she knew from her past life.


    As Ying Yue walked down to the battle grounds, Yao Xiuying watched on in glee. It was finally happening! That bitch was finally going to die, and then the crown prince would be all hers!


    While Yao Xiuying was thinking of this, should couldn''t help but to look over at Fu Longwie. Seeing him sitting beside her, Yao Xiuying''s smile grew even bigger. ''This is how it should be,'' she thought. With everyone fawning on her, and the Crown Prince at her side, Yao Xiuying was content, and felt that today was the day things would finally go her way.


    Jiu Niu, on the other hand, was a bundle of nerves watching Ying Yue descend to the arena. She just couldn''t figure out why she felt like something was going to go wrong. When Ying Yue winked at her earlier, it was as though a heavy weight was placed upon her lungs, and she felt it was hard to breathe. She just couldn''t fathom what had changed about Ying Yue, but she new that every fiber in her was screaming that Ying Yue was dangerous. She could only hope that her feelings were wrong, and that everything would go as planned.


    When Ying Yue stepped on to the arena floor, her opponent introduced herself.


    "Hi, I''m Fa Laun. I hope you don''t mind dying today, because that''s what''s going to happen." Fa Laun said this with a smile, just quite enough to where only herself and Ying Yue would be able to hear what she said.


    "Of course," replied Ying Yue, "And naturally the same goes for you. When you die, don''t come complaining to me."


    Once Ying Yue finished speaking, Fu Laun laughed. "Sure. If that happens, I won''t have any complaints."


    Ying Yue smiled. "I hope you don''t regret those words."


    With that, a gong sounded, signifying it was time for the girls to start their match.

 21 Chapter 21: Contest 6

    Fu Laun was the first to strike, hoping to quickly crush Ying Yue''s vocal chords, that way she would not be able to forfeit later. She ran straight at Ying Yue, reaching out her hand in an attempt to grab her neck.


    Fu Laun was hoping to win this fight without revealing her elemental affinity. Although she was promised to marry a prince anyway, who wouldn''t want to marry the crown prince? As such, she didn''t want any of the other girls who had won so far to know her elemental affinity, so they couldn''t strategize against her for later matches. It would be great if she could make it into the final seven, and become one of Fu Longwie''s wives.


    Of course, Ying Yue was expecting this, and so she simply side-stepped Fu Laun''s attack.


    Fu Luan was rather surprised to see Ying Yue dodge her attack. Wasn''t this girl supposed to be completely useless? With her level of power, she should simply be able to flick this girl and she''d run away crying, so how was it that she couldn''t even touch her.


    Fu Luan tried over and over again to hit Ying Yue, but it seemed as though Ying Yue was coated in oil or something. Every time she got close enough to where she thought she would be able to grab her, Ying Yue slipped right in between her clutches. This girl was more frustrating to catch than an eel!


    Watching the match happening, many people started to get excited. Before this match was started, it was pretty much already decided who would be the winner. After all, in a match of someone who can''t cultivate and someone who can, the person who can cultivate always turns out being the winner. However, right now, this appeared to not be the case. Although neither side had an advantage, neither did either side have a disadvantage. As such, many people started to get excited. Who wouldn''t want to see the underdog accomplish some heaven-defying feat and win?


    Of course, while some people where excited, others were worried.


    Yao Xiuying and the Crown Prince were both frustrated and worried.


    "Just what is Fu Luan doing?" Yao Xiuying asked. "I thought you said that you bribed her family, and so she would kill Ying Yue. Why is it that she isn''t even touching her?"


    "I don''t know. It doesn''t make any sense to me." Fu Longwie really didn''t know what was going on. By logic, Ying Yue should be dead by now, and yet she was dancing around Fu Luan on stage, not once taking a hit. It was like Ying Yue was suddenly a ray of light, always visible but not able to be grasped. It was very frustrating. Fu Longwie almost wondered if someone else bribed Fu Luan''s family with an even better offer to let Ying Yue win, but that didn''t seem likely. After all, who could make a better offer than an engagement to a member of the royal family?


    The most conflicted person watching Ying Yue''s battle, of course, was General Jiang Won. Watching Ying Yue fight reminded him so much of his wife. Seeing the determination in her eyes was like looking into the eyes of his wife when he first found her.


    Not many people knew this, but Won Jiang had found Yu Yuhan half dead lying in a pit. He had been young at the time that he found her, and even though she was badly beaten, she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. When he climbed down in the pit to see if she was still alive, she looked up at him, and the steely look of determination to live within her eyes nearly took his breath away. It was like she would kill even the god of death himself if it meant she could live on.


    From that moment on, Jiang Won knew she was the woman for him.


    He took her home to his family, where she recuperated. When Yu Yuhan was fully healed, she wanted to repay Jiang Won for his kindness, and so when war broke out at the kingdom''s border, she followed him into battle to fight. The war was long, lasting 7 years. During that time, Yu Yuhan came to love Jiang Won, and so after the war was won they were wed, and the birth of Ying Yue came not too long after.


    Unfortunately, tragedy struck, and his wife died while in labor with their second child, a son. With Ying Yue being unable to cultivate, Jiang Won just couldn''t take it, and so he neglected his child. When he learned that she was being bullied, he rarely did anything. He hoped that being beaten would toughen up Ying Yue, but also he sorta blamed her for the death of his wife. It was only after Jiu Niu went and told Yu Yuhan that Ying Yue couldn''t cultivate that his wife started having complication in labor, and so he thought hearing the news of their daughter was what caused this. The only time he would ever do anything to help Ying Yue was when she was close to death, as even though he blamed her, he couldn''t stand to see the girl that looked so much like his wife perish.


    Looking at Ying Yue fight now, however, it was like Yu Yuhan was born again, fighting on the battle field.


    Ying Yue was completely unaware of the different myriad of emotions that the crowed around her was experiencing, as she was too focused on the fight at hand. She still hadn''t figured out how she could use her void attribute without being caught. She didn''t know why Fu Luan wasn''t using her elemental ability yet, but she new it wouldn''t be long before she did, and so she didn''t have much time to come up with a plan.


    Ying Yue figured, if she could get close enough to touch her chest, maybe she could open a small void in her chest to swallow Fu Luan''s heart, but then how would she be able to explain why her heart was missing if they checked the body? Maybe she could make it look like she broke Fu Luan''s bones, by opening up a lot of very small voids all throughout her body to swallow small chunks of bone, but that would still require Ying Yue to be able to touch Fu Luan in order to be convincing.


    While Ying Yue was thinking, Fu Luan finally decided to forgo avoiding using her elemental ability. Although she had no clue how Ying Yue was doing it, it was clear that she would not be able to beat Ying Yue at the rate she was going. It was at that moment that Fu Luan started to gather energy into her hand and force it to take the shape she wanted. In a moment, Fu Luan was clutching a whip formed from wind in her hand.


    When Ying Yue realized what was happening, the whip was already coming for her face.


    "Shit!" Ying Yue cried, as all the crowed could see was a cloud of dust form where Ying Yue was standing.

 22 Chapter 22: Contest 7

    Fu Luan stood where she had been, using the wind to blow away the dust she stirred up with that last attack.


    When she looked around, she couldn''t see Ying Yue anywhere. It was like she vanished. There was a pit in the ground where her whip had struck, but besides that nothing. No blood. No body. There was not a trace that Ying Yue had even been standing there prior to her attack. Fu Luan had no clue what was going on.


    Ying Yue had no clue what was going on either.


    When she saw that whip coming for her, she panicked, and almost as if by instinct, she leapt into one of the voids. She was currently in the void. For what felt like an eternity, Ying Yue just floated about the void. It was strange, but Ying Yue didn''t dislike it. Of course, she would have more time to explore this later, as right now she needed to get out of the void. She had no clue how much time had passed outside of the void, but she did know she could feel her body starting to be converted into energy, as what happens to all things that enter the void. It was happening very slowly, but it was still enough to freak out Ying Yue.


    Ying Yue wasn''t really sure how she had entered the void in the first place, so she started reaching out, hoping against logic that she could grab the void and tear back into reality. To her surprise, and relief, she managed to grab the void and open a hole, stepping out. What she found most shocking, however, was that she was now conveniently placed behind Fu Luan.


    She watched as Fu Luan cleared the dust from the air, clearing up so that she could see. She had to stifle a laugh, not wanting to let Fu Luan know she was behind her.


    The audience was the most confused of all. One moment, it looked like Ying Yue was going to be cleaved in two by Fu Luan''s whip, and yet the moment the dust cleared, Ying Yue was standing behind Fu Luan, completely unharmed.


    Ying Yue knew she would only have a moment before Fu Luan turned around to look for her, so she moved as fast as she could, shocking everyone watching.


    The crowd was stunned, as they watched Ying Yue swiftly kick Fu Luan with all her might, knocking her out of the designated battle area. Fu Luan didn''t even know what happened. One moment, it looked like her victory was assured, but then in the next moment she was sent flying. It made no sense. She was supposed to win this fight with no effort. Having her go up against Ying Yue was practically handing her a free pass to move on to the next round, and yet she lost? What was this nonsense!


    The most stunned people, however, where Crown Prince Fu Longwie and Yao Xiuying.


    Just what the hell happened?!


    When did Ying Yue become so fast and strong? She couldn''t even cultivate, so what was with this out come?!


    It was absolutely silent in the arena, as no one could believe what they first witnessed.


    Ying Yue stood in the middle of the arena, looking at all the flabbergasted face of those in attendance. As she was looking around, she made eye-contacted with Jiu Niu, who was absolutely petrified. When Ying Yue saw Jiu Niu, she couldn;t help but be mischievous, and once again winked at her. When Jiu Niu saw this, she directly fainted, making Jiang Won have to act quickly in order to prevent her from falling and hitting her head on the ground.


    The first person to finally break the silence was Zhu Xinya.


    "HOLY SHIT YING YUE!" She cried, as she ran down into the arena floor and scooped Ying Yue up into a bear hug. "Just what the fuck was that!? I thought you where gonna die but you just kicked major ass." Zhu Xinya was practically bursting with excitement and pride as she hugged Ying Yue. Of course, it didn''t take long for Zhu Xinya to realize that she had total just broken the master-servant rules of touching her master without permission, and so she promptly put Ying Yue down, blushing profusely.


    Seeing Zhu Xinya''s antics made Ying Yue smile. This little girl was certainly coming out of her shell more and more, and Ying Yue loved it.


    "There''s no need to worry Zhu-Zhu," Ying Yue said, as she hugged Zhu Xinya, "I had a fortuitous encounter, and I can now cultivate, so there''s no need to worry. Now, I''m super tough, so beating someone like her is no problem." Ying Yue said this quietly, so that only herself and Zhu Xinya could hear it. She wanted to hide it for longer, but seeing how her battle just went, she figured she would have to explain herself at some point.


    The Emperor finally came out of his shock at the result of the match, and stood up to speak.


    "Ying Yue, might We ask what just happened. How was it that you were able to defeat Fu Luan? As you know, using outside help us against the rules, and results in immediate disqualification, so We hope that you will be honest with Us." The Emperor could only explain to himself how this happened was if Ying Yue somehow received help from someone else. Of course, he couldn''t quite believe this either, as who would be willing to help Ying Yue, but it was the only explanation he could come up with.


    "Well, you see, a while back something really good happened to me, and now I can cultivate." Ying Yue said, trying to brush it off as nothing, in hopes that the Emperor wouldn''t want to test her abilities. If he discovered all her different attributes, there''s no telling what he might do. Forget about forcing her to marry Fu Longwie, he might even drag her into his harem for himself. Thinking of this, Ying Yue couldn''t help but want to gag. The thought of having to share a bed with that man that was old enough to be her father was disgusting.


    When Ying Yue said this, Jiu Niu was finally coming around. However, upon hearing Ying Yue''s words, she promptly fainted again. Unfortunately for Jiu Niu, Jiang Won was too shocked by his daughter''s words to bother catching his wife, and as such her head hit the floor with a loud (and satisfying) thump.


    No one bothered with checking on Jiu Niu, as the Emperor and everyone else were simple to shocked to pay any attention to her. This was especially true for Yao Xiuying. Even though it was her own mother who had hit her head and was injured, she didn''t pay any attention, as now all her focus was on how Fu Longwie would react.

 23 Chapter 23: Contest 8

    Fu Longwie was stunned.


    Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought that Ying Yue could cultivate. Didn''t this mean that he didn''t have to kill her? Even if her talent was trash, and therefor couldn''t be his Crown Princess, she was still breathtakingly beautiful. Fu Longwie would be very happy if he could have her as part of his harem.


    As Yao Xiuying watched the expressions flashing across Fu Lonwie''s face, hate started to bubble in her heart. She could seehis eyes go from confusion, to shock, to hope, to lust, and knew that with Ying Yue now being able to cultivate, there would be nothing stopping him from getting her in his harem. Even though Yao Xiuying was beautiful, it was without a doubt that Ying Yue was the number one beauty in the kingdom, and so as such Yao Xiuying''s hate for Ying Yue burnt anew within her.


    Why did that bitch have to ruin everything? Even though she was prettier than her, it didn''t matter before because no matter how beautiful a woman was, no man would take her as the first wife if she couldn''t cultivate. However, now that Ying Yue could cultivate, didn''t that mean that her spot as the Crown Princess Consort was threatened? Yao Xiuying glared daggers at Ying Yue. If she could kill her with her just the look in her eyes, she would have a thousand times over already.


    The Emperor, however, was suspicious about whether Ying Yue was telling the truth.


    "Is there anyone here who can verify whether or not she can actually cultivate? We want someone to discern her martial level and affinities." The Emperor said, looking out over the crowd of people in attendance.


    When Ying Yue heard him say this, she wanted to march up to the box where he was seated and punch the Emperor in the face. What do you mean ''and affinities''!? Couldn''t he only test her martial level? That would be proof enough that she could cultivate. Why did he have to know her affinities as well? Now, all she could do is hope that there was no one who could test her.


    "I could go and fetch the testing crystal from the royal treasury, Your Highness." Said an eunuch standing beside the Emperor.


    "Very well then, go and get it quickly. We wish to know whether or not she is being truthful."


    If Ying Yue wanted to hurt the Emperor, then she really wanted to hurt this eunuch. Couldn''t he have just kept his mouth shut? How was she supposed to hide all her affinities? Plus, when she was tested earlier in the Boundless Spirit Pantheon, she managed to shatter the crystal. If she did that here, there was no telling how people would react. Although, one thing was for sure, they certainly wouldn''t leave her alone.


    While Ying Yue was frantically trying to think of a solution before the eunuch came back, she heard Jun Huang''s voice in her head.


    "Master, I think I have a solution."


    When Ying Yue heard his voice, she was startled. "How are you talking to me right now?" She asked.


    "Master, did you forget, we''re linked through your soul, of course I''ll always be able to talk to you. Aslong as your soul is intact, we''ll always be able to talk to each other."


    "Ah." Ying Yue said, "I suppose that makes sense. Now, what''s this about a solution? Hurry up and tell me quickly."


    "Master, it''s not something that you have to do, but I can do it. It will take me a little while, but I can temporarily hide your affinities."


    "Fantastic. Hurry up and do it then, it won''t be long before that eunuch gets back."


    "No, not unless you promise me something." Jun Huang said. Ying Yue could practically see him crossing his little arms and turning his but to face her in her mind.


    "What do you mean no? This is no time to negotiate terms! We are dealing with a time sensitive issue here, and you said it would take you a little while to get it done."


    "Not unless you promise to never kiss me again." Ying Yue seriously wanted to roll her eyes. Was that what this was about? The fact that she kissed him on his forehead? If Ying Yue could have at that moment, she could have grabbed Jun Huang and smacked his little bottom. Of course, she was currently not inside the Boundless Spirit Pantheon, and thus could not. As a result, she could only agree to his demand.


    "Alright, I won''t kiss you again. Now, hurry up. There''s not much time." As Ying Yue said this, the eunuch arrived, carrying the testing crystal with him.


    "Your Highness, I have retrieved the crystal."


    "Excellent," the Emperor said, "Ying Yue, come forward now, so that We may test you."


    Ying Yue cursed the Emperor a thousand times in her heart as she walked up the stairs to the box where his seat was, trying to take as long as possible without appearing suspicious. The whole way up, she was asking Jun Huang in her mind if he was finished yet.


    "I''m almost done, don''t worry. This isn''t very easy you know." Jun Huang said from within her soul.


    Once Ying Yue was almost at the top, she started panicking a little.


    "Jun Huang! How much longer!?"


    "Stop yelling at me! I can only work so fast!"


    "I thought you were some amazing all powerful phoenix, and yet you can''t even do this?!"


    "I am an all powerful phoenix! I''d like to see you try doing this! If I could simply hide all your affinities I could just do them all at once, but since I have to leave some I can only hide them one at a time. It''s not my fault you have so many affinities, OK?"


    At this point, Ying Yue and Jun Huang were arguing with each other like a couple of small children. However, since they where the only ones able to hear their conversation, no one else was aware of the argument going on.


    Ying Yue made it to the top and stepped into the box, where the Emperor held out the crystal for her to place her hand on.


    "We ask that you place your hand on the crystal so We can see if you are telling the truth or not." The Emperor said, looking at Ying Yue


    "Alright Jun Huang, it''s now or never. Whatever you''ve done better work" Ying Yue said to Jun Huang, as she reached out her hand and placed it on the testing crystal.