Hou Jingshu had met Retou Meng when she was just nine years old. This was several years before her father had sent her to live with the Wu Clan. Both Retou Meng and Húndàn Wang had become smitten with her during the party where she made her social debut.

She had no interest in either of them. Neither of them saw Hou Jingshu as a person. Húndàn Wang, for all his politeness, was only interested in her appearance. Retou Meng was even worse. All he saw when he looked at her was an object to be obtained. The fact that two people more than ten years her senior were interested in a young nine year old girl also disgusted her.

“Whether you are stronger or weaker than Húndàn Wang means nothing to me. Even if you were the strongest person alive, I would never marry,” Hou Jingshu declared.

Retou Meng’s face burned scarlet. Veins throbbed on his forehead. He clenched his hands so hard that his already pale knuckles turned almost translucent.

“You fucking bitch,” he growled in a low voice. “Do you really think I’ll allow you to speak to me like this? I am trying to show you kindness. Are you going to bite the hand that’s offering you salvation?”

“Salvation? Don’t make me laugh,” Hou Jingshu said, her gaze sharp as knives. “I know very well that you have no interest in helping me, my kingdom, or my father. All you want is to own me. I’m not someone you can possess like some kind of object.”

“You dare talk to me like that?! I’ll teach you a lesson here and now!”

Reng Metou stalked toward her, his stomps leaving imprints in the sand. Hou Jingshu froze as she realized her words might have pushed him too far.

The man before her was at the seventh subrealm of the Asura Realm. That was impressive for someone of his age, especially in the small Shang Kingdom, where cultivation resources were scarce. She would not be able to fight against him.

Her three bodyguards quickly interposed themselves between her and this man. They were not as strong as Retou Meng, but that didn’t mean they would just let him attack their princess.

And yet before the man could take another step, he staggered backward several steps. Hou Jingshu blinked as a loud sound like flesh smacking flesh echoed around them. She wasn’t sure what happened. However, when she studied Retou Meng further, she saw that his left cheek had become quite red and swollen.

“What the… heck?” Retou Meng rubbed his cheek as he looked around like he was trying to find an unknown assailant. Yet there was no one there.

Furrowing his brow, he turned back to Hou Jingshu, took a single step forward, then staggered as another resounding smack echoed around the clearing. Hou Jingshu gawked when she saw that his right cheek was now just as swollen as his left. She raised a hand to giggle. He looked like a squirrel whose cheeks had been stuffed with acorns.

“You! Are you doing this?!” Retou Meng demanded to know.

“How I could be the one doing this?” Hou Jingshu shook her head, trying to hide her smile. “You should be able to sense that I have not activated my chi at all. And I don’t have the power to send invisible attacks from a distance.”

Retou Meng looked like he didn’t believe her. He took another step forward, then screamed in pain as something slammed into his face. It was only for a moment, but Hou Jingshu could have sworn she saw something appear in front of the man and hit him.

Was that… a hand?

“Dammit… who the hell is doing that?!” Retou Meng stood up and wiped his bleeding nose with his sleeve. Then he glared all around him with bloodshot eyes as he screamed. “I don’t know who the hell you are, but you had better come out here, you coward! Stop hiding and face me! Face your death like a man!”

Hou Jingshu looked around. They had drawn a crowd, but no one seemed to know what was happening either. The only interesting person present was the strange cloaked man wearing a mask, but he didn’t seem to be doing anything but standing there.

No one appeared at his words, but something attacked the man’s legs. He screamed in shock as he fell to his knees. He screamed again when something slammed into his face. Whatever had attacked him this time was so strong that he was lifted off the ground, soared through the air, and landed on the dirt.

Hou Jingshu remained stationary as Retou Meng slowly crawled to his feet. He looked weary, head turning this way and that, eyes filled with paranoia. It was like he expected to be attacked again. She didn’t blame him, but she also found the sight of this man laid low amusing.

“It seems you’ve upset someone you shouldn’t have. You should probably leave,” she recommended. Retou Meng glared at her.

“Don’t think this will be the last time you see me. Just wait. I’ll make sure you regret spurning me. This I swear as the future head of the Burning Flame Sect.” Retou Meng wiped the blood from his mouth, turned around, and began to walk off, but he paused and craned his neck to look back at her. “Oh, yeah. Your second brother is currently a guest at my sect. We’re being cordial to him because of his status as your brother, but that might not remain the case for long.”

Hou Jingshu bit her lower lip as the man left. She and her second brothers were not close anymore, but that didn’t mean she didn’t care about him. Her brother might have been arrogant, overbearing, and bullheaded, but she knew that he at least wanted what was best for the Shang Kingdom—unlike Hou Gun.

I can’t do anything about Hou Kun right now. I have to focus on finding a cure for Father.

Before she could get lost in thoughts of saving her father, Hou Jingshu looked around the clearing. Someone had saved her. She would like to know who.

There were several people around them who had been watching the confrontation between her and Retou Meng. Those people were now dispersing. Was one of them the person who had attacked Retou Meng? She didn’t know, but she didn’t think so. Call it instinct, but something was telling her the person who had saved her had already left.

“Your highness,” Zheng Yawen interrupted her musings. “I believe we should be cautious when we enter the White Tiger Sect Ruins.”

“I agree,” said Yin Wuhan with a nod. “Retou Meng is the type of scum who will attack us the moment we give him the opportunity. We need to be careful.”

“You’re both right. I know very well what kind of person he is. He’s not the type to let a slight like this go,” Hou Jingshu agreed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Wu Yong looking in a specific direction with a frown. “Is something wrong?”

“… No, I just thought I saw someone watching us, but it must have been my imagination,” Wu Yong said, turning away from whatever he’d been staring at.

Hou Jingshu looked in the direction he had, but all she saw was the swishing of robes as the crowd dispersed now that the entertainment was over.

***

Wu Jian returned quickly to Huǒ Shuchang. That had been a close call. He was certain he had properly masked his presence, but Wu Yong had very nearly seen him. Hou Jingshu had also been looking around and spotted him. However, she had passed over him. She probably didn’t think a masked man in a cloak would be the one who had helped her.

“Where have you been?” asked Huǒ Shuchang.

“Around.”

“All right. Fine. Don’t tell me. It’s not like I care.” Huǒ Shuchang grunted. “By the way, you gonna keep wearing that mask?”

“For now,” said Wu Jian as he readjusted the mask.

“You know, you look suspicious in that thing, right?”

“Do I really?”

Huǒ Shuchang nodded. “You look like a villain from a play.”

Villains in plays often wore masks, generally ones that looked evil, in order to make them seem fiercer and more villainous. Wu Jian furrowed his brow as he touched the mask. It was just a plain mask with no special markings. He was certain that it didn’t make him look like a villain, though he couldn’t deny that it probably made him look suspicious.

“Are the ruins opening soon?” he changed the subject.

Huǒ Shuchang shook his head. “Not yet, but they should any minute—oh, there it goes. Check it out, Wu! Have you ever seen something so incredible?!”

Wu Jian did not say anything, but he agreed with Huǒ Shuchang that the sight before them was amazing. The tornado was splitting apart like a god had sliced through it with a sword. It was not a wide split, but it was enough to reveal the majestic gateway on the other side. The massive stone construct was unlike anything he had seen before. A pair of gigantic stone tigers acted like columns that held aloft the massive archway. They were fierce and majestic like a pair of silent deities guarding their realm.

Within the gateway was a strange black substance. Wu Jian could not see anything beyond it. What was that? He felt like he was staring at a distortion in space. His cultivation loosened a little, startling him.

Is that strange gate a spatial distortion? I’ve never seen something like it before, but I feel like I’m beginning to understand a little more about the Dao of Space.

“All right, everyone! Do not rush! Do not push! The first people to head in are those from the Heavenly Sword Sect, Supreme Ocean Palace, and Divine Moon Hall!” shouted one of the guards. He belonged to the Mercenary King and must have been at the Human Limit Realm, else no one present would have listened.

Three different groups appeared from within the crowd, each dressed in uniforms.

The people at the front wore red, gold, and black robes. Each person carried a sword. Some had a jian and others had a dao. One person even wielded a pair of dadaos and another had a changdao.

“They belong to the Heavenly Sword Sect,” said Huǒ Shuchang. “Behind them are members of Divine Moon Hall.”

Wu Jian focused on the next group, which wore robes of pure silver that reminded him of moonlight. Most of them were men, but he spotted a few women among the group, and all of them were quite young. They couldn’t have been much older than Huǒ Shuchang. Unlike the members of the Heavenly Sword Sect, these men and women had a variety of different weapons.

“Then I guess the last group belongs to Supreme Ocean Palace,” Wu Jian said.

Huǒ Shuchang nodded. “Yup. That’s them. They’re the weakest of the Three Celestial Sects. Of course, that’s comparing apples to oranges. They’re still one of the three strongest sects on the entire continent.”

The last group was dressed in all blue. Wu Jian needed to blink several times because he thought he was hallucinating, but no, the blue robes would change color every time the group walked. It looked like they were wearing flowing water instead of cloth. He had no idea what that was made of. How did they get it to shimmer like that?

Everyone else was allowed to move after the Three Celestial Sects disappeared into the gate. Wu Jian almost gaped when, like a surging tidal wave, the massive crowd of cultivators began moving.

He quickly raced forward to avoid being shoved. He almost lost sight of Huǒ Shuchang, who was running several chih in front of him.

Gritting his teeth, Wu Jian pumped chi into his legs, enhancing them, and quickly caught up with his companion. They raced forward side by side at the front of this massive group. Only Shā Ying Yue and her vice commander were in front of them.

The gateway loomed closer. He could see now that the black substance was indeed some kind of spatial distortion. It was completely flat, but when Shā Ying Yue and her group disappeared, the surface rippled like a rock being dropped into a pond.

Because everyone was rushing at their backs, Wu Jian had no time to pause and reflect on what he was seeing. He slammed face first into the distortion, passed through it, and came out on the other side.

He immediately stopped and gaped when he saw what lay on the other side.