While Xue Xun Xiang followed behind that woman, he never identified her.
But cultivators had naturally robust memories, and the painting skills he had learned because of Wang Ren Mei came into play.
Wang Ren Mei and Murong Liu instantly realised who the lavishly dressed woman was the moment they laid their eyes on the painting.
Zi Lin!
The herb-gatherer woman that accompanied Sheng Yi.
That was also the woman that had completely humiliated Murong Liu.
Wang Ren Mei and Murong Liu were stunned for a moment, then they started laughing.
They were the cause of their own demise.
And currently, faced with Sheng Yi’s berating and humiliation, Murong Liu didn’t show even a hint of anger in her response.
She just wanted to look at the pain and despair in Sheng Yi’s eyes and face, and then she wanted him to beg, she wanted him to kneel on the ground at her feet and beg her with tears streaking down his face.
Her pride led to her desire to humiliate Sheng Yi tenfold, no, a hundredfold, to the point where he would have to pay for his actions with his own life.
Sheng Yi, on the other hand, had tensed up the moment he had heard the words, ‘herb-gatherer woman’ from Murong Liu’s mouth.
What did she mean?
What’s wrong with Zi Lin?
Sheng Yi was anxious.
He was right, something was definitely wrong!
He finally understood the origin of his uneasiness.
It was Zi Lin!
He had never even seen Zi Lin in his past life, much less brought her back to his residence.
Now, not only was she living in his residence, he had left her alone for the past few days as he was busily investigating the Dragon God Crystals.
Did they do something to Zi Lin?
A few images flashed past Sheng Yi’s mind, he was deep in thought.
And at this moment, Wang Ren Mei took a step forwards, standing next to Murong Liu as she spoke calmly, “Senior duke Sheng, we have a reason and evidence to suspect that the herb-gatherer woman, Zi Lin, is a member of the Blood Spirits. That is why we have requested for you to bring her here for our investigation.”
The duke was silent.
Sheng Yi simply mocked them, “What are you thinking? The tragedy in the valley happened long after I returned to the capital with Zi Lin. You did not witness this yourself, did you, sixth princess?”
The last sentence was meant for Murong Liu.
Wang Ren Mei shook her head, denying him, “While she might not have any direct involvement in the tragedy in the valley, she is definitely related to the Dragon God Crystals.”
Wang Ren Mei slowly raised her palm, opening her fist to reveal the glowing Dragon Seeker Ring within.
And the light was only getting brighter.
Brighter and brighter.
Brighter and brighter?
The crowd looked up, staring behind the duke and Sheng Yi.
As they suspended, a few people were running over.
It was the chamberlain Wan, Zi Lin, and a few retainer experts.
“Zi Lin!” Sheng Yi shouted towards her.
Zi Lin’s face was full of smiles as she pounced into Sheng Yi’s embrace, then, she looked at Wang Ren Mei, Murong Liu and the rest that stood before her. With a frown, she spoke, “You guys? Why are you haunting us like some kind of ghost? Did my brother Yi not make himself clear the last time we spoke?”
She had been upset with her brother Yi for quite a while after meeting the sixth princess at the city entrance, she was angry at him for not telling her about this.
But her brother Yi comforted her for a long time, and even told her to be careful about the wickedness in Murong Liu’s heart and her malicious ways.
Only then did Zi Lin forgive Sheng Yi.
Watching their interaction, Wang Ren Mei and Murong Liu slowly revealed a smile.
Murong Liu naturally thought of this woman as an idiot, stupid to the point where it was cute. Not only did she help her in finding a cause to take down the duke and rally the four great glans to her side, she would also deal a heavy blow to Sheng Yi’s pride.
Wang Ren Mei admired Sheng Yi for his stupidity, not only did he overlook the perfectly fine sixth princess who was engaged to him, he chose to fall in love with a herb-gatherer and cause his own demise.
With the Sky Reaching realm cultivation of duke Sheng, he could naturally sense something strange in Zi Lin’s body. His pupils constricted as he mumbled, “Dragon God’s bloodline?”
While he had neither seen a bloodline nor a dragon before, the mighty aura emanating from Zi Lin’s body was enough to shock him.
It was an ancient aura.
An aura of the emperor of beasts.
It was undoubtedly a powerful bloodline, a bloodline that he hadn’t noticed in her for the past few days.
Duke Sheng instantly became uneasy.
He quickly turned towards chamberlain Wan, “Chamberlain Wan, how is it? Where are the Eight Guards of the Xiao Academy?”
He was still missing the trump card that could help him suppress the four great clans, and the Eight Guards of the Xiao Academy was naturally the key in all of this.
It was an imperial guard squad that he had organised, capable of sweeping the Origin realm experts of the four great clans and a portion of their Manifestation realm forces.
With the might of this trump card, he didn’t think that the four great clans would dare to risk mutually assured destruction.
Chamberlain Wan had an expression of despair and fear, “Something terrible has happened! I just contacted the Eight Guards of the Xiao Academy earlier, but they had been dispatched towards the south outside of the city, they will not be able to make it back in time.”
The Eight Guards of the Xiao Academy were usually situated at the corners of the city square, just a 10-minute distance away from where they were. But if they were on the road after being dispatched, they wouldn’t be able to rush here without at least 40 minutes.
And with such a long travel time, they wouldn’t be able to make it in time.
A great battle would only take 20 minutes.
The duke’s expression changed visibly as his heart started to tremble.
“While the Eight Guards of the Xiao Academy are considered to be imperial guards, they are under my authority, without my approval, even Murong Tong wouldn’t dare to command them!”
Chamberlain Wan pointed at Murong Liu, who was standing before them, and spoke with a bitter smile, “But she dares.”
The crowd looked at Murong Liu.
They could only admire her calculativeness quietly.
But Sheng Yi had also sensed that something was wrong with Zi Lin by now.
He asked hastily, “Zi Lin! Your cultivation?”
Faced with the people that were staring at the brightly glowing Dragon Seeker Rings on their hands, their expressions had visibly changed as they looked back at Zi Lin.
Tang Can and Lu Hai Miao had expressions full of resentment.
To Lu Hai Miao, Zi Lin’s connection to Blood Spirits meant that she was one of the culprits behind the death of her younger brother.
While Tang Can hated everyone that was related to the Blood Spirits.
His hand tightly grasped onto his hidden weapons, ready to strike at any moment.
But Zi Lin didn’t notice a single thing, she simply looked at Sheng Yi in a daze as she cupped her face shyly, “What do you think? Aren’t I amazing?”
She had secretly refined the Dragon God Crystal she had purchased, raising her cultivation to the peak of the Crystallisation realm. And all of her efforts were spent so that she could see the surprise in Sheng Yi’s gaze when he found out.
It would be even better if he praised her.
Zi Lin only felt joy at the fact that she could finally be helpful to Sheng Yi now, and that she would no longer be a burden.
This was a woman’s sorrow.
Sheng Yi quickly grabbed Zi Lin’s hand, ignoring the shy expression on her face as he circulated his spiritual power, trying to scan Zi Lin’s body.
The mighty aura of the Dragon God was harnessed in her body, resembling the might of an ancient, suppressive power.
Even after reaching the Majestic realm in his past life, Sheng Yi had never seen a bloodline as strong as this.
But this only added to his horror.
Dragon God’s bloodline?
Did the Dragon God’s bloodline truly exist?
But whether or not this was a real or a fake Dragon God.
Zi Lin was already dragged into the mud by the Blood Spirits.
“How is it, Young master Sheng? You felt it too, right?” Wang Ren Mei looked at Sheng Yi’s dramatic change in expression. With a smile, she clapped her hands as the members of different clans materialised behind her instantly.
A large number of these people had appeared around them ever since Zi Lin appeared, with a considerable amount of Manifestation realm experts mixed among them, over a hundred experts had surrounded them.
There were three aged yet powerful auras hidden amongst them, their sights locking onto the duke.
By now, Zi Lin had also sensed that something was wrong. Grabbing Sheng Yi’s arm in a hurry, she looked at her surroundings anxiously, “What did she mean? Brother Yi? What’s wrong with me? What are they going to do?”
She hadn’t realised that she was the problem.
But this no longer mattered.
Sheng Yi took a deep breath. He didn’t know whether or not the Dragon God’s bloodline was harmful, but he knew the true culprit behind the Blood Spirits.
And just as he was about to open his mouth.
The sound of an attack came from behind him.
“Ping!”
A human silhouette was flying past Murong Liu and Wang Ren Mei, falling to Tang Can’s side, screaming.
The crowd looked over, it was chamberlain Wan.
The duke held onto a bloody hole at his waist, standing where chamberlain Wan originally stood. With the might of the Sky Reaching realm, he immediately stopped the bleeding.
“You!” The duke stared at chamberlain Wan in fury.
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