Chapter 177: Surprise at the Hall

The Abyss is moving! The Abyss is stirring!

Could she really be a descendant of the royal family?

This...

Quick, form the array! Trap it, then bind it!

Let’s hope this spirit is more docile, and not another reincarnated evil spirit...

Cen Xiang stared at the rippling light curtain within the Abyss, then slowly turned and looked at the royal family girl.

“Come back.” His voice remained deep and devoid of emotion, yet it was noticeably softer.

The royal family girl’s eyes widened, tears still flowing uncontrollably. Her attendants immediately removed her shackles. She rushed to the stone gate, falling to her knees with a thud, unsure what to do in that moment. She simply stared ahead, crying profusely, like a woman who had carried a child for ten months, excitedly watching her baby emerge during labor.

Her eyes wide, she watched the white light draw closer, gradually taking on a human form.

She held her breath, unable to utter a single word.

Then, a corner of a white garment fluttered out. The fabric was dusty and somewhat worn, yet in her eyes, it was like the most beautiful banner in the world.

The light curtain rippled.

A young man in white emerged from behind the light curtain.

The spirits summoned by past royal descendants from within were all strange and varied: some were tall and imposing, nearly breaking through the palace gates; others were small and nimble, like fleas; and there were even humanoid assassins.

The girl had also fantasized countless times about what kind of spirit she would summon if she truly possessed royal blood.

But now, she realized all her previous fantasies were utterly pale in comparison.

The young man, dressed in white with black hair, had delicate features and a gentle jawline, yet an indescribable sharpness gleamed in his pupils. He wore a broken sword at his waist and held a gnarled black iron branch in his hand. His posture was upright, and even with his worn and blood-stained clothes, he exuded an otherworldly, almost immortal, aura.

Perhaps due to her current extreme mental exhaustion, she felt she had never seen such a handsome and dazzling young man. Usually quick-witted and articulate, she was now speechless after the young man appeared, simply weeping silently, wringing her hands in front of her, unable to utter a word.

She considered whether she should stand up from the kneeling cushion. After all, she was supposed to be his master from now on; it made no sense for a master to kneel before a spirit-servant.

But then she thought, how could such an ethereal and otherworldly young man be a servant...?

That's right! He's my divine daddy!

“Act!” Cen Xiang commanded.

“No!” The royal family girl instinctively cried out, her voice sharp with panic.

All spirits, upon emerging from the Abyss, would be trapped within their Spirit-Binding Array, then forcibly bound by contract to the person who opened the Abyss with their blood. From that point on, they would become master and servant, transforming into absolute weapons for the royal family to wage war in the world beyond the city.

This was common practice.

She understood this rule; it was just a momentary impulse that made her want to stop it. Quickly, a clear thought flashed through her mind—she didn't possess royal blood at all.

This was something she had concluded over a decade, and it couldn't be false.

She didn't know how this divine being, the young man in white, had appeared with such immense power. But if she were to establish a connection with him using royal blood, her deception might be exposed again, and the miracle she had so painstakingly awaited would vanish.

She wanted to stop all of this, but with Cen Xiang present, what could she do?

Two rows of people in black and white robes moved.

They moved like unsheathed weapons, converging quickly before the Abyss. With twists and turns of their wrists, they produced various objects of different forms. These objects emitted light, reflecting the magnificent and colorful caisson ceiling above the hall. The corresponding patterns on the caisson ceiling also lit up, and beams of light descended from the heavens, piercing through the entire hall and forming a shackles centered around a grand array.

This grand hall was specifically constructed to imprison the spirits that emerged from the Abyss.

From ancient times until now, no spirit emerging from the Abyss had ever evaded the Spirit-Binding Array.

Beneath the grand array, the figure in white appeared utterly alone.

Ning Changjiu stepped out from the light curtain. His gaze first fell upon the girl, who was crying profusely and running towards him. He mentally calculated how he would push her away if she lunged at him.

Fortunately, she knelt on the ground halfway there.

Then he looked at the seemingly powerful man.

He realized their language was almost indistinguishable from that of the world outside the Abyss... Could this be the other end of the Abyss? Further north of the Southern Wilderness?

While he was still pondering, pillars of light, piercing through the grand hall, illuminated.

Cen Xiang's figure subtly retreated behind the grand array, observing with a cold gaze.

He vaguely sensed that this spirit seemed somehow different, but the Abyss was inherently teeming with countless strange species, so it wasn't unusual for any kind of life to emerge. Besides, they weren't truly gods; no matter how brilliant they were in their previous lives, they were now merely servants destined to become weapons for the royal family.

But soon, Cen Xiang's brows furrowed, tightening more and more until they almost touched.

He couldn't comprehend what was happening before his eyes.

He watched as the young man in white, his robes fluttering, lightly stepped into the grand array. He glanced at the magnificent and exquisite caisson ceiling above, then at the lights meant to bind spirits, and continued walking straight ahead without pause.

The lights fell upon him like ordinary sunlight, not even disturbing a single fold of his clothes.

He passed through the hall effortlessly, his gaze slowly sweeping over the people present, seemingly with a hint of confusion.

The royal family girl, still kneeling, watched him with extreme excitement... So powerful... Those in the past were merely emotionless weapons; this was a true divine spirit!

Cen Xiang watched him slowly walk through the grand array.

The grand array slowly dissolved with his steps.

This had never happened in history.

What exactly was his origin?

Cen Xiang, after all, was a prominent figure in Duanjie City. He quickly composed himself and commanded, “Sword Array!”

Over a dozen people in black and white robes obeyed, descending like specters or reapers of souls to flank him.

These were all top-tier masters in Duanjie City.

After Cen Xiang gave the order, streaks of white light shot from their sleeves. These lights were streams of sword qi like clear springs. The men's sword qi was straight and unyielding, while the women's sword qi coiled like colorful ribbons. They intertwined, and from an aerial view, they resembled a white lotus, with the young man in white precisely at its heart.

Ning Changjiu watched the surrounding sword qi, his steps momentarily pausing.

He didn't understand why, upon their first encounter, they were intent on a fight to the death.

Meanwhile, inside him, the Sword Scripture began to haughtily comment: “This sword array likely originated seven or eight hundred years ago. Back then, people learned swordsmanship much like writing poetry, drawing inspiration from nature and pursuing symmetrical beauty, which led to many flashy and impractical sword moves. I thought these had been lost after the great catastrophe five hundred years ago, but it seems they can still be found here.”

While it was commenting, Ning Changjiu had already taken a step and continued forward.

Ning Changjiu swung the withered branch in his hand, which glowed with a white mist, towards the front of the sword array.

The white sword qi, scattering, resembled countless small arrows shooting outwards, then shattering against each other in the air, transforming into a sheet of snowy white sword qi shadows.

Ning Changjiu looked at the withered branch. Filled with the laws of time, the branch demonstrated power far greater than he had imagined; the sword array appeared utterly vulnerable before it.

Cen Xiang watched Ning Changjiu continue towards the hall's exit, his expression already changed.

He was a powerful being in Duanjie City, second only to the monarch. He would absolutely not tolerate anyone or any spirit openly trampling on the royal family's dignity.

Cen Xiang did not carry a sword; what he wielded was a special spiritual art.

Ning Changjiu looked at him.

Beneath Cen Xiang's feet, a deep blue curtain unfurled. On it, snowy white points of light shimmered. These were the legendary constellations, which had disappeared from the skies of Duanjie City for centuries, but Cen Xiang had diligently studied the Book of Astral Diagrams for decades, finally arranging them all according to its records to serve his purpose.

As Ning Changjiu took another step, everything around him instantly shifted as if the stars had rotated. He felt as though he had left the hall, pulled into an independent space where the myriad stars were his long-absent enemies.

But for Ning Changjiu, who had experienced the Lotus Field Town, this spatial secret art still seemed somewhat rudimentary.

The royal family girl was extremely nervous watching the young man and Cen Xiang both vanish into thin air. She knew Cen Xiang's power all too well. But before long, her eyes were again filled with white light.

White lines lit up and tore open before her, and then the young man in white, like a cloud drifting through a valley, reappeared in the hall and continued walking towards the exit.

He walked past her, like a passing breeze.

The royal family girl wiped her tears, wanting to say something, but the young man didn't stop, continuing to walk outside.

“Stop him!” Cen Xiang also appeared behind him, blood spilling from his mouth, pointing angrily at Ning Changjiu's departing back.

Ning Changjiu felt that Cen Xiang was actually quite powerful; it was just that his own iron tree branch was too formidable and happened to counter Cen Xiang's spell.

After Cen Xiang's command, the others had no choice but to obey.

The royal family girl watched helplessly as the figures in black and white robes swept past.

She turned around.

The scene in her eyes was against the light, but she kept them wide open, unwilling to miss a single detail.

She saw the young man wielding an iron tree—a divine sword!—smashing the royal guards' precious swords as if they were scrap metal, swinging it with utmost grace.

In the entire grand hall, no one was his match; even Master Cen Xiang had been defeated by his sword.

This was truly the divine being of legend, capable of leading Duanjie City to reclaim the land!

But... why didn't he even spare me a glance?

I was the one who summoned him...

Seeing the young man about to leave the grand hall, Cen Xiang thought despairingly, must the King intervene?

“Wait!”

The girl suddenly spoke out.

The young man standing at the threshold indeed stopped. He turned, glanced at them, and said, “I have no intention of harming you.”

So kind...

The girl thought silently, then said, “Um, divine daddy, what's your name? I... I was the one who summoned you! Look at me.”

“I am not your father,” the young man said, glancing at her before turning and departing.

The girl immediately sprang up from the ground and chased after him. She tried to grab his leg but was lightly evaded. The girl missed, landing on the ground. She looked up, her eyes misty with tears, and said, “Divine brother, you're new here and have nowhere to go, so why don't you stay at my house? My house is very beautiful, and my mother just passed away, so there's an empty room. I can help you clean it up.”

“You are truly filial,” Ning Changjiu said after a moment of silence.

The girl took it as a compliment and immediately scrambled to her feet, pitifully saying, “Um, I... I was the one who summoned you, and you're so handsome, so you must abide by rules, right? My mother died, and I'm so sad. I'll be all alone from now on. You're my only family now, so you can't just abandon me, can you?”

What the girl didn't know was that beside this seemingly calm young man, two voices were constantly egging him on.

“Though this little girl cries a bit ugly, her foundation seems decent. Why not take her in?”

“Bah! You were just talking about Lu Jiajia non-stop, and now you're captivated by a pretty young girl? I've always steadfastly supported Master Ning marrying our Princess! Of course... for now, since he's new here and has nowhere to go, staying at her house for a few days wouldn't be bad.”

“Hmm, Lu Jiajia won't know anyway.”

“Neither will the Princess.”

Ning Changjiu quietly took a breath and asked, “What's your name?”

Hearing this, the girl was overjoyed, but then she thought her name sounded a bit strange and common, so her spirits fell slightly. “I... My name is Shao Xiaoli,” she said.