Lin Feng looked at Zhou Weiqing, who was no longer in human form, and shook his head. The protagonist of "Heavenly Jewel Change" was dead just like that.
Although it was a pity, and his death was very strange, it probably wouldn't cause much of a stir.
In a fantasy world, being killed by heavenly lightning would likely first make one think of a fellow cultivator's malicious act. But unfortunately, the thunder attribute was very rare in this world.
Coupled with the immense power of that skill, and the fact that the Heavenly Jewel Masters in this empire were extremely rare, even if the officials wanted to investigate thoroughly, they would probably just attribute the cause to Zhou Weiqing's bad luck.
Even if Difuya wanted to confess, it's likely no one would believe her.
Lin Xuan clapped her hands, as if she had just done something insignificant, and turned to continue her journey of exploration. Difuya and Niya stared blankly at the scene before them, with mixed feelings in their hearts.
"Sen... Senior, you just..." Difuya stammered, not knowing what to say. She had originally just wanted Lin Xuan to save Zhou Weiqing, but she never expected things to turn out like this.
"Just like this. Is there a problem?" Lin Xuan tilted her head and looked at Difuya with an innocent face.
Niya pulled on Difuya's sleeve and whispered, "Princess, we... we should leave this place first. This senior... this senior acts too strangely. We can't afford to provoke her."
Difuya nodded. Although she was a little unwilling in her heart, she also knew that now was not the time to dwell on it. She looked at Zhou Weiqing, who had already turned into charcoal, and an inexplicable emotion rose in her heart—both relief and guilt.
"Senior, thank you... for your help. Our Heavenly Bow Empire will remember your kindness... If you need anything in the future, please just ask." Difuya forced a smile and said to Lin Xuan.
Lin Xuan waved her hand and said impatiently, "Alright, alright, stop nagging. I'm leaving. You guys can do whatever you want."
After speaking, Lin Xuan's figure flashed and disappeared into the dense forest.
Difuya and Niya looked at each other, both seeing the helplessness and shock in the other's eyes. They knew that the senior they met today was definitely not a simple character.
"Princess, we... what should we do?" Niya asked with some trepidation.
Difuya took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "Let's go back to the city first and report what happened here to my father, the Emperor. Let him decide. I made a mistake and will probably be punished. You have not left the palace today, understand?"
After Difuya finished speaking, she looked at Niya with a determined gaze, a trace of resolve flashing in her eyes. Hearing this, Niya was stunned at first, then understood Difuya's intention. She quickly nodded, her eyes filled with a mixture of gratitude and worry.
"Princess, I... I understand. You're saying this to protect me. But, for you to bear it alone, this..." Niya's voice choked a little. She knew that she was able to escape disaster today entirely thanks to Difuya's protection.
Difuya gently patted Niya's shoulder and comforted her, "Niya, don't worry. I am a princess, and I have the responsibility to bear my own mistakes. Besides, this matter started because of me. I can't let an innocent person like you be implicated. Let's go quickly. After we get back, just follow my arrangements."
The two said no more, quickly packed their things, and prepared to embark on the journey back to the Heavenly Bow Empire.
"Hey, wait a minute!"
A clear shout suddenly rang out in the dense forest. Difuya and Niya whipped their heads around and saw a figure walking out of the space. It was Lin Xuan.
The two stared with wide eyes. She had appeared with a clap of thunder before, and now she wasn't even pretending anymore, right? Laying all her cards on the table, right? Shattering the void?
Was this a legendary Heavenly God Realm expert?!
"Gulp."
Niya and Difuya couldn't help but swallow, their eyes filled with shock.
"Um, do you have a map or something? Where is the strongest power on this continent?"
Difuya and Niya looked at each other, clearly not expecting Lin Xuan to suddenly ask such a question. Difuya was stunned for a moment, then came to her senses.
"Senior, if you want a map, please come with me to the city. We didn't bring one with us when we came out."
"Oh, let's go."
Lin Xuan thought for a moment and still chose to go into the city with them.
"A princess of a country, and she doesn't even have a storage artifact? What a poor princess..."
Difuya and Niya listened to Lin Xuan's muttering, feeling extremely embarrassed.
After getting the map in the city, Lin Xuan waved goodbye to them. The subsequent mess had nothing to do with her.
"The five great holy lands, Snow God Mountain? It's very close to here. I'll go check that place out~"
—
Lin Xuan sat on the now slightly larger Profound Jade Knife, feeling the wind whistle past her ears. Her fine hair fluttered in the wind, and her eyes sparkled with curiosity and anticipation for the unknown.
The Profound Jade Knife transformed into a stream of light, shuttling between the clouds at a breathtaking speed.
"Snow God Mountain, a holy land. Emmm, what's so holy about it?" Lin Xuan, in line with the principle of not wasting, continued to eat the fish she had grilled in the Star Dou Great Forest.
As the Profound Jade Knife flew, the scenery below slowly unfolded like a scroll painting.
Lush forests, winding rivers, and majestic mountain ranges, everything looked so magnificent. Lin Xuan's gaze swept over every place, and her understanding of this continent deepened a little more.
"The people here are so weak. This continent is called Haomiao? Why does it feel even weaker than the Douluo Star? But the origin energy of heaven and earth has suddenly started to become dense, just like the Douluo Star."
Lin Xuan looked at the star in the sky, her gaze shifting slightly.
"Is that the Divine Star that Daddy and the Mamas mentioned? No wonder they agreed so easily for me to come out and play this time. It turns out they were up to something big."
Before long, the outline of Snow God Mountain appeared in Lin Xuan's sight.
It was a towering peak that pierced the clouds. The summit was covered in white snow all year round, shrouded in clouds and mist, like a fairyland. Lin Xuan felt the cold aura coming from Snow God Mountain, and an impulse to conquer it rose in her heart.
"It's about the same as the huge snow mountain at Mama Xue Di's temple, right? Although it seems to be much taller?"
She secretly compared them in her heart, a playful smile on her lips.
The mountain peak was completely covered in white snow, like a pure white fairy-tale world. The cold here was bone-chilling, the temperature having long since dropped below minus forty degrees.
Without any external force, even a gently exhaled breath would instantly turn into tiny ice crystals and fall to the ground.
At the summit of this snowy region stood a majestic ancient castle. The walls of the castle were as white as snow, as if they were meticulously built from countless blocks of ice, complementing the surrounding snowy landscape.
When the sunlight shone down, the castle seemed to be draped in a golden veil, shimmering with brilliance.
The great snow mountain was silent, with only the cold wind echoing in the valleys. And here, was the sacred land of the Wan Shou Empire, Snow God Mountain, revered by the people and regarded as the highest temple in their hearts.
The Profound Jade Knife slowly lowered its altitude and finally stopped in a clearing at the foot of Snow God Mountain. Lin Xuan leaped down from the knife gracefully, put away the Profound Jade Knife, and looked around.
At the foot of Snow God Mountain, the wind was piercingly cold, and snowflakes fluttered, a world of silver.
Although she didn't feel the slightest bit of cold, Lin Xuan still took out a cloak and put it on to blend in with the environment.
She began to walk, following the winding mountain path towards the summit. Along the way, she was attacked by some demonic beasts, but with her unreasonable strength and skills, Lin Xuan easily resolved their attacks one by one, sending them to their eternal rest.
It was only when she was halfway up the mountain that Lin Xuan discovered that this was where the real Snow God Mountain began.
The mountain path became more and more rugged. Unknown traps and ice crevasses were hidden under the thick snow. A single misstep could lead to a fall into a bottomless abyss.
Lin Xuan, however, did not care at all. Her steps were light and steady. With a light tap on the snow, she would fly several feet. It was more like she was flying than climbing.
Halfway up the mountain, on the peak of a cold ridge, a young girl stood quietly in the wind and snow. Her figure merged with the icy and snowy landscape, like a touch of proud and stunning beauty in this snowy region.
She had unique white hair, not withered and dull like an old person's, but with every strand glowing with a life-like, lustrous sheen, as if it were finely carved from white jade.
On both sides of her forehead, a lock of long, dark blue hair hung down, adding a touch of agility to her pure white attire.
Her eyes were as deep as purple, her gaze gentle yet captivating, as if all the splendors of the world were gathered in her alone. Her slender figure was transcendent, without a trace of worldly dust.
It was just that in the eyes of this young girl standing alone on the snowy peak, there was a trace of worry.
This was Tian'er, the daughter of the Snow God Mountain Lord. The original female lead of the "Heavenly Jewel Change" world.
"Huh?"
Lin Xuan blinked. "There's a white-haired one here too?" She seriously compared Tian'er's figure with her memories of Xue Di and Bo Saixi.
"It seems... they're all very beautiful... If Daddy had met her earlier, would she have become one of my mothers too?" An idea suddenly popped into her head.
"Ehehe~ Hello there!" Lin Xuan suddenly flashed and appeared in front of Tian'er, greeting her with a grin.
Tian'er was startled by this sudden appearance. She instinctively took a step back, an ice pillar quietly forming in her hand as she looked at Lin Xuan warily.
"Who are you? Why are you on Snow God Mountain?" Tian'er's voice was as cold as the wind on the snowy mountain, but there was a barely perceptible tremor in it.
She had never seen such a strange and unfathomably strong person, and she couldn't help but feel a little flustered.
Seeing this, Lin Xuan quickly raised her hands, making a harmless gesture. "Don't be nervous, I'm not a bad person. I've long admired Snow God Mountain, so I came specially to see it."
Hearing this, Tian'er frowned slightly, clearly half-believing Lin Xuan's words. But she could also feel that there was no malice coming from Lin Xuan, and her wariness relaxed a little.
How strange. Why can't I see through this person's cultivation...
"You should be a human, a Heavenly Jewel Master? You reached Snow God Mountain, and I didn't even sense you. Are you really a child?"
"A human? You're not a human?" Lin Xuan was stunned.
Tian'er thought about her true form, the Divine Heavenly Spirit Tiger. "I suppose so? Wait, answer my question."
She didn't believe that a simple human child could climb Snow God Mountain to this point. Moreover, this young girl in front of her looked young, yet she gave off an unfathomable feeling.
"My name is Lin Xuan. I'm a passing cultivator." Lin Xuan blinked and answered ambiguously.
Hearing this, Tian'er's frown deepened. She always felt that there was something not quite right about this young girl named Lin Xuan, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was. However, since the other party had no ill intentions, she didn't want to pursue it too much.
"Since you say you've long admired Snow God Mountain, do you know that this is the holy land of the Wan Shou Empire and cannot be trespassed upon at will?" Tian'er's voice was still cold, but there was a hint of warning in her tone, and her expression had softened a little.
"It's because this is the number one holy land on the continent that I came, to see how amazing it is."
Tian'er's heart jumped, and she hesitated. "Are you... very strong?"
Lin Xuan thought for a moment. "Beating your Heavenly God Realm should be pretty simple?"
Hearing this, Tian'er's heart skipped another beat. On the surface, the continent only had her father who was in the Heavenly God Realm. If what this child said was true, then couldn't she easily sweep across the entire continent?
"Hmph, the Heavenly God Realm is not a child's play. Don't exaggerate." Tian'er feigned calmness, but ripples had already formed in her heart. She decided to test Lin Xuan's strength.
"Since you are so confident, would you be willing to spar with me? Let me see your so-called 'simple'." As Tian'er spoke, a multi-colored Alexandrite Cat's Eye appeared on her left hand, and the powerful Icy Jade appeared on her right hand at the same time.
Her aura immediately began to rise.
Seeing this, Lin Xuan smiled.
"Miss, don't say I'm bullying you. I think you should take a look first before you decide whether you want to fight me."
As Lin Xuan spoke, the Profound Jade Knife appeared out of thin air in her palm. With a single swing, a small snow peak in the distance was instantly flattened, and snow poured down like a waterfall.
Tian'er's eyes widened. She looked at this scene in disbelief, the shock in her heart beyond words.
"This... how is this possible?" Tian'er's arms fell limply. She murmured to herself. The power of a single slash could flatten a snow peak. This was something only a Heavenly God could do.
"Phew—so tiring." Lin Xuan panted slightly. That last strike had indeed taken a lot of her strength.
"Who dares to act so presumptuously on my Snow God Mountain!"
A cold snort came from the ancient castle at the summit of Snow God Mountain. Along with it came a powerful and majestic aura that instantly enveloped the entire mountainside. Hearing this, Tian'er's expression changed slightly, and she quickly turned to look in the direction the voice came from.
A young man with short silver hair, deeper purple eyes, and dressed in a spotless white robe came walking on air.
"Father."
Xue Aotian frowned. He looked at the two on the mountainside, his eyes filled with confusion. He had sensed a majestic energy fluctuation and had thought it was a peerless enemy. He never expected that the place where the incident occurred would be his own daughter and a human child.
Xue Aotian's gaze was like a torch as he scanned Lin Xuan, secretly guessing the origin of this seemingly young yet astonishingly strong girl.
He slowly spoke, his voice carrying an unquestionable majesty. "Tian'er, who is this?"
Tian'er quickly took a step forward and replied, "Father, this is Lin Xuan. She said she is a passing cultivator who has long admired Snow God Mountain and came specially to visit. It was I who wanted to spar with her. She didn't want to hurt me, so she showed off her strength."
Hearing this, Xue Aotian raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical of Lin Xuan's identity and purpose.
He looked at Lin Xuan and said in a deep voice, "Little friend, Snow God Mountain is the holy land of the Wan Shou Empire. Non-disciples are not allowed to enter without permission. Since you can flatten a snow peak, your strength is naturally extraordinary, but this act has already violated the rules of my Snow God Mountain.
That snow peak, its resources, and the damage to the buildings at the foot of the mountain..."
"Er..." Lin Xuan scratched her head. "Do I have to pay? I don't have any money..."
Xue Aotian was stunned. This expert who was suspected to be in the Heavenly God Realm was so easy to talk to? Why did she seem to have the mentality of a child?
"May I ask, little friend, how old are you this year?"
"Me? Emmm, eight?"
I'm lying. I'm not even eight. Lin Xuan laughed in her heart.
This is f*ing eight? Xue Aotian and Tian'er looked at the flattened snow peak in the distance, and their faces darkened at the same time.
"I don't have any money, but I brought a bead with me when I came before. Do you want it?"
Lin Xuan thought for a moment and took out the Dark Devilgod Tiger's bead from the alternate space.
"This... this is..."
Xue Aotian's pupils contracted. Sensing the power contained in this inner core, his heartbeat couldn't help but accelerate a little.
Evil, space, time, lightning, strength, and wind.
Six attributes?!
To Lin Xuan's surprise, the moment this bead was taken out, it struggled to fly towards Tian'er.
"Hmm?"
Lin Xuan frowned. This situation had happened before with Zhou Weiqing. What was this bead up to?
The next moment, she released her control over the bead. The bead, like a wild horse that had broken its reins, instantly flew towards Tian'er.
Tian'er was also stunned. She subconsciously reached out to catch it. The moment the bead was in her hand, she felt a powerful force surge into her body, making her shudder involuntarily.
"Wait!" Xue Aotian wanted to stop it, but it was too late. The bead had directly entered Tian'er's body. At the same time, Tian'er's body was suddenly enveloped in a brilliant light. The light contained complex and powerful energy fluctuations, which made Xue Aotian's expression change drastically.
He quickly took action. A gentle yet powerful force enveloped Tian'er, trying to stabilize the sudden surge of energy.
Tian'er fainted directly, her face turning pale and then green.
"Little friend, you!!!"
Xue Aotian's gaze was like a torch. He looked at Tian'er in his arms, then glared at Lin Xuan, his tone carrying a hint of questioning and blame. "Little friend, what is the meaning of this? This bead is of extraordinary origin and contains the power of six attributes. Forcing Tian'er to absorb it rashly may endanger her life!"
"Alright, this is her opportunity. Just accept it."
Lin Feng suddenly appeared, stopping Xue Aotian's intended move.
"Daddy?" Oh crap. Lin Xuan froze, not daring to move. She stuck out her tongue. I got caught sneaking out.
"A new power is being born in her body. If I were to use your terms, it would be called Saintly Power."