Wavering on her feet, Jun Li looked over the fallen body of the Viridian-horned Beast warily.

  Across its form, numerous deep gouges and perforations slowly spilled blood. At first, the blood poured out with haste, following each beating of the beast’s heart, but now, watching the flow of blood become slow and steady, Jun Li finally relaxed, assured of the beast’s death.

  Falling back onto the rough stones of the valley, Jun Li sprawled out and let out a deep sigh. “Even with help, fighting that sort of thing is scary…” Across Jun Li’s body, numerous bruises colorfully bloomed on her skin.

  The worst of her injuries had come when she attempted to fight the beast alone, leaving three deep gouges across her left arm that continued to pour blood without pause.

  Feeling burdened by pain and exhaustion, Jun Li realized she had acted excessively this day. “Senior Sister Zhao… do you have any bandages or something? My arm is really starting to hurt…”

  Sighing, Zhao Xiaoli made her way over to Jun Li and took a look at her wounds. “Honestly… this is what you get for being so reckless.”

  “Ah...” Zhao Xiaoli suddenly remembered something while she was treating Jun Li’s wounds. “That reminds me, what happened back there in the village anyway? One moment we split up with a plan to regroup later, and the next thing I know, you’re cutting people down in the middle of town.”

  In truth, Zhao Xiaoli wasn’t merely surprised that Jun Li had diverted from their established plan; what truly shocked her was the unhesitant and decisive manner with which Jun Li killed her enemies in the village.

  Zhao Xiaoli wasn’t a na?ve or innocent person, but watching Jun Li kill so many, and with the ease of crushing dry weeds, she couldn't help but feel some dissonance. Could someone with no battlefield experience really kill other people so easily?

  Being questioned, Jun Li laughed nervously. “Ahah… right… I’m not sure what happened myself, to be honest.”

  Sitting up, Jun Li thought for a few moments, trying to formulate an explanation. “I guess… I just got a bit caught up in the moment. I kinda lost track of what I was supposed to be doing, and just went with the flow.”

  Jun Li turned away with a somewhat bashful expression. “It sounds a bit silly when I say it like that, huh? I guess it worked out, though!”

  ‘Caught up in the moment? Just went with the flow?’ Hearing Jun Li’s explanation, Zhao Xiaoli was baffled and thought back to the scene she had caught a glimpse of inside that tavern. ‘…We’re talking about the same thing… aren’t we?’

  When Jun Li spoke, she wore the expression of a bashful schoolgirl, and the dissonance was sharp enough to unnerve even Zhao Xiaoli for a moment.

  “Sorry, if we go on any more missions together, I’ll try harder to stick with whatever plans you come up with!” Hearing Jun Li’s earnest apology, Zhao Xiaoli sighed.

  “It’s fine, it worked out in the end, next time I’ll… keep your disposition in mind.” Zhao Xiaoli became a bit more curious about Jun Li. ‘She seems to have an unusual affinity for this sort of thing… she might prove useful if Elder Brother Shun's ambitions cause him to overstep…’

  Zhao Xiaoli grit her teeth, feeling guilt at her own thoughts. ‘I hate to assess Jun Li as if she’s a pawn, but… as long as Elder Brother Shun is scrutinizing me, I don’t have the luxury of making normal friends.’

  Ever since Zhao Xiaoli broke through to the Crimson Palace stage, her presence in the royal family had become much more noticeable.

  In the royal family, there were three prerequisites to be considered an heir to the throne. The first requirement was that one had to be a blood relative of the current ruler, with the normal order of inheritance determined by their specific relation.

  The second was that one had to be at the Crimson Palace stage. Supposedly, it was a matter of lifespan, as a Cultivator at the Crimson Palace stage will typically live for approximately two hundred years, with some more exceptional individuals living to three hundred.

  For a child of the royal family, this wasn’t a difficult prerequisite to reach, and it was fairly well accepted by most; after all, a long-lived ruler would result in a more stable nation.

  Zhao Xiaoli’s father, the current king, had lived two and a half centuries and was nearing the end of his lifespan. Due to this, Zhao Xiaoli had abstained from breaking through to the Crimson Palace stage as a means of insulating herself from the troubles of inheritance, leaving such matters to her brothers.

  The third prerequisite was the most precarious at this time, just before the king’s death.

  In order to inherit the throne, one must be younger than thirty years of age. Due to this, the Third Prince, Zhao Shun, who was nearing thirty years of age, was placed in a situation where, despite his ambitions for the throne, he was unlikely to ever inherit it. If he turned thirty, the next in line to inherit the throne would be the Fourth Prince, and then Zhao Xiaoli after him.

  Although so many things stood between the Third Prince and the throne, Zhao Xiaoli didn’t dare avert her attention at this time; she knew her Third Brother wasn’t someone who could be reasoned with.

  It was unlikely, but she couldn’t ignore the fact that he might try something reckless if the king didn’t pass away before he turned thirty. ‘Jun Li, Han Wenyan, and the captain of the royal guard at the palace should be loyal towards me if it comes down to a matter of violence.'

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  'If I can garner the loyalty of a few more Cultivators of the Crimson Palace stage, that should be enough to deter even Third Brother…’ Despite the circumstances, Zhao Xiaoli found it distasteful to assess her friends in such a detached way and couldn’t help but sigh in resignation.

  To the side, Jun Li sat in meditation, performing Qi Circulations in an effort to hasten the recovery of her painfully bandaged arm.

  From the distant treeline, Han Wenyan emerged and made his way over to the two, covered in a bit more blood than he had left with. “The one that fled is dealt with.”

  … … … … … …

  Han Wenyan had relayed everything he learned from the last of the rogue cultivators, including the fact that he had robbed a young, foreign Cultivator of his belongings, and had used them to empower his bandit group, as well as how he had controlled the Viridian-horned Beast and what remained of the stolen belongings.

  The bandit leader had a ring, carved from high-grade Purple Jade and inscribed with a complex spell formation.

  This sort of Treasure ring was known as a Spatial Ring, and it was where the rest of the stolen belongings were kept.

  With rudimentary mental focus, one could peer into the contents of a Spatial Ring and pull them out as one wished.

  Needless to say, it was an exceptionally valuable treasure in and of itself and wasn’t something that could easily be found in the Zhao Kingdom. Even if one had money, being able to buy such a Treasure might not be possible, as most of those who owned such a Spatial Ring were likely to be powerful Cultivators with little use of mortal wealth.

  Inside this ring, a small but lavish collection of goods could be found. On the more mundane side of things, the ring contained expensive clothing and an interesting selection of preserved food.

  More notably, there was a small collection of weapons, mostly swords, but there was also a spear, a staff, and a pair of butterfly swords. The majority of these weapons were comparatively mundane, with the more valuable articles being describable as ‘Half-Treasures,’ lacking the refinement to be considered as even the weakest of Low-grade Mortal Treasures.

  Based on the variety, whoever this Spatial Ring belonged to seemed to be some manner of apprentice smith or array master. Either that, or they were simply capricious in the extreme, and couldn't endure the thought of carrying less than half a dozen types of arms around.

  Regardless, one weapon in the Spatial Ring reached the level of a Low-grade Mortal Treasure, one of the straight swords, sporting a long blade measuring a near-exact 100 centimeters.

  Lastly, the Spatial Ring contained several Jade Slips; most of these contained useless information, such as directions and rules regarding an unknown sect, and schedules for events and lessons, but three of the Jade Slips stood out.

  The first Jade Slip of note identified the original owner as ‘Kang Shi’ of the ‘Frost River Sect.’ In what was perhaps a stroke of good luck, none of the three gathered recognized the name of the sect.

  The other two Jade Slips were even more interesting. The first contained the manual for a Martial Technique titled the ‘Drifting Ghost Blade.’

  Even the Jade Slip that contained the manual seemed exceptional, gilded in an ornate manner with golden flourishes and a red tassel, almost as if it was meant as much to be displayed as used.

  Another, similar Jade Slip was contained in the ring and was called the 'Ice Lotus Scripture.’ Although the first Jade Slip seemed to be decently understandable, this Scripture was so complex and esoteric as to be near-totally impenetrable.

  With a brief look at the contents, Jun Li assumed it was akin to a Martial Technique manual, but for spells, as some manner of Sorcerer would supposedly use.

  She could only assume, as the contents of the Ice Lotus Scripture were opaque in the extreme, to the point that she could barely make heads or tails of it.

  Regardless of how difficult to understand it was, it was undeniably a valuable item, perhaps more so than anything else in the Spatial Ring.

  Seeing this treasure trove suddenly appear before them, the trio couldn’t help but discuss how the spoils of the mission were to be divided.

  Zhao Xiaoli offered to abstain from any reward, claiming that she already had everything she needed, but eventually relented under Jun Li’s insistence and took one of the shorter Half-Treasure Swords for herself.

  Han Wenyan wasn’t deeply proficient with any of the weapons in the Spatial Ring, nor did he have an interest in practicing the Techniques contained in the Jade Slips, considering them an unnecessary deviation from his otherwise well-established martial methodology.

  Because of this, he instead requested three things: Firstly, the right to receive whatever reward the Sect offers for the completion of their mission, all but one of the remaining swords in the ring to sell, and lastly, his pick of whatever parts he wanted from the Viridian-horned Beast.

  His requests might have seemed excessive if one didn't consider what he wasn't taking, the Spatial Ring itself. It was undeniably the most valuable item there, and for Han Wenyan to give it up, it was only natural that he would take the lion's share of what remained.

  Although Jun Li was somewhat anticipating the opportunity to use the Viridian-horned Beast’s parts in alchemy, she had no complaints about how things turned out.

  After all, she would be getting the most valuable items of the bunch, the two Jade Slips containing promising Techniques, and the Spatial Ring itself.

  Not to mention, she would still be able to collect some minor parts from the Viridian-horned Beast for her own use, just not the more valuable ones.

  With the matter settled, Han Wenyan diverged from the group to inform the village that they were safe, and Jun Li began to dismantle the Viridian-horned Beast and test the capacity of her new Spatial Ring.

  In the time it took an incense stick to burn, Jun Li was able to completely skin the Viridian-horned Beast and carefully extract its valuable organs.

  With the volume of organs now stored in her Spatial Ring, Jun Li was only able to fit about half of the Viridian-horned Beast’s hide inside. Though it was still more than enough for any use she could think of.

  … … … … … …

  In time, Han Wenyan returned from the village and reunited with Jun Li and Zhao Xiaoli, wearing a somewhat sombre expression. “The villagers seemed grateful, but… well, they’re not exactly in a celebrating mood right now. It can’t be helped, I suppose. Those scumbags made their lives hell for who knows how long before we showed up.”

  “I kinda wanted to stay here for the night, but…” Jun Li thought for a moment. “…Well, this isn’t so bad either. Besides, I'm eager to get back home and see if these Techniques are actually any good!”

  Listening from the side, Zhao Xiaoli felt almost relieved to see Jun Li maintain her light-hearted nature after a day of such remarkable bloodshed and injury. "Then, let's leave the villagers to heal… When we get back to the Sect, I'll try to organize some aid for them.