Chapter 66: The Eve of Turmoil

Most people didn’t actually know Liya, so they could only identify him based on descriptions.

When the black-haired young man walked onto the stage, he immediately drew plenty of attention.

Among those features, jet-black hair was the most distinctive.

Throughout all of Grey Pine City, black hair was a minority.

Most people had flaxen, golden, or reddish-brown hair.

Black hair probably only existed in the Herman family.

Shu Yue also had black hair, but the person sitting beside her earlier was Vanessa.

What man would spend the day before his wedding laughing and chatting with his fiancée’s best friend while leaving his fiancée alone?

Besides, Emily hadn’t said anything.

So they naturally assumed Shu Yue was only connected to Vanessa and had nothing to do with Emily.

Even though she seemed very close to Vanessa—enough to act as her escort at an unmarried young lady’s banquet—nothing had been settled yet. So they gave priority to the fake Liya.

When the fake Liya was led through the door by the old steward, he was immediately locked onto by countless gazes and instinctively tensed up.

The old steward gave him a faint glance and said, “Mr. Liya, I’ll leave you here.”

The fake Liya nodded, let out a soft breath, and forced himself to look calm.

Before entering, the old steward had already prepared him mentally, reminding him not to disgrace the Leicester family’s reputation.

But there were too many scrutinizing eyes, and the mental pressure was immense.

Still, he managed to maintain his composure and didn’t freeze up.

He handled the conversations with the young nobles.

He had crammed a lot of knowledge beforehand, and though his speech wasn’t particularly smooth, it was enough.

He talked with people, putting on a gentle and refined appearance.

Watching the nobles surround him, offering blessings and praise, an indescribable joy rose in his heart.

He grew more and more confident, as if something was rapidly swelling inside him.

He felt like he was becoming more and more like the real Liya White.

No, I am Liya White.

I’m about to marry into the Leicester family and become a true noble.

After tomorrow, I’ll be Lady Emily’s husband.

I am real!

Shu Yue gave him a look and found he didn’t resemble her much.

Not like her, and not like the real Liya either.

She didn’t care about this fake Liya.

He was mediocre, utterly boring.

She’d just wait to see him make a fool of himself tomorrow.

I wonder if that Lady Luolan can tell?

Lucy’s older brother also spotted the fake Liya.

He hesitated and stopped wasting time on Shu Yue.

From the way she had cut him off earlier, it was obvious she didn’t care who he was.

Whether that came from the arrogance of a respected identity or pure ignorance, he didn’t know.

His expression soured, but he didn’t show it to Shu Yue.

Instead, he said politely:

“Sorry for disturbing you, sir.”

Shu Yue waved her hand for him to leave.

“Oh.”

She remembered clearly—wasn’t this the arrogant outsider who had been so cocky?

Now that he was in the city, his voice had become soft and gentle.

Why didn’t he show the same arrogance as at the city gate?

She hadn’t seen his face before, but she remembered his voice clearly.

Just as she turned back, someone called her again.

Rita had already walked up to within two or three meters.

“Mr. Jace.”

Rita lifted her skirt and curtsied.

“So your name is Jace.”

“You should address me as Councilman.”

Shu Yue looked at Rita standing beside her.

“Just kidding, don’t mind me.”

Rita wore a fitted blue dress, pretty and elegant.

She had a standard young girl’s figure, a blend of innocence and maturity.

Standing there, she moved gracefully, exuding feminine charm.

“Rita Baron. That’s my name.”

Rita smiled warmly and replied to Shu Yue:

“May I invite you to dance, honorable ‘Councilman’?”

“No.”

Shu Yue shook her head. She wasn’t interested and didn’t know how to dance.

Facing her refusal, Rita didn’t show disappointment.

Instead, she asked something else.

“Mr. Jace, what is your relationship with Miss Vanessa?”

The question was quite blunt.

Shu Yue glanced at her.

Recalling that Rita had helped her enter the city, she reluctantly answered.

“Business partners. Nothing more.”

She had originally wanted to say “friends,” but then remembered that Vanessa’s definition of “friend” seemed a bit off.

Like how Gazot considered friends as food, Vanessa considered friends as pets.

Who’s Gazot, you ask?

Not important.

Shu Yue and Vanessa truly were just business partners.

Shu Yue bought Dragon Blood from Vanessa, and Vanessa got money from her.

Wasn’t that just normal trade?

Besides, the only reason Shu Yue had come to this banquet was because Vanessa had set it as a condition.

Otherwise, she would have already drunk the Dragon Blood, transformed into the Silver Dragon Princess, and practiced cultivation comfortably.

Thinking of that, she glanced in the direction Vanessa and Emily had left and stood up from her chair.

Seeing this, Rita was puzzled.

She didn’t understand what Shu Yue was planning.

Shu Yue looked at Rita and said:

“I have something to do now, so I’ll be going. When Vanessa comes back, please tell her for me. But I think she probably won’t care.”

Rita hadn’t expected Shu Yue to leave so abruptly.

She could only watch her walk out of the banquet hall.

Lucy approached Rita and asked:

“Sister Rita, will we ever see him again?”

Rita shook her head with a bitter smile.

Probably never again.

Shu Yue refused all attempts to talk along the way and left the place.

She didn’t like this kind of occasion.

If it hadn’t been for Vanessa, she wouldn’t have come to a place like this.

At least she hadn’t had to initiate conversations; she’d just eaten quietly.

But rejecting all those people who approached her was really annoying.

‘Even in Mirror Flower Water Moon, I’m not a girl, so why does everyone keep hitting on me?’

Shu Yue really didn’t understand what these people were thinking.

With so many beautiful girls around, why did they come to her?

She left Baron Leicester’s manor, used [Shadow Hide] to conceal her tracks, and returned to the inn where she was staying.

Meanwhile, Emily had brought Vanessa to a secluded spot.

The two had been friends since childhood and knew each other very well.

Often, a single glance was enough to understand the other’s meaning.

Emily looked at the carefully manicured scenery and sighed deeply.

“Vanessa, what is happiness? Is marrying the person you love happiness?”

“Happiness is having the right to choose.”

“Then will Vanessa also be forced by her father to marry some nasty man in the future?”

“Me too.”

Vanessa’s answer was cold and ruthless, leaving Emily no room for illusion.

“That’s the future for almost all noble ladies.”

“That’s not comforting at all…”

Emily pouted, then changed the subject:

“But I don’t think tomorrow is the end. What if something magical happens?”

“What do you mean?”

Emily’s eyes widened with excitement.

A faint smile curled at the corner of Vanessa’s mouth.

That smile was different from her usual one—it carried a hint of meaning.

“Will you bless me?”

“I’ll wish for you to get the ending you desire.”

Vanessa said softly.

But no matter how much Emily pouted and pressed, she didn’t answer further.

On the other side—

Shu Yue returned to her inn room.

After confirming no one was watching, she pulled out the gem pendant from her collar.

Beneath the purple cross star was a silver base.

She gently twisted the gem.

When the gem rotated ninety degrees counterclockwise and then back to its original position, a layer of rippling light spread over Shu Yue.

Her originally tall and straight figure instantly became slender and graceful.

Her short black hair lengthened to shoulder-length, falling over her shoulders.

Her clothes changed as well.

Seeing this, Shu Yue exclaimed in surprise:

“Huh?!”

She hadn’t expected [Mirror Flower Water Moon] to also have a one-button outfit change!

This unexpected discovery made her quite happy.

She even started picturing a scenario where, when facing a powerful enemy, she would pull out the purple cross star gem pendant, shout “Transform!”, and turn into a knight in armor with a massive boost in combat power.

Bloodline Manifestation could serve as her third phase.

Three health bars, three mechanics.

‘How could you survive that?’

“Hmph hmph~ I’ll study how to use this better later!”

Shu Yue couldn’t suppress her smile.

But for now, she planned to absorb the Dragon Blood first.

She wouldn’t feel at ease until she had it inside her.

After setting up a barrier to block detection, she took out the magic potion bottle containing the Dragon Blood Essence from her small bag.

The golden-red drops of blood floated in the center of the bottle.

Just looking at them made Shu Yue swallow involuntarily.

She hadn’t been like this before.

But as she absorbed more Dragon Blood, her craving for it grew stronger.

Her body seemed to urge her to swallow it quickly.

She didn’t hold back.

She pulled out the cork and brought the bottle to her lips.

Gulp—

With the swallow, the Dragon Blood entered her body.

Before it even reached her stomach, it was completely absorbed.

As soon as the two-plus drops of Dragon Blood merged into her, a violent energy spread instantly throughout her body.

Shu Yue’s body erupted in Silver Fire.

Within the Silver Fire, her Bloodline manifested.

Silver hair, dragon horns, dragon tail, and a breathtakingly beautiful face that wasn’t fully mature yet but was already extraordinary.

Her delicate, immature figure was fully revealed.

This time, the energy was so abundant that it burned all her clothes to ash, leaving her sitting there naked.

Shu Yue closed her eyes tightly, suppressing the roar that wanted to escape her throat.

She breathed heavily, easing the immense pressure from absorbing the Dragon Blood.

At the same time, she noticed a difference.

Ever since the last time quantity turned into quality and she acquired the Bloodline Scale Technique, the effect of absorbing Dragon Blood seemed much stronger.

These two drops of Dragon Blood were equivalent to five drops before!

After completing the absorption, a fine sweat broke out on Shu Yue’s forehead.

A tempting fragrance spread through the room.

Once she recovered, she sniffed herself and found that there was no strange odor in her Bloodline Manifestation state.

Then where did the fragrance in the room come from?

She clenched her small fists, and her golden vertical pupils flickered slightly.

“My power has actually doubled!”

She had originally expected diminishing returns.

But now it seemed that after the qualitative change to two scales, the conversion rate was even higher.

If she faced Belang again now, she probably wouldn’t need to cheat with the Star Tempering Art to break through the Magic Element Armor’s defense.

Shu Yue didn’t waste time.

She planned to try cultivating in her Dragon Princess Form before the Bloodline Manifestation’s cooldown expired, to see if activating her Bloodline made building the core circuit easier.

She sat cross-legged on the bed, too excited to care about not wearing clothes.

At the same time—

“Lord Bishop, a follower has discovered a stray Saintess who hasn’t received our god’s enlightenment yet.”

“What is her aptitude?”

“Lord Bishop, her aptitude rivals that of the Great Saintess!”

“Entrust this matter to you. Go and guide the lost Saintess back to the righteous path. Our god needs her devotion.”

“Yes, Lord Bishop. I will not fail.”

Click.

The phantom in the crystal ball dissipated.

The dim room brightened.

A woman dressed in a black and gold clerical robe had fanaticism burning in her eyes.

A wild Saintess with aptitude rivaling the Great Saintess…

If she could bring her back for the god, she would become the god’s apostle!

She turned to the gray-robed person beside her and asked:

“Haven’t you divined her exact location yet?”

The gray-robed person showed a pained expression.

“My lady, this Saintess’s karma is obscured in the Astral Realm. It’s impossible to find her exact location through divination, prophecy, or calculation.”

On hearing that, the woman’s face darkened instantly.

She had finally encountered such an opportunity, but now she couldn’t find the person?

How was she supposed to get promoted?

She snorted coldly and waved her hand.

“Enough. Call everyone. We’re going to the scene in person. The one who stole our church’s Saintess can’t have gone far. We should still find traces.”

“Yes, my lady! I’ll arrange it immediately!”

The gray-robed person, relieved, hurriedly withdrew.

Soon, the woman led all her powerful Black Feather Sect followers and rode a tamed flying giant fish magic beast toward the Conifer Mountain Region.

Their direction was precisely Grey Pine City.

At their speed, they would arrive around noon the next day.

The Northern Frontier was too vast.

Even flight took a long time.

That night, the wind was clear and the moon bright. The starry sky was brilliant.

The woman withdrew her gaze from the night sky, closed the window, and sat cross-legged in her cabin to rest with her eyes shut.

Suddenly—

An alarm bell rang in her heart!

Her staff appeared in her hand instantly.

She hastily cast a defensive spell.

But the next moment, the majestic sword light that fell from the heavens directly tore through her defense, fragile as paper.

The pure white sword light split the flying giant fish along its spine.

It didn’t even have time to cry out.

Along with the cabin on its back, it plummeted toward the ground.

Fresh blood splattered down like a torrential rain of blood.

High above, a cloud-ship as massive as a mountain slowly glided forward.

A woman stood in the air, looking down at the falling magic beast.

She slowly sheathed her sword.

Then, she flashed back into the cloud-ship’s courtyard and bowed to the blue-haired, ice-eyed young girl there.

The girl tilted her head and asked softly:

“Those just now. Who were they?”

“Just some scum who worship the Old Sun.”

Old Sun…

The girl’s expression didn’t change.

But the temperature in the courtyard dropped sharply.

Not in atmosphere, but in actual cold.

A platinum-blonde girl in a holy robe glanced over but didn’t ask further.

She soon stood still again.

After the sky-obscuring cloud-ship had gone far, the black-gold-robed woman crawled out from the pool of blood with difficulty.

Her beautiful face was full of terror.

If not for her life-saving measures, she would have died just now.

Even scarier was—

The other party hadn’t been serious.

Just a casual swing.

“Haha… I’m still alive…”

Just as she started to laugh, she saw utter silence all around and immediately stopped laughing.

Destroyed.

Everything was destroyed.

Decades of accumulation, countless efforts, all wiped out by a casual sword strike.

She gritted her teeth in hatred.

But that kind of power made her afraid to even hate.

If the other party noticed and came back to add another strike, she wouldn’t even keep her life.

“I accept it… I accept it…”

“Once I offer a pure Saintess to the god and become the god’s apostle, I’ll possess that kind of power too!”

She forced her trembling body to move, limping into the depths of the night forest.

Afraid that if she ran too slowly, she would be caught and finished off.

In the darkness, the blood-soaked figure staggered, looking especially terrifying.