"Come right in. It's a great honor to welcome powerful people like you."
The Second Prince was easier to deal with than expected, someone who read situations well and kept conversation flowing without giving offense.
The awkward moment behind them, Sage White-Beard pressed on with his original plan, escorting Bai Fanxian's group to meet the King, with the Second Prince falling in close behind.
He also seemed far more interested in Bai Fanxian than was appropriate. He made several attempts to draw her into conversation, and received nothing but cold looks for his efforts.
Ching!
Grandmaster Lu Qing had taken to his new role with surprising ease. Each time the Second Prince leaned too close, he would fix the young man with a sharp, displeasure-laden stare, forcing Sage White-Beard to rush in and smooth things over before his prince caused an incident.
"Ahem! We've arrived."
Sage White-Beard seized the opening and changed subjects, gesturing ahead. Before them stood a massive palace, built precisely to remind anyone approaching of the ruler's power.
A man in noble dress clasped his hands in greeting. His eyes held a trace of arrogance, but he carried out his duties without fault.
"The King awaits you inside."
His voice was flat, but no one dared take issue with it. Bai Fanxian could sense at a glance that this man matched Sage White-Beard in strength, which explained the position he held.
Bai Fanxian's group entered first, followed by the generals and commanders who had distinguished themselves in battle, and finally the representatives of the various sects who had fought in the war.
"..."
"You can't enter."
When the rear of the procession reached the door, a cold-faced young man stepped out and blocked their path. No one else saw it. Only the group being stopped did. It had the feel of something deliberate.
"...Why?"
Su Lin's frown deepened. The group at the rear was the Goddess Alchemy Palace. Most of their junior disciples had already left, having to escort the bodies of the fallen back for the palace rites. Only Su Lin and a handful of senior disciples remained.
"Inside, they're holding a ceremony for those who distinguished themselves in battle. Your palace has nothing to do with it."
"How can we have nothing to do with it...!?"
Before the disciple could finish, Su Lin raised a hand to stop her. She swallowed everything down and spoke in a voice that barely held steady—
"In this war, every disciple of Goddess Alchemy followed orders and fought on the front lines without hesitation... not one of them turned back... and half of them never came home..."
By the time she finished speaking, Su Lin's eyes had gone glassy. A single tear slipped free before she could stop it.
"..."
"...And you still say we have nothing to do with it?"
Her final question left him silent. He gave no answer. A heavy silence fell between them.
"..."
"...You won't say anything... Yang Fujiu?"
Su Lin held Yang Fujiu's gaze one last time, then turned away. His silence had already answered her.
"...When the Empress was so compassionate to you."
One of Su Lin's junior disciples bit down on her words, anger burning through every syllable. She was ready to die for it if he turned on her. She didn't care.
It would be worth it, just to let out even a fraction of the rage that had been building inside her.
But he didn't.
Yang Fujiu stood still and let them go. He watched their retreating figures until they were gone, then quietly closed his eyes and pressed a hand to his chest.
"..."
No one knew what he was thinking.
Only the wind knew that his fist, hanging at his side, was trembling.
.
.
.
"His Majesty!"
The moment they entered the throne hall — vast enough to hold several hundred people — every soldier and cultivator dropped into a bow toward the single figure seated on the throne.
No complicated ceremonies.
No lengthy praise speeches.
Only one serious, respectful bow in this palace.
"..."
Nearly ten seconds passed before anyone noticed something was wrong. Their King had never made them wait this long. Curiosity won out, and heads began to tilt upward in stolen glances.
And there, right at the front, was a group that had not moved at all. While everyone else bowed their heads to the floor, both Bai Fanxian and Lu Qing stood straight, gazing at the King on his throne without a flicker of deference — as if he were not there at all.
For Bai Fanxian, this was entirely normal. She had never felt the need to bow to anyone. Even in the old era, when emperors who far outstripped this man had stood before her, she had treated them no differently.
Grandmaster Lu Qing, on the other hand, wore his usual faint smile — but inside, he was sweating through his robes with absolutely no idea what to do.
If Lady Bai isn't bowing, I absolutely cannot either.
Not now — I can't drop the act now!
So neither side yielded, and Bai Fanxian held the King's gaze without a trace of unease. That alone was enough to set certain people's blood boiling. The royal guards, whose entire purpose was protecting the King's dignity, were among the first to feel it.
"...How dare you!"
Two royal guards moved to charge — and Sage White-Beard had to throw himself between them. His face was a picture of distress as his gaze swung helplessly between Bai Fanxian and the throne.
What should I do!
...One side is the King.
But the other is a mysterious expert who could kill an Ancient Demon in one move!
If it came to a fight between those two, no matter who won, the person suffering most would be him.
"...Don't be rude."
But before things could escalate, the King's voice cut through the hall. He spoke to his guards. They flinched, then stepped back to their posts without another word.
"I apologize for their rudeness... I hope you won't hold it against them."
After speaking, he rose and descended from the throne. When he reached eye level with them, he introduced himself first, with a smile.
"I'm Jongliean. King of Moondrift City."
The nobles and attendants exchanged stunned looks. King Jongliean had never been one for ceremony, but this was the first time any of them had seen him be the one to introduce himself.
In the Myriad Demon World, the seventy-two Ancient Demons held dominion, but the human population had not simply surrendered. They had united, and from that unity grew the system known as the "Three Kings Eight Lords."
Three great cities, each ruled by a King, stood as the pillars of human resistance — three great ships holding back the tide of demonic invasion. Beyond them were eight smaller cities scattered across the land, each governed not by royalty but by a City Lord who managed its affairs.
King Jongliean was one of those three Kings.
For him to greet a group of complete unknowns like Bai Fanxian's was, by any measure, a considerable honor.
"Mm..."
"..."
What none of them knew was that Bai Fanxian's standing in the old era would have dwarfed all three Kings combined. Her indifference made perfect sense. To her, this was nothing extraordinary.
Sage White-Beard stepped forward. "Your Majesty... this is Lady Bai Fanxian. She's the one who personally killed one of the seventy-two Ancient Demons — Marsosius — alone."
Murmurs broke out at once. Word of what had happened on the front lines had already begun spreading through the city, but most of those gathered here were nobles who had spent the battle safely behind city walls, nothing like the commanders and soldiers who had actually stood out there sword in hand.
"...Demon General Marsosius really died?"
Even the King struggled to believe it. He turned to Sage White-Beard, the general who had been at his side his whole life, and asked again.
"...True. I saw it myself. Lady Bai Fanxian's attack is what killed him — right there on the battlefield."
"...This is hard to believe."
"Right. That was an Ancient Demon, wasn't it?"
"One attack? Am I dreaming?"
"..."
"..."
The nobles murmured among themselves, every whisper laced with doubt. The commanders and sect representatives who had actually fought on the front lines grew visibly tense. Their savior was being questioned within earshot.
"Please, everyone... Anyone who wasn't there to see it firsthand could hardly be blamed for thinking it was 'deception' or 'staged.'"
At that moment, a young woman in purple robes pushed through the crowd and stepped forward, bowing respectfully to the King. On the surface, there was nothing out of place, her manner perfectly composed, her words perfectly measured.
But Sage White-Beard had lived long enough to hear what was not being said. That single sentence had planted something — openly, and yet with considerable skill.
When people were already uncertain, words like "deception" and "staged" had a way of taking root on their own. By the time the truth came out, the doubt would already be there — stubborn and nearly impossible to uproot.
"...Li Jiyao greets the King. It truly warms my heart to see you in good health again."
Li Jiyao made a show of concern for King Jongliean, steering the conversation away with practiced ease. But at the same time, only Bai Fanxian noticed the glances that kept flicking her way from the corner of the young woman's eyes.
It was not simple curiosity. Bai Fanxian could feel the faint edge of malicious intent threaded through each glance.
"For that, I owe your Wild Bloom Sect my gratitude."
King Jongliean nodded. His life had genuinely been saved by the Wild Bloom Sect, and that debt sat heavy. His sympathies tilted their way without him even realizing it. On top of that, Bai Fanxian's earlier indifference had left a quiet trace of displeasure in him.
The King likely thought nothing of it. But his attitude made Sage White-Beard's face fall. He did not dare turn around to look Bai Fanxian in the eye.
Without meaning to, the King had just lent quiet credence to everything Li Jiyao had implied.
Bai Fanxian listened without expression, as though none of this had anything to do with her. Inside, though, she was quietly turning something over.
Wild Bloom, huh?
...I don't recall ever holding a grudge against you.
"..."
So then I'm being "picked on"...?
Grandmaster Lu Qing had been about to lean over and whisper something to her when he caught her expression — and went very still.
That smile at the corner of her mouth. He knew that smile.
...It was the exact same one she had worn right before she had wrung him dry of every last drop of magic power.