"Some idle people have established various rankings. You are Yue Qingling, who entered the Heaven Rankings three years ago, also the last Emperor-level expert when the New Moon Empire was promoted to an empire, the younger sister of the New Moon Empire's emperor—Princess Qingling." Xiaoyao looked at the mature woman—no, she should be called Yue Qingling.
"Ah..." Princess Ke Xin's eyes widened, her small mouth slightly open, looking very surprised.
Indeed, she was surprised, even shocked. She knew her master was strong, but she never expected her to be an Emperor-level expert. This opportunity was truly incredible—even winning the Dragon Gate Tournament might not guarantee such a chance.
Could it be that heaven opened a back door for me?
Or did she take interest in me for other purposes?
Xiaoyao seemed to see Princess Ke Xin's confusion and said: "According to records, Gentle Breeze Manor has a unique martial arts system called Soft Body Arts. After practicing it, the body becomes incredibly flexible, and attacks become unpredictable. It's a very distinctive martial art! However, this martial arts system has high requirements for practitioners. Someone who meets the conditions might not appear even once in a hundred years. You should be exactly that kind of unique person..."
"Also, you're a princess, and she's also a princess, so she cares about you a bit more!" Xiaoyao added at the end.
"Kid, who are you? Why do you know so much about these things?" Yue Qingling looked at Xiaoyao, no longer with contempt in her eyes, but with wariness. Xiaoyao's understanding of the situation made her feel hostile.
Now, if Xiaoyao made any special moves, she might strike to kill him. Don't doubt whether she could do it—she was an Emperor-level expert who could kill Xiaoyao a hundred times in minutes.
An Emperor-level expert versus someone who hadn't broken through basic skills—although Xiaoyao had some methods to compensate for his lack of strength, the gap in levels was too great to bridge!
"I'm called Xiaoyao, a servant. As for why I know these things so clearly, they're all rumors. You just need to pay a little attention to know them. You must want to ask why I recognize you—don't you know that some idle people established a beauty ranking? You've been on it for twenty years. Although the portrait is from when you were young, you haven't changed much," Xiaoyao answered, directly addressing the question Yue Qingling wanted to ask.
"..." Yue Qingling fell silent for a while. Thinking about it, what Xiaoyao said wasn't secret information—it was all available on the continent. One could obtain it by collecting intelligence.
However, if this wasn't specialized intelligence but was compiled by oneself, it would require certain intelligence-gathering abilities and memory. If one didn't remember everything but only remembered one or two things, how would they know that the person they encountered was exactly one of those one or two? If they met someone they couldn't remember, wouldn't the time spent remembering the others be wasted?
What Yue Qingling cared most about at this moment wasn't this matter, but something else.
"When I was young? Am I not young now?" Yue Qingling said with a forced smile, but Xiaoyao knew that if he said the wrong thing, it would be tragic. Women cared most about this.
He didn't want to offend an Emperor-level expert.
"You're equally young now, with added maturity. You're no longer as naive as before, and your charm value is higher. Otherwise, how would your ranking on the beauty list keep rising," Xiaoyao said with a smile.
"Of course!" Yue Qingling smiled, a completely different expression from her earlier coldness.
At this moment, Yue Qingling didn't know what Xiaoyao was thinking. If she knew, she would definitely strike to cut him down.
Xiaoyao was thinking that the reason Yue Qingling's ranking kept rising was because her status changed from a princess of a kingdom to a princess of an empire. She also advanced from a King-level expert to an Emperor-level expert, entering the Heaven Rankings, which influenced some people's opinions and raised her reputation.
Naturally, her more dazzling mature woman aura couldn't be ruled out—she was more seductive than during her maiden years. But after all, she wasn't young anymore, which should have brought some discount. These should have canceled each other out.
"Twenty years—wait, is Master really that old? Oh, I mean, that mature?" Princess Ke Xin suddenly said.
Xiaoyao couldn't help wanting to laugh. At this moment, you still bring up this matter—are you trying to provoke your master?
"Compared to you, Master is indeed a bit old. Time spares no one,” Yue Qingling said with a smile. From this sentence, one could see that she was somewhat indulgent toward Princess Ke Xin, truly acting like a master.
"Master..." Princess Ke Xin lowered her head in embarrassment.
"Your master is now in her prime. When she was first listed, she was only in her teens, so even after twenty years, she's only in her thirties,” Xiaoyao explained.
Yue Qingling's face darkened as she said: "No need for your reminders! Ke Xin, keep your distance from this kid in the future. Let's go!"
"Yes! Young Master Xiaoyao, then we'll meet again. Don't fail to recognize me when the time comes." Princess Ke Xin bid farewell to Xiaoyao. After this parting, she believed it would be very difficult to encounter Xiaoyao again. Wasn't there a saying...
"If fate permits, we'll meet again," Xiaoyao said.
Yes, if fate permits, we'll meet again!
Xiaoyao set off alone. He rode a thin horse that didn't look impressive—he had bought it from a horse trader for one tael of silver, which wasn't much more expensive than renting a horse.
Xiaoyao chose this thin horse not just because it was cheap, but because he could see it wasn't simple. It was a very rare and unique breed. This type of horse was generally thin, which led people to mistake them for inferior horses.
But who could know that this thin horse's muscles and bones were well-developed? It was a genuine thousand-li horse, and its endurance was much higher than ordinary thousand-li horses. It could run continuously for a day and night. With proper cultivation, even stronger abilities could be developed.
However, its disadvantage was looking somewhat weak. Generally, no one would cultivate them, so this type of horse was usually buried in obscurity. Even if discovered, due to poor early cultivation, it was difficult to reach peak condition. But it was still a good horse—buying it for one tael of silver was definitely profitable.
If the horse trader knew this situation, although he would regret it, he could only sigh: "Thousand-li horses are easy to find, but those who recognize them are rare!"
Sometimes, some things are right in front of people, but no one knows their value. Treating things worth a thousand gold as grass happens every day and will continue to happen!
Xiaoyao's thin horse was relatively lucky—it wasn't too bad. If Xiaoyao cultivated it, he would definitely develop a powerful treasure horse. Using medicines and his understanding of horses, this wouldn't be difficult.
Now, Xiaoyao only sought to catch up with Guxing and the others. He didn't plan to cultivate any treasure horse because it would waste too much medicine, and the value wasn't high—at least not high for him.
However, Xiaoyao still used a few pills because he felt buying good horse feed would cost more. To save money, he only let the thin horse eat grass—the kind that grew on the ground and cost nothing. Because of this, he would stop wherever there was grass to let the thin horse eat its fill.
The thin horse hadn't yet reached the point where it could go day and night without rest, which was perfect for letting it rest. Then they would start running again at full speed, not letting the thin horse have any energy left!
This situation didn't exhaust the thin horse but made it increasingly energetic.
Horse cultivation wasn't about eating and then resting—it required running. Therefore, after Xiaoyao continued this way, within a few days, the thin horse had already demonstrated its amazing potential. Its speed and endurance were much higher than ordinary horses.
Now Xiaoyao believed he could catch up with Guxing's team in just a few days. If the thin horse had this level from the beginning, it would only take two days to catch up. Previously, the thin horse had actually slowed Xiaoyao down.
At this moment, Xiaoyao suddenly had an idea. Since this thin horse had such potential, he would cultivate it along the way. Even after catching up with Guxing's team, he would continue training the horse at full effort.
By the time they reached the Great Tang Empire's capital, Xiaoyao believed this thin horse would become a treasure horse worth a thousand gold. Then he could resell it and make a huge profit.
On this continent, good horses were very popular. "Treasure horses for heroes"—all martial artists liked having a top-quality horse and would spend large sums to purchase them. That was quite a bit of money!
Now, money was the most important thing in Xiaoyao's eyes. Money equaled materials, which equaled advanced pills. Then advanced pills equaled money, which equaled materials, which equaled advanced pills, then...
"Hehe..." Xiaoyao began drooling. He was having a very pleasant and comfortable daydream, but at this moment it was interrupted, making him extremely displeased.
Xiaoyao was currently in a canyon, and suddenly an iron chain appeared across the road ahead, followed by—
"This road was opened by me, this tree was planted by me..." A group of fierce-looking people appeared. That phrase announced their profession. Xiaoyao couldn't understand why bandits were all fierce and ugly. Was this also a professional requirement?
Then Xiaoyao reacted—
"Damn, I encountered robbers again!" Xiaoyao was angry. "Why did I say 'again'?"
"Kid, since you know we're robbers, be smart about it!" a bandit said fiercely. His one-eyed appearance made his profession even less questionable.
"I understand, you want money! But I'm just a small servant. Look at me—do I look like I have money? Why would you important people need to take action!" Xiaoyao said very cooperatively, while asking a small question.
(End of Chapter)