Chapter 528: Plucking Stars with Hands, Shifting the Universe

Chapter 528: Hand Plucking Stars, Shifting Heaven and Earth

Huangfu Qing never imagined that these words, instead of leaving Zhao Changhe stunned, would have an effect more potent than any aphrodisiac.

They had already begged for a truce, yet suddenly the flames of war reignited. Caught off guard, Huangfu Qing was utterly bewildered.

Biting the pillow, she endured a long spell of deep thought before suddenly realizing: "You, you, you—you actually got more excited because of this!"

Zhao Changhe remained silent.

"Bastard!" Huangfu Qing struggled. "You call yourself a hero—have you no shame?"

Zhao Changhe pointed at his own nose: "I'm a cultist, a Fire Pig of the Four Symbols Hall."

Huangfu Qing rolled her eyes, whether from the shock of his words or something else entirely.

For cultists like them, such matters were hardly taken seriously, especially given this forced relationship. The problem was that Zhao Changhe usually gave off an increasingly heroic aura, making her think he would be restrained. She had hoped to gain some leverage over him...

Only now did Huangfu Qing recall: he was no hero at all—his original label was clearly that of a bandit!

Now she had woven her own trap. Not only was she suffering miserably at this moment, but she had also stirred up his even greater interest in Xia Chichi. Huangfu Qing wanted to slap herself.

Suddenly, voices of palace maids in respectful greeting came from outside the door: "The Saintess has returned!"

The movements inside halted abruptly.

Xia Chichi craned her neck to peer through the paper window, where the frozen tableau was still reflected.

"Bang!" Xia Chichi burst through the window with a fierce momentum, grabbing the adulterous pair: "I'm out there facing the most terrifying demon lord in the world, my life hanging by a thread, and you two are here enjoying yourselves, aren't you?"

The most terrifying demon lord—that was her own father...

Besides, even if he were truly insane enough to want to kill her, there was no need to lure her into a secret realm to do it. He could have killed her anytime, even just now along with Zhao Changhe.

The proud Vermilion Venerable, domineering all her life, refused to show weakness. Lazily, she removed Xia Chichi's hand and casually smoothed her hair. The blanket wrapped around her slipped away, and in an instant, waves crashed against the shore, churning up a thousand piles of snow.

Xia Chichi's eyes went wide: "Shameless!"

"What's wrong? He and I are a couple—we can be intimate whenever we please. What right do any demons or monsters have to oppose us?" Huangfu Qing said lazily. "But the Saintess barging in like this—isn't that a bit improper..."

Xia Chichi had her own justification: "In a perilous place, caution is paramount. You two were making enough noise for the entire palace to hear, and I approached without you sensing a thing. If something truly happened, wouldn't it ruin our Sacred Sect's great plans? Winged Fire Snake, do you know your crime?"

Huangfu Qing was taken aback. Who did she think she was, questioning her about crimes against the Sacred Sect?

No matter—she had a trump card.

"I know my limits," Huangfu Qing said leisurely. "I am fully in charge of palace affairs, and the Venerable has instructed you to listen to me. If you're dissatisfied, you can go back and tattle to the Venerable, asking her to punish me."

Xia Chichi said, "You're in charge of palace affairs, aren't you? Do you know that if I wanted, this entire palace could be mine?"

"I know," Huangfu Qing replied earnestly. "But if that day comes, it means you'll have to call me mother."

Xia Chichi was dumbfounded.

For the first time, Huangfu Qing utterly crushed Xia Chichi in this role, feeling an exhilarating thrill. With a mask on, she was her master; without it, she was her mother—an all-encompassing, flawless domination.

She completely forgot that this very identity had nearly awakened a beast within.

Taking advantage of the two supreme beings locked in battle by the bedside, Zhao Changhe quietly dressed himself. Hearing Huangfu Qing's words, he nearly lost his composure again and couldn't help but tug at Xia Chichi's sleeve: "Chichi..."

Xia Chichi snapped, "What? Not satisfied with her, so you're coming for me?"

"What if I said I was getting back at Old Xia—would you believe me?"

Xia Chichi's cheek twitched. She actually did believe it—at least the two of them rolling together so urgently was probably triggered by that very reason.

But now her own position had become incredibly awkward: "So you want to be my stepfather?"

Zhao Changhe: "..."

"Even if you wanted to, you can't." Xia Chichi had no more patience to argue with Huangfu Qing. She sneered, "We've fallen out."

Zhao Changhe was stunned: "What happened... Oh, you took his treasure and turned your back on him, not bothering with him anymore? That's fair."

Xia Chichi sneered, "I wanted to, but before I could even drop my smile, he put on a stern face and said, 'You may leave.'"

Zhao Changhe: "..."

Xia Chichi fumed, "Do you know how that felt? I actually thought he felt some remorse, and when he passed on his teachings to me, I felt a flicker of warmth... I wish he hadn't given me that illusion—it hurts even more!"

Huangfu Qing sighed, "It's best not to try to fathom the mind of such a man. Since you've fallen out, I think it's better to leave this place, to avoid lingering under his gaze. If he suddenly gets a new idea, we'll be caught off guard."

Xia Chichi sighed too, "Is that how all superiors are? Just as I can never fathom the Venerable—moody and unpredictable."

Huangfu Qing: "...I think you're the moody one. Why bring up the Venerable for no reason?"

Xia Chichi stared absently at the oil lamp and suddenly said, "He also drove me away. He told me to go overseas."

Huangfu Qing asked curiously, "What for?"

"He said I currently have an excess of sharpness but lack calm; an excess of icy cold but lack gentleness; an excess of aggression but lack tolerance; an excess of killing but lack authority. Thus, the White Tiger's intent is strong while the Azure Dragon's is shallow. I should go to the birthplace of the Eastern Azure Dragon to seek the path to my third secret treasure." Xia Chichi said, "Whatever kind of man he is, his insight into martial arts is truly remarkable."

Huangfu Qing nodded along. These words actually matched her own judgment. She had previously sent Xia Chichi on a sea voyage for this very reason, hadn't she? But as Xia Chichi's master, she knew her cultivation thoroughly. Xia Longyuan had only met Xia Chichi once, never even seen her fight, yet he could assess her so accurately—it was indeed admirable.

But Xia Chichi had already gone once, returning with an enhanced understanding of the Azure Dragon, which brought her to the threshold of the second secret treasure. Now to go again... Wait!

Huangfu Qing's eyes widened: "He told you to seek what path?"

"The third secret treasure," Xia Chichi said nonchalantly. "Because I just broke through to the second level and even gained a bit more..."

Huangfu Qing and Zhao Changhe both opened their mouths, unsure what to say.

Wasn't he just supposed to give her some of her mother's inheritance?

Zhao Changhe recalled his own struggle to break through the second level—truly, inch by inch, he had to reshape his body, nearly killing a man of iron with pain. Even then, he hadn't fully succeeded; he had to borrow the spiritual platform of the Ling tribe's ancestral shaman to comprehend the essence of the sun and moon's convergence, harmonizing the two polarities, before finally succeeding.

And here, a few words between father and daughter, and she broke through...

Who's the one cheating here?

Huangfu Qing looked at Xia Chichi thoughtfully for a long moment, not asking how she broke through, but only confirming: "The vast ocean—do you know exactly where to go? Don't end up at the Sea Emperor's doorstep."

"I don't know if the Sea Emperor will be nearby, but I do know where that place is..." Xia Chichi spoke as if in a dream: "He pointed to the Azure Dragon's Seven Mansions in his celestial canopy, casually brushed them, and the Seven Mansions fell to the far east, with the Heart Mansion's Great Fire precisely at the junction of sea and sky. Then I truly saw the sea and sky in reality, as if I were standing on a reef gazing at the distant Heart Mansion, feeling the moisture in the sea breeze that came at me... I've seen the islands and reefs nearby—I visited them on this last voyage."

Huangfu Qing's expression grew extremely grave: "Hand plucking stars, shifting heaven and earth. Does such a realm truly exist?"

Xia Chichi said, "Yes, it's recorded in the classics, but I thought it was exaggeration... Seeing it firsthand, it's truly awe-inspiring. However, I feel this might have been aided by the effect of this secret realm's sky—I suspect his presence here is related to that."

Zhao Changhe asked, "You said you went to that place on your voyage but didn't find anything. Going again—do you know how to look?"

"Wait for the right time... The moment when the Heart Mansion appears exactly at the junction of sea and sky. But it's not when the Azure Dragon descends into the sea—it's the opposite. The Azure Dragon rises from the sea, its aspect 'perhaps leaping in the abyss,' until it fully ascends, 'the flying dragon in the heavens.'"