Five years later, the Junwu Empire, Northern Border City.
"Master!!!"
Feng Wu shrieked and bolted up in bed!
"Miss, Miss, are you alright —"
Qiuling, her chief maid-in-waiting, rushed into the room. After setting down a copper basin filled with water on the shelf, she went up to Feng Wu in a hurry.
Qiuling always considered her mistress, the fifth daughter of the family, to be an exceptional beauty. However, she now saw that the young lady was as white as a sheet.
Qiuling's heart went out to her mistress. In a comforting, gentle voice, she asked, "Miss, did you have a nightmare?"
Staring at Qiuling, Feng Wu gradually woke up, and everything slowly came back to her.
Zuo Qingyun had destroyed her True Phoenix Blood, and in saving her, her master had fallen back into an endless coma… All that wasn't a dream at all! It really happened five years ago!
After her True Phoenix Blood was destroyed, the once gifted teenage girl fell into disgrace and became the shame of the Feng clan. Together with her beautiful mother and her own brother, they were packed up and banished to the old Feng family residence in Northern Border City, which sat on the border of the empire.
Qiuling fetched a pair of fluffy slippers for Feng Wu, then helped her sit down at the dresser and began to dress her for the day.
——
"Sister! Sister! We got a letter from the imperial capital!"
They heard some hasty footsteps, and shortly afterward, a teenage boy dashed into the room like a gust of wind.
He was about twelve years old and very good-looking.
He had skin as fair as snow and exquisite features, especially his eyes. His eyelashes were long, dense, and curly, and his eyes were remarkably big and bright.
Before Feng Wu could ask anything, Feng Xiaoqi stuffed a letter into her hand. "Sister, read it now!"
It was a red envelope, which stood for a red alert. No wonder he was in such a hurry.
Despite Feng Xiaoqi's anxious tone, Feng Wu remained as calm as ever. She unfolded the letter with slender fingers as fair as white jade and quickly read it through.
"Sister!" Feng Xiaoqi stared at Feng Wu with unblinking eyes. Seeing her slight frown, he grew all the more uneasy. "Has something happened in the imperial capital? Was there an incident?"
Qiuling looked equally curious and anxious.
Feng Wu waved the letter and smiled. "It's nothing. Jun Linyuan is coming here on an inspection tour of the border cities."
Qiuling cried out in surprise, "Our crown prince, the most influential and supreme figure in the empire, is coming out here?"
Feng Wu nodded. "We can avoid him easily enough. However, our family has been trying to regain favor with the crown prince, and I'm afraid this means that they're now going to send someone here from the clan."
"What? What are we going to do?!" Feng Xiaoqi almost jumped into the air. "We've been banished to this old house on the border already! What more do they want? To kill us all?!"
Feng Wu darted an irritated look at Feng Xiaoqi. "Calm down!"
Feng Xiaoqi was so anxious that he was almost in tears. "Sister, how can I be calm? If you were still what you were, we wouldn't give a damn who comes here! You'd be able to handle them with a wave of your hand! But now… all your cultivation has been destroyed!"
"Young Master!" The look Qiuling gave him had never been so stern!
Feng Xiaoqi realized that he had said the wrong thing. Covering his mouth with both hands, his eyes opened wide and he looked at Feng Wu guiltily, not knowing how to take it back.
Feng Wu only smiled. "So what if it's destroyed? Can't your sister find a way to resume her cultivation?"
Feng Xiaoqi's eyes lit up immediately. "Sister! Can you do that? Have you found a way?!"
Feng Wu shrugged. "No, I haven't."
Feng Xiaoqi looked crestfallen right away.
When no one else was looking, the look in Feng Wu's eyes turned brooding.
Her beautiful master had told her that in order to resume her cultivation, she had to refine the Nine Transformation Spirit Restoration Pill first.
She knew the pill recipe and was capable of refining it. However, she still needed one last ingredient: Immortal Spiritual Fruit.
Feng Wu had had her eye on this Immortal Spiritual Fruit for five years, and it was almost ripe…
Meanwhile, Feng Wu was perfectly aware that the oldest child and the sixth child of her generation in the Feng family were coming. When those two arrogant bastards arrived, her beautiful mother and naive younger brother would live in misery without her protection. Hence, she needed to obtain that Immortal Spiritual Fruit as soon as possible to resume her cultivation!
Feng Wu clenched her fists. Jun Linyuan, are you really here just to inspect Northern Border City?!