Chapter 44: Their Trials
It took until the middle of the day for all of the youths to finally enter the gord. The crowded harbor became empty while the other civilians stood behind the houses and buildings.
While some had gone home, most of the citizens still stayed and waited for the results.
As for what they were waiting for, it was naturally the elimination.
When a youth is eliminated, they were sent back out of the gord.
Over thirty youths were already eliminated and it had only been half a day since the trials started. However, the crowd was still looking forward to this year's result, since compared to the past, almost dozens of youth were eliminated in the same time frame.
At the same time, four robed figures approached a royal soldier. They had a conspicious appearance since they were wearing robes that had hoods which covered their faces.
The royal soldier looked at them suspiciously and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
However, his apprehensive look turned into shock when he saw the face of one of the robed figures in front of him.
He became dazed for a few seconds before briefly snapping out of it and kneeling down.
"This subordinate greets her majesty!"
His voice was loud, gathering the attention of those who were nearby.
Meixiang ended up smiling wryly as she had forgotten how devout and respectful their soldiers were. In fact, it had been some time since anyone had paid respects to her.
Nevertheless, she was still an empress at heart so-
"Lead me to my father."
"This subordinate is happy to oblige!"
Her response confirmed the speculations of the nearby pedestrians, making them murmur amongst themselves.
"That's the princess... right?"
"Obviously! Did you see how the royal soldier treated her?"
"Truly?! Our young empress had returned?!"
The crowd became noisy, and similar to a wildfire in the forest, the news immediately began to spread.
Some even started cheering as soon as they heard the news which gathered more attention and in turn, the entire population waiting near the harbor heard of a single news.
"The royal princess has returned!"
-
Even the heads of the great nobles heard of this news as they stared at the four hooded figures climbing up the royal stage.
That action alone confirmed that the news was true and that the princess had returned. Marshal Tian had a peculiar look while staring at a particular hooded figure who seemed rather well endowed.
As for the head of the Shi Clan, he almost failed to control himself from rushing up to those hooded figures and checking if his daughter was one of them.
Naturally, he had his doubts even towards the royal family since his daughter's disappearance coincided with the princess' seclusion.
The elder of the Wan Family simply glanced at the hooded figures before resuming his conversation with the purple haired elder.
As they arrived on top of the stage, one of the hooded figures walked in front of the King.
Making a brief bow, she spoke. "Honorable father."
The King nodded. "Daughter."
An awkward silence remained as the two did not continue to speak.
Han Qiuyue sized up Meixiang and her stone face finally showed a slight change.
She was in disbelief when she found out that the girl in front of her was actually in the Infant Core Formation stage.
Calling her "Talented" was an understatement!
Unfortunately, no one on the stage seemed to be noticing her strange expression since they were too focused on the interaction between the King and the princess.
Eventually, The King spoke with a slight smirk appearing on his face.
"So, did you make sure that the boy released it outside?"
It didn't take a genius to realize what the King was talking about.
Contrary to everyone's expressions, Han Qiuyue had the strongest reaction as her face flushed in embarrassment.
"H-h-how could you say that?! And to your own daughter?!"
The group didn't mind her as Meixiang responded with a small smile.
"Yes, Father. We always made sure of it so that you would not yet have a grandson or granddaughter."
"However, I cannot guarantee it anymore since we would always engage in "nightly" cultivation."
Her reply almost caused Han Qiuyue to stumble.
'A-a-a-a-a youth in her age? W-w-what?! I thought she was a royal princess?!'
Han Qiuyue's head was full of confusion as question marks appeared on top of her head.
The King merely laughed before standing up and embracing his daughter.
"I am glad that you are back safely."
"Mhmm.." Meixiang closed her eyes and enjoyed her father's embrace.
"Did you get stronger?"
"A whole lot." Meixiang replied.
"That's my good girl..." He then paused as he asked with seriousness, "I really am not expecting a grandchild anytime soon, right?"
This caused Meixiang and the other hooded figures to laugh.
Zed who had been watching their entire exchange, couldn't help but think, 'It seems that her pervertedness was inherited from her father.'
The dirty jokes and teasing seemed to have come from the King.
Zed, who was in his hormonal years could not help but silently wallow in despair as he remembered all the pains he had to go through because of Meixiang's constant teasing.
He could not even "relieve" himself for the fear that his sisters may catch him in the act.
As the father and daughter enjoyed their reunion, Zed finally looked towards the outsider of the group.
She was the only one who was able to stay on the Royal Family's platform and one look was enough for Zed to realize that she was a person with a high position in the sect.
Noticing his gaze, Han Qiuyue looked towards him. She was used to being stared at by countless people, even her juniors were always admiring her beauty.
However, she did not expect to receive a gaze that was analyzing her entire body especially when it came from a younger boy.
She could sense that there was no pervertedness or inappropriate intentions behind his gaze. Instead, it was full of analysis which was trying to determine the extent of her strength.
Realizing that he was noticed, Zed didn't turn away from making eye contact with the cold mature-looking woman.
'Interesting...' Han Qiuyue thought to herself, since usually, almost everyone would look the other way as soon as she made eye contact with them.
She did not know whether it was because they were ashamed or embarrassed, for being caught staring at her. In either case, she did not care.
What she did know was... only strong people could stand to meet her gaze.
Of course, there were times when she received inappropriate looks and did not shy away from her even after being noticed by her.
As for what happened to them? While the majority of them lost their lives, there were a few who she had to be lenient with, since they were also part of her sect.
Their eyes however, weren't spared.
Feeling slightly curious, she imbued a small amount of qi in her eyes which should naturally increase the pressure she had on whomever she was looking at.
Zed showed no change in expression, but he did feel the sudden heaviness in the atmosphere.
He did not feel displeased by the sudden test from the elder. Instead, he welcomed it.
He wanted to see how strong his physical body had become, now that he was in the middle of the qi foundation stage.
Seeing the youth endure, Han Qiuyue increased the pressure.
This kept repeating as Zed endured the continuous pressure, making beads of sweat appear on his forehead.
She became determined to test the limits of the youth in front of her.
Han Qiuyue accidentally sent too much force which resulted in Zed-
Puk!
He coughed up blood.
Immediately, the peaceful atmosphere was broken as Han Qiuyue deflected an attack that was aimed at her throat.
She was so surprised by the sudden attack that she reacted by reflex.
Normally, Cultivators below the nascent soul realm wouldn't be able to put a scratch on her since she was literally just a step away from the immortal realm.
Regardless of the cultivation level or method, they would be useless in front of raw strength, which was what Han Qiuyue had.
Which is why she was surprised that her body reacted by reflex. It meant that her body deemed the attack to be dangerous.
From a peaceful and joyful reunion, the atmosphere became menacing and dangerous.
Meixiang, Jingfei, and Lan'er already had their weapons and assumed a stance towards Han Qiuyue.
She looked towards the girl with long silver white hair who possessed an unnatural beauty that could topple countries, but this wasn't why Han Qiuyue was looking at her.
It was because the girl was actually the one who released that dangerous attack.
All three girls were looking at her with a dangerous gaze as if ready to attack and kill her from the moment she made another move.
Looking at their cultivation stages, Han Qiuyue realizes that the other two girls were actually at peak qi foundation stage!
With the princess being in infant core formation stage and the only male in the group at middle qi foundation stage.
She was now completely stunned after realizing that the group of youth in front of her were all full fledged cultivators!
Not only that, but judging by their ages, they had not even reached their eighteens and yet! They had cultivation stages that only those who had been cultivating for numerous years had.
'Monsters.'
Those were the only words that Han Qiuyue could think of when faced with this group of youth in front of her.
While she was stuck in her own thoughts, The Royal Famly's platform became deathly silent as the three girls had an incredibly hostile attitude towards the elder.
Fortunately, the platform was high enough so that no one beneath it could see them.
Han Qiuyue's stone face changes slightly as the corners of her lips slightly curved upwards.
'I'm actually a bit of a monster of my own...' Thinking like that, she then released more of her peak nascent soul qi.
Dark blue aura violently permeated in the air, making the entire group including the King, feel a sense of dread.
This action naturally didn't go unnoticed by the two other elders from underneath the platform. The two briefly looked at each other before deciding to ascend at the same time.
Sensing the two other elders coming up the platform, the smile in Han Qiuyue's face disappeared as she frowned and clicked her tongue in annoyance.
Instantly, the dreadful qi dispersed and the air returned to normal.
Seeing that the other side dropped her hostility, only Jingfei moved to check on their brother while Meixiang and Lan'er remained in their fighting stance.
"You- what are you trying to do?" Meixiang's voice was full of coldness as she glared towards the woman in front of her.
Han Qiuyue's face returned to being expressionless and responded to Meixiang. "I did a simple test and decided that... all four of you are coming back with me to the sect."
Her words caused the King to be slightly surprised, but he had exepcted it nonetheless.
Meixiang released a breath and her expression softened. She also withdrew her blade and tended to Zed.
Lan'er also withdrew her blade, but her hateful gaze did not leave Han Qiuyue. The latter simply looked at her in interest before speaking.
"Boy, I am glad that you did not simply hide behind women and... You have proven your worth to me."
Zed tried to stand up, but his body felt weak and heavy. With a pale face, yet piercing eyes, he looked at Han Qiuyue not wanting to let go of his consciousness.
Although the group's exchange was brief, Zed fought the urge to faint after he received the damage to his soul.
That's right. Zed did not receive simple damage, but damage done to his soul.
Otherwise, Why else was the nascent soul stage called that?
Han Qiuyue walked towards the group, not minding the threatening looks she was receiving from the three girls.
She leaned down towards Zed who was being supported by Jingfei.
"You have done well in passing my trials. Rest well and recover your soul."
As she said that, Zed suddenly fainted which cause Jingfei to slightly panic.
"In the meantime-"
Han Qiuyue could not finish her words since the tip of a sword was pointed towards her neck.
Her eyes flashed with coldness when she realized it was the same silver haired girl from before. Out of the three girls, this lass was the one with the most hostility towards her.
"Don't push your luck child-" She wanted to reproach the girl in front of her for being too disrespectful, but the latter cut her off.
"What did you do to brother?" Her bell-like voice contained a hint of danger, it was as, if she did not like Han Qiuyue's next words, she would not hesitate to plunge that sword into the latter's neck.
But Han Qiuyue could only see Lan'er's actions as immature since she replied, "You're lucky I am already considering on taking you back to the sect.
Otherwise..." Her eyes narrowed as her voice trailed off.
Killing intent surged in the surroundings, making Lan'er subconsciously weak on her knees.
"Elder Han! What is wrong?!"
The group's tense atmosphere was broken by the arrival of the short and brawny elder. Beside him was the long purple haired elder.
They could not comprehend the situation since all they could see was a little girl holding up a weapon towards Elder Han.
"Enemy attack?" The short brawny man asks.
Edited By: WorthyAdversary