One of the pre-war training exercises was a simulated combat simulation held in the Martial Souls Palace of the Holy City Palace. The diva teams, along with other combat personnel, formed teams to jointly combat the monsters conjured up. The exterior of the Martial Souls Palace was surrounded by a layer of spiritual barrier. Although the Martial Souls Palace didn't appear large from the outside, entering the barrier revealed a completely different world. Both the exterior barrier and the vast interior space of the Martial Souls Palace were created by the ancestors of the royal family, and the internal space was not connected to the outside world. Therefore, the Martial Souls Palace was an excellent martial arts arena and also a dedicated place for the royal family's training.
The overall commander of the simulated combat exercise and the person in charge of formal combat was Feng Mo, the current king of the Kingdom of Light. According to prophecy, this was a crucial test concerning the life and death of the Benchu royal family. Therefore, as the king, Feng Mo took on the highest responsibility without hesitation. A year ago, he and Shizuru finally welcomed their long-awaited firstborn, who possessed the spiritual power of the Benchu royal family as well as the mysterious blessing of the fairy tribe. Currently, Shizuru mainly took care of this child internally, while Feng Mo mobilized various available forces externally to prepare for the final test.
Feng Mo was unaware of Shizuru's past with Kimoon. He only knew that Kimoon was the child of his beloved sister. Although Zui Ai maintained a certain distance from Kimoon on the surface, Feng Mo understood Zui Ai's kind-hearted nature and knew that she must be silently caring for the child in secret. Many years ago, Zui Ai had asked him to send Kimoon to the Purple Kingdom to provide her with a normal environment for growth. Although Zui Ai hadn't mentioned anything this time, Feng Mo could guess that she certainly didn't want Kimoon to encounter danger or mishap. Therefore, Feng Mo decided that he would do his best to ensure Kimoon's safety for Zui Ai's sake, never letting her worry about it.
On the first day of the simulated combat exercise, all teams participating in the battle gathered in the Martial Souls Palace. In addition to the diva teams led by Yoko, there were also swordsmen teams using Light Swords for close-range attacks, archer teams using bows and arrows for long-range attacks, and spirit teams capable of both offense and defense, including various wizards and Mikos. The spirit teams were led by Kikyo and Zui Ai, the two strongest in spiritual power among the Benchu royal family, and were deeply loved by others. The swordsman and archer teams were led by Hime Chikane, a prominent female general in the Kingdom of Light in recent years.
Hime Chikane came from the sidelines of the royal family of the Kingdom of Light, the Hime clan. In ancient times, the Hime clan and the Benchu clan originated from the same ancestor. After many years of changes, the Hime clan gradually faded out of the center of power but still bore the responsibility of guarding the kingdom, assisting the Benchu royal family as a sideline.
Chikane was born a year earlier than Kimoon. Shortly afterward, the royal family was forced into the Mirage. In the adventure of the Mirage, Chikane's parents sacrificed themselves to protect other members of the royal family. Zui Ai also gave birth to Ruo Pu and Kimoon at that time, so Kikyo and Zui Ai treated Chikane as their own child, caring for her affectionately and occasionally accompanying her with Ruo Pu to grow up. Chikane also practiced spiritual power and archery under the careful guidance of Kikyo and Zui Ai since childhood, and practiced swordsmanship using Light Swords under the training of the royal swordsmen.
Chikane was born with powerful spiritual power at the Initial Sanctity level. In these years of practice, her spiritual power had gradually grown, with the potential to break through to the Sanctity level. Therefore, Chikane was now second only to Kikyo and Zui Ai in terms of spiritual power among the royal family. Her swordsmanship was also outstanding in the kingdom. Her dedicated Light Sword, the Moon Goddess Sword, was the treasure of the Hime clan. Chikane excelled in close combat and could extend the Moon Goddess Sword to tens of meters and transform it into a sacred bow. Her ultimate move was to transform her spiritual power into arrows and shoot them out with the sacred bow, which was as powerful as Kikyo's Demon-Breaking Arrow.
Due to Chikane's profound achievements in spiritual power and swordsmanship, combined with her often appearing in front of people in a Miko's attire like Kikyo, she was also called by everyone as the strongest Miko of the new generation of the royal family.
Feng Mo stood elegantly in the center of the main hall of the Martial Souls Palace. Yoko, Kikyo, Zui Ai, and Chikane stood on either side of him. The people in the hall looked up at these shining members of the Benchu royal family and the leaders of various teams, revealing admiration. Especially the diva girls, seeing so many talented individuals and such a grand scene for the first time, even though they had been in the music scene for a long time and had performed dozens or hundreds of large-scale concerts, they were deeply impressed by this scene.
Many young warriors, both male and female, couldn't help but show admiration when they saw Chikane. Chikane had flowing black hair and pure azure eyes, and her beauty was top-notch. However, perhaps influenced by Kikyo and Zui Ai, Chikane didn't usually show her emotions, creating a sense of aloofness that intimidated many admirers. This aspect was very similar to Kimoon's current demeanor.
Chikane had been brought up by Kikyo and Zui Ai since childhood, and she had grown up intimately with Ruo Pu. The members of the royal family had long regarded her as one of the core members. Therefore, Chikane was also aware of Kimoon's background, although the two had never met before. Today was the first time they met. Chikane cast her gaze towards Kimoon in the crowd, inevitably recalling her most respected person, whom she regarded as a mother and sister, Zui Ai, and the memories of her.
In Chikane's memory, when she was young, she had occasionally seen Zui Ai alone, heading to the Fallen Sword Palace. Out of curiosity and to test her own invisibility technique, she concealed her traces and secretly followed behind. With Zui Ai's spiritual power, she should have been able to detect the young Chikane, but that day, Zui Ai seemed to have something on her mind and didn't notice Chikane's presence. Chikane followed Zui Ai to the Fallen Sword Palace and saw Zui Ai looking from a distance at a child playing alone. Was this huge palace where only she lived? Although Chikane had some doubts, as a mature and steady person since childhood, she felt that she shouldn't break her beloved sister's secret by intruding at that moment. Therefore, she quietly left a few minutes later, never mentioning the matter.
After witnessing the situation, Chikane gradually realized that every time the maids brought new uniforms for Ruo Pu, there would always be two different styles. One set would eventually be worn by Ruo Pu, while the other set would never appear in front of anyone. Shortly after Ruo Pu reached adulthood, Kikyo and Zui Ai informed both Ruo Pu and Chikane about Kimoon's situation. It was only then that Chikane began to understand Zui Ai's secret and the fate of those vanished uniforms.
At that moment, Kimoon in the crowd made eye contact with Chikane.