Murim's Weakest Princess

After dismissing the servant after she brought the tea to the sect leaders in a private meeting room, Zhao Mingfeng prompted Yan Ping to tell them more about the vision she saw with her clairvoyance.

"There are two parts to my vision," the blind lady admitted. "The first is a personal affair relating to the Celestial Dragon Sect's youngest princess. The next is something that affects everyone in the Rainbow Alliance."

Ignoring his curiosity about the vision related to Anji, Fengming asked if the next vision was related to the rise of a new Murim Alliance. After the fall of the demonic sect, many demonic-affiliated cultivators scattered and hid themselves away. However, in recent years, these troublemakers have started surfacing again. Ordinarily, the roaming pugilists and mercenaries with cultivation skills would have taken care of them. However, these new troublemakers have started infringing upon the peace the Rainbow Alliance worked so hard to build.

"I heard a little about them," Bai Dajin admitted. "While travelling, I stopped by many small towns with smaller cultivation clans. The new upstarts have brutally wiped out some of these small clans. They didn't even bother masking their crimes as bandits. There's a particularly notorious group who call themselves the Zodiac. They are a group of twelve highly-skilled assassins, but I could not find anything about the head of this organisation."

Agreeing, the Azure Dragon's leader chimed in. "I asked Zhang Mou to look after the sect on my behalf while investigating this secretly. Although I don't know who the head is, Zodiac is not the only group. I believe these demonic worshippers have colluded with outsiders. Two months ago, I faced off with an expert from the grassland. They call themselves the Barbaric Arts Alliance."

Sighing, Hong Nian Niang shared her fair share of troubles.

"As you know, I like to go husband shopping. However, when I was out, someone attacked my sect. My harem lovers are not weak. However, they used underhand methods and poisoned two of my lovers to death. The poison is nothing I've seen before. It is definitely not from the Central Plains. There is reason to believe that the remaining demonic cults have aligned themselves with outsiders."

Concerned, Zhao Mingfeng asked if anyone else had experienced similar attacks. Thankfully, Chen Zhong and Yan Ping had no encounters with the strange attacks. However, Yanxia shared what her aunt, Royal Consort Liu Guiya, told her before she abandoned her life as a cultivator to enter the palace officially.

"My aunt wrote me a letter after she handed the sect to me. In her letter, she did not explain much about the court politics involving the new emperor. However, she did mention a few things about the remaining forces of the demonic sect. The Heavenly Phoenix sect is currently in a mess because my aunt handed the position over to me so suddenly. The elders oppose me, and there is a lot of internal fighting, resulting in many security flaws. I believe there are spies from the demonic worshippers in my sect, manipulating key figureheads. I attended the banquet today to ask the Rainbow Alliance for help regarding this matter due to my lack of ability."

Before Liu Yanxia was the leader of the Heavenly Phoenix sect, her aunt, Liu Guiya, was in charge. During the time they fought the demonic sect leader, she had the biggest forces, and she held down most of the reinforcements. The Heavenly Phoenix Sect has a long history as one of the most glamorous cultivator schools. They operated the organisation like a business and were often involved in the mortal world's business. It was not surprising that Liu Guiya became involved with imperial politics. After all, she was the main reason the new emperor could rise to the throne. However, abandoning her roots as a cultivator was also unlike her.

"There is an unspoken rule that those in the Murim world should not interfere with mortal affairs," Yan Ping finally spoke up. "However, I believe Guiya left to become a royal consort due to the upcoming catastrophe that I saw in my vision. Things are no longer as simple. We cannot afford to sit back and leave it to the imperial army."

Connecting the pieces, everyone finally had a gist of the situation.

"Are you saying the enemy has colluded with mortals and outsiders?" Zhao Mingfeng asked.

Yan Ping left them to stew in their thoughts without saying anything else. It was obvious enough that the remaining members of the demonic sect would not be able to do anything on their own apart from petty revenge from time to time. However, they had been lying low and building their power for years, waiting for the right time to strike.

"The fact that they are moving now in such an orderly manner without leaving any traces means that someone is leading them from the shadows," Yan Ping frowned. "Although I don't know who that person is, they are in Chang'an."

Chang'an was the royal capital. If Yan Ping's vision was correct, the capital would likely become a headquarters for pugilists and demonic cultivators who would gather under the guise of mortals to operate. Unlike the orthodox sects, which prefer to seclude themselves to cultivate in highly dense energy environments, the demonic sect prefers to set up their base of operations in densely populated areas.

"There will be a massacre if we do not stop them," Yan Ping continued. Chang'an would become a city of corpses, sacrificed for their cultivation advancement. Not even the imperial army could stop a group of cultivators if they wished to storm the palace. Even Liu Guiya would not be able to take them all down. We can't help her openly, but we have to act fast to prevent millions of deaths."

Hearing this, the pieces were finally coming together. Liu Guiya must have known about this ploy long ago. However, she wanted to act alone and not startle the demonic cultivators by hiding under her new identity as a royal consort to continue investigations. She did not want to implicate the Rainbow Alliance and Murim world with this matter. However, the influence and forces of the enemy were too much for even the ex-leader of the Heavenly Phoenix clan to handle. Hence, Yan Ping had to come to them to share her vision of a massacre.

"How long do we have to prepare for this war?" Zhao Mingfeng asked at last. The news was still not fully sinking in yet, but as the leader of the Rainbow Alliance, it was his duty to prepare.

Yan Ping shrugged. "I can only see glimpses of the future. The vision is not omnipotent. It is up to you to decide how long you need to prepare. However, there's a different vision that might interest you. It's related to your youngest daughter, who was born with a power too great for her to handle."

Ah, yes. It was a famous incident that almost everyone knew about. Zhao Anji was a gifted genius with a talent that almost killed her from birth.

"Your daughter won't live past twelve if I leave her alone like this," Yan Ping cut to the chase.

The silence in the room was so loud that nobody breathed. The person most affected by the devastating revelation was none other than Zhao Mingfeng.

"Why?! How will she die? Are there any medicines or assassins I need to prepare for beforehand? Anji barely survived that day. I can't lose her like that!"

Having anticipated this reaction from the doting father of four children, Yan Ping flicked her empty tea cup at him.

"Sit down!" the oldest cultivator in the room snapped. "I'm not finished. She doesn't have to die if she comes with me."

Doing his best to calm down, Zhao Mingfeng's worry turned into confusion.

"What do you mean 'go with you'?"

Yan Ping deadpanned. "It's exactly what it sounds like. I need Anji to come to my Mystical Qilin Sect when she turns six. The seal you've created over her cultivator's core will weaken as she grows older. However, as she is unable to train because she's as weak as a mortal, she has no way of mitigating the powerful energy built up inside of her when the seal finally breaks. It's like trying to cage a ferocious lion in a small wooden cage while feeding it meat. The moment that wooden cage breaks, that lion will kill anything in its path."

Slumping back onto his chair, Zhao Mingfeng turned as pale as a sheet. When he created that seal, he thought that would be the end of the tragedy. Even if Anji lived the rest of her life as a mortal, he always hoped she would outlive him, marry a great man and pass away peacefully from old age. Who would have thought her cultivator core would be stronger than any seal?

"Do you have a cure?" he asked. "What's her survival chances if she leaves the celestial Dragon Sect with you? How many years would it take? Will I ever see her again?"

Seeing how protective Mingfeng was over Anji, Bai Dajin felt grateful towards Zhao Wanting for interfering earlier to help him secure Yihao as his student.

Annoyed by the sappy, overly protective father, Yan Ping scowled. She hated annoying things. However, it was a favour she had to repay. Zhao Mingfeng helped her maintain the peace of the Murim world that her vision anticipated and averted the immediate disaster. It was her turn to return his kindness by saving Anji.

"I don't know any of that," Yan Ping barked. "If it bothers you that much, I can give you an access token that allows you to visit my Mystical Qilin Sect freely. Besides, I need to see your daughter in person to understand more about the seal and her cultivation core."

Seeing that Zhao Mingfeng had nothing more to add, Yan Ping concluded the meeting to excuse herself first. However, two people remained.

Seeing how Liu Yanxia was still contemplating her matter, Bai Dajin made the first move and demanded to be Zhao Yihao's godfather.

"It's fine if he doesn't learn my sect's martial arts. I'll leave that choice up to him. If he wants to learn both sets of martial arts from your house and mine, I'm not stopping him either. It's just that his body is not suitable for cultivating the normal way. I'm sure you've noticed. The sword path is not tailored for him."

Truthfully, Zhao Mingfeng already knew this. It was why he never forced his son to participate in the training that his oldest daughter did. However, his mother had different ideas. If his wife supported Yihao in studying under the Murim's strongest warrior, Mingfeng would be indebted to the White Tiger sect leader.

"You're better at assessing people's physique than me. How do you see Yihao? Where does his talent lie?"

Smirking, Bai Dajin balled a fist in front of Mingfeng's face.

"That rascal doesn't need weapons. His body is a weapon. However, his foundation and maturity still need a lot of work. Your son has a very rare Yang body type that absorbs most qi and converts it into raw power. It is why it is very difficult for him to make any progress in cultivation. What's his current cultivation stage?"

"Refined core," Zhao Mingfeng replied. However, he just touched the base of it. The control is still lacking. As you said, no matter how much qi-controlling medicine he takes, his cultivator core cannot accumulate and hold onto the accumulated qi. We thought it was a rare qi-deviation disorder."

Tutting, Bai Dajin shook his head in dismay.

"To not recognise the great talent before you, how wronged Yihao must have felt. Send him over to me when you're ready. From now on, I'll take care of his martial arts and cultivation training suitable for his Yang body."

Thanking the White Tiger sect leader, Zhao Mingfeng looked at the only person left in the meeting room.

"It's only the two of us now, Yanxia. Speak freely."

Letting down her act of a strong sect leader, Liu Yanxia bowed her head low as she requested help from the only person she could turn to.

"Uncle Mingfeng, on account of your friendship with my aunt, could you teach me how to manage the Heavenly Phoenix Sect? I can't weed out all the spies when the Elders challenge my authority for every matter. I fear that at this rate, the Heavenly Phoenix sect will be wiped out before the massacre in Chang'an."

For a girl of only twenty-five, Liu Yanxia carried an unusually heavy burden on her shoulders. Mingfeng recalled that when he was twenty-five, he was still roaming the Murim world freely and killing demonic followers. He only properly founded the sect eighteen years ago when he finally married his wife and started his family. Even then, he had a lot of advice from Chen Zhong and the previous leader of the Heavenly Phoenix sect.

Placing a hand on Liu Yanxia's shoulder, Zhao Mingfeng reassured her that he would think of a solution and discuss it with the rest of the Rainbow Alliance.

"Have an early rest," he smiled fatherly. "The Rainbow Alliance always help each other. We'll think of something, so don't do anything rashly alone like your aunt."

Thanking the Celestial Dragon's sect leader from the bottom of her heart, Liu Yanxia finally left.

Alone in the meeting room, Zhao Mingfeng sighed. Of his four children, he had to send two away soon. He thought he could spend the rest of his life managing the sect while spending his days domestically, but the children were growing too quickly. If anything, it felt like it was only yesterday when Anji was born.