You don't want your secret to be revealed by others, right?

"Your Highness, Seventh Princess, you have misunderstood; I was merely cooperating with the Qingtian Bureau to handle the rogue cultivator," the Ascetic said, shaking his head with a smile, and then added, "As for the second matter, it is to retrieve the lost 'Thousand Silk Cage' from Prince Cheng Mansion."

"Thousand Silk Cage?" The Seventh Princess frowned slightly before she guessed the other party's intention.

The Ascetic turned over his hand, and in his palm suddenly appeared a beautifully elegant birdcage made entirely of interwoven golden threads.

"The Thousand Silk Cage has been retrieved, but..."

The Ascetic's eyes swept around and settled on the Phoenix Crown Cyan perched on the Seventh Princess' shoulder, speaking softly, "Last year, when the rogue cultivator stole the Thousand Silk Cage, he also took with him a Qing Sparrow that Prince Cheng had nurtured in the cage, adorned with a colorful feathered crown woven on its head, modeled after the legendary Phoenix Crown Cyan."

He said word for word, "Although it is but an ordinary Qing Sparrow, it is after all Your Highness's beloved pet, and we also need to bring it back to complete our duty."

"So it was indeed for the Phoenix Crown Cyan," the Seventh Princess said, her face icy cold, "to actually break the rules? And to invent so many excuses?"

She knew that his words were not only spoken for her to hear but were also meant for the officials of the Qingtian Bureau and the Minister Elders.

Of course, it was a pretext, but without evidence, who could prove that the Phoenix Crown Cyan had really appeared?

The Phoenix Crown Cyan had not yet matured, and at this moment, with no outsiders witnessing, it was impossible to confirm whether it was the Phoenix Crown Cyan of myths and legends, which was said to have gone extinct!

"Out of respect for you, Your Highness, Seventh Princess, I have explained myself clearly enough," the Ascetic said with a soft sigh. "You should understand the situation by now, so please hand over the Qing Sparrow voluntarily; we really do not wish to make a move and offend you."

After all, if the Seventh Princess handed it over willingly, he wouldn't need to take action and risk offense, and the blame would be much less.

"Impossible."

The Seventh Princess's face was ice-cold as she emitted a strange divine light interwoven with dried yellow and fresh green, enveloping both herself and the disabled girl beside her.

Her normally gentle face now was filled with an intense chill, flickering within the light.

"Withering Prosperity Divine Light?"

The Ascetic immediately recognized the Protective Divine Light and furrowed his brow slightly.

The Seventh Princess was completely unskilled in spell combat, but she once possessed the power of the Fifth Layer in Tianxia Building, and even in Jingzhou, where she could not utilize the Heaven and Earth Law, she was still of the Fifth Layer!

A person unskilled in spell combat had such strength mainly because of this miraculous Withering Prosperity Divine Light.

Harvesting the notions of withering and flourishing from nature, to be reborn from exhaustion and decay, and to renew the power of ceaseless life – not only was it excellent for protection, but it could also gradually cause the enemy to wither, seizing vitality for oneself.

Thus, the opponents of the Seventh Princess often lost due to their own exhausted strength.

Although the Ascetic had made progress during his trip to the Inheritance Land, forming the embryo of a path, he was not confident he could break through the Withering Prosperity Divine Light.

"You want the Phoenix Crown Cyan? Dream on."

The Seventh Princess's frosty reply echoed within the Array.

Although the Phoenix Crown Cyan was not hers, she couldn't say it belonged to someone else, or the others would become even more brazen in their attempts to snatch it.

What worried her now more... If that fellow had already emerged from the Beiyuan Mountain, what should she do?

If she had guessed wrong, these people might silence her on the spot!

"Your Highness, then... forgive my offense."

As a sigh sounded, the Ascetic suddenly burst into a splendid golden light, revealing his like jeweled Vajra Body, the stars' power from the array instantly bolstering his form.

This Array Magic Treasure he carried, while not as powerful as a fixed array, could still increase his strength by many times under the empowerment of the array's might!

In an instant, the Ascetic lunged forward and struck a palm towards the Withering Prosperity Divine Light enveloping the Seventh Princess!

This terrifying palm strike, imbued with the Array's might, immediately fell upon the Withering Prosperity Divine Light.

"Boom!"

The Withering Prosperity Divine Light fluctuated, and the cycles of decay and growth shifted within the snap of a finger, the cycle of life and death shifting ceaselessly, ultimately blocking the attack.

The Seventh Princess's face relaxed slightly, grateful that her time in the Inheritance Space had yielded some breakthroughs. She had grasped the embryonic form of the Path of Life and Death, Prosperity and Decay; otherwise, she would have been unable to withstand that strike!

Yet the Ascetic revealed a hint of a smile.

"Your Highness, the Seventh Princess, this Prosperity and Decay Divine Light is truly formidable," he praised softly. "Even with the Array's enhancement, a mere forty percent of my power was not enough to break through? It seems I no longer need to worry about accidentally taking Your Highness's life with excessive strength."

The Seventh Princess's pupils suddenly constricted.

He had only used forty percent of his power?

"Boom!"

A scene of gold and starlight wildly intertwining erupted, another palm strike bearing the force of a landslide!

Beneath the terrifying might, the Prosperity and Decay Divine Light nearly collapsed completely, but with a single breath, the Seventh Princess released a stream of Primordial Power, mixed with Essence Blood, forcibly restoring the Divine Light.

Her complexion instantly grew paler, but her eyes shone with a new sense of determination.

"Why bother?"

With a sigh, the Ascetic swung again and again, each palm carrying a terrible might, relentlessly striking the Prosperity and Decay Divine Light.

The Divine Light, sustained by the Essence Blood Primordial Power, barely held up.

But the Ascetic knew it was only a matter of time.

Suddenly—

The Seventh Princess closed her eyes.

"She closed her eyes?" The Ascetic frowned slightly, a bad feeling creeping into his heart, and he attacked with even greater fury.

A Divine Thought Transmission rang in his mind, "Stop, she's Harmonizing. If you sever her Path, the sin will be irredeemable."

What goes around comes around.

The Ascetic immediately ceased his assault.

At that moment, the aura emanating from the Seventh Princess abruptly became strange and complex, as various obscure aspects of the Law mingled together, converging towards unity.

At last, an indescribably mysterious aura spread out, giving rise to faint visions of life and death, prosperity and decay.

It was the aura of the Path!

Then, the Seventh Princess slowly opened her eyes, her pupils faintly projecting a wondrous and illusory Void, within which could be seen the cycles of vegetation and the rise and fall of all things.

Instantly, the awe-inspiring pressure unique to Saints emerged.

"I have Harmonized with the Path," the Seventh Princess declared coldly, looking towards the Ascetic. "Ascetic, do you still wish to make a move?"

"Your Highness has tremendous courage, a wondrous realm," the Ascetic sighed, stepping back and conceding with a respectful bow. "Now that Your Highness has Harmonized and ascended to Saint, how could I dare to be presumptuous?"

Just then—

"Little sister, congratulations."

A gentle voice sounded, and a young man dressed in the attire of a Prince appeared within the Array Barrier. He was handsome and refined, with a smile on his lips like a refreshing spring breeze, looking warmly at the Seventh Princess.

The Twelfth Prince!

"I really didn't want to make a heavy hand against you, little sister," the Twelfth Prince sighed. "You must understand, now that you've broken through, it wouldn't be against the rules for me to make a move against you... Hand over the Phoenix Crown."

"So Prince Cheng is here too," the Seventh Princess said, turning her head slowly.