Chapter 1004: Help

　　Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

　　“It’s not us. Besides, their deaths could be due to other reasons. Given how dangerous Ancient Phoenix Mountain is, they might’ve encountered some kind of mishap and failed to escape alive. Dantai Ruoli and her companions aren’t weak after all. There aren’t many people here who are capable of killing them all at once,” Chu Liuyue calmly said with a smile before lifting her chin in a certain direction. “Even our own people have encountered a lot of danger, and it was only with great difficulty that they managed to escape alive. Look, Little Zhou is still unconscious.”

　　The crowd looked in the direction of her gaze, only to see a young chap with short blond hair lying curled up on the ground, motionless. The latter had been in this state since they came out from the mountain and looked like he had been unconscious for a long time. Seeing how one of her own people was in this state, they found Chu Liuyue’s words making sense, and they reckoned that the Taiyu Dynasty’s people might’ve really encountered an unfortunate mishap in the mountain.

　　Shangguan Yue sure has a way with words! Dantai Chen’s fists were clenched so tightly that even the veins on his forehead bulged. He pointed an accusing finger at Chu Liuyue. “Excuses! You must’ve killed them because Ruoli offended you before! What a vicious woman you are!”

　　“She’s not such a person!” A clear voice rang out right at that moment.

　　Everyone turned their heads and realized that it was a youth from the Xiyan Dynasty who had spoken up.

　　Upon sensing everyone’s gaze on him, the youth’s fair cheeks reddened. Still, he firmly said, “S-she even saved me when we were on the mountain. I believe she isn’t that sort of person!”

　　“Jinyuan.” Gongsun Xiao frowned and cast the youth a disapproving glance. Why is he getting himself involved in this matter? Even if the Tianling Dynasty and the Taiyu Dynasty become complete enemies and wage war against each other, it has nothing to do with us. Besides, there’s no telling what Dantai Chen is capable of doing, having suffered such a great loss and received such a tremendous blow. There’s no need for him to get himself involved at all.

　　Gongsun Jinyuan pursed his lips. He naturally knew that he shouldn’t have spoken up in this situation, especially when things were so intense with the Tianling Dynasty and the Taiyu Dynasty being at odds with each other. It wasn’t his place to meddle in this matter even if he was the Xiyan Dynasty’s prince, but he just couldn’t help it.

　　Chu Liuyue flashed him a small smile as she nodded in greeting. All I did was help him in passing. I didn’t expect him to help speak up for me in return. He’s much more sincere than that old, slicker Gongsun Xiao.

　　…

　　Chu Liuyue looked at Dantai Chen. “Emperor Huai Ren, it was out of respect that I addressed you as ‘Senior.’ But if you continue to show me disrespect, then… I won’t bother showing you respect too!”

　　Dantai Chen scoffed. “Who gives a d*mn about your respect?! I won’t let this matter slide if you don’t give me a satisfactory answer!”

　　It was clear that he didn’t want to back down.

　　Chu Liuyue slowly narrowed her eyes. There are plenty of things that require my attention. I don’t have any time and energy to waste on Dantai Chen.

　　“I can bear witness,” said Jun Jiuqing out of nowhere. “The Taiyu Dynasty’s people did leave right after fighting with the Tianling Dynasty’s people. As for what happened to them afterward… Well, nobody knows.”

　　The fierce expression on Dantai Chen’s face stiffened. While he could disregard other people when they spoke up for Chu Liuyue, he couldn’t do that to Jun Jiuqing. Whether or not the latter was speaking the truth didn’t matter; either way, he could no longer continue to pick a fight with the Tianling Dynasty openly.

　　“Is that true, Jiuqing?” Jun Qizhi gave his son a meaningful look.

　　Jun Jiuqing’s lips curled up slightly, although his eyes remained calm and cold. “I said nothing but the truth.”

　　The crowd exchanged looks with one another. By now, everyone could see that Jun Jiuqing was bent on speaking up for the Tianling Dynasty. If he said that he was telling the truth, then it was true.

　　Dantai Chen was rendered completely speechless. His eyes wandered back and forth over those few people before he let out a laugh. “Fine! Very well then!”

　　Jun Jiuqing’s attitude toward Shangguan Yue has been different from the start. On top of that, everything that has happened on Ancient Phoenix Mountain… Everything is clear as daylight. After shooting a glare in Chu Liuyue’s direction, Dantai Chen flung his sleeves and turned around to leave.

　　…

　　An odd silence descended upon everyone the moment Dantai Chen took his leave. Although nobody emerged as the victor or loser from the fight, everyone could tell that Dantai Chen wouldn’t let things slide just like that. However, there was no telling what he would do, having lost his beloved daughter and the other talented geniuses.

　　Chu Liuyue didn’t seem bothered about this though. She turned around to thank both Jun Jiuqing and Gongsun Jinyuan before paying a deep bow to Jun Qizhi to express her apology for snatching away the thing their ancestor had left behind for them.

　　Jun Qizhi felt stifled and was beyond speechless. He had always thought that the biggest beneficiary of Ancient Phoenix Mountain’s opening would surely be Jun Jiuqing, which was why he so generously invited the people from the other dynasties over. Right from the very beginning, he had only intended to make use of their power to open the mountain’s barrier. He had never expected things to end this way. Hence, he couldn’t help but see Chu Liuyue as an eyesore. If it weren’t for the fact that he was in front of so many people, it would’ve been hard for him to even eke out a half-smile.

　　Jun Jiuqing, however, didn’t seem to care much about this matter, although his gaze was deep and unfathomable.

　　Jun Qizhi took one last look at Ancient Phoenix Mountain—which had almost completely been razed to the ground—and let out a long and heavy sigh. He swiftly left after giving the excuse that he was tired and wished to retire to his room.

　　As the holy force had been robbed away by Chu Liuyue, Ancient Phoenix Mountain now no longer had anything special about it and thus couldn’t be considered the Beiming Dynasty’s holy mountain anymore.

　　With Jun Qizhi taking the lead to leave, the rest proceeded to leave one after another as well.

　　…

　　The opening of Ancient Phoenix Mountain thus came to a close.

　　Upon reaching the city, everyone began planning to return to their respective dynasties.

　　Apart from the Taiyu Dynasty—which had suffered heavy losses—everyone else fared quite well overall. Although they didn’t manage to get as much force as Chu Liuyue, most of them managed to gain a bit of the force during the Three Yuan Convention. Overall, they hadn’t made a wasted trip after all.

　　…

　　It was already afternoon by the time Chu Liuyue and her entourage returned to the villa.

　　After lightly washing up, Chu Liuyue went to Qiang Wanzhou’s room, where Tuan Zi had been guarding him at the side. The fiend happily flew over to Chu Liuyue’s side when it saw her enter the room.

　　“How is his condition?” Chu Liuyue asked as she walked over to take Qiang Wanzhou’s pulse.

　　Tuan Zi shook its head to indicate that Qiang Wanzhou’s condition wasn’t looking too good.

　　Chu Liuyue frowned slightly. I checked his condition while we were on the way back, so I know this is a sign that the seal in his body is about to break. I thought that his condition would take a turn for the better after some time, but it didn’t.

　　The two forces inside him kept pulling at each other, which was what caused him to be unconscious until now. His youthful and pale face was frosted over, his body was trembling slightly, and he exuded a chilling aura.

　　Not knowing how much longer he would remain in this condition, Chu Liuyue couldn’t help but feel a bit worried about him.

　　Just then, a flickering pattern suddenly appeared on Qiang Wanzhou’s glabella.