The Emperor's Domineering Favor, the Evil Consort's Unparalleled Reign

Watching Ying Li turn and leave, Lin Piaopiao was filled with pain and regret, and finally burst into tears. Not far away, a pair of hands were as white as paper, and the bloodstains on the wrists were turning black. From now on, she would never have the possibility of cultivating spirit again. From now on, she would become a piece of trash in the Ye Ling City aristocratic family!

"Ying Li, I will take my revenge. You just wait, you just wait!" Lin Piaopiao squeezed out the words through gritted teeth before fainting from the pain.

Jiang Yunlou and Xiao Xun exchanged a glance, both with bitter expressions. They had gotten themselves into trouble! Enduring the pain, Xiao Xun helped Lin Piaopiao up, glanced at his right hand which had been severed and turned into a lifeless object, and sighed heavily.

In the blink of an eye, the day arrived for Bixia Palace to open its registration hall. Yeling City was packed with people; every household opened its doors, and countless spiritual cultivators poured into the main street to register.

The Bixia Palace had set up ten registration entrances on the main street, but now they were so crowded that the people inside couldn't be seen. Yinxiu and Jiang Yunhe were complaining bitterly about being surrounded. They had originally planned to take advantage of the registration site to go out and have some fun this year, but they didn't expect so many people! Their good plan had gone down the drain, and what's worse, they were stuck with such a miserable job!

"Elder Yunhe, please be patient. Once we get through today, the registration process will open tomorrow, and we can all look forward to a good show. There are indeed a lot of people today, but it's good that there are more people. If the people who fought the Spirit Python at Lingxiu Mountain come here to register, and we happen to run into them, wouldn't it save us the time and effort of finding them again?" The hermit comforted Jiang Yunhe with the air of someone who had been through it all. However, looking at the huge crowd, he also had a bit of a headache. After all, he was getting old and preferred peace and quiet, but this place was clearly not peaceful.

"That sounds nice, but with so many people, even if we work all night, it'll never end. Forget it, I'll find another way!" Jiang Yunhe waved his hand irritably, stood up from his seat, and a domineering spiritual power burst out from his body, knocking back several meters of everyone in front of him.

"Such powerful spiritual energy! No wonder you are an elder of Bixia Palace!"

"He's only twenty years old, yet he possesses such domineering power—it's truly astonishing!"

"..."

The crowd erupted in cheers, but Jiang Yunhe ignored them. He took out a dark brocade pouch from his chest, opened it, and tilted it slightly. A bronze chair tipped out from inside!

"Ah, it's Xuanjin Brocade! It can hold everything and contain all rivers! What a wonderful thing!"

"But what about the chair that came out of the Xuanjin?!"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that broken chair? There are all sorts of long black marks on it, like it was cleaved by a knife, but it's also kind of shiny."

"..."

Ignoring the annoying people, Jiang Yunhe placed the chair in front of everyone and announced loudly, "This is a testing chair. Tomorrow, Bixia Palace will open its registration hall. Unfortunately, there are too many people, and we elders are unable to count them. This chair can test your spiritual power level. If three spiritual power lines light up, come to the hermit elder and write your name. If you don't have three lines, please leave."

The hermit's expression changed slightly. Even if he took out the spirit-testing chair, he would still be the one who suffered in the end. This Jiang Yunhe was really something else.

The crowd suddenly changed direction and began to surround the spirit-testing chair.

Upon closer inspection, the nine thin lines on the spirit-testing chair should represent the level of soul cultivation. Thus, the threshold of three stages of soul cultivation can be counted, which is quite low. Even so, after only half an hour on the spirit-testing chair, the crowd had already decreased by one-fifth.

It seems that a large number of people still haven't passed the third stage of soul cultivation. Jiang Yunhe grinned at the reclusive cultivators whose workload had been greatly reduced, and pulled out a chair to watch the excitement.

"Second stage of Soul Cultivation! Damn it, what bad luck!" A burly man's face darkened as he looked at the two thin lines that suddenly lit up on the chair. He couldn't help but curse, "What the hell is this? It must be a hoax!" Jiang Yunhe wasn't annoyed. He could only smile at him. The spiritual energy that suddenly surged from his body made the burly man shrink back and leave the place in no time.

"Soul Cultivation Stage Four!"

"Soul Cultivation Stage Three!"

"Soul Cultivation Stage Five!"

"Second stage of Soul Cultivation!"

"..."

The sounds of testing rose and fell. The sun was high in the sky. Jiang Yunhe stretched and looked at the crowd, which had already dwindled by half. His face lit up with joy. Judging from the current situation, it should be finished before evening. Thinking of this, Jiang Yunhe crossed his arms, perked up, and looked at the crowd.

Something strange was happening in the crowd. The previous commotion, which had required Jiang Yunhe to maintain order, had vanished. A young man in a blue robe and white boots stepped out from the crowd. He looked no more than sixteen or seventeen years old, yet his demeanor was far more dashing than that of ordinary people. Jiang Yunhe narrowed his eyes slightly, having waited for what seemed like an eternity before finally seeing someone.

So he sat up straight and waited to see the boy's test results.

"This is Dongfang Lin? I heard he's going to have a match with the Ying family's little good-for-nothing tomorrow? A highly talented young man competing against a good-for-nothing with no spiritual power? What's the point of watching? He'll probably be beaten to death by Young Master Dongfang in no time!"

"That's right, look at this young master's aura. None of us can match him, let alone that little good-for-nothing. There's no comparison, no comparison at all!"

"Maybe that little good-for-nothing can win. The Ying family is the number one family in Yeling City. Dongfang Lin can't afford to offend them. Do you think he would dare to win?"

"Pah! What's there to be afraid of in winning against such a piece of trash? If it were me, I'd rather die than marry that good-for-nothing!"

"..."

As Jiang Yunhe listened to the conversation, he became very curious about the Ying family's good-for-nothing and this Dongfang Lin. He opened his eyes wide and looked forward to the test results even more.

"Ninth level of Soul Cultivation!" Just as the rumors said, Dongfang Lin had already reached the top level of Soul Cultivation. When people saw this result, they clapped and cheered. This situation made them even happier than if they themselves had reached the top level of Soul Cultivation!

"Hmph, so-so." Dongfang Lin looked at the results on the spirit-testing chair, then glanced at Jiang Yunhe who was sitting to the side watching the show, bowed respectfully, chuckled to himself, and walked over to the hermit who was registering his information.

"Young Master Dongfang, do you think Miss Ying is too afraid to come?! Half the day has passed, and she still hasn't arrived. It seems she's afraid of you! Young Master Dongfang, don't disappoint us. You must defeat that good-for-nothing Ye Lingcheng tomorrow!" Someone shouted, and the crowd erupted in a cacophony of voices and discussions.

Jiang Yunhe scratched his head slightly, feeling a bit of a headache. He wanted to call him an idiot, but under the intimidating gaze of the hermit, he just pursed his lips and remained silent.

Dongfang Lin smiled. It seemed Ying Li didn't dare to come. After writing down his name, Dongfang Lin was about to reply when a familiar, childlike voice boomed from the crowd: "Who said I didn't dare to come?!"

The voice carried a deep, unknown energy, and the registration area immediately fell silent. Jiang Yunhe's expression changed as a small, pale blue figure slowly emerged from the crowd. The girl had clear eyes and a fair, beautiful face. Although young, she possessed an air of unparalleled beauty, and he found himself somewhat mesmerized by her.

He had seen countless beauties in the past, many more than Ying Li, but for some reason, her pure and natural气质 (qi zhi, a kind of refined elegance or aura) was deeply ingrained in him, unforgettable. It wasn't that she was detached from worldly affairs, but rather that she possessed a transcendent quality born from having experienced the full spectrum of human life. For a teenage girl to possess such气质 was truly astonishing.

"Oh, so it's Miss Ying." The smile on Dongfang Lin's face disappeared, replaced by a cold expression. He couldn't forget Ying Li's humiliation, so tomorrow, he would definitely use all his strength.

"Young Master Dongfang, it's been a long time." Ying Li didn't bother with pleasantries. After speaking, he walked towards the spirit-testing chair. Dongfang Lin was furious at Ying Li's indifferent attitude, but he was even more shocked when he saw the results of Ying Li's spirit-testing chair.

"Eighth level of Soul Cultivation!"

The place was eerily quiet, save for the soft tinkling of Jiang Yunhe fiddling with the jade pendant at his waist. Dongfang Lin stared incredulously at the eight bright lines on the spirit-testing chair, while the ninth line faintly glowed, suggesting a breakthrough was imminent. For a good-for-nothing to become a spirit-cultivation genius in just one month was truly a fantasy.

"Girl, go register your name with that old man. Come early tomorrow for the competition." Jiang Yunhe noticed the awkwardness between the two, but having overheard their relationship through gossip, he was delighted with their nearly evenly matched situation. He was sure there would be a good show tomorrow. He vaguely felt that what Yinxiu had said about the rewards of hard work was absolutely true, and now the reward was tomorrow's good show. How could Jiang Yunhe not be happy?!

Ying Li nodded, ignoring Dongfang Lin's shocked eyes, and walked to the secluded cultivation area to register, "Ye Lingcheng Ying Li, fifteen years old, Soul Cultivation Level 8!"

The hermit looked at the young girl with a hint of admiration and wrote down her name. Ying Li also respectfully bowed to the ten elders in turn before squeezing out of the crowd with his bundle on his back and heading towards the Ying family.

"Miss Ying, I will definitely defeat you tomorrow!" Dongfang Lin shouted as he looked in the direction Ying Li had left.

Ying Li paused, turned around, her indifferent eyes concealing a chilling glint in them, and said, slowly and deliberately, in a voice loud enough for everyone present to hear, "Not necessarily!"

After saying that, he left the registration area without looking back.

Dongfang Lin snorted coldly and walked out of the crowd, heading in the opposite direction from Ying Li.

"Interesting, very interesting!" Jiang Yunhe watched the two people leaving in the opposite direction, a playful smile appearing on his lips. A handsome young man and a beautiful young woman, and he had heard that they were even engaged. Such a good show was unheard of and unseen before. He definitely couldn't miss it tomorrow.

As the sun set, the last test taker stood up from the spirit-testing chair in disappointment and left dejectedly. Jiang Yunhe stretched and loosened his limbs, then put the spirit-testing chair back into his Xuanjin. Looking at the exhausted hermit with tears streaming down his face, a wicked smile appeared on his face. The long list was densely packed; it seemed this old man wouldn't be able to keep going for at least ten days or half a month.

That's fine, no one will nag me anymore. With that thought, Jiang Yunhe walked towards his inn with his hands behind his back.

"Yunhe, there's a kid named Jiang Yunlou here who's also signed up. What's your relationship with him?" the hermit shouted from behind.

Jiang Yunhe's expression shifted, and he turned around to think for a moment. "I have no father or mother, no brothers, no children, and I'm not married yet. Who would know who he is? But this name is really annoying. I bet he'll get a really bad beating tomorrow!"