Chapter 12

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The Fire State was one of the 3,000 mystical states of the Huangtian Mystic Realm.

The state was far smaller when compared to the Emperor State where the Jun family was located; the area of the state was only one percent of that of Emperor State.

Even though the mystical state is only about one percent of the size of the Emperor State, the Fire State was still quite a huge one.

There were no cultivation forces established all over the state like how it was with the Emperor State.

The Ancient Kingdom of Phoenix was the state that ruled over the entire Fire State.

The Ancient Kingdom of Phoenix was an ancient kingdom force with an extensive history. Despite not being on par with that of the Clan of the Ancients, the kingdom was nonetheless wealthy, resourceful, and very renowned.

Other than the Ancient Kingdom of Phoenix, there were also the Ancient Kingdom of Dragon, the Ancient Kingdom of Tiger, and the Ancient Kingdom of Tortoises.

The four ancient kingdoms were known collectively as the Four Cardinal Ancient Kingdoms.

In one of the glittering golden halls within the royal palace of the Ancient Kingdom of Phoenix…

A middle-aged man was seen lying on his bed, wearing a robe with Phoenix motifs in crimson and golden colors. He appeared to be in very bad shape; his aura was weak as if he was clinging to life after being diagnosed with a serious, incurable disease.

That man was none other than the king of the Ancient Kingdom of Phoenix.

A beautiful woman was seen standing at the side of his bed at that moment.

She was dressed in a bright red feathered robe, looking alluring with her long legs and fair, supple skin.

Her red hair looked like dancing flames.

Her eyes were of a very beautiful crimson color. Her nose was tall, her lips fiery, and her teeth shiny.

What stood out the most about her looks was that red mark at the center of her brow, which accentuated her chiseled features and made her look unbelievably attractive.

That woman was none other than Bai Yu’er, the princess of the Ancient Kingdom of Phoenix.

“Father, I swear I will find the Immortality Herb and save your life,” Bai Yu’er said, biting her lips.

The king shook his head. “I’m sorry to be such a burden, Yu’er. The Immortality Herb isn’t something you could just get your hands on, after all…” He sounded very weak and somewhat depressed as he spoke.

The Immortality Herb was extremely rare.

Even the age-old orthodoxy and undying forces didn’t have much of the herb stocked.

It was also impossible for any of them to just hand one over to the Ancient Kingdom of Phoenix.

While the Ancient Kingdom of Phoenix was wealthy and had plenty of top-grade sacred medicines stocked, they didn’t have even a single stalk of the Immortality Herb with them.

A single stalk of the Immortality Herb was enough to have nations wage wars against one another out there, with many willing to kill just to get their hands on it. As such, the thought of anyone willing to sell something like that was deemed absurd.

“Don’t worry, Father. I’m sure I’ll be able to find a stalk of the Immortality Herb.” Some form of determination was written all over Bai Yu’er’s eyes, transforming her sorrow into motivation.

She was not just any ordinary person.

As the princess of the Ancient Kingdom of Phoenix, she was someone who had the Divine Fire of the Phoenix on her brow; she was impeccably talented.

Her looks also made her one of the most beautiful of women found throughout the entire mystic realm.

Many young geniuses from several cultivation forces would gladly throw themselves at Bai Yu’er’s feet.

Because she saw herself to be a cut above the rest, she came to act rather haughty and regal.

She believed without a doubt that she had what it took to save her father, as well as the entire Ancient Kingdom of Phoenix.

“Those so-called young geniuses all are nothing more than garbage. None of them are capable of even fetching a single stalk of the Immortality Herb when I need them to.”

“Then there’s the crown prince of the Ancient Kingdom of Dragon, Xiao Chen. Even though he’s my fiancé, he couldn’t even fetch me the Immortality Herb.”

Bai Yu’er walked outside the royal palace wearing a serious expression on her face.

Ever since her father fell ill, the Ancient Kingdom of Phoenix declined in power over the years.

As a result, the Ancient Kingdom of Dragon came and asked for a marriage alliance.

Back then, the Kingdom of Dragon promised to give a stalk of Immortality Herb to the Ancient Kingdom of Phoenix.

Xiao Chen, the crown prince of the Ancient Kingdom of Dragon, knew Bai Yu’er ever since they were both very young. Despite having kept their distance the whole time, they could nonetheless be considered childhood friends who shared a rather amicable bond.

After weighing the pros and cons of being married to Xiao Chen, Bai Yu’er accepted the proposal.

Despite having got the marriage arrangement settled for such a long time, however, there was still no sign of the promised Immortality Herb to be seen anywhere.

Furthermore, with the power of the Ancient Kingdom of Phoenix weakening so drastically at the moment, they didn’t have what it took to demand the herb from the Ancient Kingdom of Dragon.

As such, Bai Yu’er deemed that the only way to solve the problem was to find the herb herself.

“What could I do? I can’t just let father die…” Bai Yu’er was feeling rather desperate.

Suddenly, Bai Yu’er remembered something. “Wait, I almost forgot all Jun Linglong! She is a friend of mine, after all.”

She met Jun Linglong once in a secret realm by chance, and both of them got along pretty well.

While they hardly kept in touch ever since then, Jun Linglong’s personality dictated that she would definitely not ignore Bai Yu’er’s predicament.

Furthermore, there was also no doubt that the Jun Family had the Immortality Herb as well.

Bai Yu’er’s breath hastened at the thought as she took out a jade scroll right away, sending Jun Linglong a message.

Jun Linglong received the message while she was training in one of the halls of the Heavenly Emperor Palace.

The king of the Ancient Emperor of Phoenix is gravely ill, and the Immortality Herb is required to cure him? Jun Linglong frowned slightly after receiving the message.

Truth to be told, if it hadn’t been for Bai Yu’er sending her one such message, she would have almost forgotten entirely about their “friendship” if Bai Yu’er never sent her the message.

Bai Yu’er was a princess of an ancient kingdom, which meant that she was of noble status.

However, Jun Linglong was still a genius who hailed from a Clan of the Ancients.

Despite her current status as Jun Xiaoyao’s maid, she was still nonetheless a noble lady of the Jun family whom many were fond of in the outside world.

‘This was the first message from her in a long while, and she’s already asking for a stalk of the Immortality Herb? She may have quite an appetite, but we’re still acquaintances,’ Jun Linglong frowned and thought to herself.

The problem, however, was that she didn’t have such medicine with her.

At that moment, a voice was heard in her mind through the use of spiritual telepathy.

“Linglong, tea.”

Jun Linglong immediately stood up. That was Jun Xiaoyao ordering her to fetch him tea.

In one of the steaming pools with mystic qi rising from the water, Jun Xiaoyao was seen naked above the torso. His body looked like something chiseled from jade; he was seen glittering.

Jun Xiaoyao was currently eight years old, yet he had a lithe build.

Jun Linglong entered from the side and brought him a cup of enlightenment tea.

Seeing how Jun Xiaoyao was becoming increasingly handsome and dashing, Jun Linglong felt like she was raising the boy to be her future husband.

Jun Xiaoyao took a sip of the tea before casually asking her, “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.” Jun Linglong’s eyelashes twitched.

“Just spit it out. It’s not like you can hide anything from me.” Jun Xiaoyao shook his head and grinned.

Jun Linglong bit her lip for a bit. Eventually, she chose to tell him everything about Bai Yu’er’s request.

“So that’s what’s going on, huh? Immortality Herb, you said? I’ve no shortage for the herb after all.” Jun Xiaoyao shrugged.

He acquired three stalks of the herb back at the Old Tablet of Taiyue. During the five years that passed since then, the Eighteenth Ancestor then gave him five more over the course of a few occasions.

Jun Xiaoyao had only used three to further his training, so he still had five stalks left.

“Well, if she’s a friend of yours, I could spare her a stalk. Tell her to come here then,” Jun Xiaoyao said with a wave.

“That’s it?” Jun Linglong asked, feeling rather dumbfounded.

She found herself knowing little to nothing about the world of rich people after all.

Even so, she still nodded and sent a message to Bai Yu’er.

Jun Xiaoyao wore a faint grin on his face.

He naturally had no intention of being so generous and righteous; he had his own thoughts about things.

He deemed that he was not cut out to be such a person; those roles were best left for those people deemed pillars of morals.

He saw himself to be ill-suited for roles like saviors and messiahs.

Even though he did not think anything much about the Immortality Herb, he also was not so generous that he would simply give the herb away without asking for anything in return.

All those other sequence position holders had the backing of their own lines of the family, with some even having vassal orthodoxy forces serving them.

Even Jun Zhangjian had vassal forces like the Ancient Sword Sect backing him as well.

Such vassal forces have submitted to individuals instead of the Jun family as a whole.

‘While the Ancient Kingdom of Phoenix has fallen into decline in recent years, it’s still a huge kingdom. It’d be a good idea to buy the kingdom over. Hell, I might even be able to buy the other three cardinal kingdoms over to serve as my vassal force along the way,’ Jun Xiaoyao thought as he made his calculations.

He was the Sequence Zero, after all. Not having even a single vassal force would reflect rather badly on his esteemed status.

He deemed it imperative to have things that befitted his status.

As for Bai Yu’er, he wasn’t going to simply give her a stalk of the Immortality Herb without asking for anything in return.

Jun Xiaoyao was not out to do charity, and he was not about to do anything that yielded no benefit to him.

Bai Yu’er, who received a message from Jun Linglong in return, was delightfully surprised.

It was like rain had finally come after a prolonged drought.

However, the message that came from Jun Linglong caused Bai Yu’er to think about it for quite some time.

That was because it was not Jun Linglong herself who was about to give her the Immortality Herb.

“A genius from the Jun family has agreed to give me a stalk of the Immortality Herb. Do you think he likes me…?”

Bai Yu’er couldn’t help but consider that as a possibility.

She was quite confident in her appearance, given that she was the number one beauty found throughout the entire Ancient Kingdom of Phoenix.

Even when compared to the rest of the Huangtian Mystic Realm, she was still considered a renowned beauty.

She thought that a man who would be willing to give her the Immortality Herb was definitely going after her body.

“Well, it seems like even a genius of the Jun family would fall to lust all the same.” Bai Yu’er felt rather disappointed somehow.

‘Geniuses of the Jun family aren’t as surreal as I’ve imagined them to be after all.’

“One way or another, I’ve to first get my hands on the herb and save father.”

Bai Yu’er shook her head and departed for the Emperor State.