51: Chapter 51 Ye Jingjun and Cangmingyue

A stone table and several stone benches were set under the tree.

Zhuge Jinyu sat on the stone bench at the head of the table.

She was still dressed in her moon-white Prime Minister's robes.

Her snow-white hair was unbound, cascading loosely over her shoulders, making her pale skin appear almost translucent.

Compared to when she unified the world many years ago, her appearance hadn't changed at all, remaining cold and stunningly beautiful.

However, within those fox-like eyes, there was now much complexity that had settled with the passing years.

Her fingertips unconsciously traced light patterns on the smooth surface of the stone table.

Resting there was a shattered ancient mirror, crisscrossed with cracks and long since devoid of any luster.

Beside it lay a Peach Blossom Hairpin that seemed ordinary yet looked crystal clear, exquisitely crafted, and perfectly preserved.

Suddenly, two faint ripples appeared in the mist at the edge of the secret realm.

Zhuge Jinyu sat up abruptly.

Her private domain was not a place just anyone could enter.

If someone could enter her domain so easily, it could only mean one thing.

The other party was a Transcendent Heroic Spirit, just like her.

Moreover, their cultivation was either higher than hers or they were more numerous.

Immediately after, two graceful figures, one behind the other, stepped through the mist and quietly entered this silent world.

The leader wore elegant white robes, her posture as upright as a solitary pine, with a sheathed longsword strapped to her back.

Her white hair fell like a waterfall, tied up only with a simple jade hairpin.

Her pair of red eyes was soul-stirring.

Her face was cold and peerless, with a natural, lingering arrogance between her brows.

That arrogance was clearly not an act.

It was the pride of someone with absolute confidence in their own strength.

She possessed the aura of an emperor looking down upon the world.

Yet her eyes were no different from Zhuge Jinyu's.

They lacked any spark of life, permeated with a heavy aura of death.

The one half a step behind was starkly different in style from the former.

She wore an azure gauze dress that seemed woven from deep-sea waves, perfectly accentuating her proud curves.

As her hem swayed, a phantom of a fish tail covered in translucent scales could be seen flickering near her bare feet.

Her face was exotic and enchanting, with sea-blue hair adorned with small pearls and coral.

Her shifting gaze held a touch of worldly innocence, yet concealed the unpredictability of the deep sea.

She was actually a mermaid girl.

Zhuge Jinyu didn't stand up, only speaking flatly in a cold voice.

“Ye Jingjun, Cang Mingyue.”

“What strange wind blew today to bring the two of you to my place?”

It was no wonder Zhuge Jinyu was surprised.

Ye Jingjun and Cang Mingyue were just like her.

They were all top-secret trump cards of Great Xia, Transcendent Heroic Spirits.

Ye Jingjun belonged to the North China Hall of Valor and usually resided in the Imperial Capital.

Cang Mingyue belonged to the East China Hall of Valor, and her residence was as far away as Penglai Immortal Island on the coast of the Yellow Sea.

Ye Jingjun nodded slightly in greeting.

Her voice was like a sword—cold and sharp.

“Prime Minister Zhuge, it has been a long time.”

“Huaxia's quinquennial Heroic Spirit Contract Ceremony is about to begin in Jinguan City, so we have naturally come to visit.”

Cang Mingyue was much more lively in comparison.

She smiled sweetly, her voice ethereal.

“Sister Jinyu, still so cold! We came all this way to see you!”

Zhuge Jinyu finally looked up, her gaze fixing on the woman in white.

The corner of her mouth curled into a faint, somewhat mocking arc.

“I am quite curious. When did you, a Sword Immortal who transcends the mundane world, become interested in the so-called ‘Heroic Spirit Contract Ceremony’?”

“As Transcendent Heroic Spirits, we only need to act when Huaxia's survival is at stake. Why bother with such trivial matters?”

Ye Jingjun's expression remained unchanged as she spoke frankly.

“The quinquennial Heroic Spirit Contract concerns the selection of new blood for Huaxia's national fortune; it is no trivial matter.”

“This time, the ceremony is rotating to Jinguan City and is hosted by the Huaxi Hall of Heroic Spirits.”

“Your name, Zhuge Jinyu, is unrivaled in West China.”

“Although Transcendent Heroic Spirits do not participate in contracts, it seems unreasonable for you, as the host, not to show up and oversee such a grand event.”

“Unreasonable?”

Zhuge Jinyu chuckled.

But she also knew that Ye Jingjun was the Master of the Imperial Capital Hall of Valor, and her words, to some extent, represented the will of ‘that person.’

“I have long since ceased to be a minister of the court; I am but a lonely ghost guarding an ancestral hall.”

“What do these mundane affairs have to do with me?”

The mermaid girl, Cang Mingyue, blinked her large azure eyes and took over the conversation.

“Sister Jinyu, what Jingjun said isn't actually the main reason.”

“In this Heroic Spirit Contract Ceremony, it's said that those barbarians from the Western Alliance, their Transcendent Heroic Spirits, are also coming to poach our talent.”

“Especially that Blonde Battle Maniac and that witch who's a bit... mentally ill...”

“If you aren't there to hold the fort, I'm afraid Jingjun and I won't be able to keep things under control.”

“Those few are coming too? And to poach talent?”

Zhuge Jinyu narrowed her eyes.

The two people Cang Mingyue mentioned were also Transcendent Heroic Spirits belonging to the Western Alliance, just like them.

She knew very well.

These so-called Transcendent Heroic Spirits—to put it nicely, they were powerful, looked down on existing martial artists, and didn't care to contract with them.

To put it bluntly, they all had some kind of psychological issue.

How could they have endured all these years, only to suddenly and so resolutely run to the East to poach talent?”

Ye Jingjun nodded.

“The overall strength of the Western Alliance's Heroic Spirits and martial artists is inferior to our Huaxia, but the strength of their top-tier Heroic Spirits cannot be underestimated.”

“This Heroic Spirit Contract Ceremony is, in a way, a mutual testing of the waters between both sides.”

“You... need to be prepared.”

Zhuge Jinyu suddenly stood up, her fox-like eyes filled with vivid amusement.

She stroked the Peach Blossom Hairpin in her hand with exceptional tenderness.

Stroke after stroke.

“Prepared? I've been prepared for a long time...”

“It's just that they aren't the ones I'm waiting for.”

Zhuge Jinyu's words were non-sequiturs, leaving both of them stunned.

They happened to meet her sharp gaze.

Zhuge Jinyu had been a master of strategy in her time, and those cunning fox eyes seemed capable of seeing through everything.

“As for you two, being so concerned about the Heroic Spirit Contract and Huaxia's national fortune time after time.”

“Could it be that, after all these years, you are still hoping to see a familiar shadow among those young juniors coming for the contract?”

As soon as she said this, the coldness on Ye Jingjun's face could no longer be maintained.

There was a hint of embarrassment at being exposed, and a touch of sorrow from waiting in vain.

The enchanting smile on Cang Mingyue's face also froze instantly.

Ye Jingjun's right hand imperceptibly tightened around the hilt of the sword on her back.

If someone understood swords, they would be able to see it.

The scabbard and external decorations of this sword were extremely ornate; it was certainly a fine blade.

However, the entire sword lacked even a hint of luster.

For such a fine sword to have lost its sword soul was truly a pity.

As for Cang Mingyue, she subconsciously avoided Zhuge Jinyu's gaze, looking down to fiddle with a bead set into the hem of her dress.

The bead was pure blue and translucent, looking like a single tear from the ocean.