Chapter Thirty-Four: The Realm of Ultimate Enlightenment

After Ying Mei'er left the Wu family estate, Fu Xin followed her, looking at her with a puzzled and critical gaze. "Young Mistress Mei'er, didn't you go a bit too far with this?"

Ying Mei'er replied coldly, "Shut your mouth. I, Ying Mei'er, do not need others to point fingers at how I conduct my business."

Fu Xin retorted with a grimace, "Ying Mei'er, I hope you remember your own words."

"What?" Ying Mei'er retorted coldly. "Do you have a problem? Do you have an issue with me?"

Unwilling to waste more breath on her, Fu Xin emphasized, "If it weren't for the need to remain hidden, why would we have sealed our true strength? If not for the desire to seize the Giant Elephant Mountain Range from the Kun Kingdom without a hitch, we would have broken these seals long ago and taught these ignorant Kun Kingdom wretches a proper lesson. Ying Mei'er, remember this: here, you represent the Shadow Demon Clan. Once the seals are lifted, given your actual power, Wu Shu wouldn't even be fit to serve as a slave to our demon kin."

With these words, Fu Xin vanished, seething with suppressed rage.

Of course, Fu Xin’s outburst revealed much; it seemed the demons had long prepared for the possibility that their invasion of the Giant Elephant Mountain Range might fail. Thus, the challenge issued to Wu Shu and the humans had been a calculated scheme from the start.

However, while Fu Xin spoke in a fit of rage, both she and Ying Mei'er could never have imagined that even though no humans were nearby, their conversation had been overheard.

After Ying Mei'er departed, Wu Wen and Wu Jing remained unaware that they had just been under the influence of her bewitching arts. Wu Shu could only sigh inwardly; there were reasons for the Wu family's current decline. Influenced by the bloodline curse, the strength of the Wu descendants grew weaker with each generation.

With the night’s events taking this turn, Wu Shu had no heart to continue pressuring Wu Wen and the others. He said calmly, "Wu Wen, I will ask Wu Zhen about the clan competition later. As for what just happened, report it to the Clan Head, and let the Council of Elders decide how to respond."

Wu Shu was dismissing his guests, and Wu Wen and Wu Jing understood that Wu Shu would not let the matter of Wu Zhen’s severe injury go so easily.

After they left, it wasn't long before the Fire Cat Beast King, in its domestic cat form, returned. Wu Shu also summoned the small spirit of the stone monument. The return of the Fire Cat Beast King surely signaled something important; because of Ying Mei'er's meddling, Wu Shu needed to prepare in advance. Since the stone monument also originated from the Giant Elephant Mountain Range, it would be easier for it to communicate with the Beast King.

However, to Wu Shu’s surprise, the moment the monument spirit appeared, before it could speak to the Beast King, Zhao Fenxing, standing by, said with an icy expression, "Wu Shu, can you tell me how you and Ying Mei'er met in the Giant Elephant Mountain Range?"

Clearly, Zhao Fenxing was deeply bothered by the fact that Wu Shu had been forcibly kissed. Asking this, her heart was full of trepidation. Strictly speaking, the relationship between Zhao Fenxing and Wu Shu was subtle. On the Forgotten Continent, they had been enemies, though back then, Wu Shu didn't know she had entered that realm just to wake him up. After he awakened, aside from borrowing some spirit stones from her, Wu Shu had gone to the Giant Elephant Mountain Range to train, entrusting his brother Wu Zhen’s safety to her—a task she had failed to fulfill.

Feeling the emotional weight of her question, Wu Shu felt awkward. He said calmly, "Fenxing, Ying Mei'er is of the Demon Clan. Her actions were merely a way to compete with you and provoke you; I am merely a victim. You know full well that to me, the demons are nothing but enemies."

Wu Shu was sixteen, but he possessed the mental maturity of a hundred thousand years of experience. Aside from cultivation, he knew nothing of women. Such a blunt answer was unlikely to satisfy Zhao Fenxing.

In matters of the heart, Wu Shu was as dense as a block of wood. Knowing that pressing the issue was pointless, Zhao Fenxing said with grave seriousness, "Wu Shu, I hope you can focus on your cultivation and not let down those who care about you. And... my appearance in the Wu family was no accident."

Wu Shu had always been curious why Zhao Fenxing had appeared on the Forgotten Continent and why she thought so highly of him. Now, hearing her speak with such gravity made his heart race. As the saying goes, the speaker may have no intent, but the listener does. Zhao Fenxing had only said these things because she had been provoked by Ying Mei'er.

If her appearance in his life was not a coincidence, then it was destiny. Even if her words sounded mystical, Wu Shu cared deeply about the truth. He wanted to know how the apple of the eye of the Zhao family—one of the four great clans in the East Earth Empire’s capital—had found him and what power she had relied upon.

In contrast to Wu Shu's concern, the Fire Cat Beast King and the monument spirit seemed remarkably calm, as if what Zhao Fenxing said was mundane. Observing this, Wu Shu thought to himself, "The Beast King and the monument spirit seem to know something I do not."

Though filled with suspicion, Wu Shu said earnestly, "Fenxing, thank you for your hard work all this time."

After her outburst, Zhao Fenxing realized she had said too much. Yet, hearing Wu Shu speak with such unpretentious sincerity made her feel at ease. She returned to her usual calm.

Turning to the Fire Cat Beast King, Wu Shu asked, "We meet again. Is there something the matter?" Simultaneously, he used his mental energy to commune with the monument spirit: "What Fenxing just said has piqued my curiosity. Little Spirit, do you know something?"

The spirit replied seriously, "On the Thick Earth Continent, some can practice the Art of Heavenly Destiny, allowing them to observe fate. If Zhao Fenxing practices it, her arrival at the Wu family must have been a call of destiny. Since she cares so much for you, you must be her destined person."

"The Art of Heavenly Destiny? A destined person?" Wu Shu could hardly believe it.

The spirit continued, "As far as I know, those who practice this art belong to the One-Character Sect, a mysterious top-tier sect that values talent over origin. If Zhao Fenxing is connected to them, no clan would dare cross her master’s sect."

The One-Character Sect—Wu Shu silently noted the name. He didn't want to dig deeper; with his current strength, he was but an ant in the eyes of such sects.

Meanwhile, the Fire Cat Beast King had realized that the demon challenge was premeditated. The Beast King had come to warn Wu Shu.

Recalling the strength the demons had displayed in the mountains, Wu Shu was baffled. He considered himself quite adept at arrays, so why hadn't he noticed their seals? "Are their powers truly sealed?"

Zhao Fenxing, well-versed in these matters, explained, "The Kun Kingdom is remote and lacks spiritual energy. Those with ulterior motives seal their power upon entry. Cultivation consumes vast amounts of energy; in a place where it is scarce, it is detrimental to remain unsealed. Using pills to seal their strength allows them to conserve energy and avoid unnecessary trouble. Since their internal Earth-force consumption is low, their demand for ambient energy drops significantly."

Wu Shu was stunned. If the demons were this terrifying while sealed, what would happen if they broke their seals? He felt a pang of regret for accepting the challenge. With the Night Demon Ancestor sealed within his consciousness, he could only utilize a century’s worth of mental energy.

Zhao Fenxing added, "Do you think Ying Mei'er, a prodigy of the Shadow Demon Clan, would only have the strength of the True Essence Realm? Three years ago, she was already at the True Essence level. Now, she is at least in the late stage of the Enlightenment Realm."

"An Enlightenment Realm expert?" Wu Shu couldn't believe his ears. The Enlightenment Realm was vastly superior to the True Essence Realm; each minor level represented a massive leap in power. A mere aura from an Enlightenment expert could crush a True Essence cultivator.

"It seems the Kun Kingdom is doomed to suffer a crushing defeat," Wu Shu lamented.

Zhao Fenxing disagreed. "Not necessarily. For ten thousand years, the scarcity of resources in the Kun Kingdom has forged some formidable warriors. They appear ordinary until they strike, at which point their hidden power erupts with incredible force. I suspect there is a unique cultivation technique within the Kun Kingdom that allows for such power even in this barren land."

Hearing this, Wu Shu felt a glimmer of hope. "I am in desperate need of such a technique. If only I could obtain it."

Zhao Fenxing mocked him coldly, "Stop dreaming. Countless experts covet such power. If you obtained it and it were discovered, it would bring total destruction upon the Wu family."