Princess Secrets

Suddenly, having her delicate hand grasped by Long Chen, Chu Yao's slender body trembled slightly, and two patches of red blush appeared on her pretty face.

As her beautiful eyes fluttered, a trace of panic appeared, but she did not pull her hand back; she stole a glance at Long Chen and discovered that his expression was actually quite grave.

Long Chen looked at the shy Chu Yao, who resembled a pear blossom just beginning to bloom, her eyes bright and clear like autumn waters, and his heart couldn't help but pound; for a moment, he forgot what he had intended to do.

"Mm."

Seeing Long Chen staring at her blankly, Chu Yao's pretty face turned even redder, but her beautiful eyes were filled with joy; she let out a soft "mm" and lowered her head, not daring to look at Long Chen, while the waves of warmth coming from her hand made her heart race like a frightened deer.

Long Chen took a deep breath to steady his mind; Chu Yao possessed an aura that felt unattainable, yet she also had a gentle and virtuous tenderness, as if she were a combination of contradictions.

The arrogant Chu Yao who had once captured him with a net, and the tender, shy Chu Yao before him now, created such a strong contrast that it made Long Chen's heart skip a beat.

"Pardon my rudeness."

Suppressing his pounding heart, Long Chen guided his Soul power along the meridians of Chu Yao's palm and slowly probed into her Dantian.

In truth, with Long Chen's current strength, at such close range, he could have completely probed Chu Yao directly with his Soul power.

But if he did that, it would be equivalent to Chu Yao standing before him without any clothes on; Long Chen would have liked to do that, but he feared that once done, another large net would be waiting for him.

Long Chen's Soul power slowly probed toward Chu Yao's Dantian, and when it entered and he saw the situation inside, even with Long Chen's composure, his expression couldn't help but darken.

"What is it?" Seeing Long Chen's expression change drastically, his eyes filled with a sharp, fierce look, Chu Yao was startled.

The reason for Long Chen's anger was that inside Chu Yao's Dantian, there were nine strands of foreign spiritual energy, locking it down tightly.

Those nine strands of foreign spiritual energy were like nine saplings planted in fertile soil, greedily absorbing Chu Yao's spiritual energy.

It was no wonder Chu Yao's spiritual energy was so chaotic and weak; it turned out that, just like Long Chen, someone had tampered with her.

What enraged Long Chen the most was that inside Chu Yao's Dantian, there was a mass of root energy that was extremely dense; that was her Spiritual Root, and although he wasn't certain of its Rank, Long Chen knew that Chu Yao was definitely a rare genius that appeared once in a thousand years.

Yet such a genius had been wasted like this; if it were only this, it wouldn't have been enough to make Long Chen's killing intent surge.

Because Long Chen saw that the nine strands of foreign spiritual energy were connected to Chu Yao's jade root; in the future, when Chu Yao married or lost her virginity, the spiritual energy that had been nurtured in her body for many years would be silently taken away by someone else.

This was the most hateful part; a princess of a generation, with a beauty that could topple cities, was being used as a pawn, and it was clearly all calculated.

Yet the Chu Yao before him was completely unaware of such things, and Long Chen couldn't help but feel a sense of shared fate with this beauty.

"Long Chen, what exactly is wrong?"

Seeing the complexity on Long Chen's face, a look of surprise appeared on Chu Yao's pretty face.

"Chu Yao, can I trust you?" Long Chen hesitated slightly before speaking solemnly.

Seeing Long Chen suddenly turn serious, Chu Yao sensed something, but without any hesitation, she gazed deeply into Long Chen's eyes and said softly, "You are the person I trust the most right now."

Hearing these words from Chu Yao, Long Chen's heart warmed, and he said, "Your Dantian has been tampered with."

However, to Long Chen's surprise, Chu Yao did not have much of a reaction; a trace of sadness and helplessness appeared in her beautiful eyes.

Looking at the distant mountains, Chu Yao gently smoothed her long hair, which had been tousled by the wind, with her jade hand and said softly, "By speaking this secret, you might implicate your family; are you not afraid?"

Long Chen was stunned: "You knew?"

"Can you answer my question first?" Chu Yao asked, looking into Long Chen's eyes.

Long Chen smiled bitterly, shook his head, and said, "Since we have chosen to trust each other, even if it costs me my life, it is worth it."

"Trust? Trust?"

Chu Yao murmured these two words, then suddenly threw herself into Long Chen's embrace and wept bitterly, her tears like a floodgate that had burst, as if she wanted to pour out all her grievances.

Suddenly holding the soft jade in his arms, Long Chen felt not a shred of romantic desire; instead, a sense of sorrow arose in his heart.

Long Chen was even worse off than Chu Yao; his Spiritual Root, spirit bones, and spirit blood had all been extracted, and if it weren't for the Fusion with the Pill Emperor's Soul, he would still be kept in the dark.

His hands, he knew not when, had circled Chu Yao's slender waist, and as he smelled the fragrance of her hair, he held her tightly in his arms; at this moment, it felt as if only the two of them remained in the world.

Unaware of how long she had cried, Chu Yao finally stopped sobbing, and a large patch on the front of Long Chen's chest was already soaked with tears.

Chu Yao's pretty face suddenly flushed red; she hurriedly broke free from Long Chen's embrace and turned her fragrant body away, but her beautiful eyes were now filled with joy and hesitation.

"Ahem."

Long Chen coughed awkwardly and asked, "Chu Yao, when did you find out that your Dantian had been tampered with?"

Hearing Long Chen's question, Chu Yao's pretty face slowly returned to normal, and looking at Long Chen, she said, "When I was young, before the Emperor went into seclusion, he said that I was a martial arts genius of a generation and that I might one day step out of the Empire."

"Before the Emperor went into seclusion, he encouraged me greatly, telling me to cultivate well; in the beginning, I was indeed very diligent."

"But in the year I turned ten, the Empress suddenly contracted a strange illness and was bedridden ever since; before we could summon Great Master Yun Qi, my mother had already passed away."

As she spoke to this point, tears flowed slowly from Chu Yao's beautiful eyes, as if she had fallen into distant memories.

"At that time, my younger brother and I were still young, but as we grew older and became accustomed to the palace intrigues, I realized that my mother's death was definitely not an accident."

"But all the evidence had long since disappeared, and I was completely powerless; furthermore, five years ago, my cultivation began to stagnate, and no matter how hard I tried, I could not make any progress, and my spiritual energy actually became weaker and weaker."

"At that time, I understood that the same black hand that killed my mother had finally reached out to us siblings."

"From that day on, my brother and I began to become arrogant and domineering, becoming willful and reckless; since then, it seemed as if everything had returned to normal."

Hearing Chu Yao speak to this point, Long Chen felt an unspeakable helplessness; it seemed that life in the palace was even more cruel than he had imagined.

"Are you using this method to protect your younger brother?" Long Chen sighed and said.

Chu Yao nodded and said, "Now, I only have my younger brother as my relative; I do not want him to have any accidents. While he is annoying like this, at least he will not pose a threat to anyone, so he should be safer."

"Although I do not know what someone did in my Dantian, I know they were afraid that I would threaten them, which is why they restricted my cultivation."

"So as long as I show no interest in cultivation, no one will pay attention to a weak woman like me, and we siblings will be safe."

Long Chen sighed and said, "Unfortunately, you underestimated the viciousness of your enemies; they are simply a bunch of animals."

After hesitating repeatedly, Long Chen still informed Chu Yao about the situation inside her Dantian. After hearing it, Chu Yao's eyes were filled with anger and hesitation, her pretty face turned deathly pale, and her slender body swayed as if about to collapse.

Long Chen held Chu Yao tightly with one large hand and said, "However, you do not need to worry too much; give me some time, and I can open the shackles inside your body."

"Really?" Chu Yao said, unable to believe it.

"Truer than real gold," Long Chen said solemnly.

Unaware of why, looking at Long Chen's face, Chu Yao's heart was filled with trust; it was an inexplicable feeling.

Long Chen gave her a feeling of being very safe; in the palace where everyone schemed against one another, this feeling was too luxurious.

Seeing that Chu Yao did not doubt his words at all, Long Chen felt a wave of emotion, feeling that another burden had seemingly been added to his shoulders.

"Heroine Chu Yao, can you demonstrate a few more moves of your peerless techniques for me, so that this kid can humbly learn?" Long Chen noticed the atmosphere was a bit dull and couldn't help but laugh.

"Annoying, you are clearly mocking me." Chu Yao suddenly blushed and said with a hint of reproach.

"Absolutely not; Chu Yao, your foundation is very solid, it is just that the power of your Dantian cannot be released, which is why it is like this. But rest assured, it won't be long before I can help you solve it," Long Chen comforted her.

Only then did Chu Yao's expression soften slightly; seeing that Long Chen's tone was sincere, she demonstrated a Human-Rank Advanced combat technique—the Wind-Breaking Fist.

Long Chen observed this time very carefully, and after watching, he couldn't help but be incredibly shocked. Chu Yao's spiritual energy, having been heavily absorbed by the nine strands of foreign spiritual energy, was already less than one-tenth of what it should be.

But relying on such weak spiritual energy, when Chu Yao executed the combat technique, there was still not a hint of feeling that her spiritual energy was insufficient.

Long Chen discovered that Chu Yao's control over spiritual energy had actually reached an extremely powerful level, far, far stronger than that of an average Blood Condensation Rank expert.

Long Chen's unsparing praise for Chu Yao made her pretty face flush with joy, like a peach blossom in March, stunningly beautiful.

Long Chen pondered in his heart that those nine strands of foreign spiritual energy were actually nine spiritual energy seeds, which had become extremely powerful after absorbing so much for so many years inside Chu Yao's Dantian.

If one were to force them to shatter and burst open, it would be too much of a pity; that massive energy would be enough to allow Chu Yao to advance to the Blood Condensation Rank, and her cultivation would continue to climb.

After Long Chen learned the Wind-Breaking Fist, he suddenly took out a bottle of medicinal liquid: "This is Disguise Liquid; applying it to your face can change your appearance and can last for twelve hours; it is very convenient."

After Long Chen finished speaking, he poured out a few drops, rubbed them evenly on his hands, and applied them to his face; in an instant, Long Chen's appearance changed drastically, his eyebrows became slightly thicker, and the color of his skin also changed, as if he had become a completely different person.

Seeing this, Chu Yao was overjoyed: "This way, I can disguise myself to come find you in the future."

After speaking, Chu Yao also applied the medicinal liquid to her face; the liquid adhered to her face like a thin film and could change its shape at will. Once she stopped moving, it only took a few breaths to set, which was very magical.

Looking at herself in the mirror, her appearance having become much more ordinary, Chu Yao couldn't help but shout happily.

She grabbed Long Chen's arm and said happily, "Long Chen, let's go stroll around the streets; I've grown up this big, but I've never strolled around the streets."

Chu Yao, being a princess of a nation, although "naturally wild," still couldn't be too unconventional and couldn't be free and unrestrained like a commoner; today, Long Chen gave her this opportunity, and she naturally wouldn't let it go.

Chu Yao affectionately held onto Long Chen's arm; looking at her excited gaze, it would be a lie to say Long Chen wasn't moved, so he immediately agreed wholeheartedly.

However, after agreeing, Long Chen regretted it a little; he had clearly underestimated Chu Yao's desire to go shopping.

She nearly dragged him through every small alley in the entire Imperial Capital, finding everything incredibly fresh and new, pulling on Long Chen's arm to ask about this and that.

Smelling the unique fragrance of Chu Yao's body and feeling the intoxicating sensation from her jade hand, he was just floating on air when he suddenly stopped his footsteps and took Chu Yao to hide by a small stall nearby.

Long Chen feigned interest in checking the items on the stall, but his peripheral vision watched the few people in the distance, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Xia Changfeng?"