Ye Tianling looked up, his gaze suddenly turning icy.

"So, you and Yao Ling were in on this together? No wonder she didn’t come in to watch. I suppose she thought I’d get beaten to a pulp and stayed away, afraid I’d beg her for mercy?"

Ye Tianling’s gaze was cold.

From Xia Xinyue’s words, he knew in an instant that something was definitely wrong with her!

’And if Xia Xinyue and Yao Ling’s relationship isn’t hostile, but more like sisters, then the matter of Yao Lun and Xia Xinqin’s planned marriage alliance...’

Ye Tianling didn’t let his thoughts delve any deeper.

He preferred to solve everything with strength, not get bogged down in schemes and conspiracies!

"Well... *sigh*... Actually, Yao Ling and I already know what happened to Zhu’Er. I was in the Royal Family’s Celestial Tower at the time, and Yao Ling was actually not far from her. Just as she was about to make a move, a strange phenomenon occurred in the sky. The void cracked open, and you fell out.

She saw you crush Tu Kun to death with her own eyes..."

Xia Xinyue explained with a wry smile.

Ye Tianling was lost in thought and did not respond.

"Yao Ling was very curious, because she could confirm that you were a member of the Human Race. But later, after you subdued Yao Lun and became the Kunpeng Divine Son, she decided you must be an imposter. After all, to the Demon Race, the Human Race is indeed cunning and treacherous; one must always be on guard.

The battle with me was partly to test the strength of the younger generation of Cultivators from the outside world, and partly to see if you possess the true Kunpeng Talent. I have the Immortal Phoenix Talent, and my sensitivity to the Kunpeng Talent is very keen..."

Xia Xinyue added.

Her tone had become much kinder and gentler.

Ye Tianling asked, "So, do I possess the true Kunpeng Talent? Did you sense it?"

Xia Xinyue’s delicate frame trembled. She bowed deeply and said, "Xinyue greets the Kunpeng Divine Son."

As she spoke, Xia Xinyue looked with resignation toward a nearby area. "Yao Ling, you can come in now."

"VMMMM—"

The rain parted as a phantasmal figure gradually materialized, resolving into the stunningly beautiful form of Yao Ling in her pale green gauze dress.

"Sister Xinyue—huh? He isn’t crippled!"

Yao Ling shouted with glee, but her voice immediately faded. The joyous expression on her face froze, replaced by a touch of awkwardness.

"Yao Ling, even if you worried that the Elder Roc King had gotten muddled in his old age, the Celestial Serpent King is far too shrewd to make such a mistake. You do know what happened with the Celestial Serpent King, don’t you?"

Xia Xinyue shook her head, a wry smile on her face.

"I’ve heard a little about what happened with Prince Celestial Serpent, but I don’t know the details. I just know... this native from the outside world, um, this human, beat him into a miserable state."

Yao Ling hesitated for a moment but still blurted it out nonchalantly.

Xia Xinyue sighed. "My strength is nowhere near the Kunpeng Divine Son’s. He’s only at the Sword Spirit Second Heaven Realm, while I’m at the Void Realm Second Transformation. That’s not a simple gap of three small realms—it spans an entire great realm! And his bloodline is far, far purer than mine! All I can say is that his Bloodline Talent is even more heaven-defying than the Elder Roc King estimated—it must be an Ancestor Level Kunpeng Divine Blood Talent.

And I believe the Celestial Serpent King must have realized this. That’s why he nearly beat his own grandson to death to beg for the Divine Son’s forgiveness."

Xia Xinyue’s voice was soft and sweet, but it was tinged with lament and bitterness.

’When Ye Tianling pointed his sword at her for that final blow, she already knew. A life-and-death battle? Three moves? He was overestimating her. Those ’three moves’ only applied if she used all of her trump cards. Without them, she would have been killed in a single strike!’

As for his bloodline, when her Immortal Phoenix Talent manifested, she had actually vaguely sensed the Kunpeng’s aura several times—it was strongest in Ye Tianling’s Body Technique.

This was, indeed, the most distinct characteristic of the Golden-winged Roc Clan!

If that wasn’t enough, then when Ye Tianling’s Sword Spirit aura manifested and that ancient, vast, and terrifying bloodline aura billowed out, combined with the eruption of his true battle power, she already knew he was a Divine Son without a doubt. As for whether he was the Kunpeng Divine Son, that was already beyond question.

’If he weren’t the Kunpeng Divine Son, how could he have inherited a Bloodline Talent like the Kunpeng’s Unparalleled Body Technique?’

"Th-this... You... you’re really the Kunpeng Divine Son!"

At that moment, hearing Xia Xinyue’s explanation, Yao Ling was completely dumbfounded.

She had imagined countless possibilities, even picturing how pathetic Ye Tianling would look, the disgraceful sight of him kneeling and begging for mercy. But she had never once considered that he would be judged as the genuine article by Xia Xinyue, the most intelligent princess in Yunxiao City!

It was as if a stampede of ten thousand horses was trampling through Yao Ling’s heart; the feeling was indescribably awful.

She looked at Ye Tianling sheepishly, instantly becoming as docile as a child who had been caught doing something wrong.

"Kunpeng Divine Son? Aren’t I just a humble ’native’? A servant to you descendants of Ancient Bloodlines? The offspring of a sinner with an inferior bloodline?"

Ye Tianling mocked her, a cold, humorless smile on his face.

"Ahem, th-this... Kunpeng Divine Son, this is all just a misunderstanding, right? Look how handsome you are, how outstanding, how incredibly dashing and extraordinary... you won’t hold this against us, will you?"

Yao Ling’s heart lurched upon hearing Ye Tianling’s words, and she feared making things worse. ’It looks like the Kunpeng Divine Son is extremely displeased with me!’

Her heart filled with anxiety, she immediately began to speak in a coquettish, wheedling tone.

"You said that if I defeated Xia Xinyue, I could ride you however I wanted and sleep with you however I wanted. Is that right?"

Ye Tianling ignored her fawning, coquettish tone and cut straight to the heart of the matter.

"Ah... Th-that... that is..."

A chill shot through Yao Ling’s heart. ’Although... following the Kunpeng Divine Son really isn’t a bad thing, but to be slept with and ridden... I can’t even imagine what a miserable life that would be.’

"Not going to admit it? It seems the so-called Saintess of the Golden-winged Roc Clan is nothing special. Your word isn’t even worth as much as a fart."

Ye Tianling said mockingly.

"Ah! Who-who-who says I’m not admitting it! It’s just sleeping, right? It’s just riding, right? C-c-come on, then! I... This Saintess is putting it all on the line!"

Provoked, blood rushed to Yao Ling’s head and she immediately retorted in kind.

But just as quickly, her bluster deflated, and tears began to well up in her big eyes.

Ye Tianling ignored Yao Ling and turned to Xia Xinyue. "Xia Xinqin’s talent is impressive, but she couldn’t enter your Great Xia Royal Family in Yunxiao City? Jiang Xiangning’s talent is also decent, and I doubt her bloodline is simple, yet she was stripped of her family name? And this had something to do with you? You certainly are majestic!" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Hearing this, Xia Xinyue’s beautiful eyes lit up, and a hint of a smile appeared. "The Kunpeng Divine Son is truly benevolent. It is truly an honor for Sister Xiangning to have a friend like you. To be frank, Divine Son, it was merely a test. You see, the Great Xia Royal Family’s Royal Family’s Celestial Tower sometimes manifests ’Destiny Totems’ that can point toward certain fortuitous opportunities.

And as it happens, after I passed the twenty-seventh layer of the Heaven-Reaching Tower, I saw a glimpse of an opportunity for my clanswoman, Xiangning. That opportunity was in Luoyun Town, which is why I found an excuse to have her sent there. It was not an act of hostility or exclusion."

Ye Tianling was taken aback and gave Xia Xinyue a long, searching look.

Both his Soul Talent and the clarity in Xia Xinyue’s eyes were enough to prove that she was telling the truth!

"The Royal Family’s Celestial Tower lets you see ’Destiny Totems’? Does it happen every nine layers?"

Intrigued, Ye Tianling asked.

Xia Xinyue shook her head. "It only becomes possible from the twenty-seventh layer onward. And even then, it depends on fortuitous chance and luck; it’s not a guarantee. For instance, I passed the twenty-seventh layer this time, but I didn’t see anything."

Ye Tianling said, "Good. As it happens, I was planning to challenge the tower this time."