CHAPTER 218: CHAPTER 163: COULD THIS BE THE TRADITION OF THE WONDEROUS PALACE? [SEEKING SUBSCRIPTION]_2

Just as before, she wanted to remove her outer garments and warm his bed.

"No, Xiao Rou, you can go. I need to rest," Wen Zhixing said.

However, Wen Zhixing still refused. He simply walked into the house, his eyes filled with indifference.

"Wang..." Xiao Rou’s expression changed slightly, but she quickly forced a smile. "Alright, then Wang, you rest well." After speaking, she bowed slightly and closed the door.

「Inside the house.」

When the door closed, Wen Zhixing finally let out a sigh of relief and looked around. Good. There are no more of those glittering Fortune Fragments in here. Clearly, Murong Fenghua didn’t follow me in.

Wen Zhixing didn’t mind the changes to this room. Luxurious or dilapidated, as long as it was livable, he could accept it.

Wen Zhixing finally showed a troubled expression. This is somewhat troublesome. The white tiger genius spirit can be driven away. The main issue is, I can’t quite figure out Murong Fenghua’s intentions right now. What does she want? It must be related to these two white tiger genius spirits. Could it be she’s taken a fancy to my white tiger genius spirit, or is she also puzzled by it? If that’s true, I don’t even know how I’d explain it. After all, it’s something I practically paid for with my life; it’s not easy to clarify. Speaking of which, this thing could also be considered Murong Fenghua’s white tiger genius spirit. Yet now, its ownership is in my hands. This creates a rather peculiar feeling.

If worse comes to worst, I’ll just give up both of these white tiger genius spirits, Wen Zhixing decided resolutely.

"Never mind, I’ll cultivate first!" Wen Zhixing resolved, then forced himself into a state of closed-door cultivation. He would take it one step at a time; overthinking was pointless.

「Outside the house.」

The smile on Xiao Rou’s face slowly vanished. What’s going on with Wang Shouzhen? she wondered. Her duty was to watch over him, but today he seemed a bit different. Did something happen between him and Ning Shan? Xiao Rou frowned slightly.

However, it wasn’t a major problem. Si Nanyan hadn’t asked her to watch Wang Shouzhen every moment of the day. That was, of course, impossible.

What Xiao Rou didn’t notice was that further ahead, a gaze was sizing her up.

To think he even has a maid serving him; his status in the Wonderous Palace isn’t low, Murong Fenghua thought to herself. She had been in closed-door cultivation for too long and was no longer familiar with worldly affairs. It seemed she first needed to find someone to understand the current situation.

"Mind Reading Skill!" she declared.

Her eyes flashed, and a light passed before Xiao Rou’s eyes.

BUZZ!

In the next instant, Xiao Rou’s eyes lost focus. She stood frozen on the spot, devoid of consciousness.

Murong Fenghua reached out with a large hand, directly capturing Xiao Rou and whisking her away in an instant. Appearing far away, she closed her eyes as Divine Consciousness Power surged into Xiao Rou’s Sea of Sense.

A large, illusory hand materialized, stirring up turmoil in Xiao Rou’s Sea of Sense, and the concealed divine soul was immediately seized. Fragments of memories were peeled from the divine soul.

This Mind Reading Skill was very similar to Wen Zhixing’s Divine Ability, Soul Stealing. Both could forcibly extract others’ memories. However, the Mind Reading Skill was purer in purpose; its sole aim was to read memories. Soul Stealing, on the other hand, also stole the very source of the target’s divine soul.

After a while, Xiao Rou’s face began to turn deathly pale. Her aura grew faint. The Mind Reading Skill was too overbearing; all her memories were being forcibly stripped away. Her divine soul naturally suffered great damage. If this continued, at best, she would lose her memories; at worst, she would become a mindless fool.

"So that’s how it is..." Just then, Murong Fenghua finally opened her eyes, a hint of realization within them.

She had understood most of what had happened over the years from Xiao Rou’s memories. Most of it involved the grudges between the Wonderous Palace and the Righteous Sun Sect.

Who would have thought the Wonderous Palace would become such a sect, Murong Fenghua couldn’t help but shake her head. It was true she was a devil path cultivator, but she wasn’t skilled in the so-called essence absorption methods. With her status and aptitude, she naturally didn’t need to use such cultivation techniques.

Back then, she had passed down quite a few cultivation skills. Unexpectedly, the Wonderous Palace had ultimately established its foothold here using the very path of essence absorption she most despised.

However, this was also an act of desperation. The Wonderous Palace, after all, was established mid-stream and lacked any other significant backing. Their only support was Murong Fenghua. And Murong Fenghua had merely passed down cultivation skills and some grand arrays before beginning her closed-door cultivation to heal her injuries. For the Female Cultivators of the Wonderous Palace to survive in this world where the strong preyed upon the weak, they had no choice but to rapidly increase their strength. Since most people’s Talent was average, to quickly enhance their strength, they could only resort to this method of essence absorption.

As time passed, essence absorption cultivation had unwittingly become the mainstay of the Wonderous Palace. This had also led to years of entangled grudges between the Righteous Sun Sect and the Wonderous Palace.

The Sect Master of the Righteous Sun Sect... his strength isn’t as simple as it appears. To be able to directly perceive my true self—how could he merely be a minor cultivator in the Divine Communication Realm? A thoughtful look flashed in Murong Fenghua’s eyes. He must be wary of me; that’s why he hasn’t acted yet.

"From now on, you shall follow me." Murong Fenghua’s gaze turned towards Xiao Rou.

The damage caused by the Mind Reading Skill was irreversible, but as long as she wasn’t dead, she could recover over time.

Then, a flicker of spiritual light danced in her palm, surging into Xiao Rou’s Sea of Sense. With her abilities, she could, of course, easily heal such a minor injury.

"Mmm..." Xiao Rou, still unconscious, murmured instinctively. Her divine soul began to recover quickly, even transform.

"Collect!" Murong Fenghua nodded at the sight. With a flip of her hand, a cloth bag appeared, and she tucked Xiao Rou inside.

This Wang Shouzhen is rather interesting. Very well, I shall follow this boy for now and see what happens, she decided. Her strength hadn’t fully recovered yet, so it wasn’t wise to make a high-profile appearance. Liu Qingxuan made her somewhat wary.

Afterward, a gentle glow slowly radiated from her body. Her form began to transform. Her silver hair turned black, and her face and body started to resemble Xiao Rou’s.

In the blink of an eye, Murong Fenghua had transformed into Xiao Rou. Whether it was her physical body, appearance, aura, or even the origin of her divine soul, everything had become identical to Xiao Rou’s. Clearly, this was the Fortune Divine Devil Skill, and a fully mastered version at that. With just a thought, she could transform, completely negating the need to borrow another’s physical form.

"This body... is indeed weak..." Murong Fenghua remarked, feeling the new form. Under the effect of the Fortune Divine Devil Skill, this body had become identical to Xiao Rou’s, even down to its physical strength.

"Do I really have to serve someone?" Murong Fenghua murmured after acclimating slightly, her gaze shifting towards the room. I’ve never served anyone in my entire life. So thinking, she looked towards the room.

HISS...

Inside the room, Wen Zhixing, who had been cultivating, suddenly trembled. A chill originating from deep within his heart spread throughout his body.

"Huh? What’s going on?!" Wen Zhixing snapped his eyes open, but there was nothing abnormal around him.

Is it Murong Fenghua...? Forget it, I’ll continue cultivating. Wen Zhixing frowned. The current situation was beyond his control.

---

「The next day, early morning.」

Wen Zhixing slowly opened his eyes. His cultivation the previous night hadn’t gone very well, but he had managed to get through it safely.

Why hasn’t Murong Fenghua come to ask for that white tiger genius spirit yet? Wen Zhixing felt somewhat helpless. Just come and ask for it! If you ask, I’ll give it to you! But if you don’t show yourself, how can I possibly give it to you?

CREAK!

Just then, the door was slowly pushed open.

"Wang, it’s time for breakfast." Xiao Rou burst in, holding steaming hot buns and beaming.

Seeing Xiao Rou enter unannounced, Wen Zhixing instantly frowned and began to scold, "Xiao Rou, next time, do not barge in without my permission—"

However, he stopped mid-sentence, dumbstruck. Wait a minute! Something’s not right! This person is Xiao Rou? Are you kidding me? All those shimmering Fortune Fragments are flickering right before my eyes! What the hell! Murong Fenghua! For a powerful cultivator of the Primordial Fetus Realm like you to stoop to such tricks—what on earth are you playing at?!

Suddenly, Wen Zhixing felt that Si Nanyan personally going undercover in the Righteous Sun Sect wasn’t such a big deal anymore. Could this be a tradition of the Wonderous Palace?

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