Goddess Atlas, Starting from the Queen

Xuan Yingzhen kept the Blood Lotus only to see which force had created such an evil object. To her surprise, the Moonflower Palace was the first to jump out.
The Moonflower Palace is a reputable sect, yet they use human corpses to cultivate spiritual plants, and even more so, the corpse of their former palace master's husband.

Xuan Yingzhen continued, "Sure enough, in order to take that step, everyone will stop at nothing, even those from reputable sects."

At this point, Xuan Yingzhen pondered for a moment, then said to the maid, "Spread the word that the Xiaoyao Prince's Mansion has spiritual plants."

For her, the fiercer the battles between the various sects of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the more secure the position of their Tianxuan Sect would be.

Those sects may not know what the Blood Lotus is, but they certainly know what spiritual plants are, as spiritual plants have a significant effect on enhancing a martial artist's strength.

Especially those grandmasters who want to take that step, those grandmasters hidden in the shadows, have been sending people to search for spiritual objects.

Since the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty, apart from Lu Xiaoyao, who is recognized as an immortal, no other grandmaster has ever taken that step. However, there is a rumor circulating among the top powers that Lu Xiaoyao was able to take that step because the founding emperor gave him all the spiritual treasures that had been collected from all over the world, which enabled him to take that step.

Therefore, spiritual objects are of paramount importance to them if they want to take that step. Of course, this is just the conjecture of most people. In fact, only a very few people know how to take that step.

Even if it's just speculation, those grandmasters, especially those whose lives are nearing their end, are willing to try, which makes every time news of a spiritual object appears in the martial arts world, it cause a bloodbath.

……

Weiyang Palace.

Wu Wanrong, dressed in a phoenix robe, leaned against a soft couch, listening to Yuezhi's report from the main hall.

Unlike Xuan Yingzhen, Wu Wanrong was unaware of the existence of the Blood Lotus. Therefore, when she heard that people from the Moonflower Palace had appeared at the Xiaoyao Prince's Mansion, her first thought was whether Lu Ming had colluded with the Moonflower Palace to try and seize that position.

She herself was sent by the Nine Heavens Academy, so she knew very well how much some sects and forces coveted the throne of the Great Zhou. She couldn't sense the Qi Luck yet, but as a celestial maiden of the Nine Heavens Academy, she still had some understanding of the Dao of Qi Luck.

It is said that after becoming emperor, one will be able to control the destiny of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and then use that destiny to cultivate, thus taking that step.

Of course, she only heard all of this from the Nine Heavens Academy, and she doesn't know whether it's true or not.

However, when she saw that even the sect leader of Tianxuan Sect was willing to personally come to the palace to serve as the national advisor, she vaguely felt that the path of destiny might be able to help people take that step. Otherwise, why would Xuan Yingzhen give up her good position as sect leader and come to the palace to serve as the national advisor?

Wu Wanrong frowned slightly. If the Prince of Xiaoyao and the Yuehua Palace were colluding to fight for the throne, she was afraid she would not be a match for them.

She can't even handle those few Heavenly Pivots in the court, let alone confront a super sect like Moonflower Palace, which makes Wu Wanrong feel a deep sense of crisis.

Wu Wanrong felt somewhat aggrieved. It was all for the sake of competing for fortune, but the Nine Heavens Academy only sent her, a celestial maiden, and some martial artists, while the sect leader of the Heavenly Profound Sect and the palace master of the Moonflower Palace had come to the capital in person.

She received almost no substantial help from the Nine Heavens Academy in the capital. Although she had some subordinates who could run errands, they were useless when it came to crucial matters. For example, last time she sent a Grandmaster from the Nine Heavens Academy to capture the Blood Cloud Tower assassins, the Grandmaster was instead severely injured by the Blood Cloud Tower assassins. If it weren't for Lu Ming's intervention, the Grandmaster would probably have died.

Her ability to maintain her position in the court can be said to be more or less related to Lu Ming. Without the dragon aura, she certainly wouldn't have been able to suppress those officials. The thought that she had obtained the dragon aura and all that she had now by relying on her body made Wu Wanrong even more dissatisfied with the Nine Heavens Academy.

Wu Wanrong quickly calmed her emotions and then said to Yuezhi, "Keep an eye on those people in Yuehua Palace, especially their Palace Master. Report to me every night what they do in Xiaoyao Prince's Mansion."

"Yes, ma'am."

At this moment, Wu Wanrong suddenly thought that there seemed to be many beautiful women in Yuehua Palace. Thinking of this, Wu Wanrong frowned even more deeply.

If the Moon Palace were to send women to the Carefree Prince, that lecherous man would probably not be able to resist the temptation.

It seems we must hurry up and train Li Qingluan. We need to make her the most talented woman in the Great Zhou Dynasty as soon as possible, and we need to let her appear in front of the Prince of Xiaoyao more often.

Xiaoyao Wangfu.

During the banquet, Chen Qingying and Lin Yingqiu both noticed Xiao Qingyun. Unlike Lu Ming, Xiao Qingyun was not good at hiding her aura. Moreover, Lu Ming was already at the fourth level of Qi Refining, which was quite different from the two women's cultivation levels. Therefore, Chen Qingying and Lin Yingqiu did not realize that Lu Ming had cultivation.

Although Xiao Qingyun concealed her aura, Chen Qingying and Lin Yingqiu immediately sensed the faint but powerful pressure emanating from her. When they felt this pressure, the two women had a bad feeling.

One of them is a Grandmaster, and the other is a Grandmaster. The fact that both of them can feel the pressure from her means that this woman has already taken that step and become a Celestial Realm expert.
How can this be?

Could it be that this woman consumed the blood lotus cultivated by their Moonflower Palace?

The thought of this possibility made Chen Qingying's face turn ugly, and she couldn't help but exude a chill.

Lin Yingqiu noticed Chen Qingying's emotional fluctuations, so before the banquet began, she immediately went to the door, pulled a maid from the Prince's mansion aside, and asked, "May I inquire who that woman is?"

Lin Yingqiu and Chen Qingying were not very familiar with Xiao Qingyun. Although Xiao Qingyun was also in the Xiaoyao Prince's Mansion when Lu Xiaoyao passed away, she was focused on cultivation and rarely left her room. They did not see each other often, so Chen Qingying and Lin Yingqiu had no impression of Xiao Qingyun.

Unlike Su Wanyun, who was busy with Lu Xiaoyao's funeral and met with Chen Qingying, who lived in the Prince's Mansion, from time to time, Chen Qingying and Lin Yingqiu had some impression of Su Wanyun. However, they only had some impression of her. When they first saw Su Wanyun on their way to Lu's manor, they almost did not recognize her.

The maid who was being pulled looked in the direction Lin Yingqiu was pointing and replied, "She is Miss Xiao."

Lin Yingqiu asked with slight surprise, "That one from the Xiao family in Jiangnan?"

Although they didn't know Xiao Qingyun, they were still familiar with the situation at the Xiaoyao Prince's Mansion, having previously planted many spies there. (End of Chapter)