Covering the Sky: The Years I Was the Empress's Strictest Master

He hadn't forgotten that so many densely packed light crimson dots eventually merged into just one deep crimson dot.

While keeping an eye on the outside world again, he began to study the dial on the Soul Pearl barrier.

He had already realized some other potential benefits brought about by the "transformation" of the Soul Pearl.

Even though the original Soul Pearl was filled with faint crimson light, it was only just enough for him to reincarnate after his death and to unravel the mystery of the womb.

Once the crimson light is exhausted, it means that the early stages of his new life are actually very dangerous.

With the slightest accident, he might really die!

But now, things are different...

"what?"

Upon observation, he quickly discovered another new function of the Soul Pearl.

However, at this very moment...

Outside, a sudden change occurred.

The wheel is rolling... the wheel is rolling...

Rumble!

Snapped!

Amidst flashes of lightning and thunder, a torrential downpour began, and the sounds of whips lashing and soldiers shouting rang out almost simultaneously:

"Get lost! Where did this dirty girl come from?"

"Look carefully where you are! This is an inn of the Feathered Divine Dynasty. Don't you have eyes to look where you're going?"

……

Chapter Two: Deception (3.2K)

Tan Lin's remnant soul sensed through the copper plate, making his perception of the outside world increasingly clear.

Splash...

A torrential downpour covered the entire ancient Yan Kingdom, and the roads outside the city became muddy and impassable.

To the east, at the entrance of a post station, about two hundred miles from the capital.

In the rain, four figures—an old man, two adults, and a child—stood hesitantly in front of the post station.

An elderly man with white hair and a cane stood behind him, with two burly men standing behind him.

There was also a little girl with pigtails who fell into the mud after being whipped by a soldier.

The little girl was about eight or nine years old, and her tattered clothes were covered with patches.

Her thin face was covered in mud and dirt before she fell into the mud.

Splash... splash...

She struggled to get up from the mud, her eyes welling up with tears from the pain of being whipped by a soldier at the post station, but she forced herself to hold back her sobs.

But despite her stubbornness, her eyes were filled with pleading as she looked at the soldiers.

"Please, just let me see my brother! Just one look..."

She had just gotten up and was about to go forward again when the old man grabbed her arm.

Splash!

The rain is getting heavier.

The four men were soaked to the bone, looking like four drowned rats, a stark contrast to the gleaming armor and imposing aura of the Feathered Divine Dynasty soldier, creating a vivid picture of two worlds, one mortal and one immortal.

A white feather shimmering with iridescent light adorned the soldier's helmet, making his imposing physique appear as if he were a celestial being.

"What? You won't listen to me? Today, a great lord from the Central Plains has arrived in this ancient Yan Kingdom and is currently staying at the post station. We will not allow filthy and lowly people like you to come near us and offend his eyes!"

Seeing that the four men were still lingering in the mud in front of the post station and refused to leave, the soldier's gaze grew even colder:

"Get lost, did you hear me? That whip just now, I didn't even use a fraction of my strength. Otherwise, hehe..."

Snapped!

As he spoke, he casually picked up his long whip and lashed it hard into the air to the side!

bang...

In an instant, the rainwater evaporated, and the air in that area was forcefully blown apart!

Hey!

Da...da...

This scene truly terrified the two burly men who were surrounding the white-haired old man.

They were so frightened that they took several steps back, their bodies trembling like winnowing baskets. Then they glanced at the bloodstains and whip marks on the girl's back, which were seeping through her wet clothes, and realized that the other party had already shown mercy.

"Yes, yes, sir, sir... please calm down. The child was just being ignorant and barged in as soon as we arrived. It was my fault for not instructing him properly beforehand..."

The old man with the cane bowed and scraped before the soldier, first saying some kind words.

Seeing that the soldiers' expressions had softened, he then said:

"Sir, you may not know this, but five or six years ago, this child's older brother was indeed 'recruited' by cultivators from your dynasty. Now, people from the capital have come to our Yaoguang Village with news that her brother 'died in battle,' and they want us to come here to collect his body and compensation..."

"Ok?"

Before the old man could finish speaking, the white-feathered soldier glared at him and shoved him aside.

"Go to hell! So you've come here to extort money from our post station? What compensation?! I've never even heard of it!"

"Forget about compensation, we don't even have a body! Nothing!"

As he spoke, he brandished his long whip, as if to lash out at the old man, but after glancing at the diverse crowd of onlookers resting in the teahouse at the post station, he decided against it.

There were several of those people he couldn't understand.

He possesses cultivation!

Perhaps the strange feeling of coldness on the back of his neck when he whipped the little girl earlier was a warning from one of them.

Otherwise, these lowly people outside the city have worthless lives, so it's fine to kill them!

Do you really think he'll go easy on you and show mercy?

"Get out of here!"

The white-feathered soldiers shoved the group away into the distance.

"Hehe, it seems there are quite a few people in this remote and impoverished place who are eyeing this divine source. Hauge, you take it and give it to that child. I want to see what tricks they can come up with in fighting over it... It's good to watch wild dogs fight over food to relieve boredom."

Just then, a middle-aged man's voice reached the soldiers' ears from inside the post station.

Upon hearing the sound, the white-feathered soldiers froze, then retreated back into the post station.

Hauge was not his name; he knew that there was nothing more for him to do outside.

Wow!

A moment later, a brilliant light shone brightly at the entrance of the post station. A blazing divine light tore through the rain curtain, turning the entire area within a ten-mile radius into a glassy color.

At this moment, countless spots of light were reflected in the puddles, and a sacred aura overflowed from the post station like a tide.

The cultivators in the teahouse felt their pores open up, and their flesh seemed to groan, as if they were soaking in a spiritual pool of immortal liquid.

Swish!

Swish...swish...

A barrage of intense gazes converged on the unfamiliar red-feathered soldier who had appeared.

The source of all these anomalies was the box containing divine energy in his arms!

The box hasn't even been opened yet, and it's already causing this strange phenomenon. If one were to get their hands on it...

"take it."

The Red Feather soldier was clearly of a higher rank than the White Feather soldiers. He stepped forward slowly and handed the box to the girl with pigtails.

His gaze toward the girl was filled with pity.

This thing would be a hot potato outside, but there are clearly forces or cultivators in Yandu who are eyeing it, and they are really playing a clever game!

Otherwise, how could that isolated village have known that the young man was dead?

Seeing this, the old man with the cane sighed inwardly. His chapped lips twitched slightly, as if he wanted to say something to the girl, but he felt uneasy and had no choice but to shut up.

The purpose of his accompaniment has now been achieved, as the person behind the scenes had said.

As for Li Fan's remains, who, apart from the girl herself, has ever truly cared?

"Dazhuang, Asi, let's go back."

Feeling guilty, the old man led two able-bodied men from the village back the way they came, clearly having foreseen something.

This brother and sister, who depended on each other for survival, are truly unfortunate. The brother had just died, and now the sister was about to follow him...

Unexpectedly, he had only taken a few steps when he heard the girl's voice of rejection behind him:

"Uncle, I don't want this. Can I see my brother instead?"

"To see your brother?"

Upon hearing this, Haug felt only amusement and absurdity.

Several years ago, it was he who went to Yaoguang Village and took away the boy named Li Fan.

All the prodigies "collected" from various places will be sent to a blue planet through the Five-Colored Altar.

Although he himself did not understand the ultimate meaning of the emperor's actions, it was said that every prodigy who arrived there would have their flesh and blood and essence drained.

However, coincidentally, those desiccated corpses of the prodigies were already considered waste by the emperor.

However, some special constitutions, such as the indestructible golden body, even if their bones are brittle and they show no supernatural abilities, are still sought after by outsiders who want to trade with them, collect them, and conduct research.

The buyer chose to conduct the transaction within the territory of the ancient Yan Kingdom.

"Your brother's body has been destroyed. Hurry up and take your things and leave."

After saying that, Hauge didn't even glance at the dirty girl again, and turned to walk back to the post station.

"Please, please... I... I really just want to see my brother, even just for a moment... Waaah, I don't want this..."

The girl with pigtails followed in his footsteps, pleading desperately.

"If I give you this, you'll have to accept it! If you don't want it, well... plenty of other people will want it later!"

Hauge entered the post station, first kicking the girl away, then unleashing a burst of divine power to activate several post station array patterns, instantly isolating the inside from the outside.

bang...

Whoosh!

"Please! Please... Waaah, let me see my brother..."

The little girl climbed out of the mud again and again, pounding on the divine pattern barrier, only to be bounced away each time, before getting up and going forward again.

Tears welled up in her eyes and could no longer be held back; in the rain, it was impossible to distinguish between tears and raindrops.

The divine source rolled out of the box, its dazzling light instantly soaring into the sky, illuminating the dark, rainy landscape and stirring the restless energy of many cultivators who had been concealing their auras in the teahouse.

The girl had no time to care about Shenyuan and left him lying in the mud.

Although she wasn't a cultivator, she wasn't blind, and naturally knew that this thing was extraordinary.

However, what in this world could compare to a single hair on her brother's head?

bang...

Splash...

The divine light barrier was activated time and time again, sending the girl flying further and further each time, making it increasingly difficult for her to stand up again.

By this time, blood was flowing from her mouth and nose.

Hey!

Da...da...