Chapter 730: 732, small country (first update)

Empress Shangguan Lingluo narrowed her eyes, sizing up Chu Jin without inhibition.

A moment later, she reached a conclusion.

All this talk of a reincarnated empress, the Bloodline of Fire Bathing, is utter nonsense! This Chu Jin is nothing but a commoner, her aptitude not even matching up to her little finger. Such a person has no qualifications to stand as an enemy on the same stage as her.

Having come to this conclusion, Empress Shangguan Lingluo puffed out her chest and continued, "I wouldn’t dare offer guidance. I am the Spirit Country Empress Shangguan Lingluo. I’ve heard that you are the reincarnated ancient empress, the bearer of the Bloodline of Fire Bathing, and that you can even play the ancient Konghou with considerable pride. As fellow empresses, we are similar, I’ve long admired you. I wonder if today you could let me witness the might of an empress?"

The last sentence was laden with provocation.

Although Empress Shangguan Lingluo spoke of admiration, there wasn’t a hint of it on her face; instead, the scorn in her eyes was clearly visible.

This was well known throughout the Superpower World: the young miss of the Chu Family, reincarnated from the empress, had lived in the secular world since childhood. Not only was her bloodline ordinary, but she was also the mixed-race offspring of a special ability person and a commoner.

The so-called Bloodline of Fire Bathing was nothing more than a stunt Mo Zhixuan had concocted for her in the past.

Thus, when she spoke, many cast mocking glances this way.

Wherever you are, there’s never a shortage of people who enjoy a spectacle.

Now that these two who were both titled empresses were confronting each other head-on, and without Gan Yuying present at the scene, there would be quite a drama.

So the crowd was exceptionally excited.

Without Gan Yuying’s protection, Chu Jin was definitely doomed.

But facing the sarcasm of Empress Shangguan Lingluo, not a hint of impatience or anger showed on Chu Jin’s face. Her clear and refined face remained utterly tranquil, her lips even curling into a faint smile.

Seeing this, everyone felt a sort of resonance.

An empress truly is an empress. Even if she has become an ordinary person now, the inherent pride in her bones cannot be changed.

In the presence of the current ruler, Empress Shangguan Lingluo, she could still remain so calm and collected.

Lucky for her that she’s just an ordinary person. If she really possessed the Bloodline of Fire Bathing, the position of the ninth wife today would assuredly be hers.

Chu Jin knew that Empress Shangguan Lingluo meant her no good, so she responded with a light chuckle, the dimples on her cheeks shallow, the chill in her eyes deepening, "The same? The Spirit Country merely occupies 1.98 million square kilometers, but the ancient empress, Jun Huang, ruled over the entire Nine States continent. Even a mere vassal state is several times larger than the Spirit Country. Tell me, how are you and I the same kind of person?"

A Spirit Country Empress trying to find a sense of presence in front of her?

What a joke.

Chu Jin was not someone who sought trouble, but if someone provoked her, then, sorry, she wouldn’t hesitate to beat that person until they couldn’t tell north from south.

This was the legendary case when an attempt to humiliate backfires.

Empress Shangguan Lingluo was almost furious to death! She never anticipated that a mere commoner would dare to talk back to her! A commoner knew so much about the total area of the Spirit Country.

Yes, the Spirit Country is small.

But no matter how small, she was still its monarch, and she ruled it!

Chu Jin couldn’t use the size of the Spirit Country to mock her.

Some things were well understood internally, but to put them out on the table was another matter.

Now, Chu Jin had blatantly mentioned the area of the Spirit Country, wasn’t that inviting everyone to laugh at her?

Just you wait, today she, Empress Shangguan Lingluo, would surely triumph. Once she secured the position of ninth wife, her first step would be to expand the area of the Spirit Country. Sooner or later, Mo Zhixuan was going to conquer the Three Realms.

By then, the entire Three Realms would be hers, and she would see who would dare laugh at the small size of her Spirit Country!

Empress Shangguan Lingluo clenched her fist, glancing at Chu Jin, and spoke with a cold laugh.

"What’s wrong with the Spirit Country being small? No matter how small, I am still the empress of Spirit Country, not a destitute family like yours, merely relying on being the reincarnation of Jun Huang. To put it nicely, you are the reincarnation of an empress. To speak unpleasantly, you’re nothing but a pathetic half-blood, a phoenix that has fallen to the ground is inferior to a chicken! You don’t even have a bit of self-awareness!"

Chu Jin was not angry, just looking at Empress Shangguan Lingluo, slowly rising to her feet. When she stood up, she towered a good half a head over Empress Shangguan Lingluo. It was an issue of race; the girls of the Spirit Country typically range in height from 1.5 to 1.6 meters.

Those heights are quite endearing and can trigger a man’s protective instincts.

Empress Shangguan Lingluo’s height was a standout in the Spirit Country. She was taller than all other women there, standing at 1.65 meters tall. But standing in front of Chu Jin, her height was clearly insufficient.

Chu Jin stood high above her, emanating aggressiveness, the scene reminiscent of an elder reprimanding a disobedient younger.

"Young person, I’ll give you a piece of free advice. A phoenix will always be a phoenix, but a chicken..." she said, eyes slightly averted with deliberate intent, "will always be a chicken. Have you ever seen a chicken turn into a phoenix?"

Chu Jin half-closed her captivating and delicate peach blossom eyes, chin slightly raised, just gazing at Empress Shangguan Lingluo.

Such a posture, somewhat arrogant, and even a bit domineering.

She stood upright, like an unyielding bamboo in the wind.

A powerful aura burst forth from her, impossible to ignore, and even more impossible to look straight into her eyes.

This was a bit odd, after all, Empress Shangguan Lingluo was a cultivator. How could her aura not match up to that of a lowly commoner?

As the words were spoken, a bout of laughter erupted from the crowd.

Today, Empress Shangguan Lingluo was utterly disgraced, labeled a chicken by a mere commoner, and in front of so many people no less.

After all, Shangguan Lingluo was the monarch of a nation; when had she ever been mocked in such a way? Originaly, she intended to use Chu Jin’s status as the reincarnated empress to gain fame for herself.

And by the way, to show Chu Jin how formidable she was.

She wanted everyone to know that in front of her, an ancient empress was nothing!

But to her surprise, Chu Jin dared to mock her in return!

Unable to contain the rage within her, Empress Shangguan Lingluo curved her fingers, summoning a hidden weapon in her palm. She raised her right hand and viciously aimed a slap at Chu Jin’s face.

A half-blooded creature dared to challenge her! Truly tired of living! When hitting someone, one must strike where it hurts the most! Hitting a woman where she cared most about.

Today, she was going to destroy Chu Jin’s face!

She had found Chu Jin’s face unbearable for some time now.

A half-blood, why should she possess such a delicate face that overshadowed everyone else? She was nothing short of an enchantress!

Seeing the commotion here, Mu Xianxian slightly curled her lips, her eyes brimming with triumph. Come, there was no need for her to take action herself; someone would take care of Chu Jin.

Dai Yu was sitting in front of the dressing table, drawing her eyebrows, and did not spare a glance toward this side.

That Empress of Spirit Country was quite foolish, to actually believe that Chu Jin was a mere commoner!

How could a reincarnation of an ancient empress possibly be just a commoner?

However, the real rival to Chu Jin here was not Shangguan Lingluo.

It was someone else.

If she could ally with that person, maybe she would have a chance to win.

This second Elder is useless! Asked to ruin the marriage between Chu Jin and Mo Zhixuan, he ended up launching a trial field instead!

Watching Shangguan Lingluo’s right hand fan toward her,

Chu Jin narrowed her eyes slightly, just about to counterattack, right on cue, a small ornament impregnated with internal force was flying rapidly toward this side.

"Bang!"

"Snap!"

The ornament, quite coincidentally, struck Shangguan Lingluo’s right hand dead on.

The ornament fell to the ground and shattered with a sound.

Shangguan Lingluo’s right hand was deflected, discharging a black object from her hand that embedded itself directly into a wooden column in the hall.

"Who is so cowardly, secretly wounding people! Stand out right now!" Shangguan Lingluo looked angrily towards the crowd.

"Emprress Shangguan, I’m really sorry," a woman dressed in a warrior’s outfit emerged from the crowd, clad in black clothes with delicate features. She looked at Shangguan Lingluo with an apologetic expression and said, "I simply can’t stand it when someone bullies others because of their status, breaks the rules, and is self-righteous. Oh, and I like to return the favor. Speaking of the word ’despicable,’ Empress Shagnnguan, you are my master in that regard. You play the game of wounding with secret arrows much better than I do."

The words spoken by the woman in black were sharp and heart-piercing. In the span of a short speech, she had mocked Empress Shangguan Lingluo to no end.

Laughter surrounded them.

No one expected this woman in black to stand up for Chu Jin.

A commoner of half-blood lineage, everyone else had tried to avoid her.

Yet, there were people, one after another, coming forward to help her.

"Thank you, miss," Chu Jin lifted her eyes to look at the woman in black.

The women in this room were all rivals to each other; one less would mean a greater chance of victory for the others. Everyone wanted to claim the position of the ninth lady, so they all watched the quarrel like it was a show.

It was unexpected to see someone step forward to do the right thing.

This came as a surprise to Chu Jin.

"Don’t flatter yourself, I wasn’t here to help you," the woman in black glanced at Chu Jin and said coldly, "I just can’t stand Shangguan Lingluo! It has nothing to do with you at all."

Her words were as if she was afraid that Chu Jin would mistake her for a kind person.

The woman in black looked cold and cool, with a manner that resembled a man. From her words, it was clear that she was not afraid of defying authority and was not at all afraid of offending Shangguan Lingluo.

Hearing this, Chu Jin did not say more but simply smiled politely at her.

This was a girl who was cool on the outside but warm on the inside.

"Su Yuqiao, this is a grudge between me and the Chu Family’s miss, what does it have to do with you! You’d better not meddle in other people’s affairs!" Shangguan Lingluo warned Su Yuqiao.

Su Yuqiao was the third-ranked bounty hunter.

With formidable strength not to be underestimated, Shangguan Lingluo still harbored some fear of her before reaching the trial field.

"I just love to meddle. Not satisfied? Come, bite me." Saying so, Su Yuqiao even beckoned to Shangguan Lingluo as if calling a little dog.

Shangguan Lingluo trembled with rage, but luckily, she still had her wits about her. She looked at Su Yuqiao with disdain, "Su Yuqiao, I can’t be bothered to stoop to your level today!"

Then, turning her gaze back to Chu Jin, Shangguan Lingluo said coldly, "You’re lucky this time! But once we’re in the trial field, your luck will run out! See who will protect you then!"

In the trial field, she would make Chu Jin suffer to the point of questioning her existence.

Her warning was blatant, but Chu Jin remained indifferent, looking at Shangguan Lingluo and said carelessly, "Then we’ll meet on the trial field. There, I won’t go easy on you because you are young."

While speaking, Chu Jin even blew on her knuckles, as if not taking Shangguan Lingluo seriously at all.

Such a result was beyond Shangguan Lingluo’s expectations!

It was all Su Yuqiao’s fault for interfering. If not for her, Shangguan Lingluo would have already beaten Chu Jin to a pulp!

"You!" Shangguan Lingluo clenched her fists. "Chu Jin! You’re doomed!"

Chu Jin dared to challenge her authority time and time again!

Did she, a commoner of half-blood from the secular world, need to show any mercy?

How arrogant!

Su Yuqiao watched Shangguan Lingluo’s retreating back, her lips curving into a mocking smile. Shangguan Lingluo, despite having some skills, was too proud and arrogant. In contrast, there was this legendary Chu Family’s miss.

Although she seemed like a mere commoner, without any trace of spiritual power radiating from her, her demeanor, conduct, speech, and appearance were not at all inferior to Empress Shangguan Lingluo of Spirit Country.

Su Yuqiao was not without intellect; she knew that Chu Jin dared to participate in this trial competition, indicating that she was no ordinary person.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read