The weather was gloomy. Light drizzle dampened the nose of the Chaofeng beast perched on the corner of Mingxing Hall, gradually becoming a crystalline water droplet that slid down.

Xuan Yi waited before Mingxing Hall, staring at the Chaofeng beast in a daze.

Qi Nan had sent her over early this morning, but the result was that the hall doors still hadn’t opened. She was waiting in such boredom.

Mingxing Hall was located in the southwest of the myriad divine halls, separated from the Department of Divine Position Transfers and Verifications by only two cloud-tops. Though the hour of chen had not yet arrived, the sea of clouds was already filled with deities coming and going endlessly, their auspicious radiance flashing so brightly it hurt the eyes.

Xuan Yi used her sleeve to block the glaring auspicious light from above. Every Zhongshan Zhuyin Clan member disliked things that were too bright. How strong was the superiority complex of those deity clans who liked to amplify their auspicious radiance to the maximum? So bright—they might as well go be the sun. Coincidentally, the impact of Houyi shooting down the suns hadn’t passed yet, so Tian Di would definitely be delighted to have deities volunteer themselves.

Behind her suddenly came a low lion’s roar. She turned her head and saw Fucang Shenjun slowly approaching, leading his nine-headed azure lion.

Every tiny raindrop was quietly separated three inches above his head. In the light drizzle, he looked as if he were walking through thin mist and light clouds. His white robes surpassed snow. His clean and decisive steps possessed a lofty refinement unlike any other deity.

Perhaps discovering she was standing before the hall, Fucang didn’t raise his head. He stopped far away at the edge of the hall entrance, leaning sideways against the nine-headed azure lion, quietly closing his eyes to rest.

Xuan Yi recalled Qi Nan’s earnest exhortations before she left. He was always harboring various worries—fearing she would ruin her reputation, fearing she couldn’t get along harmoniously with colleagues, and even more fearing she would be bullied by colleagues because of her willfulness.

Qi Nan’s greatest concern had always been her, and only he would nag at such trivial details for her sake.

She felt she couldn’t always make him anxious. Hmm… she decided to be friendly, taking advantage of the fact that the atmosphere wasn’t bad right now.

“Senior Martial Brother Fucang, my respects.” Xuan Yi elegantly bowed to the young deity across from her. Now that they were colleagues, she had to change how she addressed him and call him senior martial brother.

Across from her was complete silence. Fucang acted as if he hadn’t heard, not even moving an eyebrow.

“Senior Martial Brother Fucang?” She raised her voice slightly.

He still didn’t move, as if she didn’t exist at all.

Xuan Yi blinked: “Senior Martial Brother Fucang, may I ask if you’ve gone deaf?”

His long lashes trembled lightly, then lifted. His beautiful yet cold eyes simply refused to glance in her direction. His thin lips parted slightly, his enchanting voice perhaps suppressing disgust, becoming extremely low: “Go away.”

Go away? Xuan Yi smiled faintly and instead took a step forward. The nine-headed azure lion behind him immediately let out a threatening low growl, nine pairs of eyes staring straight at her, as if ready to pounce and bite her with one of its heads at any moment.

She glanced at it once. The nine-headed lion that had been poised to strike instantly deflated, burying its heads behind Fucang, the whimpering sounds in its throat now sounding more like a cat.

Xuan Yi let out a soft “tch” of laughter. Without warning, the proud deity before her suddenly turned his head, his pitch-black eyes like ice, staring at her without any goodwill.

“Are all those from the Zhongshan Dragon God lineage like you?” He slowly asked.

Xuan Yi looked at him with a smile: “Of course not. I’m the most easy-going one.”

Unexpectedly, a trace of a smile appeared on Fucang’s cold-as-frost face, just like his gaze—utterly devoid of goodwill.

“That day, your direct departure would have been the better choice.” He went against his usual behavior and no longer remained silent. “Since you stayed, don’t regret it.”

Xuan Yi covered her mouth with her sleeve and said softly: “Senior Martial Brother’s words are so mysterious. Could it be that the Huaxu Clan’s deity intends to ostracize colleagues and attack them with words?”

Fucang’s gaze moved from her face, and he said coldly: “The Huaxu Clan repays every slight. Princess, remember well.”

Xuan Yi took another step forward. The hall doors had somehow opened silently, and the door-keeping immortal child was staring wide-eyed with curiosity at the two of them.

“Yet the Zhuyin Clan’s temperament is extremely magnanimous. Senior Martial Brother, we truly are a match made in heaven.”

Xuan Yi sent him a charming glance and lifted her foot to step into the hall.

Perhaps they had come too early. After the guiding immortal child went in to deliver the message, it took quite a while before he came back out, saying apologetically: “Fucang Shenjun, Princess Xuan Yi, the Dijun only just arose and hasn’t yet washed up. Fearing you two would wait long, he asks this humble one to lead you both to the disciples’ courtyard.”

Sleeping until the hour of chen and still not getting up—this Dijun was truly leisurely.

Xuan Yi was just about to leave when she suddenly saw several celestial deities ahead walking into the hall chatting and laughing. The glaring auspicious radiance illuminated the entire dark Mingxing Hall. Her eyes began to hurt again, so she had no choice but to cover her face with her sleeve.

Seeing her appearance, the guiding immortal child couldn’t help but gently remind her: “Princess, this doesn’t conform to propriety…”

Before he finished speaking, Goddess Zhi Xi’s voice came from behind: “Princess Xuan Yi, from today we are colleagues. Yet when the princess sees us, she covers her face with her sleeve—what is the meaning of this?”

Xuan Yi lowered her sleeve, bowed elegantly, and said in a gentle voice: “All you senior martial brothers possess abundant divine power and dazzling auspicious radiance that I dare not gaze upon directly. I hope the senior martial brothers will forgive me.”

Raising her eyes, she met Goddess Zhi Xi’s not-very-friendly gaze. Oh my, was she really this unlikable?

She thought for a moment, then suddenly bowed again: “Senior Martial Sister Xiong, my respects.”

Goddess Zhi Xi’s expression immediately changed: “What did you call me?”

Xuan Yi’s face was full of apology: “I’m sorry, I wasn’t able to remember Senior Martial Sister’s name.”

The guiding immortal child beside her hurriedly introduced in a low voice: “Princess, this is your second senior martial sister, Goddess Zhi Xi. She is a descendant of the Youxiong Clan.”

“The Youxiong Clan, that’s right.” Xuan Yi gave the gloomy-faced Zhi Xi a sincere and apologetic smile. “Senior Martial Sister Zhi Xi’s name is truly lovely—she lives up to her name.”

But Zhi Xi had already turned her body away, as if she hadn’t heard.

Xuan Yi didn’t bother with her for now. Her gaze flowed, looking over the celestial deities in the hall one by one.

Counting carefully, not including herself and Fucang, a total of four disciples had come. She had met Tai Yao and Zhi Xi before. The remaining male and female disciples were quite unfamiliar, but most crucially, these two appeared to be old acquaintances with Fucang, talking and laughing heartily, very intimately.

Xuan Yi lowered her head and asked the guiding immortal child in a soft voice: “Who is that person wearing a blue robe talking with Fucang Shenjun?”

The guiding immortal child immediately generously introduced her: “That is the princess’s sixth senior martial brother, Gu Ting Shenjun. He is the Flower Emperor’s third son. I heard he’s been familiar with Fucang Shenjun since childhood, and these past years he’s been mentioning to the Dijun every single day about taking Fucang Shenjun as a disciple!”

He was actually the Flower Emperor’s third son. Last time, when she and Fucang first met in the Flower Emperor’s rear garden, she had nearly plucked the Posuo peony. This incident had led the Flower Emperor to directly bring charges all the way to Mount Zhong. Fortunately, Qi Nan had smoothed things over later.

No wonder Fucang had been so arrogant in threatening her earlier—it turned out he had acquaintances here, and they were of the common-enemy-sharing type at that.

“Who is that goddess in the black dress?”

Xuan Yi’s gaze fell on the black-dressed goddess beside Gu Ting Shenjun. She was tall and graceful, wearing only a simply-styled black dress that further accentuated her snow-white skin. Her bearing was elegant, clearly more beautiful than Goddess Zhi Xi by a level. However, the two of them appeared quite harmonious together—not like how Zhi Xi looked at her, with drawn swords and bent bows.

“That is your ninth senior martial sister, the daughter of Tuxiang Mountain’s Snake Emperor, Princess Fu Luo.” The guiding immortal child smiled ambiguously. “She and Gu Ting Shenjun just became engaged, and they both entered under the Dijun’s tutelage together—it’s quite a beautiful story!”

Perhaps seeing that Xuan Yi’s side was constantly whispering and occasionally glancing their way, eldest senior martial brother Tai Yao finally displayed the manner of a senior martial brother, stepping forward with a smile: “Little junior martial sister, why don’t you come over and meet your other senior martial brothers?”