I am Guhuoniao, not an umbrella demon, please do not disturb me.

"Haven't you felt it yet, you idiot?"

Bai Qingyu gathered his power and pointed to the sky, "The national destiny dragon vein has begun to target you. If you don't leave now, you won't be able to leave. A bunch of fools, you think you're omnipotent just because you have cultivation? In the face of the national destiny, what difference is there between you and ants?"

"The fate of the nation depends on the power of countless people across the land. Crushing you is no different than crushing an ant."

No sooner had he finished speaking than one of the three Nascent Soul stage cultivators turned pale and coughed up a mouthful of blood. It turned out that a mistake had occurred during the circulation of his cultivation technique, and a conflict had caused many of his meridians to rupture.

If someone who has reached the Integration Stage were to have problems with their cultivation technique, no one would believe it.

This is the power of destiny. Unlike Bai Qingyu, who used it as a force to kill enemies, the national destiny descends upon these cultivators not to kill them directly but to indirectly affect them. The malfunction of the cultivation technique is just the beginning.

The three cultivators at the Integration Stage paled in shock. "Divine Phoenix, what have you done?"

Everyone knows that the Divine Phoenix can influence the fate of a nation. When the fate of the nation is in trouble, they instinctively think of Bai Qingyu.

"It has nothing to do with me."

Bai Qingyu spread his hands, "It is your actions that have angered the heavens, and this is just the heavens' punishment for you. Besides, the heavens are too kind. If I were to use the national fortune of the Great Spirit, it wouldn't just be a simple matter of causing your cultivation technique to go wrong. Wouldn't it be better if I just crushed the three of you to death?"

The three exchanged a glance, completely abandoning any intention to continue the fight. They simultaneously threw out their magical artifacts to hold Bai Qingyu back and quickly withdrew.

Bai Qingyu didn't bother to stop them. Killing some Void Refinement cultivators would at least make these sects swallow their anger, but if he killed these three as well, it would truly be an irreconcilable feud.

The figure appeared before the chaotic palace and discovered that Dong Qing had already killed one Nascent Soul cultivator and was now fighting the last one.

With the same cultivation level, fighting two opponents alone, and with so many Nascent Soul cultivators intervening, Dong Qing has done quite well to achieve this.

"Unfortunately, I was still too soft-hearted."

She didn't kill any Nascent Soul cultivators; instead, the Imperial Guards killed them. The Nascent Soul cultivators she killed were only out of necessity.

With one umbrella, Bai Qingyu finished off the remaining Nascent Soul cultivator, and then grabbed Dong Qing's braid.

"Stop hitting, rest for a while, and come home with me later."

Please vote

South/j-*i/-*n/first-*release/

Volume 1: Chapter 185 Before Leaving

Below, the Black Armor Army was still fighting the Imperial Guard. Despite having hundreds of cultivators inside, they were still being overwhelmed by the Imperial Guard's charge and were falling behind. Even though they outnumbered the Imperial Guard three to one, they were still no match for them.

Now, without the help of the upper-level cultivators, and with Hongfei and Yunru about to descend, the morale of the Black Armor Army plummeted. Their leader, the Third Prince, had been captured by Hongfei, making this rebellion a complete failure.

"Thanks to the Divine Phoenix Lady, otherwise we would have had a hard time dealing with this group of people."

Hongfei chuckled and used his magic to lift the Third Prince, landing him not far from Bai Qingyu.

They, like the three Nascent Soul stage cultivators, all believed that the change in the nation's destiny was Bai Qingyu's doing. After all, among so many powerful figures present, only Bai Qingyu could have done this, manipulating the nation's destiny to exclude all the cultivators in the capital.

Hongfei felt that Bai Qingyu had gone too far. It was one thing to exclude these unruly cultivators, but why target his Tianyang Palace as well? That was a bit inappropriate.

"Don't look at me like that. I didn't do anything about the fate of the nation, and I'm too lazy to do it. If I really controlled the fate of your Great Spirit, I wouldn't be standing here talking to you so casually, and I certainly wouldn't have let those guys go."

Bai Qingyu glanced at Hongfei and said, "You should ask yourselves about this. Why is the fate of the nation targeting you? It's because you cultivators interfered in politics and broke the rules. I've noticed that you've all forgotten that these rules weren't established because you cultivators are so noble."

"It was Heaven that set this rule, surely it hasn't forgotten?"

"Congratulations to you for excluding yourselves."

After Bai Qingyu finished speaking, Hongfei and Yunru exchanged a glance.

"This wasn't done by Her Majesty?"

"Why would I lie to you? Ask yourself if you believe I can influence the fate of your Great Ling Kingdom with a wave of my hand." Bai Qingyu continued, pulling the little girl's braid, "I'm taking this girl back with me. I'll return her to you in a while."

Even though they are his own children, he still needs to communicate with them before taking them away. Considering that Dongqing is still a member of Tianyang Palace, Bai Qingyu still said this.

Yunru nodded, "Of course you can. After all, Dongqing is a child you raised. It would be a good thing to go back and get together."

"By the way, I have a favor to ask Peak Master Yun."

"Please speak, Divine Phoenix."

"I wonder if Peak Master Yun still remembers the demon book that he took out back in the Ten Thousand Mountains."

Upon hearing this, Yunru took out the demon book. "Is this what the Divine Phoenix is ​​referring to?"

"Yes, I wonder if Peak Master Yun could lend me this Demon Book for a look."

"can."

The demon book flew over, and Bai Qingyu caught it. It looked exactly like the one in her hand, except for the details. To be precise, the one in her hand looked much more worn, while the one in Yun Ru's hand was much more exquisite.

Opening it up, the first page still featured Guhuoniao. Apart from the few large characters at the top, the text introducing it was almost identical to hers, completely ruined. Not only that, the same was true for the back. In terms of details, it was indeed much more exquisite than hers, and even the illustrations were not on the same level.

As Bai Qingyu flipped through the pages, she discovered that Shiranui was missing from her book, as were many other yokai. A total of fifteen yokai were missing from the book, and the same was true for the second volume.

I roughly understand what's going on.

Contrary to her expectations, the book Yunru held was indeed written by Guhuoniao, but it served no purpose; she simply copied the original to give as a gift to her child...

All the conspiracy theories I had before—like the Guhuoniao (a mythical bird) as a precaution, or the authenticity of the book—were completely wrong. It was just a gift someone gave to their child out of boredom, a little comic book to pass the time.

The previous Guhuoniao was much more dedicated than her. She wrote many comments for each monster, filling half a page. She used half the page for drawing and the other half for writing comments. Unlike her, who was lazy and only wrote a few sentences for each monster.

Having read it without gaining any useful information, Bai Qingyu reluctantly returned the Demon Book.

"Thank you, Peak Master Yun."

"No need, it's just an ordinary book, a gift my mother gave me when I was a child."

Bai Qingyu nodded without saying much. She knew that Yunru was raised by the Guhuoniao, and Luo Tian of the Ming Sect was also alive. She just didn't know if there were any other people besides these two who were raised by the Guhuoniao.

Seeing that Bai Qingyu wanted to leave, Yun Ru hesitated for a long time before speaking again, "Divine Phoenix, I also have a request."

"Please speak, Peak Master Yun."

"That's right, I might adopt a landowner in the near future. I hope that Shenhuang can teach me how to raise a child and how to be a person."

This was something Bai Qingyu hadn't expected. Yun Ru, a powerful peak master and a Mahayana stage expert, actually came to him asking how to raise a child. It was quite strange.

"Alright, Peak Master Yun, please come and see me whenever you have time."

Thank you.

After exchanging pleasantries, Hongfei quelled the chaos below and, carrying the sinner Third Prince, flew towards the Human Emperor.

A complete and utter defeat drove the Third Prince into a frenzy.

He couldn't accept this outcome. The look in his eyes when he looked at Bai Qingyu and the two peak masters of Tianyang Palace was so hateful that he wanted to skin them alive. He had long forgotten that he had also sent people over, but the people he sent were too weak, which was why he lost so miserably in the end.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"

Xu Yuanqing jogged over, his clothes disheveled; anyone who didn't know better would think he'd gone to dig up someone's grave.

Bai Qingyu flashed in front of him. "What is it? Speak."

"It is so, Your Majesty. His Majesty remembers Your Majesty's great service in saving the palace, and therefore wishes to establish Your Majesty as the Great Spirit Totem. May I ask if Your Majesty is willing to do so?"

Upon hearing this, both Mahayana practitioners turned their gazes in that direction.

By establishing the Divine Phoenix as a totem, we might actually have to address it as "Empress" instead of the polite term we use now. This would be equivalent to bestowing upon a demon the title of a divine beast or auspicious creature, a tremendous benefit.

"Totem?" Bai Qingyu narrowed his eyes and knew that it must have been Xu Yuanqing's doing.

"Sure, but do you know what that means?"

"Of course I know." Xu Yuanqing smiled faintly. Despite his disheveled appearance and mud-covered head, he still exuded a spirited and high-spirited air.

"It's bound to happen sooner or later anyway, so why not arrange it for Her Majesty now? As the totem of our Great Martial Arts, Her Majesty can also keep some villains in check."

Bai Qingyu gave Xu Yuanqing a deep look, then simply nodded without answering. The meaning behind his words was simple: since the Ninth Princess would be ascending the throne soon anyway, and would definitely be sealed as a totem, it was better to take a step ahead now, go all in, and let the sects outside know what the capital was thinking.

We'd rather believe in a demon than trust you again.

"Then what else do you need me to do?"

"It won't waste Your Majesty's time, as long as Your Majesty agrees."

After speaking, Xu Yuanqing cupped his hands to the two powerful figures in the sky, "Thank you for your rescue, peak masters, and thank you for helping my Great Spirit Dynasty without fear of danger, Miss Bai."

And then, that was it.

It was only natural for Tianyang Palace to come and provide support; otherwise, all those years of offerings would have been wasted.

Bai Qingyu accepted the Emperor's investiture and thanked him. Then, he left the capital with Bai Dongqing. Before leaving, he glanced in the direction of Xiangtianlou. Sure enough, there were heavy casualties there. Cultivators, demonic sect members, and officials were all dead or wounded.

Bai Qingyu couldn't help but wonder if Xu Yuanqing had deliberately colluded with the Demonic Sect. Otherwise, why would the Demonic Sect kill the officials of Xiangtianlou? Killing these people would not only prevent chaos in the capital but also allow Xu Yuanqing to gain power.

The demonic sect perished, and so did its cultivators.

"It's a mess."

"Ah, what's wrong, Aunt?" On the flying sword, Dongqing turned her head to look when she heard Bai Qingyu's words.

"I'm just lamenting how murky things are in the capital. It's all because of Xu Yuanqing, that troublemaker. If this guy really is colluding with the Heavenly Cult, that'll be interesting. How exactly did he manage to communicate with the Heavenly Cult under the watchful eyes of these cultivators?"

"Ah, isn't Xu Yuanqing the Grand Preceptor of the Great Ling? How could he join forces with the Demonic Sect?"

Bai Qingyu glanced at Dong Qing and said, "You're still too young."

"The term 'demonic cult' is used by your righteous sects, and it is defined by you. But for the capital, the demonic cult is not much different from you. As long as the demonic cult doesn't go crazy and kill people indiscriminately, we can cooperate."

"Don't look at Xu Yuanqing like this. As long as it can bring benefits to Da Ling, he won't care whether you are righteous or evil, or whether you are human or demon. Take just now, for example. Their Human Emperor actually granted a title to one of my demons. Isn't that strange? Believe it or not, this is definitely Xu Yuanqing's plan."

"These people keep calling me the Divine Phoenix Lady, but in their hearts they still see me as a demon, which is true, of course."

"So do you know why he made me a totem? Because this guy wanted to tie me to the same warship. From the moment I became a totem, in a sense, I began to have a connection with the Great Spirit."

"It's not very noticeable now, but it will become clearer over time. As the Great Spirit Kingdom's fortune rises, everything goes smoothly for me, and I can cultivate faster. Conversely, if something happens to the Great Spirit Kingdom's fortune, I will also be affected."

Dongqing nodded thoughtfully. "I think I understand. Then why did Aunt agree? Isn't the Great Ling's national fortune quite waning right now?"

"The reason is simple: one of your sisters is very likely to become the Queen of Great Spirit in the future."

"What!?" Dongqing was shocked.

Bai Qingyu thought she was shocked by the position of Empress, but unexpectedly Dong Qing said something.

"Auntie, you've adopted another child!!"

For Dong Qing, who the empress is is not important; what matters is whether Bai Qingyu's favorite child is actually her.

"Um, not one child, to be precise, three."