The next day.
Too much happened the night before, leaving everyone strung out and exhausted. As soon as dawn broke, they collapsed under the trees to rest, eyes shut and barely awake.
"What the hell is this place?" Colin Kerr grumbled, unable to hold back. Who was the bastard who spread the rumor that Old Man Xuanluo was here? If he ever gets out, he's definitely going to teach that guy a lesson!
"Hehehe..." Just as everyone was worn out, a weirdly creepy female voice suddenly rang out.
"Who?" Adrian Night immediately stood up, on guard.
"Welcome to Ghost Vale." As soon as she finished, a shadow in black flashed out, and in the next second, more black-clad figures suddenly appeared all around. The woman behind the voice slowly stepped into view.
"Who are you?" Lucian Vane narrowed his eyes at her, the same icy glint as Adrian Night.
"Silver Consort." The white-haired woman smiled seductively, then glanced at the group and covered her mouth with a laugh. "Not bad, not bad. Looks like I can absorb a lot more power this time."
"You're the legendary Poison Silver Consort, ranked second in the martial world?" Lucian Vane said coldly.
"Heh, who would've thought a kid your age would still know my name? That's right, I'm the Poison Silver Consort, ranked second in the martial world. But that weird old man who was number one isn't even in Jianghu anymore, right? I guess no one but me dares to claim first place now!" She finished, full of confidence.
"So that means you're actually really old?" Ivy Shen couldn't help blurting out. The woman had a full head of white hair, but her face looked freakishly young. Yet she kept calling Lucian Vane a junior—so clearly, she had to be ancient!
Silver Consort's face instantly soured. Her slender fingers clenched so hard they creaked; clearly, she was seriously sensitive about her age.
Seeing this, Lucian Vane quickly changed the topic: "You've been here all along? You must have some kind of plan, right?"
"Heh, what I do is none of a kid's business. Today, once I drain all your inner power, I'll be able to help Song Zhijue run Jianghu." As she finished, the ageless Silver Consort actually looked a little shy.
Her words landed like a bomb. Of course, Ivy Shen didn't care about Jianghu gossip, but everyone else was stunned—including Liam Willow, who usually only cared about studying.
"The Crown Prince? You're actually mixed up with the Crown Prince?" Colin Kerr couldn't help shouting. How could this demoness be tangled up with the Crown Prince? No way, absolutely no way!
Seeing everyone so shocked, Silver Consort realized she'd slipped up. But it didn't matter; they wouldn't live past tomorrow anyway. She just let it all out: "Do you know who spread the legend of Poison Peach Valley? It was Song Zhijue. Honestly, he didn't do anything wrong—the real problem is you greedy fools dreaming of using that old man to reach the heavens in one step. You really think that's possible?" She finished, looking utterly disdainful. "That weird old man just wants to play around these days, probably nearly at ascension already. You juniors still pin your hopes on him—ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous!"
"Impossible! Just recently, the Crown Prince called us together to sincerely seek Master Xuanluo's guidance. How could the Crown Prince be involved with a demoness like you, and how could he—" Colin Kerr couldn't even finish the thought: send them to hell.
"There's no such thing as impossible." With that, her smile faded and her face turned serious.
Ivy Shen, who'd been silent this whole time, was even more confused. What on earth was the Crown Prince's real goal? Why send his own martial and civil champions here to die? Weren't they his people? What kind of twisted scheme was he playing at?
Suddenly, her head throbbed with pain. Fragmented, broken images flashed through her mind at high speed—she couldn't handle it and started to tip backward.
Lucian Vane, quick-eyed, rushed to catch her as she fell. "What's wrong?"
"N-no, I'm fine," Ivy Shen quickly shook her head, forcing away the overwhelming power and slowly getting back to her feet.
"Find a chance to run off with the bookworm soon. Adrian Night and I will hold the line." Lucian Vane whispered softly at Ivy Shen's side, his eyes colder than usual. For the first time, Ivy thought: this poison serpent really is a stunning man—when he's serious, he's downright demonic!