After getting dressed, Flora Thrall sat at the edge of the bed, sipping the hot porridge Ian Song had brought her himself. Her heart felt sweet, and years of gloom seemed to melt away.
It was only after half an hour that Flora Thrall finally mustered the courage to step out of the room. Seeing Ian Song practicing his fist techniques in the courtyard, her eyes brimmed with infatuation, and she secretly thought, 'Heaven may have destroyed my family, but it gave me this man.'
After a while, Ian Song finished his practice and walked over.
He beckoned to Flora Thrall, pulled her gently into his arms, and asked in a soft voice, "I'm planning to help you rebuild the Hua Clan. Would you like to be its head?"
The masculine aura from Ian Song made Flora Thrall feel dizzy and enchanted, but his words startled her. She instinctively broke free from his embrace, panicking, and looked at him, "Ian, are you saying you don't want me anymore?"
Ian Song pulled her back into his arms and said indulgently, "Silly girl, how could I ever not want you? The Tanner Clan's assets are huge, so of course I don't want outsiders to benefit. But if you don't want the responsibility, I won't force you."
Hearing that, Flora Thrall felt a rush of sweetness in her heart. "Then what does Ian want me to do?" she asked.
"It's not about what I want, it's about you," Ian Song laughed. "The Tanner Clan's assets are impressive, but honestly, I don't really care about them."
Flora Thrall lifted her head, her voice full of deep emotion: "I want to stay by your side forever, Ian. Even if you try to drive me away, I'll cling to you no matter what!"
"Silly, how could I bear to send you away?" Ian Song hugged Flora Thrall tighter, but inside he sighed softly—yet another emotional debt added to his account.
"Ian, are you thinking about it again?" Flora Thrall asked.
"Is doing that really so pleasurable?" Flora Thrall asked shyly.
......
A hundred miles above the skies outside Skywind City, a colossal carriage drawn by dragons was speeding toward the city, flanked by two squads of golden-armored warriors.
Driving the carriage was a stunning woman in a flowing white dress, her black hair dancing in the wind and her presence utterly extraordinary.
But the aura she exuded was terrifying.
"Little Bai, how much longer until we reach Skywind City?" a lazy male voice asked from inside the carriage.
Suddenly, a man's lazy voice came from within the carriage.
"Third Prince Ming, we're only a million miles from Skywind City. We'll arrive in at most an hour!" the woman replied softly.
"Good, then I'll take a nap. Wake me up when we get there," Third Prince Ming said.
"Yes, Third Prince Ming!" the woman answered respectfully.
One hour later.
The morning 'battle' finally ended. Yanna Zhou, who had been eavesdropping at the corner, hurried to stand up—only to find her legs weak and, to her embarrassment, a slippery sensation between them.
"Who?"
Suddenly, a cold shout came from inside, and the door was flung open. Caught off guard, the weakened Yanna Zhou let out a surprised cry and fell straight into a strong, masculine embrace.
"Yanna Zhou, you've got some nerve, sneaking around to eavesdrop on me!" Ian Song scolded.
Ian Song gave Yanna Zhou a light smack on her rear and scolded her.
"Mm!"
The slap sent a tingling sensation through Yanna Zhou's whole body, draining her strength again. But she protested, "No... I wasn't eavesdropping, I just got here!"
"Really?" Ian Song asked skeptically.
Ian Song looked at her with a half-smile, making Yanna Zhou feel guilty. She propped herself up on Ian Song's chest and forced herself to stand. "Really, I just got here!" she insisted.
But when her small hand touched Ian Song's chest, she realized he wasn't wearing any clothes. The sensation was so unique that she instinctively began to rub his bare chest.
"Have you touched enough?"
Ian Song was both amused and helpless, feeling as if he were being teased by a female rascal.
"Ah!"
Yanna Zhou snapped out of her trance and cried out, "Pervert!"
Then she bolted out of the courtyard in a panic, almost tripping over herself in her haste.
For a moment, Ian Song was left speechless. If anyone saw this, they'd probably think he'd done something indecent to Yanna Zhou.
Shaking his head, Ian Song returned to his room.
"Ian, I think Yanna Zhou is interested in you. Why not take her in too?" Flora Thrall said with a mischievous smile. Ever since she let go of her past, her personality had completely changed—now she was just like a carefree seventeen-year-old girl.
"You're not jealous?"
Ian Song asked with a laugh.
"Why would I be jealous? The more women you have, the better my taste looks!" Flora Thrall replied earnestly.
Ian Song: "..."
"Ian, this is the Secret Key to the Radiant Emperor's Treasure Vault!"
Suddenly, Flora Thrall took out an object and handed it to Ian Song.
It was a pale-blue pendant, seemingly ordinary and without any special aura. Yet Ian Song found it strangely familiar, as if he'd seen it somewhere before.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him—didn't Chloe Snow also wear a similar jade pendant? Except hers was transparent.
Could Chloe be a descendant of one of the other three Guard families?
So he asked, "Flora, do you know the colors of the pendants from the other three families?"
Flora Thrall thought for a moment and replied, "According to my family's records, each of the Four Imperial Guards held a Secret Key containing the essence of one of the Four Sacred Beasts—Azure Dragon, Black Tortoise, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird. Our Hua Clan's pendant holds a strand of Azure Dragon, which is water-aligned, so it's pale blue. The Zheng Clan's holds Black Tortoise essence, so it should be deep blue. The Zhou Clan's pendant contains White Tiger essence, so it should be gold. The Chen Clan's pendant corresponds to Vermilion Bird, so it should be fiery red!"
"Is there a transparent one?" Ian Song asked again.
Flora Thrall shook her head. "That, I don't know."
At that moment, Ian Song's heart trembled with a bold guess—could Chloe Snow be a direct descendant of the Radiant Emperor?
Ian Song asked again, "So how do you recognize a descendant of the Radiant Emperor?"
Flora Thrall answered, "As long as a true imperial heir carrying the Secret Key comes near one of our four families, there will be a natural sense of resonance. But we can't sense the heir's presence ourselves—this was the Radiant Emperor's way of preventing betrayal by the Guard families."
Flora Thrall asked curiously, "Ian, have you met someone wearing a transparent pendant?"
"Yes," Ian Song replied.
Ian Song nodded. "I'll be right back!"
In the next instant, Ian Song vanished from the courtyard and reappeared inside the Divine Temple, on the star where Chloe Snow was cultivating.