Inside Broad Creed Palace's territory of Clear Divine City, a grand palace that seemed to be drenched in gold stood taller than all buildings within a 1,000 li. The palace exuded an aura of supreme elegance and wealth that could not be matched.
It was the Yan Clan's Main Palace. The Yan Clan was one of the top families within Broad Creed Mountain, with a first-floor Heavenly Genesis expert at its helm. It had influence and power that could not be underestimated by any in the entire realm.
Inside this palace was a luxuriously vast room filled with ornaments and furniture that seemed to be made of wealth. A single glance would have one shocked by the sheer price this room must've cost.
The floor alone was created from low-grade essence jade, a refined version of essence crystals. They were painted by a material that seemed to attract essence and release it in a further purified state. The walls were constructed from a Golden Heartwood, which can help promote soul cultivation based enlightenment and recovery.
Simply staying in this room for an hour was like secluded cultivation for weeks.
Lying lazily atop a soft, deep-white couch with white pillows embroidered with golden, was a young woman who had heaven-toppling, nation-collapsing beauty. Her blonde hair seemed to be sprinkled with true gold, deep-blue eyes containing incredible levels of Intelligence, skin as flawless as the heavens themselves, and a body that exuded premium sex appeal.
She wore a golden dress with the 'Yan' character etched firmly at her center torso. If one tried to look at the character, they'd be instantly distracted by the bosom that seemed ready to burst and the deep valley that was formed from it.
She was Yan Qiu, one of the three top young beauties within the Clear Divine City. To be classified as a top beauty required three traits: Talent, Status, and Beauty.
Yan Qiu was only three hundred years old with an initial Aurora Soul, a physical body that rivaled the initial-Origin Core Realm, a mid-Origin Core Realm qi cultivation base, and comprehended a conceptual world law to the force-level. This was an exceptional talent regardless of where you go in the entire realm.
She was also the favored great-granddaughter of the Heavenly Genesis ancestor of the Yan Clan. Therefore, her status within the clan or continent was by no means small. Very few could match her talent, status, and beauty.
Beside this woman was a scrawny man with impossibly white teeth. If Bai Lufeng was here, not only would he recognize this young woman but also the man. Even Yan Zaizen would.
It was Tao!
Currently, he was dressed in a brown servant attire. Around his neck was a grey collar that seemed to release a very faint and dull light. His eyes seemed to be filled with fiery rage, but he stayed obediently to the side of this woman.
As he stood silently aside, he recalled how he arrived at this fate. Several months ago, he and Bai Lufeng separated. At that time, he decided to quietly gather information about the city. He learned that there were many scholars who practiced the academic arts. With this, he couldn't hold back his desire to match wits with them in various contests.
His first victim was a first-tier force within the city. After horrendously shaming them by displaying their inferiority, he felt excited to challenge others. He kept escalating till he arrived at a force called the Emerald Hand Sect - an imperial-tier force. They had someone called the Emerald Scholar of Kunlun.
With a name like that, grander than all, how could he resist? However, when he arrived, he found this young beautiful woman and the Head Scholar of Broad Creed Palace in wait. He was challenged to a contest, best of three, with wits and deductive knowledge.
Tao's arrogance, pride, and confidence were bone-deep, and the continuous victories only inflated this. He accepted, but the price?
Servitude.
The loser would be the slave of the victor, and this was a heavenly oath!
In the first exchange, it was ordinary. Tao defeated her and the scholar without mercy. However, during the second and third match, an expert of the Advanced Aurora Soul Realm interfered, causing his ability to process information and access his memory to be severely affected.
In short, she cheated.
He lost.
Furthermore, due to their heavenly oath, cheating or not, he had to abide by it lest he suffers smiting by the heavens. As one could imagine, he was infuriated by her actions and ways to obtain a victory. As a man who prides himself on his intellect, he never would resort to cheating and in a battle of scholars, this was frowned upon by all.
Unfortunately, this malicious woman was not a scholar. In truth, she was raised as one, dabbled in the academic arts, but she was not a true scholar.
Tao had little faith in escaping the situation himself and without Yan Zaizen soul energy to power his spiritual sense, escape was impossible. During their chase for several months, what little soul energy left behind by Yan Zaizen was used up. Not to mention, they closed off all outside communication in the contest, so he couldn't even alert him.
However, despite being angry, he diligently abided by the heavenly oath. Not because he was scared of dying, as he much rather have his core dignity than life, but because of Yan Zaizen.
Who was he? He was Yan Zaizen's companion, his friend, and if one considered the way they clicked together, his brother. That kid may be young, but he was incredibly talented and ferocious. All he needed to do was wait, if he endured for a few hundred years, Yan Zaizen will easily be able to extricate him from this situation.
So, he'll wait.
Wait for revenge.
"Pour me another," Yan Qiu waved an empty cup crafted from solid jade. Without hesitation, Tao produced a wine jug from his spatial ring and filled the cup like a proper slave. His expression was calm, but his eyes seemed as if it contained a typhoon of flames.
"Good boy. Seems like you're made for this sort of thing...being a slave, I mean." Yan Qiu merciless taunted with a slight laugh. To her, people like Tao who overestimate themselves were far too easy to humiliate. In life, they believe themselves invincible. They weren't.
"I see," a middle-aged man who emitted an extraordinary aura softly spoke. He sat down opposite of them, his eyes trained on Tao with ridicule and contempt. He was the expert Tao had turned a cuckold. In truth, the young woman was betrothed to him, and so it wasn't as serious.
She was already killed for her actions. He was here to make sure Tao suffered the same fate. However, seeing him forced to be a servant until death left him more satisfied than ever. Of course, he also couldn't take action. As a mid-True Essence Cultivator, he was nothing in front of Broad Creed Palace. Even if he insisted on killing Tao, he still couldn't.
"Now are you satisfied?" Yan Qiu said casually, obviously giving this expert who controlled an imperial-tier force no face. Despite this, the expert only nodded in acceptance and smiled ingratiatingly. It seemed as if he wished to get on this woman's good side.
However, Yan Qiu didn't seem to care about this, "Leave." She waved him away, sipping her wine with a bored expression. The expert only nodded, gave Tao a ridiculing smile and left. To him, he had already been compensated by Broad Creed Palace. He just wished to see Tao personally. Now that he did, he was completely at peace.
Tao remembered his face. The moment Yan Zaizen returned, he'll definitely deliver revenge. In truth, Tao wished he could do so himself, but it's only that it'll take him a thousand or more years just to be his equal. He didn't have time for that.
This man hunted him down and attempted to kill him. He was more than willing to let Yan Zaizen take action. With that thought, he smiled malevolently.
Yan Qiu noticed his smile and chuckled, "You think just because he can't kill you, that your life will be allowed to proceed smoothly?" Her words carried derision, unbeknownst to her that Tao not only was smiling towards the expert but also her.
"Your life will never be easy henceforth," smiling, she took a sip of her wine. Inwardly, Tao coldly chuckled.
'Just you wait bitch, just you wait.'