Chapter 74: A Hotpot Meal That Changed the Landscape

“So that’s how it is.” Chen Changsheng sighed softly, understanding now. “It sounds like the scene at the Wind Grace Banquet will be quite grand.”

Yet Donggong Qianxue’s eyes shone with a gentle light as she said to Chen Changsheng, “Young Master Chen, when the time comes, I’d like to invite you and your daughter to accompany me to the Imperial Dynasty, and then set off together from there to attend the Wind Grace Banquet. Would you agree?”

After all, each of them was a piece on Young Master Chen’s board. With him present, she would feel far more at ease.

Chen Changsheng pondered for a moment, then nodded. “Very well, when the time comes, Die’er and I will take the opportunity to see the world outside.”

He had been living in seclusion here for so long, he felt as though he might start growing moss. It would do him good to see the world beyond these walls.

Besides, with the Blood Demon Ancestor as his supreme bodyguard, even if danger arose, the old ancestor would handle it. What was there to fear?

“Thank you, Young Master Chen!” Donggong Qianxue’s face lit up with delight.

“Your Highness, you’re too polite,” Chen Changsheng replied with a helpless smile. He’d already said this countless times.

...

City Lord’s Manor, Southern Domain Prefecture.

A luxurious flying vessel descended from the sky above the manor, coming to a gentle stop.

Accompanied by Elder Hua, Bing Muer stepped out of the vessel.

“Heavens, the young princess wasn’t killed by the Heaven-Slaying Sword Array after all!”

“This is unbelievable! Even if she survived, she shouldn’t be returning so unscathed. I remember she was possessed by a remnant soul of a demon dragon!”

“Where has she been all this time while she was missing?”

“Now that the young princess has returned, what about the city lord? Back then, he took the Heaven-Slaying Sword Array to slay that legendary Young Master Chen—could it be that he was killed by Chen instead?”

“How could that be? The Heaven-Slaying Sword Array is the Holy Spring Nation’s national treasure. No matter how strong that Young Master Chen was, he couldn’t possibly withstand it!”

As Bing Muer and Elder Hua returned, the entire manor was thrown into an uproar.

Clearly, these people had no idea that their city lord had long since perished, body and soul.

“Young princess, where is the city lord now?”

“The city lord set up such an elaborate scheme to kill the young princess. Now that she’s suddenly returned, this is the perfect chance to kill her and claim credit when the city lord returns!”

Many present eyed Bing Muer with murderous intent and greed.

Killing the young princess at this moment would be a grand achievement.

Bing Muer and Elder Hua stood with cold, dark expressions, staring down the crowd.

Previously, because of Bing Changtian, Bai Linglong, and Bing Miaoguo, the two of them had always been ostracized in the manor. To say they barely survived would not be an exaggeration.

Now, upon their return, these people were already plotting their deaths to curry favor with Bing Changtian.

“What a pitiful and laughable lot,” Elder Hua sighed helplessly. “Only today do I see how wretched the city lord’s manor of the Southern Domain truly is.”

“Hua, you’re nothing but a stray dog in the city lord’s manor—yet you dare call us pitiful and laughable? Courting death!”

A furious shout erupted.

The next instant, a figure shot toward Elder Hua like a great eagle, murderous intent blazing.

A fierce wind howled—Bing Muer’s jade hand flashed out, growing instantly as golden dragon scales rippled across her skin.

“A dragon’s claw!”

“And it’s golden!”

Cries of astonishment burst out.

They remembered how, during the festival, after being possessed by the demon dragon’s remnant soul, Bing Muer could also unleash a dragon’s claw. But back then, it wasn’t truly her—only the demon remnant acting through her body.

Moreover, that dragon’s claw had been black.

Now, this golden claw was clearly cast by Bing Muer herself.

In a heartbeat, her dragon’s claw seized the attacker.

“Spare me, young princess!” he screamed, terror-stricken.

“Die!” Bing Muer’s hatred for Bing Changtian’s old followers was absolute—there was no room for mercy. With a sudden squeeze—

Crack!

The man’s body exploded like a melon, flesh and spirit annihilated in an instant.

The onlookers all drew a sharp breath.

In such a short time, the young princess had attained such terrifying power—and she could transform into a dragon of her own will.

What had she experienced during her disappearance?

“Hua, step back,” Bing Muer turned to say.

“Very well.” Elder Hua understood what she intended and silently withdrew.

“Now that the demon Bing Changtian is dead, all who were loyal to him must die today!” Bing Muer’s beautiful face was now filled with murderous resolve.

She and Elder Hua had suffered endless scorn and bullying in this manor.

Today, she would pay back every humiliation, twice over.

...

“Damn it, she’s come back for revenge!”

“Everyone, attack together—kill her now!”

The crowd, shaken to the core, snapped back to their senses, their rage flaring.

“Kill her!”

Weapons were drawn as the mob surged from all directions, like a tidal wave toward Bing Muer.

Her body suddenly grew, golden dragon scales instantly covering her from head to toe.

She transformed directly into a dragon, shining with golden light as though forged from molten gold.

A thunderous dragon’s roar split the sky as she shot upward in a pillar of golden radiance.

“Heavens, it’s a golden divine dragon!”

“How did she become a golden dragon? What has happened to this world?”

Terror and disbelief filled their cries.

Before their eyes, the once-bullied young princess had turned into a true golden dragon—could they believe their own eyes?

The pressure radiating from the golden dragon was so overwhelming that few could bear it.

As they reeled in shock, Bing Muer—now the golden dragon—plunged down from the sky. Her four enormous claws seized four people at once, crushing them effortlessly.

Bodies shattered in a flash—blood painted the scene a gruesome red.

“Kill! Only if we destroy her at all costs do we have any hope of survival!”

Desperate, the mob howled with savage fury.

Their faces twisted into masks of madness and terror as they threw themselves at Bing Muer, fighting for their lives.

But it was all in vain.

Their weapons struck the golden dragon’s scales, sparking harmlessly, unable to pierce her defense.

Her massive dragon form twisted and turned through the crowd, golden claws tearing bodies apart with every stroke.

It was a one-sided slaughter.