In that split second, as Ye Qin saw the lightly made-up, plainly dressed girl, no older than seventeen or eighteen, on the deck of the treasure ship, he finally understood the origin of this large group of cultivators. His expression stiffened, and an almost overwhelming urge to turn tail and flee gripped him.
The maiden, positioned centrally and guarded by the Golden Core cultivators on the deck, enjoying immense reverence, turned out to be Yin Lingsu, the third daughter of the Yin family—a descendant of the Saint Emperor with whom he had once crossed paths and traded blueprints.
Ye Qin had long ago almost entirely forgotten the Yin sisters, with whom he had only exchanged puppet blueprints once. He never anticipated encountering this descendant of the Yin lineage in the Sea of Blood, especially while desperately fleeing the Desolate Spirit Ghost Island. After all, the perilous, unfathomable Sea of Blood seemed utterly incompatible with the relatively low cultivation level of Yin Lingsu.
Of course, Yin Lingsu herself wasn't the frightening element that triggered his desire to bolt.
But Yin Lingsu wouldn't be here without reason.
There was only one explanation: the Saint Emperor must have come, bringing her along, and was likely aboard this massive treasure ship.
This realization sent a chill down Ye Qin’s spine, stirring an inexplicable fear. This wasn't mere timidity; truly few cultivators in the Eastern Sea Cultivation Realm did not fear the Saint Emperor. Even Nascent Soul cultivators held a deep apprehension toward him.
Moreover, he had numerous, complex, and hard-to-explain grievances with the Saint Emperor, and he certainly wished to avoid an encounter.
“Senior Ye, you remember me?”
Yin Lingsu called out, stopping the movement of several Golden Core cultivators who were about to descend from the ship. She pushed past the guards and approached the edge of the deck, asking with a hint of pleasant surprise.
“Senior is too generous; just call me Big Brother,” Ye Qin managed, suppressing the urge to flee. Since the Saint Emperor had brought Yin Lingsu, he likely intended to revitalize the Yin family. Her status and identity were now vastly different; she was no longer the powerless young woman from Immortal Palace City.
“Third Miss, be careful.”
The middle-stage Nascent Soul elder, clad in a pale silver robe, coughed a reminder as Yin Lingsu moved to the very front of the deck. However, he showed little true concern, clearly confident in his own strength, assured that neither Ye Qin nor his companion could escape him, much less harm Yin Lingsu.
“Elder Song need not worry. This Brother Ye has a profound connection with both Ling-su and the Ancestor. Just the other day, the Ancestor was actually mentioning some of Brother Ye’s exploits in the Northern White Float City.”
Yin Lingsu smiled.
“Since the Palace Master recognizes him, then there is no issue,” Elder Song said, finally ceasing his warnings after hearing that the Ancestor also knew the Golden Core cultivator before them.
Yin Lingsu disembarked from the treasure ship and bowed to Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er. “Big Brother Ye, Ling-su must thank you again for the help you gave my Yin family back then—the large quantity of spirit stones and the Beauty Preservation Pills. Ling-su will definitely find an opportunity to repay your kindness.”
“Miss Ling-su speaks too highly. I exchanged spirit stones and Beauty Preservation Pills for the blueprints in your hands; it was merely a transaction, both sides getting what they needed. It hardly qualifies as kindness,” Ye Qin said, shaking his head with a touch of embarrassment.
Although Yin Lingsu before him still appeared as a young woman of seventeen or eighteen, her eternal youth was maintained by having consumed a single Color-Fixing Pill. In reality, decades had passed for her; she was long past being that innocent young girl. Ye Qin certainly would not treat her like a child he could easily deceive anymore.
Yin Lingsu shook her head earnestly. “To Big Brother Ye, it might have been a simple trade, amounting to little. But for the entire Yin family, that transaction was immensely helpful. It was precisely these provisions that allowed the Yin family to weather many storms over the years. Otherwise, with the family on the brink of ruin, perhaps the Ancestor would never have been able to return.”
Ye Qin remained silent.
At this point, Yin Lingsu added with a light smile, “When the Ancestor returned, I mentioned this matter to her. I never expected the Ancestor already knew of you. She mentioned Brother Ye, saying that if my Yin sisters could capture even half of Brother Ye’s shrewdness and cunning, the Saint Emperor Palace would indeed have worthy successors.”
Ye Qin felt awkward. Was the Saint Emperor issuing a subtle insult or a compliment?
“Husband, who is this sister...?”
Huangfu Bing’er’s eyes flickered as she moved her gaze between Ye Qin and Yin Lingsu, asking him.
Ye Qin quickly recounted to her the minor transaction he’d had with this Third Miss Yin, a matter so small he had never brought it up before.
“A descendant of the Saint Emperor?”
Huangfu Bing’er showed surprise and addressed Yin Lingsu, “So you are Sister Ling-su. I didn’t realize you were so young! My surname is Huangfu; have you also been using Beauty Preservation Pills, Sister?”
“Sister Huangfu, you are truly beautiful! Being this young, you must have used Beauty Preservation Pills too, haven't you?”
Huangfu Bing’er drew Yin Lingsu aside, and the two began chatting and whispering warmly. Though they were meeting for the first time, they seemed as intimate and familiar as long-lost sisters.
Ye Qin remained uneasy, remembering the Saint Emperor was on this ship.
The insignia worn by these cultivators looked quite familiar; he suddenly realized it was the same mark present on the Saint Emperor’s own garments. Judging by the grandeur of this treasure ship, the Saint Emperor was already rebuilding the Saint Emperor Palace and had recruited quite a few Nascent Soul cultivators. His true attitude towards the Saint Emperor himself remained impossible to gauge.
“The Saint Emperor—I wonder if his attitude towards me differs from his attitude towards the Lotus Clone? Leaving now seems impossible...”
Just then, the elder Song’s brow twitched as if he had received a divine sense transmission.
He turned to Yin Lingsu and said, “Third Miss, the Palace Master summons the Ye couple to board the vessel.”
“Yes, alright.”
Yin Lingsu acknowledged him, summoning a command toward the treasure ship. Immediately, light flowed across the ship, and a blue rainbow bridge several dozen feet wide cascaded down, stretching all the way to where Ye Qin and the others stood.
“Big Brother Ye, Sister Huangfu, please follow little sister,” Yin Lingsu led the way onto the rainbow bridge.
Ye Qin knew that whether it was fortune or disaster, he couldn't avoid it, so he stepped onto the bridge without hesitation. Huangfu Bing’er followed Ye Qin onto the ship with a faint smile.
The rainbow bridge carrying the three of them then began to move on its own, smoothly lifting the trio upward toward the treasure ship, proceeding unhurriedly toward the ship's interior cabins.
The surrounding Golden Core cultivators on the deck looked on with surprise and envy. Being personally summoned by the Saint Emperor Palace Master was certainly a rare honor.
Upon entering the treasure ship, Ye Qin was genuinely astonished.
From the outside, the ship looked only a few hundred feet long, but the interior was vast. It wasn't a series of cabins but rather a miniature cultivation city, complete with buildings, pavilions, and every other structure imaginable.
While chatting casually amongst themselves, Ye Qin, Yin Lingsu, and Huangfu Bing’er were guided by the flowing rainbow bridge toward the entrance of a magnificent, exquisitely carved, and lavish palace, gleaming with gold.
At this moment, the rainbow bridge suddenly retracted, dissolving into blue motes of light that vanished into the palace gates. Simultaneously, the gates themselves shuddered and slowly swung open to the sides.
Ye Qin’s eyes met a platform and steps paved entirely with white jade. On either side, stone carvings depicted rare exotic beasts, cloud patterns, and flowing rivers. Within the white jade platform, various spirit springs, rockeries, rare flowers, and exotic grasses were interspersed, creating a scene of sheer delight. Waves of rare fragrance drifted toward them—the scent of Spiritual Jade Incense.
At the very center, atop the white jade steps, stood a grand hall glittering with gold, adorned with magnificent carvings of coiling dragons and crimson phoenixes, exceedingly grand and imposing. Above the hall, a vermilion plaque bore four golden characters: “Treasure Ship Traveling Palace.”
“Little friend Ye, it has been a long time,”
A deep, commanding middle-aged male voice resonated plainly and authoritatively in Ye Qin’s ear.
“The Saint Emperor.”
Ye Qin paused slightly, immediately identifying the owner of the voice. Having arrived here, there was no point in hesitating further. Regardless of the Saint Emperor’s attitude toward past events, he ultimately had to face him.
Ye Qin took a deep breath and, along with Yin Lingsu and Huangfu Bing’er, stepped onto the white jade stairs and entered the main hall. Yin Lingsu followed respectfully behind the couple, stopping at the hall’s lower section, silent.
“Junior Ye Clan pays respects to Senior Saint Emperor.”
As Ye Qin entered the hall, he bowed with neither subservience nor arrogance.
“Little friend Ye, you were not nearly so respectful to this Emperor back then. Is that Silver-Armored Guard you worked so hard to obtain still with you? Hmph. If you lose that Silver-Armored Guard, all your worldly possessions wouldn’t be enough to compensate.”
The voice from the dais spoke sternly.
“It is still with me,” Ye Qin replied swiftly, slightly taken aback. Although he still couldn't guess the Saint Emperor’s purpose in summoning him, he felt a slight easing of tension. The Saint Emperor had brought up the incident in the underground palace; it seemed that lingering resentment hadn't entirely dissipated. However, if the Saint Emperor truly intended to vent his anger, he wouldn't need any pleasantries; he could have simply ordered the Nascent Soul ancestors on the deck to seize him immediately. This suggested that while the Saint Emperor’s anger hadn't completely vanished, he didn’t intend to harm Ye Qin severely.
At that moment, Ye Qin raised his head and calmly surveyed the hall.
A tall middle-aged man in golden robes, with sword-like brows and penetrating eyes, sat upon the golden Dragon Throne, regarding Ye Qin with a cold sneer, his expression deeply inscrutable. This man was the Saint Emperor himself.
The Saint Emperor hadn't exerted any crushing spiritual pressure; otherwise, Ye Qin’s mid-Golden Core cultivation level would surely have buckled under it. Beside him, a life-sized golden-armored puppet stood silently, sword in hand, eyes closed. Behind the Dragon Throne stood a golden screen, upon which a massive golden dragon coiled—the insignia of the Saint Emperor Palace.
In the hall, four Nascent Soul cultivators and several dozen Golden Core cultivators stood respectfully, holding their breath. They glanced sideways, filled with shock and confusion as they looked at Ye Qin, wondering about the grievances between the Saint Emperor and this young man that had provoked such rare anger.
Ye Qin, conversely, calmed his mind. Whether the Saint Emperor would demand the Silver-Armored Guard back was beyond his control, so he decided not to dwell on it. He found himself thinking about other matters. He rapidly scanned the hall and noticed the absence of other Yin family members; only Yin Lingsu was present.
Ye Qin mused inwardly. Although Yin Lingsu was the youngest of the Yin sisters, she possessed the highest spiritual aptitude and was the most skilled in puppet refinement. It seemed highly likely that Yin Lingsu had earned the Saint Emperor’s favor, while her other two sisters were less fortunate.
A long, meticulously planned thread finally reveals the Saint Emperor’s entrance. Now that the critical chapter has arrived, I am considering the deployment of the struggles between the Saint Emperor, the Ghost Master, and the leaders of the major sects.