PS: The weather lately has been all over the place — hot one moment, cold the next, wildly unpredictable. I caught a cold without even realizing it... Consider this a fair warning, everyone. Dress warmly and layer up.
The speaker was none other than Murong Xiaoxiao. At this moment she was gazing upward at the sky, one finger pointing above, her small mouth slightly agape, her face a picture of pure astonishment.
Following the direction she indicated, everyone craned their necks skyward and was instantly struck dumb.
Across the heavens, streak after streak of radiant light was slicing through the sky like meteors plummeting from on high, each trailing a brilliant tail as they plummeted toward some distant point.
At first there were only a handful of those streaks. But soon their numbers swelled dramatically — from the vantage of anyone looking up, it was as though a meteor shower was raining down across the firmament.
"Star Seals!" Lan Xun's face went slack with shock, and she cried out: "So many Star Seals?"
"What?" Xiao Chen was greatly alarmed. "Princess, are you certain they're all Star Seals?"
Lan Xun fixed her gaze intently upon the sky. Whether or not she activated some secret technique, a faint luminescence flickered within her eyes. She gave a delicate nod: "I'm certain. They are all Star Seals!"
The words had barely left her lips when a sharp whistle pierced the air nearby.
Everyone turned to look and saw that Wuchang had already transformed into intertwined streams of red and white light, racing at full speed in the direction the Star Seals were falling.
He had been quick on the uptake — the moment he heard the objects raining from the sky were Star Seals, he had launched himself into action without a second's hesitation.
Right behind him, Luo Yuan's figure flickered as he gave chase.
"Let's go!" Xiao Baiyi was not about to be left behind. With a low shout, he and Murong Xiaoxiao hurried after them.
They had been inside this Land of Four Seasons for two or three days already and had encountered only a single Star Seal — branded on the forehead of a giant lizard demon beast. The group had attacked and gravely wounded the creature, but during the pursuit, Yang Kai had somehow reaped the rewards and snatched it out from under everyone's noses. Luo Yuan and Wuchang had even nearly come to blows over it.
Now, with so many Star Seals appearing at once, even if split evenly among everyone present, each person could claim six or seven.
A single Star Seal represented one passage into the Shattered Star Sea. For any Sect, that held tremendous significance!
Neither Xiao Baiyi nor Murong Xiaoxiao dared waste a single heartbeat.
"Princess..." Seeing everyone race off at lightning speed, Xiao Chen grew frantic.
"We're going too!" Lan Xun naturally would not pass up such an opportunity. She answered immediately.
Xiao Chen nodded, and the two of them rocketed off in that direction together.
But no sooner had they set off than a wooden boat-like flying Artifact pulled up alongside them.
Lan Xun turned her head and spotted Yang Kai standing calmly atop the vessel. He had struck a dashing pose — wind tousling his black hair, sweeping it back behind him...
Lan Xun couldn't help but let out a soft laugh. Yang Kai's current image was a complete about-face from the cowardly, timid creature he had been moments before. It almost looked as if he was trying to catch her eye.
She understood the impulse well enough. Very few men could hold onto their true selves in her presence — they all tried every which way to draw her gaze, as though they could derive some deep satisfaction from it.
"Hmph!" Xiao Chen let out a cold snort, his face darkening with displeasure.
He had long since grown tired of Yang Kai, and now this fellow had the nerve to shamelessly strike a pose? It was practically intolerable.
Yang Kai, however, seemed entirely oblivious to his attitude. Wearing the demeanor of an old acquaintance, he pretended to ask Lan Xun in puzzlement: "Excuse me, miss — why does your companion there address you as 'Princess'? Is that a title, or your name, or something else entirely?"
"Whose name would include the word 'Princess'?" Lan Xun smiled faintly and shook her head. "You're reading too much into it."
"Then... I'm afraid I don't follow." Yang Kai shook his head back and forth with exaggerated thoughtfulness. "I can see you carry an extraordinary air about you, miss. Your manner is graceful, your bearing refined — you clearly come from a noble line and received a fine upbringing. But what does any of that have to do with being a Princess? Would you kindly clear up my confusion?"
Lan Xun's delicate brows furrowed slightly. She found herself in a bind — she could hardly tell Yang Kai that she was the daughter of the Great Emperor Bright Moon and that was why people called her Princess. Coming right out and saying it would sound like bragging, even if it was the truth.
So she countered with a question: "I come from the Star God Palace. Surely you can guess from that?"
In her mind, anyone with a shred of common sense should have made the connection, sparing her the need to spell it out.
But to her surprise, Yang Kai pondered for a moment, then solemnly shook his head.
His ignorance was too much for Xiao Chen to stomach. He snorted coldly: "The Star God Palace is the Sect founded by the Great Emperor Bright Moon, and the lady before you is his most beloved daughter!"
"What?" Yang Kai recoiled in apparent shock, stammering: "So you... you're the Great Emperor's daughter?" He wore an expression of utter astonishment...
"Birth doesn't define everything," Lan Xun replied with a gentle smile, maintaining her approachable demeanor.
Xiao Chen, on the other hand, could no longer hold back. He cursed sharply: "Where did this country bumpkin crawl out of? He hasn't even heard of the Princess's identity, yet he somehow managed to enter the Land of Four Seasons? He's a disgrace to us all! Princess, please don't bother yourself with this man!"