Everyone looked at the little one in astonishment. She was the president of the Array Masters Guild of the Xiuyuan Realm? That was rather hard to believe.
The little one ignored them and walked into Luo Mansion.
"Who is this little kid?" a disgruntled voice suddenly rang out.
The little one turned to see a group of little girls staring at her. The youngest of them was five, a year older than the little one. The one who had just spoken was a seven-year-old girl, the oldest of the group.
She walked up and asked, "You were invited to the Luo Mansion’s banquet? Who is your father?"
In her eyes, the little one must have gotten in by relying on her father’s connections, just like them.
The little one understood what these little girls were thinking. She had no desire to deal with brats, so she said lazily, "No, I came on my own."
Upon hearing this, the group of little girls was taken aback.
"You got here on your own? Little girl, lying is a bad habit," the seven-year-old said, a mocking expression on her face.
The other girls also looked at the little one with suspicion, feeling a little uncomfortable. Why do we have to rely on our fathers while you get to rely on yourself? They refused to admit the little one could be better than them in any way, habitually ignoring her exceptionally cute appearance.
"If there’s nothing else, I’m leaving." The little one shrugged. She found talking to children to be far too childish for her tastes.
She turned to walk away.
"Where do you think you’re going? Are you afraid you’ll slip up if you say too much? The more one talks, the more mistakes one makes, after all," the seven-year-old girl jeered, her face full of disdain.
The other little girls nodded in agreement, thinking their "big sister" was right.
The seven-year-old girl snorted, puffing out her chest and holding her head high. As the saying goes, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. A parent’s upbringing is crucial for a child’s development. Her behavior gave a glimpse into the kind of people her parents were.
Besides feeling jealous, the seven-year-old girl targeted the little one for another reason. She wanted to seize the opportunity to show all the younger girls following her that she was the one fit to be their leader. The little one saw right through her petty scheme.
"You kids should go play with someone else. I really can’t be bothered to play with you," the little one said with a look of helpless resignation. "I have things to do, so I’m leaving."
"Who are you calling a kid?" the seven-year-old girl shouted. She was furious that someone younger than her was calling her a child. "You’re the kid! Now tell us, how exactly did you get in here?"
She sized up the little one, noticing her clothes weren’t particularly expensive, yet she still looked cuter than her. She couldn’t help but boast, "Do you know? Ordinary families can’t enter Luo Mansion. My father is Lord Zheng Zheng, a minister in the Two-Star Kingdom of the Artifact Domain. What about you? What’s your father’s background?"
The girls behind her immediately looked at her with envy.
Was there anyone in the Artifact Domain who didn’t know of Zheng Zheng? He was a wise and respected official who had developed a one-star nation into a two-star kingdom. Within the kingdom, Zheng Zheng’s reputation was even greater than that of the Monarch. Such an accomplished minister was rare in the history of the Artifact Domain.
The seven-year-old girl was very pleased with the worshipful gazes from the girls behind her. But when she looked at the little one, she found her shaking her head with a look of utter disdain.
"What’s that supposed to mean?"
The little one remained silent. She really couldn’t muster any enthusiasm. What can you do when your opponents are children?
The little one turned to leave.
"Hey, why are you walking away?"
"Hey!"
But the little one paid her no mind.
"Hmph! Just you wait, I’m going to tell my father, the great Lord Zheng Zheng!" the seven-year-old girl pouted.
Meanwhile, the little one wandered through Luo Mansion, looking for an adult to make those girls eat their words. Walking into the backyard, she saw Ye Qingxian.
Behind Ye Qingxian were two people. One was an old man with white hair but a youthful face. Anyone who knew him would call him Master Luo Tian. He was the master of Luo Mansion and the guest of honor at today’s birthday banquet.
The other was Zheng Zheng.
"Miss Ye, please become my disciple," Master Luo Tian said. He had known Ye Qingxian since she was a child, when she would often come to him for advice on Formation knowledge. However, Ye Qingxian had never wanted to become anyone’s disciple. After their discussion today, Master Luo Tian discovered that her attainments in Formations had reached a new level, which made him even more eager to take her on.
Yet, Ye Qingxian refused once again.
"Miss Ye Qingxian, I have some questions to ask you," Zheng Zheng said, his face filled with urgency.
Outsiders all called him a wise and capable minister, but that wasn’t the truth. In reality, he was merely one of Ye Qingxian’s dogs.
Ye Qingxian, while a princess, also held the ambition to unify the world. To that end, she had placed her own people in the Domain of Myriad Demons, the Xiuyuan Realm, and the Artifact Domain. Zheng Zheng was one of them.
Zheng Zheng actually had no real ability, only a superficially prominent position; his sole advantage was his obedience. His strategies for governing the kingdom were simply recited verbatim from Ye Qingxian.
Ever since Wu Tian appeared, her heart had warned her not to make an enemy of him. Thus, she had begun to focus on the Martial Path, no longer caring for matters like unifying the world. As a result, Zheng Zheng had not received her guidance recently and had been repeatedly making mistakes when handling state affairs. He was growing anxious. Today, upon running into Ye Qingxian at Luo Mansion and knowing of her good relationship with Master Luo Tian, Zheng Zheng didn’t care about the Master’s presence and decided to ask his questions directly.
Just as Ye Qingxian was about to answer Zheng Zheng, she suddenly noticed the little one standing by a corridor, watching her.
Ye Qingxian’s eyes lit up. Ignoring Luo Tian and Zheng Zheng, she walked over gracefully.
"What are you doing here? Is Wu Tian here as well?" Ye Qingxian asked with a smile as she approached. She felt a strange sense of affinity with the little one.
"I told you I was coming by myself," the little one said, shaking her head. "But I have a feeling he’s worried about me and is watching from somewhere."
"Is that so?"
While Ye Qingxian’s Spiritual Sense was nowhere near as refined as that of its creator, Wu Tian, she could still easily scan her surroundings. Her Spiritual Sense spread out to cover the entire Luo Mansion. Shaking her head, she smiled and said, "No, he’s not here."
"Oh," the little one responded casually. But I’m sure my dad came anyway.
Indeed, Wu Tian was in a tavern just outside Luo Mansion. His Spiritual Sense permeated the entire area without anyone detecting it, keeping him perfectly informed of everything the little one was doing and anything that happened to her. While sipping his drink in the tavern, Wu Tian knew everything with perfect clarity.
The way the Eagle Tribe raised their children might seem too harsh to the Human Clan, but was this not also an expression of their deep love? Consider this: could an eagle that never learns to fly ever soar through the skies? Faced with nature’s harsh challenges for survival, an eagle that cannot fly will only be weeded out, left to starve to death. It is survival of the fittest. Although the Eagle Tribe’s methods for raising their young bordered on harsh, they were undoubtedly the wisest choice. This was because they knew that once an eagle learned to fly, it had also mastered the ability to survive.
Wu Tian also knew that he couldn’t be too indulgent with the little one. Today is a test. I want to see how my child will get through this on her own.