Chapter 116: The Princess from the Lower Realm
At this mont, Long Xi was still a mortal.
From such a distance, she could not clearly see the expressions on the black-clad man’s face or those around him, yet she could tell that they had already ford a small circle of their own.
What alard her even more was the complex composition of that group.
There were scions of noble families dressed in fine silks and brocades, bearing extraordinary poise, as well as common-born youths clad in coarse linen who looked utterly ordinary.
Yet at this mont, all of them faintly seed to take the black-clad man as their leader.
She was almost certain that most of them had also been drawn in by the inexplicable, uncanny charm emanating from that man, unconsciously gathering at his side.
At the thought of this, a chill crept up her spine.
Had Uncle Liu not awakened her in ti back then, she might already have beco one of that group.
After the ceremony ended, she might have foolishly followed behind him, becoming his appendage, perhaps even… She did not dare to think further.
At this ti, the central bridge was teeming with people, and that group quickly disappeared from sight.
Long Xi turned her attention back to her own side.
She noticed that people here had also gathered into small circles of two or three.
That was only natural.
Those who could obtain a recomndation letter to the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect were mostly children of families that had maintained friendly ties for generations and had long known one another.
Soone like her, from a small household who had obtained a recomndation letter purely by luck, was exceedingly rare.
As she silently observed, a young girl dressed in gorgeous robes, yet carrying a timid and shy deanor, seed to have summoned up a lifeti’s worth of courage as she stepped forward hesitantly.
“Y… hello!”
Long Xi turned at the sound and t the girl’s eyes, which were filled with nervousness and anticipation.
She nodded amicably.
“Hello.”
This girl gave her a rather peculiar impression.
Whether it was the quality of the fabric, the craftsmanship of the tailoring, or the seemingly simple wooden hairpin in her coiffure—whose carving was in fact exquisitely intricate—everything spoke of an extraordinary background.
Her bearing and etiquette were also unmistakably those of a noble young lady, not the sort of false refinent propped up by clothing alone.
Yet her expression carried a restraint utterly at odds with such attire, even a hint of timidity.
There was not a trace of the proud aura commonly seen in disciples from cultivation aristocratic families.
After a few more glances, Long Xi felt sothing even stranger.
The bracelets on the girl’s wrist and the necklace at her collar were of superior material and workmanship, yet not a single piece was a spiritual artifact.
They were rely exquisite mortal ornants.
Even in a small place like Qinglin Town, families with even a bit of ans would try every way possible to buy their child at least the lowest-tier spiritual artifact—even if it was of little practical use, it still brought good fortune and aesthetic appeal.
But this girl before her wore not a single accessory that emitted the faint glow of a spiritual artifact.
The stark contrast was like a princess clad in splendid robes, yet whose entire worth did not equal even one bracelet on Long Xi’s wrist.
“I… it’s my first ti coming to this ‘Cloud Sea Realm.’ I don’t know anyone here. I saw that you also seed to be alone, so… I took the liberty of coming to make your acquaintance.” The girl’s voice was soft, tinged with uncertainty.
“Cloud Sea Realm?” Long Xi paused slightly, unfamiliar with the term.
“Forgive my ignorance, but I’ve never heard of such a place. The land beneath our feet—is it not the territory of the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect? Why would it be related to a ‘cloud sea’?”
A flicker of surprise crossed the girl’s face.
Then, as if realizing sothing, she lightly patted her forehead and explained tentatively, “My apologies, that was presumptuous of . I… ca from the ‘Lower Realm.’ From our perspective, this place has always hung high above a sea of clouds. The immortals who travel between realms descend by parting the clouds. So we’ve grown accustod to calling this place the ‘Cloud Sea Realm.’”
Her words only deepened Long Xi’s confusion.
Lower Realm? Above the cloud sea?
She looked up at the clear blue sky, then down at the solid ground beneath her feet.
When had the place she lived ever been so high?
“The Lower Realm? I’ve never heard of it. We’re not… in the sky, are we? This is under the jurisdiction of the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect. It originally belonged to the Mingde Dynasty. We usually call it the Nine-Xia Realm Realm, or by its forr na, the Mingde Dynasty.”
“The immortal who brought up did ntion that.” The girl nodded quickly, as if afraid of an awkward silence.
“He also said that the vast immortal world where you reside is called the ‘Heaven of the Five Continents,’ an incomparably boundless great world!”
“Heaven of the Five Continents…”
Long Xi softly repeated the term.
It had been a long ti since she had heard it.
For ordinary folk, “the world” or “all under heaven” was enough to encapsulate their understanding.
The Nine-Xia Realm Realm was practically the entirety of the world to them.
As for Heaven of the Five Continents, it was a term mostly found in classical texts or spoken by cultivators, referring to distant lands beyond the reach of mortals.
Seeing Long Xi deep in thought, the girl grew even more uneasy.
Her slender fingers unconsciously twisted at the hem of her dress as she said softly, “I… my na is Jiang Wuyun. I co from the Luo Dynasty in the Lower Realm. Because an immortal from the sect discovered that I have… have that spiritual root, I was fortunate enough to be brought here to the Cloud Sea Realm.”
Long Xi still had not fully grasped where this so-called Lower Realm actually lay.
If taken literally as being below, did that not an underground? But how could one see a sea of clouds from beneath the earth?
She shook her head, temporarily casting aside these incomprehensible thoughts.
The Cultivation World was full of bizarre and wondrous phenona—far beyond the understanding of a mortal who had yet to enter the path.
She examined Jiang Wuyun more closely.
Upon closer inspection, she noticed even more oddities.
The girl’s finger joints were slightly thick, and the skin on the back of her hands bore faint traces of sun and wind exposure—clear marks of long-term labor.
Yet her silks and brocades, along with her innate aristocratic bearing, unmistakably marked her as nobility.
Could it be that in the so-called Lower Realm, even imperial nobles had to work the fields themselves?
“Judging by your attire and manners… could you be a princess or so noble lady?” Long Xi finally could not suppress her curiosity and asked directly.
Compared to the ethereal Lower Realm, she was far more intrigued by this mysterious girl’s identity.
If she truly was a mber of royalty, that would be interesting indeed.
Jiang Wuyun’s fair cheeks instantly flushed crimson, her gaze darting uncertainly.
“Eh? Th-that… I… well… I do have a bit of imperial blood, but… it’s from a very distant collateral branch. Normally no one pays us any mind. I barely received the title of commandery princess, but… the so-called imperial dynasty of our Lower Realm is nothing compared to the Cloud Sea Realm.”
“You’re really royalty!” Long Xi’s eyes lit up, her curiosity piqued.
“There’s no need to belittle yourself. You’re far superior to certain so-called noble young ladies where I’m from. After all, you’re legitimately of the imperial line.” She paused, suddenly recalling sothing.
“From what you said earlier, does that an very few people in your realm possess spiritual roots?”
Jiang Wuyun gave a bitter smile, a trace of sorrow in it.
“Not very few—almost none. I am the only person in the Luo Dynasty in recent decades to test positive for a spiritual root. If not for that, I would never have been able to wear such splendid clothing in this lifeti.”
Long Xi studied the long brocade robe embroidered with intricate cloud patterns on Jiang Wuyun’s body.
In her mind, an entire lodramatic tale had already unfolded—a high-born yet neglected commandery princess, discovered to possess a spiritual root, chosen by an immortal sect, reversing her fate and slapping the faces of those who once looked down on her.
Just thinking about it was thrilling.
At the sa ti, she gained a clearer understanding of that mysterious Lower Realm.
The human race there must have no aptitude for cultivation at all—or rather… their immortal path was practically severed.
After all, even here there were regions where spiritual energy was so thin as to be nearly nonexistent.
Yet the probability of spiritual roots being born there was rely sowhat lower than in areas rich with spiritual energy.
There would never be a situation where only one appeared in decades.
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