Chapter 66: The Imperial City No Longer Sees Bright Sunshine

The return journey was fast.

In the early morning of the second day.

The group arrived above the imperial city.

The wisps of black mist had become even thicker.

Pei Yuan and Nangong Jinghong saw them return from afar and hurriedly came forward to meet them.

Pei Yuan: “Your Majesty, the formation can hold for three more days.”

Yun Huaiyue: “Three days? Three days isn’t enough to refine the Earth Core Fire Essence. It will take at least seven days and seven nights.”

What should we do?

Everyone fell into a low mood.

Xue Chen suggested, “The situation is critical now. Why not summon all the cultivators in Great Ning to maintain the formation?”

“That can also buy more time for Her Highness the Princess.”

“That is the only way. Zhen will go back now to notify the various ministries.” Ning Xuan turned around, his lips moving slightly. “An’an…”

“Older Brother, it’s fine. Trust me!”

Ning Shengsheng interrupted the rest of his words, comforting him.

“…Okay.”

Ning Xuan spat out the word with difficulty.

He turned abruptly and walked resolutely back to the palace.

Ning Shengsheng’s intuition told her that Ning Xuan had made some sort of decision. If she failed to refine it, he would perish together with the evil demon.

“I will help.” Yun Huaiyue gently hugged Ning Shengsheng. “There is a trick to refining the Fire Essence.”

“I’ll tell you secretly in a moment.”

“Mn, thank you, Senior Sister Yun.”

Everyone split into three groups.

Pei Yuan and Nangong Jinghong continued to maintain the formation.

Ning Xuan and Meng Jingyang summoned all the cultivators of Great Ning.

Ning Shengsheng, Xue Chen, Yun Huaiyue, as well as Ling Hegui and Lu Youxin, rushed to the Frigid Spirit Pool.

The spiritual power there was abundant.

It would be helpful for Ning Shengsheng in refining the Fire Essence.

The bad part was that the Frigid Spirit Pool was located at the top of Taiji Mountain, and the suppressed evil demon was right underneath Taiji Mountain.

If the formation broke.

The first one to die would be Ning Shengsheng.

However, she believed in Ning Xuan!

Yun Huaiyue set up a pill furnace next to the Frigid Spirit Pool, with Ling Hegui and Lu Youxin assisting from the side.

Ning Shengsheng sat inside the Frigid Spirit Pool.

She opened the jade box.

Xue Chen bent down, preparing to say some words of comfort to her.

As a result.

Ning Shengsheng took out the Fire Essence and slapped it directly into her sea of consciousness.

She closed her eyes tight and began refining.

The action was done in one go.

Xue Chen: “……”

Fine.

Count it as him being overly sentimental.

Someone felt stifled, so he simply closed his eyes to cultivate.

Ning Shengsheng had no idea about Xue Chen’s little thoughts. She just wanted to get it over with quickly.

Better to finish it sooner rather than later.

The Fire Essence ferociously pounced into her sea of consciousness.

The soul source in the center was roasted by the raging fire. She recited the Soul Quenching Art over and over again.

Over on Yun Huaiyue’s side, a pot of pills had just come out of the furnace.

Vitality Nourishing Pills.

They had the effect of strengthening the foundation and cultivating vitality.

They could prevent Ning Shengsheng from suffering irreversible damage to her body and soul while refining the Fire Essence.

So roasting the divine soul with Fire Essence…

Hurt this much!

It was a hundred times more painful than flesh being burned.

She bit her lip firmly, holding on with just one breath.

The system hesitated to speak.

Actually, the host didn’t need to do this. She just needed to save her own life and complete Xue Chen’s side quest.

In the original plot, Ning Country was not destroyed because of this.

Although the casualties were heavy.

In the end, it was Meng Jingyang who swallowed the Bodhi Pill and self-destructed to kill the evil demon.

Saving the riddled Ning Country.

The system didn’t understand why the host wanted to risk her life to save Ning Country. This was just a novel.

No matter how many people died, what did it have to do with her?

Even though the program set for it by the higher-ups didn’t include human emotions and desires, seeing Ning Shengsheng so tenacious, it couldn’t help but pray.

Hoping its host could pull through.

…

Ning Jin had been grounded for several months.

When she came out again, the sky of Great Ning was falling.

The entire imperial city was shrouded in an aura of decay. Palace maids and eunuchs fled in panic upon hearing the news.

The wet nurse beside her advised her with lifeless eyes.

“Third Princess, run quickly. An evil spirit has come from somewhere and is sucking the essence and souls of the people.”

“So many people have died in the city!”

“I…” Ning Jin was stunned. Her lips trembled as she muttered, “Where can I run to…”

A person like her would die even if she went outside.

“Where is Ning An?”

The wet nurse opened the jewelry box and stuffed gold and silver jewelry into her pocket. “Princess Ning An…”

“She has made people look at her with new eyes.”

“It is said that Princess Ning An, His Majesty, and Master Meng rushed to the Magma Sea to retrieve the Earth Core Fire Essence and are currently refining it.”

“Perhaps it can kill that evil spirit.”

Ning Jin’s eyes moved slowly. “You mean Ning An is refining the Earth Core Fire Essence? She is willing to die for the common people?”

When she said the last sentence, her voice cracked.

Her voice was rough and unpleasant.

She face was full of disbelief.

“That is the case.” The wet nurse packed the luggage. “Third Princess, listen to this old servant, run!”

“Princess Ning An is usually arrogant and domineering. What can she accomplish? His Majesty and Master Meng must be crazy to place their hopes on such a person.”

For a long while.

No one spoke.

The wet nurse held the luggage, preparing to flee. Ning Jin’s eyes gradually became firm. She asked, “Where are the others?”

“They are all outside working on some formation.”

“Sigh, what’s the use of messing around with that? If it were useful, so many people wouldn’t have died.”

Ning Jin looked in the direction the wet nurse pointed.

The formation in mid-air emitted a faint glow.

She took a deep breath and raised her head proudly. “This princess will not run. If Ning An can defend Great Ning to the death.”

“I can too!”

Ning Jin turned around and stuffed all her money into the wet nurse’s hands. “Go quickly. Didn’t you just get a grandson?”

“Go back and take your family to escape to another place to live.”

“Third Princess…”

Two lines of tears flowed down the wet nurse’s face as she knelt down with a thud.

“Just come with this old servant!”

Ning Jin shook her head, her expression resolute. “I was born in Great Ning, and I grew up in Great Ning. If the country is broken and the family is gone…”

“Then I will be gone too…”

“Besides…” She smiled brightly. “This princess will not lose to that wretched girl Ning An.”

After saying that.

Ning Jin gripped the whip in her hand and turned to leave.

Even if.

She was merely an Earth Aperture realm cultivator.

But what if?

What if her bit of spiritual power was the difference?

What if it was just this little bit of time that could protect her country, and her friends and family?

Then she had to try her best.

When Ning Jin rushed to the formation eye.

There was a dark crowd queuing up there. Everyone sat on the ground, transmitting spiritual power to the formation eye.

Among them were generals brave and skillful in battle.

Refined civil officials full of ambition.

The dandies from the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion who were usually mocked.

There were even villagers who had rushed over from the streets holding hoes.

They had no cultivation, no spiritual power, but they wanted to protect their families behind them, and their own country!

Ning Jin looked up.

The sky over the capital no longer saw bright sunshine; instead, it was filled with gray and white.

She touched her face; her palm was wet.

She suddenly woke up to how absurd her days of drunken stupor and bullying the weak had been.

She wiped away her tears fiercely.

She plunged into the end of the line, closed her eyes, and tried hard to circulate her cultivation technique, transmitting spiritual power to the formation eye.