"You're too kind, it was nothing," Xuanyuan Xun's gentle voice sounded again, "Miss Zi, if you have time, please visit Misty Rain Tower often!"
Zi Linling spread her hands helplessly, "I'm afraid I won't have time recently!"
"No matter! Misty Rain Tower's doors are always open for you, Miss Zi!" Xuanyuan Xun said.
"Alright! Once I'm done dealing with these annoying flies, I'll come to Plum Pavilion for tea!" Zi Linling snapped her fingers and said.
Their casual conversation, however, sent the entire Xuanyuan City into an uproar.
"Who is this Miss Zi, that she has gained the favor of the Ninth Prince?"
"Who knows? Isn't she a vixen who used her beautiful appearance to seduce the Ninth Prince?"
"Speaking of Miss Zi, her reputation is huge. I heard she's setting up a Danwu Arena outside the city tomorrow, challenging the entire Alchemist Guild!"
"Is that true? Looking at her age, she's only fourteen or fifteen. Even if she started alchemy from the womb, she couldn't compare to Guild Master Ouyang, a Royal-grade alchemist, right?"
"Who's to say? What's even more ridiculous is that she shamelessly declared that she welcomes all challenges in Danwu and Wudou, and even wants to settle things with Young Master Huang Tao of the Huang family, to the death!"
"Right, I also noticed just now that she came out of Huatian Commercial Bank, and I heard Guild Master Su himself received her!"
"No way? Guild Master Su rarely receives anyone. Even Guild Master Ouyang of the Alchemist Guild has trouble meeting Guild Master Su!"
"Are you sure you're not mistaken? A young girl like her, only fourteen or fifteen, deserves to have Guild Master Su personally receive her?"
"Could she have deliberately sent people to say that to attract attention? Maybe tomorrow's Danwu Arena is also just her sensationalist stunt!"
"..."
As the crowd chattered, Zi Linling's voice rang out.
"I know many people are green with envy and want to kill me to steal my treasures, but are afraid to act due to Xuanyuan City's rules."
"How about this, tomorrow's Danwu Arena welcomes you all to fight. If you win, the treasures will naturally be yours, but if you lose, then your bet will be your life!"
Her arrogant voice carried a domineering aura that looked down on the world, like a heroic spirit laughing at the heavens.
"Is she trying to provoke all the heroes of the world?"
"Such courage! Is she trying to subdue her enemies without fighting?"
"I'm starting to admire this young lady. To be so arrogant as to challenge so many people, she truly has grace and charm!"
"She's just overestimating herself!"
"..."
Zi Linling smiled coldly, ignoring the crowd's chatter, and elegantly returned to her residence.
She re-arranged five layers of Illusion Killing Arrays and five layers of barriers around her dwelling, then began to sort through her gains for the day.
First, she took out the rust-covered arrowhead. After examining it back and forth, she began to try and communicate with it.
She first dripped a drop of her vital blood onto the arrowhead, but it showed no signs of absorbing it.
Then, she tried to communicate with it using her soul, but the arrowhead remained motionless.
With neither vital blood nor soul communication working, Zi Linling was stumped.
Could this just be a useless broken arrowhead?
Just as Zi Linling was racking her brains, the nascent world in her dantian suddenly stirred.
The next moment, the arrowhead vanished before Zi Linling's eyes and appeared within the nascent world.
The moment the arrowhead appeared in the nascent world, the gray mist at the edges of the Five Elements space surged towards it.
The rust on the arrowhead began to flake off at a visible speed, soon revealing its true form.
The black arrowhead emanated a chilling, spectral light.
Zi Linling grasped it in her hand, and an icy chill that could freeze the soul pierced into her sea of consciousness.
At that moment, the "Human Emperor's Medicinal Canon," which resided in her sea of consciousness, suddenly emitted a golden light, shattering the soul-corroding coldness, causing it to vanish.
Only then did Zi Linling examine the arrowhead carefully.
On both sides of the arrowhead were engraved two characters: "Destruction" and "Void."
"Arrow of Destruction and Void!"
The spirit of the Goddess Palace exclaimed the arrowhead's name in shock.
Instantly, a scene appeared in Zi Linling's mind.
A man with eight-pack abs gently drew a dark black bow.
An arrow was nocked on the bow, also dark black.
The tip of the arrow was aimed at a golden bird.
The golden bird looked wary and slowly spoke, "Xuanxu, do you truly wish to perish with this seat?"
The man's lips curved into a sarcastic smile as he shouted, "Invader, die!"
The arrow on the bow instantly flew out, heading straight for the golden bird.
The golden bird, furious, roared, "Xuanxu, do you really think this seat fears you!"
With that, the golden light emanating from the golden bird became incredibly brilliant.
"World Devastation!"
As the golden bird shouted, the black arrow collided with the golden light.
The heavens and earth roared!
But Zi Linling seemed to have lost her hearing.
A moment later, the tip of the black arrow broke, and the golden bird plummeted downwards.
"I will return!"
The golden bird roared unwillingly, then fell into a vast sea.
One-third of the water in the sea was instantly evaporated.
At the same time, strange patterns appeared on the surface of the sea.
Zi Linling was extremely familiar with these patterns.
The Seal of Demon Sealing!
Soon, the golden bird disappeared, and the sea returned to its calm state.
The man with eight-pack abs smiled slightly, a trace of blood trickling down the corner of his mouth.
"Golden Demon, with me, Xuanxu, here, you will never harm the Azure Star again!"
As his words fell, the man threw the black bow in his hand into a vortex in the sky.
Then, he leaped into the sea, transforming into a colossal stone tablet.
"Xuanxu Suppresses the Sea!"
For some reason, these four words appeared in Zi Linling's mind, and the scene abruptly ended.
A surge of fighting spirit rose from Zi Linling, the word "protection" resonating in her heart.
"Crack!"
A tear rolled down from the corner of Zi Linling's eye and landed precisely on the arrowhead in her hand.
A dark black light flickered on the arrowhead, and with a "whoosh," it drilled into Zi Linling's body, floating in her sea of consciousness.
At this moment, Zi Linling finally understood the true method of recognizing the Arrow of Destruction and Void as its master—awakening fighting spirit, with protection paramount.
It was a pity that the Arrow of Destruction and Void was merely a fragment now, only capable of unleashing the power of a divine artifact.
Only by finding the arrow shaft and the bow could the Arrow of Destruction and Void become a true super divine artifact.
The scene of Xuanxu Suppressing the Sea continued to echo in Zi Linling's mind, causing her fighting spirit to surge.