Xuanhuan: The Empress and I Swapped Bodies - Chapter 96
Elder Liu Ning, the Imperial Clan Patriarch, was entirely at ease regarding Ye Wushuang’s seclusion.
Though Liu Ningxian remained uneasy, she ultimately chose to trust his judgment. After all, Liu Ning was Ye Wushuang’s master—he would never lead his disciple astray.
And so, with lingering worry, she began to wait.
A full month passed.
Then, one day, a deafening cry suddenly erupted from the skies above Ye Wushuang’s secluded cultivation grounds.
“Screeeech—!”
The sound instantly drew the attention of countless onlookers. The guards of the Divine Dragon Imperial Palace immediately went on high alert.
Soon after, they beheld a colossal figure looming in the heavens.
This behemoth stretched ninety thousand zhang in length, its wingspan an astonishing one hundred eighty thousand zhang. Though merely a phantom, its sheer presence sent waves of terror through the crowd.
The sight of its shadow blotting out the sky was enough to chill the blood of even the bravest souls.
“W-what kind of monster is that? How can something so terrifying exist?!”
“T-that form… Could it be the legendary Kunpeng? Only a Kunpeng could be so massive!”
“A Kunpeng?! But they vanished from this world long ago! Has one truly descended upon our Divine Dragon Imperial Family?!”
Like the divine dragons, Kunpengs had faded into myth. Most had only heard tales of them—none had ever laid eyes on one.
Now, witnessing a Kunpeng’s phantom manifest before them, many were struck with disbelief and dread.
Fortunately, the higher-ups of the Divine Dragon Imperial Family remained unshaken. They stood tall in the sky, their expressions calm and composed.
Elder Liu Ning, in particular, hovered high above, gazing serenely at the Kunpeng’s silhouette. His composure steadied the hearts of all who saw him, reassuring them that this was no calamity.
Beside him, however, Liu Ningxian was far from composed.
At the sight of the Kunpeng’s phantom, her jaw dropped.
While others could only guess at its meaning, she knew exactly what this signified.
A month ago, she had given Ye Wushuang a fragment of the Kunpeng Dao technique—half-jokingly telling him to share it with her if he ever succeeded in restoring it.
Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that, in just one month, Ye Wushuang would actually reconstruct the lost art, summoning the Kunpeng’s phantom back into the world.
The sheer impossibility of it left her reeling.
“H-has he… really succeeded?”
She could hardly believe it.
Then, in the next instant—
The Kunpeng’s silhouette vanished before everyone’s eyes.
The crowd was stunned.
Murmurs spread like wildfire:
“Did he fail? The Kunpeng’s shadow disappeared!”
“What a shame… If only he could have mastered the Kunpeng technique and brought it back to the world!”
“This was the Kunpeng Dao Art—a treasure countless have coveted, a technique rivaling the Divine Dragon’s own! Such power isn’t so easily reclaimed. Its disappearance was only to be expected.”
To most, the phantom’s sudden dissipation signaled failure.
But those with keener senses—Liu Ning and Liu Ningxian among them—perceived something far more extraordinary.
Their gazes snapped toward the distant horizon.
There, an enormous figure had materialized without warning, as though it had always been there.
Yet this was no illusion—it was the same Kunpeng phantom that had just vanished before their eyes.
In the blink of an eye, it had traversed an unfathomable distance—farther than even a teleportation array could span in a single leap.
Liu Ningxian’s breath caught.
“He did it… He truly restored the Kunpeng Dao Art! The invincible Kunpeng technique has returned to the world!”
“But this isn’t just restoration—this is transcendence! His speed surpasses even the legendary Kunpeng’s!”
“The Kunpeng could cross ninety thousand li in a single bound—yet the distance it just covered exceeds a hundred thousand li! Even the Kunpeng itself couldn’t achieve such speed!”
Elder Liu Ning exhaled slowly, marveling once more at Ye Wushuang’s monstrous comprehension.
Then again, considering the boy’s ability to amplify his combat power tenfold, restoring the Kunpeng technique was almost… unremarkable by comparison.
After all, if a Supreme Realm expert’s strength increased tenfold, defeating a Kunpeng would be child’s play.
Still, the breakneck pace of Ye Wushuang’s growth sent a prickle of urgency through Liu Ning.
Once more, he felt the weight of being this prodigy’s master.
Though he stood at the peak of the Quasi-Supreme Realm, on the cusp of true Supreme status, Ye Wushuang was closing the gap at an alarming rate.
At this pace, his disciple might surpass him sooner rather than later.
To outsiders, this would be a tale of “the pupil outstripping the master.”
But for a prideful man like Liu Ning?
Utter humiliation.
After a long silence, he flicked his sleeves and turned to Liu Ningxian.
“Keep watching if you wish. I must resume my cultivation.”
“Half a day without training has left me… uneasy.”
Liu Ningxian blinked.
“Half a day?!”
As a Supreme Realm expert, she often went years—decades even—without active cultivation. At their level, progress required rare opportunities, not mere time.
Most cultivators, upon reaching great heights, indulged in the luxuries they’d earned. Going months without training was hardly unusual.
Yet here was Liu Ning, claiming half a day of idleness troubled him?!
“You… You’re trying to outwork me, aren’t you?!” she accused, narrowing her eyes. “This is sabotage! You want to rob me of my well-earned leisure, you scheming old grind!”
Little did she know—Liu Ning’s sudden diligence stemmed entirely from the pressure Ye Wushuang’s terrifying progress had placed upon him.