Chapter 19 – Actually, It Would Be Fine If the Princess Were a Guy

At this moment, the principals, company commanders, and sect masters of the Four Great Academies on the stage were all watching Su Ming’s platform.

Because Su Ming had scored over ten thousand points in the new student trial and achieved results in the ghost domain, word had already spread among them internally.

However, the sect master knew one thing more than the others—that Su Ming might be hiding the Vermilion Bird—and she planned to have Su Ming face Guo Dong, as that would be the only way to force out the Vermilion Bird. After all, that Sword Ghost was far too overpowered.

Two minutes passed. Su Ming looked at her opponent and said, “I’ve made my decision. You can summon your ghost now.”

Su Ming summoned the Blood Soul Ghost while simultaneously lifting the restriction on her opponent’s ability to summon ghosts.

The opponent stumbled backward in fear, instantly realizing that the reason he couldn’t summon his ghost earlier was because of her doing. In other words, if she wanted to, he wouldn’t be able to summon a ghost at all…

The opponent’s voice trembled with fear: “I… c-can I… surrender?”

Su Ming said helplessly, “Suit yourself.”

The Chef Ghost Leader popped out: “Damn it, do you have any idea how hard I fought to win rock-paper-scissors just now? I lost three in a row, then won four in a row—do you know how difficult that was?! And you’re actually surrendering?!”

The opponent looked at the Chef Ghost Leader and the Blood Soul Ghost—good grief, one was Fifth Realm, the other Fourth Realm, neither of them someone he could afford to mess with…

The opponent quickly jumped off the battle platform: “I surrender, I surrender. Can’t win, really can’t win…”

And just like that, Su Ming won the match in only three minutes. Then everyone watched as the Chef Ghost Leader and the Blood Soul Ghost started cursing each other…

Chef Ghost Leader: “I don’t care, you’re going up next match!”

Blood Soul Ghost: “Why should I? Didn’t we agree it’s one match each, and whoever loses goes first?”

Chef Ghost Leader: “I don’t care! You won without even lifting a finger!”

Blood Soul Ghost: “What am I supposed to do if the opponent is just trash?”

At that moment, the person who had just surrendered felt a pang of pain in his heart. Too bullying—they actually called me trash. Fine, fine, I really am trash, okay… (ó﹏ò｡)

The audience burst into laughter seeing Su Ming’s two ghosts arguing with each other. It was the first time in a long while they’d seen ghosts have an internal squabble.

But they didn’t know that even if those two didn’t go up, there was still an Eighth Realm Sword Ghost as a safety net.

Actually, the Blood Soul Ghost and Chef Ghost Leader also wanted the Sword Ghost to go up directly, but Su Ming felt that wouldn’t be a good idea—what if he accidentally killed the opponent?

This wasn’t like the beginner trial. To simulate real combat, there were almost no protective measures for the contestants, meaning death was permitted…

After a full day of matches, the Vermilion Bird Academy still had three people remaining: Su Ming, Du Liang, and Shi Zhen. This set a new record for the Vermilion Bird Academy in advancing to the next round for the first time.

The afternoon was rest time. Spectators could tour the outer areas of the Heavenly Saint Sect or do other things.

At this time, Su Lin and the Black-Robed Man finally met. The Black-Robed Man was now wearing bright, sunny clothes, looking like an upstanding citizen. The two stood about ten meters apart and communicated through voice transmission.

Su Lin: “Brother, how’s it going? Any progress?”

Black-Robed Man: “I’ve looked around. The defenses here aren’t particularly strict. The Grandmaster Realm experts are the sect master and one military person. A man named Wugou—I’ve already secretly killed him.”

Su Lin: “Did you manage to steal that VIP Card?”

Black-Robed Man: “It’s a bit difficult. Qingmei wants to steal it too, but she should have discovered the same thing I did—that Guo Dong’s room has a formation set up. It’s very hard to break through it secretly.”

Su Lin: “Should we go get Lord Lin? Maybe he can give it a try.”

Black-Robed Man: “I’ll go have her call Mo Nian out. With Mo Nian’s strength, she should be able to handle it.”

Su Lin: “Alright. I put a Mystic Ring for formation analysis in that vegetable basket. Find a way to give it to her when the time comes.”

Black-Robed Man: “There’s something you might not know. A girl named Yun Shang has fallen for the princess. What do we do about that…”

Su Lin was startled. Su Ming’s true body was female, after all! What were they supposed to do about this?!

Black-Robed Man: “That Yun Shang seems to be from the Mo Family. Once Qingmei is brought back, we can try to talk some sense into her…”

Su Lin: “I ran into a girl named Mo Shuang on the road. A while back I went to the hospital to see her mother—her condition is very serious, and there are military personnel watching over her. It’ll be hard to move her.”

Black-Robed Man: “She’s that girl who looks a lot like Shi Zhen, right? Her father is truly inhuman—he forcibly ripped out Mo Shuang’s natal ghost and left her to wander the streets.”

Su Lin: “I’ll think of something another day. Be careful on your end—I can come back you up at any time.”

With that, the two went their separate ways.

That evening, Yun Shang dropped all pretense. She dragged a bedroll into Su Ming’s room and lay down to sleep. The Ice Crystal Turtle, who had been sleeping all day, was not one to miss a chance to stir up trouble:

“Get together, get together, get together…”

Sure enough, he was kicked flying by Su Ming again, leaving only a bashful Yun Shang in the room.

Yun Shang didn’t know where to put her hands: “My… my bed over there… it broke, so… I just…”

Su Ming was speechless. You’re a saintess—there’s no way you don’t have somewhere to sleep…

Yun Shang grabbed Su Ming’s hand: “Just one night… just one night, okay…”

The Black-Robed Man hid in the shadows, speechless. What were they going to do? How was the princess supposed to handle matters of the heart in the future?

The Black-Robed Man asked the Ghost Immortal System: “Can I ask—when you originally designed this body, did you ever consider the question of bearing children?”

Ghost Immortal System: “No. As it stands, this body is incapable of reproduction.”

Black-Robed Man: “The princess has been living as a man for over a decade now. Why not just let her continue living as a man?”

Ghost Immortal System: “What are you trying to do?”

The Black-Robed Man cautiously suggested: “How about you make some modifications—just change this body so it can reproduce?”

Ghost Immortal System: “Do you believe I’ll come back and carve you up when I return?!”

Black-Robed Man: “Just a suggestion, only a suggestion. Besides, making her turn back into a woman later would be very hard for her to accept.”

The Ghost Immortal System thought for a moment: “We’ll discuss it later. If we can’t find a suitable successor, it’s worth considering. But everything must still prioritize the kingdom restoration.”

The Black-Robed Man held up the Mystic Ring: “Deal!”

With that, the connection between the Ghost Immortal System and the Black-Robed Man severed. The Black-Robed Man used spatial ghost arts to teleport Su Ming and Yun Shang into The Void.

Su Ming and Yun Shang froze. They never expected to be transported into The Void without the slightest warning.

The Black-Robed Man stepped forward: “Su Ming, Mo Yun, greetings.”

Yun Shang was taken aback: “How do you know my original name?”

The Black-Robed Man produced a token: “The markings on this—surely they’re carved into your memory in a way you could never forget?”

Both Yun Shang and Su Ming were stunned. For Yun Shang, those markings were the ones her mother had made her swear never to forget before she died when Yun Shang was three or four years old—that whoever held this token would take her home.

For Su Ming, that token was identical to the one in her own hand. When Zhao Bei had been possessed earlier, the person inside had told her that when she saw this token, she was to help him…

Yun Shang asked, “What kind of relationship do you have with my mother?”

The Black-Robed Man replied, “There is one, but not much. What I can tell you is to follow him for now. Later, someone will come to take you to find the answers you seek.”

Su Ming increasingly felt that she was not ordinary. She could tell that the Black-Robed Man had come specifically to find her this time.

The Black-Robed Man pretended to be solemn and said, “What’s the matter? Have you forgotten our agreement? I helped you subdue the Vermilion Bird, and you do one thing for me in return. That’s a fair deal, isn’t it?”

As he said this, the Black-Robed Man felt quite guilty inside, after all, the person before him was his own princess. If her identity were ever restored one day, wouldn’t she come after him and finish him off…