Murim's Weakest Princess

The feast was amazing. It brought Anji back to her childhood days, seeing all the snacks she loved. Although she had grown up in many ways, her sweet tooth was something that remained unchanged.

Mingshen and Yihao watched as their youngest devoured all the desserts before the meal. It was both a satisfying and mysterious thing.

"Did the Mystical Qilin Sect starve you?" Yihao asked. "You know we can always pack some with us for the journey to the capital, right? There’s no need to force yourself to finish it all today."

With her cheeks full of food, Anji resembled a squirrel. Her hands reached for another plate of tanghulu.

Swallowing with difficulty, Anji drank a mouthful of tea before explaining how she had a separate stomach for desserts that had been starving for a long time.

"After mastering the harmonisation technique shifu taught, I’ve become an Enlightened Core. Apart from needing a small amount of food and water every few days, I often forget to eat or sleep. The Mystical Qilin Sect prioritises efficiency. Desserts weren’t on the menu, but alcohol was. Unfortunately, children should not drink alcohol. So the only thing left to do is stuff my face with sweets when I can get my hands on them."

Although Yihao was in isolation for a long time and did not truly understand how the world worked, he knew not to judge anything from the Mystical Qilin Sect because Bai Dajin told him that using his brain around people like Yan Ping was a futile effort. Likewise, Anji had become one of those he should not attempt to understand. It changed nothing for a simpleton like him. Zhao Anji, no matter how she changed, would always be his dear younger sister.

"I see," Yihao nodded in agreement. He might not understand it, but if it made Anji happy, he would support it. "In that case, you should eat more. Do you want melon popsicles? How about steamed chestnuts?"

Not one to be outdone by his younger brother, Mingshen poured Anji tea and hid a wince when his injury flared.

"Here, have some tea to wash down the sweetness. Lizi is bringing up dinner. You should leave the rest for later."

Ever the voice of reason, Mingshen kept the smile up as Yihao scowled. Truthfully, he was still embarrassed at mistaking his older brother for a kidnapper. However, it had been too long since they last saw each other. The Mingshen he knew was a haughty brat, not a flamboyant one. If not for the fan he pulled out after tossing Yihao down the window, the muscle head would not even realise who he was.

As dinner hour came, Lizi and Gu Ying brought up and served a huge array of dishes that Mingshen ordered before. The carriage was refitted and the horses fed. Tonight would be the only night they spent in the Eternal Night Valley. It would take them approximately three weeks to get to the capital city in a horse carriage. It would be faster if Anji knew how to ride a horse, but given the size of their luggage, it would be impossible to leave everything to a porter.

After insisting that Gu Ying and Lizi join the table for their sibling reunion, Anji asked many questions to catch up on the past. Although it was unsurprising to learn how Yihao intended to break through to the Enlightened Core stage, Anji was curious to find something new in her third brother’s meridians.

"Does Uncle Bai know about your fiery heart crucible?" Anji raised a brow and released her third brother’s wrist.

The fiery heart crucible was something akin to a second golden core. Among cultivators, it was rare due to the intensity required to create it. The only other person who was rumoured to have a fiery heart crucible was the young sect leader of the Heavenly Phoenix Sect - Liu Yanxia.

Blinking blankly, Yihao cocked his head to the left.

"What’s that?"

Even Mingshen’s jaw slackened at his younger brother’s reaction.

"You don’t know what that is?" he gasped dramatically and pretended to wipe his non-existent tears. "Poor thing. Even after gaining a precious diamond, you’re only using it to pound rocks. As expected of a muscular brain."

Although Anji knew how her two brothers were always at each other’s throats when she was younger, seeing them bicker with a more vicious intent when they were older still made her uneasy. The crackle of hostile energy between them would have given anyone else indigestion.

Stepping in as the unofficial diplomat between her brothers, Anji calmly explained in simple terms what the fiery heart crucible was.

"As its name suggests, the fiery heart crucible is located inside the heart instead of the dantian. By constantly condensing yang energy, it is created to function like a second golden core."

Even after the explanation, Anji had a feeling her third brother understood nothing. Yihao only laughed and whooped with delight before declaring how he was better than Mingshen with two hearts. Anji did not have the heart to correct him. He had two cultivation cores, but only one heart. But the notion of having an extra life was not far off the mark.

The fiery heart crucible was also nicknamed the Phoenix Heart by cultivators. It was difficult to create because the constant consumption of pure yang energy, without any hint of yin, during the cultivation-refinement process was torturous for many. Unlike Liu Yanxia, who was subjected to special training from a young age as the successor of the Heavenly Phoenix Sect, Zhao Yihao created his fiery heart crucible purely by accident, thanks to his Extreme Yang Body. Anji did not know whether to laugh or cry. Luck truly favours the dumb sometimes, and ignorance was bliss. It was a blessing that Zhao Yihao gained a second life without knowing how risky it was during the process of gaining it. She could only imagine how brutal his training was in isolation and how much pain he had to suffer to achieve it.

Likewise, Mingshen did not mock him with a witty remark. Instead, he placed a hand on his younger brother’s broad shoulder.

"You did good," he complimented sincerely. "You did really well."

The sincerity gave Yihao shivers, and he quickly brushed off the hand on his shoulder with an outright expression of disgust.

"Ew! What’s gotten into both of you? It’s not a big deal. Compared to eating beetles to stave off hunger in that cave, enduring a bit of sweat is nothing. You have no idea how horribly foul and crunchy beetles are. The ones with horns are the worst. Besides, the fiery heart of whatever that is is not important. Old Man Bai promised me that after I complete his special training, I’d gain the power I need to protect the things I want using my body. No knives can harm me, no poison can kill me. I’m invincible now."

Invincible against external threats, sure. Mingshen had no doubts about it. Even through their brief exchange earlier, he already knew just how strong Zhao Yihao had become. However, the brute was still foolish and prone to deception. No amount of muscles can prevent that kind of harm. Thankfully, that was what he excelled at.

"In that case, I’m going to have to trouble you to become our trusty human meat shield. Unlike you, I’ve reached a bottleneck at the Solid Core intermediate level. With the ongoing war, there’s a huge shortage of cultivation pills to bolster my progress."

The simple-minded Yihao laughed and bragged about being the strongest of all three siblings. Mingshen egged him on and buttered him up, letting the fool have his moment of glory. Anji observed her brothers affectionately and held her tongue. There was no need to expose Mingshen’s cause for cultivation stagnation in front of Yihao.