Nine Nether Dragon Emperor

Time passed, and just as Cheng Dabao was complaining about how long Lu Yi was taking to arrange a small gathering, a voice sounded from outside. A moment later, Ning Xuan and Cheng Dabao once again saw the adjutant who had arranged their accommodations in the courtyard.

"Young Master Ning, Miss Cheng, I apologize for the inconvenience. The Commander is a bit occupied, so I am here to deliver the invitations." As the adjutant spoke apologetically, he presented the beautifully crafted invitations with both hands.

"A small gathering, and he’s making it such a grand affair—why?" Cheng Dabao muttered softly as she received the invitation.

The adjutant immediately lowered his voice. "The Realm Lord learned about the Commander’s plans for the gathering and decided to send his own people. I’ve heard that all the prodigies from the Chi Ming Dynasty will be attending!"

"Prodigies from the Chi Ming Dynasty are coming as well?" Ning Xuan was somewhat surprised.

"Yes. After all, the Emperor is seeking a son-in-law. Many families from the Chi Ming Dynasty sent their own prodigies to... ahem. In any case, the number of top talents from the Seven Realms this time is a bit excessive."

Even though he didn’t spell it out, Ning Xuan and Cheng Dabao immediately understood. To become the Emperor’s Son-in-Law, the Chi Ming families had their prodigies pass themselves off as contestants from the Seven Realms.

"Isn’t this deceiving the Emperor?!" Cheng Dabao instantly grew anxious. She had been counting on Ning Xuan to come out on top, become the Emperor’s Son-in-Law, and then join forces with Ye Qingqing from both inside and out.

The adjutant chuckled. "You’re mistaken, Miss. Since they dared to make such arrangements, they must have made foolproof preparations. The great families have countless disciples; the Emperor couldn’t possibly know them all. As long as they silence their new family members, they can ensure a flawless execution."

"With them participating, I certainly won’t stand a chance." Ning Xuan, however, breathed a sigh of relief. He directly snatched the invitation from Cheng Dabao’s hand and, along with his own, tried to hand them back.

The adjutant didn’t take them. Instead, he pulled out two more invitations and offered them. "I’ve just received news that prodigies from the Chi Ming Dynasty have approached the other Realms, and it’s likely someone will come looking for you soon. These are extra invitations the Commander had me prepare. They don’t have names on them, so you can handle things as you see fit, Young Master. I have other matters to attend to, so I must be going."

Seeing that Ning Xuan wouldn’t accept them, the adjutant handed the two invitations directly to Cheng Dabao and departed swiftly, disappearing from sight in moments.

"Ning Xuan, here you go. It’s up to you now." As Cheng Dabao came to her senses, she thrust the invitations into Ning Xuan’s arms as if they were hot potatoes.

"What am I supposed to do with these?!" Ning Xuan felt like burning his own invitations along with them.

Just then—BANG!

The courtyard gate, which the adjutant had closed on his way out, was suddenly kicked open.

Immediately, two young men appeared, one on each side of the doorway. They bowed slightly and said in unison, "Young Master, please!"

A young man of about seventeen or eighteen, hands clasped behind his back, strutted into the courtyard with his nose in the air.

"It seems Lu Yi put some thought into this. My courtyard may be a bit secluded, but its tranquility is a definite plus."

Ignoring Ning Xuan and Cheng Dabao completely, the young man surveyed the courtyard and nodded in satisfaction.

"Who are you? What do you mean, ’your courtyard’?!" Ning Xuan had intended to ignore the fellow, but Cheng Dabao couldn’t hold back and snapped at him.

The young man finally retracted his gaze. When he saw Cheng Dabao, his eyes lit up.

"Are you contestants from the Tianji Realm?" The young man didn’t speak; instead, the haughty voice came from one of his servants.

"No!" Before Cheng Dabao could speak, Ning Xuan crisply denied it.

Everyone was momentarily stunned.

It was the young man who recovered first. "What are you two waiting for?" he barked at his servants. "Go clean up the room for me, then get lost!"

The two servants promptly agreed and went straight into the room. After a round of tidying, the room was filled with the young man’s personal belongings, and even the brand-new bedding was replaced.

"Young Master, what do you think?" one of them had barely started speaking when the young man made a sudden, lethal move.

The two servants didn’t even have time to cry out before they were killed. Then, as if no one else was watching, the young man used Corpse Dissolving Powder to completely destroy the bodies, leaving no trace behind.

After finishing all this, he asked Ning Xuan, "What is your name?"

As he asked, his face contorted and quickly morphed into a different one. He made no effort to hide what he was doing.

"Ning Yang."

"Good. From now on, I am Ning Yang. You can call yourself whatever you want. I am the sole representative from the Tianji Realm attending the Star Domain Convention. You two are my attendants. Any objections?"

Ning Xuan shook his head and even held out one of the invitations to him.

Seeing Ning Xuan so cooperative, the young man burst into a hearty laugh.

"Alright, you go outside and stand guard for me. I have some questions for her." After his laugh, he grew even more arrogant, actually ordering Ning Xuan to act as a doorman!

Cheng Dabao’s eyes blazed with fury, and a murderous glint flashed in the depths of Ning Xuan’s eyes. But a moment later, Ning Xuan just smiled.

"Well, if it isn’t Liang Peng. We haven’t seen each other in a while, and you’ve already become this shameless?"

A voice suddenly rang out, and two more people appeared in the courtyard.

The face-changed young man’s expression altered, and he quickly spoke in another voice, "I don’t know what you’re talking about!"

At the same time, he had the urge to slap himself. He knew to change his face but forgot to change his voice! Otherwise, how could those two, Zhou Cheng and Luo Ji, have possibly recognized him?

The newcomer on the left, who was slightly shorter and wore a kind smile, spoke to Ning Xuan and Cheng Dabao. "Sir, Miss, don’t be afraid. We’re here to help you. My name is Zhou Cheng, and this is Luo Ji."

Without waiting for a response, Zhou Cheng immediately turned on Liang Peng. "Liang Peng, you’re truly heartless! Those two servants followed you for ten years, didn’t they? How could you bring yourself to kill them?!"

Liang Peng’s expression remained unchanged as he denied it again. "You two are mistaken. My name is Ning Yang, not Liang Peng!"

"If you’re Ning Yang, then what is his name?" Zhou Cheng looked at Ning Xuan, questioning Liang Peng.

Unperturbed, Liang Peng replied, "I never bother with the names of my servants. However, I’m in a good mood today, so I might as well give him a name. From now on, he’ll be called Ning San."

"Liang Peng, oh, Liang Peng," Zhou Cheng sighed, shaking his head. "You don’t even know his real name, yet you want to impersonate him? It’s a good thing we showed up. Otherwise, the Tianji Realm would have become a complete laughingstock!"

Liang Peng frowned and snapped, "What do you mean by that?!"

"His name isn’t Ning Yang," Zhou Cheng said, looking at Ning Xuan. "It’s Ning Xuan!"

Ning Xuan just smiled.

This guy shows up claiming he’s here to help, and now he can’t even be bothered to keep up the pretense. Does he think I’m that easy to bully? However, Ning Xuan wasn’t stupid enough to jump in at this moment. Better to let them tear into each other first.

Unexpectedly, the first person to turn on Ning Xuan was still Liang Peng.

"You little bastard, how dare you deceive me?!" he snarled, locking onto Ning Xuan with an unmistakable intent to kill.