Chapter 9: Lan Qingya Bears Thorns to Beg Forgiveness, the Yuan Tian Zhi Zun

Lan Qingya was stunned, completely stunned.

She clutched her stinging cheek, staring at Jun Zhangjian in disbelief.

Jun Zhangjian’s face was dark as storm clouds, his eyes brimming with cold fury.

“Young Master Zhangjian, you hit me?” Lan Qingya could hardly believe her ears.

Feeling her swelling cheek, Lan Qingya felt as if she were dreaming.

Hadn’t Jun Zhangjian always obeyed her every wish?

She had even come to believe that the Jun family’s sequence rank meant nothing.

Lan Qingya had even fantasized that one day she could fully control Jun Zhangjian—whatever she said, he would do.

Which outsider vassal could ever control a Jun family sequence?

She, Lan Qingya, could!

But now, seeing Jun Zhangjian’s icy, unreadable expression, she felt as if he had become a stranger.

“Who told you to provoke Jun Xiaoyao?” Jun Zhangjian’s voice was choked with suppressed rage.

“I… I only did it for your sake, Young Master Zhangjian! You tried to recruit Jun Linglong, but she ignored you—yet she’s willing to follow Jun Xiaoyao…” Lan Qingya still tried to defend herself.

“You wretched bitch!”

Hearing this, Jun Zhangjian couldn’t hold back—he slapped Lan Qingya across the other half of her face.

Lan Qingya was flung backward, her lips split, blood streaming endlessly.

“Do you even know who Jun Xiaoyao is? Do you know who his father is?” Jun Zhangjian’s liver ached from rage.

Was this Lan Qingya trying to destabilize his sequence position?

“Isn’t he just Jun Wu-hui? His whereabouts are unknown!” Lan Qingya gritted her teeth, face pale.

“You have no right to insult Uncle Wu-hui!”

Jun Zhangjian slapped Lan Qingya over and over—ten, twenty times—until her face was swollen into a pig’s head.

All his followers stared in shock.

Had the sun risen in the west?

“Don’t forget Jun Xiaoyao is Uncle Wu-hui’s son—his mother is the Jiang family’s Divine Maiden, and he’s been favored by the Eighteen Ancestors! Are you trying to make me lose my Tenth Sequence position?” Jun Zhangjian truly wanted to beat Lan Qingya to death.

Why pick anyone else? Why provoke Jun Xiaoyao—the Jun family’s most powerful, most well-connected member?

“Young Master Zhangjian, Qingya is wrong! Please forgive Qingya!”

Lan Qingya knelt and banged her head on the ground, blood smeared across her chin.

She had calculated every possibility—but never imagined Jun Zhangjian would fear Jun Xiaoyao this much, even resorting to violence against her.

“Get up. Go to Jun Xiaoyao and beg forgiveness with thorns on your back.” Jun Zhangjian spoke coldly.

“Young Master Zhangjian, this…?” Lan Qingya felt as if struck by lightning.

If she did this, how could she ever show her face in the Jun family again?

And to bow before Jun Linglong? It was worse than eating shit.

“Hm? You won’t go?” Jun Zhangjian’s gaze turned sharp as swords.

“I’ll go…” Lan Qingya trembled, face twisted with humiliation.

Soon, one of his followers brought a bundle of thorny branches for Lan Qingya to carry.

The sharp thorns tore into her jade-like back, making her hiss in pain as she sucked in cold air.

“Fine, I’ll go with you—it’ll show more sincerity.” Jun Zhangjian hesitated, then decided to accompany her.

Lan Qingya’s heart sank into despair.

This was the first time she’d ever seen Jun Zhangjian so uneasy.

Just who was Jun Xiaoyao, that he could make Jun Zhangjian fear him this deeply?

Jun Zhangjian, with Lan Qingya bearing thorns on her back, left Lingdao and headed for Tiangong.

Along the way, many Jun family youths noticed them.

“That’s… the Tenth Sequence, Jun Zhangjian? He’s come out of seclusion?”

“Jun Zhangjian’s cultivation has improved again—and he’s heading toward Tiangong. Is he going to cause trouble for the Divine Son?”

“Wait—look at Lan Qingya…”

All eyes turned to Lan Qingya.

She bore thorns on her back, her jade skin slashed with blood, cheeks swollen, lips split and bleeding—utterly broken.

“Is Jun Zhangjian not here to seek revenge… but to apologize?”

Every Jun family youth was stunned.

The mighty Tenth Sequence of the Jun family had surrendered without a fight?

“Hmm, only the Divine Son could make a sequence member yield without a single blow,” a young Jun family member marveled.

Each of the Ten Sequences was brimming with pride.

To make one yield without battle? Nearly impossible.

Yet Jun Xiaoyao had done it.

Inside Tiangong, Jun Xiaoyao relaxed his mind.

Beside him, Jun Linglong brewed tea.

She used water from ten-thousand-year dew, steeped with leaves plucked from the Awakening Dao Tree.

This single pot of tea was beyond the reach of ordinary prodigies in their lifetimes.

Yet Jun Xiaoyao drank it every day.

“Young Master, please…” Jun Linglong offered the tea, acting the perfect servant.

Jun Xiaoyao took the cup, sipped lightly, and nodded: “You’re good at this…”

Jun Linglong’s face flushed red—was he complimenting her tea?

At that moment, a Tiangong servant bowed at the door: “Divine Son, Young Master Jun Zhangjian has arrived at Tiangong.”

“Finally? I’ve been waiting days,” Jun Xiaoyao’s eyes lit up, alert.

Was the royal drama finally beginning?

Lan Qingya returned crying, Jun Zhangjian flew into a blind rage, and now he came to teach him a lesson.

Jun Xiaoyao also needed someone to test his Divine Elephant Suppressing Hell Force.

Jun Linglong remained calm—she knew Jun Zhangjian couldn’t touch Jun Xiaoyao.

“Heh, Cousin Xiaoyao, since your birth until now, this is our first meeting—and it’s come about in such a way. What a pity.”

A cheerful voice rang out as Jun Zhangjian stepped through the door, Lan Qingya trailing behind, head bowed, thorns on her back.

“Huh? This… isn’t right…” Jun Xiaoyao frowned inwardly.

He felt Jun Zhangjian wasn’t following the script.

“My follower provoked Cousin Xiaoyao—I’ve brought her here to beg forgiveness with thorns on her back. I hope Cousin Xiaoyao will show mercy.” Jun Zhangjian smiled faintly.

Lan Qingya clenched her teeth, humiliated beyond words, yet knelt on the ground.

From between her bloody lips, she whispered: “I beg the Divine Son and Jun Linglong to forgive Qingya…”

After speaking, Lan Qingya wanted to bury her head in the earth.

Jun Linglong’s expression remained cold.

Jun Xiaoyao fell silent, deep in thought.

Jun Zhangjian’s eye twitched.

He truly feared Jun Xiaoyao would report him to the Eighteen Ancestors—his sequence future would be ruined.

He gritted his teeth, then pulled out a token: “By the way, during my external trials, I accidentally obtained two Yuan Tian Zhi Zun tokens—rumored to be linked to the Yuan Tian Zhi Zun’s secret treasury. I have no use for an extra one—I give it to Cousin Xiaoyao.”

“The Zhi Zun’s Secret Treasury!” Jun Linglong’s eyes flickered with shock.

Above the Sacred Realm lies the Zhi Zun Realm.

A being who stood atop the Immortal Realm’s peak—eternal, indestructible, terrifying across all ages and timelines!

The secret treasury of such a Zhi Zun was beyond imagination!

If such a token reached the outside world, it would spark a bloodbath, drawing countless prodigies to fight to the death for it!

Jun Zhangjian had spent great effort and paid heavy costs to obtain just two.

Jun Xiaoyao was surprised—Jun Zhangjian was willing to give up such a treasure?

As he pondered, a system voice echoed in his mind again.

“Ding! New check-in location has refreshed!”

“Check in at the Yuan Tian Zhi Zun Secret Treasury!”

“Another check-in location?” Jun Xiaoyao’s eyes flashed.

He had noticed a pattern in the check-in system.

First, multiple check-in locations could exist simultaneously.

Second, check-in locations could be triggered by events.

For example, the moment he learned of the Yuan Tian Zhi Zun Secret Treasury, the location refreshed.

“Well then, I’ll have to go there eventually,” Jun Xiaoyao thought.

Check-in opportunities were rare, and the unknown rewards were tempting.

“Cousin Zhangjian, you’re too modest…”

Jun Xiaoyao smiled faintly, raised his hand, and the Yuan Tian Zhi Zun token floated into his grasp.

Jun Zhangjian twitched his mouth as he held his sword.

I might not be human, but you’re truly a dog.

Yet even as Jun Zhangjian felt pain in his heart, he was also stunned.

“Such immense magic power—it’s golden! Could it really be the Ancient Holy Body, as the legends claim?”

Jun Zhangjian inwardly recoiled, growing even more wary of Jun Xiaoyao.