Chapter 139 - 138: Princess? Commandery Princess? The Heaven-Ascending Road at Age 7

She was dressed in exquisite embroidered finery, a brilliant pearled coronet on her head. Her brows were like distant, mist-wreathed mountains, her eyes like the shimmering waters of autumn. Every movement she made exuded nobility and grace.

Simply put, she was nearly as stunning as Fang Can himself.

A descendant of such a bloodline should have had extraordinary martial talent. He just didn't know why she had stopped practicing the martial arts.

"You must be the esteemed Young Master Fang." The young woman rose gracefully from the stone bench, her bearing neither servile nor overbearing. "My name is Jiang Qilan. As you are a man of the martial world, Young Master Fang, you may simply call me Miss Jiang."

"I've invited you here today primarily to thank you for your earlier rescue," Jiang Qilan said with a gentle smile.

"Rescue?" Fang Can was confused.

"Yes. When that First Turn Martial Artist tried to slaughter us all, you were willing to put your life on the line, standing before us and fighting to the death without retreating," Jiang Qilan explained.

When her guards had told her about it, even she hadn't imagined Fang Can could be so selfless.

'Er...' Fang Can was speechless. He hadn't expected them to interpret the event that way.

"It was nothing. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time," Fang Can said with a wave of his hand, not a hint of modesty in his voice. It was a complete coincidence.

"Regardless, you deserve our thanks." Jiang Qilan then tilted her head and asked curiously, "I hear you're a Disciple of Jiejian Mountain, Young Master Fang. I wonder if you know my older sister, the Commandery Princess."

"Commandery Princess?" Fang Can's first instinct was to say he didn't know her well, but when he suddenly made the connection with her surname, a bad feeling washed over him.

"Miss Jiang, this Commandery Princess's full name is...?"

"Jiang Ning'an," Jiang Qilan said with a beaming smile, but the name made Fang Can's expression freeze completely.

'Crap, I killed Elder Jiang's uncle!'

A bitter taste filled Fang Can's heart. He was already agonizing over whether his idealist Martial Dao could be used to resurrect someone.

After all, Jiang Ning'an had helped him a great deal, and they were old acquaintances. Now that he'd suddenly gotten himself into this huge mess, his conscience was bothering him.

But while his mind was in turmoil, he didn't let it show on his face. He put on a curious expression and said, "Of course I know Elder Jiang. I just never knew she was a Commandery Princess."

"It's normal that you wouldn't know, Young Master Fang. When Sister Jiang was five, her outstanding talent caught the eye of the Jiejian Mountain Sect Leader at a banquet, and he took her as his personal disciple."

"From then on, she began training at six and stepped into the Heaven-Ascending Road Realm at seven. She even topped the Ascending Dragon Leaderboard once, causing a massive sensation. She's not someone we mortals can compare to." As Jiang Qilan spoke, Fang Can was inwardly stunned.

'A seven-year-old at the Heaven-Ascending Road Realm? Seriously? Elder Jiang's talent is a little terrifying.'

Fang Can was secretly astonished. Countless Martial Artists would die of envy for that kind of talent. Fortunately, he was basically cheating, so he wasn't envious at all.

In the pavilion backed by a rockery, Fang Can and Jiang Qilan sat facing each other across a table.

Fang Can, who had originally been uninterested in dealing with this royal lady, found his interest piqued upon hearing she was Jiang Ning'an's cousin.

The two of them continued chatting, using Jiang Ning'an as a common topic, and gradually grew more familiar with each other.

Pinching a small, delicate pastry between two fingers and popping it into his mouth, Fang Can rested his right arm on the table, leaning forward slightly. "Miss Yilan, you didn't bring me here just to thank me, did you?"

"How did you know, Young Master Fang?" Jiang Qilan's eyes widened slightly.

"My intuition is usually very sharp. So you might as well just be direct," Fang Can said with a smile.

"Well..." Jiang Qilan hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "I invited you here, Young Master, because one of my guards wishes to speak with you."

"A guard?" Fang Can's eyes narrowed slightly. "The one on the roof."

"Is that your intuition too?" Jiang Qilan's eyes went wide, truly shocked this time.

Now that Fang Can had called him out, a black shadow detached itself from the darkness under the pavilion's eaves. It flowed downward, solidified into a slender human form, and then regained its color.

"This old servant, Wan Guixuan, an elder of the Wan family, pays his respects to Young Master Fang," the old man said, clasping his hands respectfully.

"Wan Guixuan? The Wan family? What's your relationship with that Wan Chenyu? And you're the one who spirited him away when he disappeared, aren't you?"

Fang Can's tone was unfriendly. Relying on intuition and deduction, he had directly pieced together the cause and effect.

Having been exposed, Wan Guixuan looked rather uncomfortable, but he hunched his back, bowing slightly, and said with a fawning smile, "The Wan family was in the wrong in this matter. We allowed our young master to act so rashly and offend you, Young Master Fang."

"Therefore, after careful consideration, my master decided that it is better to resolve grievances than to create enemies, and he wishes to reconcile with you, Young Master."

"You weren't so humble when you ignored me and took Wan Chenyu away. Coming and going as you pleased. Why didn't you think about talking to me then?"

Fang Can sneered, "What's the matter? Have you suddenly learned to be gentle, kind, and respectful, or are you just afraid of ending up like Wang Peng?"

Feeling no need to be diplomatic, Fang Can spoke in a tone that was almost cruel, but his words hit home, striking a nerve in Wan Guixuan.

After personally witnessing Fang Can defeat a First Turn Martial Artist despite being at a lower level, the Wan family Patriarch had been losing sleep night after night. To be honest, he was terrified.

If the appearance of the Fourth Turn Martial Artist proved that Fang Can had powerful backers, this battle proved that it wouldn't be long before there were few people left *above* Fang Can. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Driven by fear and worry, the Wan family Patriarch decided to back down. He used a Soul Lamp to contact Wan Guixuan overnight, ordering him to get in touch with Fang Can at all costs and resolve this feud.

And because Wan Guixuan had appeared to protect the royal lady during the battle between Wang Peng and Fang Can, he decided to use Jiang Qilan as a channel to get to Fang Can.

Through these various roundabout connections, this meeting had finally come to be.

And now, faced with Fang Can's mockery, Wan Guixuan didn't dare to talk back. He could only feign a look of shame and say:

"We were in the wrong before. Please, Young Master, be magnanimous. We can certainly offer compensation that will satisfy you."

"Compensation that will satisfy me?" Fang Can said, almost laughing his head off. "How about you return my spoils of war before you even talk to me."

As he spoke, Fang Can held his palm open in front of Wan Guixuan. "Wang Peng's glass spectacles should be with you, right? As the only other First Turn Martial Artist on the scene, you must have been the one to pocket his Sacrificial Artifact."