Chapter 611: Yu Feiyan Makes Her Move
Three days ago!
Inside the Frost Lily Pavilion, the atmosphere remained calm and serene as ever.
Snowflakes drifted slowly from the sky while countless icy mountains stood beneath the clouds like immortal blades piercing the heavens.
At the highest palace within the sect, Yu Qingya quietly sat beside a frozen lake.
Her beautiful eyes calmly observed the chessboard before her.
Across from her sat the Frost Lily Pavilion Master.
Several elders also stood nearby silently.
Not long ago, news regarding the Third Prince’s actions had already reached them.
Yu Wenzhao had officially begun devouring the Seventh Prince’s forces.
When Yu Qingya first received the news, she immediately realized the danger.
If Yu Wenzhao completely digested the Seventh Prince’s foundation smoothly, his strength would rise to an extremely troublesome level.
By then, her faction would struggle to suppress him.
Thus, Yu Qingya had originally intended to move immediately.
She planned to become the third party watching from behind the shadows.
Once Yu Wenzhao and the Seventh Prince exhausted each other further, she would descend directly and reap the benefits herself.
After all, this was the perfect opportunity.
Otherwise, once the Third Prince fully absorbed the Crimson Thunder Palace, he would become far too powerful to handle later.
Thus, the Frost Lily Pavilion had already begun gathering experts from her faction.
However, before they could even mobilize fully, another piece of news suddenly arrived.
"The Ninth Princess has mobilized her forces toward the Frost Lily Pavilion!"
The moment those words were spoken, even the surrounding elders became briefly stunned.
Yu Qingya herself also paused slightly.
Although her expression remained calm outwardly, a trace of genuine surprise still flickered deep within her eyes.
Yu Feiyan?
Coming to attack her?
Before the Battle for the Throne, Yu Qingya barely remembered the Ninth Princess aside from knowing that lowly blood flowed within her veins and that she was considered a disgrace.
Previously, even looking directly into her eyes would have been impossible for Yu Feiyan.
(Just how did she change this much?)
But there was no point dwelling on that now.
For a brief moment, silence filled the frozen hall.
Clearly, even the Frost Lily Pavilion had not expected this development.
After all, among the remaining competitors, the Frost Lily Pavilion publicly possessed one of the strongest foundations remaining.
Under normal circumstances, the Ninth Princess should have been avoiding them instead.
Yet now, Yu Feiyan had personally chosen to attack them first.
One elder frowned slightly.
"Could this be a trap?"
Another elder shook his head calmly.
"Regardless of her intentions, attacking us directly is foolish."
Soon, the Frost Lily Pavilion Master slowly spoke.
"Perhaps... but this may not necessarily be a bad thing."
The surrounding elders immediately looked toward him.
The Pavilion Master’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Originally, they planned to act as the third party between Yu Wenzhao and the Seventh Prince.
However, no matter how weak the Ninth Princess’s faction appeared compared to them, if they diverted too much of their strength, they might not be able to handle both situations simultaneously.
Compared to the Ninth Princess, dealing with the Third Prince was far more important.
But ignore Ninth Princess’s advance?
Although regrettable, they all knew their best option now was to abandon their plan to target the Third Prince and focus fully on the Ninth Princess who was approaching them.
Thinking about this, the Frost Lily Pavilion Master calmly asked,
"How strong are Yu Feiyan’s current forces?"
Soon, intelligence reports were quickly presented.
Several elders carefully reviewed the information.
After a while, faint smiles gradually appeared across numerous faces.
"No Earth Immortal Realm experts."
"Only around five Immortal Ascension Realm cultivators overall."
"As for the rest, not worth mentioning."
...
The Frost Lily Pavilion remained extremely calm after learning the details.
Because compared to them, Yu Feiyan’s foundation truly appeared lacking.
The Frost Lily Pavilion alone possessed an Earth Immortal expert.
Not to mention multiple Immortal Ascension cultivators and countless elite disciples.
No matter how strange Yu Feiyan’s rise had been recently, absolute strength still determined everything eventually.
At least—
That was what they believed.
Soon afterward, discussions quickly concluded.
The Frost Lily Pavilion would abandon their previous plans entirely.
Instead of targeting Yu Wenzhao now, they would focus fully on the Ninth Princess first.
"If Yu Feiyan dares come here personally... then we’ll bury her here completely!"
Several elders nodded one after another.
Clearly, they all viewed this as an enormous opportunity.
If they could eliminate the Ninth Princess now, the throne war would immediately shrink once again.
And more importantly, Yu Feiyan’s rapidly expanding forces would all become resources for the Frost Lily Pavilion instead.
At the center of the hall, Yu Qingya quietly listened to the discussion.
She slowly nodded.
"Very well!"
A cold light gradually appeared within her eyes.
(I want to see what you are hiding, Yu Feiyan!)
***
And just as the intelligence reports claimed—
The Ninth Princess’s forces began advancing toward the Frost Lily Pavilion.
However, strangely enough, she did not appear hurried at all.
This was no surprise attack.
No attempt to move swiftly before the Frost Lily Pavilion could prepare.
Instead, her forces advanced steadily and calmly across the empire like they didn’t care that Yu Qingya would know about their attack.
At first, Yu Qingya and the Frost Lily Pavilion did not think much about it.
After all, from their perspective, the Ninth Princess was merely walking directly into a trap.
But soon—
New reports continuously arrived one after another.
"The Cloud River Sect has joined the Ninth Princess!"
"The White Stone Clan has submitted!"
"The Golden Flame Pavilion has defected!"
...
Inside the Frost Lily Pavilion, the atmosphere gradually became strange.
Because those forces...
Originally belonged to them.
Or more accurately—
They had all previously supported the Fourth Princess’s faction.
Yet now, as Yu Feiyan advanced across the territories, those clans and sects unexpectedly switched allegiance one after another.
And the most unbelievable part was that there barely seemed to be any fighting.
The reports consistently described the same thing.
Yu Feiyan would arrive.
Then after a brief meeting...
The entire clan or sect would willingly submit.
No battle.
No resistance.
No bloodshed.
Almost as if they had become bewitched.
Inside the frozen hall, several elders’ expressions had already become somewhat ugly.
"This makes no sense."
"The White Stone Clan has followed us for years."
"And the Cloud River Sect Master is known for his stubborn personality. He should never surrender so easily."
Even Yu Qingya herself gradually frowned.
Some of those clans truly were extremely loyal to her faction.
And others, even if they lacked loyalty, still should not have been easy to sway.
Yet Yu Feiyan barely seemed to spend any effort convincing them.
And afterward, those same people immediately became completely obedient to her faction.
It was as though something invisible had quietly changed their minds entirely.
This naturally made Yu Qingya increasingly wary.
At first, she viewed Yu Feiyan’s forces with some contempt.
No Earth Immortal.
Only around five Immortal Ascension cultivators.
Compared to the Frost Lily Pavilion and her other forces, the difference should have been overwhelming.
But now, as the Ninth Princess continued advancing, her forces were continuously expanding at an astonishing speed.
Every territory she passed through seemed to become part of her faction effortlessly.
The army behind her grew larger and larger.
According to the reports, many newly joined clans and sects displayed fanatical loyalty almost immediately.
As if they truly believed Yu Feiyan would become the future ruler of the empire without question.
But it wasn’t just the Fourth Princess’s faction being devoured.
Even forces belonging to the Third Prince and First Prince were absorbed without hesitation.
The only ones spared were those belonging to the Neutral Alliance.
It took the Ninth Princess more than three days after the Fourth Princess first received reports of her advance.
Finally—
The Frost Lily Pavilion saw the Ninth Princess’s forces arrive.
Countless figures filled the snowy plains outside the sect.
Banners fluttered beneath the freezing winds while powerful auras spread endlessly across the horizon.
However, strangely enough, the atmosphere did not resemble an army preparing for an immediate assault at all.
No experts charging forward.
No killing intent erupting toward the Frost Lily Pavilion.
Instead, Yu Feiyan’s forces calmly stopped outside the sect as though they were merely visiting another faction.
At the center of the massive army stood Yu Feiyan herself.
Behind her stood countless experts and sect leaders who had recently joined her faction.
Many among them originally belonged to the Fourth Princess.
Yet now, every single one stood behind Yu Feiyan obediently without the slightest hesitation.
High above the Frost Lily Pavilion, countless icy formations illuminated the sky.
The Frost Lily Pavilion experts had already gathered completely.
At the front stood Yu Qingya herself.
Beside her stood the Frost Lily Pavilion Master alongside numerous elders.
Their gazes remained cold as they stared toward the approaching army below.
Yu Qingya quietly observed the Ninth Princess carefully.
The more she looked, the stranger she felt.
Because the current Yu Feiyan felt completely unfamiliar to her.
It was as though the person standing before her now was no longer the same Ninth Princess she once remembered.
"You sure took your time coming here."
Her voice echoed coldly across the snowy battlefield.
Yu Feiyan merely smiled faintly.
Meanwhile, Yu Qingya’s gaze slowly shifted behind Yu Feiyan.
Toward the former subordinate clans and sects who had betrayed her faction recently.
All of them now stood respectfully behind the Ninth Princess as though following her was the most natural thing in the world.
Seeing this scene, several Frost Lily Pavilion elders could no longer suppress their anger.
One elder immediately stepped forward furiously.
"Traitors!"
Her voice thundered across the battlefield.
"The Frost Lily Pavilion supported your sects for years, yet you dare betray the Fourth Princess now?!"
Another elder’s expression turned incomparably ugly.
"Have you all forgotten who protected your clans all these years?!"
Their voices carried both fury and disbelief.
Because even now, many of them still could not understand why these clans suddenly defected so easily.
However, the reactions from those former allies were even stranger.
None of them showed guilt.
None appeared ashamed.
Instead, they merely looked calmly toward the Frost Lily Pavilion elders.
Almost as though they genuinely did not understand why the others were angry.
One sect master slowly stepped forward before speaking respectfully,
"The Ninth Princess is the rightful future ruler of the empire."
His tone sounded completely natural.
"As her subjects, following her is only proper."
The Frost Lily Pavilion elders’ expressions immediately changed further.
Because the man speaking now was previously one of Yu Qingya’s most loyal supporters.
Yet now, he spoke as though abandoning the Fourth Princess was the most obvious decision imaginable.
Another clan leader also nodded calmly.
"We merely followed the will of Heaven."
"There is nothing shameful about that."
The surrounding Frost Lily Pavilion experts gradually felt chills rising within their hearts.
This was no longer normal loyalty.
These people almost looked brainwashed.
These people truly believed what they were saying.
There was no hesitation.
No unwillingness whatsoever.
It was as though the moment they joined Yu Feiyan’s faction, all doubts within their hearts had completely disappeared.
"Fourth Sister, how about we have a talk?"
Yu Feiyan asked.
Yu Qingya immediately became wary, as did the surrounding elders.
If it were anyone else, perhaps they would not have thought much of it.
But Yu Feiyan was different.
Who knows what kind of ability she has to make so many of their loyal followers betray them?
"What? Scared?"
Yu Feiyan asked calmly.
"Don’t worry. You can bring your Sect Leader and Grand Elders. I merely want to speak with you personally one last time before our clash."
Yu Qingya looked toward Yu Feiyan and then toward the Frost Lily Pavilion elders beside her.
No matter what strange tricks Yu Feiyan possessed, Yu Qingya still did not believe they could overcome the combined strength of an Earth Immortal Realm expert and multiple Immortal Ascension Realm cultivators.
Moreover, this situation could actually benefit them.
If they managed to capture Yu Feiyan directly, then her entire faction would likely collapse immediately afterward.
No matter how Yu Qingya thought about it, there seemed to be no reason to reject the request.
"Okay!"
Yu Qingya replied coldly.
"But only for ten minutes."
