Before the palace, the thousands of figures were also stunned, as they stared at Nine Nether, who had just appeared. After a short while, they recovered from their surprise and immediately knelt. A respectful voice spread throughout the place: "Master, welcome back to the palace!"
Their voices were filled with intense joy. Nobody had expected that the master of their Nine Nether Palace would actually return at this moment. Originally, they had thought that the master of the Nine Nether Palace would never come back.
Hearing the deafening voice, Nine Nether was also somewhat surprised. Before she had left, there were not that many people in the Nine Nether Palace. Furthermore, she was not good at management, so most of the time, the place was a mess. On the other hand, the people here presently seemed much more imposing.
"You sisters did great. You were actually able to manage the Nine Nether Palace to become what it is now." Nine Nether held the girl in her arms and smiled happily.
"It's all to elder sister's credit," the girl in light red clothes, who seemed to be somewhat delicate, rubbed her red eyes and said in an embarrassed tone.
Nine Nether smiled and stared at the girl in black suit. The latter bit her rosy lips gently, and the original aloofness and sharpness in her eyes all vanished. However, she obviously had great self-control. Therefore, although she was very excited in her heart, she still did not forget herself. Instead, she bowed slightly and said in a respectful tone, "Master, welcome back to the palace."
"Bing'er, we had agreed that you would call me sister."
Nine Nether held the hand of the girl in the black suit. With some affection in her beautiful eyes, she said, "You must have had a hard time during these years. Don't blame me, because I almost couldn't come back as well."
"Master..." the girl in the black suit immediately shook her head. However, seeing that the eyes of Nine Nether were widening, she quickly changed her words and said, "How can I blame sister. Before you left, you put the Nine Nether Palace under our charge. We will naturally do our best."
"In the first place, the Nine Nether Palace is only part of the formality. You are so stubborn," Nine Nether said, resigned. At the beginning, she was the weakest among the nine lords. Hence, towards her becoming a lord, many people in the Daluo Territory were dissatisfied at the idea. However, because of the Condor King and her own background, they did not dare say much.
But, once she left, the two sisters had probably been bullied because of their abilities. Furthermore, Tang Bing was exceptionally resilient, so even if she was bullied, she would probably just grit her teeth and mind her own business.
Clearly over these years, the two sisters had been tolerating everything in Daluo Territory. Thinking of this, Nine Nether felt sorry for them.
"Oh yeah..."
Scanning her gaze around, Nine Nether seemed to have recalled something, and frowning, she asked, "Where is Cao Feng? Before I left that time, I asked him to help you."
Hearing the name, the expressions of the two girls changed slightly. The girl in the black suit called Tang Bing bit her lips firmly, and after hesitating for a while, she finally took a deep breath and replied, "Sister... Cao Feng, he... he already switched to become a subordinate under Lord Blood Hawk... He had already left our Nine Nether Palace..."
Just as she finished speaking, Nine Nether's originally smiling face turned slightly stiff. The atmosphere quickly became somewhat frozen.
The delicate girl, who was in Nine Nether's arms, also bit her lips and said angrily, "That Cao Feng is so ungrateful. After seeing that no news had been heard about you for many years, he left the Nine Nether Palace and switched to take refuge under Lord Blood Hawk."
"At the beginning, sister, you saw that he was so pitiful, and saved him from the corpses. If it hadn't been for you, he would not have become who he is today!"
Patting the girl's head gently, Nine Nether sighed and said, "I know that Cao Feng places heavy emphasis on his own benefits, but I didn't expect that he couldn't even commit for these few years."
Her voice was filled with some disappointment. During that time, the young man had experienced a miserable event, so she showed some compassion and helped him. She did not expect that his moral character would still be so disappointing.
"Sister, rest assured, in the future, I will definitely not let that traitor off!" Tang Bing gritted her teeth. Even though Nine Nether was not really concerned about Cao Feng's betrayal, she could still not tolerate it.
In the past, because of a war, all of the clan members of the two sisters were killed by a hostile clan. At that time, if Nine Nether had not appeared, they would probably have ended up in a situation that was more unbearable than being killed. Thus, they had always viewed Nine Nether as their closest savior. Thus, they would not be able to tolerate anything that would harm Nine Nether.
The Nine Nether Palace was weak, and she was always a step away from breaking through to the sovereign-level. Otherwise, no matter what happened, she would not let the traitor off easily!
Hearing her words, Nine Nether only smiled. She was not too sad about Cao Feng's betrayal. After all, in her heart, she was clearly more concerned about the two sisters before her. They had been persevering all the way, and this caused her to feel very pleased.
"Next time, I will not leave you behind easily." Nine Nether chuckled. Then, she stared at Tang Bing and said, "Bing'er, you seem to have yet to break through to the sovereign-level?"
Back then, when she left, Tang Bing was already in the Heavenly Completion Stage, and was just a step away from the three sovereign disasters. Based on her talent and the resources in the Daluo Territory, it was nearly impossible that she had yet to break through to the sovereign-level.
Tang Bing blushed slightly and nodded gently.
"Sister Nine Nether, don't blame my sister. These years, when she has cultivated, she has not been using even one drop of sovereign spiritual liquid. All the sovereign spiritual liquid obtained from the Daluo Territory has been used by her to train the newcomers in the palace. Otherwise, Nine Nether Palace would not have the scene it enjoys right now." The girl in light red clothes was called Tang Rong, and at the moment, she quickly helped her sister to justify.
Nine Nether heard her words and was stunned. Then, she looked at the thousands of people, who were kneeling down neatly on the cultivation ground, and questioned, "We Nine Nether Palace should receive ten thousand sovereign spiritual liquid each year, and also, close to ten thousand from the areas under our control. That's still not enough?"
Tang Rou was hesitating as to whether she should speak. However, Tang Bing stared at her, and she could only close her mouth.
"Bing'er, you tell me." Seeing their subtle actions, Nine Nether seemed to have noticed something. Even her voice became more freezing.
Hearing that, Tang Bing could only gave a bitter smile and replied, "Sister Nine Nether, soon after you left, there were other masters, who said that the Nine Nether Palace is unworthy of the name and cannot become a real lord-level organization in Daluo Territory. Therefore, they jointly suggested to the panel of Elders that our Nine Nether Palace be disbanded."
"However, because the Condor King spoke for us, in the end, the Nine Nether Palace remained, but our supply each year dropped from ten thousand sovereign spiritual liquid to five thousand..."
"As for the areas that we control, there were also many developed cities that were annexed by the other masters secretly. We were weak and could not contest with them, so we could only tolerate them."
"Because of these things, the total amount of sovereign spiritual liquid that our Nine Nether Palace can use in a year is no more than five thousand drops..."
Tang Rou also said softly, "Yeah. Sister needs a lot of sovereign spiritual liquid to break through to the sovereign-level, so she never dared break through. Every time, the sovereign spiritual liquid was distributed to the others, which is why she delayed her own cultivation."
"They're really too much!"
Nine Nether widened her eyes in anger, her face filling with rage, while her plump breasts rose and fell gently. Clearly, she was very furious. She did not expect that once she left, the others would dare exploit the Nine Nether Palace to such an extent.
Naturally, she knew that the masters who Tang Bing and her sister were talking about were the other few lords. In the past, when she was still here, those people were already dissatisfied that she was much weaker, but had the same status as them.
However, because of her background, nobody dared say anything. She did not expect that, the moment she had left, these bastards could no longer take it and would react.
Nine Nether's face was filled with iciness, and a huge spiritual energy pressure spread in spite of herself. Immediately, many people on the cultivation ground could not take the pressure, and thus, started lying on the ground.
Tang Bing was also forced to back off a few steps, due to the spiritual energy pressure, but instead, she looked at Nine Nether with surprise and said joyfully, "Sister Nine Nether, you have passed the tribulation?"
At that moment, the spiritual energy pressure coming from Nine Nether was no weaker than the other eight lords. It seemed that, over these years, when Nine Nether was missing, she had successfully passed the tribulation.
Nine Nether nodded gently. Waving her hand, she said in a low voice, "Today, you can leave first. No matter how much suffering you have endured in the past, now I, the master of the palace, am back, and will not let anyone bully our Nine Nether Palace!"
Obviously, she said these things to the members of the Nine Nether Palace on the plaza.
"Yes Master!"
Hearing her words, the members of the Nine Nether Palace replied neatly at once, in an excited tone. Then, they left in an orderly manner and all seemed to be enthusiastic. Finally, there would again be someone who would support the Nine Nether Palace. They would also be freed from all the humiliations they had suffered in the past.
As the plaza became quiet, the coldness on Nine Nether's face gradually disappeared. Waving her hand, she said, "Mu Chen, you can come out now."
Tang Bing and Tang Rou were both stunned. Then, she saw a figure flying closer and eventually appear beside Nine Nether. Mu Chen showed up and smiled in a friendly manner at Tang Bing and Tang Rou.
Tang Rou was somewhat shy, and turned her eyes away after looking at Mu Chen. On the other hand, Tang Bing stared at him, alert. It seemed that, after experiencing the incident of Cao Feng, she had become cautious about any man that came anywhere close to Nine Nether.
"This is Mu Chen. All thanks to him, I can pass the tribulation this time."
Nine Nether then pointed at the two girls with her slim finger. "This is Tang Bing, Tang Rou. They're my sisters..."
Hearing that Mu Chen had helped Nine Nether so much, Tang Rou endured her embarrassment and glanced at Mu Chen with a grateful look. Tang Bing also looked at Mu Chen once again, before nodding slightly at him, indicating that he was barely approved.
"Bing'er, how much sovereign spiritual liquid do you need to tackle the breakthrough to the sovereign-level?" Nine Nether suddenly asked.
"I need at least... a thousand drops." Tang Bing hesitated for a while, before giving the least amount she could in reply.
Hearing that, Mu Chen smiled. He then closed his palm, and a glittering jade bottle appeared in his hand. He then extended his hand towards Tang Bing and said, "Sister Tang Bing, there are two thousand drops of sovereign spiritual liquid inside. It should be enough for you to break through."
After obtaining the mustard seed bracelet from Liu Ming, Mu Chen also got quite a large amount of sovereign spiritual liquid from it. Therefore, he was very generous.
Tang Bing paused for a while, but did not take the bottle. Instead, she looked at Nine Nether. Seeing that the latter nodded her head gently, she took the bottle lightly, and the aloofness on her face finally became milder. She said to Mu Chen softly, "Thank you."
"In the future, Mu Chen will also be a member of the Nine Nether Palace. We will all be like a family." Holding the hands of the two sisters, Nine Nether smiled and added, "I plan to let Mu Chen use the one commander quota our Nine Nether Palace has and compete for the 'Daluo Golden Pool'. Do you have any objections?"
Tang Bing and Tang Rou were again stunned after hearing that. They stared at each other and did not know whether to speak.
"Why? Bing'er, is it that you also planned to go?" Nine Nether saw that and asked curiously.
"No... of course, sister, you can decide on that matter."
Tang Bing quickly shook her head. After hesitating for a while, she smiled bitterly and said, "Two years ago, the one quota to contest for the 'Daluo Golden Pool' that our Nine Nether Palace has each year was forcefully 'bought' by Lord Blood Hawk using one thousand drops of sovereign spiritual liquid... We did not have the abilities to reject at all. So, our Nine Nether Palace did not have the rights to contest for the 'Daluo Golden Pool' for quite some time already..."
Just as she finished talking, Nine Nether's face became totally icy. She gritted her teeth firmly, and fire seemed to be coming from her eyes. This bastard Lord Blood Hawk is really bullying us too much!