The Shining Star Above The Heaven-Chapter 407: I Think You All Have Misunderstood Something

Seeing Aldrian staring speechlessly at the guqin before him, Xavier could only inwardly smile in satisfaction. Even though the young man was a formidable cultivator even capable of battling high emperor-stage beasts, he was still human, with desires like anyone else. This artifact was something the second prince believed would demonstrate their "sincerity" and entice the young man to take the bait.

Who wouldn’t want a high divine-grade artifact? It had been millions of years since the last successful creation of one. Such artifacts were highly coveted, and Xavier was certain that only the sovereign families of empires possessed them.

Seeing Aldrian rendered speechless by the artifact before him, Xavier already knew that he—no, the second prince had already succeeded in captivating this young man. With this, he only needed to push a little further and lure him to the capital.

"Where did you get this artifact?" Aldrian’s voice resounded in his ears.

Xavier wanted to answer, but for some reason, when he looked into Aldrian’s eyes again, he felt that something had changed. Pushing aside his curiosity, he replied,

"This artifact has been passed down for millions of years within the Losaris imperial family. I don’t know its exact origin, but it is said that one day, the imperial family suddenly came into possession of this high divine-grade artifact, causing a great uproar at the time."

"Many rumors about its origins have circulated since then. Some say that the imperial family secretly created it over many years and only revealed it after their success."

"There is also another rumor suggesting that the artifact was given to the imperial family by unknown noble family. However, this claim lacks strong evidence, as no noble family in recorded history has ever possessed an artifact of this caliber."

Aldrian, hearing Xavier’s answer, nodded inwardly—there was no lie in his words. It seemed he would have to investigate the matter himself, as the artifact before him was the real deal! This was the same guqin the woman had played in his vision. He looked at the guqin’s information again.

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The Spirit of Great Path

Description: A guqin crafted by the ancient great forgemaster Vanaris at the request of the first ancestor of all phoenixes. A guqin imbued with boundless intent to follow the great path of the ultimate ruler, as reflected in its name. Currently, the guqin is sealed, causing its quality to drop to the high divine grade. The seal can be lifted once the required conditions are met.

Level: High Divine Grade (Sealed).

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The guqin was in a sealed state, which made him wonder what kind of requirements were needed to unseal it. Considering it was an artifact crafted by an ancient forgemaster from the higher heavens, he knew this wasn’t its true quality. It was no surprise that the artifact remained powerful even in its sealed state.

Now, the real question in his mind was—how did an artifact of this caliber, once used by a legendary figure like the first ancestor of the phoenixes, end up in the hands of the Losaris imperial family—in this continent?

Suddenly, he remembered the origin sword he had found within the secret realm inside Dragon Back Mountain. He sighed inwardly—why should he be wonder that an artifact like this guqin was here? Even the first sword in existence was on this continent, so why wouldn’t the guqin used by the first ancestor of the phoenixes be here as well?

With this information, he also understood that the woman who had played the guqin was actually the first ancestor of the phoenixes or in other words, the very first phoenix to come into existence.

From ’his’ conversation with her, it seemed that ’he’ had his own guqin, known as the Guqin of Origin. He was almost certain that everything connected to him and ’that figure’ would always have ’origin’ in its name.

He also recalled that the first time he had met ’that figure,’ he had seen him playing a guqin beneath a peach blossom tree.

That was one of the mysteries he wanted to uncover—why? Why did everything bear the name ’origin’?

Origin Sword.

Thread of Origin.

Guqin of Origin.

Was it because that figure was a truly ancient being, far older than anything else, having witnessed the first emergence of countless things and thus naming them ’origin’?

His hypothesis about his real past identity and its connection to that figure kept growing stronger, all pointing to one conclusion. Despite the vague answers that figure had given him at the time, he remained convinced that this conclusion was correct.

Seeing Aldrian remain silent for a long time, Xavier assumed he was contemplating whether to accept the artifact or not. He knew that giving away an artifact of this caliber was not something that could be brushed off as mere compensation. This was a truly magnificent treasure. Unless there were special circumstances, anyone would question the intent behind offering such an artifact.

In his opinion, Aldrian might have felt that the situation did not justify receiving a high divine-grade artifact. That was why Xavier believed Aldrian might be suspicious of the second prince’s true intentions and was carefully considering how to respond.

"Your Excellency, you don’t have to worry about our sincerity. We offer this to you as compensation because we are truly sorry for our actions. This is the least we can do to ease your anger and mend any enmity between us. It is also a gesture to show our intent to repair our relationship and build a more amicable connection with Your Excellency," Xavier said, his voice filled with persuasion and sincerity.

Aldrian, upon hearing this, merely sneered inwardly. Xavier’s expression and tone, seemingly full of sincerity, might fool others but definitely not him.

Every word he spoke was a lie!

Yet, Aldrian simply smiled as if he agreed with Xavier and gave a nod.

"I see. I’m truly impressed by the lengths the second prince has gone to in order to mend our relationship—even offering me such a valuable treasure. I can truly see his sincerity," he said while stroking the guqin with his fingers.

As he touched it, a strange sense of familiarity washed over him, as if he held this guqin in the past. The smooth surface was proof of how well-maintained it was, though that was hardly surprising. After all, this was a priceless artifact.

An urge to play it stirred within him. It felt as if this had been his hobby for a long time, and now that he finally had the chance, he wanted to indulge in it. However, before that, he needed to deal with the person in front of him. After seeing the guqin, he had completely lost the interest to continue this charade any longer.

Hearing Aldrian’s words, Xavier felt truly satisfied and was about to persuade him further, but the words caught in his throat the moment he saw Aldrian’s expression turn serene. Those blue eyes, void of any emotion, reflected his own startled face.

"That is what you wanted me to say, right?" Aldrian said.

Xavier suddenly realized that the atmosphere had shifted. Something was different about Aldrian—his mood had changed entirely.

Before he could react, his body was slammed into the table, shattering it instantly, and his head hit the floor with a thud. His guardian knight suffered the same fate, his body suddenly feeling unbearably heavy before crashing hard onto the ground.

"Argh!" Xavier groaned in pain, blood streaming from his broken nose and the fresh wounds on his face caused by the shattered table. It had happened so fast that he had no idea what was going on. Struggling through the pain, he forced himself to look at Aldrian.

"Your Excellency... what... is the meaning of... this?" he asked, struggling to speak. Right now, his body felt unbearably heavy, so much so that he could barely lift a finger.

The sudden "attack" had caught him completely off guard, leaving him with no time to defend himself. His energy was in chaos, making it impossible to circulate, further rendering him vulnerable.

Aldrian didn’t respond. Instead, he calmly stood up and carried his cup of tea which he had saved before the table shattered to a smaller table nearby.

Xavier felt a deep sense of terror creeping over him. Had he unknowingly offended Aldrian in some way?

"You came all this way just to lie to me. I have truly seen the intent of the second prince," Aldrian said as he walked closer to Xavier.

Seeing Aldrian approach, Xavier was overcome with horror. He wanted to move away, but he couldn’t—gravity held him in place. His guardian knight was equally helpless. Their king-stage cultivation was useless after being caught off guard.

As Aldrian drew nearer, a surge of adrenaline coursed through Xavier’s body, giving him the strength to slowly push himself up from the floor. He wanted to speak, to say something, anything, but before he could, his entire body froze. Even his mouth refused to move.

Aldrian had placed a spatial lock on him.

"I think you all have misunderstood something here," Aldrian said as he stopped in front of Xavier.

From his position, Xavier could only see Aldrian’s body, not his face. But then, he felt his hair being yanked, forcing him to look up into Aldrian’s piercing blue eyes.

"I already told you all my demand, to hand over that traitor. Yet here you are, on behalf of the second prince, talking about ’amending’ our relationship. No, no, I have no need for you all to amend our relationship. What I want is that traitor."

"Forget about your so-called apologies after offending me. Instead of taking my warnings seriously, you all dared to plot against me again?"

Aldrian’s voice sent a chilling sensation down Xavier’s spine. He wanted to speak, to beg, but only muffled sounds escaped his lips.

"You all really want to see this through to the end, don’t you?" Aldrian continued, his tone calm. "I’ll play along. I want to see just how far the second prince will go to keep that traitor from me."