It was the 18th year after Ye Ling's death.
In Youzhou, Shengjing.
Youzhou was a small territory under the Yuan family.
Overnight, it was attacked by a mysterious colossus. Twelve courtyards were instantly reduced to ashes.
In Youzhou, there was an alliance called the Cloud and Mist Alliance.
The master of the Cloud and Mist Alliance was Jun Xin, one of the two most favored inner - sect disciples of the Yuan family. Now she was also a seventh - realm spiritual herbalist at the Black Iron level.
With the destruction of the Yuan family's subordinate mansions, Jun Xin immediately dispatched her disciples to investigate.
However, after the investigation, nothing was found except a golden feather.
The thing that attacked the Yuan family's courtyards must not be an ordinary one.
Jun Xin was no ordinary woman.
She was only seventeen years old. But at the age of three, her spiritual root was opened by Lin Feng. That is to say, normal spiritual herbalists usually start their cultivation around the age of ten.
She started seven years earlier than others.
In these fourteen years, her abilities had soared at an extremely fast pace, which even surprised Yuan Xin, the head of the Yuan family.
As time passed, Jun Xin became more and more charming.
But because of her extraordinary talents since childhood, except for being quite respectful to Miao Xi, another inner - sect disciple of the Yuan family, she looked down on everyone else.
Even though she was only seventeen, Yuan Xin still entrusted her with the Cloud and Mist Alliance in Youzhou. Most of the disciples in the alliance were women.
And these women all took Jun Xin as their role model.
Jun Xin was arrogant, so the reputation of the Cloud and Mist Alliance she led was not very good.
Therefore, the common people in Youzhou kept their distance from this sect. Jun Xin never expected that the culprit would target the Yuan family's courtyards under her jurisdiction.
Due to the destruction of the twelve courtyards, Jun Xin was in a bad mood when patrolling the streets in Youzhou these days. She looked at the people and always felt that everyone was looking at her with ill - intent.
If someone was unlucky enough to meet Jun Xin in a bad mood, those common people who offended her would surely be beaten up.
Although this young girl was extremely capable, she had little experience in the ways of the world. She only knew to look for clues within the city.
At this time, the real culprit, the phoenix, was resting ten li away from Youzhou.
It was the phoenix that destroyed the twelve courtyards of the Yuan family.
If the phoenix hadn't suddenly remembered what its master had said when burning those courtyards, all the disciples of the Cloud and Mist Alliance might have been buried with the Yuan family.
After some observation, Jun Xin found no suspicious points. So she randomly arrested several suspicious people in Youzhou and beheaded them.
This incident ended without a proper conclusion.
But the little witch never thought that among the people she killed, there was a man named Xiao Qi, who was from Qingyun Kingdom.
He came to Youzhou with Feng Zhan this time mainly to collect spiritual herbs. He wanted to try to find a way to help Yan Ruyu regain all her spiritual power as soon as possible.
He had only been in Youzhou for five days when this happened.
Their caravan had done nothing wrong. But because they were outsiders and new to the place, the people of the Cloud and Mist Alliance disliked their attire and had several of Feng Zhan's subordinates beheaded.
Feng Zhan didn't notice this until he came back.
He always acted cautiously. He hadn't told anyone when he came out this time. Although his initial purpose was to get rid of the annoying Jun Jiu, now, just a few days after arriving in Youzhou, his subordinates had been wrongly accused and killed.
Feng Zhan naturally couldn't swallow this insult.
So on the night when Jun Xin ordered the beheading of Xiao Qi and the others, Feng Zhan changed into a crescent - white long gown, held a boneless fan, and appeared at the gate of the Cloud and Mist Alliance.
It was late at night.
Jun Xin couldn't fall asleep, so she sat in the yard admiring the moon.
To be more precise, she was daydreaming.
Jun Xin had been the apple of everyone's eye since childhood. She had never encountered any hardships in her life, but she also missed out on a lot of the fun. All she had met were people who obeyed her.
Absent - minded Jun Xin didn't pay much attention at first when she saw a white light under the bright moon. But later, the white light grew bigger and bigger.
Then it turned into the figure of a handsome young man.
Although he was a man, his face was extremely handsome. Jun Xin thought she had seen countless handsome men, but she had never seen such a peerless beauty before.
Leaning on her chin with both hands, she was instantly captivated.
It wasn't until the white - clothed man came to her side.
"Are you the leader of the Cloud and Mist Alliance?"
Jun Xin's saliva dripped onto the table. She came back to her senses when she heard Feng Zhan's question.
"I'm the leader of the Cloud and Mist Alliance. Who are you?"
If such a handsome young man was willing to stay in the Cloud and Mist Alliance, Jun Xin would even be willing to kill a few more people.
But just as she was about to speak, she saw the man's face suddenly change.
"Did you kill Xiao Qi and the others?" Feng Zhan never killed innocent people. If there was a misunderstanding, he was willing to listen to the other person's explanation.
"Who is Xiao Qi?"
"The people who were killed in the bustling market today."
Jun Xin closed her eyes, thought for a while, and then suddenly realized.
"Yes, I killed them. So what? Can't I kill them?"
Feng Zhan's eyes narrowed slightly.
A dangerous aura instantly filled the entire Cloud and Mist Alliance.
"Why did you kill him?"
Jun Xin stared at the handsome man in front of her as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world.
"Why can't I kill him? I never need a reason to kill someone."
Anger rose in Feng Zhan's heart.
The boneless fan in his hand suddenly spread out, turning into eighteen sharp weapons and flying straight towards Jun Xin's vital parts.
The handsome man's movements were so fast that if Jun Xin hadn't started cultivating since childhood, she might not have been able to dodge these eighteen parts of the boneless fan.
In a panic, she managed to avoid Feng Zhan's attacks one by one.
Jun Xin's body spun four or five times in mid - air before landing in a hurry.
When she looked up again, the fan was back in the young man's hand.
The clothes on Jun Xin's arm had been cut by the sharp weapon at some point, and a bloodstain appeared on her fair and tender arm.
The young girl raised her eyes.
"You dare to hurt me?"
Feng Zhan's eyes turned dark blue. Under the moonlight, they looked so noble, mysterious, and spotless.
Sure enough, the people of the Feng family always bore a certain resemblance to their father, Feng Qingchen.
Jun Xin stared at Feng Zhan and was captivated again.
But Feng Zhan's cold voice rang in Jun Xin's ear.
"Not only do I dare to hurt you, but I also want to kill you!"