Your status is not as high as I imagined.

Qin Hao nodded slightly: "Speak, what is your trump card."

Ling Shuangshuang took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Actually, I have multiple identities. Not only am I the little princess of the Lingxiao Divine Dynasty, but I am also its patriarch. The Imperial Lord Lingxiao, who founded the Lingxiao Divine Dynasty, is my father."

Hearing this, Qin Hao froze. He looked Ling Shuangshuang up and down, then tentatively asked, "So you are a reincarnation?"

Ling Shuangshuang nodded. "That is right, I reincarnated. With your strength and talent, you must be a disciple of some major power. Since you are, you must have heard of the Ancient Immortal War."

"During the Ancient Immortal Era, our Ten Directions and Nine Netherworlds fought a great war against the foreign Three Realms and Nine Heavens. At first, they retreated in defeat and were no match for us at all. But later, a woman known as Miejue suddenly appeared. She reversed the tide of the war all by herself."

"In the entire Ten Directions and Nine Netherworlds, besides me, no one could last a hundred rounds against her. Although I could temporarily hold her off, my origin was damaged by her attacks. I searched the world for supreme treasures but could not heal the Dao wounds she left behind. In the end, I had no choice but to reincarnate."

Hearing this, Qin Hao silently gave Liu Ruyan a thumbs-up in his heart. As expected of my first wife, she is just that mighty, truly mighty!

After finishing her piece, Ling Shuangshuang quietly looked at Qin Hao. After a good while, she finally asked, "I have told you my greatest secret. I believe this is enough to show my sincerity. So, can you stay?"

Spiritual energy surged within Ling Shuangshuang's body. She was already prepared; if Qin Hao refused her, she would immediately call for her people to strike him down.

Qin Hao pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, I can stay, but I have a condition."

Hearing that Qin Hao was willing to stay, Ling Shuangshuang's face immediately lit up with joy. "Whatever condition you have, just ask. Like I said, I will satisfy all your demands."

"My condition is very simple. During our cooperation, collect the cultivation methods and divine abilities of your Lingxiao Divine Dynasty and other major powers for me. I have a use for them."

On the other side, Liu Ruyan had already gathered the strength of the entire Three Realms and Nine Heavens to establish the Immortal Court. Her goal was to launch a large-scale war against the foreign realms. Since they had decided to fight, having a thorough understanding of the enemy's situation would greatly increase their chances of winning.

Since he had this opportunity, Qin Hao naturally wanted to use Ling Shuangshuang to obtain intelligence on the major powers of the Ten Directions and Nine Netherworlds. If he could master their cultivation methods and divine abilities, he would be able to see through their flaws in battle.

Upon hearing Qin Hao's demand, the look in Ling Shuangshuang's eyes changed. Her purple pupils narrowed slightly, like two blades suddenly drawn from their sheaths, carrying a scrutinizing and probing light as they swept back and forth across Qin Hao's face.

"Collect the cultivation methods and divine abilities of the Lingxiao Divine Dynasty and other top-tier powers?" Ling Shuangshuang repeated Qin Hao's words, her voice neither light nor heavy. "Why do you want to collect these things? I can see that the spiritual energy in your body is even more condensed than the immortal energy of true immortals, and your physical strength has reached a terrifying realm."

"Your own cultivation methods and divine abilities should not be bad either. Why do you need these things?"

Ling Shuangshuang's tone sounded like a casual question, but Qin Hao noticed that her hand, hanging by her side, had unconsciously clenched.

Her vigilance isn't low at all, Qin Hao appraised silently in his heart, though his face remained completely impassive.

"As you've likely seen, I possess multiple physiques. Each of them is top-tier, but precisely because they are so powerful, there is a natural conflict and repulsion between them."

Ling Shuangshuang raised an eyebrow slightly. She didn't interrupt, merely watching him quietly.

"I can still suppress them for now, but as my cultivation base improves, the clashes between these physiques will only grow more intense. Therefore, I want to study the cultivation methods and divine arts of the major factions to draw inspiration and create a method of my own."

"Create a cultivation method of your own?"

Qin Hao nodded. "Exactly."

Ling Shuangshuang didn't answer immediately. Instead, she frowned in thought for a moment. Qin Hao didn't rush her, simply standing quietly to the side.

After a good while, she finally spoke.

"You may study the methods and divine arts of my Lingxiao Divine Dynasty as you please. As for those of other top-tier factions, I'm afraid it won't be so easy. I can get my hands on ordinary methods for you, but acquiring the core, clan-pacifying methods and divine arts of other factions won't be that simple."

Pausing here, Ling Shuangshuang took a step forward, leaning in so close she was practically pressing against Qin Hao's body. "I hope that you'll share a copy of the method you create with me. After all, it will be created using the resources I provide. That isn't too much to ask, is it?"

Qin Hao feigned hesitation, pretending to mull it over for a moment before nodding. "Alright."

"Then it's settled. Here is to a pleasant cooperation!"

Qin Hao grasped her outstretched hand and chuckled softly, "A pleasant cooperation."

"Let's go. I'll take you to the Scripture Pavilion."

Ling Shuangshuang naturally linked her arm through his, pulling him along in the direction of the Scripture Pavilion.

......

"Greetings, Your Highness. Princess, who might this be?" After bowing respectfully to Ling Shuangshuang, the two clan elders in charge of guarding the Lingxiao Divine Dynasty's Scripture Pavilion scrutinized Qin Hao with curiosity.

Ling Shuangshuang waved her hand dismissively. "This is a friend of mine. I brought him here to take a look around the Scripture Pavilion."

Hearing this, the faces of the two elders immediately hardened.

"Your Highness, forgive us for disobeying, but the methods and divine arts housed within the Scripture Pavilion are the closely guarded secrets of our Divine Dynasty. How can we allow an outsider to browse through them at will? We ask that the Princess please return."

"Indeed. After all, this concerns the absolute secrets of our Lingxiao Divine Dynasty. We beg the Princess's understanding."

The two Lingxiao Divine Dynasty elders were resolute in their stance, stepping directly in front of Qin Hao and Ling Shuangshuang, making it completely clear that the path was blocked.

Seeing the elders' refusal, Qin Hao wasn't angry. Instead, he looked at Ling Shuangshuang with a teasing expression. "From the looks of it, your status in the Divine Dynasty isn't quite as high as I imagined."

Ling Shuangshuang's face instantly flushed bright red. She remembered the bold words she had spoken to Qin Hao earlier—"All the resources of my Lingxiao Divine Dynasty, everything that belongs to me, Ling Shuangshuang, can be shared with you."

It hadn't even been an hour since she made that claim, and she was already being brutally slapped in the face by reality. Qin Hao's nonchalant tone, coupled with the teasing and mockery in his eyes, made her feel incredibly embarrassed and unable to maintain her pride.

She immediately sent a telepathic voice transmission to Qin Hao:

"As of now, the Emperor is the only one who knows my true identity. Those two clan elders are completely in the dark and merely treat me as an ordinary princess."

"Put your mind at ease. Since I, Ling Shuangshuang, dared to make such a claim, I naturally have the means to back it up."

Qin Hao shrugged, his expression entirely noncommittal.