The beautiful proprietress's gaze was icy, "Hmph! Are you trying to haggle with me?"
Zi Yuling sneered, "You don't want to hear my explanation anyway, so take it as you will!"
At this moment, she had thrown all caution to the wind.
Since she had already offended Phoenix Pavilion, offending them a little more wouldn't make much difference.
But if she couldn't prove that she was framed today, her reputation would be ruined, and she would forever bear the stigma of being a "mirror polisher," pointed at and gossiped about behind her back.
"You!"
The beautiful proprietress, enraged, let out a laugh, "Good! Very good! It's been a long time since anyone dared to cause trouble at Phoenix Pavilion. I fear the world has forgotten the price one pays for causing trouble here!"
As her words fell, she had already appeared before Zi Yuling.
She raised her palm and placed it on Zi Yuling's head, her entire aura erupting instantly.
Zi Linling and Ye Lingyuan's pupils constricted simultaneously, and they cried out in shock, "Divine King Realm!"
They never imagined that the proprietress of Phoenix Pavilion would be a powerhouse at the Divine King Realm.
They had encountered quite a few half-step Divine King Realm experts, and Ye Lingyuan himself was one.
But this was their first time seeing a true Divine King Realm expert.
It wasn't that they were ignorant, but Divine King Realm experts were exceedingly rare, like dragons appearing only to show their tails.
Thus, when they entered, although they found the beautiful proprietress somewhat peculiar, they never suspected she was a Divine King Realm expert.
Zi Yuling's sneer and madness vanished from her eyes, replaced by boundless terror.
She could never have imagined that the proprietress she had so easily assaulted would be a Divine King Realm expert.
And she, in her arrogance, not only offended a Divine King Realm expert but also dared to confront one.
"Am I going to die?"
Zi Yuling closed her eyes in despair.
However, the pain she anticipated never came.
"Hmph! Do you understand now? To play tricks under my nose and not be discovered, she couldn't do it! Therefore, she did not frame you!"
The beautiful proprietress's icy voice echoed in the silent Phoenix Pavilion.
After speaking, she withdrew her hand and returned to the counter.
"Impossible! Impossible! Impossible..."
Zi Yuling's body went limp, and she collapsed onto the ground, muttering in disbelief.
"Nothing is impossible!"
Zi Linling, recovering from her shock, interjected, "Normally, the burden of proof lies with the accuser. But who did you choose to suspect? Me!"
"Very well! I'll go to the trouble of showing you the evidence!"
As she said this, a transparent sphere appeared in her hand.
The beautiful proprietress's eyes narrowed, and she gasped, "Memory Crystal!"
She couldn't comprehend how a Memory Crystal, lost for a thousand years, could be in Zi Linling's possession.
Ye Lingyuan, standing beside Zi Linling, was also profoundly shocked.
Having awakened the memories of his father, Emperor Qingfeng Baoxi, he recognized the Memory Crystal.
And precisely because he recognized it, he was stunned.
Ancient texts had recorded that Memory Crystals had vanished for over a millennium.
Therefore, he never expected that his Lin'er would possess such a treasure, which led him to question once again if his Lin'er was truly an illegitimate daughter of the Heavenly Dao.
Zi Linling held the Memory Crystal and explained to Zi Yuling, "This is called a Memory Crystal. I obtained it at a stone gambling convention. Coincidentally, the moment you slipped, it captured the scene. So, open your eyes wide and see if I touched you!"
This Memory Crystal was precisely one of the treasures she had acquired at the gambling auction in Xuanyuan City.
To prevent the recording from being discovered, she had stored the Memory Crystal in her nascent world.
Her eyes were the eyes of her nascent world.
This was why even the beautiful proprietress, a Divine King Realm expert, hadn't noticed when she was recording.
Zi Linling then controlled the Memory Crystal to play back everything that had happened.
Upon watching, Zi Yuling's face turned pale.
For the one who framed her was not Zi Linling, but a shadowy figure.
However, the figure's appearance was so indistinct that she couldn't identify it.
"Do you understand now?"
Zi Linling put away the Memory Crystal and said sarcastically to Zi Yuling, "In the future, without evidence, don't go around barking like a mad dog. There's no rabies vaccine here. Once you become a mad dog, no one can save you!"
After speaking, she took a step back, took Ye Lingyuan's hand, and prepared to leave.
"Wait, both of you!"
The beautiful proprietress sent Zi Yuling out of Phoenix Pavilion with a palm strike and quickly stopped them.
Zi Linling turned back, surprised, "Does the proprietress have any other business?"
The beautiful proprietress shook the black crown in her hand, "Aren't you trying it on, young lady?"
Zi Linling shook her head, "I don't feel at ease wearing clothes that are too mischievous!"
Zi Yuling couldn't identify the shadowy figure that caused her to slip, but Zi Linling could.
Therefore, she didn't want to be tricked by a piece of clothing!
The beautiful proprietress froze, "You saw it just now?"
Zi Linling nodded, "I did see it, but I'm also curious, with your cultivation, how could you not avoid it?"
The beautiful proprietress smiled wryly, "I was tricked by it!"
As she spoke, she didn't forget to jiggle the black crown in her hand.
Now it was Zi Linling's turn to be stunned.
She pointed at the beautiful proprietress and then at the black crown, "You, a Divine King Realm expert, can also be tricked by it?"
A Divine King Realm expert being tricked by a piece of clothing, who would believe that? They would be a fool!
The beautiful proprietress smiled wryly again, "Isn't it? What is 'darkness before one's eyes'? This is it!"
"It expressed its will to me, pulling that young lady towards my chest while I was distracted. By the time I reacted, what happened before had already occurred."
"To express its will, it meant that the young lady was so detestable, how could she possibly be worthy of it?"
Zi Linling looked at the set of black crown and shook her head violently, "Forget it, I don't want it. I don't want a trickster spirit following me around."
It could trick even a Divine King Realm expert, what else could this clothing be if not a spirit?
As soon as she finished speaking, the black crown, still in the beautiful proprietress's hand, flew towards her.
"Hiss~"
Zi Linling felt a sharp pain in her finger as the black crown completed its bond.
Simultaneously, a thought echoed in her mind, "Master, I'm not a trickster spirit, I just disliked that woman!"
Then, Zi Linling felt a tightening around her body, and the black crown was already on her, its form concealed.
Zi Linling tried to take it off, but she couldn't.
At this moment, she finally realized with a belated understanding that she had been stuck with this trickster spirit of a dress.