Starting My Cultivation With Time Management

Chapter 409: Chapter 42 The Crafty Marquis of Mount Tu

The existence of Long Hu spread so quickly to the West State, it was clear that a spy within the Azure Dragon Clan was leaking information.

Clan Chief Qin Beiwang was furious… although anger was of no use.

The Azure Dragon Clan was a large Demon Race, with its lower members alone numbering in the tens of thousands, so naturally it was impossible to oversee them all.

In fact, everyone tacitly understood that the clan had definitely been infiltrated by other races, turning it into a sieve.

But elder brother saying nothing to younger brother, the Azure Dragon Clan’s bought spies were also spread among all the major Demon Races, thus Qin Beiwang merely followed procedure by ordering the Criminal Law Hall to conduct a self-examination and then took Long Long to the reception room.

The arrival of the elder from the Fox Clan had been so swift that the clan hadn’t even had time to reach a consensus for dealing with it.

For now, Qin Beiwang could only meet with her first to probe the purpose of her visit.

If the topic of Long Hu came up, Long Long, who was more familiar with her, would take over in answering, but without confirmation of the situation, it would be impossible to let this elder meet Long Hu.

Upon arriving at the reception room, Long Long caught sight of the Fox Clan elder, who turned out to be a stunningly beautiful woman with a graceful figure.

And her face was somewhat familiar…

Oh, it was none other than Marquis of Mount Tu, Elder Hu Li of the Eastern Emperor Sect, truly an old acquaintance indeed.

Long Long collected his gaze without a flicker, and heard Hu Li greet with a cheerful smile:

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“Qin brother, haven’t seen you in good health?”

“It’s been a long time, Marquis of Mount Tu.” Qin Beiwang also greeted her with a smile and invited her to sit down, then called a servant over to serve tea, as if he had no clue about her purpose.

“And this is…” Hu Li’s gaze fell on Long Long, seemingly unaware of his identity.

Of course, that was an act too. Although she did not recognize him as Qiu Changtian, Wei Dongliu whom she had previously interacted with, she had long been aware through the Dragon Clan’s secret informants that Long Long was the person who brought Long Hu into the Dragon Clan, and was also Long Hu’s closest confidant.

“Long Long.” Qin Beiwang used the cup lid to skim off the floating tea stems and froth, saying leisurely, “Haven’t you met Marquis of Mount Tu yet?”

“This junior has met Marquis of Mount Tu.” Long Long quickly stood up to pay his respects.

“No need for such formality.” Hu Li kindly waved her hand and then took a Magical Treasure from her sleeve, a gold sphere entwined with two coiled dragons, “Actually, I happened upon an item in the Northern Abyss, which seems to have some connection with the Dragon Clan. Consider it a meeting gift for you, this young one.”

“Is that… the Coiled Dragon Gold-melting Pearl?” Qin Beiwang exclaimed in surprise.

“Is that so? I wasn’t aware.” Hu Li pushed the gold sphere into Long Long’s hands, who, seeing Qin Beiwang did not speak to stop him, quickly bowed and expressed his thanks.

Qin Beiwang and Hu Li chatted for a while longer, the conversation drifting from the generations of friendship between the Azure Dragon and Celestial Fox Clans to the current political situation of the Eastern Emperor Realm, and even shared anecdotes about some eccentric elders in their families. They spoke freely on various topics, wandering without direction, which left Long Long feeling quite perplexed, almost believing that the Fox Clan elder was truly just there for a casual visit.

Luckily, seeing that it was getting late, Qin Beiwang proposed that Hu Li stay for dinner.

This time Hu Li couldn’t hold back any longer, or perhaps she felt the timing was right, and pretended to be sorrowful, wiping away tears as she said:

“To be honest, I have come here, having heard that my poor niece is still alive, so I specifically rushed over to find her.”

Qin Beiwang’s expression did not change as he curiously asked:

“Oh? May I know who in the clan told Marquis of Mount Tu about this matter?”

Hu Li smiled briefly and mentioned a Qin surname that Long Long did not recognize.

Long Long listened quietly, thinking that the name Hu Li had given was certainly that of a spy bought by the Celestial Fox Clan within the Azure Dragon Clan, but surely not the actual spy who leaked the news of Long Hu.

It could be she was using Qin Beiwang’s hand to eliminate traitors among her own spies.

Qin Beiwang was clearly aware as well and silently noted the name, saying,

“Long Hu… Indeed, there is a newly joined member of our clan with that name.”

“However, I haven’t heard about you having such a niece, Marquis of Mount Tu?”

His tone was curious and playful, yet Hu Li seemed not to detect his mocking undertone and merely said in a low voice,

“I have a sister, a cousin… Of course, it was a long, long time ago, so long ago that even within our clan, few are aware of this matter.”

“Hmm,” Qin Beiwang noncommittally murmured.

“She has half Human Race lineage,” Hu Li continued.

Qin Beiwang slightly furrowed his brows.

The constitution of Long Hu’s bloodline was known only to a select few within the clan, so where had Hu Li obtained this information?

“If it were purely Fox Clan bloodline or Human Race bloodline, they could have smoothly merged with the Dragon Clan bloodline and given birth to healthy offspring,” Hu Li sighed deeply, her voice filled with wistfulness, “But my cousin, alas, possessed both, and for some reason, that intermingling resisted the fusion of the Dragon Clan bloodline in my newborn niece.”

“The coexistence of three bloodlines is extremely fatal and could severely harm her health. So, in order for her daughter not to perish young, my sister had to defy our family and secretly took a clue to a Magical Treasure’s whereabouts.”

Qin Beiwang’s expression finally became serious because what Hu Li disclosed was information even the Dragon Clan was unaware of.

According to the Bloodline Hall, Long Hu possessed three bloodlines with the Dragon Clan’s being the largest proportion and the highest rank. Logically, it should have devoured the other two bloodlines, purifying Long Hu into a pure Dragon kind.

Yet, inexplicably, the Dragon Clan bloodline was sealed by external forces, allowing the stronger Fox Clan bloodline to manifest and transforming Long Hu’s true form into that of a fox.

Based on Hu Li’s words, the Dragon Clan bloodline could not assimilate the Human Race and Fox Clan bloodlines, causing the discord of the three different bloods within the body, endangering Long Hu’s life. Hence, the reason for the sealing of her Dragon Clan bloodline had a plausible explanation.

Of course, this explanation had one issue: it only accounted for Long Hu’s mother’s origins and did not reveal who Long Hu’s father was.

Given the Bloodline Rank of Long Hu’s Dragon Clan bloodline, her father’s Cultivation Realm had to be extraordinarily high, but there was no such candidate in the Jiaolong Clan—if there were, how could the clan possibly still be lurking in the Beiming Fanyang Secret Realm?

But if what Hu Li said were true, and her cousin was a person from a very long time ago, then Long Hu’s birth date and her father’s era would also correspond to an earlier time, immediately conjuring a famously significant possibility in Qin Beiwang’s memory…

Impossible! What am I thinking!

He hastily discarded the thought from his mind and soon pinpointed another more conspicuous doubt.

Members of the Demon Race lived much longer than humans, but that was also dependent on a high Cultivation Realm. Long Hu couldn’t even achieve Transformation, so how could she have lived from “a very long, long time ago” to the present day?

Long Long remained silent beside him, also rapidly calculating in his mind.

It seemed very likely now that Hu Li was indeed Long Hu’s maternal aunt.

But why would she disclose Long Hu’s origins in such detail to Qin Beiwang?

The Fox Clan mother was one thing, but her Celestial Fox father was no minor character. If she thought that by doing so, she could prove her relationship with Long Hu and thus persuade Qin Beiwang to hand Long Hu over to her, then she was truly naïve.

Wait, huh?

Long Long flipped his thoughts upside down and instantly pondered another possibility:

If Hu Li revealed this information not to prove that Long Hu’s mother was her cousin, but rather to hint that Long Hu’s father was the esteemed Ying Long, then?

In other words, if Qin Beiwang learned that Long Hu was the daughter of Ying Long, would he feel intimidated by Long Hu?

Or would it spawn a stronger ambition?