As they traveled, Qing Chen remained relatively silent, clearly contemplating something.
After a few days, the sky had become bright, and when one looked up, it was like looking into a mirror. fish were swimming, aquatic plants were waving, and there were various beautiful scenes in the mirror. Down below them was a lake. This lake surrounded Dragon Mountain, and the light in this region of the Higher Realm originated from Dragon Mountain itself, where it was reflected by the lake to illuminate the sky.
The lake was absolutely massive. Just like White Mountain in the Middle Realm, a mountain in this place also represented a civilization. Lu Yin could see planets slowly rotating about the lake, and there were civilizations on these planets as well.
The White Dragon Clan did not have many members, and there were certainly not enough to support their status as one of the four ruling powers. This naturally meant that most cultivators affiliated with the White Dragon Clan were recruited ones, not actual clan members. These outside cultivators all hailed from the civilized planets that orbited near Dragon Mountain. The civilizations on the planets were basically slaves, and as soon as a talented cultivator appeared on one of them, they would be immediately taken to the White Dragon Clan and removed from their home planet.
In front of Lu Yin and Qing Chen was Dragon Mountain, and it was a truly majestic sight.
Someone immediately greeted the two as Lu Yin and Qing Chen approached. This person was an Envoy, but not a member of the White Dragon Clan. They were an outside cultivator.
The two crossed over the lake and then stepped onto Dragon Mountain itself. The rocks on the mountain were white, and the trees, flowers, and plants here all radiated a soft halo that gave everything a beautiful and holy appearance. It was clear that this was not Qing Chen’s first time visiting, and the elder respectfully said, “The patriarch asked me to lead Senior Qing Chen to Heart-Cleansing Building. He mentioned that senior appreciates the serenity there.”
Qing Chen remembered his past visit. “I visited this place ten years ago, and I spoke with Long Laogui in Heart-Cleansing Building. I didn’t expect Patriarch Long Ke to remember that visit. Lead the way.”
Lu Yin quietly followed behind as they passed by many mountain peaks. He saw various cultivators, and they in turn saw Lu Yin and Qing Chen.
Everyone who saw them knew who Lu Yin was. He had become a legend to them.
Many people had considered plots that targeted the clan’s main family by humiliating Lu Yin, but things had changed due to the situation on the battlefield behind the Mother Tree.
“That kid has incredible luck. Elder Quan was just sent to the battlefield, which means that he can’t deal with this kid. Otherwise, he could forget about ever leaving this mountain,” a young man commented in a bitter tone as he stared at Lu Yin’s back.
Someone behind the young man also spoke up. “It won’t take long for the main family to make a move. Long Tian’s been trapped, and Long Xi disappeared. Things are working out well, and the main family has no heirs left. How could they possibly think that they can rely on just a son-in-law? Everything’s going to change after Elder Quan gets back.”
“What if that kid sneaks away?”
“We make sure he stays around.”
“I’m going to go make a call.”
…
The giant lake surrounded Dragon Mountain on all sides. The lake’s water not only surrounded the mountain, but it also flowed into the mountain and down its sides in beautiful streams.
Heart-Cleansing Building was a bamboo house that had been constructed in the middle of one of the streams.
When Lu Yin saw the building, he felt that it was quite familiar. It actually looked very similar to the bamboo house above the pond where Long Xi had once imprisoned him on White Mountain. Yes, the two were very similar.
Long Ke was present to greet Qing Chen when he arrived. “Senior Qing Chen, welcome to Dragon Mountain.”
Qing Chen smiled. “Ten years ago, Long Laogui and I discussed the path of cultivation in this place, so I am not unfamiliar with Dragon Mountain. How is Long Laogui?”
Long Ke answered in a solemn tone, “He has already rushed to the battlefield behind the Mother Tree.”
Qing Chen nodded. “On our way here, I saw that the White Dragon Clan has sent out many batches of support troops. Is the situation on the battlefield that bad?”
As the leader of one of the four ruling powers, even though Long Ke could not compare to Qing Chen’s personal strength and cultivation, the patriarch was much more informed of the situation on the battlefield. It was true that Qing Chen was a Semi-Progenitor, but in the end, he was just a member of Humility’s Gate who was responsible for finding Redbacks. In other words, he had nothing to do with the battlefield behind the Mother Tree.
“It’s not great. To my understanding, each of the four ruling powers has received orders from their Progenitors, which has led to nearly half of our powerhouses being deployed to the battlefield. A great number of experts in the Higher Realm and the Middle Realm have been drafted to fight.” Long Ke looked as though he was weighed down by a heavy burden.
Qing Chen frowned. “It’s worse than I had imagined.”
“Many years have passed without any accidents befalling the sourcebox array’s nodes. Those monsters laid out their plans very carefully this time,” Long Ke said solemnly.
The two older men did nothing to hide their conversation from Lu Yin. As he listened to their words, Lu Yin was reminded of when the Outerverse had faced an invasion from the Sixth Mainland and how he had been drafted at that time. In the end, the only reason why Lu Yin had managed to survive the invasion was because he had called Mister Mu to come help him. The Perennial World was currently facing a truly desperate situation, but were their Progenitors strong enough to turn things around?
Lu Yin thought of Mister Mu and then shook his head. Even those ancient Progenitors were unable to stop the monsters’ invasion, so there was no need to mention Mister Mu alone.
“Senior, let’s move away from that topic. The addition of so many powerhouses has stabilized the battlefield enough. This junior has prepared some White Dragon Brew, which is Senior’s favorite. Please enjoy a cup,” Long Ke said with a smile.
Qing Chen nodded. “Long Qi, join us.”
For the first time, Long Ke looked straight at Lu Yin. The patriarch’s eyes were cold and arrogant.
Lu Yin bowed to Long Ke. “Long Qi greets father-in-law.”
Long Ke responded with a smile that was not a smile. “Your communication crystal isn’t broken, is it?”
Lu Yin had ignored Long Ke’s calls, which had completely offended Long Ke. Qing Chen had brought Lu Yin to Dragon Mountain specifically to apologize for this matter.
Lu Yin bowed low. “It was just repaired.”
Long Ke was taken aback. He had expected Long Qi to offer a sincere apology, or at least offer a decent excuse. Who could have expected that the kid would just hang himself out to dry? Was a communication crystal that easy to break? And even if one did break, was it impossible to find another one? Also, Long Ke’s communication crystal would have detected it if he was trying to call a broken target. Long Qi was completely shameless.
“Your communication crystal broke?” Long Ke’s eyebrows rose high.
Lu Yin answered in a completely serious tone. “It was bad. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but it was only just repaired, so everything’s fine now.”
Qing Chen was similarly left speechless. This was an absolutely terrible excuse, though it was technically a reason for Long Qi to ignore Long Ke’s calls. Qing Chen noticed the patriarch’s expression growing uglier by the second, so he quickly spoke up. “Let’s head into Heart-Cleansing Building to drink the White Dragon Brew first. It’s been ten years since I’ve had any, and I have to admit that I’ve missed it.”
A stiff smile appeared on Long Ke’s face. “Senior, please.”
He then shot a cold glare at Lu Yin.
Long Ke was the patriarch of the White Dragon Clan, which meant that he was one of the most respected individuals in the entire Perennial World. When had he ever been openly mocked by a junior in such a manner? If Long Qi had been anyone else, Long Ke would have slapped the youth dead. Long Ke would take it seriously even if Long Xi was the one making a fool of him, and she definitely would have been punished. However, Long Ke did not know how to respond to Long Qi.
Lu Yin was one of Humility’s Gate’s Gate Masters. While Long Ke could technically give Long Qi a harsh punishment, it would be rude towards Qing Chen. However, Long Ke was unwilling to not punish his son-in-law at all. After all, this kid seemed to be completely fearless even when facing his clan’s patriarch. It looked as though Long Qi did not give any weight to his identity as a member of the White Dragon Clan.
How could that be? In the past, the clan’s main family had sent Long Xian to Flying Armor Pass and then further scattered the other branch family members. It could even be said that that particular branch family had been destroyed. Despite such harsh treatment, Long Xian had never left the White Dragon Clan and had remained in Flying Armor Pass. It was impossible for any member of the clan to consider leaving unless they had truly been pushed past the point of no return.
So why did Long Qi not care about his identity as a member of the White Dragon Clan at all?
Long Ke’s complicated thoughts ran rampant as the three arrived at Heart-Cleansing Building.
Lu Yin naturally stood behind Qing Chen, as no place had been arranged for him to sit.
Qing Chen chatted with Long Ke for a while before the atmosphere grew more pleasant. “My Humility’s Gate has been around for so many years, and yet a child of your White Dragon Clan is the first Hunter to ever be given the position of Gate Master. Patriarch Long Ke, your White Dragon Clan has raised a true genius. Congratulations.”
Long Ke glanced at Lu Yin before smiling at Qing Chen. “There’s no need for that. It was just a fluke, nothing more.”
Qing Chen glanced back at Lu Yin before commenting, “Some time ago, your communication crystal broke, and Patriarch Long Ke was unable to contact you. You should have found a way to reach out to Patriarch Long Ke on your own instead of just focusing on nothing but catching traitors. Step forward and offer Patriarch Ke the apology that he deserves.”
Qing Chen felt helpless. The truth was that he had not intended to say anything like this, but he had no choice but to follow up on the excuse that Long Qi had mentioned earlier, that the youth’s communication crystal had broken and only recently been repaired. Qing Chen was a Semi-Progenitor, and he rarely spoke such blatant nonsense, but he had been forced into it by Lu Yin.
Long Ke smiled casually and picked up his wine glass to take a sip.
Lu Yin pursed his lips and stepped forward to bow to Long Ke. “Your youthful son-in-law was inconsiderate, and I thought of nothing but catching traitors, which caused father-in-law to worry.”
Before Long Ke had a chance to speak, Qing Chen scolded Lu Yin. “It’s certainly good to arrest traitors, but not to the exclusion of all else. Patriarch Long Ke was very worried about you.”
“I understand,” Lu Yin replied.
Qing Chen felt satisfied. “Good. Make sure to communicate with your father-in-law more frequently in the future.”
Lu Yin agreed.
Long Ke was at a loss for words; he had not even spoken yet!
“Long Qi, I want to speak to you about Long Xi.” Long Ke set his wine glass down. He then looked at Qing Chen and apologized. “Senior, I would like to ask to speak with Long Qi alone.”
Qing Chen smiled. “If the two of you have anything that you need to talk about, please take your time. Don’t worry about me, as I’ll simply be enjoying the White Dragon Brew.”
“Thank you, senior.” Long Ke then looked at Lu Yin and stepped out of the room to leave Heart-Cleansing Building.
Lu Yin helplessly followed.
Long Ke stood atop a mountain a hundred miles away from Heart-Cleansing Building. The patriarch clasped his hands behind his back and waited for Lu Yin to arrive.
Long Ke turned around and locked his cold gaze onto Lu Yin. “You have guts! Over all these years, you are the first who has ever dared to ignore me! Not even Elder Long Quan would dare to reject my call.”
Lu Yin stopped acting and retorted in a calm tone, “I, Long Qi, am from a branch family, and the main family has never once shown me any care, not since childhood. If the patriarch wishes to oppress me with the main family’s authority, then you are targeting the wrong person.”
Long Ke’s voice was stern, “If you were not a member of the White Dragon Clan, then you would have already died countless times. The only reason why the Dalian Mountain branch family was not dealt with by the surrounding families was because they were still a part of the White Dragon Clan. Without being a part of the White Dragon Clan, how could you have married Long Xi? How would you have been able to join Humility’s Gate? Do you really dare to claim that you’ve received nothing from the main family?”
Lu Yin countered, “All of that was only because I was of value.”
Long Ke nodded. “In the past, you had value, but, Long Xi has disappeared, and you went from being useful to being a sharp blade for Long Quan’s branch family to wield and suppress my main family with. If I had not promised Senior Qing Chen to allow you to stay at Qing Chen Mountain, what would have become of you by now? Your fate would have been miserable.
“You should be glad that you are deemed useful. Do you think that a puny Enlighter like you could possibly have qualified to see me otherwise? That you deserve to have Elder Qing Chen escort you here to apologize? He finds you useful, as do I. I have given you a chance, Long Qi. Don’t make a mistake.”
Lu Yin’s expression sharpened. “Senior Qing Chen values me, Long Qi, for my ability to capture traitors and Redbacks. That forms the very foundation of my existence in Humility’s Gate. If I agree to frame Elder Long Quan for you, I will instantly lose my place in Humility’s Gate the moment the matter is exposed. Therefore, I will also lose all value for the clan patriarch.”
They had both spoken their minds. The people of the Perennial World had a certain mindset, and they would not betray their family unless absolutely necessary, especially anyone who was a part of the four ruling powers. However, Lu Yin had no such compulsion. He had long since viewed the four ruling powers as his enemy anyways.
Humility’s Gate formed the very foundation of his support. This was something that he was very clear on.
