“Little Seventh.” A man from the dragon race said. “It’s fine if you fool around in the palace but today, we are here to deliver our congratulations. You have to be on your best behavior.”
“Don’t worry. Father has already exhorted me,” said the woman immediately.
“This Qin Yun lives near the East Sea. In the future, there might be some interaction between us. His present strength is still only decent but if he truly steps into the Dao and grasps Sword Dao… A sword immortal that does so would be an entity even our East Sea Dragon Palace would somewhat fear.” A red-haired man shook his head with a sigh. “Therefore, our East Sea Dragon Palace’s Crown Prince came personally to express our congratulations. It’s truly an honor for Qin Yun.”
Ao Yong nodded and said with a smile, “Based on our intelligence, this Qin Yun is rather easy going. Alright, let’s go down.”
Phew.
The cloud descended.
Mist immediately emanated from Qin Manor’s main entrance. Ao Yong and the other dragons appeared at the entrance with their subordinates. Although the subordinates took human form, they still had some characteristics of Water demons. They held gifts of all kinds that exuded treasure auras.
“All of you came from quite a ways away. Please come in,” Qin Yun invited them in personally.
“Greetings Sword Immortal Qin, I’m Ao Yong from the East Sea,” said Ao Yong smilingly with cupped fists. Behind him, three members of the Dragon race were smiling. Although they were taking on a human appearance, they did not hide the dragon horns on their heads. They naturally had an air of nobility about them. Dragons were indeed extraordinary. As long as they matured, they could naturally reach the Connate Golden Core realm.
Dragons and phoenixes were divine or auspicious beasts.
Phoenixes were rarely seen but dragons were prevalent in the Four Seas where they ruled.
“Sword Immortal Qin, these are my two uncles, Ao Meng and Ao Zhan. This is my seventh sister, Ao Xing,” introduced Ao Yong.
“Greetings Sword Immortal Qin.”
The three dragons cupped their hands in greeting. The seventh princess Ao Xing’s eyes lit up when she saw Qin Yun. Dragons were arrogant to begin with. They were usually not impressed by ordinary cultivators but the East Sea Dragon race had an extremely good impression of Qin Yun. The East Sea Dragon King had even personally directed them to send their congratulations.
“These are gifts Father personally arranged for. They are nothing special. Sword Immortal Qin, congratulations on attaining the Paramount realm,” said Ao Yong. He handed a list of the gifts over. Chu Yuan, who stood beside Qin Yun, accepted it.
“Give the Dragon King my thanks,” said Qin Yun immediately. Following that, he led the East Sea dragons into the crowd.
…
Night fell.
Qin Yun and Yi Xiao were walking along the mirror lake.
“The East Sea dragons came today too?” asked Yi Xiao. “Their gifts must be quite extraordinary.”
“They did give many kinds of treasures. Their gift can be considered the best among all the guests,” said Qin Yun. The gifts from the imperial government and the Daoist and Buddhist sacred lands could not compare with those of the East Sea dragons.
“The East Sea dragons are the leaders of the Four Seas’ dragons. Since time immemorial, they have been in charge of the Four Seas. They naturally have accumulated a lot of treasures,” said Yi Xiao with a smile. “Now that our family has so many kinds of treasures, is it time for us to build a treasure repository?”
“Yea, it’s about time.” Qin Yun nodded and sighed. “Ever since the news of me attaining the Paramount realm was made public, all sorts of things began happening. The number of cultivators who want to join my Qin Manor is increasing and in just a few days, there are already about eight Connate realm cultivators who wish to join the Qin family as distinguished mercenaries.”
Yi Xiao nodded. “The path of cultivation isn’t simple. Dharmic formulations, money, companionship, and land. Itinerant cultivators firstly lack good Dharmic formulations and secondly, they lack treasures. If they offended some powerful enemy, they would live in fear every day. If they were to pledge allegiance to our Qin family, no one would dare to continue targeting them. Our Qin family has cultivation formulations and treasures… it’s not much different from a top cultivation sect.”
Qin Yun nodded. “We still have to investigate their backgrounds thoroughly. We definitely cannot accept those that have done evil.”
When it came to cultivation manuals…
Back when Qin Yun killed Valley Lord Windhark and Temple Lord Ruyi, he found that their treasures were nothing much to speak of. The most valuable treasure was a third-grade Dharma treasure. However, there were quite a number of manuals. Other than the demonic manuals, there were also Daoist and Buddhist manuals. After all, in the bouts between humans and fiendish demons, many manuals had been taken by the other side. For example, Yellow Wind Daolord had obtained a Daoist Dharmic formulation, Yellow Wind True Sutra.
Even the Daoist sacred land Scenic Mountain Sect had once been overrun by fiendish demons.
There were indeed Daoist and Buddhist manuals that ended up in the hands of fiendish demons but they demanded a high cultivation realm! What demons favored the most were Dharmic formulations from the Godfiend lineage.
As for Qin Yun, he possessed many kinds of manuals. They mainly came from Elder Sword, who had once stormed several sects in search of manuals. All of that was done to create an Essence Soul Dharmic formulation for sword immortals. He had even snatched the Essence Soul Dharmic formulations from other schools of thought to use as a reference!
Therefore, Qin Yun actually had Daoist Dharmic formulations that could allow for cultivators to condense an Essence Soul to become immortal!
This heritage could match that of some top cultivation sets that had shorter histories.
“Those that engage in lawlessness and have criminal records are not to be accepted.” Yi Xiao nodded. “Don’t worry. I will check their backgrounds very carefully.”
“These past few days must have been hard for you, my wife.” Qin Yun bowed with his hands folded in front of him. As the Qin family had few powerful cultivators, he had to entertain the distinguished guests. He left Yi Xiao to do all sorts of miscellaneous work.
“These past few days must have been hard on you, with all the entertaining of the distinguished guests, my husband.” Yi Xiao bowed with her hands folded in front of her as well.
“Second Young Master! Second Young Master!” A shout sounded from afar.
Qin Yun and Yi Xiao were startled as they immediately stood up straight. The young couple did not wish for others to see them teasing each other affectionately.
Qin Yun turned to look over. From afar, Ah Gui ran over and shouted immediately,” Second Young Master.”
“Ah Gui, what’s the matter?” asked Qin Yun.
“The crown prince of the East Sea’s Dragon Palace seeks an audience with you,” answered Ah Gui immediately.
“Oh?” Qin Yun was perplexed. “Alright, I’ll be right there.”
Yi Xiao was astonished as well. “Other than sending their congratulations, does the East Sea’s Dragon Palace have another important matter to address?”
“I’ll take a look,” said Qin Yun.
“Alright, go on.” Yi Xiao nodded.
…
At a pavilion, Qin Yun and the crown prince, Ao Yong sat down. Qin Yun poured tea for him personally.
“Crown Prince, was the food to your liking?” asked Qin Yun.
“Haha, it was superb! I have occasionally taken human form to eat the delicacies of the human world,” said Ao Yong with a laugh. “I have also tried Grand Dominance’s delicacies about two or three times. But they were inferior to what I ate at Qin Manor.”
“I’m from Grand Dominance so I naturally hired the best chefs of Grand Dominance.” Qin Yun drank a cup of tea and said, “Crown Prince, might I know why you have been looking for me?”
Ao Yong smiled. “There is a matter that is considered highly confidential among the Dragon race. It was not to be divulged but this matter implicates Madam Qin. I feel that there is a need to tell you, Sword Immortal Qin.”
“Oh?” Qin Yun was taken aback.
It implicated his wife?
“Madam Qin, or Yi Xiao, is a member of the Yi family,” said Ao Yong. “Not long after she was born, her mother left her, is that right?”
“Yes.” Qin Yun nodded.
Ao Yong nodded. “This is actually quite a long story. It caused some conflict between the West Sea’s Dragon race and Patriarch Yi back then.”
Qin Yun listened carefully.
“The West Sea’s Dragon race has a dragon lady by the name Ao Xue. One day, she took human form and went on land. She happened to acquaint herself with a human male named Yi Caishi,” said Ao Yong. Qin Yun understood immediately.
Ao Yong nodded. “I believe you have already guessed it. This Ao Xue is Yi Xiao’s mother! After Ao Xue and Yi Caishi acquainted themselves with each other, they quickly fell in love and vowed to be together forever. They even had a child! Later, this was discovered by the West Sea Dragon Palace, infuriating it tremendously! Ao Xue is a pure-blooded member of our Dragon race. We are forbidden from marrying other races.”
“Those of impure dragon blood are not worth mentioning. They are not recognized and are never given the surname of Ao,” explained Ao Yong. “As such, a pure-blood dragon lady will always marry within the Dragon race of the Four Seas! Even sons of dragons like myself may gallivant outside but eventually, my marriage partner will be a dragon lady.”
“Ao Xue dared to violate the Dragon race’s rules and bear a child with a human. When the West Sea Dragon Palace discovered this, they naturally captured her. The final punishment was to imprison her for five hundred years,” said Ao Yong. “Back then, the West Sea’s Dragon race even wanted to take away the baby Yi Xiao as she had a partial dragon bloodline. However, Patriarch Yi intervened. Since Yi Xiao only has a partial dragon bloodline, the West Sea Dragon Palace gave up.”
Ao Yong continued, “This matter is dirty linen for both the Yi family and the West Sea Dragon race. It is naturally kept secret. Even Yi Xiao’s father, Yi Caishi, doesn’t know that his wife was a dragon lady.”
Qin Yun was struck by enlightenment.
It was no wonder there had been no news from Yi Xiao’s mother.
“We dragons are few in number, to begin with. If a dragon lady were to marry outside of the family, our Dragon race might be pushed closer to the brink of extinction,” said Ao Yong with a shake of his head. As for flood dragons and other species with thinner bloodlines, they are not recognized by the true Dragon race.
“Where is Yi Xiao’s mother imprisoned?” asked Qin Yun.
“That I do not know.” Ao Yong shook his head. “I’m only the crown prince of the East Sea Dragon Palace. I chanced upon this secret. And besides, it’s dirty linen for the West Sea Dragon race. It’s best if fewer people know of it.”
“Haha, it’s only because it’s related to Madam Qin that I told you,” said Ao Yong with a laugh. “Alright, it’s gotten quite late. I won’t disturb your rest any further, Sword Immortal Qin.”
“Thank you for telling me, Crown Prince. Had you not, I might have never known. I will remember this favor.” Qin Yun got up immediately.
Ao Yong chuckled and turned to leave.
The goal of this trip was to build a relationship by providing the information.
…
Qin Yun walked back alone with his brows knitted.
With Princess Martial Maple’s selfish personality, there was no doubt she would investigate the identity of Yi Caishi’s wife; yet, her investigation was fruitless. At their present strength, Qin Yun and Yi Xiao had also not heard any news regarding her. Even a thousand-year-old family like the Yi family did not appear to know the identity of Yi Caishi’s wife.
Back then, Qin Yun was somewhat baffled. And now the truth shocked him.
“Dragon lady, Ao Xue? How heartless is it to imprison her for five centuries?” thought Qin Yun.
Five hundred years was a very long time for her to be imprisoned in one place.
Without knowing it, Qin Yun had returned to the yard at his residence.
“Brother Yun.” Yi Xiao walked out of the house and asked with a smile. “Why was the East Sea’s Crown Prince looking for you for? And why was he was so mysterious about it.”