Protect Our Patriarch

……

In that instant, Wang Ningxi even felt as if he was invincible in the world.

However, this was clearly an illusion. His strength had merely recovered to the peak of the Qi Refining Realm, the state he was in two years ago before he failed to advance to the Lingtai Realm.

Wang Shouzhe sensed his condition and looked puzzled, "Ningxi, when you merged water and fire just now, did your bloodline awaken another layer?"

"Ancestor Grandfather, it feels like a new layer of my bloodline has awakened. But I've been through so many times of having my meridians severed and my sea of energy burst, my body has become somewhat numb. I can't tell if it's just my imagination," Wang Ningxi replied, looking conflicted and unsure.

Wang Shouzhe's mouth twitched.

Having one's meridians severed to the point of numbness, he might be the only one in the world with such an experience.

However, despite the painful process, the benefits were undeniable. The repeated repair of his meridians and sea of energy made them stronger and more resilient, which would undoubtedly give him a significant advantage in the future.

Wang Shouzhe was very interested in Ningxi's change in aptitude and pulled him along, "Come, let's go to the Spirit Testing Platform to test it."

Once upon a time, building a Spirit Testing Platform for the Wang Clan was a major undertaking. But now, there were three Spirit Testing Platforms just within the main residence of the Wang Clan.

One of them was a high-level Spirit Testing Platform, capable of distinguishing between prodigies, great prodigies, and peerless prodigies.

The others were also quite interested. Seeing them heading to the Spirit Testing Platform, they followed along to join in the fun.

As the formation of the Spirit Testing Platform activated, Wang Ningxi's test results came out instantly.

His bloodline awakening level had reached the mid-stage of the fourth layer, B-grade.

The fourth layer of bloodline, commonly known as "spiritual body," was nothing unusual if possessed by a Basalt cultivator of the Celestial Realm or Purple Mansion Realm.

But Wang Ningxi was only at the peak of the Qi Refining Realm and had not yet advanced his bloodline through cultivation. This was the legendary "innate spiritual body," commonly known as a "peerless prodigy."

"Just as expected," Wang Shouzhe nodded with satisfaction, "Ningxi's misfortune has turned into a blessing, great fortune follows great disaster."

Emperor Longchang, standing nearby, was wide-eyed with envy, jealousy, and hatred.

He had watched Wang Ningxi grow up. Back then, Ningxi's aptitude was also outstanding, reaching the threshold of the Lingtai Realm before the age of fourteen, with an aptitude of great prodigy B-grade. But in truth, it was similar to Anye's when he was young. When Ningxi's body exploded, it was Emperor Longchang who sealed his power.

Who would have thought that this seemingly useless boy, after many twists and turns, would become a peerless prodigy, truly a brat with great fortune.

Regret!

If he had known Wang Ningxi could become peerless, he would have found him a wife from the royal family no matter what. Now, it was all for the benefit of the Shangguan Clan.

Another person with mixed feelings was naturally Ningxi's father, Wang Anxin.

Of course, he was happy that his son had become peerless, but thinking that he himself was just an ordinary great prodigy filled him with a sense of defeat.

Sigh~ He had embarrassed his great-grandfather.

"Thank you, Ancestor Grandfather, Emperor Grandfather, Great Aunt, Seventh Uncle..." Wang Ningxi suppressed his excitement and gracefully thanked all the elders.

Indeed.

Without the painstaking efforts of the family elders over the years, their connections, status, and the efforts to find treatment for him in the past two years, Wang Ningxi would have been labeled a failure for life, living in depression.

This was the benefit of growing up in a powerful family.

As for those stories of a useless young master rising through fortuitous encounters, they were thrilling to read but highly impractical in reality.

"We're all family, helping each other is only natural," Wang Shouzhe said nonchalantly, waving his hand, "Now that your problem is solved, do whatever you like, but spend more time pondering your cultivation method. After all, no one has walked this path before."

"Yes, Ancestor Grandfather."

Wang Ningxi respectfully bowed and withdrew.

Although Wang Ningxi was a genius, there were many geniuses in the family. Moreover, it would take at least a hundred or two hundred years for him to grow up. How could they really rely on him to rise from failure and shoulder the family's responsibilities?

As a sixteen-year-old boy, his only task now was to cultivate well under the family's protection. At least until he reached the Celestial Realm or Purple Mansion Realm, he wouldn't be qualified to formally participate in the family's core affairs like Anye.

The world was not peaceful these days.

Southern Qin and Western Jin were sharpening their knives, ready to attack the Great Qian at any moment, and the True Demon Hall lurking in the shadows was also a security threat to the Great Qian and the Wang Clan.

Wang Shouzhe naturally hoped for a few thousand years of peaceful development, but unfortunately, "the tree desires calm but the wind will not cease." When you focus on development, some troublemakers always jump out to create obstacles and problems.

Before long.

A small family meeting was held in Shouzhe's Small Courtyard.

"Anye, how's the research on the teleportation array dismantled from the Blood Dawn Sanctuary?" Wang Shouzhe asked.

"Great-grandfather, my master said it's a one-way, multi-space anchor point small teleportation array, requiring high-grade spiritual stones to operate. Each teleportation can't exceed ten thousand miles," Wang Anye explained. "According to the array's specifications, it can set up to five fixed space anchor points."

"The array is well-preserved, with only minor issues. My master said he can repair it with some effort."

"That's great." Wang Shouzhe nodded in satisfaction, "With the Wang Clan's territory expanding, having such a teleportation array allows experts stationed at the main residence to quickly support various locations, making our family's defense system more flexible and mobile."

Since launching the pioneering plan, the Wang Clan had been expanding southeast, with the farthest point thousands of miles away. The cultivated land had also reached a thousand miles in radius.

Even without considering the Southern Desolate Swamp and Qingluo Garrison co-developed with Yuan Shui Azure Dragon, the Wang Clan controlled nearly a hundred thousand square kilometers of land southeast of Changning Garrison.

And for well-known reasons, the defense and guarding of these areas had always been a top priority, ensuring that wherever they expanded, the defense system was in place.

This was the main reason why the Wang Clan, despite having hundreds of clan members, still lacked manpower.

"Xiaoxue, how much farmland does the Wang Clan have now?" Emperor Longchang asked sourly, "Unknowingly, the Wang Clan's territory has grown so much. It seems more than I knew~"

"Your Majesty, the Wang Clan pays taxes on our farmland every year according to regulations." Spirit Artifact Xiaoxue appeared, hands on hips, glaring at Emperor Longchang, "These figures are all registered with the government."

"The Wang Clan's private farmland totals 19.15 million mu, with 790,000 mu of low-grade spiritual farmland, 120,000 mu of medium-grade, 18,000 mu of high-grade, 3,600 mu of top-grade, and 400 mu of sacred-grade, and 20 mu of immortal-grade."

Emperor Longchang took a deep breath.

He thought so~ The Wang Clan's territory was indeed unusually large.

Unexpectedly, after years of diligent pioneering, the Wang Clan's farmland had reached such a scale. It hadn't even been two hundred years, right?

If they continued at this rate, what would the Wang Clan's territory look like in a thousand years?

Moreover, the Wang Clan's land was planted with high-quality grain, with a significant portion now being exported to the Immortal Dynasty.

"Shouzhe, I think being a local emperor isn't satisfying enough. How about I go to the Immortal Dynasty and help you apply for a founding order?" Emperor Longchang said sourly, "When your Wang Clan's territory grows larger, you might as well establish a nation and form an alliance with my Great Qian, wouldn't that be great?"

Sour again.

Wang Shouzhe glanced at Emperor Longchang indifferently, "Your Majesty, we're in a meeting, don't cause trouble. If you have nothing to do, go for a walk."

"Hmph!" Emperor Longchang turned his head away. This brat Wang Shouzhe was increasingly disregarding him as the emperor. If it weren't for Ruolan and Xian'er, hmph... he would have long shown this brat the wrath of an emperor.

"The next small topic, we have reached a series of cooperation agreements with the Yao Clan of the Immortal Dynasty. We need to launch a new generation of grain seeds as soon as possible. We aim to have thirty percent of the country's farmland and low-grade spiritual farmland planted with new grain seeds within ten years, to gain a share of the Immortal Dynasty's grain market."

"War consumes wealth, and the Great Qian is still too poor. Our primary goal is to make the Great Qian prosperous."

"On this point, the Holy Land and Prince An will both participate in the plan."

"The next small topic, to prepare for the upcoming war and share the responsibility of defending against outer region demons, our Wang Clan needs to establish a true clan army on the basis of family guards and soldiers. Anye, this task is yours to organize."

"The next topic, the bait for the Blood Venerable's relic has been out for some time. The big shots of the True Demon Hall must be getting restless. Send word to Shi Zhao and Prince An, proceed according to plan, and ensure our Great Qian army doesn't act rashly."

Wang Shouzhe called it a small meeting, but each topic was so significant, involving national politics, foreign trade, and war.

This made Emperor Longchang roll his eyes again. Wang Shouzhe's small courtyard felt like a combination of the cabinet and the Hall of Governance, as if he was controlling the major affairs of the entire nation from behind the scenes.

……

At the same time.

Southern Qin.

Geographically, the Southern Qin Kingdom was located southwest of the Great Qian, with its northeastern part bordering the Great Qian, but most of it was separated by a vast inland sea and the An River Section.

Compared to the complex and variable climate of the Great Qian, Southern Qin's geographical environment was relatively simple but also more harsh. The region had little rain, sparse vegetation, poor spiritual veins, and very few mineral resources, making it difficult to develop agriculture or industry.

The only advantage was probably its relatively large population.

Because of this, Southern Qin had coveted the fertile land and rich mineral resources of the Great Qian for many years.

In the central-northern part of Southern Qin, there was a vast city named "Bifang City."

It was not only the largest city in Southern Qin but also the capital.

Its location was in the area with the densest fire spiritual veins in Southern Qin, making it the region with the most abundant minerals and resources, and the most prosperous place in Southern Qin.

At sunset, the majestic walls of Bifang City were bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, as if coated with a golden-red halo, looking breathtakingly beautiful.

Even the mottled marks on the city walls seemed less grim and more gentle under the glow.

Outside the city gates.

On the official road leading northeast from the capital, a line of large carriages pulled by spirit oxen was moving slowly, bathed in the sunset, heading into the distance.

These carriages were loaded with black "corpse coffins" engraved with inscriptions, containing refined corpse puppets, ready to be unsealed in batches once the war began.

On the other side, on the road leading northwest from the capital, besides a few scattered travelers, there was a large group of ragged slaves walking slowly along the roadside.

Their wrists were tied with ropes, their clothes barely covering their essential parts, and their exposed skin was scarred. Many were emaciated to the point of deformity. A closer look revealed their waxy hair, cracked lips, and numb eyes, all indicating their poor physical condition.

At the edge of the crowd, a young man in luxurious noble attire was riding a rhinoceros-horned spirit lizard, waving a whip and shouting loudly, driving the slaves forward.

Under the scorching sun, everyone was drenched in sweat, including the noble youth.

He had to drive this batch of slaves to the designated location before the deadline, to hand them over to the disciples sent by the Yinsha Sect.

If he failed, delaying the time, he would be in big trouble, at best getting beaten, at worst having his status demoted, becoming a slave like the ones in front of him.

Therefore, he dared not slack off in the slightest.

At this moment, a high-pitched dragon roar suddenly came from the sky.

In the dragon's roar, a luxurious flying carriage pulled by a black demon dragon appeared on the distant horizon, flying towards them under the scorching sun.

The massive black dragon blotted out the sky and the sun, its fierce and violent dragon might wantonly sweeping across the world, stirring up a raging wind, making the entire world lose color with the appearance of this flying carriage.

Its power was overwhelming, awe-inspiring.

"It's the noble's flying carriage!"

The noble youth was shocked, immediately scrambling off the rhinoceros-horned spirit lizard, prostrating himself on the ground, not daring to move.

The nearby travelers were also terrified, prostrating themselves on the ground, not daring to make a move.

The slaves were even more frightened, collapsing to the ground.

Southern Qin had a strict social hierarchy. As the lowest class in Southern Qin, slaves were born as the appendages of nobles, doing the hardest and most exhausting work, receiving just enough food to barely survive, and being the first to be made into corpse puppets in wartime.

Such people naturally had no contact with true powerhouses, nor had they ever seen such a spectacle.

At this moment, not fainting directly was already a testament to their strong mental fortitude.

Even if ordinary people were short-sighted and couldn't see the depth, they knew that the black dragon flying carriage was not something ordinary people could ride.

And the owner of this flying carriage was indeed no ordinary person.

At this moment.

Inside the flying carriage, a red-haired, snow-skinned, enchanting woman in red was reclining on a couch, holding a glowing jade talisman.

This woman was naturally the Yin Snake Demon Concubine.

Though she was lazily reclining, the aura of a Void Realm powerhouse spread wantonly in the spacious carriage.

Under this aura, the white-clad woman kneeling beside her, massaging her legs, was even more cautious, not daring to be too light or too heavy, her eyes full of reverence.

"Unexpectedly, not all of Chimei's subordinates are useless." The Yin Snake Demon Concubine pinched the jade talisman with her fingertips, repeatedly confirming the message from the talisman, her long eyebrows filled with excitement, "They actually found some useful information."

She had given the sub-talisman of this mother-child talisman to a few of Chimei's disciples, originally as a precaution, not expecting any real results.

Unexpectedly, these little girls she had always looked down upon brought her such a big surprise!

Truly, it was like finding something effortlessly after searching high and low!

The white-clad woman serving beside her, seeing the Yin Snake Demon Concubine so happy, had a shadow pass through her eyes.

Unexpectedly, that foxy Chimei found clues so quickly! Damn it! Why didn't she just die in the Great Qian?!

She was seething with hatred inside, but dared not show it, instead feigning excitement, "Master, Senior Sister Chimei just left not long ago, and she already found traces of the Blood Venerable's relic, truly impressive. As expected of Senior Sister Chimei! Master, should we report this to the Blood Child Demon Lord now?"

"Of course." The Yin Snake Demon Concubine put away the mother talisman, glancing at her, "But the message says Chimei lost contact after leaving with the Wang Clan's people. To avoid any changes, Yulian, you go check the situation first. I have some matters to arrange with the Blood Child Demon Lord, and will follow shortly."

Go by herself?

The white-clad woman was slightly stunned, then immediately understood, bowing, "Rest assured, Master! If Senior Sister Chimei dares to have any improper thoughts, I will not spare her!"

After speaking, she bowed to the Yin Snake Demon Concubine again, excused herself, and then stepped out of the carriage, flying away.

The black dragon flying carriage continued at full speed, heading towards Bifang City.

No one dared to stop it.

Not only did they not stop it, but they respectfully saluted the flying carriage in the sky, only daring to stand up after it disappeared, clearly recognizing the carriage.

The black dragon flying carriage flew swiftly, landing in front of a luxurious palace deep within the royal palace.

This palace, named "Minghua Palace," was used to entertain distinguished guests in the Southern Qin royal palace.

At this moment, Minghua Palace was filled with music and dance, with gorgeously dressed dancers gracefully dancing in mid-air, spinning with each step, their movements light, their colorful sleeves flowing like light, their postures beautiful beyond compare.

The light music and soft voices echoed in the hall, enhancing the enchanting atmosphere.

At the head of the hall, the blood child demon lord, looking like a snow doll, was sitting grandly on a low chair, sipping wine and enjoying the performance.

"Demon Lord, can we delay the matter of the war?" Emperor Yuan You, dressed in imperial robes, sat beside him, pouring wine with a flattering tone, "In the past, starting a war required decades or even centuries of preparation. If we rush into it, with insufficient preparation, any mishap would be troublesome. The Great Qian's black armor army is quite strong, not to mention that old Longchang is nearing the end of his life. If he decides to go down fighting, it would be difficult for us."

The Blood Child Demon Lord, holding his wine cup, replied nonchalantly, "Just a mere early-stage Void Realm, what are you afraid of? Once I finish my current tasks, dealing with an early-stage Void Realm is just a matter of convenience."

Emperor Yuan You's young face showed a bitter expression.

It was easy to say.

If everything went smoothly, and the Blood Child Demon Lord and his companions found the Blood Venerable's relic, he might be in a good mood and help with their two countries. But if anything went wrong, he didn't believe the Demon Lord would take responsibility for cleaning up the mess. At that point, both his Southern Qin and Western Jin would be stuck in a war they couldn't end.

As they spoke, the swaying figure of the Yin Snake Demon Concubine appeared in the hall.

She moved gracefully, her figure shifting from solid to void and back again, appearing next to the Blood Child Demon Lord in an instant, bowing slightly.

The Blood Child Demon Lord had already sensed the black dragon's presence, so her arrival was no surprise.

He gestured for her to sit, then asked, "You mentioned good news in your message. What is it?"

"I came to inform you that the disciple I sent has successfully infiltrated the area, and we can begin the search," the Yin Snake Demon Concubine smiled alluringly, "However, on the way here, I received more good news. There's news of the Blood Venerable's relic!"

"Oh?" The Blood Child Demon Lord was momentarily stunned, then overjoyed, "News so soon?"

"Yes." The Yin Snake Demon Concubine smoothed her red hair, explaining in a soft voice, "It's a coincidence. My disciple infiltrated a family with property nearby and discovered a relic by chance. Although I haven't confirmed it personally, all high-level relics in the Great Qian are controlled by the royal family and Lingyun Holy Land. Any newly discovered high-level relic is likely the Blood Venerable's relic."

"Of course, it might not be. But this matter is too important to miss, even if it's not, taking it wouldn't be a loss."

"Indeed. Better to err on the side of caution." The Blood Child Demon Lord nodded, a gleam in his eyes, "A high-level relic appearing will surely attract the attention of the Great Qian's two Void Realm experts. We must act quickly, before they discover it."

He turned to Emperor Yuan You beside him, "Yuan You, issue the order now, start the war immediately. We must draw Longchang and Jiang Zhencang's attention away."

"I..."

Emperor Yuan You was speechless.

So all his pleading was for nothing?

"Hmm? Do you have any objections?"

The Blood Child Demon Lord squinted at him, his clothes fluttering, a terrifying pressure emanating from him, cold and sharp, with a chilling blood aura, as if ready to kill at any moment.

Emperor Yuan You's face turned pale, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead, quickly pleading, "Yes, senior! I'll do it right away!"

Damn it! How could he forget that the Blood Child Demon Lord was not someone to reason with!

He dared not linger, quickly excusing himself from Minghua Palace to contact Emperor Yan Qing of Western Jin. If a war was to start immediately, he wouldn't be the only one suffering; Yan Qing wouldn't escape either!

After he left, the Blood Child Demon Lord stood up.

Under the bright lights of Minghua Palace, the blood light around him grew thicker and thicker, eventually engulfing his entire figure.

Moments later, the blood light dissipated.

Two identical figures appeared in front of the seat, both small and delicate, both cute as jade, both exuding a powerful blood aura.

"My true self will stay here to oversee Yuan You starting the war, while my avatar will accompany you to the Great Qian, aiming to seize the Blood Venerable's relic swiftly and unexpectedly."

The two figures spoke in unison, then one stepped to the Yin Snake Demon Concubine's side, while the other sat back down, picking up the wine cup to enjoy the performance again.

"Yes, senior."

The Yin Snake Demon Concubine was clearly accustomed to this, bowing before sitting in the black dragon flying carriage with the Blood Child Demon Lord's avatar.

Soon, the flying carriage took off, speeding towards the Great Qian.

The roaring dragon might stirred the high-altitude clouds, making the wind and clouds move.

It seemed to herald a great storm, ready to engulf the Great Qian.

……