"Is... is it that simple?"
Nangong Qingya felt as if she were in a dream, looking at the numerous Liu family members behind her, and at Liu Rusi.
That Liu Rusi was also extremely beautiful.
She must have suffered the bitterness of lovesickness after being imprisoned; her delicate, fragile appearance was enough to inspire pity in anyone.
Nangong Qingya truly didn't know why Junior Brother Su Chen would fight so desperately all these years for such a woman, even inviting disaster upon himself.
But Junior Brother Su Chen had fought so desperately for her, yet Xinnian... he just walked into the Liu family, met with the Liu Family Head, and the discussion didn't even last the time it takes to drink a cup of tea!
"Junior Brother, you... How did you do it?"
Nangong Qingya glanced at the Old Man, who had once again vanished into the clouds above. It seemed she had... underestimated the Li family's power.
Li Xinnian took a deep breath.
"I moved them with emotion and persuaded them with reason.
Senior Brother Su always thought Liu Rusi was at the Aeternus Sect, but our family's intelligence network only found out a few days ago that Liu Rusi had already been sent back to the Liu family."
Hearing this, Nangong Qingya's mouth twitched. Yeah, right. Go lie to a ghost.
Immediately after, the group boarded the Liu family's spirit ark.
The Liu family head had also heard Li Xinnian's words. He kept his head lowered, meekly following Li Xinnian onto the spirit ark, but his expression was rather ugly.
What 'moved them with emotion and persuaded them with reason'?
The Old Man from Skynet was right outside their Liu family's Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land; he had no choice but to meet Li Xinnian.
He hadn't expected that the secret of Liu Rusi being hidden within the family was actually completely known by the Li family.
Li Xinnian had said that in front of the Li family, the Liu family was just a minor aristocratic clan.
First, they could hand the person over.
Second... while he could be the Liu family head, the Liu family still had many other bloodlines who would presumably also be willing to take his place.
"A smiling tiger, a false gentleman!"
The Liu family head glanced at Li Xinnian, who was standing at the prow of the spirit ark, apologizing one by one to the many Liu family elders.
He couldn't help but shudder; he knew that hidden behind this Li family disciple's bright and glamorous exterior was a most venomous snake!
...
"This child was definitely corrupted by Yunbing, but his fundamental nature is still good. Knowing how to use both threats and inducements is actually a good thing too."
Li Wei had been following Li Xinnian the entire time. Now, seeing Li Xinnian apologizing to those elders, he also nodded again and again.
Before long, the spirit ark traveled unimpeded, heading toward the Aeternus Sect.
The Aeternus Sect was still filled with immortal spiritual qi, just as before. Even though Sect Master Daoist Mingtai had taken three immortal mountains with him in the past, the Aeternus Sect had not declined because of it.
Eight immortal mountains surrounded the main peak, and today, that main peak was especially lively.
Spirit arks could be seen arriving from all parts of the Duravia Trade Prefecture.
[Special Event—Duravia Trade Prefecture's Younger Generation Grand Competition]
[Every twenty years, the entire Duravia Trade Prefecture holds a grand competition for the younger generation under the age of fifty to determine its young talents.
This year, the Skyveil Sect disciple Su Chen, driven by the injustice in his heart and for the sake of his beloved woman, has decided to come to the Duravia Trade Prefecture to crush its younger generation.]
The spirit ark Li Xinnian was on arrived.
Just by sensing the competition within the Duravia Trade Prefecture, he raised his eyebrows, let out a breath of relief, and muttered, "Nothing has happened? Looks like I'm not too late."
Afterward, he had Liu Rusi and the others from the Liu family wait on the spirit ark.
He then headed toward the location of the competition with Nangong Qingya.
The competition at the Aeternus Sect was much livelier than the one in Azure Cloud.
Especially for this session, with the Aeternus Sect leading the Duravia Trade Prefecture, all the great families wanted their disciples to stand out and receive the Aeternus Sect's focused nurturing.
For this, they were even willing to exhaust their family's foundations to raise a child of extraordinary aptitude.
Because of this, the children competing numbered over a thousand. Even if they couldn't take the top spot, just being able to join the Aeternus Sect was also good.
"Xinnian, your family elders are here too!"
Nangong Qingya and Li Xinnian were hovering on their swords. When the young girl looked toward the viewing stands, she was suddenly stunned.
She saw that upon the high platform, there were several ceremonial chairs.
The only ones present who were seated were the Ding family head, Ding Yuanxiao; the Sun family head, Sun Haotian; the Aeternus Sect's Third Elder, Daoist Kongxing; the Skyveil Sect's Grand Elder, Li Yunlin; and the one presiding over the grand situation, Prefecture Lord 'Jiang Chenghuan'.
"This Duravia Trade Prefecture has someone from my Azure Cloud as its Prefecture Lord, and my family also has a place here, so it's perfectly normal for my family's elders to be here."
Li Xinnian replied, all while searching everywhere for Su Chen's figure.
Nangong Qingya smiled charmingly as she surveyed the young talents from the twelve Regions of the Duravia Trade Prefecture.
Among them, thirty-odd people had extraordinary strength; they had actually also broken through to the Golden Core realm before the age of fifty.
It seemed the major powers of the Duravia Trade Prefecture had truly spared no effort for this competition.
"Several of these geniuses have extraordinary strength; they've even stabilized their foundations.
In our Azure Cloud, aside from the three of us, there are only two others who barely managed to reach the Golden Core realm before fifty, and their foundations are still unstable."
Nangong Qingya's eyes swept over Li Xinnian. "It's perfect, the Li family elders are here too. Junior Brother, if you represent the sect and join the competition, the title of 'Number One Person in the Duravia Trade Prefecture' will definitely fall upon you."
Nangong Qingya was extremely curious. Although she had been following behind Li Xinnian all these years, she could feel that her Junior Brother was always hiding his true strength!
"Senior Sister jests."
Li Xinnian, however, paid it no mind, just laughing softly and saying:
"This Junior Brother, just to keep up with your and Senior Brother Su's footsteps, only managed to break through to the Golden Core realm in a hurry.
Right now, my Dantian has an Earth-rank Core. If I were to go and fight these geniuses, it would just be a disgraceful embarrassment."