Long Qinghuang left, and Lu Xingzhou was practicing the body-tempering method by himself.

Before long, Anu crept in. Lu Xingzhou stopped his exercises, turned his head and asked, “How is it?”

Anu said, “Xiao Kui is fine, but we found others that are potentially problematic.”

“Are they backdoors from when they transformed into demons, or are they malicious?”

“They should have backdoors from when they transformed into demons; their motives seem to be fine.” Anu said, “On the contrary, Xiao Kui and others like her truly have extraordinary talent and transformed by themselves.”

Lu Xingzhou: “…I couldn’t tell.”

Anu spoke up for Xiao Kui: “A pure heart is also a kind of talent.”

“Are you Shifu or am I Shifu?”

Anu didn’t bother to respond to him, smiling, “Sister Long should have keen intuition. The ones she trusts most are Xiao Kui and a few others. Although she might not have noticed the slight issues with the others, she instinctively kept her distance, giving them only odd jobs.”

“That’s useless. Someone as naive as Xiao Kui could easily be tricked by others if she learned any secrets. But then again, Long Qinghuang stays in the deep palace and won’t see anyone here, nor will there be any secret discussions in her bedchamber, so there’s nothing to leak. On the contrary, my intimacy with her these past two days is probably already known to Shengshan.”

Anu stroked her chin: “That doesn’t seem to matter, does it?”

“It truly doesn’t matter; it only makes us more certain that Shengshan has problems.” Lu Xingzhou squatted down and rubbed Anu’s face: “Even if Xiao Kui is fine, you need to be careful not to let her tell others that you can read minds. This is now our secret weapon, and when we go to Shengshan, we can learn more.”

Anu hummed in agreement.

“You don’t need to worry about anything else, just focus on your cultivation. Even if Long Qinghuang lets us leave the palace, you should stay if you can. If you must go out, it should only be a straight line between the palace and Honglu Monastery. Never go anywhere else. Always remember you have a natural enemy; don’t let your guard down.”

“Understood.” Anu blinked her eyes.

Shifu seems to have become more playful in the past year or two, seemingly unreliable. He doesn’t give the same steady, reassuring feeling as the more silent and strategic Shifu of the past, but in reality, he has never changed.

Anu would bet that if Shifu didn’t want to come to the Demon Realm, he would absolutely find a way not to. The reason he accepted this “imperial mission” was at least half for Anu’s cultivation and to try and solve Anu’s bloodline problem. Similarly, if Shifu wanted to leave the palace, he would have a hundred ways to coax Sister Long into letting everyone out. The reason he stays here calmly is also out of fear that something might happen to Anu.

Anu thought for a moment and then smiled, “Then, Shifu, do you still want to secretly learn the body-tempering method from me? Is Sister Long going to teach it personally now?”

Lu Xingzhou kept his hands folded and remained silent.

After a while, he said, “After you practiced this, did you feel any changes?”

Anu said, “The effect is very good. Although my cultivation hasn’t increased, I distinctly feel much stronger and know how to use it. I only now realize that my physical body still contains such powerful strength.”

Lu Xingzhou nodded. This body-tempering method had less of an effect on his own strength; after all, his main cultivation was Qi, and his body was just that. No matter how much it was strengthened, it couldn’t become as strong as Anu or an inherently gifted Dragon. Therefore, his goal was simply to strengthen it enough for certain purposes, without much expectation…

But for Anu, it was truly related to her Dao. It could be said that only at this moment did Anu officially embark on her proper cultivation path.

Fortunately, it’s not too late.

I just don’t know if it will help her grow up… Logically, Anu is also eleven years old this year, not six. If she always remains this appearance, Anu herself would clearly be very unhappy. But there’s a problem: Anu reached the third-rank too early. What if her body solidified?

Like Yuan Muyu, who remained a petite and charming demoness, will Anu forever be a child?

Thinking about it from that perspective would be very difficult. Hopefully, Anu, like other demon races, isn’t bound by human notions of lifespan or physique; otherwise, Anu would be crying.

Lu Xingzhou didn’t mention these things, whispering, “This matter seems like we are just hiding in the palace and playing games with Long Qinghuang, but in reality, we and Long Qinghuang are on the same side. Once we want to reveal the truth, we will inevitably be drawn into the vortex. Although Long Qinghuang seems invincible in the demon realm and has many loyal subordinates, our enemy is hidden while we are exposed, so she may not have a great advantage. In a few days, we will begin to face considerable risks; it’s not as peaceful as it appears on the surface.”

Anu smiled, “So Shifu has already sided with Sister Long.”

Lu Xingzhou glared, “Does that even need to be said? Am I supposed to side with those male demons?”

Anu: “…Shifu, when do you think the risk will arise?”

“The day the main army returns. After Long Lie and those people come back.”

“Doesn’t Shifu think they don’t have many problems? This matter is mostly not from pure-blood dragons.”

“You must remember that every individual has their own thoughts. What is true for pure-blood dragons as a whole doesn’t mean every individual among them is the same. To exclude all individuals based on collective attributes is a typical blind spot in thinking.”

Anu nodded, “Is Sister Yao coming with them?”

“Reportedly, a small team was dispatched first to escort the envoy group, estimated to arrive in two or three days. The main army won’t be that fast.”

“Will Sister Yao be in danger?”

“She is safer than us. This is a formal diplomatic mission between two nations, and there are no small matters in diplomacy. Although Daqian lost this battle, it is not truly a weak nation. If the other party wants to consolidate their position, they must be thorough in their actions, otherwise, with internal and external unrest, how can they sit firmly? So even if we are purged for siding with Long Qinghuang, the other party must let the Daqian envoys return and explain the situation. Not to mention, on the journey before things even explode, even if Yuan Yao is arrogant and offends someone, the other party will have to tolerate it.”

“Then…” Anu smiled, “As the chief envoy, can you be even more arrogant?”

Lu Xingzhou also showed a hint of a smile: “Yes.”

The master and disciple exchanged glances, both revealing mischievous smiles.

On the other side, Long Qinghuang sought out a few trusted demon healers.

Demon healing is closer to shamanic medicine, or sometimes even veterinary medicine… It’s a different system from human alchemy.

Normally, for treating infertility or post-partum care for sows, demon healers are very experienced. And these current ones are outstanding experts from various races.

Long Qinghuang did not alarm other dragons, first allowing the shamans to diagnose her, only saying she felt unwell.

The shamans consulted for a long time, exchanging bewildered glances, feeling that His Majesty was not ill at all…

Uh, if there was anything… an old shaman cautiously said, “Has Your Majesty never been in estrus before?”

“…” Long Qinghuang’s face stiffened: “What about it?”

“Then it’s nothing. Your Majesty recently noticed a physical anomaly, which is merely being in estrus.”

The air was awkward and silent.

If this were said among humans, heads might roll. Fortunately, this was the demon race, where discussions of estrus periods for various races are biological characteristics and can be openly spoken of.

Long Qinghuang was neither ashamed nor annoyed, acknowledging candidly in her heart that she was indeed in estrus, not only physiologically but probably emotionally as well.

Instead, she took the opportunity to ask, “Then, according to your diagnosis, will my fertility be smooth? Our dragon race finds breeding more difficult than others; I’m a bit worried.”

The old shaman said, “Your Majesty, please rest assured. Your body is perfectly fine. You can have as many children as you wish.”

Long Qinghuang said, “You make it sound so simple, then why is dragon reproduction so difficult?”

“This… The reproduction of powerful life forms is inherently more difficult than other life forms; this is the constant law of nature.”

“Then you also say I can have as many children as I want. Listen to yourself, do those two statements even align?”

“This…” The old shaman wiped his sweat.

In fact, he was also shaken by his own words, because he had also been invited to diagnose other dragon families, having examined both male and female dragons, but the diagnoses showed no problems with either side. If they mated with other races, they could each produce a pile of sub-species, but when they combined to reproduce among themselves, it was extremely difficult, and he didn’t know why.

If he had to force an explanation, he could say that the union of two dragons was too strong, and diluting it with other races made it less difficult.

But if that were the case, wouldn’t it mean the extinction of the dragon race by the heavens?

However, it wasn’t this severe in the past. Otherwise, how did Long Qinghuang, Long Lie, and Long Ao come into being?

The old shaman truly could not give a reason, and in the end, could only say, “Anyway, Your Majesty is with a human, so giving birth to a subspecies is indeed not that difficult.”

Long Qinghuang didn’t know whether to feel sweet or sigh in her heart.

After a moment, she said, “Have you tried those催生药物 (cuīshēng yàowù – labor-inducing drugs)?”

“We have tried them. General Long Ao and his wife both took them, but… the effect was minimal.”

Long Qinghuang finally grew annoyed: “What minimal effect? Useless is useless!”

The shamans dropped to their knees in a rustle, cold sweat pouring down their foreheads.

When His Majesty gets angry, her majesty and killing intent can make people unstable.

Long Qinghuang sighed, “Have you tried a blood-changing method, to purify the bloodline, for other ethnic groups?”

The old shaman said, “This indeed exists, but the success rate is not high.”

“What happens if it fails?”

“It’s fatal.”

“What’s the success rate?”

“It’s less than fifty percent.”

Long Qinghuang was silent. After a long while, she waved her hand wearily, “Understood. You may go.”

The shamans cautiously withdrew. Long Qinghuang stood by the window, gazing silently at the sky, her emotions unreadable.

While it was true that she found it difficult to speak plainly, in reality, it wasn’t much different from speaking plainly; ultimately, the shamans genuinely hadn’t found any problems. They had also been invited to examine other dragons, and if they couldn’t find a problem, they simply couldn’t.

Long Qinghuang introspected herself, and even with the strength of a Myriad Manifestation Great Demon, she couldn’t detect any ailments. It would be even harder for the shamans to find anything.

Perhaps it truly wasn’t a medical issue? Lu Xingzhou was only guessing; what if he was wrong?

But regardless of whether his judgment was right or wrong, the dragon race’s reproduction problem was an objective reality and had to be addressed.

The final solution was still Shengshan… but Lu Xingzhou believed that Shengshan was the root cause of all this.

Long Qinghuang hesitated for a moment, then suddenly left the Imperial Study and went to Niluan Palace again.

She wanted to invite Lu Xingzhou to visit Shengshan with her.

“Shengshan? No.” Lu Xingzhou was in the bedchamber in a horse stance, seemingly cultivating. Hearing this, he didn’t even lift an eyelid: “Didn’t Your Majesty forbid me from leaving the palace?”

Long Qinghuang gritted her teeth: “Didn’t I also let you go to Honglu Monastery? It’s not forbidden anymore.”

“Only Honglu Monastery, it didn’t say I could go to Shengshan.”

Long Qinghuang angrily said, “I’m with you; you can go wherever you want!”

“Then I want to observe Shengshan’s function in demon reproduction. Which lady told me that day that I could visit, but anything involving reproduction wasn’t quite feasible?”

Long Qinghuang angrily retorted, “I was just hesitant that day, I didn’t say it so explicitly.”

Lu Xingzhou squinted at her.

It was obvious that her hesitation that day was just about how to refuse, not whether he could go.

Long Qinghuang also knew this and reluctantly softened: “I was wrong, okay? At worst, you can kiss me again.”

Only now did she realize that it was easy to refuse then, but it wasn’t easy to get him to go now.

Lu Xingzhou leisurely said, “What Honglu Monastery, what Shengshan, and needing Your Majesty to accompany me… What, am I in a wheelchair and unable to take care of myself? Either lift the ban and let me move freely, or it’s not open for discussion.”

Long Qinghuang sighed. This little man was not only vengeful but also made her concede from every angle.

Taming a dragon, indeed…

But she truly had to relent, and said softly, “Alright, alright, I’ll tell the guards to lift the ban immediately. You can leave the palace freely. But if I’m not with you, you must be careful when leaving the palace. You might as well take the palace guards with you so you have more people to command.”

Lu Xingzhou pointed to his face.

Long Qinghuang pouted and leaned in, giving a “smack” kiss.

Lu Xingzhou pointed to his mouth again.

Long Qinghuang kissed him again.

Lu Xingzhou was about to point to something else when Long Qinghuang simply hoisted him up whole and strode out of the palace.

He was still in a horse stance…

Anu chased after them: “Shifu, Shifu…”

Long Qinghuang turned, scooped up the little creature, and sped towards Shengshan.