Recently, there haven’t been any earthquakes in Hanchuan. Long Qinghuang was merely taking advantage of having some free time to inspect, so there was no urgency. Lu Xingzhou had finally come to visit his pregnant Dragon Empress, and the opportunity to be a good husband and father, showing care and concern, meant he clearly wouldn’t leave immediately.

Long Qinghuang was delighted to have her beloved by her side, not even returning to the imperial palace. She sent people to Shengshan to search for relevant scriptures in the Wusejie and, at the same time, had people set up the Shanhe formation on the spot to investigate, also as a way to find something to do.

They stayed for several days, but nothing happened. Watching Lu Xingzhou and Long Qinghuang’s constant affectionate displays, like him supporting her during walks, made Dugu Qingli want to die.

Given Long Qinghuang’s speed when she flashed into the field before, and the strength with which she sent herself flying with one shove, if they were really to fight, she could probably swat you dead with one slap. Did she really need him to support her during a walk?

What was with the pretense of fragility?

She never expected that her supposed “training with Lu Xingzhou” would simply involve watching him and his pregnant wife flirt, while she could only sit with A’nuo and watch the spectacle. Her life was simply unbearable.

As a result, Long Ao and the other imperial guards suffered greatly, challenged one by one by Dugu Qingli, ostensibly for training, but actually to vent her frustration.

As they fought, they realized this was actually excellent training. Few others had the chance to fight such powerful Yaozu. Those fearless cultivators who came to the Yao domain for training had to put their lives on the line, constantly facing death. How many could spar with the strongest imperial guards of the Dragon Clan one by one?

Lu Xingzhou and Long Qinghuang sat on a high platform to the side with A’nuo, eating melon seeds and watching Dugu Qingli fight the imperial guards, like a family of three out to watch a show.

After a long time, Long Qinghuang finally commented, “What a strong little white-haired girl. Her talent feels even greater than Ye Tinglan herself, and unlike Ye Tinglan, she doesn’t dabble widely and get distracted; she focuses solely on the Way of the Sword. And look at that restless, martial arts-obsessed demeanor… if they were at the same cultivation level, Ye Tinglan might not be able to defeat her own disciple.”

This was an unbelievably high praise. Regardless, Ye Tinglan was still widely recognized as the greatest person in the world. To say that the little white-haired girl could defeat her master at the same cultivation level implied that, given enough time, the little white-haired girl would become the greatest in the world.

After all, reaching Qianyuan and then ascending another level was extremely difficult. If she got stuck at some bottleneck, that time might indeed be enough for the little white-haired girl to catch up.

But the one giving the praise was Long Qinghuang, one of the very few individuals in the world qualified to evaluate Ye Tinglan, which made it seem very real.

However, Long Qinghuang’s next sentence was, “Ye Tinglan previously only had a slight edge over me in cultivation realm; at the same cultivation level, she couldn’t defeat me either. Just wait until I break through; then I’ll show her.”

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

So, she was just praising herself all along.

“Why would you ‘hammer’ her?” Lu Xingzhou then gently touched Long Qinghuang’s belly. “You’re the one who wins the most, aren’t you?”

A’nuo moved three feet away in disgust.

How nauseating.

Long Qinghuang gave him a sidelong glance and snorted, “My pregnancy with my own Empress’s child has nothing to do with her!”

“Still ‘Empress’.”

“What’s wrong? Lord Lu, you have some status now and think you’re mighty?”

Long Qinghuang’s tone was disdainful, but her heart was actually pounding a little. When Lu Xingzhou sent his letter expressing his feelings, she truly hadn’t thought that a mere young physician like Lu Xingzhou would have any possibility of conquering the Yao domain. She simply considered it sweet talk. Yet, how much time had passed? Lu Xingzhou now wielded immense power in Daqian, and on the surface, the emperor had become a puppet.

Given more time, could he truly realize his grand ambitions?

If that day came, Lu Xingzhou would lead his army north, solely to conquer the Dragon Emperor… imagining that scene felt incredibly thrilling.

With a child, Long Qinghuang’s mindset had changed significantly from the emperor who once led armies south. She felt that many things she once cared about were no longer as important.

Especially if the opponent was him… what did it matter if the Yao domain was given to him? Anyway, any vast empire in the future would belong to her child.

But she couldn’t say that now; she needed to give him some motivation. So she continued, “Don’t think those elixirs make me particularly touched. If you can’t subjugate my Yao domain, everything is off the table. The child stays with me, and you go find your Shen Tang and Ye Tinglan.”

A’nuo moved another three feet away.

“Clang!” A sword qi misfired in the arena, flashing towards Lu Xingzhou’s face.

Lu Xingzhou waved his hand to block the sword qi. The little white-haired girl respectfully retreated, as if nothing had happened, “Thank you for the guidance.”

Long Ao on the other side also cupped his hands, “Miss Dugu, excellent swordplay, excellent cultivation.”

In a short time, this little white-haired girl had successively challenged over a dozen first and second-rank imperial guards, narrowly losing to the imperial guard commander Long Ao.

Long Ao was at the peak of the first rank and was already preparing to break through to Super Rank, being one of the most promising Dragons to reach it.

Lu Xingzhou asked Long Qinghuang, “The Dragon Clan’s martial fortune was stolen before, but now it seems to have fully recovered?”

Long Qinghuang nodded slightly, “If nothing unexpected happens, both Long Ao and Long Xi might break through to Super Rank soon. Long Lie on Shengshan also has great hope.”

Lu Xingzhou gasped, truly worthy of the Dragon Clan.

Their previous state was absolutely abnormal. As the continent’s strongest race, they had only Long Qinghuang as a Super Rank for a thousand years, and her growth after reaching Super Rank was slow. One must know that even the Gu family had several Super Rank old zombies—among them, Gu Shaoli, who was now imprisoned for his involvement with Gu Zhanting in the Shanhe ritual, was already near the end of his life and would likely die in prison. It was unknown if Gu Yiheng would do anything extra for him.

Even the Gu imperial family had several secluded Super Ranks, but the Dragon Clan did not, precisely because their fortune was so severely pilfered by Shengshan. Even creatures with inherent conditions like the Shengshan’s Dujuan and Laobie could have two Super Ranks. Now, with the return of their qi veins, and a sense of hitting rock bottom and bouncing back, the Dragon Clan’s overall cultivation would experience a surge.

Not only would the number of Super Ranks increase, but the top three ranks would also sprout like mushrooms after rain. There were already several first-rank individuals among the current imperial guards, and even more remaining at Longya.

Long Qinghuang glanced at him sidelong, “What’s wrong? The Dragon Clan is stronger, your hope of subjugating the Yao domain is more remote, are you conflicted?”

Lu Xingzhou laughed wryly, “What are you talking about? I only hope you all get stronger and stronger, especially you reaching Qianyuan as soon as possible.”

“Just saying nice things is useless.” Long Qinghuang suddenly reached out, pulled him up, and tossed him into the arena. “Come on, everyone, spar with Lord Lu.”

Long Ao and the others’ faces turned green. Sparring with the little white-haired girl was one thing, but how were they supposed to spar with the Empress’s husband?

If he even got a scratch, would His Majesty demand their heads?

Lu Xingzhou stretched his limbs, “Commander Long, shall we spar?”

Long Ao cupped his hands helplessly, “Lord Lu, please be careful.”

Dugu Qingli sheathed her sword and retreated to the platform, grabbing a handful of melon seeds from A’nuo.

A’nuo: “…”

Then Long Qinghuang spoke, “The girl is not human, or rather, she is a human evolved from another life form.”

Dugu Qingli’s melon seed cracking motion paused slightly, and A’nuo also paused slightly.

Long Qinghuang continued, “Normally, she is indistinguishable from a human and cannot transform back into her true form even if she wanted to, but she is indeed not human… This situation isn’t demonization; it should be called ‘transformation and genesis’.”

Dugu Qingli asked, “Does Her Majesty the Dragon Emperor know much about this?”

“After all, it’s about transforming into human form, so I’m always a bit more familiar with it than Ye Tinglan.” Long Qinghuang said, “Anyway, if you want to find the secret of your true form, it’s best to do it after reaching Super Rank, or at least at the peak of the first rank. It’s still a bit early now… However, at your current level, after sparring with them for a few more days, advancing to the first rank should be a natural progression.”

Dugu Qingli whispered, “I know.”

Long Qinghuang offered a fruit.

Dugu Qingli wondered, “What is this?”

“When Yaozu cultivate, sometimes they can’t suppress their wild nature. Bestial instincts can overcome acquired enlightenment. Even Lu Xingzhou suffered from this; he was quite wild back then…”

“…I’m not here to listen to your bedroom stories.”

“What I mean is, this fruit can suppress wildness.” Long Qinghuang said meaningfully, “Your true form might be even more savage than our Yaozu’s wildness. It might not be easy for an alchemist to concoct a targeted elixir on the spot. This fruit can at least buy you a glimmer of clarity.”

Dugu Qingli hesitated for a moment, then accepted it, “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“No need to be polite. You just need to curse Ye Tinglan a few times, and that will be thanks enough for me.”

Dugu Qingli handed the fruit back.

Long Qinghuang said, “Hmm, you can also curse Ye Fuyao a few times. I heard she was a main arsonist during the attack on Shengshan back then.”

Dugu Qingli took back the fruit and seriously told her, “Aunt Fuyao is a lunatic.”

“Bang!” A loud explosion came from the arena.

Lu Xingzhou and Long Ao had been sparring for a while. Long Ao had initially been holding back, but under Lu Xingzhou’s furious Taiji Tiangang attack, he could no longer yield and resorted to his true skills, exchanging a powerful punch.

In the smoke, both sides retreated. Long Ao took three steps back, while Lu Xingzhou stumbled back more than ten steps before steadying himself.

Long Ao looked extremely surprised, “Empress… oh, Lord Lu’s strength is unexpected.”

All the Dragon Clan members had thought Lu Xingzhou was a pretty-faced alchemist with little combat power. While alchemists themselves were respected and no one would look down on him, very few Dragons believed Lu Xingzhou could fight.

To be able to fight Long Ao to such a standstill truly astonished all the imperial guards, even more so than their surprise at Dugu Qingli.

The nature of respect for a strong person and respect for an alchemist was quite different. Now, everyone looked at the Empress’s face differently.

Lu Xingzhou grinned, took off his outer robe, and threw it heavily on the ground, “Bring a few more people, again!”

Long Qinghuang smiled, resting her chin on her hand, gazing at her young man’s robust physique and faintly visible dragon纹, unable to tear her eyes away.

Dugu Qingli really didn’t want to admit that this lovesick fool was the person who had kept Daqian and Tianyao Holy Land on edge for so many years, but considering that the Holy Master of Tianyao Holy Land seemed to be just as obsessed, then it was fine.

Wang Sheng Kai Tian Jue was indeed not a good cultivation technique.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty,” a fox demon hurried to the side of the arena, bowing before Long Qinghuang, “According to Your Majesty’s instructions, we have surveyed the Shanhe formation and found one in a mountain hollow by the city.”

The Fox Clan were experts in formations and illusions, making them perfectly suited for this task.

Long Qinghuang’s expression immediately turned serious. She rose abruptly, “Lead me to see it.”