Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 490: None of these are good cultivation techniques.
There haven't been any earthquakes in Hanchuan recently, and Long Qinghuang only took the opportunity to go out and check on things since she had nothing else to do; the situation isn't urgent. Lu Xingzhou finally had the chance to visit the pregnant Long Niang, and given the opportunity to show her care and be a good husband and father, he obviously wouldn't just leave immediately.

Long Qinghuang was delighted to have her lover by her side, and didn't even return to the palace. While sending people to the Holy Mountain to find relevant books about the Colorless Realm, she also had people set up a mountain and river formation to investigate, which also gave her something to do.

She stayed for several days without incident. Seeing Lu Xingzhou and Long Qinghuang being all lovey-dovey every day, like taking walks together, made Dugu Qingli want to die.

Given the speed at which Long Qinghuang flashed into the arena and the force that sent her flying with a single thrust, if she were to actually fight, she could probably kill you with a single slap. Does she need your help to take a walk?

Why pretend to be weak!

He never imagined that the so-called training trip with Lu Xingzhou would just be watching Lu Xingzhou and his pregnant wife being all lovey-dovey while he and A Nuo could only sit on the sidelines and watch the drama unfold. It was simply unbearable.

As a result, Long Ao and the other imperial guards were in deep trouble, as Dugu Qingli challenged them one by one, ostensibly for a trial, but in reality to vent their frustration.

As the fight went on, they discovered that this was actually a great training opportunity... Few people had ever fought against such a powerful demon race. Those fearless cultivators who came to the demon realm for training were risking their lives, with people dying at any moment. How many people could go through trials with the strongest imperial guards of the dragon race one by one?
Lu Xingzhou and Long Qinghuang sat on a high platform with A Nuo, eating melon seeds and watching Dugu Qingli fight the Imperial Guards, like a family of three watching a play.

After observing for a long time, Long Qinghuang finally commented: "What a strong little white-haired fellow. His talent seems to surpass that of Ye Tinglan himself, and unlike Ye Tinglan, he doesn't have a wide range of interests that distract him, but focuses solely on the sword path. And look at this restless martial arts fanatic... If they were to train at the same level, I'm afraid Ye Tinglan might not be able to beat his own disciple."

That's ridiculously high an evaluation. Ye Tinglan is still the undisputed number one in the world, no matter what. To say that Little White Hair can surpass his master under the same cultivation level is to imply that Little White Hair will only become number one in the world after a certain amount of time.

After all, once you reach the Qian Yuan level, advancing to the next level is extremely difficult. If you get stuck on any hurdle, that time might actually be enough for Little White Hair to catch up.

The person who can evaluate Ye Tinglan is Long Qinghuang, one of the few contestants in the world qualified to evaluate her, which seems quite realistic.

Long Qinghuang's next sentence was: "Ye Tinglan was only slightly better than me in terms of cultivation level before. She couldn't beat me even if we were of equal cultivation level. Just wait, I'll beat her after I break through."

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

He was just bragging about himself all along.

"Why did you hit her?" Lu Xingzhou then touched Long Qinghuang's belly: "You're the one who won the most."

Ah Nuo moved three feet to the side in disgust.

So disgusting.

Long Qinghuang glanced at him sideways and snorted, "I'm pregnant with my own Empress's child, what does it have to do with her?"

"Return the Empress."

"What's wrong, Lord Lu? Now that you have some status, you think you're all that?"

Long Qinghuang spoke with disdain, though her heart was pounding. When Lu Xingzhou sent his letter expressing his stance, she genuinely hadn't considered that a mere physician like him could possibly have any chance of conquering the demon realm; she simply thought it was sweet talk. But how long had it been? Lu Xingzhou now held absolute power in the Great Qian Dynasty, and even the emperor was a puppet in name only.

If given more time, will he really be able to fulfill his grand promises?

If that day ever comes, Lu Xingzhou will lead his army north, just to conquer the Dragon Emperor... Just thinking about that scene sounds so exciting!

Having a child has changed Long Qinghuang's mindset significantly; she feels that many things she once cared about are no longer as important.

Especially if the opponent is him... what's wrong with giving him the Demon Realm? Anyway, no matter how vast the empire becomes in the future, it will still belong to the child.

But I can't say that now. I need to give him some motivation. So I said, "Don't think that those pills can move me. If you can't subdue my demon realm, then there's no point in talking. The child is with me. You go find your Shen Tangye Tinglan."

Ah Nuo moved another three feet.

"Clang!" A sword aura missed its mark and slashed towards Lu Xingzhou's face.

Lu Xingzhou waved his hand to deflect the sword energy, and the little white-haired boy casually bowed and stepped back, saying, "I've learned my lesson."

Long Ao, on the other side, also cupped his hands in greeting: "Miss Dugu, your swordsmanship is excellent, and your cultivation is admirable."

In a short period of time, this little white-haired boy challenged more than ten first- and second-rank imperial guards, but was unfortunately defeated by the imperial guard commander, Long Ao.

Long Ao is at the peak of the first rank and is already preparing to break through to the super rank. He is one of the most promising dragons to reach the super rank.

Lu Xingzhou asked Long Qinghuang, "The Dragon Clan's martial fortune was stolen before, but now it seems to have been completely restored?"

Long Qinghuang nodded slightly: "If nothing unexpected happens, both Long Ao and Long Xi are likely to break through to the Super Grade soon. Long Lie from Holy Mountain also has a good chance."

Lu Xingzhou gasped in shock; no wonder they were from the Dragon Clan.

Their previous state was definitely abnormal. As the strongest race on the continent, they had only had one super-grade zombie, Long Qinghuang, in the past thousand years, and even after becoming a super-grade zombie, their growth was slow. You should know that even the Gu family has several super-grade old zombies—Gu Shaoli, for example, offended the court and the public by organizing the Mountain and River Sacrifice with Gu Zhanting, and is now in prison. He was already nearing the end of his life, and this time he should die in prison. I wonder if Gu Yiheng will do something extra for him.

Even the Gu family royal family has several hidden cultivators at the Super Grade level, but the Dragon Clan has none. This is because the Holy Mountain stole their cultivation too severely. Even the Azalea Turtle of the Holy Mountain, with its innate advantages, has two Super Grade cultivators. Now that their energy channels have returned, there's a hint of a rebound. During this period, the Dragon Clan's overall cultivation will experience a surge.

Not only are there more Super Grade guards, but also Top Grade guards are springing up like mushrooms after rain. There are already several First Grade guards in this batch, and even more are staying at Dragon Cliff.

Long Qinghuang glanced at him sideways: "What's wrong? The Dragon Clan has become stronger, making your hopes of subduing the Demon Realm even slimmer. Are you feeling conflicted?"

Lu Xingzhou was both amused and exasperated: "What are you saying? I just hope you all get stronger, especially you, who can reach the Qian Yuan realm as soon as possible." "All you can do is talk a good game." Long Qinghuang suddenly reached out and grabbed him, throwing him onto the field: "Come and spar with Lord Lu."

Long Ao and the others turned green. It was one thing to practice with the little white-haired boy, but how could they practice with the Empress?
If we just get a minor scratch, would His Majesty want our heads?

Lu Xingzhou stretched his limbs: "Commander Long, shall we practice?"

Long Ao reluctantly cupped his hands in greeting: "Lord Lu, please be careful."

Dugu Qingli sheathed her sword and stepped back onto the stage, grabbing a handful of melon seeds from A Nuo's hand.

Ah Nuo: “…”

But then Long Qinghuang said, "You are not human, or rather, you are a human evolved from other life forms."

Dugu Qingli paused slightly as she cracked melon seeds, and Anuo also paused slightly.

Long Qinghuang continued, "From a conventional point of view, it is no different from a human. It cannot transform back into its original form, but it is indeed not human... This situation is not demonization, but rather transformation."

Dugu Qingli asked, "Is His Majesty the Dragon Emperor familiar with these things?"

"In the end, it's all about taking human form, so I'm definitely more familiar with it than Ye Tinglan," Long Qinghuang said. "Anyway, if you want to find the secret of the original body, it's best to look for it at the highest level, or at least at the peak of the first rank. It's still a bit early for now... But at your current level, if you train with them for a few more days, advancing to the first rank should be a natural thing."

Dugu Qingli said in a low voice, "I know."

Long Qinghuang handed over a fruit.

Dugu Qingli asked in surprise, "What is this?"

“Sometimes, demons can’t suppress their wild nature when they cultivate. Their animal instincts overpower their acquired manners. Even Lu Xingzhou has suffered from this before. He was quite savage back then…”

"...I didn't come here to listen to your sex act."

“What I’m saying is that this fruit can suppress your wildness.” Long Qinghuang said meaningfully, “Your true form might be even more ferocious than our demon race. It’s not easy for an alchemist to refine the right medicine on the spot, but this fruit can at least buy you a sliver of clarity.”

Dugu Qingli hesitated for a moment, then accepted the gift: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"You're welcome. You just need to scold Ye Tinglan a few times as a way of thanking me."

Dugu Qingli handed the fruit back.

Long Qinghuang said, "Well, we can also scold Ye Fuyao a bit. I heard that she was one of the main forces in burning down the Holy Mountain when it was attacked."

Dugu Qingli took back the fruit and told her in a serious tone, "Uncle Fuyao is a lunatic."

"Bang!" A loud explosion rang out in the arena.

After exchanging blows for a while, Long Ao initially kept backing down, but under Lu Xingzhou's violent Tai Chi Heavenly Gang strike, he finally couldn't hold back anymore and used his true skills, clashing punches together.

Amidst the smoke, both sides staggered backward. Long Ao took three steps back, while Lu Xingzhou took more than ten steps before regaining his footing.

Long Ao looked extremely surprised: "Your Majesty... Oh, Lord Lu's strength is beyond my expectations."

The entire dragon race thought Lu Xingzhou was a pretty boy alchemist with little fighting ability. Although alchemists were respectable and no one would look down on him, very few dragons thought Lu Xingzhou was a fighter.

The fact that he fought Long Ao to such an extent has shocked the entire Imperial Guard, even more so than the shock he caused Dugu Qingli.

Respect for the strong is not the same as respect for alchemists; now everyone's expression towards the Empress has changed.

Lu Xingzhou grinned, took off his outer robe, and threw it heavily on the ground: "Change a few more people, then come again!"

Long Qinghuang smiled and rested her chin on her hand, gazing at the small man's strong physique and the faint dragon markings on his body, unable to look away.

Dugu Qingli really didn't want to admit that this infatuated girl was the one that had made Daqian and Tianyao Holy Land treat each other as a formidable enemy for so many years, but then she thought that the Holy Lord of Tianyao Holy Land seemed to be just as bad, so it didn't matter.

The Heaven-Opening Technique of the Saints was indeed not a good cultivation method.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty~" A fox demon rushed over from the sidelines and bowed to Long Qinghuang: "As Your Majesty instructed, we surveyed the Mountain and River Formation and found one in a mountain valley near the city."

The fox clan are experts in formations and illusions, making them perfectly suited for this task.

Long Qinghuang's expression immediately turned serious, and she abruptly stood up: "Take me to see."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: This is a transitional chapter, a chance to practice some skills.

(End of this chapter)