Eternal Life by Dual Cultivation

Chapter 238 - 171: Ling Qiyue: Leniency for a Confession

High above the clouds, a Flying Ship shrouded in Spiritual Light streaked into the distance.

"...In another three days and three nights, we’ll reach the outer edges of the Feiyu Sea Region,"

Inside the cabin, Ling Changqing looked slightly melancholy. "It’s a shame about Qingxuan and the others. They’ll probably be heartbroken for quite a while, won’t they?"

Gong Ling smiled. "There’s no need to worry. They certainly won’t give up easily. They’re bound to be searching for you high and low, trying to find out where you’ve gone.

Years from now, Master, when you’ve become a Nascent Soul True Monarch or even a Divinity Transformation Great Power, you can just go back to them!"

"Yes, that’s true."

Ling Changqing agreed. He knew that in this vast and boundless world, strength was the only currency a Cultivator could truly rely on.

Only with enough power of his own could he control his destiny and avoid being used as a pawn by the great figures of the world.

Still, he could just imagine how priceless the looks on the faces of those old geezers from the Nine Great Families must have been when the entrance to Dragon Soul Valley closed and he still hadn’t appeared.

With the Child of Destiny as their trump card, they had already devised numerous plans for the rapid growth and expansion of their ten allied powers.

If everything had gone smoothly, perhaps in several hundred or a thousand years, no other powers would exist in the Yuzhou Cultivation Realm.

They could have even joined forces to expand into other major regions, swallowing up those vast, rich territories until they controlled the entire Qingyao Continent.

Unfortunately for them, such a glorious future had vanished like a dream with Ling Changqing’s disappearance.

Of course, Ling Changqing himself had no regrets.

If he had remained there, the Dragon Race and the Nine Great Families would have had to go to war immediately to protect him from the other great powers who coveted the Child of Destiny.

Countless Cultivators would have perished in that catastrophe; to describe it as a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood would be an understatement.

Only by completely vanishing would those great powers abandon their inappropriate ambitions and return to a more peaceful existence.

"Do you think the Qingyao Continent will one day be unified?"

Ling Changqing asked.

"Of course! As long as you reach the peak of the Great Dao, Master, you can do it!"

Gong Ling said as if it were a matter of course.

Ling Changqing nodded silently. ’It’s definitely not a goal that can be achieved overnight, but at least it’s an aspiration.’

Right now, forget the Qingyao Continent—even a backwater place like the Feiyu Sea Region was fragmented and in total disarray.

He and the Ling Family still had a lot of work to do if they wanted to subdue and integrate all these Small Clans and Minor Sects.

The rest of the journey was uneventful. After traveling for dozens of days and nights, Ling Changqing finally saw the familiar Zenxin Island and Longhuan Island.

And, of course, there was Changqing Continent, which had become the Ling Family’s foundational stronghold.

He had been away for several years, and the place didn’t seem to have changed much, except that the Marketplace and port were busier, and more Spirit Fields, Medicine Mountains, and mines had been developed.

Clearly, Ling Qiyue and Tang Qiu Yao hadn’t been slacking off; they had been diligently managing the family’s affairs the entire time.

After entering the airspace above the port, Ling Changqing put away the Flying Ship and rode his Escape Light toward the Spirit Vein Blessed Land where the family’s main headquarters was located.

Inside the Patriarch’s chambers in the Embroidery Tower.

Dressed in a fiery red palace gown embroidered with a hundred flowers and phoenix feathers, Ling Qiyue sat by the window, her face bright and her beauty otherworldly. The Golden Silk Mingtan Wood table before her was piled high with Jade Scroll Books as she meticulously reviewed the family’s financial expenditures for the month.

Nearby, Tang Qiu Yao wore a bright yellow gown with sun and moon embroidery that traced her voluptuous and enchanting figure. Her hair was styled with a Cloud Hairpin Phoenix, making her look noble and alluring as she sorted through the various reports sent back from the family’s intelligence network.

After a moment, Tang Qiu Yao looked up, her beautiful, fair face creased in a frown.

"The cost of our family’s intelligence network is really staggering. It eats up a huge chunk of our budget every year, and it’s set to keep increasing in the future. It’s just..."

Ling Qiyue’s red lips parted in a faint smile. "That’s a necessary expense in Spirit Stones. Don’t feel bad about it. In fact, I’m planning to increase our investment further!"

Any competent head of a household knows that no matter how poor you are, you can never afford to be poor in intelligence. It is a vital guarantee for an organization’s stability, survival, and growth.

As long as the intelligence work is done well, it’s possible to inflict a fatal blow on potential rivals; subduing an enemy without fighting is not just a pipe dream.

Of course, Tang Qiu Yao understood this principle. She had just been voicing a passing thought.

The Ling Family was now a true Golden Core power, and since they occupied an auspicious land like Changqing Continent, they certainly weren’t lacking in resources for development.

Ling Qiyue closed a Jade Scroll with a slender hand, a trace of melancholy clouding her beautiful eyes. She sighed softly.

"That man has been wandering around for several years now, hasn’t he? I wonder how he’s doing out there."

According to Fu Yin Xue, Ling Changqing had gone traveling to explore the ruins of an Ancient Cave Mansion.

But over the past year, the more Ling Qiyue thought about it, the more she felt something wasn’t right. ’He couldn’t have been lured away by some Fox Spirit, could he?’

If she weren’t so indispensable here on Changqing Continent, she would have gone out to search for Ling Changqing long ago.

"Yes, he’s been gone for so long. He should be back for a visit by now, shouldn’t he?"

At the mention of this, Tang Qiu Yao’s mood also fell. She really did miss Ling Changqing.

Besides, with her Dual Cultivation Companion having been away for so long, the speed of her own Cultivation progress had slowed considerably.

"Don’t worry, Sister,"

Tang Qiu Yao said with a gentle smile, pursing her glossy, alluring lips.