Wu Long approached the grass plains near the Fantian Kingdom capital again, lightly stepping down in front of the frozen in fear Imperial delegation.
"Your job is done now, so there is finally no need for you"
His words rang in Song Guanyu's ears as a literal death sentence, as the latter's face distorted.
A swift motion of Wu Long's spear cut the words of the Imperial Descendant short, as a hand then tore into his chest to drain his Blood Essence.
Song Guanyu's eyes widened, and then as he realized his fate and the futility of resistance, his eyes turned to the side as his hand stretched toward the Imperial Capital in the last throes of his body struggling to survive.
'Even after learning it was never meant for him in the first place, he still can't give up his obsession, huh?'
Wu Long's eyes reflected this man who was brainwashed into a near religious worship of his own bloodline, but there was no pity in them, and no judgement either.
"The rest of you can go.
You seem to be from the two opposing sides of the Song Family, so I will give you this chance.
If the other side tells a lie of what happened here, and yours tells the truth, I will help a successor from your branch of the family succeed the throne.
If both tell a lie, I will come for your lives, and if both tell the truth there will be no further repercussions"
He then turned to the two men and three women of the Imperial Family who stood at the opposite ends of Song Guanyu and the Azure Eagle from the very beginning, as the corpse of the Imperial Prince fell to the ground with a thud.
He could see the moment when a greedy light sparked inside those eyes that were filled with only fear and despair the moment before.
'Heh, what a simple bunch to figure out'
Wu Long smiled, waving his hand to shoo the Imperial Family members away, knowing that there would be, no doubt, a lot of conspiracies to try and make the other side lie.
He did not truly fear a confrontation with the Azure Eagles over this.
It was not like they were completely blind and oblivious to the intentions of the one who died either.
And it wasn't like what this one had in mind didn't cross theirs in the first place.
They just held each other in check before, as not one of them wanted to give that chance to tap into their ancestral bloodline to the other.
But they also did not fight over it as they had an enemy to be cautious against, requiring all of them to work together.
The one which died today was simply the most obsessed with the idea, and so he managed to take opportunity of the moment when the others were distracted.
Now that they have lost one precious fighter right before the battle with Gu Zhen, making an enemy of Wu Long who was currently still an ally in that fight, and apparently strong enough to be able to kill one of them, was not a wise choice.
Not to mention that even if by some chance the Azure Eagles did try and find trouble with him, he had the means to stand up to them.
Wu Long exchanged a few words with General Feng, but as the latter's praise was giving him goosebumps from the wording, he quickly wrapped up the conversation.
After giving a kiss to Feng Yi and watching them retreat to the city, as well as witnessing the Imperial Delegation scramble to leave as fast as they could in the opposite direction, he left to the Yin Yang Unity Palace.
There Wu Long was greeted by the worried Song Minfu and Chu Ren, as well as the guilty-looking Xia Jung who had visible scars on the inside of his palms from clenching his fists in frustration and anger at himself and his blunder.
But after reassuring the former two and giving some words of guidance to the latter, he took Wu Mengqi, Gong Cui and Luo Mingyu with him back to the Fantian Kingdom Mansion.
Upon arriving there close to the evening, and greeting everyone, Wu Long noticed that Lian Zhiqiu was the only one missing.
And as he went to her, he found her sitting on the edge of a wooden outer corridor in the courtyard that the array circle she previously used to activate the Formation was drawn in.
He couldn't hold back thinking she looked incredibly cute at the moment, sitting with her feet close together on a stone step, elbows resting on her thighs, looking at the complex patterns of the array with a sulking expression while resting her head on her hands, cupping both her cheeks and slightly pursing her lips.
"Hahaha, that was a barrier-breaking arrow of an Essence Awakening expert, Zhiqiu. What else did you expect?
Rather, the fact that it did not shatter, and only let the second shot following in its tracks through is worthy of huge praise"
His words woke up the beauty.
... but still, it did make that bird panic didn't it?
I channeled the power of not one but two Dragon Veins of Spiritual Lands!
Shouldn't it have survived that attack?"
Her eyes first revealed joy at seeing him, but she then quickly returned to cutely sulking.
"Barrier-breaking arrows are specifically designed techniques which are far more effective against barriers and Formations than any normal attack.
Even if that Azure Eagle was far more dangerous than the archer, it couldn't have broken your barrier in a short time, which was why it panicked"
Wu Long smiled, sitting down behind her and wrapping his hands around her as she closed her eyes at the comfortable feeling of being in his embrace, leaning back and slightly turning her head to the side.
"...If you say so..."
She said in a still sulking tone, however it now had coquettish notes in it.
"Mm, you did very well today. Thank you for the great job"
He smiled, leaning down to whisper into her ear as a pleased smile appeared on her plump, sensual lips.
"...but I still have come up with improvements to the design of the Formation"
She then added as he laughed, shaking his head and gave her a kiss.
They did not rush, sitting like that until it came time to join the other inhabitants of the Mansion, including guests, for dinner.