"Grandpa... I... I didn't!" Li Qin stammered.
"Hmph, if you don't like him, I happen to have a cultivation technique that needs an experimental subject. I'll go catch him!" Li Qingyuan said with a cold snort.
"Grandpa, you can't! If you break him, I'll... I'll... I'll die for you to see!" Li Qin's eyes were about to well up with tears. If anything happened to Jiang Li, she felt she would have a complete breakdown...
"Alright, alright, Grandpa was just kidding with you!" Li Qingyuan said, comforting her.
Li Qin was displeased and kept sobbing uncontrollably, crying like a flood of tears.
It took Li Qingyuan a long time to finally calm Li Qin down.
"It's just that you like a kid from a demonic sect, what's the big deal!" Li Qingyuan said kindly.
Li Qin looked at Li Qingyuan cautiously and tentatively asked, "Grandpa, you don't blame me? He's from the demonic path..."
Li Qingyuan smiled, "What kind of storms haven't I seen? What's wrong with the righteous path, or the demonic path? As long as you like him, I'll even pluck the stars from the sky for you!"
As soon as Li Qingyuan finished speaking, Li Qin showed a faint smile.
Following that, under Li Qingyuan's coaxing, Li Qin told him everything.
However, in Li Qin's description, Jiang Li was portrayed in a positive light, while Cao Rong was turned into the villain who forced her to go in with Jiang Li.
Li Qin also mentioned that Jiang Li had saved her life multiple times in the secret realm...
That brat from the demonic path is truly wicked, to have bewitched my granddaughter so much, Li Qingyuan cursed inwardly.
No, I need to find someone to test that little devil. I can't let my granddaughter be tricked away by him like this.
...
Tianfeng City.
Third Prince's Mansion.
A room deep within the Prince's Mansion.
Lin Dong absorbed the spiritual energy from the spirit stones, his aura growing stronger.
After a while, the spirit stones turned to dust and scattered everywhere.
Without the absorption of blood, advancing one's cultivation was too slow. Lin Dong shook his head. After experiencing the rapid increase in strength by devouring blood, he was no longer satisfied with the progress from spirit stones.
He needed to quickly resolve the matters in the ancestral land and then return to the Yellow Springs Demonic Sect to continue absorbing blood.
"Dong'er, news has come from the palace. The grand competition will be advanced to tomorrow. Prepare yourself well, and we will enter the palace to participate in the grand competition tomorrow!" Lin Zhan's voice echoed from outside the room.
Lin Dong's eyes lit up. It was good that it was advanced.
Although he didn't know the reason, it was still good to have it two days earlier, Lin Dong thought to himself.
The cultivation speed in this Tianfeng City was too slow.
Immediately, Lin Dong put away his thoughts and began practicing martial arts in his room.
...
Tianfeng City Imperial Palace.
In a resplendent room.
The Emperor, clad in dragon robes, knelt in the room, his head bowed deeply.
Above the room stood a masked youth.
The youth possessed an extremely powerful aura.
Under that surging aura, the entire room was in turmoil as if caught in a tempest.
"Master, I... I have already issued the decree. The dynasty's grand competition will be advanced to tomorrow," the Emperor in dragon robes said, trembling.
The Emperors he saw on television before, the supreme rulers, were so majestic.
Now he was like a dog, kneeling before him. It seemed that strength was indeed the most important thing, Jiang Li thought to himself.
After entering the Imperial Palace, Jiang Li quickly gained control of the Emperor, and the entire Imperial Palace was now under Jiang Li's command.
Everyone in the Imperial Palace had ingested a specially formulated poison brought by Jiang Li from the Yellow Springs Demonic Sect. Jiang Li didn't know the antidote's formula. The Yellow Springs Demonic Sect had the antidote, but Jiang Li had forgotten to bring it when he left...
He only knew that these people would die from the poison once they entered the ancestral land.
After all, they were just ordinary people. Using the [Spirit Control Technique] would be too wasteful and would consume Jiang Li's mental energy, making it not worthwhile.
"Alright, you can get up. Having an Emperor like you kneel before me feels a bit uncomfortable!" Jiang Li said with a pout.
As Jiang Li spoke, a hint of joy flashed in the Emperor's eyes, as if he were flattered.
"Thank you, Master. I am not an Emperor before you, and it is my fortune from ten lifetimes of cultivation to serve you!" the Emperor said respectfully.
As he spoke, the Emperor slowly rose.
Jiang Li was startled. This Emperor was quite adept at flattery.
However, it was a pity that he didn't bring the antidote.
"Forget it, just kneel down again!" Jiang Li looked at the fawning Emperor and felt even more uncomfortable.
Seeing someone in dragon robes with such a subservient demeanor made Jiang Li feel even more uneasy.
The Emperor's lips twitched slightly, but he knelt down again.
"What is inside your ancestral land? Are there any records! What exactly is in there?" Jiang Li asked.
The Emperor of Tianfeng City pondered for a moment and then recounted all the information collected by the people who had previously entered, to Jiang Li.
After Jiang Li memorized all the information, he let the old Emperor leave.
...
Time slowly passed.
...
The next morning.
The Imperial Palace's martial arts field.
Numerous Imperial guards clad in heavy armor patrolled the perimeter of the martial arts field.
Imperial family members and clan descendants were all gathered.
Many were eager, preparing to participate in the dynasty's grand competition today.
There were also many spectators around, people from various prominent families in Tianfeng City.
The dynasty's grand competition was not only set up to compete for opportunities in the ancestral land but also to showcase the talent and strength of the younger generation of the imperial family to the major families.
This prevented these prominent families from daring to harbor any thoughts of challenging the dynasty's rule.
As time slowly passed, the martial arts field became increasingly lively.
Beside the martial arts field, Lin Dong quietly awaited the start of the grand competition.
At this moment, beautiful palace maids from the palace prepared excellent tea for the participating contestants.
Lin Dong held the tea in his hand and felt something was amiss, yet he couldn't detect anything unusual.
The surrounding contestants all drank the fragrant tea.
Seeing this, Lin Dong drank it directly. He was probably overthinking things. It was just a mere grand competition of an ordinary dynasty. Then, Lin Dong closed his eyes to rest and began to await the start of the assessment.
Seeing Lin Dong drink the tea, the Emperor above the martial arts field visibly relaxed.
Following that, the commencement of the grand competition was announced.
Various princes and clan descendants began to engage in battles on the martial arts field.
As the grand competition progressed.
Winners were successively selected.
The people from the major families watching from below were enthralled.
Of course, even if they weren't fully satisfied, they had to exclaim. This was a great opportunity to flatter the imperial family, and these seasoned individuals would not let it pass.
All sorts of flattering words were spoken, almost elevating them to the heavens.
...