Under the gazes of many, Tianlong crushed the other party who had given two other prodigies such a hard time.
As Long Ding watched him leave, he couldn't help but mock himself for his previous comparison.
"Ding Er, cultivate with a clear mind and don't compare yourself with others. Your father has a lot of expectations from you…" A middle-aged patted his shoulder. His body gave off the aura of the middle stages of the Yin Yang Cleansing stage.
He had known about his son's mentality for some time. However, he didn't stop his son from pursuing this one-sided rivalry.
It was best to suffer hardships early on.
Long Ding seemed to understand his father's thoughts. Seeing his aged face, he suddenly felt a little ashamed of himself. "Father, let's go home."
In his heart, he felt a little heavy due to the defeat. However, there was also clarity in his mind.
The audience went away while heatedly discussing among themselves about Tianlong's match. After today, his name would spread like fire among the clansmen.
Even the prodigies from the previous generation will pay attention to him. After all, the allotment of the clan's cultivation resources was according to the talent of the individual.
But would he even want the clan's resources?
Currently, he was within his parents' room along with two female guests.
"It is our great honour to be in the presence of the Sword Saintess." Both of them bowed towards her in unison.
There was a reverence in their voice that couldn't be hidden. Even Xia Mengyi, who could usually keep her emotions in check, had respect and fear coming from her heart.
Long Qianmei looked at the two of them with a calm gaze. No one knew what she was thinking about.
Seeing that she hadn't said anything even after they had greeted her, their mind was filled with slight unease.
Tianlong who was sitting beside his mother couldn't help but smile wryly when he saw their condition. The two princesses were like open books in front of his mother.
Be it her cultivation base, reputation or temperament, all of them could make the other party feel fear.
Seeing his smile, Xia Jingyi shot him a hateful glare.
Apparently, she still held grudges against him due to his brutal way of defeating her.
However, her glare only added a layer of charm to her beauty.
Cultivators lost impurities from their bodies and grew increasingly beautiful with their increase in cultivation base. Being princesses from a rank 5 country, how could the two have ordinary looks?
Tall, slender and incredibly beautiful, both the princesses could make any man's heart stir with a single look. Their previous disguise was only a way to hide their beauty from the eyes of others.
In terms of facial features, the two of them were eight-point similar. However, there were distinct facets about them that gave their beauty a completely different appeal.
The younger sister, Xia Jingyi had especially bright snow-white skin. It looked so soft that it gave an impression as if it would melt if someone so much as touched her.
Had Tianlong not known her status as a princess, he would've believed that the girl was suffering from some kind of illness.
While Xia Mengyi didn't possess such exquisite skin as her sister, her entire body released a calm and collected aura. There was a soft flowery fragrance around her that would make others feel that they were standing in a field of jasmines.
Long Qianmei looked at the two of them with a scrutinizing gaze. After a minute passed by, she slowly asked, "Do you not wish to meet me, Youqing?"
"As expected, you have grown even stronger than in the past, senior. I can't hide anything from you…" A sigh resounded from the body of Xia Mengyi.
In the next instant, her green necklace released a complicated series of runic symbols that swirled in the air and created a formation in mid-air.
An incredibly elegant woman's shadow emerged from the formation and looked towards them. Even though her face wasn't clear, it was visible that she had some points of similarity with the two siblings.
"Your own formation dao has progressed too; Late-stage of rank 4 already?" There wasn't much of a surprise in her voice when she saw the complex runic formation.
However, Tianlong felt his heart thumping.
A rank 4 formation grandmaster had an equal status like a Fourth Revolution Alchemist. But while alchemy depended a lot more on spirit sense and talent of refining, the Formation Dao required one to rack their brains and solve problems.
When Tianlong had started to dabble in Formations, he had once compared it to the subject of mathematics.
The lady heaved a sigh and responded, "How can my small achievements in Formations path compare to senior's Sword Dao?"
Long Qianmei looked at her in silence and spoke. "Youqing, since you have already gone through such lengths to meet me, just say what you want to."
The female called Youqing looked at Tianlong who was leisurely sitting beside Long Qianmei and hesitated.
"He's my son." Long Qianmei softly spoke.
The female raised her eyebrows and gave him a few more glances before releasing another sigh. Apparently, Long Qianmei wanted her son to listen to whatever she was going to say.
"Forget it, whatever I'm going to say is not that big of a secret." The lady no longer hesitated and stated her purpose, "These two are my nieces. Senior Long, check them and tell me if there is something is wrong with them."
Long Qianmei frowned and looked at the two girls. Her sharp spirit sense rolled over the two girls and scanned every part of their bodies.
Under her inspection, both of their faces paled. They felt as if everything about them was seen through by her. It was an extremely uncomfortable experience.
After a minute of checking them, her eyes shone with a sharp light as she uttered a single word, "Curse!"
Being released from her Spirit Sense, the two girls immediately sighed in relief. Their foreheads were covered with cold sweat. However, when they heard about the curse, their expression became downcast again.
Seeing their expression, the lady felt as if her heart was being torn out. She started to recall the past. "Third brother perished in the dream woods. Although neither I or second brother were fond of him, he was our flesh and blood sibling after all. Father went into seclusion due to grief while blaming himself for third brother's death. The empire was left to second brother…"
Her voice stopped for a moment as she reminisced.
"It all happened two decades after you left the academy. Jincheng was still new to rule and couldn't manage the empire properly. Unfortunately, he inherited the crown at the wrong time as the country entered its war phase as soon as he ascended to the throne.
"Our country is surrounded by rank 4 countries from one side and the Violetsea from the other. However, among all the rank 4 countries, only the sect master of the Mourning Soul Sect's sect master Gu Yuan is worth paying attention to. He's someone who has a high chance of reaching the Soul Transformation stage and elevate his country to rank 5."
Tianlong understood that the lady was going through such lengths for explaining these because he was also listening.
He appreciated her thoughtfulness.
"Before royal father went into seclusion, Gu Yuan had a good relationship with him. However, it was only afterwards that we came to know that his friendliness was just a pretence. We don't know what price he paid to the Heavenly Fate island, but the latter helped them divinate that royal father would develop a heart devil and would die soon.
"Having lusted after our land and royal inheritance for years, they started to scuffle around our borders. At first, it was only small skirmishes, so we dismissed them. However, the clashes became increasingly larger as time went on… and finally, we went to war!"
She stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. After collecting her thoughts, she continued, "I was still just a Jade core cultivator at that time, so I wasn't allowed to go in the front lines. However, we lost more than 10,000 cultivators in that exchange among which 8,000 died and the rest were captured alive. They have most likely become furnaces or sold as slaves.
"It was a devastating war not only because of the casualties but also because of how it affected my family. Sister-in-law also participated in the war despite my refusal. With the combined strength of her and second brother Jincheng, Gu Yuan was seriously injured. However, that man managed to release a terrifying curse before retreating. Although the two managed to ward it off, the core of the curse remained inside Sister-in-law. Not long after, she died to the curse while giving birth to two babies. It was only after they turned ten did I understand that they were carrying the same curse!"
Her voice choked up at the end and she suddenly bowed towards Long Qianmei. "Senior Long, I have tried hundreds of different methods but none of them could release them of their curses. Considering our past relationship, please help us!"
Her expression was very sincere when she said those words. The Xia sisters' eyes became red when they saw their royal aunt bowing in front of someone else.
Being the sister of the emperor, Xia Youqing was a royal princess herself.
How could anyone be worthy of receiving her bow?
What hurt the two sisters most was that their aunt was doing this for their sake.
Biting their lips, the two sisters similarly bowed their heads towards Long Qianmei.
Most people would feel touched upon seeing such a scene, even Tianlong felt slightly moved.
However, for a cold and ruthless person like Long Qianmei, emotions held no meaning if it wasn't related to her family.
"Give me a reason to help you!" She stated calmly. Even in the face of an old acquaintance, she remained unmoved.