Chapter 0732: Leaving the Xia Kingdom

The time of departure was about to arrive.

In the old manor's courtyard.

Li Luo stared at Cai Wei, Yuan Qing, Yan Lingqing, Lei Zhang, and the rest of House Luolan's upper echelons. They were a little gloomy because they knew that today was the day Li Luo would leave. The next time they met would very likely be years later.

House Luolan had already lost Jiang Qing'e, one of their spiritual pillars. With Li Luo's departure, the entire house seemed to have lost its entire spirit.

It was a crippling blow to the house's morale.

However, they knew that this was an inevitable situation. The Xia Kingdom was no longer a suitable cultivation ground for him. He was a hidden dragon that could not be repressed in such shallow pools forever. When the time came, he would return to the sea.

"Everyone, House Luolan is now in your capable hands. Although I know it will be difficult, I hope you will all remain steadfast and resilient. The night is often darkest before dawn, but the night will only be temporary. When I return, I promise you that House Luolan's name will resound throughout the entire East Divine Continent," Li Luo sincerely promised.

Cai Wei's charming face was full of sadness, but she still forced herself to cheer up. "You can be assured that we will take good care of House Luolan. Although we might not be able to make it much stronger, your enemies have lessened and its continued survival should not be a concern." Yan Lingqing and the rest similarly nodded.

"Thank you, Sister Cai Wei. I'll have to trouble you," Li Luo sincerely stated. She was truly an exceptionally dedicated individual. Although everyone attributed House Luolan's survival to him and Jiang Qing'e, the truth was that without Cai Wei's support and her talent in management, they might not have had any time to even cultivate.

Who knew how Qing'e had managed to find such a gem.

Li Luo then turned towards Li Rouyun and Mentor Chi Chan, who were sitting together. "Mentor, I will have to trouble you to watch over House Luolan in the future."

Chi Chan was temporarily residing within House Luolan, but her heart remained with the college. Thus, after the college was rebuilt, she would likely spend most of her time and effort there as well. Li Luo understood this point. So long as she would occasionally look over House Luolan, that was enough.

Mentor Chi Chan lightly nodded. "You can leave in peace as you head off towards the Heavenly Origin Divine Continent. I will look after House Luolan."

She then took a good look at the handsome youth. She could still remember just a year ago, during the Choosing of the Mentors, Li Luo was still an immature sapling full of childishness. The youth before her had now started to mature, and perhaps he would shock the world with his actions during their next meeting.

She looked forward to that day.

After the rest of the matters were arranged, Li Luo sucked in a deep breath. There was no more hesitation, and he turned towards Li Rouyun and Ox Biaobiao.

"Aunt Yun, Uncle Biao. It's time."

Indeed, Ox Biaobiao was going to follow Li Luo to the Heavenly Origin Divine Continent. The main reason was to find a way to cure his injuries and recover his destroyed Duke Bergfrieds, regaining his strength.

Ox Biaobiao had protected his parents every step of the way when they fled to the Xia Kingdom, and he had been forced to live in seclusion in the headquarters due to his severe injuries. In the past, there was neither time nor opportunity to look for a cure, but things had changed. Since Li Luo had to head to the inner divine continents, he would naturally bring Ox Biaobiao along and find a way to help him.

He had paid a massive price for the family, and this favor was as heavy as a mountain. Thus, Li Luo would do everything in his ability to find a way for Ox Biaobiao to recover.

When Li Rouyun heard those words, she smiled and nodded. Then a light flew out of her pocket sphere, hovering over the courtyard. A small flying ship that was around several meters long appeared in the ball of light. It was forged from some sort of unknown material and engraved with countless ancient runes.

"This is a flying ship, and it is specially used for quickly traversing long distances. As the distance to the inner divine continents is vast, we will also have to utilize some teleportation arrays to cross some insurmountable and mysterious regions. However, we will still mostly rely on this flying ship. Otherwise, not even a Duke would have time to sleep if they wanted to get to where we’re going in a timely manner."

Li Luo curiously inspected the green flying ship after hearing Li Rouyun's introduction. This was something he had never seen in the Xia Kingdom.

Li Rouyun waved her hand and her figure flashed ahead, landing right atop the flying ship with Li Luo and Ox Biaobiao following closely behind.

The ship itself was not huge, but it was sufficient for three.

Cai Wei, Yuan Qing, and the rest wistfully watched Li Luo board the flying ship, and the looks of reluctance intensified. In the end, they composed themselves before bellowing out with all their spirit, "We respectfully bid the House Lord farewell!"

Li Luo turned to look at the elders one last time before waving his hand, no longer hesitating. "Aunt Yun, let us go."

She nodded and sat cross-legged at the front of the flying ship. There was a furnace-like object at the bow of the ship, and it looked like some sort of controlling core. Her slender fingers brushed over the object, and a crisp hum could be heard. Right at that moment, countless skygold coins surged out of her pocket sphere, directly entering the furnace like some sort of fuel.

Operating the flying ship required copious amounts of skygold as fuel! One literally had to burn money to fly it!

Weng!

When the skygold filled up the furnace, the flying ship became more and more brilliant and the worldly natural energy around it churned. A moment later, a sonic boom was heard and the green flying ship vanished in a beam of green light, soaring into the skies and penetrating the clouds.

...

At that very moment the flying ship split the sky...

There was a stone pavilion in the Golden Dragon Bank of the City of Southwind.

Lu Qing'er's head was raised as though she had sensed someone leave, staring into the sky dejectedly. Her gorgeous face seemed to be stained with deep heartache.

"He's gone." Lu Qing'er's eyes welled red.

"That brat... he didn't even bother to come say goodbye. I've wasted my effort on him," grumbled a dissatisfied Yu Hongxi.

Lu Qing'er forced a smile. "It's not in his personality to drag his feet around. Since he made the decision to leave, he would just quickly go ahead."

Yu Hongxi came to her daughter's side and grasped her little hand, looking at her sorrowful expression before helplessly sighing. "What a bad child... Even after he left, he's still causing trouble. Jiang Qing'e even told me that the moment she stepped into the City of Southwind, she would annul the engagement agreement. In the end? Psh, she didn't even get here! I would never have expected that I, Yu Hongxi, would actually suffer a loss!"

Lu Qing'er seemed a little taken aback as she looked at her mother. "What do you mean annul the engagement agreement?"

Yu Hongxi was at a loss for words. Just as she was about to come up with an excuse, Lu Qing'er had already guessed what she had done. "When Li Luo came to find you for help and you readily agreed... it was actually because you had already come to an agreement with Jiang Qing'e?"

Yu Hongxi unhappily replied. "Jiang Qing'e told me that if I was willing to lend a hand, she would get rid of the engagement agreement with Li Luo once she entered the City of Southwind."

"Mother, weren't you taking advantage of someone in trouble!?" Lu Qing'er frowned.

"Hey, she took the initiative to find me and even came up with the conditions herself. What does this have to do with me?"

Lu Qing'er shook her head. "That's because she knew that that was the only thing that interested you."

Yu Hongxi waved her hand. "Forget it. There's no point in talking about this. She's long gone, so how can we even settle any debts? In any case, what I actually meant was that since Jiang Qing'e took the initiative to raise this idea, it also implies that the relationship between her and Li Luo is not as deep as what others might have thought. This was just a dumb idea fomented by the drunken Li Taixuan. It has nothing to do with their true feelings for each other."

Lu Qing'er squinted slightly. "Sister Qing'er treats Li Luo very well, and the actions she takes for him are truly touching. In this aspect, I am not her equal. I had always thought that this entire engagement agreement was actually just something casual and unimportant and that they simply have a close relationship, not necessarily one of man and wife. But after all this time, I feel like I may have been a little shortsighted."

Yu Hongxi was taken aback by her daughter's words. "Are you saying they are in love with each other?"

Lu Qing'er fell silent.

She had honestly thought that the two were just sharing in some sibling affection. They had no intention to actually marry each other. However, after going through so many things, her view of things started to change.

Yu Hongxi frowned as she restrained her usually aggressive attitude, carefully and gently asking, "If this is true, what do you want to do?"

If Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e were mutually in love, Lu Qing'er would be in a precarious situation.

Although having multiple wives and concubines was not rare and the well-traveled Yu Hongxi had even seen ladies with thousands of male companions, when it came to her daughter, she felt that she was unable to accept this. Plus, she had a domineering personality, and when she was posted to the Xia Kingdom and met Li Taixuan, she swiftly cut off any thoughts about him after finding out that he was already married.

If Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e had mutually reciprocative feelings, she would find a way to cut him off from her treasured daughter even if that brat was ten times more wonderful.

Lu Qing'er's clear eyes that reminded one of a pristine lake coursed with extreme melancholy. She silently stared at a snow lotusin the courtyard, her voice crackling and a little hoarse.

"From the very beginning, it was just wishful thinking. Li Luo had only ever regarded me as a friend. He was not aware of my emotions for him, and boys are just dumb when it comes to such things. Maybe he just thinks that I like him. If he really has feelings for Sister Qing'er, then I will naturally not interfere.”

She raised her head and looked at the green light flashing through the sky. Her poetic emotions seemed to have turned as bleak as the coldest winter on this day of parting.

"Qing'er..." Yu Hongxi tenderly held her daughter's hand, placing it in her bosom.

Lu Qing'er lowered her eyes. She wanted to force a smile, but even that was a failure. In the end, she buried herself in her mother's embrace and sullenly said, "Mother... I think my one-sided love is about to fail."

Yu Hongxi hurriedly consoled, "There are countless exceptional men, and Li Luo is just one of many. With your background, how can there not be a fitting suitor for you? You've merely seen too little. Once your horizons are broadened, you will naturally know that this will pass too and there is nothing to feel regretful about." Lu Qing'er did not say anything else, only quietly leaning in. After quite some time, a sorrowful voice rang out.

"Mother... I've made my decision."

Yu Hongxi's expression changed and she fell silent.

She knew what Qing'er was referring to... it was a letter sent from Golden Dragon Mountain.

The one who had sent it? Lu Qing'er's father.